2018 March Lakewood

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VARSITY ROBOTS I DEADLY STREETS

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OPENING REMARKS

By RICK WAMRE

Useless chatter

We have a plethora of platforms to share our thoughts, but what do we have to say?

The most incredible fact of life today is that talk is cheap, and every day it becomes even cheaper.

And by “cheap,” I don’t just mean how any of us can broadcast any message we want anywhere on earth with the click of a button and at virtually no cost to the sender or receiver.

I also mean that talk has become so “cheap” we often don’t realize how little we have to say while we’re saying it.

We have literally arrived at a time and place in the world where any of us — rich or poor, educated or illiterate — can and do broadcast our thoughts faster than we can process those thoughts’ intelligence or rationality in our own minds.

My thoughts today were triggered by a recent Dodge RAM truck commercial extolling community service that was aired during the Super Bowl. Encouraging people to help each other typically wasn’t once a controversial topic, but when Dodge included a portion of Martin Luther King’s “The Drum Major’s Instinct” speech from 50 years ago, the opinions started flying.

There’s no value in regurgitating those comments, other than to say that a lot were clearly made on the spur of the moment and without much knowledge about King’s speech.

I had never heard of the speech, either, so rather than immediately opining, I found the speech online.

And what I found is that King had some interesting things to say in it about service, advertising (he had some doubts about advertising leading people astray) and life just a couple of months prior to his assassination.

“If you want to be important — wonderful,” King says in the speech. “If you want to be recognized — wonderful. If you want to be great — wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new

definition of greatness….

“By giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know the theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love….

“I’d like somebody to mention that day [of his funeral] that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to live his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity….

“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that’s all I want to say.”

A Facebook Live video trashing a politician.

A Nextdoor stream of consciousness filled with barbed comments about neighbors.

A website jammed with selfies in various stages of dress and demeanor.

A committed life.

Which will be the more valuable legacy?

Rick Wamre is president of Advocate Media. Let him know how we are doing by emailing rwamre@advocatemag.com.

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Advocate, © 2018, is published monthly by East Dallas – Lakewood People Inc. Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for the content of all advertisements printed, and therefore assume responsibility for any and all claims against the Advocate. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising material. Opinions set forth in the Advocate are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s viewpoint. More than 200,000 people read Advocate publications each month. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one copy per reader. Advocate was founded in 1991 by Jeff Siegel, Tom Zielinski and Rick Wamre.

You Know Judge Vic. Expert Experience. Highest Integrity. Conservative.

You Know Judge Vic. Expert Experience.

Highest Integrity. Conservative.

JudgeVicForCommissioner.com

GOP Primary Tuesday, March 6 H Early Voting February 20 - March 2

JudgeVicForCommissioner.com

GOP Primary Tuesday, March 6 H Early Voting February 20 - March 2

75% of the County’s budget deals with our courts, jail, and law enforcement. No one is better prepared to deal with these issues than Judge Vic Cunningham. Judge Vic Cunningham has the judgment, temperament, and strength of character needed as a commissioner on the Democrat-controlled Commissioners Court. Judge Vic Cunningham will keep our families safe, taxes low, and protect our conservative values.

Judge Vic Cunningham was considered one of the highest rated criminal court judges in Dallas County for over 10 years. Presided over the “Texas 7” capital murder death penalty trials. Judge Vic has put more criminals on Death Row than almost any judge in the nation.

Elected by his fellow jurists as their Dallas County Local Administrative Judge, Judge Vic managed both civil and criminal administrative matters and personnel for all Dallas County courts.

Texas Center for The Judiciary, Inc. recognized Judge Vickers Cunningham as a Lifetime Jurist for his support of Judicial Excellence through Education.

Served as Dallas County District Attorney Pro Tem from 2015 – 2016 prosecuting capital murder cases.

Former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney, 1988-1994. After leaving the bench, Judge Vic became a highly successful business owner with many employees, dealing with large budgets, and long-term strategic planning.

Lifelong member of First Baptist Church, Dallas. North Texas Crime Commission member for almost 30 years, having served on the Board of Directors and as Vice-Chair.

Guest Lecturer for Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business - Entrepreneurship class for over ten years. Mentor, SMU Cox School of Business, 1999 - 2013.

Judge Vic and his wife, Donna, have two children, Susan, a licensed attorney, and Vic, Jr., a law student at South Texas School of Law. Both were graduates of Texas A&M. Vic’s Mother, Mina, has a long history of leadership and involvement in the Republican Party.

4th generation Dallasite, born and raised in East Dallas, graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, 1980. Inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame, 2004.

Member:American Bar Association, Fellow, Dallas Bar Association, American Judicature Society,American Judges Association, Judicial Section, State Bar of Texas, Sons of the American Revolution.

Southern Methodist University School of Law, J.D., 1988, Southern Methodist University, Cox School of Business, BBA in Finance, 1984.

BANKER

UNDER COVER

If there is a symbol to represent East Dallas in 2018, it is a rental bike at White Rock Lake. For some they are a boon for cycling culture and its infrastructure, and for others, an eyesore without a viable business plan. City Councilman Philip Kingston agrees that there needs to be regulation, but says the city needs to understand how the bikes are being used before the city makes any changes. Meanwhile, Dallas Morning News contributor and East Dallas resident David Blewett doesn’t see the bikes becoming profitable, and wants to avoid a subsidy from the city to the companies to keep the bikes around.

This winter, the City Council’s Mobility Solutions, Infrastructure, and Sustainability Committee is analyzing the issue and will make recommendations to the full council about what they think should be done. It could mean specific docking stations, reduced numbers or limiting the total number of bikes in certain areas. Some neighbors would like to see them completely removed, while others see cars as the real problem, but chances are bike share is here to stay, even if there are fewer bikes around when it is all said and done. Read our rental bike coverage at lakewood.advocatemag.com.

L A UNCH

MARCH 31

GOOD FRIDAY

Celebrate Easter weekend with live music, Easterthemed games and an Eddie Coker concert at Dallas Arboretum. Events begin on Friday at 9 a.m.

Dallas Arboretum, 8525 Garland Road, dallasarboretum.org, 214.515.6615, free with admission

Out & About

MARCH 5

INDIANA JONES

Enjoy the nostalgia of watching Indiana Jones on the big screen with “Raiders of the Lost Ark” at the Angelika. The 1982 classic by directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, which took home four Oscars, is fun for the whole family.

Angelika Film Center, 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane, angelikafilmcenter. com, 214.841.4712, $12

MARCH 12

CULTURE CRITIC

Spend an evening with the Dallas Morning News’ culture critic Chris Vognar. Refreshments will be provided. Lakewood Branch Library, 6121 Worth St., lakewoodlibrary friendsdallas.org, 214.670.1376, free

MARCH 12

MEN WHO GIVE A DAMN

Join charitablyminded men in East Dallas as they raise money for local nonprofit organizations. Four times a year, members raise $10,000 to donate to deserving charities.

100 Men Who Give A Damn East Dallas, Bar Louie, 8166 Park Lane Unit C130, 100meneastdallas. org, $100

MARCH 23

‘LEGEND OF BLUEBONNETS’

Bring the family to opening night of an original play that shows the power of one’s heritage and the value of a person’s story, especially one that reaches back as far as the petroglyphs of Texas.

Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman St., dct. org, 214.978.0110, $17-28

MARCH 30

‘SWEENEY TODD’

Cult classic musical “Sweeney Todd” opens at Pocket Sandwich Theatre. Grab dinner, throw some popcorn and enjoy the gore and violence of Fleet Street.

Pocket Sandwich Theatre, 5400 E. Mockingbird Lane, pocketsandwich. com, 214.821.1860, $20

MARCH 31

WOOD STEEL RHYTHM

The side project of Graceland Ninjaz member David McMahon, Wood Steel Rhythm makes its debut with a mix of blues, rockabilly and funk sounds.

Lake House White Rock, 7510 E. Northwest Highway, facebook.com/ WoodSteelRhythm, 214.484.8624, free

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ENGINEERING SUCCESS

Woodrow Wilson robotics is more than just coding and construction

Story

WILL MADDOX | Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

It’s Saturday at 9 a.m., and while most high school students are enjoying a lazy morning, dozens more are clamoring to get back into the classroom. They aren’t studying for a standardized test or listening to a lecture; they

are preparing for an international competition where teams of students write computer code, operate power tools, build electrical circuits, create a business model and document their progress.

Sherrina Hoffnagle, a senior who joined Woodrow Wilson High School’s

robotics team this year, is among them. Not only is she a member of the school’s first female robotics team, but she also is one of the first hearing-impaired students to participate. Being on the team has changed the way she sees school and her future.

by

Will Hammond and Abraham Anguiano make adjustments to their robot in preparation for a competition.

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A sign language interpreter accompanies Hoffnagle and the other hearing impaired students to all robotics activities. “I’ve never been on a team before, and it has helped me branch out,” she says. “I never had the guts to join because I felt like I could never connect because I was hard of hearing.”

At Woodrow, a regional home for deaf education, deaf students study alongside other students. Robotics coaches Brandon Carver, Terry

Tolleson, Daniel Garrison and Micah Hill ensure the team is inclusive.

The squad, known as the Robocats, formed in 2012 with three students and Carver, a passionate engineering teacher. Today, dozens of students on five teams compete in several competitions throughout the year. They won a state championship last year and are expanding their reach beyond the traditional science, technology, engineering and mathematics demographic.

“Robotics is not just about robots,”

says Taylor Vu, the 10th-grade captain of the female team. “It teaches us to do skills we need in other jobs, like public speaking, communicating, writing and photography.”

Vu didn’t have coding or building experience when she joined. But since older members mentor younger ones, she learned how to code and found an aptitude for building things before becoming a captain.

Kyle Davis, a senior, is the captain of another Robocats team. Leadership

Skylar Linker and Andrea Goodart work with Archer Hasbany in the robotics lab.

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is intentional and essential. “I help the others grow in the environment and set the example for people after,” he says. “I don’t want to set a bad example for people in the long run.”

Hoffnagle realized she didn’t have to be a computer whiz to be a part of the team. “Robotics isn’t something you have to be smart to join,” she says. “They will teach you, and I really liked that. Now I encourage other deaf ed students to join.”

Female robotics teams are rare at tournaments. When Vu walks in with her team, they stand out. “I look forward to it,” she says. “They look at us and have low expectations. Then we show up and blow their minds and put them in awe. It is the greatest feeling.”

The girls team advanced to the playoffs at its first tournament.

At competitions, each team receives a scenario and designs a robot to complete several tasks. This may include climbing towers, stacking boxes, shooting balls or any number of actions. Community volunteers and teachers with robotics knowledge assist the teams three to four times a week outside of school hours

throughout the year.

Students write code and maneuver the robot with a remote control, accruing points by completing different actions. The teams also compile a notebook documenting their process and how they would market the robot.

an organization called Water of Life to raise money and provide clean water in developing countries.

While other schools have labs dedicated to robotics, Woodrow’s team squeezes into tightly packed closets and engineering classrooms and trains with their robots on a hallway course that has to be built and packed up each day.

Teams spread the word by volunteering at local elementary schools and helping their robotics programs. Canyon Kidd, a junior captain, organizes the volunteers who have worked with Stonewall Jackson, Lakewood, Robert E. Lee and Mount Auburn elementary schools.

“We bond as a team and talk about ways we can help the schools,” Kidd says. “The best way to learn something is to teach it.”

The robotics team also helps spread the word about causes with worldwide impact, and they have partnered with

But the school’s new addition, which is set to finish at the end of the next school year, will have 3,500 square feet of space for science and technology, including robotics courses and collaborative workspace. Robotics coaches even helped plan the space with the addition’s architects.

A 2014 Brookings Institution study says that there is a scarcity of specific, high-value STEM skills in this country, but robotics helps prepare students to fill those roles.

Unlike sports, which has limited chances for students to graduate and go pro, robotics can result in multiple opportunities. Garrison says that several Robocats alumni major in related fields then return to mentor the team. “If you go down this trail,” he says, “100 percent of these kids go pro.”

“They look at us [females] and have low expectations. Then we show up and blow their minds.”

Senior Sherrina Hoffnagle and junior Josef Hopfer are hard at work on a Saturday morning.

LOCAL LEATHER

Upscale accessories crafted in an East Dallas garage

By WILL MADDOX

Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

In 2013, Joe Bardwell picked up a magazine article about how to be a real man. Make your own wallet, it read. He gathered scraps of leather and did his best. “It ended up being the most atrocious thing I have ever seen,” Bardwell said.

But he stuck with it.

He made another wallet for a friend’s bachelor party, a clutch for his wife and a notebook cover for himself. After experienced leatherworkers began asking him how he put together different pieces, he realized he had a knack for the craft.

Bardwell teamed up with his CrossFit coach, Matthew Renna, to form Boulevard East, an artisan leather goods company that is based out of Bardwell’s East Dallas garage. The company is named for Reunion Boulevard East, the street around Reunion Tower.

The garage houses a 60-year-old cast iron sewing machine, complete with foot pedal. Bardwell’s tools are old world. Other than an electric sewing machine and an electric sander, he uses gadgets that leatherworkers would have had centuries ago. He meticulously assembles the leather goods by hand, one at a time.

Bardwell and Renna are picky about the leather they use and worked hard to procure the same Italian leather producer as Louis Vuitton. They hope to add color to the leather goods market, where black and brown pieces are ubiquitous.

“We didn’t want to be another brown and black briefcase

company,” says Bardwell. “Navy blue and tan is a very classy look. You can dress them up or dress them down.”

Boulevard East makes wallets, portfolios and small duffel bags, and it plans to add backpacks and larger duffels. The smaller bags cost $650, but Bardwell and Renna say there is a market for locally produced leather goods in their price range. “You are investing in a product that should last a long time,” Bardwell says.

The two maintain their day jobs (Bardwell does medical sales and Renna is in commercial banking), and they would like to find a local manufacturer who can increase their volume.

As the business grows, they hope to keep the production as local as possible. Bardwell handles the prototypes and leatherwork while Renna works his connections in finance and marketing.

“It doesn’t feel like work,” Renna says. “This is what we would love to do long-term — build something here that is unique and interesting.”

Neighbors can find Boulevard East goods ranging in price from $65-$650 on the shelves at local stores, including St. Bernard at the Shops at Park Lane, at DLM Supply in Bishop Arts and the Statler Hotel Downtown. In addition, they have had pop-up sales at Houndstooth Coffee and other places around the neighborhood.

“This is where the fun begins,” Bardwell says. “Let’s go build something.”

Boulevard East, blvd-east.com

Opposite page: Joe Bardwell in his garage workshop. Above: Two of Boulevard East’s duffel bags.

— Greg T.

DRIVER’S ED

2017 vehicle crash data for East Dallas

By WILL MADDOX

East Dallasites love to keep it local, but driving on our neighborhood streets can be treacherous as well. Gaston and Garland are two of the more dangerous streets around, as evidenced by numerous meetings and arguments about the future of the Gaston-Garland-Grand intersection. And most locals know by now that Abrams is a bit more of a risk than Skillman. Neighbors may find it surprising that while Mockingbird is accident prone, it had fewer fatalities than Greenville or Buckner, which have fewer total crashes. This data doesn’t cover every street in the neighborhood, but it serves as a warning to drive safely and be a good neighbor. Anyone can access statistics like these, provided by the Texas Department of Transportation, at txdot.gov.

GREENVILLE AVE. SKILLMAN ABRAMS RD.

Peter Loudis PeterLoudis@Ebby.com George Haynes GHaynes@Ebby.com

Perry Flowers, III PerryFlowers@Ebby.com

Maureen Jackson MaureenJackson@Ebby.com

Edwina Dye EdwinaDye@Ebby.com

Bobby Stephens Bobby@Ebby.com

Steve Cairns SteveCairns@Ebby.com

Molina

TORTOISAURUS REX

The Mayerhoff children, Henry, Mary and Burke, do their best to take care of Tortoisaurus Rex. “Mostly all of us like to watch him eat,” says Henry. “He has a teeny tiny tongue, and no teeth just like Triceratops.” Rex is a Russian Tortoise, and prefers hot, dry climates like Texas. Russians can live up to 40 years in captivity, but don’t get much bigger than a dinner plate, making them convenient, long-term companions. Rex is a tortoise of taste, as he prefers the more expensive wood shavings and spends little time on the discount ground cover. As Rex munches food, Henry, seeing no difference between sharing with his sister and his tortoise wonders, “Can I eat some of his kale?”

DIENER-MILLS THROUGH THE YEARS

When that hold on the latest bestseller finally comes through, or if the internet is down at the house, East Dallas still heads to its library. The Lakewood Library was built in 1938 at 6342 La Vista in the stately Diener-Mills building that today houses Kelli Slate’s dental practice and 2 Shea Boutique and Med Spa. The building is named for for Paul Diener and

Cecil Mills, who bought the property when it was scheduled for destruction in the 1980s. The library moved to Worth Street in 1970 but is still a bustling a community of book lovers. Story time is always packed, the book drive is still popular and the art show every May draws numerous neighborhood entries, as it has since 1962.

East Dallas is Our Passion

DELICIOUS All in the Family

Bangkok City hasn’t strayed from its roots

By WILL MADDOX

Photos by KATHY TRAN

DID YOU KNOW: The Brannon Building, which houses Bangkok City, opened in 1924. In the 1930s, the second floor was a dance hall called the Cavalcade Club. Over the years, it was also a furniture store, dress-manufacturing sweat shop and TV repair business.

anthorn “Ood” Thavornkaew begins his day by taking his kids to school and driving to several Asian grocers and farmers markets in Richardson and Garland to collect the herbs and spices needed to make the flavors at Bangkok City. In the early days, he imported some of what he needed directly from Thailand.

Ood came to the United States to study English at the University of North Texas in 1990. He started working at Lower Greenville’s Thai Thai, a restaurant his cousin owned along with Bangkok City.

His sister Janpen came to the U.S. in 1992 and when their cousin decided to move back to Thailand, the siblings took over the Old East Dallas restaurant in 1993. The two have spent every day at the restaurant since then, except for the four days a year it is closed.

Ood handled the cooking while Janpen managed the books. Resisting pressure to adapt their recipes to an American palate, they doubled down on authenticity. Ood remembers calling his mother long distance several times a week in the early 1990s for $3 a minute to make sure he had the recipes right. “Hey mom, how did you make this

one?” he would ask. Their parents raised seven children in the Thai countryside, and their mother cooked traditionally with coal over an open flame.

In a world of trendy concepts and well-funded restaurant groups, Bangkok City is still a family operation. Both siblings live within blocks of the restaurant and Janpen’s daughter (who is now a student at Harvard) and her friends work in the restaurant.

The brother and sister have rebuffed numerous offers to expand to multiple locations. “Every day people tell us we need to open in Rockwall or McKinney,” Ood says. “Give me a break. We need time for family.”

BANGKOK CITY

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Winter is busy for Bangkok City, as fragrant curries and spicy noodle soups are popular on chilly winter evenings. Despite endorsements from Thai natives, awards from the Dallas Observer and an explosion of growth in Old East Dallas, the Thavornkaews want to keep things just as they are. Ood estimates that 90 percent of their customers are regulars. “We are growing but not a huge jump. I like it that way,” Ood says. “We are proud of what we have. We just want to work hard and do the right thing.”

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DISD THE MOVIE

The plot twists, the players, the money, the drama ...

Look past the news of the day and you’ll find a story worthy of the big screen. It’s an entertaining tragedy — unless you’re a taxpayer, parent or child in the district’s schools.

Story by KERI MITCHELL | Art by CHRISTIAN WELCH & JYNNETTE NEAL Additional reporting by JACKSON VICKERY & CHRISTIAN WELCH

Only nine people control a $1.8 billion budget that impacts 157,000 schoolchildren — and the economic future of Dallas.

THE MIKES

Like any good movie, the Dallas ISD story begins with a simple premise: Once upon a time, trustees of all races work together to save the district’s children from an educational nightmare.

As in any good movie, though, there is plenty of conflict and drama along the way.

As the story proceeds, DISD hires a superintendent with great ideas for reform but seemingly no personal skills. Some trustees fund election campaigns to defeat fellow trustees. Two trustees bash a third trustee on an accidentally recorded phone call. A group of seemingly powerful Dallas politicians botches a coup designed to replace the board of trustees.

The “good guys” (self-described “reformers” in this story) haven’t always been good. The “bad guys” (in this story, those not sold on “reform”) have some good reasons for being bad.

And let’s not forget the ever-present issue of race and discrimination always lurking in the background of every scene.

“We are the worst public enemy to black children in Dallas?” District 9 Dallas ISD trustee Bernadette Nutall asks rhetorically about a column written by a local journalist. “That was hurtful.

“African-American board members have always been willing to work across the table, but the problem is when we don’t do what you say [to] do, how you say [to] do it, we’re the problem,” Nutall says.

The African-American DISD trustees “are always the ones that have to do the olive branch,” she says, “and you want us to come and be like, ‘Yes,

Massa, I need to think whatever you say [to] think.’ ”

So sit back, try to relax, and grab some popcorn and a bottle of Advil. The cliffhanger: Will there be a happy ending?

SET THE SCENE: A board divided Dan Micciche is expected to sail into office this May, beginning his seventh year on the Dallas ISD school board. The current board president, who represents East Dallas’ District 3, hadn’t drawn a challenger as of Feb. 15, the day before filing ended and the day this magazine went to press.

Micciche is one of the school board trustees who identifies as an education reformer. It’s a staunch identity for some and nebulous for others. But five of the nine trustees, a simple voting majority, tend to aggressively push policies and funnel funds into programs that research has shown to be effective in educating children — especially those who live in poverty, as nearly 90 percent of DISD children do.

The other four trustees proceed with more caution. Even though the board votes unanimously almost 80 percent of the time, the minority cohort is more likely to question sweeping policy changes. Some center on fiscal responsibility or disagreements about best practices.

But much of it comes down to trust. As hundreds of thousands of dollars pour into campaign coffers, PACs and nonprofits, all in the name of progress, it stirs the suspicions of those who see it as wealthy white men’s attempt to take over public education.

ESTABLISHING SHOT: What is education reform?

No one agrees on the definition, not even the people who identify as reformers (visit advocatemag. com for varying perspectives), but here in Dallas, reformers champion data-driven academic policies, such as quality pre-K for everyone, and are willing to move quickly to change the status quo. One sharp political divide is over reformers’ successful push to use student test scores and frequent evaluations to identify and reward effective teachers. Other, more risk-averse trustees value experienced teachers and community support rather than top-down mandates and standardized test results.

FADE-IN: Empowered without an election

“Without a single vote cast, onethird of the board was sworn in.” That’s how Melissa Higginbotham describes the event that birthed Dallas Kids First, a political action committee that formed in 2011. That spring, the Dallas ISD board election was canceled because only three people filed to run for the three open seats.

Around the same time, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce was discussing how to attract big companies to the city. One of the reasons Dallas was being passed over for the suburbs was the reputation of its public schools. The chamber’s education PAC, Educate Dallas, emerged to deal with this problem by tackling school board races.

A few months prior, Mike Morath — who, within five years, would ascend to Texas’ highest education position — met businessman Todd Williams over lunch. An hour turned into four as the two conversed about their passion for public education.

They shared a lot in common. Both were products of public schools — Williams from DISD’s Bryan Adams High School in ’78 and Morath from Garland High School in ’95. Both had experienced business success — Williams as a Goldman Sachs partner

Current DISD Supt. Michael Hinojosa preceded and succeeded Supt. Mike Miles, the reformer who was hired in 2012 and quit in 2015.

and Morath as a software entrepreneur. Williams had retired, and Morath had sold his company for millions.

And both, with time and money on their hands, were considering running for the Dallas school board. They left lunch agreeing that Morath would run, and Williams would create an organization to connect the dots about what is and isn’t working in public schools.

Morath was one of the three unopposed DISD candidates that May, the same month that former Pizza Hut CEO Mike Rawlings was elected mayor of Dallas. Rawlings joined the chamber’s new strategy of focusing on public education and named Williams his education advisor. Out of that came the Commit! Partnership. For five years, this organization has used data and research to identify best practices that will support Dallas County students “from cradle to career.”

It was a “constellation of forces that ended up being at the right place at the right time,” one reformer recalls. At that point, the Dallas business community

had disengaged from public schools because their children no longer attended them.

Williams regularly walks into rooms full of Dallas executives to give Commit presentations and asks how many people attended public school. Hands shoot up. When he asks how many send their children to public school, hands are sparse.

“My fear is in 20 years, my replacement goes into a room and nobody can raise their hand. God help our city,” Williams says. “I knew that I had to talk to them in a language that they spoke, and that was data.”

He joined the board of Uplift Education, the largest charter network in Texas and even opened his own charter school, Williams Prep, in 2007. After years on the board, he concluded that “we can grow Uplift 25 percent a year, and it will take us 25 years to have the impact Dallas ISD could make.”

“The solution is traditional public schools, and that’s how I spend my time,” he says. But to people who distrust him,

he says, “I think they just look at me and see the surface. They see a rich white North Dallas guy who worked at Goldman Sachs.”

CUT TO: The voicemail incident

Dallas Kids First started endorsing candidates in 2012. Their biggest statement was supporting newcomer Dan Micciche in his challenge of incumbent Bruce Parrot for the Far East Dallas seat. Micciche raised more money than any other board candidate in history that spring with nearly $90,000, much of it coming from the two new education PACs.

The seemingly sleepy race was in southern Dallas, where incumbent Bernadette Nutall was defending her seat against then 20-year-old Damarcus Offord. Nutall, in her first term, had voted months before the election to close 11 Dallas ISD schools. The decision earned her praise from the Dallas Morning News editorial board, who noted that “Nutall, in particular, showed courage” because “five [schools] were in South Dallas, an area she represents.”

Both of Dallas’ new education PACs endorsed Nutall. Another Morning News editorial that January named her alongside Morath and Trustee Edwin Flores as “a bloc that appreciates the value of education reforms.”

Nutall traveled with Todd Williams to L.A., Indianapolis and Cincinnati to study nonprofits after which Commit would be modeled. When Dallas Kids First discovered that only three of every 100 black boys who started in Dallas ISD graduated high school college-ready, Nutall and Morath toured southern Dallas churches to preach the urgency of the problem.

Then came the “voicemail incident.” Two months after Nutall was re-elected in 2012, Morath failed to hang up after leaving her a voicemail. The ensuing, recorded conversation between him and former trustee Nancy Bingham “dealt with [Nutall] as a board member and questioned whether she reads board documents,” according to a Dallas Morning News story.

The two trustees discussed the situation, worked it out and were moving on, the story said. But that story was the last time Morath and Nutall were described as having “a good relationship.”

TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS tend to endorse and fund candidates who distance themselves from reformers. The exception is Dan Micciche, supported by both sides in 2015.

ZOOM IN: The vote to reject free money

Superintendent Mike Miles came from Colorado in April 2012 with the reputation of being “a reformer, an innovator and someone not afraid to shake the status quo.” His vision was to pay teachers according to their performance, demand higher graduation rates and college entrance exam scores, and form a leadership academy to create a pool of principals to replace those who couldn’t cut it.

Less than two months after she voted to hire him, Nutall told Miles she would vote against his plan. In an article headlining their “testy exchange,” Miles told Nutall she should “resign yourself to the fact that there’s a new superintendent … You asked me to put together a plan to move the district forward. I’ve done that.”

Miles gave the southern sector trustees a force to galvanize against. A year after Miles arrived, Observer columnist Jim Schutze accused Nutall and Trustee Lew Blackburn of being “at war with Superin-

es to the table. We’re not experimenting by doing something bad to somebody. We’re trying to address the needs that have long gone unaddressed.”

Why would a trustee who “representshigh schools that send thousands of young people straight to prisonunable to read or write and without a prayer for decent life” decline such an offer, Schutze asked in a subsequent column. Now an opinion writer, Schutze spent decades reporting on Dallas and wrote a book, “The Accommodation,” which describes the handshake deals between Dallas’ black pastors and white business leaders as schools were desegregated.

“The elected leadership of southern Dallas is a remnant of the old ghetto over-class of segregation days,” Schutze wrote. “Because the civil rights movement never shook this town very hard, that leadership class, dominated by separatist clergy, still holds sway.”

ACTION: Board member is tossed out of school

REFORM-MINDED PACS have funneled $500,000 into trustee campaigns since 2012. They supported these five trustees in their most recent bid for office.

tendent Mike Miles over school reform.” Schutze had obtained letters and emails from DISD executives complaining about Nutall’s threats that if they removed certain southern Dallas principals, “the community will come after you.”

She later rejected a plan to infuse schools in southern Dallas with $20 million. More than half of the money would come from SMU and nonprofits to pay for things like more teachers and better preschool programs. Nutall was upset that the community wasn’t consulted.

“What this board is doing is dumping something on South Dallas. You continue to disrespect and be dismissive of the southern sector of Dallas,” Nutall said before the vote. “What I’m asking you to do is not to come into South Dallas and just experiment with our children.”

The plan passed, and other board members expressed surprise that Nutall opposed free money that would improve schools in her district. Micciche conceded that it was an experiment, but said “we’re experimenting by bringing extra resourc-

Back in 2013, Schutze wrote, “The real enemies of these children are not white. They are black.” He reiterated this in a column last August following a vote in which Nutall, Blackburn and Trustee Joyce Foreman voted against a proposal that could have funneled up to $55 million into southern Dallas schools, mostly from taxes paid by northern Dallas residents.

Nutall, still reeling over Schutze’s accusations, agrees with him on at least one thing: “The civil rights movement never shook this town very hard.”

“Dallas never had a movement,” Nutall says. “Sometimes in movements, it creates cleansing. It creates people coming together. It creates the uncomfortable time to talk about the issues under the table, to understand, and then out of that can come great solutions.”

Because it never happened in Dallas, she says, “that history is still played out in the board table today. At the end of the day, all of what’s going on in history ends up to one word: control.”

The 2014 “home rule” effort epitomized the business community’s attempt to control Dallas, Nutall believes. She’s not alone in this belief. The proposal was Morath’s idea to circumvent what he saw as school board dysfunction. Instead of less than 10 percent of voters electing representatives, he envisioned a system

where some trustees would be appointed and any could be ejected if students were failing. Home rule was backed by many of the same people involved in education reform PACs.

“There is a group of people who feel they know what’s best versus it being a collaborative effort,” Nutall says.

One of her opponents in the upcoming May election, Ed Turner, calls home rule the moment he was “baptized in politics.” A graduate of the “great James Madison High School,” Turner had returned to his neighborhood as a community organizer and worked against home rule.

“The way it came about was kind-of rushed, and people in our community do not appreciate anything that seems top-down. Things have to be grassroots,” Turner says.

Another of Nutall’s opponents this May, Justin Henry, was among the first reformers who block-walked for Micciche during the 2012 election. Henry considered Morath a friend. But the first time he heard about home rule was when he read the newspaper.

“The ripples it put out through our community, that one part of Dallas was trying to dictate what was best for us ... The trustee of District 2 still does not talk to the trustee of District 9,” Henry says of Morath and Nutall. “And the only thing that separates them is the Santa Fe Trail.”

Home rule was the turning point in the reform effort. Even supporters who believed in the merits of what it could do for schoolchildren regard it as a disaster and a reversal of progress.

The effort also had political consequences for reformers. While signatures were being collected for the home-rule petition, reformers were trying to flip a seat in southern Dallas. But the $105,000 in campaign funds to Nutall’s opponent — which came mostly from northern Dallas zip codes, including $15,000 from Morath — couldn’t secure their candidate’s win.

Things got worse a few months later when, on Miles’ orders, security guards wrangled Nutall out of Billy Dade Middle School in her district. The superintendent was at the school for a staff meeting after a personnel shake-up. When Nutall showed up uninvited, he accused her of trespassing and interfering.

“You can’t throw an African-American woman out of an African-American school in South Dallas,” Henry says. “There’s nothing you’re going to get out of that that’s going to further our goals of getting opportunities for the schools, for the kids.”

Nutall doesn’t see her role on the board as a creator of policy. DISD has stacks of policies that aren’t followed or funded, she says, and she questions the point of adding to it. She believes her job is to advocate for schools in her district by ensuring that they have the resources policy calls for.

This is a common criticism of Nutall — that her heavy-handed tactics in schools overstep her bounds as a board member. In the Dade situation, however, even her critics believed Miles had gone too far.

In 2015, Nutall ran for re-election and

“I think they just look at me and see the surface. They see a rich white North Dallas guy who worked at Goldman Sachs.”

THE PRICE OF ADMISSION

A single Dallas ISD board candidate raised $246,722 last year — the highest amount for a race in DISD history. Yet only 12 percent of registered voters headed to the polls. With 11,302 ballots cast for the winning candidate, that translates to $21.83 per vote.

By comparison, all three trustee candidates ran unopposed in 2011. After that, two education PACs formed, collectively spending nearly $500,000 on board races over the next five years.

again faced Offord. This time, reformers endorsed and financed Offord, hoping to unseat their friend-turned-foe. It didn’t work.

AERIAL SHOT: The trustee whose kids go to private school

“We are working against monolithic efforts to dismantle DISD under the guise of ‘reform,’ and those leading these efforts have power and money and are doing so for their personal gain. …Their work on a special interest agenda is hurting our children, particularly children

“You want us to come and be like, ‘Yes, Massa, I need to think whatever you say [to] think.’ ”

—Bernadette Nutall, DISD District 9 Trustee

—Todd Williams, founder of the Commit! Partnership

Working together leads to success

who are the most vulnerable in our community.”

Thus read an email from Lori Kirkpatrick to her supporters on June 10, 2017, the day she faced Trustee Dustin Marshall in a runoff election. DISD District 2, which they were competing to represent, forms a doughnut around the Park Cities, looping through pockets of wealth in East Dallas, Preston Hollow, Oak Lawn and Uptown.

East Dallas is a neighborhood where many people with the means to give their children a private education still choose public schools. It might seem like fertile soil for a movement that espouses using funding and research to provide the best outcomes for students. But it is also a hotbed of progressives, question-askers and city-hall barnstormers who don’t like to fall in line with the powers-that-be.

District 2 was Morath’s territory before Gov. Greg Abbott called him to Austin in late 2015 to serve as the Texas Education Agency Commissioner. Miles had thrown in the towel a few months earlier, and reformers’ hopes were dashed.

Desperate to hold onto Morath’s trustee seat, reformers mobilized behind Marshall and filled his coffers with $56,000 to finish the final year of Morath’s term.

If the strategy was to ward off contenders, it failed. Marshall ultimately raised five times as much as his fiercest competitor, Stonewall Jackson Elementary and Travis TAG parent Mita Havlick. She came up only 42 votes short in the runoff.

The close vote underscored voters’ suspicions of Marshall — why did his children attend private school at Greenhill, his alma mater, rather than Preston Hollow Elementary, the DISD school two blocks from his house? Why did he tout his experience on the board of Uplift Education, a charter school operator that draws from the same pool of tax money as DISD schools? And why were his campaign coffers allegedly full of “dark money” from real estate moguls, Park Cities zip codes and wealthy people who didn’t send their children to public schools?

Some wondered, what did this guy want with DISD?

Seven months later, Kirkpatrick attended a January DISD board meeting where trustees approved a resolu-

FLASHBACK: White people

have

the (public school) building

left

The percentage of white, black and Hispanic students attending Dallas ISD has changed drastically over the last five decades.

54% 36%10% in 1971, the year courtordered desegregation began.

6% 31% 61% in 2003, the year courtordered desegregation ended, after white families left DISD for private school or the suburbs.

5% 22% 70% in 2018.

tion supporting more funds for public schools and opposing school vouchers or “any program that diverts public tax dollars to private entities.” The resolution also included a stance against Texas’ proposed A-F accountability system, created by Morath.

Marshall and Flores were the only two trustees to vote against the resolution, citing their hesitation to oust the grading system before it rolled out. Kirkpatrick left the meeting determined to run for office. Later in the campaign, she cited Marshall’s vote that day as proof of his support for vouchers.

Marshall bristled at this accusation during an interview before the 2017 election, countering that he had been involved in efforts to stop voucher legislation.

“I don’t know how I possibly could have been more clear about it,” he said. “To debate with me on an issue we agree about is disingenuous.”

Marshall insists that he’s a public education advocate, not attacker. He says he grew up with a single mother struggling to make ends meet and “was fortunate enough to get into Greenhill.”

“To be honest, I’m trying to create

the same kind of educational outcomes that I enjoyed in Greenhill at DISD,” he says. “Every kid deserves that same kind of lift up and potential that I got and my kids get.”

But “change is hard,” Marshall says, and education is “a system that has resisted change for a long time” and has “fierce defenders of the status quo.”

“Most reformers I talk to prioritize student outcomes above any other motivation,” Marshall says. “The folks that prioritize evidence and results and data, we’re on the right path, and if we continue down that path, we’ll change a lot of lives, so we want to stay the course.”

Kirkpatrick, a Lakewood Elementary mom who says she’ll run again for the board in 2020, doesn’t buy it. Her campaign website continues to host the blog she launched when she decided to run. Each post questions and casts doubt on “the corporate education reform movement” that “promotes underfunding public education, A-F, vouchers [and] ultimately leads to the privatization of public education.”

Enough people agreed with Kirkpatrick or were given pause to cast more votes for her than for Marshall in the general election. If it weren’t for a disgruntled former DISD employee who filed to run — and who received 3 percent of votes despite no campaigning or fundraising — Marshall and the reform community might have lost outright.

Kirkpatrick and members of her campaign team recently launched a nonprofit, the Coalition for Equity in Public Education, to “stand up to privatizers currently threatening ed-

ucation as we know it.”

The problem isn’t a lack of knowing how schools and teachers are performing, Kirkpatrick argues. “Your outcomes for children are predicated on whether they’re wealthy or poor,” she says. The problem for urban schools, she believes, is poverty compounded by the underfunding of public education. The state spent $2.5 billion last year on charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, she says.

“What could we be doing with that money in failing schools?” she asks.

The people who need to be driving policy decisions are experienced educators, she says, not data wonks, business executives and Teach for America alumni with little classroom exposure.

MONTAGE: Young recruits get out the vote

The big money donors don’t bother John Hill. He’s one of the TFA alumni distrusted by people who distrust education reformers. He left DISD’s Pinkston High School after his twoyear TFA contract and went to teach at Jesuit College Preparatory, his alma mater.

But Hill, like many TFA alumni, never left DISD.

During his tenure at Pinkston, he launched a blog and podcast, Turn and Talks. The content has segued from teacher musings to political activism as Hill heads up the Dallas Kids First “C.A.M.P.,” an eight-month fellowship for 20 or so young recruits who commit to spending 100 hours campaigning for the PAC’s endorsed candidates.

“Without a single vote cast, one-third of the board was sworn in.”

— Melissa Higginbotham, Dallas Kids First director of operations

Juliette Fowler Communities is the perfect balance of yesterday, today

This, even more than money spent on mailers, polling and advertising, makes the reform effort a force.

Hill, who lives in Oak Cliff behind the Tyler-Vernon DART station, says his parents attended DISD high schools in the ’70s, during the early years of desegregation. His father graduated from South Oak Cliff, and his mother was among the first black students bussed to Carter. Hill would have attended Roosevelt, but “my parents, when they were making the decision to send me to school, didn’t have faith that DISD would be the right fit for me, which for me, as an adult, is super sad.”

His grandmother spent her career teaching at Marsalis Elementary School, and her retirement savings paid for Hill’s Harvard education, so “I still have a lot I owe to the district,” he says.

Hill says he saw firsthand in 2016 that money doesn’t win elections. Only two of the four reform-funded candidates won their races, and one of those was Marshall’s runoff. He also felt deflated by the traditional model of campaigning — “show up six weeks out from an election and tell people you don’t know what’s good for them,” he says. Keeping voters engaged requires more, he believes, and C.A.M.P. is his solution to that problem.

Hill mobilized the C.A.M.P.ers, as he calls them, in the month between the District 2 general election and runoff between Marshall and Kirkpatrick last year. They spent 4,000 hours knocking on doors and talking to voters. According to Hill’s calculations, C.A.M.P.ers were responsible

— John Hill, director of Dallas Kids First’s C.A.M.P. fellowship

for 3,200 votes, including 900 people who hadn’t voted in any of the three prior elections with Marshall on the ballot.

The result: Marshall went from nearly 300 votes shy of Kirkpatrick in the general election to more than 3,000 votes ahead of her in the runoff.

CLOSE-UP: ‘The gray-haired one over here’

A trendy bar just south of Downtown seemed an unlikely setting for a political action committee to host its kick-off for the 2018 DISD board election cycle. The crowd of diverse young professionals who gathered at Mac’s Southside seemed even more unlikely.

Melissa Higginbotham, describing herself as “the gray-haired one over here,” stood out. She started working for the Dallas Kids First PAC when it formed in 2011 after her children graduated from the Booker T. Washington arts magnet and W.T. White.

“I was pleased with my children’s education in Dallas ISD, but I also read the Dallas Morning News and thought, ‘Wait, there are some areas where it might not be so good,’ ” she recalls. Though the PAC’s membership is broader than the crowd at Mac’s would suggest, she says, “it’s exciting for me to have folks who don’t have kids yet who are investing in our city and our school system, so that when they do, they feel comfortable putting their kids in DISD.”

Higginbotham chafes at Dallas Kids First being identified as a PAC. It carries “somewhat of a negative perception,” she says. “But we did want to be able to endorse candidates and

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“My parents, when they were making the decision to send me to school, didn’t have faith that DISD would be the right fit for me, which for me, as an adult, is super sad.”

Contenders for the DISD District 9 seat in the May 6 election are

Bernadette Nutall, the 8-year incumbent; Justin Henry, Nutall’s mentee who supports several reform efforts; and Ed Turner, a South Dallas native who has fans in the reform community.

come up with a system that shared more information about candidates and why they were endorsed. That just wasn’t happening [in 2011].”

They look for trustees who “are really seeking solutions,” Higginbotham says, and who support “things that have national research and national data behind them.”

Both Henry and Turner were at Mac’s Southside for the kick-off. Given the money the PAC has and the C.A.M.P.ers ready for action, an endorsement could be crucial.

Nutall didn’t attend the kick-off. No one, not even her, believes she will get the endorsement. At one point she found favor with reformers, but now she’s “in the outhouse,” she says, because she argued and didn’t always vote the way they wanted.

Without naming Nutall, Higginbotham notes that when Dallas Kids First interviews incumbents, “we ask them, ‘What policy initiative are you most proud of?’

“If they cannot answer that question right off the tip of their tongue, that’s hard for us.”

FLASH CUT: Race dominates a district race

As of press time, only one DISD trustee race was contested. Neither Micciche nor tenured Trustee Edwin Flores of North Dallas’ District 1 had drawn opposition.

In District 9, however, the race began last summer.

Henry, who filed to run against Nutall three years ago then withdrew, posted initial campaign donations last July, signaling that this time, he was serious. In September, Marshall introduced Turner to the invitation-only Dallas Breakfast Group, which functions as the incubator of northern

Dallas politics. Then he and Flores endorsed Turner for the District 9 seat — despite the fact that the race was eight months away and Henry was sitting in the room.

The endorsement caught the attention of southern Dallas Trustee Joyce Foreman, who, in a Facebook post blasting Marshall for being “hateful” toward the three African-American trustees, also noted that “he has a hand-picked Negro that he is supporting” in the race against Nutall.

Foreman’s rant against Marshall was the result of Marshall’s repost of Schutze’s column, the headline claiming that “The Worst Enemies Poor Black Kids Have Are Black Dallas School Board Members.”

“How do people think black folks are going to even embrace you when you have a writer saying the three African-American trustees are Public Enemy No. 1 to black children?” Nutall asks.

“You don’t get the right to tell me how to respond when you mistreat me ... when you say whatever about me, and you say it in the newspaper, and you say it on Facebook,” she says. “It’s been some pretty ugly stuff. And then you want me to say, ‘Oh, can’t we all just get along?’ ”

Nutall believes her role is to fight for her community. The problem, both Henry and Turner believe, is that she no longer represents the community or its best interests.

They might not have entered the race if it weren’t for last August’s board vote on a tax-ratification election, which was the focus of Schutze’s instigating column. The election would have asked voters for a property tax increase with most of the money coming from north Dallas property owners and going to southern Dallas schools. Nutall, Foreman and Blackburn supported a small increase but rejected the larger tax hike reformers wanted.

“This was literally about ego, power and control,” Turner said after the vote, this time pointing the finger at the southern Dallas trustees rather than the north Dallas agenda he fought against during the homerule effort. He’s moved past that debacle but others haven’t, he says.

“We have to decide to heal,” he says. “I think right now with the current board, it’s not going to happen. That’s why you have to have change. There’s too much divisiveness on the board, and you have to have someone that’s willing to work with everybody.”

Henry, too, saw the distrust rear its ugly head again. “To think that black trustees are sabotaging kids that they serve … I find that offensive in my most tolerant state. You’re substantiating those concerns and justifying their distrust,” Henry says.

Yet he’s frustrated that “they can’t see a good thing when it’s in front of them because they distrust each other. This gate keeping system is hurting District 9. It’s hurting the whole city.

“I think we have to use the past to inform every decision we make, but we shouldn’t let the past dictate the future.”

For the uncut version of “Dallas ISD: The Movie,” along with extras and behind-the-scenes action, visit lakewood advocatemag.com.

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OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

By PATTI VINSON

Feeling the groove

This neighbor is moved by the artistic energy of East Dallas

S. CHUCK MCCARTER has always felt our neighborhood’s artistic energy. He uses meditation to tap that energy like a keg, letting the creativity flow with a series of abstract birds and snakes who serve as messengers.

For decades, McCarter enjoyed a meandering artist’s life, exhibiting his colorful abstract work, teaching around the country and curating shows. But when it came time to retire, he wanted nothing more than to head back to East Dallas, where his roots run deep.

McCarter grew up in the Urbandale/ Pleasant Grove area, a “safe and close knit” area where he walked to school and roamed the neighborhood on his bike. Though he describes his childhood as “lovely,” his was not the easiest of beginnings. Given up for adoption at birth, he spent his first year at Hope Cottage, a nonprofit adoption center on Texas Street, and was nearly transferred to an orphanage where adoptions were rare.

Then came Dorothy and Charlie McCarter, who tragically lost their daughter to scarlet fever. Seeking to adopt, Dorothy visited Hope Cottage where she was told about all the children in need of homes, including a certain 13-month-old boy. McCarter’s eyes well with tears as he tells of Dorothy’s immediate response.

“I’ll take him,” she said. “He’s the one we want.”

Sight unseen, the McCarters gained a son, and the future artist had a family. His father toiled at a steel factory, his mother stayed home (“like June Cleaver”), and McCarter grew up feeling safe and loved.

The Sunday newspaper meant the comics section, which McCarter studied intently, noting lines and shades, subtle differences apparent only to an artist’s eye. On weekends and summer

days, McCarter went to the library where he could spend hours browsing through books. He was first drawn to ancient history and archaeology books, intrigued by cave drawings with their simple lines and techniques. Eventually, McCarter picked up art history books, and found himself at home in the world of Matisse and Picasso.

A typical teen, art played second fiddle to baseball, track and girls. During his years at Dallas ISD’s Samuell High School, he spent a fair amount of time “cruising” around White Rock Lake and down Buckner, maybe with a stop at The Pig Stand for a sandwich. McCarter laughs as he remembers using the ghostly

him was learning: “It was a real source of style and technique for me.”

“Lady of the Lake” story on dates — perhaps to encourage a bit of protective snuggling.

It was while he was at Samuell that he joined the newspaper staff as artist/ cartoonist and had his very own “McCarter’s Corner” space in the paper where no topic was immune from his editorial jabs.

“I was pretty brutal with my images,” he chuckles. Peers, faculty, staff – all got the McCarter treatment, be they bullies, teachers who were detention-happy, or administrators (a.k.a. “The Man”). Despite the levity, the serious artist within

After graduation, McCarter served in the U.S. Air Force, and the GI Bill, allowed him to become the first in his family to attend college, beginning at El Centro. He would eventually transfer to University of North Texas where he earned a graduate degree in studio drawing and painting. “UNT was pretty radical and a real eye opener as far as creativity,” he says.

Soon after, McCarter was offered the plum position of art professor at Anderson University in South Carolina. For 10 years, he built the program there, then moved on to educator positions in Virginia, Michigan and Mississippi. During his decades teaching, he also curated exhibits for such luminaries as Milton Avery and Jasper Johns; studied nationally and in Italy and Greece; and exhibited his own abstract work. Busy as he was in the

PHOTOS BY VONDA KLIMASZEWSKI

“The neighborhood isn’t dying out, it’s being reborn, almost a renaissance.

There’s a thirst for the creative here.”

East Dallas.

classroom, the brush always beckoned.

A few years ago, McCarter left academia to do what he loves most, and he became a full-time studio artist. Where to retire was not a difficult decision. He wanted to come home to East Dallas.

“The space, the culture and the energy are all here,” he says, sitting in his modest home near White Rock Lake. “The community is a perfect blend of older citizens and young couples with young children. The neighborhood isn’t dying out, it’s being reborn, almost a renaissance. There’s a thirst for the creative here.”

He laughs as he adds, “It’s like the 1960s — a hotbed for social and aesthetic culture.”

He couldn’t stay out of the classroom, accepting teaching positions at the Creative Arts Center and Bath House Cultural Center. He recently led CAC students in a course on using meditation as a pathway to creating abstract art.

As he’d hoped, he’s spending much of his time creating new works, many of which have been displayed around Dallas.

He continues adding to his art series entitled “Whimsical,” abstractions filled with the aforementioned birds, snakes and all manner of animals as messengers. His art process always begins with meditation.

“It relaxes me and helps me find my deepest soul,” he says, “letting the piece tell me what it wants to become.”

Patti Vinson is a guest writer who has lived in East Dallas for over 15 years. She’s written for the Advocate andReal Simple magazine, and has taught college writing.

McCarter’s work has taken him all over the country, but he feels at home in

Spanish Immersion School

WHAT’S UP WITH NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES

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SCHOOL NEWS

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It’s been 28 years since the Woodrow Wilson girls basketball team was district champ, but the 2018 team captured the first title since 1990. Third-year head coach Elizabeth Schubert researched the records and found that this was only the second time the girls basketball team ever won district for Woodrow. “These kids want to play and love the game,” Schubert says. “If they make my team, I will teach them the love of the game.” The Texas Association of Basketball Coaches voted Woodrow’s boys basketball team into the top 10 in the state in February. The team went undefeated in district play. When coach Pat Washington took over the program 18 years ago, it was all the team could do to not get beat by 60 points. However, during the last 12 years his teams have qualified for the playoffs and earned five district championships. “I fashion myself as a builder,” he says. “I like putting things together.” The Woodrow Wilson swim teams placed in the top four at the UIL Region 4-5A competition last weekend. The girls team finished second and the boys team was fourth out of 30 schools The state qualifiers for Woodrow are Claire and Helen Agee, Abigail Giles, Noelle Martinez, Irina Starostine, Riley Daniel and Katherine Chauza. The teams are coached by Varner and Caitlin Knoll. The Bryan Adams High School swim team is sending eight athletes to state. The boys team finished second in the region and the girls placed fourth. The boys state qualifiers are are Mike Hernandez , Joey Cook , Merritt Curtis and Abel Fetahi . The Adams girls qualified for state for the first time, and the state-bound athletes Naomi Arcega, Anja Cronjaeger, Mackenzie Patterson and Isabel Hall. The team is coached by Nick Enriquez

CRIME REPORT

Police arrested a man suspected in the killing of his roommate after authorities found the roommate’s body in an apartment in the 5600 block of SMU Blvd., near Greenville Ave. The Dallas Morning News reported that police charged Bobby Fongu Ngendung, 23, with murder in the death of Michael Mitchel. Police said they found Mitchel’s body in Ngendung’s bedroom with marks that indicating Mitchel was choked by a cord or rope. Ngendung was arrested at the hospital and booked into Dallas County Jail, where he remains with a bail set at $200,000. There were two kidnappings at two different East Dallas Walgreens, last month. In each instance, a man hid in the back of an open vehicle, taking the driver hostage when they got in their car. In both instances, the driver was forced to go to ATMs and withdraw cash at several locations. A 17-year-old who matched the description of the suspect was arrested in Kansas while driving one of the victim’s cars.

By GEORGE MASON

Idle worship

The Super Bowl this year was a tale of two quarterbacks: Tom Brady and Nick Foles. Both were extraordinary: Brady was the league MVP; Foles, the Super Bowl MVP. Each brought a religious fervor to his play, but I will pass on Brady’s and recommend you catch Foles’.

We don’t often see examples of blatant idolatry. Brady is a remarkable athlete with a zeal for his sport that is second to none, but he has literally (and for once you may take literally literally) turned his devotion to football into his religion.

Now, Texans know something about the temptation to making football their real religion. Friday Night Lights. The hole in the roof of the old Cowboys’ stadium so that God could watch heaven’s favorite team play. But we always knew there was something more to faithful faith than fervent fandom. This is different.

Brady has written a book that outlines the lifestyle of a disciple. The TB12 Method is the athlete’s bible of physical and mental fitness that promises peak performance in return for total dedication. In the first episode of a TV documentary on this, titled Tom vs. Time, the 40-yearold Brady challenges his challengers: “If you’re going to compete against me, you better be willing to give up your life, because I’m giving up mine.”

Jesus: “If any would be my disciples, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” Taking up your cross is tantamount to giving up your life. But for what?

In ancient agrarian religions, devotees sacrificed to the gods in hopes of fertility and harvest. Prosperity religion — whether ancient or modern — is transactional: Give a worthy sacrifice to a god and in return the god will give worldly success.

Religions derived from Abraham — whether Judaism, Christianity or Islam — operate differently. These covenantal religions, rightly conceived, are relational rather than transactional. Spiritual sacrifice is the giving up of self-centeredness for God-centeredness. And God-cen -

teredness is proven by neighbor-love. Success is measured in the wellbeing of the weak and vulnerable, the poor and marginalized. True religion is not about building human empires — whether political, economic or athletic.

Nick Foles’ Christianity is rooted in the alchemy of human weakness and divine strength. It keeps ambition grounded. It attends to the plight of others. It sees personal failure, not just personal success, as a gateway to lasting glory.

“Failure is a part of life,” Foles said after the Super Bowl. “It’s a part of building character and growing. … We are all human, and we all have weaknesses. …

WORSHIP

BAPTIST

PARK CITIES BAPTIST CHURCH / 3933 Northwest Pky / pcbc.org

Worship & Bible Study 9:15 & 10:45 Traditional, Contemporary, Spanish Speaking / 214.860.1500

ROYAL LANE BAPTIST CHURCH / 6707 Royal Lane / 214.361.2809

Christian Education 9:45 a.m. / Worship Service 10:55 a.m.

Pastor - Rev. Dr. Michael L. Gregg / www.royallane.org

WILSHIRE BAPTIST / 4316 Abrams / 214.452.3100

Pastor George A. Mason Ph.D. / Worship 8:30 & 11:00am

Bible Study 9:40 am / www.wilshirebc.org

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

EAST DALLAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH / 629 N. Peak Street / 214.824.8185

Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel

10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org

LUTHERAN

CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, ELCA / 1000 Easton Road

A Welcoming and Affirming Church / Pastor Rich Pounds

Sunday School 9:00 am / Worship 10:30 am / CentralLutheran.org

FIRST UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH / 6202 E Mockingbird Lane

Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am / Call for class schedule. 214.821.5929 / www.dallaslutheran.org

METHODIST

GRACE UMC / Diverse, Inclusive, Missional

Sunday School for all ages, 9:30 am / Worship, 10:50 am 4105 Junius St. / 214.824.2533 / graceumcdallas.org

LAKE HIGHLANDS UMC / 9015 Plano Rd. / 214.348.6600 / lhumc.com

Sunday Morning: 9:30 am Sunday School / 10:30 am Coffee Worship: 8:30 am & 11:00 am Traditional / 11:00 am Contemporary

MUNGER PLACE CHURCH

Come and See mungerplace.org

NON-DENOMINATIONAL

LAKE POINTE CHURCH – WHITE ROCK CAMPUS Classic Service at 9:30 & Contemporary Service at 11:00 am lakepointe.org / 9150 Garland Road

God could watch heaven’s favorite team play.

I’m not perfect. I’m not Superman. … I still have daily struggles. And that’s where my faith comes in.”

Idolatry substitutes a created god for the Creator God. More than affront to the Divine honor, the problem is eternally practical: If you turn football (or work, or even family) into your ultimate reality, the end zone is still a cemetery. We are wise to worship a God who can raise us up after our final fall.

George Mason is pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church. The Worship section is underwritten by Advocate Publishing and the neighborhood businesses and churches listed here. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.

PRESBYTERIAN

NORTHRIDGE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 6920 Bob-O-Link Dr. 214.827.5521 / www.northridgepc.org / Sundays 8:30 & 11:00 am Sunday School 9:35am / All Are Welcome

PRESTON HOLLOW PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 9800 Preston Road

8:15 am Chapel, 9:30 & 11:00 am Sanctuary, 5:00 pm Founder’s Hall Senior Pastor Matthew E. Ruffner / www.phpc.org / 214.368.6348

ST. ANDREW’S PRESBYTERIAN / Skillman & Monticello Rev. Rob Leischner / www.standrewsdallas.org

214.821.9989 / Sunday School 9:30 am, Worship 10:45 am

UNITY

UNITY ON GREENVILLE / Your soul is welcome here!

3425 Greenville Ave. / 214.826.5683 / www.dallasunity.org

Sunday Service 11:00 am and Book Study 9:30 am

Two sports idols take opposite tacks on religion

Texans know something about the temptation to making football their real religion. Friday Night Lights. The hole in the roof of the old Cowboys’ stadium so that

HOLY WEEK AT CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

MAUNDY

GOOD

EASTER

AC & HEAT

CLEANING SERVICES

CINDY’S HOUSE CLEANING 15 yrs exp. Resd/Com. Refs. Dependable. 214-490-0133

FATHER, SON, GRANDSON Window Cleaning. Free Est. Derek. 682-716-9892

Family Owned & Operated

Serving the Dallas area for over 30 years

We raise our kids here, too!

214-330-5500

ClassicAirandHeat.com

TACLB29169ETACLA29042C

APPLIANCE REPAIR

JESSE’S A/C & APPLIANCE SERVICE

TACLB13304C All Makes/Models. 214-660-8898

BUY/SELL/TRADE

CARS/TRUCKS WANTED!!! All Makes/Models. 2000-2016. Any Condition. Running Or Not. Top $$$ Paid. Free Towing. We’re Nationwide. Call Now 1-888-985-1806

GOT AN OLDER CAR, RV, BOAT? Do The Humane Thing. Donate It To The Humane Society. 1-855-558-3509

RANGERS, STARS & MAVS

Share front-row Texas Rangers, Stars & Mavs seats. Tickets are available in sets of 10 games (sets of 2 or 4 tickets per game available). Participants randomly draw numbers prior to season to determine a draft order fair to everyone. Call 214-560-4212 or rwamre@advocatemag.com

CABINETRY & FURNITURE

CABINETMAKER Design/Build Custom Furniture. Repair, Refinish. 40 yrs. exp. Jim 214-457-3830

SQUARE NAIL WOODWORKING

Cabinet Refacing, Built-ins, Entertainment/ Computer Centers. Jim. 214-324-7398 www.squarenailwoodworking.com

CLASSES/TUTORING/LESSONS

ART: Draw/Paint. Adults All Levels. Lake Highlands N. Rec. Ctr. Days: Mon & Wed. Students bring supplies. Nights: 1xt month workshop, supplies furnished. Jane Cross. 214-534-6829

CLEANING SERVICES

A MAID FOR YOU Bonded/Insured.Park Cities/ M Streets Refs. Call Us First. Joyce 214-232-9629

AFFORDABLE CLEANING Insd./Bonded. Move In/Out. Routine Cleaning. Reliable. Dependable. Residential/ Commercial. References. 28+yrs. Delta Cleaning. 972-943-9280.

ALTOGETHER CLEAN

Relax ...We’ll Clean Your House, It Will Be Your Favorite Day! Bonded & Insurance. Free Estimates. 214-929-8413. www. altogetherclean.net

LAKEWOODWINDOWCLEANING.COM Veteran owned. Serving neighbors 15 years. 214-317-2325

WANTED: HOUSES TO CLEAN: WINDOWS to Wash: Wkly & Bi Monthly. Great Prices $$. Honest & Reliable. Family owned 15 years. Excellent references. Call Sunny @ 214-724-2555

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS

ALL COMPUTER PROBLEMS SOLVED MAC/PC Great Rates. Keith. 214-295-6367

AT ODDS WITH YOUR COMPUTER? Easily Learn Essential Skills. Services include Digital Photo Help. Sharon 214-679-9688

BILL’S COMPUTER REPAIR Virus Removal, Data Recovery. Home/Biz Network Install. All Upgrades & Repairs. PC Instruction. No Trip Fee. 214-348-2566

COMPUTER HELP! Viruses, Data Recovery, Upgrades, WiFi Problems, Onsite Tech. 214-533-6216 • WebersComputers.com

CONFUSED? FRUSTRATED? Let a seasoned pro be the interface between you & that pesky Windows computer. Hardware/Software Installation, Troubleshooting, Training. $60/hr. 1 hr min. Dan 972-639-6413 / stykidan@sbcglobal.net

CONCRETE/MASONRY/PAVING

BRICK & STONE REPAIR

Tuck Pointing / Crack Repair. Mortar Color Matching. Don 214-704-1722

BRICK, BLOCK, Stone, Concrete, Stucco. Gonzalez Masonry. 214-395-1319

CONCRETE, Driveway Specialist Repairs, Replacement, Removal, References. Reasonable. Chris 214-770-5001

EDMONDSPAVING.COM Asphalt & Concrete Driveway-Sidewalk-Patio-Repair 214-957-3216

FLAGSTONE PATIOS, Retaining Walls, BBQ’s, Veneer, Flower Bed Edging, All Stone work. Chris 214-770-5001

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com

50 Yrs. Electrical Exp. Insd. 214-328-1333

BRIGHT LIGHT ELECTRIC • 214-553-5333

TECL 31347 Brightening Homes and Businesses

LAKEWOOD ELECTRICAL Local. Insured. Lic. #227509 Call Rylan 214-434-8735

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

TEXAS ELECTRICAL • 214-289-0639

Prompt, Honest, Quality Service. TECL 24668

TH ELECTRIC Reasonable Rates. Licensed & Insured. Ted. E257 214-808-3658

WHITE ROCK ELECTRIC All Electrical Services. Lic/Insd. E795. 214-850-4891

EMPLOYMENT

AIRLINE MECHANIC TRAINING Get FAA

certified. Approved for military benefits. Financial aid if qualified. Job placement assistance. Aviation Institute of Maintenance 866-453-6204

AVON AGENTS WANTED StartAvon.com. Reference Code; CHASKIN

PET SITTERS, DOG WALKERS reply to http://www.pcpsi.com/join

ESTATE/GARAGE SALES

WANT TO MAKE MONEY? Richardson Mercantile is looking for dealers who want to join one of the best antique malls in DFW. Need details? Go to richardsonmercantile@gmail.com

EXTERIOR CLEANING

G&G DEMOLITION Tear downs, Haul. Interior/Exterior. 214-808-8925

FENCING & DECKS

AMBASSADOR FENCE INC. EST.96 Automatic Gates, Fences/Decks Ambassadorfenceco.com 214-621-3217

FENCING & WOODWORK oldgatefence.com . 214-766-6422

HANNAWOODWORKS.COM

Decks, Pergolas, Patio Covers. 214-435-9574

KIRKWOOD FENCE & DECK New & Repair. Free Estimates. Nathan Kirkwood. 214-341-0699

LONESTARDECKS.COM 214-357-3975

Trex Decking & Fencing, trex.com

All Wood Decks, Arbors & Patio Covers

WOODMASTER CARPENTRY 214-507-9322

Quality Wood Fences & Decks. New or Repair.

Northlake Fence and Deck

Locally owned and operated by the Mccaffrey family since1980

214-349-9132

www northlakefence.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

DALLAS HARDWOODS 214-724-0936

Installation, Repair, Refinish, Wax, Hand Scrape. Residential, Commercial. Sports Floors. 30 Yrs.

FENN CONSTRUCTION Manufactored hardwoods. Stone and Tile. Back-splash Specials. 214-343-4645

FLOORING & CARPETING

HASTINGS STAINED CONCRETE

New/Remodel. Stain/Wax Int/Ext. Nick. 214-341-5993. www.hastingsfloors.com

WILLEFORD HARDWOOD FLOORS 214-824-1166 • WillefordHardwoodFloors.com

FOUNDATION REPAIR

• Slabs • Pier & Beam

• Mud Jacking • Drainage

• Free Estimates

• Over 20 Years Exp.

972-288-3797

We Answer Our Phones

GARAGE SERVICES

IDEAL GARAGE DOORS • 972-757-5016

Install & Repair. 10% off to military/1st responders. ROCKET GARAGE DOOR SERVICE - 24/7. Repairs/Installs. 214-533-8670. Coupon On Web. www.RocketDoor.com

UNITED GARAGE DOORS AND GATES Res/Com. Locally Owned. 214-826-8096

GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS

LAKE HIGHLANDS GLASS & MIRROR frameless shower enclosures • store fronts replacement windows • mirrors 214-349-8160

PRO WINDOW CLEANING prompt, dependable. Matt 214-766-2183

ROCK GLASS CO Replace, repair: windows, mirrors, showers, screens. 214-837-7829

HANDYMAN SERVICES

ALL STAR HOME CARE Carpentry, Glass, Tile, Paint, Doors, Sheetrock Repair, and more. 25 yrs. exp. References. Derry 214-505-4830

BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730

HANDY DAN The Handyman. ToDo’s Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

HANDYMAN SPECIALIST Residential/ Commercial. Large, small jobs, repair list, renovations. Refs. 214-489-0635

HOME REPAIR HANDYMAN Small/Big Jobs + Construction. 30 Yrs. Exp. Steve. 214-875-1127

HOMETOWN HANDYMAN All phases of construction. No job too small 214-327-4606

HONEST, SKILLED SERVICE With a Smile. General Repairs/ Maintenance. 214-215-2582

ONE CALL WEEKEND SERVICES

Handyman Services Offered.469-658-9163

Handyman, Contractor, Engineer

WANTED: ODD JOBS & TO DO LISTS

Allen’s Handyman & Home Repair 214-288-4232

HANDYMAN SERVICES

Your Home Repair Specialists

Drywall Doors

Senior Safety

Carpentry

Small & Odd Jobs

And More!

KITCHEN/BATH/TILE/GROUT

WE REFINISH!

972-308-6035 HandymanMatters.com/dallas Bonded & Insured. Locally owned & operated.

HOME SECURITY

SAFES For Guns, Home or Business. We Offer a Large Selection Plus Consultation & In-Home Delivery. Visit Our Showroom. 972-272-9788 thesafecompany.com

HOUSE PAINTING

1 AFFORDABLE HOUSE PAINTING and Home Repair. Quality work. Inside and Out. Free Ests. Local Refs. Ron 972-816-5634

A+ INT/EXT PAINT & DRYWALL Since 1977. Kirk Evans. 972-672-4681

BENJAMIN’S PAINTING SERVICE Professional Work At Reasonable Prices. 214-725-6768

RAMON’S INT/EXT PAINT Sheetrock, Repairs. 214-679-4513

TONY’S PAINTING SERVICE Quality Work Since 1984. Int./Ext. 214-755-2700

TOP COAT 30 yrs. exp. Reliable, Quality Repair/Remodel Phil @ 214-770-2863

VIP PAINTING & DRYWALL Int/Ext. Sheetrock Repair, Resurfacing Tubs, Counters, Tile Repairs. 469-774-7111

KITCHEN/BATH/TILE/GROUT

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS LLC

Complete Kitchen And Bath Remodels. Tile, Granite, Marble, Travertine, Slate. Insured. 214-563-5035 www.blake-construction.com

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645

MELROSE TILE James Sr., Installer, Repairs. 40 Yrs. Exp. MelroseTile.com 214-384-6746

STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS Granite, Quartz, Marble For Kitchen/Bath-Free Est. stoneage.brandee@gmail.com 940-465-6980

TK REMODELING 972-533-2872

Complete Full Service Repairs, Remodeling, Restoration. Name It — We do it. Tommy. Insured. dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com

• Tubs, Tiles or Sinks

• Cultured Marble

• Kitchen Countertops

214-631-8719

www.allsurfacerefinishing.com

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

#1 WHITE ROCK TREE WIZARDS

Professionals, Experts, Artists. Trim, Remove, Cabling, Bracing/Bolting. Cavity-Fill Stump Grind. Emergencies, Hazards. Insd. Free Est. 972-803-6313. arborwizard.com

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

TAYLOR MADE IRRIGATION Repairs, service, drains. 30+ years exp. Ll 6295 469-853-2326. John

TRACY’S LAWN CARE • 972-329-4190

Lawn Mowing & Leaf Cleaning

Call Mark Wittlich 214-332-3444

Top ways to transition your mind from winter to spring. Spring is ready to break through with its beautiful blooms. Spruce up your body and life with these tips for spring.

1) Look out for your liver — The liver is one of the most important organs for renewing, cleansing and energizing the body. The liver is related to your ability to plan ahead.

2) Cleanse the body — In winter time we focus on over indulgence and hearty meals. Spring time should balance that with a focus on digestion and detoxification.

3) Spring clean — It is as important to spring clean your house as it is your body. Donate unwanted clutter, move out big furniture and deep clean forgotten corners.

4) Come out of hibernation — In winter we tend to retreat to our warm homes. Spring is the time to open the windows and get some fresh air. Here’s to a healthy, prosperous spring.

classifieds.advocatemag.com

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

A BETTER TREE MAN Trims, Removals, Insd. 12 Yrs Exp. Roberts Tree Service. 214-808-8925

CHUPIK TREE SERVICE

Trim, Remove, Stump Grind. Free Est. Insured. 214-823-6463

DALLAS GROUNDSKEEPER Organic Lawn Maintenance designed to meet your needs. 214-471-5723 dallasgroundskeeper.com

DALLAS K.D.R.SERVICES • 214-349-0914 Lawn Service & Landscape Installation

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

Sprinkler & Valve Repair/ Rebuild Older Systems. Lic. #1742. 214-398-8061

MAYA TREE SERVICE Tree Trim/Remove. Lawn Maintenance. Resd/ Commcl.Insd. CC’s Accptd. mayatreeservice.com 214-924-7058 214-770-2435

PAT TORRES 214-388-1850 Lawn Service & Tree Care 28 Yrs. Complete Landscape Renovation.

APRIL DEADLINE MARCH 7 214.560.4203 TO ADVERTISE

MORTGAGE SERVICES

NEED A PURCHASE, REFIANCE Or Renovation Home Loan? Call Pat Nagler, PrimeLending Sr. Loan Officer (NMLS: 184376) 214-402-4019 for all your mortgage needs.

MOVING

AM MOVING COMPANY Specialty Moving & Delivery. 469-278-2304 ammovingcompany.com

PEST CONTROL

A BETTER EARTH PEST CONTROL Keeping the environment, kids, pets in mind. Organic products avail. 972-564-2495

MCDANIEL PEST CONTROL Prices Start at $85 + Tax For General Treatment.

Average Home-Interior/Exterior & Attached Garage. Quotes For Other Services. 214-328-2847. Lakewood Resident

PET SERVICES

DOGGIE DEN DALLAS Daycare, Boarding, Grooming, Training. 6444 E. Mockingbird Ln. 214-823-1441 • DoggieDenDallas.com

THE PET DIVAS Pet Sitting, Daily Dog Walks, In Home/Overnight Stays.Basic Obedience Training. thepetdivas.com 817-793-2885. Insured

lakewood.advocatemag.com

WHERE CAN I FIND LOCAL ...?

PLUMBING

AC PLUMBING Repairs, Fixtures, Senior Discounts. Gary Campbell. 214-321-5943

ANDREWS PLUMBING • 214-354-8521

# M37740 Insured. Any plumbing issues.

HAYES PLUMBING INC. Repairs. Insured, 214-343-1427 License M13238

M&S PLUMBING Quality Work & Prompt Service. Jerry. 214-235-2172. lic.#M-11523

NTX PLUMBING SPEC. LLLP 214-226-0913

Lic. M-40581 Res/Com. Repairs & Leak Location

THE PLUMBING MANN LLC

All Plumbing! Since 1978. Family Owned. RMP/Master-14240 Insured. 214-FAST-FIX/ 214-327-8349

POOLS

CERULEAN POOL SERVICES Family Owned/ Operated. Weekly maintenance, Chemicals, parts & repairs. CeruleanPro.com 214-557-6996

LEAFCHASERS POOL SERVICE Parts/Service. Chemicals/Repairs. Jonathan. 214-729-3311

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

ACCOUNTING/TAXES Small Business/Individual Chris King, CPA 214-824-5313 chriskingcpa.com

BOOKKEEPING NEEDS? Need Help Organizing Finances? No Job Too Small or Big. Call C.A.S. Bookkeeping Services. Cindy 214-577-7450

REAL ESTATE

REAL ESTATE & INT. DESIGN SERVICES contact John Cramer, Realtor w/ FireHouse Real Estate Services 214-212-6865

REMODELING

BAD MOTHER SHUTTERS 214-909-8879

jwilliams@badmothershutters.com Custom Made

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Remodeling, Kitchens, Baths, Additions. Hardie Siding & Replacement Windows. Build On Your Own Lot. Insured. www.blake-construction.com 214-563-5035

BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645

MP ARCHITECTURAL Design & Construction. mattandpaul.com 214-226-1186

O’BRIEN GROUP INC. Remodeling Dallas For Over 17 Years www.ObrienGroupInc.com 214-341-1448

RENOVATE DALLAS renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247

ROOFING & GUTTERS BERT ROOFING INC.

Family owned and operated for over 40 years

• Residential/Commercial • Over 30,000 roofs completed • Seven NTRCA “Golden Hammer” Awards • Free Estimates www.bertroofing.com

214.321.9341

Residential • Commercial (214) 503-7663 www.scottexteriors.com

SERVICES FOR YOU

A PLACE FOR MOM The Nation’s Largest Senior Living Referral Service. Contact Our Trusted Local Experts Today. Our Service is Free/No Obligation. 1-844-722-7993

DISH NETWORK. 190+ Channels. Free Install. Free Hopper HD-DVR $49.99/month.(24 months) Add High Speed Internet. $14.95 (where avail.) Call Today & save 25%. 1-855-837-9146

ENJOY 100% Guaranteed Delivered To -TheDoor Omaha Steaks.Save 75% Plus Get Four More Burgers & 4 More Kielbasa Free! Order The Family Gourmet Buffet-Only $49.99. 1-855-895-0358 mention code 51689LCX Or Visit omahasteaks. com/cook03

Bob McDonald Company, Inc. BUILDERS/REMODELERS

30+ Yrs. in Business • Major Additions Complete Renovations • Kitchens/Baths

214-341-1155

bobmcdonaldco.net

• Turnkey Renovations

• Kitchens

LIFELOCK Identity Theft Protection. Do Not Wait. Start Guarding Your Identity Today. 3 Layers Of Protection. Detect, Alert, Restore. Receive 10% Off. 1-855-399-2089

MY OFFICE Offers Mailing, Copying, Shipping, Office & School Supplies. 9660 Audelia Rd. myofficelh.com 214-221-0011

SKYLIGHTS

Installing Since 1995

Replacement,

972-263-6033

www.skylightsolutions.com

www.DaylightRangers.com Call Today! by Daylight Rangers

972-985-1700

• Baths

• Floors

• Windows FREE ESTIMATES greenlovehomes.com

214.864.2444

APRIL DEADLINE MARCH 7 214.560.4203 TO ADVERTISE IT DOESN’T GET MORE LOCAL THAN THIS. READ OUR ADVOCATE CLASSIFIEDS SECTION FOR VALUABLE SERVICES NEAR YOU. 60 lakewood.advocatemag.com MARCH 2018

OUR CITY

By ANGELA HUNT

The party line

Let’s keep partisan politics out of the Dallas City Council race

One of the things I loved most about serving on the Dallas City Council was that it is a non-partisan body.Councilmembers don’t have parenthetical capital letters following their names that instantly put them in Camp Red or Team Blue. There are no political parties to either rely on or hide behind. Councilmembers are forced to learn issues and vote based on the will of their constituents. Majorities are wonderfully unreliable and uncertain and change based on the issue at hand, not party affiliation.

Likewise, voters in non-partisan city council races must have some knowledge of municipal issues and candidates when they show up at the polls. There is no party shorthand they can substitute for insight into a candidate’s values and positions, and voting “straight ticket” is not an option.

Say what you will about our Dallas City Council (and I know you will), but there is a beauty in this lack of party affiliation — something very authentic and real about legislators having to personally grapple with issues facing our city, knowing they can’t latch onto a party line, knowing they have to please a majority of all of the voters in their districts, not just a narrow partisan voting bloc.

So, I was concerned when I heard that there is a suggestion to move Dallas City Council elections from May (non-partisan) to November (partisan).

First, a quick recap of how elections work in Dallas.

We’ve essentially got two different sets of elections in our city. One takes place in May of odd-numbered years. These are our local elections for city council

and school board seats. The mayor is on the ballot every four years, and sometimes there are city propositions as well. In these races, the candidates have no official party affiliation. Run-offs are frequent and take place about a month later, in June.

The other round of our elections is held in November of even-numbered years. These are the partisan races for everything from president to justice of the peace. Every candidate is attached to a political party. There are no run-offs

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because party primaries are held the preceding March to narrow the field, and even if a third-party candidate joins the fray, whoever gets the most votes wins.

The idea behind moving our city elections to November is to take advantage of the greater turnout for partisan races, and I can appreciate that. Increasing voter participation is a good thing. But we have to weigh that potential benefit against the very real possibility that party politics could infiltrate our local elections, and that local races and municipal issues could get lost in the frenzy of blue-red rhetoric.

The months leading up to November elections have become overwhelmed by heated partisan debates that have little bearing on how quickly our potholes get

filled, how often our parks are mowed, and how we’re going to deal with all those pesky bicycles that are supposedly clogging our streets. With Republicans, Democrats and super PACs inundating our airwaves and mailboxes with partisan rhetoric, how would we engage in meaningful dialog about local issues? How would we ensure that our “everyday” Dallas problems are not overshadowed by Left versus Right debates, or worse, deformed by them? How would our local government be impacted if congressional candidates and local political parties began endorsing “down ballot” races like city council?

If we are seriously considering moving our city elections to coincide with partisan races, then we must appreciate the real risks involved. I, for one, am not convinced that the pros of more “engagement” outweigh the many cons that binary partisan debate would bring to our local government.

From a very practical standpoint, let’s think about how moving council races to November would impact our holidays. Council elections in early November would mean December run-offs, with early voting over the Thanksgiving holiday. If Dallasites are forced to choose between spending their Black Friday at the voting booth or shopping at NorthPark Center, I have a feeling that won’t be a hard choice.

Angela Hunt is a neighborhood resident and former Dallas city councilwoman in East Dallas She writes a monthly opinion column about neighborhood issues. Her opinions are not necessarily those of the Advocate or its management. Send comments and ideas to her ahunt@advocatemag.com.

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Majorities are wonderfully unreliable and uncertain and change based on the issue at hand, not party affiliation.

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