Thread: All-Hispanic council shows Cockrell Hill's new face

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All-Hispanic council shows Cockrell Hill's new face

09:33 PM CDT on Saturday, June 10, 2006
By FRANK TREJO and HERB BOOTH / The Dallas Morning News


COCKRELL HILL – Luis D. Carrera grew up in Dallas but didn't know Cockrell Hill existed until 1985, when he and his wife bought a house there.

Today, he's the mayor. His victory last month gave Cockrell Hill an all-Hispanic City Council, believed to be the first in North Texas.

But don't expect any major changes at City Hall, Mr. Carrera said.

For one thing, the city operates on a paltry tax base and has little room for expansion.

Changes in the city have not always been easy for some longtime residents. C.P. Slayton, the incumbent Mr. Carrera defeated, did not attend the council meeting at which the new mayor was sworn in.

"I don't know to what degree they feel bitter or upset about the election," Mr. Carrera said of the city's former leaders. "They are probably looking at us with a microscope to make sure we don't fall on our faces. We need to make sure we do the best we can."

Mr. Slayton says he isn't bitter, but the house he has lived in for 30 years now has a key lockbox on the front door, a sign that his house is for sale just weeks after the election.

He said he did not attend the last council meeting because it was for swearing in the new members.

"They didn't need me there for that," he said.

Mr. Slayton blamed his 90-vote loss on two alcohol measures on the May 13 ballot that he said brought out residents who don't usually participate in municipal elections.

"I think some voters saw the Spanish surname and they voted for him," Mr. Slayton said. "I don't hold that against anybody."

Domingo Garcia, a Dallas lawyer who helped organize voter registration drives in Cockrell Hill during the late 1980s, believes the election of an all-Hispanic council is long overdue.

"In a way, Cockrell Hill foreshadows what I believe will happen in some of our older suburbs," Mr. Garcia said.

But Hispanic population booms in several other Dallas County cities, such as Grand Prairie, Irving and Farmers Branch, haven't translated into representation on elected bodies.


Changes over time

Cockrell Hill, tucked into a corner of west Oak Cliff, started as a stagecoach stop. It was incorporated in 1937 with a population of 459. There was a time when the city was mostly white. But over the years, more Hispanics have moved to the city, attracted by affordable housing. The 2000 census placed the population of Cockrell Hill around 4,400 residents. About 84 percent were Hispanic.

Mr. Slayton said that much of Cockrell Hill is rental property now and that property owners put as little work as possible into those homes. According to the 2000 census, nearly 50 percent of Cockrell Hill's housing was rented.

Mike McCoy served on the council in the 1970s and '80s and owns a local washateria.

"Younger people don't want to be landlords," said Mr. McCoy, who has lived in Cockrell Hill since 1945. "We have a lot of vandalism because many of the houses have gone rental."

Mr. Slayton said the city's census population is misleading

"You drive through here at night, and you'll see 10 to 12 cars at some homes," the former mayor said. "There might be 12,000 people here at night. Families rent out rooms to other people."

He said that isn't reflected in the census figures. "But it's nothing unique to Cockrell Hill. You could go to parts of Dallas just like that, too," Mr. Slayton said.


Getting involved

Another figure from the 2000 census shows that more than 35 percent of the city's residents said they are not U.S. citizens.

From the 1970s to the mid-1980s, the city developed a reputation as a speed trap. Mr. Garcia said that for years it was routine for Cockrell Hill police to conduct license checks near a drive-in theater that showed Mexican movies, a move many saw as intimidation.

"For the longest time Latinos there faced discrimination and political oppression," Mr. Garcia said.

Frustration with things like the license checks and lack of representation peaked in 1988. The result was a massive voter registration effort and the election of three Hispanics to the City Council. At the first council meeting after the 1988 election, the outgoing council initially voted not to accept the results.

In this May's election, a seat on the council was again won by Cockrell Hill resident Sam Rodriguez, who helped lead the 1988 electoral revolution and has been a political fixture in the city since that time. He has served on the council at various times and in 1990 was appointed mayor to fill a vacancy. John Mendiola also was elected to the council this year, defeating incumbent Richard Hall.

They and Mr. Carrera joined Silvia M. Ulloa and Richard Perez, whose seats were not up for election this year.

The recent election shouldn't intimidate non-Hispanic residents, the new city leaders say.

"That doesn't mean we're going to shut out Anglos or anybody else," Mr. Mendiola said. "But we are going to work to make a positive change in Cockrell Hill."


Needed repairs

Pete and Elvira Morales have lived in Cockrell Hill about 20 years. They hope the new council will be more communicative and improve some of the city's infrastructure.

"The city's main problem is that all the streets need to be repaired," said Mr. Morales, who operates a sewing machine repair shop and botanica in the city.

Some of the city's infrastructure dates back to when Cockrell Hill was incorporated. City Administrator John Hubbard said parts of Cockrell Hill still have half-inch water pipes when 8-inch pipes are typically used. Mr. Hubbard said about $14 million is needed to repair Cockrell Hill Road and Jefferson Boulevard – the city's two main streets.

The city's annual budget is about $3 million.

The need for revenue was a major reason the two wet-dry proposals were on the May ballot.

A measure that would have allowed off-premises alcohol sales in the city failed, but one allowing the sale of alcohol in restaurants was approved.

Mr. Slayton, the former mayor, was among those who opposed the measures, fearing a negative impact on the town.

Mr. Carrera and other Hispanics on the ballot supported the proposals.

"For us it was purely an economic development issue," Mr. Carrera said. "It wasn't so much that we were for the sale of alcohol, it was that we were for new retail development in this city and the money that it would bring to the city."

Those who favor off-premises alcohol sales must wait a year before reviving the measure or settle for one that would allow only beer and wine sales.


'We're going to be here'

In the meantime, Cockrell Hill continues to deal with its dwindling tax base and deteriorating streets. A developer planned to build a shopping center on one of the few available tracts of land in the city. But the defeat of the off-premises liquor sales proposition – a key factor in the properties' development – has put those plans on hold.

Though some question the city's future, Mr. Carrera believes Cockrell Hill will survive.

"To me there's no danger of the city going broke or just going away," Mr. Carrera said. "Unless something major happens where we can't respond, we're going to be here."

E-mail ftrejo@dallasnews.com

and hbooth@dallasnews.com

Looks like a good place for ICE to start knocking on every 3rd door.

Another figure from the 2000 census shows that more than 35 percent of the city's residents said they are not U.S. citizens.

Disturbing to say the least.

Dixie

Domingo Garcia, a Dallas lawyer who helped organize voter registration drives in Cockrell Hill during the late 1980s, believes the election of an all-Hispanic council is long overdue.

Long over due by whose agenda? La Raza's? City by city they will overthrow the political system of this country.