Mayor Tom Leppert, a successful business executive who rose from political unknown to become one of Dallas' most powerful mayors, has confirmed he will not seek re-election in May but will pursue "other ways to add value to our community, our region, our state and our nation."
Leppert's comments were the clearest signal yet that he is planning a run for U.S. Senate, something that has been rumored for months but that he has yet to announce.
In a lengthy interview reflecting on his time at City Hall, Leppert did not commit to serving out his full term as mayor, which ends in June. But he did not say when he might leave office.
He said he decided not to run for a second term because he feels he has accomplished much of what he set out to do.
"I feel like I've done the job. It wasn't a question of time. It ought to be judged by the results you've accomplished, not how much time you've spent," he said.
Leppert pointed to an agenda that included expanding the police force, reducing crime, bringing more business to the city, enacting ethics reforms and building a convention center hotel.
He also spoke about working to boost Dallas Independent School District students by crafting early reading, internship and scholarship programs – the last funded through the donation of his mayoral salary.
"You can put me next to any mayor in this nation in the last four years – and the initiatives I put forward and the initiatives any other mayor has put forward – and I think that comes out very, very favorable," he said.
There is no question that Leppert's time as mayor was marked with a long string of political and policy victories, including hard-fought, controversial referendums to save the planned Trinity River toll road and to build the convention center hotel.
City Manager Mary Suhm – a veteran of numerous mayors – said he accomplished a great deal in a short period of time.
"I think he is an exceptional example of how the system should work. ... I have to applaud the courage he had to take risks to accomplish something he thought was important," she said.
In his first two years in office, Leppert won so often, both at the polls and in the council chamber, that many began to refer to him as the city's first strong mayor.
But his tenure also appeared to evolve with his ambitions.
In the last year, as rumors grew that he would not run for re-election, he saw his once powerful sway over the council ebb.
Beginning with a push to prevent two no-bid contracts from being granted at Love Field, he watched the council divide along the old racial lines that have defined Dallas' politics.
Leppert won the Love Field fight in an 8-7 vote, with all of the council's minority members voting against him.
He called the fight against the contracts – which stood to financially benefit U.S. Rep Eddie Bernice Johnson, among others – one of the most important of his tenure and added that he would do it again "if it was the last day of my life."
But the fight marked a profound shift in his relationship with the council's minority members, ending what once appeared to be a newfound unity that prior mayors struggled to achieve.
And that cost him.
Leppert's last major political push – to keep the council from raising the city's property tax rate – ended in a loss when his longtime foil, council member Angela Hunt, joined minority members in an 8-7 vote that raised the rate 4.91 cents.
Leppert called the council's vote "bad politics and bad policy."
But members who saw it differently accused him of rejecting compromise and lurching to the right in preparation for a run at the Republican nomination for Senate.
And they pointed out that in his first months in office in 2007, he voted for a slight rate increase.
Leppert said that vote came shortly after he joined the council, and after the budget process had been under way for months before he was in office.
"If I had had a chance to get involved in that budget process earlier, I would have done it differently," he said.
Despite the divisions in his last months, Leppert said he believes the council is more harmonious and effective than it was before he came into office.
"If you look at our meetings, they are much more professional, much more respectful," he said.
And he said he believes he has had success building a bridge to the city's black community.
Though Leppert said he is satisfied with his accomplishments, one of the city's most significant undertakings – the Trinity River project – is in more question now than when he took office.
In 2007, Leppert defeated a Hunt-led referendum to kill the planned toll road through the Trinity levees.
But in 2009, the Army Corps of Engineers rated the city's levee system unacceptable. That unforeseen development has cast the entire Trinity project, including the road and a vast park, in doubt.
Repairing the levees and avoiding having huge chunks of the city drawn into a flood plain could cost City Hall hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more.
Leppert said that while he remains in office, he will continue to deal with the levee issue.
But he said he is pleased with what progress the city has been able to make on the Trinity project, including the construction of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and several gateway parks.
"I feel good about the Trinity because we have set the foundation in place," he said.
As Leppert prepares to leave the mayor's office, he said he never thought of trying to change the city charter to create a true strong-mayor system.
Instead, he focused on working within the structure of the charter – which provides the mayor with little more than one vote on the council and a bully pulpit – to accomplish what he did.
In recent months, however, those close to Leppert said he appeared ready to give up the job, not simply because he has higher ambitions but because he is weary with the day-in and day-out struggles to bind together votes and public support for his agenda.
Council member Jerry Allen, a staunch ally, said Leppert seemed increasingly ready to leave.
"I've noticed based on what he's accomplished that he was ready to move on to the next level," he said.
Leppert said he hasn't lost any zeal for the job but acknowledged it has been trying.
"It isn't necessarily, quote, a fun job, but it has been great to see the progress," he said.
He ended by appearing to indirectly address what many believe will be a long-shot run for a Senate nomination.
He recalled that when he got into the mayoral race, he was an unknown, and that, when he began campaigning for the toll road and the hotel, he trailed badly in polls.
"You look at where I was when I got into this, name awareness was basically zero. And when we got into the two referendums, if we had known how far we were behind ... But you just keep pushing," he said.
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