In the final segment of our Advocate video podcast with Dallas mayoral candidate Mike Rawlings, we discuss the city budget, asking Rawlings what specifically he would cut. How will he manage to find inefficiencies that the city manager hasn’t already (3:07)? Former mayor Tom Leppert also came from a business background, so we ask Rawlings how he would govern differently than Leppert did (4:57). Rawlings explains the benefit of public-private partnerships, saying that donors simply don’t like just giving their money to the government (6:10). And what does that mean for big projects like the convention center hotel and the Trinity toll road (6:30)? Rick asks his question about the Rangers lease expiring soon—would Rawlings want to bring them to Dallas (7:40)? Next, we ask Rawlings about his thoughts on the economic issue surrounding the inland port (9:37) since he has worked with the politicians involved. Moving on to our discussion about growing the southern sector, we ask Rawlings about some of the “untapped resources” there, including what to do with the Southwest Center Mall (11:38). Following up on an old cover story the Advocate did—what would you do if you had $100 million in revenue bonds (13:38)? Rawlings brings it all back to education. And finally, what sets him apart from his opponents (14:44)?
