Wednesday, September 24, 2003

Tennant: I made mistakes, but learned from them, too

Divorce is a very difficult thing to endure, not only the actual process, but the aftermath, particularly when children are involved. I went through a painful divorce in 2000, but have subsequently married a wonderful woman, Robin, and "inherited" a terrific stepson, Shelby. Robin, Shelby, my two young sons and I have created a very happy and fun-loving new blended family. Regrettably, my relationship with my ex-wife is still strained, and that is very unfortunate.

Why bother telling you about this? Well, my ex-wife's frequent male companion, Paul Schwanitz, chose to write a letter to the editor, which I will respond to. I have never met Mr. Schwanitz personally nor seen him at any council meeting in nearly four years, so you be the judge of Mr. Schwanitz's true motivation in writing his letter.

It is a fact that due to some very unfortunate financial circumstances relating to some poor real estate and oil and gas investments I made, I was forced to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy nearly 10 years ago. I am not proud of it, and in fact, it's embarrassing. Nonetheless, I own up to it and accept responsibility for my own failure. After repaying over $26,000 in debt over a period of a few years, the matter was discharged several years ago, in accordance with federal law.

Today, I am happily remarried, I have purchased a modest home for my family, and earned my self-respect back. I have a mortgage and a car payment, but I pay my credit card bills off every month and have no other debts.

In short, I made some mistakes, but I learned a lesson in financial accountability. And I have preached fiscal conservatism, in part due to my own tough times in my personal life, throughout my tenure on city council these past four years.

Despite Mr. Schwanitz's insensitive and offensive remarks, my personal hardship reinforced my strong desire to exercise fiscal spending restraints in my official elected capacity. Sometimes you just have to figure out a way to make lemonade out of lemons.

I certainly have no problem with anyone disagreeing with my stand on an issue; heck, that's part of the process and it goes with the territory. But to deliberately attempt to exploit personal hardship is inexcusable.

It saddens me that I even feel compelled to respond to this kind of stuff, but it's hopefully the last time I'm going to have to do it. We have all made mistakes in life and we have all done things we just as soon wish the whole world need not know about.

If it makes anyone feel any better, I've done plenty of other things that I regret in life. If you are looking for perfection in this candidate, you are in for a great disappointment. Vote for the other guy. If, however, you want someone who knows how to rebound from adversity and learn from mistakes made, and who has a proven track record to back it up, I'm your guy.

Engaging in genuine and stimulating debate on important issues that affect us all is vital in a democracy. Sending tabloid-style personal attacks meant to embarrass and humiliate a candidate is something we can and must do without. I will not be a part of that process, but I will keep Mr. Schwanitz in my prayers in hopes that he may find peace and no longer feel compelled to resort to personal destruction.

Life is just too short for that.

Dan Tennant

City Councilman

DanTennant@aol.com