Former mayor defends course

Tison calls Fadden’s appointment a ‘no-brainer’

Editor’s Note: This is the first of two parts of an article outlining former Weatherford Mayor Joe Tison’s thoughts on current turmoil in city government.

Chelsea L. McGowan

cmcgowan@weatherforddemocrat.com

While the current turmoil surrounding Weatherford’s administration has many citizens calling for change, a former mayor defends the city’s path and takes issue with infighting.

“This is all part of a growing community,” said Joe Tison, who served the City of Weatherford as mayor for four years, resigning in December 2007. “When people work together to solve issues, it’s amazing how great they will feel about the results. But right now, I don’t see people working together. I see a lot of people complaining, but very few people offering solutions to make the situation better.”

Tison said he disagrees with the segment of the population calling for the removal of City Manager Jennifer Fadden, especially those who label her as “inexperienced.”

“I think that Dennis [Hooks, current Mayor] was right on target in showing his support for her,” Tison said. “I think people may have forgotten that Jennifer was an assistant city manager when Bill Davis [former city manager] was seriously injured in a car accident. She filled in very capably for him over a period of nine months to a year. During that time, she addressed city issues that had not been addressed in a long time, and addressed them in a manner that was in the best interest of the citizens.”

According to Tison, it was this “on-the-job” experience that made Fadden a perfect candidate for the city manager position.

“When she was filling in, she demonstrated an ability far beyond her age, in my opinion,” he said. “When the time came that Mr. Davis chose to retire, the city had to make a decision. She had demonstrated a high level of ability to manage the city of Weatherford during difficult times. When it came time to decide whether to do a search or give that position to her, it was a no-brainer. She had gained more on-the-job experience in a year than anyone could get anywhere else. You have to have been there to know what she went through.”

One of the major accusations being lobbed against Fadden and city council members is a wanton tendency to raise taxes unnecessarily.

Tison, however, said he believes the citizens not only knew this was coming, but originally supported it.

“You can’t solve all the problems of Weatherford without paying for it,” he said. “When the bond issue came up, it was clearly stated what the transportation projects included on the ballot were going to cost. We also built a new fire station, and it was very clear what that was going to cost, both for the construction and the continued operation. No surprises. So when the voters approved these things, the city acted on behalf of what the voters wanted to do. It should have been clear to everyone that it was going to affect the tax rate.”

Tison went on to say raising taxes is clearly not a “grand plan” of Fadden’s as has been stated by some, but rather she was completely uninvolved with the governmental processes that resulted in this tax increase.

“Jennifer Fadden wasn’t part of this,” he said. “The citizens and the city council at the time were part of that, working together. Now there are some people coming back up and asking why they’re raising taxes. Well, I just gave you the answer. The citizens approved it.”

See Tuesday’s edition of the Weatherford Democrat for the conclusion of this interview.