Direct Action Texas, Author at Direct Action Texas

Why Can’t Tarrant Judicial Candidates Follow the Law?

Posted by Direct Action Texas | May 17, 2018

Will our Tarrant County 2018 Probate Judge candidates please quit breaking the law?

If you remember the story about Catherine Goodman, candidate for Probate Judge, she took an improper donation of $10,000 from a husband and wife. This was a violation of the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act. The Texas Ethics Commission called her out, Goodman returned the amount in violation, and while she is still exposed to civil liability, it is over.

Now we have something different. We have Republican Probate Court Runoff candidate, Patricia Cole who has broken a much more serious law. Cole has accepted contributions from corporations. This is not an ethics violation, but a criminal violation! Read More

CITIZENS AREN’T TIRED OF WINNING IN COLLEYVILLE – An Open Letter by Steve Waltens

Posted by Direct Action Texas | May 10, 2018

All across our great nation for the last year and a half, legions of sore-loser liberal elites have been pitching a non-stop fit, refusing to accept the fact that our country has soundly rejected their tired narrative and policies that are just plain bad for Americans.

An interesting (and more relevant) observation is that very same pattern of behavior is going on right here in our very own Colleyville. The last seven elections for Mayor and the six City Council seats have been very spirited races, to say the least. Every one of the candidates in these seven races have been supported by the same passionate group of volunteers and the opposing issues have basically remained the same in each race. And that leads me to the puzzling part of this story.

Since every one of these seven races was decided by landslide victories during record voter turnouts, why on earth does the Protect Colleyville crew cling tightly to their seven-times failed campaign strategy?

Is everything in Colleyville rainbows and unicorns? Of course not. But in the two years since the new Mayor and majority citizen-advocates took office, this list of positive citizen-requested changes have become reality:

Lowered the tax rate TWICE.
Made up the unbelievable $600,000 shortfall of pay to our first responders.
Stopped the practice of price gouging and profiting off water sales.
Saved over 400 trees along Glade Road that were destined for demolition.
Established a plan to improve Glade Road with engineered drainage, turn lanes, and sidewalks saving taxpayers millions of dollars as compared to the previous plan.
Negotiated land purchase deals along Glade Road, instead of stealing land for trails.
Instituted a new, more transparent bidding processes to ensure taxpayer money was being spent in the best possible way.
Asked the citizens to adopt term limits for elected officials, which we passed with an overwhelming 82% of voters voting in favor.
Stopped the race towards transforming Colleyville into a high-density urban jungle by setting the land development code straight.
Asked the citizens to adopt more stringent disclosure and transparency rules for both elected officials and staff heads which passed by an overwhelming majority.
Passed a long overdue resolution to move forward with a new storm water master plan.
Beautifying and enhancing our medians and roundabouts.
Repairing major streets that were crumbling due to a decade of neglect.
Established a record number of citizen committees to leverage the knowledge, expertise, and input of our citizens
Created community events such as the farmers market, live bands, and movie nights.
Established a second ambulance service to eliminate high out-of-city ambulance fees and save taxpayers money.
Repealed the anti-free speech policy that prohibited citizens from criticizing City Council members when addressing the council.

Bring Back the “Independent” in Grapevine Colleyville INDEPENDENT School District

Posted by Direct Action Texas | April 13, 2018

An Open Letter to Those Who Supported Me in Last Year’s GCISD School Board Election.

When I ran for GCISD school board one year ago, I witnessed a groundswell of stakeholders dissatisfied with changes in the district.

Halfway through LEAD 2021, with 3 students who experienced TAAS, TAKs and STAAR, who spent the last 6 years of their GCISD careers under the guise of “Personalized Learning,” I found nothing could be further from the truth. The “personal” in LEAD 2021 is adaptive technology, not human guidance. My youngest, who was exposed to LEAD 2021 in her more formidable years, did not have the academic legacy of my oldest. Many know our family history and I will not discuss it here, but the district did not teach my girls to read. As a parent, I accepted responsibility and made sure they had appropriate reading instruction. After that, I stood before the GCISD board (which is very different than today’s board) and with a group of other parents, made the board aware that GCISD is responsible for providing appropriate reading instruction for ALL students, not just the easy ones. Today that is truer than ever in all subjects. Every child in GCISD needs to learn to read well, write well, solve math efficiently and effectively, learn history and learn proven science laws and principles. The district vision, created by the board, should include definitive measures of academic proficiency. SAT and ACT are the only national measures of college readiness the majority of students in GCISD will take. Despite great GCISD expense in test preparation and LEAD 2021 vision, the scores on these 2 nationalized tests are statistically flat. What are GCISD tax payers getting for the investment in redefined education? Read More

All Four Tarrant County Senators Response to Glen Whitley’s Misinformation

Posted by Direct Action Texas | February 12, 2018

February 11, 2018

To the Editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley tells a bold-faced lie about the state budget and local property taxes and is hailed as a “truth teller” by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram?

Let’s set the record straight. Local property tax rates are set by locally elected officials. Period. They are not determined by an informational rider in the state budget as Judge Whitley dishonestly suggests. He well knows our school finance formula dictates that local property tax revenue go into the system first, with state funding added on top. This has been the case since the 1940s. Local property tax collections dictate the state’s share of education funding – not vice versa.

Dear Rep. Capriglione, Your Promises Ring Hollow.

Posted by Direct Action Texas | November 15, 2017

OPEN LETTER TO REP. GIOVANNI CAPRIGLIONE

“Dear Representative Capriglione,

In your campaign for reelection announcement this week, you state, “If reelected, I promise to continue to fight for limited and efficient government while working tirelessly to ensure the voices of those living in House District 98 are heard.” Furthermore, your campaign literature states, “As your State Representative, I am fighting to secure the border, reign in state spending, and provide more transparency and accountability of elected officials.”

I am a constituent of District 98 and have attempted to have my voice heard and I’ve sought explanations for votes that you took in the Texas Legislature that don’t jive with your promise above. However, you are doing your best to ensure that MY voice as a constituent is NOT heard. Like you claim in your campaign literature, I also value more transparency and accountability from my elected officials, yet you have demonstrated neither qualities to me, the person that you represent. Read More

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