Keller City Limits gets put on the hot seat

by Jim Carson of of Keller City Limits

Hidden Lakes has published a candidate questionnaire that is quite a bit better than the one done by the League of Women voters.

http://www.hlhoa.com/Vote_Early/Vote.html

I say ‘quite a bit better’ because these are thoughtful questions from people who actually live in and know about Keller. The scope of the questions is much too large to sum up in a single post, so I’ll just focus on Question #18:

Aside from a “freedom of speech” argument, what is your opinion of the advisability and impact on the community resulting from sitting members of the City Council criticizing the Mayor and other council members on a public website?

Julie Tandy said:

One of the most difficult aspects of learning to serve in an elected position is to understand how the body functions. Issues are discussed, votes are taken, and the Council moves on. While I may not agree with everything the Council may have decided, once the vote is taken, I support that decision. When members go back and criticize the decisions of an individual or council member, it undermines the process. Many people think, and I agree, that the safety of email or computer allows people to say things they would never do so openly. I believe that face to face interaction, particularly if there is a dispute, is the most straightforward and honorable way to conduct business.

Pat McGrail said:

I am more concerned about a mayor who publicly berates a council member on television than I am a blog. When a council member did some anonymous research and suggested the city might benefit from an outside performance review, she accused him of undermining the city and accused all the new council members of “sabotage.” The mayor clearly cannot get along with council members who are not like-minded.

As for the blog, Jim Carson is a unique individual in government. He believes in total openness. He thinks you the citizen should know exactly what is going on at city hall and how he feels about it. At the same time he without fail invites criticism and in fact has criticized himself on the blog. Unlike the mayor I think healthy, but civil disagreements on the council are necessary to arrive at the best decisions. I can and will get along with Mr. Carson and the other council members, and we will succeed in fulfilling Keller’s promise.

Steve Trine said:

Freedom of speech issues aside, I think that such actions are divisive within the community and have a strong negative impact with the business community, signaling as they do that the city government is unstable and unreliable. These behaviors have been very damaging to KISD and their impacts are being felt within the City of Keller particularly in our economic development and in the loss of our City Manager. The City Council has an ongoing public forum for debate (i.e., the council sessions) which should be the primary arena for discussion of issues before the council.

Ray Brown said:

I think the “criticism” is more an exposure of facts to the citizens that Mayor Tandy and others would rather keep quiet. The website is public and anyone can post their comments on any subject. This type of free exchange of opinions and ideas is crucial to our freedom.

With any luck, within ten years, knowledgeable voters will cast a suspicious eye on office holders and candidates who don’t blog (or otherwise expose their principles and reasoning.)