Friday, May. 09, 2008

LETTERS to the EDITOR

Dear Editor,

There is a very important election for Flower Mound just around the corner and I want to urge you to place your confidence in the right person for Place 2 on Town Council – my husband, Steve Dixon.

More than 10 years ago, our close friends moved to Flower Mound and each time we came to visit, we fell more and more in love with the town and finally knew we had to make it our home. The sense of community here is outstanding! Even with a population over 60,000 people, it feels like a small town. But the fact is, it’s not a small town, it is a large suburban town that needs strong community-focused leadership.

Soon after moving here, Steve was approached by town leaders to see if he would be interested in serving as a commissioner on the Planning & Zoning Board and he was more than eager to serve. There continues to be much confidence in Steve’s leadership, as he is time and again approached to serve on boards and committees – and now, Town Council.

Steve is honest, and fair and has no hidden agendas. He exudes calm, but don’t let that fool you – underneath, he is gathering information, assessing the situation, and making sound judgments. And for those of you who know Steve, I think you will agree that he has a gift for getting to know people and finds great joy in joking around with people of all ages!

Even after 17 years of marriage I am seeing a new side of Steve since deciding to run for Place 2 – a dedicated and determined listener to his friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens, desiring an even deeper understanding of the needs and vision of the people of our town.

I am so proud of my husband for stepping up!

I guess there is never an easy time to be in leadership, especially in a town experiencing such rapid growth, but I am confident Steve will accept the challenges and embrace the responsibility with integrity!

So, I urge all citizens to get out and vote – your vote really does count – it’s your voice in your community.

— Amanda Dixon, Flower Mound

Dear Editor,

Highland Village residents, I would like to encourage you to vote for Fred Busche for mayor in the May 10 election. This is an important election for Highland Village, and I encourage you to make it to the polls.

I had the opportunity to meet Fred recently and was very impressed with his breadth of knowledge about issues affecting our city. I was also impressed with his personality and honesty, and he appears to me to be an individual of extremely high character.

The issue that my family is most passionate about is the proposed extension of FM 2499 directly through two of our residential neighborhoods (and abutting two others), up to 25-feet of homes where children live and play. I have had e-mail correspondence with Fred about the January 2007 USC Study and its conclusions that children who grow up within 1500 feet of a major road or highway will suffer an average 10-percent irreversible lung damage.

Fred has responded to my e-mails at length and has demonstrated a refreshing willingness to listen to the facts. I also had an extended conversation recently with him in person, and he truly cares about the issue and cares about the impact this highway will have on our children.

Fred’s response to me has been the polar opposite of the current administration who has not once expressed even a bit of concern for our children even though I had sent them the USC Study in early 2007. The City Council’s approach has been to argue that the Study miraculously did not apply to vehicle pollution in our city, even though allowable vehicle emission levels are substantially higher in Texas than California, and traffic levels here are similar to numerous communities in the USC Study.

Not once did the City Council make a sincere effort to understand the immense negative health impact to approximately 1,000 children who live within 1500 feet of the proposed highway in Highland Village alone (not including the children who will be poisoned in Corinth). They only looked for ways to discredit the Study so that they would not be inconvenienced by this dramatic new information (it is the only long-term study of its kind and received international attention).

This implies that they did not believe our children’s health to be a high-priority issue. If they did deem it a high priority, they would have aggressively demanded that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared instead of the completely inadequate Environmental Assessment (EA) which did not even consider impact on human health, much less children’s health.

For these reasons I strongly encourage you to vote for Fred Busche for Mayor.

— John Mullen, Highland Village

Dear Editor,

For some time, I have wondered if Highland Village would ever see a mayor who responds to the wants and needs of its citizens; a mayor who would instigate meaningful dialogue and listen. To date, that mayor has been absent. However, we now have the opportunity to elect a candidate who is reaching out to the people of Highland Village, informing us, listening to us, and committed to including us. This candidate is Fred Busche.

Fred Busche has initiated several meetings and conversations with residents who are greatly worried about the FM 2499 project and the negative effects it will have on our children. Fred acknowledges that the road is not a "done deal" and has an open mind, unlike our current mayor. He continues to search for a way to involve the citizenry in the planning by providing us with his ideas and with information on the project as he receives it. It was Fred who notified us that toll bridges for the lake have been proposed and are being negotiated. While I am not in favor of anything short of a full environmental study, toll bridges are a huge proposition. They would tax those of you who wish to use FM 2499 and they would provide additional revenue to the city. It would impact us all, those for and against FM 2499.

Knowing my and others’ immense apprehension about FM 2499 and the harmful effects it will have on our children, Mayor Costa has repeatedly stated she would keep us apprised of new developments. For her to not step up and inform us of these new facts on design changes herself is inexcusable and not what she promised. No doubt Mayor Costa will try to cite the current lawsuit between concerned citizens and FHWA and TXDot as the reason she has not provided this information to those in opposition to the road. The city is not a party in the suit and thus any argument using this as an excuse is moot.

A word of caution for those who will be impacted by new development in Highland Village, particularly you who will be effected by the proposed Transit-Oriented Overlay District and the continued enlargement of the Inland Trails. Mayor Costa is well versed in the practice of telling the citizens what they want instead of listening. She has a history of meeting with, then ignoring them; as if a meeting is the only requirement of her position.

Fred Busche wants to involve YOU in the decisions concerning the development of Highland Village. When will we get the kind of information and communication we deserve? I believe it is when we elect Fred Busche as mayor.

— Roxane Thomas,

Highland Village

Dear Editor,

If you’re tired of Flower Mound candidates claiming they support the things that are important to you during election time – like the Master Plan, SMARTGrowth, protecting our native forests, drilling ordinances that protect our neighborhoods and schools, etc., only to have their votes say otherwise for the rest of the year, then please do something about it and join me in voting for Al Filidoro and Virginia Jellison.

— Sherillyn Flick, Flower Mound

Dear Editor,

If you’re happy and you know it, cast your vote!

Has a nice ring to it? Make you hum a little tune? The reality of the matter is that happy people don’t generally flock to the polls. If you are pleased with how our city has been functioning these past two years, as am I, then now is the time to affirm that the council we have in place works together well. Of course there is always room for improvement – but the way to better our city is not by changing leadership at a time when we have a council that gets the job done.

Much has been said about involving the citizens more. I can tell you that in the 20 years I have lived in Highland Village, I have never seen more dialogue with citizens than in the recent past. The days of perceived parallel monologue are long gone. It has taken some trial and error to see what works, and the end result has been a mayor and council that have found many ways to include their constituents in progressively better ways. The mayor and council (as well as city staff) offer an abundance of communication tools to us all, not the least of which is taking city hall to the citizens by meeting with groups to interact and find solutions to problems.

Let’s not let someone else make our choices for us. If you haven’t voted yet, May 10th is Election Day. Get to the polls and insure that the efforts of this mayor and council are allowed to continue doing the great job they have done. Re-elect Mayor Dianne Costa because she is the best choice for positive leadership of our team of council members. This council has been responsible enough to set aside division and contention of the past and work cooperatively to fulfill the duties to which we hold them responsible. Our votes represent our investment in continuity. We cannot be irresponsible in choosing the best council available this election year. The remaining members of council that are not on the ballot this year also deserve our support to keep their team intact Vote for Mayor Dianne Costa, Council Members Combs, Robichaux and McDearmont.

— Sandy Raburn,

20-year Highland Village resident

Dear Editor,

The Argyle school board election is May 10th. I believe based on our current board’s performance it is time for a change in leadership.

Superintendent selection – Bottom line ... no matter what you think of the superintendent, our board is responsible for the decision to hire and subsequent costs and chaos to the district because of this debacle. The board has sole responsibility of selecting the superintendent and working with the superintendent to achieve the goals of the district. Due to their poor decisions, our district will suffer financially, our kids will suffer academically, our leadership is in chaos, and our community is divided. We should expect our board to do it’s job well. There should be accountability for poor decisions and poor stewardship of finances.

Wasting Tax Money – our board has spent $52,000 on lawyers. This does not include upcoming hearing and buyout costs. The board recently hired a larger law firm with two lawyer team ... first bill was $18,000. I think costs will beat least 2 to 3 times this for hearing and buyout. AISD savings account is not high. We face costs needed to staff and operate the new 5th/6th campus and new superintendent. How many programs and teachers could be funded that instead will fund lawyers? The board in March looked at rescinding its decisions to start soccer and open the intermediate campus due to budgetary concerns. Desperately needed tax dollars are wasted and will never benefit our kids as was intended!

Lack of openness, efficiency and civility in meetings – under the current incumbent leadership, our board has spent 42 hours in closed session and only 19 hours in open session. Several meetings have gone on for hours into the early morning. One meeting turned into screaming and threatening administration and other trustees.

Voted against Prayer – all the incumbents running for re-election voted against starting meetings with prayer.

I believe it is time for new leadership: Denise Sizelove, Kent Bateman, Matt Portz, Kim Hinnrichs. This is a tight race and your vote could make a difference in our schools future!

— Emrie Wilkes

Dear Editor,

For the record, yes, Al Filidoro was not active in Flower Mound in the past 10 years because: he was attaining his law degree; and, following that, he was caring for his late wife, who last year lost her seven year battle to breast cancer.

I think is it appalling and inexcusable that his opponent, Steve Dixon, knowing this, would use a historic comparison of the last five years in his campaign material. It is ethically and morally wrong.

On taking his position on the council, Al spent unprecedented time and efforts to learn about the current town, its facilities and operations.

Al Filidoro was VERY active in the community in the early ’90s. Since Mr. Filidoro was chairman of Planning and Zoning at that time, he knows the historic issues that were critical to Flower Mound as it was growing – far better than his opponent who did not live here then.

— Bob Kohankie, Flower Mound