Red LIghts Redux - It's About the Money

There is a long-standing rule in journalism: Follow the money. In this case, the Dallas Morning News notes that the Denton Record-Chronicle and Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported problems with red light cameras in several cities, including findings from Texas A&M University’s Transportation Institute. The bottom-line is that these Orwellian enforcement tools don’t necessarily make roads safer. They change the type of accidents and make cities richer.

In other words, the selling point that closes the sale is greed, for both the companies selling the technology and the cities buying it. Safety, like “national security,” is just one more shibboleth for the governing class to find a way to raise money. Amarillo’ City Council has been adept at this during the last few years. The five-member walk-in-lock-step cabal approved the red light cameras and then expanded the use despite the Texas A&M University Transportation Institute findings. And, they accepted misrepresentations of hearings by the chairwoman of the city’s Transportation Commission on the cell phone ordinance.

Arlington is facing a petition drive that may be successful in killing off the cameras. Other cities, Houston, Lubbock and College Station have already banned them. The odds aren’t good in Amarillo for such action because the City Council made it more difficult to place things on a ballot. Of course, the council did so with the predictable help from those who didn’t bother to understand and voted their own interests.

It is one more case of getting the government we deserve.

Connect the dots, people.

I have waited all day for someone to point out how unethical the Globe-News can be by not fully disclosing information. In today's editorial, the fifth-rate media outlet takes the city of Amarillo to task to failing to replace lights at the Interstate 27-Interstate 40 interchange.

The editorial fails to make clear that the city has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Texas Department of Transportation in which the city maintains the lights within the city. And, further, the city has a contract with Xcel Energy for the privately owned utility to carry out that work. And, that utility has also garnered extensive profits from the downtown development and will continue to suckle at the Amarillotaxpayer teat when — it’s a foregone conclusion, folks — the company’s new building gets favorable treatment from the TIRZ and AEDC.

Connect the dots, people.

Happy 2015

New Year wishes for good fortune, prosperity and happiness are cascading down my Facebook newsfeed this morning. And, so, I return those sentiments as I muse about the year past and the upcoming one.

First, I note, without self-critique or judgment, that it’s been about 2½ months since my last posting to The Amarillo Independent blog site, which is now my personal blog. I chalk up my absence in part to the rigors of retirement — or semi-retirement. Those rigors include a 5,000-mile road trip that took us to Massachusetts to celebrate Thanksgiving with my contribution of kids-grandkids to our extended family; and a return paralleling the Appalachians to see my brother and sister-in-law in South Carolina. Blogging along the way would have, on one hand, taken time away from the activities during the journey; then, blogging would have helped document more of the trip, some of which is a bit of a blur. In addition, I am chary about any posting that indicates we are on the road lest we make our home vulnerable to miscreants. And, I hope that I will have future conflicts about whether to post while traveling because I hope to increase traveling.

I am, however, dealing with another conflict. Writing to blog or post elsewhere reflect an engagement in current or civic affairs. Some days I ask myself, “why bother?”

Clearly, the struggle suggests I feel something to contribute to the discussion; but, it also indicates that I am not sure what I contribute matters or makes a difference. And, even if I could “make a difference,” why should I care? One of my main goals these days is to keep my blood pressure down in order to protect my heart and my eyesight. Getting riled up about what happens in the political realm does nothing to contribute to my equanimity or to my overall health. Nor do the intemperate remarks that sometimes surface through political and religious discussions.

But staying engaged is important. Keeping up and staying mentally active is healthy. It may keep senility at bay. And, staying engaged and contributing to the civic dialogue supports one of my core values of United States citizenship.

If I post, I’ll tweet it and post it to the Independent and personal Facebook pages.

Meanwhile, I repeat, I hope those who see this have a wonderful 2015 — and many more great years to come.