Council Member Cara Mendelsohn enters 2025 as the front-runner in the Dallas Derby sweepstakes!
The Council representative for District 12 closed out December 2024 with another Dallas Derby win under her belt.
Dallas Express’ readers residing in Dallas proper are invited monthly to respond to the Rate Your Council Member survey.
Respondents to the survey are asked to share how effective they feel their elected representatives on the Dallas City Council were that month on a range of critical city issues such as crime, homelessness, and cleanliness.
Having dominated Dallas Derby since the feature’s launch, Mendelsohn is a constituent favorite. But for the second time in as many months, she has a Council colleague, Chad West of District 1, closing on her lead.
In the December survey, Mendelsohn earned a 7.9 out of 10 for crime reduction, 7.2 for homelessness reduction, 7.5 for aggressive panhandling reduction, 7.9 for city cleanliness, 7.8 for street repair and maintenance, and 9.5 for park maintenance and cleanliness. However, Mendelsohn underperformed her year-to-date average in all but one category: park maintenance and cleanliness.
Based on the varying scores in each category, her monthly average is 8.0, down from her yearly average of 8.7. West was a close second for December, recording a 7.7 overall rating.
West is making up for lost ground after a tough few months in 2024. His yearly average for the 12 months of 2024 stood at 4.8, still second best of all City Council members.
For his part, Mayor Eric Johnson scored 4.4 in December’s survey. His year-to-date average score is 4.9.
Interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert earned a 2.9 in December. Her year-to-date average score is 2.1 out of 10.