We've all heard, "Trust is earned". It's also easy to say one thing, make promises and then do something completely different. Is trust impossible? No, and I think most of us would love to trust the people we elect. That's not always the case though.

I told my two boys when they were growing up, "I will trust you until you give me a reason to NOT trust you, once you break that trust, it's hard to get back". They never broke my trust.

Bike "lanes" scare me. I have seen this in big cities. The outside line is re-marked, about a 8ft width, for bike riders. All the other lanes, intended for cars, get reduced, so now you have cars closer together. The 8ft section for bike riders is seldom used, and cars are afraid to get near it, so they encroach on the other lanes of real traffic. Dangerous.

This is the latest topic for city and people to express their opinion.

Due to being burned by elected officials again and again and again, trust is going to be hard to earn, but earning it is the only way. Here are a few suggestions:
1 - if you campaigned on something, don't change your mind after being elected. Do those things or at least fight like crazy and never give in.
2 - good leaders make tough decisions. Right now, fiscal responsibility is a rare thing in politicians. The ones who act based on principles earn my trust more quickly.
3 - keep some kind of open and ongoing line of communication open with those you represent. Mr. Yancy is a good example of at least trying this, even if I don't agree with him sometimes.

FYI - I don't post much on these threads any longer, due to the over-moderation on them. So don't expect a lot of back-and-forth from me.

Valen said:

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Do you feel like your trust has fully be broken or just been damaged?

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More damaged. There have been some bad decisions made by people we have in charge that make it hard to get on board when new ideas surface.

I trusted Jess Fields to keep his word, and he never let me down.

Ill do you one better...

Do people even care if a large minority of people do not trust them?

I doubt it.

Nothing I have seen shows that "trust" is even an interest of some folks.

They care about getting 1 PAC's endorsement - mumbling about the rest and sitting on council. Now you cannot really blame them, I guess.

Simple because those people whom you wish to gain the trust of do not effect the outcome of the election. Elections are rigged, media is bought and paid for and the rest is lost in the noise

Basic math.

The city does not work exclusively for the people anymore. How could I possibly trust something that can and does take from me by force, but has masters other than me?

Funeral home owner appears to be a different dude, judging by the picture. Our Jess Fields' Twitter indicates he is a consultant and strategist , I am guessing political.

Also he's got 5 kids. Amazing!

Elizabeth Cunha, Jess Fields and Steve Aldrich seemed to be able to think about things and vote without worrying about the wrath of the clique/PAC. Of course I think they all got tired of beating their heads against the wall and/or incurred the wrath of the power brokers.

What PAC is everyone mentioning? Why does the post get removed? How does that bridge trust?

Lone Stranger said:

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Elizabeth Cunha, Jess Fields and Steve Aldrich seemed to be able to think about things and vote without worrying about the wrath of the clique/PAC. Of course I think they all got tired of beating their heads against the wall and/or incurred the wrath of the power brokers.

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Many years ago our City had two honest, respected, conservative engineers , men of integrity on city council.
Sweaky Anderson and Steve Esmond. The political machine in this town tarred and feathered them both.

Trust if lost is hard to come by.

It's the same in the County, very hard to get elected to Commissioners Court if you are not on the Peters "team".

Richleau12 said:

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What PAC is everyone mentioning? Why does the post get removed? How does that bridge trust?

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I've called them out by name many times, and every time, staff takes it down. [You have not had a post removed just for naming The College Station Association of Neighborhoods and no other poster has had a post removed just for naming that PAC. -Staff] I'm not going to catch a ban over it, dude. Just be aware that there's a group of folks whose taxes are frozen imposing their will on the rest of us. If you haven't noticed this PAC, you're not looking very hard.

[College Station Association of Neighborhoods is the PAC that you claim that we are censoring you on this forum. -Staff]

I've met Craig face to face, and even went to a council meeting with him. Given confrontation over the Macy's Open Records Request, the mayor calls us all "misguided activists". I tend to think of him as a "pompous pontificator" who says one thing, and does quite another when push comes to shove.



The "greatest hits" of bad decisions by the CoCS, in no particular order-

1. Chimney Hill (bought to develop as a Convention Center, sold at a multimillion dollar loss)
2. Trees on the bypass (courtesy of a Rec and Parks prof on the council, they died because they weren't watered… maybe shoulda asked a FORESTRY prof or Texas Forest Service, whose HQ was just down the street from said dead trees)
3. Annexation of Wellborn (several members outright lied, saying they would not annex these folks who were vehemently against it…) now, we have a county fire station in the city limits…
4. Imposing a de facto tax on residents through their utilities, where the city is a monopoly

More recently

5. Texas Independence ballpark. They wanted to build on land that was formerly used as a dump. Surprise! There was soil issues, and no one thought to do a soil survey… more millions lost.
6. Macy's debacle. The Economic Development lady, the city manager, and the mayor wanted to buy it, for an esports arena for TAMU, and a YMCA. They overpaid by 2x, cutting out a local businessman who wanted to buy it as a family entertainment center. Then, when Mr. Yancy tried to uncover what happened, the mayor, the city manager, and the city staff stonewalled him, trying to cover up what really went down.

I could keep going, but there is NO TRUST in city government around here. They created this atmosphere, the city staff and a certain PAC continue to double down on it, and it's crooked as the day is long.

Everybody says "this is terrible, we should do something…", but nothing is done.

[We removed the insulting language that you used in this post and we are going to leave the rest of it this time. If you continue to use insulting language or you do not give your opinions in a respectful manner we are going to remove the entire post. There are a lot of posters on this forum that give their opinions on this board without using disrespectful or insulting language and if you can not take the time to do that we are not going to take the time to edit two or three sentences in your posts. -Staff]

[If you have questions about moderation use the contact option. -Staff]

[Here is a link to the PAC that you say we are censoring on this forum. PAC . -Staff]

Bring back Dick Birdwell. Oh we can't he is spinning over about 10,000 RPM in his grave over what COCS has become.

Mark Hopkins

Liability avoidance. Zero change.

How could I possibly trust a group that took my money and used it to kill my neighbor and does not take responsibility for their actions?

UmustBKidding said:

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Bring back Dick Birdwell. Oh we can't he is spinning over about 10,000 RPM in his grave over what COCS has become.

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Dick Birdwell was a great man. I'd doubt many on this platform are old enough to remember the thoughtful, conservative, stable leadership he gave to this community. We need more like him.

Respectfully,

Yancy '95

The problem with the city right now is the current City Manager. He's the one that pushes the bad ideas and recommends them to the city council and the Mayor.

While the city council ultimately makes the decisions they are all essentially volunteers who don't really know much about how to run a city so they depend on the "experts" to give them their information and don't have means and time to actually know if it is a good idea or not.

Again, the City Manager recommended and pushed the Macy's deal and I'm upset at the current city council that will no hold him accountable for what is basically a $7 million dollar mistake.

no one in any other industry would survive with their job intact after a $7 million dollar mistake but the council seems beholden to him.

91_Aggie said:

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The problem with the city right now is the current City Manager. He's the one that pushes the bad ideas and recommends them to the city council and the Mayor.

While the city council ultimately makes the decisions they are all essentially volunteers who don't really know much about how to run a city so they depend on the "experts" to give them their information and don't have means and time to actually know if it is a good idea or not.

Again, the City Manager recommended and pushed the Macy's deal and I'm upset at the current city council that will no hold him accountable for what is basically a $7 million dollar mistake.

no one in any other industry would survive with their job intact after a $7 million dollar mistake but the council seems beholden to him.

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Trust.
Trust is something that has to be earned.
I expect our Counsel to use their judgment on weather or not the recommendations from staff are good or bad.
If they have a reputation of poor judgment and decision making and continue to make the same mistakes and our Counsel continues to support them we need to clean house.

Valen said:

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I understand the deep frustration with CSAN, I've heard it from a lot of folks. I do know that they are having some leadership changes and seek to improve their relationships with people, but I've understood from most that unfortunately it's too little too late.

Hornbeck, tell me this if you don't mind, as we currently sit today as a city and you had an elected official who could go in and grant you one wish. What would it be? What's the next step that you think would build trust and move the ball forward?

I ask not to tease or taunt, but to listen because I see a lot of comments on things in the past which are completely reasonable to want to talk about, like macys. Looking towards the future though, what needs to be done to start building back better for the next generation?

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If I could wave a magic wand, I'd make council spend the tax money frugally and thoughtfully. Instead we have multimillion dollar blunders while you, me, and everyone else paying taxes foot the bill.

91_Aggie said:

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The problem with the city right now is the current City Manager. He's the one that pushes the bad ideas and recommends them to the city council and the Mayor.

While the city council ultimately makes the decisions they are all essentially volunteers who don't really know much about how to run a city so they depend on the "experts" to give them their information and don't have means and time to actually know if it is a good idea or not.

Again, the City Manager recommended and pushed the Macy's deal and I'm upset at the current city council that will no hold him accountable for what is basically a $7 million dollar mistake.

no one in any other industry would survive with their job intact after a $7 million dollar mistake but the council seems beholden to him.

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Yes, that's basically it. Accountability rebuilds trust. Nothing will change if no one at the city manager's office is not held to account. That being said, the city manager sets the tone and he seems to be at the center of major blunders that have cost the taxpayers millions. I tell ya, it would be nice to have a Dave and busters style entertainment place right off the highway. I'm sure the businesses at the mall would agree. On top of that, the hoops and hurdles Bob had to go through to get to the bottom of what happened should signal the council and city manager's office will never play nice with current leadership.

So what can the taxpayers do? Just wait till he retires? No recourse at all? What can the council do?

Hornbeck said:

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Richleau12 said:

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What PAC is everyone mentioning? Why does the post get removed? How does that bridge trust?

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I've called them out by name many times, and every time, staff takes it down. [You have not had a post removed just for naming The College Station Association of Neighborhoods and no other poster has had a post removed just for naming that PAC. -Staff] I'm not going to catch a ban over it, dude. Just be aware that there's a group of folks whose taxes are frozen imposing their will on the rest of us. If you haven't noticed this PAC, you're not looking very hard.

[College Station Association of Neighborhoods is the PAC that you claim that we are censoring you on this forum. -Staff]

I've met Craig face to face, and even went to a council meeting with him. Given confrontation over the Macy's Open Records Request, the mayor calls us all "misguided activists". I tend to think of him as a "pompous pontificator" who says one thing, and does quite another when push comes to shove.



The "greatest hits" of bad decisions by the CoCS, in no particular order-

1. Chimney Hill (bought to develop as a Convention Center, sold at a multimillion dollar loss)
2. Trees on the bypass (courtesy of a Rec and Parks prof on the council, they died because they weren't watered… maybe shoulda asked a FORESTRY prof or Texas Forest Service, whose HQ was just down the street from said dead trees)
3. Annexation of Wellborn (several members outright lied, saying they would not annex these folks who were vehemently against it…) now, we have a county fire station in the city limits…
4. Imposing a de facto tax on residents through their utilities, where the city is a monopoly

More recently

5. Texas Independence ballpark. They wanted to build on land that was formerly used as a dump. Surprise! There was soil issues, and no one thought to do a soil survey… more millions lost.
6. Macy's debacle. The Economic Development lady, the city manager, and the mayor wanted to buy it, for an esports arena for TAMU, and a YMCA. They overpaid by 2x, cutting out a local businessman who wanted to buy it as a family entertainment center. Then, when Mr. Yancy tried to uncover what happened, the mayor, the city manager, and the city staff stonewalled him, trying to cover up what really went down.

I could keep going, but there is NO TRUST in city government around here. They created this atmosphere, the city staff and a certain PAC continue to double down on it, and it's crooked as the day is long.

Everybody says "this is terrible, we should do something…", but nothing is done.

[We removed the insulting language that you used in this post and we are going to leave the rest of it this time. If you continue to use insulting language or you do not give your opinions in a respectful manner we are going to remove the entire post. There are a lot of posters on this forum that give their opinions on this board without using disrespectful or insulting language and if you can not take the time to do that we are not going to take the time to edit two or three sentences in your posts. -Staff]

[If you have questions about moderation use the contact option. -Staff]

[Here is a link to the PAC that you say we are censoring on this forum. PAC . -Staff]

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Howdy!

That is correct - we have met and I do believe you are correct

The choices this and some councils have made are truly the result of groupthink

People insulated from the consequences of their actions. $10m's of dollars have been flushed down the drain with little to no result. Only to be told "be happy, you are getting a new park".

For people who have lived and worked in the private sector this kind of behavior is insane. However, it is entirely predictable.

When you are totally protected from losing your "job" despite job performance - you tend to think any outside criticism is one that is insane.

The simple fact of the matter is this. A small group of A&M professors came together and hijacked the city using dummie candidates to force runoffs.

They tried to pull the same on me in this last municipal election and I choose not to legitimizing this by participating in it.

Take it for what it is worth but CoCS has been captured.

It's our job to be skeptical. Always be skeptical of politicians. Question them. Hard. It's good to make them think. They have a hard job trying to please many competing interests and beliefs, so they need to think through their decisions in layers and depth. Questioning them hard helps them with that. At least try to make them feel guilty if they have been captured by special interests. Demand openness and transparency. If they're smart they will understand the closed sessions etc are what breeds mistrust. If they are capable they will answer questions forthrightly. Some think they are smarter than us as a group. By questioning them hard we let them know they aren't. Stay skeptical.

What I have seen with many of our elected officials. They begin their service to help and support their communities and they end it as a legacy building endeavor. They normally do not realize it themselves.

doubledog said:

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What I have seen with many of our elected officials. They begin their service to help and support their communities and they end it as a legacy building endeavor. They normally do not realize it themselves.

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Perhaps that's the sales pitch from the city manager's office?