Dallas County Judge discusses critical issues

Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher told students about the way the government is run in Irving when she spoke in March as part of Dr. Gabriel Bach’s lecture series.

She talked about the election process and some of the key events taking place now. She discussed issues from Parkland Hospital to Texas Stadium.

In addition, she talked about gas prices and tax dollars in detail, including what our tax dollars are paying for.

She told students the difference between at-large and individual districts. In at-large districts, voters throughout the entire county elect the candidate. In individual districts, candidates only run for office in their part of the county.

She also compared the election systems of Irving with that of other cities such as Dallas. Where Irving’s officials, except for the county judge, are elected by district, Dallas’ officials are elected at-large for every seat.

The Parkland Hospital tax district is paid for by Irving and other Dallas County taxpayers, but used by neighboring counties, “which is a very unfair situation,” she said.

Another important issue is the air pollution problem. She said that Dallas County has until 2010 to clean up its air, or we will lose lots of transportation dollars that are key to our cities.

“We don’t have any idea how we’re going to clean up the air,” said Keliher.