Fed Up No More: A Moratorium

Benbrook Life Editor’s Note: The following article is a guest column written by Sean Moore, Benbrook City Council Place 5, and reflects his personal views and opinions. Moore is not employed by BenbrookLife.com, and the perspectives expressed do not necessarily represent those of the publication.

When I was in Army basic training, I had a drill sergeant who said he never had to yell because his “bulldog” took care of that.

He was referring to a fellow drill sergeant, a 5-foot female who had no problem yelling up at soldiers when needed.

That’s how I’ve come to think of two of my supporters, Ashlee and Megan.

During my campaign, these two were my bulldogs. I could always count on them to defend my honor in ways that candidates cannot defend themselves.

When it came time for my wife and me to give up the reins of Fed Up Benbrook, the choice was obvious. Ashlee and Megan would be the ones to continue our vision of keeping free speech available to the people of Benbrook.

They’ve done an excellent job over these last few months by keeping the speech free, doing very little editing, and largely giving fools enough rope to hang themselves.

But as time went on, I was made aware that, even though my wife and I were no longer admins of Fed Up Benbrook, many people still associated it with us, calling it at times “Sean’s group,” as if I were the one telling everyone to say what they said.

Of course, the group was initially created to share information about Mary’s Creek because the other Benbrook groups were not allowing those posts to go out. It was a collective decision to go ahead and form our own group, so we could effectively reach the people of Benbrook.

However, once that initial City Council vote was over, the group largely became a campaign page for me and others. (You know which others)

Yet even then, we kept speech free without editing. We even left up the cheap shots at me and the many campaign posts for the man that I was running against. But that was the price of free speech, which was the bedrock virtue we sought to uphold, and we were willing to pay it.

Then, when I won my election and became a member of the City Council, city officials reached out to me and asked that I no longer be the admin of this group, because they did not want a sitting City Council member to be held responsible for things said in his own group.

It was largely a legal issue, considering things like the Texas Open Meetings Act and other laws that seek to keep politicians honest before the people. That is when my wife and I handed over the reins to Ashlee and Megan.

Where things stand now.

That brings us to today.

I have been informed by close friends that some people still try to associate Fed Up Benbrook with me, as if I’m running the group.

As I stated publicly many times, I have handed over responsibility for that page. Clearly, some people simply don’t care.

After some discussion with people close to me, I decided that something had to change with the page. Since the number of Fed Up Benbrook members is quite large, I thought it would be counterproductive to start from scratch with a brand-new page, especially since it would only be seen as a sequel to Fed Up Benbrook anyway.

We concluded that the better idea is to change the name and add some rules. These would allow for maintaining free speech without detractors taking advantage.

These rules include no longer allowing anonymous comments.

Another rule that needed to be implemented is no deliberate lying, including photoshopping things to make something seem real that is not.

But my favorite rule, even though it’s the least enforceable, is what I call the “have you called Jim” rule.

What is the “have you called Jim” rule? Well, I’m glad you asked. What this means is that everyone should call our city manager, Jim Hinderaker, BEFORE posting about a problem, because most of the time, I or someone else ends up calling Jim to get the problem fixed anyway.

Listen and hear our hearts, it’s an inefficient way to do city business and it’s honestly unfair to the people who are on city staff.

So, what’s in a name?

The name of Fed Up Benbrook was contentious from the very start, though I would argue it served its purpose, at least initially. We had problems we were fed up with. Now it’s clear that it’s only a stumbling block for people who aren’t members of the movement that created that page.

So we will come up with something more positive because the issue wasn’t that we were ever fed up WITH Benbrook, but that we had specific issues that we were fed up about. Most of these issues have now been resolved in less than a year since the group’s existence.

Objection!

Some will see these changes and object. “Wait,” they’ll say, “aren’t you showing that you still have influence over the page?” That’s true. I cannot deny that I continue to have influence over the
movement, which got me elected in the first place.

However, I never sought to be the leader of that group; I just happened to be the guy who came up with the idea of putting his name on the ballot. I didn’t persuade people into an idea. I reactivated an atrophied political muscle, an atrophy I consider myself to have formerly been a part of. Open and honest dialogue continues to be central to that.

So, though it’s not my group, I will continue to support it because I support the ideals the page is built on. I want to see more social media engagement, not less. I want to hear what Benbrook has to say, warts and all. I don’t want our problems swept under the rug. As the alcoholics have said, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

Key takeaways

I am not an admin for the group.

I support the group because I support the American principle of freedom of the press.

I am not responsible for anything said in there. I purposely handed that responsibility over.

I want people to feel good about Benbrook, just as I do. That’s always been my goal. What I never wanted was for people to lie about feeling good about Benbrook.

As one of your city council members, I’m continuing to keep Benbrook a better place to live than the alternative.

Finally, we have to dig down deep and ask ourselves the most important question we can ask as citizens of this great city. Have YOU called Jim?