Is NRH Mayor Trying to Intimidate Citizen Presentations?

                     By Ron West

 

            I don’t know about everyone, but for me, getting up to speak before any public audience is quite nerve racking.  My voice cracks, my heart thumps and my breathing rate increases almost uncontrollably.  Only the importance of communicating can drive me to stand up and speak.  This condition has a name – “stage fright”.  Speaking in public is one of the highest ranking fears of almost all people.

 

            Our Mayor should be aware that it takes a lot of effort and concern for any citizen to step up to the podium during a Council Meeting and then try to communicate what he or she considers important to the Council and Public in the very tightly controlled two minutes provided.  The Mayor makes a point of cutting off the comments at exactly two minutes.

 

            Now it appears that a new weapon designed to cut off comments has emerged under Mayor Trevino.  If you don’t like what any citizen is saying – simply call them liars publicly and use the City’s Website and Citicable to attempt to discredit anything anyone says that you don’t like.  Since anything that anyone says against our sitting Mayor faces claims of untruths – the following is a direct quote from the minutes of the Council Meeting June 14th, 2004 – as published on the City’s Website.   (Highlights and italics are added for emphasis by me.)

 

“Mayor Trevino asked the City Manager to send a letter to Mr. Siskel addressing each of his comments.   Mayor Trevino asked the City Manager to specifically explain how the assumptions regarding the purchase of the Food Lion property were wrong, and to clarify the number of public meetings held and the numerous press releases and news articles on the subject matters mentioned by Mr. Siskel.  Mayor Trevino advised the assumption of City Hall moving did not come from the City and also asked that a letter be posted on the web site and also post letter on Citicable prior to the presentation of meeting to address the falsehoods and questions being asked.”

 

Both Mr. Siskel’s speech before the City Council and the rebuttal sent by City Manager Cunningham are posted on this website for your review.  Mr. Cunningham’s responses shows no “falsehoods” and looks a lot like an attempt to “spin” information to meet the desires of city leadership.  You can read Mr. Siskel’s requests for information before the Council for yourself and then read the response from Mr. Cunningham – including clarifying comments that have been inserted – in an attempt to deal with the misleading information in Mr. Cunningham’s response.

 

Citizens should take heart in the fact that Mayor Trevino is finally responding and that sensitive questions are being asked by citizens.  If we as citizens had been active and awake, we might not have had the TIF#2 created so that our tax dollars could be diverted to control of a non-elected board.  If we had been awake, we might have heard what concessions Arcadia Realty Corporation received from our City Council as was claimed by the President of Arcadia in a Trade Publication.  If we had been awake, we could have at least questioned the claims that the prime land now in TIF#2 would not be developed without this major diversion of funds by the creation of the TIF.

 

No, the problems in our city are not the fault of the Mayor and City Council; they are our own fault by not speaking up before them.  It is very important that each and every citizen who desires to speak before the Council knows that they have the right to do so and to be treated with respect.  It is time for the Mayor and Council to understand that they are Public Servants and not Public Masters!  It is also time that our Mayor learns that he owes the citizens both courtesy and respect.  A person in his position should be a statesman – not an attack dog.  Citizens and voters have no obligation to rubber stamp the actions of the Mayor and Council and they certainly have a right to speak without being called liars.

 

The City Government of NRH has been closed to the public for too long.  Please don’t let the tactics of the Mayor scare you off.  You have a right to question all of his public actions.

 

Letter/ E-mail Responses Received:

 

11:25 AM, July 10,2004

 

Mr. West,

 

It is not my intention that the City Council treat any citizen with the level of disrespect that I witnessed being directed to you and Mr. Siskel.  The Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem and City Attorney need to remember that they, too, were once mere citizens.

 

Although I do not remember the exact quote of Mayor Trevino when he berated Mr. Siskel, the response sent by the City Manager did not justify the Mayor's statements.  This is mostly in regards to the number of Public Hearings held prior to the initiation of TIF #2. 

 

My review of the response shows a total lack of disregard for the citizens of our city in the handling of the TIF, both at inception and during it's continuing operation.  The response shows:

 

1.  Since the inception of TIF #2 in 1999, the Board of Directors of the TIF have met 4 times.  The dates of these meetings were: November 1, 1999, March 16, 2000, July 24, 2000 and April 8, 2003.  By Ordinance #2420 adopted by the City Council on October 25, 1999, the Board of TIF #2 is comprised of:  5 representatives from our City, 1 member from Tarrant County, 1 member from the Tarrant County Hospital District and 1 member from Tarrant County College.  As all of these taxing entities have a vested interest in TIF #2, it is inconceivable that none of them care enough to call a meeting and ascertain the status of the project, and,

 

2.  The City Council, on September 23, 2002 approved "Resolution Authorizing City Manager to Purchase Land for Library (Hometown Area) - Resolution No. 2002-073".  It needs to be noted that this Agenda Item was included on the Council's Consent Agenda, and thus was not open to any public input.

 

Let me assure you that the public is not alone in being unsuccessful in attempting to obtain documentation relating to this project.  I, personally, inquired about various ordinances voted on by the council (Ordinances #2350, 2360, 2420 & 2495).  Like other citizens, I was directed to the Public Library, which I was told was the repository for all City Ordinances.  These Ordinances are not at the Library, and I was directed back to City Hall.  As of this writing, I have not reapproached City Hall, but was able to get a copy of Ordinance #2420 from you.

 

In the past, when talk arose about the widening of Loop 820 our city government ignored it and expanded the Council Chambers.  Now talk arises again and our library and recreation center need to be moved immediately. 

 

I understand that the "proposed" expansion of Loop 820 will have an effect on the parking lots of our City buildings.  But, until such time as the State of Texas makes its final determination of funds available for expansion, no one knows for sure what the width of the highway will be.  If that's what's driving the matter, then perhaps we need to get a tape measure out and make sure that the new Rufe Snow bridges we are installing are wide enough to hold what Mayor Trevino insists will be an 11 lane highway running underneath them.

 

The funds generated by TIF #2, and kept in the TIF, are more than enough to fund the Senior/Disabled Citizens' tax freeze.  These funds should be made available fund city services used by the citizens of the TIF area until such time as it is proven that the Library and Recreation Center need to be moved.

 

Please be assured that I will continue to investigate this TIF, the uses of the funds, and the detriment it's existence is causing the rest of the city.  This is not a matter of "haves and have nots."  This is a matter of fairly and equitably spreading out the costs to run our city.

 

Nancy Bielik

City Council, Place 6