“It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into”

Jonathan Swift
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"The Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital." - Bill Maher
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"The city is crowded my friends are away and I'm on my own
It's too hot to handle so I gotta get up and go

It's a cruel ... cruel summer"

Friday, February 25, 2005

if the anti-smoking ordinance is passed, what will become of the smoke-filled room in which decisions get made in this city?

Nothing, probably. That room is by no means public.

But you get the feeling that George Raffkind is in there most of the time, along with the Seligers, and, increasingly often, Ana Estevez.

Yesterday, Jerry Hodge called a press conference to let the citizens of this city know that these Smoke-Filled-Roomies are running his campaign. Jerry Hodge's election as mayor is therefore a fait accompli. Everyone should move along, there's nothing to see here.

He also wanted to issue a proclamation that, when he becomes mayor, Maxor Pharmacy Services will phase out of its insurance contract with the city. Hodge is currently chairman of the board of Maxor, so the withdrawal is necessary to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Hodge sez (emphasis added):

"We have been thinking about running for mayor for some time prior to the time when we made our announcement. One of the concerns that I had and that the board had was that Maxor has a contract with the city of Amarillo, and has had it for a number of years."
And Hodge sez:
"But Maxor has decided as a board that if elected mayor, we will phase out of this contract as soon as possible, and we will forgo the contract with the city of Amarillo in order to avoid any appearance of any conflict between myself, Maxor and the city of Amarillo."
Hm. The royal "we" or the pharmaceutical "we"? Who is running for mayor, again? Hodge or Maxor Pharmacy Services?

As a service to our citizens, Amarillo media need to ask Hodge the following questions:

John Ward, former City Manager and current CEO of Maxor, states that Maxor will assist the city in finding a suitable replacement and will audit the company as a free service to the city. Why? Do they intend to phase the contract back in at some future date? Is this audit a means of assessing the competition? If so, how is a conflict of interest avoided by temporarily phasing out of the contract?

How will a changeover to a different health and drug plan affect 4,000 city employees? How will the loss of the contract affect Maxor and its employees? Is the election of Jerry Hodge to the mayorship worth upending the health care of thousands of people? Is it worth making the livelihood of Maxor employees less secure?

Is this run for mayor the best decision for Maxor? If it is not, how can we be sure you will be a better steward for the city than you were as Maxor chairman? If it is a good decision for Maxor, why? Will your actions as mayor be based on the city's needs or on Maxor's?

Just asking.

SPACEDARK