OOOOHHHHHH – the natives are getting very restless. I don’t blame them. I blame past mayors and City council members. Morons like Misti Talbert, Chuck Williamson, TJ Monroe, Finley deGraffenreid, Ryan Ward and the LEDC have been pushing the “growth at any cost” narrative for years now.
[Between 2012 and 2015, the City added just under 16 houses per year. Between 2016 and 2020 that number jumped to over FORTY per year. I have not seen the data for 2021 or 2022]
Here is the result:
Not only have they NOT been hitting new houses with impact fees to pay for future water infrastructure, they have been HANDING OUT SUBSIDIES to builders for years now.
Of course, I have been harping on this point forever. Instead of listening to my wisdom, idiots like Talbert scoffed at me as a “keyboard warrior.”
TJ Monroe and Chuck “The Vampire” Williamson EVEN VOTED TO WAIVE BUILDING PERMITS FOR STONE VALLEY (March 29, 2019)!
Incentives Approved For New Subdivision
That idea ultimately failed, but the equally stupid idea of waiving $72,000 in electrical hookup fees for Deorald Finney was implemented. It was all part of Misti’s plan to “grow the tax base.” Of course, the more they “grow the tax base” the more expensive it gets for all of us, so I am wondering what the point is at all? So we can pay Finley deGraffenreid $160,000 instead of $150,000? So we can hire even more useless turds to populate City hall and cost the taxpayer over $110,000 per year, like Stacey Ybarra?
Oh, and don’t forget the best part! The $7 million “Business Pork” project that will supposedly draw even MORE people here to work! Ryan Ward and Stacey Ybarra got grilled by Ron Witcher a few months ago and Witcher actually asked where all the labor was going to come from to work there?
Ward’s answer?
Witcher: “I wonder…does Lampasas have the labor…for these businesses“
Ryan Ward: “You know, that’s kind of an interesting thought…we have to reach further out…you hope you can find enough work force…to hire more staff…and that’s always the first priority…not only that there is housing…how are we developing those housing communities? But the growth is coming here…”
So don’t worry about all the people we will have to import to work in the Business Pork, we will just “develop the housing communities” more and “add more rooftops” as Finley likes to say. I doubt Finley gives a fuck about any of this. As soon as he retires this year, he’ll take his oversized pension and move to another place and leave us holding a big bag of shit….just like Mike Talbot did back in 2006!