8 December 4 - 10, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents online like to malign me like, ‘Oh, he’s TMZ-ing this issue,’” LeVeck said. “If you mean I’m exposing stuff that no one else knows about and [is] reporting on, and stuff that the mainstream media won’t report on, then I guess I am.” Still, some of LeVeck’s techniques have been called into question. Ahead of the Pepper Square vote, LeVeck approached West with a warning: He’d made a video about the council member, but he wasn’t planning on posting it unless West voted to approve the development. West voted for the development anyway, and a video accusing him of being in the pocket of developers was published on @dallasen- fuego shortly thereafter. LeVeck said his offer wasn’t blackmail, just an “opportunity” for the representative to “vote in a sensible way,” but he can see how the maneuver would “leave a bad taste in somebody’s mouth.” Still, he said that if he ever had evidence of a truly egregious ethical issue committed by someone on the council, he would not refrain from posting it, even if the person had voted in his favor. “I will go easier on council members that aren’t foolish and who don’t do foolish things or disrespectful things,” he said. “I call balls and strikes, that is my philosophy. And I do not have unbridled loyalty to any- body. I’m not a huge fan of [council member] Jaime Resendez, but I haven’t made any vid- eos about him yet. And I certainly could.” West, though, is less convinced of the re- liability of LeVeck’s moral compass. Over the last year, LeVeck has filed ethics com- plaints against West and council members Paula Blackmon and Adam Bazaldua, all of which have “gone nowhere.” West thinks that speaks for itself, although LeVeck would probably argue it’s just further proof that the system is broken. “I wish Damien would just be honest in his attacks on me and some of my col- leagues, that he thinks we take bad votes and have bad ideas. He manufactures ethics complaints so he can make videos saying we are unethical,” West said. “I think if Damien saw someone who voted against Pepper Square take an envelope overflowing with cash, he would look the other way.” And then there’s the artificial intelli- gence. LeVeck introduced the tool into his videos earlier this year, using it to create var- ious videos depicting council member Gay Donnell Willis as the Wicked Witch of the West and council member Bazaldua as a baby or bowing to Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. When conversations about the city’s proposal to move away from alley trash pickup were at their hottest, LeVeck used AI to create a video of City Manager Kimberly Tolbert appearing to make fun of residents for being upset. That video included a disclaimer that AI was used, because LeVeck “didn’t feel like dealing with the blowback” he knew it would likely inspire. But for the most part, the use of AI is not disclosed in his content. “You’d have to be pretty dense” to think most of it is real, he said, and then there is the fact that getting most people to stick around until the end of a video to read a disclaimer just isn’t practical in the social media age. “I see using derivative AI in a comical way as the political cartoons of the 21st cen- tury,” he said. “Political cartoons and satire have been a part of political discourse since the founding of our country. And if the poli- ticians that I’m making this stuff about have a problem with that, then you know what they say. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. You signed up for this.” Texas has attempted to put in guardrails at the intersection of politics and AI. During the legislative session, the Texas House passed a bill that would require political ad- vertisements to disclose whether images, video, or audio were altered, a direct re- sponse to the rise of generative AI, which makes it difficult to discern truth from fabri- cation. The bill died in the Senate, but even if it had passed, it likely would not have ap- plied to LeVeck. “A citizen journalist does have First Amendment rights, but they also have per- sonal responsibilities. And one of those, I think, would be to note the generative AI is being used in a video,” said Jillson, who ulti- mately found LeVeck’s content to be “pretty tame stuff.” The Anti-Hero I n October, LeVeck appeared to take the next step in cementing his influencer status: monetization. On X, he posted about a political action committee called the True Grit Texas PAC, stating, “If you want more of my videos more often, please con- sider donating.” A website for the PAC uses phrases like “exposing corruption” and “de- manding accountability” and purports to “empower citizen journalists.” At first, LeVeck said only that he “knew” who’d started the PAC. Later on, he said he’d started it himself with a group of individuals who share his desire to expose “ethical mal- feasance” at City Hall. However, the idea of PAC dollars influencing Dallas’ political commentary poses an interesting dilemma, regardless of who is at the helm. When asked whether he thinks citizen journalists who receive funding from an outside source should disclose their sources, he first said he “doesn’t think it’s the most important thing.” Then he pauses, and appears to reconsider. “We know who owns the newspapers, so whenever you read anything that they pub- lish, the discerning eye will keep that in mind, especially if they see a certain slant one way or the other,” LeVeck said. “But as far as the work I’m doing, I can tell you I have not been paid by the PAC to do any- thing as of this conversation.” Whether he’d disclose the funding if paid in the future, he remained unsure, sticking with the idea that it’s hard to get people to read disclaimers. Jillson points out that, in the last two elec- tions, LeVeck has picked the winning sides with Propositions S and U in November 2024, and Roth in this year’s City Council race. But whether those were one-offs or evi- dence of true electoral influence isn’t clear, he said. LeVeck said he’s already thinking about the next City Council election in 2027 and plans to back candidates across the city who he believes “have a spine.” He added that he’s been asked by “several people” to run for mayor or the council, but he’s “not enough of a masochist” to do that. “I can’t imagine sitting there every Wednesday and listening to the whole thing. It’s painful,” he said. “I am way more effec- tive as a citizen and as an iconoclast making my videos.” If the City Council didn’t want a thorn in their side, he thinks they shouldn’t have given him a reason to be one. “You made me,” LeVeck said, quoting, once again, Jack Nicholson’s Joker. It’s the third time he’s referenced Batman over the course of our interview, and the second time he’s framed himself as the mov- ie’s antagonist, even as he emphasizes that he believes his advocacy is rooted in the fight for the city’s future. So is he Dallas’ Batman or Joker? A hero or a villain? He gives a wry smile when he answers: “I’m the best of both.” ▼ EDUCATION THE GOOD BOOKS TEXAS TAKES BREAK FROM BANNING BOOKS, WILL NOW MANDATE CERTAIN ONES. BY ALYSSA FIELDS A s early as the 2027-2028 school year, Texas will become the first state to implement a statewide reading re- quirement for each grade level. The list, cur- rently being workshopped by the Republican-dominated Texas Board of Edu- cation, pends as the state-banned book list lengthens and the gaps on library shelves grow. The required readings, paired with a list of mandated vocabulary, are a result of an education bill passed in 2023, House Bill 1605. The lengthy bill, described by the Texas American Federation of Teachers as a “behemoth,” modified a number of approval processes for curriculum and materials, and was marketed by author Rep. Brad Buckley as a “back to basics” effort. Buckley is one of the driving forces behind some of the most notable education legislation that passed in the last session, like school vouchers. The books will be selected by the 15-person board, which comprises 10 Re- publicans and five Democrats. According to reporting from the Houston Chronicle, a supplemental list, which has not been publicly published, was modeled after ex- isting lists enforced in school districts and private schools across the state, including one from St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas. “There’s never been a more important time to double down on student achieve- ment with a high bar,” Buckley said while workshopping the bill during the 88th Leg- islative Session. “You will get from students what you expect from them.” According to the same report, titles dis- cussed during a presentation from the Texas Education Agency included Jack and the Beanstalk for elementary students, as well as novels such as The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet. The State Of Books Books are flying off shelves in Texas, and not because students are checking out all of them. Already having the second-most-banned books in the country, the state legislature cleared a controversial bill this last session that complicated the library book approval process. The law, which took effect in Sep- tember, transferred the responsibility of add- ing new books to library shelves from librarians to the district board. If a school board decides or if a certain number of par- ents petition, the district must form a School Library Approval Council (SLAC), compris- ing community members, to individually ap- prove each title submitted by the district’s librarians. Many districts across the state are con- fused about the “quagmire” of a law, im- plementing a SLAC without being petitioned, according to Laney Hawes, co- founder of the Texas Freedom To Read Project. Before it passed, Hawes, along with sev- eral librarians, urged lawmakers to vote against the bill, warning of the delays it would cause in acquiring new books. Ultimately, the bill passed largely along party lines. “This is so ridiculous,” Laney Hawes, co-founder of Texas Freedom To Read Project, said. “You don’t need these steps to hinder the process of getting books into your libraries. There are still guidelines and regulations. A SLAC adds what we feel is an insurmountable list of guidelines and time- Adobe Stock Texas has many new laws regarding education and learning. Unfair Park from p6
