On Wednesday evening, Wax Space held an open candidate forum for residents to learn more about the candidates running for Dallas City Council in District 1.
The candidates running are Chad West (incumbent), Katrina Whatley and Jason Vanhof. Both West and Whatley participated in the forum.
Each candidate was asked questions regarding key city topics, including affordable housing, homelessness, public safety and more. Both were given two minutes to answer each question, alternating who answered first.
West, the incumbent, is a homeowner and small business owner in Oak Cliff. He is “dedicated to giving residents and entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed, ensuring that our diverse neighborhoods and historic structures are protected and cherished, and ensuring that opportunities, education, and city services are equitable.”
Whatley is a real estate professional and the founder of the Oak Cliff Ladies Club, which has upwards of 5,000 members. Whatley is “on a mission to ensure that the inevitable growth we experience benefits everyone.”
A key question at the forum pertained to homelessness and what the most pressing aspect of the issue is.
“… We had the Miramar Hotel, we were supposed to put them there, and that’s never happened,” Whatley stated in her answer. “It’s been a mystery to me why that has not happened. I think the city cares about our unhoused people, and we’re trying to figure out what to do … I think supportive housing is the answer.”
“I think it’s obviously the hardest issue any city faces,” West said. “If some city had figured it out by now, we would all be doing the exact same thing.”
He referenced the Housing Forward program and how they funnel resources through them to create a housing first model.
“You can’t just throw a homeless person in an apartment complex, you have to provide the services they need to succeed,” West said.
The candidates were asked about how crime is a leading concern for residents, and what they think is working, and what is the biggest concern.
“Public safety and infrastructure and streets are the top priorities in our district,” West said. “… We’ve got to take public safety very seriously. Chief Garcia instituted the violent crime reduction plan when he was here, and it worked … as a result of that, we’ve seen an uptick in other types of crimes … to address it, we need to be vigilant as neighbors …”
“One of the things I was looking at is recruiting more officers is very important, and the city is looking at reducing the qualifications, so not requiring a college degree to recruit more people,” Whatley said. “I myself did not have a college degree, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have the opportunity to serve as a police officer.”
The candidates were asked about what role development plays or should play in the neighborhood.
Whatley references that a five story apartment complex was “built five feet” from her house.
“I’m not anti-development, and I’m not anti-progress, but it needs to be done in the right ways,” Whatley said. “Don’t hurt people, first of all, and it needs to fit in with what we have now. It bothers me that developers are coming in and building things that don’t fit with us … ”
“Jumping in head first, having the hard conversations, taking the hits that you have to take to actually get through to conversations is essential, and working with neighbors and places like Heritage Oak Cliff to get things done like passing the first conservation district in 13 years,” West said. “Development is intrusive, it is necessary to have some density, it just has to be in the appropriate places …”
The candidates were asked how they plan to engage with constituents and make sure their voices are heard.
“One of my biggest things is making sure people know what’s happening,” Whatley said. “They may not know that they need to make their voices heard because they may not know what’s happening … I would want to expand notification areas … and I think more people would speak out if they knew what the actual issues were.”
Affordable housing was another pressing issue the candidates discussed.
“I’m really proud of my record for the last 6 years on affordable housing,” West said. “I was the loudest voice in the city on permitting office reform … it’s gotten better over time, it has a long way to go, but one of the best ways to keep affordability in check is to make it not as expensive to build, which we can do by making our permitting office more efficient … I support programs to subsidize affordable housing.”
To view more information on the candidates and their policies, click the links in the second paragraph to find their campaign websites.
The last day to register to vote is April 3, and early voting runs from April 22-29 for the May 3 election.
