High and dry

I went to the New Braunfels city council meeting tonight, to speak against some of the ordinances they're considering which put restrictions on people floating the Comal and Guadalupe rivers inside the city limits. Imagine my dismay when I arrived early to learn they didn't have a sign-up for speakers, nor did they have time blocked out at the beginning of the meeting for public comment as the Comal ISD school board does. Instead, public debate opens as each item is brought up. And the river ordinances were pretty far down the list. To top it off, there were five or so ordinance--if you rose to speak about one, you couldn't include the others in your commentary. You had to literally get up and speak five times if you wanted to talk about all five.

This presented me with a problem, since I had to pick up my daughters from CCD class at church at 7:30 p.m. So I waited. And waited. Until Mayor Bruce Boyer mercifully moved the ordinances in question up to the front of the docket, much to the approval of the standing room only crowd who'd gathered to address the issue.

A consulting/architectural firm hired to study the issue of fencing Hinman Island Park gave a PowerPoint presentation about the options the city had, since the fencing issue was the first of the ordinances up for consideration. I was opposed to the concept initially, but have to admit I was almost completely won over by the pragmatic and proactive approach they took for the project. Instead of fostering a bunker mentality, the real possibility exists that the fencing and other improvements would be a boon for the park, which hasn't had any infrastructure upgrades in more than 20 years. The city Parks Board also delivered a statement in support of the plan, with the caveat that there was great concern 1) funding from the project must not come from already-strained parks budgets, 2) the fencing could create the temptation to charge admission and 3) the fencing could be used to deny New Braunfels residents use of the park, which is their right as taxpayers. Then they opened the floor to public comment.

It was 7:20 by this time, so I seized my only chance. I apologized for my rush, but explained that I had to pick up my daughters. I then explained that I no longer qualified as a "young whippersnapper" and my concerns weren't prompted by any MySpace mobilization--references to some disparaging comments made by a councilmember regarding the negative reactions the ordinances have generated. To my relief, these got good chuckles from the room. I then, in more or less clumsy verbiage, explained that while I wasn't opposed to all ordinances governing river use, I did have a significant problem with those that adversely impacted residents and their use of the river through misguided efforts to control the actions of a rowdy minority. I said I didn't want my family's good behavior punished to get at the bad behavior of others--and that's what the more controversial ordinances do, punish everyone equally, regardless of guilt or innocence. I also reiterated that while some of these might look good to council members on paper, the ordinances smack of being written by people with little or no firsthand experience of actually floating the rivers--if they had, then they'd understand why something as seemingly innocuous as ice chest restrictions are generating so much opposition as being onerous and burdensome (and in all honesty, I didn't even know coolers were made as small as a six-pack size until the ordinances brought up the issue). I ended by asking the council to strongly reconsider their support for any ordinance that oversteps and impinges on the rights of New Braunfels residents in a misguided effort to crack down on rowdy elements. Of course, I didn't say it as clearly or concisely as that--I think much better when I write than when I speak--but I was surprisingly rewarded with a wave of applause from the gathered crowd as I left.

As of this writing, I can't tell if any of the controversial ordinances have passed or not. Only one, the preliminary approval to move ahead with fence preparations, had come up for a vote (it passed, which is fine by me) and made it onto the news sites. I'll have to wait to read it in the morning's paper like everyone else, I suppose. But I believe at least two of the council members were uncomfortable with the scope of the ordinances, and I hope my words helped to persuade them as much--if not more--than all the college students who'd shown up lugging ice chests to make their point later on.

Fingers are crossed.

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