By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter: This shortened race has been crammed between former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk's resignation on November 7th and the upcoming election on Jan 19th - two weeks from today. For weeks, candidate polls have reportedly shown former Council member Miller leading both insurance executive Tom Dunning and State Representative Domingo Garcia. So as of yesterday, there is a new Tom Dunning TV ad attacking Miller's style.
Dunning Ad sample: Laura Miller. As a Council member, she called the Mayor petty and mean-spirited. She opposed a veterans' parade saying, "I don't want to throw any more parties." A Morning News editorial said Laura Miller was so strident in her remarks, she brought tears to the eyes of several mothers of veterans.
Zeeble: While calling Tom Dunning a friend who will remain her friend after the election, Miller said she was offended by Dunning's new approach, saying both had agreed in advance to stick to issues and not sling mud.
Laura Miller, Mayoral Candidate: I find the divisive, mean-spirited ad that I just saw out of character for Tom, and I regret he's going in that direction. I'm going to stay positive; I'm going to live up to my commitment to Tom to stick to issues; I want to focus on basics and ethics in City Hall
Zeeble: Dunning defended his ad.
Tom Dunning, Mayoral Candidate: These are simply contrast ads, showing what we've been talking about all along - my record vs. Miss Miller's record; my style vs. hers. That's what the voters want to hear. They want to be able to compare two records and two styles.
Zeeble: But there are at least three records and styles. Domingo Garcia said all candidate records are fair game. Garcia called himself the best candidate to unite the city, especially among different ethnic groups, in part because he's bilingual and has City Council experience. While he also agreed with the other candidates about developing the southern sector's economy and improving basic city services, he broke from the others by declaring a need for a huge one billion dollar bond package to pay for infrastructure and other basic city repairs. And in discussing traffic congestion, he said bus and light rail rides on Dallas Area Rapid Transit - DART - should be free
Domingo Garcia, State Representative and Mayoral Candidate: If we make DART free and let anyone get on the bus, we'll have less cars on the roads; we'll have better air quality. We'll have a good mass transit system that everybody can use, and that's a problem we'd like to have
Zeeble: But neither Dunning nor Miller thought it was one the City could afford. Instead, both said they'd pursue more state and federal money for additional highway and road development. The broadcast debate also touched on the candidates' goals for the city's future, opinions on the council/manager form of government, and assessment of the Mayor's role in public education. KERA 13 will carry the debate tomorrow morning at 11. KERA 2 will air it tomorrow at 5 pm. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.