The issue of the water pumps at Ascarate lake tells us a lot about our county government.
The Times reported back in June that one of the pumps had “depleted” the lake. Actually evaporation depleted the lake, a pump did not drain it. The pump was not working at all.
County commissioners spent $20,000 dollars for a new pump.
Back in the news
Last week we heard about pumps again. We learned:
We have a broken pump
It was installed in 2011 on land that the county does not own
The county has no right to enter the land or to pump water from it
They might have to follow state and local regulations in installing and operating the pump if they ever get permission to use the land and the water. This evidently rankles our county officials–they are with the government after all.
The people responsible for this mess are no longer with the county
There’s the lie
Our county judge was with us in 2011.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Local government incompetence is not limited to just the county. I think that many functions of local government are ripe for outsourcing to the private sector where performance goals can be set and monitored. No performance, no pay. UMC and CH are good places to start, as are IT, Engineering, HR, much of the accounting processes, and I am sure others.
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All you can do is shake your head and laugh. Next Escobar and the other court jesters will want to use eminent domain to take the land on which the pump was wrongly installed. That’s the way the think. I frankly hope that the person who owns the land continues to refuse access.
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I believe that the land owner is the city, through the public service board.
Brutus
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The decision by city council not to provide public restrooms as part of the San Jacinto Plaza improvements also tells you a lot about city government. Spare no expense on some things, but ignore the most basic needs and amenities (if you consider a bathroom an amenity) on others.
So, let me get this right. We want more people to visit downtown, but we do not want to provide restrooms? There’s nothing more miserable than being in a public setting and not being able to find a public restroom. Most businesses also will not allow the public to use their facilities.
The city plans to sell food at the Plaza, but will not provide restrooms, the excuse being that restrooms are not needed for walk-up cafes. So don’t plan on washing your hands before you eat. When your kids start whining about pee-pee or poop, tell them they’ll just have to suck it up and hold it.
We’ll spend more than a hundred million for a ballpark and more on trolleys to take people downtown, but we won’t spend money for restrooms? .
Do they really expect us to believe that no one could build a set of men’s and women’s restrooms for less than $400,000, especially when they are already running water lines for the fountain and the foodservice facility? Or was the cost inflated intentionally to provide an excuse for not providing restrooms? Since we have inspectors on staff, I’m still trying to understand why they claim it would cost $25,000 to test and inspect new restrooms.
I wonder what it’s going to cost to have someone pick up the dirty diapers that will be left in the plaza.
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Their response to the situation is absurd. North of the plaza there is a parking lot with no restrooms. To the east their is a bank (not open on weekends) and an office building. To the west there is a fancy restaurant, a parking garage, and a newly remodeled high rent office building. To the south are boarded up store fronts.
Where could someone use a restroom? Of course they will have to build facilities.
Brutus
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This is what you get from people who claim to be visionaries. They consciously took restrooms out of the plans early on and only chose to re-visit the issue after concerns were raised. Why do I get the feeling that one rep in particular is concerned about homeless people possibly using the restrooms. All of that rep’s big campaign contributors already have their own buildings and private bathrooms downtown.
In the midst of the ballpark debate, that same rep quoted the Bible, saying “Without vision, the people will perish.” Someone should explain to her that without vision, the people will also pee their pants.
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i say let them close down the bathrooms in all 4 of the occupied city hall buildings and let them try to use the nearby restaurants’ facilities for a few weeks….maybe then they’ll get the message.
As for lake…..no friggin water…..no friggin lake…..maybe the county wants all the lake lovers to go downtown to their little splash pads….maybe people can pee there, too.
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$380,000 tax break given without blinking an eye to Whole Foods corporate, yet they vote against spending $400,000 for public restrooms in the redoing of San Jacinto Plaza. Some funny smells emanating from City Hall these days…not to mention shooting a good project in the foot….or maybe a little highter?
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