Mayor responding to citizen concerns

I have to give credit where credit is due. I have recently been critical of the way Hempstead Mayor Michael Wolfe has dealt with people who come to council with complaints and concerns.
I said he was stifling the citizens and apparently ignoring their concerns to push his own agenda. On Monday night, Wolfe demonstrated very clearly that he has been listening. There was a lot of discussion on various issues. He has seen to it that restoration work is being done to headstones in city cemeteries. There was more give-and-take between himself, the council and the audience than usual. His mayor’s comments portion of the meeting addressed many of the issues people have been asking about, including updates by project officials.
On the other hand, Wolfe traveled down a rocky road in pushing for road repairs along 18th Street, right in front of Greater St. Peter’s Baptist Church, which is pastored by Alderman Fred Thomas III. Thomas voted for the street improvements when they first came up earlier this year, which was clearly a conflict of interest.
At Monday night’s meeting his error was caught and Thomas was prohibited from voting on the remainder of the street improvements, which upgrades all of 18th between Rice and Washington streets. That left the council in a tie vote for doing the improvements with Ben Tibbs and Emma Washington voting for it and Katherine Ragston and Patricia Chernosky voting against. Wolfe broke the tie in favor, casting a rare tie-breaker vote.
More than one person has noticed that the road getting fixed benefits Thomas. Several people, especially Ragston and Chernosky, feel other streets should be a higher priority for repairs.
An example that stands out in my mind surfaced last July when council told Alfred Restivo, who lives at 25th Street and Colorado, that he could not put a gate across the city’s easement that runs through the middle of his back yard. When I saw that Colorado was nothing more than a cleared path through the woods with little to delineate it as a road, I had to wonder how and why it was considered a city street. Parts of Colorado are only accessible by off-road vehicles.
There are many roads in town that need to be improved, 18th being one of them. I’m on the side that feels some of the more-traveled roads should have been a higher priority. At the least the mayor should have consulted with council and city staff on the priorities. If he did, nothing has been said of it.
I am not saying or insinuating in any way that there are any exchanges of political favors or backroom dealings on the road improvements. Both Mayor Wolfe and Alderman Thomas are pastors and honorable, God-fearing men. There are plenty of other people, however, who are trying to connect the dots and I hear about it all the time.
Lately I’ve been hearing about other rumors related to City Hall, but so far they are unsubstantiated. Please people, don’t bring me rumors and gossip. If you’ve got a gripe or concern, show me your proof.

On the road again
Every weekday I drive from Rosenberg to Hempstead and back. Along that route I routinely see a lot of wildlife. Most of it, however, is squished on the road. On any given day I can expect to see raccoons, opossums, dogs, cats, skunks and armadillos keeping their eternal vigil of the pavement.
I don’t know who is responsible for cleaning up the mess or if it’s left to the vultures to care for. It does pain me, however, to see so many good raccoon pelts go to waste. Raccoons have been my favorite animal since the fifth grade. At one point in my life I used to tan hides of small game, mostly rabbits. Seeing a freshly dead coon with a carcass in good shape makes me want to stop and collect it for its pelt.
I understand that’s against the law in Texas. It’s also gross and kind of creepy, but that’s beside the point. Many of the animals I see are no less fit for human use than if they had been shot with a hunting rifle. Since I drive the same route morning and evening, I know which ones are fresh.
Given the price of furs these days, I think I may try to moonlight as a carrion reclamation specialist. After all, it’s a green way of recycling natural debris. It keeps the roads clean and could put some cash in my pocket. I balk, however, at using it to put meat on the table.
I’m joking, of course, but I’ve known of people who have done this for both meat and pelts. If there are any carrion reclamation specialists out there, please let me know. I think it would make a very interesting story.