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20 Apr 2025
Behind the Ballot with John Sims

Meet John Sims, candidate for Dallas City Council District 3! He’s passionate about making sure every voice in our city is heard—no matter your background. In this episode, we chat with John about what inspired him to run, the issues that drive him, and how he plans to create real change if elected.


Remember, your vote is your voice—so let’s make it count this election season!

0:00
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Host
John Sims
Guest

Episode Timeline

All Episodes
00:00
Intro
01:51
What has led John to run for City Council?
07:01
Talk about the landscape of D3 and the residents that make up the area
16:48
What are John's conversations like with residents while block walking?
19:16
Conversations about homelessness solutions in D3
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Join host Sarah Zubiate Bennett on Let’s Talk Local as she uncovers the stories, people, and places shaping Dallas, fostering a stronger and more connected community—let's get to know the real Dallas!

Full Transcript

00:00
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Hello. I'm Sarah Zubiate Bennett. So glad you're tuning into this episode of Let's Talk Local. Today, I'm sitting down with John Sims who's running for city council in District 3. John's not just passionate about making real change in Dallas.
00:13
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
He's all about making sure that voices of everyday people are actually heard at city hall. And honestly, with everything going down there lately, I'm starting to really see where he's coming from. I can't wait for you to hear from John yourself. What drives him and what he wants for District 3, and why your vote matters more than ever. So stick around, get inspired, and don't forget to make your voice count.
00:36
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
If you like what you hear, hit that like button, subscribe, and check out our other interviews with local candidates. Thank you for being a part of the conversation. Hello. I'm here with John Sims today, a candidate for District 3.
00:57
John Sims
District 3.
00:58
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yes. Thank you for coming in and for chatting with Appreciate help. Yes. Absolutely. And I have to say, I think you're the first person ever to come sit with me to say, you know what? Don't send me any kind of topics or questions you may ask or anything beforehand. I wanna be authentic in my answers. That's that's bold. That's great because it's it's just a conversation.
01:19
John Sims
Right. And and Yeah. For me, it's it's more important to be authentic and and show people who I really am. Right? And if it works, it works. If it don't, it don't.
01:31
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yep. I agree with you. And I'm just interested to hear because whenever I was reading a little bit about you, saw that you have just a varied You had many varied interests. Yeah. And I mean, you've DJ'd, you've coached youth baseball, I mean, have even worked as a firefighter. You volunteer a ton. What has brought you to this place in your life where you've decided to step forward for this candidacy?
01:59
John Sims
Well, for me, it's lot about accountability. You know, and and the lack thereof. You know, we've got some things in government that I think really need some refining. Let's get back to the basics and have common sense.
02:30
John Sims
In the in the way that government operates. So, you know, just to remind just throughout life and and my experiences, I've I've seen a lot of different sides of of, different lifestyles. And I see, for me, a lot of injustices. You know? I've, I was raised in West Dallas.
02:56
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm. Historically underserved, you know, lower income side of the city. So I feel like I've got a pretty unique view with regard to to how people live in lower income communities. I obviously went to school there. We moved around a lot as a child. So I went to all the all the different schools in the in the proverbial hoods. Right? So grew up in West Dallas and and South Oak Cliff. So so I feel like I've got a unique perspective. I worked so so let's let's go back to the to my growing up. I grew up in a in a single family household with my mom. My dad was never there, and and that's just, you know, it's just part of life. But went to to Thomas Edison Middle School, which is right in the heart of West Dallas across from projects.
04:12
John Sims
Went to Zumwalt Middle School, Went to Maceo Smith for freshman year of high school, then back to Pinkston. So so I've been surrounded by minorities my whole life. Right? I I was the minority.
04:31
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Exactly. I was about to say that.
04:34
John Sims
So Maceo Smith was about 85% African American, 15% Hispanic, and me. Right? So I don't have a problem with with prejudice or stereotype. Of course. And and, really, everyone has some biases, and and we've gotta realize it. But as far as, some of the major, you know, opinions that that some people may have based on race, I I think I I don't have those. Because I've seen the good and bad in in all all people. You know, growing up in in a relatively poor, environment, I think it's taught me the value of of money and and how it should be managed and spent.
05:34
John Sims
And I understand that we can't we can't borrow ourselves out of debt. And and at the way the city operates with a $17,000,000,000 in deferred infrastructure maintenance, estimated $16,000,000,000 in unfunded liabilities for the police and fire pension. We can't we can't borrow $50,000,000 bond package every couple years to patch, you know, patch potholes on the road. And the more we neglect it, the more expensive it becomes to to complete the repairs.
06:13
John Sims
I've never seen a pothole get smaller. And and roads don't magically get smoother. So that's that's really what what motivated me to to get involved. I've never before 2023, I'd never imagined that that I would do anything, you know, in politics. I'm really not a a huge fan of politics. You know? But
06:42
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
It's a tough space.
06:44
John Sims
Yeah. The the older I get, know, the more I I feel like voices need to be heard.
06:52
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
06:53
John Sims
And and some of the social injustices need to need to be made right.
06:58
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yes. I entirely agree with you on that. And what is the landscape like in District 3? Can you talk to me about other people who are running for this exact same seat? And what type of residents make up the heart of District 3?
07:17
John Sims
So demographically, we're about 43% Hispanic, 42% African American, and we we have a a decent sized Thai, you know, Asian neighborhood off of Ledbetter.
07:39
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Oh, got it. Okay.
07:40
John Sims
Yeah. They they've got a a nice Buddhist temple over there.
07:44
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Okay.
07:45
John Sims
If you drive if you drive in that area, you you wouldn't expect it. Right?
07:49
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yeah. I had no idea.
07:51
John Sims
You kinda just drive up and you're like, wow. Look at this temple. It's Yeah. You know, it's awesome. And that they're really kind of a unique neighborhood. And they've kind of segregated their selves. It's it's really more of a a country setting.
08:08
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Okay.
08:08
John Sims
Right? Because the there's a large portion of undeveloped land. And, lots of trees. It's it's really nice change. Right? But the majority of the of the district is single family homes. You know, thousand to 1,500 square feet is is kind of the average. We've got some some really big houses and some really small houses, but the majority is, you know, just working class Americans. We've got good shopping. Right? Redbird. We've got You know, Keast and and Polk area.
08:49
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Uh-huh.
08:50
John Sims
We've got a new Fiesta grocery store over there.
08:54
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I love Fiesta! I feel like we're on the right track as as far as development goes, but, you know, it's it's a, you know, nice middle class district. And we've got tons of development opportunity, a lot of undeveloped land in District 3 versus you know, if if you look up at the northern districts, they're pretty landlocked. Right? And and they've gotta go they've gotta build up. They they can't really build out. But, in District 3, no, we've we've got a lot of open space, a lot of green space that's, primed for development.
09:32
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
In some of the questions that you answered, you really spoke to not wanting to fall into the, I guess, the crookedness that politics can bring. And just you sharing a little bit about yourself really opens my eyes up to who you are. How would you personally strengthen the trust between law enforcement and the community without falling into the trap of performative politics?
09:59
John Sims
Like I mentioned earlier, I grew up in in a lower income, rougher side of town. Mhmm. And, you know, we experienced the six, seven hour response times that would come from from the police department. And, you know, it was tough. Right?
10:19
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Even back then?
10:20
John Sims
Yeah. So, you know, prop u was was which is the, Dallas hero proposition to the to for to amend the charter, the city charter to increase the the police to resident ratio back to an ordinance that was passed in 1988. Right?
10:49
John Sims
So in in in the late eighties, early nineties, you know, that was my, say, my 12 to 16 year old, you know, life kinda going through adolescence and and everybody else in the neighborhood doing the same. And, you know, a lot of a lot of fights, a lot of car thefts, you know, a lot of burglaries, drive bys, and the, you know, major drug problems with with crack and and heroin, which resulted in a huge crime, you know, huge huge level of crime. So to combat that crime, the city passed the the ordinance that required three police officers per 1,000. And so the city, the council, the city manager ramped up the police numbers. And then through chief David Kunkle, we saw a large
11:58
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Oh, Kunkle he passed.
12:01
John Sims
So we saw you know, he was tough on crime. We saw a great reduction in crime. And as crime went down, the city kind of, you know, took their foot off the gas with regard to police staffing.
12:13
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm.
12:15
John Sims
And one thing that that that, really bothers me and scares me about the future of the city is, do we have to get back to the to the crack eighties?
12:28
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm. And, you know, the eighties and nineties? Do we have to get back to to that level of crime for the council to wake up and do do what they were obligated to do. Kinda kinda getting a little off track, but, you know, the, I've I've heard some council members speak about the, the impacts of prop u, you know, post, passage. And and I've heard some comments that, you know, the city felt like they didn't have to enforce Prop U based on the ordinance. Well, if they didn't think they had to enforce it, then why'd they go change the ordinance? Correct. You know, so that that's that's goes back to what I say about doublespeak. You know, they they craft their words in a way to to mislead you, and and that's let's call let's call it how we see it.
13:31
John Sims
Not, not twist words around. You know, there there were whenever whenever I saw, you know, nearly every council member, every past mayor, you know, Dallas County Commissioners, just just
13:48
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
All of them. Many people said that. All of them get behind it, I knew something was wrong. You can't get that group of of people to agree on anything. And and I've I've watched, council meetings where the council is more passionate about, a zoning change request than the police.
14:18
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yes.
14:19
John Sims
You know, there there was, recently a a zoning change request that that, involved Pepper Square. You know, talk talking about accountability, you know, with prop u where where the the proposition passed, the council convened a a meeting and changed the ordinance so they didn't have to honor the will of voters. Pepper Square, we we saw much of the same from the horseshoe. You you had a little over 90%, you know, of of the residents opposed it. Yet, you know Overwhelming support in Over overwhelming opposition.
15:01
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
In opposition. That's right.
15:05
John Sims
And this is something that's gone on for three years. You know, the public has has pushed back against this for three years. And Yeah. Listening to all those zoning cases before before that one came up, during during the meeting where that was passed, there were zoning cases that had no no support, no opposition, and they were turned down. And then there was only cases that that had, you know, we'll say equal number of support and opposition in in the city survey, and they got turned down.
15:46
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
15:47
John Sims
But then we get to the to the Pepper Square issue. You've got, you know, 35 speakers in the audience.
15:55
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I think it was over 50.
15:57
John Sims
Right. Right. But some of those speakers were remote and whatever. Yeah. So so you've got huge opposition.
16:04
John Sims
You've got, you know, homeowners associations with with over a thousand residents.
16:08
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Thousand yes.
16:09
John Sims
Exactly. A thousand residents, and they all sign, you know, petitions against it.
16:14
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
16:14
John Sims
So so you have a huge groundswell of opposition, and the council votes to approve it. That is for me, that's that's a miscarriage of of government.
16:29
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I don't understand it. I don't know how these council members how in good faith they can vote in favor of it with all that opposition. Well It boggles my mind. I think it's I don't understand. What are your conversations like with the residents of District 3 while you're talking to them and you're walking around block walking? Are they overwhelmingly in support of things that you are speaking here with me about today?
17:03
John Sims
I see I see people on both sides of of most most every issue. I haven't found a a general consensus except infrastructure. Right? Everyone agrees that that the roads are terrible. Our parks don't see, the kind of improvements people would expect, you know, with regard to playgrounds, walking trails.
17:31
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm. What about crime?
17:35
John Sims
Everyone everyone is concerned about crime. You know, you know, the the council is a nonpartisan position.
17:44
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm.
17:45
John Sims
That's right. But when you're out block walking, you you meet people that are partisan. And it doesn't matter if I meet someone that's that's a Republican or a Democrat. Everyone cares about infrastructure and crime.
17:58
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right. And It's how we all live.
18:01
John Sims
Right. Everyone wants to wants to feel safe in their home. They wanna be able to go out and shop and and hang out with family, go out to eat, and not worry about, you know, being robbed, their car being broken into or stolen, or someone watching their house. And when they leave, they run-in there and steal their property. So crime is is, across the board, the number one issue that that I hear from whenever I go out and block walk. And, and I I've been, I've been trying to hit the streets hard. And Saturday and Sunday, I try to hit a hundred doors, you know, knock knock on a hundred doors, talk to to people in the in the district because I believe that that if I get elected, I should be a representative of the people. And, you know, we all have our own individual ideas of what's important. But if you don't get out and talk to the residents, then you don't really know what positions you you should have.
19:11
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Are you familiar at all with any of the conversations that councilwoman Care Mendelson and Jesse Moreno are having with respect to the development of a homeless shelter in that particular space?
19:25
John Sims
Yes. Well, I'm yes. I'm very familiar with the 2929 South Hampton. I've opposed it since since I heard about it.
19:37
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Okay. Okay.
19:38
John Sims
And and that was in 2023. I ran in 2023 for the for the same position. That was my number one issue.
19:49
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
How come? Why'd you oppose it?
19:51
John Sims
I I think it's a poor, irresponsible use of that property. You know, the property is is next to a, retirement community. 300 feet from a public library.
20:07
John Sims
Maybe 500 feet from an elementary school. Across the street is is one of the, jewels of the city, Keist Park.
20:17
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Ah, okay.
20:18
John Sims
Yes. Directly across the street. It's just it is not the right use for that property.
20:27
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I know that they've looked in many other areas as of late within your district.
20:33
John Sims
And and we already have one
20:36
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I know.
20:37
John Sims
Homeless facility in District 3.
20:40
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
They're looking for a larger one to have more wraparound services there to treat it just more holistically and to not be as segmented as it now is across the city. And so I just wanted to know what your opinions were as it related to the homelessness.
20:59
John Sims
I believe that we we need to help the homeless, but there's there's not a one size fits all solution.
21:10
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
No. There's not.
21:11
John Sims
Because there's, you know, just like in in public in general, there are many different types of people that that have different issues in life. And and the same is true for the homeless population. We've got, you know, people that are struggling with with mental health issues, people that are struggling with drug addiction, and and people that just, you know, maybe are have fallen on hard times dealing with some depression. That maybe don't have the the, extreme mental health issues. Maybe they're just down on their luck, and they and they need some help. So we can't say, oh, there's one solution that's gonna solve this problem.
21:54
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Of course not.
21:54
John Sims
I believe that some people may be comfortable living that lifestyle.
22:00
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
22:01
John Sims
And and they're not they're not gonna conform. to what you and I think is normal in life. Correct. And we've gotta respect that that's that's the way that they wanna live.
22:13
John Sims
And let's provide a way for them to continue to live that way that's not, a public health issue or a public safety issue. You know, the there was a time that the homeless had a had a huge encampment near, 45, relatively close to downtown, and, hundreds of camps out there. And someone thought it would it would be in the best interest to go and bulldoze those encampments. And for me, that's that's heartbreaking because though it's a nuisance for us, that was their community. And I don't care if it's a homeless person or a millionaire. If you destroy their property, it's gonna have an emotional effect on them. And and I think it was just just careless and and ruthless to bulldoze their property. Even if you give them notice, right, it's still not right. And and it's not humane treatment for humans. So whenever whenever the city you know, I believe a direct result of bulldozing those encampments is now the homeless are all over the city. Right? Whether it's North Dallas, South Dallas, they're all over the city. And we've gotta we've gotta find the the homeless that that wanna continue to live that way and maybe provide a space, you know, with some facilities
23:45
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
23:47
John Sims
Where they can continue to live that way.
23:48
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
23:49
John Sims
You know, whether it's you know, let's let's create a state park type of setting where they have campsites, some restrooms, showers, and maybe create a, you know, a mess hall, a place where daily they could come in and grab something to eat. And, if they have mental health issues that that they just don't wanna be around people and they they wanna live that secluded lifestyle, let's let's, embrace it.
24:17
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And with all of this, I mean, know that we're we've spoken about many issues that are at the core of what you are running on, your beliefs and principles. And with that, I just wish you tremendous luck. And you're very knowledgeable about a wide variety of issues I think that your constituents residence District 3 will find invaluable. So I just urge you to please continue serving in any possible way that you possibly can.
24:50
John Sims
Yeah. It's important to serve, and I think it makes us a better person.
24:56
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I couldn't agree more. Yeah. I couldn't agree more with you, John.
24:59
John Sims
Thank you. It's been an honor.
25:00
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Thank you for being here, John. I really appreciate it, and I look forward to seeing you in the future.
25:05
John Sims
Yeah. May maybe on the horseshoe, maybe not?
25:08
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yes. And collaborating in some capacity. Absolutely.
25:14
John Sims
Thank you.
25:14
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Thank you for being here.
featuring our host.
SARAH ZUBIATE BENNETT
Venture Philanthropist, Host and Executive Producer of Let’s Talk Local, bold leader driving growth in private and social sectors.
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