CCR 11-29-12: Naughty or Nice?

the   Controversial  Committee   Report

“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”

All We Want for Christmas is…

Dear Santa:

     Stop your sled!  Staff of the CCR would like to change our Christmas request.  At the time we mailed our Christmas letter, we thought all we wanted was a few non-spinning, honest politicians and bureaucrats.  Then, we realized that even Santa couldn’t deliver the impossible.

     Now, we would like for you to bring us a magic front door mat.  It appears that the city’s only known magic front door mat has become inoperable due to excessive exposure to sunlight and possible litigation.  

     While we realize that magic front door mat orders are hard to fulfill, we know that you and the elves wouldn’t mind putting in a little overtime to complete this order.  Can you imagine all the goodwill and cheer the CCR could bring to its readers and the city if we had our own magic front door mat?  The bounty we could spread would be boundless.

     Staff of the CCR would promise that we would be good all year and treat the magic front door mat with extreme care and caution.  We understand how easily it might be to allow the mat to venture into shady areas, but promise that only those deserving of its benefits (in our opinion) would reap the rewards.  It will be like Christmas morning each day when we go to the front door, lift the mat and see what has magically been left for us to dole out.

     To demonstrate how sincere we are about wanting a magic front door mat, the staff of the CCR would limit its initial use to some of the following needs:

• Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars and Ranger ducats appearing under the mat will be given to friends, cronies and other ‘special’ individuals who would be in a position to assist the CCR down the road.  And since we need all the help we can garner, this would be a tremendous opportunity to give something away to someone that didn’t cost us anything. 

• Finding a private elevator key to the La Cima Club would allow us to zip to the top floor and dine on the company’s dime without having to be bothered by all the riffraff in the lobby.  This would also make our ingress and egress less noticeable by the peons whose tax dollars support our fine cuisine dining habit. 

• Imagine our thrill when we find a case of the new BlackBerry 6000EC PDAs to give to our most trusted friends and associates.  This will allow staff of the CCR to communicate and store data with highly sophisticated Encryption Coding that even the CIA couldn’t break.  We wouldn’t have to worry about the pesky DMN reporters wanting to see our files.  Let them go to the Texas AG if they want some info.

• We’ll be smiles (from ear-to-ear) when we lift the mat and find brown envelopes stuffed with Benjamins for us to distribute to all the special interest groups, council candidates and other ‘needy’ individuals in the community.  If it takes ‘green grease’ to keep the skids slick on the political machine, then we can to be as eco-friendly as all the others corrupting the political system.

•   Finding the deed for a vacant chunk of property in the downtown McDougalville development will come in handy for the CCR to build a new hangout for the crew of the Irving branch of the Lubbock mafia.  Now that this group has hit the mattresses due to legal skirmishes embroiling the city, this “member’s lodge” will give them a hideout and provide monthly rental income to the CCR.

     Santa, staff of the CCR has been really good this year.  We have added new readers to our e-mail list and only had to drop four Kool-Aid addicted souls who just couldn’t grasp the reality of what city government was doing to them.   And yes, we still believe in you.  It’s the politicians and bureaucrats we have trouble believing.  

     Thank you in advance for our magic front door mat Christmas present. 

………………………………………………………..Mark Holbrook

ER #50: Zoning Breathalyzer

City Hall Elevator Rumblings  #50

Rider #1:  Do you think someone is attempting, once again, to sell the council a bill of goods?  The recent Planning & Zoning commission meeting where they voted to send a 30/70% (food to alcohol) recommendation for council consideration when changing the zoning ordinance was just off the charts.  The only thing this would accomplish is to allow the creation of bars in Irving!

Rider #2:  And that’s the last thing we need in the city.  It’s bad enough that we have package stores for beer and wine on every corner now.  What makes the P&Z proposal so strange is that there was already a consideration by several council members to tweak the current alcohol zoning ordinance of 60/40% to 50/50%.  Someone really messed up the intent when it went to P&Z for review.  This was a big time alteration.

Rider #1:  What makes anything other than 50/50% ‘out of the box’ is when you look at the latest beverage figures reported by restaurants in the city.  At least 90% of all restaurants reflect 30% or less in alcohol sales.  And at least 70% of all restaurants have 20% or less in alcohol sales.  There really is just no justification for anything other than 50/50% if the ordinance is going to be changed.  Why anyone would want the figure higher is beyond me.

Rider #2:  I agree.  When I looked at the restaurant report, I, too, was surprised.  To see the following numbers for alcohol sales of some very popular restaurants and watering holes was eye-opening: Cool River Cafe - 34%; Cadillac Ranch - 31%; Hooter’s - 28%; Las Colinas Country Club - 26%; Via Real - 23%; Four Seasons - 22%; Aspen Creek -19%; La Cima Club (the city manager’s favorite?) - 17%; iFratelli - 17%; and El Chico - 8%.  Notice how all of these restaurants are under the 40% requirement?

Rider #1:  I can envision what is going to happen next.  Some council members are going to cede to special interests and attempt to push this ordinance beyond reasonable justification.  Even though 50/50% would suit all current and future restaurants in the city, someone might be carrying water for special interests who would attempt an ‘end run’ around what might be totally acceptable to the public.

Rider #2:  We’ll see how this is presented to the council by the city administration.  If anything greater than 50/50% is recommended, than those council members voting for a higher percentage will be voting and opening the door for bars in the city...which could be placed next to one of the package stores selling beer and wine on every corner of the city. 

Rider #1:  An additional safeguard the council should consider is that the revised ordinance would include language that prohibits all restaurants from using the word “bar” in any signage.  This doesn’t solve the problem, but it would allow for a better city-wide image not to have this flashing all over town. 

A note from counsel: These “candid” elevator conversations have been injected with fabricated nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, adverbs, modifiers and maybe a few dangling participles….Mark Holbrook

ER #49: Sleepy Award

City Hall Elevator Rumblings  #49

Rider #1:  Boy, you don’t know how glad I am that all this Baldrige quality award stuff is over.  If I hear the words ‘performance excellence’ one more time, I will agree to shock therapy for my frontal lobe.  

Rider #2:  How true.  The general public actually believes that this is the best thing for the city since sliced bread.  However, they don’t realize how much it cost to “receive” this award and the fluffy foundation we had to create and foster to appease the reviewers.  The Baldrige folks required thousands upon thousands of bucks for fees, staff reviews and accommodations.  This didn’t even begin to cover all the down time and wasted staff effort to complete the process.  The reams upon reals of paper and forms completed would re-forrest the Amazon.  And for what?  As soon as these folks left, we reverted to our old way of doing business...with greater efficiency.

Rider #1:  Well, the city manager is all smiles and happy.  I believe he thinks all this expense and staff concerns to be trivial.  Since receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, he has added another fluffy line to his resume.  And we know how he likes to receive nebulous awards to include on his resume.  One could believe that he is more concerned about his resume than he is the personnel responsible for running the city.

Rider #2:  That’s certainly true.  I wonder if we could have the Baldrige folks return to review the city manager’s personal records and some of the employee CYA files for supplemental points?  It would really be interesting to find out if they consider quality leadership to be: the $57 million McDougalville financial fiasco placed on tax payers; the resigning/re-hiring of his buddy the ex-fire chief for a new and not posted $161,000 grant writing position; reorganizing staff so many times that even Lou Costello wouldn’t know ‘Who’ was on first; the Lubbock Mafia connection that siphons off $1.6 million to the chamber of commerce; shifting of budgets between departments to provide for personal projects; attempting to spend $850,000 for a sub-code apartment project to be run by the city; conveniently finding sporting event ducats under his front door mat; the 6-3 vote for the 2012-13 city budget; vital information conveniently “disappearing” from his personal city-issued BlackBerry; $4 million in Entertainment Center expenditures approved by “unnamed city employees;” and what a detailed audit and examination of his personal ‘business luncheon, travel and expense’ account records might reveal.

Rider #1:  Right!  While he continues to crow about not having any layoffs during these tight economic times, there is never any mention by him of all the outstanding folks he has run off or those that left in utter disgust.  We have really lost some quality personnel due to the dictatorial and authoritarian management style of the city manager.  And if current personnel would have been truly honest during the quality review sessions, the Baldrige folks might have packed their bags and left town.  I don’t believe Baldrige subscribes to a management style of: “My way or the highway.”

Rider #2:  Maybe the council will quit sipping his Kool-Aid, recover from Thanksgiving doses of turkey tryptophan, forego all his sugary PowerPoint presentations, and move to address what has become to many...untenable working conditions in the city.  We can only hope!

A note from counsel: These “candid” elevator conversations have been injected with fabricated nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, adverbs, modifiers and maybe a few dangling participles….Mark Holbrook

ZAP #106: Darkening the Light?

ZAP! #106

     Let the “truth wars” for honest government begin!

     Imagine the surprise the CCR staff had when we discovered that a new group is being formed to disseminate “accurate information” regarding local issues.  This group will be forming a Political Action Committee to capture buckets of bucks from followers to flood the city with stilted propaganda, provide special interest donations to select council candidates and pop wine corks at noshing events while believing their agenda is not only what is best for Irving, but that it is the only agenda that Irving should follow.  Wow!  Such a mission statement. 

     Sadly, the CCR will not be able to participate or contribute to this new endeavor as one of the stated purposes of the PAC is to provide “accurate information” regarding Irving issues.  As many readers know, the CCR has never let a good or accurate fact get in the way of a gentle ‘cat kicking.’  However, we would like to attend the coronation of the reigning holder and oracle of the new PAC’s ‘truth orb.’  Should one assume that this truth orb was divinely created and the holder granted unlimited wisdom and insight to proselytize the unwashed masses?

     The PAC might even believe that those not following their tenets are just a vocal, misinformed minority.  Actually, this is a premise as stated in their announcement!  And all this time, the CCR thought concerned citizens appearing before the council were just part of the huddled masses interested in fair and honest government that one didn’t have to ‘buy’ to obtain representation.

     For the record, the new group being formed will be called Irving Issues and will be a duly registered PAC.  You have to admit, Irving Issues is a much shorter name than what they could have been called -- The Irving Online-Wednesday-Chamber-Journal-Breakfast Club for Rich Folks Who Want Political Control of Irving.

     As it happens, the last couple of city elections have not gone as well as members of the new Irving Issues would have liked.  Even after spending, on an individual basis, thousands upon thousands of bucks attempting to elect clones of their thinking, voters rejected the special interest agendas that these candidates favored.  Forming a PAC will now allow Irving Issues to contribute even greater sums of money for specific activities (read: candidate clone needs), thereby allowing the PAC to buy newspaper adds, donate to campaigns, host a web site, and conduct ‘meet and greet‘ events to showcase the current apple of their eye.  Granted, the candidates Irving Issues will be promoting will be formally vetted, take a pledge for political shock therapy, and have issue blinders implanted to help ward off opposing opinions or ‘facts’ not deemed ‘accurate’ by the PAC.

     While staff of the CCR appreciates all possible involvement in local elections and campaigns, it would be more ingenious if those participating were upfront and not lurking in the shadows of PACs, special interest group organizations or shell ministries of propaganda.  And it seems rather ludicrous that this PAC is going to be any different, ‘fair and balanced‘ or actually imparting the ‘truth’ regarding issues.  The reality is that a PAC is a single-purpose gathering of like minds to promote an special interest agenda at the expense of those who do not walk-in-step with their thinking.  As Big Brother might intone...serious group think.

     And having witnessed the thinking of some of the potential members that will form the new black hole of PAC campaign funding, the CCR believes that individual tax payers and the older sections of the city might not be the beneficiaries or on the receiving end of their efforts.

     The CCR will return later for an update on this PACs activities.  We just received an urgent text message from Diogenes.  He is looking for directions to Irving.

ZAP! #105: 'Green' Partying

ZAP! #105

     Never will so few, spend so much, to receive so little that could be forensically documented.*  And that, dear reader, pretty well summarizes all the years the council has played the “Good Ol’ Boy Shuffle” with their Dean International consulting contract.

     For those not familiar, Dean International holds consulting contracts (three parts: Water, Transportation and Transportation Summit) with the city to the tune of around $1.3 million tax dollars per year.  Actually, it is probably a misnomer to call this a consulting contract.  When boiled down to its lowest element, it is more of a lobbying contract.  As with most lobbying efforts, there is always a lot of ‘skid greasing’ required.  And in politics, the skids always require a lot of ‘green’ grease.  Would these skids qualify for ‘green energy‘ stimulus funds?  

     The primary purpose of the city’s agreement with Dean International, for the present, is to consider what to do now that the water portion of the agreement expired on October 31, 2012.  Even though the agreement expired, the CCR understands that expense vouchers for “services” are still being processed by Dean.  Is this optimism on their part that the agreement will be renewed (retroactively?) and that the “Good Ol’ Boy Shuffle” will continue without missing a beat?  If the agreement has expired, then why is Dean apparently providing invoices for current services?

     Here’s how all this “consulting” seems to work: the city pays large sums of money to Dean International who directs contributions to state legislators, or other elected officials with the anticipation that these campaign offerings might influence thinking (read: voting) on a particular issue that should or could be relative to the city of Irving.  Of course, Dean International, the ever gracious host, also provides ‘seminars,’ lavish parties, exotic travel and other amenities for elected officials...including some of your local council persons.  All this insures that Dean’s consulting ticket for their lobbying-gravy train of benefits remains punched and valid.

     When the time to demonstrate achievements for the $1.3 million in payments to Dean is required, there will be beautiful PowerPoint presentations, enough weasel verbiage to deflect concerned citizen-snooping and assurances that without Dean International’s lobbying, none of these “achievements” would have been possible.  (Documentable facts for the city’s actual benefits seem to be rather fuzzy in these presentations.)  Couldn’t other firms lobby for the city’s water rights and special legislation just as effectively and at a lower cost?

     There is one small kink in this current set up.  Dean International might also be collecting consulting funds from other municipalities to supposedly achieve and report on some of the same issues as documented for Irving.  See the dilemma?  How does Irving know that their $1.3 million investment in this agreement is really producing fresh fruit and not over-ripe bananas?

     In what may be a potential game changing event, the council -- with several dozen eyeteeth pulled -- decided to send the consulting requirements (previously awarded exclusively to Dean International) out for an RFP (Request for Proposal).  This action would allow other firms, who handle the same type of lobbying work, to basically bid on the agreement.  And of course, the CCR always believes that competitive bidding can work to the advantage of tax paying citizens who foot the bill for all possible nebulous “consulting” work.

     The initial problem associated with the current RFP -- that is due to be submitted by November 30, 2012 -- is that the specifications prepared for the proposal seem as if they could be a little skewed or maybe worded towards a particular firm.  Would this be Dean International?   Do city officials, who prepared and reviewed the specifications, already have a favorite in this horse race to receive these consulting bucks?  Were the specifications prepared independently of any consulting firm that might be interested in submitting a proposal for review?

     Well, one thing is certain.  Dean International is apparently not going to let any gravy spill from their lobbying-gravy train.  It appears that they have initiated a PR crusade to convert all non-believers to their lobbying-magic by hosting “show and tell” sessions to cloud thinking synapses.  Lavish fetes and noshing events are also being provided to clog the brain arteries of those who could influence, or vote on the upcoming consulting agreement.  To be sure, there will be plenty of wine and pate, lots of backslapping and ego stroking of elected officials as they party on your tax bucks.

     Regardless, the burning question still remains.  Will the city administration (city manager) and city council (especially those who have benefitted from Dean’s largeness) actually review all proposals objectively with tax payers in mind, or merely ‘rubber stamp’ the Dean proposal?  

     Some city staff and council members sure would hate to be removed from the A-list of partying hosted by Dean International.  After all, an hors d’oeuvre is a terrible thing to waste...especially when it’s a free one.

*  The exception would be the $1.6 million the council doles out in their agreement with the Irving chamber of commerce.

…………………...Mark Holbrook

the O-file: Fried Brain Time

the O-file 

(Inside the president’s mind documenting what he really isn’t saying.)

November 7, 2012

(A day that will live in disgraceful infamy)

     Until further notice, my presidential-brain mass is going to go into complete shutdown mode.*  While some may believe my presidential-brain mass has been in shutdown mode for the past four years, this time I will make it official.  There will be no more documenting my inner thoughts in the O-file.  And the reason why?  After winning re-election, my presidential-brain mass will be going into...Party-Party-Party mode.  The party starts as soon as I finish this round of golf. (I can play again now that the campaign is over.)

     Yes, it’s time to ‘get down’ with all my peeps.  Now that all the moronic, unwashed masses who want me to give them something -- like Santa Claus does -- are happy, it’s time for me to get happy.  Isn’t America great in that we don’t have an IQ test for voters?  

     I’ve already sent Air Force One to Hawaii to pick up former members of my old Choom Gang.  They will store all the weed for my partying in diplomatic pouches to avoid any custom checks.  I’ve told them to bring a four-year supply.  It’s definitely going to be ME-time.

     If anything presidential should happen while I’m in presidential Party-Party-Party mode, I’ve told VP “Plugs-head” Biden to take charge and say something stupid.  That has always worked in the past.  The media has been trained to forget the issue of the day and concentrate on Biden’s inane comments and gaffs.  And if that guy ‘Ben Ghazi’ keeps trying to get my attention, Biden will tell him that I’ve never have never heard of him.

     There are a lot of folks to thank for supporting my re-election effort.  This is a partial list of those who were front and center: all simpleminded actors and musicians (they didn’t know the first thing about the state of our economy), Occupy Wall Street flakes (protest against the ‘establishment’ gave me an out for my failed agenda), Rap lyric mumblers (spewed and unleashed vulgar and hateful zingers about Mitt...thanks Jay-Z, Snoop Dog and Kanye West), George Soros (nothing like an unlimited amount of bucks to spend on campaign ads), Bureau of Labor Statistics (again you proved figures don’t lie, liars figure and the unemployment rate didn’t reflect the actual number of folks not working), Vladimir Putin (Sorry Putin, I’m not going to get back with you.  Call Joe.), dead Chicago voters, manufacturers of Prozac (with half of the USA depressed, dividends for this company will soar), AG Eric Holder (your ability not to investigate and stonewalling was just what we needed each time), New Black Panthers (voter intimidators par excellence), MSNBC (kiss, kiss Chris Matthews), Bill Clinton (nothing like a good womanizer to be your point person for the fictional ‘war on women’ issue), NBC (thanks Brian Williams for all the softball questions), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (your ability to tell a lie to get out of admitting to an original lie was phenomenal), Hillary Clinton (she will learn in the Benghazi hearings that 2016 isn’t going to happen for her), CNN (hugs, hugs Candy Crowley), Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (how’s that bomb making coming along), White voters (welcome to minority class status), GM union workers (thugs and money = a great combination to get out the vote), bankrupt green energy companies (still sucking down stimulus funds like vampires), fluffy interviews with the “Pimp That Limps,” “The View” and Comedy Central (just call me a ‘cool’ president), Hugo Chavez (dude, we both fooled the huddled masses), Navy SEALs (thanks for not going ballistic when I took credit for killing bin Laden), Karl Rove and Dick Morris (your over-the-top hope and optimism helped create the cliff necessary for massive depression of the electorate), Kim Jong-un (those sanctions too tight), PBS and Big Bird (for kicking Romney’s cat over cutting funds), Obama Doctrine (kowtowing to all Middle East leaders allowed them to see my ‘sensitive’ and submissive side), small businesses (told you they didn’t build that), Rev. Jeremiah Wright (yes, we’re now on target for complete socialization and redistribution), Donald Trump (always good to have a rich twit and ego maniac slamming you), Nobel Peace Prize committee (I love the smell of drone strikes shredding terrorists in the morning), Dow Jones stock averages (be ready for some real backsliding when all the new tax increases hit), Hurricane Sandy and NJ Gov.Christi (you stifled the Romney debate-surge in the polls), Black preachers (thanks for turning your backs on my same-sex marriage endorsement), Catholic bishops (you’ll see that ObamaCare works better than the rhythm method...snicker), Bill Ayers (didn’t need any bombs made this time, but stand by), David Axelrod (if the planet stopped rotating, the speed of your spinning could cause a 23-hour day), AARP (the check is in the mail for your endorsing and approving ObamaCare), Hu Jintao of China (you guys will be needing to buy another truck load of our debt pretty soon), Jews (I’ll try to drop by the next time I fly over Israel), Teacher unions (higher pay and lower performance standards are on the way), Rush Limbaugh (now, who is the bigger liar...fatty), and Jay Carney (you proved that a WH press secretary with a political lobotomy can still sing the party line).

     However, I really want to thank a key person who made my re-election possible -- Mitt Romney.  He was such a decent and moral guy that he would never get down and wallow in the campaign mud with me and my Chicago thugs.  He had plenty of opportunities to let the voting public know what a ‘community organizing’ empty suit I was, but chose the high road instead.  He kept discussing my failed record and voters just couldn’t believe that I had screwed up the country that bad...even though I had.  Also, I thought for awhile that the Clint Eastwood “empty chair” analogy would stick and turn voters off.  It was close, but didn’t happen.  Folks figured Clint was suffering from dementia and actually believed he was talking to someone in the chair. 

     Special thanks also go to Romney’s wife, Ann, who was so gracious on the campaign trail.  She would relate to every audience how she was going to work for all those less fortunate.  She was so sincere.  Believe me, this was totally different than Michelle playing the race card at every event she attended while giving donuts to all the chunky folks in the audience.

     Finally, I have to give credit where all credit is due.  The most important factor that made my re-election effort possible was -- Mr. TelePrompter.  Ever since the Democrat Convention, Mr. TelePrompter has been at my side.  He has allowed me to sound like I knew what I was talking about.  He has skillfully created phrases that made my opponent look like a money grubbing, entitlement killing, income protectionist, middle-class hating Wall Street usurer.  And more importantly, he allowed me to responded to sticky questions and problems without even giving understandable or truthful answers.  And this is the secret as to why so many folks thought that I really was The One who could walk on water without having to step on any stones! 

     Mr. TelePrompter’s role was so important to my re-election effort that I’m going to ask Congress to appropriate funds to have his image chiseled on Mount Rushmore next to the four presidents.  After all, he did more during the four years of my first term than I did.  This recognition would only be fitting for someone whose image should one day be printed on the $100 bill. 

     Just think...Mr. TelePrompter in stone on Mount Rushmore and me getting stoned with the Choom Gang while Party-Party-Partying for four more years.  Don’t you just love the sound of that...four more years!

     In closing the O-file at this time, let me say with a giggle in my heart: God bless America and weed.  Anyone have any munchies?

 ………………………………….…………………….Mark Holbrook

*  Archive postings of previous presidential thoughts at: http://controversialcommittee.blogspot.com/

   

A note from counsel: These “candid” presidential-brain synapses have been injected with fabricated nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, adverbs, modifiers and maybe a few dangling participles -- just like when he speaks.

CCR 11-04-12: Psychic Consent?

the   Controversial  Committee   Report

“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”

     Here we go again!  

     Some members of the Irving ISD board of trustees are at it again.  In an attempt to bamboozle members of the Irving city council, these individuals may have resorted to chicanery, trickery, flimflam, collusion or possibly a violation of the Open Meetings Act.  The latest antic by some members of the school board might be closely akin to the farce they perpetrated on the city council in 2011.

     Follow this closely and see if you wouldn’t agree that conspiring school board members -- with the possible knowledge and acquiesce of the Superintendent -- are not only wrong, but may have again demonstrated a total usurpation of their official elected positions and responsibilities.  After all, psychic powers by some board members have not replaced the provisions of the Open Meetings Act to determine a consensus of the district’s board of trustees. 

     The issue is: On November 8, 2012, the Irving city council will hear a zoning case for the MacArthur Kroger grocery store.  Clearly, this is a city matter, not a school board matter.

     If you remember, this zoning case would allow the MacArthur Kroger store to sell beer and wine -- similar to all the other Kroger stores in the city.  When the case was wrongly denied (due to a school district administrator, Pat Lamb, attempting to pass off a 2009 IISD resolution as being the current thinking of the 2011 board) by the council in 2011, the primary reason for denial -- wrongheaded as it might have been -- was the safety and security of kids walking by the store.  (Funny, the CCR has not read any reports -- for any stores in Irving selling beer and wine -- of school kids being hit in a store parking lot by someone buying these items.)

     What school board members -- V. Jones, R. Huffstetler (president) and/or J. Christian in all probability -- have apparently done is allow/dictate/request/suggest either directly or indirectly through the Superintendent that an OLD and no longer binding 2009 resolution of the board of trustees be entered into the October 15, 2012 detail of the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.  This request for inclusion in the current P&Z materials was signed by an administrator of the district, Scott Layne, on October 10, 2012.  This document was then forwarded to the city council by the P&Z for information purposes in the packet of council materials.  

     This action by a school district administrator for the 2012 P&Z meeting makes this a grievous deception by some members of the school board and/or administration since: 1) the 2009 resolution provided to the P&Z  DOES NOT represent an expressed current view of the board of trustees; 2) the current school board DID NOT act in a direct manner or discuss in an open meeting that the administration should supply the old 2009 resolution to the P&Z; and 3) the entire board HAS NOT met to consider or discuss whether or not the school district should even take a stand on the improved and REVISED Kroger zoning case in 2012.  If one checks the policies of the school district -- as they pertain to service by trustees -- a board member or its president cannot speak for the entire board unless an item/issue has been covered in a duly posted meeting.  No such meeting has been held and no resolution passed by the current board has been enacted with regards to the revised 2012 Kroger zoning case!

     Only the three school board members -- of the current seven -- mentioned above were a party to the original 2009 resolution!  Since two of these three members will probably not be running for re-election (Huffstetler and Christian), is this their final attempt to once again fool the public, con the council and put a gold star on their covert jihad activities?  What gives one, two or even three members of the school board the right, authority or rationale to pass off this sham of an action and have it appear that the 2012 school board supports the 2009 resolution provided to the P&Z?  Perhaps, these three board members have forgotten the rules of a democracy and reverted to elusive gorilla warfare to get their feeble personal and myopic opinions across to the council. 

     Another important question that should be asked is: Where is the Irving Chamber of Commerce on this issue?  Since the chamber is always interested in business growth and serving chamber partners, will they be at the council meeting to register their support for Kroger receiving the required zoning?  After all, Kroger has done so much for the school district and community over the years.  Will the $50,000 that the school district pays the chamber have any influence on their position if they thought the current board was in opposition due to the hoodwinking of the 2009 resolution by scurrilous district officials?

     Now should be the time for someone to take responsibility for this gross misuse of authority by some IISD board members and/or administrators involved in this clandestine action.  Any school board member who participated, instructed or caused the administration to resubmit the 2009 resolution -- that DOES NOT bind the current board without their being a school board meeting to reflect the collective agreement of the board -- should resign their seat.  And any IISD administrator who, through their actions, participated in having this 2009 school board resolution conveyed to the 2012 P&Z Commission should either resign or be terminated.  After all, administrators should know, understand, and realize that they do not take actions of this nature that are not approved by a majority of the entire school board in a meeting open to the public.

     While we are listening to the crickets chirp on any of the above personnel measures taking place by school officials, contact your council representative and ask them to do the right thing this time -- approve the revised Kroger zoning case.  Tell them not to be duped by nefarious school board members.  Tell them not to succumb to the whims of a small vocal minority appearing before them and attempting to reflect -- incorrectly -- that the school board is now in opposition to the 2012 Kroger zoning case.  Tell them that there are much larger issues facing the city and that their approval of the 2012 Kroger zoning case does not enter into the realm of this being a defining political vote. 

     The P&Z and city administration has approved the Kroger zoning case.  Isn’t it appropriate for the council to approve and vote for what is right this time and not what seems to be politically expedient?