Monday, March 9, 2009

City Council At Fault

It didn't escape our attention that last week's Wilmer City Council meeting was adjourned (again) for lack of a quorum with Rolison, Lowe and Lange absent. Friday, March 6, (14 hours later) Councilwoman Tiny Lange and Councilman Eugene Lowe attended the Grand Opening Event for at the new Unilever facility in Sunridge Business Park.


Happenstance. The luck of the draw. Serendipity. Juxtaposition.
It does seem odd that three council members decided to forsake their obligation to serve the public in governance. Yet their busy schedules can be arranged if there's a free lunch involved. In the mean time, important public business like required public hearings are being neglected at the whim of our city leaders. So much for the citizens that await the outcome of these hearings. Too bad the citizens requesting changes must pay for the required legal notices (again). No wonder past history has been for the council just to ignore something and then wave away the consequences (like the "new" FEMA flood map).

We were hoping the days of public services being panderred as personal favors in our gritty little city were over with the timely exit of our last non-resident politician.

This is exactly the kind of behavior Wilmer has beccome "known" for - let the next election reflect our dissatisfaction with the lack of progress promoted by certain members of our elected officials.

And while we're on the subject of the next election, former councilman Billy Wickliffe has posted signs announcing his candidacy. As usual, these signs don't conform to state laws or Texas Ethics Commission rules. "Re-elect Billy Wickliffe" is completely inappropriate and misleading since former councilman Wickliffe is not an incumbent and is prohibited by statute and ethics rules from campaigning for "re-election". If those wishing to represent the citizens of Wilmer cannot comply with basic election and campaign laws, we certainly do NOT need them or want them in office. Our recommendation is strongly AGAINST Billy Wickliffe's candidacy. His time has past and "We The People" have moved on.

Of course, let's not forget that the last elected Mayor ran illegally for the position because he wasn't a resident and had to be ousted by a citizen's group.
Let's not forget that all our elected officials need to live in Wilmer (not Gilmer).

4 comments:

The Observer said...

The only thing large about these council members is their ego. They have just let city business hang on a whim because they wish to inconvenience the Mayor. They don't care that they are inconveniencing the citizens that elected them. Of course, those citizens abviously aren't paying attention to their antics. It's time to change this format. Get rid of them! It's time Wilmer joined the rest of the world.

Unknown said...

Isn't it the current Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem that have votoed on issues they are clearly in a conflict of interest over? Let's not forget that ALL council members of the City of Wilmer must play by the same rule book. It disheartens me to think that Joe could also be one-sided in his criticism of the political face of Wilmer. I guess the pendulum only swings certain directions and the rest are lost in a hazy shade of winter.

Editor Publisher said...

Reply to wilmer 3/16/09 -
Rest assured that all sides in the political arena are subject to criticism. This is only the first article I've written about the '09 elections - more criticism to come for sure. Editorially, we're going to be a lot more proactive and less reactive about reporting. And as far as "clearly in a conflict of interest" goes - after talking with counsel it looks as if no clear conflict currently exists, although there are potentially conflicting interests in the foreseeable future. As we found out last election, only a judge can decide conflict of interests raised as civil suits and there is little or no way to prosecute these offenses.

Editor Publisher said...

*UPDATE*
Signs have started appearing for Dean Rolison and Tiny Lange. Some of Mr. Wickliffe's signs have been altered to remove the "RE" of reelect. It looks like both the Wickliffe and Rolison signs have all the appropriate statutory language included.