Jim Mentzel & Phil Seay

City-School Races 2007
The local races are gearing up. Aside from my campaign, there’s a very high possibility that the local Libertarian Party chapter will field a Midlothian ISD school board candidate. After trying to get the Rural Citizens Against Annexation group to field someone for MISD school board, the LP quickly came into the picture. Two recent Libertarians moved in to the MISD within the past two years; the RCAA could tip both the school board and city council races in Midlothian this year, but mainly the school board race. With an estimated 300-400 residents affected by the city’s future annexation plans, I guarantee there will be some heavy hitting in those races. Incumbents Jim Mentzel and Phil Seay have their positions up for re-election in May. Sucks for them: they both voted to increase taxes — I’ve got the public records — last year and the year before.

Speaking of MISD races, there are so many rumors floating around that former Midlothian City Councilwoman Paula Baucum will run against trustee Cindy Williams when she’s up for re-election. I would absolutely pay money to see that race. Dan Altman, who ran against 40th District Judge Gene Knize in the March GOP primary, is rumored to be looking at Mentzel’s seat in May. See, folks, that 22-year-old “kid” who campaigned on lower taxes and fiscal responsibility in 2003 is finally starting to see some results…three out of the past four bond elections have failed. I’m placing my bets on the RCAA having a huge impact on the MISD races, even though annexation and school district issues have virtually nothing in common.

Annexation Letter to the Editor

To: Ellis County Press
213 W. 6th St .
P.O. Box 370
Ferris , TX 75125
Editor@elliscountypress.com

Earlier this year the Texas Legislature voted to give property owners 33 percent reduction in their school property tax rates over the next 2 years. The Legislature did not address the issue of rising appraisals or property tax rates. Governor Perry appointed an appraisal reform task force to focus on the stealth tax hike of rising appraisals. The task force is made up of 15 members appointed by the governor.

On Thursday, November 16, from 9:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. it held a public meeting in Dallas at the Bill Priest Institute at 1402 Corinth St . The final hearing will be November 21 in Austin . At the Dallas meeting there were about 80 politicians, mayors, city council, state representatives, county commissioners, and less than 10 property owners. The majority of the politicians were given as much time as they wanted to speak and got to speak first. The property owners spoke near last and were limited to 3 minutes. The gist of the matter was the politicians wanted to leave everything the same and not change anything. When asked about giving the voters a chance to decide (vote) they said that they were voted into office to make the decisions for us. No one ever complains at commissioner’s court or city council meetings about taxes just about fixing things. The property owners, on the other hand, indicated they wanted to lower the caps on how much the appraisal district can raise the property values and taxes. (5 %?) If the state is going to set mandates it needs to fund them.

Property owners want accountability on the appraisal board by having them elected to the board instead of being appointed by other government officials. (No more of the fox in charge of the hen house – put the chickens back in charge) Owners want property appraisal rollback to within reason, then transfer to ½ % sales tax to take some of the tax burden off property owners. Taxes set by appraisers for a loan are usually inflated – not actual value. If they were set by the selling price then someone could swap land for land and $1.00 or 2 people could want the home so bad they could start a bidding war and run the price up – neither of which are accurate.

The board seems to take their job seriously, but most of them were elected politicians, so we will have to see. They DO want your input, and time is running out. So send them your thoughts at Texas Task Force on Appraisal Reform, P.O. Box 12428 , Austin , TX 78711 . Or call 1-888-892-7772 or at www.tfar.state.tx.us. If you have any questions you can call Americans for Prosperity at 512-476-5905 or email at mconnole@afptx.org. Website www.afptx.org.

P.S.
The board asked at the end of the meeting why property owner turnout was so low, when in other cities it was much higher. The government officials said that the people had confidence in their abilities to make the right decisions. In my opinion, attendance by property owners was low because there was no publicity from the media about the meeting. Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. is not a workable time for most folks-and many feel that with the tax rollback, our property taxes increased anyway- so their input wouldn’t make a difference.

My perspective,

David Lister

Councilman Dusty Fryer Should Resign

Midlothian City Councilman Dusty “Turncoat” Fryer needs to resign. His platform when he first ran was that of a genuine interest in the people. He campaigned against annexation and won a seat to the city council several years ago. Up until he “retired” recently, he had kept his voting record anti-annexation, but now he’s part of the problem that he was elected to fight. For that reason alone, Dusty Fryer should resign. Why anyone hasn’t sought to group eminent domain with annexation, I don’t know. To me they’re brother and sister. Watch Fryer have an opponent when his position is up in a couple of years.

Navarro College, Annexation, 2007 Campaigns

Navarro College’s Warm Marketing Efforts
In case you’ve missed the warm marketing clues, Navarro College is putting out more PR pieces in papers — like in the Dec. 13 issue of the Midlothian Mirror — across Ellis County. The critics say this is proof Navarro plans to come to Ellis County and force an annexation election upon residents. What Navarro wants has been clear since they put a campus in Waxahachie, since they opened in Midlothian, and it is evident throughout: a property tax to fund, support, and sustain their college district. Currently, of the several counties that Navarro services, Ellis County is the population center, as well as its biggest financial cash cow. The college district is allowed to levy a property tax, but Ellis County is not within the college district. Therein lies the entire “game.” Suck up to the Ellis County business and political establishment, as well as the residents already paying massive amounts of property taxes a year, and hope that the suckers adopt yet another tax to pay for yet another school district.

May is when the campaign for a college district tax will really kick off, supposedly. I for one have seen the benefits of a community college, but I also taught myself — with the help of my economics teacher at Midlothian High School — real-world free market economics. The intentions are good, but the economics aren’t. It does not make sense for 140,000 residents to adopt themselves another property tax to pay for 2,000-3,000 students to attend school.

Annexation Editorials
If you’re an opponent, supporter, or someone in between on this entire Midlothian annexation battle, feel free to e-mail the Midlothian Observer your editorials: elliscountyobserver@hotmail.com — I’ve heard many complaints from Midlothian folks that the Mirror doesn’t publish all of the editorials, and from the Dec. 13 issue, it appears that there’s a deliberate — correct me if I’m wrong — attempt to discredit the messengers that are against the city annexation plans due to the misspellings in the letters themselves. Roby Bass’ letter last week is Example # 1. I’m pretty sure Roby Bass spells his name “R-o-b-y” and that he knows how to use spell check. In fact, I’ve helped him out on a few little projects over this past summer and I know the guy is very careful and dots his “eyes” and crosses his “tees.” Floyd Ingram, the excuse for an editor at the Mirror, has a history of doing that stuff, not just with me, but in every story he puts out. There’s always something wrong. Everyone’s a critic I guess.

2007 Campaigns
So the Midlothian Observer’s Political Rumor Mill is stirring up and there’s a lot of questions being thrown around as to whether or not former Midlothian City Councilwoman Paula Baucum will run for Midlothian school board. Also throw in potential school board candidate Andrea Walton, who was chair of Dan Altman’s 40th district court judge campaign in March. I admit, half the reason I put Andrea’s name in the Rumor Mill is because she’s amazingly attractive, and she would fit in with Tom Moore, Wayne Shuffield and Paula Baucum if the two women were to run.

Know of anyone rumored to be in the running for Midlothian city council or school board? Send the name(s) to elliscountyobserver@hotmail.com or call 972-891-2135.

MISD Slams Midlothian Mirror

Editor Floyd Ingram wrote an editorial about the Nov. 7 MISD bond election and got his clock cleaned in the Dec. 6 issue. I did a little editorializing on his editorial as well, but MISD public relations director Jana Hathorne took issue with Ingram calling the district “average.”

Hathorne’s comments are in green text with my notes in between.

Out of respect to your recent editorial in the Mirror, it’s unfortunate that you feel our district is just “average.”

Define average.

Your opinion should not be based solely on the district accountability rating.

I’ve been saying this for years. Administrators and the establishment tout those accountability ratings all the time, but are those splashy little “Recognized” banners getting students educated? Highly unlikely considering you have standardized brainwashing at all levels.

I don’t appreciate your opinion of “slamming” the district’s efforts of ensuring the success of all students. From my personal observation, Dr. Kennedy, administrators and teachers continue to move our students forward both in academics and extra-curricular activities.

Don’t let this letter fool you. Ingram turns tricks for the big-money advertisers and bond backers that help pay his salary. Perhaps he was on a different slant than the pro-football-everything caucus, but make no mistake, Ingram is bought and paid for. And “move our students forward” is entirely subjective. How come 70% of all incoming college freshmen in Texas are required to take one remedial course of some sort? Throwing more and more money into the government school system doesn’t move anyone forward. I know homeschooled students who know more in the “fourth grade” than high school seniors. Moving forward needs a better explanation.

(Don’t get me wrong, I like Jana Hathorne and all, especially her hit piece against Ingram, but honestly, I don’t believe government bureaucrats are going to say, “Our school system isn’t very workable, we just spend so much money and have little to show for it.”)

Your editorial titled “No means no, let’s move on” truly doesn’t represent all voters’ opinions.

No, but three of the past four not being successful sure started a trend. Maybe a comparison chart showing real results from how much is spent to educate (indoctrinate) students would make it more palatable for voters the next go-around.

More Money for 3rd Fire Station?

Could Midlothian be heading back to voters to ask for additional funds for their over-budget Fire Station No. 3? No. 2 was over-budget, so apparently there’s a construction material inflation going on…which is normal in an economy such as this…details to come.

Danny Rodgers for Mayor?

Floyd Ingram, Why Won’t You Publish This?
Why won’t Midlothian Mirror editor Floyd Ingram publish the list of contributors to Midlothian ISD’s bond election campaign this past May? Is it because too much information in the hands of voters might prevent MISD from passing another bond (two bond packages went down in flames this year alone; three out of the past four have failed)? Anyone else find it unethical for the contractors to be funding the pro-bond campaigns, only to get awarded the contracts to build those schools?

Danny Rodgers for Mayor?
Influential sources in Midlothian are telling the Midlothian Observer that Citizens National Bank-Midlothian Vice President Danny Rodgers is gearing up to run for mayor in 2008. The Midlothian Observer has agreed to keep sources’ names private, but expect a shoot-out if Rodgers does indeed run against incumbent Boyce Whatley, who’s serving his first term as mayor currently.

City/School Board Races – 2006
The anti-annexation committee, Rural Citizens Against Annexation, say they have two interested people to run for city council next year (incumbents Terry Davidson and Jimmy Beaudoin are up for re-election), but nobody to run for Midlothian ISD school board. Trustees Phil Seay and Jim Mentzel are up for re-election next year (city-school races are held in May), and there’s lots of talk of recruiting Midlothian attorney and 2006 GOP district judge candidate Dan Altman to run against Mentzel. Altman hasn’t made a final decision yet, but expect an exciting Midlothian political season nonetheless.

Another name being floated around as a potential city council candidate is Arthur Nahatis, who was successful in getting conservatives from his Responsible Individuals for a Greater Home Town (RIGHT Group) elected in the mid-90s. One of those council members included Dusty Fryer, who ran with William Hollabaugh on an anti-annexation platform but has since reneged and joined the majority to annex thousands of acres of land.

Speaking of anti-annexation, the RCAA reportedly has someone lined up to run against County Attorney Joe Grubbs in 2008’s GOP primary. That prospective candidate is Midlothian attorney Kent Traylor, someone that The Midlothian Observer has met and would definitely endorse should he run against Grubbs.

Midlothian Observer Launches

Welcome to The Midlothian Observer, a news blog dedicated strictly to reporting on the political events in Midlothian, Texas. The need for a news blog came about for two main reasons: (A) the Midlothian Today newspaper, an ally of conservatives, was bought by the establishment Waxahachie Daily Light, which owns the rival Midlothian Mirror; (B) Mirror Editor Floyd Ingram refuses to report what really goes on within the Midlothian ISD and City of Midlothian, politically-speaking. He’s a member of some very influential committees and boards that he’s responsible for covering, but history – and subsequent articles – has shown that he’s more interested in covering up what goes on instead.

The Midlothian Observer exists because of these two main objectives. Tell your friends, family, and neighbors.