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The ethics amendments are not progressive or liberal or shenanigans or illegal. To say they are is totally ABSURD!.

Shenanigans are what we have with the current real estate controlled dictatorship. And the dictatorship does not want to give up any of their power so we are now seeing something on the order of $30,000 being spent by fear mongering out-of-town real estate interests to spew non-stop lies to the public in hopes that some of the lies will stick and enough gullible voters will turn against the ethics amendments.

The ethics amendments represent a pure non-partisan attempt to restore honesty to our city government. 2,000 ordinary citizens of Bryan have said they want to take back control of city government. Let's hope for the sake of our city that our voters are too smart to be fooled by TREPAC's media blitz of outrageously stupid pack of lies.

Here is the truth. The charter amendments are very simple and straightforward. Any honest politician will have absolutely no problem abiding by the common-sense rules that are proposed, rules that would force members of city council to do the following:

1. Stop appointing their brothers or other relatives to commissions, like Planning and Zoning,
2. Stop using the power of their offices to campaign for cronies, like now being done by the mayor,
3. Stop accepting huge campaign contributions from those who expect favors from the city.

Say NO to out-of-town real estate money. Do not believe their idiotic lies.
Vote YES for Props 1,2 & 3. Take back control of your city government!

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Vague language in the charter amendments, when interpreted by legal experts and city staff, has resulted in further restrictions on council members' families and donors than Southerland said he originally intended when he wrote the charter amendments. For example, he didn't intend for family members to not be able to volunteer at the Bryan Animal Shelter and meant to cap the limit on donations to $250 per each reporting period during the election, not the entire election itself.

"It was totally opposite what we were trying to do and how it read and how the people we talked to read it," Southerland said.

But an interpretation of each of the charter amendments already has been complied by city staff, including the city attorney and outside legal help, and has been in effect since Nov. 19, an interpretation Southerland said is worthless because it does not have the support of the council.

"That's like implementing the wind, it's not worth anything," Southerland said. "The city employees do not have the right to interpret the charter."

City staffers and some council members disagree. At Tuesday's council meeting, when Southerland attempted to form a committee of himself, Al Saenz and Rafael Pena to hammer out the details of the charter amendment, City Attorney Janis Hampton said both the city and council had to be true to the wording of the amendments, as that's what the voters approved.

"The voters went into the voting booth, they looked at the ballot and they read the language," she said.

"There was no circulator whispering in their ear saying, 'This is what I really meant.' They read the language and they voted on the ballot. It's the language that mattered."

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The powerful real estate PAC over in Austin is running an intensely misleading campaign on KBTX against Bryan's ethics charter amendments. Someone said they were spending over $16,000. We don't need the real estate moguls in Austin helping us decide how to vote.

Contrary to what TREPAC ads are saying, these amendments would not in any way hinder city council from carrying out their obligations to serve the citizens of Bryan. Instead, they would impose some common sense rules on city council that would help restore integrity to our city government.

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Techno, you are confused. Pena's mother was nominated to an appointive position. She voluntarily withdrew because she believes in what Prop 1 wants to accomplish. If she wants to volunteer at the animal shelter, she is free to do so and would not be hindered in any way by Prop 1. The animal shelter volunteer position is not on a committee or commission appointed by city council.

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