Valley View Mall Site Key in Dallas City Council District 11 Race

First-term City Council member Jaynie Schultz is running for reelection to represent District 11 in North Dallas. Since winning the seat in 2021, Schultz said she has worked, along with the Dallas Police Department, to lower the crime rate in the district and to improve streets and alleys, address homelessness and panhandling and see to the demolition of Valley View Center mall.

Schultz’s opponent is Candace Evans, a local real estate journalist and former City Council candidate. Evans said Schultz hasn’t done enough to support DPD and has fumbled the handling of Valley View.

According to Schultz, there is a full plan in place for Valley View Center in Dallas’ International District. Formerly known as Midtown, the International District is 450 acres available for mixed-use redevelopment that includes the former mall. The site’s redevelopment has dragged on for years, leaving the property dilapidated and resulting in fires and vandalism. Schultz said the property has largely been waiting for the owner to demolish the mall. Getting the mall taken down has been one of the bigger problems facing the district, she said. “That’s taken almost my entire time,” she said. “Getting the mall down has been a huge challenge.”

Schultz moved to Dallas with her parents when she was 4, and she’s lived in and around District 11 nearly her whole life. Before being elected to City Council, she served the district as its plan commissioner. Schultz said she’s been able to accomplish a lot over the last two years on the City Council. Her office has boosted communications, for example, putting out monthly newsletters, hiring a communications director for the district and engaging more with residents on social media. She also helps organize regular meetings with neighborhood leaders and organizations, crime watch groups and residents to discuss issues facing the district. 

Schultz is proud of the work she and the city has done to address panhandling in the district. “Forest and Central was notorious [for panhandling] and now it’s basically dormant,” Schultz said. “It took a while. Things take a long time in the city to develop programs but we’ve really shifted our perspective around panhandling to have it be a combination of city responsibility of constant cleaning and outreach to also partnering with the everyday resident who’s inclined to give handouts at the intersection.”

She noted the city is trying to help residents understand that giving to panhandlers is not always helpful to them and that they should instead donate to local homelessness organizations.

Schutlz has been able to build up a lot of momentum and experience over the last term, something she’ll be able to use if reelected.

“One of the things that I learned is that things take a lot longer than people expect and it takes some momentum to build,” she said. “That’s why incumbents generally can do so much more, because they’ve got that momentum going.”

Evans, who runs the local real estate news site Candy’s Dirt, told the Observer several people in the community asked her to run, saying they weren’t happy with the quality of life in the district. “These people told me they don’t trust [council member] Schultz,” Evans said.

She said the district has the same problems it did when she ran against Schultz two years ago, and some have gotten worse. Evans thinks the current state of the district will help her beat Schultz this time around.

“There are more pressing concerns because she has been in office for two years and conditions are worse,” Evans said. One of these is the state of Valley View Center mall. Schultz said she would hold the Valley View Center developer’s feet to the fire, but that hasn’t happened, Evans alleges. Instead, there have been three fires at the property, including one in which Dallas firefighters were injured. 

If elected, Evans plans to immediately put together a task force to create a plan and timeline for the development of Valley View Center. The money from the development could help fund the Dallas Police and Fire Pension, which needs more than $2 billion, she said.

On support for DPD, Evans criticized Schultz for at one point voting in favor of a budget amendment that would have the department come back to City Council to request the remainder of its overtime money. “[Schultz] says she didn’t defund police, but she voted against giving our chief the overtime budget he needed, making him come to council to beg and justify overtime when we are short 500 officers,” Evans said.

In response, Schultz said early on during the budget process in 2021 there was a motion made to grant the DPD all of its overtime budget and set aside several million dollars to have the department come back when the money was needed. “It was logical on the surface for anyone not to give money before it needs to be spent. But it was not a good move in terms of building support for our local police,” Schultz said. “That vote very quickly was changed, and it was unanimous in giving them their money for the overtime. There’s never been a moment when the police was not going to get every penny they asked for. It was just a matter of when.”

The Dallas Police Association endorsed Evans in the race for District 11. Schultz was endorsed by the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas and by the Dallas Fire Fighters Association.

Evans claimed that parents at a school in the district reached out to Schultz about getting a school zone but never heard back and that Schultz responded only after she had announced her bid in the District 11 race. Schultz replied that the area Evans is talking about doesn’t qualify for a school zone but that she’s still working with city staff to see if one can be installed.

Evans also took issue with Schultz’s vote to give the city manager a raise despite continued problems at the permitting office and with her vote in favor of public finance corporation projects. These projects aim to provide affordable housing but are criticized for taking properties off the tax roll for upward of 75 years.

“I love this city and my district. I work every day to make it better through my business, and through my board work,” Evans said. “I cannot sit back and watch it crumble.”

Schultz said the 75-year tax break is necessary for these public finance corporation projects and is the only way the city is able to realize affordable housing out of them. She also justified her vote to approve a raise for the city manager, pointing out that departments he oversees, like DPD, are doing well.

Election day for the Dallas City Council is May 6.