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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970 Daily Eagle EditorialsTHE DAILY EAGLE — SECTION A rose 6 Bryan - College Station, Texas Sunday, April 5, 1970 Eagle Editorial, More Chamber Information Vital The people of this community deserve to know more about the chamber of commerce situation than they have been told. Mayor D. A. (Andy) Anderson of Col- lege Station has not said whether he in- tends to compile results of his survey on the desire for a separate College Station chamber and act upon them. And though Anderson met with officials of the Bryan - College Station Chamber of Commfrce, its president, Lynn Stuart, issued a statement saying only that it is the chamber's duty to work for all ciitzens and referring to the mayor's letter to the editor of the Eagle. In the letter, Anderson said it wa his last public utterance on the subject. "Let peace and harmony prevail in our community," he wrote. "Let's all work together toward this goal." It would be nice if such a situation could be so neatly dealt with, but we don't think this one can. The mayor's suggestions for a separate chamber have stirred the hearts of prideful College Station citizens and caused some with simmering grievances to speak out. There must be noticeable separatist sentiment in College Station or the memo never would have been conceived by the mayor. That being the case, it is incumbent on the B -CS chamber to uncover the grievances and give College Sta'ion citizens more reason to take pride in the entire community. We believe with Mayor Anderson and Mr. Stuart that this is one community. We also believe the community can best be served by a single chamber which is responsive to the needs of the various " ,segments of the community. That College Station and its citizens have particular problems is obvious. For one thing, the city lacks an ade- quate ad valorem tax base since its major industry pays no taxes. For another, it sits at the extreme end of a long, narrow community which is strung out along a state highway and a few arteries paralleling it. Most retailers naturally have built near the middle of this long, narrow community to draw traffic from all di- rections. That middle happens to be in Bryan, meaning College Station residents have to drive a long way from their homes to buy doughnuts or see a movie. Opportunities often come disguised as problems. We believe this issue should be treated as an opportunity to promote better understanding between citizens of Bryan and College Station, not as a problem to be dismissed as quickly as possible. The Eagle believes it would be appro- priate for the chamber to appoint a com- mittee to look into the situation, identify troublesome areas and make recommen- dations. For his part, we think Mayor Anderson owes the B -CS community some more definite statement on what he intends to do about a separate chamber for College Station. That is essential if peace and harmony for which the mayor expressed hope, is to prevail. THE DAILY EAGLE — SECTION C Sunday, April 19, 1970 Page 6 Bryan- College Station, Taxes Eagle h k Editorials - . McGraw Ought To Go Tuesda College Station City Councilman Joe McGraw has refused to attend a coun- cil- members -only meeting Tuesday night, saying he feels public business should be discussed in public. The "informal discussion meeting" was called by Mayor D. A. (Andy) An- - Berson. The mayor was careful to point out in a memo to councilmen that no action will be taken at the session. That` made the gathering technically legal. Only after McGraw made his an- nouncement did Anderson mention that the Tuesday night discussion will con- cern matters which the Texas Open Meetings Law says may be talked over in private. McGraw might have felt differently about the meeting if he had been advis- ed by the city attorney in advance, as the mayor says he himself was, that it will be perfectly legal. Maybe not though, because McGraw called for ad- herence to the spirit of the open meeting law. Most laws can be circumvented by some device or another, and the open meetings law is no exception. In fact, it contains built -in devices for circum- vention, with its provisions that person- nel, land acquisition and security mat- ters may be discussed behind closed doors. We don't doubt the need for private discussion of such matters at times, but ... it seems to us it would be very easy for a governing body to move from priv- ileged subjects to those not excepted by law. This being the case, and since Mayor Anderson now says the Tuesday meet- ing will involve personnel and land ac- quisition, the Eagle calls on Councilman McGraw to reconsider his position. We think he ought to go to the meeting. By going, he will be informed about the vital matters to be discussed and he will be in a position to warn his fellow councilmen if he suspects they are about to violate the Texas Open Meetings Law in fact or in spirit. Boycotting the meet- ing under the circumstances will accom- plish nothing.