Hometown "Citizen" Email with Response

 

citizen@hometownnrh.net

Date:  April 27, 2005 4:47 PM

Citizen wrote:

Dear Mr. West – 

I want to first say thank you for the compliment of “Orchestrated Performance” as I feel that you meant it was well done.  I am new at the political side of things, but I feel you have done an excellent job at training me well, you too should be commended.  However, I wish you would stop giving Ken Sapp all the credit for all of our work.  Although we support Ken, he is just one man and can not do it all!   

As you know, I am one of the “elitist” in Hometown.  This is hardly the case, for your information I am a single parent of two children who works many hours to try and make a safe, fun, and caring home for my children.  I am by no means rich, born with a silver spoon, or have a rich ex-husband who supports me.  I am just a hard working mother – and if that is what you define as an elitist and privilege, then so be it. 

 As I said I am new to the politics, and personally I don’t understand a few things.  Maybe you can help me out a bit.                      

1)     I find it interesting that last night all the people who support the challengers denied having anything to do with you or the Ron West Organization.  Why is this?  Do they also find things you write about not to be completely true?  Is this why you don’t attend the council meetings?

2)     You once said to me that you find the incumbents unresponsive.  I took liberty to email the incumbents and ask them questions (mostly questions that came off your website), just for my own benefit.  I was amazed at how responsive they were.  I thought well, maybe I would hear from 1, and hoped for at least 2.  Well they blew me out of the waters, when I heard from all four within a few hours.  I am sure you are thinking it’s because I am privileged, but they had no idea who I was – just another citizen in NRH (I didn’t even give an address).  Well thinking that maybe I just got lucky, I had a dozen of my friends in the area put my test to the challenge.  Again, very responsive, and answered all the questions.

3)     Monday night I stood right beside your son, for approximately 5 minutes.  As a politician (after all this is what he is now), I would of thought the gentlemen would introduce himself and shake my hand.  Did you not teach him anything?  I understand, he is a grown man and you’re not responsible for him any longer – so I don’t blame you.  I would guess this is the preference for the group, as none of the others bothered to make an effort either.  However, I did meet two nice ladies who are in support of the challengers.  Amazing, how we had a difference in opinion on the candidates yet we were civil to one another and came to the opinion that it would be great to have two libraries.  I told them I would be happy to support an annex library on the south side.  I even gave her my email address; along with another lady in Hometown and said let us know how we can help you.  Working together is such a great thing, don’t you agree?

4)     This one is a personal issue.  Can you imagine my surprise when I read a letter on your website addressed to me prior to ever receiving this letter?  How is it, that you (an independent person and not associated with anyone) receives a copy of a letter to me prior to me getting it myself?  I would think at the very least you could have asked me if it would be alright to publish my name and address on your website, but this was not the case. 

5)     Current Library parking, you said it has over 500 parking spaces.  Well let’s talk apples to apples.  How many does the Current Library actually have, and please don’t include the rec center or anything else?  Library to Library.  As there will be parking also available in the New Rec Center and Civic Arts place (you failed to include this information on your website).  I called the current library to ask them, and no one working there could give me an actual number of parking spaces.  One lady did say that they don’t even have close to 165 (the number of spaces for New Library), and she would guess it was probably ½ that amount.

 When you are encouraging people to look at all the entrances in Hometown you might want to have them to take notice of all the dirt around the location of the new library that could be turned into more parking should it be required.  With gas prices as high as they are, maybe a map of Hometown would be better – you could just post in on your website and they can count them themselves.   Also, not once has anyone in Hometown ever said that we are paying for the library so it’s Hometown’s library-that has only come from you.  We want all citizens of NRH to use the library.  Regardless of where anything is built, it will always be more convenient to some and not to others; whether it’s a library, a park, or the mall.  The bottom line is it’s in NRH and not another city.

 Now of course, you brag at how open and honest you are – so please don’t let me down

 Sincerely,

Jane Birkes

 

Dear Ms. Birkes,

   
       First of all, thank you for signing your email this time.  It is nice to know who I am communicating with.

       By Orchestrated Performance, I was referencing the utilization of a City Council Meeting as a Campaign Event - which I believe is illegal by city ordinances and charter. 

       I have no idea of the work of the Hometown Group but if you are active in local politics as evidenced by your emails, I commend you.  Only a small percentage of the population even takes the time to vote.  As far Sapp's work, I consider it to be the most gross misrepresentation of information I have ever seen in a campaign so I do not want to blame that on anyone but Sapp.

       The "privileged few" and the "elitist" that I refer to are the closed club that is running the city.  Since you and virtually all of Hometown are relatively new to the city, I do not include you in that group regardless of economic strata.  The current council is excluding the citizens across the board and things like the decision on the library were made without a vote by all the voters even though it affects all of us.  I have no objection to a new library at any location if it is approved by the citizens of the city instead of the "monarchy" on the council.

       As to truth on my website, I have an open continuing invitation to everyone to submit corrections to ANYTHING that is written on the site that can be proven to be untrue.  I will both print that information and corrections if necessary.   Since Sapp and company have tried to make the election look as if I were the entire slate of opposition by myself, the challengers are having to try to establish their own identities and are trying to get everyone to read their goals for the city independent of what I write on NRHOnline.

       I am happy that the incumbents have now found time to be responsive to your questions.  This is a new phenomenon for our city since in prior elections where they felt more secure in their positions, they didn't even take the time to respond then.   The real proof in responsiveness will show up the first time you criticize them on any of their issues.  Try asking them about publishing ordinances to be enacted before they vote on them.  It would nice to know what laws they plan to impose on us before they decide to do it.   Just think, then we could comment on them.

       As to my son not introducing himself, Mayor Trevino would probably have had him ejected for campaigning.  I am very proud of him and he is not a "politician".  He is a citizen who has a family and has consented to make an effort to make this council responsive to ALL citizens. 

       As to your item #4 - I plead ignorance.  What letter are you referring to?   I do not recall any letter from you as I write this reply.

        My article on the parking suggested that there were approximately 500 parking spaces at the current facility including both the recreation center, court and library.  I have now posted an aerial view of the current facility on my website that will allow any citizen to count the number of spaces.  Facts are:  #1)  Loop 820 expansion has nothing to do with moving the library.  Only the front row of parking will be lost to the expansion  #2)  The current library - without the parking affected by the Loop 820 expansion - has MORE remaining spaces available than currently planned for the new library,  #3) Again, I have no problem with the locating and building of a new library anywhere in the city that is submitted to all the voters and approved by them.

        As to your comment about "bragging".  I can reply that I attempt to support everything I write with verifiable facts.  Much of the response I receive must be read carefully such as the published replies from the city regarding the slush fund.  There are numerous problems with the reply from Mr. Cunningham including over $250,000 appx over transfer from the slush fund to the building maintenance fund if you look at what the council approved.  There are no records supporting council approval of any such over transfer.  There is an item in the current year suggesting that bad debt write off for our ambulance service cost $360,000 that is strange at best.  More, not all of the slush fund is accounted for.  There is an item called market adjustment in the thousands of dollars that has no explanation.  Should we just accept such carelessness with the money of the citizens?

        I would like to repeat that if you or any other citizens would like to submit "corrections" that are based on real facts, I would be glad to print them.

        Since your letter was sent to the NRHOnline Publisher, I will print both it and this reply following my email to you.

Regards,

Ron West   

Follow Up Late Wednesday - April 27, 2005 - 7:37 PM

Citizen wrote:

Dear Mr. West –

 

As for item #4, to clarify, you published a letter from Mr. Cunningham addressed to me.  This was on your website before I even received the letter in the mail.  I would like to know how you received a copy of this before it was even out in the mail.

 

Regards,

 

Jane Birkes

Dear Ms. Birkes,

This letter was in the Council Packet and published at our Library on Friday preceding the meeting.  Sorry that I did not associate that with you.
As you are aware, I provided an exact copy of a scan of the reply from Mr. Cunningham and then published the excerpt from that letter with the law from
the state website.  Since it was published by the city, it is a public record.   In this case, the letter was an effort by the city to discredit some of what I had written about the library and it was filled with a lot of misinformation and an outright lie.  All members of the council had a copy of your letter last Thursday.  The whole intent of the letter was to further their campaign. 

Regards.

Ron West