Equal Representation in Dallas District 1 City Council Race Center

Dallas City Councilman Chad West bought his first home in the city over a decade ago. He was elected to the council in May 2019 and re-elected two years later. In January, West applied for the May 2023 ballot, turning in more than 200 voter signatures in support of his candidacy. He said that’s more signatures than his campaign has collected in 2019 and 2021 combined.

But he faces two contenders for re-election, Albert Mata and Mariana Griggs. Both say they are running to remove West because they believe he was not a good representative of the county’s Hispanic community.

West says one of his priorities is to work with the Dallas police chief to reduce violent crime in his area. He also wants to lower taxes and provide residents with well-managed and efficient city services. However, according to West, the big problem in the area is the preservation of the area. The West Oak Cliff District Plan is intended to assist in the future development and conservation of neighborhoods in the district. The plan was unanimously approved by the Dallas City Council last December.

According to West, both Mata and Griggs criticized the community involvement that was included in the plan, especially when it came to the county’s Hispanic community. One of the complaints related to community involvement was the lack of translation services throughout the planning process.

“I’ll put it this way, it wasn’t perfect, especially in the beginning,” West said. “But the city has adjusted, it’s gotten a lot better, and the plan did exactly what it was supposed to do. He had neighbors who had never been connected with the city before, who did not trust the city, who did not even know what a territorial plan was. It got them engaged. It brought literally thousands of people around the same table in various forms.”

“It’s important for a council member to be a strong voice and make decisions with confidence when the storms hit you from both sides.” – Chad West, Dallas City Council.

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West said participation is never perfect and even praised Mata for helping keep people informed about the plan. “Albert [Mata] was one of the thousands of voices that contributed,” West said.

“It’s very important for a council member to have a strong voice and constantly make decisions when the storms hit you from both sides,” West said. “So when you have a controversial thing, like the West Oak Cliff neighborhood plan, it’s easy to stand up and criticize it.”

He said that it would be easier for him to simply abandon the whole plan in the face of criticism. “It would be very easy to just roll it up and say, ‘You know, this is obviously too hard to do.’ But I didn’t. I persevered, persevered, and we achieved our goal.”

In early January, Mata posted a video to Youtube announcing the run against West. Mata’s family has lived in Oak Cliff for three generations. “Our community has so many needs,” Mata said in his video. “Affordable housing, better roads, better parks, and stronger, safer neighborhoods.” Mata has been on the board of Somos Tejas, a Latino community advocacy group, for the last two years.

Mata told Observer he is running to ensure that the district has “true and sincere representation of the entire District 1”.

“By that, I mean there are a few districts, a few people who have felt for a very long time that although they have a representative, they don’t have a representation,” Mata said. “I think that’s kind of the reality for most people in the area. This is what I have felt for several years.”

“We need to involve the public in decisions about development and zoning changes,” Albert Mata, City Council District 1 candidate.

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He said that prior to becoming a candidate, he had pushed for greater community involvement and that, as a city council member, he would continue to do so. “We need to involve the public in making decisions about development and rezoning,” he said. “We have to make sure the information is available to them. Everything that comes out of the council member’s office must be translated…because this area is 75% Hispanic, and a significant portion of that population is predominantly Spanish-speaking.”

According to the West Oak Cliff Neighborhood Plan, 86% of the area’s residents identify as Hispanic and Latino.

As a result, Mata wants everyone in the neighborhood to feel like they have someone from City Hall working for them. “It informs everything else,” he said. “In terms of the development that we’re seeing and that we’ve seen in Oak Cliff, I’m not against development. But I want to make sure that development is done in partnership with the community.”

Mata also said he believes the city should place limits on the height of buildings in the area, as well as limit redevelopment. “I think these two things will go a long way to stop the overdevelopment that some neighbors are tired of and afraid of,” Mata said. “I would like to emphasize that I am not against development, changes and investments. It just needs to be done with us, not without us.”

He also wants to focus more on the area’s infrastructure. “We need to make sure we right the wrongs of the past by over-investing in historically underinvested and neglected parts of our neighborhood, and there are so many of them,” Mata said.

“I wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for some useless deeds by the current city council member,” Mata said. “I want to make it clear that I think the council member is a good guy. I just don’t think he’s the right guy for this county. I don’t think he’s equipped or, in any way, has even shown a desire or effort to make everyone in the area feel like he represents them.”

As an example, he points to the plan of the West Oak Cliff area. “The plan for the West Oak Cliff area, while well-intentioned, was poorly executed,” Mata said. The task force set up to develop the plan for the West Oak Cliff neighborhood did not represent all residents of the county, he said. Mata worked to get Hispanics involved in creating the plan.

Mariana Griggs announced her candidacy for the city council’s first district seat in January. Griggs has lived in the area she hopes to represent for more than two decades. Although this is her first campaign, she was previously married to Scott Griggs, who represented District 1 from 2011 to 2019. Scott Griggs also ran unsuccessfully for mayor against Eric Johnson in 2019.

“This is a majority-minority district.” – Mariana Griggs, District 1 City Council Candidate.

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Mariana Griggs has experience in forensic investigations as well as teaching at Dallas Public Schools, a local university, and community colleges. She is a mother, urban farmer, cyclist, and self-proclaimed city hall employee. “I feel ready to adequately reflect the interests of my community in order to take action together to protect and develop District 1,” she said.

Griggs said the area has a rich local culture that needs to be protected. “Here we do things before other people know they have to,” she said. “Our economic hubs, including Bishop Arts, Jefferson, Elmwood and Wynnewood, need to stand out and be encouraged, while at the same time we need to involve and help our surrounding neighbors.”

She said she was running because of her love for the neighborhood and her daughter Catalina, who also plans to run for city council one day with the help of her mother “because Latinos have a place on all ballots.”

“This is a minority county,” Griggs said. But these minority communities don’t always vote because they aren’t always involved, she said. Because of this, Griggs said, the county doesn’t always have a city council member that represents these communities. Griggs cited the West Oak Cliff neighborhood plan as an example of a lack of representation.

“The original task force was full of North Oak Cliff people because they volunteered because they had that luxury,” Griggs said. “When your expenses are covered, when you don’t have to worry about food on the table every night, things get a little different and you have more time for community service. I don’t blame anyone for this, but I would like to find some time for some people south of Clarendon to get this too.

Several good things came out of the West Oak Cliff area plan, Griggs said. “Now we get a newsletter in District 1, which is translated into Spanish every time. We didn’t have that before,” she said. “But I think this is just the beginning. … Translation of needs is only the first step. Engagement and true understanding is what’s next.”

Election day for the Dallas City Council is May 6. The last day to register to vote is April 6, and early voting begins April 24.