How In-Touch can Ft. Worth's Mayor Pro Tem, Kathleen Hicks be with the enormous stray dog issue if she thinks "spay" is pronounced "SPRAY?"

Hello, it's "Spay & Neuter Clinic" not "Spray & Neuter Clinic!" Both Mayor Pro Tem, Kathleen Hicks (my opponent in the City Council race) and Councilman Frank Moss (both Represent two of the worst Districts in this City for irresponsible dog owners) pronounced "spay" as "spray" at the dedication yesterday for the Chuck Silcox Spay & Neuter Clinic at the City's Animal Control center.

It's rather amusing to me to see my opponent stand up in front of a crowd of Animal lovers and responsible dog owners and talk about how much she and the Ft. Worth Council care about the issue we have in this City with irresponsible dog ownership when it has taken this City Government 5 years to appropriate the approved bond money for this facility. It is because of the out of control Animal problem (mostly in their Districts), some community activists like myself pushing them to do something about it, and Mr. Silcox's voice and genuine concern for the animals on the Council, that helped make this happen. It was not because of any leadership that Kathleen Hicks provided, I am hear to confirm! She has done NOTHING in the way of leadership in the 3+ years that she has sat on the Council about this issue! NOTHING, but follow orders and vote yes when it's popular to do so! I find this appalling which is another reason I am running against her in the upcoming election.

It's definitely time for CHANGE in this District leadership!

For statistics on the matter: www.youtube.com/suzetteforcouncil

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My first speech as a Candidate for Ft. Worth's District 8 City Council Seat

Wednesday, Feb. 18th, 2009
Today, I officially filed for a place on the City of Ft. Worth General Election Ballot for the Office of District 8 City Council. Something that several of my lifelong friends have wanted me to do for a long time and when I told them what I was going to do, they said, “I can’t believe it’s taken you THIS long, Suzette!!”

The first thing people ask me when I tell them that I am running for office is…..are you a Republican or a Democrat. My answer is Both -- and none of the above …

I don’t really fit in any of the political boxes very tightly.

I will say, that I’m hoping that the

* The Republicans & Libertarians will approve of me for my fiscal conservative-ness

* and my very liberal social-tolerant-beliefs will keep the Democrats from throwing me to the wolves ………

* and The Independents will like me because I won’t be beholden to the Party ideology arguments for the sake of Party loyalty.

So when people ask me what I am, I say let me tell you a little bit about my value system and what I believe, and you decide where I fall and if you’d like to support me as a candidate for public office.

I was born in the southeast Texas town of Beaumont, TX. I was educated in the public school system, I graduated from Klein High School in Houston, TX in 1980. I moved back to Beaumont, married -- (a great man, BTW) Put myself through college and obtained an Associates degree in Management from Lamar University. Divorced 4 years later, moved to Dallas -- worked in Corporate America for several years (more times than not, frustrated because I thought that I could do the job better than most of my bosses) went back to college part time and finished with a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology from UNT.

What gets me here before you today, to be quite honest, is a love of proving that I can make things happen…….when I have a clear vision………. and having a lifetime history of jobs in customer service and I know ………that I have the skills for working with people which is what I think a City Council job is all about.

I have a vision for making District 8 a safer, cleaner, more business friendly & a more resident friendly part of this City….and I feel confident… that I can make a difference.. for the better; in the District.

I believe that w/in the first 6 months I can get the crime rate knocked down to at least second place. Every single year that my opponent has been in office, District 8 has had the most total crime of all the Districts in this City. This is unacceptable! … if I get elected to this office, I promise you, that will CHANGE – - - - District 8 will not remain the most crime infested District in this City of ours!

HOW WILL I DO THIS? It’s quite simple. It’s called holding people accountable. We have laws on the books for a reason. If we aren’t going to enforce those laws then we need to take them off the books. If we are going to leave those laws on the books, then we need to enforce them….every single one of them, even littering.

If the jails are full and can’t take anymore offenders – sounds to me like we need to look at the system and see if there is a more effective way of dealing with the problem. I say it’s time for jail reform.

If we keep getting the same repeat offenders of the same crimes, sounds like we need to look at the system and see if there is a more effective way of dealing with the problem. I say it’s time for jail reform.

If the police officers are frustrated because the people they take downtown are back on the street corners before the officers finish their mounds of paperwork, sounds to me like we need to look at the system and see if there is a more effective way of dealing with the problem. I say it’s time the beat officers have an advocate at City Hall.

Let me ask y’all a question……(this is a test, but it’s an easy one!) If you know the answer say HEYYY!

How many of you know the name of your Neighborhood Police Officer?

My point exactly. Our NPOs need to know WHO THE RESIDENTS ARE! How can you fight neighborhood crime if you don’t know the residents, how can you educate the residents if you don’t know them? How can you keep communication lines open if you don’t communicate? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming the NPOs! What I’m pointing out is that there is a gap in lines of effective communication between the fancy offices at City Hall and street level workers in this City. I’m saying let’s talk about how many salaries we the taxpayers are paying----- for positions above the NPOs…what are the people in those positions doing and who is holding them accountable?

It is my understanding that it’s the City Council’s job to make sure that City Government is serving the people and businesses in the neighborhoods.
From what I’ve seen on the EASTSIDE of town, it appears there may need to be more questions asked about who’s doing what -- how they are doing it -- and is it effective.

A few ideas I have on ReBuilding our communities

– Neighborhood Police Officers riding bicycles and walking the neighborhoods

– getting a vibrant and effective community service program going that teaches self responsibility with the hope of instilling some pride & life ----- back into troubled & lost souls

– Holding leaders of NAs accountable for communicating with the residents and businesses in the neighborhood -- regardless if the residents or business owners aggravate them or not! -- regardless if everyone agrees! – no one will agree 100% of the time… we all know that!…. but if we are to call ourselves leaders, then it is our responsibility to stay open to communication IF…. we are to serve…. the common good of the people.

MY GOALS FOR DISTRICT 8 would be to have

– a District that attracts Economic Development on its own w/out having to be sub-si-dized by the tax payers!

– – a District that holds our police force accountable for enforcing the Class C Misdemeanor Crimes (what some call petty crimes)

– – a District that holds the DAs office and the FWPD accountable for prosecuting offenders to the fullest extent of the law

– – a District that provides bike lanes up & down the main corridors of District 8 so that we can inexpensively get people moving in & out of our side of town and maybe sell them a sandwich, salad or cold beverage in a safe environment like they do in other parts of our City.

– A District that has a Representative at City Hall that will actually know what’s going on and care what’s going on in the neighborhoods & in our Municipal Courts

– A District that has a Representative that will bring common sense to the money table and not ask for something just because everyone else is asking for it even when it’s not prudent from a business standpoint. It’s the right thing to do for the taxpayers -- - - (the owners of this City)!

– A District that has a humble, working girl, ready & willing to get her hands dirty and not be concerned about ruffling feathers in order to bring about NEEDED CHANGE!

– A District that values the historic charm of this City and protects historic homes in historic neighborhoods. I see no reason why we can’t work together and help neighborhoods rid themselves of crime & code violations and bring back some responsible homeowners to those neighborhoods.

If you will continue to support me through this campaign -- tell your friends, acquaintances, colleagues, business associates & certainly anyone you know on the Eastside that there is a girl running for the City Council seat in District 8 that

- means what she says and says what she means

- isn’t afraid of speaking up for the people & small businesses

- isn’t afraid to tackling the sensitive issues we have in District 8,

- A girl running for City Council who you won’t have to worry about doing shady housing deals that leaves the people in need with nothing -- the bandits with the money -- and the taxpayers picking up the pieces for bad business deals -- AND decisions made by ethically challenged politicians and their friends.

- A girl who won’t feel the need to sit on multiple Board of Directors and at the same time say that the District is so big I don’t have time to tend to the needs of the people!

- A girl who will be an advocate for personal responsibility, accountability and transparency, not only in the office of City Council District 8 but in all aspects of City Government and especially businesses that are getting money from the City of Ft. Worth on behalf of the taxpayers!

If you will help me spread this word, I can unseat the entrenched incumbent & we can restore this District to working for the people instead of working against the people and business communities of District 8 – we can help all of the taxpayers in Ft. Worth because there will be someone on their side for a change! Someone who will try her best to pick up where The Honorable Mr.Chuck Silcox left off.

- I can promise you that I will be someone following the money and making sure that everyone is held accountable. It’s the right thing to do for this District -- it’s the right thing to do for the tax payers of this City – it’s the thing I have to do personally… in order to look myself in the mirror each morning.

Last, but certainly not least! The dogs! This District is one of the WORST for having neglected stray dogs running around! Just last year (2008) there were 1,793 stray dogs picked up in District 8! That is roughly 150 dogs per month! Any you don’t want to know how many are euth-anized each day in this City! It is way past time for this city to consistently enforce the laws concerning humane treatment of the dogs!

and it is way past time for this City to address the problem of irresponsible dog ownership! It’s the right thing to do for the dogs, it’s the right thing to do for the taxpayers and it’s the right thing to do for our communities.

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Donations are needed and accepted at http://www.suzetteforcouncil.com/donate.html

My latest campaign video

http://www.youtube.com/suzetteforcouncil

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OFFICIAL Ft. Worth City Council Candidacy for Suzette Watkins in District 8 is kicked off with special guest, Lauren Whitener

Ft. Worth's own, Rahr & Sons Brewery, 701 Galveston Ave., Ft. Worth, TX 76104; Wed., Feb. 18th 5:30 - 7:30. $20 per person, $35 per couple. Be there or Be Square.

http://www.suzetteforcouncil.com/

http://www.youtube.com/

http://www.facebook.com/

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Another rape in City Council District 8 - Near Southside of Ft. Worth

"Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who attacked a woman last month, dragged her to a stairwell and raped her. "

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1202273.html

Another City Council District 8 Crime in East Ft. Worth

" A woman told police a man dragged her into Cobb Park and sexually assaulted her Friday morning."
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1203857.html

Meanwhile the currently seated Councilwoman is busy beefing up her resume and begging for more respect from community activists (see few posts down), while crime stays at the top of the list in the District she "represents." Time for real change you can count on! Please send money to Suzette for Council Campaign at www.suzetteforcouncil.com.

My opponent, Kathleen Hicks is doing this: Hicks is a member of Leadership Fort Worth and has served on the boards of Junior League of Fort Worth, Girl Scouts, Women’s Haven and chaired the Fort Worth Commission for Women. She helped found with her mother the African-Americans Against AIDS Taskforce. She currently serves on the board of the Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration Fort Worth, AIDS Outreach Center, Fort Worth-Dallas Birthing Project, All Church Home for Children, Presbyterian Night Shelter, Red Cross – Chisholm Trail Chapter and the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau. Hicks is a proud life member of the NAACP and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She also serves on the Mount Holyoke College Recruitment Committee in North Texas

http://www.fortworthgov.org/government/district8/

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Another West Meadowbrook Murder on East Lancaster, Council District 8 East Ft. Worth

"The pair had been smoking crack late Tuesday and got into an argument at the Luxury Inn, 2108 E. Lancaster Ave., said Sgt. Pedro Criado, police spokesman"

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1203824.html

Please help me unseat the current City Councilwoman, Kathleen Hicks. She is too busy seeing how many Boards of Directors she can add to her resume while the crime in our neighborhoods and business districts go untouched. Her District has had the highest crime of all the Council Districts in Ft. Worth her entire tenure of 3+ years on the Council! Shame on her!

I can do better! I can work harder, smarter and with better results!

Please donate to my campaign at http://www.suzetteforcouncil.com/

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My Opponent's campaign worker sends out email begging for Respect of her Boss

But says the email is on her "personal behalf". So, was she saying that her employment with the Hicks campaign had nothing to do with the email? Puh-leeze! You won't find me begging for respect, I believe that respect is earned the old fashion way, by hard work and being as good as your word. Here's the letter that the campaign worker sent to a community activist:

On Tue, 1/13/09, Ashley Baker wrote:
From: Ashley Baker

Subject: Some Thoughts

Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 3:39 PM

I am emailing you on my personal behalf. In my personal opinion I think you've been nothing but rude to your council member. In an email you mention that you have always respected Ms. Hicks, and I would disagree on this matter. I do believe you are a very active citizen of our great city, and you want to see change; I don't think you'd disagree with that statement. The emails however you send are quite rude and disrespectful. In most emails you call your council member by her first name, not Ms. Hicks, or Kathleen Hicks, Honorable Kathleen Hicks, or Mayor Pro Tem Hicks, or any kind of name that shows respect. Second, every email has a very negative tone. When I read your emails I cringe, and everyone who I talk to does also. If your emails were written in a more positive light I really do think you'd get more traction. Ms. Hicks works night and day responding to city staff, citizens, her actual job, and on top of that finds little time to have a personal life. Yes, she signed up for it when she ran for council, and she loves doing what she does, but I find it frustrating for her when she works tirelessly for the citizens and she gets no respect. You asked for her to get council support to keep the drilling ordinance at 600 feet, and she did it. Time and time again she works with staff to make the best district 8 possible, and almost every day she gets an email from you saying she does nothing. I myself, get tired of hearing about meetings and adding new ones to her calendar; I find it difficult to even keep up with her most of the time. She's always working to better district 8, and I hate it when you think she's sitting back relaxing. My advice to you (take it or leave it) is to be a little nicer to Ms. Hicks, again she is just ONE human being. In addition to your questions, she has hundreds more from all of her other residents of her district. She has a good heart, and wants to find the answers to all the questions you ask, but remember again, she's one person, and can only do so many things in the 24 hours that are in a day. Feel free to email me as much as you'd like. -Ashley Baker

Campaign Expenditure Report here which shows Ashley Baker as a campaign employee: http://startelegram.typepad.com/files/hicks_jan.-15-part-2.pdf

My opponent tries to pride herself in being "open & transparent." PUH-LEEZE, the community activist is still waiting on a reponse from Hicks as to "who" Ashley Baker is, but my opponent, Kathleen Hicks, didn't bother to respond. Guess this activist has been zapped from open communication because the questions he's asking aren't allowed nor welcome in my opponent's way of thinking. She's above being questioned.

Please contribute today to my candidacy...I will do better than this!

http://www.suzetteforcouncil.com/donate.html

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My opponent had me thrown out of her "District Town Hall" meeting on grounds of me "Campaigning in the House of God" but OK for her To Do.

It is interesting that she claims expenses for the "Town Hall" event on her Campaign Finance Report which proves that this event was a Campaign Event in the "House of God." I wonder if the hosting church is as concerned about that as they were about my campaign vehicle wrap interfering with their tax exempt status (as the Pastor was quoted as saying). So, in all truthfulness, I wasn't thrown out because I handed out a couple of my campaign cards "in the House of God" or because of my vehicle wrap parked on the "House of God's parking lot". I was thrown out because my opponent thinks she's above having competition and does not want the residents in District 8 to know they have a choice in choosing a Council representative! She says that "everyone was welcome." That is an untruthful statement! She also says in her District newsletter that "Residents turn out for Town Hall Meeting," I say, that's a misleading statement as most of the residents in the District didn't even know about the meeting. Same as the two years prior, about 5 white residents, 3 brown residents and 30 - 40 black residents turned out -- definitely not a very representative showing of the District! I have never been a member of her "Advisory Board" as she stated -- that's another untruthful statement!

It's time we elect someone to this City Council seat who truly cares about ALL of the people & Business Owners in the District and who will be truthful with the people! All of the pretending and fronting must stop! It's hurting the District and it's costing the taxpayers millions of dollars.

http://www.fortworthgov.org/uploadedFiles/Mayor_and_City_Council/districts/8/Dist8News(1).pdf

http://startelegram.typepad.com/files/hicks_jan.-15-part-2.pdf

http://www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=7307

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Why I didn't vote in previous City Council Elections -- Is it an issue with District 8 voters in Ft. Worth?

I have a suspicion that my opponent (there may be more), Kathleen Hicks, is going to make an issue out of my "no vote - no show" for City Council races in 2005 & 2007. Let me explain, in May 2005, I was your average 3rd shift hospital worker (Cook Childrens Medical Center - Ft. Worth, TX), I watched Main Street Media, cable news and a little bit of local news. How was I to know that there was a local City Council race going on? I was like the 90 - 95% of other Fort Worthians, I had no idea who my council person was, nor why it mattered, or why it was important for me to know. I never once, had a knock on my door, never once did I find any literature drop on my doorstep, never do I remember hearing much about any sort of local matter-to-me election going on.
In May 2007, same deal. However, at that time, I did know who my City Council "Representative" was, and what kind of attitude and demeanor she possessed. I wasn't impressed, nor would I have ever been a supporter of her politically. Her ways in dealing with me as a small business owner, in her crime filled District and a tax paying resident in her District, turned me against her, in a political sense. She had no opponent in the election, I surely wasn't going to support her candidacy, so why vote? Hold it against me if you so desire. It is what it is....that's my story, that's the truth, and I'm sticking to it.
I can do a better job at representing the people, than the currently seated Council member, Kathleen Hicks. I have better communication skills, I'm not uppity in my demeanor, I am an honest person, I have no desire to leave Ft. Worth, I am happy in Ft. Worth, I believe I can make a difference in this District; faster, and in a more diverse ways than my opponent could ever dream of doing. I have the experience in serving the public, I have the experience in working with people, I have a proven record of high work ethic, I have a history of honesty, I have a love for helping people (not enabling, but actually helping people!), I have an appreciation for accountability and I believe in personal responsibility....I care! I have political courage, I believe in my convictions, I am strong, I am a risk taker, I am an "old school," down-to-earth person who cares for my community.
Come see for yourself, Feb. 18th, Rahr Brewery, 701 Galveston Ave. Ft. Worth, TX 76104. $20 per person, $35 per couple. Award winning free beer, grilled Brats, live music from rising star, Lauren Whitener www.laurenwhitenermusic.com . Be there and have fun! http://www.suzetteforcouncil.com/
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Ft. Worth's Dogs - two of the thousands of neglected

The picture with the four clumps of hair is actually a picture of the casts of mats that we cut off of the dog's legs! A concerned neighbor called another neighbor about two abandoned dogs. The two dogs could not walk, terribly obese, mats like you have never seen in your life. Their nails were like spaghetti and inches long. It was the saddest case of dog abuse/neglect that I have seen. There are ones that are worse! What to do about irresponsible dog owners? I say, hold them accountable for their responsibility!

Is it legal for me to Advocate for my Candidacy for public office on this blog w/out a "Paid for.." disclosure?

This blog is free, there is no money exchanged. A writer at the local newspaper (Star-Telegram) here in Ft. Worth asked me this question today. I replied that since this blog is free, I didn't think the rule applied.

(BTW, I'm a small business owner pretty much going against the status quo here. I'll bring, real, on time change for East Ft. Worth. Please send me money -- I really need it. You can donate here: http://www.suzetteforcouncil.com/donate.html)

Comments/Opinions/Thoughts.....?

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