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Transcript of Annette Strauss' video

ANNETTE STRAUSS: Dallas to be a city that works. It’s just got to be. A city that works for everyone.

ADELINE HARRISON: I will admit that I was one of those that tried to talk her out of running for mayor, as close as we were, because I knew they would just try to cut her up. And I didn’t want her in that arena. And she said “let them try,” you know… “let them try, I’m going to do it.”

TED STRAUSS: Then, all of a sudden, it seems that the candidates just came out of the woodwork. I think there were eight candidates, four really serious candidates; well-funded candidates. Now, this is a job that pays fifty dollars a month. And breaks your heart. And each of the top four candidates spent well over a million, some more than a million and a half dollars on that race.

VOICE IN COMMERCIAL: That’s your shot. Oh, by the way, we’ve decided we’re going to let Fred Myer be mayor. It’s sort of his turn.

SECOND VOICE: What about Annette Strauss? I mean, didn’t she get the most votes Saturday?

FIRST VOICE: Are you kidding? She talks about wanting to be the mayor of all Dallas

SECOND VOICE: Well, we can’t allow that.

THIRD VOICE: Besides, she’s not a member of the club

FIRST VOICE: Can we stop her?

THIRD VOICE: Haha, it’ll be as easy as this six-inch put!

TED STRAUSS: There has been a woman elected as mayor of Dallas except Annette. That says something. More about who Annette is, than what the city is.

ANNETTE STRAUSS: Some may say that Dallas is not ready for a woman mayor. I disagree. I’m Annette Strauss, and I think the voters will look at qualifications and record of experience.

TED STRAUSS: She never met an invitation that she didn’t like. One of the candidates, a former congressman, a nice man, named Jim Collins, said to me one day in the middle of the race, “Ted, why I ever got into this race. Every place I go, Annette’s already been there.” And I said, “well, she works hard.” He said, “wait a minute, she’s been there two or three times! I can’t keep up with her.” And no one could keep up with Annette, she was indefatigable.

MARK HARKRIDER: The first exposure to the true grass roots campaigning that I had was with Annette. We were in front of a group known as the Progressive Voters League. It met in the basement of a Methodist church in south Dallas . A predominately African American group. Of course, some of the other candidates…weren’t exactly comfortable in that environment. And Annette walked in without a fear. Because she knew the individuals in the room.

VOICEOVER: Annette Strauss was mayor during one of the toughest periods in Dallas’ history.

VOICEOVER: The bottom had dropped out of the economy

VOICEOVER: There was an enormous amount of racial strife at the time she became mayor. A policeman had been shot. An African American child had been shot. The way the Dallas city council was constructed from districts was being challenged in the federal courts as being unconstitutional. And it was in that framework that she came to be our mayor.

NEWS REPORTER: We’d like to ask you one more question about our Mayor

ANNETTE STRAUSS: I’m sorry.

MARK HARKRIDER: She understood the politics of the moment. That this is what we can do now, this is how we can best address this now. It's not an end, it’s a beginning. Let's start at this point, lets go from here, lets move forward, lets not move back.

RON KIRK: The greatest intersection of all of Annette’s talents, loves, abilities, was her role in bringing to life what is now, just been recently named, the Annette Strauss Family Gateway Center . All Texas cities began to experience an emerging homeless population in the late seventies and eighties.

CAROL REID: It's not a popular subject. You know, Dallas, Texas is a pull yourself up by your own bootstraps thing, and, what do you mean you’re homeless? Go get a job.

RON KIRK: One of the things that really touched Annette’s heart was the fact that she began to see more families, and she thought that shouldn’t happen. I hate to say this, there are a lot of public officials that would love to be able to hide behind the mantra, “that’s not my problem. It's not my jurisdiction, I want to help.” And that would be true. I mean, by law, we’re not supposed to do that. Mayor Strauss said, “you know what? Mr. Lobbyist? We’re going to change the law.”

STEVE WOLENS: And it required Annette, on her own, to change the laws of the state of Texas . And it was nothing to her. She came down here and just went all over this place like a busy bee, talking to everybody, and, needless to say…

RON KIRK: Out of that, we literally changed the law, she raised the money, and we built a shelter that, for the first time, that was dedicated solely for families that were homeless. And it is now one of the most unique, and one of the most effective agencies we have in this city. To help families that need help.

ANNETTE STRAUSS: Please help those less fortunate among us to make it on their own again, and provide a good life for themselves and their children. Faith in tomorrow begins with you.

SPEAKER: This lady was fair. She believed in fairness, and I don’t care what you say or what you do, wherever you go, you cannot beat that. Fairness. That’s what she was about.

ADELINE HARRISON: One thing, I have to say, is most everybody thought they were Annette’s best friend. And that’s the truth, because that’s the way she made you feel. And she felt you were. And, you know, some people say, “well how many best friends can you have?” She has the capacity to have a lot of them.