By BJ Austin
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-968816.mp3
Dallas, TX – The Dallas Mayor's race "Part Two" gears up Monday: a runoff between former Pizza Hut CEO Mike Rawlings and former Police Chief David Kunkle. KERA's BJ Austin looks at what's ahead.
After Saturday's election, Mike Rawlings leads going into the runoff. He got 41 % of the vote. David Kunkle trails by 9 points, at 32%.
That makes Mel and Elaine Munch eager to work even harder on the Kunkle campaign. They like his focus on the basics.
Mel: The streets in Dallas are absolutely deplorable. It should be more about neighborhoods.
Elaine: I think people are very disenchanted with, to a degree, with big business and big hotels and projects that never pay off.
In the Rawlings camp, Bryan Bailey believes the former Pizza Hut CEO has the business know-how necessary to "grow" Dallas - especially in the southern sector.
Bailey: We have land. We have room. With someone with a vision who's going to follow through on it, I think this is a pivotal moment. I think Mike's got it, and I think he's going to follow through on what he says.
Rawlings says the mayor needs to do it all: recruit big corporations to Dallas, and take care of business at home.
Rawlings: We need strong neighborhoods, and we need strong schools to do it. And they want a mayor that can grow the top line and make sure we have great neighborhoods at the same time.
Kunkle says he got into the race because he saw a neglect of neighborhoods at City Hall.
Kunkle: We were overtaxed and underserved, and that the strength of the city and our economy was going to be dependent on how strong our neighborhoods are.
Voter Tom Cole hopes to hear more specifics from the candidates on what he considers to the top two issues.
Cole: I think education is always at the forefront and also economic development. I think those are the two issues the runoff will be about.
The first runoff candidate forum is Friday at the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.