Ex-city attorney talks about The Center's land deal

Something we missed over the weekend in the story of the city vs. The Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation: On Sunday, the Chronicle published a letter from former City Attorney John Wildenthal about agreements the city had made with social service agencies like The Center. You may remember that the Chron talked with Wildenthal, who served as city attorney from 1964 to 1966 under Mayor Louie Welch, about the situation last week, and Wildenthal told the paper then that what the city calls a "lease" with The Center was originally intended to be more of a long-term service agreement. The city now contends that the 99-year agreement former Mayor Lewis Cutrer reached with The Center in 1963 isn't valid because the city charter forbids city-negotiated leases of more than 30 years. From Wildenthal's letter, via Off the Kuff:

Many times in the past, the city has accepted donations for public use with conditions requiring the city to use the gift for the purposes intended. For example, land was taken off the tax roll when the city acquired Memorial Park by paying part of its market value and accepting the rest of its value as a gift. The city agreed to severe restrictions and those restrictions are perpetual.

In these cases, the city owned the land and had legal authority to build the buildings and perform all the services at taxpayer expense. Instead, they agreed to let the charities pay all those costs with the agreement that as long as the charity performed properly, it would be permitted to render the public service for a specified time.

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The fact that the form of a lease was used does not invalidate the agreement to accept a gift with restrictions that the gift be used for the purpose intended. The Texas Supreme Court has held in a line of cases that general warranty deeds were actually mortgages under the facts of those cases.

The agreements here are not commercial leases, but are actually contracts to accept gifts of buildings, furnishings, maintenance and social services to the public for a term of years.

Wildenthal didn't work on the city's agreement with The Center, but he notes that he did recommend other such agreements that ended up being approved by City Council. "I do not think City Council abused its discretion in accepting gifts for public use for 99 years," he wrote. His description certainly seems to jive with the agreement the city and The Center reached 44 years ago, which allowed the agency to use the land at West Dallas and Shepherd for $1 a year if it built facilities there and provided services for the mentally retarded — conditions The Center has, without question, met and far exceeded. But can that record stand up against the city's desire to evict The Center and sell its land for $26 million?