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Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

It appears something is afoot Corpus Christi. At least they have an ethics commission. That is something I couldn’t even get on the table for a discussion with our current Council.  I guess an ethics commission, let alone a Charter Review, would muddy up the water for a few folks while the gettin is good.

Ordinance on ethics may get second look
Council will consider its suspension

By Sara Foley (Contact)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

CORPUS CHRISTI — The new ethics ordinance banning City Council members and senior city staff from self-dealing or awarding contracts to their relatives could get a second look this week.

The council will consider suspending the ordinance, passed two weeks ago by the previous council, after the chairman of the city’s ethics commission repeated his plea to have the committee review the change.

If the council decides to suspend it, it would only make the new rule ineffective until the committee brings a recommendation to council. Then, the council could revise it, eliminate it or keep it the same.

“I think it needs to be looked at by the commission,” Mayor Joe Adame said. “They didn’t have that opportunity. I’m real open to whatever they recommend.”

The policy change was passed unanimously by the previous council, but it never discussed the idea during a meeting until it was added as a supplemental agenda item days before the final meeting of that council.

Under the policy change, no senior city staff, council members or their spouses, siblings or children could do work for the city.

Jim Cramer, the ethics commission chairman, said the committee wanted to look at the implications of the ordinance, what other cities do and how it would be enforced.

“We may think it’s perfectly OK or we may want to change it,” he said.

During the May 12 meeting when the ordinance passed, former Councilman Mike Hummell said the ethics commission could have picked up the issue at any time, but didn’t.

But Cramer said the council typically refers ethics ordinance changes to the commission and no one had asked the commission to review this change.

“Some people said that if we looked at it, it would die in committee,” Cramer said. “We’re not going to let it die. We will meet right away until this thing is ready to go.”

Times are definitely a changing.  While the streets that are getting new speed bumps are definitely going to be safer they aren’t necessarily getting safer when it comes to crime. Two days ago someone tried to break into my house in broad daylight and two weeks ago someone tried to break into my wife’s Expedition at the ball fields. I am very relieved that both attempts were unsuccessful. What I find unsettling, however, is that both attempts were made while during the “least” optimal times to commit this type of crime. I live on one of the busiest street in town. There is constant traffic on both the sidewalk and the street during the day.  The burglary attempt on my home was made between 11a and 2p. The attempt on the Expedition was made at Wilson Park in the middle of a crowded, lit, parking lot with people coming and going to and from the games. These were bold criminals and it is this boldness that is very disturbing to me. With the tough economy worsening we need to be diligent in securing our homes and keeping a watchful eye over our neighborhoods.

I am pleased to say that we are going to be installing speed bumps on 8 additional streets in the very near future. The streets meet all of the requirements as laid out in the policy adopted by the Council.

Click here to view a PDF that contains the locations of the new speed bumps.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

So what does all of the mess in DC have to do with main street USA?  Well let’s look at the tip of the iceberg. We are looking at a possible massive unionization of the work force (Card Check), significant corporate and personal tax increases (the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the free world), a crushing energy tax (Cap and Trade), and bankruptcy laws thrown out the window (nationalization of bank and auto companies). These four issues in and of themselves are going to have far-reaching impacts on the quality of life in Anywhere, USA including Temple, Texas.
To get a picture of what’s coming lets look briefly at the President’s takeover of Chrysler. Our President and Congress have completely changed the rule of bankruptcy by fiat (no pun intended). Large and small investors have been virtually wiped out in the automotive and financial markets. The big hedge funds AND the little old ladies and retired teachers all took a beating for the benefit of the unions.  There were many retirement funds that had invested in the hedge funds that were demonized by the President for wanting to protect their investors investments.   Finally they all caved under duress.  This excerpt from a WSJ article sums it up neatly:

The Obama administration’s behavior in the Chrysler bankruptcy is a profound challenge to the rule of law. Secured creditors — entitled to first priority payment under the “absolute priority rule” — have been browbeaten by an American president into accepting only 30 cents on the dollar of their claims. Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers union, holding junior creditor claims, will get about 50 cents on the dollar.

Violating absolute priority undermines this commitment by introducing questions of redistribution into the process. It enables the rights of senior creditors to be plundered in order to benefit the rights of junior creditors.

The absolute priority rule is a linchpin of bankruptcy law. By preserving the substantive property and contract rights of creditors, it ensures that bankruptcy is used primarily as a procedural mechanism for the efficient resolution of financial distress. Chapter 11 promotes economic efficiency by reorganizing viable but financially distressed firms, i.e., firms that are worth more alive than dead.

Click here to read the entire piece.
So what if GE is the next domino to fall? They are too big to fail just like AIG. We have seen first hand that stock and bond holders don’t matter in the scheme of things. I got out of the markets quite a while ago for various resons. I wish I could say it was because I saw this coming. But honestly, I never thought this type of behavior would be happen in MY country led by MY President. I recently read the following quote by Maurice E. Schweitzer.

Trust is the social glue that holds things together. It allows us to engage in social and commercial ventures.

My question is this.  What happens when small business and entrepreneurs lose trust in the system because they can no longer rely on the rule of law?

Congrats to everybody that worked on the Bioscience campaign. I believe that these initiatives are going to benefit this community for many years to come.  I also believe that the District will need to very prudent in how they use this authority that was so narrowly given to it by the voters.  A 1.6% spread between those for and against is too close for comfort. Hopefully some of the Nays can be won over in the future.

Click here to view a detailed breakdown of the voting.

Click here to view a PDF of last week’s building permits.

I had some great comments on my last post concerning a new homeless shelter coming to town! A few thoughts…. Concerning the necessity of a centralized location. One of the reasons that I have been an ardent supporter of the Hop is that it would address this issue.  When our current shelter opened many years ago there was no public transportation nor any on the horizon. I remember often taking kids in my youth groups to serve meals there. It was a small and well-run operation. In my opinion it wasn’t until the shelter was taken over by the current management that things changed. Another reader made the following comment. “When run by people that are professionals in the field of homelessness they are typically unnoticeable in the neighborhood.”  Let me say I agree with this to a point. I would agree that a well-run and small shelter would have a much better chance of NOT adversely affecting the quality of life in any neighborhood. However, I would disagree that it would in any way, shape or form be “unnoticeable”. I believe that the larger a shelter grows the greater the chance of it negatively affecting the neighborhood. I have watched the new Families in Crisis women’s shelter blend in anonymously in an old mixed-use neighborhood.  So I know it can be done. But then again, it is small in scale and very well-run.  I think that the Temple area desperately needs a new shelter with a vision of helping people work through the physical, emotional and spiritual challenges that the homeless face. I am also ready, willing and able to contribute time, energy, treasure and prayer to such an endeavor. That being said I think it should be located in a place that would have a minimal impact on the residents and businesses of the community. My suggestion is a facility on the outskirts of town near an industrial park. A clear vision and mission, close to major employers, away from dense residential areas and serviceable by the Hop. Now that sounds like a dream worth pursuing.

City Staff have recently received inquiries regarding the re-development of a former nursing home as a homeless shelter. I must admit that I am not excited at the prospect of needed and well intentioned project negatively impacting a part of town the way another local shelter has. It saddens me greatly to think about the property values that have been wiped out over the last 20+ years on Avenue G.  I used to get my haircut, my bike and car fixed, a convertible top sewed, bought groceries for my restaurant all on Ave G. I remember walking from school friend’s homes over to Ben Franklins. I sent my very first fax from Ramona Courts. Over time things changed, as is the norm, the biggest change, however, had a disproportionally devastating impact to the area. Locating of homeless shelter right in the middle of an established neighborhood and business district was in retrospect probably not the best idea.  All one has to do is drive around the area to see its impact.  While I would very much like to see a new homeless shelter in the area I sure hope that this same mistake is not made again.  I would very much like reader feedback on this issue. Feel free to leave a comment on this blog or call/ email me.  My email address is tony@tonyjeter.com.