According to a recently released Dallas Morning News poll, the highly contested strong-mayor referendum meant to eradicate the current city manager position has polarized the city.
Of 500 likely voters questioned, 41 percent are in favor of the change while 40 percent are opposed. The remaining 19 percent of those questioned say they are undecided on the issue.
Because of the high emotion and interest behind the referendum, the SMU Student Bar Association and Student Senate are merging their funds and efforts to hold a debate April 14 regarding the strong-mayor referendum that Dallas residents will be able to vote on in May.
“This is a great opportunity to see Dallas community leaders debate on campus,” Student Body President Chip Hiemenz said. “Students have the chance to take advantage of [the event] and see something we have been reading about in the newspaper for the past few months.”
Peter Schulte, president of the Student Bar Association, agrees with Hiemenz. “We will live and work in the city of Dallas,” Schulte said. “It’s important for students to understand local politics since local government is what affects us most.”
According to Schulte, the debate will most likely focus on the long-term effect of a strong-mayor in Dallas in lieu of the actual decision to move to a strong-mayor form of government.
Proponents of the referendum favor a mayor-council system that grants more power to the mayor, giving him or her direct authority over city affairs. This official is voted in and out by the citizens, and has been put in place in cities like Chicago and Houston. Incumbent Mayor Laura Miller and Dallas lawyer Beth Ann Blackwood, who authored the referendum, will represent the positive view on the issue during the debate.
Opponents of the referendum prefer a council-manager form in which the mayor has more of a “hands off” role when it comes to city operations. A city manager is a non-elected official who has no mandate whatsoever from the voting public, and is typically appropriate for smaller cities. The opposing side in the debate will be represented by Councilman Bill Blaydes and SMU law alumnus Darrell Jordan, who is now a managing partner of the Godwin Gruber law firm.
“I am in favor of a strong-mayor proposal,” Schulte said. “I feel that under the city manager form of government, the city of Dallas has not had the chance to adapt and grow with changes as quickly as it should have.”
Other students are not sure what to think of the referendum. “I currently do not favor one side or the other,” law student Matt Wolcott said. “There are strong arguments for either side, and I expect the debate to be very informative for people who are undecided.”
Blackwood trusts that prediction will prove to be true. “Most people have little or no understanding of how their city government works,” she said. “This debate is an excellent idea and provides a beneficial forum to fully discuss the issue.”
Blackwood hopes the debate will help educate the people who will eventually take leadership positions within the city.
Because many SMU students are eligible to vote in the election coming up in May, the student leaders want to guarantee that students have the opportunity to attend by ensuring the debate is a completely student-run event. “If we used outside funding,” Schulte said, “potential bias may have been inferred [by the participants], taking away from the spirit of the debate.”
The strong-mayor debate will take place on April 14 at 6 p.m. in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom, and will be moderated by Barry Knight. Knight is an adjunct professor of local law in the SMU Dedman School of Law, as well as a partner with Winstead, Sechrest, & Minick, P.C.
“With Barry’s expertise in the area of local law,” Wolcott said, “observers can look forward to focused, stimulating questions about the proposal as opposed to generic political debate issues.”
