Just when I think I can take a break from “communicating” to you about city management staff and their bureaucratic blunders; along comes another one.

How in the world does a person get the job of managing a city of over 200,000 people; receive close to $250,000 per year in salary and not be able to figure out how to effectively communicate with the residents she works for?

I must admit that the latest news coming out of city hall has left me speechless; well almost.

This is no knock on public relations consultant Tony Privett; I’m sure he is a fine gentleman, good at what he does, and that’s how he makes his living. But it is mind-boggling that City Manager Lee Ann Dumbauld has to contract with an outside source to instruct her and other city managers how to do a better job of communicating with and communicating information to this city’s residents.

Does the phrase “just use your common sense” make any sense to these people?

Or is this an orchestrated attempt to market the message; to use communication and PR tactics to make us believe that all is well behind the curtain of silence that exists at city hall?

Sadly that’s what it sounds like to me.

It floors me that a person can be viewed as qualified to manage a city of this size; have countless of employees and lawyers under her supervision and not find a single soul who can provide the same services in-house as a consultant can provide.

Don’t we pay city managers enough money to expect that at least one of them would have some knowledge of how to create an effective communications model?

This falls in the category of you have to see it to believe it; it qualifies as a case study of how not to manage a city.

No wonder this city is in the shape it’s in.

And I thought Lou Fox was bad?



Is Lubbock as Safe as it Once Was?

“It’s rare that you see a stranger on stranger homicide in Lubbock, it just doesn’t happen” – Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell quoted in several local media outlets after the stabbing death of Lubbock resident; retired Air Force Colonel, Don McCullough this past Monday

Correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t this kind of “stranger on stranger” homicide just happen to 21 year old Chase

Pendleton just a few days ago outside a convenience store at 3802 34th St?

Although Mr. Pendleton’s death did not receive near the amount of coverage Mr. McCullough’s murder has; it still qualifies as a “stranger on stranger” homicide. There is no evidence the two men knew each other even though media reports said that there was some kind of confrontation; there wasn’t.

A suspect by the name of Mitchell Erin Wachholtz, 36 has been charged with Pendleton’s murder and is being held without bond.

Here’s an eye opener for you; the city of Austin, TX has a population of 710,000, over 3 times the population of Lubbock which has 209,000 residents. The city of Austin just registered its 14th homicide of the year 2 days ago; Lubbock just registered its 9th; 2 in the last 10 days; a difference of only 5. One would think that if our trend of 9 per 209,000 in the first 6 and a half months was the basis for an average, then based on population figures Austin would have 30 murders by now.

Does it sound to you like District Attorney Matt Powell was right when he was quoted in a recent news story as saying that Lubbock is still a safe place to live? It might be safer than other cities; but I wouldn’t qualify it as safe as it was once.

Powell goes on to say that we have lost a little bit of our innocence; I say that some people who live in certain areas of town where crime has become a part of every day life lost that innocence a long time ago.

And of course, people are shocked because when it happens in certain parts of town, which up until now have been immune to these types of horrible crimes in their neighborhoods, they cannot believe this kind of thing happens in Lubbock; Lubbock is not that way.

Well Lubbock is that way; the new Lubbock is; the Lubbock which has seen unprecedented population growth and commercial development in just a few short years is.

Population growth brings a new set of problems; it’s no longer people from the surrounding small towns moving here, but rather people from all over the country. In this case, the man charged with murdering Mr. McCullough happens to be from Louisiana. Robberies, assaults, and other crimes are becoming a

daily occurrence. In time, murders will become more and more common.

No, sadly Lubbock is not that small town with a big city feel anymore; and it surely isn’t anywhere close to becoming the model city we hear so much about.

With these two senseless murders, we probably lost a whole lot more than a “little bit of innocence”.

We may have also lost whatever sense of security we may have had left…



They Buried the “N” Word

They came together to bury the word that has been around for centuries; but just because they buried it doesn’t mean that it died.

In case you missed it, the NAACP held a public symbolic burial ceremony during its recent annual convention. A procession was held and a wooden pine box was decorated with artificial black roses as convention delegates participated in the funeral procession.

While I applaud the NAACP for its symbolic gesture, words like the “N” word have been around since blacks were first brought here against their will many, many years ago. It is wishful thinking to hope that a symbolic ceremony is all it will take for people to stop using hurtful and demeaning words.

What we should be discussing is the mentality that motivates people to use words which are designed to insult and denigrate people who are different; people who are of a different skin color.

Councilman Floyd Price is quoted in an AJ/Associated Press story as saying: “The thing I would like for my Anglo brothers and sisters to understand (is) that African Americans have done that to each other all the time, but when they do it, it is not a slur. It’s not anything racial, because I cannot racially discriminate against another African American.” What about his Hispanic brothers and sisters; does he have any words for us?

I presume that Mr. Price says he cannot discriminate against another African American because they are both black. I say not true.

I would remind Mr. Price of the term high-yellow, often pronounced high-yella, which is a term used by African Americans to differentiate dark skinned blacks from lighter skinned ones. It is also considered to be a derogatory term. Another one is “redbone” also used to describe lighter skinned blacks. For years, it has been a common belief that dark skinned individuals are discriminated against by lighter skinned persons of the same racial make-up. And

yes, it also happens within Hispanic cultures.

Racial discrimination exists in all ethnic groups; the words use to perpetuate it are alive and well in our vocabulary; that’s something we can’t forget. But it will take more than symbolic ceremonies; it will take real and honest dialogue.

Symbolism is great; but what is needed here is a large dose of reality.

Email: acruztsc@aol.com