Deja vu

I’m baaaack.

It’s been a quiet new year, and I am done sitting shiva for Mayor Frank.

So, what do we have here now in Copperas Cove?

A new mayor, a throwback to Ye Olde Days of 15 years ago. Before she was defeated by Odie O’Dwyer, and we all know what happened to Odie…another tale, another day, but a funny one I’ll have to remind us of, especially prior to election time. Filing opens in July, y’all!

So, what DO we have here?

No city manager, more than 14 months and counting, without any candidates being offered to the public to see that the council is getting done what they’ve elected.

So, what in the world has the council been doing with all the foot-dragging going on?

We have one councilman, Sorry-Charlie Youngs, who at the April 2, 2019 meeting wanted to give the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce more hotel occupancy tax funds than was legal to give. He voted AGAINST giving them a lesser amount “on principal” because he wanted to give them more. 

(Never mind that the chamber came asking for funds outside of the time period the city asked for groups to apply. ALREADY ASKING TO BE AN EXCPETION TO THE RULE!! Y’all, when it this going to stop? Let’s just scrap rules and do what we want anyway!)

Why was Charlie’s request illegal, you may ask?

Well, according to the state hotel occupancy tax code, municipalities that collect hotel occupancy tax may only distribute 15 percent for promotion of the arts.

The majority of those funds already doled out to other organizations who played by the rules and applied for funds at the right time.

By giving the chamber the full amount requested for Rabbit Fest (which somehow promotes the arts) the Copperas Cove city council would have been acting illegally.

Something Charlie evidently wanted to do anyway.

But don’t forget --- he’s already acted illegally, not once, but TWICE since being elected to office two years ago.

Let’s revisit, read up for a refresher

A little more than one year ago, I posted about this. Please, read, refresh your memory as I did mine just now:

http://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/04/sorry-not-sorry-charlie.html

And yet NO ONE, save a former councilman, has had the stones to call him out on it.

Do we really want council members elected to office who act illegally, and continue  to do so?

But, I guess if he says he’s sorry, it’s okay.

Let’s start doing that for all lawbreakers.

I mean, if they didn’t really mean anything bad by it, let’s just look the other way.

We need council people with the intestinal fortitude to stand up to bullies and those who insist on their way, and doing what they want, when the want.

But, given the current climate, Curmudgeon predicts we’ll head backwards 15 years.

Ah, lovely deja vu.  

It’s almost open filing time for HOT funds again. I predict the chamber of commerce will revisit its quest to get the lion’s share of funding again, “like things used to be.”