The death of expertise continues

With 2020 coming to an end, there is much to say but little time to say it. 

At the Dec. 14 meeting of the Austin County commissioners, resident Rick Mitchell of Industry made a complaint that’s been echoed many times for many years. Only his complaint had a slightly different twist. Rather than just gripe about the condition of county roads, he offered solutions. And he was met with a deaf ear and rudeness. 

“The current maintenance practices go against federal, state, TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation), AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) guidelines; we’re not following anything right,” he said. “I’ve worked in oil field for over 40 years. I’ve built roads all over the world. I have 40 years’ experience doing it and what we’re doing is wrong, it’s incorrect… I’ve written recommendations to you all. I’ve gotten zero response from anybody. We’re wasting money, the road maintenance is pathetic, we’re using the wrong practices and principles and I’m here trying to get somebody to change and use common sense and do things right. 

“I’ve offered my help. I’ve provided economic analysis to show how to do it cheaper and better and I’ve gotten zero response from anybody,” he said. 

The response he got from the commissioners was wrong on two levels. First of all, the comments were made during the public comment period and it violates state law for the commissioners to respond. Commissioner Randy Reichardt (whose term ends today) did respond with Judge Tim Lapham’s permission. 

Reichardt basically told him it didn’t matter because nothing was going to change, and by law he doesn’t have to fix the roads if he doesn’t want to. He said the only way it could change is if there were enough petitions to get the court to switch to a unit system. When Mitchell asked what a unit system is, Reichardt told him to look it up. 

For the record, a unit system is where an engineer is responsible for the roads of an entire county. Currently, the four commissioners are responsible for the roads in their precincts. 

Clearly, Reichardt should not have responded, but at the very least he could have been polite about it. When someone with significant expertise offers to help, the county owes it to them to hear them out and see what they can contribute. Given the conditions of the roads across Austin County, they couldn’t do much worse than they are right now. 

Ignoring expertise 

Back in September I wrote about the book “The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters” by Tom Nichols. What Nichols had to say about people valuing their own opinions over that of established knowledge appears to be very true in this case. The county turned a deaf ear to a real expert who could help and slapped him in the face for his efforts. 

We’ve seen the same thing in Sealy with the departure of City Manager Lloyd Merrell and Sealy EDC Executive Director Robert Worley. Both men resigned and were subsequently placed on administrative leave until their designated time on the job was up. Neither man would have left, and they certainly wouldn’t have been placed on leave, if the city council had valued and trusted their expertise. Instead, they were questioned and stymied by elected officials with far less knowledge and experience in their respective fields. 

It’s not that the council should have rubber stamped whatever they proposed, but the way they’ve responded to not only these men, but other city staff as well, is embarrassing. They frequently belittle the work done by Assistant City Manager Warren Escovy during council meetings. They’ve all but ignored Public Works Director Mark Pulos who told them months ago they need to hire his replacement because he will retire sometime between now and August. Otherwise, the wastewater treatment plant will be out of compliance without a certified operator in charge. 

The council acted with sticker shock nearly every time Worley brought them an economic development proposal. They revised Merrell’s budget without consulting him first and resisted his efforts to make Main Street safe by eliminating center parking. 

Don’t blame 2020 

It would be nice to blame all these things on 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic, but these are ongoing problems with local elected officials. Until city and county officials can learn to look beyond their noses and see the bigger picture presented by experienced experts, Sealy and Austin County will be nothing more than a rough patch in the road of progress. 

Goodbye 

I never intended my last column for The Sealy News to be in such a negative tone, but these are things that need to be said and I’m out of time. It’s my hope that someone will listen and endeavor to make a positive difference here. 

My employment with The Sealy News comes to an end today, Dec. 31. The newspaper is changing hands and I’m one of the assets the new ownership is not keeping. So, before the rumors start flying that I got fired over something I wrote or did, you can nip that in the bud right now. I’ve known about this for a month and my employer is working hard to help me transition into another job. You don’t do that with someone you’ve fired. It’s more of a layoff. 

I’ve enjoyed my time in Sealy and wish everyone here all the best. I hope your 2021 goes far better than the way mine is starting.