David Samuel “Sam” Coats

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Dallas City Council: Mayoral candidate

Pegasus News campaign survey (April 1, 2007)

What is the one greatest thing that the Dallas City Council has achieved in the past year?
Expanding the police budget to add 150 officers to the force this year was a big step in the right direction. But if we’re going to be serious about making crime reduction our number one priority, then we need to go even further. I’ve called for adding 800 more officers to the force over the next four years, which the Dallas Morning News has called “the most ambitious officer hiring proposal among the candidates.”

What is the single biggest improvement that the Dallas City Council needs?
The City Council needs to learn to put ego and personal agendas aside and start working together for the good of the whole city. Our current council has at times seemed more interested in picking fights and grabbing headlines than in sitting down and hammering out real solutions to the tough problems we face. I’m optimistic that with eight new council members next term, we’ll have an opportunity to change the tone at City Hall.

What is the toughest problem that you have ever solved?
When Laura Miller approached me and asked me to help negotiate a settlement with Fort Worth over the Wright Amendment, no one gave us much of a chance of succeeding. After all, Dallas and Fort Worth had been feuding over air service like the Hatfields and McCoys for over 65 years. But because our negotiators were willing to set this deep-seeded mistrust aside and sit down together to negotiate in good faith, we were able to achieve consensus around a win-win plan that will help save travelers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years. That’s the kind of leadership we need at City Hall today.

If you are elected and can only achieve ONE quantifiable thing in your term, what would you want it to be?
Adding at least 800 new police officers to the force over the next four years.