Published: May 08, 2009 03:52 pm      

Ad contributes to heated Fate council campaign

A political ad in the May 1 edition of the Rockwall County Herald-Banner that suggested four Fate City Council candidates favor higher taxes for Woodcreek subdivision residents has triggered protests over the accusation and questions over who placed the ad.

The four candidates -- Kerry Wiemolky, Forest Murley, K. C. Erwing and Tammy Ryan -- said the ad misrepresented homeowner association dues and Municipal Utility District (MUD) taxes. The Fate City Council has no legal authority over Woodcreek MUD taxes or the subdivision's homeowner association dues and thus the allegations are not even relevant to the city council election.

Questions over who sponsored the half-page ad were raised by the candidates and Bo Baker, the Fate resident listed as the person who paid for it.

Baker said he did not place the ad, that it carried a phony address for him, and that, in fact, he supports the four candidates mentioned.

"Your paper accepted a political ad and never verified that the person placing the ad was indeed who they said they were," said Baker.

Lisa Chappell, publisher of The Herald-Banner, said the man who placed the ad paid cash, and that the paper had no reason to doubt his identity at the time. But she said after it appeared, several calls were received saying the ad was not placed by Baker.

In addition, she added, a newspaper employee received an anonymous call from a man who warned against identifying him if shown pictures of people who may have placed the ad. The newspaper considered the call a threat and alerted police.

The contretemps over the ad resulted in allegations that it was placed by Gary Turner, president of Urban Fire Protection, a fire sprinkler company with an office in Fate.

There has been controversy in the Woodcreek subdivision over unsuccessful efforts to pass an ordinance requiring fire sprinklers in new construction, and Baker said he had sent a photo to a Woodcreek email group showing an Urban Fire Protection trailer next to a building displaying campaign signs.

Turner, however, said he was not behind the ad, and that he did not know anything about who may have sponsored it. "I don't have a clue," he said. "I don't know who Bo Baker is."

Tammy Ryan, named in the ad, said the ad could be retaliation for the e-mailed picture. “His e-mail showed who was supported by the fire sprinkler company and he passed it along to the neighbors for their own information when voting. This fire sprinkler issue is a huge issue with residents other then ones running for city council.” The picture shows signs of David Hill, Ryan Pfuhl, Willie Williams, and Autumn Lobinksy.

Hill and Pfuhl work for Urban Fire. They say the fire sprinkler issue is dead; Tammy Ryan says they will resurrect the fire sprinkler ordinance should they win. A proposed fire sprinkler ordinance on a city council agenda in 2006 never got a motion and did draw citizen comment. Turner went on record with the Herald-Banner a year ago that should there be an ordinance, “I will never pull a permit to install a system here. I would not ever do a system to make money here,” he said.

The ad states that the four candidates would raise the Woodcreek municipal utility district (MUD) taxes. Council has no legal authority to do so. A MUD is state authorized to levy taxes to pay back debt incurred by the district to build roads and water and sewer systems. Woodcreek subdivision lies within a MUD.

The ad states also that developers support the four candidates it mentions. Each one of the four does show, in their May campaign finance report, two separate donations by individuals associated with developers, one of them being a Provident Realty person.

In May, Lobinsky records a donation from Hill.

In the April finance reports, Lobinsky received donations from Hill and Pfuhl, and Pfuhl received a donation from Williams.

No other donations were recorded by any other candidates in either May or April finance reporting.

Each candidate was given a chance to respond to the ad.

“All I do know is ‘100 Main’ isn’t a real address in Fate,” candidate Willie Williams said. “Our main street is “Fate Main Place” and there isn’t a delivery address at 100 Fate Main Place, Fate, TX 75132.”

“I am extremely disappointed that someone would take out an ad like that and choose to provide false information like the address,” he said.

Williams’ opponent for Place 3, Forest Murley, incumbent, agreed with the address being false. “There is no 100 Main in Fate,” he said.

Murley is named in the ad. “In my mind it’s all wrong,” he said. “I have nothing to do with MUD or HOA,” he said. He does not live in Woodcreek.

Lobinsky, Hill, Pfuhl, and Williams, whose opponents are listed in the ad, do not know who placed the ad they each said, in separate interviews.

“I, Autumn Lobinsky, did not have any involvement with the content, placement, or any prior knowledge of the aforementioned ad and do not have any additional information on what person did place such a distasteful ad,” she said in an e-mail response.

“I don’t know a single thing about the ad other than I saw it in your paper. I don’t know Bo Baker, don’t know if there is a Bo Baker or not,” Hill said in an interview.

Pfuhl said and he does not know a Bo Baker personally, nor who placed the ad. “The only way I knew about it was a friend called me and I went to find a paper.”

Erwin, running for Place 5 against Pfuhl and Brad Bianucci, could not be reached for comment.

Bianucci, who is not named in the ad, lives in Woodcreek. “I had a chance to look at the ad and all I can say is I can’t believe someone would pay to do that and it makes little sense anyway. First of all, Forest and K.C. don’t even live in Woodcreek and the council is not responsible for MUD taxes and raising of HOA fees.”

He added, “Small town politics should be above this kind of nonsense.”