Lubbock Left

Why did ListenLubbock blame the people’s poor opinion of the bond package on the Mayor and “current” City Council? (It’s unclear if the “current” City Council in this description includes Todd Klein, who has served on the council for just two months.) I believe that they wanted to distract the public from the fact that this bond package was strongly supported by the Chamber of Commerce.

Look at who is a part of ListenLubbock, a PAC formed specifically to support the bond election. (Has anyone gone through the FEC to see who was funding ListenLubbock?) Their listening report (pdf) includes a member list with big names from the Chamber, the Hispanic Chamber, UMC, etc. Their listening sessions were staffed by Chamber members.

People join the Chamber of Commerce for specific benefit to their business, not to their community. To be fair, those are occasionally the same thing, but not generally.

My conclusion is that the Chamber was very much in favor of this bond issue, and when they found out that the public was very much against this bond issue, they pinned it on the already unpopular Mayor, City Council, and City staff — those who actually decided not to have the bond election. Worse, it’s not clear from their “listening report” whether they are basing their blame on an actual polling statistic or on an unscientific general feeling. The public needs access to the full crosstab of their scientific poll.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.