{"id":841,"date":"2015-04-13T15:12:23","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T20:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=841"},"modified":"2015-04-13T15:12:23","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T20:12:23","slug":"the-farce-of-meiers-rising-star-award","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=841","title":{"rendered":"The Farce of Meier\u2019s \u201cRising Star\u201d Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Farce of Meier\u2019s \u201cRising Star\u201d Award
\n<\/strong>By: Susan M. Halpern
\n<\/strong>(Addison councilmember 1992 \u2013 99)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Addison is about to experience another Meier-orchestrated farce.\u00a0 This week, the Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce is expected to name David Heape as Addison\u2019s \u201cRising Star.\u201d<\/p>\n

Except that it wasn\u2019t the Metrocrest Chamber that chose Heape.\u00a0 It was Meier.<\/p>\n

You heard that right.\u00a0 These are the facts: the award has no criteria, there is no process by which members of the public can apply, and there is no process by which the award winner is chosen.\u00a0 It is classic Meier: he and he alone decides it all, a reality that is becoming all too familiar in Addison, and increasingly problematic.<\/p>\n

Heape is presumably happy to accept this farce of an \u201caward,\u201d which is not so much an award as it is a reward for Heape\u2019s loyalty to Meier.\u00a0 Meier helped Heape get elected in the divisive and controversial 2014 election, contributing $500 to Heape\u2019s campaign and actively campaigning for him as a part of Meier\u2019s plan to unseat the independent-thinking, Meier-challenging Neil Resnik and Margie Gunther.\u00a0 For his part, Heape appears to have embraced his role as another pawn in the Meier-led chess game that Addison has become, by and large toting the Meier line and voting for Meier\u2019s agenda.\u00a0 Meier now returns the favor to Heape.\u00a0 Other potential \u201cRising Stars\u201d in Addison need not apply.<\/p>\n

Let me be clear about this: the Metrocrest Chamber does remarkable and admirable work in the communities comprising the Metrocrest, relying on a dedicated professional staff and an extraordinary network of volunteers.\u00a0 They haven\u2019t done anything wrong.\u00a0 They simply weren\u2019t prepared for someone like Meier to politicize what was, at base, an innocent effort to provide recognition to a deserving Addison resident.\u00a0 As well, the Chamber faces the uncomfortable reality that Meier controls the Addison Council, and the Council controls Addison\u2019s funding to the Metrocrest Chamber.\u00a0 Nonetheless, it is time for the Chamber to deal with the reality of Meier\u2019s misuse of this award, and institute a process before lending its good name to more of Meier\u2019s political maneuverings.<\/p>\n

As for Addison, expect to hear from Meier about Heape being Addison\u2019s \u201cRising Star\u201d with no mention of the lack of process.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen it before.\u00a0 Last year, Meier named Janelle Moore as his \u201cRising Star,\u201d and then used the opportunity to tout her qualifications in Addison\u2019s Town-owned and taxpayer-funded newsletter.\u00a0 This was done at a time when Moore was one of six candidates for Council and was, in the opinion of many of us, a blatantly improper use of taxpayer resources.<\/p>\n

The Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce deserves better and so does Addison.<\/p>\n

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