Are we gonna do this again?

Some thoughts on tinfoil hats, mowing contracts, conflicts of interest and city hall corruption

Yeah. It looks like we’re gonna do this again … and I’m probably gonna get in trouble as a result.

*Sigh*

Area social media pages blew up Saturday when one of the leading lights of Taylor’s tinfoil hat brigade penned an incendiary post then shared it around. He’s done it before and, in most cases, folks roll their eyes and mutter something about about considering the source. I do, too … I’ve tangled with this fella before and found that Shaw’s comment about wrestling with pigs in the mud to be apt, so I tend to avoid engagement.

But, here’s the thing. His blogs carry a nugget of the truth and he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. So … people believe him. And, since his constant focus is on how corrupt our local officials are, his posts appeal to a lot of people, especially those prone to believe that folks in City Hall are lining their pockets with water revenues,  insider information and taxpayer money.

As I noted, normally I’d let it go but, that post was shared a bunch and, as demonstrated in the comment sections, people believe him. His slanted take on the conflict of interest issue alone is misguided and poorly understood, at best, and feeds the false narrative that everyone at City Hall is on the take.

It makes it hard to govern credibly.

I’ll allow that a recent city council meeting got a little childish and Robert Garcia took the brunt of the negative comments. Dwayne Ariola’s not a great communicator and can be a bit ham-fisted at times … but, he means well, mostly. His greater point is worth pursuing. Here’s a link to the pertinent portion of the meeting. Decide for yourself if any of this was justified.

I reported on (reporter-speak for “investigated”) every one of the claims that blogger made. What I learned contradicted many of his firmly held beliefs — obviously, because it made him mad and he continues to repeat the same talking points he used three years ago.

I don’t know if it’s his intention to be Taylor’s own Alex Jones or if it’s that he’s so afflicted with confirmation bias he is incapable of processing new information, especially if it contradicts his preconceived world view.

In aid of clarification, I’ve posted a half-dozen links to that reporting, and included one editorial, to give you some actual, responsible, non-alternative facts. The links are at the end of this post.

Beware, those links take you to the Taylor Press’s paywall so if you don’t subscribe (and you soooo should) and you’ve already copped your three free articles this month, you’ll have to buy a one-day subscription.

Suck it up. It’s less than a buck.

Once you are there, a word search for “mowing contract” turns up a coupla dozen stories. You get about the same number of entries with a search of “conflict of interest.” Many of them are the same (oh, and this search also showed that we lead with some form of “in the weeds” waaay too many times).

I did not include a link to that aforementioned blog. You know who he is. You know how to Google.

 

• October 18, 2014: Updated: HUD audit slams Taylor Housing Authority
• May 4, 2016: City is powerless over THA: Congress made housing authorities independent to help fight graft
• May 3, 2016: Mayor’s search for THA probe comes up empty
• August 18, 2016: Housing Authority sues to get property back
• August 28, 2016: Mowing bid puts council in the weeds
• August 28, 2016: The Ragged Edge: Taylor off in the weeds
• November 12, 2016: Conflict of interest made clear to council

 

Oh, and just for grins, here’s a column I wrote a year ago about actual City Hall corruption.

• May 12, 2018: The Ragged Edge: City Hall corruption