A trashy campaign in District 13

The first "Look at Me -- I'm Really Stupid" award for the upcoming Dallas City Council election campaign goes to likely District 13 candidate Brint Ryan (I say "likely," because, as far as I know, he hasn't officially filed the necessary papers with the City's Secretary office).

Not filing did not stop him from mailing out campaign material that won him the above-mentioned award. The mailer lambasted the city for expanding the area of the highly successful once-a-week trash and recycling pickup. The picture he displayed on this mailer depicted two overflowing trash cans. The problem is, however, everything -- EVERYTHING! -- overflowing those cans were recyclables and belonged in a recycling container and not a trash container. If anything, Ryan's campaign photos were arguments for once-a-week recycling pickup.

Then, last night, when he had an opportunity to actually show his face in person to voice his complaints -- at a public meeting called by outgoing District 13 council member Mitchell Rasansky to discuss once-a-week garbage pickup in his district -- Ryan was nowhere to be found. Ann Margolin (pictured above left), who has declared for the post, was there campaigning quietly and, I believe, effectively. I have had one brief conversation with Ms. Margolin at a meeting identical in theme to the one held last night at the Walnut Hill Recreation Center and she told me, unlike Rasansky, who has hand-picked her to be his successor, she is a firm advocate of recycling and has, at least to date, not made switching to one day garbage and recycling service a campaign issue. Perhaps she realizes, as Mr. Rasansky noted during the meeting, the policy is a fait accompli and to rail against it now amounts to little more than demagoguery.

Of course, that doesn't seem to have stopped Mr. Ryan from looking incredibly stupid with his mailer, whose pictures advocate exactly the opposite message he was trying to convey.