Are we "goofy" & "naive"
An Open Letter to NRH City Councilman Tim Welch
Published with permission
 
 

Councilman Tim Welch,

Thanks for responding to my email. Please be mindful the subject matter & contents of this text are my opinions & I have not been asked to address issues by anyone or any group.

Admittedly, I am aware that being a member of any city council is a tough, rough, thankless position & can be brutal at times. Council members’ feet are held to the fire on a daily basis, as it should be. There is an old saying - “if you can’t stand the heat then get out of the kitchen”

Which brings the name of Frank Metts, Jr to mind. I don’t know for a fact, but I assume he has done some good as a member of NRH city council as you have indicated. I was raised to think there is some good in everybody. It takes a long time to amass a lot of “attapersons” but all those “attapersons can be lost when one “opens mouth & inserts foot”.

He openly, via the local newspaper, called a group of which I am a member “political terrorists” & he stated the voters didn’t understand what we were voting for. I am an accountant by education & career. I think I am intellectually qualified to understand what I am voting for and I’m certainly not a political terrorist.

NRH council members being elected at large are accountable to all of the NRH residents & not just to special interest groups nor the whims of several council members including the mayor. This brings up Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Was this area considered derelict & depressed in nature & would require concessions by the City in order to gain developers attention? Don’t think so. I had one real estate person state that a lot of developers would have sold their soul to the devil to develop that area & without benefit of any concessions from the city.

Another galling point is that most of the tax revenues from that TIF area goes into a special fund and is controlled by appointees which equates to expenditures from the fund without voter approval. Have I & others been asleep? You bet we have but no more.

Why is it the City can’t seem to get their sign ordinance cataloged properly? With a City Manager, two assistant City Managers & a slew of support staff one would like to believe someone would have their head(s)screwed on right & their feet on solid ground. Does this mean other ordinances may be illegally enforced? Could be.

Two(2)lawsuits against NRH keep rising to the surface; namely, wrongful death of Troy Davis & age discrimination of Pat Hughes. These suits need to be settled in an expedient manner. No more appeals. If the mayor & city attorney don’t like it - so be it. Who has the most to gain by appeal after appeal? I think you know the answer to that. Wouldn’t be the City Attorney would it? I am making reference to the City Attorney that is paid $160.00 an hour to set in on council meetings & cat nap. Does he have some hush, hush data on some folks? Only logic I know of for his continuous employment but don’t know for sure. Maybe you have a better answer. How about it?

I questioned a city council member wanna be what could be done about the city attorney & his cat napping. He thought this cat napping issue was funny & suggested we throw spit balls at him. Can you believe that answer from a P & Z member that aspires to be a member of the NRH city council? Heaven forbid.

Is Ironhorse Golf Course really profitable? I doubt it. Other area golf courses are losing money. Are all applicable overheads being charged in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles(GAAP)? How about NRH2o Water Park? Please be mindful that figures don’t lie but liars figure. I did budgets for the largest electric utility company in Texas so I am well aware how figures can & do distort income statements. Look at Enron & a multitude of other entities. Think about it.

How much did the fancy & elaborate new city limit signs costs? “Who cares” seems to be the attitude of several council members that are determined for NRH to rival the “Garden of Eden”. Beautification is one thing. The cost of beautification is another. When does this “sort of stuff” stop? What is wrong with the low cost type of signs that neighboring cities have? Not a thing.

I sense that neighboring cities want the NRH city council to continue sending businesses their way. That appears to be the trend. One business owner wanted to raze his existing structure & spend a million dollars on a new structure but wouldn’t do it because the city council wouldn’t let him change the name on his pole sign although the pole sign has been there for years. It has been proven that a new facility draws more business than an older existing facility. But our old guard council doesn’t seen to care.

The library should remain where it is. Loop 820 widening project will cause the loss, so I am informed, of a few parking spaces but folks have a way of adjusting to new configurations. If Oscar wants a 5 Star hotel built where the library is then let the hotel be built on the parking lot of North Hills Mall. Plenty of parking there. Leave the library alone.

The city council needs more members that will take an active stance against special interest groups & the whims of several council members that appear to be puppets of the mayor. Councilwoman Nancy Bielik has done an outstanding job in her short tenure. I marvel at her stamina & fortitude to dig, dig & then dig some more. She has shown strength of character & resoluteness that permits her to face opposition unflinchingly. I think council members should be more active in questioning expenditures. Just because an item has budget approval doesn’t mean the costs has to go forward. Review, review & then review some more. A budget is just that - a budget. Guidelines if you will. Do you know about the 5 W’s? WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY.

Why did Councilman Lewis have to go outside of NRH to take a picture of a motor home that would fit his presentation for the dislike of parking motor homes on residential property? Why? Because he couldn’t find a parked motor home in NRH that would back up his dislike. When he inserted the image of his truck it wasn’t to the same scale of the RV and made the presentation deceptive. What else is he doing or has done that hasn’t surfaced?

Now hear this. Do you recognize the name of Mrs. Lucille Stevens? She is the widow lady that owns a home w/25 acres in NRH. She has been storing about 30 motor homes on her property which has generated approx. $11,000 a year. She used the income to exist, maintain the 43 year old home & pay taxes on her 25 acres. There was a complaint from one maybe two people who bought expensive homes adjacent to her property. These folks bought their homes knowing about the motor home parking. They should not complain after the fact about something they knew about before they purchased their property. The council should not comply with their complaints without giving fair time and hearing to the other side.

The mayor says we should call the city to get the truth. Who’s truth??

It appears that it takes only one complaint from someone and the council votes to make the requested changes without giving the affected citizen (s) a chance to voice their side. Mrs. Stevens may be out of options. She may be forced to sell out so special interest groups can prance on her property to develop high

end homes. Then the city can receive much more tax revenue on the pricy homes vs. the property taxes on Mrs. Stevens property. Has this been the game plan all the time? Could be. Where is the compassion? Could this situation be small canon fodder or large canon fodder? You decide. I have already decided.

There is an old quote which I believe has been credited to Abraham Lincoln - “You can fool some of the people all the time & all the people some of the time but you can’t fool all the people all the time”.

Am I mad? You bet I am. Who at? Me, that’s who. Why? Because I have sat on my laurels until this past year thinking all was just dandy in NRH. Most voters, like me, concluded all is well. Good police & fire department response times, etc. but we haven’t been involved enough in local politics to fully grasp TIFs, appeals of lawsuits which should be settled, funding of beautification projects, enforcement of a sign ordinance that was vague, lack of considerations for the success of small businesses, destruction of evidence pertinent to a lawsuit and so on. I think you get the picture.

I have been shocked & dismayed. Can my confidence be restored? Yes but only if at least two new members are elected to the city council in May & these new members understand that residents are not against government but are against bad government & will vote accordingly. Then & only then can the NRH voters become a force to be reckon with on a full time basis.

SUMMARY: NRH residents have become relaxed & have paid little attention to the goings on within NRH city government. We are at fault for not attending council meetings & learning more about the issues affecting our tax dollars.

Dave Lieber has done an outstanding job with reporting & calling attention to certain issues. Councilwoman Nancy Bielik (the new fox) fits the mold of a council member that will & has stood up to the “old” guard. The “old” guard doesn’t like this which is very evident at each council meeting. They can’t handle adversity which obviously has been absence for who knows how long.

CONCLUSION: The voters will not undermine the effectiveness of good solid & sound government that is for the people, by the people & not just a select few (including several council members). We don’t need anymore puppets.

I can be counted on to fully support any challengers with time & donations that seek to gain a city council seat in the May election.

This I pledge. Are you interested? If so, lets discuss the current issues & how you stand.

Best regards,

Bobby & Anita McNeese