Real Estate Council Welcomes New Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings

Days after being elected as Dallas Mayor, Mike Rawlings met with members of The Real Estate Council for one of his first official events on June 21 at the Patton Boggs offices in downtown Dallas. The Real Estate Council endorsed Mayor Rawlings, who is committed to issues that the organization supports such as expanding the Dallas tax base by focusing economic development efforts on the underutilized Southern Sector, small business growth and large business relocations.

"I want Dallas to be the best town in America to do business," Rawlings said at the event. "We need to attract those businesses and recognize that Southern Dallas is a resource for our city. It is 60 percent of the land mass representing 15 percent of the population."

Mayor Rawlings also wants to work with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) on the quality of public education. Although the mayor does not have control over the DISD, Rawlings intends to influence positive change and raise expectations of the educational standard in Dallas. He said he will also concentrate on The Trinity River Corridor Project, which he believes will impact Dallas for generations.

More from David Kunkle and Mike Rawlings

David Kunkle at Tonight's Debate in Oak Cliff

Tonight we headed to Oak Cliff for another debate between Dallas mayoral candidates David Kunkle and Mike Rawlings. If you live in Dallas, I want to urge you to get out there and vote for David Kunkle. Why? Rawlings may impress with his managerial skills, but to me its apparent Kunkle is a guy who lives and breathes urban life and gets the connection between the places we love to visit and what's missing from the places where we live.

Rawlings is not without merit, but Kunkle is clearly our guy here. Asked about a troubled tollway project through the Trinity River flood zone, he said he would kill it. He had two books with him and frequently held up a recent book Wrestling with Moses about battling freeways in New York. He talks about how the region gave the impression to Superbowl visitors of being a "wasteland" as far as sustainable development goes. He said he's rather have many smaller neighborhood projects than one football stadium. To me, this guy knows his stuff. And he's right, now is the time to start building a world-class city--a world class city that's a great place to live-- in North Central Texas.

Video 1: Trinity River Tollroad
Video 2: Doing Things Differently
Video 3: Sanctuary Cities 
Video 4: Closing Statements

Mayoral Event in East Dallas Focuses on Preservation

Dallas Mayoral candidates David Kunkle and Mike Rawlings will meet again Monday, this time in East Dallas, in a forum focusing on preservation and conservation. The forum is sponsored by Preservation Dallas and the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League. The event will take place at 7:15 at the Cesar Chavez Learning Center, 1710 N. Carroll Street. 

Don't forget to cast your vote for the next Mayor using our poll in the upper left.