Dallas voters in November made Stacey Malker-Duff the first black woman to hold elected office in Dallas.
She sat down Tuesday a few hours before she planned to take her oath of office to discuss what will guide her as a member of the Board of Aldermen.
“I don’t want to let people down because they’ve put a lot of trust in me,” Malker-Duff said. “Now it’s my responsibility to look, listen and learn and do all I can to be beneficial to everyone.”
Malker-Duff, 43, said she first started thinking about running for the town board several years ago. She spent time getting to know more residents of the town by volunteering and just introducing herself to fellow shoppers at grocery stores. She said she thought it was more important that voters to be able to put a face with a name rather than just seeing her name on a political sign or ballot.
“I wanted to earn their votes,” Malker-Duff said of her successful campaign.
She worked to register voters and get them interested in what needs the town faces. One issue facing the town the past few years involved the quality of water. The town embarked on a three-year plan in 2012 to change out the water lines to improve water quality.
She said the town now needs to look at improving the facades of downtown buildings and work toward bringing jobs to Dallas rather than forcing people to look elsewhere for work.
Malker-Duff has spent most of her life in Dallas, starting school at Carr Elementary and graduating high school at North Gaston. She describes Dallas as a small town where everyone knows one another.
Her upbringing, she said, should serve her well as she takes on the challenges of elected office.
“We just believe in loving your neighbor, treating everyone the way you want to be treated and good, hard work,” she said.
You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or @TheGazetteKevin on twitter.com.