The Daily News - Serving Galveston County since 1842

Letters for January 25, 2012

A Houston nonprofit is offering to help raise the money to move the historic Ghirardi oak, which is threatened by a project to widen a road in League City. Trees for Houston also is offering to donate $10,000 of its own cash.

History Should Stay Intact In LC

I grew up on the west end of a League City less divided by neighborhoods and more by “new” and “old.”

Driving past “old” St Mary’s, always reminded me, that even in our differences, we would stick together. I was sure of that then. I’m not sure anymore.

In the late 1990s, a strange thing happened. League City imported a false sense of history, as if what we already had wasn’t enough.

We would stop calling it “Old League City” and call it “The Historic District” as if the history that happened in those “other cities’ houses” mattered a whit to us.

Here stands a tree, A Hundred Year Oak in the “City of Live Oaks.”

Only somehow, it is less important than an easement, convenience store, or whatever malarkey is proposed in its place. Nothing can take its place.

I remember the pecan groves, too. And not just the neighborhood named for them.

Am I surprised that the Ghirardi Compton Oak is in danger? No. It seems like business as usual, and things gone horribly awry somewhere.

Things that perhaps should be fixed unless League City is content to become “The City of Formerly Live Oaks.”

Carrie C. Scott
Webster

Don’t Move Those City Elections

I read that the League City charter review advisory committee was considering a recommendation to move city elections to November (“League City considers moving elections to Nov.,” The Daily News, Jan. 17). This would be a big mistake.

Combining city elections with county, state and national elections would automatically create partisan city elections, as in Houston.

You’d have Republican city council candidates running against Democratic city council candidates.

Hopefully, the voters will not allow this to happen.

John Knox
Kemah

HUD Is Fighting A Losing Battle

On Jan. 15, I read the article by Publisher Patrick Graham on a possible U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development enforcement action against Galveston (“Island dangerously close to a possible enforcement” The Daily News). Graham said “HUD views a defeat of the Housing Authority’s plan for tax credits as an effort not to comply with the Conciliation Agreement.”

If that is the case, why didn’t HUD file a lawsuit against Galveston when it rejected the mixed-income housing development in November?

The city council actually rejected the entire plan on that vote.

The reason HUD officials did not file a lawsuit — they believed they could back door the money through another channel and through the Houston-Galveston Area Council; they did.

If city council voted down the tax credits for this mixed income sites, HUD threatened to file a Fair Housing Act lawsuit against Galveston and it would try to stop the Hurricane Ike funds from coming to the city.

Please, I beg HUD to file a lawsuit. Finally, we can see HUD defeated by trying to put the poorest people in our county in the middle of a flood zone, in the poorest census tracks in the county, where there are no jobs and guaranteed generational poverty.

No federal judge will allow this to happen. The only one who thinks this is a good idea is our Mayor Joe Jaworski and those pocketing millions on the backs of the poor.

This is an empty threat by HUD.

Richard Denson
Galveston

Diversity Will Improve Island

I live in the San Jacinto neighborhood, a “scattered site” area where we have diverse housing and a very diverse population.

I chose this community because of its diversity, and I fully support the Galveston Housing Authority’s plans to develop scattered site affordable housing in Galveston.

I urge other readers to study the issue and support this plan to improve our city.

E.T. Anderson
Galveston

Animal control officers with Texas City and Galveston County forced open the doors of Whiskerville Animal Sanctuary Inc. in Texas City after receiving complaints the cats inside were being neglected. A Daily News editorial said: “The story about Whiskerville is tragic, but the private, no-kill animal shelter and its owner, Wydell Dixon, deserve a second chance. ... Putting one more private shelter out of business is not going to help resolve the larger problem.”

Whiskerville Felines Neglected

I have followed the story of Whiskerville with interest, as I volunteer at the Galveston Island Humane Society (socializing cats) and I have three rescue pets of my own — two cats and a dog. I have been in Galveston almost four years and knew nothing about this private shelter, its owner or community history.

But the one thing that jumps out of every piece of local reporting is the fact that only one to two persons were involved in the daily care of close to 200 living little creatures. That seems to me to be an unrealistic ratio of caregiver to animal.

The Whiskerville cats that I’ve tended to at our GIHS were either starved for human contact, smelled really bad, were matted and unkempt, terrified of people, very overweight or a combination of all. Any of these conditions signal neglect on some level to me. It might not have been intentional, but the cats were suffering nonetheless and deserve better.

Harriett Hoffman
Galveston

The city of Galveston has about $4 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, Federal Transit Administration grants and some insurance money to replace the tracks and rebuild the trolleys.

Trolley Ridership Has Been On Decline

Your article about the Galveston trolleys by Amanda Casanova (“Charming trolleys,” The Daily News, Jan. 14), reminded me of a letter I wrote to you on July 1, 2009, about the trolley system.

That article stated the ridership for the year ending Aug. 2008, was 22,069.

The article dated Jan. 14, 2012, stated ridership for 2007 was 31,457; 38,859 (2006); and 43,261 (2005) — a steady decline over those four years

The trolleys are not, and have never been, a system for moving people from one location to another — like work.

They travel around on a closed loop so you end up where you began. The ridership was only about one hundred persons per day, and most of the time the cars were empty.

It’s time to quit deluding ourselves and shut this money pit down.

Louis Pauls Jr.
Galveston

Revamping Island’s Trolley Is Good Step

With Galveston’s projected growth due to the port expansion, University of Texas Medical Branch, Tilman Fertitta’s entertainment centers and Texas A&M’s School of Maritime, all modes of transportation will be needed to move people to and from in the near future.

Galveston’s trolley system and horse drawn carriages are a mainstay and attraction for the island.

If you want to make tourism Galveston’s main economic adjustment, then you must take the necessary steps to accomplish this end.

Revamping Galveston’s trolley system is a positive step in this direction.

Dwight Burns
Dickinson

Island Cruise Ships Practice Safety

In reference to the Costa Concordia ship that ran aground in Italy: My prayers are with those who have lost loved ones in that accident.

May I assure those that have not sailed from Galveston that both Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships never set sail without first having an emergency drill to make certain passengers know where to go in case of an emergency.

Last Sunday, due to fog, both Mariner of the Seas and Magic were delayed returning, due to the port being closed to protect passengers and ships.

I was on board the Mariner with family and was so impressed with how the crew handled the closure.

They kept us informed, fed, entertained and most of all safe.

Joy Berends
Galveston

What’s With The Republican Party?

I attended the candidate forum at the Dickinson V.F.W. and would like to say thanks to the folks who sponsored it. You did a good job. After thinking about it, it occurred to me that if it wasn’t for the veterans we would not have a right to such a public meeting. Thanks again.

While listening to the Republican candidates, it just floored me that they would start off with how they are all for “smaller government” and how they are going to save tax money by cutting programs, but finished off with all the programs they would implement. This does not add up. If you cut some programs and add other programs, where is the savings? How is that making the government smaller? In short, they’re not saving us anything; they just want to get elected. They have gotten completely away from the so called “conservative Republican way.”

According to the dictionary, “conservative” means 1.) no change, disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc. or to restore traditional ones and to limit change. 2.) cautiously moderate or purposefully. The dictionary also states that “liberal” means change (favoring gradual reform, especially political reforms that extend democracy, distribute wealth more evenly and protect the personal freedom of the individual.)

The Republican party is so riddled with Democrats that have switched over just to get elected that no one seems to really know anymore what Republicans originally stood for.

L. Davied Bond
Bacliff

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