Retired AIDS Services of Dallas CEO Don Maison is honored by Dallas County Commissioners and is surrounded by commissioners, heads of other AIDS agencies, residents and employees. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price presented a proclamation honoring retired AIDS Services of Dallas CEO Don Maison for his years of service to Dallas.
At the March 19 Commissioners Court meeting, Price credited Maison for ending police harassment at Dallas gay bars in 1979 by defending and gaining acquittals for a group of men arrested at Village Station for dancing.
He thanked Maison for providing housing for people with HIV at a time when no one wanted them in their neighborhood while improving the neighborhood by opening Hillcrest House and other neighboring properties acquired by ASD.
He joked that Maison even showed courage or was just a little crazy when, as an attorney, he took on Price as a client.
The other commissioners joined in the praise of Maison. Commissioner Elba Garcia talked about working with Maison on zoning and other issues when she was on the Dallas City Council. She joked about how good Maison’s Spanish had become.
Republican Commissioner J.J. Koch, the newest member of Commissioner’s Court, noted that he was born in 1979 but said Maison’s work made Dallas a better place to live.
Peggy Lundy, Koch’s chief of staff, said she’s known Maison for 20 years and stood to honor him with a group that included current and former ASD residents, ASD staff, heads of other AIDS service agencies, LGBT and other community organizations.
— David Taffet
