Dallas City Wire

Susan Fountain thinks she knows why Mayor Eric Johnson has been getting poor press lately.

Articles written this summer by Sharon Grigsby in the Dallas Morning News and Peter Simek in D Magazine were sharply critical of Johnson’s efforts to stop proposed cuts in police funding.

“I believe he addressed a very unpopular topic,” Fountain told Dallas City Wire. “Mayor Johnson has been contradicting his council.”

Susan Fountain | Twitter

The council voted 13-2 to reallocate $7 million that had been set aside for police overtime. It was later seconded by an 11-4 vote.

However, the police budget was increased from $501 million to $509 million for fiscal year 2021 when the final version of the $3.8 billion budget was approved by a 9-6 vote Wednesday.

Johnson cast a no vote, condemning the cut in police overtime.

“That is the equivalent of cutting more than half of the overtime for patrol this fiscal year, and it amounts to far more than the overtime used by the investigative units that work to solve crimes and put violent offenders behind bars,” he said in a statement.

Fountain, who represents District 16 on the State Republican Executive Committee, admits she has not always been a fan of Johnson, a Democrat who represented District 100 in the Texas House of Representatives from 2010-2019 before being elected mayor of Dallas last year.

“He understands public safety is a problem. I think he’s finally seen the light,” Fountain said. “He understands people, above all, want to be safe.”

That stance is currently unpopular with some in the media, she said. It explains the bad press the mayor has been getting. Since the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police officers on May 25, there has been unrest, demonstrations and riots across the country, including days of public protests in Dallas.

Fountain said some reporters are openly disdainful of police and that they aren’t pleased that the mayor has shifted to being a strong supporter of law enforcement.

“I think that’s the story they want to address,” she said. “It doesn’t agree with the narrative. They want the police to be seen as the problem, not the solution. We don’t have enough police.”

Since Johnson has sided with police during budget talks, he has lost favor with the media and members of the Dallas City Council, in Fountain's view.

“It changed with his support of the police,” Fountain said. “They’ve let radicals take over the Dallas City Council. And now we have a hatred of police. They can’t do their job. They’re hamstrung.”

She wonders why Dominique Alexander, whom she considers “a thug” who was indicted for family member assault in 2019, has emerged as a spokesman for the Black community and was allowed to interview police chief candidates in 2017.

Alexander, a member of Next Generation Action Network, was among 56 people chosen by Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax to talk with the seven finalists.

Fountain said there are other voices who should be heard with other concerns. She points to a Gallup survey that said 81% of Black people want more police involvement in their communities, not less.

Fountain said she was bought up to respect and cooperate with police. That has changed, and she wants to see that traditional attitude become more widespread again. Instead, she argues, the media and some politicians are intent on creating division and fostering anger and violence.

“I think it is an agenda,” she said. “I don’t think it started with George Floyd. I think it’s been an ongoing narrative. I think a lot of racial distress has been created.”

Fountain, 68, said she has been told as a white person, her views are not material to the discussion, that she should be quiet when such matters are discussed. She rejects that.

Fountain said she has always had friends of color and has shared her home with people of all backgrounds.

“There is no racial bias in my life,” she said.

Instead, Fountain said she is a fan of the men and women in blue. They deserve all the support they can get in her view.