But first…



As a frequent viewer of city council meetings on the local city news channel, and observer of local politics, I have often been amazed and amused at some of the comments made by certain council members. Sometimes they make very little sense.

But Wednesday’s replay of the September 13 meeting left me speechless and flabbergasted.

Through the magic of television, those of us who were watching were subjected to religious commentary and a scripture reading at a time when the council was discussing the new city property tax rate and city budget.

First and foremost, Mr. Price and Mrs. DeLeon should stick to the secular issues, the ones they were elected to deal with and leave the religious aspect out of the equation.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 starts out with the words, “for everything there is a season” and goes on to define that everything has its proper place and time. A city council meeting, during a discussion about taxes and the city budget, is not the proper place to be quoting scripture or invoking religious observations to justify one’s election or vote on a particular issue as Mr. Price did during what can only be described as a “sermon on the dais”.

(Maybe Mr. Price should remember that one of the reasons he was elected was because of a low voter turnout and apathy in District 2 and that there may be some people praying that his first term will be his last.)

The city council meeting time is to discuss “worldly” issues and not for council members to display their religious practices or beliefs. There is a vast divide between the subject of religion and God and taxes, city budgets, and other city matters. But then again, what else can we expect from a council who also passes resolutions calling on people to pray for rain and when we should pray for it. Religion is not a bad thing; it’s just that a city council meeting is not the place or time for it.

Perhaps we would all be better served if all council members had a serious discussion about the issue of “growth” and whether this city should continue its policy of allowing unrestrained growth and annexation of areas which only lead to higher city maintenance costs. Maybe it’s time that we put the brakes on the pro-growth bandwagon and truly examined what it will mean for the

residents of this city. Perhaps we should examine the TIFS like the North Overton one which siphons new growth revenue and pumps it back in only to the area receiving the increased tax benefits. There is a price to pay for unrestrained and unregulated growth, and tax paying residents are the ones being asked to pay the piper.

What are we getting in return? Are our city parks in better shape? Are we safer because of increased police force staffing? Are our streets in better shape than they were even a couple of years ago? Are neighborhoods in North and East Lubbock, in District 2 for example, any better off economically than they were before?

If economic development is taking place in this city, then it should be reasonable to expect that revenues from the growth would be sufficient to offset the additional costs associated with the growth. And it should be reasonable to expect that there should be some benefit to the tax paying residents of this city.

When will those of us who haven’t directly benefited from the new housing growth or commercial development see some economic benefit; such as tax relief and a decrease in city mandated fees?

And most importantly, when will those of us who pay a considerable amount of taxes already, see a return on our investment?

Perhaps, Mr. Price, you’d like to ask for some divine guidance so that you can answer that question?

Because if you’re able to, you would confirm that God does indeed perform miracles.



*****

Over the past 2-3 years, I have taken up space in this newspaper to share my thoughts and commentary on a variety of issues and topics. At times, I have felt like the message has fallen on “deaf ears”, while at other times, I will confess to not even understanding the message I was trying to convey, myself.

Nevertheless, I tried to bring a different perspective, a different flavor if you will, to the issues which I felt were being discussed and important to you, the reader.

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I missed the mark completely. But there were a couple of times I got it right; proving once again the old adage that says that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.

A few weeks ago, I decided that I would stop pecking away at

this keyboard long enough to decide whether I would continue to write in this space, in addition to the other “stuff” I was doing for EE.

As you can probably tell, I made the decision.

Sometimes, we all wish that we could look into the future and see what’s out there. I’m no different in that regard. We all have a vision of where we would like to go and if we are wise we will allow ourselves to imagine where the fork in the road will lead to.

As for me, I think I’ll go find out.



See you on down the road…



Email: acruztsc@aol.com