Here's What 5 True Leaders Want to See From Dallas' Next Mayor

My mailbox, like yours I’m sure, is stuffed every evening with advertisements from the many folks competing to be Dallas’ next mayor. But the message that hit me hardest in this campaign wasn’t from a candidate — rather, it was from a handful of local women still grappling with whom to support.They want to know how the next mayor will deal with the disgraceful reality of Dallas: that the long straw that so many of us enjoy is directly related to the short straw left to others in our city.That sentiment came up again and again as the five peer coaches for the 2019 Dallas Public Voices group shared their “Dear Mayoral Candidates” thoughts in an informal conversation they asked me to sit in on just days before early voting begins Monday.As Michelle Kinder, former director of the Momentous Institute and its Oak Cliff school, put it, “I’m worried that the clock is running out on Dallas in terms of trying to build a great future on sand.”The five women are smart and engaged citizens, yet only one of them has a good sense of which mayoral candidate will get her vote. But they are united in wanting a mayor who will be the connective tissue for all of Dallas’ citizens. They hope for a leader willing to step out of his or her comfort zone and into the gap on behalf of those who will never come to speak before the City Council, never call 311 and never vote in a municipal election.And these women deserve our attention this spring because, while they might not be on the ballot, they represent true leadership in our city.  Continue reading...