IRVING, Texas � A series of text messages from city officials after the Dallas Cowboys practice facility collapsed reveal concerns about the structure�s quality and suggest the team �pushes� things through and receives preferential treatment.

The day after the facility collapsed last month, Irving City Manager Tommy Gonzalez referred to it as �a big ole tent� that �probably never was structurally sound enough� to hold up against straight-line winds.
The Cowboys� tentlike practice facility collapsed on May 2, paralyzing scouting assistant Rich Behm and injuring 11 others.
Gonzalez characterized the Cowboys as a team that �pushes� its projects through the city bureaucracy. He wrote in a text to another city official that �it was for �the cowboys� ... that�s just what my gut tells me,�
The Dallas Morning News reported the story in its Wednesday edition, using state open records laws to obtain the text messages. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and a team spokesman declined to comment to the newspaper. The team did not immediately return a call to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Gonzalez sent a text message to Brenda McDonald, the city�s real estate and development director, saying he was confident proper permitting and inspection procedures were followed, but added that he also knows �how the D org pushes things thru.�
McDonald responded: �We experienced that �push� this spring on a stairway up to the new temporary observation booth that they constructed in Valley Ranch. It is a model of the suites at the new stadium.�
The exchanges illustrate a sentiment among some Irving residents that the Cowboys hold too much sway over city officials. City Council member Beth Van Duyne said there is a perception that the Cowboys and Jones get whatever they want, and that the council�s cooperation with the organization filters down to city employees.
�The council may have allowed their adoration of the Cowboys franchise impact their decision,� Van Duyne said. �If we�re willing to make those kinds of concessions at the council level, that�s sending a solid and clear message to staff.�
Irving Mayor Herbert Gears said the Cowboys do not receive preferential treatment.
�That�s not something anybody would admit, but certainly it�s not true, either,� Gears said.
Gonzalez denied that his text messages show the team is treated differently from any other Irving business.
�Any organization we work with always wants to make sure that they can get their projects accomplished,� Gonzalez said. �We treat every organization the same, and I was reinforcing that to the staff.�