DALLAS, N.C. — WFAA invited each of the nine candidates for Dallas mayor to answer the following questions to help inform voters before the May 4th election.
Here are Mike Ablon's responses:
Occupation:
Husband, father, businessman and neighborhood developer
Education:
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
Bachelor of Architecture
Masters Degree from Harvard University
How long have you lived in the city of Dallas?
Born and raised in Dallas. I am a fifth generation Dallasite. My great-great grandfather was an immigrant entrepreneur who walked from Galveston to Dallas to chase a dream. He started a successful poultry company not far from Fair Park.
Why are you running for mayor?
The world knows Dallas by our skyline, but great cities are defined by the vitality of their neighborhoods. That’s what I want to do as Mayor – help strengthen and revitalize neighborhoods so they are safe and prosperous. We can only do this if we come together as a city and do what’s right for the future success of every part of Dallas, starting with improving the basic city and education services that make a lasting difference in our everyday lives.
Prior political experience or civic leadership involvement?
I have never been involved in politics, but I have been active in my community. Until I announced my run for mayor, I served as Chair of the Trinity River Corridor Local Government Corporation. The Trinity River Corridor LGC is the 501(c)(3) formed on behalf of the Dallas City Council to build the Trinity River Harold Simmons Park to unite the north and south halves of the city. I have also served as the Vice-Chairman of a 501(c)(3) Senior Living Development as well as 20 years of Board & Executive Committee positions at the Real Estate Council & its Foundation. My family has also been involved in the State Fair of Texas poultry exhibition, carrying on a 100-year tradition of raising money for youth exhibitors and assisting with the exhibits.
There are a lot of candidates in this race, why should voters choose you over someone else?
I am a consensus builder with a long track record of bringing people together to get things done. Several of my opponents have made their campaigns about dividing our city along partisan or geographic lines – they’ve even criticized me for not being a politician. I reject that leadership style. Instead of East, West, North and South, I want to build one Dallas – a collection of thriving and prosperous neighborhoods free from political rancor or Washington-style partisanship. Our city deserves better than political squabbling. For Dallas to succeed we must rise above our differences to get things done for all citizens.
In your view, what are the three biggest challenges facing Dallas? Specifically, how do you plan to address them?
I think we have more than three challenges. As Mayor I want to see every neighborhood in every part of our city succeed – especially the communities that feel left behind by City Hall. To do so, we must first improve basic community services by:
• Helping our schoolchildren with tutoring and safe before and after-school programs.
• Repairing our streets and fixing the potholes that have been ignored for too long.
• Improving transportation so working families can get to work and senior citizens can more easily get to their doctors.
• Strengthening ethics and transparency at City Hall.
• Supporting police and fire with better pay and benefits – this will help us stop the exodus of officers and better protect our families.
• Integrating our service entities (DART, DISD, county health and community colleges) with the city of Dallas to collectively solve our systematic issues listed above.
With growing property taxes, it gets more expensive to live in Dallas every year. If elected, what specifically would you do to address that?
The best way to reduce the property tax burden on Dallas homeowners is to attract new business that can take on a bigger share of the burden of paying for city services. As Mayor I want to expand opportunities so more people can build and grow their businesses in our city. In doing so, we can continue to provide jobs for working families while spurring valuable new tax revenue to help pay for better roads, parks, police and fire.
Dallas now has hundreds of fewer police officers than five years ago. Emergency response times have increased, as well. How do you solve this problem?
When there’s a fire, we call firefighters. When there’s a crime, we call on police officers. But when there’s a budget crisis, City Hall almost always cuts their funding. This is why we are short 1,000 officers and response times are on the rise. We owe them more respect and appreciation – that means proper planning and city management so their budgets are not vulnerable. As Mayor, I will fight for better pay, a stronger pension and smarter benefits for the men and women who risk their lives each day. And, if we’re going to depend on police and firefighters to keep us secure, we should listen more to their input on actual needs and staffing. It’s also important that we listen to the rank and file officers who understand firsthand what it takes to make Dallas a safer place. Only by allowing our police officers to have a bigger say in how we fight crime can we successfully stop violent criminals, gang members, drug dealers and others who target our families.
There is a growing homeless population in Dallas. Prior administrations have struggled to address it. What would you do differently?
We need a comprehensive solution that includes city resources, churches and nonprofits all chipping in. The fact is many of our homeless have addiction issues or are mentally ill. Unfortunately, the city relies too much on police officers to act as social workers – that takes way too many officers away from neighborhood patrols. Our first step needs to be providing our mentally ill or addicted homeless citizens with the help they need to overcome their struggles.
Major strides have been made in Dallas’ southern sector but challenges remain. What are the two biggest opportunities you have identified?
I think there are more than two opportunities. I have said from the day I announced my candidacy that we need to take better care of every community in every part of our city. There are many neighborhoods that feel forgotten and I want to take a comprehensive look at each of them. As Dallas has grown and developed, the jobs and investments have not touched all areas, and City Hall has fallen behind on taking care of the infrastructure in South Dallas. I want to work to encourage investment and growth in those areas and make sure their infrastructure needs are met with the highest level of service. We need to make sure our schools in South Dallas are getting the extra assistance they need with the city helping with after-school programs. We need to provide more police officers to patrol the high crime areas of South Dallas. And, we need to improve transportation so South Dallas families can get to jobs, grocery stores and doctors.
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or faced criminal proceedings in a court? If yes, please explain:
No.
Have you ever been involved in any lawsuits or declared bankruptcy? If yes, please explain:
No.
Favorite Dallas restaurant – or night out?
My favorite night out would be with my wife and daughters sitting outside at the Katy Trail Ice House. We also like hitting small local restaurants and diners like Oddfellows in the Bishop Arts District and BuzzBrews.
Have you ever ridden DART?
Yes.
Tell us something about yourself – unrelated to politics or this race – that voters probably don’t know.
A few things - I am a repeat participant in the Hotter Than Hell 100 bike ride. I have a deep interest in the history of Dallas and Texas, and have a collection of older Texas coins and currency. And, as a young boy, my father and grandfather put me to work chasing down loose chickens at our family poultry business in South Dallas. I earned a nickel for each one I caught.
