--a) short term solutions taking precedence over long term strategy (the creation of a bayfront master plan is good enough; don't bother executing that master plan) and the current population paying for the sins of the past
--b) the quick acceptance of limitations (no new school--it's simply not an option)
--c) the failure to budget maintentance (see the condition of our parks, the coliseum, weed-grown medians and ditches, etc.)
You can read the whole blog here.
CCISD, among other issues, has a maintenance issue. It seems that taking care of the facilities is an afterthought--a squeaky wheel problem. Doesn't the Memorial Coliseum issue boil down to being a maintenance issue, too? How does a structure so prominent on the most important street in town become so run down? The Memorial Coliseum didn't grow up out of the ground like a pimple that we suddenly needed to pay attention too.
News flash: New buildings and facilities will need a new roof, have its lawn cut and watered, need an occasional sheetrock repair, and a new coat of paint someday.
Without all of that, any city facility will be at the same level of disrepair as the Memorial Coliseum. But surely after living through the Memorial Coliseum issue we would never make the same mistake again, right?
I remember being part of Leadership Corpus Christi Class #XXXIII. (LCC is a great program that you should apply for click.) Every class must complete a class project that the class chooses. Our class chose to erect a monument to those who fought and continue to serve in the Global War on Terrorism
Here it is in the context of Sherrill Park (which prior to LCC, I really had no knowledge of)
The point of showing you this, besides confirming how incredible I am, is to tell the story of why it isn't more. Our class originally wanted to erect the same thing with a base that allowed the globe to 'float' on a current of water and spin. Maybe you've seen them at Disney, etc. We, most likely, could have raised the funds to create that element, but the agreement with CC Parks and Rec was that we provide the structure and they'd maintain. They couldn't afford to maintain it given that water elements in our area have many hidden maintenance costs -- CC is the most corrosive outdoor environment in the country.
So we didn't do it. We had the foresight to sacrifice end result for long term maintenance. Man, that water element would have been cool.
So why was a committee of 30 city gov't novices able to grasp this concept? Surely those 'in charge' would never DUPLICATE THE COLISEUM issue? Well, they tried to. Who knows the intricate maneuvers of the newer ABC center and the city? It's admittedly difficult to get your mind around. But this article in the caller suggests that we are working as hard as we can to shoot ourselves in the foot one more time.
City Considers American Bank Center Repair Fund
Read the whole article so as not to take anything I excerpt out of context.
“A building gets 5 years old, and things start needing to be repaired,” he said.
“What we don’t want is to have a facility that deteriorates.”
Uh...yeah!
The arena opened five years ago and warranties on different building parts are
expiring, Assistant City Manager Margie Rose said.
Novel concept. These warranty expirations weren't surprises, surely.
The only solution I can think of is to begin admitting defeat. We are simply a 4A town and we can't afford cool new stuff.
If someone at CCISD or the city would say out loud "We can't have XX because we simply can't afford it" rather than maneuver funds to create things we can't long term maintain, then perhaps that would jump start a real dialouge about the deeply rooted aspects of this city that are retarding progress. That are keeping us back in a way that all of those cities we can never admit that WE ARE JEALOUS OF have thrown off.
Our median income isn't high enough to attract real quality of life elements and growth industry? Let's say it out loud, and get the best minds in the city on those issues and solve them.
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