Familiar face files for Duncanville City Council race

by Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

Anthony Skinner is making a run for the District 3 seat he lost to Paul Ford two years ago.

There are no real surprises yet as the filing period begins for local elections, with Anthony Skinner making a run for the District 3 seat he lost to Paul Ford two years ago. Ford’s platform hasn’t changed: he thinks there is a lot of waste in city government. In 2007 he portrayed Skinner as part of that wasteful establishment and his words struck a chord with many voters. Now he’s railing against Duncanville’s red light cameras.

As the pair debated at a 2007 candidates forum, Skinner accused Ford of misrepresenting things and saying Skinner favored “constant development.” Skinner said he was seeking smart investment in the community. Ford lost an important ally in 2008 when Deborah Hodge lost a close race to the man she unseated, longtime Councilman Grady Smithey.

Dorothy Burton has filed for re-election in the council’s at-large seat. Burton’s 2007 race against Stephen Jones was one of the most hard fought contests in Duncanville’s history. And around here, that’s saying quite a bit. As is often the case in Duncanville or any political scene really, former elected officials were deeply involved in this contest.

Former councilman Arnold DeWeerd requested Burton’s DART personnel file and gave a copy of it to former councilwoman Judy Richards, who gave it to Mayor David Green. Burton had Richards served with a cease and desist letter to get her to stop distributing the file. During the 2007 campaign Burton said many people assumed she would quit the race after the file’s release, but she did not and won re-election. While Burton has been on the Duncanville political scene for years, Jones suffered from a lack of name recognition in the City of Champions.

Filing for city council and school board began Feb. 9 and continues through March 9. The elections are May 9.