The packet for the next LEDC meeting is up. And while there are still ZERO tenants and ZERO prospects for the $7.1 million dollar sandbox Business Pork Project, there ARE some “prospects” for new businesses opening in town.
HTeaO – a chain store that sells tea, apparently. I had never heard of them but apparently there is one in Killeen.
Anytime Fitness – A chain of gyms. I frankly don’t see that making it here. But then again, I go to the gym during off-hours so maybe there are more gym fanatics here than I give credit for. Again, another chain with a location in Cove already.
Trailblazer Grille – yet another chain. Well, two locations in Burnet and Llano. Never heard of it. Menu looks decent.
Red Barn – yet another chain (storage places). God knows we don’t have enough of those around here! Why don’t you people just SELL your old shit rather than paying $130 a month to store it for years? Again, a location exists in Killeen
[It also says “apartment buildings 1000+” but I have no idea what that means. The population of this entire town is maybe 7,500, so I can’t believe anyone would build 1000 units. Then again, Talbert and the other clowns are giving away tons of money to try and bring as many Austin assholes here as possible to ruin the place, so anything is possible.]
What do all of these have in common? Well, they are all just franchises expanding into new territory. That has been happening for 100 years WITHOUT the help of an “Economic Development Director” like Stacey Ybarra [salary $85,000 and benefits $30,000 paid by taxpayers]. In the small town I grew up in during the 1970s and 1980s, we had lots of franchises move in and thrive…and the whole “economic development director” scam hadn’t been invented yet. Gee, how did we EVER get by??
The most amusing part of it all is that Stacey Ybarra has NEVER worked in the private sector – and has never run a business. So what gives her any special powers to perform this “job”?
It reminds me about the old joke about salt keeping tigers away:
An old man walked out onto his front porch and threw a handful of salt into the yard every morning. Finally a neighbor asked why he did this. He answered “to keep the tigers away.”
The neighbor looked at him and said “sir, there aren’t any tigers around here.”
The old man said, “see? It works.”
Get the joke? It’s the LEDC. Any time a business moves into town, the implication is that it is thanks to the hard work and skill of the LEDC and the Economic Development Director – as if the EXACT same thing wouldn’t have happened if we DIDN’T have an EDD on the payroll at $115,000 per year cost to the taxpayer.