Odds and Ends…

 “Build It and They Will Come” was a great line from a nice fantasy movie in the 80’s (Field of Dreams), but without serious due diligence and a stern look at cost-benefit factors, it’s a lousy business plan - one that usually requires serious risk and can send private enterprise into bankruptcy.  It was stunning to hear a councilman use that same phrase as a reason to keep spending and keep buying buildings (or leasing for 99 years) with our tax dollars, particularly in such an uncertain economy.

We requested information from the city and read over 100 pages regarding the Knox and Penney buildings and any communications between the city and The Conroe Symphony Orchestra.  The only written correspondence provided between the two was from The CSO Board of Directors, signed by Aline Arnold as Chair.  Not one piece of written communication was found from the city to the CSO Board or any individual CSO Board member, despite the council and others’ claims of open communication and transparent lease negotiations.  The Conroe Symphony Orchestra is an outstanding volunteer symphony led by Aline Arnold, Chair and Director, and conducted by Music Director Don Hutson, and deserves far better treatment than it recently received from a couple of councilmen and their unelected friend.  We’ll leave it at that.

Naming Rights – It almost seems as if Conroe bought a bunch of stadiums and is in a rush to name them all.  The new pocket park downtown is apparently going to be named Streater Park – nothing personal nor disrespectful intended against Jerry here, and all public servants deserve credit for their service, but he still has almost a year left on his term on council.  Conroe has had war heroes, great educators and lifelong community leaders, many of whom came before us, whose names have not been memorialized.  When city council starts naming parks or buildings or any other project after sitting councilmen, it’s time to take a step back and rethink policy.

Council minority – We have mentioned the council majority several times.  We should mention the council minority, Marsha Porter and Jim Gentry, who are challenging certain spending proposals, particularly those without a clear plan or understandable benefit to all of Conroe citizens.  They deserve credit for standing up to several questionable plans.