This cartoon was sent to me by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
From the “author”:
It’s called “Christmas Future”
and she’s (College Station Mayor Nancy Berry) Scrooge mcQuack or whatever
and the image being presented to her is that of “Christmas Future”
and she is asking “Um…is that how it’s really gonna be? Or can we change it?”
When you talk to residents of College Station about the state of our city government, you rarely hear a positive comment. Our city council is criticized for over-spending, over-taxing, and over-regulating. Smoking bans, turning streets in business districts into massive sidewalks, red light cameras, tree ordinances, elaborate parks, poor planning for student neighborhoods, high utility rates, landlord registration, skate parks. The list goes on. It seems everyone has an idea of what needs to change. And who needs the boot. With all these opinionated folks, these facts might surprise you.
- 38,587 of College Station residents are registered to vote (less than half the population)
- 1,613 people voted during the 7 days of early voting
- 4% of the population is deciding who will fill the positions of Mayor and Councilman, Place 2
Election Day is Saturday, an odd day for an election in Texas. The Aggies are focused on leaving for the summer and likely have no idea that they could influence the regulations placed upon them. Most likely, five percent of the population will decide for the other 95%. At what point do people care? How do you destroy apathy? Typical to human nature, people will care when it’s too late. After the election, when some dreadful ordinance is passed preventing her from transporting her six labradors in the bed of her truck , she’ll care. Of course she can’t do anything about it then. When the young couple buys a smaller house to afford all the regulations like plastic wrap under the bricks and trees, they’ll understand that who sits on the council matters. The election, however, will be over.
Your vote is important. Go vote Saturday. Speak up.
It seems that all we’ve been doing lately is voting. The Primary. The runoff for the primary. Now City Council and School Board Elections. Its fatiguing and tough to keep up with!
Don’t lose heart. Get out there and vote again! And please vote for Jess Fields. We need a rational, limited-government person on our council.
How often do we look at our neighbors and think they are doing well? Nice house, two cars that are less than three years old each, kids in private school, yearly family vacation. And then you receive a phone call from a bill collector trying to reach your neighbor. Suddenly, your perspective changes. No longer are they your secret envy. . Your neighbors are in debt and it’s falling apart.
Most Americans have debt. It’s bad, and we know it, but we just can’t resist having everything we want. Maybe our parents didn’t tell us no enough. Or maybe it was too much. Either way, we are a consumer-driven economy. We consume more than we make, both on an industrial level and on an income level. What is an acceptable portion of your income to devote to debt? 10%? 20%? What about over 50%? Most households would be in serious trouble if they spent 50% of their income on debt interest. That’s when you put the house on the market, enroll the kids in public school, file for bankruptcy, and pray it all comes together before you lose everything. Depending on where you live, you may have already seen families go through financial crisis. We will continue to see it until we fix the root problem of material gluttony.
Spending more than we make is one of the biggest problems facing our nation, from individual households to every level of government. The City of College Station is no stranger to debt. Over 50% of the property tax revenue goes towards debt. The City of College Station is in a dangerous financial situation that needs swift and dramatic action. We need a City Council that will boldly empower the city staff to make tough decisions, cut spending, and cut projects. Unfortunately, College Station is on a business as usual path. We continue to spend. We continue with expensive parks and projects. The City of College Station is not taking drastic enough measures to ensure the financial stability of our city and reduce the burden on its residents.
Can you imagine a debt free College Station? Instead of paying interest on debt, the city could improve services, parks, or roads. We could reduce the city property tax by half! More money in your pocket means more to spend in the local economy. The next time there is a bond election, remember you are voting on adding more debt. You are voting for higher taxes and fewer services. You are voting for future instability.
The City Council is the first line of defense when it comes to debt and spending. We must demand that our council be frugal and make the tough cuts necessary to reduce our debt. They must put an end to unnecessary bond requests. We can’t afford everything we want. Risking our future on non-essentials that do not build our local economy is poor stewardship.
Jess Fields, candidate for Place 2, is concerned about our amount of debt. He understands that unpopular decisions must be made, and he’s willing to do that. Mr. Fields loves College Station and wants to see it grow and prosper. With an enormous debt burden, not only can College Station not reach its potential, it is at grave risk of financial turmoil. In May, citizens must elect someone who will take a strong stand on economics in College Station. We must elect Jess Fields.
College Station City Council needs a new perspective. It is littered with nannies who long to control the everyday lives of its citizens. They desire a uniform community that is healthy, green, and walks in lockstep. Did you cross the street correctly? Is the seedling in your front yard in the correct location and the proper diameter? Did you stop your vehicle behind the white line for at least 3 seconds before turning right on red? Do all the businesses have matching hedges? Welcome to College Station, Texas. In a few years, we’ll all dress like the Cleavers and have a town full of Stepford wives.
College Station focuses on revenue and appearance. Red Light Cameras, jay-walking tickets, speed traps, and exploding property taxes. Trees, greenways, brick trimmed sidewalks, and painted overpasses. In College Station, crime doesn’t pay, so little is done about patrolling areas prone to vehicle burglaries and home invasions. Catching the crooks costs the city money; whereas, writing tickets to a drunk college students for staggering across the street generates an amazing amount of quick cash. Our police department is filled with dedicated and honorable men and women who must follow orders. Instead of serving and protecting, they are babysitting, by order (not choice).
Government should never be in business. There is no profit motive because government has an endless stream of money (taxes). Whether it’s the Postal Service, Medicare, the San Antonio Convention Center, or the Brazos County Expo Center, when government goes into business, it doesn’t profit. And it rarely breaks even. If private business sees no value in an endeavor, why would we use tax dollars to take on the failing project? La Salle Hotel, anyone? College Station doesn’t have a massive convention center because it is not a profitable endeavor. We are a smallish city that is not connected by any decent transportation. Our airport is miniscule with minimal flights to two cities. There are no interstates here. When Dell is planning its next big conference, College Station doesn’t come to mind. This isn’t Field of Dreams. If you build it, they still won’t come.
Enter Jess Fields. Finally, someone with common sense. Mr. Fields is a business owner. He understands that government can’t magically do what business can’t. The more regulations you place on businesses, the less they profit. Failing businesses don’t hire people. And they don’t pay taxes. Mr. Fields knows this firsthand. When his business is doing well, he contributes much to our community. We need strong, healthy, vibrant businesses in College Station to bring jobs, diversity, and revenue to our city. Jobs and a variety of businesses will draw new residents to our community. Two-inch seedlings will not.
Mr. Fields also recognizes that we cannot continue to ignore the Aggie population. Many revenue generating programs are targeted at the students. They are viewed as the city’s cash cow. Perhaps a new attitude towards the students would help ease the strained relations between the permanent residents and the younger people.
Communication is a central theme for Jess Fields. He wants to know what the citizens think. Unlike some of our current council members, Jess Fields will sincerely listen to residents. He won’t be condescending or ignore what people have to say. From his website:
Here are a few specific things that I promise to do to maintain constant communication with my constituents, the people of our community:
- Twice-a-month town hall meetings either the Wednesday night before, or the weekend after, City Council meetings in order to hear out the concerns of residents on specific issues coming forth on the agenda or being dealt with at the time
- An e-mail list that I will maintain of any resident that wants to sign up, to inform them of important issues regarding the city council and to solicit feedback regarding issues throughout the city
- A website where citizens can keep track of what I’m doing on the council, including the ability to comment on issues that I post up
- I will make every effort to attend as many of your group and organizational meetings as I can in order to ascertain what issues are important to your part of the community
Jess Fields addresses neighborhood issues, including Home Owners Associations, property rights, rental properties, and major developments. His well thought out platform tackles city debt, property taxes, the convention center, regulations, police and fire salaries, core services, housing affordability, and Northgate. Mr. Fields is serious about serving you on College Station City Council. Take the time to read his website, watch his videos, and meet him. He deserves your vote.
Your vote is confidential. I have no way of seeing who voted or email or IP addresses. The only data in the results is percentages. As creator of the poll, I can see number of total votes cast, number of votes in each category, and comments in the "Other" section. I received a comment that the poll was pointless since you couldn't view live results. If you click "View Results," you will see the current results. If you are checking back, you may need to refresh your page to get the most current results. If you're trying to vote multiple times, there are safeguards in place to prevent this. I know there are some who know how to get around this. Seriously, why bother? Vote once.
I’ll clarify something quickly. Kay-Marie Lyles is the best person on the CS City Council. She happens to be the only woman, but that’s not why she’s the best. She actually thinks through issues and doesn’t take on the attitude of “the nanny state knows best.” She truly has a servant’s heart. I don’t agree with some of her votes, but at least she’s thinking it through. She seeks outside input and advise. She listens to the public. She’s polite.
The six men on the city council have no clue what life in College Station should be. I’m sure in some alternate universe, they are lovely gentlemen and great neighbors. Personally, I don’t like anyone who desires to run every aspect of my life. Here’s a few of their recent accomplishments:
I could continue, but I’ll spare you the pain. I’ll publish more later. Small doses are more tolerable.
We have a little oligarchy here in College Station. This elite group thinks they know how best to live your life. Don’t smoke in the bars because that poor bartender never expected to be exposed to second-hand smoke. And let’s turn the streets in to giant sidewalks. That will help businesses grow and create jobs.
There are rumblings of recall. I’m glad to hear them. I think they will only get louder, and I look forward to watching these six in the next several months. They won’t worry about recalls. They seem to believe that Texans like people telling them what to do on their private property and how to live their lives.
