Just because you say something doesn’t make it so
I used to say this when the last mayor would make ridiculous statements like this;
![](https://www.southdacola.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/transpaul-1024x421.jpg)
But this is NOT from the last mayor, it is from the current one. It’s one of the several statements he released today in his 2nd term manifesto. I’m not going to link it, you can look for it if you want to read this rambling piece of trash of broken cruise control government promises.
Just look where he rates transparency (even if he pretends to be concerned) #8 out of #12 (at least it is ahead of affordable housing (I guess he dropped the accessible monicker).
The core of any strong relationship is openness and honesty. Once either of those come into question, a relationship starts to lose trust.
He made this promise in 2018 and over the past 4 years he has proven that the trust in government has faltered because he did NOT follow his own promise. He has kept information not only from the public, but from the council, he has shut down city hall and has it guarded by armed security officers. He has frequently concocted policy in secret meetings. He has refused to do several on camera interviews with the media only to have his staffers release vague statements and when he does have a press conference he tells us, ‘I didn’t sign up for this’. He has driven public input to the end of the meetings while leaving the 3 minute compromise in place;
I’ve worked very hard to improve the decorum and pace of City Council meetings while still expanding public input opportunities. Our meetings today are much more efficient in conducting the business of the city and bringing a professionalism that was previously beginning to wane.
I was unaware that government interaction with citizens is supposed to be efficient and pleasant. In fact the messier and louder the public discussion is, the more that is vetted and accomplished. Coming to a rubber stamp conclusion in total darkness is the exact opposite of open government.
Besides failing at many of his promises over the past 4 years, this is Paul’s most egregious. He is paranoid and scared of the public and views an informed citizenry as dangerous. What is dangerous is an uninformed citizenry who is consistently left in the dark. If there was ever a reason to not give this person 4 more years it would be his WAR on open and transparent government in his first term. And if you think things are dark now, you wait to see just how more closed city government will get if we don’t get a well balanced city council elected on April 12th.