Friday, Nov. 09, 2007

Failed coup

Editor:

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, I sat in amazement as the Old Guard (with the implicit help of our Interim City Manager) tried to oust Councilman Jim Carson from office, a de facto coup d’état. One of their accusations was Jim’s posting on his Keller City Limits blog. Former Councilman Trine accuses Mr. Carson of denying applicants due process by posting his opinion on a matter before it comes in front of Council for a vote. This morning, I went through the archives of KellerCityLimits.com and found three incidents where Mr. Carson has made statements before items were put to a vote.

The first item I found had to do with the double-wide trailer that was sitting in front of Town Hall being used as a leasing office for the Arthouse project. The second item had to do with TRPA, which is a grant program funded by the state, and the third has to do with the proposed Keller Station apartment project.

Mr. Carson votes on 20-30 items a month and has been posting on his blog for 22 months. You do the math. They are making a big deal out of nothing because they want you to believe that he is a bad man and the city should shut down KellerCityLimits.com, or at least limit his ability to express his opinions.

Sound like the Stalinist Soviet Union? Yeah, a little bit. Actually I feel they don’t care about what Mr. Carson posts; they care more about the fact that he has a vehicle with his Web site to keep the Old Guard out of office.

I feel it’s refreshing for a City Councilman to be completely honest with the public for a change. We have and had councilmen who hide behind their offices, never really telling the voters how they stand, and they are scared of the new transparency that Mr. Carson brings to city government. It’s about time the elected officials and city manager are held accountable for their actions.

Doug Miller

Keller