Dr. Simon Says ...

difference between us is just the calendar. She was, I think, 32 when she ran for office the first time. You know, I threw her first fundraiser in my backyard. I’m 40, so I’ve had eight more years of doing this stuff at a lower level than she had, where I’ve been in neighborhood meetings, where I’ve worked hundreds and hundreds of hours, listening to my neighbors, figuring out how you do this kind of leadership.

You mentioned infrastructure earlier. Is that something pretty high on the agenda?

Assess Bite and Alignment Issues Early

Early orthodontic treatment, if needed, can help minimize treatment at a later date.

when: Age 7

Seek treatment earlier than age seven if your child has: difficulty chewing, open-mouth breathing, jaws that click or pop, biting of cheek or into the roof of the mouth, speech problems, grinding or wearing down of teeth, and/or an obvious abnormal bite.

how: Bite Down Early Test

front teeth alignment crossbite

What is more beautiful than your child’s smile? To assure the healthiest teeth and the best looking smile, an early orthodontic screening is recommended — around age 7. In fact, there are seven warning sign of problems to come that are very easily identified in seven-year-olds. While most kids don’t need treatment that early, some problems are best treated before all the permanent teeth are in. By doing so, we can more easily address a mis-match between the size of the upper and lower jaws, and possibly avoid removing permanent teeth in the future. Call our office if you have concerns about your child. We’d be happy to schedule an “Age 7 Exam” and let you know what we find.

LakewoodOrtho @DoctorSimonSays

The second half of the bond package has some of the streetscape improvement in it. Now some of that streetscape improvement looks better than we anticipated because my wife, with the help of a lot of our neighbors, talked Walmart (on Lower Greenville) into providing more in terms of landscaping and site improvement then they already were required to do, and frankly, thanks to them for that. But we’ll be implementing that as fast as possible. They’re already selling those bonds now, so that money should become available fairly quickly. Henderson got the most of any single street project in the city, I believe, and that is going to be fantastic. It is going to be a massive improvement, just to drive down it, not to mention better pedestrian access.

What about some of Hunt’s leftover projects, like the trail system? How involved do you plan to be in that?

Trail connections are a huge priority. This connector trail inside the levee in the Trinity is a hugely frustrating issue. The city announced it, everyone agreed to it, the money is there and city staff just flat won’t do it. What is the explanation for that?

Angela had threatened to withhold her portion of the bond funding if they won’t do it right, and I have to say I agree with that. That’s what I’ll do as well. But there are plenty of other things we can do. The downtown circulator system is a big priority. It’s set to start in August or September. John Crawford (the president and CEO of DOWNTOWNDallas), and I have some concerns about making sure it’s successful. If that thing works right, you suddenly have transit options that link East Dallas, Uptown, Downtown, all the way down to Oak Cliff because that trolley will eventu- ally start running.

We broke ground on the Mockingbird Pedestrian Bridge at the Katy Trail. That’s another project that has taken forever, and again, that is another project I’m very dedicated to. Angela was just desperate to get the ground breaking done before she left office. The more we link those trails up, the more utilization we’re going to see because when they serve not just as a recreational resource, but also as an actual transit option, there’s going to be — I think just an explosion in the use of them. I’m going to try to bike into City Hall as much as possible.

Looks like McMansions are making a comeback, which is an issue close to many East Dallasite hearts. Do you have anything to say about that?

It’s not a matter of saying this style is good, this style is bad; it’s a matter of a responsible builder, and there are a lot of them looking at East Dallas, and it’s for each neighborhood to figure out on their own. I would always prefer to see a neighborhood come together and say, “Here’s what we, coming to a consensus, want.”

Do you have any major projects in your sights?

This is a really broad thing to say, and it’s going to result in a to-do list of a lot of smaller items on it, but refocusing our budget priorities. I’ve said that so many times, I’m afraid I’m boring people with it, but it continues to be an issue. The way a city budget should work is: Pay for all the stuff we need, as in public safety, transportation and infrastructure, drainage and utilities, maintenance on the stuff we already own. Pay for quality-of-life stuff first, and then if we have anything left over, let’s talk about doing other kinds of creative things with city budget, or let’s talk about a tax break. We have the highest tax rate in the North Texas region. I guess I feel like a radical saying I feel like we need to exercise some sort of household budgetary restraint.

How would your family or close friends describe you?

I really don’t know. My wife describes me in all kinds of different ways, depending on her mood. I will say nobody was really surprised when I decided to run for office.

—Brittany Nunn