By Sylvia Powers
Texas Metro News
As Grand Prairie stands at a cross-roads of opportunity and transformation, Angela Luckey is beating the pavement to become the vision for the city’s future.
The native of Grand Prairie is using her familiarity with the community to help lead her to victory in the city’s up- coming government election for City Council Member, Place 8 at Large.
“I graduated from South Grand Prairie High School,” said Luckey. “ I’m the only native of the city who is on the ballot that’s running for a position in the upcoming election.”
Luckey’s journey into public service is grounded in her deep-rooted connection to her hometown, where she has witnessed its evolution firsthand, understanding both its triumphs and challenges.
“I grew up serving my community, even when I was in high school. I became a founding member of the Grand Prairie Branch of the NAACP,” she said, adding that “when Lee Alcorn came to Grand Prairie, back in the 1980s, a lot of community leaders felt we needed the NAACP in our area. They were looking for young people to be a part of the 50 members needed to start the chapter.”
Developing her political voice at an early age; now she is committed to using it to help improve the community where she was raised.
“I have served our community for 34 years,” she said. “For 17 and a half years I’ve been the President of Grand Prairie NAACP. Through my service, I have been able to make a difference and bring positive change in our community and bring diversity in positions where we were underrepresented as African Americans.”
In an effort to bridge disparity gaps and to be a catalyst for change, Luckey said that she will use her organization- al skill set to help confront the city’s challenges head-on by working across party lines.
“I know that I’m running a nonpartisan race, but I have the ability and the experience to get across party lines here in Grand Prairie. I have worked on several different committees, including Grand Prairie Independent School District, Inclusion, Equity, Committee, and Diversity Committees here in Grand Prairie,” she continued.
As a retiree of the Department of Defense and former Executive Board Director for Greater Head Start, Luckey is determined to use a strategic plan to help tackle challenges in Grand Prairie such as homelessness, growth of small businesses, and fortifying the city’s infrastructure.
“My goal is to be an advocate of the people. I want to try to get legislators and our representatives in Congress to understand that Grand Prairie has funding needs. We do need resources here for our infra- structure, especially for our roads and our streets,” said Luckey.
Luckey wants to leverage the power of Grand Prairie’s 207,000 population to attract new business owners to the city.
The former Dallas County Juvenile Youth Service Advisory Committee member serves on Constable Eddie Brown’s Advisory Committee for Precinct 4. She is a graduate of the Dallas FBI Citizen Academy, and the Grand Prairie Police Citizen Academy.
“It was important for me to go and learn about law enforcement on a federal level and local level. We have seen from time to time so many shootings, some justified and some not justified.”
She stresses the need to be engaged with constituents and to address their concerns.
“Many times, we get people in positions that do not hear what the residents are saying. First of all, I want the community to know that they are putting somebody in office who’s going to take their concerns seriously. If I’m elected they will have someone that’s not afraid to take action on things that are going to be for the betterment of the city of Grand Prairie,” she emphasized.
Early voting for the Grand Prairie City Government election will end on April 30. May 4 is election day, from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm.
