the Controversial Committee Report
“We don’t raise sacred cows...we just butcher them.”
“Unknowns and Booze”
Well, dear readers, it’s that time of the year, again…city elections are scheduled for May 4, 2019.
And this year, voters will have some difficult choices to make. Difficult in that scant information is available as to the candidate’s background, ability to assume a leadership role, or any ‘hidden agendas’ which might prevail in a candidate’s portfolio. Why?
With so many new names appearing on the ballots, this election will require astute voters and community involved individuals to determine who might be best to cast their vote for.
Additionally, there will be a ballot item to vote on whether Irving will fail to resist the money hungry liquor industry that wants hard liquor package stores on nearly any vacant corner of ‘beautiful downtown Irving.’
As noted below, the field of candidates for the city council and school board races are replete with unknowns, a couple retread candidates, and individuals making their first dive into the Irving political pool.
While Dylan Westie, Executive editor/Part-time wordsmith and Social Media Troll for the CCR, has provided the basic information of runners, he is not, at this time, prepared to make a final determination of support in this limited “voters guide” publication.
Instead, the CCR election picks will come in a later report. However, the CCR staff will suggest that one runner be scratched from consideration and not voted for.
Here are the candidates for the city council and school board elections:
Irving City Council
Place 1 - Candidates
John C. Danish
(With no opposition, Danish would do well to continue resting to gather strength for future council meetings to intone his very verbose lessons on historical events…sadly, not relative to Irving affairs.)
Place 2 (At-Large) Candidates
(All Irving registered voters will be allowed to vote for this at-large seat. Due to the newness of names, very little information is currently present for the candidates. A real voters guide will assist in this review, plus voters will be confronted with the spin normally contained in candidate campaign mailers.)
Jesse Koehler
Dinesh Mali
(Previously served on the school board and was recently unsuccessful vying for a State representative seat.)
Rodwaan M. Saleh
Dr. Naveed Klair
Dr. Olivia Novelo
Shayan Elahi
Allan E Meagher
(Without reservations, the staff of the CCR will not even ponder this incumbent for re-election consideration. All one has to do, to witness the calibre of his faux-service to constituents during his term, is review a few of the CCR reports for the past year. As the Uber-driver of the “anti-ARK clown car,” he attempted to spout, on TV and council meetings, in favor of the ITMF while kowtowing to his primary campaign donor, Chris Allen, of funds and PAC financed brochures; and nuzzling up to his good drinking and noshing buddy, Billy Bob, to continuously deny ARK the $44 million factually due to them. The disingenuous law suits, by parties against ARK and the city, were used, by Meagher, as cover when expressing his biased, colluded, and less than honest views of the ITMF. Satisfying his crony buddies over doing what was right for the city is blinded representation.)
Place 7 - Candidates
Kyle Taylor
(Taylor has done a terrific job of listening and working with citizens during his initial term on the city council. Keeping this up and avoiding watching the Elijah Wood movie “Flipper” will serve him well in the future.)
Irving ISD Board of Trustees
This election cycle could witness the complete transformation from a board knowing how to carry out its mission, to a board under the complete control of the newly named superintendent, and the biased pronouncements from TASB (Texas Association of School Boards). Two dedicated board members will not be returning and the three seats scheduled for this election cycle are also up for grabs. And similar to the council races, there is a plethora of new names. Additionally, there is one retread (former board member) with a less than stellar service record seeking a return to the board.
District 1 Candidates
Charles David Nutt
Rosemary Robbins
District 3 Candidates
Pamela Campbell
Cynthia Sharp
District 5 Candidates
A.D. Jenkins
(Previously and currently serves on the school board and was once an unsuccessful candidate vying for a State representative seat.)
MyChana Burton
District 6 Candidates
John DeLorme
Tony Grimes
District 7 Candidates
Randy Randle
(Randle is an incumbent and has served the board well. He is an Irving business owner and applies good business practices to his dealings as a trustee on the board. This is the calibre of individual needed on the school board at this critical time.)
The Liquor Tsunami
As previous noted in a previous CCR report (“The Booze Tsunami,” 01-23-19), the liquor industry is on the verge of indelibly marking ‘beautiful downtown Irving’ with hard liquor package stores throughout the city.
Does Irving really need this new alcohol blight?
Presently, wine and beer are available in major grocery stores, corner convenience stores, and quick stop locations. And for those few who might require the hard stuff, the drive is less than a mile past the city limits sign.
There is a long history of voting for/against the selling of alcohol in the city. And the ballot for the May election could be the last opportunity for citizens to finally put this issue to rest.
The only benefit of having hard liquor package stores in Irving is held by the greedy, money grabbing folks behind this package store issue. There is no benefit to the citizens of the city, unless they are comfortable with a hard liquor store in their neighborhood, want to see crime possible increase in their neighborhood, or love drunks spinning around their neighborhood.
Those who opposed the passage of alcohol in the city, during prior years, have one last opportunity to assist in keeping ‘beautiful downtown Irving’ safer.
Will those forces materialize and rise once again to keep the hard liquor package store scourge out of the city?
…………………………..Mark Holbrook
