Johnny French
Flour Bluffian in Training
Joined: 21 Apr 2005
Posts: 407
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 Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:39 am Post subject: Jan 19 C-T |
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First, those of you who missed out on the Caller.com poll, or even if you were lucky enough to vote in it, please go to Tyler's new poll at:
http://www.corpusfishing.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=19614#19614
The article below doesn't mention the beach closings directly, but emphasizes island resort development. The mayor's call for unity is unlikely when the attitude of the majority of the city council and the developer is "My way or the highway." We'd accept compromises like the bollards and one-way driving on the beach in front of the seawall, but cannot get the council even to discuss them. Since there is as yet no overwhelming safety issue, required by the island area development plan to justify complete closure of vehicular access north and south of the seawall, what gives the council the idea it can go back on its word again even to consider the developer's demands? The discussions are difficult when there is no trust on either side.
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Caller.com
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URL: http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4399466,00.html
George Gongora/Caller-Times
Mayor Henry Garrett gives his first State of the City talk Wednesday at the Omni Bayfront Hotel before a sign reading ‘Prosperity Together.’
Mayor's State of the City stresses unity
Large developments needed to bring tourists to Padre Island, he says
By Neal Falgoust Caller-Times
January 19, 2006
Mayor Henry Garrett used his first State of the City address Wednesday to encourage local community and business leaders to join together in moving Corpus Christi forward.
"Far too often we are shortsighted because of mistrust, miscommunication and sometimes by just being stubborn," he said. "What we need to be is open to communication and instill trust in each other."
About 850 people attended the speech at the Omni Bayfront Hotel, an annual event started by former Mayor Loyd Neal. In 2004, about 700 people attended Neal's final address. The address is sponsored by the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce and attracts a large crowd from the business community.
Garrett said he wanted to use his time Wednesday to set a tone for the future. He also touched on several controversial topics, but did not take any strong positions as Neal did in his 2003 address on the high school dropout rate. Instead, Garrett sought to build consensus.
On the issue of Padre Island development, Garrett said: "Today's best laid out plans can sometimes be tomorrow's most difficult discussions."
To make Padre Island a tourist destination will take more than small developments, he said.
"It will be a large development complex made up of several individual investors," Garrett said. "Each time one investor makes a positive economic move, it triggers others to follow suit and join the growth process."
Regarding the redevelopment of Naval Station Ingleside, which is being closed by the Department of Defense, Garrett said he believes the Port of Corpus Christi is the best agency to control the land.
"No entity in this area has a greater ability to make the economic impact of Ingleside positive than our Port of Corpus Christi," Garrett said.
Port of Corpus Christi Executive Director John LaRue said Garrett did a good job in addressing the community's needs.
"It set a tone for what he sees as important," LaRue said.
Yolanda Arevalo, a senior accountant at AT&T, said she appreciated Garrett's call for unity. It was her first time attending the address.
"There's so much pointing fingers," she said. "It hinders the progress we make when people aren't working together."
Contact Neal Falgoust at 886-4334 or HYPERLINK mailto:falgoustn@caller.com falgoustn@caller.com
Caller.com
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URL: http://www.caller.com/ccct/letters_to_the_editor/article/0,1641,CCCT_841_4399456,00.html
Letter to the Editor: 01.19.06
January 19, 2006
The rich will win
If all the concern about who controls the South Texas beaches was given to who controls the Oval Office, this nation might not have lost nearly 2,200 military people in Iraq.
But maybe those troops are fighting for our right to operate trucks, SUV's and dune buggies on our beaches, beaches which are really there to help protect us from tropical storms and high tides.
They are not there to build lavish high-rise condos for the rich. And there is the key to the subject: the rich.
What these condo owners would enjoy is taking leisurely strolls on the beach, perhaps at the water's edge, checking out seashells or having quiet, relaxed strolls discussing things with a significant other. Or they might prefer lying quietly on an air mattress contemplating the workings of the universe while sipping a nice glass of white wine, and they won't throw their wineglass on the beach.
How do I know all of this? Well, I am a long way from being financially able to afford one of those condos, but if I could those are exactly the things I would want. I am very much in favor of driving on the beach, but not at the expense of ruining the experience for everyone else.
I used to love going to the beach, almost daily, but the wild environment has destroyed it for me, and thousands of others. But the rich aren't going to let you destroy it for them.
When rich people want something, they can get what they want, so direct your time, efforts and energy to another cause. The rich have won this one, and they will win the next and the next, etc.
Ted Norman
(Rockport) |
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