Points of Clarification

Getting ready to have a good time with other Wellborigines at our meeting/music fest this evening. Thinking back on last Thursday's City of CS council meeting, I get a bit steamed. Some, not all, but some, of the council members are out of touch with your typical person. They seem hellbent on having it 'their' way. They also seem to think that the typical person is dimmer than a 3w CFL bulb. Read their points of clarification. Honestly. 

Incorrectly playing on the sympathies of CS residentsThe Citizens for Wellborn falsely claim their constitutional right to vote is being violated. Previous generations of state lawmakers deliberately preserved the rights of cities to manage their future growth.

 For this argument to be valid, you must believe that all laws passed by previous generations of lawmakers were good and just. Hmmm. Slavery, poll taxes, segregation, red light cameras...... It also seems to intimate that the "rights of cities" trump the rights of humans. Wow. I didn't even know that cities had rights!

Citizens for Wellborn are not including their own
A significant number of property owners falling within the Citizens for Wellborn plan will never have the ability to vote because they don’t live on those properties. Some of those property owners were never even asked if they wanted to be included in this endeavor.

To that comment I say: A significant number of property owners falling within the city limits of College Station can never vote for the city council because they don’t live in College Station.  None of these property owners were ever asked if they wanted to sell bonds to plant irrigated trees on the highway, or build a conference center, or wanted to take on the liability of a city-owned skate park.  


In fact, this statement holds true for nearly every governmental entity in our country, including our country!! Did the council realize that some landowners in the United States cannot vote for president of the United States because they are not citizens?

Do the members of the city council feel embarrassed by this remark?  If they don’t, I feel embarrassed that they cannot see the utter silliness and smugness of this claim. 

Residents of other cities know this is a bad ideaOver the past 50 years, 349 new cities have formed in Texas. Of those, only a very small percentage did so within another city’s ETJ. And many of those were opposed by the existing cities. Historic examples provided by Citizens for Wellborn do not reflect the same geographic scenario as College Station/Wellborn.

 Really? I call your bluff. Name 'em. This one reads like an LSAT question with extraneous information. Again, they are giving rights to cities. Notice they don't say that the small number of new cities incorporating within another city's ETJ were opposed by the citizens of the older city. Also, using the adjective 'historic' seems to imply that the examples of other cities incorporated within ETJs are from long ago. In fact, they are all 21st century! Volente, Taylor's Landing, Van Ormy...

Limited future optionsIf College Station can’t grow to the south — in this case, due to a city with the physical size of Hearne as our southern neighbor — it would mean less development, less tax revenue to pay for city services, and result in fewer choices and higher property taxes for College Station residents.

 Get those city staffers a map and compass!  You haven't annexed the land north of Wellborn yet! Go East and annex the land between Highway 30, Harvey Road and WD Fitch! What about over the river and through the woods towards Snook? And southeast towards Navasota? Heck, you just approved platting on an area the size of Hearne! Take that Hearne-sized chunk, not us. As for property taxes, you borrowed and spent the money without our input and we think you should pay for it without our input. 

 CS residents will pay Citizens for Wellborn say they’ll rely on county services if they become a city. But College Station (and Bryan) residents pay for more than half the budget of Brazos County Sheriff’s and Road & Bridge departments. So, if allowed to become a city, Wellborn would rely on these county services, and an increase in costs to provide those services could result in higher taxes for College Station residents. That money would never come back to College Station

Fiddlesticks. What a specious argument. Why hasn’t College Station complained about this before? Is that because College Station, in its own charter, Section 9,  states “The City shall have exclusive  domain, control and jurisdiction in and upon, and over and under the public streets, avenues, alleys, and highways of the City.” (Please note the use of the word ‘exclusive’)

I also bring it to the listener’s attention that this same scenario plays out in 253 other Texas counties. 

This also ignores the fact that the Wellborn Committee has spoken with the county officials, with the mayors of Wixon Valley and Kurten (forgot about them didn’t you?) and learned that Wellborn will be able to sign an interlocal agreement with the county to provide road maintenance and that Wellborn will pay for this service, it will not be gratis.  If the city staff looked at any of the Wellborn documents, such as those provided to the city council with the original request for the right to incorporate, they would know this. What conclusions can be drawn from this? Either the city staff and city council never looked at any of these documents, OR they are hoping that no one catches them out on this. Well, gotcha!

The irony is very thick and very deep. Isn’t College Station the city that annexes property and leaves out the roads as long as possible? Please check out the ‘annexation’ over the decades simulation on the College Station website. Notice how Highway 6 is annexed much, much later than  the surrounding neighborhoods? And Graham Road makes us laugh as we remember the city asking the county to improve Graham Road, despite it being virtually surrounded by the city of CS. I remember the county commissioner saying “Nuts.”

If the city staff and city council stand behind this statement, please ask the state representatives and the county commissioners to change the laws. At the same time, please try to get the federal laws changed so that I don’t have to pay for poor fiscal management in California and Detroit.

Finally, at the council meeting, Mary Ann talked about how they complain about our using city services like the library and roads. (BTW, all libraries in Brazos Co are for all residents of Brazos Co.). She correctly noted that if the CS residents want everyone within a 50 mile radius to stop shopping and dining in CS, they should put up a sign at the city limits saying 'Keep Out' or charge an entrance fee. Then we can and will go elsewhere. Is that what storeowners want? She also correctly noted that working for Texas A&M does not require you to live in CS. But, best of all, she said that if CS wants to keep outsiders outside, they should return to the 16th century and build a city wall. When I told a member of the fourth estate about this idea, he suggested that maybe CS should build a moat-way! 


C'mon, CS residents! Take back your city! OH! And come enjoy some great bluegrass music at our community center.