By Tamarind Phinisee, NDG Contributing Writer
For the past three years, Irving City Councilman Dennis Webb has dedicated his time and energy to responding to the needs of the citizens of District 3.
Now the 55-year-old incumbent is hoping these same citizens will allow him to continue his efforts by re-electing him for another term. He says he plans to do this without the mud-slinging and smear campaigns often seen in the political arena.
“I won’t try to get people to vote for me by saying how bad my opponents are. I don’t want to get elected based on me slinging mud,” Webb says. “Rather I want it to be based on my character and leadership and on the fact that I’ve proven for over 30 years that I’m committed to the city.”
His opponent, 33-year-old Billy Hickman says that he also plans to keep the campaign clean.
Hickman, who only met Webb this week, says he’s heard nothing but good things about Webb and hopes Webb has heard good things about him. He adds he does not view himself as running against Webb, but as running for the people of Irving.
Hickman works in the Irving School District’s athletics department and has worked on several community projects through his church, First Baptist Irving. Hickman says he wants to see better things happen in Irving. He says District 3 – which is located on the city’s West side – is often overlooked by city officials who focus more on projects in the Las Colinas area or in south Irving.
“I’ve lived in Irving my entire life and I look around and think we can do a lot better than what we’ve been doing,” Hickman says. “I’m raising my family here and I just want my daughter to love Irving as much as I do.”
Webb knows the feeling. Webb’s passion as a civic and community leader was inspired by his spirituality and by the work of Jackie Townsell – the first African American and second woman elected to the Irving City Council. Townsell fought to improve the Bear Creek Community in West Irving – where Webb lived.
“I watched her fight this fight by herself and this motivated me to get involved also,” Webb says.
Webb adds that he grew up in the Bear Creek Community which had housing and quality of life issues. Some of the elderly citizens, he says, lived in homes that were very substandard, without running water, etc.
“My heart just went out to them,” he says. “This and I watched some of leaders of the city start trying to take the Bear Creek community. At one point they wanted it to be an industrial district. They were trying to find ways to buy and take the community from the citizens. So, I became active in stopping that.”
Web says he realized that taking leadership roles in the city would give him a better platform in which to do this. In this vain, Webb has served in numerous civic capacities. These include serving on what later became the Bear Creek Development Corp, as well as on the city of Irving’s planning and zoning committee, on the Mayor’s human relations advisory committee, on the trustee board of the Renaissance Charter School and as one of the Irving representatives on the Urban League of Greater Dallas’ community block grant board of directors.
Building a legacy
Webb took office as City Councilman for the first time in 2011. During this three-year term, he worked on a number of projects, including the renovation of Doris Park – a park which had become dilapidated and overrun with sexual and drug dealing activity. The $125,000 cleanup of the park, which Webb spearheaded, yielded a walking/jogging trail, lighting and modern playground equipment that was closer to the parking lot.
He also worked to save two recreation centers located in the Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin middle schools outside of his district. The recreation centers, Webb says, had been slated for closure as part of cost-cutting and consolidation efforts by the city. These efforts, he says, would’ve moved the afterschool programs too far away for students to access.
In addition, Webb pushed for mediation/settlement of the Las Colinas Group lawsuit. The highly publicized lawsuit involved the proposed development of a $250 million multi-use entertainment center in the Las Colinas Urban Center. The project purports to create more than 2,700 jobs, increase tax revenues and property taxes in the area and spur new development.
If re-elected, Webb says he will continue to respond to citizen needs and also plans to look into the airport’s plan for vacant property that it owns just off of Esters Road.
Responder by nature
Webb says District 3 citizens seek him out with their concerns and needs, which he works to respond to. He also looks around the district to ascertain additional areas of need and makes it a point to be visible in the community among his constituents regardless of race or religion, a fact not lost on his peers.
Dr. Elba Garcia, Dallas County Commissioner for District 4, has worked with Webb on a number of projects and says she respects his involvement in the community.
“Honorable Webb (is) one of those members that you see in events all over the city,” Garcia says. “I have seen him not only with the African American community, but also with the Muslim, Anglo, Latino and Asian communities. So he is someone that really, in my opinion, has worked hard to bridge the diversity within the Irving city council.”
Webb also founded and serves as pastor of the Bear Creek Community Church in Irving. Initially, he launched a support group for drug addicts and later a support group for all who needed help. This group morphed into a church, which officially started in 1996. Webb’s church is known for its community outreach efforts, such as the establishment of the city’s first sustainable community garden, its summer math and reading enhancement program and a night to feed the homeless.
Aside from all of this, Webb’s natural passion for helping others has been highlighted in his 30-year career as a firefighter for the Grand Prairie Fire Department – 20 years of which he served as an officer and a lieutenant. During this time, Webb helped lead and mentor a number of new firefighters, including William Buckley.
Buckley, who serves as a firefighter in Station No. 6, says he first met Webb 15 years ago when he became a firefighter. What he admires most about Webb, Buckley says, is his humility, leadership and character.
“He doesn’t give in to gossip. He tries to get to the truth of what’s been said before he forms his opinion,” Buckley says. “If I were to sum it up I would say that he has always done the right thing instead of just buckling to the opposition. He’s always true to his word and stays the course in the best interest of everyone.”
Webb retired this past January to devote more time to his post as city councilman.
