WHO YOU voting for?

We hear a lot of complaints coming out of Haltom City - we say, if YOU want something different, elect someone other than the incumbent. 

Our crew in HC unanimously agreed on WHO they were voting for out there. 

Bob Watkins & Mary Haltom.

"Haltom" is pretty self explanatory, well that and none of our folks have ever seen her opponent. 

Watkins is a longtime resident and local business owner.  He serves on a city board and volunteers all over town, he's been doing both for decades. 

Sounds like just the kind of council member Haltom City needs. 

VOTE!!

Again with Haltom City

Apparently the Haltom City Police Department was shut down yesterday due to a resident bringing an old grenade for disposal.

And, two candidates for City council face off again.  A local business owner and board member and a longtime, return council/EDC member.  Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

In Place 5, Councilman Jim Sutton will face off against frequent candidate Bob Watkins, who previously ran against Sutton.

Sutton and Watkins are similar candidates in some respects. Both men are conservatives. Both have committed to public service in the city for years. And they agree that policy matters aren't at the heart of their differences.

The last race was close.  A handful of votes difference.  Let's hope Haltom City shows up to vote this time. 

They say doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

VOTE.

What she said was...

One of our friends in Haltom City wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram supporting a candidate for Haltom City Mayor.  She was kind enough to send us a copy.  Then we noticed something, what she said and what was printed, well - read it yourself.  Can you see a difference?  Another example of WHY we started this blog.

Said:
A recent letter stated the Haltom City election was costing $30,000 while the true cost is $14,704. This was just another feeble attempt in misleading the citizens with so called “facts”. It's been going on far too long in our town and it's time for it to end. If you agree, join me in voting for Bob Watkins as the write-in candidate for Mayor. Bob attends most every city function and meeting. He donates time to Paw Pals and Friends of the Library. He is a homeowner and business owner in the city, as well as a long time member of the Zoning Board of Adjustments and the Northeast Tarrant Chamber, and he has never been a member of the Economic Development Corporation. Don’t let your right to vote go to waste, write in Bob Watkins for Mayor!

Paper said:
Join me in voting for Bob Watkins as the write-in candidate for Haltom City mayor. Bob attends most every city function and meeting. He donates time to Paw Pals and Friends of the Library. He is a homeowner and business owner in the city, as well as a longtime member of the Zoning Board of Adjustments and the Northeast Tarrant Chamber -- and he has never been a member of the Economic Development Corporation. Don't let your right to vote go to waste. Write in Bob Watkins for mayor!

Now why would the first portion of the letter be removed?  ASK. Knowing her, she already has. 

Another question would be, HOW many letters are edited and what did they REALLY say?  ASK.

New in town...

The letter to the editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today speaks volumes about the Haltom City Mayor race.

The letter writer is new in town (2005) and in Haltom City, that is very new in town.  Many residents have been there the 50+ years, since the town was born.  And arriving in 2005 means you missed the recall fun and all the fallout that followed. The letter writer wants you to support the man who has been a part of the infamous Economic Development Corporation.  With all the jobs this candidate has, how will he make time to be Mayor?  And do YOU want someone who has a "vision far beyond council chambers"?  You know what happens with "visions"...

Do our friends in Haltom City a favor and Write-In Bob Watkins for Mayor.

Haltom City Recall

Seems the recall is where everything can be traced back to in Haltom City...WHY is that?  And WHO was responsible?  Stay tuned, we'll have a history lesson for you soon.  Pay attention to WHO all is involved.

The Fort Worth Weekly  has the story about the EDC fiasco and the secretive dealings that cost taxpayers money.  YOU can't afford to miss it. 

WHO was asking about the EDC prior to the audit?  Bob Watkins, write-in candidate for Mayor.  What does that tell you?  VOTE.

That full accounting may be a long time coming. Of the four people who constituted the EDC board in 2004 when key arrangements regarding Flynn were changed, one is dead and one says he can’t remember most of what happened. A third member, who was then the board president, defended the Flynn deal — and she said she can’t remember who the fourth member was. City officials say they’re not sure exactly how many properties the EDC and Flynn bought for the city.

“That’s just unbelievable,” Carlton Schwab, president and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Council, said. “EDCs are supposed to be all about helping create jobs. “Where is the job creation? … Where is the economic development?”

Another key question: Where are the records and the public accountability for the EDC, which is funded with a half-cent hike in the sales tax, approved by Haltom City voters in two stages? And how was so much of what was done allowed to happen in secrecy?

Current council member Gary Nunn said he’s been asking for that kind of information for two years and has never gotten any answers.

With Flynn as director and new Mayor Calvin White as board president, Haltom City EDC business moved almost exclusively behind closed doors, in executive sessions.

“We had an interim city manager named Pat Efrink,” said Harper, “and one day at a meeting he simply told me I was no longer allowed at the meetings. Neither was anyone else. Which meant no one knew what was going on with the EDC.”

But in January 2008, when the EDC took on Chesapeake Energy in a condemnation case over land the EDC wanted for a ball field, the EDC lost. Ironically, Chesapeake, which through its Texas Midstream pipeline company routinely condemns land, responded with a public relations blitz, asking Haltom City residents if they knew what an EDC was, why a consultant for the EDC was preventing those citizens from having their mineral rights developed, and touting the millions of dollars that would come to Haltom City if the EDC would allow them to develop land and mineral leases they already owned. The campaign worked. The EDC backed off.
 
Told that the Haltom City EDC currently owns 40 undeveloped properties, Schwab said he’d never heard of that happening either.
 
The real issue, he said, is that for all the land transactions and all the money paid to Flynn, there has been little business development produced.

Why you should vote

1) Men and women have given their lives so you could.
2) Otherwise you will get the SOS you've been getting.  (so yes it is somewhat of a distress call).

WHO is the letter writer to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram?  A Haltom City councilman. 

Haltom City mayor

The news is filled with throngs of humanity risking their lives in unarmed protest to secure the opportunity to have a voice in their leadership. Several generations of U.S. soldiers and their families have faced the ultimate sacrifice to maintain the basic right of free elections.

Jack O. Lewis' Tuesday letter to the editor was an insult to all who have served this country or lost a loved one in the service of this country. Unlike Lewis, I think the few dollars spent to administer an election for mayor once every two years is the best investment Haltom City residents will ever make; Haltom City is fortunate to have a choice on May 14.

Please join me in writing in Bob Watkins, a true man of integrity, for mayor of Haltom City.

-- Gary Nunn, Haltom City

Write On - Write In

We can only think of a few reasons someone would wait to file as a write-in candidate.  This could be a good one why it happened in Haltom City.

Read the letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about voting for Bob Watkins in Haltom City.  If we were you, we'd vote for the new.  The old guard seems to be wearing on the citizens and their checkbooks. 

WHO is the letter writer?  Sources say the head of the Planning and Zoning board.  What does that tell YOU? 

Write-in candidate

It is time to vote for a new mayor in Haltom City. Our council has done a decent job over the last few years, and, as can be expected, one of the council members is running for the office of mayor.

I encourage all of my fellow residents to get out and vote for Bob Watkins as a write-in candidate. Watkins has been an active part of our city's politics for years. I feel he has the best qualifications and interest for Haltom City.

All early voting will be at the old library. Please join me in voting for Bob Watkins as mayor as a write-in candidate.

-- Juanita Adam, Haltom City