Hey, Hey, Hey...Goodbye

Mel LeBlanc is no longer an Arlington Council member and he's no longer in the running for the next election. 

Read about it on the ArlingtonVoice.com.

In response to allegations surrounding his recently cleared drug investigation, Councilman Mel LeBlanc submitted his resignation to the Mayor and City Council and will be stepping down effective Tuesday, February 14th.

Where the hell

was Mel?

Arlington council member Mel LeBlanc has been MIA for the past three council meetings and it appears no one could reach him.  Including his constituents.

Talk about representation.

Seems he was traveling for a business opportunity and a spiritual retreat. 

Feel better District 1? 

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Cowboys Stadium Drilling

Leave it to Mel...

Council member Mel LeBlanc said the more than 1,400 form letter e-mails he had received by early Monday afternoon would play no role in his decision on whether to grant the permit.

Aren't councilmembers supposed to use the citizens input in their decision making process?

Be there Tuesday, remind him.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

If the permit is approved, Chesapeake has agreed to hold off drilling until after Super Bowl XLV, which will be held at Cowboys Stadium on Feb. 6. Drilling would not occur under the stadium.

Write on

Good letters to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Who's stifling whom?

To sum up Arlington City Councilman Mel LeBlanc's Friday opinion piece, he considers the Texas Open Meetings Act vague and confusing and thus open to misinterpretation. (See: "Texas open meetings law is overly vague and confusing") LeBlanc states that the real issue behind his opposition to TOMA is its use by some to attain personal objectives. He says some elected officials have used TOMA to stifle the behavior, thoughts and speech of other elected officials and that he has personal knowledge of such bullies. In order to clarify without a doubt the real issue, what elected officials have used the Texas Open Meetings Act to stifle LeBlanc, and what behavior, thoughts and/or speech did they stifle? Who stifled whom, and why?

-- Lina McClintock, Arlington

Key to transparency

According to Fort Worth Councilman Joel Burns' column last week, (See: "Streetcar discussion highlights need for improved public process") we are led to believe he wants to enhance the transparency of the often-too-private process of decision-making in Fort Worth. He should be lauded for his intent. However, I believe he left out one crucial step in the process of increasing transparency at City Hall: throwing out the council members responsible for making the place so secretive in the first place.

-- James Russell, Fort Worth

Open Mouth...

Insert foot.  That's what Arlington Councilmember Mel LeBlanc has done, again.

We took the holiday weekend off and got behind on our emails, we had a copy of this sent in from one of THE PEOPLE.  We were glad to see someone picked up the story.  Of course Mr.LeBlanc took the time to make more comments.  Read about it on the Dallas Voice.com.

Senator Davis sets the record straight

What happens when you make stuff up about what Senator Wendy Davis said?  She'll set you straight one point at a time and she'll even make you a timeline for the bungled TCEQ air quality testing.  Maybe Arlington Councilman Mel LeBlanc should have seen that coming.  WHEN is he up for reelection? Ask him.

Below are some clarifying points from Senator Davis.  Read her entire statement at TXSharon.

•Even though TCEQ became aware of data that made their initial statement to the Fort Worth City Council inaccurate, the agency failed to correct their earlier inaccurate statement – both to the public and me – for four months.

Anthony Spangler, a member of my Senate staff, did not introduce himself at a recent TCEQ air quality meeting as my Chief of Staff; rather, he introduced himself as the Communications Director for my office. (See the video starting at the 4:52 mark:)