Anne Carlson
Kojak
Phil Levin
Jeff Martin
Nancy Northrup
                             

04/22/02  If you've got an emergency, it better be a cop or a firefighter!

Listening to people arguing back on forth on the pay raise for Our Protectors in the Police and Fire Departments, it's clear the ODB have been very effective spreading the word to voters that Chief Bolton gets that 17%, too.  These are the same hypocrites who defend Bolton and like having a Black Police Chief even if he is a total disaster.  What do they care if Dallas has second-rate recruits because our pay is too low?  The ODB just use our sports and entertainment facilities and go home to their houses outside our city limits.

What difference does it make if Chief Bolton gets a raise?  He already has a free ride?  The $100,000+ he draws is just being thrown away.  Then there are his suck-ups he keeps close to him to tell him he really doesn't look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy and people really don't think he's a blithering idiot.  His dozen or so commanders are way over paid for their experience and ability.

It's one of those commanders (and conversely the moron who appointed him) who is responsible for the fake drug mess.  An experienced commander would have noticed things were just a bit off kilter way before everything blew up in November.  An honest and experienced chief would have acted on the matter as soon as he knew about it, but we are dealing with Old Al's special friend.

So, are you going to vote against the rank and file police and firefighters because the City MisManager put an idiot in charge of the DPD, who in turn promoted incompetents so he would be the smartest guy in the room at any staff meeting?  Now, there's a scary thought.  But, really, are you going to punish the good guys who protect us in spite of what the City MisManager and their Chief are doing to them?

One smart friend says cops and firefighters are like school teachers -- they don't go into their jobs to get rich.  No, they don't expect to get rich -- they just want to be able to put a roof over their kids' heads and food on the table.  Although Columbine, etc., would give one pause, most teachers don't walk into burning houses to rescue humans and pets.  Most teachers don't risk having a bad guy shoot them just because they are wearing a uniform.  I'm not sure where you would find a teacher in a uniform, but you get my drift.  None of us would do what cops and firefighters do for us.

Don't forget the officer who was murdered last year after he rescued a punk from a brawl.  The scumbag he assisted was the one who shot him.  The officer was working overtime because his salary is so low.  A lot of good a great pension plan does his widow and children!

After 9/11, many a pundit used various word turns to say that cops and firefighters go into harm's way while the rest of us are hauling our rears out the front door.   There might be a more delicate way to phrase the thought, but it's not a delicate matter.  These men and women are better than the rest of us.  Our Protectors are not asking for us to make them the highest paid in the metroplex.  

17% just gets them out of the cellar.  

It doesn't matter if Mayor Miller opposes the 17%.  She supports a $46 Million item on the bond package for a performance hall.  She is just wrong on this issue, and I am sorry she is against us.  Here's a great way to remind Laura who took her to the dance.  It was not the ODB or Belo or most of the losers on the council.  It was cops and firefighters who worked their tails off for her, and a whole bunch of Dallas citizens who want City Hall to get back to basics.  

Last week bunch of council members posed for a group shot for some mailer to go out against the referendum.  I sincerely hope Mayor Miller was not standing up with the same jerks who stood together against her.  

This is not about personalities.  It is not about Chief Bolton or Mayor Miller.  It is a referendum to tell the council we want our tax money spent a certain way first.   Council, pay our police and firefighters a fair salary before you do anything else. 

Fancy parks and clean streets will not mean much to you or me if they aren't safe for us to use.  Who is going to make them safe?  Not the council!  The council has being giving away our money to robber barons at the expense of Our Protectors.  It's cops and firefighters who protect us from the bad guys.

You can show them your appreciation by ignoring The Dallas Managed News, our sorry #** council and all the ODB crooks.   

Vote "Yes for Competitive Pay" for our Public Safety Officers.