Dallas Has a New Mayor: Mike Rawlings

By Robert Wilonsky Sat., Jun. 18 2011 at 9:50 PM

Categories: Campaign News

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Photo by Anna Merlan

Mike Rawlings is the new mayor of the city of Dallas, besting David Kunkle by some 7,000 votes: 30,487 to 23,853 with all but a few precincts having reported in. Anna Merlan, one of crack newcomers, is at the Meddlesome Moth. She files this:

Rawlings said he just got off the phone with David Kunkle, who, as noted below, called to concede when it became clear he'd come in second in the two-man race. Said Rawlings: "[Kunkle] reached out to me with the hand of partnership, and I reached back and said, 'Thank you.'"

The former Pizza Hut exec thanked his family -- and his fundraisers. "I had zero name awareness" when he entered the race, Rawlings said. "We needed a lot of resources to make this a reality."

He then thanked Ron Natinsky, to much cheering. Said the new mayor: "We had the right message, but we also had the right team. There were some people who said this campaign was boring, but the truth is it was civil." Again, big cheers. "Through thoughtful discussion and debate, we all learned -- I know I did. Thank you to Chief Kunkle for his decades of service to the city. ...

"With community feeling, we can improve quality of life and make tomorrow better than today." He then returned to a constant in his campaign: "We cannot be a great city without great public schools," he said, insisting yet again that public education will be a "top priority."

In closing: "To do all of this, we're gonna need God's help." And with that, Pastor Stephen Nash of Mt. Tabor Baptist Church was called to give the closing prayer.

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Christ you're stupid. Grab another glass of Kool-aid. Where in the flip did you come up with the lamebrain idea that Kunkle, if mayor, would somehow get police and fire more money? Does Kunkle have some money tree? If so, he should give that money to them now. Second, if you knew anything, and I do mean anything at all, you would know that the largest by far amount of our City budget currently goes to Police/fire dept. They are eating us alive. And, when the auditors and City Mgr goes over their spending they find huge huge huge amounts of overspending. So there needs to be massive cutbacks to cut out the waste. But, not, more money given to them. And, lastly, I would love, love, love to hear your simple mind explain to me precisely, and I do mean precisely, HOW Kunkle can someone get any department, be it police or whatever, how in the world is it that you somehow imagine that Kunkle, as Mayor could get them "more money". Unfortunately you have absolutely not one tiny fragment of idea of what the job description of mayor is in the City of Dallas. Just trust me that there is no powers invested in the Mayor to get money to any department.
Uhhhh I hate to break it to you, but Greyson is NOT angela's sidekick. Greyson was the hottest, best for 8yrs way way before there was an Angela Hunt. If I had to choose just one of those two, I'd definitely grabe for Sandy Greyson.
When are people going to stop being so blind? We had a candidate that has nothing but the best in mind for our city, a city he has served for years... Why cant we have someone that is going to help get us out of the slump we are in, by getting police and fire more money so they like doing there jobs. Kunkle may not be a exec of some business that is horrible for our children and our health, but at least he cares about his city and doesn't just see this as a platform to his future! Yet another horrible Mayor for the city I love..
I'm sure the solar-powered aspect would be nice. But the part where half of downtown is under water? That would be fairly bad.
While he does seem like an ok guy, has leadership skills, and seems like a guy I could shoot a game of pool with, his tenure is going to be the same old same old over and over again, save the fact that he doesn't seem like the douchbag that Leppert is. What can the mayor do about public education? Zilch. What can the mayor, or in fact anybody, do about developing the southern sector? Zilch (what company in their right mind, except maybe a trucking outfit, will build down there, especially with His Highness extorting......er, running, things?) And what's the third leg of his platform----kumbaya or something like that? Ain't gonna happen with this city council. If he realizes that things get done in this city on the neighborhood scale, then he might represents something half-way decent. And if he grows some balls and somehow gets more revenue for the city, so we can fix our third world freaking streets, then I might think there's some hope. The first thing he can do is dump the idiotic roadway in the flood plain bullshit and start talking about developing the area for recreational purposes.
Oh I voted. Not that it mattered.
That would be tragic, wouldn't it....to maybe be able to bring some troops, and money, home from the middle east where we have to do the dirty work of keeping the pipelines ( and profits) flowing for Big Oil.
My first question to anyone who didn't vote in the run-off, but likes to bitch about the way things are in Dallas: "Did you vote? If not, shut the f_ck up". Oh, and welcome to "Leppert Part 2". Whether or not you say you are a democrat, you always have to pay back your financiers.
Congrats to Mike as he was clearly the best man for the top job. Always serving the people he has the leadership to make Dallas great. Two champions as the Mavs got the NBA Title and Mike is the new Mayor. Now Mike it's time to get to work.
WHO IS THE MAN KISSING HIM ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS..MIKE RAWLINGS SHOULD BE HUMILIATED....I BET THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY LOVED THAT ONE!!!
Okay, 800,000......yep that's better......
Yeah, but the two biggest proponents of drilling find themselves displaced, giving some momentum to those like Hunt and Davis who were already pretty vocal on the matter. All you need is eight.
At least some of those 1.2 million are probably kids and felons.
Mike Rawlings - You better be ready for your first 90 days to be full of some of the worst days City Hall has ever seen!!! You will be tested in ways not foreseen by you, I assure you. Good Luck and God Bless You - You will need it.
Let's see, roughly 1.2 million people in Dallas, about 50,000+ voted..........bring on the voter ID since it's not going to matter anyway.....nobody votes.....however, I am looking forward to " Al Lipscomb Tollway" next to that waste treatment river known as the Trinity...you stay classy Dallas
I can't help it; she was just so darn disappointing.
Of anyone who has served on the council, Sandy Greyson is the least likely to be bought. Please don't be spewing this crap that you obviously know nothing about. Put up or shut up.
First order of business for the mayor-elect: please pick up your crappy campaign signs littering vacant lots all over Dallas. This pic at the Real Dallas blog just about says it all: http://realdallas.blogspot.com/2011/06/big-money-small-turnout-wins-another.html
Just trying to be optimistic. Many times, the words don't match the deeds (though usually, it goes the other way - the candidate focusing on potholes ends up supporting big ticket construction projects once elected). Mayor Tom's big three issues during his initial election were education, crime and southern sector development. His focus once elected were the road and the hotel (and, later, Love Field contracts and being against a tax increase). He quickly abandoned the education thing, and I can't remember anything he ever said about crime. Rawlings, as a mayor, sure seems like Leppert, Part 2, but I still think it's perfectly okay for people to wait for him to, you know, take office, before determining what kind of mayor he'll be.
Great victory for dirty black preachers in south dallas - they support whitey who shows them the money!!!
"newly elected"? There are three new people out of 14.
You're right. Or... we could listen to the words that he's already said. Like "it's just too soon to know all the details of the Trinity River Project" {sic}, even AFTER the News released some documents from the ACoE saying that it's a complete waste of time and money. Maybe we're "crucifying" him for that- because he has made it clear that he is not going to offend his Park Cities donors who own concrete concrete companies and real estate that would benefit from a stupid tollroad.
Will be fun to watch this council. Angela Hunt will have her trusty sidekick Sandy Greyson (at least until Rawlings learns that Sandy can be bought with traveling bonuses). Scott Griggs will be his own man but will probably more often than not be with the Hunt/Greyson team. If Rawlings conducts council meetings like he did Park Bd meetings, most council members will be muzzled - until there is open revolt. More of the same. Much less than what we need.
He's already said he does -- and wants to do whatever necessary to get the project done.
Most tea party leaders urged their members to vote Kunkle. A lot of people who own houses in Dallas have moved to the lake, etc. and keep their Dallas house for visits. I know several people who moved their voter reg to their "country" residence -- given up on Dallas. What we have are Park Cities residents controlling our elections with large - maximum donations to Dallas canidates for office. Those big Park Cities donations got spent for the most part in South Dallas. Guess that's Rawlings' way to stimulate the economy in South Dallas.
Rawlings is a Democrat - across the board - liberal. If he's praying, it's because that will be the new Democrat image for 2012.
my AA sponsor told me it'd be okay if I toss down a few today....even they(AA) have a breaking point!
why wait till then...i'll save you the anticipation...HE DOES
First immediate test is on the membership of the gas drilling task force - voting on it the day he's sworn in. He may be pro-millionaire, but his newly elected council has a more skeptical make-up than the last one on this issue.
so on monday we should learn that he supports the tollway between the levees
The Park Cities' folk let their money do their voting for them in City of Dallas elections.
What about Leppert's much-heralded relocation of Turner Corp. to Dallas--- that generated a whopping 15 jobs (including Leppert), all located on a single floor of a high-rise downtown.... lol....
We could wait to see what he does before crucifying him. I know some of things he's said (or refused to say) aren't altogether encouraging, but who knows how that will actually translate once in office.
Cool. Then everyone that works there can take solar-powered water taxis to work every day...
I'm not going to comment on the process, money or relative merits (or lack thereof) of each candidate. I'm rather appalled, though, that Rawlings won with a grand total of 31,077 votes. WITH. Not BY. That's is a solid 9% turnout. Good job, Dallas.
The stronghold is "theoretical" because it exists only in your paranoid, delusional mind.
What's the name of that phone company that moved here from San Antonio? Oh, yeah, AT&T.
Yay! Now my niece gets to bike down crappy sidewalks for a few more years...
Many people who work in "billion-dollar corporations" cannot afford to live in Frisco. Many others, particularly those who are young and childless, would prefer to live near where they work. Those types of companies also use support services from white-collar professionals and blue-collar workers. If South Dallas lags behind North Dallas because it's not as affluent, and it's not as affluent because it doesn't have enough jobs, what's the problem with bringing employers to Dallas? As for assigning blame for the results in South, West and East Dallas to voters in North Dallas, the "money in North Dallas" is in the Park Cities. Those people are ineligible to vote for the mayor of Dallas.
Congrats on your win in Ft Worth, SP
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs11/i/2006/181/2/9/Baby_Huey_by_Makinita.jpg Bad taste I know . Somehow it seems fitting for the new Mayor. And I Laugh Well that or its the pain killers I am taking for this slipped disc.
Yes yes, let's blame everything on Laura Miller. Incredible how powerful she must be. . .
To be fair, Comerica did move downtown. Don't remember on who's watch though.
Yawn, here we go again. Same old same old. I blame Laura Miller for voter apathy on the outsider candidate. She ignited voter interest campaigning as a game changer then changed into a Stepford Wife.
If they build the road, the river will end up coming to city hall.
I'll drink (sweet tea) to that.
The corps. never actually move to Dallas, it's usually some office park in the burbs.
Not really that much of a shock. He was the favorite of many city council members and did not favor releasing the Trinity documents. Also, people just failed to vote (I know there are more than 37 eligible voters in my precinct). I'm sure they will complain the loudest in the future.
Now that the Observer candidate of choice didn't win, the transference, and thus transformation, of Leppert Derangement Syndrome to Rawlins Derangement Syndrome begins in 5,4,3...
To heck with building a tollway between the levees, let's move City Hall there.
The Tea Party is officially worthless, stupid, and a waste of everyone's time. In a theoretical southern stronghold of tea party ideals, we just elected a mayor who wants to waste the public's money on vanity projects and other bullshit while throwing any sense of fiscal responsibility to the wayside. All you tea baggers? Fuck off and die. You should have dominated an election where the turnout was less than 10% o the population...so either you blindly voted for an idiot, or you didn't turn out at all. Either way, you're a bunch of shitbags.
More of the same. North Dallas B.S. Elected by seniors and corrupt South Dallas leaders!
Snore...another Con wins an election in TX. Who woulda thunk it. I'm just grateful that he finished his moving acceptance speech with a prayer. Just another TX politician with an agenda to compromise the separation of church and state. Whoops, I forgot-that terminology isn't ever used or recognized in the Lone Star State.
Paula Blackman will be Rawlings' Chief of Staff.
Congrats to Mike Rawlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Appears from this photo that Rawlings just stepped off the short bus and pissed all over himself, while those flanking him look down in bemused horror, even as they try and shepherd him into the family restroom for a quick change. But I could be wrong. Either way, I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I silently pray that he's not Tom Leppert II, The Gaseous Douchebag Electric Boogaloo.
Once again, the North Dallas money combines with the South Dallas preachers (and their corruption) to elect a mayor that exists solely to award contracts to those very same parties. North Dallas always wins, South Dallas always smiles while getting fucked (outside of those preachers), East Dallas gets scraps because of Angela Hunt and the fact that we have at least some money, and West Dallas gets a multi-billion dollar bridge to their pawn shop named after the money in North Dallas. As for where it really matters, the city as a whole loses again. Look forward to a few more billion dollar corporations to re-locate to Dallas only to have their employees living in Frisco and contributing little to this city outside of more congestion on Central. Congratulations Dallas, we did it again. It's like a never ending nightmare where (p)Rick Perry keeps getting elected as Governor. Oh hell, I didn't dream that?
Stop wasting money on Mayor's elections. Just auction 'em off, Rawlings had the winning bid of close to $2.5mil. What in the world could it be that makes being Mayor worth that kind of money. And, next time Laura and Steve tell you they're your finance guys, will raise money for you, run like Hell.
where's my free pizza