Fort Worth Mayor's race in full swing. Some letters in the paper point out some things that raise some questions about Lane and Price. Do us all a favor, vote for Cathy Hirt. Nobody is buying her.
Don't be bought.
Betsy Price, a great lady and excellent tax collector, claims to be a fiscal conservative. But she's not. As a member of the TRV citizen committee, Betsy supports the $1 billion Trinity River Vision project and believes the use of tax abatements, TIFs and eminent domain to benefit the politically connected is a legitimate government function.
I admired this former business owner for introducing professional management practices, innovations and advanced technology that modernized the Tax Department and actually saved taxpayers millions of dollars. Betsy knows her first obligation is to taxpayers.
So is Betsy obligated to the taxpayer or Kay Granger and Cheseapeake? Which is it?
And WHO will Lane be obligated to?
The police and firefighter organizations are basically sponsoring Jim Lane's candidacy. Their eye-popping $154,000 funding represents more than two-thirds of his campaign contributions. This goes far beyond an endorsement. The police and firefighters, most of whom don't live in Fort Worth, are running a candidate for mayor.
In 2011 and 2012, the mayor and council will be trying to bring pension costs under control for all city employees, including police and firefighters. With that kind of connection, how can we count on Lane to work for the taxpayers of Fort Worth when negotiating with the people that paid his way into office?
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