Content area
Full text
DOWNTOWN DALLAS-Dallas Mayor Laura Miller says she has agreed to meet with representatives of the World Affairs Council of Greater Dallas to discuss their proposal to privatize, rather than drastically downsize, the city's Office of International Affairs.
Despite accepting an offer to meet, however, she discourages leaders of the 51-year-old, nonprofit, international organization from holding out hope the budget ax will either spare OIA or fund its proposal.
As city staff continue to scour the 2002-2003 budget for ways to bridge an $83 million chasm between revenue and expenditures, the OIA staff is slated for slashing from six to two and its budget reduced from $738,197 to $153,000.
The office is the only entity funded by the city that has as its priority building international business. Other duties include protocol activities, such as meeting and greeting foreign dignitaries, planning trade missions abroad and maintaining Sister City relationships.
I like it that they're interested, and I'm going to meet with them in the next week or two," Miller said. "But I don't want to sound optimistic because this is an issue of money. We're...