Momentum Continues: The Dallas Morning News Endorses Mark Hill in Frisco Mayoral Runoff
The Dallas Morning News has endorsed Mark Hill in Runoff for Frisco Mayor.
“Hill’s long history of service to Frisco stands on its own merits. He has served in critical roles in support of Frisco’s prosperity and the excellence of its schools, including as school board president.
He has a reputation as a forthright and upstanding person who every Frisco resident could rely on to represent them with integrity and seriousness.
We cannot say that of Vilhauer.
Frisco is one of the most important cities in North Texas. Voters have a choice between a mayor who will move the city forward and whom they can be proud of or a man who stokes division one day, apologizes the next and takes it back the third.
The choice is clear. Vote for Hill for Frisco’s sake and for us all.“
Read the full Dallas Morning News endorsement below:
“Frisco voters must go back to the polls beginning Monday to cast what we believe could be the most crucial ballot in the city’s history.
The choice in a runoff between attorney Mark Hill and businessman Rod Vilhauer will shape Frisco’s national image in ways that will reverberate for all of North Texas.
We strongly urge voters to make sure that Hill, not Vilhauer, is the city’s next mayor.
Hill’s long history of service to Frisco stands on its own merits. He has served in critical roles in support of Frisco’s prosperity and the excellence of its schools, including as school board president.
He has a reputation as a forthright and upstanding person who every Frisco resident could rely on to represent them with integrity and seriousness.
We cannot say that of Vilhauer. Electing him would create immediate civic division that could not be remediated. The division would not just be racial and ethnic; it would be along the nasty partisan lines that are cutting this country into pieces. The cost to Frisco’s national reputation would be enduring.
Vilhauer has attempted to take steps to convince us this isn’t true. But like many Frisco voters, we aren’t convinced. What he says and what he does don’t add up.
Vilhauer describes himself as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration. But an excavation company he ran was investigated for hiring undocumented workers. The government seized $1.8 million, though no charges were filed.
In a March podcast, Vilhauer used the word rats as a metaphor for immigrants. He then repeatedly apologized to Frisco’s large Indian community, saying he was speaking in an unfiltered way. But just days ago, he released a Facebook video saying he was “misquoted” and was only talking about terrorists coming over the border.
This sort of double speak is something too many politicians think they can get away with these days. What are Frisco residents and the wider world supposed to think about what Vilhauer actually believes?
We’ve also noticed a habit of canceling appearances at the last minute. Vilhauer’s campaign canceled on us just before a long-scheduled candidate meeting. He canceled an appearance at a Frisco mosque when his own church scheduled a competing event.
And just days ago, he backed out of a podcast appearance with Larry Brock, a man convicted of breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Prosecutors accused Brock of carrying zip ties with an intent to take hostages. He was later pardoned by President Donald Trump. So is Vilhauer willing or not willing to appear with Brock?
When he was asked recently about uncivil behavior targeting Indians at Frisco council meetings, Vilhauer responded like this: “I don’t care if it’s the Indian people or it’s us … all they’re doing in those meetings is they’re screaming and yelling at each other.”
Who exactly is the us here? Why aren’t the Indian people, many of whom are U.S. citizens and Frisco residents, also “us”? Would they be “us” if Vilhauer became mayor? Or are they forever “them”?
We reached out to Vilhauer’s campaign to give him a chance to respond to our concerns. We had not received a response by press time.
Frisco is one of the most important cities in North Texas. Voters have a choice between a mayor who will move the city forward and whom they can be proud of or a man who stokes division one day, apologizes the next and takes it back the third.
The choice is clear. Vote for Hill for Frisco’s sake and for us all.“
– The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
Read the full article: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/article/frisco-mayor-vilhauer-hill-jan6-brock-immigration-22282132.php
Frisco Stands Behind Mark Hill
