District 13 City Council candidates Jennifer Staubach Gates and Laura Miller are set to debate March 28, 7-8 p.m. at the sanctuary inside the Preston Hollow United Methodist Church, 6315 Walnut Hill Lane. In advance of the debate, here are five things to know about each candidate:
Photo: Danny Fulgencio/Advocate Magazine
JENNIFER STAUBACH GATES
1. What should neighbors know about you?
I love serving as your District 13 council member and will continue to advocate for great basics, which make great neighborhoods. I am a mom, wife, grandma, nurse, community volunteer and public servant who serves to better our community for the benefit of generations to come.
2. What is your number one issue?
Keeping Dallas residents safe, and I am honored to have the support of the police and firefighters.
3. Why are you qualified?
For the last six years, I have represented our community on the Dallas City Council. Working together with homeowners, neighborhood leaders, community stakeholders and city leaders, I have delivered proven results for our community on important issues like preserving our police pension, improving our streets, investing in infrastructure and even rooting out corruption. I have earned a reputation for doing my homework, listening to all sides and being a collaborative consensus builder.
4. What’s surprising about you?
My experience as a nurse has contributed to my success as a council member. My nursing education taught me how to make informed, educated decisions in a compassionate caring manner. But, my nursing background also allowed me to professionally navigate the Ebola crisis in my district in 2014 as well as understand dynamics behind effective EMS delivery. Public safety is impacted by both police response and emergency medical response.
5. Why should neighbors vote for you?
I am ethical and trustworthy and committed to listening to voters’ concerns, work hard on their behalf, and I have the ability to deliver experienced leadership that is relevant in today’s Dallas. I’m a proven problem solver and collaborator who is focused on solutions.
Photo: Danny Fulgencio/Advocate Magazine
LAURA MILLER
1. What should neighbors know about you?
I am apparently the first Mayor of Dallas to ever run for the City Council, and I am honored.
2. What is your number one issue?
I am running because neighborhoods throughout District 13 have been under siege for the past six years, with an unprecedented amount of high-development being supported by our current councilwoman, with no regard to the tremendous traffic, parking and pedestrian problems in our area. Homeowners here need a strong advocate to protect their interests, and I’m happy to be their advocate.
3. Why are you qualified?
I took an idea I had to reduce homelessness in Dallas to my synagogue last summer, and we launched The Ladder Project. The concept is: “If 1,000 families can’t save one person by pooling their private resources, then who can?” We take an individual or family and provide a safety net until they reach self-sufficiency by finding them a job and an apartment, including furniture, clothing, food, medical services and a social network.
4. What’s surprising about you?
My priority is my family. The best decision I ever made in life (besides marrying my husband Steve Wolens) was leaving elected office in 2007 when my children asked me not to run again for mayor because they were still in school and needed me at home more. (Yes, I asked them if I could run this time, even though they are adults now — my daughters laughed, and my son said, “Mom still has a lot of horsepower.”
5. Why should neighbors vote for you?
I covered City Hall as a journalist for 10 years before I ran for elected office. I served as an Oak Cliff council member for three and a half years and then as mayor for five and half years. I look forward to returning with all the passion and tenacity that I had before, plus the wisdom, hindsight and patience that comes with being 60 years old.
Questions? We’re here for you.
