{"id":1877,"date":"2018-12-12T11:59:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T17:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1877"},"modified":"2018-12-13T10:37:21","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T16:37:21","slug":"we-are-notposting-on-the-next-doorapp","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1877","title":{"rendered":"We Are NotPosting on The Next DoorApp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We Are Not Posting on<\/strong>
By Susan M. Halpern<\/strong>\u00a0
Former Addison Councilmember (1992-1999)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Truth in Addison is not posting on the Next Door app.\u00a0 If you are here because you saw a link on the Next Door app, or because you read some other post and got curious, we welcome you.\u00a0But please know that we didn\u2019t post any links and are not behind the post-storm that is currently being inflicted on Next Door users.\u00a0 Nonetheless, if you\u2019re inclined, read on,because it\u2019s good to know what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For about two weeks now, the\nnegatives and naysayers have been forcefully posting on the Next Door app.  As is their practice, they jump from issue to\nissue trying to gain traction.  The\nformula remains the same: pick an issue, circulate misleading and inaccurate\ninformation, claim that the sky is falling, criticize anyone who isn\u2019t them,\nand then claim that only they have a solution. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All efforts to correct the\nmisleading and inaccurate information being posted on Next Door have been met\nwith hostility and sarcasm. When the posts are removed by Next Door, they are\nimmediately posted again.  When\nindividual accounts are removed, they are either reestablished or new accounts\nare created using fake names.  There is\nno reasoning with these folks on any level. \nThey simply ignore the truth, continue with their misleading posts, and\nhave no concern for those trying to use the Next Door app for its intended\npurposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Monday of this week, the Next\nDoor \u201cLead\u201d had seen enough.  The Lead posted,\nasking the \u201cJill Slake\u201d account (clearly a fake name) to stop posting.  The Lead also requested that other users\nsimply ignore posts from that account, stating: \u201cI know who it is and it has\nbeen reported.\u201d  The Lead was immediately\naccused (by the fake Jill Slake account) of being a \u201cmean girl,\u201d and the negative\nposter changed tactics and now claimed to be a victim of bullying.  What nonsense.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On some level, such tactics are\nlaughable.  But the repeated posts appear\nto be bothersome to many who are simply trying to use the Next Door app for its\nintended purposes.  And, I\u2019m sure the\nappalling lack of decency has been a shock to the Next Door users, who\nundoubtedly are not accustomed to the tactics of the negatives and naysayers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another problem with these posts\nis that many contain blatantly false information.  People are being misled, quite by design, and\nquite intentionally.  In the law, we\nwould call that malicious.  As but one\nexample, there were countless posts aimed at harming the Addison Police\nAssociation\u2019s fundraising efforts by falsely stating that money raised from the\npublic was used to make campaign donations to Addison candidates.  That claim is utterly groundless and\ncompletely untrue.  The Addison Police Association\ndoes not make political contributions.  That\nmeans that not a dime raised from the public is used for that purpose.  But the negatives are unconstrained by the\ntruth.  So, the posts keep coming.  The negative poster even brought up the fact\nthat the Addison Police Association was victimized by an embezzler, failing to\nmention that the current APA Board uncovered the wrongdoing, that the\nperpetrator was prosecuted, and that every dime was recovered.  These facts are important and they surely matter.  But not, apparently, to the negatives and\nnaysayers, who are so intent on spreading misleading and inaccurate information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s before we ever get to\ntheir latest tactic, which is a concerted effort to falsely connect Truth in\nAddison to the post storm.  And, to\npurport to speak on behalf of Truth in Addison and falsely attribute political\npositions to Truth in Addison.  The clear\neffort is to discredit Truth in Addison because, well, they can\u2019t handle the\nTRUTH.  How utterly shameful, indecent\nand entirely inappropriate.  It goes\nwithout saying that they do not speak on Truth in Addison\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you imagine investing all\nthat time posting false information again and again, for no constructive reason,\nbut rather, to cause harm?  What kind of\nexistence is it to awaken each day, and plot harm to others?  Who does such things?  Who even has time to do such things??  And it\u2019s so ironic that all this is happening\nas our country is mourning the loss of Bush 41, whose civility was the subject\nof so much commentary during the past two weeks.  Not to mention the holiday season that is\nupon us.  It is shameful conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the other thing.  It cannot be coincidental that these posts\nbegan at the same time the blog of the negatives and naysayers emerged for the\nfirst time in months.  It too was filled\nwith misinformation.  They even attacked\nthe current Council in connection with a meeting being conducted not by the\nTown, but by the Oaks North HOA.  The\nmeeting concerned the Village on the Parkway, and the negatives falsely claimed\nthat the Council had agreed to rezone part of that development, even claiming that\nthe rezoning was a \u201cdone deal.\u201d  All of\nit was false.  And then, once the meeting\nwas done, they claimed that a quorum of the Council had been present.  Again, false. \nFour were present, five is a quorum. \nAddison\u2019s Charter is clear on that point.  Again and again and again, the negatives and\nnaysayers confirm that the facts simply do not matter to them.  They will say anything if they believe they\ncan inflict harm on those who call them out for their underhanded tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, all the signs are\nthere.  The sudden flurry of blogs and\ninappropriate posts, the efforts to harm Truth in Addison, which has repeatedly\ncalled the negatives out for their improper and harmful conduct, the efforts to\nfloat various issues using the negative formula discussed above.  We\u2019ve seen these tactics before.  And, I don\u2019t believe in coincidences.  So, it would appear that the negatives and\nnaysayers are gearing up for a negative campaign season in 2019.  And, it certainly appears that they intend to\nimpose themselves on the Next Door app as a way of spreading their negative\nmessages and attempting to discredit Truth in Addison.  Civility be damned; they just don\u2019t care that\nit causes harm to our community, or that it imposes on others trying to use the\nNext Door app.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I say ignore them.  Ignore the posts.  Ignore the posters.  Don\u2019t believe them, and don\u2019t be drawn into\ndiscussions with them.  On the Next Door\napp, let their misleading, negative posts fall down the queue and be absorbed\nby other posts.  And if the negatives\nopen the posts back up and close them back down so that the posts rise back up\nin the queue, ignore them again.  If we\nall do that, we\u2019ll be able to continue to use the site for its intended\npurposes, with minimal inconvenience caused by these folks.  And if we check our facts and search for the\nTRUTH, we will be unaffected by the efforts of the negatives and naysayers to\ndrag our community down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addison is in a great place right\nnow.  We have a hardworking, honest\nCouncil that is conducting the affairs of the Town in a professional and\nbusinesslike manner.  Addison is starting\nto regain its credibility within the North Texas community.  Our staff is stabilizing, and our fire and\nsafety departments are returning to full strength.  Our Council is solving problems, not creating\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Addison Way is back!  Let\u2019s keep moving Addison in the right\ndirection!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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