BRC Recommendation - Does Anyone Know What It Actually Is?
Here some information from a citizen who wishes to remain anonymous (I don't even know who it is - came from "Cibolo No Name" email address):
Over the past few weeks much has been debated on what the Blue Ribbon Committee endorsed / recommended and what they did not.
Council has tried to pin much of the reason we are where we are today on the BRC and use the memorandum from the chairperson and vice chairperson that was in the council’s agenda packet as their evidence. (Realize that the City Manager wrote the actual memorandum although it was signed by the BRC leadership.) Many supporters state that the BRC recommended a feasibility study AND a signed contract to move forward with the project. As of this week 3 members of the BRC have come forward to state they did NOT vote in favor of a contract and only voted in favor of pursuing the toll road as one of many options and moving forward with a feasibility study. No contract.
With all this being said, many people have not actually listened to are the BRC chairman’s actual words and the words of our mayor and of former councilperson Jim Doty who had some reservations about the what the council was agreeing to during that June 14, 2016 meeting. The link to that meeting can be found HERE
To make it easier for everyone to focus on the question at hand, there are two clips presented below.
If you look closely, you will see that no one in the audience had a copy of the BRC memorandum in their hands nor is it presented on the screen. So, it can be assumed that everyone present is hearing the words like everyone else other than the council people and city staff.
So, after listening to the words and reading the memorandum, you will notice the difference. This leads to a few big questions for the electorate to understand how our councilmembers and toll road supporters think, especially those that are up for election this year.
Respectfully, (1) Simply, what did you believe that the BRC was recommending after listening to the BRC chairman’s words and reading the recommendation in your agenda packet?
(2) Why didn’t any of the council persons at hand question the difference between what the BRC was recommending on paper versus what the BRC chairman said? Did you notice the difference? Were you paying attention to the memorandum or the words being spoken?
(3) What did each council person at hand think they were agreeing to?
Now we as citizens understand that everyone is busy and it may take time to get responses - and there will be a feeling that lack of response equates to an attempt to hide their thoughts.
