Hinga Mbogo pleads his case
Hinga Mbogo?s professional fate rests in the hands of the Dallas Plan Commission, a group of appointed officials that deal with zoning issues.
Mbogo, who emigrated from his native Kenya in the 1970s, has run a car repair shop on Ross Avenue for many years. He has a reputation for honesty and fair dealing, which is a good thing for Bryan Place-area residents who need their cars fixed.
City Hall powers-that-be have informed Mbogo that he and his modest business, which sits next to Dallas ISD headquarters on Ross, are no longer welcome. The strip is now zoned for redevelopment into apartment buildings, restaurants and shops. The real estate community and its City Hall agents refer to Ross Avenue as a gateway to downtown Dallas that needs to be brightened up. (Translation: We need to make some money.)
A couple of months ago, I wrote this story ?about Mbogo?s struggle to maintain his business despite this push for ?progress.? ?After getting word from City Hall that he was being zoned out of existence, he swallowed hard and then coughed up several thousand dollars to appeal the zoning decision.
Mbogo will plead his case before the plan commission at a hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, June 6. He will represent himself and tell the story of a small businessman and African immigrant who came to America to make something of himself.
Proponents of upgrading property values along Ross Avenue will say the city has given Mbogo plenty of time to move his business to a new location or make other arrangements for himself. But it?s just not that easy for a 60-year-old guy to start new. He just wants to make it to retirement in a few years.
The Mbogo case is important to contemplate. He is emblematic of hundreds of minority (read black, Hispanic and Asian) immigrants who arrived in Dallas starting in the 1970s and found buildings abandoned by white business people who left the inner-city to chase suburban customers.
This is a moral and ethical issue. Is it right to shoo them out of their stores and offices along Ross Avenue or Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff just because bankers and real estate developers have the power to target their neighborhoods for redevelopment?
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