Wilmer Receives International Media Attention

The sensational headlines read "Sex Offender runs for Mayor" - but the real story - the story other media has yet to break is WHY. Why would James Brian Sliter call attention to himself and his past to run for mayor of our community?

Once the Associated Press picked up the story from local news stations, coverage quickly appeared in major newspapers across the country and as far away as UK, Thailand and Korea. A huge number of Texas TV stations as ell as the Houston Chronicle and Fort Worth Star-Telegram picked up the wire story - but the story by Jason Trahan in today's Dallas Morning News Metro Section (Click here to view the story)looked beyond the headlines. (ED: Click here to read the online story - different from what was printed)

The real story is WHY Brian Sliter has chosen to undergo the intense media scrutiny involved in public political life. According to Mr. Sliter, it's because he was asked to run for mayor by a number of local citizens who have witnessed the continual scandalous behavior and violation of the public trust by the City of Wilmer's elected officials and appointed and paid staffers. Wilmer Public Citizen was initiated much for these same reasons - and to bring some much needed sunshine to the dark, secretive practices of Wilmer city government. Much of what Mr. Sliter's campaign statement (click here to read the full text) states as behavior by our city council has been observed first hand by this reporter and reported in the posts throughout Wilmer Public Citizen since mid-2007. Our attempts to seek public information through Open Records requests have been ignored by the city administration. Unfortunately, most of what is known to happen in our community isn't attributable or sufficiently verified to be reported as news. But our confidential sources have reported drug trafficking, abusive behavior, racketeering and institutionalized collusion throughout the city government.

Wilmer Public Citizen is pleased to announce our content syndication partnership with Pegasus News (http://www.pegasusnews.com) as a result of our coverage of this story. Whether our readers support Mr. Sliter's bid for the mayoral post or not, we acknowledge that his motives are in the best interests of the community. As most long time residents understand, this is a completely different political approach for the City of Wilmer. Hopefully, Brian Sliter's sacrifice of his personal privacy and public ridicule by sensationalist media will bring the attention needed to return the rule of law to our city and eliminate the small time crime family corruption we have endured for so long.