Former Irving City Council District 4 candidate Susan Motley has been out and about these days following her defeat in the June election.
She recently appeared at the swearing-in ceremony of her former opponent, Luis Canosa. Just moments after Canosa assumed his seat on the Irving City Council, Motley rose to speak about the issue that had come to define their run-off race last month: a proposed homeless shelter.
She claimed that a currently unused federal grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development should be spent building a homeless shelter, citing her own experiences renting trailers and apartments in Irving. She then distributed an old film picture of her and her children in a house in Irving to the council members. Motley closed by reminding those gathered that the Irving City Council supported building a homeless shelter several years ago, that it was still earmarked in city documents, and that they should act upon it now.
“Say what you mean. Do what you say. Do it now, not later,” she urged.
This was the second time she had spoken on that issue on July 11. Earlier in the day she had appeared at the council working session to ask questions about the languishing project.
Her clear stance on the issue was a departure from her tone just a few weeks ago. During the campaign, Motley had been opaque about her support for a shelter. She seemed to heavily imply her support for using federal taxpayer dollars to pay for the facility in candidate questionnaires, but she never stated her support explicitly, as DX previously reported.
Canosa, on the other hand, has strongly opposed building a shelter. He told DX that he feared it would draw more vagrants and crime to Irving. Contemporaneous to his exchange with DX, an investigation by the news outlet revealed rampant homelessness and violent crime in Irving’s historic Heritage District.
Motley was subsequently defeated in the largest electoral victory for a council race in that district in recent memory. Canosa won 56% of the vote to Motley’s 44%.
Since the election, Motley has maintained a high public profile. She recently wrote an editorial, published by The Dallas Morning News, reflecting on her campaign. This electoral recap took swipes at her opponents and claimed the race had become a partisan affair.
“I think all of us know that politics and the truth frequently do not go hand-in-hand these days. Candidates need to have a thick skin, and I do. But it was troubling that my election became more about Republican vs. Democrat than about what South Irving really needs,” she wrote. “I wonder if voters had been weighing qualifications or experience more heavily if this election might have come out differently. We will never know.”
During her concession speech, Motley made several comments that are open to interpretation.
“And so my final comment will be this: Mr. Canosa, Mr. Riddle [Canosa’s predecessor], is leaving big shoes to fill. I hope you fill them,” she said.
“And the only ask I would currently make as your constituent is that you recognize that although we agreed on many things, we didn’t agree on some very important ones, and roughly 1,100 or almost 1,100 people who have supported me are worried about whether or not you are going to represent their interests too,” she added.
Several city council seats are up for re-election in the next 1-2 years. While Canosa’s seat will not be on the ballot again until 2027, the mayor will be term-limited, and thus, that seat will be vacant in 2026. Other council seats will be up for election next year.
Motley clearly has political ambitions. She previously ran unsuccessfully for the Texas House in 2014. Could she be running for something again sometime soon?
Meanwhile, in Dallas, polling conducted by DX shows that some 75% of residents believe homelessness, vagrancy, and aggressive panhandling are “major” problems in the city. Respondents also appeared to support the “one-stop-shop” homeless services model used by Haven for Hope in San Antonio. The model has been credited with a 77% reduction in unsheltered homelessness in the city’s downtown area.
Some local stakeholders want to bring the model to Dallas. However, whether the Dallas City Council will support such a measure is unclear.
