Shawn Williams, founder of Dallas South News, headed to City Hall

by Shawn Williams of Dallas South News

He'll manage Digital Media and the Grow South initiative for Mayor Mike Rawlings.

Sederrick Raphael - The Design Factory

Shawn Williams, editor of Dallas South News and author of Blogging While Black

DALLAS — It's been a bittersweet couple of weeks. By now, word has gotten to many of you that Mayor Mike Rawlings has asked me to come to City Hall to work in his office managing Digital Media and the Grow South initiative. Mayor Rawlings has assembled a great team already and I'm looking forward to coming in to use the skills I've learned at DSN, putting them to work for the entire city.

I believe in Mayor Rawlings' vision for Dallas. I believe that he, along with the the council and staff led by Mary Suhm, will make huge changes in this city over the next three years.

This is a great opportunity for me personally, because I love Dallas and will continue to have the chance to expend my energy working on behalf of my fellow Dallasites. But this wouldn't be possible were it not for those who started out as part of the “Dallas South Family” when I created my blog 6 years ago. Or those who found me through Dallas South News in the last three years.

My celebration has been somewhat subdued since the passing of my good friend Jeff West last Monday. In so many ways, Jeff was vital to my being prepared for this opportunity. He served on the board of DSN and helped us establish our newsroom in Suite 609 at South Side on Lamar.

Were this two weeks ago, I would probably be in Jeff's office right now thanking him for everything he's done or maybe I'd meet up with him at Cedars Social later. As it is, I can continue to be grateful that I was blessed to have him as a friend and mentor for the last 5 years.

There are many, many people to thank, but I’ll keep it brief. Thanks to my wife and family for being patient as all of this came together. Thanks to Rawlings, Suhm, the Dallas City Council, and staff for this opportunity.

Thanks to the DSN "crew" of volunteers and interns who helped me launch this thing. And thanks to SMU’s Journalism Division for all of your hard work over the previous two semesters.

The Dallas South News Board of Directors will continue to decide what will happen with the organization moving forward. To be clear, I will no longer be in charge of the day to day operations of Dallas South News as publisher or as editor.

But I hope that everyone will continue to follow me on Twitter and through the digital platforms that we utilize in the mayor’s office. I am able to take on this wonderful challenge because of all of you, and for that I am eternally thankful.