Truth is more than spoken word

It is funny sometimes how things change.

Last week’s Mayor’s Corner column should have been run as a political advertisement, and I would like to apologize for letting the column run without payment and the appropriate designation.

We have long run the Mayor’s Corner or A View From The Council Table as a way to let elected officials have space to try and explain their ideas and intentions. I think this forum is a public service that helps our community understand the thought behind the actions we see on the dais whether you agree or not.

But, once a person has announced as a candidate for an elected position, I believe that any communication, outside of coverage in a news article, from that person should be considered political advertisement. This is not the letter of the law on the subject, but it is my personal opinion and how I try and run the operations of the Wimberley View.

In fact, I told Wimberley Mayor Susan Jaggers as much last Monday when she sent in the Mayor’s Corner column with the following paragraph closing the piece.

“By the way, I’ve also decided to run for seat 5 on the Council. If elected I would simply finish the Mayoral term as a Mayor Pro-temp.”

Jaggers argued that we should remove that line and run the column because she had not yet filed for the position and therefore was not a candidate. I told her that would be disingenuous, and I would not allow it. She said she had to step away for a moment and would call me back.

Later that afternoon, Jaggers called back and told me that she was no longer going to run for city council. She had talked with other council members and determined it wasn’t a good idea. To her credit, she did mention that the filing deadline was Friday and therefore she could still change her mind.

I should have listened more clearly to that last statement.

On Wednesday, Jaggers filed for Place 3 on the Wimberley City Council, which is after last week’s Wimberley View had been printed.

Through five years as Editor of the Wimberley View, I have covered four mayors from the end of Bob Flocke’s term, through Steve Thurber and Mac McCullough to the current term of Susan Jaggers. I’ve had many conversations with all of them. Until last week, I can tell you I have never once felt any one of them lied to me.

Much like her recent statements that Aqua Texas was off the table during her campaign but things changed once she got into office and found out the details, I’m sure Jaggers can argue that her statements to me were true at the time. Things do change after all.

But to me, this appears to be a pattern of disingenuous statements meant to appease the situation at hand while getting the benefit of not dealing with the repercussions of the truth.

It is funny sometimes how things change, but this time I’m not laughing.