Dallas mayor's RNC speech draws criticism from some city councilmembers
DALLAS - Dallas mayor Eric Johnson blamed Democrats for being soft on crime when he addressed the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. Now, Dallas city council members are criticizing the mayor's speech.
Johnson told the audience he lost faith as a Democrat four years ago when protesters showed up at his home and, he says, intimidated his family.
In response, Johnson says his fellow Democrats were silent.
"The truth is, on matters of public safety, the Democrats were never actually there for me, for Dallas families or for the American people," said Johnson on Tuesday night. "Democrats in power demonstrate they don't care about stopping the killers or thieves who terrorize Black and brown communities."
Johnson then talked about violent crime reduction in Dallas, and gave credit to Republican leadership in America's safest cities.
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Dallas mayor Eric Johnson addressed the crowd at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night. Johnson announced he was switching parties in September of last year.
FOX 4's Steven Dial reached out to multiple Dallas City Council members for reaction.
Some told FOX 4 no comment, and others said they did not watch, but two of Johnson's colleagues did have strong opinions.
"The disappointment doesn’t come from anyone’s party affiliation, the disappointment comes from having someone who is using this seat, this city, as a rising step stool for their own political agenda," said councilman Adam Bazaldua.
Bazaldua has been a vocal critic of Johnson since he switched parties.
"Our city is a Democratic city. Numbers don't lie and to just tout you as one of 15 people on our council is doing anything more than another is disingenuous," he said.
In a statement, councilman Jaime Resendez said serving with Mayor Johnson has been one of the "biggest disappointments" of his career.
"The progress we have made in terms of public safety is the result of collaborative efforts by the entire council, not the actions of one individual," he wrote.
SMU political scientist Matthew Wilson says this is a case of how local government, like councils and school boards, continue to become more partisan.
"The range of issues that we decide have so much been classified into red and blue columns that nobody can stand apart from that. That is why you are seeing lower and lower localized officials having very strong party identifications," said Wilson.
Mayor Johnson said in his speech Dallas has had three straight years of reduced overall violent crime, that is factual.
Homicides did increase from 214 in 2022 to 247 in 2023.