Leland Burk is a third-generation Dallasite and a fourth-generation Texan who has raised his family and built businesses here.
He’s served on the boards of several organizations including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas Opera, UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation.
“I love our community. I love our city. And it’s just running through my bloodstream,” Burk says. “I want to take my service to the next level.”
How to spend $10 million
When asked how he, as a city council member, would spend $10 million, Burk says he would improve the streets in District 13, especially the worst and busiest ones.
Thoughts on the city’s efficacy in responding to the pandemic and winter storm
In light of the pandemic, the city council candidate says he thinks the mayor has been transparent in reporting information about case numbers and deaths.
Similarly, he says the Office of Emergency Management communicated well with Dallasites during the winter storm.
Something the city council has done right
The current city council has correctly identified affordable housing as one of the top priorities in our city, he says, and now, they must formulate a solution.
“I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting busy on affordable housing if I’m elected to city council,” he says.
Policing
Public safety is the No. 1 issue, Burk says, and the city should hire more officers because the department is understaffed.
He adds that community-based policing should be supported. In particular, he says the city should pursue the OGU Violence Interrupters initiative, in which neighborhood leaders use mentoring, education and economic development to promote positive change in their communities.
Hidden gems in District 13
Museum of Biblical Arts, the new public library in Vickery Meadow, the Northaven Trail, the Rachofsky House, the NorthPark Center art collection
What he’s reading
“Donald Seldin: The Maestro of Medicine,” by Raymond Greenberg
Who’s inspired him
Burk’s parents, Joy and Larry Burk, and his grandparents, Ben and Udys Lipshy and Bertha and H. Burk Jr., were mentors who encouraged him to pursue his goals and give back to the community. He’s also inspired by Dr. Donald Seldin, Lynn McBee, Ruth Althshuler and former Mayor Mike Rawlings.