Farmers Branch News and Info

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Bickel & Brewer & Bledsoe

Gene Bledsoe wants to be your next Mayor. So much so, that he’ll say anything to frighten and scare our citizens and disparage Mayor Pro Tem Tim O’Hare. He’s been confronted with the facts, and yet continues to spread his untruths, all while raising the mantle of “integrity.” I guess he and I have different definitions of “integrity.”

But I have another definition that I don’t think Mr. Bledsoe quite understands.

Conflict of Interest: –noun; The circumstance of a public officeholder, business executive, or the like, whose personal interests might benefit from his or her official actions or influence,

Today on his campaign finance disclosure form, Mr. Bledsoe indicated that he had received $1,000 donations each from John Bickel and William Brewer. You know John Bickel and William Brewer, the attorneys from the firm Bickel and Brewer who have multiple lawsuits currently pending against the city. Bickel and Brewer essentially financed the entirety of the campaign against Ordinance 2903 last May, and have not hesitated to speak out against the 68% of the citizens of Farmers Branch or bring lawsuit after lawsuit to reverse their defeat at the ballot box. That’s right, you read that correctly. Mr. Bledsoe is accepting donations from the law firm that is seeking monetary damages from our city.

Last May, while campaigning vociferously against Ordinance 2903 and our efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration in our city, Mr. Bledsoe was quoted in the Dallas Morning News as saying the ordinance and your city’s efforts were bad ideas, and would only end up “buying swimming pools for lawyers.” The lawyers he was referring to are John Bickel and William Brewer. Looks like Mr. Bledsoe would like to be in a position to expedite the construction of those swimming pools.

Ask yourself: when tough decisions have to be made about the city’s legal defense, carrying out the will of 68% of the people, and protecting our city’s finances, where will Mr. Bledsoe’s allegiance lie? Do you think he’ll be influenced by his very public statements about his opposition to Ordinance 2903, and his reliance on cash donations from the very attorneys seeking to take as much money as possible from the city? It’s a legitimate - and troubling - question.

Ak yourself: Who do you want going toe-to-toe with the tough attorneys trying to use our hard-earned tax dollars to finance their backyard landscaping: the candidate who’s stood up and held strong on the behalf of our citizens against frivolous lawsuits and opportunistic attorneys, or the candidate who’s relying on contributions from those very attorneys to finance his campaign?

I think you know the answer. Vote Tim O’Hare for Mayor of Farmers Branch.

Tim Scott
City Council, Place One

Labels: Campaign

by Tim Scott, City Council, Place 1 at 5:34 AM |