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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Oath to Self-Interest
To the editor: Grayson Harper wrote an eloquent commentary (“A Failure of Conscience,” July 16, 2008) about going to city hall to protest or give a three-minute sermon of sorts. His comments were truths that few want to hear or acknowledge.
We have allowed our appointed and elected officials to become narcissistic, avaricious, and pledged only to their self-interests. The Fort Worth City Council members are taking no prisoners in their pursuit of happiness, i.e., money from gas leases. They don’t give a tinker’s damn about listening to someone with integrity who reminds them of their sworn oath, “To preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States.” Yes, this breach of oath is indeed “a failure of conscience.”
Delbert Cantrell
Fort Worth
Who Pays?
We All Pay
To the editor: Betty Brink’s story (“Shell Game,” July 9, 2008) covering the TCC debacle is a full-length surreal scenario. Wonder who lobbied for Chancellor Leonardo de la Garza’s raise and three-year contract with “under the table” shenanigans?
TCC board vice president Bobby McGee and trustee Joe Hudson are to be commended for opposing the chancellor’s raise and extended contract. If de la Garza won’t pony up his “evaluations of senior staffers,” which are public records under the law, then he needs to be terminated, quid pro quo for his obstinate attitude and refusal to do so. Why should the taxpayers pay $325,000 for his insubordination?
The attorney general has specific guidelines about agenda postings, and in this latest fiasco the college board has circumvented those rules, holding another closed session in the absence of Hudson and McGee, key players in the voting process. The vote for de la Garza’s three-year contract and salary ought to be declared null and void because it wasn’t done legitimately.
Steven Roth
Fort Worth
To the editor: Static’s continuing updates (“Taxpayer — Prime Cut,” July 2, 2008) about the TCC fiasco are appreciated. The college district’s logo ought to read “Avarice Inc.”
It’s obscene that the TCC board raised Chancellor de la Garza’s salary and also that they have made taxpayers culpable for their top brass’ mistakes.
The trustees and chancellor have lost their vision and purpose for a junior college, apparently wanting instead to get into the big spending for downtown revitalization.
All the blunders TCC commits end up in the obvious place: It’s always we, the taxpayers, who pay for the mistakes of highly paid officials, both elected and appointed.
Richard Trabert
Fort Worth
Dimming Star
To the editor: The Static update (June 25, 2008) as to the attrition and voluntary buyout offers to employees of the struggling Star-Telegram is a sign of the times, economically speaking. The mighty Star-Telegram has lost its limelight and its Goliath status. Not only have reporters and editors been jettisoned but some syndicated and local columnists too.
Jerry Morton
Fort Worth
Aimed at Injustice
To the editor: The Rev. Valda Combs’ guest column (“Aching for Justice,” June 25, 2008) made some interesting observations about the criminal justice applications of due process.
The fact that she has been a prosecutor and is now a defense attorney and minister gives this story a pulse and heartbeat from a knowledgeable person. Her references to injustice and to those who are held in government “handcuffs” for “terrorist crimes” illustrate that our nation has lost its bearings. These facts resonate coast to coast and worldwide. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sure summed it up appropriately, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
The Rev. Combs’ article was well aimed.
James Esser
Fort Worth
Women Need Not Apply
To the editor: E.R. Bills’ column “KPAX Romana” (June 16, 2008) covered well the subject of the Catholic Church. The church’s new list of deadly sins is an act of diversion to draw attention away from their pedophile past. Their obscene wealth has been paid out in numerous sex abuse suits, so now they aim their religious vitriol like the tentacles on an octopus at anyone who does not conform to their mandates. The only women accepted at the Catholic Church level are the nuns – and the saints. As Bills pointed out, a female would never be considered for pope or priesthood – that’s because, in part, the Bible was written by man, for men! Thus, women are relegated to second-class status. No change of mind is going to roll in to rectify this injustice anytime soon. Bills was correct in calling the church “rabidly patriarchal!”
Yvonne Roth
Fort Worth
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