The Bellaire Texan (Bellaire, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 24, 1982 Page: 4 of 16
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4
THE TEXAN
February 24. 1982
“^TRACKS*,
T
By Jack Gunveil
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■ ■
J.K.fG.
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Bravery or bravado?
Some of us are bemused by Councilman Richard Reed’s
definition of “Genuine Political Bravery,” as he applies it
to his councilmates. They don’t get unlisted phone
numbers, he says, so the citizenry can call them and
complain. No outfoxing those nerds by hiding behind
unlisted telephone numbers.
Listed phone numbers invite “abusive calls,” Reed wrote
in the advertisement for his City of Homes Committee
advertisement that ran last week in The Texan.
‘‘They knew in advance . . . that free access and
cooperation with the press would (now and then) lead to
embarrassing stories; and most of all, that televising council
meetings would give opponents a field day.
What ho, here, Richard? This is a rather singular
statement to be made by a duly elected official, that elected
officials are brave fellows (or lassies) if they don’t take the
phone off the hook or get an unlisted number immediately
after their swearing in ceremonies.
The above never occurred to me. In fact, Reed is the first
public official I ever heard of to admit openly that a
politician might not want to talk with the -people and the
press (though privately. I’m sure, many want to discuss
council affairs-and especially his vote--with the press and
the people who voted for him like they want a hole in the
head.)
Talking over the telephone to a disgruntled constituent
then, according to Reed, is an act of ultimate courage. Yet, I
have never known a Bellaire councilman or woman to have
their phone disconnected or seek an unlisted number just
because he got elected to public office. And by every
definition of logic, Reed implies that every previous
council member has sought an unlisted number immediately
upon election so he won’t be bothered by his people.
( By Reed’s theory, he just must feel that Gurwell has
achieved a level of supreme economic courage by
commenting adversely here on something an advertiser puts
in this newspaper.)
Let’s examine that advertisement a bit further, especially
about keeping lines of communication open between council
and the voters in areas of television coverage. Reed said in
his last week’s advertisement that council was even braver
than “genuine” bravery by going on TV with council
meetings because “most of all, that televising council
meetings live would give opponents a field day.”
This statement disorients me. And it would you, too, dear
readers if you examine the public record.
This council went into office promising complete
communication with Bellaire people. Its BCAC supporters
have in the past berated the cable company for not leaping
'THE^/fz/ivTEXAN )
^- FOUNDED IN 1954 ----'
4562 Bissonnet - Bellaire, Texas - Suite 203
P.O.BOX 1011
Bellaire, Texas 77401
660-7112
Sam Flowers Jack Gurwell Nedland-Pedersen
General Manager Editorial Advisor Editor
Arlene Battista Louise Jalufka Evelyn Nordyke
Staff Reporter Typist Contributor
Jean Walker Dan D'Attilio M. Lehman
Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Advertising Sales
Manuel Zepeda Mary Priess Sherrie Landing
Advertising Sales Classified Circulation
DEADLINES
For Wednesday publication dates are as follow.
NEWS.......................................12 Noon Friday
Space Reservation ....................... 5 P.M. Friday
Cipy (For Monday Proof) ................ 5 P.M. Friday
Camera Ready Copy ...................... 2 P.M. Monday
Gassifled (Space and Copy)............. 11 A.M. Monday
immediacy iiTV> the breech with its cameras when
something it wanted to push hard did not get cable
coverage. It promised TV coverage of council and P&Z
hearings and practically every event the BCAC and council
majority was interested in promoting.
Yet, the record shows that of the 99 meetings this council
has held since its election, only 36 were covered by cable TV
so the people would know.
And this after countless pleas by Mayor Larry Folse, the
council and the council’s own supporters that “if you can’t
get to a council meeting or a hearing, please watch
proceedings on television.”
Contrast this with the fiasco during last August’s budget
hearings when Councilwoman Nancy Lomax demanded that
TV coverage of vital budget hearings be dropped after the
first night's official public hearing because, she said, there
were some things (such as discussing how and where
taxpayer money was spent) that were better done in private.
Nancy demanded to know' who had authorized the
continued TV coverage past the official public hearing, and
Forthose whofeel adventurous
To*the editor:
Relating to the (Bellaire) council’s speed and throughness
in action, I offer this following observation:
How quick the islands on Chimney Rock at Evergreen
were finally decided upon, passed on, (including the all
important color) and then installed and now paid for. In
regard to the swiftness of this installation and sizeable
amount of money spent at Chimney Rock and Evergreen,
why don’t we see the street repair doing some extensive
work on some rather well known landmarks such as:
1) Southbound on Rice at Bellaire Boulevard we have a
windshield-jarring, teeth rattling bump in the pavement
that just seems to grow up in our paths.
2) For some of you who feel adventurous, the sidewalk on
the esplanade, in front of the fountain at Rice and Bellaire is
a veritable “Matterhorn” or lethal washboard on which we
are subjecting our citizens to follow.
3) Many streets (all too numberous for this letter) both
east and west of Newcastle have holes directly in traffic
lanes making it almost necessary for some to simply count
on destroying a tire or just to simply hear and feel their cars
jarred loose.
I realize these are only a trifle few instances, but as
citizens and taxpaying voters I feel we deserve a little more
than a two year wait for “something”, only to be given some
long awaited crack sealing, more traffic lights, with the
effectiveness of Bissonnet at First, Bellaire at First, and the
soon-to-be Evergreen at Chimney Rock. Also, we have been
given absolutely nothing in most neighborhoods as to street
repairs or attempts at same. How many of us in 30 and
35-year-old homes north of Bellaire have serious plumbing
problems “only” during and after rain a rain? This hasn't
been touched.
Also, how long has it been since our streets have been
striped and our parking places and curbs painted? (They do
have the equipment to do it.)
Now it even looks as if we (the voters) will possibly have to
endure (council’s) dominance even more, with the
“strange” possibility of a not too soon election.
I feel that if given enough time, we will be covered with
wider main streets and traffic lights so close together that
the traffic flow will only continue to build not move on
through our city.
W.R. |Bill] Greenaway
4913 Palmetto
Bellaire, TX
Mountains and molehills
To the editor:
Jack, you never cease to amaze me with your one sided
reporting of my mountains and molehills as per your
editorial on the Bond Election. If you had wanted the full
story you would have instructed your reporter Arlene
Batista (sic) to pick up the phone and call City Hall to talk
with the City Manager. You would have found out that he
has called the county as many as 12 times to get the
necessary information on this election. He has yet to receive
the information Council requested from the county. If you
would have instructed Arlene to pick up the phone and call
me, I would have been glad to explain my position on the
Bond Election, but you didn't. It became very clear to me,
Jack, that you. didn t want all the facts, only those of your.
Mayor Larry Folse replied mildly that he had.
After her motion to stop TV coverage failed, she gathered
up her things and marched out of the meeting. But Reed, if
memory serves, was absent from the discussions that night,
so he would not have noticed this appealing example of
communication with the citizenry on matters of their utmost
concern.
For the record, TV coverage (at that time) cost $25 for the
first three hours and $8.50 an hour thereafter. Guess Nancy
and some of her cohorts didn't want to break the city with
informational costs. Things were going bad for the council.
Said Nancy at the time: "Let them come to the council
meetings” if they wanted information.
Well, so much for Brother Reed’s council history lesson
and his definition of the “Genuine Political Bravery” of
Bellaire’s City Council.
(Incidently, 1 don’t think the above applies to Mayor Larry
Folse; by nature of his FBI background and his private
investigative service, and to protect his family, he has long
sought personal and especially family anonymity. But if you
need his number, call city hall).
Letters to the editor must include the
signature, address and phone number
of the writer. Letters exceeding200
words are subject to cutting.
buddie, Mr. Echols (sic).
The letter you refer to from Mr. Echols (sic) dated Feb. 5
is not the full story and your insinuation that my personal
opinions of Echols (sic) got in the way of my judgement is
ridiculous. It’s true, I don’t like Mr. Echols (sic) politics, but
its also true as a taxpayer and a representative of Bellaire
that I do not endorse thru a City Resolution a pig-in-a-poke
Bond Election. To paint me as not caring about Bellaire
flooding problems is an outright lie and you knew it when
you did it. Let me remind you that I and one other (Bill
Parker) inspected the Bellaire storm sewer system two years
ago. I personally wrote Jim Green a letter laying out the
facts of our problems. I voted for a hydrology study for
Bellaire and when it came up with the same conclusion I had
I pushed for and voted for $137,000 in this years city budget
to correct some of those problems.
This Bond Election is a hastily prepared attempt to
promote more growth in Harris County without solving
problems we now have. I suggest to you Jack, that you get
your buddie. Mr. Echols (sic) to work on our existing
flooding, not just another $500,000 study of Braes Bayou,
which apparently duplicates the one completed last year by
the Corps of Engineers.
I also suggest that the next time you want to editoralize
about my Mountains and Molehills you get all the facts not
just the ones that suit you...After all,isn’t that what a good
unbiased reporter is supposed to do?
For the life of me, I don’t know why your usual
professional reporting style became so lacking this time.
Maybe it was a full moon, or your new medication,or just
plain and simple, politics.
BUI Aber
5416 Maple
Bellaire, Texas
dlstinc,|°n between a news report and a column. Jack Gurwell is NOT the edll
of this newspaper. He does not instruct its staff to gather facts In support oi
particular political view Regarding Staff Writer Arlene Battista’s NEV
REPORT on the bond issue, it examined the posture of the Meyerland Ch
mprovement Association. The Bellaire side of the same issue, arguably beyoi
?Iil,8,a''8treport’ was ,rea,ed separately by another reporter w
2IUU?, ?,')! Ah" °" *h,s subject in rather graphic detail. Finally, while t
mythiaH full story is admittedly beyond our reach, we do not shy away fro
available facts, nor do we selectively publish facts according to whom th
might benefit.
Noli metangere
To the editor:
Aw, come on Jack. You know as well as I do that I never
refused to endorse the county bond election. I want all the
facts before me before I make a decision.
I met with J.L. Williams, the county’s prime mover and
treasurer of the campaign for the bond election. We had a
very nice visit. Mr. Williams is a former Bellaire resident
who now lives in the Conroe area. He was of some help to
former Councilman Roy Ramey in getting Feld Park for the
city of Bellaire and the land around it for Gordon School. He
is also a past president of the Greater Bellaire Chamber of
Commerce and the immediate past director of the Houston
Contractors Association. Mr. Williams met with me to give
me a more complete package on the bond election specifics.
Prior to that meeting we had received little information -- all
we had received was on flood control. Mr. Williams gave me
general information on street improvements and land
acquisition and other general county projects. This
information 1 took to City Hall to be included in the rest of
council’s packet.
Last fall the council voted to appoint a Citizen’s Long
Term Improvement Committee. That committee, which
Continued on Page 13
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Nedland-Peterson. The Bellaire Texan (Bellaire, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 24, 1982, newspaper, February 24, 1982; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth647550/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bellaire Friends Library & Historical Society.