One step ...

By Bob Belcher

Sat, May 17 2008

— Another head-scratcher from our city leaders this week ...
After proudly proclaiming “we’re doing the best we can” to help improve Corsicana’s appearance, the City Council this week threw away the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission and granted a used-car lot permit for a high-visibility Seventh Avenue location.
No doubt, the “planners and zoners” thought they were on the right track, trying to make good decisions to “go forward” with some semblance of order along the highway. That is, I believe, what they are charged with in their responsibilities. Apply the rules and regulations in a fair, consistent manner across the board.
However, our mayor, and enough of the council, thought otherwise and granted the appeal to allow the auto sales lot to proceed with its plans.
The building, the mayor said, looks real nice.
He’s right. It does.
What’s it going to look like with a dozen or so used cars in front, with flapping flags and neon price tags on the windshields?
To use the mayor’s own words from the “sour gas” issue, I’m not sure they thought that one through.
To be clear, this isn’t about a used car lot, though.
It’s about exactly what role the council wants others to play in making our city better, and about just how serious the council really is about providing some structure to an otherwise unstructured thoroughfare.
And, it’s about applying rules and regulations in a fair, consistent manner across the board (see third paragraph).
I’m reminded of an old saying — “What you do for one, you do for all.”
What the council has done on this one, in effect, is say “the only rule is, there are no rules.”
It’s that kind of patch-work approach that got us in this boat to begin with.
At this rate, we’ll still be bailing water out of that boat for years to come.
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We’re you as sickened as I was over the news about the illegal cock-fighting operation busted last Saturday?
While I have no particular affinity for chickens, no creature on this earth deserves the treatment that these particular creatures receive in the so-called “sport” of cock-fighting.
What I found even more disturbing was the presence of families and children at the event, ranging from infants in the arms of their mothers to pre-teens and teens roaming freely among the crowd, “taking in the show.”
Hats off to Sheriff Cotten and all the deputies, officers and local government officials involved in cracking down on this horrid idea of “entertainment.”
And while this type of crime may not be the biggest or most dangerous to the public, it undoubtedly deserved the time, attention and resources devoted to it, and to trying to keep it from rearing its ugly head again.
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Bob Belcher is Managing Editor of the Daily Sun. His column appears on Wednesdays and Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at belcher@corsicanadailysun.com.

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