06:20 AM CST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005

It was supposed to be a slow year in local politics, given that the City Council races were the only candidate elections on tap.

RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT/DMN

Bill Hill, Dallas County's district attorney since 1999, announced in November that he would not seek a third term. He said he had accomplished his major goals and had little to motivate him to run again. The race to replace him has drawn a crowded field of candidates.

But 2005 was one of the most compelling political years in recent memory.

And events of this year will carry over to 2006, possibly reshaping county and city government for the next decade.

Here are some highlights.

In June, federal investigators conducted searches in and out of City Hall as part of a massive corruption inquiry. The public officials named in the investigation include four Dallas City Council members, three city plan commissioners, a state senator and a state representative.

The investigation appears to center on the affordable-housing projects of Dallas developer Brian Potashnik and his company, Southwest Housing Development Co.

Another developer, James R. "Bill" Fisher, has been described by Dallas businessman Comer Cottrell as a player in the investigation and is believed to be cooperating with authorities.

No one has been charged. Some leaders have questioned why the investigation appears to be focused on black elected and appointed officials.

If indictments are produced, it could shake the foundations in state and local politics.

After studying polls that showed voters wanted change at City Hall, Mayor Laura Miller championed a proposal that would have given the Dallas mayor broader powers.

Among other things, the plan – originally put forth by Dallas lawyer Beth Ann Blackwood –would have eliminated the city manager's position.

But many in the political establishment viewed the proposal as a brazen power grab by the mayor. In May, black voters turned out in huge numbers and helped defeat the proposal. A watered-down strong-mayor plan, this one developed by the council, was defeated in November.

The Blackwood proposal fractured Ms. Miller's political base by chasing neighborhood groups and North Dallas conservatives under a tent with her adversaries in the city's southern sector. Ms. Miller said she was humbled by the May vote. Some pundits described her as a wounded leader.

Elements of the same coalition that downed the Blackwood proposal have vowed to stop Ms. Miller's re-election bid in 2007. Numerous potential opponents have emerged.

Ms. Miller said voting against an idea is not the same as voting against a candidate.

Longtime prosecutor Bill Hill surprised most when he announced last month that he would not seek re-election as district attorney in 2006.

Several high-profile Republicans have emerged as contenders, including longtime Assistant District Attorney Toby Shook, former state District Judge Vickers Cunningham and former County Criminal Court Judge Dan Wyde.

Democrats also expect an interesting primary. Their contenders for district attorney include Dallas lawyers Craig Watkins, Larry Jarrett and B.D. Howard.

In expressing his concern about the potential of thousands of bats being lured to handmade habitats in Glen Cove Park, council member Mitchell Rasansky joked that a 14-year-old Boy Scout was Count Dracula.

The Dallas teen built the bat houses and a related nature trail as part of an Eagle Scout project.

The Scout's father was not amused by Mr. Rasansky's comment and said his son learned a hard civics lesson about dealing with a powerful council member. Mr. Rasansky, who would later learn a lesson of his own, responded by saying the boy was from Transylvania.

The council member got hundreds of e-mails and phone calls blasting his comments and his opposition to the bat houses. Mr. Rasansky said one woman threatened to drive a stake through his heart.

The council member eventually apologized to the boy's father, and the bat houses remained in the park.

City Manager Mary Suhm and most of the council supported a $6.3 million tax abatement for billionaire oilman and developer Ray Hunt .

Ms. Miller did not.

Her aggressive opposition to the plan, which included a thinly veiled threat to Ms. Suhm, reminded many of the mayor's days as a bomb-throwing council watchdog. As a council member, Ms. Miller routinely criticized Mr. Hunt and opposed plans that would benefit his interests.

The mayor's opponents contended that in opposing the $6.3 million abatement, she was simply continuing her feud with Mr. Hunt. Ms. Miller said she was protecting the interests of Dallas taxpayers.

The council, as expected, approved the tax break. And the dust-up left many in the business establishment recommitted to finding a candidate to beat Ms. Miller in 2007.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear a case contending that the redrawing of congressional boundaries by the Texas Legislature was illegal.

The districts were redone in 2003 after a lengthy legislative battle that included a walkout by Democrats – House members to Ardmore, Okla., senators to Albuquerque, N.M.

Five freshman GOP congressmen were elected to the new districts.

If the Supreme Court throws out the congressional map, the state could revert to lines used in 2002. Such a map would pit Republican incumbents against each other. For instance, Rep. Kenny Marchant, a Coppell Republican, would wind up in a district with Republican Pete Sessions of Dallas.

E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com