Perry & Fantroy

Mike Perry	Councilman James Fantroy *James Fantroy <JFANTRO@mail.ci.dallas.tx.us>* wrote:
I received a copy of the email below Yolanda Lara sent to Mr. Flores. If the information is correct, Ms. Lara should be terminated immediately. As a city employee, she is bound by ethical standards to support her boss, who is Mayor Laura Miller. Ms. Lara sounds no more than a bigoted employee who is unhappy with her job. I suggest you all help her pursue employment elsewhere. If Ms. Lara tried this tactic in private industry she would be terminated immediately. Perhaps Mayor Miller should consider suing Ms. Lara for slander before terminating her. Ms. Lara failed to mention the conditions in Northwest Dallas, which is where I live and has the highest crime rate in the metroplex according to information I have received. Your immediate attention to this matter will be appreciated.	It amazes me when I receive email like this. We currently have our soldiers in another country fighting to help these people enjoy the same thing that we do, a democracy. Yet there are people like you who would deny this person her constitutional right to free speech. She is Hispanic and voiced her opinion to an organization that is supposed to be representing Hispanics and you think she should be fired. I guess you feel that some people have more rights than others. This is a government entity. She does not work for the Mayor but the citizens of Dallas. What was slanderous about her letter to Mr. Flores? Everything she said in the letter was accurate. If we as elected officicals cannot take the criticism, then we have no business in politics. I can tell you are a supporter of Laura Millter but everybody is not and you can not deny these people the right to voice there opinion. When people come to work for the City of Dallas, they are not required to give up there constitutional rights. I bet you support what President Bush is doing in Iran but you would deny Yolanda Lara her rights in this great country, the USA. There is always seem to be double standards. When will it stop.
Mr. Fantroy, I do appreciate your response, but everything cannot stop because of the war. As a city employee, Lara has an obligation to remain neutral in a political arena of which she is an employee. I thought you would know this as you are a city councilman. As far as slanderous statements made by Ms. Lara please note the two paragraphs from her I previously mailed each of you below. Why should we endure our children walking to school being harassed by drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes? I guarantee you Laura Miller would have the Dallas Police SWAT team out in the affluent North Dallas neighborhoods surrounding the schools if any complaints came in like that. Meanwhile, Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove, West Dallas and South Dallas continue to battle this problem. By Lulac endorsing Laura Miller, it also endorses her slate of city council candidates, which include Roxanne Staff and Sharon Boyd. How quickly Lulac forgot about Roxanne Staff's actions while on the school board against minorities and Sharon Boyd's long history of mean spirited and *destructive name calling to our minority elected officials which clearly reflects their racially biased, narrow-minded and culturally intolerant attitudes.* These statements have very little merit and are slanderous. Where Mayor Miller lives and the cost of her home is none of Ms. Lara's business. Whether I supporter Mayor Miller or not makes no difference in this issue. Democracy does not mean one can say anything one wants about another person. When a staff person such as Ms. Lara does not support the people responsible for her livelihood, it is time for her to pursue employment elsewhere. She can then voice her opinion without any attachment to where she is employed. If I protested against the CEO of my company, I would be terminated immediately with no questions asked. This is how it is in the real world. Even though we have a constitutional right to speak out, there are consequences. Every time an issue comes up regarding any minority in government, the "race card" game is activated. This is what has to stop. This is just an excuse to not address the real problem we have with Bolton and Benavides. I would suggest Ms. Lara focus more on her job duties at city hall. As far as supporting Mr. Bush, the war is in Iraq not in Iran. I personally did not agree with Mr. Bush's decision, but support it because our troops are in Iraq now.	You still don't get it but that is okay. The next time the DPA and Glen White puts a full page ad in the paper talking about the Mayor, I hope to receive an email from you requesting that they be fired. Thanks for your time.