Sorry (Not Sorry) Charlie

It's a bye week again for the Copperas Cove city council. 

But - you KNEW, dear readers, I had more to say about Sorry-Charlie Youngs. 

Sooooo, here goes:

With the government comes paperwork, lots of paperwork.

Curmudgeon noted with great interest that Copperas Cove Place 7 councilman Sorry-Charlie Youngs is now $500 lighter in the wallet after being fined by the Texas Ethics Commission. Evidently he didn't file the required paperwork during his campaign for last year's election.

Ah, yes, with running for office, comes paperwork, lots of paperwork.

So what’s the big deal?

Dear readers, those who run for political office MUST-MUST-MUST not only register as a candidate with the City Secretary, but also report on several things during the course of an election. There’s a big honkin’ packet candidates need to read thoroughly.

It is a known fact that candidates will often accept donations from individuals to support their campaigns. Those donations are a matter of public record. Curmudgeon believes that is pretty self-explanatory as to why.

Candidates must also file to have a campaign treasurer and may name themselves their own treasurer.

So what if a candidate doesn’t plan to take donations but run on their own dime?

No biggee. But they still have to file how much they plan to spend. It clearly states on the election calendar and in the packet the regulations to do so. 

This isn’t a Copperas Cove thing. It’s a state of Texas elections thing.

So what’s the big deal about Sorry-Charlie Youngs not filing ANYTHING other than a form for candidacy at the required times?

I mean, Sorry-Charlie didn’t spend anyone else’s donation money.

So what’s the big deal?

Ladies and gentlemen, dear readers, dear city council, this ain’t Charlie Youngses’ first rodeo on the Copperas Cove city council. He has been a seated member of the Copperas Cove city council not once, but twice. 

He’s run for office THREE TIMES at least, including this past election in 2017.

The rules haven’t changed.

Curmudgeon wonders, though, and hopes others wonder:

What’s with Charlie?

Why didn’t he complete his paperwork?

Did he feel rushed and hurry through filing?

(I mean, he’s spent more than a year being pissed off at the SUPREME INJUSTICES as he sees them that have been done to the Copperas Cove chamber of commerce and the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation that he was just in a hurry to “get on with things.”)

Did Sorry-Charlie not know about these filing requirements, even though he's done this THREE TIMES AND THE INSTRUCTIONS WERE IN BLACK AND WHITE IN FRONT OF HIM?

Did Sorry-Charlie think he was an exception to the rules?
(We seem to have a deluge of that lately, with Dapper-Dan Yancey and Marky-E-Marc Payne doing whatever they please, I'M SURE BECAUSE THEY HAVE GREAT INTENTIONS. Sorry, snark leak.)

Was Sorry-Charlie hoping no one would notice?

Are Sorry-Charlie’s mental faculties slipping, that he didn’t want to take the time to be thorough and take care of his due filing, that FOUR other candidates for TWO offices ALSO WERE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE?

Again, did Sorry-Charlie feel he was an exception to the rules?

It took one candidate receiving a copy of a PUBLIC RECORD and then manning up to file a complaint for Sorry-Charlie to get “called” on this. Both literally and figuratively.

Is this really the best we could do, Copperas Cove?

We put a man in office who, again, is so ANGRY that he doesn't even have the presence of mind to properly complete LEGALLY REQUIRED paperwork on time, and we get only a “shucks, my bad” out of it?

In fact, all we heard during the campaign was how pissed off he was. Nothing else of substance, no other goals other than getting the EDC and chamber “back to how things were”. 

"The fish was THIS BIG when I pulled it in! Really!" - (Sorry-Charlie, I don't believe you)

Sorry, sorry, sorry, Sorry-Charlie.

I call on Copperas Cove Mayor Frank Seffrood to step up to the plate and take some up-front leadership on these matters instead of giving more speeches on volunteerism and how we’re all in this together and we just need to "work together for the good of Copperas Cove."

I agree, we are all in this together, but the competency and ETHICS of at least THREE of these members I call into question. They seem, to me, to believe they are ABOVE the rules and the city charter.

"Working together for the good of Copperas Cove" means more than "let's play nice because nobody meant anything bad by it."

Dismal days, these are, Copperas Cove.

Yet, Curmudgeon hopes and believes there are still some on city council who will do the right thing.

It is also my hope and belief that they will not give up DOING THE RIGHT THING even though they are OUTNUMBERED BY INCOMPETENCE AND QUESTIONABLE ETHICS. 

Thank you for reading, dear readers, whether you love this or whether you think I'm the one who should get run out of town on a rail. Oh, wait, we don't have a depot and the train doesn't stop here anymore! (Ha!)

I have no agenda other than asking questions which I and, I strongly believe, many, MANY others deserve answers to.

You can subscribe to get this in your email box rather than forgetting to come back here for a new post or remembering when you see it on Facebook.

Curmudgeon out. Tuna casserole for all!