A letter from Commissioner Barton: 'Mr. O'Dell, you are a *!@$#/!, self-serving watchdog'

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Editor's Note: The RoundUp decided to post this letter from Precinct 2 County Commissioner Jeff Barton in the spirit of fairness, a little humor, and an openness to all points of view. Fair warning though, Mr. Barton has a reputation for rhetorical flourish and long-winded monologues. Readers should take special note that this latest effort to discredit his political critics is, as usual, long on wind and short on substantiation – a textbook technique of distraction by politicians who are feeling the heat. The RoundUp recommends that Commissioner Barton spend less time blowing smoke and more time cleaning up his own many and well documented ethical lapses in office.

To the Editor:

Your media company publishes a regular blog or column by one Charles O’Dell on an electronic website. You promote him in the newspaper, and he presents himself on your pages, as an unbiased “government watchdog.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. O’Dell alleges a “culture of corruption” in Hays County because of influence peddling by high-dollar campaign donors and special interest groups. He fails to mention that he is the most active lobbyist in Hays County. Or that he was the largest single money-giver to any local campaign in the reporting period before the last election – he gave $4,100 to one San Marcos candidate in a district where Mr. O’Dell does not live, out of $4,150 total received by that candidate in the final report.

Finally, this self-described “well documented” investigator neglects to mention that he himself was an aggressive, partisan principal in several campaigns while simultaneously “reporting” about them as if he was an impartial observer.

Mr. O’Dell is bitter for one reason: he lost.

That gives him the right to carp. We all do it.

But Mr. O’Dell does not stop there. He invents “facts” to suit his arguments. He distorts others. He bullies the weak, sows discord, and threatens anyone who does not cow-tow to him and his special interests with retribution in his “column.”

Repeatedly he has tried to intimidate government employees to do his bidding, and to benefit certain landowners over others. Like a false patriot quick to cover himself in the flag, whenever Mr. O’Dell is challenged for his misconduct he changes the subject, loudly proclaiming himself to be a poor public watchdog. Meanwhile, he refuses to disclose funding sources for one of his special interest groups. Another political action arm, a PAC with which he is closely associated, is violating state ethics requirements by failing to disclose contributions and expenditures. The candidate he gave $4,100 to has failed to file required ethics disclosures since the election, thus effectively hiding whether Mr. O’Dell’s money was an on-going loan or a gift, and how much more money followed. Mr. O’Dell also stands convicted of violating city ordinances in Dripping Springs.

Your online editor responsible for supervising Mr. O’Dell checks neither Mr. O’Dell’s facts nor his conflicts and will not even return phone calls from his targets, much less print corrections. This fails to meet even the most basic tenets of journalistic integrity.

I have come to understand Mr. O’Dell’s self-serving machinations. I continue to hope for better from your media company.

Sincerely,
Jeff Barton
County Commissioner


UPDATE: Wednesday March 18, 2009 9:38 am

O'Dell fires back: 'Commissioner Barton, you are a self-serving little whiner'

Precinct 2 County Commissioner Jeff Barton certainly has good reason to be whining about my postings on this blog, and about my letters to the editor and comments about articles published in other venues, including the Austin-American Statesman, Austin Chronicle and through e-mail distribution. His bad behavior as a public official is often the subject of those postings, letters and e-mails. That Barton is compelled to complain is a sure sign these reports of bad behavior are resonating with Hays County citizens.

It’s encouraging the Roundup editor saw fit to give Commissioner Barton an opportunity to whine. That’s more than Barton did for me in his newspaper when I called attention to his refusing to turn over records for a cell phone he uses to conduct official county business; or reported the special interests financing of his election campaign; or his trying to sneak the Pct.1 Martinez septic system variance through commissioners court; or using his office to protect Tom Pope from accountability; or exposing him as the biggest tax and wasteful spending commissioner since voters turned him out of office in 1997, to name a few.

Here are Barton’s claims against me and my responses:

1. That I am the most active lobbyist in Hays County.
If Barton means that I support open government and full Chapter 36 authority for our Groundwater Conservation District, and opposed the special interest road bond he is correct.
2. That I made the largest single contribution to a candidate in Hays County.
Barton has his numbers wrong, but I did pay a campaign bill that I knew might not be reimbursed. It hasn’t been yet.
3. I am an aggressive, partisan principal in several campaigns.
If Barton means that I’m an active citizen who believes in open elections, regardless of political party, then he’s right.
4. I’m bitter because I lost.
I firmly believe in the democratic process…regardless of an election outcome.
5. I invent facts.
If I invent them are they really facts, or is Barton just making this up?
6. I distort other facts.
Not the invented facts that aren’t really facts, but the real undistorted facts?
7. I bully the weak
Would Barton expect me to bully the strong? Does Barton feel bullied by me?
8. I sow discord
I do admit to recently sowing okra and tomato seeds, but not discord or datcord.
9. I threaten retribution in the Roundup for anyone who does not cow-tow to me and my special interests.
Charles Soechting would sue me for slander if I made such a false statement about you.
10. I tried to intimidate government employees to do my bidding.
If Soechting were my attorney he would beg me to sue you for slander.
11. I tried to benefit certain landowners over others.
I do support protecting owners of existing water wells from harm by future water well owners.
12. I refuse to disclose funding sources for one of my special interest groups.
The only interest group to which I belong is HaysCAN, a public interest non-profit organization. Trust me, many citizens contribute to HaysCAN, and I know what would happen to them if I released their names. No chance, and we’re protected by the Constitution.
13. A PAC with which I am closely associated is violating state ethics requirements.
I’m not closely associated with any PAC, but if a PAC is violating ethics law, then I suggest you file a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission.
14. I stand convicted of violating a Dripping Springs ordinance.
The Belterra developer got City officials to file charges against me in retaliation for our year long educational demonstrations protesting effluent discharge into Bear Creek, and that conviction is in the Third Court of Appeals on constitutional grounds of peaceful assembly, free speech and other failures of the City’s sign ordinance.

The self-serving use of your newspaper for political and special interest propaganda, your whining complaint to the Roundup, and your selective support of constitutional protections all speak loudly about what’s wrong with our government in Hays County.

I hope you don’t consider my response as intimidation or bullying, but merely as self evident truths.

2nd UPDATE: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:30 pm

'I'll take O'Dell's version of good government over Barton's any day '

Editor:

I read Jeff Barton's tirade against private citizen and local good government activist, Dr. Charles O'Dell, with a mixture of humor and outrage.

Since when does the owner of a newspaper that has been constantly used to promote his own issues and political campaign get to accuse an online blog whose contributors are citizens of all stripes, of being used to further political aims?

C'mon Jeff, isn't this a bit of "the pot calling the kettle"?

You and your family have used the Hays Free Press to promote not only your political campaigns, but the multi-million dollar road bonds and the massive development projects going on in the Buda and Kyle areas.

When I hear you complain that Buda/Kyle are in desperate straits over water issues, I can only think, "Well, what were you people thinking when you decided to invite commercial and residential interests into your neck o' the woods so you could become one of the fastest-growing parts of the country?" You helped make sure all those housing developments cleared the City Councils and Commissioners Courts. You and your family have used your newspaper and your various connections to make sure this happened.

Did you think these decisions were water neutral? Did you ever think about what those massive housing schemes were going to mean in terms of the depletion of natural resources? Overcrowding? Transit nightmares? Pollution and run-off issues? Environmental degradation? Did anyone stop to think of anything more than how much money they might make building houses and strip malls and handing over road contracts to engineering firms?

When did trying to protect local water resources become a reason to condemn a private citizen? The people in the western part of the county are very concerned about our future as regards water availablity. Tying development to whether or not the land can actually sustain that development is apparently not a concept that has entered your mind.

Dr. Charles O'Dell is a tireless advocate for open government and for sustainable development. If this is threatening to you and your financial contributors, then the rest of us need to pay very careful attention to exactly what it is that you folks are trying to achieve in this County.

Many of us consider Charles O'Dell to be a Local Hero, not the villain you choose to characterize him as. For my money, for my future, for the existence of honest government and the health of our environment, I will take Dr. O'Dell's version over yours any day of the week.

Susan Cook
Driftwood, Texas