Streets and art; Streep on Trump; women’s march

Streets and art

I am horrified that my water bill might be raised to pay for street repair.

Maybe streets would last longer if millions of dollars of new street bonds had not been diverted to public art. Two percent of each bond dollar goes to the starving Yankee artists fund.

The primary responsibilities of city government are safety, health and infrastructure. Various Fort Worth city councils have sloshed through our money so that they could point with pride to some gosh-awful piece of something called art.

It is time for this council to put priorities first and foremost and stop with the exterior decorating.

If there are leftover dollars after taking care of the basic necessities, then maybe we can look at frills.

User fees for road maintenance are a bad idea.

The Fort Worth City Council will consider adding fees to the water bill during an upcoming council retreat. Of course, numerous city councils created the road repair problem in the first place.

Wholesale annexations have enlarged the city more rapidly than growth could provide the cost of infrastructure. Enterprise funds already are an off-budget, pay-as-you-go revenue stream.

Tax revenue has been given away through tax increment financing districts and tax abatements to create jobs and development to increase a tax base that in some cases takes decades (if ever) to achieve.

Bond programs take out 2 percent for public art.

Probably more than a few residents would rather have a good street than an expensive sculpture in a park.

Streep on Trump

Both Meryl Streep and Donald Trump are politically incorrect.

To be correct, they should say “a reporter with a disability,” not “a disabled reporter.”

Meryl Streep, in addition to praise, is being criticized for her statement about the president-elect’s disparaging remarks about a handicapped journalist.

Critics say that the Golden Globe Awards show was not the place to speak out about discrimination.

So, when is it appropriate?

Would you call out your child for making fun of a person with a disability? Your neighbor? When?

What about something a president-elect or any public figure says in public makes it OK for a young child, teenager or adult to say the same thing?

Everyone needs to speak up and speak out against discrimination.

Women’s march

So the women whose candidate didn’t win are going to Washington to make their voices and concerns heard by our new president.

They have a rather long list of those people who have been offended or who feel their voices haven’t been heard. As they state, “We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.”

Sadly, there is one group they don’t seem to think has a right to a voice: the women and the men whose voices have been snuffed out because their candidate, and those who back her, feel they have the right to decide who does and doesn’t deserve the gift of life.

Well, at least their nonrefundable airline tickets won’t go to waste.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Streets and art; Streep on Trump; women’s march."