I have opined previously on how ridiculous it is to try and match Marble Falls when it comes to expenditures [such as Christmas decorations] and paying our government workers [like city managers]. Marble Falls may be close to us in population, but there is about FIVE TIMES as much money sloshing around there. [I calculate this by noting that Lampasas sales tax revenue is around $120,000 to $150,000 per month whereas Marble Falls gets a check for more like $750,000 to $800,000 per month – that is a HUGE difference].
I think we all know this on a gut level. After all, they have not only a Wal-Mart but also a Home Depot AND a Lowes!! Their cup definitely runneth over.
But there is ONE thing we should have tried to copy Marble Falls on and didn’t – and that is their city council chambers. As you see below, it is quite modest…about 30 chairs, a big TV on one wall and a medium sized room.
What did OUR city do when they got this “city council chambers vanity project” in their heads? Sent Monica Wright out to view the city council chambers of Dallas, Austin and Round Rock to “look for ideas”.
Yes, I’m serious. I have that on very good authority.
Dallas and Austin are two of the biggest cities in the entire country and Round Rock is about 20 times bigger than we are. Yeah – makes total sense we would try and copy them – and spend several days driving around to ogle them! Maybe that’s where they got the idea to throw away our puny and embarrassing $34,000 A/V system bid and instead blow almost $100,000 on the “Ferrari of A/V systems” in a chamber with SEVEN TV sets.
In your face Marble Falls!
One of Finley’s talking points to justify this huge expenditure is that city council “needed more room”…but I’m wondering why? When I read every single council minutes for the last 4.5 years, there were rarely more than 20 city employees mentioned as being present. Call it 25, tops….and THAT was rare. Usually it’s more like 12 or 15.
So the “twice the size” new chambers and the “100 stackable chairs for $12,800” must be for all those concerned citizens who show up at the meetings every week, right?
Not exactly.
When a certain city council member was yelling at me that “all you do is bitch and moan like everyone else, but you never come to a meeting”
I then said “so not a lot of people come to the meetings, eh? Like how many show up? Three? Five?”
He said…and I quote…”If we’re lucky”. Having just walked him right into my trap, I asked “if nobody goes, then why do we need this fancy-pants, top-of-the-line, overkill A/V system with $8,600 worth of huge TVs costing almost $100,000.00?”
Bam. No answer for that one.
If Marble Falls tried to match US and blow a ton of money on a brand new city hall and council chambers, they would have to spend almost $8 million dollars and have 30 TV sets for it to be proportionately ridiculous. I’m pretty sure the citizens of Marble Falls would grab their pitchforks and torches and toss a few morons off that big bridge of theirs if they pissed away that kind of dough. And rightfully so.