NDG’s View
The North Dallas Gazette (NDG) first and foremost congratulates Allan E. Meagher on his re-election to serve on the Irving City Council representing District 2. Meagher ran another successful and well thought out campaign to guarantee his re-election.
Unfortunately, Irving still has a long way to go as it relates to the full inclusion of all of its residents. In particular, the Muslim community. According to the City of Irving website, there are roughly 240,373 residents as recorded in 2017, from all walks of life. The Muslim community reportedly equals about 40,000 residents. Unfortunately, the lack of regular interaction between the City of Irving and the Muslim community may become a hindrance to the unification of the city in its entirety.
Luckily The Irving 360° Civic Academy was developed to answer questions on how the City of Irving functions. It is designed to give participants a behind-the-scenes look at daily operations and encourage civic engagement. The academy is open to anyone 18 or older who lives or works in Irving. The academy covers Irving’s history, government structure, elections and city boards, and commissions, and other topics relevant to the residents of Irving. The classes run for 10 weeks for two to three hours. The Irving 360° Civic Academy could be the cornerstone for ensuring the Muslim community and the city leaders are aligned with an opportunity to position themselves to be stronger.
It is essential for all to have access to leadership and political opportunities as they come in the Irving area. Opportunities to integrate their voice within the community is vital for the Muslim community as well.
It is critical for Meagher and the City of Irving to understand there cannot be an ostracizing of the Muslim community. The 360° Civic Academy is a starting point for opening the communications and inclusion gap.
Engagement is a two-way street
Mr. Meagher, I’m sure you will agree with grandmother’s sage advice, “You can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink.” Programs such as the 360° Civic Academy provides an avenue for engagement, but it is incumbent on members of the Muslim community to join fellow Irving residents and follow-through through by enrolling and participating in the academy.
Rodwaan Saleh’s campaign was a downpayment on the communities coming together. Although his endeavor to gain election was unsuccessful, we encourage him to build upon his efforts to help organize a coalition and develop alliances to achieve representation at the council level in the future.
Hopefully, Saleh will encourage supporters to get involved in the program. It will allow them to not only learn more about the city but provide city leaders an opportunity to hear about their issues and concerns. The Muslim community can begin to build relationships outside of their cultural and religious boundaries.
While NDG has worked in the past to gain access and establish communications with Meagher’s office and has not been successful, we hope we can start fresh and work together. NDG has always practiced fair reporting and encouraged community activism in Irving and throughout DFW. In earlier elections, we previously endorsed Meagher, and we hope as we move towards celebrating the community’s diversity and encouraging unity that we can continue to work together for the good of the entire Irving community. We are seeking to initiate the dialogue for full community inclusion.
NDG wishes Meaghar nothing but success for this upcoming term and looks forward to the partnership we will develop.
I couldn’t get halfway through this editorial without giving up. Would it be possible to have future editorials written by someone who actually passed a high school writing course?
I see how you’re trying to make a play on 360° Civic Academy, but the headline is completely incorrect. Making a “360° turn” puts you right back where you started. The proper phrase is making a 180° turn. I happened to stumble on this article, but I won’t be back to this site anytime soon.
This article states that “It will allow them to not only learn more about the city but provide city leaders an opportunity to hear about their issues and concerns” but it is not clear how this two-way communication is suppose to occur.
Also, the statement “While NDG has worked in the past to gain access and establish communications with Meagher’s office and has not been successful, we hope we can start fresh and work together” implies that the councilman’s office is ignoring its constituents and/or press. If that’s the case, how is this academy going to change that?
From what I’ve seen, the “cultural and religious boundaries” of the Muslim community are self-imposed. Often times, individuals chose not to venture outside of those boundaries for a number of reasons and would rather spend their energies building up strength within those boundaries – taking on a “us and them” posture.
That’s a shame because there is lots to be gained by everyone when genuine and open sharing occurs across groups within a community. Our Muslim brothers and sisters walk among us every day and its foolish to underestimate the extent to which they influence our live and we influence theirs. But until non-Muslims make that sharing more welcoming and become more accepting of something “different”, I can be expected that Muslims with chose to stay within those “cultural and religious boundaries” where they can feel safe, respected, empowered.