6 OctOber 9 - 15, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents volved in any pending litigation against the City?” Since Damien LeVeck was named executive director of Dallas HERO, the organization has threatened several lawsuits against the city, although none have yet been filed. The decision to make the vote on Nata- lie LeVeck’s appointment an individual one was motioned by council member Chad West, who stated that in six years he has never motioned to separate a nominee from the list for approval. In this case, though, West said he felt there were “at least a dozen examples” to be concerned about her appointment to the commission, the primary one being her spousal rela- tionship. West referenced Damien LeVeck’s use of artificial intelligence in videos about City Hall as a point of concern. In August, Damien LeVeck published a deep-fake video that appears to show City Manager Kim- berly Bizor Tolbert referring to herself as a liar and using profanity to discuss alley trash services. A disclaimer at the beginning of the video calls the clip a “parody,” but West sug- gested the video proved “that Mr. LeVeck will stoop to any means necessary” to “achieve his goals.” “Normally, I think it’s important to re- member that spouses and family members can be starkly different people. But the LeVecks appear to be a unified force, whether it be social media presence, elec- toral activities, political donations or speak- ing at city hall,” West said. “Mrs. LeVeck cannot be immune from such behavior and does not need to be in a position where she has access to confidential information about council members, appointees and city staff.” In addition to West, council members Za- rin Gracey, Jaime Resendez, Laura Cadena, Adam Bazaldua, Lori Blair, Paula Blackmon, Paul Ridley and Gay Donnell Willis voted against Natalie LeVeck’s appointment. The remaining six members of the council voted in favor of the appointment. In a statement to the Observer, Natalie LeVeck said she plans to continue being an actively involved Dallas resident de- spite her failed appointment to the com- mission. “As a corporate attorney, law professor and advocate for women, I’m disap- pointed that my qualifications for a volun- teer ethics board weren’t evaluated on their own merit,” she said. “In 2025, I would have hoped we’d moved beyond a place where a woman’s achievements are viewed through the lens of her husband, rather than independently and on their own strength.” ▼ IMMIGRATION ICE SHOOTING AFTERMATH SECOND DETAINEE DEAD FROM DALLAS ICE SHOOTING. BY KELLY DEARMORE A second detainee injured in the fatal shooting at the Dallas ICE field of- fice. “Angel Garcia, 32, succumbed Sept. 30 to injuries sustained in the shooting after being removed from life support, according to a press release from The League of United Latin American Citizens,” a WFAA report stated. One man, Norlan Guzman-Fuentes, from El Salvador, was killed when a sniper fired his rifle from the roof of a nearby of- fice building before 7 a.m. on Sept. 24. Two others, including Garcia, were in- jured, before the shooter, 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, according to investigators, was found dead from a self-inflicted gun- shot wound on the roof of a nearby office building. Garcia’s family provided an update on his condition late last week, describing his con- dition as “grave’ fol- lowing at least two operations. “They want to disconnect him, be- cause he is only liv- ing on machines. The machines are what is keeping him alive,” Fernando Gutiérrez, Garcia Medina’s brother, told Univision. “My husband Miguel was a good man, a loving father, and the provider for our family,” his wife, Stephany Gauffeny, said in a news release shared by WFAA. “We had just bought our first home together, and he worked hard every single day to make sure our children had what they needed. His death is a senseless tragedy that has left our family shattered. I do not know how to explain to our children that their father is gone.” The shooter’s motives are still under in- vestigation. Immediately following the shooting, many top Republican leaders, in- cluding U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Vice Presi- dent J.D. Vance, have characterized the incident as an attack on ICE and law en- forcement. Authorities say they do not be- lieve Jahn was targeting detainees at the time of the shooting, and that it was law en- forcement officials whom the North Texas man had intended to harm. A series of handwritten notes allegedly found in Jahn’s home revealed that he believed ICE agents are “people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck.” Garcia reportedly had lived in the U.S. for 20 years, most recently working as a painter, according to his family. In the Uni- vsion interview, his brother had difficulty grasping his family’s new reality. “It’s just been a rollercoaster of emo- tions,” Gauffeny said. “I feel like it’s a dream... like I’m going to wake up and it’s just a nightmare.” ▼ LIBRARIES FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL 20-YEAR PLAN FOR DALLAS LIBRARIES DID NOT FORESEE CLOSURES. BY EMMA RUBY D allas Public Library leaders always knew they’d have to get “creative” to make the library system outlined in a massive, 20-year facilities plan approved by the Dallas City Council last year a reality. Eighteen months later, budget constraints have left the North Star plan looking more like a pie-in-the-sky wishlist. The plan called for a complete overhaul of downtown’s J. Erik Jonsson Central Li- brary, as well as the expansion or replace- ment of 11 other library branches around the city. It certainly doesn’t recommend closing any branches, although in the plan’s nearly 150 pages, only three paragraphs discuss the “funding strategies” needed to help realize the upgrades recommended for Dallas’ li- braries. (Those strategies amount to little more than a, “Please, sir, I want some more bond money.”) City Hall is in a fundamentally different place financially than it was last April, when the plan was approved. Last week Unfair Park from p4 Nathan Hunsinger Dallas City Hall continues to see battles related to the Nov. 5 City Charter amendment vote. “HIS DEATH IS A SENSELESS TRAGEDY THAT HAS LEFT OUR FAMILY SHATTERED. ” –STEPHANY GAUFFENY
