Rhetoric, Promises, and Downright Untruths
The nasty campaign of 2009 is over, and we are only now starting to hear some of the trash talk voters heard from those candidates with a pretty nearly total disregard for truth, reputations, and feelings.
1. Recreation center - supported by no one after the economy crashed, the opponents, led by Jim Hattan and Keith Thomas, came up with an entirely bogus campaign with numbers that were simply outrageous.
2. Library - different project, same story. Library Board, architects, librarians came up with a plan, a budget, and fundraising ideas. None of the plans included tax increases. What did you hear?
3. Keith Thomas apparently promosed a "small, select group of seniors" that they would get money from the MTBE settlement (the six million dollars). What kind of idiot is the Girly Giggler? How did he think those seniors would be chosen? Would they be 50? 55?, Heights next year's graduates? Me? What about those who lived here and have passed away? Would we track down their heirs to give them money?
4. The gossip says that Councilman Thomas spread the word that his opponent, Gary Davis, had a brother-in-law living with him who was a convicted sex offender. You know, that's true. But the person in question has completed his probation and is closely supervised. He's been there for five or six years, during which time, Gary has devoted time and work to this city as a Councilman and volunteer. What's changed now? Keith Thomas making it seem like a terrible thing. Watch Channel 7 and see who is a better representative of the folks in Ward Four.
5. And how about the last of the big time spenders? Myself. If you can figure out how I spent money recklessly, let me know. And don't forget that the Council votes on expenditures. Maybe it was the annual Volunteer Dinner that cost about $1,000 a year. Those people whose unpaid labor makes Park City livable, a better place for our children, our seniors, and ourselves. Maybe they don't deserve a little dinner to thank them. Maybe it was the $500 incentive program designed to save Park City taxpayers from paying the special assessments on unsold homes and lots in our new residential developments. The program that will mean $500 PER YEAR in property taxes coming in to the city in every year from now on. Seems like a pretty good investment to me - and to many others.