District 10 City Council Candidate Dede Alexander

Dallas City Council Candidate Questionnaire

1. Name: D’Andrala “DeDe” Alexander

2. Council district you are running in: 10

3. Incumbent or challenger? Challenger

4. If you are an incumbent, how many terms have you served?

5. Tell us about your family:

I grew up in Plano, Texas with my parents and brother. My parents knew the importance of a good education and worked and attended college while raising my brother and me. My father is a career public servant, (Air Force Veteran and 16 years with the City of Plano), and mother has worked in healthcare for decades. My family is very important to me and has been my backbone during this campaign.

6. What is your profession?

Licensed Professional Counselor

7. What qualifications do you have to serve on the council? (volunteer work, civic work, board/commission appointments):

I am currently on the public health and community outreach task force of the steering committee for HD 102, and I am a member of the 100 Women of Lake Highlands.

I was appointed by the County Commissioners to the Board of Trustees of Metrocare Services. My other community engagement includes organizing rides to the polls through the RideShare2Vote program, registering voters at various events, and working with my precinct chair to increase civic engagement.

Professionally, I am a career public servant and have spent my life serving the most vulnerable children and families, most recently, at the Dallas County Juvenile Department. My approach to solving Dallas’ biggest problems reflects my unique understanding of the issues of everyday citizens.

8. What are the top three issues affecting the city as a whole, and how will you address them?

Affordable housing, fiscal responsibility and transparency, homelessness

Dallas has to continue to work to build mixed use and mixed income developments, additionally, we have use creative solutions to make sure landlords are not discriminating against renters based on income sources, and create partnerships with public entities to help people become homeowners.

As a city council, we need to invest in commonsense projects that save money while providing services and resources that we need. I am committed to using city dollars in a way that is in the long term more cost-effective. This will include close scrutiny of “vanity projects” and entities like VisitDallas.

In Dallas, homelessness has increased 9% in the past year. I want to take a holistic approach to our homelessness crisis, and work toward empathetic and cost-effective solutions such as rapid rehousing.

9. What are the top three issues affecting your district specifically and how will you address them?

Homelessness, public safety, economic development. For District 10, I would like to see investment in community programs and spaces to increase safety. Crime is often a symptom of income inequality and poverty and District 10 is a blatant example of this. I think that we need to advocate for vocational programs, arts programs, and nonprofits to come help solve structural problems and break the cycle of poverty that many residents live in.

10. Will you work to protect LGBT equality in Dallas if necessary?

I would like to strengthen Dallas’ non-discrimination ordinance, and I would be open to revisiting covered healthcare procedures to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals get the healthcare they need. Additionally, research shows that LGBTQ+ young people are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non- LGBTQ+ peers. I see improvements in healthcare as a way to address underlying factors related to homelessness i.e. trauma, abuse, mental illness, and substance use. Additionally, we need more options for homeless individual to have a place to live. This will involve, better and more inclusive-zoning, more permanent supportive housing, and more affordable units overall.

12. Do you support inclusion of LGBT equality in the city’s legislative agenda? Yes

13. Will you consider qualified LGBT individuals as appointees to boards and commissions? Yes

14. Will you work with and support the LGBT community, and if so how?

I will continue to reach out to members of the LGBT community for input on the things I will be asked to consider as a councilwoman. I will speak out against bigotry or unconscious bias that I see directed towards this population.

15. What have we not asked about that you want to mention? None