the Controversial Committee Report
“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”
With Irving’s murky political waters, have you ever felt that you maybe waded into Rod Sterling’s "Twilight Zone?" This might happen if you visit one of Irving’s more prolific and acrid FaceBook blogs.
(Blog not identified to protect innocent readers of the CCR from encountering what is, on many occasions, a literary travesty attempting to discuss issues.)
Sometimes on this blog, it seems as if reality has taken a vacation and summer replacement interns are posting like part-time Tea Party drones vapidly spinning information faster than a dreidel on Hanukkah.
The "discussion" of issues boils down to two camps — those who post based on facts and those who attempt to further the agenda of QueenB VD by hacking out a profusion of words designed to appear factual. The final outcome would be similar to re-titling a game: "Truth or Dare (to be factual)." And the queen’s loyal minions dare anyone to disagree with their assessment, or infer they do not know what they are talking about.
What with social media/IM/e-mail capable of spewing mass information (some of which could even be considered useful) and an abundance of misinformation as observed on this blog, one has to wonder if the posters are living in Sterling’s political-galaxy of nightmares. Clearly, what is posted by a few of these individuals, in their fog-of-spin-assistance to the queen, gives the sordid distorted illusion of being factual.
A recent "discussion" on this blog for a really hot local topic featured individuals who would have you believe they know ‘everything about something.’ These folks could win the grand prize on "Truth or Dare (to be factual)"…for the absurd spinning posted.
While one sometimes finds a very small kernel of fact in the postings, the overwhelming literary fiber of QueenB VDs minions consist of talking point-spin dressed to look like undeniable and unquestionable fact. And for a weary reader, be sure to remember to never question the validity of certain posters on this blog should you decide to leave comments. (Hell hath no fury like a ticked off Flying Harpy.)
Let’s break all this down and look at the issue in question: Whistle Stop farmers market/food truck/beer garden with a single source MOU is currently being fine tuned for city council consideration. This development would be on the old lumber yard site the city owns in ‘beautiful downtown Irving.’
TRUTH:
- Whistle Stop Partnership (WSP) has three partners: Marvin Randle, Joe Mapes and Oscar Ward.
- Marvin Randle and Joe Mapes strongly supported Oscar Ward’s bid for a city council seat.
- Marvin Randle and Joe Mapes vigorously supported Van Duyne for mayor.
- Vigorous support of VanDuyne and Ward would infer money, sign placements, newspaper ads, PAC activities, meetings, roboCalls, collecting special interest campaign donations, etc.
- VanDuyne won and currently serves as mayor.
- Ward won and currently serves on the city council.
- Ward is still a partner of WSP.
- Ward will be able to sit in all meetings of WSP, make recommendations and approve what will ultimately be submitted in the MOU for consideration or approval by the Irving city council.
- Ward will not be able to sit in any city council meetings or discuss the WSP proposal with council members or city staff…or the real media (DMN).
- Ward’s actions while tiptoeing on being legal definitely carries the aromatic stench of a highly perceived ethical conflict.
- Ward may have the distinction of being the only elected city councilman, who while serving, to ever have a fiduciary interest in a city funded project.
- City was never sued by WSP, but apparently was threatened, bullied and probably strong-armed into providing an exclusive, single source MOU for this project.
- VanDuyne and Ward have previously been very harsh and extremely vocal critics of single source developers doing business with the city.
- The city, from all outward appearances, will be responsible for all capital outlay cost for the construction of the WSP venue. (Estimates approach $2M)
- There has been no determination of how much, if any, of a return the city will receive on the rather extensive capital investment for the WSP venture.
- The WSP MOU is exclusive and valid for six months.
- Doesn’t the unnamed blog, described in this report, appear to be an unpaid PR arm for WSP?
DARE (to be factual):
- While posting and extolling all the wonderful unprovable virtues of the WSP venture and what this venue might produce, did an individual blogger fail to mention a potential vested interest in the project due to a spouse having performed contract work for one of the partners?
- Will a talking points shill, Mother Superior of Flying Harpies, for the mayor sleep well at night after declaring the WSP venture will surpass sliced bread as the new manna necessary to save ‘beautiful downtown Irving?’
- Does the WSP group actually have the benevolent interests of the city in mind, as opposed to profit margins, as their driving force?
- If this venture is as remarkably transparent as touted, then why are Tea Party-ish bloggers allowing "crony capitalism," funded by the city, to be the financial lynchpin for the project instead of personal/business investment as most entrepreneur efforts are required to be?
- Where is the cogent documentation that a venture of this nature will survive, not be a drain on other city assets, or require any future financial assistance from the city?
- Why are bloggers, who take exception to the comments made by the Kool-Aid sippers of WSP, VanDuyne and Ward, dismissed with utter venom, personal attacks and even language polite ladies of the community are unfamiliar with?
- Why doesn’t any of the queen’s minions address the elephant (Tea Party species?) in the room regarding the highly perceived and community acknowledged ethical conflict of a WSP partner serving on the council and reaping financial gain from a city funded project?
If readers of the CCR feel their heads are in an ethereal spin zone from playing "Truth or Dare (to be factual)," turn your computer off, swig a dose of the queen’s mead, and understand why some bloggers on this site have only one literary agenda…to do the queen’s bidding. And this means posting talking points only favorable to the agenda the queen happens to be promoting at that time…between photo ops.
Then, while blasted on Kool-Aid will you know what it is like to be a minion in the queen’s shill force. And if you later exercise due diligence with favorable blog postings on this site, you may be able to earn your Flying Harpy cadet wings.
……………………..Mark Holbrook
NOTE: The URL for the FaceBook blog featured in this report will be provided upon individual request.
