By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter: District 6 stretches like a crooked, skinny twig, from north Dallas just above LBJ Freeway south to Loop 12, Ledbetter Drive. Issues in this diverse district touch on everything from potholes to dilapidated crack houses. But also at issue in this race are the candidates themselves. One is Dwaine Caraway, husband of outgoing councilwoman Barbara Mallory Caraway. She cannot run again because of term limits. When Mallory Caraway appointed her husband to the Park Board several years ago, critics yelled foul. After years of debate, most council members took the advice of their appointed ethics committee and voted last year to stop appointing spouses to key posts. Mallory Caraway argued against it. Dwaine Caraway, an advertising consultant and former Parks Board Vice President, defended his appointment at a recent candidate forum.
Dwaine Caraway, Candidate, Dallas City Council, District 6: We should not have nepotism, but we need to understand it. As defined in the dictionary, it explicitly associates nepotism with the exchange of money. Meaning the City Council is free, serve free. I served on the Park Board free.
Zeeble: All others in District 6 also oppose nepotism. Candidate Ed Oakley, a contractor and past Council candidate, is a former Dallas Plan Commission appointee of Barbara Mallory Caraway. Roy Williams was the co-plaintiff in the lawsuit that dismantled at-large city council government and led to 14 single-member districts and greater minority representation.
Ed Oakley, Candidate, Dallas City Council, District 6: If we can't find good people to appoint to boards and commissions that aren't family related, then we also have a problem.
Roy Williams, Candidate, Dallas City Council, District 6: The whole spirit of 14-1 was to give fair play. Nepotism interferes with the spirit of 14-1. There's enough to go around in each district, whereas I don't have to call a family member in to appoint to a board.
Zeeble: Williams has run for City Council numerous times, never succeeding. He's the founder of a non-profit organization called Rainbow Bridge, a group Dwaine Caraway claims owes taxes. But an examination of state tax records shows exactly the opposite. State Comptroller Carol Keeton Rylander lists Rainbow Bridge as being, quote, in good standing. On the other hand, Caraway's advertising company, The Profile Group, failed to pay its franchise tax in February, 1999. So it lost it's good standing more than two years ago. Caraway refuses to talk about it, saying instead he's tired of gunfire in his neighborhood and wants to stamp out illegal drugs and prostitution.
Caraway: We're going to have to do something about that. I'm going to make a statement and it's not for everyone up here. But I'm the first one that'll challenge all and everyone at this table to a drug test, 'cause we have to be clear of drugs ourselves. I'm the number one person that's talked about drugs and prostitution.
Zeeble: At this League of Women Voters forum, Caraway was not the only person to talk about drugs and prostitution. Roy Williams cited a financial contribution to Caraway's campaign which the Dallas Morning News reported came from lobbyists for sexually oriented businesses. Caraway countered that Williams doesn't even live in the district he's running to represent. Williams routinely votes in North Dallas, outside of the district, but leases an apartment in the district. All the candidates - from attorney Robert Beckles to Williams, Ed Oakley and Kwania Lynn - expressed concern about crack houses. But only Lynn, an administrative assistant, responded to Caraway's drug test challenge.
Kwania Lynn, Candidate, Dalla City Council, District 6: I will be more than happy to use a drug, 'cause I've never used any drugs personally, ever, I don't even take prescribed medicine when I'm ill, which is very seldom.
Zeeble: For her part, Lynn's top priority is basic city services.
Lynn: The pot holes has been there a long time - 8, 10, 15 years - and that should have been a high priority over any other thing. Repairing streets should always be a high priority. I'm more concerned with the citizens with these stop lights at these intersections that are dangerous.
Zeeble: Ed Oakley also talks about infrastructure improvements and better code enforcement as top concerns. He stresses his background and experience as a builder and former Plan Commission member.
Oakley: It's scary when I sit and talk to a code enforcement officer and he'd argue with me about zoning and where I got my information on the Plan Commission. He got upset 'cause I told him I know more about it than he does. And I do. It's scary when a citizen knows more than the people enforcing the laws. When you can drive through a neighborhood and spot it, why can't they?
Zeeble: Attorney Robert Beckles, who's run for state representative and lost, says code enforcement's important, but his key issues are different. Ridding the community of drugs is number one. Improving childhood education is number two. And third is a better employment picture. He believes Mallory Caraway and other City Council members missed opportunities when they stayed out of occasional controversies surrounding the Dallas school district and school board. Beckles would get involved Robert Beckles, Candidate, Dallas City Council, District 6: Education is something that can't be taken away. If you know how to fill out a job application and you know how to articulate responses to questions, you might become employable, and that's the basic thing individuals need to become, is employable.
Zeeble: If Beckles is to become employed as the District 6 Council member, he'll need voters to look past his own police record. In 1992, he was arrested after a quarrel with his wife. Two years later, he was arrested for alleged sexual assault of a different woman. Beckles denies that allegation. Both women dropped charges.
Beckles: Those are regrettable things that happened in my past. Almost ten years ago. Since then, me and my wife have had another child. We've made amends; we're still a family, not divorced. I don't think it should affect the voters one iota.
Zeeble: There's another factor that may affect District 6 voters. Of the five candidates, four are African American, in a district specifically drawn to favor black representation. Ed Oakley is the single white candidate. Shey Wyrick, Associate Editor of the predominantly African American publication "The Dallas Weekly," says Oakley might end up in a runoff.
Shey Wyrick, Associate Editor, "The Dallas Weekly": If Ed Oakley got 100% of the white vote and no black vote, and all blacks were all split, then there's a possibility. But Dwaine has such name recognition, so there's a possibility, but I don't think any one person can pull 51% on Saturday.
Zeeble: If that happens, Wyrick says African American voters might coalesce behind the remaining black candidate, or conclude - color aside - that Oakley's the better choice. She says for some, that would threaten the spirit of 14-1.
Wyrick: If city is majority/minority and Council is not reflecting that, you could see disappointment that for first time, after years and years of not having your voices heard on the Council, to finally get that, then have a major/minority Council, and to lose those two years later, I think a lot of people would be disappointed.
Zeeble: Election Day is Saturday. If there's a runoff, it will be in June. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.