District 9 Nastiness

When you have six candidates running for something, things are bound to get a little ugly. When sheer ambition collides with the better angels of our nature, the desire to win sometimes comes out on top. We're seeing a little of that in the District 9 City Council race.

One of the things I've always liked best about the candidate I support, Bernie Scheffler, is his positive attitude and contagious optimism. That's part of why I believe this city needs him. In May, when Wendy Davis congratulated him on a race well run, she thanked him for running a positive campaign. That's the Bernie that I know and respect.

However, there has been a whisper campaign from another District 9 candidate trying to paint Bernie as a dilettante, a dabbler, someone who is running this race as a lark. When I spoke to Bernie, he shrugged it off. He's not concerned about it. He knows he's serious, and he believes the voters will, too.

Although I was able to find the source of the rumor, I really don't believe it's important to name the culprit. Although the person in question may see this as hardball politics, I think it is just grade school. Stop the whisper campaign now. I assure you that Bernie is quite serious. He's in it to win it, and I believe he will win.

Unfortunately, this isn't the only incident so far in this young campaign. There is a phone poll being run by a candidate in the race which attempts to prejudice voters against Joel Burns and Chris Turner. Although I don't support either of these candidates, I believe Mr. Burns and Mr. Turner deserve better than this. I deplore this attempt to make the campaign about something other than issues of substance.

I encourage all the candidates in the District 9 race to follow Bernie Scheffler's lead -- run a positive campaign based on the issues. The people of Fort Worth deserve this. Too much is at stake.