From: Spencer Hauenstein
To: Jeff Bickerstaff
Sent: Wed 2/23/2022 9:10 AM

Councilman Bickerstaff,
For the past year, I've been burdened with knowing details about your misconduct toward the SEDC and its Board of Directors while acting in your official capacity as Board Liaison.  This burden is compounded by the moral obligation that I feel to inform the voters about your unethical actions and your dishonesty in the pursuit of your goal to have the authority over the SEDC transferred to the City Manager.
If you remain in the race for mayor, my conscience will dictate that I inform the voters about everything that I have seen and everything that I have learned over the last year about the matter.  Since you have chosen to run, I suspect that you are confident that I will either neglect the duty that I feel to speak out, or that you will be able to convince the voters that your actions were reasonable and justified.  Let me assure you that I have no intention of remaining silent, and I feel that the facts which I have to present to the voters will be insurmountable for you.  To this point in time, your friends on the council have shielded you from the ramifications of your actions by their refusal to investigate or even discuss these issues, but I think it would be unwise to count on their help during the election once their own actions to cover up your misconduct are brought to light.
I've served alongside you since 2006, and I know how badly you want to win this race, but even if you do win it will come at a very high cost to you and those around you, especially those who participated in your efforts to have the CEO unjustly removed and those who helped cover-up the lies which were used to manipulate the council and the Board of Directors.  I could have gone public about your dishonesty at any point, but I have tried to handle this matter discretely by bringing my concerns to the City Council privately.  The fact that the council has done nothing to address the issues I raised will show that there is a great lack of accountability in that body.  My emails will show that I have been raising these issues for over a year, so it will be clear that this isn't just a campaign issue for me.  In fact, I suspect that I would have a better chance of winning my own race if I publicly exposed how bad your actions and the cover-up were, but I very much want to spare you and the other individuals, as well as our city, from that turmoil.  I feel no desire to tarnish your reputation or the reputations of the other people involved.  However, unlike your friends on the council, I can not and will not look the other way and pretend that your actions are acceptable.  If you had chosen to walk away from public service, as the Mayor has, this matter would have remained out of sight from the public.  That path is still open to you.  
I have no doubt in my ability to accurately convey the facts regarding this matter to the voters, and I have to believe the vast majority will see those facts the same way that I and other SEDC board members see them.  Based on your misconduct and dishonesty regarding the SEDC last year, you have shown yourself to be lacking in the character that one should have to hold elected office, or any position of authority in city government.    For the sake of Sachse, for the sake of the City Council, and for the sake of your reputation (as well as others'), please withdraw from the race for mayor.  
I am doing the best that I can to handle this matter ethically and fairly.  Please know that if I did not like you I would have gone public much earlier, without regard for how it affected you.
Though I am writing this email under my role as President of the Board of Directors of the Sachse Economic Development Corporation, this message is completely my own and does not reflect the view of the corporation.  Nobody else involved in these matters has any knowledge that I was planning to reach out to you about this.  I alone bear the weight of responsibility for my words and my actions in this matter.
Regards,
  Spencer Hauenstein
  President, Board of Directors, Sachse Economic Development Corporation