Irving resident Mark Zeske is still trying to add some color to this year's political campaign. Currently a teacher at Singley Academy, he is trying to become the first Irving ISD teacher to serve on the City Council. Running for Place 3, which represents the communities west of Belt Line Rd, south of 114 and north of the Irving-Grand Prairie City line, Zeske filed to run back in January along with his opponents. Because of the pandemic, the May election was pushed back to the November 3 general election and was a part of the largest voter turnout in United States history.
He is now in a runoff election against Abdul Kabeer, and Tuesday, December 8 is the election date. “My opponents and I all started with blue signs, so in October I decided to do a pink out. Once I knew we were heading to a runoff, I thought green and red would be fitting for a December date,” said Zeske.
Unlike most races in the general election, this municipal race is nonpartisan. Zeske doesn’t consider himself a stereotypical politician, “I’m not a bleeding-heart liberal or a part of the conservative establishment. My 40 years of service and diversity to Irving speaks for itself.” He has served 20 years on city boards, decades as a sports official, 25 years as a teacher and countless hours volunteering at his church and with the homeless. He continued, “I love being a part of my community. I am an open book with a public track record.”
Zeske plans to make communication and cleanliness an emphasis if elected. “Citizens in a city survey expressed they thought Irving was ugly. We can do a lot to clean it up and make it look nicer,” Zeske said, “and I promise you with my background of journalism, I will have a two-way street of communication with everyone.”
In his classroom, Zeske likes to preach the importance of both community and self, telling his students “Your story matters!” He believes the most important role as a city council member is accurately relaying the stories of Irving citizens to the people who can make change happen. Zeske emphasized, "go vote on December 8. You can be the change for our city."