Stephanie Meyer - Hot Air Blowing in From The West

Ahh yes, Stephanie Meyer has posted some items on the blog portion of her campaign web site that IMHO generate a large quantity of hot air.  Hmmmm, maybe as the temperature drops she'll go up to cars in the city hall parking lot, blow on the windshields, and get rid of any ice build up there.

Let's see, where do I start?  Let's try this one:".....incumbent empowered a small group of angry naysayers who are actively working to hold our city back and constantly undermine staff."  What a joke.  First, what is a naysayer?  That is someone who disagrees with you.  And, using it as a negative means that the person doing so thinks that their opinions are the only right ones.  Whooops, we now have a new "arrogant one" in Ward 3.  Small group?  Ha......she's just upset that she couldn't get the city to swallow the lines of BS that she was throwing  out about the proposed community center.  Kinda sounds like Hillary Clinton.

Or how about this?:  "The incumbent has appointed, or attempted to appoint, individuals who do not support growth onto our planning commission, individuals who do not support economic development onto the economic development council, and as a council member, actively lobbied for the appointment of a council member who has been an obstructionist on many issues facing our city during his time in office"  You will kindly note that she does not mention names, not does she give specifics.  Just hot air.  Or are we supposed to take her at her word?  Stephanie Meyer is an individual who has many times played footloose and fancy free with the truth.  As previously posted on this blog she couldn't even be successful in her own ward in the recent primary election. Those folks must be telling the rest of the city something.  Heck, just scroll down to the post about the campaign contributions.  She blew that one.  Big time.

And last, but not least, (for today anyway):  What about this?   I think having an open and honest dialogue – one in which you’re hearing directly from me – is always the best and most productive course of action. Stephanie Meyer promoting open and honest dialogue?  Now that is one for Comedy Central.  Isn't that why as council president she ramrodded the NDO from committee to council in less than 2 weeks?  She saw what happened to the community center when the city gets time to think  Bet she didn't want those thought processes to take root on this item.

She is so full of hot air I truly expect to see her floating above the dais at a council meeting.

Shawnee City Council Races - 2019

As the 2019 election gets closer just thought I'd mention my choices.  In the very near future I will be listing each race separately with specifics.

Ward 1:  Tammy Thomas over Jim Neighbor

Ward 2:  Eric Jenkins over Andy Rondon

Ward 3 (full term):  Kurt Knappen over Dawn Rattan

Ward 3 (unexpired term):  Kevin Straub over Lisa Larson-Bunnell

Ward 4: Kris Durbin over Jill Chalfie

"Agendas" and "Special Interests" - Revisited...........Again!!!!!!

Any long term reader of this blog (or anybody who wants to use the search tool) will realize that I have addressed the use of the above two phrases numerous times.

Any individual, who claims that a political candidate is not qualified because they have an "agenda" or are backed by "special interests" is an idiot for saying that.  Huh?   Yepper.  They are probably the two most abused comments in any political contest.

Agenda:  What is an agenda?  It's an action plan.  It's what a candidate wants to accomplish if elected.  If a candidate does not have an agenda then they are dumb.  If they don't have an agenda how does a voter know what they stand for?  All candidates need to have an agenda so voters can choose which ones have similar thoughts on issues that they, the voters do.  The only "bad" agenda, is if it does not agree with your views. 

Special interests;  Another misused term.  Every candidate is backed by special interests.  Try this, candidate A wants to paint traffic stripes purple.  Folks that agree with that will support that candidate to include donations.  Candidate B wants to paint traffic stripes brown.  Folks that agree with that will support that candidate to include donations.  See, supporters of a candidate's position(s) then become "special interests".  Again, like with an agenda, the only bad special interests are those that do not have similar thoughts that you do.  Good special interests agree with your point of view.  Very misused and abused terminology.  Already had to take candidate Stephanie Meyer to task for using that term against the incumbent Mayor Distler.  The reverse would be true if someone reviewed her financial statements.  Bet I could pick out a bunch of special interests.

Is Rattan for Real?

Dawn Rattan, candidate for City Council in Ward 3 posted the info below on social media.  My guess is that it had something to do with my blog post about an in kind contribution to her campaign.  That blog post can be read by clicking here.

Anyway, here is what she posted:  (if you click on it, it should pop up larger)

Anyway, it's interesting that she claims that being a newbie was the reason for the mistake.  Quite possible.  Newbies do make mistakes.  Then again, some newbies go out of their way to read the rules completely so as not to make mistakes.  Of, absent that, they consult with an attorney.  Oh, forgot, she's married to one. 

Now, it's nice that she says the problem was corrected with the government Ethics Commission.  Only problem is she didn't say how it was corrected.  Did they give her a slap  on the wrist and call her a naughty candidate?  Did they issue a fine?  Did they direct a refund of the overage amount?  Usually the GEC issues a letter on things like this, with the resolution.  Haven't seen it at JoCo Election web site, yet.

Is she really fit to be a member of the city council?  A review of public records indicates that on 7/11/2019 property taxes for her residence were paid for 2018, 2016 & 2015.  Was that a newbie mistake?  Or that on 2/26/16 property taxes for 2014, 2013 and the 2d half of 2012 were paid.
Should she be sitting on a council that makes decisions regarding taxes?  Guess that's for the voters of Ward 3 to decide.

Stephanie Meyer - Liar Extraordinaire

In a recent blog post on her candidate web site Stephanie Meyer posted this:

"Join me to say that a candidate, like me, who receives much of her funding from individual donors and residents, rather than from a small handful of large and special-interest donors........."

Well Stephanie, apparently is incapable of reading campaign finance reports.  That is why the statement above is a bunch of malarkey.  Nahhh, it's BS.  Let's look at the donations, by amounts for the two mayoral candidates.............Michelle Distler and Stephanie Meyer:

Contribution amount                              Distler                         Meyer

$500 (maximum)                                        9                                  13
$250-$499                                                  2                                   10
$100-$249                                                 17                                  26
$51-$99                                                     0                                      1
$1 - $50                                                     28                                  19

Hmmmm, which candidate has relied on "big money donors"?  Also, Meyer has used the expression "special-interest donors" as if that is bad.  Heck, she has special interest donors.  All candidates get donations from special interest persons.  Apparently Meyer has not read my various posts about that term.  Take any subject where two candidates disagree.  Their donors are "special interests" if they support them.  Both sides.  Let's take the subject of abortion.  If you are against it, you will be supported by special interests who think like you.  If you are in favor of it you will be supported by special interests who think like you.  To use that term as a negative is unscrupulous to say the least, and highly misleading.  But then Stephanie Meyer has a habit of misleading. Is that why the voters of her ward, ward 3, rejected her in the recent primary?

And now she again regales us with her impoverished upbringing.  But she forgets that there are still folks that are in that situation in Shawnee. But that didn't stop her from trying to push the proposed community center down their throats. Check this out.   Or this one.

So, if you want someone who has a history of misleading folks as your mayor then maybe you should vote for Meyer.  I know I don't.

Remembering 9/11/2001

Today is Patriot Day.

There is only one thing I can say, and it has been said by many others...................never forget.

Ward 3 Rejected Stephanie Meyer

In my post yesterday I briefly touched on how Stephanie Meyer could not even carry her council ward in her bid to become Shawnee's mayor.  OK, she got creamed in the primary.  She did come in second which allows her to go into the general election.  But, wow, she got her tail end kicked.

Picture this, a 4 way primary, current mayor, Michelle Distler racks up 57% of the vote citywide.  Stephanie Meyer shows up with a weak second place finish at approximately 26% citywide.  Over the years I have witnessed various primary elections.  Usually, when it is a 4 way race, the top dog winds up with a figure in the high 30's % to low 40's %, but 57% is unheard of.

But, let's get back to the topic at hand.  Stephanie Meyer is a current Ward 3 representative and president of the city council.  One would think that she would persevere in Ward 3.  Wrong!!!!
She literally got her butt kicked.  Don't believe me?  Here are the figures and you can double check them yourself at http://www.jocoelection.org.

Ward 3 Results Mayoral Primary 2019

Distler         1004      51.38%
Meyer           639       32.70%
Tubbesing     277       14.18%
 Sood               34         1.74%

Why would the voters in a council rep's own ward reject them for mayor?  The reasons can be numerous.  Maybe they don't trust her?  Maybe they don't think she is truthful?  Maybe they think she hides things?

I asked it yesterday and I'll ask it again: are the citizens of Ward 3 trying to tell the rest of the city something?   BTW, she (Meyer) really got hammered in the other three wards.

Shawnee does not need, not can it afford to have someone like Meyer as its Mayor.

Stephanie Meyer - Bad for Shawnee

My personal belief is that if this individual is elected mayor of Shawnee it would be a terrible mistake.  A train wreck waiting to happen.

She was the major driving force and cheerleader to get the council to pass the recent NDO, (Non Discrimination Ordinance).  Here is the ironic thing about that.  The item was on the Council Committee agenda 8/13/19 and then moved to the Council 8/26/19.  In all the years that I have been following the council I cannot remember any time that an item went from committee to council in 2 weeks.

So, I got to thinking as to why that may have happened.  This is strictly a theory, but in many ways it makes sense.  It goes back to the proposed community center vote.  You may remember that Meyer (currently Ward 3 rep and council president) was also the lead cheerleader for that one.  You may also remember that the same council members who supported the NDO also marched in lockstep with her on the community center.  You may also remember that there were many reasons not to vote yes for that center.  Reasons which she and her acolytes failed to mention and kept hidden.  (More on her acolytes on the council and what needs to be done at the upcoming election regarding them in a future post).

So what happened?  A citizen group was formed and got the truth out there (contrary to Councilmember Sandifer's rant that that group lied).  The measure failed at the ballot box 72%-28%.  So, my thoughts are that Meyer pushed this item through quickly so that the citizens of Shawnee could not mount a well organized and justifiable opposition to the proposed NDO.  She does not respect citizen input.  During the community center debacle she kept mentioning how many folks wanted it. She and her acolytes failed to mention that the same survey that showed that, also showed a majority of Shawnee citizens did not want an increase in property taxes to pay for it.  So, that is why I think this NDO was ramrodded through the process.

Now here are some interesting facts.  In the recent mayoral primary Stephanie Meyer only got 25% of the vote.  In Ward 3, her ward as a council person, she lost her own ward.  Take it a step further, she lost the precinct (her neighborhood) where she lives in that ward.  That has to be a message to the rest of the city.  Her own ward rejected her.  Her own precinct rejected her.  Are the people that she represents trying to tell the rest of the city something?  Are they saying don't be deceived by her dolce voce, rather that she is no good for the city.  Now, for those folks who are wondering how she got to be a council rep, be advised, she never was truly elected to the position.  She was appointed to fill an unexpired term and then when she ran for the office she ran unopposed.  She has a problem when running against an opponent.  In a previous election she lost 2-1 against Charles Macheers.

I implore you.  Do not sit out this election.  Vote, and reelect the current mayor, Michelle Distler.