Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 18, 2007 Page: 3 of 24
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Murray and Mary Judson
Co-Publishers
Mary Judson
Editor
Phone (361) 749-5131 E-mail: southjetty@centurytel.net
PINON
Member:
South Texas Press Association
Texas Gulf Coast Press Association
Texas Press Association
National Newspaper Association
Baw®
McNeely
Port Aransas South Jetty
ll^■
Kinder, gentler
Legislature?
Rick Perry was sworn
in as governor Tuesday
for another four-year term.
If he serves all of it, he
will be the longest-serving
governor in Texas history,
by two years.
Perry and the other top
two officials who kept
their jobs -Lt. Gov. David
Dewhurst, who presides
over the Texas Senate, and
House Speaker Tom Crad-
dick -- have some choices
to make.
Will they - led by Perry
- continue to model the Grover Norquist
Americans for Tax Reform anti-tax model, that
essentially says a good tax is a dead tax?
(ATR, run by Norquist, a longtime running
buddy of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff,
pressures officials to pledge to "oppose and vote
against any and all efforts to increase taxes.")
Or will Texas' leaders - possibly led by
Dewhurst, should Perry not step up to the
plate - try to bring a kinder and gentler face to
Texas government than has been the case the
last several years?
Perry certainly seemed to promise as much.
Deep in his 3,000-word speech came this:
"Texas is better off when Republicans and
Democrats work together. Our potential is too
vast to be spoiled by a politics leavened with
partisanship.
There is so much we must do together."
Very true. But for that to change, Perry and
Craddick will have to make significant changes
in how they do business. Particularly about
schools.
Earlier, Perry proclaimed, "When a child
is sent to a school that doesn't educate them,
government must demand change, not defend
the status quo."
Again, very true. He's probably referring to
changing the way schools are run, which has
some validity.
But the bigger part of changing schools is
money. Politicians, and Texas politicians in
particular, are notorious for saying education
is their first priority but won't raise the money
to back up their wprds.
In his first words after greeting his fellow
dignitaries, Perry said his oath of office "con-
fers upon me not only a public office, but a
public trust."
So true - even though he got just 39 percent
in getting re-elected. Perry says despite his
percentage, he considers himself a 100 percent
governor.
# # #
And So On.... In case you're curious, the
longest-serving governor was Republican Bill
Clements, with eight years.
However, the eight were not consecutive.
Clements won an upset victory in 1978, only
to be upset himself by Democrat Mark White
in 1982.
But Clements returned the favor in 1986,
in what even some on his staff thought was
a campaign whose almost main motive was
revenge. He served out his final four years and
moved back to Dallas.
The record for the most consecutive years
as governor goes to conservative Democrat
Allan Shivers, who like Perry, moved up from
lieutenant governor. Shivers became governor
on July 11,1949, upon the death of incumbent
Beauford Jester.
Shivers was elected to three two-year terms
of his own, serving a total of about seven and
a half years.
Four governors served six years:
• Price Daniel Sr. was elected to the first of
three two-year terms in 1956. He was defeated
for a fourth term in 1962, after Texas' sales tax
first began.
• Daniel was unseated by Democrat John
Connally, who was re-elected to two more
two-year terms.
• Democrat Dolph Briscoe was elected in
1972 to a two-year term, and re-elected in
1974, when Texas shifted to four-year terms
for most statewide officials. Briscoe was upset
for renomination in 1978 by then-Democratic
Attorney General John Hill - who lost to Re-
publican Clements in the general election.
• The fourth governor to serve six years was
George W. Bush - although he was about a
month short, because his service was interrupted
when he resigned Dec. 21,2000, to accept the
presidency.
Reach McNeely at dmcneely@austin.rr.com
or (512) 323-0248.
South Jetty
(946-020)
Pays Periodicals Postage at
Port Aransas, Texas
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6
\m
0
hi
Martaindale
III
WM,
Take care in replacing Watson
Port Aransas is saddened by the untimely
death last week of City Councilman Jerry
Watson.
Watson was a champion of the ordinary man,
our retired population and keeping Charlie's
Pasture as close to its original state as pos-
sible by turning it into a nature preserve. He
served admirably, and his death is a loss to the
community.
Now it falls upon the remaining members of
the city council to replace him within the next
couple of weeks. Whoever is appointed will
serve through the expiration of Watson's term
in May, which means the appointee will have
three months to serve.
Filing for the May elec-
tion begins in mid-Febru-
ary, so we are on the eve of
"election season".
Given that, the proper
course of action for the
council to take would be
to appoint someone who
has no intention of seeking
„ election to the position to
HENKEL which he or she has been
■ appointed - or any other
J UDSON position on the council.
A former city council member with no future
political ambition whose views reflect those of
Watson's would be an appropriate choice.
Given the brevity of time the appointed indi-
vidual would serve, a former council member
would be the wisest choice. Three months is not
enough time for an inexperienced person to be
an effective member of the council.
Appointing someone who is a potential
candidate for Watson's position, or any other
position on the council, would give the ap-
pearance of meddling with the outcome of an
election, which, if not is actual malfeasance,
borders on it.
What's the future of -vision?
Television. Once upon a time it was new. A
lot of your radio personalities became visual.
That funny Jack Benny guy made our country
laugh enough to reach the Richter Scale. You
just didn't leave home on the night Benny was
on the air. And you wouldn't listen on your car
radio because you'd be endangering yourself
and other drivers.
Then Lucy, whom we all loved, would tickle
our tickle bones until they were almost worn
out.
Remember Fred Allen? He was funnier than
his funny wife.
And then one day all these folks opened
our eyes. TV came into our lives and made
many changes in what we
sought.
Jack Benny was even
funnier when you could see
the expression on his face
when he was trying to make
an obvious decision.
Lucy could now make
her face even funnier than
her voice.
And new heroes came
into our lives: Hoss Car-
tright, Gunsmoke came
floating into our homes. Ed
Sullivan, who was not made for television, enter-
uactus
Pryor
tained us all as he introduced us to new talents.
Now, what was that group of guys from England
who accomplished what their armies couldn't do
a long time ago? They captured us.
And Frank Sinatra now sold his songs in
person, as did Nelson Eddy, and Judy Garland,
and Jo Stafford, and Dick Hayens.
We knew them all, and loved them, too. But
where are they now? Adios. New guys and
new gals. New laughs, new songs. And new
lotta things.
And that's the way things go.
So, what's next? Smellevision? Thinkavi-
sion? Nakedvision? Realavisum?
I thank you now for your readaism.
SI
TO THE EDITOR
My heroes
I
You may have seen them riding around
Port Aransas on a tandem bike followed by a
regular bike pulling a little trailer, sometimes
with fishing poles, sometimes with laundry or
groceries, but every Tuesday and Friday with
an accordion in it.
When they first arrived in Port Aransas,
travel was by an ATV, but that was stolen the
week after their boat was vandalized.
Sometimes you can see them walking,
pushing Kevin in his wheelchair; sometimes
Kevin is pushing his own wheelchair. Kevin
is autistic and blind, but they don't let that slow
them down.
Don and Rita are newly retired teachers;
they have fostered more than 60 challenged
children. Rita taught music and now plays and
sings at the Pollock Center. Sometimes on a
good night, Kevin will even give us a song or
two. They are spending the winter with us at
the Island RV Resort. I understand it is the first
time-they have traveled outside of their home
country, Canada.
In spite of having their boat vandalized and
their ATV stolen, they love Port Aransas. They
plan to return again next year.
It would sure be nice if the person who stole
their ATV would find it in his/her heart to return
Rita's leg brace and Don's glasses that were in
the ATV. •
Dee Slocum
Port Aransas
Local pride
Port Aransas in recent years has evolved and
changed more rapidly than ever before. With
what seems like a golf cart per person and a
gimmick at every corner, a small beautiful town
has been transformed into a mini metropolis.
Port Aransas is much different today, and the
focus has changed from developing and main-
taining a town filled with excellence, pride and
ethics to developing and maintaining a town
filled with people.
In most cities, people within the community
have the power to run the town the way they see
fit for themselves as well as future generations.
In our town (as in most tourist towns), the
true citizens are powerless to what the outside
influence wants Port Aransas to be. If another
South Padre Island is what the world wants,
let's give it to them. Let's forget the roots of
this small town and become a textbook tourist
trap. The money is in producing tourists as
far as the eye can see and big businesses that
sell the same things at every corner. Soon
we will forget about the things that made our
community great, like the outstanding school
system that once existed, and turn all the focus
toward the economy.
People have to sell a product or perform a
service for their own welfare, which in Port
Aransas translates into catering to the tourist.
It takes money to survive in life, so this trend
isn't likely to be a short one.
Like the many generations before, I have
seen Port Aransas transformed into something
that is completely foreign to me and my co-
horts that I grew up along side of. I have seen
the word "local" have its meaning changed to
being where you "live" rather than where you
are "from".
Port Aransas needs to hold onto the things
that have always made our town great. And
as the transformations and face lifts continue,
one thing should always remain unchanged:
the sense of pride that comes along with being
a Port Aransas local.
Winston Caraker
Port Aransas
Change opposed
Please consider this letter of opposition to the
proposed zoning change ZRC2006-5.1 have
lived on Royal Palm Drive since 1988. My
family and I oppose this change because we
perceive this will have a negative impact on the
character of our residential neighborhood.
I've witnessed the problems created by
other TR-1 projects along South 11th Street
in the last few years. Increased traffic, noise,
building density, and drainage are a concern
to me and my family. We fear this change will
disturb the aesthetics of our residential neigh-
borhood. I am also concerned that this change
will negatively impact the property values in
Wiggins Addition.
The Planning and Zonning Commission
and the professional city staff have developed
a master plan that will best guide the growth
of our community. This proposed change will
undermine that plan by mixing land use in an
established neighborhood and degrade our
quality of life.
We urge the P&Z to deny the request for
zoning change ZRC2006-5.
Leif Johnson
Port Aransas
Demand it, pay for it
With regard to Mary Judson's column in
the Jan. 11 issue of the South Jetty, I have a
Please see 'Letters,' Page 11A
Thursday, January 18,2007 3A
Can't we all get
along together?
Word got around quickly
that there was a treat at din-
ner - fresh strawberries.
We've had strawberries
a time or two since I've
been in Antarctica, but not
whole, fresh strawberries.
It's a big deal, as was re-
flected in the notes written
on masking tape in front of
the serving dish:
"Take only 3 strawber-
ries."
"Limit 3 - seriously."
"Think of the other 900 people."
It is not a new observation that life in the
U.S. Antarctic Program is communal. We all
live close together like a nest of ants. Every
single person here has a job to do; there are no
freeloaders.
There is similar housing for everyone, even if
not actually equal. There are newer, better, and
roomier units. The system gives preferential
selection based on a point system that factors
in one's position (higher status jobs get more
housing points) and number of months working
on the Ice. That's probably fair enough.
Everyone, be it a janitor or the station man-
ager, eats the same food. We all receive similar
cold-weather clothing. We arrive on the same
type of aircraft and are each handed a similar
sack lunch when we board the plane.
One might say that this indicates that a
communistic society can work, but that's not
looking deeply enough.
Behind the strawberries stands one of the blue
shirted dining assistants with another strip of
masking tape running across his chest. On it is
written, "Strawberry Enforcer."
Signage on station may be the best indication
that some people, if not all, cannot function
without someone to guide them.
We recently were greeted with new signs
on the doors into the men's room nearest my
dorm room... and repeated several times inside.
Basically, it lectured that we are responsible for
cleaning up our own vomit. Though neither of
my roommates nor I knew it, apparently there
have been instances of people violating what
seems like an extremely obvious courtesy.
That does not show communal responsibility.
(Of course, everyone understands that losing
one's lunch here probably has nothing to do
with a virus, unless there was a sick worm in
the bottom of a tequila bottle.)
There are numerous signs noting the quiet
hours, designed to give sleeping time to both
day and night workers. After complaints of
noisy nights, new signs went up, along with
mass e-mails, noting that there are repercussions
for violating the quiet hours.
New signs appeared recently at the entry point
to the galley, making note of a dress code. It gives
vague statements about wearing clean clothes,
shirts with sleeves and shoes. If you wear san-
dals, it instructs, you should wear socks.
I know your first thought: There's a problem
with not wearing enough clothing in Antarctica?
Suffice it to say that the buildings are heated
very well. As for my first thought: Somebody's
serving themselves with their feet?
Most people, like other places, are extremely
conscientious about respecting others, about
picking up after themselves, about helping each
other out. Of course, there is a justifiable reason
for expecting such cooperative behavior here to
be better than the norm.
Let's face it, not just anyone can come here.
There are many people competing for positions,
so the employers can be a bit picky and they can
look for folks who play well with others, though
it is a difficult trait to prove. Add to that the fact
that your average Antarctic resident is more
highly educated and more environmentally and
socially responsible than elsewhere.
Yes, it seems that a successful collective
existence would more likely be proven possible
here than anywhere else.
But, did I tell you about the signs on every
entrance that say, "Please close door"?
Steve Martaindale is a self-syndicated colum-
nist. Write him at penmanmail-steve@yahoo.
com.
Letters to the Editor
Deadline:
Monday, 10 A.M.
Letters to the editor should be limited to about
300 words • contain a valid signature and
mailing address, day and evening telephone
numbers where the writer may be reached •
names of persons writing letters will not be with-
held from publication • unsigned letters will not be
published -only one letter per person per 30 days
period • letters endorsing or opposing political
candidates are political advertising and should
be taken to the advertising department • all let-
ters are subject to editing • letters of complaint
about private businesses will be forwarded to the
business and will not be published • "thank you"
letters are classified advertising and should go
to the classified ad department
Letters may be mailed to
P.O. Box 1117
Port Aransas, TX 78373
or e-mailed to:
southjetty@centurytel.net
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Judson, Mary Henkel. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 18, 2007, newspaper, January 18, 2007; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410002/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.