Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/674404
t m c » p u l s e | m a y 2 0 1 6 27 SPOTLIGHT DWIGHT BOYKINS, HOUSTON CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, DISTRICT D, SHARES HIS VISION FOR HOUSTON AND WHY HE BELIEVES SECOND CHANCES AND A FOCUS ON COMMUNITIES SHOULD DRIVE POLICY CHANGE. share of infrastructure dollars. It was a crowded field of 11 candidates, and I came up right at 44 percent. I almost won it, and then we won it in the runoff. And since I've been here, I think I've implemented some things that make a real difference in the community. Q | Can you tell us more about that? A | Absolutely. First, we're addressing needs for senior citizens in my district. Sixty-six percent of my pop- ulation are seniors, and I would guess that about 58 percent are probably on social security or some kind of pension. And so, for me to know that and to knock on your door and ask for your vote—when your door is falling off—it goes back to my project days. How do you help the least and the last? So understanding their needs, but also that they have limited income, I decided to come up with a program called Seniors Minor Home Repair Program where we help seniors. We raise private money to help seniors with minor home repairs at no cost to them. We'll fix the door- frame, fix the room—they're minor problems, but we're keeping them from becoming major. And it has been very successful. Over 125 homes have been repaired, and that means 125 lives have changed. There was this one lady, who has since passed on, and she was a diabetic and had lost her leg. She was in a wheelchair but you would never know it. With her spirit and personality, she could have run a marathon. She was a very wonderful lady. But you could see that she wasn't able to take care of her house anymore, and probably pride kept her from doing anything about it. One of her doors was so narrow that she couldn't get through it in her wheelchair. So we took care of it, we found an angel contractor who gave it to us at no cost. We reframed the door and then put in a new sink for her. That's what matters to me. I want to make certain I'm known by the results of my efforts as a public servant, not a politician. Q | Your Second Chance program is a great example of this. A | I'm glad you brought it up. The Second Chance program was an initiative I came up with when I realized that there was a major gap between unemploy- ment and employers who were looking for individuals to hire. What typically happens is you have a process that allows elimination without a full vetting of the process. What I mean by that is you're looking for employees, and this employee is looking for a job, but this person made a mistake as a kid, a bad decision. Just bad choices. Seventeen, got pregnant, dropped out of school, never got a formal education, maybe was incarcerated due to drugs, hot checks, whatever. And then they have a pattern of five to 10 years of a clear record, and they're still paying the price when it comes to getting hired. I believe people deserve second chances. I really believe that. What a lot of people don't realize is that people usually develop a skill while they're incarcerated. They walk out of prison with a certificate for operating heavy equipment, for exam- ple. They can hit the ground running—you've just got to give them a chance. When you give people a second chance, crime goes down. A person's self-esteem goes up. I truly believe, by the grace of God, that people will make a difference with maturity and a second chance. I don't believe in being blessed and forgetting about others. Now let me be clear: I'm talking nonviolent, minor offenders. If you're imprisoned for something major, then that's a different story. Q | First, tell us about your background. A | I'm a native Houstonian. Born and raised in District D. I attended public schools in the southeast part of Houston; we call the neighborhood South Union. I was raised by a single parent with six other brothers in the projects. Our mother was always telling us to stay focused, keep our faith and have dreams, and we can be whatever we want to be. I went to Texas Southern University, graduated in business with a degree in marketing, and then went into the banking industry. I worked at Texas Commerce Bank before it was Chase Bank, so that's where I started my career. Then I got married, and I've been married for 26 wonderful years. We don't have any children. My wife and I believe God put us together because he knew he was going to use us to bless others. Through our church, at Windsor Village United Methodist Church with Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell's leadership, we have been involved with a lot of community development projects throughout the City of Houston. As a council member, fast forwarding, I've always implemented programs with my past in mind, not forgetting where I come from. Q | Tell us about your path to City Hall. A | I had an opportunity to run for city council in '99. It was a citywide race and I didn't win. Then I ran again, I think in 2001. I came up close again and vowed I was through with it. Then Mayor Parker asked me to serve on the ReBuild Houston Oversight Committee to help put a program in place to address street and drainage issues throughout the whole city. I realized how important it was, the future development of our city. We're the fourth largest city in the country, working toward number three, and we're very diverse in terms of economy. So companies were coming, and they're bringing people. You have to have somewhere that's decent for them to live with a good infrastruc- ture for floodwater and the whole nine yards. And I said, 'You know what? I think I'm going to give this one more run.' I talked to my wife and she gave me the green light. And it was the right thing, because I wanted to make sure my community received its fair I truly believe, by the grace of God, that people will make a differ- ence with maturity and a second chance. I don't believe in being blessed and forgetting about others.