Parish
Anyone Who Disagrees With Me Is Crazy
RECEIVED Tue., April 6, 2004
Dear Editor,
This is a joke, right? "How is it that in a city flamboyantly dedicated in theory to neighborhood and environmental preservation, so many individual planning decisions come down in favor of asphalt and poured concrete?" ["Betty Baker Rules," News, April 2]. How? How come you can't figure it out? This City Council is not about even giving lip service to neighborhood and environmental protection, all they're concerned with is, and I mean all they care about is money. "How much money can we generate for ourselves to spend and dole out to those who beg us for the cash?" is more like it. Stratus Corporation the evildoer in the Barton Springs fiasco? Not at all, they bought the land after the city decided not to turn the land into a park. See, turning that land into a city park would have meant the City Council couldn't tax it. They could however tax Stratus Corporation and any subsequent developments or homes or businesses. So, while struggling with "environmental concerns" the council said "screw Barton Springs, we have cash on hand." Same way they do the streets. A complete street closing would allow work to be finished in weeks, but "street closings" are a negative when trying to attract businesses to a city, so once again, money forced the council to say "Fuck the people who live on and the businesses who are on streets we're spending years fucking around with." It's all about money to the council; nothing else matters to them. Nothing. And anyone who says anything else matters is lying.
This is a joke, right? "How is it that in a city flamboyantly dedicated in theory to neighborhood and environmental preservation, so many individual planning decisions come down in favor of asphalt and poured concrete?" ["Betty Baker Rules," News, April 2]. How? How come you can't figure it out? This City Council is not about even giving lip service to neighborhood and environmental protection, all they're concerned with is, and I mean all they care about is money. "How much money can we generate for ourselves to spend and dole out to those who beg us for the cash?" is more like it. Stratus Corporation the evildoer in the Barton Springs fiasco? Not at all, they bought the land after the city decided not to turn the land into a park. See, turning that land into a city park would have meant the City Council couldn't tax it. They could however tax Stratus Corporation and any subsequent developments or homes or businesses. So, while struggling with "environmental concerns" the council said "screw Barton Springs, we have cash on hand." Same way they do the streets. A complete street closing would allow work to be finished in weeks, but "street closings" are a negative when trying to attract businesses to a city, so once again, money forced the council to say "Fuck the people who live on and the businesses who are on streets we're spending years fucking around with." It's all about money to the council; nothing else matters to them. Nothing. And anyone who says anything else matters is lying.
Carl T. Swanson
