More than a hundred people gathered in the Hilton Anatole Hotel for Central Dallas Ministries’ prayer breakfast Thursday. The 12th annual breakfast focused on the problems of homelessness and poverty in Dallas’ southern sector and provided a forum for seven mayoral candidates to give their thoughts on the issue.

President and CEO of Central Dallas Ministries Larry James opened the breakfast by welcoming guests and talking about his agency’s strategies, accomplishments and some statistics.

According to James, one in two residents in South Dallas lives in poverty. Forty-four percent of Dallas children live in areas of concentrated poverty. Last summer, the program served a quarter of a million summer lunches for kids in need.

“This part of our city’s reality is important,” said James.

Candidates were given four minutes to respond to two questions. First, they were asked what they’d do to address housing needs for low-income and homeless populations, especially in Downtown and South Dallas. (The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance estimated that 1,000 units of housing would be needed to eliminate homelessness in the city.)

Second, candidates were asked to outline a plan for economic development in the southern sector, which, according to Gerald Britt of CDM, has one major grocery store and one major drug store to its name.

Sam Coats, a former Texas state representative and a negotiator in the Wright Amendment, was the first to respond.

“Redevelopment can’t be done with gentrification as the result,” he said, adding that specific housing units should be set aside for the homeless. As for economic development, Coats favored what he called a balanced approach. An economic development authority for South Dallas that could successfully mix upscale housing along with workforce housing would allow for the most full economic development, he said.

Gary Griffith, city councilman for District 9 in East Dallas, said that a mixed income project should be Dallas’ model and that “the goal is to end homelessness, not improve the management.”

“Once we show lives being changed through faith-based organizations, I believe we’ll have the support of the total community,” he said.

Griffith also called for monthly meetings with councilmen from the south sector to make it “a priority.” Improving the tax base, he said, would be key to development.

Fellow City Council member Don Hill emphasized bringing the business community together with the faith-based and non-profit community to “truly address problems.” He supports a tax-credit program to fund public housing construction and said job creation is the only way to achieve change in South Dallas.

“They [southern residents] want economic opportunity, they want empowerment,” he said.

Darrell Jordan is a longtime Dallas attorney and a graduate of SMU’s School of Law. Jordan used some of his time to talk about his involvement as a lawyer with pro bono work, giving him less time to talk about his plan for housing (he said he’d surround himself with people who have experience) or economics.

He said crime reduction was crucial to development, saying “We have the ninth biggest city in the country, and it’s only half developed. We’ve got to make all citizens feel safer.”

Tom Leppert doesn’t have the political experience of some of his competitors – he’s a lifelong businessman and former CEO of the multi-billion dollar Turner Corporation.

He did say that “We’ve been talking and planning for years; it hasn’t made a difference.”

Leppert supported tax credits and leveraging investors from the public sector. He said creating successful minority businesses like in Atlanta and Houston was important for development. He added that making bond money useful, not just winning them, should be the goal.

Councilman Ed Oakley, who represents Oak Cliff, said he’s overseen economic development in his sector and knows what it takes. He cited the mixed-income Greenleaf Village development as proof. He’d put housing next to transit stations and also put forth redistricting as a way of increasing the tax base.

“In Oak Cliff, we went from 85,000 to 110,000 residents,” he said. “Our tax base increased by 52 percent.”

Max Wells, a Dallas City Council member in the 1980s, pointed to his experience on the Community Council of Greater Dallas as proof he was up to the task. Wells said he helped bring some of the first free dental clinics to South Dallas.

“I was there at the start, I know what’s there, and I’m a team player,” he said.

Wells added that the council needs to “work harder on grants” and plan for quality housing, not just places to live.

As for economic development, Wells said he would “make sure smaller firms get a piece of the pie.”