COUNCIL RACES IN HIGH GEAR

It’s down to one month and counting before the Dallas City Council election April 2. Already, some of the candidates have apparently all but locked up their districts. Such is the case with Annette Strauss, who’s running for Place 10. She started campaigning full-speed months ago and clearly has substantial support.

Several other races, though, are far from being sewn up. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the mayor’s race. Though there are several candidates, the real contest is between A. Starke Taylor and Wes Wise. Taylor’s campaign shifted into high gear last month when he moved his headquarters into the same building Mayor Jack Evans used for his electioneering two years ago. He’s signed on political consultants Judy Bonner Amps, John Weekley and Enid Grey to help with his campaign. He boasts a long list of supporters, including Mayor Evans and councilmen Joe Haggar and Rolan Tucker, former DISD School Board member Jerry Bartos and black activist/former council member Juanita Craft. Other Dallas-ites supporting Taylor are DMFA’s Irvin L. Levy, former Mayor Wallace H. Savage, U.S. Rep. Steve Bartlett and Morris Hite, head of the 1982 bond election.

Wise has assumed a different tactic for gaining support. He says that in past campaigns he has never formed a steering committee or publicly named his supporters. He says he doesn’t want to leave any of his supporters out of such lists because he doesn’t want to “hurt feelings.” He does, however, publicize areas of support. He says the minority community is his strongest support group and that Pleasant Grove in Southeast Dallas is his strongest area, followed closely by his home precinct. Wise also includes many North and far North Dallas homeowners among his backers. He says that Trammell Crow’s public endorsement of his campaign has helped open doors in the business community -not with “higher echelon” businessmen but with slightly lower-level executives.

Another hot race is Oak Cliffs Place 1. Three candidates stand out. Dan Eddy, a former justice of the peace, boasts the support of a large portion of the business community including John P. Thompson, chairman of the board of Southland Corporation; Roy Wilf and Wayne Fogle, both Oak Cliff bank presidents; and Russell Perry, the retired chairman of Republic Financial Services. Eddy also has support from civic leader Ruth Collins Sharp.

Helen Giddings, the ex-president of the Black Chamber of Commerce, is also running for that district. But, like Wise, Giddings chooses not to name her supporters. Her campaign manager, Al Nash, says that several Oak Cliff religious organizations support her race, as do a variety of large businesses in and out of the district. A third candidate, Dr. James Hart, also has some banking support in Joe Denton of Re-publicBank Oak Cliff and Bill Roberts of Interfirst Oak Cliff. Former DISD School Board member Sarah Has-kins and current School Board member Mary Rut-ledge are also offering support. Some of Hart’s biggest backers are within the medical community. Fourteen doctors and dentists are on his steering committee.

There are a couple of races where candidates are ahead but have a close contender behind. One example is in Place 5, where Craig Hol-comb is running. Holcomb won’t name supporters, either, but according to his campaign manager, Lorlee Bartos (who also managed Lee Simpson’s campaigns in this district), Holcomb is attracting many of Simpson’s people and finding support among several Greenville Avenue merchants. He also has backers within the Lake-wood Homeowner’s Association and some support within the gay caucus. His main contender, Ed Gray, has support from some historic preservationists.

The race for the District 3 seat seemed to be a cinch for Betty Svoboda, who has been campaigning for months, but the entry of Jim Richards should give her a run for her money. Svoboda has the support of John Stemmons and local Realtor Ebby Halliday. Richards has the support of council members Haggar and Tucker and the two ex-council members who occupied Districts 3 and 4. He has a 60-member steering committee.

Another race to watch is for Place 9 at-large, between Jerry Rucker and Marvin E. Robinson. Rucker is backed by former state legislator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Tony Garrett, formerly with Gov. Clements, is his campaign coordinator. Robinson, the only viable black candidate for an at-large seat, has support from Stanley Marcus and widespread support in the black community.