Southwest corner of Rancier and Roy Reynolds

I'm glad to see that something will be done with the large tract at the far north-east corner of Killeen's city limit.  As long as I've lived here (and it's a good long time), that lot has been weed-grown and ugly.  The current owner, First National Bank, proposes to sell it to Gary Purser, Jr. for development into a mixed commercial and "garden-home" neighborhood.

I'm not of the "what the Pursers want is OK" camp, but this seems a win-win scenario.  Affordable (in terms of military pay)  housing is increasingly at a premium in this area, and what is proposed for this tract should go a way towards addressing that problem.  If Gary can make a profit on it, more power to him.

I am concerned about the building code exceptions that Purser is requesting, however.  My preference is that we allow no variations -- it's such  slippery slope.  If there is a valid reason for the exceptions, it was not presented at Tuesday's city council workshop.  My recommendation is that the City Council reject any exception to established building guidelines unless the builder presents a clear and compelling case.

Ebola contact in Belton

It's reported that a Belton High School student was on the Cleveland-to-Dallas flight with the second Ebola victim.  If so, he or she has probably since been in contact with at least one  Killeen ISD student.

My reaction: I don't care.  Teaching as normal tomorrow.  Fear is misdirection.

AUSA meeting

Thanks to the Killeen Daily Herald for their lead editorial today on the money being spent to send local "representatives" to the AUSA meeting in Washington, DC.  I don't have a lot to add. AUSA is a worthwhile organization. It has tangential relevance to the Killleen area.  Sending 68 people to its convention on the east coast is boondoggle.

Light pollution in Killeen

It's after midnight, and  a clear night. Go outside and look up at the sky.  If you live south of Stan Schuleuter Looop, you may see some stars.  If you live closer to the old core of the town, you may see Vega or Venus or Jupiter, but mainly you'll be looking at haze caused by lights on Fort Hood.  Is there a reason for Killeen light pollution?  Or is it just old thinking never rethought?  I know I can go 10 miles south of the Lampasas River and see the Milky Way in its glory.  Why can't I even see Orion in the north Killeen sky?

Make vs. buy vs. lease

I need to avail myself of City Manager' Morrison's long-standing offer to educate me on how the city makes decisions about capital purchases.  It's my fault:  I just haven't made the time, and he's offered his.

Here's the question:  The city needs X -- a piece of software, a backhoe, office space .... How do we decide as a city whether we should

• Make or build X ourselves
• Buy X outright
• Lease X?

It's a fundamental financial question.  Every organization faces it, and making the right decision can have large financial impact.

Like most financial questions, the answer depends on the availability and cost of capital; the organization's risk aversion; and historical and political considerations.  The important thing is to have a process for analyzing  each case and a way to evaluate, over time, whether the organization has been making good decisions.

My main reason for bringing the subject up is that, based on the lack of questions I hear asked at City Council Workshop sessions, I doubt whether there are any elected officials who concern themselves with these issues.  If there are good processes in place, that won't matter in the short term, but it might in the long run.

Are groceries political?

I stopped at the new Walmart "Neighborhood Grocery" across from Harker Heights HS tonight.  They seemed to be doing a booming business.  But I left without buying anything  The produce was unappealing and prices were just enough higher than HEB's to irritate me.  The employees were grim-faced and looked harassed, which probably is explained by opening-week jitters.

The market will decide if Walmart succeeds against entrenched HEB, IGA, KMart, Target, and OMA stores in Killeen.  But there is a local political aspect to the grocery wars.  Walmart wants to open a second "neighborhood grocery" at 38th and Rancier in Killeen.  It's in an area that is a couple of miles from the big HEB and Walmart stores and which is served mainly by an aging IGA in the Eastlake shopping center and an aged HEB at 8th and Rancier.  The area, while not depressed, is not thriving, either: some of the least-livable areas of Killeen are within a 2 mile radius of the proposed location.

So we ought to be happy and excited about this development, right?  Probably, but maybe not.  Here are some concerns (and I think some of them rise to the level of political concerns) about a Walmart grocery coming to north Killeen:

• Walmart is not a good neighbor.  The chain has a reputation of not playing nice and of raising prices in areas where their stores gain dominance.  Towns and neighborhoods where Walmart becomes the dominant vendor are rarely described as "better off" than they were before the takeover.
• Walmart has a reputation for costing a community more than they bring to it.  With great success comes great power, and, apparently, low wages and government assistance for employees.
• Walmart exploits workers, both domestically (especially where the become the dominant retail vendor) and internationally.
• It will be great if Walmart's coming means we have more choices on the north side of town -- HEB, IGA and Walmart -- but what if it instead reduces the choices, to Walmart and HEB, or Walmart alone?  I don't see this increasing the quality of life for citizens of the 1st and 2nd wards.