Reply to Cara Mendelsohn, Dallas City Council Dist. 12. Mayor's Anti-Hate Advisory Council, what does it do? Not a substitute for real action.
Can the City of Dallas answer my Freedom of Information Request in a timely manner?
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Introduction:
Dallas City Council Member Cara Mendelsohn Dist. 12 sent me a letter in response to my concerns about the need for a police hate crimes unit and a human rights commission.
She informed me that Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson had an Anti-Hate Advisory Council. I haven’t been able to find that it has done anything and there is nothing on the Internet besides the news coverage when it was announced.
No information can be found about it at the City of Dallas website.
I have a Freedom of Information request submitted as of Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 and I am still waiting for a reply.
Given that the situation for LGBT in Dallas is seriously deteriorating I decided to write this letter today, Aug. 19, 2023, rather than wait weeks for a reply.
I basically feel that instead of taking the situaiton seriously, Dallas City hall is playing games.
My Reply
August 19, 2023
Edward H. Sebesta
Dallas, TX 75XXX
Cara Mendelsohn
Dist. 12 City Council Member
Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla St. 5FS
Dallas, Texas, 75201
Dear Hon. Mendelsohn:
Thank you for your letter postmarked August 10, 2023 where in reply to my letter to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, in your words, “regarding hostility towards Lesbians and Gays.”
I am presuming that you meant this letter which is online at:
In your letter you refer to this post on the Internet Platform Medium titled “Mayor Johnson forms Mayor’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council,” by Tristan Hallman, dated Sept. 15, 2021 at:
https://medium.com/dallasmayor/mayor-johnson-forms-mayors-anti-hate-advisory-council-3aa5425d6043
This is the same Tristan Hallman who made excuses for having selected virulent homophobes to give invocations at the Dallas City Council meetings.
One of the members of the Advisory Council, Kirk Myers is deceased. Was he replaced? Are any other members of this council deceased?
I see one of the members of the Anti-Hate Advisory Council is Dr. Charles Ku,
What the biographical information fails to mention is that he is a Trustee of the Dallas Baptist University, which is an anti-Gay organization.
There is another Medium post regarding this Anti-Hate Advisory Council titled, “Introducing the Mayor’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council,” by Mayor Eric L. Johnson at:
https://medium.com/dallasmayor/introducing-the-mayors-anti-hate-advisory-council-4dd9dc18f015
How many of these advisors can be considered independent and how many are involved with organizations that get funding from the City of Dallas?
Though there was extensive media coverage of the Mayor’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council when it was announced, there is no information available online as what it has done or actually what it is.
Checking the City of Dallas website, the Anti-Hate Advisory Council doesn’t appear to be a part of Dallas City government or have any official standing and isn’t mentioned or referred to at all by the City of Dallas. I have submitted a Freedom of Information request to the City of Dallas on 8/14/2023 and haven’t heard back as of noon 8/19/2023.
Since the initial news coverage of their formation there doesn’t seem to be any information about them at all in the nearly three years since they were announced. They don’t have a website. No contact information is available. There doesn’t seem to be anyway to contact them with a developing situation regarding hate. There is no record that they ever met, had any activities, produced documents, made statements or did anything at all.
Further, do you know of them having taken any action regarding Stedfast, such as even discussing it or any action at all?
Further, I am mystified why you would think this council, even if official, even if there were records of it actually doing something, would be an equivalent to an actual Human Rights Commission and a Dallas Police Hate Crimes unit.
Reported in the Dallas Morning News on July 24, 2023 is that a pro-LGBT church in Plano, Texas was firebombed. Has Dallas Mayor Johnson’s Advisory Council even discussed this?
September 1st when the anti-drag bill goes into effect is just thirteen days away. The situation of the LGBT in Dallas is seriously deteriorating and you are playing the usual political games.
As for the members of this advisory council, it is their responsibility to not be used for a press event. It is their responsibility to do due diligence of some sort to see if the group to which they are to be named will have substantial activities.
A sham organization gives the public an impression that something substantial is being done, which dissuades people to undertake actions to get things done. I would think that persons named to an anti-Hate group would know that. Continuing to be a member of a sham organization when a person knows it is a sham is to aid in the deception. At some point actions and lack of actions constitutes collusion.
When my Freedom of Information Request is answered I will know what their role has been and will be able to assess. Even if they are active, have they been effective?
I suggest that the City of Dallas start taking substantiative actions to address the developing situation. A human rights commission would be good as well as an individual officially heading up an effort on hate crimes in the Dallas Police Department.
It would be good if City Council members and other supposed moral leaders in the city of Dallas would show up to be counter-protestors at the Texas Latino Pride event which Protect Texas Kids has announced they will be protesting.
Though I should emphasize I don’t speak for Texas Latino Pride. They might have reasons not to want that. However, at some point City Council members should take a very visible and public stand.
Sincerely Yours,
Edward H. Sebesta
Listed members of the Mayor Johnson’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council
Sammie Berry, Minister of Dallas West Church of Christ and Chair of Dallas Area Preachers and Church Leaders (Co-Chair)
Sherry Goldberg, Chair of the Community Security Initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas (Co-Chair)
Gary Sanchez, Board Chair, North Texas LGBT Chamber of Commerce (Co-Chair)
Sanjiv Yajnik, President of Financial Services, Capital One Financial Corporation (Co-Chair)
Imam Muhammad Abdul-Jami, Masjid Al-Islam
Averie Bishop, President, SMU Asian Pacific American Law Student Association and CEO & Founder of The Tulong Foundation
Carter Brown, Executive Director, National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition
Cece Cox, CEO, Resource Center
Anita Zusman Eddy, Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas’ Jewish Community Relations Council
Hector M. Flores, Past National LULAC President
Mary Pat Higgins, President & CEO, Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
Dr. Charles Ku, Past President, Greater Dallas Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce
Rev. Dr. George Mason, Senior Pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church and President of Faith Commons
Almas Muscatwalla, Executive Director, Faith Forward Dallas
Kirk Myers, Founder and CEO, Abounding Prosperity, Inc. (He is now deceased.)
AnaChrista Robles, Senior Director of Impact and Inclusion, ISP Creative and State Marketing Chair, Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas.
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