By David Wilfong, NDG Contributing Writer
The Monday Night Politics forum held at the African-American Museum in Fair Park focused on the Dallas City Council race in District 7. The event, hosted by the Dallas Examiner, gives candidates an opportunity to speak directly to voters in the weeks preceding each election cycle.
District 7 is a heated race, with many candidates looking to unseat the current councilmember Kevin Felder.
Candidate Sade Johnson was not in attendance at the forum, having sent a message to the organizers she was ill at the time. Those in attendance were Adam Bazaldua, Sandra Crenshaw, Kevin Felder, Yvette Gbalazeh, Calvin Johnson, Korey Mack, Joseph Thomas, Tiffinni A. Young.
Felder is the incumbent in the race and is the subject of controversy over a felony arrest last month for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident causing injury. While never directly addressed at the forum, several candidates alluded to the district needing a councilmember who does not generate negative press.
Bazaldua is a teacher at Skyline High School. He has run for the seat before and pledges to make it a full-time job is elected.
“Our three main priorities are affordable housing, building coalitions and increasing transparency and accountability in our government,” Bazaldua said.
He divides coalition building into internal and external efforts. Internally he wants to create an advisory board of the “mover sna shakers” within District 7. Externally he says he can build cooperative relationships with other elected officials to get the eight votes necessary on the council to get anything done.
“I’m tired of seeing our district at the forefront of the news, and I’d like that news to be in a positive light for the constituents and the progress through our district,” Bazaldua said.
Crenshaw is a former Dallas City Council member and has run unsuccessfully for higher office in the past. She is no stranger to controversy herself, having seen her own legal battles as well as controversy over the removal of Confederate statues in Dallas. Crenshaw says she is running because she is not happy with what she’s seen taking place since she left her spot on the horseshoe.
“I have been part of the political landscape in Dallas since 1978,” Crenshaw said. “And I’ve gone through a lot of pain, lot of fighting, civil rights fighting. But the greatest pain is to see people come to office and start over and reinvent the wheel. They’d rather listen to the gossip about what the Morning News has to say about me or anybody else, instead of getting with us and having a smooth transition … It’s a lot of balancing, and not just with the people who sit on that council. You have to work with the state laws. You have to work with the county. You’ve got to work with DISD. So it’s a lot of laws. This is about laws. So you need to know a little bit about what’s happened before, for you to build upon it.”
Gbalazeh describes herself as a “full-time activist,” and says she is the only person running who has managed to get a law changed. Citing her efforts to gain decriminalize marijuana and bringing a first amendment lawsuit against the City of Dallas. She says it is her time to serve, being without the obligations of children and family, and is in a unique position to put her constituents first. Audience members interrupted Gbalazeh repeatedly during her time at the microphone. She dismissed attempts to shut her down. Gbalazeh aimed direct attacks against Felder and Bazaldua in particular and negative comments to make about others running as well, dismissing those who opposed her message.
“It’s not dirt,” Gbalazeh said. “Dirty politics is when you lie about something and override actual facts. And of course the liars, the people that are guilty of these behaviors; you know, they’re going to try to make things up, they’re going to try to spin it. But we’ve learned those tricks from Donald Trump and we’re over that. We use facts. We need to study the facts.”
Calvin Johnson is a local attorney raised in District 7. He said the district “took care of me,” and says he wants to give back. He cited several local officials who are going to endorse him in his run and touted his record of accomplishing the goals he sets out for himself.
“I want to make sure we change what’s happening in city hall for us,” Calvin Johnson said. “We have been ‘Breaking News’ too much. I decided after watching this for years and years and years, that I wanted to put my hat in, and I wanted to make sure we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. I want to make sure we get those bond dollars moving. If you’re going to pass a bond you’ve got to get those dollars moving, and working in the community. That’s what I want to do.”
Mack is originally from Los Angeles, but came to Dallas as a child and grew up in Oak Cliff. He has worked as an educator, an entertainment business owner, and has been active in civic organizations and served on the Dallas City Planning Commission. He says he is seeking to “elevate the level of representation” for District 7 on the city council.
“The reason I’m running is to revitalize communities, make sure we have a proactive defense against gentrification, also to build coalitions the same way I have in Buckner Terrace as their homeowners’ chair the past four years, and to engage and empower citizens,” Mack said. “It starts at the ballot box, but we’ve got to do much more than vote. We’ve got to interact with our elected officials; Dallas ISD all the way up to the federal level. We need to know who they are. They need to know who we are more important, and we need to be engaged.”
Thomas is a tech specialist who has worked in education as well as the private sector in the hotel industry. He is a product of District 7 and graduated from Lincoln high school. He points to a history of community service through the church, and says the district is in need of a “public servant.” He also says his familiarity with the city system and personnel is one of his key advantages.
“I’ve been working for the City of Dallas for the last eight years,” Thomas said. “My actual job is recording council meetings. So when you say ‘inside man,’ I’m your inside man. Over 200 council meetings, over 50 city planning commission meetings, parks, and rec, ethics advisory, I’ve seen all of them. I was also very instrumental in putting together the virtual town hall meeting. I was one of the tech guys that was very instrumental in putting that forward to make sure you can watch it online, listen to it and even vote.”
Young is seeking to reclaim her spot on the Dallas City Council. She defeated Felder in 2015 but was then beaten by him in the following 2017 election. Both elections being decided by less than 300 votes, emphasizing how important voter turnout is in city elections. She is an attorney who grew up in District 7 and has been active in political efforts since the age of 14. She says she is running again at the request of many District 7 constituents.
“When I talk about a lifetime of public service, I have been serving the public since high school as a volunteer throughout the community; working to make sure that our future is brighter, working to make sure the young ladies can see good examples in myself just like I saw as a young student when I started out back in high school” Young said.
“I’m asking you to support me because of what we’ve been able to accomplish together,” Young said. “I have the passion to serve you. I serve with sound principles, and we’ve achieved quite a bit throughout the district and I’ll continue to do that.”
For all the intensity surrounding the race, Felder is steadfast in his assertion that he should stay on the Dallas City Council. He dismisses the negative barbs thrown at him and says his action on the city council speaks for itself.
“I’m running on my track record,” Felder said. “Less than two years we’ve been in office and we’ve done quite a bit. The first thing we’ve done; we created a District office in the MLK Center … I’ve heard over and over it’s going to close. It’s not. We passed a $50 million bond package for Fair Park. Of that $50 million, $2 million came to this museum, to upgrade this museum. I’m very proud of my track record.
“We’ve created a new standard in District 7. We’ve had 50 town hall meetings in the last 23 months. That is unprecedented, and I’ve been at all of them. To the extent that there are many candidates running in this race, none of them can say they have a track record.”
The Dallas City Council election will be held on May 4. Early voting begins on April 22, and the last day to register to vote is April 4.
