the Controversial Committee Report
“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”
If John Oliver, of HBO’s "Last Week Tonight," had been in Irving this past week, he would probably want to re-name his program, "The Week Was Today."
The roller coaster ride of happenings and events this past week had more ups and downs than the pot/chuckhole eastbound section of Irving Blvd. between Main Street and Loop 12. (Those taking this ride daily will certainly be needing dental implants before summer arrives.)
Just in case you were hiding in a cave with Flying Harpies or spun into a politico gibberish-coma by a Pet Rock, here are some items worthy of your consideration.
Potential City Council Filings
The tent is set up and the clown mobile loaded as rumors are circulating that this election season will have more comic relief, than conventional wisdom, provided for voters. And one can automatically thank QueenB VD and her "Dark Money" cohorts.
On the horizon, efforts are being made, or considerations initiated to run for election by: a former disgraced, due to resumé fact fabrications, council Pet Rock; a sycophant FaceBook blogger for QueenB VD on KIAD (Keep Irving Divisive); a real estate crony of QueenB VDs who has previously pledged total fealty; a failed county election candidate whose murky past is as cloudy as that of Dorian Gray; and another failed city council candidate who marches to the same drum beat as the queen, especially during her push for the council resolution on the State HB 562 fiasco.
With three seats up this election cycle, the pickings are not looking that grand for the queen. And it appears the queen and her "Dark Money" providers are at the ready to establish any of the above in her royal court of Pet Rocks.
District 1 is currently represented by John Danish. And yes, staff of the CCR will firmly advocate that Danish be re-elected. Taking a look back on some of the more controversial issues QueenB VD has promulgated, especially during her Red Meat TEA-carnivore blathering sessions, Danish has been a voice of reason and instrumental in the city pursuing the right and proper course.
District 2 (At Large) is currently occupied by Allan Meager. And like Danish, he should be re-elected. He has assisted in limiting QueenB VDs expansion of her single source developers, special interest groups, MOU for a bland development on the old Texas Stadium site and cronies who have been given the keys to unlock city Economic Development funds supplied by tax bucks.
District 7 is being vacated by Pet Rock Gerald Farris who is not running for re-election. (A quiet thank goodness would be appropriate.) This seat is where QueenB VD and her "Dark Money" cronies hope to establish a beachhead to assist in their devious plan of spending obscene amounts of money in seeing incumbents are not re-elected. You see, the "Dark Money" plan has nothing to do with good government, but rather electing Pet Rocks for promoting and fostering a greedy agenda benefitting those who support, finance and personally gain from the queen being mayor. And this seat is where some of the clowns aligned with the queen could be putting on their red noses!
The deadline for filing in the city council election is February 19, 2016. When the final roster of candidates is know, the CCR will alert you as to nefarious plans the candidates aligned with QueenB VD and the "Dark Money" political pimps1 have in mind for low information voters.
New Orleans Sendoff
The service for golden voice, silver tongue and former Mayor Bob Power was befitting an individual whose civic imprint on the city not only will be remembered, but will probably never be duplicated. Yes, Bob was a stately gentleman who served the citizens of Irving like no other mayor has previously managed to do.
As a testament to his ability to work, all inclusively, with citizens and officials, the attendance of former mayors, former and present city council members, former city managers, city staff, titans of business and industry, and individuals touched, by the many projects and issues he helped create or see to resolution, were in attendance to pay their final respects.
Instead of attempting to identify the many accomplishments instrumental during Bob’s tenure of service to Irving, click on the following:
Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20160203-robert-harris-power-former-mayor-helped-bring-texas-stadium-to-irving.ece
Brown’s Funeral Home: http://brownmem.com/book-of-memories/2371314/Power-Robert/obituary.php
Of course, Irving today is not the Irving of days past. And one of the primary reasons could be the leadership of politicos today is more egocentric to appease self-interest…as opposed to being the civic servants, to serve citizens, they were elected to represent. In essence, Irving currently lacks good, old fashioned leadership.
Probably, the only thing missing at the conclusion of the service for Bob was having Drew Brees, of the New Orleans Saints, lead the jazz band and attendees down the aisles of Calvary Temple. That would have been one more touch of class to an already classy and fitting home going for a true Irving icon and leader.
Can You Hear Us Now?
While the current information is rather sketchy at this point, a rather large issue is poised to be shuffled through the council. This issue directly impacts all Irving tax payers.
While the city is fortunate to have Verizon as a corporate citizen, their future plans for building and developing acreage around their corporate campus will be for a for-profit enterprise…which is not directly related to their communications business.
As such, it appears the Verizon enterprise will be funding the infrastructure (roads, sewers, etc.) for the development, but will look to the city for later reimbursement of those expenses.
Some would deem this crony capitalism if approved by the city, while others would question why the city should be funding a for-profit private development at tax payer expense.
How many small, struggling businesses in the city are ever afforded this type of financial opportunity. Are tax payer funds up for grabs and available due to the size of a business, or who one might know to convince the council and city staff their pie-in-the-sky colored pictures just have to have city paid financial subsidies in order to successful?
Consider how far this funding, if approved, for Verizon would go to address the decrepit infrastructure in the balance of the city. Consider how long it has been, for areas of the city, when some citizens have waited to have their streets and sewers repaired or replaced. Consider the lip service citizens often receive from council members when requesting assistance for those projects only to be told the current budget cannot support the funding to complete the needed request.
If a public meeting is held to consider the Verizon proposal on a council agenda, citizens might want to clear their calendars and voice their concerns. At the present, it appears all of the discussions regarding the Verizon deal have been in Executive Sessions of the council, or ‘smoke-filled’ meeting rooms to discuss and consider how best to proceed.
Remember, voters can often have more sway on public policy than pretty colored pictures provided by a developer.
…………………………………Mark Holbrook
Notes:
1 Once again for clarification purposes: The term "pimps" is used to denote anyone who is associated with, contributes to, or provides campaign support utilizing "Dark Money" in a City of Irving election process. The use of "Dark Money" is primarily to hide all those who would buy or control elected officials for self-interest purposes.
Irving’s State legislators, Rodney "Bogus-gate Complaint" Anderson and Matt "Squeaky" Rinaldi, voted against requiring disclosure of donors and expenses for these egregious "Dark Money" campaign-slush funds. And they consider this representing the majority of Irving residents! Those interested might want to check their campaign finance reports to witness how much "Dark Money" will seep into their re-election processes.
