To borrow a line from Dorothy in the classic, The Wizard of Oz; “we sure aren’t in small town Lubbock anymore Toto”!

From where I sit, all signs point to at least one certainty: Lubbock has gone from small West Texas town with a big city feel to one of those cities we used to read about and make fun of just a few years ago.

“That doesn’t happen here”, someone would always say. “That only happens in big cities like Dallas or Houston”.

Well, guess what? In a matter of a few years, we’ve managed to become one of those cities that we used to criticize because of their high crime rates and other “big city problems” which at the time didn’t exist here.

In many ways, our little “model city on the llano” is quickly surpassing other larger cities in different parts of the country in several categories.

For instance, increased crime; I’m talking major crime like murders and kidnappings. Public safety issues without the necessary revenue to hire law enforcement personnel; increased traffic problems; city infrastructure deterioration resulting from increased vehicle traffic and increased population growth; water shortages; revenue shortages; property tax increases; increased neighborhood blight, neighborhood crime and neighborhood deterioration; environmental issues; and the list goes on and on.

Feel free to add the things that I’ve missed.

For the past few years, the people who have been in charge of managing this city have been enamored with unbridled economic development which has led to non-stop building; but it has also resulted in a drain on city resources. It has also led to taxpayers being over taxed and overcharged for city services. And it’s still not enough.

Add to that the annexation of areas to accommodate the growth which has created a need for additional city services; then add to that a propensity by some in city government to always want to go to the “proverbial taxpayer well” to pay for those services instead of doing more with less, and well, you get the picture.

Sooner or later the well is going to run dry. Sooner or later, something’s got to give. Who knows, we might even have our own “taxpayer’s revolt” one of these days; you know like the ones that only happen in big cities.

You would think that commercial growth which has produced 2 super Wal-Mart’s and a super Target and

an endless stream of new commercial developments; new housing and rental units which have been hailed as economic windfalls would have paid off a little bit by now? Apparently it hasn’t, since the city finds itself smack dab in the middle of a hiring freeze courtesy of our city manger; dependent on the revenue from red light cameras to hire more police officers. At least that’s the latest shoe to drop at city hall.

Somehow, I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that we have had so much growth yet find ourselves in a position where we don’t have the money to pay for increased police protection.

Perhaps we could call on the criminals who are robbing the stores and banks and assaulting women in their homes, to take some time off until we find enough money to hire police officers to catch them? Sounds absurd I know; about as absurd as budgeting to pay for new police officers with revenue from red light cameras instead of prioritizing and paying for those officers with taxpayer dollars. Isn’t public safety what taxpayers pay for and want in the first place; before just about anything else!?*!?

OK, I’ll calm down now…

I mean LEDA alone has given out thousands upon thousands of our sales tax dollars as incentives for companies to either move their operation here or create new jobs. When is that supposed to start paying off for us?

Where are all the benefits we were supposed to derive from projects like the North Overton Redevelopment; from the countless other construction projects in the development itself? What happened? Actually, TIF happened, but that’s a story for another day.

But let’s take the North Overton project. On paper, it looked like a grand plan which would eliminate the blight and crime that was running rampant in the area previously known as the “Tech Ghetto”.

And it did; the problem is where did that crime element go to? Did it disappear all together? No. It just migrated to other areas of town and now those other areas are becoming the new “Tech Ghettos”. Did anyone plan for that?

Another result from the progress we’ve experienced is an increase in traffic. Increased traffic begets more drivers trying to get to their destination faster; which begets more red light runners; which begets a need for more police officers; and viola; some people down at city

hall suddenly develop an affinity for red light cameras.

Another example: economic development begets population growth; which begets increased water usage; which begets water shortages; which begets city ordinances limiting water usage; which begets yearly increases in water rates; which ultimately leads to increased taxes or bond elections to buy more water resources.

Which leads me to wonder why we continue to want more economic development and grand hotels to attract people here if we don’t even have enough water for those of us who already live here? What are they going to drink?

And we haven’t even gotten into what it’s doing to our city infrastructure yet!

It’s a never ending cycle. And unfortunately, it’s the large corporations and developers that profit most; while the tax burden is shifted to poor blokes like you and me.

Hey, but look at it this way, if things work out like the Lubbock Entertainment and Arts Facilities Task Force want them to, we could soon have an additional $200 million dollars worth of entertainment and arts facilities.

Oh yeah, shiny new Civic Center, new baseball park, new performing arts centers, and a new Equestrian facility where I can ride my stick horse to my heart’s content.

Oh yeah, it’s the next grand plan which is supposed to revitalize this city’s entertainment facilities and breathe new life back into downtown Lubbock.

But don’t worry, the Mayor said in the last council meeting that “We won’t move forward without additional citizen input. This is your town and it should be your decision”.

Yeah, and I still believe in the “Wizard of Oz”.



Email: acruztsc@aol.com