Thursday, September 1, 2016
While Tarrant County burns, Arlington Fiddles...
Does this sound at all familiar to you long time Trinity River Vision, Stockyards or TexRail followers? Seriously, how many boondoggles can one county have?
Keep the Rangers PAC Balks at Public Debate
# # # # # # # For Immediate Release # # # # # # #
8/31/16 Arlington, TX - Citizens for a Better Arlington is disappointed to learn that the "Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes" campaign has refused a significant opportunity for a debate and is choosing to keep undecided Arlington voters in the dark.
Recently, Citizens for a Better Arlington's “Save our Stadium, Vote No” campaign and the “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” campaign were invited to a local forum. “Save our Stadium” accepted and then learned that “Keep the Rangers” refused to participate unless they were able to approve the “Save our Stadium, Vote No” speaker and unless there was a promise of no recording the event. The “Save our Stadium” campaign agreed to participate in the forum anyway, despite the uneven playing field.
A few weeks ago, Citizens for a Better Arlington President, Faith Bussey, asked Mayor Jeff Williams where citizens could find answers to their questions about the stadium proposal or to hear both sides of the issue. Mayor Williams responded that he would give her a list. As of this press release, Citizens for a Better Arlington has not received this information. The “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” Facebook page continues to ban and block citizens who question the campaign's narrative. To date, Mayor and City Council, who are almost all board members for the Yes PAC, have not offered a single opportunity for Arlington citizens to hear both sides of the issue. The Vote Yes campaign, including the Mayor and City Council members, meet only with constituents who support the deal, sideline citizens with questions as "naysayers," and refuse legitimate opportunities to be transparent with citizens or offer concrete answers to the taxpayers of Arlington.
In an effort to increase transparency and to offer more voters an opportunity to hear both sides, Arlington Voice owner/editor, Zack Maxwell, suggested a debate moderated by well-known political professor, Dr. Allen Saxe. “Save our Stadium, Vote No” gladly agreed to the debate. However, the “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” campaign refused to debate our spokesperson, Warren Norred. “Save our Stadium” agreed to change speakers, but ultimately the “Keep the Rangers” campaign refused the offer to debate. Does the “Keep the Rangers” campaign not believe voters deserve a fair and balanced debate?
Citizens for a Better Arlington issues a challenge for a formal debate to Mayor Williams, the entire City Council, and anyone associated with the “Keep the Rangers, Vote Yes” campaign. Citizens for a Better Arlington will choose the speaker for the “Save our Stadium, Vote No” campaign, and the “Keep the Rangers” campaign will choose their speaker. Recording will not be restricted. Date, time, and location will be announced publicly as well as formally to the Mayor, City Council, and to the Keep the Rangers campaign. Give the citizens of Arlington honest, straightforward answers, from both sides of the issue, and let the voters decide if this stadium is best for our city.
#NoFoulDeals #VoteNo #Transparency #DebateAlready
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