Four more years? Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings' take on 10 issues

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Jake Dean

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says growing south Dallas and improving public school test scores are on his radar for a second term, if elected.

Bill Hethcock

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, in announcing his candidacy for re-election, touched on an array of topics important to the business community. Here's a sampling gathered from his "State of the City" speech Tuesday in Dallas and an ensuing question-and-answer session with the media.

• Economy

"Dallas has enjoyed 48 months of economic growth and as a result we've added jobs at an impressive rate. Unemployment has dropped from 6.9 percent a year ago to 5.4 percent today. Taxable sales grew 5.7 percent. Property tax values increased 4.3 percent over 2013. Construction is booming with nearly 5 million square feet of industrial space under construction and another 1.6 million square feet of office space. Our retail vacancy is down to it's lowest rate since 2006."

• Education

"We need to have the best urban education system in America. I am hopefully the voice of the citizens to the board of trustees. It's hard to change the trajectory you are on. It takes a significant amount of force. My role is to be John the Baptist on the sideline to say 'If we don't deal with this, something bad is going to happen.'"

• An ordinance that would mandate breaks for construction workers

"Building the city is so important. I've talked to a lot of businesses, and I don't see a lot of people not getting rest breaks. But I'm willing to learn about it and make sure we're doing right as we build our city."

• Crime

"The crime rate continues to fall year after year, and this year will be the 11th year in a row that crime is down … We will have the lowest murder rate in our city since the 1950s."

• Developing South Dallas

Bill covers health care, law, education and general assignments. Subscribe to our email newsletters.