Mailing address: Stephen Pape 204 Cripple Creek Glenn Heights, TX 75154

Email: Speak to me.

Should Lawmakers obey their own Laws?

It seems silly to have to ask this question but the election this Saturday in Glenn Heights is about this very issue. Is it right for an elected official to exempt himself from the burden of law he places on everyone else. I, for one, do not think so.

It was Councilman Jesus Humphrey that pushed the hardest for an extreme sign ordinance for the City of Glenn Heights. This ordinance restricts advertisment from our business owners and is punitive against citizens that want to advertise lost animals and garage sales. However, the same Jesus Humphrey that wanted to tie our hands is now guilty of violating his own law with the placement of his political signs. Business owners have complained that the ordinance is too restrictive but Councilman Humphrey does not care. Humphrey wants the sign ordinance enforced against people ignorant of the law, but he flaunts his "immunity" to the law through the placement of his political signs in locations he knows to be illegal.

Councilman Humphrey should know better than any other person in town that it is wrong to place political signs on public property but that did not stop him from placing a sign on school property (at Shields Elementary). He also knows that the electric poles are off limits for political signs or any other sign but this did not stop him from placing a sign on a Hilco pole.
(Additional Note: One day after posting this letter, I have received an email from a Humphrey supporter that says that someone was observed placing this sign on the pole other than Humphrey. This email indicated that one of Humphrey's opponents was actually responsible. In fairness, Humphrey was not observed or photographed placing the sign and it has been removed. However the school sign is still up today, May 1st.)

No big deal, it's only a couple of signs you might think until you realize that people regularly receive citations from the Glenn Heights Code Enforcement Officer for posting "Illegal" garage sale signs and other types of signs in Glenn Heights.

Shouldn't our elected officials lead by example? This City has suffered from uneven, underhanded legislation for too long. Humphrey has spent his eight years on the Council trying to undo the actions of previous Councils (by refusing to honor agreements made by Council's of the past) and trying to tie the hands of future Councils (through binding or punitive actions and long range committments). Glenn Heights deserves better and the voters must make a choice on whether to continue to turn their heads or by saying enough is enough.

How can a person with eight years of public records promote himself as being for things he has voted against and against things he has voted for? I don't get it! Do you want leadership with an eight year track record of being controversial, harsh, and rude or do you want to take a chance by giving leadership to a new face? I vote for new leadership.

What choice do we really have? If you want elected officials that will lead by example then you need to vote for one of the other guys. We know Jesus Humphrey is not the man.

Power corrupts. After eight years of power, we now have a Councilman that really believes this City could not survive without his daily assistance. It is my sincere hope, out of concern for Glenn Height's future, that this Saturday the voters prove him wrong.

With high regards,

Stephen Pape

The above statement was made as an individual that served four long years with Councilman Humphrey. I am not a candidate for political office and I am not using this web site to promote either of his two opponents. By going to "My Article Links", you can read of some of Humphrey's past actions. I and other Council Members tried to make Glenn Heights a more affordable, higher quality, cleaner community while experiencing these antics first hand. The opinions are my own but I do have photo's showing the sign violations.

"TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND"

"COUNCIL HEIGHTS SERIES INDEX"

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS THE LAST OF A SERIES I WROTE ON A FICTIONAL TOWN CALLED COUNCIL HEIGHTS. I DO ADMIT THAT I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH IMAGINATION TO HAVE COME UP WITH ALL THE ISSUES COVERED IN THE STORY AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE HELPED GIVE ME MATERIAL ON WHICH TO WRITE. I WILL NOT MENTION THEIR NAMES, BECAUSE UH...UH THEN I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE CALLED IT A FICTIONAL STORY.

I HOPE THIS SERIES HAS CAUSED THE READERS TO REFLECT AND TO THINK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF HOLDING POWERFUL PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE. UNACCOUNTABILITY LEADS TO ABUSE AND ENCOURAGES NEGLECT. WE ALL ARE VERY BUSY LIVING OUR LIVES BUT WE WILL DO WELL IF WE MAKE TIME TO KEEP AN EYE ON THOSE THAT MAKE THE RULES. AFTER ALL, WE HAVE TO LIVE BY THE RULES THEY MAKE.

Article 7: THE END OF A SUPER HERO.

A woman scorned is a mighty powerful force to reckon with. Those in the know know this to be a true fact. This was one of the many thoughts running through Super Councilman's head. While reflecting on his predicament Super Councilman sat quietly in his foreign made auto contraption. He did a lot of this because seldom did anyone call for Super Councilman's assistance anymore.

"How could I have made such a mistake?" he whispered to himself. (Super Councilman knew he could not speak too loudly or someone would hear and knowing their Super Hero had made a mistake might be very disheartening for his followers, uh …uh the citizens.) He would have to devise a plan to shift the blame. "I've got to find someone else to blame.", he finally declared. By blaming someone else, I would be able to maintain my Super Hero status. This bad day might end well after all. If only there had not been so many mistakes made over the last several years.

Prior to Super Councilman giving the Volunteer Approval Board permission to put Harriet Busyody's name on the LIST, things had been going really well, for him, in Council Heights. Everyone that had ever been placed on the LIST prior to Ms. Busybody had disappeared from the public view but she had been different. She was now on a mission to destroy him by holding him accountable for the actions he had taken and the things he had said. No one had ever done this before. She wasn't playing fair. People were supposed to give unconditional support or just remain silent. But now (thanks to the Volunteer Approval Board & Attack Dawg) everything he had worked for over the past several years was now in jeopardy. Harriet was after him, Big Time.

Super Councilman knew that the day he lost his Council seat would be the day that the people on the LIST would start running Council Heights. Sure they were no worse than him (and working together they were much better) but while Council Heights could do without him, he could not stand the thought of not being the most powerful person in Council Heights. Loss of control was Super Councilman's greatest fear. He was so fearful of loosing control that he had realized that he no longer enjoyed having control.

Another mistake he had made was that he had hesitated in implementing the secret "Council Heights Council Preservation Plan." Super Councilman initially had planned to implement the C.H.C.P.P. shortly after he had narrowly been re-elected to the Council Heights Council a few years back, but he had gotten so involved in running the every day affairs of the Municipal Store that his oversight of the Council's Agenda had been neglected. Everything in Council Heights that needed to be done had to be done by him. As you may recall, Super Councilman had spent years surrounding himself with people that would follow him unconditionally and while having complete control was nice, these people were no asset to him in the area of thinking, planning and implementing projects. On the other hand, the LIST contained all the independent self motivated people in town. Maybe it had been a mistake to cancel all the volunteer projects and place all the volunteers on the LIST. The very traits that made the LIST people successful had caused them to be placed on the LIST.

Super Councilman began reflecting on some of the other mistakes he had made while leading the Council Heights Council. Sure his followers thought he never made mistakes but Super Councilman knew better. At least he wasn't stupid. It had been a mistake to fire the City Manager, to fire the Fire Chief, and to fire the Police Chief. Going back even further, it had been a mistake to fire the City's Economic Development Director, the Dog Catcher, and all the Meter Readers. All the savings he had promised from the firings had been spent defending the firings. It had actually cost the City more to pay the Judgments than the City would have paid by keeping them on the payroll. While he once thought it would have been exciting to run every aspect of the City, it really was too much for one person. Even someone "thought of" as a Super Hero.

Maybe he should have partnered with the local business owners to make Council Heights a healthy, thriving community with affordable living and high quality of life. Maybe it would have been a good idea to have allowed the developers from outside the City to invest in Council Heights. All those rule changes had been very expensive and the end result was the City was broke, run down, and the laughing stock of the entire State. He knew that his "enemies" were not as bad as he had portrayed them but it really wasn't his fault that his followers had been so gullible. He had wanted control so much that he had forgotten that he needed others in order to succeed. Forgetting that he needed other people had also been a mistake.

It had been a mistake to attack everyone in town that disagreed with him. If he could have been a little more agreeable over the years some of them might have now been involved in Council Height's government. People have to be involved before they can be blamed. With all of his people in control, he knew he would continue to have to turn on his followers. He had long thought that his control was directly related to his ability to blame others. He still believed this but he just should not have turned on uh …uh blamed Harriet. That had been a mistake. A big mistake. His biggest mistake.

If a few LIST people were on the Council, they could be blamed rather than one of his loyal supporters. Maybe Attack Dawg would need to be sacrificed. After all, he had first suggested adding Harriet to the LIST. He needed to find a person he could blame for all future missteps. Had they been there, Super Councilman would not be the only one receiving the blame for all the problems Council Heights was now facing. Now, since the C.H.C.P.P. had not been implemented, Super Councilman was wary that he might be voted off the Council. He had not ever conducted a campaign without the assistance of Harriet Busybody. What if he lost, he did not know what he could do with his free time. Super Councilman was really worried.

While Super Councilman had always maintained that legal expenses were the reason that "those Council Heights citizens uh….uh us Council Heights Citizens all pay taxes", there was going to have to be some relief from all these judgments. Things were out of hand because there was no longer any money left for the Council and for Super Councilman. This was not going to work because, as you may recall, even Super Heroes have to feed their families.

Knowing how hard it was to fire people that were doing their jobs correctly, the Council had hired a General Manager that was not capable of doing his job to "run" the Council Heights Municipal Store. With this plan, the Council had had the foresight to hire an incompetent General Manager so that they could fire him without being sued if Super Councilman told them he needed to go.

At one time the evil corporate money grubbing retail way of thinking had almost been completely stamped out in Council Heights but now, thanks to Harriet Busybody, free enterprise and independent thinking were alive and well. Gone were the days when almost everyone in town waited on the Municipal Lawn Mowing Service to maintain their lawns. Now there were kids, that should have been in their air conditioned homes watching tv, that were going around mowing peoples lawns. They had ruined the scheme uh…uh plan . If he survived the election, there was definitely going to be a need for additional ordinances. Those kids need to register with the City and they also need to provide a percentage of their profits to the Council Heights Municipal Fund. "Council Heights cannot survive without me", Super Councilman murmured to himself.

As he sat there reflecting on the events of the last year, Super Councilman was trying desperately to use his superior brain power just to think straight. Gone were the days when he could say anything he wanted to say knowing that everyone would believe him. With Harriet on the other side, he had to be very careful what he told people. Harriet was not like the rest of the people on the LIST. She was no longer just a small problem that Super Councilman could laugh off. Harriet Busybody was now "polluted". Harriet had spent days down at City Hall reading the Official Records from Council Heights Council Meetings and she knew every speech Super Councilman had made and every vote he had cast. Things were not going well at all in Council Heights.

Harriet Busybody had been pretty busy arranging for the contractors and dealing with the insurance company but the house restoration project was almost complete. She needed to get the project complete because she had another project coming up. The Election was around the corner and she was going to see that at least one of the Councilmen got what he deserved. He needed retirement and the town needed relief.

As you may recall, Harriet Busybody's home had been one of the original homes constructed in the TwinDevelopmentplan Housing Project. She had been one of the lucky ones that had been able to buy one of the tiny homes on the crammed in lots and she had struck gold when she learned that Super Councilman, using his superior influence, had declared that all the remaining houses in her area would be much larger and of the quality and stature of her former friend Sarah's.

(As you may also recall, Sarah Hampsteader lived in a regular brick house and even had a brick fireplace. She was not one of those poor folk with only one bathroom but rather, she had two and a half baths and even had a side entry garage entrance.)

It had been six full months since the fire. While Harriet had been pretty busy dealing with the house, she had made time for developing a secret plan of her own and things were fixing to get pretty interesting in Council Heights.

The Council Heights City Council had passed an ordinance entitled the "Twin Developmentplan Improvement Act" exactly one week after the fire. Harriet had already pulled a building permit and she assumed that the new Act would not affect her home and she would be able to repair her home to it's original standards. However, the new Act had been applied to her (a rule change) and it required her to build an addition to her home so that it would now be the largest home in the Twin Developmentplan Housing Project. Super Councilman had thought that the Act would cause her to leave Council Heights but she had more assets than he knew. She was here to stay.

Through the reconstruction process, Harriet learned first hand how hard it was to build in Council Heights. She had learned to fear the Council Heights Council Meetings because almost in every meeting another rule had been added that affected Harriet's rebuilding project. It just wasn't fair that they kept changing the rules. Now she knew why all the builders and developers that had once worked in Council Heights had all left. But if she had her way, they would be back.

There was one final change that needed to be made and the election that would enable the change was coming up. The days of Super Councilman were numbered.

Brighter Days are coming for Council Heights.

THE END uh...uh THE BEGINNING!

UPDATE ON COLE BURGETT and CLAYTON SPURGIN

Cole Burgett and Clayton Spurgin have both completed their second rounds of Oxygenated Hyperbaric Treatments in hopes of aiding in brain development. They are now both back home in Glenn Heights. Both families plan on additional treatments and are making plans for long term housing at a treatment sight here in Texas. They are still very much in need of prayer and financial assistance as they fight for the lives of their babies.

Please pray for these two young babies and remember that your donations are still very much needed. Donations for Cole Burgett can be made at Abrams Centre Bank on Ovilla Road and for Clayton Spurgin can be made at Bank of DeSoto on Hampton Road. Donations for both can also be made via:
Bear Creek Baptist Church
1810 S. Hampton Road
Glenn Heights, Texas 75154

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to both of these two babies fight for life. With your financial help and prayers, they are being given a chance they would otherwise not have.

Link to previous information on Cole.

Link to previous chapters.

Questions or Comments.

If you want to have a good neighbor you must be a good neighbor.

Other articles from Stephen's Desk.