August 9, 2026

Willis's Own Commissioner Voted Yes On The Preston/Royal Towers

Plus: a new $41/month trash fee, yard signs going up across the district, and why the recall time is now.

On Thursday, the Dallas City Plan Commission voted 10-4 to recommend approval of the $800 million Preston/Royal development — towers up to 240 feet tall on a site currently zoned for 54. The commissioner who made that happen was Larry Hall, the District 13 seat appointed under Gay Willis. He didn't just vote yes — he happily made the motion to approve the rezoning himself.

The case now heads to the full City Council for a final vote — the one where Willis herself will have to go on record.

Ninety-seven percent of the residents in the project's own notification radius were opposed. Willis's own newsletter to District 13 didn't mention that number. Instead, she highlighted commissioners calling for future deliberations to stay “absent of threats,” and said she hopes the residents organizing against the towers will bring more “constructive dialogue” to the table.

Read that again. Inside the notification radius — the homes closest to the project, the ones who'd actually live with it — 261 residents were opposed and 8 were in favor. Willis's takeaway wasn't the substance of what nearly all of them were telling her — it was their tone. That's not representation. That's tone-policing a district that's begging to be heard.

The Recall Time Is Now

District 13 cannot afford another term with Gay Willis on the council. Her own appointed commissioner just handed developers exactly what they wanted over the objections of nearly every nearby resident who weighed in. This isn't a one-time misstep — it's the pattern.

And if she decides to run for Mayor next, that stops being a District 13 problem and becomes a citywide one.

The recall does double duty. It ends her time on this council, and it makes a mayoral run politically unviable before it ever starts. This is the moment to push.

6,000 Dallas Residents Are Losing Alley Trash Pickup

Beginning in 2027, the City of Dallas is stripping alley trash and recycling service from roughly 6,000 homes and forcing them to the curb — and the heaviest concentration of affected households is right here in District 13.

Gay Willis backed the Sanitation Department's plan from the start. She's since done the bare minimum — just enough to say she pushed back — while doing nothing to warn the neighborhoods that are about to be handed a service downgrade they never asked for.

You can read the full story in The Dallas Morning News.

Losing the service costs you convenience. Keeping it costs you cash. Either way, District 13 pays. Read the full report here.

Each dot marks a block losing alley service. Look how many of them are ours.

The Numbers She Doesn't Want You Comparing

Willis recently emailed District 13 with what she wants you to read as good news: she says she talked the Sanitation Department down from hitting 9,500 homes to roughly 450. She's asking you to see that as a fight she won.

Here's the number she left out.

Not 450. Not a smaller number she can point to later. Zero. Because the council members representing Districts 11 and 12 refused to go along with Sanitation Director Craig Gillespie's plan from the start — and stood their ground until their constituents were left out of it entirely.

Willis took the opposite approach. She backed Gillespie's plan from day one. What she's calling a fight isn't opposition — it's damage control on a plan she helped clear the way for. She isn't stopping the cuts. She's just negotiating how many of your neighbors get hit this year.

This is the pattern to watch. Next year, expect another email: a few hundred more homes lost, framed as another hard-fought win. Districts 11 and 12 never had to play that game. District 13 shouldn't have to either.

Yard Signs Are Popping Up All Over District 13

Drive through the neighborhood and you'll see them — on corners, in front yards, at intersections. Every sign is a neighbor saying out loud what a lot of people have been thinking quietly. Get yours up.

Suggested donation: $25 per sign. Signs cost money to print, and every dollar you chip in puts another one in another yard. If you can give, donate here.

Send us your photos. Planted a sign? Email us a picture and we'll add it to a gallery going up on our website soon. Let's show the district how many of us there are.

We're Assembling A Team. Volunteers Needed.

We're assembling the recall committee — the core group that carries this campaign from momentum to the ballot. Here's what we need people for:

You don't need experience. You need an hour a week and a stake in District 13.

If you already checked the volunteer box on our contact form, watch your inbox — you'll receive a separate email with meeting details.

If you haven't signed up yet, fill out the contact form here and check the box to volunteer.

Get Involved Now

1. Post about the recall. Facebook and Nextdoor reach our neighbors better than anything else. Always link to recallgaywillis.com.

2. Talk to your neighbors. Tell friends and neighbors what's happening — and send them home with a yard sign.

3. Consider a monthly donation. Recurring support is what lets us plan ahead instead of scrambling. Even a small monthly gift compounds.

Thank you for standing with us. This only works because neighbors like you keep showing up.

— The Recall Gay Donnell Willis Team