Dallas City Hall. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio.)
On Jan. 29, White Rock area resident Paul Sims announced his resignation from the Dallas Park and Recreation Board to run for City Council. His change from a representative of District 14 to a candidate for District 9 raised some questions from readers.
Sims, 48, has served on the park board since 2013 as a representative for District 14 Councilman Philip Kingston. He is now running to replace Councilman Mark Clayton in District 9.
Sims and his wife, Angela Hunt, used to live in Greenland Hills but moved to the east side of White Rock Lake near the Arboretum, which is in District 9.
If he wanted, Sims would be allowed to remain on the board as a representative for Kingston in District 14. Chapter 8 section 1.4 of Dallas City Code states “appointees are not required to live in the district for which they are appointed.”
According to the code, the only qualifications to serve on a board are that the appointee:
- Has been a resident of the city for at least six months prior to date of appointment
- Is a qualified voter in the city at the time of appointment
- Has no criminal record that would be considered serious by the City Council
- Is not an adversary party, or employed by an adversary party, to pending litigation against the city
- Is not in arrears on city taxes, water service charges or other obligations to the city
- Has a credible record of attendance for any previous board service
- Does not have two or more felony convictions for which they have not been pardoned or otherwise released from
Sims will face Paula Blackmon for the District 9 City Council seat this May.
Blackmon announced her candidacy Feb. 5. She is a 25-year resident of East Dallas and the former chief of staff for Mayor Mike Rawlings. She has also served as deputy chief of staff to former Mayor Tom Leppert and as a senior advisor to Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles.
