Dallas- A Dallas City Council candidate who volunteered to organize an investor group to help keep a controversial Red Bird adult video store from opening accepted $3,000 from the pornography shop’s owners, according to campaign finance reports filed last week.
District 8 candidate Tennell Atkins said Thursday he had no idea that the three partners of the company that owns three New Fine Arts Adult Video stores in Dallas had each given him $1,000, the maximum campaign contribution allowed for council candidates.
“If they contributed to my campaign, they contributed to my campaign,” Mr. Atkins said, adding that he has never spoken to the men about giving him money. “If you showed them to me right now, I would not know who they are.”
But Mr. Atkins maintains he is still leading a group of investors who will buy out the building on South Westmoreland Road and lease the space to other businesses as community members have asked.
The current owners agreed to put the 10,000-square-foot building up for sale without opening after weeks of protests from community members who said it was not welcome. Protesters maintained it was located too close to A.W. Brown-Fellowship Charter School and would have damaged nearby businesses.
Paul Radnitz, Gary Hartstein and William E. Becker acquired the proper license and followed all city regulations in planning the store, city officials said. The men ultimately vowed to sell the business with a deed restriction that would keep it from opening as a sexually oriented business. In return, community members promised to halt weekly protests at the site.
It was around the time of that agreement in early March that Mr. Atkins announced he would lead a group of investors interested in buying the building. Some prominent community leaders backed him and praised his efforts.
“If I was running for political office, if I was not running for political office, I would take that stand,” Mr. Atkins said in an interview last month in opposition to the store. “It’s just about trying to save the neighborhood and save the kids. It’s not a political issue. It’s about doing the right thing.”
Mr. Radnitz declined comment Thursday. Mr. Hartstein and Mr. Becker did not return calls seeking comment.
Though he has repeatedly declined to identify the investors, Mr. Atkins said Thursday that there are at least five of them and that they are working through a real estate agent, not representatives from the business.
“My main priority was to get some investors together to buy the building,” Mr. Atkins said.
“What I did was call some of my friends … and I told them that I would set up a joint venture with some of the people who are concerned with the business going to be there.”
Roger Albright, the attorney for New Fine Arts, said he has had no contact with Mr. Atkins and does not know of any pending offers to purchase the building.
Mr. Albright said he did not know of a relationship between Mr. Atkins and his clients.
“I know they have been active in city politics,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see them support any number of candidates.”
The men are not listed among contributors to the other six District 8 candidates this year.
Former City Council member and current District 8 rival Sandra Crenshaw criticized Mr. Atkins for accepting the contributions.
“The voters should pay attention because candidates have to dance with who brings them,” she said. “We do have some concerns with Mr. Atkins trying to buy the election.”
Mr. Atkins refused to say whether he would return the money, but he said the contributions have no bearing on his position on sexually oriented businesses.
“I am completely against SOBs in District 8,” he said. “I’ve been on radio, I’ve been in newspapers, I’ve been everywhere. There will not be an SOB in District 8 as long as I can help it.”