At a Dallas City Council meeting, a 92-year-old woman approached the council to share that she has been living in poor conditions for years and has received no help from the city, despite twice applying to Dallas’ home repair program.
Carrie Mayes, a South Dallas resident in District 7, told the council, “I’ve been trying for the last five years to get my home repaired, and no one seems to care.”
Carrie Mayes | Image by The Dallas Express
“We know South Dallas is a poor part of the city, and we need help more than anybody,” she continued.
Mayes said she has received no help after applying twice to the City’s Major Home Rehabilitation Program, which offers a zero-interest forgivable loan to homeowners of up to $73,170.
She said that every time she contacts the housing department, she is told the department is out of funds and the program is “first come, first served.”
Mayes concluded her remarks by reminding the council that elections are approaching. “I always vote. I don’t ever forget to vote, and I feel like I’m being treated unfairly.”
Mayes told The Dallas Express that she “has varmints coming in” her home and that she recently found an opossum inside her bathroom.
When The Dallas Express visited her home to take photographs, it was clear that, along with the disrepair throughout the house, a portion of the foundation had caved in underneath one of the bedrooms.
Mayes was accompanied to the City Council meeting by Kevin Felder, a former District 7 council member, who approached the podium on her behalf a few minutes after she finished speaking.
“Today, I am here on behalf of a 92-year-old senior citizen, Ms. Carrie Mayes,” he said. “I received a call from Ms. Mayes about two weeks ago asking me to please come help her. She had a gas leak in her home.”
“When I arrived, I was shocked at the condition of her home,” he continued. “I saw mold on the ceilings, huge cracks in the walls on the exterior and interior of the house. The carpet was so worn, the threads were on the baseboard of the floor.”
Felder said he told Mayes to call the housing department to ask for home repair assistance. Although she had previously applied twice, Mayes called them again and was again told the program was “out of funds” and that it is “first come, first served.”
“She had applied previously … and never received a response,” he said. “This is unacceptable. Ms. Mayes is 92 years old. She needs your help now.”
“Is this the new housing plan that’s being drafted? Why does home repair always run out of money?” he asked.
Felder told The Dallas Express that after his public comments, he spoke to the assistant housing director who said “they have processes” and “have to follow the guidelines.” The assistant director said that Mayes could apply again in August, according to Felder.
“She’s 92. She’s already applied twice,” Felder said. “That’s an insult.”
“Someone needs to stand up for her, and obviously her current councilmember [Adam Bazaldua] isn’t doing anything, so I’ll do it,” he continued. “She really wants help, but more than that, she wants the city to respect her.”
Felder said that when she first applied five years ago, the City could have contacted her, apologized for being out of funds, and referred her to another agency. Instead, the City did not even call her back.
“Something’s broken in this city. They’re not putting enough money in their home repair program,” he told The Dallas Express. “I’ve never heard the City of Dallas tell a developer, ‘Sorry, we’re out of funds.’ There’s always money to give a developer.”
When speaking to the council members, Felder said, “You [give money] to companies that don’t even need money. You recently gave Goldman Sachs $18 million in economic development, and they don’t need it. Goldman Sachs’s revenue for the third quarter of 2022 was $12 billion. They are building a $500 million 80-story building just north of downtown Dallas.”
In June, the City Council approved giving $18 million in taxpayer-funded economic incentives to Goldman Sachs to build a new office building in the city. Less than a year earlier (August 2021), the City hired William G. Mundinger, a former Goldman Sachs executive, as the executive in residence for the Department of Sustainable Development and Construction (SDC).
Felder continued, “However, when 92-year-old Carrie Mayes needs assistance to repair her home, you tell her ‘Sorry, we’re out of funds. First come, first served,’ although she applied twice in five years … The home repair [program] needs more funds that will last throughout the year. Let me suggest $18 million.”
“You put your money where your priorities are. This is not a priority. It has to be a priority, [and] we’re going to push to make it a priority,” he told The Dallas Express, adding that he sees no sense of compassion, empathy, or care from the current City Council.
“It’s wrong [for the government] not to take care of its citizens. That’s what the City is here for—to take care of its citizens,” he said.
Felder said he finds the current “antics” of the council to be “quite shocking.”
“You can’t address a council member [by name]. You can [only] speak at the briefing. [You must] contact your council member directly with your grievances,” he said. “No, the first amendment of the constitution says citizens have a right to address their government, and we need to be able to address them in an open session like we’ve been doing.”
He continued, “This iteration of the council wants to mute their citizens by restricting their right to speak and limiting how they speak [and] how they communicate with elected officials … You get three minutes. When I started coming to City Council, there was five minutes. Now, I’ve heard the suggestion of one minute.”
“All these things lead me to believe they feel the citizens are a hindrance,” he concluded. “The voters that voted you in can also vote you out. Those are the sorts of things they’re not paying attention to. This seems to be more like a country club atmosphere than a city council.”
The Dallas Express has contacted the City for further comment but received no response.
As the City programs have done nothing to help Ms. Mayes, a GoFundMe has been created to raise money for her home repairs. If you would like to contribute to her fundraiser, you can do so here.