Forewarned, now what’s next?

By Charles O’Neal

While your attention is focused on mayoral matters – here’s the move you really have to watch out for: a well-financed bum rush to change Dallas to a mayor-council (strong mayor) charter from its current council-manager government.

This is a long-sought-for charter change, particularly among the same people that fought against single-member council districts. Yes, yes, the “strong mayor” charter change has been on the wish list of folk who NEVER intended for Black Dallasites to EVER have a voice in municipal government for decades!

Trust me… the upcoming campaign effort will be so well-financed and slickly produced that it will be hard to resist. It will be pushed harder than the governor is pushing to destroy public education, very likely with money from the very same sources.

Falling for the strong mayor sales pitch will be as disastrous as falling for the voucher scheme. The announcement of party affiliation by the current mayor is the warning shot! Partisan politics injected into Dallas municipal affairs brings all the horrors of anti-affirmative action, anti-DEI, anti-people policies that have served to divide – NOT UNITE – the entire country.

Can you imagine a Dallas city council made up of partisan ideologies like those in the Texas Legislature? That’s the deal you sign up for if you fall for the strong mayor okey-doke.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Charles O’Neal is President of the Texas Association of African American Chambers of Commerce, a statewide network of Texas’ 25 Black chambers of commerce. 

Editor’s Note:  Charles O’Neal is a brilliant thought leader and prolific writer.  This piece appeared on FaceBook and we felt it would be of great service to our audiences if we shared it here.