The Smoking Gun on Meier’s Intent
To Continue His Divisive Tactics
By Susan M. Halpern
Former Addison Councilmember (1992-1999)
It didn’t take any time at all for Todd Meier to declare war on the new councilmembers. Paul Walden and Jim Duffy haven’t been on the council a week. Al Angell has been on a long-planned vacation, and hasn’t even been sworn in.
At the May 17, 2016 meeting at which Walden and Duffy were sworn in, Meier called upon them to put the election behind them and vow to work together. They did. But then Meier immediately set about to undermine the new councilmembers by putting together an inflammatory agenda, and then arranging for the public to once again be misled about what was happening.
But Meier made a mistake this time. Now he’s been caught red-handed. Here’s what happened:
- On Friday morning, May 20, 2016 at 9:03 a.m., the facts-don’t-matter folks sent an email out.
- The 9:03 a.m. email quoted the May 24, 2016 council agenda, and specifically item R14.
- At 9:03 a.m. on Friday, the council agenda was NOT publicly available.
- Item R14 is a public hearing regarding “The Termination of the Mayor’s Weekly Newsletter.”
- Meier – not the new councilmembers – put item R14 on the agenda. THE CHOICE TO WORD THE ITEM THIS WAY WAS 100% Meier’s.
- Back to the 9:03 a.m. email, regarding item R14: “Long speculated, that if this slate got elected, this would be one of the early things they would address-not taxes, not economic growth, not anything to positively impact the Town, but rather this negative personal attack.”
- In other words, the 9:03 a.m. email FALSELY REPRESENTS that the new councilmembers were responsible for putting R14 on the agenda.
So, how did the tabloid emailers have the council’s agenda on Friday morning at 9:03 a.m., more than eight hours before the new councilmembers had it, and at a time when it wasn’t publicly posted?
The answer is simple: Meier provided the tabloiders with the council agenda so they could use HIS inflammatorily-worded agenda item to falsely attack the new councilmembers.
IT’S THE PROVERBIAL SMOKING GUN BECAUSE THIS TIME IT’S DIRECTLY TRACEABLE TO MEIER. There’s simply no other way they could have had that council agenda on Friday morning. Clearly, Meier is feeding the tabloiders and collaborating with them to falsely attack his perceived political enemies.
And that, folks, is the reality of this mayor. In less than a week, Meier has shown the new councilmembers that he can’t be trusted, and that he is unwilling to get past the election and work with the council to move on with the business of the Town.
I’m hopeful that the entire council will send a clear message to Meier that his tactics are not welcome in Addison, and that they will no longer be tolerated. Addison has too many pressing issues to have to continually deal with a mayor bent on destruction.
It’s time to move on, Todd. Lead, follow OR GET OUT OF THE WAY.