Haltom City manager made the right call with unruly protesters

Reports aren’t how it happened

It is disgusting that news outlets post a story and an editorial that’s wrong. (Sept. 27, 1A, “Official in Haltom City calls police on activists”; Sept. 30, 6A, “Haltom City manager made wrong call on open records”)

Ask United Fort Worth to post the first five minutes of its members’ interaction with me. You will see that I was listening to their concerns until the subject holding a sign shoved it in my face multiple times. That’s when they were asked to leave.

And before they showed up in my office, they already had filed an open-records request with the city secretary. A response has been sent according to state law.

Protests were way out of line

Your decision to call out City Manager Keith Lane’s “chilling” response to the invasion of city offices while giving a pass to United Fort Worth’s blatant grandstanding is the very height of hypocrisy. You insist he was obliged to politely greet a provocative disruption of city offices, but you give a pass to rude, uncivil and frankly adolescent behavior.

Further, you ignore Lane’s obligation to maintain order and protect his fellow employees. United Fort Worth’s invasion of Haltom City’s offices was nothing more than a publicity stunt. If UFW made requests and was rebuffed, the tactics might have some justification.

Lane made the right call in insisting that those visiting do so in an orderly and civil manner.

Past time for the law to step in

A recent column from Bishop Michael Olson of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth promulgated the same tone-deaf response regarding the rape of children by Catholic clergy that we have seen for many years. (Sept. 20, 9A, “Don’t paint Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth with same broad brush on response to abuse”)

Olson’s column was nothing new. In effect, he tried to convince his flock that although Catholic clergy have been raping and savaging children all over the world, he has carved out a little oasis here in Texas.

The recently released report from a Pennsylvania grand jury showed that Catholic clergy routinely sexually assaulted children and were protected by bishops and cardinals. The children didn’t matter. The church’s bottom line did.

Olson wants us to think that the Fort Worth diocese is somehow special. I doubt it. I believe our Texas attorney general should investigate the church as a criminal organization.

Pennsylvania showed us the way.

Get all drivers on the same page

The city should adopt the same policy for the Benbrook Traffic Circle as for the majority of traffic circles. (Sept. 24, 1A, “Notorious traffic circle will get safety features”) Vehicles already in the circle should have priority, and vehicles waiting to enter must yield.

When this was raised with District 3 Councilman Brian Byrd at our neighborhood meeting, he said the current flow was to accommodate employees leaving the Lockheed Martin plant.

This is a small question of timing in our 24-hour day, and safety should be the priority — not Lockheed Martin employees getting home a few minutes earlier.

Standard yield signs are cheaper and conform to the majority of traffic circles worldwide. Visitors would also be less confused than with the current dangerous mess.