On my way to Monday’s City Council meeting, I drove into a traffic jam on the Dallas North Tollway at Harry Hines and I-35. As I sat there in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I thought about how the accident was likely going to cause me to miss the council’s reaction to Angela Hunt after Tuesday’s Trinity election.

My clock read 9:02 as I was able to finally exit into downtown. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a big deal. However, one of the things I can praise Mayor Leppert for is his punctuality. The meetings have been starting on time, so I knew I’d be at least 15 minutes late.

There seemed to be some kind of irony in progress as I was driving on a toll road knowing I would miss things because of Leppert. Done in by Leppert and a toll road once again, I thought.

Then I headed underground to park. Of course, no spots were available. I’m glad the council meetings are usually on Wednesdays because this Monday meeting wasn’t working out well for me.

Finally, I parked in the horseshoe behind City Hall. For those who don’t know, parking is free there on council days. I tell at least two or three people this before they put money into the meters every time I park there.

At this point I’m kinda half-assing it to the first-floor elevator because I assumed that I missed the moment I was hoping to see. Was Hunt greeted by indifference? Did anyone say anything to her? I surely missed the whole thing.

I hit the button on the elevator hoping something interesting outside of the council’s reaction to Hunt would happen. The agenda didn’t look promising.

The elevator door opened. Angela Hunt was inside by herself.

I paused for a second just before I got in. There was something incredibly symbolic about seeing Hunt in there alone. There she was headed up to face everyone after she led a valiant effort against the Mayor and the rest of the council, resulting in a close vote to keep the Trinity Turnpike inside Dallas’ floodway.

This was not an easy task, even for one of Dallas’ finest leaders. But she handled it with class and grace, as if that was a surprise.

You see, Angela Hunt is a rare breed. Some people refuse to admit this, such as Dallas Blog’s Rufus Shaw. Shaw is convinced that Hunt is the second coming of Laura Miller and says Hunt has a “dark side” that I cannot see. In his recent column, he also attacked her integrity.

“In my 30 plus years of covering politics, I have never seen a politician with integrity allow the kinds of activities that Ms. Hunt allowed in her campaign.”   

That is an amazing accusation, especially considering all the breeches of integrity by Mayor Leppert throughout the campaign. Where was Shaw to call him out?

So why is Hunt such rare breed? Well, she’s a lawyer turned politician, which is not rare at all. What makes her unique is that she is not a typical lawyer or politician. Hunt is able to connect with all walks of life. There’s just so much non-lawyerly and nonpolitical about her.

It’s hard to describe, but I’ll give you an example. A few weeks ago, I was talking to Hunt to get her reactions on two stories I was working on, one about Rebecca Dugger and another about a DMN editorial. It was Oct. 17, and I called her as she was heading home after a council briefing where she would have little time to rest before debating Bob Meckfessel that night at Vickery Towers.

It was three weeks before the election. Things couldn’t have been crazier for Hunt. I tried to keep my questions short, but as always, she was generous with her time.

Near the end of our conversation, Hunt indicated she had arrived home. Knowing she had to have been dying to get some stuff done before the debate, I squeaked in my final question.

Suddenly I could hear she was outside. She finished answering my question and we moved on to another topic before this happened.

“Hold on just a second,” Hunt said.

There was a 10-second pause. I waited for her to tell me she had to go.

“Come here, stupid. I’m trying to save you,” she said.

I laughed, but I had no idea what she was talking about. Another short pause and then this.

“These sweet little caterpillars just wander up on my porch and they’re gonna get poisoned by pesticides,” Hunt said.

I remember this conversation vividly because it really encompasses the kind of person she is.

Here was Angela Hunt, smack in the middle of one of the biggest political fights in the history of Dallas, taking time to sit on her porch, enjoy the weather and save a few caterpillars in the process. Now that is something that sticks with you.

A lot of speculation was made about Hunt’s future depending on the vote. With a Yes! victory, Hunt was surely going to be Dallas’ next mayor, people said. With a No! victory, Hunt’s political future would be over. She took a gamble and lost. Time to go back to being a lawyer after her term expires.

Did the defeat at the polls cost Hunt a chance at becoming mayor? Will this term be the last of Hunt’s political aspirations? Only time will tell.

I can say this much, though. Hunt is too good for Dallas politics. Hopefully she’ll stick around for a while before she figures that out.

Hunt and I won’t agree on all things politically and we haven’t on every issue thus far. But I don’t hand out respect blindly, especially when it comes to politicians, and Hunt has certainly earned my respect.

I talk to Hunt about a lot of things, but I haven’t talked to her about her future. My guess is that she probably doesn’t think about it as much as other people do.

I think she takes it one day at a time, making sure she takes time to save a caterpillar here and there along the way.

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