Campbell Park – The Original Lampasshole

City Bending Over Backwards To NOT Admit Skate Rats Maybe Trashed Campbell Park Bathroom

The contortions these City bureaucrats will put themselves through to avoid admitting the obvious. Reminds me of the libtards trying to foist Brandon’s inflation on “greedy corporations” or “Putin’s price hikes” – just absurd.

Finley made SURE to throw in there that this “happens frequently” and it takes place at “MANY City facilities”.

Uh. huh.

If that is true, then this is basically an admission that you have done absolutely nothing as vandalism runs rampant in the City. After the first couple of times, you think you might have some cameras hidden around the joint. Hell, I have my entire compound covered in cameras for only a few hundred bucks. So it can’t be about cost. If it’s not about cost, then it must therefore be about retardation on the part of Ward or deGraffenreid. Either that, or the “frequently” and “many facilities” is all bullshit to avoid admitting the skate park might just bring in some bad eggs.

I’ll go with #2.

In fact, I SPECIFICALLY asked the City about the details of this incident, and was told “the incident is still under investigation, which is why no details have been released.“

Uh huh.

Weird, because LOTS of information has been released in the past about other vandalism (Christmas on the Creek, batting cage nets, etc). Releasing some information might even help catch the little fuckers, wouldn’t you think?

As luck has it, I actually was at that very bathroom about two weeks ago as I had to take a massive shit and was in the area. The men’s room was locked, but the ladies room wasn’t. This tells me the men’s room was vandalized at that time. It also tells me that maybe it wasn’t just some graffiti on the walls. Because if it WAS, then the bathroom could still be used. Perhaps it was more severe – like sinks or toilets being broken.

Either way, I don’t remember that Campbell Park bathroom EVER being vandalized since it was put in at a cost of $170,000 almost FOUR YEARS ago – although it WAS broken for a month after the Ice Storm of February 2021.

So to recap:

Campbell Park bathroom sits unmolested for over three years.

Skate Park is opened.

Bathroom closed within the next 6 weeks for vandalism.

You know what might help when they catch him? Plaster his face on the front page of the newspaper, even if he is 12 years old. Make parents pay for double the amount of actual damages done, which might act as a deterrent.

No-Bid $170,000 Bathroom STILL Broken After One Month

My, my. You’d think after wasting $170,000 on an un-needed and rarely-used bathroom (that was NOT put out for competitive bidding), you would AT LEAST take care of the damn thing.

Nope.

Here we are a MONTH after these signs fist appeared and the are STILL there today!

There was a saying in Chicago when people talked about how corrupt and incompetent Mayor Daley was: “At least the trains run on time”. And it’s true. If you get a few things right – like the trains running on time and the garbage being picked up – dummy voters will overlook ALL the other corruption and stupidity and incompetence. But the minute you inconvenience the voter a little bit, they will come after you for ALL of it.

It’s a lesson that City Manager Finley deGraffenreid (who is paid $140,000 per year PLUS big benefits) has not bothered to learn, apparently. I guess Finley is too busy drawing up plans to waste the NEXT $300,000 (Hostess House remodel) to bother taking care of the toys he already has.

Luckily, these $170,000 bathrooms (worth more than most of the houses on the same block) are rarely used – which is why I was so opposed to them in the first place.

NOW, he lets them sit there broken for a MONTH! What a joke.

Luckily we have a chance very soon to clean house on City council. Two council members are retiring and one looooong time substandard member (TJ Monroe) is up for re-election. Let’s be sure to give her the boot and get some new blood in there.

Hurry Up And Wait

Good thing the City rushed out and wasted ~~$158,000~~ $166,315.80 on a NO-BID contract for a small crapper at Campbell Park. The pre-fab dumper was dumped in the parking lot on Jan 21st and there it sits….5 weeks later and STILL not open or hooked up!

The ironic thing is, for the first time EVER (I drive by there almost daily), I counted a ton of people in the park last weekend. And by “a ton”, I mean nine.

Nine poor citizens with bursting bladders being taunted by Finley’s not-quite-finished-$166,315 toilet in the park. Ah Finley, you have a devilish sense of humor. Think of all the fools running up to the door about to crap their pants, and finding it locked!!

Hilarious.

Still not open or hooked up – Feb 25th, 2020

New Bathroom Opens In Park Nobody Uses

Well, it’s not exactly “open” – it was dropped there in prefab form by a crane back on Jan 21st. Which was only one month after Finley originally promised it would be delivered. Pretty quick results compared to the other Finley Follies.

Here we are over two weeks later (and after lots of crowing by City Hall and some Goldfish) and it STILL isn’t hooked up, finished or unlocked yet. Which begs the age-old question: if a bathroom is dropped in a park and nobody can use it…did it really happen?

But don’t worry, the company that received this no-bid contract got their $158,000 check paid in full long before the bathroom was delivered.

Looks like a future Bruce Haywood lawsuit with those narrow doors. Middle door for trannies?

Did I say $158,000? Yes I did…and it will be even higher before it’s finished. I’m guessing some of you readers live in a HOUSE that isn’t even worth $158,000, bro! The park bathroom is worth more than your HOUSE! The house that no doubt (1) also has several toilets (2) has a garage (3) has air conditioning and lights and is probably 5 or 6 times bigger than this public crapper. So let that sink in for a moment.

This half cost the City approximately $80,000

Did I mention that Finley and The seven Goldfish did NOT put this project out for bid? Much like the $96,000 Azbell A/V system debacle. Clearly, the Goldfish learning curve is more like a straight line.

I took a few photos on Jan 25th and 27th, which were gorgeous, unseasonably warm days. Once again….ZERO people in Campbell Park. But hey, we already knew that.

Again….And Again…

Some beautiful and unseasonable December weather, once again! December 13th and 15th (just like December 7th) were the kind of days hundreds of in-shape citizens stream to Campbell Park to throw Frisbees, shoot hoops, eat a picnic lunch, and lament the absence of a no-bid $185,000 bathroom.

Just kidding. This isn’t the 1950s nor is it a Leave It To Beaver town and it is also filled with Lampassholes. So the park looked like this (YET AGAIN):

Then yet again yesterday on a lovely 80 degree Sunday….

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I’m hoping if I show this deserted park enough times, even Spinley will see the pattern and wonder why he blew $185,000 on a bathroom – let alone why he couldn’t be bothered to go out and bid this project.

I guess he can always just grab a few hundred thousand from the electrical fund – like they did recently with “a total transfer of $167,202 from an electric fund surplus. The amendments move $100,000 from the electric fund to the general fund balance“

Isn’t that nice? Grab $167,202 in ‘electric fund surplus‘ and use it to cover all your profligate spending. Just raise electric rates a penny or two every year and…voila! Slush fund.

I really can’t wait to take a nice big dump in the new bathroom. Literally.

Another Gorgeous Day At Campbell Park…With 0 People

Good thing Finley decreed that the City spend $185,000.00 on a no-bid toilet for the park. Just look at all those people with bursting bladders enjoying a beautiful day on Saturday December 7th – around noon.

They already shelled out $158,000 to Restroom Facilities LTD ($83,158 check #153217 and $74,842 check #154306) for the privilege of them dumping a pre-fab building into Campbell Park by crane. Then they’re going to spend another chunk of money hooking it up, apparently.

Funny thing is – I see ZERO prep work going on for this. No foundation has been built, etc. Gonna be hard to reach Spinley’s b.s. target date of “December”. I suppose he could have meant December 2020.

Just look at all the cars in the parking lot!!

ArtoberFest Draws ‘Major’ Crowd – $115 Porta-Potties Easily Handle Bathroom Needs

So I attended ArtoberFest yesterday for the first time ever. Not out of any need to paint my face or eat food truck fare…but rather to further prove my point about the colossal waste of a NO-BID $185,000 bathroom in Campbell Park.

I would peg the crowd at maybe 100 people – and I was there at 2:30 in the afternoon. I guess that would be considered ‘major’ by Lampasas standards. Maybe another 100 moved through there during the day before and after I was there. Point being, the head of the Parks Department chimed in last month that there are “four major events a year there, so we need a bathroom” or something to that effect. My argument is that a couple of Porta-Potties should handle that need just fine – especially when your “huge crowds” of 150 people only happen about 3 to 5 total days a year (or roughly 1% of the time).

The sanitation needs were met by J Bar Sanitary Restrooms – and they were SPECTACULAR! I do not work for J Bar. I have never heard of J Bar until yesterday. But their Porta-potties are the best I have ever seen. No joke. I highly recommend. They were pristine.

And guess what else?? They are cheap as dirt! You can rent one of these for an entire WEEK for $115! That is a steal. Of course, somebody overdid it with FOUR of these things when two would have sufficed yesterday, but whatever. Here is a shot of $460 dollars worth of toilets – it would take over 100 years to spend that same $185,000 on Porta-Potties, by the way:

Extra-large model on the left accommodates those users of Haywoodian proportions

The bathroom I used looked like it hadn’t been used all day – and that was 4.5 hours into the festival. So I’m pretty sure two of these would have sufficed – for a total cost of only about $250 to the city.

But let’s take it a step further! There were about 6 food trucks and 12 other vendors there – which (according to the Chamber of Commerce website) should have brought in close to $1000 in fees from those vendors. Why should the city pay anything at all? Take the $250 from your vendor revenue and voila….a zero-cost, extremely clean bathroom at every ‘major’ event. Bathrooms that are hassle-free and DON’T NEED TO BE CLEANED by the City!!

I realize that my plan outlined above makes logical, rational and economic sense. It is bulletproof and has already been proven to work….which is why Spinley and the Seven Goldfish are ignoring it and instead plowing ahead with the idiotic $185,000 no-bid bathroom [page 67]….a bathroom that will also have to be cleaned by somebody – a somebody who will be on the City payroll [page 73] and reaping tons of benefits that will likely cost the taxpayer $30 an hour.

Spinley assures us that “the Campbell park restrooms should be delivered the first or second week of December“. Of course, he didn’t specify what year the “December” would fall in. Watch for the usual cost overruns and delays in completion like we saw with the Magic Elevator at Old City Hall.

Only in Lampasas can you find dummies who want to spend $185,000 to solve a ‘problem’ that can demonstrably be solved for $0.

Campbell Park Usage Stats

Since the City recently declared we need a no-bid $185,000 bathroom in Campbell Park to handle the hordes of people, I decided to do an informal survey of park usage over the last month. I drive by that area quite a bit and made it a point to pull over and count the people in the park.

Cooper Springs is right across the street, so I looked at that too. Quite frankly, calling Cooper Springs a ‘park’ is a bit of a stretch. It is a big weed patch that the City mows a trail into…and it resembles just about everyone’s backyard if they let it go for a few months. But whatever….there was ONE car at Cooper Springs on the 17th. That was it.

The following shows which day of September and the time I made the observation….and then number is how many people I saw there:

06 3:30pm 2 (teens)
07 2:20pm 0
09 1:15pm 0
12 4:00pm 0
14 7:30pm 0
15 9:30am 0
16 3:15pm 1
17 9:00am 0
19 10:30am 0
26 9:15am 0
26 3:00pm 0
27 7:00pm 5 (2 were kids)
28 2:00pm 0
29 9:00am 0
30 2:00pm 1

Admittedly, this is a small sample size, but it sure doesn’t look good for the ridiculous argument that there are throngs of people using this park and a $185,000 bathroom is a pressing need. A grand total of 9 people.

I counted one person on Sept 16th at Campbell Park – she was just walking down the sidewalk on Hackberry and not actually in the park…but I counted her anyways, since the above table is so pathetic. The guy on the 30th was painting lines on the basketball court, but I’ll count him too, I guess.

The two teens on Sept 6th appeared to be huffing glue from a paper bag but it’s hard to say for sure from a distance.

Look At Those Throngs of People…All Urine-ing For A Restroom

Since the City insists we need a $185,000 no-bid restroom at Campbell Park to handle all the throngs of people, I decided to go see how big the Labor Day holiday crowds were. I happen to drive by Campbell Park all the time and never see a soul. I thought maybe a holiday weekend might be different. Here are three photos from Campbell Park.

Not a SINGLE soul. Not only that, it was the exact same picture at Cooper Springs Park, the tennis courts, the soccer ‘complex’, the 580 Sports ‘complex’, the Riding Arena and W.M Brooks!! NOT A SINGLE PERSON using ANY of these parks. NOT ONE.

Of course, the Parks and Rec Director assures us that Campbell Park has “four big events per year”! Really? Four? What is ‘big’? Forty people? I have two words for you, you numb skulls: PORTA POTTY. Ever heard of them?

Remember these photos when the City is trying to spend hundreds of thousands on more parks amenities because “all the people” want them:

Taxpayers, Hold On To Your Wallets…Finley Utters “BuyBoard” Magic Phrase – Will Allow No-Bid $185,000 Bathroom

A $185,000 bathroom? Yes, it is true [page 131 and 132]. The same government that goes out and gets THREE bids for a measly $12,780 worth of stacking chairs for City Council deems it unnecessary to bother with any bids at all for a $185,000 bathroom for Campbell Park.

(I remember the Lampasas Economic Development Corporation going out and getting TWO bids for a crappy $1,500 sign for the “business park” – yet the City doesn’t see any benefit in getting several bids for a $185,000 bathroom – makes total sense, right?).

According to Council packets, the bathroom will be supplied by Restroom Facilities LTD and will be model #B424. I got in contact with this company and asked for a blueprint of the bathroom:

As you can see from the little man in a wheelchair, there is plenty of room for Bruce Haywood’s mobility scooter in there!

It is about 450 square feet with 6 toilets. So you can either look at this as $31,000 per toilet or maybe $400 per square foot. I have a friend selling a mansion in an exclusive suburb of Chicago who is asking right around $400 per square foot and not finding any takers. Makes total sense that a bathroom in a Lampasas park would cost more.

Looked at another way, the City recently told us that the average taxable value of a Lampasas residence increased over 6% last year – from $92,110 to $97,904. Therefore, as of a year ago, you could have purchased TWO HOUSES for the same price as this six-toilet bathroom the city sees fit to purchase without bidding.

Furthermore, a local contractor is donating the pad for this building! That is about $10,000 savings right there – yet the bathroom will STILL cost $185,000?? Impossible.

Pardon my French, but this “BuyBoard” scam is a big pile of bullshit. Every time Spinley utters that word, the taxpayer gets hosed. The last time Finley uttered this magic phrase, a $34,000 A/V system that was properly bid AND AWARDED to Broadcast Works turned into a $95,000 NO BID disaster handed to Azbell Electronics.

Here is a PARTIAL list of stuff that the City has deemed worthy of going out for multiple bids on (all FAR LESS than $185,000):

100 stackable chairs – $12,780 (3 bidders)
Elevator for Old City Hall debacle – $96,000 (ignored by Chris Harrison and $126,000 bid accepted instead) (3 bidders)
A/V system for Old City Hall debacle – $34,000 bid awarded then cancelled and $95,000 no-bid contract awarded to Azbell Electronics (3 bidders originally)
Demolition of Old City Hall – $13,500 (2 bidders)
Sign for ‘business park’ – approx $1,500 (2 bidders)
Concrete/curb work for butterfly sculpture in front of city hall – approx $5,000 (2 or 3 bidders, I forget)
Repairing restroom on the 17th tee box at golf course – $5,200 (two bidders)
Shade structures at 580 Sports Complex – $15,240 (two bidders)
Re-route water and sewer lines – $11,450 (two bidders)
Construct 8-inch water line – $102,439 (two bidders)
Pipe, fittings and manholes for a sewer line – $10,656 (4 bidders)
Resurfacing four tennis courts – $18,060 (4 bidders)
Lighting and electrical for tennis courts (LED) – $9,700 (3 bidders)

And the most ironic of ALL from July 27, 2015 (page 6 and 7):

Mayor Pro Tem Talbert moved to approve the award of bid in the amount of $18,930.00 to Whitley Steel Building Supply for the construction of a Restroom and Concession Facility to include steel package cost, foundation cost and erection cost at the Gavin Garrett Soccer Complex. This was PUT OUT FOR BID and THREE bidders responded (high bid was over $25,000)

So a mere four years ago, these exact same people thought it WAS wise to put a restroom out for bid – and the low bid was accepted at $18,930.

NOW, they decide on a NO-BID $185,000 restroom.

THIS is the kind of egregious wasteful spending the City does ALL THE TIME. It also explains why they are now looking to jack up tax rates, electricity rates and water rates to balance their budget. Absolutely disgusting. Misty Talbert….a drunken sailor indeed!!

I really have to wonder whose nest is getting feathered when I see absolute idiocy like this.