{"id":1304,"date":"2016-05-12T09:12:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T14:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1304"},"modified":"2016-05-12T09:12:17","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T14:12:17","slug":"attacking-newly-elected-councilmembers-before-theyve-even-taken-officegive-peace-a-chance","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1304","title":{"rendered":"Attacking Newly Elected Councilmembers Before They\u2019ve Even Taken Office:GIVE PEACE A CHANCE!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attacking Newly Elected Councilmembers
\n<\/strong>Before They\u2019ve Even Taken Office:
\n<\/strong>GIVE PEACE A CHANCE!
\n<\/strong>By Susan M. Halpern
\n<\/strong>Former Addison Councilmember (1992-1999)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Councilmembers-elect Paul Walden, Jim Duffy and Al Angell haven\u2019t been sworn in yet. They haven\u2019t spoken a word as elected officials.\u00a0 They haven\u2019t taken a single official act.\u00a0 But they have already been summarily condemned by the Meier-supporting facts-don\u2019t-matter folks, who now call them \u201cgood ole boys.\u201d\u00a0 These are the same tabloid writers who brought you \u201cpoopgate.\u201d\u00a0 They now claim to be judge, jury and executioner.\u00a0 All this before the trial even starts.<\/p>\n

The attacks are entirely personal, exemplifying the political atmosphere Todd Meier has fed for several years. In Meier\u2019s world, you either agree with him or you are \u201cthe enemy.\u201d\u00a0 It is an adversarial model, in which the focus is on \u201cdefeating\u201d those who disagree.\u00a0 The focus is on \u201cwinning,\u201d without regard to whether the decisions being made are in Addison\u2019s best interest.\u00a0 All of this is why Meier and his cadre have felt comfortable applying derogatory and derisive terms like \u201chaters\u201d and \u201ctransparency wanters\u201d to those of us who have challenged their tactics.<\/p>\n

Along the same lines, Meier has continually fed the myth that his control over a captive council equates to \u201ccollaboration.\u201d In truth, he has demanded obedience, often bullying the council and demanding unanimity.\u00a0 In my view, debate and disagreement managed properly are positive forces for making the best possible decision.\u00a0 But to work, the leadership of such a process must be comfortable with deliberation that leads to<\/em> a resolution.\u00a0 Here, Meier has continually demanded acquiescence in his<\/em> resolution.\u00a0 The \u201cdeliberations\u201d have been little more than theater.\u00a0 Sorry, but that\u2019s not \u201ccollaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The councils I was a part of frequently disagreed about issues, and we debated them vociferously. That led to a thorough discussion of issues.\u00a0 We respected the process and our roles, agreeing to disagree agreeably.\u00a0 We never made the discussion about us, and we never made disagreement personal.\u00a0 Meier\u2019s demands for obedience<\/em> have made the process personal.\u00a0 He has transformed his role into one of ruling<\/em> rather than presiding<\/em> over meetings.\u00a0 Those who have disagreed have been attacked and vilified, often in our Town-owned and taxpayer-funded newsletter.<\/p>\n

This theme was prominent in the recent campaign, where supporters of the incumbents argued that electing Walden, Duffy and Angell would lead to \u201cbickering\u201d on the council. The truth is that they haven\u2019t seen productive debate in so long that the prospect of it is perceived as negative.\u00a0 All they know is the Meier model, in which disagreement with Meier is disobedience, and thus subject to attack.\u00a0 So because they perceive that the councilmembers-elect disagree with Meier, the facts-don\u2019t-matter people have chosen to attack them before they are even sworn in.\u00a0 With due respect, it is a misguided view of the situation and those who are about to assume office.<\/p>\n

In my view, the manner in which Meier has conducted our business cries out for change, both in the deliberation and the results. The last few years have demonstrated that Meier\u2019s dictatorial tactics aren\u2019t good for Addison.\u00a0 Aside from the rising taxes and irresponsible spending, much of which has been politically motivated, Meier has systematically led the council to take the business of the Town underground.\u00a0 Transparency is at an all-time low.\u00a0 The labyrinth of committees \u2013 particularly the Finance Committee \u2013 has fed secrecy.\u00a0 It has also allowed Meier and others to inject themselves into the day-to-day operations of Addison, micromanaging the business of the Town, all without any visibility to the public.\u00a0 The single-mindedness of the council has made it easy for the dictatorial-minded Meier to control the message.\u00a0 And he has done that in spades, manipulating and mischaracterizing the facts, even concealing information as he has wrongfully done in connection with the Kanter fiasco.<\/p>\n

All of this is what has made Addison a divided community: The concealment of information.\u00a0 The attacks on those who challenge Meier and who disagree with him.\u00a0 The continual misuse of our Town\u2019s newsletter to push Meier\u2019s agenda by misrepresenting facts and telling half-truths and one-sided stories.\u00a0 The use of our council meetings to run a campaign.\u00a0 The disparagement of our former staff and management, who worked tirelessly to make Addison a special place, all premised on false and misleading claims.\u00a0 In a word, the public has continually been hoodwinked.<\/p>\n

We are divided not because of an election, but because too many people have been all too willing to look the other way in the face of unquestionable wrongdoing. We are divided because members of the council \u2013 who owe fiduciary obligations to ADDISON \u2013 have been all too willing not only to look the other way, but to aggressively defend Meier\u2019s tactics.\u00a0 We are divided because of the misguided, inappropriate and wrongful \u201ctone at the top\u201d of this council.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the other thing. We must never forget that the facts-don\u2019t-matters folks are the same people who have incorrectly claimed (as \u201cfact\u201d) that DCAD, not Addison, raised your taxes.\u00a0 These are the folks who, with absolutely no basis in \u201cfact,\u201d falsely accused the Walden, Duffy and Angell supporters of putting dog poop on someone\u2019s doormat.\u00a0 These are the folks who quoted as \u201cfact\u201d the losing<\/em> position of a former councilmember who was sued because he refused to obey the law.\u00a0 And, who criticized Jim Duffy and others who sued that councilmember to demand compliance with the law.\u00a0 These facts-don\u2019t-matter folks also willingly joined in the shameful attacks on our own Town, on our history, and on so many fine current and former employees who worked tirelessly for years to make Addison a special place.<\/p>\n

And these are the folks who continually beat the Kanter drum, all the while supporting the withholding of Lea Dunn\u2019s memo and other information that we believe will refute Kanter\u2019s inflammatory claims. The fact is that Addison is audited every single year and has received clean audits for more than three decades.\u00a0 It has been and still is absurd to suggest that despite all the clean audits and financial awards, Larry Kanter should stand alone as the sole arbiter of the health of Addison\u2019s finances.\u00a0 The truth is that Kanter\u2019s work was a political ploy, and I believe that we will see that in spades when Addison is finally forced to release Lea Dunn\u2019s 19 page memo.<\/p>\n

Addison\u2019s citizens deserve access to the FACTS so that they can make their own judgments based on the whole picture, rather than Meier\u2019s manipulated, politicized version of events. That\u2019s what TRUTH is all about: providing the FACTS and letting citizens draw their own conclusions.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the most important word here is \u201cELECTED.\u201d Addison has ELECTED three qualified candidates who have the opportunity to open our government up to public scrutiny, bringing TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY to Addison for the first time in many years.\u00a0 Give them a chance and then make your judgments.<\/p>\n

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