But both Brenham and Peters are back and determined to deliver a different outcome on May 6.
We caught up with Brenham and Peters, both of whom say they’re ready to take over the incumbent’s seat. Atkins, however, didn’t return the Observer’s emails requesting an interview.
Atkins has served on council during two separate stints: 2007–2015 and from 2017 to the present. His accomplishments include having been selected as mayor pro tem, serving as chair of the Economic Development & Housing Committee and being nominated by then-Mayor Michael S. Rawlings for the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System’s board of trustees.
He also cited his “extensive” community involvement in his answers to The Dallas Morning News’ candidate questionnaire. Atkins has worked with the “Charlie Taylor Foundation, the Southern Methodist University Doak Walker Board, the National League of Cities and the Economic Development Policy Committee,” in addition to serving as “[s]ecretary of the Texas Association of Black City Council Members.”
Rawlings also nominated Atkins to serve as the Mayor’s Poverty Task Force co-chair and appointed him to represent Dallas on the Transportation Excellence for the 21st Century's board.
Extensive indeed.
Atkins clinched a win in 2021 with 73.6% of the vote. Brenham came in second with 17.2% and Peters placed third with 5.8%. (A fourth challenger that year, Lakolya London, claimed 3.5%.)
Now to the challengers.
Peters is a musician, hip-hop artist and health store owner who has lived in District 8 off and on his entire life. His shop, Tha Alkaline Hour, offers holistic herbs from around the world and is aimed at addressing what he calls a "nutrition crisis" and serving the "food desert" in the surrounding area. Environmental justice is also important to Peters.
He began his career as a community activist in 2016 and helped to lead the movement to change the name of Lamar Street to Botham Jean Boulevard. Even though Peters lost to Akins in 2021, he said he’s “optimistic” about his current run. (He also ran in District 3 in 2019, losing to Council member Casey Thomas II.)
Now 29, Peters said he might be the youngest one on the ballot, but he views his age as a boon.
“I'm able to attract a certain demographic that might have not really been curious or interested in [getting] engaged in the political process,” Peters said. “I feel like we need new energy, new ideas, not necessarily people that are committed to … the status quo. I think we need people here [who are] going to completely shake things up.”
Peters and Brenham both blasted slow police response times as a major issue in the district. Peters believes that law enforcement should be scored on response times and says developing a grading system could help to incentivize and penalize departments.
Brenham, who has also railed against crime in District 8, said she wouldn’t “wait until election time for the taxpayers to start seeing police presence.” She’d get together with the Public Safety Committee to come up with a solution to a lack of officers in certain neighborhoods, asking her fellow council members to tour the Kleberg/Rylie area so they can see for themselves “the need for public safety.”
“I feel like we need new energy, new ideas, not necessarily people that are committed to … the status quo." – Davante Peters, candidate for Dallas City Council.
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An income tax professional with her own business, Brenham said she has lived in District 8 for around 58 years and “know[s] the community very well.” She’s twice squared off with Atkins before: in the 2021 race and in 2013.
Brenham is motivated to deliver changes to District 8 communities and is critical of Atkins’ tenure.
“Things get done when it’s election time to make it look like things have been going on, but when election time is over, nothing is being done,” she said. “And it’s been happening over and over again.”
Atkins earned an endorsement from The News, which gave him credit for the redevelopment of Red Bird’s failing mall, a “mixed-use development next to the University of North Texas at Dallas campus” and the announcement of a new Tom Thumb grocery store. But his challengers argue that such changes are long overdue.
The way Peters sees it, there’s a vacuum of advocacy in District 8. He said he worries that if he doesn’t win, residents could even see another Shingle Mountain, the 70,000-ton mound of asphalt shingles illegally discarded in the district’s Floral Farms neighborhood from 2018 to 2021.
“I think it might happen again because it always happens,” he said. “Historically, they use our side of town as the dumping grounds. … [Atkins] has been in office for a long time now — he’s left and come back — and things like Shingle Mountain happened under his watch due to his relationship and his allegiance to the business community over his constituents.”
Brenham noted that it took around three years to have the mountain removed and said that kids couldn’t play in the area because of toxic materials. She fears that 10 to 20 years down the line, some may begin to grapple with serious health issues.
Both challengers also noted South Dallas’ relatively short life expectancy as a major concern. For instance, a 2019 study found that men in the 75215 ZIP code tend to live to around 26 fewer years than those in the Old East Dallas/Uptown 75204 ZIP code, despite being just two miles away, according to D Magazine.
One thing Brenham would work to infuse into her district is more mixed-use development. We asked her about the development next to the University of North Texas at Dallas campus, which The News mentioned in its endorsement of Atkins. She replied that it was “a long time coming.”
Another major issue that Brenham argues is plaguing District 8 is a lack of transparency. The aforementioned News endorsement highlighted Atkins' efforts to better inform his constituents, such as with a monthly newsletter.
Yet Brenham disagrees that the incumbent has become more transparent, saying that he “cherry-picks” those with whom he’ll communicate. She vowed to inform community members beforehand of important issues that are headed for a council vote and said she won’t stop working for them in non-election years.
Brenham said she’s served the community long before she’d ever decided to run. Should she win, she promised to always put her constituents first.
“In any community in District 8 — whatever the entity is, the project is — the community will know about it before anything comes up to a vote,” she said.
Peters emphasized his communication skills as a reason for why voters should cast their ballots for him.
“There is a new era of leadership that's coming to Dallas, and Davante Peters is the one that's going to usher that change in that we desperately need here,” he said.
Early voting for the Dallas City Council began on April 24 and ends on May 2. Election day is Saturday, May 6.
