3 Candidates Already Contending For Dallas Mayor's Seat

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Potential candidates for Dallas mayor still have more than a week to formally file for office; but three top candidates have their campaigns already running in top form.

Yard signs--and billboards---are already springing up across Dallas, telling the voting world where sympathies lie.  Getting that message out is the lifeblood for a late entry, like former Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle, who spent much of Thursday in private planning and fund-raising meetings.   "I think a lot of what I did as police chief is transferable to being the mayor," he says.

Kunkle is also a former assistant city manager in Arlington, with "been there, done that" experience he says he would bring to the Dallas job.  "I have a track record, people know me, I'm not coming out telling people what I plan to do, it's what I have done."  He also feels strongly about the city's budgeting process and potential shortfall.  "I'm opposed to a property tax increase, because I believe both the homeowners in Dallas particularly are taxed too much, that we're overtaxed and underserved in most cases."

Candidate Mike Rawlings marries a corporate CEO's expertise with a volunteer's track record; today he received a Destiny Leadership Award for service from St. Phillip's school.  As mayor, he thinks he could use his expertise to fix budget issues by attracting jobs.  "I think people want the basics, they want to make sure crime is  down, no potholes in the road.  They want a clean city; Dallas has always been a clean city, they want that; but they realize we're in a budget crunch. -It's pretty tough, and the only way we're going to get out of that is economic growth, and that's why everybody's excited that I can help lead this city from an economic standpoint."

He is especially keen on attracting jobs---not to the suburbs—but to Dallas.  "Specifically in the southern sector; the city of Atlanta would fit inside the southern sector---can you imagine what we would have if we had 'Atlanta,' and then we had North Dallas?"

But another candidate also boasts business acumen.   Ron Natinksy got Mayor Dwaine Caraway and nine other former and current councilmembers to come to city hall plaza in order to endorse him.  As a successful business owner and three-term councilman, he thinks he's the complete package for tough budget times.  " Coming on as mayor in June certainly sets me apart, because I can build on the work I've done up to now to get the budget to that point," he tells CBS 11 News.   He also is focusing on a job-friendly business environment.  "If you have a good, vibrant economy---the city only gets  its money form two places: property taxes and sales tax revenue, so a vibrant economy aids both of those.   So with a vibrant economy we've got the necessary funding."

Kunkle, Rawlings, and Natinsky are the best-financed and the most organized candidates, but certainly anybody else still has time to throw his or her hat in the ring.   Filing for mayor and other council seats closes March 14th.   The elections are May 14th.