Local philanthropist and hospitality real estate industry leader Monty Bennett spoke to the Metroplex Business & Civic Association Monday about the City’s and citizens’ responsibility to address crime, homelessness, vagrancy, education, and other issues affecting Dallas.
Bennett reminded the audience of Dallas’ history and expressed his love for the city.
“We were a post-World War II city, a boom city, and the boom and optimism … left a cultural imprint. The country knew about Dallas, and they knew of our success,” he said.
However, the businessman suggested, “I hear from many that the sense of optimism … has left our downtown … The city of Dallas is not what it once was.”
In proof of this, Bennett pointed to statistics showing that while the surrounding areas have grown in population, nearly 15,000 Dallas residents fled the city in the last measured year. Additionally, while many major businesses have relocated to the DFW metroplex, very few of those companies have chosen Dallas.
“What we have is a rotting core,” Bennett told the audience, “a dilapidated downtown.”
He emphasized that although some politicians have claimed that certain types of crime are down, data shows us that many categories have skyrocketed. The streets of Dallas, Bennett suggests, are not safe.
“Some of you may know the story of when my wife was harassed and threatened twice by vagrants within the span of a single hour,” he said, an incident that was reported in The Dallas Express. “I bet many of you have similar stories.”
On the issue of homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling, Bennett expressed frustration with Dallas’ approach, pointing instead to a successful model in San Antonio called Haven for Hope which provides an all-in-one place for people to get the necessary help.
“Of the people on the streets asking for money, about 75% of them are just panhandlers and are not homeless,” he suggested, pointing to recent data. “I’ve offered many of them many jobs over the years. Everyone has turned me down. Everyone. Why should they take work when there are people that will hand them money for doing nothing?”.
Looking at the state of education in Dallas, he pointed to Texas Education Administration data showing “Nearly 20% of high school students in DISD’s class of 2022 failed to graduate on time, and only around 40% of all students scored at grade level.”
“Why do we accept this?” he continued. “Why do we accept poor black and Latino children being trapped in underperforming schools? “I see a school system flush with cash, with trustees and political leaders who prioritize their careers over the needs of the students.”
“What the system needs,” Bennett suggested, “is to introduce alternatives. Give lower-income families a chance now. Not later, not after decades of reform — now.”
Being a businessman himself, Bennett explained that “businesses vote with their feet. In the face of these challenges, there’s only so much they can endure. Business owners and restaurant managers tell the same story: folks don’t want to come downtown much anymore. Neither do their employees.”
“These businesses are faced with a regulatory environment that punishes innovation and slows growth. You want a permit to build something? It’s not a certainty. It’s guesswork,” he continued, referring to the extended time it takes to acquire a permit to build in Dallas.
“What we have seen is death by a thousand cuts … I’ve talked to developers around the area who tell me of projects that could have been,” Bennett expressed, noting that these proposed businesses eventually end up building in places such as Plano, Denton, and Fort Worth.
Proposed solutions included not only “to cut regulation, but … to improve the civic health of our city.”
Specifically, he told the audience of business leaders to encourage their employees to vote in municipal elections and volunteer at local nonprofits that strive to help others help themselves. These simple actions were described as a choice “to be accountable to this great American city.”
“We can change the state of the city from one that is unsettled and unsure of itself to a Dallas that rightfully reclaims its status as a place that draws people towards it, not drives them away,” Bennett added.
“We can do better for Dallas.”
Disclosure: Monty Bennett is the publisher of The Dallas Express, which he founded to provide an independent, non-partisan, non-profit news source for the people of Dallas.
