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In reviewing all the campaign rhetoric being created by the City Council candidates, I notice that both of the incumbents swear to “continue” to listen to the Voice of The People and act accordingly. So I have to ask, were they listening to The People when:
- They voted UNANIMOUSLY to issue a $10,000,000 Certificate of Obligation for real estate investments even after the great majority of voters told them NO?
- They voted UNANIMOUSLY to raise our taxes to fund the Certificate even after the great majority of voters objected?
- They voted UNANIMOUSLY to allow the rezoning of Brookhollow Estates above the objection of the neighbors who would be impacted by this decision?
- They voted UNANIMOUSLY to take funds from various city services and infrastructure in order to “Balance the Budget”?
- They voted UNANIMOUSLY to continue ill-advised, illegal, expensive, and unconstitutional litigation: totally ignoring the great number of citizens who vigorously objected to the economic and social costs?
- They constantly vote UNANIMOUSLY to create and enforce ever more restrictive laws and ordinances in order to harass, intimidate, and bully citizens that THEY feel are undesirable?
If the 5 members of the City Council really were representing The People we should have expected at least one vote against these decisions. But no, they continued to VOTE UNANIMOUSLY. That tells me that they are NOT LISTENING to ALL the people. Or, they hear you – but they DON’T CARE. Your ideas don’t fit with their goals, so are not worth considering.
You have heard the incumbents take credit for the good things that have happened in Farmers Branch. Exactly what are they really responsible for? Here’s a partial list:
- Purchasing land that is lying useless and off the tax rolls for an undetermined future. They know what they’d “like” to have there – in fact they have all kinds of grandiose plans: but cannot find a developer who is interested – unless WE supply lots and lots of financing incentive. The fact is, The People said they wanted a grocery store in that location. A lot of grocery chains were contacted, but only one expressed an interest in the site. But that store was not one that the incumbents felt “fit our image”. So the one and only potential business was chased off. Our City Council would much rather have nothing there, and nothing bringing in money. After all, the taxpayers would rather support nothing ……. right? It must be, because that’s what we’re getting for our money: Nothing.
- They had very little to do with enticing businesses to locate here: our City Staff worked hard on that. In fact, the City Council tried their best to make it more difficult for businesses by trying to monopolize waste hauling and by insisting on capricious and idiotic Building Codes. If you’re a small business you can fuggidaboudit.
- Raising Taxes: last year, this year, and next year.
- Cutting Services – be ready to stay inside your well-inspected homes this summer, because the mosquitoes are going to be out in force.
- Firing Staff – the people who provide services for the citizens. Oh – except for Code Enforcement – they hired more inspectors to make sure you do not have empty pots in your yard.
- They claim credit for lowering taxes for 80% of the seniors. In reality, what the seniors got is a check for $15.00. Can you be bought for fifteen dollars? That’s what they think. In reality – they would like nothing better than for people on fixed incomes to be herded into “affordable housing” units.
The two incumbents claim that their opponents are “one issue” candidates. How true, in that my issue is to take the city back from those who consistently ignore the voters:
- who use their positions to intimidate and harass anyone who disagrees,
- who think it is admirable to violate the citizens right to privacy in their own homes,
- who are on a mindless spending spree – leaving us and our children with the bills.
The incumbents have said more than once: “If you don’t like our decisions, use your vote to get rid of us.”
That’s the best advice they have given us since becoming members of the City Council. Now is the time to let them know that we can’t be fooled, and even if they are not listening, WE ARE.
Vote for Kat Holmes: I’ll fight the Bull!
If you are struggling with deciding between Brenda and me, I am glad that you are taking the time to consider the ramifications of your vote. I wish more people were that conscientious. As a candidate, I would like to talk with you more.
I met Brenda on the campaign trail and I like her. And even though we agree on a number of issues, I am the better candidate for the current situation. You probably know that Brenda’s interest in this campaign started with the Alcohol decision. Mine evolved when I realized the extent the City Council will go to in order to bully and intimidate residents through their repressive Code Enforcement blitz. When the City Council praises the Code Enforcement thugs for violating individual privacy in order to force citizens to comply with ridiculous rules, that’s going too far. I don’t know if you’ve ever run afoul of the Code Enforcement Laws, but they are many, they are confusing, and so many of them are created for no other reason than to intimidate. That’s what I am opposed to.
While I agree that there have to be standards that must be followed, especially for Health and Safety reasons, the current Code of Ordinances goes far beyond what is reasonable and prudent. And believe me, they are not above using those ordinances to target and harass selected citizens. I have seen and heard from so many people who are struggling with health, or money, or disabilities. But the City insists that they trim trees, paint over tiny little spots in their homes, pull one weed from a crack in the sidewalk.
I would like to live in a city that is pretty because the people care about and help each other, not because there is a legion of neighborhood watchers who troll the streets looking for any little infraction so they can report it. I would like to find volunteer groups to help the citizens if needed – not to punish them for being old, or poor, or jobless, or sick.
Code Enforcement bullies aside, the current City Council members have shown time and time again that the only time they listen to “The Will of the People” is when it suits their agenda. Recent examples are:
- The decision to allow rezoning of a lot in the beautiful Brookhollow neighborhood in spite of the objections of the neighbours
- Increasing our taxes in defiance of the people who voted overwhelmingly NO to borrowing money so the city can go into the real estate business in the four corners area
- Spending on frivolous and unnecessary projects that we cannot afford right now and that do absolutely nothing to address the concerns of the residents.
These are just some examples of the boneheaded decisions our current City Council has made.
To end this craziness, vote for me for Place 4, and for Matt Wenthold for Place 1. Matt is running against Tim Scott.
I’m sure you all know about U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle’s finding that Ordinance 2952 was an attempt to enforce U.S. immigration laws, which Boyle said only the federal government can do. Thus, that Farmers Branch ordinance banning illegal immigrants from renting apartments in the city is unconstitutional.
“The American people are tired of judges legislating from the bench,” O’Hare said. “We will finally have our opportunity to have this matter heard at the appellate court level where we fully expect to prevail…This decision is not unexpected but welcomed because it allows us to get closer to this ordinance becoming reality.”
Well, but earlier, he said “I am confident this new proposal is consistent with the intent of Farmers Branch voters, and will withstand any legal challenges.” We already know that that confidence was misguided. Just like the confidence that insurance would foot the bill for litigation.
So, now what do we do? Well, we can:
- Throw more money at it. If the city finance director is correct, we will have spent Three Point Two, Four, Five Million Dollars so far fighting lawsuits. And the end is not near. We could easily double that figure in the next few years. And what will we get for our millions? Hmmm, let’s see: we will have “won” the ability to force landlords to become immigration experts. Farmers Branch has 600-700 rental units, so that means that we would save maybe 400 units from being occupied by illegal immigrants. Wow – that’s $10,000 per unit. Wow.
Oh: but wait; will that do anything, anything at all to curb illegal immigration? Ummmm – NO. The illegal immigrants can just move to apartments and homes all around, but not in, The City in the Park. They’ll be spending money in those cities, yet continue coming into Farmers Branch to work in our yards, in our homes, in our businesses. So, here’s a better idea:
In Austin, at the ACLU of Texas, legal director Lisa Graybill praised the ruling saying it “confirms what we have known from the beginning of this fight, back in November, 2006 — that Farmers Branch’s effort to legislate in the realm of immigration is a quixotic attempt to circumvent federal law and clearly established precedent. With this third strike, hopefully the City of Farmers Branch will get out of the immigration enforcement business and move on to address its municipal obligations through more constructive and constitutional local policies. “
Well now, Why didn’t we think of that before? Ms. Graybill has a great idea and we need to think about it. How about the City Council do this:
Let anyone rent in the City, but Increase Code Enforcement. Yes! That’s the ticket. We can Legislate Illegal Immigration from the Code Enforcement trucks! After all, our City Council can make the rules, right? They create the ordinances that make our city upscale and desireable. So all they have to do is create some ordinances “for the Health, Safety, and Welfare of the citizens” and to make Farmers Branch a desirable neighborhood. Who could argue with that?
Now, this is not an easy task, as the City Council has managed to make darn-near everything we do in and around our homes subject to the whims of the Code Enforcement Personnel (Legislating From The Truck), but I’ll bet they missed some stuff. Let’s see, how about:
- No religious statues, signs, banners, jewelry, articles of clothing, anywhere that anyone on public or private property, or international airspace, can see, feel, smell, or suspect. Okay – churches that have filed an official Certificate of Worship may have one or two items – but that’s it. We can say that that is in support of our separation of church and state, and for the good of all people.
- No color on homes, cars, clothing, cosmetics (including lipstick, eye shadow, and hair color), flowers, signs, and personal or private property of any type not specifically mentioned in this ordinance that may be considered an eyesore or otherwise objectionable by anyone on private or public property, or that can be viewed in photographs with Farmers Branch public or private property in the background.
- Make it unlawful to speak any word that may be construed as foreign, or that has its roots in foreign languages. including, but not limited to: alligator, avocado, banana, bonanza, cafeteria, cigarette, hurricane, jade, mesquite, mosquito, patio, potato, ranch, rodeo, rumba, shack, silo, stampede, tomato, tornado, tuna, and vanilla.
- Barbeque (oops – an illegal word) or otherwise cooking outside: must have screened area. Must have permit stating date and time, permission from neighbors, wind direction and velocity, type of food being cooked, type of fuel being used, certified barbeque safety course, list of guests and eligibility of each to eat in this country. Also, Code Enforcement must delegate someone to sample the food before it can be served to anyone else.
- Increase inspections. Right now every rental property has to have a Certificate of Occupancy on file, listing the occupants. What if one of those occupants was pregnant, and The City didn’t know? In order to maintain our health, safety, and welfare we must check each home more often.
Okay, now this may have a side effect, because people will not want to rent here if they have to be inspected every month. But hey – we all know that renters are a blight on society anyway, right? That’s why we have to watch them so closely. And without renters the Code Enforcement crew could get back to measuring grass height, and spotting empty pots, and checking fences and accessory buildings for signs of deterioration, and judging outdoor furniture for outdoor-worthiness.
It’s difficult to assess the impact illegal immigration has had on any given community, all the more so in a Dallas suburb, where residents may be working, shopping, and drawing upon services like hospitals in other parts of the Metroplex. O’Hare has said that illegal immigrants are overburdening the schools, but in interviews school officials disagreed with that notion. He has also complained that some illegal immigrants are committing crimes, and while that is true, they don’t appear to be committing any more crimes than the rest of the population. (Police chief Sid Fuller noted that in a community where violent crime is very low, illegal immigrants stand out only when it comes to driving without a license or insurance.) Nonetheless, O’Hare insists that his constituents are fed up: “They would go through drive-throughs and the people on the other side couldn’t understand English. They were getting frustrated over pressing ‘one’ for this and ‘two’ for that. We had a Montessori school owner complain about how she’d find used drug needles and used condoms in front of the school, right across from a place everyone knows rents to illegals.” And he has the evidence of last May’s election to back him up. “We did what an overwhelming majority of our town wanted to do,” he said.
Now he’s talking: it is so frustrating to sit in your car and order fast food when you can’t understand each other. I thought a lot of that was due to the bad acoustics around the speaker, but why not blame it on the other guy? And fast food is fattening too, but I guess we can’t blame language on that. Or could we ………….?
But now, pressing buttons on the telephone – that is a real problem. And so many times the thing you want to talk about is not covered by any of your button choices. If I want to ask a question I can’t get a human person at all. Would the litigation stop that? Hey – and a lot of times, especially with a “Service” organization I can’t even understand a human if I do manage to stumble upon one. They sound like they’re living in a foreign country or something. Will our millions fix that? If it does it would be worth every single penny of the 5 million.
On Wednesday night the City Council and Carrollton Farmers Branch School Board candidates attended a Forum sponsored by the Metrocrest Republican Club. Thanks so much to the club, and especially to Margaret Somereve, for taking on the difficult job of moderating that ambitious and valuable undertaking.
Those who attended understand that the MRC took on a daunting task: to get 16 political candidates in the same room to plead their cases before voters WITHIN A LIMITED TIME FRAME! Ms. Somereve was very brave (or maybe even a little insane) to keep this bunch in line. She did a great job and for that we all are grateful.
We 5 City Council candidates went first. Initially we were scheduled to go up after the School Board candidates but we all got together and chipped in to buy one of us an airline ticket to fly out-of-town that night so we’d have a good excuse to go first.
Hah! Take that School Board – you think you know political tricks; you ain’t got nuttin’ on the City Council!
Oh – you know I’m just kidding. But we did get to go first.
That was my maiden voyage into the stormy waters of politics, and what an amazing learning experience it turned out to be. Most of the voters were, ummmm, uh, weelllll, okay – I’m going to come right out and say that I looked around real quick and didn’t see any rope, or smell any tar, or sneeze at any feathers, so I felt a little better. But whoa. And what were the voters upset about? Well goodness gracious – they had elected representatives who seemed to be very good at spending their money, and raising taxes, and listening to the people so that they would know how best to ignore them, but little else. Well, wait a minute, a couple of them were very good speakers – I’ll give them that. And they knew it too because they spoke, and spoke, and spoke. And spoke some more. Ms. Somereve is a small woman, but that didn’t stop her from demanding the microphone back when she sensed that they had ample time to pull the wool state their cases. Thank goodness, or else we’d all still be there.
Here’s what I learned last night:
“Bad policies, stupid policies, gutless policies have real consequences.” Oh wait – I already knew that; I heard it from Molly Ivins. But last night I got to witness it. The audience was fed up with the consequences and came “loaded for bear” as the old-timers say.
Issues included:
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The Endless Money Pit of Litigation Against Illegal Immigration:
Here’s a tricky one because a lot of people understand this wrong. The City of Farmers Branch is already into this game for $5 million – and we’re barely half way to the Supreme Court. Some will have you believe that if you are opposed to spending more for chasing a lawsuit that is poorly conceived that you are “FOR” illegal immigration. Ya know what – I just can’t believe that anyone is Pro Illegal Immigration – not even the illegal immigrants. Well, wait, maybe the kids who come in on Student Visas and overstay – they probably like it that way, but surely not the illegal immigrants that we are thinking about. Oh come on – you know who I mean – the ones who put more than 5 decorative items in their front yards. The ones who store non-permitted items in their back yards. Heck – they probably even have grass in the cracks. And they don’t have a lot of disposable income. Those ones.
Now, the incumbents will tell you that it was “The Will of the People” that prompted this lawsuit, and that they are doggedly doing whatever is necessary to do what “The People Want”. Let me think about this for a minute. Oh yeah – now I remember: when “The People” voted on this issue, they were assured that:
- The City had a colony of lawyers (oh wait, the collective term “colony” is used for weasels; oh, wait – I guess that’s close enough) who were following the Hazlewood case and knew how to avoid the mistakes made there.
- The expenses would be covered by the City’s insurance.
- Exiting Mayor Phelps disputed that, saying the litigation would be long and costly, but did “The People” listen? Oh no. In fact, some of them even vandalized the Phelps’ home.
- We would all be soooo much better off once this is settled.
- Again, Mayor Phelps and others warned it would be counterproductive, and would divide the city, but then again, did “The People” listen? Still no.
- Oh yeah – and after “The People” voted to pursue this lawsuit the ones who objected were told “You lost – get over it.” Remember that statement.
Let’s stop for a quick fact check – how many of these statements proved true?
- Former Mayor Phelps – you get the award for being right 100% of the time.
- The rest of the Council: 0%, zilch, nada. Or, to put it another way: wrong 100% of the time.
Now the ordinances against rentals to illegals have been shot down in Federal court. But they did not go quietly – oh my no – they invited countersuits that proved to be expensive also.
A gentleman in the audience asked each of the City Council candidates to declare whether they would “fish or cut bait” on the immigration litigation issue. Now, while I understand his analogy, my own personal one is this:
The Gambler
Suppose there was a guy who told you that he knew how to break the house at poker, and if you backed him financially he would play for you and make you rich. So you gave him a couple of million, then another, then two more. And he kept losing.
Now, would you keep giving him money, hoping that he would hit a streak? At what point would you decide the payoff would never be enough to cover the losses? Wasn’t it Kenny Rogers who spoke those prophetic words “You got to know when to hold ém, know when to fold ém, know when to walk away, and know when to run”?
So: City Council “You lost – get over it”. Move on. Let’s pick up our few remaining chips and go run home.
But Again – let me repeat; because this is very very important:
Just because you are AGAINST pouring money down a rat hole does NOT mean you are FOR allowing anyone to come and stay in our country illegally. That is not the case. But we have to have some sense about us, and about our finances, or we’ll lose it all.
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Raising Taxes after they were told “NO”: Heck NO, lordy lordy NO, absolutely NOT, NO, NEIN, NE, NEE, HUWAG, NON, όχι!, NEM, 아니오, and let’s not forget the redneck term: “Negatory on that, Good Buddy”.
“To do evil that good may come of it is for bunglers in politics as well as morals.” William Penn
bun·gle // (bnggl)
v. bun·gled, bun·gling, bun·gles
v.intr. To work or act ineptly or inefficiently.
v.tr. To handle badly; botch. See Synonyms at botch.
n. A clumsy or inept performance; a botch: made a bungle of the case due to inexperience
Last May “The People” were asked to approve a $30 million bond for “improvements” – at that time a water park in the four corners area was mentioned. The People had found their senses by then and overwhelmingly voted it down. Soooo – the City Council decided that they could issue a Certificate of Obligation for $10 million without getting permission from those pesky People. When The People found out about this they descended on City Hall like Caesar on the Gauls, saying No No No. But the City Council UNANIMOUSLY voted Yes Yes Yes. Then they raised our taxes.
Now, last night at the Forum I heard David Koch explain that escapade. According to his recollection, The People were all for spending lots of money and raising taxes, just not $30 million. So the City Council, trying their best to follow The Will of The People guessed that The People wanted their taxes raised enough to borrow $10 million instead. So that’s what they did. Now, Mr. Koch says that he learned all of this through private conversations with The People, so he knew. Apparently he didn’t speak to many of The People who attended the Forum last evening, because they were not amused.
Incidentally, someone told me that after that City Council meeting, when The People objected they were told something to the effect that “That’s our (the council’s) decision; if you don’t like it you can vote us out of office”. And again, the same councilperson told the audience that he was elected to make those types of decisions for The People. I didn’t see him give out a Bronx cheer but I felt it, and I think the rest of the audience did too.
We should take him up on that offer and speak with our votes.
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Balancing the Budget:
I don’t even know where to start on this one. But I do know one thing: The People should vote for Charles Cox for City Council: he’s the one who’s stuck cleaning up after the City Council’s boneheaded spending sprees. He’s the one who has to find the money and redistribute it so the budget is balanced. What does the City Council do? Well, they listen to Charles and they nod their heads and then they vote unanimously on something.
Our current City Council will tell you that our services have not been affected, companies are fighting to move to Farmers Branch, restaurants and grocery stores and developers are standing in line in front of City Hall, home builders are sabotaging each other in order to snap up land and build McMansions, etc. etc. etc. Good Times.
Next thing you know we’ll be building on that oceanfront property that is just over the horizon. I can hardly wait.
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Lack of Direction and Planning:
Oh, wait, there were so many long charrettes and discussions and residential and business input into Our Vision. So all this spending and taxing and buying was very well planned. I’ve seen some pretty pictures, but I keep hearing that we’re going to build “something as yet undetermined” in the Four Corners. Oh, well, was that the plan? Then why did we have the pretty pictures?
That’s all I have to say about that … for now.
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Miscellaneous Sound Bites:
- At one point David Koch stated that a watchdog group known as Branch Forum conducted a survey asking whether or not we should pursue the Illegal Immigrant litigation. According to David the results showed that 75% of the respondents said “Yes; spend however much it takes to win this lawsuit.” I know some of the Branch Forum members, and was forwarded the survey and accompanying pie chart so I could publish it here. Here it is:
See what I mean about needing an engineer on the City Council? I know how to read, interpret, and understand graphs and data. That is a talent that is sorely lacking on our current council.
If you want to vote go to the Branch Forum website to vote and to be informed, follow this link: http://www.branchforum.com
Read their information, sign up for newsletters. They are an organization of “KNOW”: Know what your elected leaders are getting you into. Know the whole story behind the PR stunts.
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Here’s more:
- The People were told that they could become involved in decision-making for the City by joining one of the several Boards. That got a laugh. Well, maybe not a laugh, per se. Maybe it was shocked disbelief and catcalls instead of laughs. By that time The People were a little testy and not in a jolly mood. Fact is, I know of people who have been waiting years to get on a board. Somehow, they are never invited. I wonder why that is.
- In response to Matt Wenthold’s observation that The City paid $7 million for a parcel of land that was appraised for only around $4 million, Tim Scott set him straight. He said that Matt forgot to include the price of clearing the land. Heck – I would have cleared it, with a shovel and a wheelbarrow, for $2 million, and saved the city a cool million. I wish they had asked.
- Also, on the purchase price for the Albertson’s corner: Mr. Scott graciously informed us that it would have cost around $12 million to have the property condemned, and thus stick the owner with the costs of demolition, etc. Hmmm – now, I’m not an expert on these matters, but something doesn’t seem right to me. Could it be that the buildings really weren’t in that bad of shape? After all, there were some businesses still working there. Hmmmm – could it be that if The City tried to condemn those buildings they wouldn’t be able to justify it? Because, let’s face it: with the crack professional ProActive and Innovative Code Enforcement Team we have in The City, dealing with a few landowners with really dangerous and decrepit buildings ought to be a piece of cake compared to the thousands of homeowners they hassle every year for minor infractions. I’m just saying ………….
- This wasn’t brought out at the Forum, per se, but a concerned citizen did show me a campaign letter that he had received from Tim Scott. In the letter Mr. Scott states that Matt Wentworth’s campaign is one of No:
No to beautification efforts- No to new ideas about redevelopment
- No to our efforts to recognize and honor our nation’s veterans and their committment to our liberty
- No to the idea that our immigration laws must be enforced
- No to our city achieving it’s (sic) potential.
When I saw the letter from Mr. Scott I got this really weird feeling of deja vu. Then it hit me – this is the exact same letter someone else had shown me, but the other one was written and signed by Tim O’Hare. Hey – I always thought they were close, and they do have the same first name, but ……… (insert eerie music here).
Now, I know Matt Wenthold, and I know what he stands for. He is a strong supporter of Farmers Branch, and his ideas of redevelopment, beautification, and the city achieving its potential are well-researched and thought out, realistic, and achievable. He also supports innovative and sound development – I’ve heard his ideas. But he is definitely against putting the City in an economic bind to do all this in a short amount of time. Matt, being one of those financial types, understands that sooner or later you have to pay the piper.
As for the 3rd bullet – that is just downright insulting. Matt is a veteran, as is his father and other family members. Let me see – remind me – what military branch did Mr. Scott and Mr. O’Hare serve with? Having your firm write a check to sponsor a military family at Christmas and then bragging about it on Twitter does not constitute recognizing and honoring our nation’s veterans.
As for Immigration Laws – the City of Farmers Branch is not going to make a dent in the nation’s immigration problem; no matter how much money they throw at it. We’re small and we’re trying to go it alone. Get Real. Get a plan. The City has found that they can bully and intimidate the citizens to get what they want, but they can’t bully and intimidate the Federal Courts.
But maybe I got this all wrong. I know that Mr. Scott sometimes has trouble chosing the correct word, and this is something that spell check wouldn’t catch for him, so he’s out of luck there. Maybe he meant that Matt Wenthold’s campaign is one of “Know”:
- Know what it’s like to be a veteran, and how to honor veterans
- Know what is really important
- Know how to formulate a realistic, honest, and doable plan
- Know what the citizens need, what they want, and what they can afford
- Know how to budget
- Know where the money’s coming from
- Know what you’re talking about
Okay – now that makes a lot more sense. And is truthful.
On that note, I’m going to end this post with a quote from Adlai Stevenson that Mr. Wenthold ought to use:
I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about me, I will stop telling the truth about them. ~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952
I like senior citizens. In fact, I fully intend to be one some day – some day soon. So, I was very interested in the City Council’s constant assertions that they want to provide affordable housing for senior citizens. Well, isn’t that so very sweet and ProActive and Innovative. But Wait – that got me to thinking: there a quite a few senior citizens in The City in the Park, and most of them already live in affordable housing – their own homes which they paid for through the years. Homes that they planned to grow old in. Homes they raised their families in, are comfortable in, and just what they want.
Well, I said “affordable housing”, and it would be except for one thing: Constant Community Surveillance. Yeah – I was looking over the last few month’s Code Violation Cases, and there are an awful lot of violations for decorative items, outdoor storage that The Enforcers don’t think are right for outdoors, grass where they think it shouldn’t be, etc. etc. Normal everyday living stuff. And I got to thinking: how does a Senior Citizen on a fixed income, for instance, trim trees that are growing over the street? Or fix their driveway to The City’s satisfaction? Or paint their own homes. Or a million and one other offenses that are an integral part of living in an aging community, but will make them CRIMINALS in the eyes of Farmers Branch City Council?
Me – right now I’m agile enough to do a lot of work on my own – and I have kids and in-laws and siblings and friends nearby who will help with the more difficult projects. I’m lucky. But what if I was on a fixed income, and I had a spot of paint peeling on one shutter, or my window screen had a small hole, or a miniblind was missing a slat, or I had grass in my crack, or a tree that was encroaching on the Green Grabber’s territory? And I didn’t have kids and in-laws and siblings close by to help me? And The City, in their unrelenting support of Upscale and Desirable, decided that I was now A CRIMINAL because my home wasn’t up to snuff? What would I do?
I’d freak.
Yes I would.
I’ll tell you what I wouldn’t do – I wouldn’t purchase another home in Farmer’s Branch – even if it was “affordable”.
- Because I can’t afford to live under constant surveillance.
- I can’t afford to have some kid young enough to be my son or grandkid tell me what I can and cannot have in my back yard.
- I can’t afford to be A CRIMINAL just because my home and I are growing old together.
So what to do? Hey – you know me – I’m not about to throw a problem out without presenting a solution.
There are so many youth groups that are looking for community service projects. I’ll bet every single church has one, as does Brookhaven College, as do the courts, for that matter. In addition, there are also older people who are willing to help their neighbors, and even strangers. That’s what happens in a small-town community. That’s what happens in a decent, caring community.
What if we matched people who need help with people who want to help? What if, instead of CRIMINALIZING people we HELPED people? I even know of some contractors: painters, cement layers, fence builders, etc. who are looking for work and will make a deal for quantity. We could gather up everyone who needs work done and get a huge price break for doing it all at the same time.
As for the 14′ tree limbs – that’s one of my pet peeves. It seems that the City Council purchased a Shiny New Bigger More Powerful Green Grabber which needs 14′ clearance instead of the 12′ that the old one needed. So, our City Council changed the rules. Sneakily. And no one knew about it until they got their violation notices. So when you get your Violation Notice you have 7 days to rectify the situation. That’s 7 days after they noticed it – NOT after you are made aware. Now, I don’t know many older folks who can shinny up a big tree, chain saw in hand, and trim branches. I used to be able to do it, but not anymore, as I’m older and wiser and am concerned about my own Health and Safety and Welfare more than that of the Green Grabber.
To me, blaming the tree owner for the Green Grabber’s problem is the same as a neighbor who builds a swimming pool under your pecan tree, then sues you because pecans fall into their pool. Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I believe that the neighbor has a right to trim the parts of the tree over his pool – he does not have the right to insist that you do it. Shouldn’t the city have the same restrictions? The electric company trims trees that are interfering with their power lines. While I’m not advocating that we get our trees trimmed by Oncor (I’ve seen their work), shouldn’t the city help with this?
I’m just saying………..
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I am determined to help get The City in the Park back on the right track – so I put my hat in the ring for the City Council Place 4 election. I’m new at politics – I admit it, but I do know what’s right, and I have common sense, and I am not so arrogant to think I should be able to dictate how everyone should live and what they “should” want their own homes and community to be like. And I am not a pushover. If I think it’s the wrong thing to do I will dig in my heels. And if it’s the right thing to do I can get awfully bullish. I know how to deal with thick-headed guys – I was raised with 5 brothers (no sisters).
Today I’m going to share my biography with my readers. You already know what I stand for:
- Bring Back Fiscal Responsibility: We used to have great community services and still have money in the bank. We can do that again.
- Common-Sense Revitalization: What do the citizens of Farmer’s Branch really want their town to be? A mini-Frisco? Highland Park? How about Colleyville? Do we have sound, sensible, realistic goals? Nope. But when I’m on the Council I will insist that we take a really good look at what we want to accomplish, and form a logical approach to our future. A successful future.
- Code Enforcement: Yeah – you knew that was coming, didn’t you. While I am all for a neat, clean, safe and healthy community I am very much opposed to the guerrilla efforts to force everyone into the same mold. We are a diverse community; we have to be allowed to act it. And we have to stop turning honest decent citizens into criminals.
Oh – please Please PLEASE:
- Volunteer!
- Send Moral Support!
- Contribute – even if you can only afford a dollar or two: I certainly understand the financial situation. Campaigns aren’t cheap, and they are very exhausting. I am trying to keep expenses to a minimum – just like I will when I am elected, but I have to get there first.
- Share this blog with like-minded friends and neighbors!
- Send comments, suggestions, complaints! I am very open-minded and encourage constructive criticism. As long as it’s constructive.
And – most importantly: Tell your neighbors and friends to GET OUT AND VOTE for Kat Holmes. We can make a difference, but we have to get there first.
May I place a yard sign in your yard or other property? They’re on order, and you get a first peek at what they will look like:
I chose a sunny yellow background because that’s what we all need right now: a sunny new outlook.
Okay – as promised – here’s my biography:
The Holmes family has called Farmers Branch home for over 30 years. Their house on Apple Valley was their first home and they purchased it with the intention of putting down roots and staying for the long-term.
Kathleen (Kat) and her husband Gilbert (Rook) have three incredible children: Valerie, Sally, and Allen. All three grew up in Farmers Branch and attended Carrollton/ Farmers Branch schools. They are also blessed with 3 adorable grandchildren and two amazing sons-in-law.
Kat graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Biological Science, and has been a Process Engineer with Mostek, Texas Instruments, Raytheon, and DRS Technologies for over 30 years. She will bring her engineer’s attention to detail, logical approach, and facts-based decision-making abilities to the job of City Council Place 4.
As the country emerges from the current financial crisis the future promises many challenges: Challenges that must be met with clear, logical, and fair decisions. Decisions that are right and honourable. Decisions every one of us can live with.
Mrs. Holmes fully appreciates the challenges facing Farmers Branch’s residents, and is committed to making the right decisions for the city, business partners, and especially the citizens of Farmers Branch.
While appearances are an integral part of making a city desirable, so is quality of life. The city of Farmers Branch is blessed with a diverse population, and with that diversity comes different ways of living. Some people are rightly concerned about the environment, and want more recycling and other environmentally responsible activities such as water and natural resource conservation. Everyone wants to be able to enjoy their own back yards without worrying about constant surveillance and outlandish restrictions. No one wants to be bullied in their own home.
The citizens of Farmers Branch deserve a representative who will show independent, clear, logical thinking ability. Someone who will represent all the residents and not just special-interest groups. Someone who will dare to question the status quo. Someone who has the backbone to stand up for the citizens. Someone who really knows what is going on in the entire city, not just selected areas.
Kat Holmes is that Someone, and she will be honored to be an advocate for the citizens of Farmers Branch.
Together we can make Farmers Branch a showplace community: a community where people are happy and productive, and feel proud to call home.
As you all know, my husband has been ill. He has his good days and his bad days, but our City must go on being Beautiful and Desirable and Park-Like, in spite of the old, infirm, widowed, aged, poor, disabled, and incapacitated residents. For that is what makes a City truly Community-Minded: and did I say Desirable? Like a small-town, comfortable, “isn’t it great to be home” atmosphere.
Anyway, if you read my older posts, The City loves to enforce Codes and Ordinances. They love to drive slowly down the streets and count decorative items and check out non-permitted storage etc. etc. etc. You all know this, so I won’t go on. If you do want to see how much they love to do this you can look at the reports on The City Website.
So … hubby had two citations: one for our poor cracked driveway and another for the dreaded Non-Permitted Storage. This is the storage that’s way in the back of our property, and cannot be spied unless you are really really looking hard. I’m talking about parking in the middle of a busy street and looking through my neighbor’s fence, across his entire back yard, past his play fort, across the easement, and into my back yard. Whew – that’s a lot of looking, but our Code Enforcement folks are up to the challenge as they are ProActive, Innovative, and Professional. They actually had to get out of their comfy trucks and walk in ankle-deep mud to see it properly. But they persevered, all for the Health, Safety, and Welfare of the fine citizens of The City in the Park.
So … two citations. As hubby is sick he signed Power of Attorney to me so that I could handle our legal and financial issues. So I went to the courthouse on the day I thought our court date was. Here’s what I discovered:
- Wrong Day – blast it. There were actually two court dates, one for each citation. The nice ladies at the Customer Service desk couldn’t tell me any more, as I was not him.
- But they did let me know that there was a WARRANT for him …. for violating the terms of his “parole” from the earlier non-permitted storage offense ….
- the one where Code Enforcement and I disagreed on whether mesquite and vinyl furniture was meant for outdoor use or not.
- The one where they drug Hubby, straight out of surgery, up before the judge and talked him into a sweet deal where he promised to “Go and Sin No More”. And “Sin” was defined by Code Enforcement alone! That deal. Read about it in my posts “Advanced Code Enforcement”, “My Day in Court”, “Our Day in Court”, and “New Low in the Code Enforcement Game”, among others.
Who didn’t see that one coming.
When I presented the signed PofA they took it to the judge, who decided that it was “The Wrong Power of Attorney”. I asked what the Right Power of Attorney is, but that was “Legal Advice” and thus they could not say.
- Yes – I argued that telling me what was wrong is also Legal Advice, but they didn’t see the humor in that argument. And
- Yes, I asked to speak to the judge but he already saw my PofA and didn’t want to talk with me.
So – now what could I do? My Hubby was now a CRIMINAL – as I was informed that to have non-permitted storage is a CRIMINAL OFFENSE. Oh dear – now was I guilty of harboring a criminal. Oh dear, I selfishly looked out for my own interests, and turned him in. Yes I did: I told them that if it was that big of a deal they could always send the SWAT team to arrest him – since he’s been ill they could find him in bed, in our master bedroom. They didn’t see the humor in that either.
They couldn’t tell me any more because it had already been established that I was not him, and he was THE CRIMINAL. They suggested I speak to his lawyer. Hey – if we could afford a lawyer we would fix the driveway. But that’s not THEIR CONCERN.
As I walked out of the courthouse in frustration a catchy tune kept playing in the back of my mind. A neighbor came over later, and as I told him of the day’s activities he started singing – The Same Tune That I Was Thinking! Wow: here are the catch words:
“You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant…..”
Oh – remember that song? In a nutshell, Arlo Guthrie and his friends tried to help a neighbor clean her property while she cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for the group. That good gesture went bad when they discovered that the city dump was closed and ultimately ended in Arlo and Company’s arrest for city code violation. This arrest made him a bona-fide criminal and provided an interesting experience when he registered for the draft. If you want to revisit the ’60’s, and hear the whole story, here’s a link to the lyrics:
http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml
Just remember – Violating The Code is a Criminal Offense. As applies to The City in the Park: and to quote Yogi Berra; “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” Unfortunately, I cannot sing like Arlo, but Arlo didn’t have a personal computer either, so I express my astonishment through blogging.
So: there are an awful lot of Criminals in Farmer’s Branch, with new ones being created every single day. Is that Upscale and Desirable? Is that really what The Citizens want? Before you answer, be forwarned:
I can drive down any street in Farmers Branch, look at any home, and find a Code Violation. Yes I can: and I’m not a professional Code Enforcer. It’s easy – The Codes are written that way. We can all be criminals, or we can all insist on sensible, realistic, and well-defined codes. Codes that really are for the good of all the people.
In the words of Martin Luther King Jr.:
One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws.
Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
DARE to LIVE in Farmer's Branch 
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