Carrie Gordon is mayor of Balch Springs and a Dallas city planner. But it's another title she uses – doctor – that has some critics complaining.

Gordon holds a doctorate in administration and management from Columbia Pacific University, a nonaccredited, now-defunct correspondence school that the state of Texas does not recognize.

When she ran for mayor of Balch Springs this year, Gordon used the title of "doctor" extensively – including more than 20 times on her campaign Web site, on campaign signs and T-shirts, and in campaign filings. She's listed on the Balch Springs City Council's Web site as doctor.

"I believe it's more than a problem. It's tremendously wrong," said Cedric Davis, the incumbent mayor who lost to Gordon in May by a vote of 283-221 (a third candidate received 61 votes). He said he believes Gordon violated a state law prohibiting use of a "fraudulent or substandard degree."

Gordon did not respond to requests for comment.

Columbia Pacific appears on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's list of "institutions whose degrees are illegal to use in Texas."

Columbia Pacific operated in California from 1978 until 2000, when it was closed by court order. A state court ruled that the school had legal authority to grant degrees through 1997, but only in California. The campus never had accreditation from a federally recognized body.

California's recognition of Columbia Pacific "is of no particular effect" in Texas, a coordinating board spokeswoman said. "We would not have recognized the degree in question."

The issue of substandard degrees also came up during the recent Dallas school board election. Juanita Wallace, a candidate and president of the Dallas NAACP chapter, used the title of doctor in her campaign material for her unsuccessful bid for a board seat. She holds a doctorate from Madison University, which is based in Mississippi and is also on the Texas list of unrecognized schools.

Gordon works as a senior planner at Dallas City Hall, where she's been employed since 1986. Her personnel file notes that she received her doctorate from Columbia Pacific in 1990 and a master's degree from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1983.

Gordon's supervisor, Theresa O'Donnell, considers the doctorate a non-issue.

"The degree's not required for her job. She's had performance reviews for the past 20 years and has always been an exemplary employee," O'Donnell said.

Dallas resident Jim Dodson wrote to City Hall in July complaining about her doctorate. O'Donnell said the city investigated and found no problem.

"We consider this a politically motivated attack," O'Donnell said, referring to Gordon's bid for mayor.

Gordon earns $75,360, Dallas city records show. And while she's earned pay raises and promotions over the years, nothing in her personnel file indicates the doctorate played a role.

Davis, the defeated incumbent and a private investigator, said he filed two complaints with the Dallas County district attorney's office, but nothing happened. A spokeswoman for that office declined to comment.

Matthew Patrick, a Balch Springs resident who worked briefly on Gordon's campaign before switching to Davis', said he believes Gordon's title gave her an unfair advantage.

"In the city of Balch Springs, we're not known for having highly educated people. That's one reason I backed her originally," Patrick said.

hhacker@dallasnews.com;

rleszcynski@dallasnews.com