By Ruth Ferguson, NDG Editor
The Dallas City Council runoff elections appear to show Tennell Atkins is returning to horseshoe to represent District 8. Atkins received 51 percent of the 1,885 votes cast versus the 49 percent received by incumbent Erik Wilson. The North Dallas Gazette (NDG) endorsed Atkins. Also, Tiffinni A. Young lost her bid for re-election to represent District 7 gaining 46 percent of the vote versus Kevin Felder’s 54 percent in a race which saw 2,261 votes. In what was perhaps the more surprising result, Mayor Pro Tem Monico Alzono gained only 42 percent of the vote to keep her seat, losing to Omar Narvaez who received 58 percent of the 1,960 votes counted.
The results from the Dallas City Council elections are not finalized yet, pending examination of the some of the mailed in ballots. Earlier in the day on Saturday, Dallas County Commissioner Clay Jenkins and Mayor Rawlings appeared together at the Dallas County Elections Department offices to discuss the extra steps to validate the mail-in ballots where the voter was assisted by someone to fill out their ballot. This process was put into place following the announcement the Dallas District Attorney’s office ordered the sequestration of the mail-in ballots in question.
“They’ll be looking at each document, taking each document out of the envelope, checking to make sure the signatures match, checking those against other signatures on file,” Jenkins stated. The process was expected to start Sunday at 8 a.m. and each candidate is invited to have one representative present.
Election cycle a failure for North Dallas PAC
If the elections of Atkins, Felder and Narvaez stand, it will be a significant blow to City of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ coalition. It will also be a striking blow against the efforts of the Political Action Committee (PAC) For Our Community. The PAC spent a significant amount of money in an effort to maintain influence on the city council. NDG’s report on May 17 showed that through the financial reports made on April 28, For Our Community spent heavily to return the three incumbents to the city council. The high profile race the PAC invested in and lost was their effort to defeat incumbent Phillip Kingston, spending more than $100,000 to support his opponent Matt Wood. Kingston easily won re-election with a 13 percent margin of victory.
The name may suggest the PAC has the best interests of the South Dallas residents in mind. However, NDG Senior Columnist Ed Gray pointed out they are “not in the hood.” He and other critics are not suggesting PACs are illegal, however, they do provide cover for special interests groups who want to influence candidates. It is important for elected officials to always keep the welfare and best interests in mind for the communities they are charged with representing.
This spring the PAC invested more than $24,000 in the District 7 (Young) and District 8 (Wilson) races. While the amount to help re-elect Alonzo as of late April represented $10,000, many have pointed to the fact PAC includes a $10,000 donation from the co-founders of West Dallas Investments. Alonzo’s brother is Texas Rep. Roberto Alonzo, who reportedly opposed Rep. Eric Johnson’s House Bill 2480 a bill designed to help longtime residents of West Dallas facing encroaching gentrification which is threatening to push them out of the community as their property taxes potentially triple. A bill West Dallas Investments opposed. Rep. Alonzo in published reports denies his opposition to the bill, however, the Republican-controlled House killed the bill along with others at the last minute, so no votes were cast.
