On a lighter note...

I have gone over some of the more recent of my posts and I realize now that they are pretty heavy. Those of you who know me will attest to the fact that I am not really that kind of person. Perhaps in the name of being professional I censure myself too much. I don't want to come off as lugubrious or maudlin - my job is in fact just a job. It's an important one, and people depend on me to make good decisions and give good advice. But when compared with the things that really matter in life, this is up there, but not the top.

So for now I would like you to think about your families: either the one you have now or the one you hope to have in the future. What is it like? What kinds of things do you do? Where do you go? What does the community do to help you make you dream a reality?

Ultimately, the family is the basic unit of any society. It is the function of government and society to take steps to foster the family environment. We need to focus on THAT, rather than on all of the other mundane things we can get caught up in.

So, what can I do for you? How can I help? I want to work for you... Let me know!

How to best preserve our character...

There is a lot of confusion about zoning and subdivision regulation.

Admittedly, whenever discussing property rights emotions are liable to run high. This is due in part to the fact that people own land for many reasons which can put them in conflict with their neighbor's and their reasons...

For example, a property owner may claim the right to run a pig farm on his property. Never mind that next door to his lot is a day care and an elder care facility... Or a person may desire to have a rendering plant located next to a church... Or a land owner may want to run a band camp for high school marching bands in proximity to a lot of sleepy little vacation homes...

So how do you balance the rights of one versus another? How can you determine what is best in each situation? Whose rights trump other's?

These questions are not easy, and often times they find their way to the Supreme Court of the United States. There is a body of land use law that has been interpreted, cases which provide some direction.

But not all.

And there remains a lingering distrust of any kind of regulation. How will the proposed regulation affect me and my property rights? Am I going to be able to do what I want with my property? Why can't we just trust people to do the right thing? After all, I know my neighbors and they're good people - they're not any more interested in a rendering plant that I am...

The problem is that neighbors change and land that was once held to be in one use may find pressure to be put to another. I have personally seen this happen in cities for which I have worked. The result is not pretty. Hurt feelings and legal issues promulgate. Everyone feels distrustful and ill done by.

So what to do?

Zoning and subdivision regulations are designed to help set up guidelines that make it clear what is acceptable in certain areas and what is not. Sexually oriented businesses, for example, are prohibited in most areas of the City. Industrial areas are kept to certain areas, and residential is allowed in others. This protects the industrial interests as well as the interests of the residents. It's not perfect, but it works.

People have the right to develop their property. If one buys land in a zone that allows residential development, he or she has a right to develop it into residences. The question is not of what but how. How does the development take place? Are we continuing to allow more and more sprawl with its attendant problems? Or are we looking for creative solutions that will promote our current way of life while alleviating some of the pressure on infrastructure and services? How can we maintain our current character while establishing a place where people want to be?

These are (again) not easy questions. But I think it starts with a personal desire to see things done appropriately throughout the area. Without appropriate regulation there is only chaos and struggle.

More on this later.

What's really going on with the economy

I think that there may be some people who are interested in the economy but are not sure what's going on. I am by no means an expert, but if you are interested in my opinion here goes:

Let's rewind to October 1929. The stock market is nervous. There have been many years (since WWI and the influenza epidemic) of rapid growth and expansion, fueled mainly by an excessive euphoria about America and her new-found industrial might. People were spending money like water and a lot of heavy speculation into heavy industry and other banking and economic interests. America was great and booming, things were looking great for the foreseeable future.

Underpinning all of this was a huge weakness in Europe. Inflation was so out of control in post-WWI Germany that people were writing party invitations on billion-mark notes because they weren't even worth the paper they were printed on. There were many signs that the future was not rosy and that the American prosperity was not going to last. The piper was about to come to call; the bill for the roaring 20s was about to come due.

But in the 20s the US had a strict isolationist policy! How could what was happening in the rest of the world affect the US? Despite the political isolationism, there was a large movement towards moving excess capital from the US to Europe in search of the bargains. The super-inflation in Europe meant that the dollar went further and further and deals were everywhere. The US economy crawled into bed with the Europeans. The US had another interest: propping up the capitalistic economies of Europe in an effort to resist the socialist and communist pressures coming from Russia and other eastern European countries.

In October 1929 the house of cards came down, and the US entered the Great Depression.

It is interesting to note, however, that similar to our current situation the economy did not crash due to a lack of investment capital. There's plenty of that to go around, just like in 1929. But no one's buying. And that's the root of the problem. If I sell something on Ebay, I can expect to get a certain price for my item. The more it sells for, the greater my profit. But unlike Ebay, if I want I can set a minimum price below which I will not sell. There is no such safety in the stock market. Many, many US companies were riding the crest of the 13000 point Dow and not hedging against the inevitable trough that would follow.

Let's look at GM for example. They rode through the miasma of the great depression, actually consolidating into General Motors from various imperiled auto firms (Ponitac, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, etc). Hence - General Motors. GM wasn't panicking in the 30s - they were consolidating and strengthening. And they were waiting - they knew that the US would be brought into WWII. If they could wait it out long enough they would be sitting pretty. And they did and they were.

Following WWII, GM retooled and started selling cars to returning GIs. Enter the 50s - Korea and later Viet Nam made sure that the military spending continued, and vast ribbons of elevated highways extended across the nation. Enter the era of the automobile. GM looked like there was no end in sight.

The 60s brought a lot of political unrest, but people still needed a car. GM still looks good.

Then in the early 70s the scene changes. OPEC forms. A cartel organized to fix oil prices for mutual benefit. And the world experienced a series of energy crises that shook GM - still producing 500 cubic inch motors for its vehicles, even passenger cars! - and from which GM would never really emerge. Suddenly these small Japanese cars, which were well built and energy efficient looked more and more attractive. The revolution in Iran in 1979-1980 began the death knoll of the ultra-big cars.

In the 80s GM was playing a two-faced role, offering ever larger and less fuel efficient vehicles on one side, while scrambling to recapture the small vehicle segment on the other. There was a major paradigm shift in the way Americans thought about driving - it wasn't a luxury anymore. People were dependent on their cars to get to work and even to the store. GM shouldn't have been surprised - in the 30s they systematically bought out the commuter rails and trolley systems across the country to force us to that kind of dependence. But then they found themselves behind the proverbial 8 ball when Americans began demanding small, fuel efficient commuter cars.

In the 90s the two step continued. SUVs supplanted the ultra-huge cars of the 70s as a growing economy allowed people to pour more and more into their vehicles (some SUVs were over $50,000 - while in the 70s even a Corvette cost around $4000...) And fuel efficiency needs were glossed over. No one now thought of the US when they think of fuel efficiency. Even quality was starting to take a hit as highly engineered Japanese and Korean cars came to be known as reliable and fuel efficient. GM was in real trouble.

But as I have mentioned above, the trouble was mostly psychological. It is just a perception, and right or wrong, people are beginning to view GM as a dinosaur, a relic of a time long gone. GM has a real battle ahead, if they can pull out of this nose-dive of public perception at all.

GM is not weaker today than it was last year. It still has the same assets (factories, machines, resources) except cash - that it did last year. The potential is the same. The model is (unfortunately) the same. The only thing that's different is the perception. GM's reality has finally caught up to it's perception. Oldsmobile is already gone.

GM is indicative of the economy in general. The housing market certainly exacerbated the problem, as did the debt ratio of American households and other factors have played into it. But the main thing is confidence. Since we are now firmly entrenched in a global economy, what other countries think about the US is vital. The main source of confidence in the American economy, however, is from America itself. An economic stimulus package cannot financially pull us out of the lack of confidence, but the fact that the government is aware of the problem and is taking affirmative steps to rectify the situation (regardless of the outcome) can help start to influence the perception and move things in the right direction.

America is strong. We will weather this storm. Our economy will rebound.

Park Update II and Chambers County Community Development

Things are moving along great with regard to the park and other developments in the City. Here's some of the latest:

1. We are still working on the value engineering process. We have been working with the architect, landscape architect, vendors, and contractors to find the best way to get the park to fit our budget. We have had to make some compromises, but overall the integrity of the park is in tact and will be every bit as beautiful as we had hoped. Everyone involved has been working very hard on this, and things are really just about there.

2. Sonic! Sonic was approved by the City Council and will proceed with construction as soon as possible. The land should close this week sometime (if it hasn't already) and we should be getting building permits in soon. I have been told that once they start pushing dirt that it will be about 90 days before you can go and get your tater tots. I can't wait for that! It will be located just north of the Thrif-tee...

3. Eaglebrook Apartments. This project was recently reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and received a favorable recommendation. There are a few items regarding the drainage that need to be resolved, but this should be very close to being done. Building permitting will take some time, so our Chief Building Official has agreed to begin reviewing the building drawings now to help expedite that process (thanks, Mark!).

4. Hidden Fairways. This is a very small subdivision in our ETJ - extra-territorial jurisdiction - where we expect to see 6 or so new residences. It is west of the current Secret Subdivision, which is east of the north end of Fisher's Landing. This should be completed very soon also.

On another note, I have been asked to be a part of the Chambers County long-term recovery community development planning sub-committee. It is a great experience. My hope is that this will be the seed necessary to get some long-range planning effort started in the County. We have a beautiful and diverse county - it would be a shame not to take efforts to see it protected and preserved. There is also interest in seeing how we can augment the tourism in our County - really the birthplace of the Texas Revolution: the Turtle Bayou Resolutions were signed here, and the first shots of the Revolution happened right here at Fort Anahuac in 1832.

There is a lot to be done. Stay tuned! More to come!