the Controversial Committee Report
“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”
READER ALERT: This report is time sensitive for this evening.
Hey, kids. Want to play the new parlor game that is sweeping Hackberry Creek? It’s fun. The newest game in town is called CM Roulette.1
Before explaining the game rules and regulations, players would be best served if a bit of background information was stipulated. This will help score bonus points and maybe save your residence from conflagration. Or, maybe providing a timely IV and CPR for a heart patient.
Game History: Fire Station #12, in the Hackberry Creek development, has been on the planning board for a good number of years. Last year (2014), QueenB VD and her Pet Rocks managed to place the scheduled development, hiring of personnel and necessary equipment requirements on hold citing budget restrictions. Huh?
However, the rationale, which was not expressed in public, boiled down to later using this fire station issue and budget bucks as campaign talking points for Pet Rocks running for re-election. How?
If you recall QueenB VD was on her Red Meat TEA-carnivores speaking tour and was attempting to pump up her political resumé with selling points. Other than her failed attempt to have a total smoking ban enacted as part of her script, she was pushing for a city "tax rate decrease" to reward peons of the realm. Can you say self-serving? Can you say "pseudo-tax rate decrease?"
Remember the ‘magnitude’ of the "pseudo-tax rate decrease" you received? Bet you are still driving around town in your new Bentley convertible with all the money returned by the queen’s proposal! Actually, the tax issue was the sham perpetrated to utilize those funds, which were originally earmarked for purchasing fire protection equipment, for the "pseudo-tax rate decrease."
In the 2015 election cycle, Pet Rocks LaMorgese and Tom Spink proudly crowed to the firefighters and residents of Hackberry Creek: "Look what we’ve done. We now have mysteriously found and approved funds to construct your fire station, hire staff and purchase all the necessary equipment. You are now going to have a fire station which will be capable of responding to calls within minutes of your home. Aren’t we great? By the way, please remember to vote for Brad LaMorgese and Tom Spink…we brought the bacon home to you."
Fast forward to today for a new issue which might be thwarting the total planning, development and staffing of the fire station. For some unknown and unfathomable reason, it appears the City Manager wants to stall the hiring processes for the new station to save some bucks! What?
Consider the amount of time required and necessary for potential firemen to take established tests, be interviewed and be selected. Would this be a very wise decision? Should "savings over safety" ever be an issue for the city administration or city council? Will "savings over safety" be incorporated in the final city budget which the council is preparing to approve?
Will the fire station construction be completed prior to the staff being onboard to meet the service and safety needs of Hackberry Creek? If the station is completed and not staffed, emergency calls will still be handled by other stations in the city. Doesn’t this perpetuate the problem of not having an operational fire station in Hackberry Creek?
Let’s Play: Here’s how you play CM Roulette which is only allowed for residents in Hackberry Creek.
Each time a resident of Hackberry Creek requires the services of the fire department or EMT, record the amount of time from when the call was initiated to the time fire personnel arrive. And remember, those individuals are not coming from the proposed Fire Station #12.
When you have the time, send an e-mail to the City Manager and your Hackberry Creek council representative, Brad LaMorgese, and ask them: "Is saving a few bucks worth more than saving a few lives or homes?" Your comments should also detail the time for a response to service your need.
Scoring:
If you receive a seven page screed from LaMorgese (much like the one he was sending constituents attempting to explain his dumfounded Entertainment Center votes) deduct fifteen points from your total score. Should he send a short mea culpa for another wrongheaded vote by allowing ‘savings over safety’ to take precedent over a completed and staffed fire station, then add five points to your total score. However, if his response is layered with lawyer mumbo jumbo, then you have lost and are not eligible to play future rounds.
If you receive a message from the City Manager and his response fails to addresses "savings over safety" to you by his pushing this inane decision, deduct twenty-five points from your total score. Should you receive any response from the City Manager outlining how municipal planning requires sacrifices to achieve stated goals and designated priorities, another ten points should be deducted.
Basically, the scoring of the game determines if the City Manager and your council representative forego their talking points and state legitimately how they placed "savings over safety." If a response of this nature is even received, then you have achieved the maximum number of points necessary to express your disbelief in the political processes via social media, letters to the editor of the DMN, or initiate a petition to recall your representative.
Good luck. Should you contact the Hackberry Creek council representative, the queen who also lives in Hackberry Creek, and City Manager, let them know this off-center decision of "savings over safety" is not beneficial to the community or the residents of Hackberry Creek.
The budget the council will be passing should not delay the staffing of Fire Station #12. Period. No debate required.
Contact your Hackberry Creek representatives and City Manager at:
Beth Van Duyne
(972) 898-7500
Brad LaMorgese
(214) 460-1990
Chris Hillman
(972) 721-2600
If you do contact them, please assure them the time is now to stop using first responders (police and fire) as political footballs, or wedges in self-serving agendas.
………………………………..Mark Holbrook
On a separate note: When the city council meets tonight in Executive Session (after the budget discussions) to once again discuss the ARK stick-in-the-spokes — inflicted by QueenB VD and the Pet Rocks (Ward, LaMorgese, Farris and Riddle) — this could be the tipping point meeting. The Entertainment Center can either move forward, or the council could set the city in a position for a potential law suit. (Pizza Inn ambulance chasers are standing by.)
It is doubtful there will be an actual vote on ARK tonight, but the groundwork could and should be laid for a final vote on the project at a meeting scheduled fairly soon.
Here’s Dylan Westie’s, Executive editor/Part-time wordsmith and Social Media Troll for the CCR, early Starbucks tweets today on the topic. As usual, Dylan seems to be paw perfect with his take regarding the Entertainment Center. MH
Dylan Westie @DylanWestie1 Sep 10
Pizza Inn ambulance chasers advised to remain on road shoulder & await QueenB & Pet Rock's critical vote on EC tonight. #standwithARK now!
Dylan Westie @DylanWestie1 Sep 10
Last call for alco...EC. QueenB (Irving mayor) & Pet's Rock's last chance to get it right tonight. #standwithARK & tell others too!
Dylan Westie @DylanWestie1 Sep 10
Paging Oscar Ward: You are in citizen’s spotlight & on the bubble for tonight’s executive session discussion re: ARK. Time to #standwithARK
Here are the individuals to contact and let them know the time is now to punt QueenB VDs political football out of the stadium and move forward with the ARK Entertainment Center.
Beth Van Duyne
(972) 898-7500
Oscar Ward
(469) 704-8479
Brad LaMorgese
(214) 460-1990
Gerald Farris
(972) 554-1810
Phil Riddle
(469) 781-7176
Notes:
1. CM Roulette (CM = City Manager) is similar to Russian Roulette, except guns are not used. The weapon of choice in CM Roulette is spontaneous combustion. Or in extreme cases…arson. Even heart attacks could factor into the equation. In essence, you lose if the CM wins with his pending consideration to delay hiring personnel for Fire Station #12.
