Dear Editor,
Well, you can tell the election is getting close, because the mud-slinging is in full force. Eric Hogue and his supporters have been called into question. People supporting our current mayor have questioned Eric’s character, his leadership skills and his commitment. They have even questioned the citizens who have spoken out in support of Eric.
Eric Hogue is my friend. I have known Eric and his family for years, and I can’t sit quietly while someone tries to call his character into question:
Here are the facts:
First, Eric Hogue is not an assistant to an assistant; he is a leader in one of the largest companies in the world. He reports to an executive in a company that does billions of dollars in revenue each year. He leads that Executive’s organization made up of employees not just in Texas, not just in the United States, but from all over the world. He directs the communications, budgets and human resource issues for these employees. By the way this company has an employee population about three times the size of Wylie. He speaks on behalf of this company to customers and government officials from around the world on a regular basis. He has dealt with more employee issues and concerns than most of us will ever face in our lifetime. Eric has to balance a budget and manage a payroll that is larger than that of the City of Wylie. And, that is just his day job. Looks to me like a leader and someone with experience.
Second, for over 10 years he worked with two different churches as their part time preacher. He preached every Sunday morning and Sunday evening. He taught Bible classes on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. On top of that, he produced the church’s bulletin each week and worked with any of the members in need. A preacher is one who is willing to stand and proclaim something, even when others may not want to hear the truth. I believe it takes someone with a strong conviction, strong character and strong leadership skills to have successfully preached for that length of time. By the way, he got both churches to a point to where they could hire a full-time minister, which was his goal!
Third, Eric Hogue served on our city council for seven years. Over the years, we’ve talked about his voting record and some of the issues that have come before the city council in recent years. I believe that you will find anytime a tough decision had to be made, it was Eric Hogue who made the motion. He stood for what was right for the city of Wylie. Hard choices have to be made sometimes and it takes a leader to stand against the crowd (even a crowd of seven) and take a stand for what is right.
It has been called into question why Eric didn’t support Merrill Young two years ago. I guess people forget this is a democracy and we have the right to support whoever we want to, publicly and on the ballot. I asked Eric about it and found that the current mayor’s supporter failed to tell the rest of the story…Eric Hogue called and told Mr. Young that he would be supporting his opponent…he didn’t let Merrill find out from the rumor mill…that sounds to me like someone with strong character.
Eric’s opponent and his supporters have also questioned why Eric stepped down from the city council last year, and they all know the answer to that question. They all know that our current mayor was not planning to run again this year, and that Eric was planning to run for mayor. The Mayor had told numerous people last year that he was not going to run again. They also know that a sitting council member must resign his seat in order to run for a different office. They also know that the Mayor hit up two other people trying to get them to run against Eric, because he was looking for people who would vote his way and not question him. They all know this, but they’re not telling us that story. Instead they want to label Eric as a man without character, commitment and leadership skills… that is a bunch of baloney!
But the facts are this: Eric had decided nearly a month before the other person submitted their paperwork for Place 3 that he would not be running and would be waiting until this year for the mayor’s race. If Eric had waited and resigned this year, he would have caused a special election that would have cost the tax payers more money. Once again, it sounds like Eric Hogue was trying to do what was right for Wylie. Instead of worrying about political games, he was focused on the good of Wylie…can we say that about our current leadership?One of the opponent’s supporter’s quotes Eric from an article in last year’s Wylie News, but he failed to list the whole quote, so here it is:
Seven-year city councilman Eric Hogue has announced he will not seek re-election to his Place 3 position; real estate salesperson Kathy Spillyard has filed for the seat. “After much thought, prayer and input from my family and friends, I have decided not to seek re-election,” Hogue said. “This decision did not come easy, because I have loved serving this community for nearly seven years. It has been such an honor to represent the citizens of Wylie.” Hogue cited increased job responsibilities as the reason for his decision. “Over the past two years my job responsibilities have greatly increased,” he said. “While this has been a positive benefit for me and my family, it has also impacted my free time. For example, it has become more and more difficult to get to the city council meeting by 6 p.m. from my office in west Plano.” He also said he felt uncomfortable with the direction Wylie politics and the council has taken. “A lot has changed over the past seven years, and as our city has grown and changed, so has the politics,” Hogue said. “Seven years ago when I first ran for office, my opponent and I knew each other and ran a clean and positive campaign. We talked to each other during campaign season and laughed together during the candidate debate. And after I won, I supported his appointment to the planning and zoning commission. I guess you might call those the ‘good ol’ days.’ Additionally, the make-up and attitude of the city council has changed, and I no longer feel that I fit the mode of our current council.” Hogue said he hopes whoever wins the Place 3 seat will listen to the citizens and vote as their representative. “In the past seven years, I have always tried to vote for what I believe was the best for Wylie and all its residents. During that time there have been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of exciting and frustrating times and a lot of good things that have happened in our community,” he said. Hogue said he appreciated all of the support he and his family had received during his time on the council and said he is considering a run for the mayor’s position in 2008. “If you know me, you know I love serving on the city council and I will greatly miss it,” Hogue said. “Mayor (John) Mondy has said publicly he won’t seek re-election when his term expires next year. I believe I will be in a position to seek the mayor’s seat in 2008.”
This article told us a year ago that Eric Hogue was planning to run for mayor of Wylie in 2008, so it should have come as no surprise to the current mayor and his supporters. Additionally, Eric is not the only one who has a problem with the meetings starting at 6:00pm, a number of residents don’t understand why the meetings don’t start at 7:00pm to allow for more citizen participation!
These supporters want to talk about how well Eric’s opponent works with others, I wonder how well he really works with others when he has a reputation for ignoring those council members who don’t vote his way or support his candidate of choice.
And regarding Eric’s supporters…the truth hurts, but it is still the truth. Letters were written by the Mayor that should not have been written, Eric was removed as the host of last year’s Christmas Parade by the former Chairman of the Wylie Chamber of Commerce and the Pedal Car Race announcer did endorse the current mayor, I was there and I heard it! These are all facts not rumors, not lies and not made up stories.
In closing, I thought we would actually have a clean campaign season this year, and at least on one side we do. One the other side, it seems to be business as usual: spin, spin, spin and smear. The same old tactics we have seen in Wylie politics for years.
I think if a candidate can’t win on their own merits they certainly should not win on someone else’s demerits true or not.
It’s time for Wylie to grow up and vote for somebody who cares about the city and not just someone who is pushing their own agenda.
Eric Hogue is focused on the positive future of Wylie, Texas. It’s no wonder that two former mayors, two former council members, two current council members, a Collin county commissioner and a Collin county constable are supporting Eric.
My vote goes to Eric Hogue and I want to encourage you to please join me in electing Eric Hogue as the next Mayor of Wylie.
Linda Morris,
Wylie, Texas
The decision of who would lead Wylie as Mayor for the next three years was put into the hands of 1240 people Saturday night, May 10th. By 9:15 that evening, the totals showed that candidate Eric Hogue would be the new Mayor of Wylie, surpassing John Mondy by 160 votes.