FRESNO, CA - According to online business news article, 4 Impressive Ways Great Leaders Handle Their Mistakes in Inc.com, one of the ways a person can tell good leaders from great leaders is how they handle their mistakes. The article continues with the responsibility of such a leader to do four things:
Acknowledge your mistakes
Learn from your mistakes
Teach others from your mistakes
Move beyond your mistakes
Throughout the primary and general elections, residents of Fresno, CA’s district three and general community members also paying attention, have been watching the roller coaster of intentional drama and emotion usurp the district 3 city council race based on one’s skin color or cultural background. Instead, voters have been whisked away from the real concern: making sure the best candidate wins who is the most qualified to handle the extreme conditions and needs of a district which has been continually mishandled and ignored for decades.
Nevertheless, one candidate has continually tried to create through misinformation a “Brown -vs- Black” war in our community followed by a hosts of untruths to mislead voters -- candidate Jim Tate Hill.
Constituents in district three have a choice of choosing between two candidates, Miguel Arias (Latino) and Jim Tate Hill (African-American.) However the most recent desperate tactics over the past week from Hill and his campaign team question his own leadership capabilities, as he ironically continues to portray himself as the victim--even the ONME Network was unwillingly pulled into this political spectacle before the primary election by Hill and his campaign team.
Continuing to spew deliberate, malicious untruths to win an election is an injustice for the voters and the general public. Involving race as the ultimate detriment is a tragedy and a facade to distill voters into believing that one person’s race is better than the other, although everyone is living in the same boat throughout district three neighborhoods. Candidate Hill should acknowledge grave mistakes he made in just this past week if he wants others to consider him a leader at all.
On the eyes of “integrity,” the use of this word throughout the local city council election by Fresno District 3 candidate, Hill is a misfire. To keep the integrity of good reporting, it was important for The ONME Network to correct misinformation sent to us, that has been permeating social media pages in the Black community and beyond this past week.
The fake news report that candidate Arias is under investigation
The ONME Newsroom was sent a screenshot of the recent unfounded rumor put throughout social media by Hill’s social media manager, Kina McFadden. It is important for the reader and voter to not be gullible, and instead, do one’s research to confirm such information before continuing to disseminate this fake news.
The McFadden screen shot suggesting that the opponent, Arias, was under investigation was false. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer made a public statement to local media regarding the misinformation, letting people know that not only was there not a police report, but that there was never an investigation underway against Arias. Here is a link to the official story.
Other local news networks also denounced the false allegations put out by current Fresno District 3 Councilman Oliver Baines and Hill’s campaign team.
It is critical that voters do more research than assume what they see on social media is authentic news. It is more unfortunate that our current and potential leaders are willing to cheat the vulnerability of the Black community by purposely spewing misinformation --something the owners of the ONME News know about very well, as they are going through their own clean up due to Hill’s untruthful smear campaign of their personal lives.
Denouncing candidate Hill for his mistakes when he was president, CEO and chair of the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce
The next item of critical misinformation that must be identified is concerning a post sent to us of T’Shaka Toure who used his title as the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce (FMBCC) board chair to denounce a statement Arias put on mailers that went out to residents in district 3. The post was listed on Hill’s sister’s Facebook page, Candice Hill, who has been a FMBCC board member since Hill’s tenure as the FMBCC president, CEO, board chair and executive director before leaving for a job opportunity as senior manager at Access Plus Capital in 2016. (Find out more about the FMBCC new executive director here.)
As a point of clarification, ONME News verified that T’Shaka’s statement was not an official statement from the FMBCC Board of Directors, nor the FMBCC Foundation, or its executive director. They made such a point clear that they stand neutral in this particular election.
T’Shaka as a person and business owner is an endorser of Hill and his allowed that right. However, the right is not allowed to “lie” on behalf of a leader who is lacking integrity in this past situation. Perhaps it would have been best if Hill acknowledged his past mistakes versus trying to cover them up or deny such claims. He denies the statement was made by Williams to a member of the community questioning such claims, (see photo below and/or above.)
Below are the two authentic redacted statements in an original email from the former FMBCC foundation board member, Allysunn Williams, in which FMBCC members received back in 2013 when they were questioning the vitality of the FMBCC as an entity, and questioning the numerous amount of resignations between 2012 & 2013:
Arias’ graphic person may have gotten her name wrong on the mailers, but the statement from Williams in 2013 concerning her resignation is accurate and correct. Emails were dispersed throughout the Black community during this time, but the message was never altered as what Hill suggested; ONME News owner Julia Dudley Najieb served as the secretary of the FMBCC board for several years. Here is a copy of the detailed notes she delivered to members who were concerned about the financials and the integrity of the organization at the time: (included PDF here for viewing)
It would have been easier to acknowledge past mistakes rather than downplay the truth of the matter; Hill lacked fiscal financial management skills during his tenure running the organization, and continually ran into issues of not paying vendors and subcontractors due to his shortfalls in accounting and overspending on both accounts he had access.