The leadership of the radical extreme right of right Burleson Texas Patriot Tea Party is a threat to the City of Burleson.They have infiltrated the Burleson Chamber of Commerce and now they want city government. The BISD school board is next. They had the Johnson County Commissioners for several years as well as the Johnson County Emergency Services District. The common name in all of these is Keith Kelly. His surrogate on the Commissioners Court is Jerry Stringer.
That's right. I've named it and I've committed to it. Am I being negative? No, I don't think so - I think I'm being Paul Revere. I'm naming names; getting them out in the light.
What makes me think that anyone cares for what I say? Well, its not so much that I think people care about what I say, but that someone is willing to stand up and say it. Oh, many think it; and many believe it. It's just many don't want to interrupt their serenity to say it. To say it means you have to wear it daily. A lot of people don't want to have that aura around them every day. They are just not made that way. However, there are a few of us around that will take on the task.
We don't really know each other but we have kindred spirits I guess. The willingness, no, the necessity, to take a stand and say what needs to be said even at personal peril, is innate, either born there or inserted by some experience in our past.
I know this is a very myopic conversation that I am having, and I know that speaking out carries a price and it makes people wonder why I would do this. For attention? For notoriety? Not for either one of these. The only thing that I can honestly say about my motivation is "for right". I think if terms of a "plumb line". That line that divides right and wrong and it is immovable. A person's opinion has to be measured by that line, not by what one decides for himself. To hold differing opinions is a basic right as an American. It's when the opinion gets supported by a lie that the line is crossed. That is what has happened in this case.
Larry Pool ran for office on a lie. Yes, a lie about debt and percentage of industry growth, property taxes, the opportunity fund, the building standards, and yes, pretty much everything he listed as a platform. Others campaigning for other positions have used the federal housing issue, as well. Had Mr. Pool indicated that he just didn't like debt, and took it on as a philosophical issue of just debt and the use of it to grow; that would have been fine. Of course, the counter of that would have been that he would have preferred to tell businesses to go away because we didn't want to provide roads, water lines, sewer service, fire protection, police protection, etc... He would have had to have been the anti-growth candidate. I'm sure there are some citizens that would support that agenda. However, Mr. Pool and his campaign advisers didn't want that. They wanted to have the growth and attack the idea of the debt as it was the only way to unseat a popular and successful incumbent.
Because the Mayor, council, City Manager and staff had used debt responsibility to grow the city and had plenty of independent sources providing accolades to that fact, Mr. Pool and his advisor, Keith Kelly, had to obfuscate that fact. So, in the Keith Kelly Handbook on how to mold a conservative message*, he did what he normally does; he lies. He took real numbers and offered them up out of context. Grab a popular mantra - no new debt- which has been on the national scene (for good reason) and bring it to our town and apply it to the debt of an exploding city which is like comparing apples to oranges. Mayor Shetter has explained the differences on his website to anyone that is truly interested in the truth! * Taken from Kelly's biography on the Texas Patriot Tea Party website
Interesting thing about people in power, they can't hear anything that counters what they want to believe. It's a mob mentality when you are in power. For years, liberals were criticized by conservatives for refusing to listen to conservative voices and "be their own man" urged to reject the "party line", etc... So, now it is the same with the conservative movement; act just like the liberals acted - tow the party line, refuse to think for yourself, stay united, threaten and defame and defeat the enemy. Then it becomes personal, Every perceived slight that a citizen might have experienced, become a black mark on the Mayor. Interesting that the Mayor only casts a vote when there is a tie. How does the council escape criticism? Mr. Pool was on the council for an entire year and there is no evidence that he ever attempted to do the things that he now says he wants to do as Mayor. He went along, reaping the perceived glory of being a councilman including celebrating and hold the balloons during the opening of the BRiCK.
I've been told Mr. Kelly is a true "Patriot". He digs for the truth and holds people accountable. However, I believes he takes the truth and finds ways to cover it up; substituting a lie, even in the face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary such as in the matter of the Burleson Opportunity Fund. Despite there being a video showing exactly what Mayor Shetter said the day that he discussed the initiative with extreme passion and excitement, Kelly puts out an email that says that Mayor Shetter promised to provide every kindergarten child in Burleson a four year education from the economic development fund. It is simply not true. So, Mayor Shetter has had to take action to give as many citizens as possible the opportunity to see the video in order to show that Kelly is untruthful.
There were many such example of his lies and misrepresentations* in his email. However, how many people have already voted not knowing that or not having the opportunity to know about the lies. Well, that is exactly what Kelly's campaign method depends on. Last minute tactics designed to fool his own backers. * Please read the previous post on the Opportunity Fund on this blog as it is entirely Mayor Shetters response to Kelly's and the "We the People" accusations against Mayor Shetter and the BOF.
One last thing. Many consider my blog and my posts mean, negative, derogatory, slanderous, etc... That is their choice. Make no mistake however, they are mine thoughts and statements alone. They are my opinions and/or they can be backed up. Mayor Shetter doesn't control what I say and doesn't suggest what I should say. I have never asked him what I should say.
Actually, Mayor Shetter is nothing like me. I'd make a terrible Mayor. Mayor Shetter, I've come to find, is a very humble man. It's hard for him to come out and ask you to even vote for him. I've watched him, and I've listen to him and he loves Burleson. He wants to serve. It is HIS passion. I'm proud to stand up for him. Not just for who he is, not just because he wants to be Mayor but because we need Mayor Shetter to continue his leadership for the betterment of Burleson.
Please vote for Ken Shetter, Ronnie Johnson, Matt Aiken and for school board, Beverly Volkman-
Powell.
Just sayin'
Ann
Please read other posts below for more information about this campaign.
No comments:
Post a Comment