Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk jogs past the home of his friend, DISD President Sandy Kress, when he wants to get some exercise.
He also jogs past the home of the U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, the man most responsible for Dallas’ current 14-1 City Council configuration, who relaxes by riding his bike around White Rock Lake. While at the lake, Buchmeyer might pedal past Dallas Police Chief Ben Click, an avid runner.
Former Dallas Cowboy and five-time Super Bowl participant Jethro Pugh usually starts his mornings with a scenic walk along Swiss Avenue, while not too far away, television and radio personality Bob Phillips may be feeding the stray animals he gives a foster home to in his backyard.
If you stop by Café Brazil on Abrams for breakfast, you might spot Regina Montoya, a former aide to President Clinton, talking politics with husband Paul Coggins, who is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
And just down the street, if you look closely at the young man bent over a neighbor’s broken sprinkler head, you may spot Vic Cunningham – one of the youngest county criminal court judges in Texas – doing repairs for a former customer of the lawn mowing service he provided as a Lakewood youth.
Notice a pattern here?
You’ve probably heard of most of these neighborhood residents. Perhaps you’ve even run into them at some of your – and their – favorite neighborhood spots.
But it’s no accident that some of our City’s most influential and recognizable residents live in our neighborhood.
“East Dallas has a rich history,” Kress says. “A lot of important people in the history of Dallas have lived in East Dallas.
“East Dallas is sort of in the center of things.”
And the center of things is exactly where many of our City’s prominent figures choose to be.
No Place Like Home
Neighborhood activism is rampant in East Dallas, which breeds and attracts people who want to make a difference, Kress says.
Kress lives on Mercedes down the street from Mayor Kirk.
Like Kress and Kirk, many of our neighbors hold public offices and help each other with campaigns. Others use their names and influence to help non-profit organizations.
“It is a community of people who care, which is reflected by the number of people who participate in the City,” Judge Cunningham says. “We have a lot of people who share my view that our community is what we make it to be.”
Ours is a community marked by diversity and grass-roots involvement, two of its main attractions, say the City leaders who live here.
The diversity draws leaders interested in building coalitions, such as Mayor Kirk, says Coggins and Montoya, who live on the old Bob-O-Link golf course.
Diversity also breeds acceptance, says Junius Heights resident Bob Phillips, Channel 8’s Texas Country Reporter.
“I truly believe people are friendlier in East Dallas,” Phillips says. “There’s more openness. Everybody fits in. East Dallas has a personality all its own.”
East Dallas also has trees, White Rock Lake, distinct architecture and a convenient location to Downtown, all features that have attracted people who are like Coggins and Montoya.
Both grew up in small towns in New Mexico and say they feel as if they now live in a small town with the conveniences of a big city.
Judge Buckmeyer, who also lives on the old golf course, expresses similar sentiments.
“I’ve always had an aversion to driving on Central Expressway, and I get a nosebleed if I go north of Northwest Highway,” he jokes.
Buchmeyer calls White Rock Lake therapeutic and says it has benefited his children to grow up among people with different cultures and backgrounds.
Three of his four children attended Lakewood Elementary. Two graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and one from Skyline Center High School.
Like Buchmeyer, Kress says his neighborhood school, Stonewall Jackson Elementary, is one of the reasons he lives where he does.
“I think there are some incredibly good schools in the Dallas Public Schools system,” Kress says. “We need to do a better job communicating the opportunities to people.
“I’ll put Stonewall Jackson up against any school in the country, public or private.”
What About Our Potholes?
It is only natural that people care about the quality of life in their neighborhoods, whether they have the power to affect it or not.
But several East Dallas residents have the power.
Although the City officials who live in our neighborhood say they are dedicated to all of Dallas, they have an affection for our part of town.
“As president of the school board, I have a responsibility that extends beyond East Dallas,” Kress says, “but when decisions are made, I have a special place in my heart for East Dallas schools.”
Living in East Dallas sensitizes those with power to East Dallas issues, Coggins says.
Coggins worked with Chief Click, who lives near the Dallas Arboretum, on a weed and seed program. The purpose of the program is to rid our City of drugs and gangs while implementing social programs to rebuild low-income areas.
The program was piloted in East Dallas because the two men are familiar with the area’s needs, Coggins says.
Neighborhood connections and friendships between City leaders make working relationships comfortable and productive, Coggins says.
Coggins also is friendly with Mayor Kirk. Once, when the Mayor jogged by his house, Coggins stopped him to discuss a nearby flooding problem that occurred after a rain storm last May.
The problem didn’t become a City priority, but the Mayor was accessible and open, Coggins says.
“You get a lot of citizen input in East Dallas when you are doing something,” Coggins says.
The Neighborhood Network
To network in our City, it seems our neighborhood is the place to be.
Everybody knows and has worked with everybody else.
Montoya served on the Dallas Zoo board when Kirk was president, and Coggins worked as treasurer on Kress’ school board campaign.
All four have backgrounds in law and have crossed paths at different law firms during their careers.
Coggins also worked with City Councilman Mary Poss, who lives on the old golf course, when she served on the Greater Dallas Crime Commission.
They met while hammering yard signs for opposing political candidates during an election.
“It’s a small world,” Coggins says.
Serving on boards together, living close to each other, sharing career interests and attending neighborhood functions builds bonds between people, Montoya says.
Judge Cunningham is a good example.
He grew up on Avalon surrounded by judges and attorneys. Now he lives on Gaston, only a block from his parents.
Cunningham attended Lakewood Elementary with Buchmeyer’s children and former Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade’s children.
Wade helped Cunningham become an assistant district attorney when Cunningham graduated from law school.
Former juvenile district judge Lewis F. Russell also lived two doors down from Cunningham.
Cunningham says he knows “everybody”.
“It’s a very solid, cohesive community that continues to regenerate,” says Cunningham, a Woodrow graduate who is the fourth generation of his family to live in Lakewood.
The sense of history and pride in our neighborhood attracted Pugh to his home on Gaston. He describes his community as settled and peaceful and believes that people care about East Dallas because of their family ties to the area.
“A lot of people don’t know about East Dallas. It is just comfortable for me,” says Pugh, who has done volunteer work for the Alzheimer’s Association and several children’s organizations.
“There’s some real interesting people in this neighborhood. There’s a lot of people who have roots here.”
Kress, Poss and Phillips are among those with life-long ties to our neighborhood. They all grew up here and attended Dallas Public schools.
“My whole sense of childhood is wrapped up in East Dallas and Lakewood,” Kress says. “Many of us have shared memories.”
Poss and Phillips, for example, dated when they attended Bryan Adams High School, and still have lunch together on occasion.
Phillips, who is an advisor to the SPCA of Texas’ board of directors, recruited Poss to serve on the board in the early ‘90s.
“We are all good friends,” Poss says.
Poss knows firsthand how neighborhood connections can propel someone into City leadership.
“The community on a whole is very active,” she says. “If you participate, you get excited and involved in the issues of the neighborhood.
“I started out as a crime watch chairman. I never thought I would run for political office. When you have a track record for getting things done, you find people encourage you to do more.”
