A grassroots effort to bridge communities is underway in Oak Cliff. On Monday night, neighborhood leaders gathered for a special meeting with Dallas City Councilman Chad West to help amplify more voices and get city dollars into crucial parts of one of the fastest-growing areas of Dallas. They exchanged ideas and brought up challenges on what was working and not working in their neighborhoods. They also provided guidance for those wanting to start their own neighborhood groups in Oak Cliff. West said this is part of a proactive approach to city government. “Having an organized neighborhood is easier for me as the elected official. It’s easier for the city to actually be able to be more responsive – because when you have neighborhoods organizing, you have them communicating about issues that they all share. They can come as a united voice and actually really amplify their power and their ability to get the city’s attention,” West said. He added that it’s important to support neighborhood associations in fast-growing areas like Oak Cliff so they can stay on top of addressing crime, development, and other issues. “They came to our District 1 office and said, we want money to fix up our recreation center because it’s not big enough for our seniors and our gym is inadequate for our kids. We need you to do something about a council member,’” recalled West. “And so I took that, I went in, and I advocated for money in the bond program. Then, it got up to the city council. And then we were all fighting over – like it’s the ‘Hunger Games’ over that bond money, right?” West worked with the Jimtown neighborhood leadership to make their needs a reality. “It was up to the [neighborhood] to come once again, into city hall en masse. They sat in there and they got up on the microphone week after week and guess what? We got millions of dollars in the bond to fix up their recreation center,” he said. West wants to see more of that in Oak Cliff and hopes to have two or three more neighborhood associations form from these meetings. For questions or more information, email [email protected].