Dear Editor:
Our city council members, other government officials both elected and appointed and employees need to hear something they do not want to hear.
Dear Local Government:
The citizens of Jefferson do not trust you. You have failed over the course of many years holding many positions playing several roles to at a bare minimum leave Jefferson the way you found her.
We do not believe you or in you. We want you to stop telling us what you think we need/want/what we can’t have and instead ask us directly and let us decide.
We live in a very digital technologically advanced world and there is absolutely zero reason for any official to claim they know anything about what our entire city needs or wants when they can barely manage to social media. Each one of our council members speak to the same twenty friends they’ve always spoken. They do not know diddly beyond their circle.
And citizens may not want to hear this but they need to stop saying, “they’re gonna do what they always do so I just mind my own business.” No! They only do what we let them do and what they do IS our business.
Currently, the citizens of Jefferson are being forced to pay for the inaction of past officials, the repair costs those inactions have brought forth today, and now, must pay more to plan for the future no one stopped to think about until 2022.
A plan that comes with a $45,000 price tag.
If this were a marriage, we would be in couple’s counseling. Council would be the cheaters, and the citizens are the partner that got lazy and stopped having sex after the kids were born.
Feels like Council came with a $45,000 mid-life crisis car talking about a future we didn’t get a say in.
We need some communication and trust building. They need to prove to us they are working toward the greater town/family good. Because I’m telling you, we are about ready to cut them off, stop paying the bills, go for milk and not come back.
Council members are in those positions to think as a representative for an entire ward. I wonder if any of them could name 20 people in their ward leaving out personal friends.
How about the division of commercial activity and residential activity for their ward. Has any of them ever requested to table a matter in order to hold a town meeting so their ward could voice concerns or support?
If not, then they aren’t taking their position as seriously as they should be. They are the messengers, but we are the voice. And we’ve been silent too long! The last few years so much has come to the forefront and an entire town is hostile and it is all directed at our officials.
I’ve watched the same good ol’ boys and girls play political musical chairs for almost two decades. Hit the play button and watch them move from Council to JEDCO, from JEDCO to Tourism Board, from Tourism Board to Foundation Board, Rotary Board, Lion’s Club Board…you get the picture.
They have all sat in a position of power and at some point, during their reign, voted for as well as voted against many items that could have improved Jefferson over the years.
So, when the crumbling water pipes were ignored for decades until it could no longer be ignored, they can point fingers but if you look at their history they were there voting to wait on repairs.
Or like when a past council approved the purchase of real estate touting the need to relocate city hall because the building was in such disrepair.
City Hall wasn’t fixed in the past, the upstairs can’t be used today.
Past officials bought real estate, but current officials haven’t mentioned moving City Hall or building on the other property.
Seems like more recent councils are being forced to address the uselessness of past councils. Only here’s the thing… it’s largely the same people.
The guy who was running for mayor when we bought that real estate is on JEDCO now. Has he brought up a single conversation about working on the current city hall building or building anything new on that property we bought? Nope.
So, when a Strategic Plan that costs $45,000 is approved by a council it makes me resentful.
Jefferson has been around since 1842, and in the mid-80s had a big tourist boom, and not one city council member in all the time then or that has passed managed to form and follow through on a plan for the city’s growth.
In 2022, as crumbling water pipes just got replaced, as sidewalks still crumble, as city hall can’t use the upstairs portion of the building, as purchased real estate sit vacant, as water/sewer costs increased without trash services, as parking lots develop sinkholes, as streets flood, as the boardwalk falls apart, as new public bathroom toilets and curbside trashcans overflow, and as we are told year after year we don’t have the money for things that this council has the audacity to want $45,000 for a binder with a plan stuck in it.
A plan that will take longer to create than some of them will last on council. A plan that may very well end up on a shelf in city hall—may even get lost during the move should we ever be able to afford to move it.
Listen carefully to this next sentence:
“A PLAN THAT FUTURE COUNCILS ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO COMPLETE.”
In fact, may I suggest to any future candidates for council that they run on a platform vowing to only spend $45,000 on actual work rather than a plan to do work.
Jefferson DOES need a plan!
Zoning is a mess, we hate tourists, we love tourists, we want to be a sleepy retirement town, we lack healthcare options, we care about infrastructure, we don’t care about sidewalks or roads, we make promises we can’t keep, we never check if we can legally do half the crap we do.
The same folks and their same little circle all have the same ideas. Not one original organic thought among them. But there are others out there. Others who think making us pay $45,000 on a plan isn’t the way to rally support for that plan.
This Strategic Plan requires a committee to be formed. This committee is to be in place to get community input so that this plan can be as great as it can be – to be worth the $45,000.
I knew when that committee had been formed and no one I asked could name who is on it that the plan we eventually will receive will already be less than it could be and less valuable to the community because an official plucked from her circle who she wanted on that committee and that committee hasn’t even managed to meet with each other much less call a meeting to gather information from the community.
From its inception this plan will only reflect the arrogance of those currently in charge and desires they share with who they appointed.
I’ll also bring up here that there is a Local Government Guide to Strategic Planning written by Thomas P. DiNapoli in which he outlines a checklist of items a city should do in preparation for a strategic plan.
Our city officials have not done a single item on that checklist. There is a process to ensure a plan doesn’t just end up on a shelf.
The plan doesn’t give you the foundation. You create the foundation so the plan will succeed. The fact I can tell you more that should’ve been done prior to soliciting a plan should tell you how little council did before voting to spend $45,000 of our money.
Essentially they bought $45,000 appliances and smart home stuff and it’s sitting in the yard because they didn’t build the house yet.
This strategic plan will be produced, but it will fail. Robin Moore proposed it and she has seated a committee for it. The rest of council approved it.
And not a single one of them did a simple Google search to make sure they weren’t about to waste $45,000!
A. Simple. Google. Search of “strategic plan for city groundwork.”
Sorry sacks too lazy to even google.
Or are they just too arrogant? Either way this is why they can’t be trusted with large sums of money.
Remember how I said this is like a marriage and we need some trust building exercises?
A Railroad Quiet Zone is a good start.
People around town are talking about it. A LOT.
A merger is about to take place that will double railroad traffic. The recent derailment alone, makes us a formidable player with a voice.
The railroad is here that’s not changing, but Jefferson could be put in a position to negotiate a quiet zone during this merger!
And to say only a select group wants a Quiet Zone only begs the question who wanted that strategic plan?
I’ve really tried to find a legit reason to keep the trains blowing.
Someone asked, “What if all the safeguards fail and a school bus gets hit.”
At first I dismissed this question thinking so much would have to fail for this to happen. Lights, crossing ding sound, arm bars, and finally manually blowing the horn would have to be ignored by conductor all has to happen for a vehicle to not know a train was coming and get struck on the tracks.
But after looking it up, according to U.S. Government Accountability Office report back in 2017 quiet zones do present safety problems such as vehicles being struck on tracks.
The report, while unable to site any research, states quiet zones benefit communities and economical development, but benefits may not outweigh the cost.
The final verdict of the report stated that generally quiet zones were as safe as crossings with horn blows, however, over time as the train speeds increase or frequency of trains increase that data could change.
Which, given the fact we are looking at an increase in train length and train traffic and possibly speed as well, we may discover some crossings should remain horn blow crossings. Because accidents at crossings (quiet or horn crossings) are a major source of fatalities local authorities can’t just enact a quiet zone and the railroad can’t just ignore cities that want one.
The railroads want to blow; cities usually don’t want them to blow.
That’s why the FRA oversees the entire process by inspecting crossings, traffic, safeguards, etc. Now would be a perfect time to request this study given the fact we had a derailment and have had others in the past and train traffic is about to increase.
Even if no quiet zone is enacted much needed knowledge could come out of it as we face this merger and traffic increase.
Bringing it up later will fall on deaf ears, right now is when we could get the most out of a report not only to make a decision about a quiet zone but also to catch any issues on those tracks that may pose a real safety threat when longer, faster and more trains start showing up.
Another remark has been about the nostalgia of the train whistle blowing.
Gimme a break.
The train whistle went the way of the steam engine. Today we have diesel engines that blow horns.
Nothing nostalgic about it. Ask yourself this: if we take it away will you notice the absence of the sound?
Maybe. Will you wake up from a deep sleep from the silence?
Probably not. Now ask yourself this, if we leave them blowing will people notice?
Uh yea, absolutely! If we keep the horns blowing will anyone be awakened from a deep sleep? You already know it to be true.
A Quiet Zone report could cost less or even as much as the strategic plan; $45,000.
I wish we could use the $45,000 to fix the boardwalk, get more trashcans, put benches out even or fix a few sidewalks.
But if city officials are bound and determined to spend money on planning then let’s make a plan about ONE thing and see it through.
The Quiet Zone is a perfect item.
It could actually be an item requested and started during their terms. And the benefits go beyond the Quiet Zone argument.
It would address the many crossings we have, plus the very real possibility of future derailments while also laying foundation for a quiet zone if citizens decide they want one.
The Strategic Plan because the pre-work to make it successful wasn’t done won’t be worth the paper it is printed on.
Being a successful couple is hard, I can attest to that. In fact, years of wanting to shank each other followed by a divorce would be easier.
But we can’t divorce our local government officials and they can’t divorce us.
We pay the bills they do the leg work and we both get a say about where the money goes.
But let me remind everyone of this:
We can’t divorce them, but we can replace them.
Darla Upton McCorkle
Jefferson, Texas