Author: parischamber

A city plan – like most government plans – seems to take a good idea and make it an implausible concept or something impossible to implement.

It’s the nature of government.

The job of a city council, an economic or community development organization, most chambers of commerce, local school boards, county commissioners, a “community” newspaper, and, sadly, even churches or libraries, seems to be to take a great idea and make it almost good. Principles are forgotten; every decision becomes a compromise.

Most of the managers and directors of these organizations are affable, but can be sneaky or even mean little boogers. Operating on Other People’s Money, most are simply bureaucratic snowflakes: They like government. They think government is good, instead of it being a necessary evil that increases your tax bill every year.

They are Government in the same way Dr. Ego Fauci is Science.

The majority of them, like Fauci, hold their jobs by being good at puckering up and selling someday.

We say this, knowing that, once upon a time, one of our directors was one of them, but luckily, for us, he’s full of tender mercy.

He said he had a friend, in his younger days, who, at the age of 15, discovered girls. Sadly, he also says, this caused his friend to discover most of the Kentucky distillers at age 20. Then, he sadly adds, his friend discovered, at 58, there’s no such thing as someday.

As ol’ Ernest Tubb yodeled in 1945, “Tomorrow Never Comes” . . . .

That, of course, is history, which today’s “woke” snowflakes are busy trying to eliminate – something they have no control over – to demonstrate they are nice and wonderful people.

They have an excuse; just not a reason.

Other than censorship.

IF allowed, who censors the censors?

History provides the measure of how far we’ve come over time – it’s how intelligent people measure progress.

Censorship is regressive; bringing back the Inquisition, the burning of books, ruling classes, economic enslavement, denying educational opportunities, etc.

But if YOU don’t let them have their way, you’re a racist – AND a domestic terrorist.

Suddenly, it seems, common sense is being thrown out with history. But that’s another story for another time, another place. 

In July, in 1911, temperatures climbed into the high 90s along the Eastern Seaboard. It stayed there for days, killing 211 people in New York alone. News reports claim that the killer heat wave drove some people insane (with New York values it isn’t a long drive . . .)

It was in that year of 1911, that the first workable air conditioner was patented by Willis Carrier (The Rational Psychrometric Formulae). By the late 1930’s, air conditioning was being installed in approximately 2% of American homes.

Paris demands historically-accurate restoration of homes and businesses in the historical district, yet, allows air conditioning in homes constructed over 120-years ago.

That’s funny, if you can’t ignore historical accuracy.

Or wasn’t forced to pay for it.

 

return to The Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce

During – and before – the 1950s, Paris Texas was a good-looking community. In the 60’s, it was a community of economic promise. Going into the 70s, Paris was a growing community. Then, in 1982, as the politicians swapped the private enterprise system for State Capitalism – a partnership between Big Business and Big Government – a tornado hit, and changed the community’s condition.

The amount of destruction of homes and established businesses in older areas became an opportunity for members of the leadership to rebuild Paris, or enrich themselves.

But, the local leadership personally jumped on the new opportunities offered by state and federal grants and low-cost loans to invest heavily in vacant North and East areas along the relatively new NE Loop 286.

Today, inside the Loop, approximately three-fours of Paris is a “social and economic liability…a menace to health, safety, morals and welfare.” It’s an official “distressed area”.

That’s what the City of Paris claims, not the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce.

It’s the result of decisions by those organizations in charge of community and economic development. And a local real estate group that, almost without fail, played a major role in the conspiracy for which the bill is now being presented.

(If you are in the real estate industry, tuffy-wuffy: It’s your bitter pill-of-fact. You – or too many of your fellow agents – swallowed perceptions and myths that are responsible for most of the stagnation in Paris. As a group, you supported – allowing – community organizations that are responsible for decades of no growth.

As professionals, you should have known better! We are not saying that all of you are clunks, but there is more than just a touch of troglodytic clabber in the mental makeup of those who allowed the perceptions and myths fostered by those in charge.

YOU gave them your money and your support. You didn’t say, “Wait a minute – How can I sell Paris as a desirable place to live or do business, if half the town is undesirable?

Over time, words get lost; even words like “on the west (or south) side…”

Excuses became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

For years, residential and retail developers were urged to invest in the vacant North and East areas. They were quietly warned in hemi-demi-semi-thunderous under-tones, with a racist sort of squeak that would kill knee-high cotton, that “nothing will go on the west and south areas of Paris” and “oh, you don’t want to live in those areas!” On behalf of investors and depositors, local banks led the way with lending policies on appraisals by approved appraisers who toed the line.

The leadership forgot that people don’t want cancer, and chickens do come home to roost.

Today’s problems were over 40-years in the making. Giving the downtown area another aspirin or a corporation cash will not cure them.

What Paris has done to itself is almost unimaginable.

And what we’re doing today is unimaginable.

We know not what path others may take, but as for the Paris Texas Chamber, we will never lie to ourselves about the community’s condition.

 

Whatever it is we do in Paris Texas, we don’t do it straight on.

We kinda’ slide up to it, sorta’ sideways; sorta’ like a stray mongrel begging for something to eat or, at least, a kind word. If a misguided soul pats us on the head, we start slobbering and running around in little circles and wagging out tails while barking with hopeful joy that they (or someone) will kill our fleas and ticks. Or see if there is something around that might be alright to eat. 

We always seem to be starved for baloney.

The problem is that we’re not Old Yellow or Lassie or even Rin-Tin-Tin. And we sure aren’t as smart as Goofy.

We’re so dog-gone pitiful we’ll give cash as an incentive to pat us on the head. Evidently, we don’t believe we deserve to be loved – or appreciated.

Together, we could make life better.

But we’re begging for kindness from those who we should be barking and growling at for why we’re looking for kindness.

Consider that the Three Mustyrears are paying a Florida firm to come up with a “brand” they can use to “market Paris”.

According to a firm spokesman, “What we’ve learned is that communities generally become more competitive and see improvement in their overall reputation when all the main sectors of the community are aligned around a common strategy, a common DNA and a compass that says,’ “This is where we’re going; this is what we stand for”’ and went on to say that the Three Mustyrears are, ‘“collaborating so that you’re swimming in the same direction.”’

Amazing.

They don’t know what Paris is swimming in … but water full of it still runs downhill.

For a decade, the Paris Chamber has repeatedly said, “Paris needs a vision, a theme, and the protocols to make it a highly desired destination for a large, identified segment of the market.”

And now, the Three Mustyrears are wasting $85,000 of the taxpayer’s money to hear the same thing in slightly different words.

The difference is that the Paris Texas Chamber has known what is needed and what would work for Paris for years; the firm from Florida doesn’t have an idea now; nor, will they have a workable idea when they collect the rest of their money.

But that’s okay.  We’re not one of the “the main sectors of the community – “

It’s one of our bragging points.