the Controversial Committee Report
“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”
When an organization is doing a fine job, it hardly seems fair, by staff of the CCR, to offer suggestions for any improvement. And this holds true for the work of the Irving Chamber of Commerce and the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau. They do fantastic work for the city…even under current trying circumstances.
However, on January 26, 2016, the chamber will sponsor their annual "State of the City" address which will be blathered given, of course, by mayor BVD. The working title for her posturing of personal achievements will be — "Irving: City of Great Beginnings."
Suggestion: It could serve chamber members in attendance and the residents of the city best if mayor BVD would change the title of her speech and pontificate on — "Irving: City of Great Endings."
The list of Great Endings would far surpass the list of any Great Beginnings mayor BVD will attempt to take credit for. Rest assured, she will take credit where credit was not due to be taken. (After all, this is the basic nature of a self-aggrandizing mayor.)
Being realistic, the mayor’s actual main achievements miserably include: having a single source developer for the Texas Stadium site, housing construction under a DFW airport runway, unfathomable number of photo ops, and endless prattling to Red Meat TEA-carnivore groups. Not much there, to hang a tiara on, by the mayor for the chamber’s interest.
And to give credit where credit is actually due, mayor BVD could not have accomplished any of those activities had she not had a Sugar Daddy handler, "Dark Money" contributors, sycophant FaceBook bloggers, Pet Rocks who followed her dictates, and a cadre of very low information followers.
Back to the point at hand.
Here are some Great Endings residents of ‘beautiful downtown Irving’ would like to witness and have espoused by mayor BVD in her rambling address to the chamber:
Great Ending: mayor BVD discontinues her facts fabrication speaking tours to extreme political groups on matters not relative or related to her responsibilities for serving the city as mayor.
Great Ending: mayor BVD sits down with Irving’s media of record (Dallas Morning News) and responds to ALL questions asked, and, also, foregoes issuing self-aggrandizing talking points to extreme, and highly questionable, blog publications…including her personal FaceBook page.
Great Ending: mayor BVD discloses all donors, contribution amounts and expenses to date for her personal, political "Dark Money" fund operated by two of her Irving political cronies.
Great Ending: mayor BVD realizes Irving is a city manager/council form of government and not a fiefdom to sate her personal agenda. (There is no "I" in Team.)
Great Ending: mayor BVD, in conjunction with the city council, develops a sincere and authentic plan to address and reduce the "unsavory visitors" marching, protesting and rallying over the issue of State HB 562 which she created and fostered. (An admission she was wrong might be a starting point.)
Great Ending: mayor BVD, in conjunction with the city council, strives to project an image reflecting Irving is a city which recognizes and accepts diversity, religious tolerance, and will work to ensure that the individual rights of all citizens are recognized and protected.
Just as Dickens noted it was the "best of times and the worst of times," mayor BVD cannot project "Irving: City of Great Beginnings" until she recognizes, adapts, changes, and moves forward to halting the horrendous path of Great Endings she has branded the city with.
Should denizens of ‘beautiful downtown Irving’ see movement, by mayor BVD, to actually implement and orate "Irving: City of Great Endings," then citizens will consider the city back on a path which could reflect progress, understanding and movement toward the image and vision previous mayors and councils worked diligently to create.
And for any of this to be accomplished, mayor BVD has to realistically realize and finally understand…Irving is greater than all her self-interest considerations and hidden agendas.
………………………………..…….Mark Holbrook
