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I, like a lot of Amarillo people, live off of Coulter street.
For the last year and a half, I have had to contend with the "Road Crew
from Hell."
The loud noises, the screwed up detours and driveways, the backed-up traffic,
the mud....
It´s hell on my car´s suspension, and worse on my patience. After
talking with some people the other day, I found out that I am not the only one
sick of it. That gave me an idea. The next day I started a petition to cease and
desist any further construction on Coulter. In all fairness, the "Road Crew
From Hell" can finish what they have screwed up but they will no longer be
allowed to tear anything else up. Guess what? 500 people signed my petition.
500 people. That technically means that 500 people were just as upset over the
whole Coulter thing as I was. After that realization, I began to wonder if
THAT´S why the cameras have been positioned at the intersections along
Coulter; are they there to record any possible violent crimes committed by fed-up
west-side drivers? Are the cameras posted there to keep people from driving their
cars into the road crew?
I never really bought the whole "light-timing" explanation the city gave
us for those cameras, did you? Anyway, now that I have the 500 names on my
petition, I will be going to City Hall. Hopefully by next week we will have our street
back. If you would like to add your name to the petition....
Don´t bother because it´s not true.
Apparently however, it´s that easy to get something done here in Amarillo.
Enter the "Friends of San Jacinto."
A few weeks ago, a silly piece of paper with only 200 or so names came across
the desk of City Officials wanting to do away with 6th Street block parties and
similar activities including Harleys and live music. DO YOU RECOGNIZE THESE
PEOPLE? They are the same people that I warn you about in every column! They
are the people that will steal everything good in Amarillo if you let them. 200
names??? Come on! On any given day or night, there are AT LEAST 300 people
on 6th street in the bars and restaurants. Start a NEW petition saying that YOU
want to keep the good things on 6th. REPEAL!!!
In all fairness I should add that one news source claimed that there was 250
names on the petition. However I WANT TO KNOW….. of the 250 people that
signed the petition, how many people were asked to sign? Who´s to say
that these people didn´t ask over 1,000 people to sign it and only
received 250 names? I´m not saying that this is what happened,
I´m just saying I want to know how many people were asked to sign.
How many people were asked and refused to sign it? How many of these people
were homeowners? How many of these people lived outside the San Jacinto
area? These are all questions that no one asked. Get involved in this one folks.
If you don´t, you WILL lose 6th Street. Next time they will try to take
away Polk Street.
One thing that we DO know, is that some of the names on the petition belonged
to shop-owners along 6th. In addition, a lot of those shop keepers don´t
feel like they got what they wanted out of the deal. Some of those shop
keepers now want to remove their names from the petition.
Here´s what they DID get…..
I can understand why the shopkeepers would have a problem with ONE of these
issues, the charging of admission. I would be pretty upset if I lost potential
customers because he or she didn´t want to pay $10 to come into my
store. The City announced that the parties could continue, but one has to
wonder how many people will go to a Block Party with a "prohibition"
rule in effect. I predict that they will start calling them "Block
Get-togethers."
As a lot of you know, one reason for the Block Parties is to raise money FOR
6th street.
During her tirade, Friends Of San Jacinto President Rosalee Robinson (responsible
for the petition) announced to the public that Block Parties on 6th caused a loss
of $15,000 in 2001, and didn´t understand why they (the 6th street
participants) would want to continue with the parties. WHAT???
First off, not all business ventures are profitable, but OH MY GOD, Rosalee, how
very professional of you to make public someone else´s income tax return
to further your own cause! Whose business is it how much 6th Street vendors
make? Why don´t you share YOUR tax information with us?
Second, why do you HAVE to understand why they would want to continue the
block parties? If I´ve said it once, I´ll say it again….. Amarillo
may be a "growing city", but it´s not a "growing-up"
city". PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE ONE OF THE REASONS WHY!!
AND IF YOU THINK YOU ARE GONNA KEEP US DOWN…… GET USED TO
DISAPPOINTMENT!!
But I digress.
The made-up "Coulter petition" and the very real "6th Street
petition" are basically one in the same. Both deal with inconvenience, noise,
and bother. Here´s the deal. The apartment I moved into is off of Coulter
and I-40. I acknowledge that Coulter is one of the busiest streets in Amarillo,
and I-40 is….. well, it´s I-40. If I didn´t want to live around hustle
and bustle, I should have picked a better place to live. The road construction on
Coulter is being done "for the good of the City". No one came and
asked me, or my neighbors if they could tear up the street, they just did it for
the good of the city. We accept that.
6th Street is a nationally treasured highway. Route 66 is notorious for being what
it is. The things that go on there are also for the good of the city. The songs says,
"Get your kicks on Route 66," not "drive down it and be
bored." (This is not a cue for The Friends Of San Jacinto to petition to
change the song lyrics)
The residents that live around 6th Street, knew what it was when they moved
there. For the good of the city, they should accept it. I´ll say it again,
Route 66 is notorious for being what it is. It pains me that the City of Amarillo
just throws problems away, rather than dealing with them. A workable solution
is out there. This petition was taking the easy way out. The fact that no
resolution was even attempted leads several people to believe that this has been
a setup from the start. That or The City Of Amarillo doesn´t care what
you think.
You may think to yourself, "Well it´s not that big of a deal really...."
YES BY GOD IT IS!
People like Rosalee Robinson will not stop until we are all living our lives the way
THEY think we need to live our lives! Brock was afraid that some of his non-6th Street
clients would not approve of his magazine´s stance on this issue. He even
thought that a lot of his non-6th Street clients would support the petitions against
66. To those clients I say this. If you support this woman´s crusade to do
away with 6th Street, someone just like her will come after YOU! In the last month
the Manager On Duty from Sparks Martini Bar was taken to the pokey because
Nathan Taylor & Tall was "too loud." That means someone is already
gunning for Sparks. Midnight Rodeo, YOU are surrounded by residentials….. You other
bars and restaurants in town DO NOT need to add fuel to this fanatic´s fire.
Support a cause that would support YOU, not someone who would just assume see
you go out of business too.
6th Street Patrons I beg you, LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! Don´t let these
sycophants ruin one of the "good things" we have going for us.
Let me hear from you!
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