By Catherine Cuellar, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX –
Catherine Cuellar, KERA 90.1 reporter: Dallas City Council's four retiring members may be lame ducks, but they're still keeping busy. This afternoon at city hall, they will meet with the entire council to develop an alternative to the strong mayor proposition written by Dallas Attorney Beth Ann Blackwood. District 11 council member Lois Finkelman:
Lois Finkelman, District 11 council member: What we're hearing from citizens is folks saying I still want a strong mayor, but I don't want this proposal. So it's incumbent upon the council to come up with an alternative proposal based on what we're hearing from the community, and assure folks that it will be on the ballot in November, and that they need to vote Blackwood down and vote for an alternative that would give the mayor more power but would still provide the checks and balances that do not exist in Blackwood.
Cuellar: Finkelman, who was president of the park board before joining the council, hopes the mayor and council will allow her to remain active on the air quality committee after her elected service has concluded. Meanwhile, two candidates have filed for her north Dallas District 11 seat. Further north, four candidates are vying for the District 12 seat being vacated by Sandy Greyson. Greyson previously served on the DART board and currently chairs the council's transportation committee.
Sandy Greyson, District 12 council member: I hope to be able to continue to be active with transportation issues. We have a project I'm currently involved in which a NAFTA trade corridor project which is using the existing I-35, I-20, 30 route to try and make sure that we continue to have goods movement through our area and that we build upon that. That will help revitalize our southern sector. Then also I've agreed to chair an exploratory committee to see whether we want to locate a family justice center in Dallas to serve victims of domestic violence and their children in a one-stop way where they wouldn't have to go around to a lot of different agencies and try to get some assistance.
Cuellar: Greyson has also been an advocate for green space, from trails in her district between the Bush turnpike and Belt Line Road, to the Trinity River project. Ongoing work to complete the Trinity's development is also a chief concern for Veletta Forsythe Lill of District 14. Like Greyson, Lill has four candidates seeking her seat. Lill plans to remain active on the Parkland Hospital Board, and hopes that her personal investment in the arts and historic preservation is built upon by the next council.
Veletta Forsythe Lill, District 14 council member: I just hope that I've played a role in creating a conservation and preservation ethic in a Dallas, city that in the past has not always honored its history, but seems to be taking a much greater pride in that history. I also love planning and chair the city's comprehensive plan committee. That will be a legacy that will live for a very long time, a comprehensive plan for the entire city that will determine how we grow in the coming decades. So I've continued to be an advocate for planning, preservation, the arts, really, the aesthetic. I've been an advocate for the aesthetic.
Cuellar: Just south of Lill's 14th place is Mayor Pro Tem John Loza's District 2, stretching from East Dallas through Deep Ellum, downtown, and into Oak Lawn. Three people have filed to succeed Loza, whose district has suffered from low turnout in years past. Meanwhile, he hopes public safety and economic development remain front-burner issues for the new council.
Mayor Pro Tem John Loza, District 2 council member: We've been able to raise the number of officers on the street, although we still have a ways to go in getting the number where it needs to be. We have a lot of good things to say about crime in Dallas in that it has gone down most of the eight years that I've been here. It's higher compared to other cities and a lot of that's because their crime rates have dropped more than ours have. Another example would be growth of the tax base in my district, which has been pretty substantial. My district received the most money in both the 1998 and 2003 bond packages which will provide for needed infrastructure improvements.
Cuellar: Loza is the only retiring council member who says he'll definitely seek public office again, possibly running for county commissioner as soon as next year. Finkelman and Lill didn't rule out future elected office. But Sandy Greyson did. All outgoing council members say they will continue to apply their collective expertise as concerned, involved citizens. Early voting begins April 20. Election Day for all 14 council districts and the Blackwood proposal is Saturday May 7th. For KERA 90.1, I'm Catherine Cuellar.
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