— City doesn’t want to listen about shelter

Dear editor,

At City Council meeting Feb. 14, a large number of citizens deeply concerned about the practices at the Weatherford Parker County Animal Shelter stood in disbelief as Ms. Jeri Douglas told how the puppy she adopted for her grandchildren, ages 4 and 6, had spent one night with the children and was so sick after leaving the shelter that it had to be humanely destroyed by a vet the next day. A very common and deadly puppy disease had been ignored by shelter staff and brought heartbreak to two young children.

But the real sickness showed itself at the council meeting as shelter staff sat in the back row of the meeting snickering and laughing as Ms. Douglas told her story.

That is the real sickness we have in this community. The mayor was quick to say his “heart goes out to you,” then had Ms. Douglas seated and moved on. Not an apology, not a promise of investigation, he didn’t even ask the snickering animal shelter staff to be quiet.

Despite an overflow crowd of Weatherford citizens, not one question was asked by council, the mayor or the city manager that would indicate the slightest interest in pursing this matter; like Washington politicians, they don’t want to listen to the people about the job, they just want to get paid for their job. At this rate it won’t be long before our local politicians are leaving for Washington.

Barbara Benson,

Weatherford



Local politics are out of control

Dear editor,

Politics trumps justice here in Weatherford and Parker County. I have lived here all but 10 of my 50-plus years and I have never seen the politics dirtier than they are currently.

Last summer, the Democrat printed a front-page article about my husband, Sid Johnson, being arrested on a reckless driving charge. No law enforcement witnessed the alleged incident and the police investigation was one-sided. When the story was published, the accuser gave false information. Both the date of the alleged incident and the location on Palo Pinto were wrong. It actually happened Good Friday morning in front of City Hall as Sid was coming to a stop at the red light at Alamo. he was on his way to the hospital to visit me before he opened our shop.

What did Sid really do? He waved a Gadsden flag at the minion of a local political hack. There is bad blood between the political hack and the local Tea Party. His waving that flag the morning after a political rally was seen as an insult. Sid simply thought he was having a bit of fun. These folks clearly think they are above reproach, have no sense of humor and cannot take criticism.

On Jan. 27, his case was plea-bargained to avoid the cost of a jury trial. How did this even get to court with different dates and locations? Why did no one investigate the discrpancies? To take this character assassination through a trial would have been a gross misuse of the justice system. Jury trials should be reserved for real criminials. Neither the county attorney nor the judge saw it that way because they scheduled a jury trial. Please note, both of these men are up for re-election and I can only guess they didn’t want to anger whomever holds their policital puppet strings.

So now, Sid’s on probation for something he didn’t do. he is in his late 60s, college-educated and a former Department of Defense employee. He has run for City Council three times, served on mayor-appointed committees and owned a successful business for 20 years. He has to report monthly and do community service. Sounds like a big flight risk, doesn’t he? But, that’s right, how many fitting his profile have gone through the local probationary system?

The political terrorism in this city and county has to be stopped! Leave the kangaroos at the high school and get them out of the local courts.

Carla Hollingsworth Johnson

Weatherford



Let city know the work is appreciated

Dear editor,

I think it is important for us to let our mayor, city council members and city staff know how much we appreciate all that they do for us. They receive awards all the time for the excellent job they are doing. They received another one this week.

I also want to express my gratitude to all of their families for the sacrifices they make. I have observed in city council meetings and work sessions how everyone in the city is working for the best good of all the citizens of Weatherford. We are very fortunate to have them willing to serve us. I thank you, each and every one.

Kathleen Wildwood,

Weatherford