"I realize that we all have a right to voice our criticisms but I believe that candidates have a responsibility to insure that their criticisms are based in fact. I also believe that words are important and that terms like “liar” should not be applied to people who are simply mistaken or in error. These words do a great deal to damage our political system."
- an excerpt from an email from a RumorCheck subscriber
My parents moved us to Richardson in 1965; thus, I have had the pleasure of seeing Richardson grow and prosper over the last 46 years. Furthermore, because I have lived in other cities in Dallas County for some of those 46 years, I have had the opportunity to compare and contrast Richardson with other cities in the area, and Richardson always comes out on top.
But in the last few years, there has been growing culture of gloom and doom coming over some people here. Despite the obvious fact that the City is well-run, prosperous, has low crime, and is successfully bringing in businesses to help pay our taxes, certain people simply can’t accept it.
Instead they turn to the Internet, to a privately owned newspaper, and to professionally produced videos to paint our City as a cesspool of corruption and on the "path of self-destruction" – their exact words. There is no doubt in my mind that the Chambers of Commerce in our neighboring cities must be delighted that certain Richardson residents hate the City so much that they are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars bashing the City, implicitly encouraging businesses to locate elsewhere.
Members of the RCA like to reminisce on how Richardson used to be a vibrant community – as if it weren't today. Unbelievably, they are more concerned about whether or not there is a movie theater in Richardson rather than the fact that we have attracted businesses like AT&T, BlueCross & BlueShield, Bank of America, Verizon, Fujitsu, and other blue chip companies; that more than 50% of the property tax is paid by these businesses, not homeowners; and that UTD is on the path to becoming a Tier 1 school which will attract even more business.
The RCA often muses about returning to the good old days…while ignoring the fact that the world has moved on.
But I, too, would like to return to some aspects of the good old days.
- I'd like to see a City where neighbor is not divided against neighbor.
- I'd like to see a City where people don't print statements that they know to be false in private newspapers and on the Internet.
- I'd like to see a City where a disgruntled individual doesn't finance videos and television commercials bashing the City with statements so blatantly false that even the old Communist Party propagandists would be embarrassed.
- I'd like to see a City where there aren't Internet websites full of hate and vile statements that freely insult their fellow residents.
- I'd like to see a City where the residents are honest and decent enough to admit they've made a mistake and apologize for a false accusation.
- And like the reader above, I'd like to see a City where name calling and personal attacks are not the new norm in public discourse.
The various City Council candidates in this election agree for the most part on most of the issues facing to City. Should we have a Charter Review Commission? Yes, all are in favor. Should we continue the practice of giving out abatements to attract businesses? Yes, all are in agreement to one degree or another. Have the transparency initiatives in the last two years been a positive thing for the City? Yes, all are on board with this.
Our problem is not with the candidates but in the fact that some of them are endorsed by the most hateful and mean-spirited small group of people this City has ever seen. Certain members of the Richardson Citizens Alliance have made false statement after false statement, untrue accusation after untrue accusation. They say that the City's debt is growing much faster than other cities – but that's false! They say that the City has cut police officers – but that's false! They say that the City Council violates the Charter by selling debt without voter consent – that's not only false but has been false for forty years!
These are not matters of opinion, but easily proven facts – and the RCA is wrong on the facts. Indeed, a recent RCA video was so full of errors that both RumorCheck and the City itself felt compelled to point how many errors were in it.
And rather than apologize when proven wrong, this small clique in the RCA turns to personal attacks, intimidation, and bullying in an attempt to silence any one who disagrees.
There are certain core members and leaders of the RCA who simply have no sense of shame or decency.
This is the real issue in this election. It's not the candidates or the issues; it’s the RCA itself in that it has demonstrated in spades everything that decent people hate about politics.
The election will be completed tomorrow, May 14th, and if any RCA candidates happen to be elected, I would hope and pray that the first thing he or she does is renounce the RCA, its numerous misstatements of fact, and most especially its petty, mean-spirited, and divisive brand of politics.
The decent people of Richardson deserve better.
William J. 'Bill' McCalpin
Richardson, Texas
