Outgoing council members sat in front of the incoming Dallas City Council as members of the Turtle Creek Chorale in the Choral Terrace sang the national anthem.
The predominantly gay Turtle Creek Chorale opened the swearing-in ceremony for the Dallas City Council this morning at the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center. About 50 members of the Chorale participated.
A number of out officials and former officials, including Sheriff Lupe Valdez and former District 2 Councilman John Loza, attended. Stonewall Democrats of Dallas and the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance were well represented. Among family members attending was Cowboys hall-of-famer Roger Staubach, whose daughter Jennifer Staubach Gates was sworn in as District 13 councilwoman.
Mayor Mike Rawlings paid tribute to five members leaving the council. The outgoing council had more women than any other council in the city’s history. All five members leaving are women.
Among those leaving, Rawlings cited Delia Jasso for her work on the LGBT Task Force and growth of business in her district, especially in Bishop Arts. He mentioned her recognition by the National Diversity Council in April as the most powerful and influential woman in Texas. He credited her with educating him on domestic violence issues. Rawlings made no mention of Jasso’s stunning recent betrayal of the LGBT community when she withdrew her support for an equality resolution, which effectively killed the measure.
The mayor called Angela Hunt a good friend. As the youngest person ever elected to Dallas City Council, he said she brought a new vitality to the horseshoe.
Rawlings said Pauline Medrano would be remembered for patrolling her district and turning in more service requests than any other person in city history. Her record is more than 5,000 out street lights reports and 7,500 street and other service requests.
As new council members were introduced, Adam Medrano, who is replacing his aunt in District 2, received the loudest cheers. Adam Medrano has thus far declined to answer questions about his sexual orientation despite being arrested several years ago in connection with alleged homosexual activity in a public restroom.
Outgoing City Manager Mary Suhm, who has worked at the city for 35 years, received two standing ovations. Rawlings said no one has made more of a difference in the city of Dallas, especially in the last 15 years.
The new council was sworn in as a group but given a certificate of election individually. The mayor’s comments about each reflected his personal opinion on a variety of issues as much as they reflected on the council member.
He praised Dwaine Caraway for closing drug houses in District 4, but didn’t mention his latest push to have plastic shopping bags banned from stores in the city and encourage reusable bags. New council member Lee Kleinman was touted for his work for parks and bikes trails and lanes. Meanwhile, District 14’s new councilman Philip Kingston, who was elected as an opponent of fracking and a toll road between the Trinity River levees, got a bare mention for neighborhood work.
Before the ceremony, Kingston was circulating in the lobby of the Meyerson.
“I’m talking to a lot of people who don’t like me already,” he said.
In a state-of-the-city address that closed the ceremony, Rawlings spoke about his first two years and listed his three priorities: growth of South Dallas, the importance of arts, culture and green space, and improvement in public education. In the last category, he made no mention of Superintendent Mike Miles or that the mayor and council has no control over the school district.
He also addressed healthcare, which is a county, not city, function.
“There are those opposed to the Affordable Care Act, including our governor,” he said. “But it’d the law of the land and it’s the right thing for Dallas.”
The ACA comes fully into effect in 2014 when people will be required to have health insurance and can purchase it through online healthcare exchanges that should bring costs down. Rawlings said those who could not afford insurance would get it free, but Gov. Rick Perry has refused to allow Texas to receive Medicaid expansion.
He said two steps will help Dallas take its place on the world stage. Dallas must partner with Fort Worth rather than compete against them and over the next two years, D/FW Airport must add a nonstop flight to China.
Finally, he called the redistricting that led to the current, less diverse council “too messy, too political.” He said a city charter revision will be proposed and sent to voters in 2014.
