She’s organized walkouts, hunger strikes, marches and has experience lobbying in D.C.
She marched shoulder to shoulder with activists against police brutality in Dallas. After the death of Botham Jean, Cortez helped launch the city’s first community police oversight board.
Throughout the pandemic, she helped provide communities in District 2 with millions of masks, books and supplies for thousands of students, as well as over a million fresh produce boxes and meals.
Last summer, after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, Cortez marched for social change, budget reform and a more equitable public safety model.
When it comes to environmental issues like Shingle Mountain, she said the city needs to make zoning work for its communities. Part of that starts with ensuring residents know what developments are being proposed in and around their neighborhoods.
“Those small amounts, those don’t excite me,” Garcia said. “Arresting individuals that are victimizing our city, that excites me. Getting drug dealers excites me.”
He says his officers are better off focusing on violent crime than arresting and citing people for small amounts of marijuana.
This has been in the works for some time now, but finally went into effect yesterday.
“Officers will receive the updated General Orders, a Roll Call Training Bulletin, and a training video to ensure understanding and achieve compliance,” the chief said in a memo to City Council. “The Dallas Police Department will continue to review its procedures to ensure they are in line with best practices and national standards.”
They remember a different time in Dallas, when, for about two decades, “residents had a string of thoughtful, sincere and righteously angry advocates who served on their City Council.”
Former Mayor Laura Miller stopped over a dozen coal plants from being built during the administration of Gov. Rick Perry and implemented the first green procurement ordinance in the region. Former City Council member Angela Hunt hunted down waste, corruption and “staff shenanigans.”
Then, there were former City Council members Scott Griggs, Philip Kingston and Mark Clayton who helped defeat the Trinity Toll Road and gas drilling prospects in Dallas.
“Sometimes they fought their council opponents directly. Sometimes they made sure documents that were never supposed to see the light of day got their own spotlight,” the post read. “You knew these partisans would find a way to advance the cause. Because that cause was why they wanted to serve.”