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The three finalists to become DeSoto’s next City Manager were front and center in DeSoto City Hall Thursday Evening for a meet & greet reception and to answer pre-submitted questions from residents that were designed to reveal the personal side of each candidate and the path they intend to lead DeSoto in during their potential tenure.

Mayor Rachel L. Proctor conducted a question-and-answer session with each candidate in the packed City Council Chambers. Since they would all be asked the same questions, only one City Manager candidate was allowed into the chambers at one time. The first candidate to address the crowd was Cheryl Harrison-Lee, the CEO of Harrison-Lee Development Consulting Company, who has close to four decades of experience in public administration.

Harrison-Lee told the gathering that she wants to serve in DeSoto because she believes that city management is a calling. “I started 39 years ago in it. I love it. I have not shifted careers, and here’s why. When I go to the doctor’s office, when that nurse takes my blood pressure I’m counting on her to read it correctly. Because if she doesn’t read it correctly and it’s elevated, I can go out and have a stroke. So I’m counting on her to do a job and do it correctly. And when she comes home, I know that she’s counting on me to do my job correctly. What they’re counting on is the next morning if there’s snow, we’ve had it moved. They’re counting on parks for their children. They’re counting on clean water. So, I value this. I believe that public service is a calling.”

The second finalist to address the crowd was Joseph L. Lessard,  who served as City Manager of Ashland, Oregon, Assistant City Manager for Austin, Texas, and Assistant to the City Manager of Dallas, Texas. Said Lessard of why he wants to lead DeSoto, “I think you have an impressive city. I think it’s on the cusp of change. I can’t tell you how quickly it’s going to come, but the way I look at it I think it’s coming and so the question I think is how do you manage it so you’re happy with the results? And I think you have to look at the issues that are coming from the recommendations that you have of potential solutions 360 degrees. Quite often everybody has a mindset that this is the answer. But have you really asked yourself what the opposite answer is? What’s the creative solution that may be t

A new project is making a big splash in DeSoto.

The McCowan Aquatic & Recreation Center (MARC) is an approximately 75,000 square-feet, two-story facility that will serve the community in several capacities. These include recreational activities and competitive sports, including swimming.

“The City of DeSoto Department Parks and Recreation provides recreation programming opportunities to enhance the quality of life, specifically for DeSoto residents. This facility exemplifies the effectiveness of city wide long range strategic planning,” said DeSoto Parks and Recreation Director Chris Glover.

As part of executing the city’s master plan, DeSoto commissioned the construction of the aquatic and recreation center. Highlights of the project include:

*A full-scale indoor competition pool with eight lanes, equipped with observation decks on the second level, along with a leisure pool.

*Suspended above the first level is a roughly 400-foot fitness track for cardio workouts.

*The facility further boasts a fully equipped fitness area, as well as training studios for group activities.

*Nestled among soccer, baseball, and football fields, the McCowan Aquatic & Recreation Center offers city residents a fully functional gym and fitness experience.

The new facility is designed to offer health and fitness support to young families and provide a physical and social venue for active seniors through year-round senior activities.
Located in Curtistene S. McCowan Park, the facility is being realized as part of a larger master plan, which includes other public and sports-related amenities, including additional sports fields, an amphitheater, a sculpture garden, water features, and surrounding trails.

“Our need was based off of survey feedback from our residents during the master plan development and implementation phases,” Glover said, adding that the facility is projected to be available to residents and non-residents of DeSoto.

Glover said one of the city’s major objectives is to exceed the standard of excellence required to sustain the Certification of Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies under NRPA (National Recreation and Park Association).

The benefits of

DESOTO –For nearly thirty years, Kathy Jones dedicated her career to City Hall in DeSoto, becoming known as the “Jewel of DeSoto” before her recent retirement. As the city’s Community Relations Manager and a media liaison, Jones had long planned her retirement, which finally took place last Thursday.

To celebrate her years of service, a retirement party was held in her honor, attended by mayors, city managers, and colleagues who had worked alongside her for years. Jones’s responsibilities included managing citizen communication, which involved producing the city newsletter, fliers, and brochures. She also oversaw the city’s government access channel and filmed live broadcasts of city council and other public meetings. Since 1999, she had been the staff liaison to the Arts Commission, coordinating numerous city-wide festivals and events.

In recognition of her contributions, the city officially declared February 29, 2024, as Kathy Jones Day. Jones was also presented with an honorary street sign upon her retirement last week.

“I was completely overwhelmed and surprised that the Mayor would declare Kathy Jones Day,” she said. “That was totally unexpected. I love my street sign; I have seen lots of people receive those over the years but never thought that I would receive one.”

She said her most satisfying accomplishment with the city was the arts in DeSoto.

“The City Council appointed the first Arts Commission in 1999, and I was the staff liaison for the Commission until it was replaced by the Cultural Arts Foundation last year,” Jones explained. The Arts Commission started the City’s arts grant program, which provided funding for local artists and arts programs. They also sponsored many special events, concerts, plays, and performances over the years. My proudest moment occurred at the 2019 DeSoto Arts Live festival, with Ruben Studdard as the headliner.

Jones’ family moved to DeSoto when she was in the seventh grade.

During Monday evening’s DeSoto City Council Special Meeting, DeSoto Mayor Rachel L. Proctor and Fire Chief Bryan Southard handed out life-saving awards to DeSoto and Cedar Hill First Responders and a young DeSoto resident who performed nothing less than a “Christmas Miracle.”

DeSoto Fire Chief Southard chronically recounted this life-saving story for those in attendance, and you can view his account in the video available at Box.Com.

On Christmas Eve afternoon, 2023, an elderly female DeSoto resident fell ill, lost consciousness, her heart stopped, and she also stopped breathing. She was clinically dead. Her family dialed 9-1-1 and reached the DeSoto-based Southwest Regional Communications Center (SWRCC), which serves the cities of DeSoto, Cedar Hill, and Duncanville. The SWRCC Dispatcher Sydney Hernandez, with assistance from colleagues Tricia McLean and Monica Shepperd, provided the woman’s grandson, Grant Ward, with CPR instructions, and he was able to administer CPR until a DeSoto Fire unit arrived on site.

The DeSoto and Cedar Hill Fire Departments routinely work together to respond to emergencies in either city, depending on the proximity of the closest available crew to an emergency. Mayor Rachel L. Proctor observed prior to Monday’s Council Meeting, “One of the big reasons for our City’s success is the strong partnerships that DeSoto has with our Best Southwest neighbors. When we need to make improvements that benefit our area, it lets us work together as one big city to leverage our resources and amplify our voice. But during an emergency, it allows us to seamlessly respond, which saves precious time and, in this case, a very precious life.”

The DeSoto Fire unit took over performing CPR from the grandson and employed other life-saving measures that restored the woman’s pulse and allowed her to begin breathing on her own.  DeSoto Firefighters Weston White, Alvin Skelton, and Kelton Mansfield, who are also paramedics, kept up their life-saving efforts for eight minutes until a Cedar Hill Fire Department Ambulance was able to arrive on the scene, maintain the woman’s pulse and breathing and transport her to the hospital.

The Firefighter Paramedics present from Cedar Hill were Tyler Glass and Hunter Southard, who is also the son of DeSoto Fire Chief Bryan Southard.  Said Chief Southard, “This life-saving action was a total team effort from the guidance of SWRCC’s dispatchers who walked the patient’s grandson through the critical CPR response steps to the advanced life-support actions by the DeSoto Fire Crew, which is crossed-trained as paramedics which brought our patient back to life, to the emergency follow-up and transport to the hospital by the Cedar Hill Fire Department ambulance crew which I am very proud to say included my son Hunter. This incredible teamwork allowed us to give a family back their beloved matriarch in time for one of the most joyous days of the year.”

While the woman who was saved on Christmas Eve was not in attendance at Monday’s Special City Council Meeting, nor was her grandson, her son was on hand to represent the family and accept the Grandson’s award.

The Managing Director of the Southwest Regional Communications Center (SWRCC), Tamara Bell, wanted to stress the important role of her dispatchers. “An incident like this one shows why the SWRCC’s dispatchers are considered to be first responders and illustrates the critical role that they play in the region’s emergency response process. Because we work directly with the responding fire, police, and emergency medical units for the cities of DeSoto, Cedar Hill, and Duncanvil

This is the time of year for blessings, and a junior at DeSoto High School delivers them each holiday season.

LaRyn Baylei Johnson is the creator of Baylei’s Blessing Bags. Every year, she collects donations, fills backpacks with toiletries, snacks, hats, and gloves, and goes to downtown Dallas and under bridges between Desoto and Dallas, handing them out to people experiencing homelessness on Christmas Day.

This is her fourth year doing this charitable work. It’s a tribute to her father, Elmer Brown, who passed away in 2019 from pneumonia.

“My parents always taught us to be mindful of the less fortunate. We would go out on Thanksgiving and Christmas and feed the homeless as a family or volunteer at a shelter with my church or scout troops,” Baylei said. “We were at the Dallas Life Foundation when my dad took his last breath on Nov. 23, 2019. We did what he wanted us to do.”

In the first year, she delivered 25 bags. Last year, she helped over 125 adults and children.

“I feel like the homeless are people too. Sometimes it’s not their fault that they are in a bad situation,” she said. “I want them to know that they are not forgotten, and I think of them if no one else does.

“My dad had a big heart, so I want them to have a piece of his heart too.”

Having served at the Dallas Life Foundation with her family, Baylei said she would see many people walking or sleeping on the streets and under bridges on the way. This is why she chose to help in such a way.

“Desoto doesn’t have many people laying on the streets like Dallas does, so that’s why I chose that area,” she said.

Baylei posts on social media asking for donations. Some folks respond, and others send well wishes. For the most part, she uses her allowance to buy the supplies, and her mother helps her shop.

“I can always use more help because I want to reach more adults and kids. This year’s goal is 175,” she said.

Baylei comes from a family with a history of giving.

“I heard stories of how my grandparents would take in relatives and care for them until they could get on their feet so they wouldn’t be homeless. Our family is big on community service and helping those less fortunate,” she said. “It spills over into our church. It’s called Bethesda Community Church because it’s for the community.

“My brother and my mom helps me pack the bags, and since I don’t drive, she takes me. And my brother is an offensive lineman for DeSoto, so he acts as security,” she added with a smile.

Baylei said she chose to hand out the gifts on Christmas day because, well, it’s her Christmas gift to them. She also puts a small toy inside the bags for the children.

“I get excited opening a gift at Christmas, so I feel like that’s my gift for someone who may not otherwise open one,” she said. “Last Christmas, a little girl opened her bag and was so excited over pink and white socks instead of the Teddy bear inside. She sat down and removed her shoes; her socks were full of holes and didn’t cover her feet.

“That’s the real meaning of Christmas to me, thinking about someone other than yourself.”
Baylei simply loves giving. Admittedly, it’s a challenge sometimes to get all the bags packed and out on time, but she said it’s worth every ounce of effort.

“When I hand a bag to someone, and they open it and put on the gloves or hat, and they smile, I smile,” she said. “I feel like it took a little worry off of their shoulders because they at least have something to eat and water for at least two days.”

Baylei would like to see the project continue even after she’s gone off to college – and beyond.

“I would really like to turn it into a nonprofit that will keep going. Unt