Latest news with #IrvingCityCouncil
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
David Pfaff Victorious In Irving City Council Race
David Pfaff won a hotly contested Irving City Council runoff Saturday, defeating Sergio Porres with 52.74% of the vote — a margin of just 580 votes. According to the official election night report, Pfaff received 5,591 votes to Porres' 5,011, improving his May 3 general election performance, when he secured 5,230 votes to Porres' 4,987. Both candidates gained supporters during the runoff campaign, but Pfaff ultimately widened his lead. Notably, The Dallas Morning News reported that it was not allowed inside the Porres campaign's watch party Saturday night — though The Dallas Express was. Inside the room, Porres' allies reflected on the campaign's broader significance, including its effect on other council races and the city's ongoing casino debate. 'Sergio's race kinda carried this whole campaign,' said attorney Cliff Riley, a close ally of the Families for Irving PAC, which backed Porres. He credited the Place 2 challenger's candidacy with creating a surge of opposition to casino development, which he said also boosted turnout for candidates John Bloch and Adam Muller — both of whom won their respective races earlier in May. Riley likened Porres' insurgent bid to that of former State Sen. Don Huffines' 2022 primary challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott, explaining that Porres was the one pulling the Overton window to the 'right.' He specifically pointed to Pfaff's decision to include 'no casinos' in his campaign mailers as evidence that the issue had become politically 'toxic.' 'We've won a big battle,' Riley said. 'Sergio made [the casino issue] utterly toxic for the other side.' Riley also emphasized the diverse coalition Porres built, saying his campaign was effective 'because of our Muslim friends' and other religious voters who had long felt alienated by Irving's political class. At the party, Porres personally thanked former general election opponents like Vicky Oduk, who endorsed him the day after the May election and campaigned with him in the runoff. He also thanked Elena Blake, president of the Irving Republican Women, who was among his earliest backers, among many others. 'We have done a really incredible thing,' Porres told supporters. Porres expressed optimism about his future political prospects, suggesting Saturday's results had only laid the groundwork for a potential rematch. 'This was a warm-up fight,' he said. 'We are going to be unstoppable.' He also pointed to shifting demographics in Irving, saying the city's Catholic and Muslim populations — including many large families — are aligned on key cultural issues and increasingly frustrated with the status quo. 'The demographics are on our side,' Porres said. For his part, Pfaff appeared elated in a video posted to his campaign's Facebook page shortly after the result was called. In the video, Pfaff is seen smiling broadly as he approaches a projector screen displaying the vote totals, then embraces his supporters. The caption read: 'THANK YOU, IRVING!' The election capped months of tension over the city's stance on casinos — an issue that dominated political discourse even after a proposed rezoning effort was formally withdrawn. Pfaff's backers included the Lone Star Conservative Action Fund, a political group linked to Las Vegas Sands, which spent nearly $200,000 supporting his campaign and others. Pfaff publicly distanced himself from the group during the campaign, saying in a video, 'I cannot be bought.' Porres, meanwhile, campaigned aggressively on an anti-casino message and frequently questioned why casino-affiliated groups were still involved in city races if the issue was truly 'dead.' The campaign also exposed shifting alliances in Irving's Muslim community. Though CAIR Action Texas initially backed Pfaff, it later withdrew its endorsement. Other Muslim civic organizations moved to support Porres, culminating in the formation of the Irving Muslims PAC, which endorsed him exclusively. Saturday's result means Pfaff will take the Place 2 seat on the Irving City Council — a seat previously held by Brad LaMorgese, who did not seek reelection. With Pfaff's victory, the composition of the council now includes a complex blend of pro- and anti-casino voices, but momentum appears to remain with casino skeptics — a movement Porres helped galvanize, even in defeat.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Irving Council Strikes Contentious Resolutions, Sparking Accusations Of Political Sabotage
In a procedural move, the Irving City Council on May 29 struck three contentious resolutions from its agenda, prompting accusations of political manipulation and violations of council rules. The three resolutions in question include the following: support for President Donald Trump's call for a ceasefire in Gaza, a proposed ordinance to ban gambling in high-density zones, and a measure urging transparency from the Lone Star Conservative Action Fund, which has spent nearly $200,000 in this year's city council elections, according to previous reporting by The Dallas Express. Councilman Luis Canosa, one of the sponsors of the resolutions, responded on June 2 with a sharply worded public statement. 'Last City Council Regular meeting set a dangerous precedent that undermines our representative process,' he wrote, accusing Mayor Rick Stopfer and Councilman Brad LaMorgese of orchestrating a 'premeditated and scripted attack' on his and two colleagues' right to bring forward new business. The drama unfolded when Councilman LaMorgese raised a point of order to remove the three resolutions, which had been submitted on May 26 — Memorial Day — arguing that their late submission violated procedural norms and deprived both council members and the public of adequate notice. 'The public and council members rely on Friday postings [of] the agenda to review and prepare for meetings,' LaMorgese said during the meeting. 'Submitting items on a holiday deprives both council members and the public of fair notice and undermines the deliberative process.' LaMorgese acknowledged he wasn't challenging the content of the resolutions but focused on the manner of their submission. 'Effectively, I got it [the packet] this morning… That is not enough time or transparency for me let alone the public,' he said before adding that the items 'be struck from the agenda as procedurally improper and that they be tabled indefinitely.' Mayor Stopfer agreed. Quoting the council's rules of procedure, he sustained LaMorgese's point of order, stating that 'the agenda items in question were submitted after the procedural deadline on a legal holiday and were not included in the Friday posting… therefore I sustain the point of orders.' But Canosa fired back, calling the move a misapplication of council rules. He argued that Section 5.1.B of the council's procedures permits addenda items submitted after the regular Thursday deadline as long as they are posted at least 72 hours before the meeting — which they were. 'The items were posted as addenda,' Canosa said. 'Whether or not they 'may' or 'may not' be posted is irrelevant once they are posted.' He also claimed that neither LaMorgese nor Stopfer, who did not request the items, had any right to remove them. 'The final sentence of 5.1.B reads: 'such agenda item can only be removed from the agenda by the person(s) who requested the item,'' Canosa said. A previous report from Dallas Express highlighted internal council tensions, including a Facebook post from Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Webb, who accused Canosa and his allies of using the ceasefire resolution as a ploy to win Muslim votes. Webb called Canosa 'worthless' and said, 'The Cease Fire resolution is only a ploy to get Muslim votes!' Webb's comments and perceived shifting position on the resolutions heightened the drama. One local Muslim activist, Tammam Alwan, posted screenshots of Webb's past assurances. 'Now that it's on the agenda… we're looking forward to your continued support,' he wrote. Webb denied formally submitting or backing a resolution, saying, 'My support would be at the voting level,' not at the agenda stage. Ultimately, the vote never materialized. The agenda items may have been removed, but Canosa warned them they would return. 'This bogus and potentially illegal 'point of order' procedure was only used by those representatives who do not want to listen to their constituents to avoid voting on the record,' he said. 'They will be coming back.' The battle has played out just days ahead of the June 7 runoff election for Place 2 to replace LaMorgese. Candidates Sergio Porres and David Pfaff are both vying for LaMorgese's seat. The outgoing incumbent had previously been part of a March 20 coalition majority in the council that signaled disapproval of a casino development project in Irving. While LaMorgese signaled opposition to a casino, he also did not second a similar motion brought by Canosa at that time to prohibit casino gaming in PUD 6. Ultimately, Canosa's action failed for lack of a second.
