Mayor John Harper vs The World — Part VIII

Mayor John Harper vs The World — Part VIII

In the continuing, and drawn out saga of Rowlett Mayor John Harper and his battle with the Rowlett City Council, we now have this; Mayor Harper has announced that he WILL be stepping down. The question on my mind is: WHEN?

The video is a bit slow to load, but it WILL load. If it doesn’t load for you, click the button in the gray TIME BAR just below the video a couple of times. This video is worth the extra effort. YouTube doesn’t give us that problem.

Rowlett mayor says he’s resigning

ROWLETT - The embattled mayor of Rowlett says he’s going to resign.

Now, some of his council members have told News 8 the city may be better off. What’s behind the bad blood?

Mayor John Harper said he is resigning because there’s too much focus on him instead of the critical issues facing Rowlett.

“Let me get out of the picture,” he said. “And now, let’s focus on the message because the message is what’s important.”

That message is balancing the city’s budget now and in the future, Harper said. The mayor publicly blasted city manager Lynda Humble for cutting five city positions without bringing it to the council.

Full Story Here:
Rowlett mayor says he’s resigning

We’re tired of hearing it! We’re tired of the DRAMA. The business of the City of Rowlett needs to be carried on, and it can’t be carried on under the current administration, led by John Harper.

Rowlett has the unique opportunity to do something that most American cities aren’t doing right now. We have the opportunity to GROW! We have the opportunity to become more than a ‘bedroom’ community. 

Mayor Harper keeps on mentioning the DART Rail System and the Bush Turnpike, Mayor Harper isn’t responsible for those services coming to, and through Rowlett, those plans were in place long before John Harper was Mayor and had anything to do with Rowlett business. Mr. Harper is somewhat disingenuous in his depiction of events.

Mayor Harper says he is resigning because there’s too much focus on him instead of the critical issues facing Rowlett. That’s true, Mayor Harper has done everything within his power to focus ALL eyes on him. It’s almost like Harper has secret aspirations to move on to higher office.
 
By his behavior alone, John Harper has disrupted the Council, the City, the City Managers office, the City employees, Rowlett Police and Fire Departments and the citizens OF Rowlett. Somehow, I don’t think that higher office is in the cards for Hizzoner.

“Let me get out of the picture,” he said. “And now, let’s focus on the message because the message is what’s important.”

That would be the wise and prudent thing to do Sir, and the sooner, the better.

Your attacks on City Employees, Manager Lynda Humble, your fellow Council members and anyone else that doesn’t ‘toe the line’ in the John Harper campaign against The World have become well known. People that have felt your wrath are finding their voices and are beginning to talk, loudly!

He has also had choice words for his fellow council members, calling one of them “a fool” at a recent meeting.

It is a well known FACT that Councilman Michael Gallops and I have had our differences in the past, thankfully, that is ALL in the past. 

It was Councilman Gallops that was called a “fool, or foolish” by Hizzoner, and I have to say, it’s probably a good thing it WAS Councilman Gallops, had it been an individual with a HOT temper, there’s no telling what would have happened after Harper’s immature display of childish leadership and playground name calling.

Mayor Pro Tem Todd Gottel is critical of the mayor’s outbursts. He claimed Harper has been spreading misinformation about the council’s handling of budget issues.

Misinformation. Todd Gottel is a lot nicer than I am.

Being in Texas for as many years as I have, I am more inclined to call it BS as opposed to misinformation.

There are items of contention on Harper’s list of Transactions approved by the Rowlett City Council that I just happened to be there when they were approved and saw Harper vote FOR. I attend a lot of Council meetings, I watch even more on TV.

We have a modern city, we use electronic communications now. All Rowlett City Council meetings are open to public viewing here: Rowlett, TX - Official Website - Streaming Video  

Council Meetings and work sessions are PUBLIC meetings, and you don’t have to be a resident of Rowlett to watch and see what really goes on, especially in the work sessions. Just sayin’…

Mayor Harper is saying that the Council meeting on April 5th at 7:30 PM is going to be a “public lynching“.
 
It doesn’t have to be that way. Mayor Harper could resign BEFORE the meeting and avoid any conflict altogether.

But avoiding conflict and DRAMA is NOT in John Harper’s playbook.