Jimmie McClure’s ‘Integrity’ Problem. She Has None.

Former Midlothian finance director Jimmie McClure has no business ever uttering another word about anyone – current, former, or retired – having integrity.

I wrote about her back-and-forth exchanges with Duff Hale (council candidate Hank Miller’s treasurer and a columnist colleague for The Ellis County Press) in a recent Freedom of the Press column titled “Integrity is a joke.”

Since that issue, not a peep has been publicly uttered.

McClure should have been indicted for her role in the Midlothian Justice Center/First Baptist Church real estate deal. Steve Campbell and William Foshea aren’t the only guilty parties to this transaction.

She bitches about how Place 3 Councilman Ken Chambers embarrasses city staff and questions things, and then proceeds to suggest that Chambers and others ask questions before a council meeting. In the real world, Jimmie, a council forum for the public at large so that it is on public record has every right and duty to hear and see the answers from city staff.

Freedom of the Press | Joey Dauben

‘Integrity’ is a joke

It’s not like I ever used the word, but “integrity” will never be used to describe any politician ever. Why? Bill Clinton once used the term to describe a friend of his, and a former adviser of his used it to describe ousted Sen. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, after the former Health and Human Services nominee disclosed failure to pay income taxes. With guys like that using a word that means “without corrupting influence, honest, completeness,” it’s time to consult another vocabulary.

Locally, the “integrity” label was pinned on City of Midlothian finance guru Chris Dick by the city’s former finance director, Jimmie McClure. McClure was responding to my colleague, Duff Hale, in a few financial matters he brought up in two editorials. Is Dick really a man of “impeccable integrity?” Probably not, and McClure definitely isn’t the one I’d ever use that term on. Why? Every dollar spent on by Midlothian was signed off by McClure. That included the massive corruption that Place 3 Councilman Ken Chambers – another McClure target – exposed in The Ellis County Press regarding the new police station:

Excerpts from Chambers: Former Police Chief Steve Campbell initialed the contract for the city as the city’s representative (buyer), the person responsible for representing the taxpayers … it was his job to acquire the property at the best price for the citizens of Midlothian. Representing our city, Campbell used William Foshea as the broker (realtor). Foshea received $36,000 in commission, according to the HUD Settlement. Coincidence? The Texas Real Estate Commission verified that William Stephen Campbell had a real estate salesperson license and was being sponsored by licensed real estate broker William Foshea (the person who received the commission) during the course of the real estate transaction. The TREC website currently shows the same address for both Foshea and Campbell. The city has verified the buyer’s initials on the bottom of the contract are those of William S. Campbell.”

McClure should have been indicted and prosecuted for this, as should others still working at Midlothian City Hall.

The May 9 elections in Midlothian will prove telling: Chambers’ allies, Bill Redding and Dr. Hank Miller (Hale is Miller’s treasurer), will seek to knock out two incumbents after being annexed into the city in November, and we will see once and for all the meaning of true leadership.

Leadership Void
So, how do you know that a leader has integrity? Integrity is one of those traits that can be seen, not described. If you are a Christian person, you are known by what you do, not by what you say. The same principle applies in politics. When a dishonest garbage can of a politician calls their dishonest friends persons of “impeccable integrity,” cringe. Cringe every time it’s said.

Lord Acton is always misquoted. The popularity of his “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely” has a secondary quote that is never included: “Great men are almost always bad men.” In the case of McClure, women are included. I don’t tell people I’m Christian, or a God-fearing person. Others should be able to see it. Likewise, honest politicians should never have to tell others that they’re honest. The public should see it. Midlothian is scarce in honest leadership.