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5 Feb 2025
Lights, Camera, Corruption with Dallas En Fuego

Dallas is at a crossroads—so is it time for a fresh start at City Hall? Filmmaker and local watchdog Damien LeVeck, better known as Dallas En Fuego, thinks so. He’s been digging deep into the city’s biggest issues, and what he’s uncovered might surprise you. We break it all down in this eye-opening episode.


Plus, looking to impress this Valentine’s Day? Sarah shares a must-try sangria mocktail that’s perfect for your valentine, galentines, or just treating yourself!

0:00
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Host
Damien LeVeck
Guest

Episode Timeline

All Episodes
01:23
Damien's career in horror films
03:44
How Damien (@DallasEnFuego) got involved in the political space
20:00
An interesting point about tDART spending
26:44
Most blatant disconnect between Dallas City Hall and constituents
31:16
Delicious non-alcoholic Sangria recipe
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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
Is Dallas City Hall turning into a swamp that needs draining? Let's dive in. I'm Sara Zubiate Bennett and on this episode of Let's Talk Local, I'm sitting down with Damien LeVeck, better known as Dallas En Fuego, on Twitter and YouTube. You might know Damien for his work in the horror film world, but lately, he's been making waves in Dallas politics. So what's behind this shift? We'll get into all of it later. And stick around after my chat with Dallas En Fuego. I've got a mocktail recipe that'll add some fire to your Valentine's night menu. Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to hit like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
00:44
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Okay, Damien.
00:46
Damien LeVeck
Here we are.
00:47
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Here we are. And I felt like a little bit of a stalker last night. I was diving as deep as I possibly could with all of the medicine in my body trying to make me feel better, and I was flat out shocked that you professionally are a director and an editor of horror films and successful horror films. Yeah. I mean, can you tell me a little bit about that first before we get into any of the other reasons that I initially wanted to have you on the show?
01:17
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I mean, you're Yeah. You're quite the man with I mean, seriously, it's I I'm interested.
01:23
Damien LeVeck
I mean, I got into entertainment. I moved to LA from Central Illinois when I was 18 years old. Went to USC film school.
01:31
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Uh-huh.
01:31
Damien LeVeck
And got involved in after USC, got involved in the entertainment industry through post-production. I interned all throughout school of production companies and studios, but, really found my footing in post-production. I started by making a documentary documentaries. I made a documentary with Ethan Hawke.
01:49
Damien LeVeck
I, then started working at TMZ. I worked at TMZ briefly and then went to E! News and cut entertainment news for three and a half years. And then went freelance after that, editing development sizzles for production companies that you know, to get TV shows sold. And along the way, I did a couple feature films, couple of other feature scripted films, writing, trying to get to a place where I had a script that I felt like I could put three and a half years behind to get made. And that's what I did with my first feature film, The Cleansing Hour, which started as a short film.
02:19
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm.
02:19
Damien LeVeck
And after that, we made, A Creature Was Stirring starring Chrissy Metz, which came out last year Or November 2023.
02:26
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Now you have an Amish film.
02:27
Damien LeVeck
And now we have an Amish horror film.
02:29
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
When does that launch?
02:31
Damien LeVeck
Well, hopefully, this year. We are we're working on the financing of that right now. And we, we've made several offers, but things are always changing. It's always fluctuating, but the hope is that we'll make it this year.
02:42
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's incredible. And so you started this Skubalon Entertainment. Right?
02:46
Damien LeVeck
That's right.
02:47
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And I guess with that, I never even knew that horror films were usually the most profitable films. They are the most profitable films, and they have been for decades. Crazy. I'm drawn to horror not just because of my interest in the supernatural and you know, I really enjoy scaring people. I love the entertainment aspect of it. But, also, the financial aspect of it is great, obviously, but horror is the only genre where original stories are being told. Everything else is a remake or a reboot or based on IP.
03:16
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Truly unique.
03:17
Damien LeVeck
Horror is where people can come in and with a low budget, make a unique, really cool story that scares people and makes a lot of money at the same time, so I'm down. That's my preference.
03:26
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's so neat. This is incredible. So how on earth, Damien LeVeck, someone with your background, your skill set, how in the world do you get involved in the civic local political space? What kind of prompted that fire within you?
03:44
Damien LeVeck
Well, I had no intention of getting involved.
03:46
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Honestly, I didn't either.
03:47
Damien LeVeck
I really didn't. I'm I'm very busy with my work, you know, screenwriting and producing movies and developing movies and editing shows. I really had no intention, and it was I think it was March 8th last year. My in laws who have lived in Dallas for 40 years said, hey, I want you to go to this meeting hosted by Jaynie Schultz who is our council member. It's about this development, Pepper Square. They wanna renovate Pepper Square. They wanna build these big apartment buildings there, and we want you to see, you know, what's going on. So I didn't know who Jaynie Schultz was, and I showed up.
04:24
Damien LeVeck
And I was just appalled by the way that she spoke to people. She was up there like a school mom talking to her class, telling them to settle down. And I was very frustrated because this whole meeting, I was told ahead of time, this is gonna be a dog and pony show where she marches the police and the fire up there, and she marches the North Texas Council of Governments up there, and she's gonna explain to us why everything is good for Pepper Square, why we should be building this, and why everyone should go along with it. So I stood up, and I said, hey. Listen. We have questions. Everyone here has questions, and you're deliberately not asking them. In fact, she made a point of saying that she she wasn't gonna take open questions. You could write your questions on a card, and if she liked it, she would read it. So I was just really I was really appalled by this.
05:10
Damien LeVeck
After the crowd got pretty riled up after I did that, she tried to have a very successful and well respected dentist in town escorted out by the police. It was crazy. So then I really started paying attention to the Pepper Square issue, and I started paying attention to what she was doing and what her record was like. And I started making videos about her specifically in relation to this issue of, developing for for Pepper Square. I came at it with kind of a snarky, jokey tone where, you know, I, you know, I punch down a little bit. That's that's my personality. I don't wanna be as stiff. You know? I like I like to have fun. So that came across in my videos, and, you know, I intercut with, like, memes and pop culture references and that sort of thing.
05:56
Damien LeVeck
And I also while I was doing this, initiated a recall effort against her. And this is something that doesn't happen very often in Dallas. And, you know, recall efforts can succeed or fail for better or for worse. The thing that did her in was a video that I did where I caught her on hidden camera talking about how how she has a different worldview about density and apartments than her constituents.
06:26
Damien LeVeck
And what the people of North Dallas said to her in this meeting, private meeting, was that, look. We were coming to you for help because you're our councilwoman, and it seems like you wanna support the developer and not the people who live there. And she said, well, I just have a different world worldview about density. I have a different worldview about apartments. And I made a video about that, and everybody saw it. And then, coincidentally, a few weeks later, she said, I'm not gonna run again. So I considered that a huge win for me because, finally, everyone was waking up to what this person is doing. And that's when I started to really red pill on Dallas politics. And I really started to look at, oh, this isn't just Jaynie Schultz. This is the entire city council.
07:08
Damien LeVeck
This is the city manager. This is everything in Dallas, and all the problems that we're facing in Dallas are are stem from the are are systemic. It's a problem with the entire edifice of our municipal government.
07:22
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And, I mean, this is this is just mind blowing to me because most people are absolutely unaware and unengaged. Yes. They're disengaged.
07:32
Damien LeVeck
Yeah.
07:32
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And it breaks my heart because for the as long as I can remember, I have genuinely cared about the efforts within the city.
07:44
Damien LeVeck
This is what this has kind of evolved into. Because I am so frustrated. I've never been one to back down from a fight, and I've also never been one to let other people be walked on.
07:54
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Same.
07:54
Damien LeVeck
And let other people be taken advantage of.
07:56
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Same here.
07:57
Damien LeVeck
And what I see when I look at Dallas politics is I see a great city where people are they're actually being taken advantage of because the city council is taking advantage of their ignorance. They're taking advantage of the fact that they aren't paying attention.
08:09
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
08:09
Damien LeVeck
So, admittedly, mostly, these these elections, the voter turnout is very, very low. Right? And that's because most of the people who vote are older people. They're older generation. They're probably retired, and They have more time to devote to paying attention. And I'm I'm a dad. I've got 3 little kids.
08:29
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Oh, you are?
08:30
Damien LeVeck
I've got 3 kids, 8, 6, and 4.
08:32
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Oh my gosh.
08:32
Damien LeVeck
So, you know, I'm very busy with my family, and I totally understand between wife and kids and school and sports and all the extracurricular activities that it's hard to pay attention to this stuff. It's hard to open up a newspaper and read what's going on. I get that. So what my approach has been with as I've developed this x account, @DallasEnFuego Has been not just to make jokes or make funny videos that are entertaining to watch, but actually make them infotainment. Make them edutainment. Create stuff that's gonna be what the soccer mom can share with her friends and, you know, 60, 90 second video that educates them about an issue that does relate to them, that is pertinent to their life. Because our city council every week is making decisions that directly affect your life. And if only we could all pay attention, we could actually get their attention by saying, hey. Look. We care about this. Hey. We're actually gonna take time out of our busy schedule to go to City Hall, and we're going to make our voices heard. And I think there's a lot of ways that you can make your voices heard, but my objective is to create long term, a way for people to educate themselves on city issues using video content that isn't, that's easily digestible.
09:47
Damien LeVeck
And, you know, I think that's that is also catering to a younger demographic as well. I'm 43. Right? I want people who are 30 to 50 to that's my target audience.
10:02
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Same.
10:02
Damien LeVeck
That those are the people who I want to be paying attention to this stuff.
10:05
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yes.
10:05
Damien LeVeck
And it's working. I've got a weekly breakfast with a friend, and this was before the election.
10:11
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm.
10:12
Damien LeVeck
And I did a voter guide on all the props. I it was a Dallas voter guide, and I had it pinned to my X.
10:18
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I saw it. Yeah. Yes. I saw it.
10:20
Damien LeVeck
And I showed it I texted it to him and or I showed it to him at lunch, and I texted to him. And he said the next week, he said, hey. I showed your voter guide to a friend at work. He works in finance. He said, I showed it to a friend at work, and he goes, oh, I've already seen that. My dad showed that to me. And that made me feel so good. I was like, wow. This is getting around, you know? So it's encouraging. I feel very encouraged and very empowered because I know the power of media because it's the business that I work with.
10:47
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Correct.
10:48
Damien LeVeck
I know how to edit and make in compelling, really good looking videos that look like there's a lot of money behind them because that's what I've been doing for the last 20 years. And I know that we can actually get the get a new base of voters fired up so that they will start paying attention to these issues. And when they go to the ballot, start voting in a way that's going to help their city instead of hurt them.
11:08
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Well, I I love it. Your videos are are really incredible, but what are you hoping to do? So I understand your mission. I understand your target audience.
11:19
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I know the type of impact you've had even at this point. What do you hope to do next with DallasEnFuego with this voice that you've built?
11:29
Damien LeVeck
Look. I never I never intended to get into any of this. Right? And if I could devote myself full time to this, there's a lot of things I would do. You know?
11:38
Damien LeVeck
Just for example, for all the ballot propositions, I would have made a 30-60 second video on each of them explaining why you should or should not vote for them. Now, of course, with my that's my
11:49
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's your background.
11:50
Damien LeVeck
My opinion. But, I would spend time making that kind of content. But the truth is is that I'm a filmmaker. You know? I I'm a creative at heart, and I wanna keep making movies, and I wanna develop TV shows. And that's really where my heart lies. But if there were a way to grow this into a larger business or into a larger organization that focuses just on that, I would absolutely be a part of it. And I'm I'm still gonna keep making videos as much as I can on issues that are important to me. You know, I'm focusing on specific council members now because it's an election year.
12:26
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm.
12:27
Damien LeVeck
And I want people to see, like, who represents them. I mean, I've got a video coming out soon about Adam Bazaldua. Here are three reasons why we cannot reelect district 7's Adam Bazaldua The Fry Cook. Wrong priorities. The fry cook's signature issues include a cease fire in Gaza. Who's been a disaster for district 7. And look, we can't let these people keep working this job. They work for us. And if they're not delivering on promises and if they're if you're seeing their district go down the toilet, then you gotta hold them accountable. District 7 had the most most murders of any district in 2024. 35 murders in district 7.
13:05
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
13:05
Damien LeVeck
That's insane. That that's that's an f grade in my opinion.
13:09
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Well, most of these are these council members are Receiving f grades. Maybe with the with the exception of, like, Cara. Right. You know, like, there's there's a few.
13:17
Damien LeVeck
There are a couple of common sense voices on the city council. For sure. And that's really what the city council needs is common sense. Partisanship doesn't belong at city council.
13:28
Damien LeVeck
I don't care what party you are. I don't care what letters next to your name.
13:31
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Same.
13:32
Damien LeVeck
Just give us more cops.
13:34
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Don't let the city go to hell.
13:36
Damien LeVeck
Right.
13:37
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
So you recently posted your city of Dallas leaders hate you. Citizen pass prop you, a referendum on public safety, begging city leaders to hire the 900 police we need, and yet they're still dragging their feet. With attrition, the city will only gain at best 256 cops this year. And then you put exactly what the pay was as of, I guess, as of very recent. And you said this gaslighting is egregious. Where are you gathering all of your statistics? Because we have them. Right? And they're publicly available. Yeah. How much time does this take you?
14:06
Damien LeVeck
It takes a lot of time.
14:07
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
It does. Doesn't it?
14:08
Damien LeVeck
It takes a lot of time. I get them I I gather them myself. I, you know, my wife helps me dig up stuff. You know? The more people you have doing it, the better.
14:17
Damien LeVeck
Of course.
14:18
Damien LeVeck
Then sometimes I have, like, primary sources that are actually giving giving them to me saying, like, hey. You might wanna look at this because this is what the numbers actually are. You know, as far as the police thing is concerned, it's it's a very important issue for me. I lived in LA for 22 years.
14:33
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yes.
14:34
Damien LeVeck
Police staffing is a big issue there.
14:36
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Talk to me about this.
14:36
Damien LeVeck
Well, there's a there's a so a lot of the passion that I have comes directly from having lived in that city for 22 years. And I say, I don't want Dallas to become this. Because LA is facing a housing crisis.
14:50
Damien LeVeck
It has a homeless crisis. I don't know actually where LA is on cops, but there was a period of time about 4 years ago where they were talking about slashing the LAPD budget.
15:01
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
They did.
15:02
Damien LeVeck
So when I look at what the police in in Dallas are being paid compared to surrounding cities, it's crazy.
15:10
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
It's infuriating.
15:11
Damien LeVeck
If you're a young man and you wanna be a police officer, why would you choose to put your life at higher risk in Dallas when you could get paid 10, $15,000 more go working in Plano and, you know, or Garland or something like that? It doesn't make any sense. So, again, common sense. But does the city council want to allocate the the funding that's required to raise starting pay and raise the pay for the existing officers? And that's the question.
15:42
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
They have to now because it's law.
15:44
Damien LeVeck
I think they they're gonna get sued if they don't.
15:47
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Well, that's right.
15:48
Damien LeVeck
Right.
15:48
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right. Now thanks to proposition S
15:50
Damien LeVeck
Right.
15:51
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
They will get sued. Yeah. And, unfortunately, I mean, they are blunt instruments. I mean, I get that. And when Tom sat here and, you know, I know Eric, the mayor has very much referenced them as blunt instruments.
16:06
Damien LeVeck
Mhmm.
16:07
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
But that's what was needed. Yeah. Because nothing else was working.
16:12
Damien LeVeck
Exactly so I I think the last election was extremely important that I'm referring to the local election.
16:17
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Of course.
16:18
Damien LeVeck
Because it took a ballot proposition for the people to get, you know, get through the city's thick skulls that, hey. Look. This is the most important thing to us, and you aren't listening to us. And I think this is the big problem with with the with the city of Dallas is that the people who run the city are completely disconnected from what the people who live in the city want.
16:39
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
16:39
Damien LeVeck
And I don't I haven't quite figured out. I have some theories. I think it is either because they're ignorant or they don't care or they're just drunk on power and they're completely corrupted and they don't their their ideology is all that matters. They don't care about representing the people. It might be a combination of 3. I'm not sure. But that is the issue. And that is the reason why whenever people ask me about, like, well, how can I get involved? What can I do?
17:06
Damien LeVeck
I said, start paying attention to who represents you because everything stems from the council. And, unfortunately, we don't have at large council members, which we need. We actually need a strong mayor of government, but that's another discussion. But start paying attention to who represents you and what they're doing, and then start looking at how can I, who's running against them, and how can I, get involved?
17:28
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I hope that with these 2 with particularly s, in place, that with the ability to sue the city structure as it exists today, that there may be some improvement.
17:40
Damien LeVeck
But it's So I I would agree with you. I think that, you know, removing sovereign immunity is actually a very good thing for the city. I think that Dallas is this is one way that Dallas is leading the way for the rest of the country. Right?
17:51
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
17:51
Damien LeVeck
The only city in the country that
17:52
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
has it.
17:53
Damien LeVeck
That's fantastic.
17:53
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
It's huge.
17:54
Damien LeVeck
And I had mixed feelings about Prop S because I was like, you know, I hear the people on the other side being, like, lots of frivolous lawsuits. I totally get that. You know, we don't wanna waste money on this stuff. But, look, even after the passage of prop U, even after the passage of prop S, we have C K Arnold coming out saying that she's gonna run for a 5th term in defiance of prop E.
18:17
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
18:17
Damien LeVeck
The the the cognitive dissonance or the lack of self awareness is just unbelievable. Yep. And without prop S, we wouldn't be able to hold people like her accountable, and she is going to get sued. I'm almost sure of it.
18:28
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
So talk to me about your stance on term limits.
18:32
Damien LeVeck
Well, I've been a fan of term limits in general for for all of politics because, you know, if you know anything about our founding fathers, they never intended to, run for politics and make it a career.
18:44
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
18:44
Damien LeVeck
It was supposed to be be an act of service that you give back to your country, and then you return to your job and your home. Well, I think the career politicians are a problem in our country. And I don't care what side of the aisle you're on. They're a problem
18:56
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
They are.
18:57
Damien LeVeck
On both. So, this idea of you need to have an experienced leader... Please. I mean, I think that having a strong business acumen could be good for running a city. But look. You can you can learn the Robert's Rules of Order, and and that that's easy enough to pick up. It doesn't it takes common sense to run a city. It doesn't take, somebody who's been in politics for 10 years to do it.
19:21
Damien LeVeck
So I respect the people that work in government that run our city. I don't think that it should be a requirement for, someone to sit on city council, for example. So, I'm actually more encouraged by the people who are running for city council who don't have a career in politics than those who have in the past. You know, who those who've run on the park board, for example, that, somehow because they're on the park board and they know more city more more people in the city and they're more well connected that they're gonna do a better job. No. Actually, I think that the person who's been running a business for 30 years and knows how to manage money and understand zoning and development, those are the people who I want running our city.
19:57
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yeah. And same. Here. Yeah.
19:59
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I'm hopping over to DART now. Because, I mean, so many of my questions you just answer in your in your conversation. So, DART. Shanon over here, she she said something interesting not long ago. She was at a party, I think, talking about DART, because we like talking about these sexy things when we're at parties. But she said that, there was this guy there that said, you know what? We would lose less money as a city if we bought everyone a Toyota Corolla. Everyone right now as it exists today who rides a DART, a Toyota Corolla. And I thought that can't be right. I went back. I did the math. That's correct. That's accurate.
20:44
Damien LeVeck
Everyone in the the entire population or just the 2% of people that ride?
20:48
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yeah. The the people that utilize it.
20:49
Damien LeVeck
Yeah. It's extremely small.
20:50
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
It's so small. Yeah. And so that for me is something that must be addressed.
20:58
Damien LeVeck
Yep.
20:58
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And how to do it? I mean, I have several ideas, but I'm not sure that anyone would be willing to entertain it. Where have you, I guess, landed with your opinions as it relates to DART?
21:14
Damien LeVeck
I think that it's an it's a a budget boondoggle. I think it's, incredibly wasteful. The fact that less than 2% of Dallas residents use it is indicative not of the quality of the service, but rather of the usefulness or necessity of it. I like I said, I lived in LA for 22 years. You know, the bus system in LA is fairly robust.
21:37
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yep. It is.
21:38
Damien LeVeck
They have spent years building rail lines from downtown to Santa Monica and from the South Bay to downtown and to Hollywood, You know? And they've got it, you know, the most expensive subway in the world, just because of the seismic conditions there. But, I think that the buses in LA are actually utilized quite a bit. I think LA is maybe a bit more dense, but, Dallas is similar to LA in its sprawl, but, I think that's a big part of the it may be not as dense. I think that's a big part of the reason why so few people use it. If this city were designed, like Manhattan, for example, where the subway was an integral part of the original creation of the city, people would use it. Because you could take a subway anywhere in the city, get off, and maybe walk a few blocks and you're at your destination. That's how it works in Manhattan. But Dallas is a car city. It was always built as a car city.
22:38
Damien LeVeck
It was designed as a car city. I don't think there's any point in investing any more money in DART. There's a reason why surrounding cities are trying to pull out the money that they're contributing to DART. And here's what my solution is. My solution is eliminate it entirely. You don't need it. No one rides it. In fact, it's dangerous to ride it. It's become a place for people who are dealing drugs and who are homeless, and people get injured on them. Like, it's it's a waste of money. We are on the we are on the brink of autonomous vehicles being everywhere.
23:11
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm.
23:11
Damien LeVeck
In 10 years, cars are gonna be completely driving themselves, and people aren't even gonna be buying cars because Uber is gonna come and pick you up in whatever car you want, take you wherever you want, and that's how you're gonna get around.
23:22
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I agree.
23:23
Damien LeVeck
Public transportation is gonna completely die after that. And if you wanna ride a bike, that's fine. Most of those cars are probably gonna be electric. And Dallas is just there's we've got freeways that take us everywhere.
23:33
Damien LeVeck
That should be an indication to you that coming up with, you know, using 18th century technology to get everybody from a to b is just not the answer.
23:42
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yep. And it's really interesting because I've heard so many people tell me, Sarah, we attracted companies like AT and T to come or not AT and T. Who Who was it? Was it Goldman Sachs? I forget exactly who it was. BofA, Bank of America. Someone large. Some prominent company. And they said what we used as a selling point was the fact that their employees could live in all of these wonderful surrounding suburbs, of course, because Dallas has s**t schools, and send their kids to these these places with DART.
24:15
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And I'm like, yeah. But do you also disclose to them that it's dangerous to ride DART? Do you also disclose to them that they will have to carry a gun? They will have to I mean, protect their children?
24:24
Damien LeVeck
Where they can really live, too...
24:26
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Exactly.
24:27
Damien LeVeck
To live next to a rail line...
24:28
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Exactly.
24:28
Damien LeVeck
There's a DART station. It's on Arapaho
24:33
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And Closer to Plano?
24:34
Damien LeVeck
Yeah. Yeah. They didn't even build a parking lot at the DART station, so you can't you can't even park there. It's so like, what's the point?
24:42
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I know. It is literally it's soaked up 1,000,000,000 Yeah. Of dollars, the 100 of 1,000,000 of dollars that it just keeps pouring into that when that could be otherwise directed towards our police. The pension, our who whatever. But, again, the the budgetary concerns. I mean, I feel like I'm I've been beating my head against the wall for over a decade at this point.
25:04
Damien LeVeck
Right.
25:05
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And I like, a lot of these people individually. But as far as what they are trying to institute, what they have been instituting, it does not make sense at all.
25:21
Damien LeVeck
Do you have an opinion on the on the rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth?
25:27
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I do. But as far as it being a good or a bad idea
25:30
Damien LeVeck
Yeah.
25:32
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Again, it just depends on the technology that's used. But right now, as it's presented today, I just don't think it's I don't think it's worth it.
25:39
Damien LeVeck
Right.
25:40
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yeah. I don't.
25:40
Damien LeVeck
Yeah. Yeah. The thing that the thing that gives me pause about it, because I love it. I love the idea.
25:45
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Me too.
25:47
Damien LeVeck
Is, again, my LA experience They tried to do this. And if you get off of a train in downtown LA, Then what? Unless you're going to a meeting in downtown LA, you're either getting in an Uber or someone's picking you up or you're getting a car. Because the way the city's laid out, you ain't walking. You aren't taking a bike either.
26:09
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yep.
26:09
Damien LeVeck
So I don't know if it really solves a problem.
26:13
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Well, that's my whole thing. Is it what's the opportunity cost here? 1, do we have to look at exactly what we'll be giving up to get it, and is it worth it? Because there are so many other priorities like the homelessness, like the police.
26:25
Damien LeVeck
Right.
26:25
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
These these issues must be solved in order to make our city great.
26:30
Damien LeVeck
Yeah.
26:30
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And right now, Dallas is in Fuego! So city council. You've been known to say that city council doesn't care about their constituents, really
26:38
Damien LeVeck
Mhmm.
26:38
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And needs a wake up call. What is the most blatant example of this disconnect?
26:43
Damien LeVeck
The most blatant example of the city council needing a wake up call was prop U, frankly.
26:50
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Mhmm.
26:50
Damien LeVeck
Because you had current and former city leaders band together to say this is a bad idea for the city. And then you've got I think it was a 170,000 signatures that were needed to get it on the ballot.
27:05
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
That's right.
27:07
Damien LeVeck
You have all these people who are telling you right now, this is this is so important to us that we actually need to get it on our ballot to make you to force your hand. And that was the biggest disconnect because, I mean, you had former mayors and former council people and former city managers all getting together and having press conferences and talking about this. It's like, how dense can you guys be? And that was the big thing for me that it was like I was I was really having a hard time trying to figure this out. Why would people who led our city be against hiring more police?
27:41
Damien LeVeck
This just doesn't I don't something doesn't add up about this. And I finally, over time, put it together. I said, this is the cabal, and they're not gonna be told what to do. They don't want their power relinquished. And there's nothing scarier to a politician than a pissed off population.
27:59
Damien LeVeck
And, you know, make tar and feathering great again. But you know what? Something that I mean, that's a good segue into what you know, I have sort of this idea of a call to arms on my on my DallasEnFuego X channel. And I don't know if you've seen the movie Network
28:18
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Oh, yeah.
28:19
Damien LeVeck
With, Peter Finch plays this, you know, this TV network anchor. And he has a very famous line. He says, first, you've gotta get mad. You have to and then then later on says, I'm mad as hell. I'm not gonna take anymore. But I really think that until you're paying attention to what's happening, get upset about what's happening, you're not gonna have the fire in your belly to try and fix what's happening. So what everyone needs to do is educate themselves, which I'm trying to help with. And then figure out what you can do to fix it. And my number one thing that I would tell people to do is you have to flip the city council. All those boards of commissions, the CPC that I told you so problematic, that is all because of who sits on the city council. So until that city council gets a group of people who can align, they don't have to agree on everything, but align on the issues that are most important to, the Dallas residents, public safety, homelessness, potholes and infrastructure, and property taxes, you're not going to see anything change. It's always gonna be divisive. So my call to action is start paying attention. Follow me on X. I'll do the best I can. But, take just take 30 seconds out of your day just to scan through the newspaper and see, like, what's what's being talked about.
29:36
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Absolutely. Yeah. But I just can't thank you enough for being here. I was
29:39
Damien LeVeck
pleasure.
29:39
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Yeah. I was thrilled to have you on. And last night, I just hit, like, a whole a whole new high Even despite my sickness, realizing just how varied your expertise is, your life experience. It's just unique.
29:54
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I mean, I'm sitting here with a horror filmmaker, producer, editor, writer, and also a civic passionate being. Yeah. Right? Well, thanks. I appreciate that. I wanna empower everyone to to get involved because I had no intention of doing this, and then I just started making a couple of videos doing something that frankly comes pretty easily to me. It just shows you and that started to move the needle. It It just shows you how little you have little effort you have to put toward put forward to make a difference. If everyone just put a little bit of effort in, that would make a huge difference. It would make a huge impact. Well, thank you for being here today. I look forward to, yeah, just to seeing more of you. Let's go ahead and wrap this up, but I appreciate you all being here listening and reviewing, to this wonderful interview with Damien LeVeck, also known as DallasEnFuego his handle on Twitter and YouTube.
30:50
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Thank you so much.
30:51
Damien LeVeck
Thank you.
30:51
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Appreciate it. Damien's passion for making our city better is the kind of passion we all hope to bring to Valentine's Day. Right? And if you're like me, maybe skipping the booze but still craving something really delicious, I've got just the thing. I've discovered a homemade sangria mocktail that's not only refreshing, but pairs perfectly with one of my favorite nonalcoholic mixers. Stick around, and I'll show you exactly how to make it. Thanks for hanging out with us.
31:17
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Alright. So we are gonna be making a nonalcoholic sangria. I know that we're winding down on the dry January space, but in case you're looking for ways to add in different types of alcohol replacements, I figured that I'll just make a non alcoholic recipe and then you can consider possibly adding one of these, like, Yeah.
31:41
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Non alcohol alternatives. So nonalcoholic sangria. I love it. It's a Spanish cocktail, normally, and instead of, I guess, instead of using the wine that's traditionally used in the Spanish recipe, the tannins from tea are gonna be what kind of create that acidic flavor. So let's start.
32:07
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
We start by layering in these beautiful pieces of fruit. Alright, so now we're going to start with this hot tea. We have 2 bags of tea, and we allow it to steep for about 5 minutes. This is boiling hot water. Let's steep for 5 minutes.
32:59
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Okay. This is looking beautiful. We put this in a clear container to start before I'm transferring it into my non clear container, my pitcher. It's an ice bucket, but it's functioning as both. So I'm gonna layer in the rest of the fruit in this larger base.
33:22
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And now I'm going to add in this since it's been steeping for 5 minutes. Now, we have to add the sugar. Now that that's in there, we're going to start the cranberry juice. Now this is a sparkling red grape addition. Orange juice, no pulp.
34:07
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Stir it, of course. And now we place it in the refrigerator and we let it chill for about 24 hours. Okay. Now, you can do different alternatives whenever you wanna sugar your rim or salt it. The one that we decided to use was this Barrel Roll pink lemonade essentials because I probably would get bored with maybe just some regular sugar.
34:38
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Or if you're wanting to offer a healthier addition, you can do some monk fruit sweetener. But I'm just gonna do it by dipping it in some simple syrup. I like this brand. Simple syrup. There we are.
34:57
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
And however you're pouring it for yourself, we're gonna ladle it since it's coming out of this large vessel. Cinnamon stick as a garnish. Okay. So if you wanted to go an extra step and add something to kind of take the edge off, nonalcoholic, still adhering to that full model, you can use, like, a Nowadays. These are really fun travel easily.
35:46
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
I love them. Or you can just leave it as a regular mocktail. Let's see how it tastes. It's delicious. It's delicious.
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.