SOS Spokesman Darin Chappell Bristles at Mayoral Candidate's Charge

Through various media and news sources Jim O'Neal, a candidate for Springfield Mayor (and Darin Chappell indicates other candidates, as well), have been leaving the public with the impression they have a "right" to vote for or against the continuance of the 1/4-cent capital improvement sales tax at some point before the tax is scheduled to sunset.

SOS (Save Our Springfield Citizen Coalition) spokesman Darin Chappell disagrees with that characterization, and I tend to agree wholeheartedly with his views on the matter. I heard him define the issue on the Vincent David Jericho Program (link at right under "Newstalk") on Tuesday, and he explained it very well. I am not directly quoting Mr. Chappell but, basically, what he said on Tuesday was that the voters voted on the issue in total when they voted for the tax the last time it was placed on the ballot. What they approved then was that the tax would continue (it had been approved before with a sunset) and would sunset on a date certain. It is entirely up to the City Council to decide whether they will approve the CIP sales tax to be placed on the ballot again at some future date but, let there be no mistake, the voters approved the CIP sales tax WITH a sunset date certain the last time it was approved.

Earlier today, Darin Chappell posted a blog entry at his own blog dealing with the issue, I am taking the liberty of sharing his entry in its entirety here:

"There has been a recent trend among some candidates running for the open positions on the City Council of Springfield, MO as well as for the mayor’s office of the same, which has aggravated me to no end. It is the thought that the Save OUR Springfield citizens’ coalition is trying to take away the “right” of the people to vote on the retention of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) ¼ cent sales tax currently on the City books.

Firstly, I bristle at the very thought that I would ever be in favor of excluding the voice of the people in the processes of governmental action. The concept of Popular Sovereignty (the power to rule being found in the People being governed) is one that is paramount in my political ideology; it is an integral part of my philosophy, and I find it offensive that anyone would suggest otherwise for mere political expediency.

Secondly, it simply is not true…

The SOS plan merely asks the Council Members to be LEADERS! This is not a problem (the police and firefighter pension plan being woefully under funded) that has crept up on us unawares; we have known about this for years, and the Council has done next to nothing about it. We citizens and tax payers who came together under the banner of SOS did so precisely so there would be some kind of discourse undertaken by the City, the police and firefighter unions, and the people of this great city of Springfield. Within that effort, we, respecting the fact that the voters of Springfield had already rejected the tired, old, ready-made answer of the City to raise taxes, determined that we would offer a tax-rate-neutral option by allowing a currently utilized tax to sunset and be replaced by the newly established tax that would be dedicated to fulfilling the responsibilities held by the City in relation to the pension fund.

This is not offered up as an attempt to ignore the will of the people, but rather an expression of it! If a candidate, as some have, signs on to this doctrine we espoused, and that candidate wins the seat for which he is running, then, by extension, the people have spoken that they want the CIP tax to sunset and the City to reinstitute that tax revenue as that which is specifically dedicated to the pension plan.

Those candidates who have been part of the problem in the past (and those signing on to that tried and tired paradigm) are grasping at straws, when they state that we do not want to have the voice of the people heard…we ARE the people! If the City had been doing its job in this matter, our group (truly an ad hoc committee, if ever there was one) would never have needed to be established. We are now told that we need to wait for the findings of the Citizen Task Force that the City is now putting together. Fine…but where was this task force two or three years ago? Would it even have been in the workings today, if it had not been for the pressures exerted upon the City by the SOS group?

People should vote on Tuesday, allowing their voices to be heard as to which pattern of governance they individually desire for the City of Springfield. But please, do not allow the hollow claims of those seeking to silence the voice of the only group to offer an actual solution to the problem thus far. We, the citizens and taxpayers of SOS, want nothing but the voice of the people to be heard on this, or any other issue. Let them hear you on Tuesday!"

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For future reference, you will find Mr. Chappell's blog has been added to my blog links.

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Mayoral candidate O'Neal Denies Email/Letter Sent Only to Supporters

It may not have been sent only to supporters but it was definitely addressed to his "loyal supporters." Why all the fuss?

I was forwarded the email letter dated March 24, which Mayoral candidate Jim O'Neal sent to his email list.

O'Neal and others are fussing because the email/letter has been characterized as "a letter to his supporters." I don't understand why such a characterization seems to be so offensive to Mr. O'Neal. Whether sent only to supporters or not, he was definitely addressing his supporters.

Mr. O'Neal's email/letter to supporters in it's entirety (except for removed personal information which I was not given permission to share), as it was forwarded to me on March 26 (I took the liberty of highlighting the salutation):

From: Jim O'Neal
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 1:28 PM


March 24, 2009

Good morning loyal supporters. First, I am here to thank you for your continued support throughout this campaign. But now I must plead for your help once more. Many of you may have read the editorial in today’s News-Leader by Ryan Cooper. It seems I am running against Mr. Cooper not Mr. Donegan, as he seemingly can’t speak for himself. I couldn’t find much in this article as to why Mr. Donegan would lead our city or his qualifications to be mayor; he simply attacks me in ways that are designed to stir up discontent. This is the only way he can win. But it is unfortunate that this can be very effective.

We have run a clean, honest, heartfelt campaign and for that I am proud. I need to ask those of you than can, compose a letter to the editor in support of my desire and ability to become mayor. Please mention in your letter about your support of the capital improvements tax and our support for citizens input and citizen task forces to develop solutions to community issues such as the pension problem. This organized, overexposed, vocal but small group wants to take away your right to vote on issues regarding the CIP, parks and other issues designed to keep Springfield moving forward. The only way taxes can be changed are by a vote of you the citizens. These people don’t like that because the vast majority of people are voting for the CIP program, a program they want to kill. They have also endorsed an incomplete, non-comprehensive solution to the pension funding written by a very limited and narrow group of people. The last thing they want is for a broad based diverse group of citizens to have a voice in solving the problem. They‘ve already made up their mind and the public be damned. Mr. Cooper has had front billing in our newspaper for many weeks and it is absurd and his articles are more absurd. Time for us to go to the mattresses! These letters need to be sent as soon as possible to the News-Leader and they can also be done online. They will want your address and phone number and sometime they prefer a photo to accompany.

We have many more yard signs and magnetic car door placards being delivered next Monday. If you want one please e-mail me at (email address removed) and we will see that you get them. We also have some larger commercial signs going up this
weekend.

Lastly, our biggest threat is apathy. I can’t tell you how many people continue to come up to me and say, “Oh, you’ve got this in the bag.” I DO NOT!! You must get out and get others out to vote on April 7th. We must win this election and win by as large a margin as possible.

Please get letter to the editor out and please register to blog online to the news-leader and watch for negative attacks and be prepared to respond. It works.

Your support is so greatly appreciated. Thank You. Jim O’Neal




Jim O'Neal
President
O & S Trucking, Inc.
3769 E. Evergreen
Springfield, MO 65803
(Phone and cell phone numbers omitted)

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