When it comes to choosing leaders for southern Dallas, Saturday's election results offer troubling insights into voters' vision of the future. The people haven't spoken; they yawned.

The half of Dallas they occupy suffers from decades of benign neglect and appallingly bad leadership. Yet given the chance to invoke change, most registered voters in southern Dallas opted for none of the above and stayed home.

And for the few who did bother, the ballot was full of uninspiring choices.

Of particular concern was District 7 anchored in historic South Dallas, where seven challengers ran to unseat incumbent City Council member Carolyn Davis. Still, only 3,939 voters showed up – barely 1 in 10 of those registered – and Davis got into a June 13 runoff against Dallas schools trustee Ron Price.

Carolyn Davis

Davis, 47, knows her district suffers some of the city's highest poverty and unemployment rates. So where did she think taxpayer money would be best spent serving her constituents? Sunny Belize, apparently. Her participation in City Council meetings typically includes incoherent ramblings that leave colleagues befuddled. Her list of accomplishments almost fills the space of this sentence.

Ron Price

Price, 42, is noteworthy for service in office – self-service, that is. It includes his vote to unlawfully extend his own school board term. In a previous term, he billed taxpayers more than $31,000 for travel and almost $19,000 for cellphone service.

District 7 voters passed up the opportunity to elect the Rev. Donald Parish, whose record of leadership made him the best choice. This newspaper cannot, in good faith, recommend Davis or Price for a job neither deserves.

In District 1, only 2,724 voters answered democracy's call – also barely 10 percent. Here, Delia Jasso is the clear choice in her runoff against Justin Epker to succeed term-limited Elba Garcia.

Delia Jasso

Jasso, 54, owns a school that teaches English as a second language and is authoritative on issues concerning her Oak Cliff district and the rest of southern Dallas.

She has served on various city boards and is well acquainted with the minutiae of City Hall politics. We can't make the same claim for Epker, 36, a community development consultant.

When southern Dallas residents complain about lousy code enforcement, crumbling streets or lack of jobs, the first question they must ask themselves is what they have done to improve their own lives. The No. 1 action available is to study candidates' record and vote.

On Saturday, they lost because the overwhelming majority chose not to participate. It speaks to the scarcity of inspirational talent among the candidates, as well as the failure of these residents to demand better leadership.

This election offered an important opportunity to invoke change for the better. It was an opportunity squandered.