Whatley, Vanhof Challenge Incumbent West for North Oak Cliff’s District 1 City Council Race

As Dallas continues to evolve, each City Council district faces unique challenges and opportunities that shape the neighborhoods within them. In this ongoing Q&A series ahead of the May 3 election, we’re diving into each district to explore key real estate trends, development projects, and the policies driving change.

First off, if you’re not sure what your city council district is, here’s a map of the 14 districts. Can’t decipher Meadow from Meandering Way? Search what city council district you’re located in on the City of Dallas website. Alternatively, visit the city’s ArcGIS map to search your City of Dallas address.

As one of Dallas’ most dynamic areas, District 1 encompasses North Oak Cliff, a neighborhood known for its historic charm, walkable streets, and ongoing transformation. From the bustling Bishop Arts District to the tree-lined streets of Kessler Park, North Oak Cliff has long been a magnet for creatives, small businesses, and urban pioneers.

With development pressures, affordability concerns, and shifting infrastructure needs, the district is at a pivotal moment. We’re digging into the key issues shaping North Oak Cliff today — what’s working, what’s changing, and what residents can expect moving forward.

Incumbent Chad West has filed to keep his District 1 seat. Challengers include political newcomers Jason Vanhof, a small business owner, and Realtor Katrina Whatley. 

CandysDirt.com extended these questions to each Dallas City Council candidate, offering them the opportunity to speak directly to our readers and their constituents. Here are unabridged responses for Chad West and Katrina Whatley. Jason Vanhof declined our invitation to participate.:

Chad West: The biggest problem is existing, affordable housing being torn down to build new housing that is mostly unaffordable. In the vast majority of cases, the new housing is large single family detached housing. This was true in my district in South Winnetka Heights when a century old home was torn down to build a large McMansion. After that, South Winnetka Heights became the first new conservation district in Dallas in over a decade thanks to neighborhood leaders, city staff, and my office working together to get this done. I am working with more neighborhoods across my district to discuss options, including Stevens Park Village, which just filed to become a conservation district as well. Folks that work in preservation know that current zoning across the city generally doesn’t allow for one- and two-story homes to be torn down for looming apartments and multiplexes, but our homes are extremely vulnerable to being torn down to build towering and unaffordable McMansions.

Katrina Whatley: Affordable housing, solutions for the unhoused, issues surrounding gentrification, the need for more responsible development that meets the needs of people instead of bank accounts can all be addressed by council. But first it takes a voice who insists those be a priority.

Chad West: In summer 2023, the Dallas City Council banned short-term rentals (STR) in residential neighborhoods. Over 18 months later, that ban has not been implemented because the city ignored past legal precedence when we enacted our ban. When the courts strike down this ordinance and Dallas starts over again, I will support an ordinance that I believe does right by our residents and can survive a lawsuit. This would firstly include allowing for settled rights, which says any existing STR can stay open as long as they stay in regulatory compliance but the city can end its permit if it falls out of compliance, and secondly including allowing for care-taker occupied STRs, which says that any property can host an STR if there is a permanent Dallas resident on that property.

Katrina Whatley: Short-term rentals are a valuable source of income for some residents. We want to make that available to those who want and need that income. ADU’s (Accessory Dwelling Units) are important. ADU’s are a great solution to many concerns, particularly to those of us who are attempting to meet the needs of our elders. But profit-motivated packing of homes and apartments is not something we should be promoting.

I am in favor of ADU’s and short-term rental income for residents who are making those choices in their own homes.

Chad West: One of the first big test cases of Forward Dallas 2.0 was Floral Farms where dozens of homeowners in southeast Dallas have been pleading with the city for years to protect them from encroachment of hazardous industrial use. These homeowners just won at the City Council level as they cited the environmental protections in Forward Dallas 2.0. It is not shocking to me that the 12 council members who voted on the side of the residents included all 11 of us who supported the final draft of Forward Dallas 2.0.

Katrina Whatley: Why, yes. Yes I do. Several. Actually, many.

Chad West: We need to invest more in both of these things and in many cases they are the same solution. I have always supported funding the Dallas Police Department’s proposed budget and anticipate doing so in the future. I have also championed traffic calming measures to create safe streets across my district. The intersection at Colorado and Sylvan/Tyler now has funding to fix speeding and blindspot problems that have lingered for years and have claimed several lives. We have successfully done lane reductions in places like Jefferson Blvd to slow down vehicles as Jefferson transitions from mainly commercial to mainly residential to help create safer and slower speeds near people’s houses.

Katrina Whatley: Infrastructure to support the influx of new residents needs to be visionary. Decisions should be made with an eye toward how they will hang together over time. When we review a project based solely on it’s merit in a vacuum, we make mistakes. Without considering the overall community impact we aren’t serving the bigger picture.

My goal on the City Council will be to not just begrudgingly accept input, but to solicit it. Residents can see things council cannot always see before the mistakes are made.

There is a real need to increase effective policing and public safety in Dallas. When ten thousand new residents are added to a community like ours, there is an exponential increase in how to effectively meet those needs.

At the same time, some of the decisions made in the past have been band-aids.

For example, it was important to advocate on behalf of including the Right Care Program to address and enhance response to mental and behavioral health calls made by DPD.

But the subsequent needs of those programs, things like re-training of workers, proactive changes that respond to new information and strict collection of data with which to assess the effectiveness of the programs seems to too-often fall by the wayside.

The importance of follow-up, review, input and assessment should always be part of decisions to proceed with new programming.

Chad West: I ran for city council in 2019 because I wanted to make sure Oak Cliff stayed a great place to live for my two young children, who are now nine and seven years old. I am passionate about hearing about people’s problems and working with them to find solutions. It can be as simple as helping a resident ensure sanitation doesn’t miss trash pickup on their unique block or as complex as large area planning meant to put pen to paper on documenting what residents want and don’t want the city to do in their neighborhood. I answer emails and texts late at night like when a restaurant has its gas shut off for no reason and they need help contacting Atmos or on the weekends when a water line breaks and residents need an emergency crew out within the hour. If I am reelected to my final two years on council, I will continue to serve with this same level of zeal. It has been the honor of my life to serve you these past five and a half years.

Katrina Whatley: I have an intimate understanding of how the unfettered, unchecked interests of big-money developers and politicians can negatively affect a home, a neighborhood and the people of D1. It happened to me when a 5-story apartment complex went up three feet from my beloved, longtime home.

My journey of learning and understanding how decisions are made in this city began when I looked out my kitchen window to see a battalion of construction workers where there once was a view of downtown. In my years long quest to understand exactly how that occurred, I’ve learned a lot. Now it’s time for me to share everything I have learned with my neighbors and stand as a fierce advocate on their behalf.

We have a history of protecting each other in this community. Increasing the reach of the tools it takes to understand how to do that has always been job one for me. For the past ten years I have devoted my time to bringing disparate voices together. Those voices are now telling me that they do not feel heard, they do not feel included and they want change.

A lack of transparency and the goals of people who are motivated by interests that extend far beyond the borders of D1 is having a mixed impact on the people of Oak Cliff. We need to be certain that we are aware and informed about what is about to happen and that we agree that the impact is good for us all. And we need to understand why those decisions are being made.

Public safety, parks and environmental issues, transportation solutions that actually work, affordable housing solutions that make sense, smart development and better communication with the City of Dallas are just a few of the issues I’d like to get started on immediately, should the voters believe I’m up to the task. Thankfully, every day I hear from more and more of them who believe I am.

My first promise to the people of Oak Cliff is that I will explain the reasoning, conversation and thought behind my votes at the Horseshoe.

It’s a big job to be an open book. It’s a big job to be open-hearted. I’m ready to represent District 1 with an open book and heart, I’m ready to make it my priority. Transparent Katrina Whatley here, ready to serve.

Who’s on the Ballot for the May 3 Dallas City Council Election?