It’s On! Councilman Victor Hernandez Takes On Mayor Tom Martin & Councilman Paul Beane

The gloves are off at City Hall it appears over the hot issue of swimming pools. During last Thursday's City Council meeting the idea was floated about closing all four city-run swimming pools in Lubbock. The closures would already happen at two of the pools since the council went to Stage 2 water restrictions. According to reports Mayor Tom Martin talked about closing all four pools and Councilman Floyd Price agreed because it would be the fair thing to do.

Last Friday, Councilman Victor Hernandez posted on Facebook about the possible closure of one of the city pools. Below is the original post by Councilman Hernandez:

Thanks for all of the comments concerning Mayor Tom Martins' desire to close Montelongo swimming pool. You can catch the discussion on the city channel. It's the last item on the agenda; relates to stage 2 water restrictions. There are 4 swimming pools in the city, two will be shut down because they are filled with city water and two will remain open because they are filled with well water, including the Montelongo swimming pool and the pool at Maxey Park. The Mayor argued that as a "social justice" matter, it would be better to close all four. First of all, the Mayor does not believe in social justice issues and second if he did, then he would look to cut funding to those areas which already receive the lion's share of funding including economic development, the arts, major road work being done in west and north west roadways, etc... I went on to tell him in public that he is, the one who wants to close senior centers, community centers and swimming pools, not I. My position is simple, you want to cut services or programming then let's make cuts across the board including services and programming to those that contribute to his campaign. Basta!

You can read more discussion on his Facebook page here.

During Councilman Beane's segment this morning on Lubbock's First News, Beane took up the issue and agreed with the Mayor. Beane also stated that Councilman Hernandez might be trying to become a power broker in the upcoming Mayoral race. Hernandez has stated on Facebook that he plans on attending Glen Robertson's announcement for Mayor this week.

After Lubbock's First News went off the air, Councilman Hernandez sent this email to supporters and media:

Mayor Tom Martin has unleashed his dog once again. Seems I struck a nerve in challenging Tom's desire to close  Montelongo swimming pool in Arnett-Benson. Councilman Beane addressed the issue minutes ago in his daily radio segment, "The Way I See It". Beane publicly thanked Councilman Floyd Price for having common sense and agreeing with Tom on the issue. Beane stated that if you believe in social justice then it has to be a "one size fits all" mentality. I'm wondering why they don't argue social justice when it comes to monies being spent in Districts 1 and 2? I mean, a "one size fits all" mentality would dictate it being so, wouldn't it? That's right, they only use the social justice argument when it comes to closing swimming pools. Beane even had the audacity to say that by not closing all four swimming pools, more problems would be created because kids would flock to the two open swimming pools and be turned away due to occupancy limits. Really? Is that your best argument? And as for me trying to be a power broker in the upcoming mayoral race, I have never given myself credit for ever trying to do that. Truth is, people will see the differences in leadership, temperament and bullying vs. non-bullying tactics employed. Tom, time to put the leash back on your pup!

Look for this fight to continue and be about more than just swimming pools in Lubbock. What are your thoughts?