Metts Resorts to Name Calling!

By Ron West

Politics in North Richland Hills reached a new low today with City Councilman Frank Metts identifying all people who oppose the passage of a Tax Freeze for the Seniors and Disabled – “Political Terrorists”. This horrific labeling of those who are opposed to the highhanded tactics of the council is part of a letter published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram – today – 7/11/2004. You can view the letter for yourself by clicking on the word letter.

In his second paragraph he states

“But the senior tax freeze is nothing more than a gross exploitation of the senior vote for selfish political gain.”

It is not clear if he is accusing the Seniors and Disabled as being selfish because they are seeking to limit the future spending of their money or if he thinks they are in the fray to get his job. Since this was one of the primary issues in the May election, it would seem that over 2000 people in NRH indicated their support for the freeze by supporting candidates to replace sitting council members. There is no explanation of the “selfish political gain” he references.

Mr. Metts then goes on to threaten all other citizens of NRH with tax increases if they dare to vote for a freeze for the Seniors and Disabled as follows:

“More correctly, the senior tax freeze should be called a permanent tax increase on everyone who isn't a senior.

If enacted, the senior tax freeze will begin a permanent transfer and a steady increase of tax burden to our children and grandchildren.”

If I understand this part of his letter, he is telling us that he plans to spend the expected revenue from tax increases on the Seniors and Disabled even if the voters deny him the right to continually increase the taxes on that segment of our population. If this is correct, then shame on Mr. Metts. If the voters pass the freeze, then the message to our council should be clear, i.e., control your runaway spending habits and live within your means like the rest of us have to do.

Unfortunately, the letter goes downhill from here. Next Mr. Metts calls us stupid in so many words as follows:

“My guess is that most of the people who voted for the constitutional amendment didn't fully understand the consequences. “

I take this to mean that an 85% plurality of the people who voted in NRH for the Senior Freeze must be the dummies he is talking about. My own guess is that if a person voted for anything at all, they must be the most informed segment of our society and concerned about the future direction of our government.

Mr. Metts’ next paragraph is the one that really takes the cake:

“There's an effort in North Richland Hills by political terrorists to exploit the complacency and emotions of the moment for political gain. Remember that lies are designed to be believed; it's the truth that's sometimes hard to understand.”

Calling people who disagree with you “political terrorists” in this time of real war in our country is inexcusable. Our country was founded on the free exercise of democratic principals that Mr. Metts seems to disdain. His statement about exploiting complacency seems to indicate that he wants all who disagree with him to go to sleep and remain complacent. His statement regarding lies verses truth must be challenged by the information or misinformation that is being put out by city officials in print, verbally, on the city’s website and on Citicable. The recent presentation to the council by a city staff member supposedly to inform them of facts regarding the possible freezing of taxes for Seniors and Disabled was filled with grossly misleading numbers that were apparently designed to inflate “costs” far beyond reality. Citizens do deserve to be able to depend on truthful information from our city officials that is supported by fact rather than the political spending habits of our elected officials. One additional point regarding this statement is that any truth or information from the City of North Richland Hills is exceedingly difficult to extract from city officials.

The final joke in Mr. Metts’ letter is his proposal in the last paragraph to try to buy votes by offering to index the current senior exemption in some manner to the economy. Wouldn’t a tax freeze be affordable if Metts and his colleagues can reduce Senior and Disabled taxes by increasing the exemption? Does Metts want us all to go back to sleep so he can spend whatever he wants when we are not watching?

When I first read Mr. Metts’ letter, I thought it mean spirited and an attempt to create class warfare between the young and old in our city. Mr. Metts is a political official and his actions do strike terror in the hearts and minds of those citizens of our city that are watching his actions. The citizens who are working for a tax freeze have very little to gain regardless of Metts’ comments. They are not asking for a free ride. They still pay school taxes though the vast majority of them have no children in the local schools. They still pay TCC taxes and the vast majority of them have no children in the local college either. They are not asking to not pay city taxes for city services like the council allowed all of the new residents of Hometown NRH to do. They are simply asking the city to stop increasing their taxes in the same manner that their school taxes are frozen. There is NO cost to the city – only a denial of the spending of future tax increases by our local bureaucrats.

While the “political terrorists” label is inappropriate, perhaps it is really time for all who oppose the high handed – runaway spending habits of the current NRH City Council to become very active in local politics. Until recently, the council could do anything they wanted without public question. They love to spend your money and they don’t want you to question them about anything. It is our city – and it is our right to “Ask a Bunch of Questions”.