April 24, 2003
The Way I See It by
Linda Baker
The
Colleyville Lions Club performed an additional, but
unintentional service last Tuesday night, when it hosted the
final public debate before the city election. We were
treated to an exhibition of what the word "Integrity"
on his campaign signs really means to Councilman Brad
Rice, and what the word "Independent" signifies to
Place 4 hopeful, Jon Ayers.
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Brad
Rice (l) Jon Ayers (r)
Don't play cards for money with these two!
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Cards
from the audience had been earlier solicited, with potential
questions for the candidates. Moderator Lee Skaalrud then
asked for each of the two Place 4 candidates to answer the same
query.
The question given to Jerome Davis, first and then Jon Ayers
second, was as follows: "Where do you stand on the
apartments being built in The Villages and the ones proposed
next to Centerpark Drive?"
Jerome Davis had stepped up to the microphone and was speaking
about his preference for Colleyville to remain a community of
single family homes. Brad Rice, who had seated himself
next to Jon Ayers, leaned over to Ayers, and hastily confided
that The Villages were building condos, not apartments. Then when Ayers stood for the same "spontaneous"
question, the formerly clueless "Independent"
stammered off the just-imparted information, without giving any
credit at all to Rice, and added the home ownership of the
condos, he had felt, meant the residents, "would take
better care of them."
In his opening speech, Brad Rice, a contract lawyer who surely
must have had some classroom training in Details-101, had
finally settled on the number 17 for how many years he has lived
in Colleyville. In previous filings for the Place 2 seat,
three times, Rice just couldn't seem to decide on that figure.
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Fuzzy math continued to plague him during the evening.
Rice, in a separate rebuttal question, attempted to dispute the
amount Elaine Dolan, his opponent, had quoted from a statement
made by our own City Manager, regarding 35% of the entire TIF
money dedicated within the 24 acres of The Villages. Six
hundred acres had been eligible before the Richard Myers
sweetheart deals were inked with the city.
Brad Rice's law office website has advertised him with a forte
in business and contractual law, but way down on the page, he
also touts, under Community Service and Activities,
"Director, Texas American Eagles Soccer Club, Inc.,
1998-2001."
This is the same kid sport organization with the paid
professional coaches, who as a part of the job, arrive very
early to stake out and commandeer our athletic practice fields
with cones for their non-resident use. First Come, First
Served, that is the policy the Council Majority approved this
last year.
That is what Brad Rice really stands for, when he still brays
about personally disposing of a long abandoned plan for a dairy
museum at McPherson Park. He, as liaison to the McPherson
Park Committee, made sure an additional $11,000 consultant fee
Redesign included rectangular fields for First Come, First
Served use. For kite flyers and Frisbee throwers, he
blithely waved off.
"Integrity," indeed, Mr. Rice. Who is it you are
Serving?
This column is
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