# White Settlement council jerks votes to remove library mascot (a cat) from library **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 24, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274 "2016-06-24T23:14:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/1 "2016-06-24T23:14:03Z")
White Settlement council member Elzie Clements called for a vote and the resolution passed 2-1 to remove Browser, a rescued shelter cat, from the town’s public library and presumably from his role as mascot and PR focus. The mayor says its because the council a) doesn’t like cats and b) is taking misguided revenge on behalf of a city worker who wasn’t permitted to bring a dog to work at city hall.[ > [@](#): > > Mayor Ron White, a nonvoting council moderator under the city charter, supports Browser. He blamed pettiness at City Hall because a city employee wasn’t allowed to keep a pet at work. > > “We’ve had that cat five years, and there’s never been a question,” he said. > > “That cat doesn’t have anything to do with whether somebody can have their puppy at City Hall. That cat doesn’t hurt anybody. … The council just went out and did this on their own because they don’t like cats.” ]([http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/bud-kennedy/article85612157.html](http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/bud-kennedy/article85612157.html))And yes, the name of the town is White Settlement, Texas. I figured this would be [del]better[/del] more fun in the Pit since it’s about cats and mean people. ETA: And because it’s the Pit: Get over yourself, bitch. Your dog isn’t welcome everywhere. You aren’t welcome everywhere, I’m sure. But that cat has a home and now you want to take it away because… well, because you’re a bitch, Elzie Clements. The other person who voted with her: you’re an asshole, too; don’t think I forgot you were there. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/2 "2016-06-25T02:28:13Z")
Time for a children’s art day at the library, suggested topic: the mean people who hate cats. Followed by an open mic poetry reading, suggested topic: Assholes named Elzie. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/3 "2016-06-25T02:46:26Z")
“Mayor Ron White” Ron…Tater Salad White? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/4 "2016-06-25T05:36:47Z")
I’m allergic to cats. Fuck them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/5 "2016-06-25T05:51:05Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > “Mayor Ron White” > Ron…Tater Salad White? “I was _thrown_ out of a library”. ETA: no mention of a Mayorship on Wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/6 "2016-06-25T06:17:06Z")
So, I checked out the [Handbook of Texas](https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HEW06), sure that White Settlement was named after some Old Settler Ephraim White. Nope. > [@](#): > > In the early 1850s the name White Settlement referred to the small number of isolated farms and one or two trading posts that were scattered west of Fort Worth, reaching to the Parker county line through hostile Indian territory. In the later part of the 1850s an organized community named White Settlement gradually developed around the homesteads of three brothers from Tennessee—Elijah, David, and Joseph Farmer. The Farmers were joined by Kentuckian Paul Isbell, who moved to the area with his slaves. In 1860 Isbell played a prominent role in the hanging of two men that he believed were responsible for organizing a slave insurrection. Smart idea, settling on the edge of the [Comancheria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comancheria). Apparently non-white “settlers” didn’t count if they were property. Nowadays, White Settlement is a bedroom community for Fort Worth. Considered changing the name in 2005 but didn’t. [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/us/a-town-with-a-provocative-name-says-no-to-change.html): > [@](#): > > The towers of downtown Fort Worth can be glimpsed from White Settlement, which abuts the Lockheed Martin plant, formerly General Dynamics, that has produced bombers and fighter jets since World War II. Lured by its spring-fed prairies, interlopers from Tennessee and Kentucky settled here in the 1840’s, when this was Comanche country. > > It’s not quite dynamic, however. > > Many of the small, ranch-style homes in this town of 15,400 are run-down, and the lunch crowd at Ricky’s Burger and Shake on White Settlement Road complains of a police force stymied by rising crime. Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Home Depot have recently left for communities with more land, causing sales tax income to decline. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/7 "2016-06-25T10:56:17Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > “I was _thrown_ out of a library”. “At that point, I had the right … but not the _ability_ … to remain silent.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/8 "2016-06-25T12:47:28Z")
[QUOTE=Wikipedia] The racial makeup of the city was 89.83% White, 0.05% African American, 0.58% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 4.51% from other races, and 3.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.60% of the population [/QUOTE] It must suck to be _the_ black guy in White Settlement. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/9 "2016-06-25T14:11:14Z")
“I counted all the way up to _Wooooo_.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/10 "2016-06-25T14:57:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > It must suck to be _the_ black guy in White Settlement. What if he was the mayor? Ron White, the black mayor of White Settlement… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/11 "2016-06-25T15:02:14Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What if he was the mayor? Ron White, the black mayor of White Settlement… And if he’s the only one named White, he could be introduced as the token White. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/12 "2016-07-17T20:12:16Z")
[Browser is staying!](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/07/06/Texas-town-reverses-beloved-library-cats-eviction/9261467816666/) There is some sanity in this world, after all. [ > [@](#): > > Councilman Elzie Clements, who initially led the effort to evict Browser, introduced the motion to overturn the decision Friday. Clements blamed Facebook and social media for turning a local issue into an international controversy. > > “If we would just get people out here in this city to stay off of this media, this wouldn’t have been this way,” Clements said at the meeting. > > The councilman elaborated on his thoughts in a phone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. > > “Without social media, it never would have been more than a local story,” he said Tuesday. > > “Things happen inside a city that shouldn’t be publicized outside,” Clements said. “There’s no need to jump on Facebook. I think Facebook and the social media [are] a bad thing. I sure do.” ]([Browser the cat allowed to stay at White Settlement Public Library - UPI.com](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/07/06/Texas-town-reverses-beloved-library-cats-eviction/9261467816666/)) I said _some_ sanity, not _total_ sanity, eh. It almost sounds like she’s saying “And I’d have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/13 "2016-07-17T20:16:35Z")
Yeah! If people would just stay off social media, then local petty tyrants would be able to run all the cats out of town, like God intended! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/14 "2016-07-17T20:17:15Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Browser is staying!](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/07/06/Texas-town-reverses-beloved-library-cats-eviction/9261467816666/) > > There is some sanity in this world, after all. > > [url=[Browser the cat allowed to stay at White Settlement Public Library - UPI.com](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/07/06/Texas-town-reverses-beloved-library-cats-eviction/9261467816666/)] > I said _some_ sanity, not _total_ sanity, eh. It almost sounds like she’s saying “And I’d have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” Whadaya mean, _almost_? 😃 I’d say that’s exactly what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/15 "2016-07-17T20:32:20Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Browser is staying!](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/07/06/Texas-town-reverses-beloved-library-cats-eviction/9261467816666/) > > There is some sanity in this world, after all. > > [url=[Browser the cat allowed to stay at White Settlement Public Library - UPI.com](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/07/06/Texas-town-reverses-beloved-library-cats-eviction/9261467816666/)] > I said _some_ sanity, not _total_ sanity, eh. It almost sounds like she’s saying “And I’d have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” Despite the feminine sounding first name, the councilman is referred to as “he” in the article. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/16 "2016-07-18T05:31:27Z")
“Things happen inside a city that shouldn’t be publicized outside,” Your a city council, a public institution. So, it doesn’t work that way. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/17 "2016-07-18T06:47:36Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Whadaya mean, _almost_? 😃 > I’d say that’s exactly what he meant. > [@cochrane](#): > > Despite the feminine sounding first name, the councilman is referred to as “he” in the article. :smack: mea culpa No doubt the tears of joy obscured my vision… no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/18 "2016-07-18T06:47:51Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > So, I checked out the [Handbook of Texas](https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HEW06), sure that White Settlement was named after some Old Settler Ephraim White. Nope. > > Smart idea, settling on the edge of the [Comancheria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comancheria). Apparently non-white “settlers” didn’t count if they were property. > > Nowadays, White Settlement is a bedroom community for Fort Worth. Considered changing the name in 2005 but didn’t. [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/us/a-town-with-a-provocative-name-says-no-to-change.html): I’m more familiar with White Settlement than I wish I were. That ditzy nurse girlfriend of mine way back when lived there for a spell, and she tried hard to get me to move there from Albuquerque. I refused to do so but did spend some time there. Like you, I speculated it was named after someone with the surname White but was not surprised when I learned otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/19 "2016-07-18T07:21:00Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > “Things happen inside a city that shouldn’t be publicized outside,” I recently had reason, in a much more serious context, to comment on the fact that terrible things can happen in isolated towns, where the local petty powers can easily hide them. This issue is particularly petty, though I’m very much on Browser’s side. The baldly stated desire for secrecy, however, is the most disturbing part. It’s the complaint of a man who is well accustomed to the freedom to act badly with impunity. We’ve had our reference to one mystery-solving team; I’ll add another: > [@Arthur Conan Doyle](#): > > “They [isolated homes] always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.” > > “You horrify me!” > > “But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Holmes’s expressed view of cities may be unduly optimistic, but he’s got a point about isolated places. One of the better points of the internet is that it’s undermining that isolation. It’s no wonder the little tin gods hate it. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274/20 "2016-07-18T10:31:11Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Holmes’s expressed view of cities may be unduly optimistic, but he’s got a point about isolated places. One of the better points of the internet is that it’s undermining that isolation. It’s no wonder the little tin gods hate it. Right, how dare people expect to live their lives without constant scrutiny from the Holy Willies of the world! Gimme a break. I’m on Browser’s side but the fucking Internet isn’t Big Brother. (At least not yet.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-settlement-council-jerks-votes-to-remove-library-mascot-a-cat-from-library/758274.md?page=2)