Update: 5/10/2015. Jimmy Thompson didn't win, but I'm STILL glad I voted for him!

I've known Jimmy Thompson and his lovely wife for some years. He has lived in Somervell County his entire life, and is a smart fiscal conservative with a great respect for Glen Rose Medical Center. He, like everyone else on the board, wants to keep GRMC open and also run it with accountability. He also, unlike several on the current board, cares about safety issues. 

 I've heard of some whisper campaigns against him. One of them is predicated on this voting against the last election to form a hospital district. Guess what! A LOT of people didn't want a hospital district in this county. The first time there was a hospital district election, in 2009, it failed over 2-1. The second time it ONLY passed by TWO VOTES. A lot of people that live here did NOT want an additional tax by a district where the rates can go up pretty steadily each year. Did you know the hospital district has the right of eminent domain? Had not a lot of people wanted to see fiscal responsibility, low taxes, and the possibliity of finding out if a private entity could manage the hospital, there is no way over half of  the current board would have been voted in. Of the 3 candidates that are running, WHICH ONE is for low taxes and fiscal accountability? Jimmy Thompson. So, does it even seem reasonable and pass the smell test to vote against someone BECAUSE he or she was not for the hospital district? Neither were over 900 Somervell County people who signed a petition hoping to see it dissolved after the fact! (And, to be clear, that's against a hospital DISTRICT as an independent taxing entity, as opposed to having a hospital, which EVERYONE wants)

Now the second of the whisper campaigns is about whether Jimmy Thompson is a *hometown boy*. Yes, he is, and at least one of the naysayers who is trying to use this against him isn't even from here, thus isn't a *hometown boy* himself. I'm not a *hometown girl*, having moved here in the late 1990's, but I know a good person when I see him, meet him, and talk to him. ALL candidates are *hometown boys*, and it's disingenouus of those spreading 0 propaganda to say otherwise.

The third whisper campaign is an attempt to smear the good character of Jimmy Thompson. And, as all smear campaigns do, this one isn't carried out with a public conversation but done by at least one of the candidates for office gossiping one on one. Here's what gets me about this type of crap and it's along the lines of a scripture I've been considering a lot this week, ie, looking so hard at the splinter in someone else's eye while ignoring the beam in your own. What really amazes me is how non-Christian this type of thinking is for people who are continually throwing up Bible verses and Jesus motivational quotes. According to the way I was raised as a Southern Baptist, when someone sins in their life (and is there ANYONE without sin???) , and becomes a born-again Christian, Jesus would accept that person, wash their sins away and give them a fresh start. Apparently, since some have decided to continue to try to blacken the reputation of Mr Thompson, who is a born again Christian, IF those people say they are Christians, I say BALONEY and how nice for them that they know better than GOD of whether someone, according to their lights, is a *Real* christian. Plus, do take a look and see what the ones doing the smearing are CURRENTLY doing.  PFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. 

So here it is. If you, as a voter, want to know what people truly believe, rather than listen to assertions and whisper gossip, why not ASK the people who are running? Ron Hankins raised your tax and hasn't done much on the hospital board besides whine. Jimmy Thompson is FOR the people of Somervell County.

Vote for Jimmy Thompson on May 9th.