ZAP! #113
If you look out your front window and see the IPD SWAT team van and personnel surrounding your home, then be prepared for an all out attack for not picking up after your dog who happened to leave a deposit in your neighbor’s yard, or your failure to register the mutt with the Irving Collectivist for Animal Control.
Sooner or later, citizens will notice what has come to pass...Irving has now “gone to the dogs.” If you are part of a ‘low information voter’ cell and not familiar with the dog hoarding issue barking loudly around city hall and the city manager’s office, then check the listed links below for the full details as contained in the DMN and CBS-TV (Channel 11) reports. These reports fully describe a rabid problem that can be added to the other issues of mismanagement snarling at city hall.
Putting aside all the animal concerns, personnel involved and questions as to how this animal hoarding problem happened to occur -- especially with a city employee involved -- one fact that seeks resolve is: Shouldn’t the issue of animal control be attributed to 6-Sigma mind control, Baldridge puffery, or the plethora of management and departmental changes resulting from the city manager’s style(?) of running city hall?
If you think this proposition might be too far fetched to park the responsibility for this problem at the city manager’s doorstep, then answer this: Can you name any city in the state with a population the size of Irving that currently has the Animal Shelter operations supervised by the Chief of Police? Does this mean that a SWAT team can crash into your house for animal issues? Will there be future ‘micro dog chip’ road checks set up on all major Irving streets? Will undercover narc cops attempt to buy homemade dog treats from unsuspecting dog owners who are suspected of selling them to friends and family?
While on the subject of politburo activities, the ‘brown shirts’ of code enforcement are also under the supervision of the Chief of Police. The only thing these folks lack is a license to carry. Otherwise, a prevailing attitude and treatment of local small businesses would be better suited instead of licensed police officers to enforce city regulations regarding animal control. Granted, even that wouldn’t be an improvement.
As the city manager and those few council members who continue to sip the manager’s Kool-Aid muster folks to speak and have his contract renewed, staff of the CCR believes that too many of these ‘low information voters’ are being deluged with ‘fluffy awards’ rhetoric and not hearing or paying attention to the financial, ethical and performance issues that truly define his tenure in Irving. After all, this is what the citizens of Irving have been paying an exorbitant sum of money for many years. The manager’s track record does not appear to be one that the real world of business would tolerate. Especially, when one considers the millions of city tax dollars that have been lost, squandered or mismanaged through failed projects or special interest dealings.
Perhaps, Irving really does need a new city manager...just not an alpha autarch!
……………….Mark Holbrook
References for Animal Shelter Hoarding Issue
DMN 2-18-13
DMN 2-19-13
CBS-TV Channel 11
