Last Day of Early Voting for Dallas City Council Runoffs
Share News:
Today is the last day of early voting in the runoffs for Dallas City Council Districts 8 and 11, the last bits of unresolved May election business for the Big D.
Council members will certainly have their work cut out for them heading into the summer, with a projected budget shortfall and questions over the city’s purported mismanagement of its extensive real estate portfolio looming.
If you’re a resident of District 8 or District 11 and haven’t voted yet, today’s your last chance to cast a ballot before Saturday, June 7, election day for this cycle’s runoffs.
District 8
Council Member Tennell Atkins, who represented the southernmost district of Dallas for 16 (nonconsecutive) years total, was termed out following voter approval of a charter proposition establishing limits of four two-year terms.
Six candidates vied for his seat. Coming out on top were realtor Erik Wilson and former city plan commissioner Lorie Blair, who earned about 42.1% and 39.5% of the vote, respectively. True to the city’s history of low voter turnout in May elections (a problem officials in Dallas and Austin are working to solve), only around 2,700 District 8 residents cast a ballot in the race.
Issues such as inequities in city development and the need for more affordable housing are pressing for many of the neighborhoods in the district, which has not seen the kind of private investment driving economic growth in more northern parts of the city.
Blair’s platform calls for “smart development” that adds jobs and quality-of-life amenities, such as new shopping, dining, and grocery store options.
“The area has to be developed,” Blair told The Dallas Morning News. “We cannot consistently be given development that does not give us new opportunities.”
Wilson, who previously represented the district on the city council for two years, wants to leverage city resources to enable entrepreneurs and small businesses and attract diverse affordable housing options.
On the housing front, he previously told CandysDirt.com, “We need policies that stimulate developers to produce affordable and workforce housing, such as tax credits, public-private partnerships, and zoning changes.”
District 11
North Dallas Chamber of Commerce executive Jeff Kitner and commercial realtor Bill Roth came out on top of a field of five last month in a race that was animated by community uproar over the controversial Pepper Square development.
Roth clocked the biggest share of votes at 48.4%. Kitner came in not far behind with 45%. A little more than 6,000 district residents cast a ballot last month to choose Council Member Jaynie Schultz’s successor.
A lot of hay has been made over the Pepper Square redevelopment, which some nearby single-family neighborhood residents claim could exacerbate existing traffic issues and impact the character of the area by adding as many as a 1,000 new residents in 12-story apartment buildings.
Roth and the other candidates have come out strongly against how the project was advanced by city officials. For his part, Kitner previously told DMN he would’ve preferred shorter apartment towers but that he ultimately thought it was a good project.
While their priorities for the city are similar (public safety, better use of taxpayer money, etc), the race has been characterized by some as one between a connected insider and an outsider reformist.
In addition to working for the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, which has put him in proximity to various business dealings with the city, Kitner sits on the Dallas Park & Recreation Board. His supporters see all that experience as a plus. Roth, in contrast, has styled himself a defender of single-family neighborhoods in the face of a density onslaught led by city bureaucrats and out-of-touch elected officials.
Both candidates responded to CandysDirt.com’s questionnaire about real estate issues in Dallas. You can read their responses here. Otherwise, we’ll check back in after the runoffs.
