Life On The Brazos

A Tax Increase by Any Other Name

2011-09-19T19:36:00.000-05:00

This week’s city of College Station City Council meeting has an interesting agenda. There will be a vote not to raise taxes and a different vote aimed at raising water rates. On the surface this is an amazingly transparent move on the part of City Council. So much so that I am surprised that they have put these two votes on the same agenda. I guess they figured that the

Developer Welfare

2011-02-06T16:42:00.002-06:00

Okay College Station, what do you love more, low taxes or developers? Last week in a five to two vote The P&Z commission decided to recommend to City Council that developers should win. This has to do with water and waste impact fees, which I will try to explain. But If that is too much information, just know that if Council goes along with P&Z, you will help subsidize new development. This

Mayor Berry to defend her seat | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The Eagle

2011-01-28T08:42:00.002-06:00

Mayor Berry to defend her seat | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The EagleI am confident that the majority of citizens in College Station recognize the need to stand with these council people against this assault on the validity of our electoral decisions and on the integrity of our city government. This vote will be a mandate on civility and community. These council people have stood with grace

2011-01-23T12:32:00.002-06:00

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Chutzpah

2010-12-22T12:43:00.012-06:00

From Wikipedia:Chutzpah (pronounced /ˈhʊtspə/) is the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. The word derives from the Hebrew word ḥuṣpâ (חֻצְפָּה), meaning "insolence", "audacity", and "impertinence."That defines Jana McMillan. Sadly, this is not good chutzpah. The great American tradition of questioning authority is a virtue only in the presence of humility, intelligence and civility.But

I'm a Bad, Bad Blogger

2010-11-19T09:24:00.002-06:00

I have been rude. Though it was entirely unintentional. This blog is so old that it had a years old and out of date email that it was sending post notifications to. I especially want to apologize to Jess Fields who took the time to post long and thoughtful comments. Jess is a young Council person on a very different ideological plane than I am. But he has the right idea in his ability to

Really!?!

2010-11-03T08:32:00.000-05:00

Okay College Station, you just elected Jana McMillan over John Nichols. Really!?! I know that many of my local friends find this disturbing and scary. The question that I have this morning is what are we (you) willing to do about it going forward. We currently have three council members who seek allow our city government to atrophy . Parks, bikeways, sidewalks, neighborhood integrity all at

Do You Want Cynicism in College Station

2010-10-31T13:09:00.001-05:00

I hope that all of my friends in College Station will vote or have voted. I am especially concerned about our City Council election. We have a great candidate in John Nichols. While it is true that John is far more conservative than I might wish for, he is an excellent public servant, a good listener, open to new ideas while committed to the heritage of our community. As Chair of the Planning

Cynicism Vs Experience

2010-10-11T10:16:00.003-05:00

This morning’s Eagle provided a glimpse into the two candidates running to fill the remainder of Larry Stewart’s term of College Station City Council. These candidates are very different. Jana McMillan represents a perspective that has recently become a trend in College Station and, indeed, across the country. It is a deep cynicism of government and often even of community coupled with a lack

Property Rights vs. Community Rights

2010-09-22T07:57:00.001-05:00

The City of College Station, in response to pressure from citizens to protect their neighborhoods from a host of perceived threats including, students, McMansions, urban decay, loss of historical significance, fear of chickens, etc., has made available various types of overlays aimed at helping deal with these issues. One of the first proposed overlays comes before City Council this Thursday

Firing the City Manager

2010-09-12T08:53:00.004-05:00

The Eagle continues its push against the Bryan City Council over the firing of City Manager David Watkins, or at least the secrecy they are maintaining over the firing. Ironically it was an issue of secrecy, full financial disclosure by Bryan's publicly owned utility company, that seems to have gotten Watkins in trouble in the first place. Watkins forced the hand to BTU to disclose the

John Nichols for College Station City Council

2010-09-11T10:04:00.005-05:00

Larry Stewart was a former member of the John Birch Society and a very conservative former naval officer. Not exactly the back ground of someone I would be expected to support for City Council. But I did support Larry. I considered him a friend and I was deeply saddened by his passing last June.Larry came to council on a wave of resentment against a single proposed development (Weingarten.)

Join a Global Village Meeting

2010-09-06T12:15:00.001-05:00

Using the power of populist media (Community radio, online streaming and blogs) we will host a meeting of the global village on the topic of the infamous Manhattan Mosque. You may be tired of the constant drone of nationally projected pundits, but what do you think? How will this meme play out over time? How does it play with various segments of the American population and how does it play

Labor Day

2010-09-06T08:04:00.002-05:00

I am in the office alone today. The rest of my team is off enjoying labor day. I wonder what it means to them other than a paid day off. What is the state of labor in America? In my industry there are few dirtier words than "union". The populist brain trust of the construction industry will complain about a lack of skilled craftsmen in the same breath that they cuss the unions. Silly as

Where Do You Want To Live?

2010-09-05T07:32:00.001-05:00

What are the great communities of America? College Station was recently named by Kiplingers as one of the top ten best places to raise a family in America. While I tend to agree with that assessment, I know that many of the people that I grew up with and who left here to raise families in other places might respond to that ranking with a bit of eye rolling. I suspect that there is a strong

Governor Goofiness

2010-09-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

I just love Texas politics. Our politicians who speak so much about fortifying the national boarders continue to tear down the boarders of goofiness. There is no one so capable of self parody as Rick Perry. As the Tea Party nation dances in spasms of intolerance, Perry sings in homophobic non sequiturs of epic proportion. He said, "There is still a land of opportunity, friends — it's

2009-01-18T10:29:00.000-06:00

For the last few years this blog has served as a source of information and dialog during election season in College station and Bryan. A couple of times in-between elections issues have arisen that motivated posts, but for the most part the blog sits ideal during most of the months of the year. Having served on the College Station Planning and Zoning commission for a few months now, I recognize,

2008-10-05T09:52:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of a community center. As Larry Ringer points out this is basic quality of life stuff that we expect here in College Station. So, why am I PROBABLY going to vote against proposition 5 that sets aside money for a community center? In short, because it is not well thought out or well articulated. Here are just few questions that I have not seen answers to:Where will it go?Who

Vote no on proposition 6 on November 4th

2008-09-23T07:12:00.004-05:00

While I am generally in favor of most bond issues that allow us to invest in our community, if you live in College Station, I encourage you to vote “No” on propositions 6 on November 4th. This proposition is for $26,300,000.00 to be used to construct a new City Hall.It is true that our City Hall is way too small, city staff deserves less cramped quarters and the existing council chambers

From Discussion on Eagle forum

2008-08-01T07:34:00.001-05:00

Black is the comments of an anonymous poster at theeagle.com forum. The Blue is my reply.Okay Ann, let's compare: 1) Local companies may return three times the PERCENTAGE of their profits to the local economy, but they decidedly do NOT return three times the amount of revenue. The volume of business generated by franchises produces more circulated revenue, more sales tax revenue, and more local

2008-07-30T17:33:00.002-05:00

I appreciate the owner of this blog giving me front page privileges. I will do my best to violate what is expected. While this blog is assume in many respects, it is very narrow in range. The owner, Hugh, asked me to keep to local politics. For someone who seems like such a renaissance guy, that seems like a strange request. Doesn't everything resonate at from the local? Aren't we all

What is going on in Bryan?

2008-07-29T14:24:00.002-05:00

Wow. The villagers are angry in Bryan. Someone asked me to post something about the row going on in Bryan. Way to go folks!!! Check out the eagle comments section (theeagle.com) about the Bryan council agenda issue. Glad that at least some of you all are getting upset over city council people who are representing personal and business interests rather than community interests. Unfortunately

Cool College Station

2008-04-27T18:11:00.002-05:00

Recently Mayor White signed the Cool Cities environmental initiative and now College Station is going forward with green initiatives.Do you think that this is good for our city?What sort of measure do you feel are most important?Do you feel like these initiatives will be allowed to continue if the Developers win a majority of seats on city council?

Early Voting is Upon Us

2008-04-27T17:21:00.001-05:00

Dear Readers,Sorry not to have posted questions on Thursday and Friday of last week. And to make things worse, I will be out of town next week and do not know if I will have internet access. Following are a few questions to consider as we lead up to the election.Early voting starts on Monday. Get out and do your civic thing.

Campaign Finance Reform

2008-04-27T16:56:00.002-05:00

Many feel that the developers are trying to buy seats on City Council. The Campaign Finance Reports indicate that almost all of their money is coming from that narrow segment of the community. It has been pointed out that these people stand to gain financially from having their preferred candidates on City Council.How do you feel about campaign finance reform?A) Money influencing politics is the

Will It Work?

2008-04-27T16:54:00.001-05:00

Do you think that the students will come out to vote in significant numbers? And if they do, do you think that they will vote for the Developers?

Dirty Tricks?

2008-04-27T16:24:00.003-05:00

There as been a lot of discussion about the student vote. Do you think that we are seeing,A) Political dirty tricks ;B) Political maneuvering maybe a little slimier than we are accustomed to but a picture of our future;C) Common now, this is politics, what do you expect;D) It was a brilliant move;E) it probably was not intended as political maneuvering.For those who are not aware of what has

Myths?

2008-04-24T13:44:00.002-05:00

From today's EagleElection myths This election season there are even more myths floating around concerning the candidates than usual. Myth No. 1 is that there are three "bought and paid for" candidates. Looking at the campaign finance reports reveals all candidates raised similar amounts except for Larry Stewart. John Crompton had the most donors of $500 or more. Dennis Maloney loaned

Infrastructure Discussion

2008-04-23T20:48:00.007-05:00

Note: I brought this discussion, about who should pay for new infrastructure, to the front page so that I could use color to provide answers to this anonymous post. Color formating is not available in the response section.You sure can say a lot about nothing. I specifically asked for examples of a developer not paying for that infrastructure.Not only did I supply specific examples, you then

GREAT Question #7

2008-04-23T08:24:00.001-05:00

Should College Station use impact fees?

One Perspective

2008-04-22T11:13:00.001-05:00

No urban sprawl Recently, I drove through Buda, Austin, Dripping Springs, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Georgetown and Hutto. It is one continuous sprawl of developments, franchise outlets, stoplights and toll roads. It is not the Austin I once knew. Austin was once a nice city edged with fields of bluebonnets, Indian paint brush, grazing cattle and trees. Now it is just unrelieved suburban

And Another

2008-04-22T11:09:00.001-05:00

Terminal myopia When one looks at the programs of College Station City Council candidate John Crompton and his cronies, the only proper description of their policies is terminal myopia. One can say that Crompton has cost the city millions in tax dollars by his anti-development stance in defiance of established zoning codes. This is especially true in the case of development on Rock Prairie

GREAT Question #6

2008-04-22T11:06:00.001-05:00

Who should pay for the infrastructure costs of new development and by what means?

GREAT Question #5

2008-04-21T14:08:00.004-05:00

Do you feel that our current at large system for City Council seats works or should we look at having four single member district seats and two at large seats in addition to the mayors seat?

GREAT Question #4

2008-04-18T09:14:00.003-05:00

Recently the paper printed the most recent campaign finance reports. What are roles of campaign donations in your campaign? What influence is resent due to contributions? Essentially, what are donors getting for the money?Note: Campaign Finance Reports can be seen at http://cstx.gov/home/index.asp?page=2785

Note on GREAT Questions

2008-04-17T07:58:00.003-05:00

These questions are coming from the candidates’ forum at Our Saviors Lutheran Church. Many people were unhappy that so few questions from the audience got addressed. So we are going through the unanswered questions here. Post your response as if you were the candidate. All candidate responses will be pulled to the front page.

GREAT Question #3

2008-04-17T07:54:00.002-05:00

There is considerable evidence that College Station has a comparative advantage in recruiting firms the employ knowledge workers, as well as attracting retirees to the community. What do you think are the features of a community that promote location decisions by skilled workers and firms?

GREAT Question #2

2008-04-16T08:17:00.001-05:00

What would you do to help bridge the difference between development and neighborhood interests?

Derek Dictson said...

2008-04-16T08:14:00.002-05:00

This is a comment made by Derek Dictson to GREAT Question #1. All candidate comments will be placed on the front page.Hugh,It is difficult to take your question seriously given what you have written about the low regard…disdain actually…that you have for Texas A&M as an institution and its students, traditions and values. I would encourage all readers of your blog to take a look at your

GREAT question #1

2008-04-15T10:17:00.002-05:00

Do you feel that the A&M students are being used to give unfair advantage to candidates who are not likely to find support among permanent residence of College Station, or do you feel that A&M students are finally being given the chance to participate that they have always deserved?

Dynamic Citizen Survey

2008-04-15T10:15:00.000-05:00

Over the last four elections the Grass Roots Education and Action Team (GREAT) has put out rather detailed candidate surveys that were publicized in the Eagle and posted on line for all to see. This was a very expensive and time consuming effort that we decided to forgo this year. We have had lots of inquiries about the survey. After last night’s forum I had told some folks that we would try

2008-03-18T19:53:00.003-05:00

Today I sent out an email to the Brazos Progressives email list encouraging folks to support the citizen candidates. Derek Dictson took exception to this especially to being characterized as supporting aggressive sprawl development. He wrote the following in response. Posted here at his request._____________________________My philosophy about effective public policy is a result of my background

2008-03-09T11:31:00.001-05:00

Recently the College Station City Council, who has done great work in trying to get a handle on our run away development, missed important opportunities to turn that work into important working results. There seems to be consensus from everyone but the development community that, given Texas’ lack of regulations at the county level, controlling sprawl development will require aggressive

Place Three

2008-03-08T08:40:00.001-06:00

At this point we have two people running for place three in the College Station place three race. The incumbent Ron Gay is my polar opposite. At the big community confab over Weingarten’s desire to shove a supper Wal-Mart up against the East Side neighborhoods, Gay commented that he would rather we did not have regulations that force people to cut their grass. More recently he chastised “you

What will my neighbors think?

2008-03-01T15:28:00.003-06:00

One of the things that I love about the College Station and Bryan is that no matter what neighborhood that someone lives in they tend to describe it in terms that suggest that it is the best neighborhood to live in. The only possible explanation for this is that they have never visited my neighborhood, which is quite plainly the best neighborhood to live in.I live in Oakwood which is just across

Response to Derek Dictson 3 of 3

2008-03-01T08:33:00.002-06:00

I have been enjoying an exchange with candidate for College Station City Council Place One Derek Dictson. In the comments section of another post on this blog Derek provided an explanation of some of his positions on development in the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ.) I will use three posts to comment on Derek’s comments. I have left his comments in full. They are in red. My comments

I apologize

2008-03-01T08:29:00.001-06:00

It was a busy week and I was simply unable to keep up with this blog. I hate piling things up during the weekends but I usually have little choice. I will try to do better.

Response to Derek Dictson 2 0f 3

2008-02-26T19:11:00.000-06:00

Green opportunities

2008-02-25T15:19:00.001-06:00

Here is a great opportunity for progressive developers.From: greencommunities@enterprisecommunity.org [mailto:greencommunities@enterprisecommunity.org]Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 10:51 AMSubject: Green Communities - GRANT FUNDS NOW AVAILABLE Grant Funds up to $50,000 per Project Now Available for Developers Committed to Providing Green* Affordable Housing Applications must be received

Response to Derek Dictson post 1 of 3

2008-02-25T12:27:00.003-06:00

Cafe Eccell Stakehouse

2008-02-25T10:43:00.002-06:00

Cafe Eccell has been a dining landmark in College Station for years. Now Eccell Steakhouse is the newest restaurant in town and is this week's featured restaurant. If you have already had an opportunity to visit this new locally owned restaurant, please take the time to let us know what you think. If you have not been there yet, then make a point of checking them out this week. Then come back

Restaurant Reviews

2008-02-24T20:56:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow we will start a new feature on this blog. Every week we will feature a different Restaurant for your review. In the comments section you can provide your opinion of the Restaurant. We will only feature locally owned restaurants. In the links section on the right hand panel of this page is a link to a blog called Brazos Restaurant Review. After the review has had a run for a week

Love List

2008-02-24T11:10:00.001-06:00

What is it that you love about living in the Brazos Valley? Here are a few of mine:Friendly - From conversations with strangers in the line at the grocery store to the ubiquitous “howdy!” the people of the Brazos Valley are gregariously friendly. Hospitality – We are a welcoming community. We see that every fall in the numerous letters sent to the Eagle praising our university and our

Wish List

2008-02-24T09:13:00.001-06:00

What new businesses or amenities would you like to see in the Brazos Valley? Here are a few of mine:• A good and enduring independent bookstore;• A vegetarian restaurant;• Light rail;• A Beer garten with no load music and not too close the university;• A community investment fund to encourage the businesses that we want;• Closer mountains.

Conflict in College Station

2008-02-23T09:43:00.005-06:00

In a recent comment on this Blog City Council candidate Derek Dictson commented,I do not like the fact that our city has become driven by conflict and quarrel. We consistently have the East Side vs. the West Side; Students vs. Retirees; City vs. ETJ; Developers vs. Neighborhoods; and on and on with little serious dialogue or effort at understanding and compromise by any of the parties. While I am

Welcome Mr. Cisneros

2008-02-21T08:04:00.003-06:00

Welcome to College Station's new director of Parks, Marco Cisneros. Mr. Cisneros has some big shoes to fill. In College Station we love our parks and Steve Beachy did such a great job for us for so long. But no matter how happy we are with the way that things have been, change can still be good. We look forward to getting to know our new Parks Director and hearing about his vision for College

Way To Go BTU

2008-02-16T10:21:00.000-06:00

Our energy company, BTU, is ahead of the curve in supporting innovation. We at Stearns Design Build are in the process of building what will be the first house in the county to sell solar generated energy back to the energy company. And BTU is providing substantial rebates to encourage this wise means of power generation. This is called net metering. By allowing excess energy to be sold back

UNCOMFORTABLE ALLIANCES

2008-02-16T09:51:00.001-06:00

After more than a week the development community seems to be unwilling to engage these issues here. One developer said that he was uninterested in getting into a protracted debate responding to endless comments - in other words a dialog. Don’t get me wrong, I can well imagine that they do not view this blog as a friendly landscape. The problem is that these are the people who are, in a very

Dialog

2008-02-09T13:26:00.000-06:00

While I am not exactly unbiased in my opinions about development issues, neither am I unbiased in my commitment to community dialog on all issues. As such I have made offers to a few people in the development community to provide front page access to opposing views. I extend this offer to all of the readers of this blog. While I greatly appreciate those who have taken the time to provide

Why Weingarten is so Hated

2008-02-09T13:11:00.000-06:00

At this point large numbers of the people in College Station no longer associate the name Weingarten with the grocery stores of our youth. The name Weingarten now brings to mind greedy, anti-community, sprawl development. And we are not alone. In Houston, residence unsuccessfully fought Weingarten Reality to save one of Houston’s most treasured Landmarks, the River Oaks Theater. Despite the

Balance

2008-02-09T13:07:00.000-06:00

There have been many exciting developments in the field of urban design over the last decade. While most of us in College Station were recently made unhappy to have so little community control in the development process, we have come a long way. The fact is that we were successful in stopping Weingarten from shoving a Super Wal-Mart right up against one of our valued neighborhood areas.

Wise Development and Conflicts of Interest

2008-02-09T13:04:00.000-06:00

Wise community development allows us to increase the cultural benefits of growth while minimizing the negative impacts of uncontrolled development. By increasing our quality of life we also increase our desirability for business development. This tends to increase economic diversity which helps create economic stability. Wise development creates a balance that prioritizes business growth and a

FINDING COMMON GROUND IN THE ETJ

2008-02-03T15:24:00.000-06:00

We are once again hearing the anguished groans of growth from people in College Station’s Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) who do not want to be annexed into the city. And this issue is likely to roar more loudly into the conscience of the Brazos Valley as the development community is poised to make itself heard in less reserved ways about similar issues as the city exerts its authority in

The Weingarten Example

2008-02-03T15:21:00.000-06:00

Currently the residents of the East Side are forced to continue to do battle with Weingarten Reality to protect their neighborhood from being abutted by bad development that would have a devastating impact on their quality of life. There is a lot that can be learned from this frustrating failure to have adequate growth management in place.One thing that is abundantly clear is a need to

Walkable College Station

2007-09-29T15:09:00.000-05:00

The citizens of College Station have made it clear that we want a more walkable city. There are a lot of things that we can do to achieve this. But it is not going to come without pressure from citizens. Here are a few things that we might want to push for.Graduated Impact FeesImpact fees help insure that new development pays for itself. This helps avoid having tax payers subsidize private

Back again

2007-09-29T14:11:00.000-05:00

I took a bit of a vacation from this blog, which was a a mistake because we do not have enough venues for discussing the life of our community. Also, there is a great deal to be done on the path of continuous community improvement. While the people of College Station have made it clear that we do not want sprawl, it is continuing. We have lots of great opportunities for good infill development

More Bad Development

2007-06-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

College Station seems to be again faced with really bad development decisions going forward in what appears to be a flawed process. This is important enough that I am compelled to speak up. Unfortunately, there is a great deal that I do not understand about the nuts and bolts of the process. But what does seem to be rather clear is that on Thursday night our City Council is going to vote to

BTU

2007-05-28T08:41:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting article from the Austin-American Statesman. The article is about a lawsuit brought against Pedernales Co-op to claim $164 million that the energy co-op is sitting on. The suit claims the money belongs to Pedernales’s members. As a co-op, its members are its customers.The power, lobbying influence and huge sums of money that the energy industry commands in Texas has

Common Ground

2007-05-21T10:12:00.001-05:00

I am happy to have found something on which to agree with the Eagle. On Sunday they had a piece from Nancy Dickey http://www.theeagle.com/stories/052007/opinions_20070520021.phpDickey explains,“…the Lone Star State has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to providing affordable health coverage for its people. Statistics show that Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation. More than

Virtual Revolution

2007-05-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

Are you a part of the new media, social networking revolution? Maybe you are frightened by your children being swept up in this out of control innovation in human connection. This new wave is scary, exciting and powerful. It is also rapidly evolving. These Internet based networks allow people to connect along the lines of interest, location or other parameters that draw people together.

Is The Eagle Racist?

2007-05-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

It seems that the Eagle may have a ridicule-wish. This morning they published a story about a tragic double murder and rape of a white couple. The suspects are black. The article suggests that, because this story did not get enough coverage outside of the Knoxville, Tennessee area where it happened, this is indication of reverse discrimination by journalists. The picture accompanying this

WHOSE TOWN IS THIS?

2007-05-18T08:59:00.002-05:00

The Bryan College Station Eagle recently informed me that, while they do not intend to do anything about it, our reposting of things that appear in the Eagle is a violation of copyright law. I have thought about this and decided that my interpretation of copyright law as it pertains to the forth estate is different than theirs. Granted, I am not qualified to interpret such laws, but I am

Totally Inane

2007-05-18T08:22:00.000-05:00

There are some arguments so inane that the best argument against them is simply to repeat them. A letter published in today's EagleA disaster for College StationDavid McWhirter's letter (Eagle, May 15) vividly demonstrates why a vote for John Crompton for the College Station City Council would be a disaster for the future of our city. The letter states this man stands for making the greening of

The Eagle Speaks to Us

2007-05-17T09:23:00.000-05:00

I was flattered that earlier this week the Eagle published a syndicated op-ed piece that seemed to be directed at our Politics On The Brazos blog. It dealt with the problems of anonymity in the blog world. Last week I exchanged a few rather long and, at his insisting, private emails with Robert Borden on the appropriateness of this blog. The writer of the op-ed’s main point was that anonymous

From Mike Southerland

2007-05-16T11:47:00.001-05:00

AllWhen the City of College Station pays $80,000 to a consultant to askcitizens what they think about traffic problems April writes it as awonderful idea.When we get together and offer our suggestions for nothing she calls itradical.The [linked] article from today's paper states medians will be used toimpede traffic and Rock Prairie needs to be upgraded just like werecommended to the Bryan City

Beyond the Election

2007-05-12T07:57:00.001-05:00

There as been excitement and ballyhoo leading up to the election. Now most of us will turn our attentions elsewhere. But I hope that at least some of us will keep our eyes on what happens with our local government in an ongoing way. If we only raise our concerns at the time of elections, little is likely to happen in terms of change. In general we do not like that our politicians tend to spin

VOTE!!!

2007-05-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

This was posted to an Email list by Rich Woodward.Polls are open in Bryan and College Station tomorrow. Early votingturnout was light -- so a few votes can make a difference and in bothBryan and College Station there are big differences that can be madein how our governments are run.If you need info, go to the BP survey athttp://www.brazosprogressives.org/GREAT/andhttp://polbrazos.blogspot.com/

Letter of Endorsement

2007-05-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

I got an email requesting that I post this letter of endorsement that was sent in to the Eagle too late for publication. Here it is:My husband and I have been acquainted with JohnCrompton and his family for twenty-five years. Hehas devoted countless hours to work that hasimproved our community. As a resident of CollegeStation, I wholeheartedly support John Cromptonfor College Station City Council

Also On the Ballot

2007-05-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Constitutional amendment "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a reduction of the limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed for public school purposes on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect any reduction in the rate of those taxes for the 2006 and 2007 tax years." What do you Think?

Keeping College Station and Bryan a Great Place to Live

2007-05-10T10:25:00.000-05:00

What is your image of a College Town? I must admit that, for me, two fairly disparate images come to mind. One is of bright autumn leaves and ivy covered halls bordered by quite streets lined with coffee shops, bookstores and hip jazz bars. The other is Expansive green space with huge live oak trees boarder by Holicks Boots, Army Lou’s Bookstore, the Dixie Chicken and Dubbly’s Draw. Though

HSC Agreement

2007-05-09T16:56:00.000-05:00

To see the 22 page agreement between the city of Bryan and TAMU concerning the Health Science Center go to http://brazos.googlegroups.com/web/HSC+agreement.pdf

Dub Peteron's Full Letter to the Editor

2007-05-09T16:24:00.000-05:00

It is obvious that a structure has been formed by a small group of men that view themselves as “Bryan Power Brokers”. The Bryan Business Council, now effectively defunct, because of the addition of one of those men against the wishes of the majority of the business council members caused them to leave. Bryan PowerIn Dec 06 the Bryan City Council made an agreement to move the Health Science

David McWhirter's Respnce to the Eagle

2007-05-09T10:10:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, May 2, well before the deadline for submitting campaign related letters, I mailed the following letter to the editor to The Eagle endorsing John Crompton for City Council in College Station. Today--the last day for printing election-related letters--The Eagle's letters column leads with THREE letters endorsing Crompton's opponent (Happ) -- my letter was never printed. Given the

Maloney for Mayor

2007-05-09T07:04:00.000-05:00

Ben White is a good guy. In many respects he would make a great mayor. Unfortunately, I do share his vision for the city. His benchmark for our community seems to be based on the number of businesses that locate here. Dennis Maloney seems to have a better grasp of the College Station sensibility that what we want to grow is our quality of life. Dennis understands that vibrant economic growth

VOTE CROMPTON in College Station

2007-05-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

Just incase anyone has forgotten John Happ was in the block of city council people who voted for the illegal and very costly firing of College Station city manager, Tom Brymer. He also ignore over three hundred citizens and voted to allow a super Wal-Mart to snuggle up to some of our nicer neighborhoods. Luckily his block of developer friendly council people were no longer in a majority at that

Erudite Blogging

2007-05-08T16:55:00.000-05:00

Okay all you erudite bloggers. I challenge you to use the word of the day (upper right hand sidebar) on your comments. Double points for the first use of the day and quadruple points if you are clairvoyant and use tomorrow's word today. Salacious prizes for the winners.

Political Pornography

2007-05-08T15:48:00.003-05:00

I feel that we have seen so much of the underbelly of humanity today that it has been political pornography.Let's see if we can make this a little more positive. Name three things (without mentioning anyone else) that you feel the next council could do to improve your community. While Anon posting is fine, at least identify if you are from B or CS.

Anonymous

2007-05-08T10:06:00.001-05:00

This blog is getting an increasingly large number of hits each day. Yesterday's hit count doubled the one from the day before. While it is our intention to provide a free an open dialog. The petty personal attacks from anonymous sources detract from this as a legitimate platform for public discourse. We are considering deleting unfounded accusations from anonymous posters. It is sad that

Now This is Rich

2007-05-08T08:16:00.003-05:00

Sometimes pop psychology is all too obvious. The adjectives that former City Councilwoman Berry has used to describe Dennis Maloney are exactly what was used in describing her and why she lost in a landslide in the last election. In this case the pot seems to be talking about the rather well polished silverware (despite a couple of smudges.)From Letters to the Editor in today’s EagleArrogant,

Anonymous

2007-05-08T07:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday this blog was used to make spurious accusations of public employees from behind the veil of anonymity. While we will continue to allow anonymity in posting, let us make it clear that this behavior is not our intention; it is an unfortunate byproduct. Please know that if you post anonymously you are already on credibility’s thin ice. If you then accuse others of wrong doing without

Local Campaign Finance reform

2007-05-07T22:49:00.000-05:00

There is an awful lot of money being spent on local elections. Most of that money is going to yard signs and other marketing that is high on name recognition and short on content. It doesn’t need to be like this and there is a lot that we can do to change it. Quality communities create learning environments in which citizens are very well informed voters. One of the ways that we can do that is

Recent mailer from Mark Conlee for Mayor

2007-05-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

May 4, 2007 To our supporters and friends: We need your help. We need your vote. Many of you have already voted and we thank you, but from looking at the list of early voters we are afraid we may be running behind as of this point. Our opponent has been bringing car loads to the Municipal Building to early vote. A city councilman has been phoning nearly everyone he knows to ask for our

Good Dialog - Good Neighbors

2007-05-07T06:51:00.001-05:00

Public Dialog is a very healthy virtue of democracy. The intention of this blog is to provide an outlet for views that may not be otherwise heard and to provide a platform for open dialog. While I have heard from a couple of people in private email who have disagreed with one thing or another, this has not become public dialog. The comments section of this blog are unmoderated - you can say

Right on point

2007-05-06T17:32:00.000-05:00

From today's ltters to the editor in the EagleI do not know Doug Phillips (Eagle, April 17), but if he was to run for mayor of Bryan, I would certainly vote for him. His column about building a better community is right on every point.We need infill development rather than urban sprawl. We need to preserve trees and green spaces rather than pave the land. We need thriving, locally owned

The Fox Guarding the Hen House

2007-05-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

Interesting how audits in the city of Bryan go, and how they get reported in the Eagle. Mary Kaye Moore (MKM) makes perfectly legal transactions within the city and she is treated like a criminal. Though in reality few criminals get three front page stories written about them - stories that continue to accuse even after exoneration. The Bryan Business Council (BBC) spends hundreds of thousands of

Is it appropriate

2007-05-05T07:57:00.000-05:00

From letters to the editor in today's Eagle...It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this community as mayor for the past five years. I urge our citizens to go to the polls on May 12 and vote to elect Ben White as mayor of College Station.Mayor RON SILVIAIs it appropriate for the mayor to make a political endorsement? While free political speech is important to all of us, we must also

Keep It Clean

2007-05-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

I find it disturbing that in our community the local paper can get away with so blatantly manufacturing accusations to smear a good person’s name. I find it humorous that the editor of the paper had the gall to fain indignation when I suggested that, in light of these spurious accusations, it might have been appropriate to disclose that members of his (Donnis Baggett’s) family had held a fund

An Agenda on the Agenda

2007-05-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

To get a sense of the convoluted and cloudy dealings of the good old boys of City council just take a look at agenda item 4 from last nights Bryan Commerce and Development (City Council) meeting. Colored text indicates the questions of Councilman Mike Southerland. No wonder these people are pointing a finger at guiltless people for manufactured misdeeds. It is diversion. 04/30/07, David Storrie

From Karen Hall

2007-05-01T15:36:00.000-05:00

The following is Karen Hall's response to what was written in the Eagle. You can read a past post in this blog about Karen by clicking here.Karen's article will appear as a paid ad in the Eagle tomorrow and Sunday._____ . . . the rest of the annexation/disannexation story. For the benefit of future

HATS OFF TO HEROES

2007-05-01T09:49:00.000-05:00

This excellent article by Mary Kaye Moore will appear as a paid advertisement in the Eagle on Wednesday and Thursday.________Most citizens hesitate to get involved in controversial issues but some leaders believe strongly enough in their ideas to take that bold step. My campaign has given me the opportunity to meet and know some of the finest leaders in this community. I am proud to have their