Paris, Texas, is a good example of bad government.

Our local governmental units – like governments everywhere – spend tax money on “amenities” (to buy votes) and on a few insider programs for well-paying cronies. Spending on necessities, usually identified as an emergency, take years.

Promises are lost while plugging another hole in the Spending Dike.

It’s why Paris has infrastructure issues: Chunk-holes held together by narrow asphalt streets; intersections that don’t meet city ordinances; leaks of treated water; dangerous sidewalks; areas that flood; sewer plant problems; neighborhoods surrendered to bight, decay, and rot; redlining issues; ignoring those who actually need help; to name a few.

It’s not always Margaritas, Mai Tais, and Yahtzee. This, somehow, is shocking to local leaders, and those visitors coming to Paris for a good time or a fight.

Behind leadership’s Happy Talk, however, only a few of the kind hearts and happy souls among the citizenry are happy in their craniums – a result from years of settling for less.

History, of course, repeats itself: Over the past 25-30-years, the leadership hasn’t done much to actually improve all of Paris, but council after council have wasted millions of dollars in that time period not even trying.

Actually, Paris hasn’t made a community-wide development effort since the fire of 1916.

While ignoring development opportunities, insiders gobbled up large portions of the government grants and low-interest loans made available after the 1982 Paris tornado (that wiped out or extensively damaged more than 465 residences and left approximately 1,000 people homeless). It’s one of several reasons why Paris is a good example of a bad government.

Equally as bad (or worse), there is no equal economic opportunity in Paris. Since the mid-1980s, economic opportunity is only for selected segments of the community – the favorite few, plus corporate large box stores, fast-food franchises, and conglomerate-owned retail outlets.

We limit opportunity, in general, to those with money (or access to it).

You can only escape poverty by ownership of private property (assets). Yet, banks now only lend money on cash-flows or on big-ticket consumer items that can be bundled and sold to high volume commercial paper lenders. Under such policies, banks do not make loans for acquisition of income-producing assets (land, building, equipment, fixtures, inventory, etc).

This make assets worthless for financing new businesses openings, which was the original purpose of banks . . .

We penalize the poor in order to subsidize the wealthy (or the somewhat rich).

Consider that the city subsidize developers to build low-income properties, but not potential purchasers of it –  Or those who will live in it and pay rent to the developer.

Good examples of bad government are easy to find:

Too many issues hide behind obscure and / or conflicted administrative policies that are only good for confusing most matters. As long as those who are not allowed in the power playpens can be convinced to provide the money for the decision-makers to buy their pies, life is good. At least, for the decision-makers.

Generally, we’re told everything but the facts. It’s why the decision-makers never run out of excuses for why they do what they do.

Generally, government thinks most of us (citizens) don’t know what’s good for us, but that it does.

No wonder so many citizens have lost faith in government, as well as what the national manipulators tell us about open borders, drugs, jobs, inflation, energy, climate, terrorist, crime, Covid19 variants, China, Iran, Hamas, and Tucker Carlson.

A conspiracy is a story of those who find a clear path of action that leads to their desired conclusions, which is denied to others. It is a closed game that is available to the select few; beyond the reach of most citizens.

Sadly, Paris is a good example of bad government.

                                                return to   Paris Texas Chamber

Links:   Spending Money     

               You Don’t Stiff Your Customers

               Trash Pick-up . . .

Spending Money . . .

Folks in Paris, Texas, never seem to ask where the city’s getting its spending money. Every October 1^st a new fiscal year begins for the city, and no one seems to know where the money comes from . . .

One-fourth of the fiscal year is gone. Things inside the city limits, other than gaining another assistant city manager and more plans for spending money, are still about the same as all of last year. And the year before. And the year – Well, you know –

On the plus or negative side, depending on how you look at it, during the last two fiscal years, city property taxes increased over 7% (a compounded 3.5% increase each year, which is the maximum allowed by state law without a citywide vote); and Paris added an assistant city manager.

Again.

Now, bless us, we have two assistant city managers to help the city manager tell city council members how to do their jobs; especially, when it comes to spending money. So, taxpayers and citizens are either needing to cry or celebrate, depending on what they see as progress.

Most of the input to the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce seems to indicate that Paris is following federal policies.

Evidently, only a few folks know that the only money that government has, including the City of Paris and the PEDC, are dollars collected by threat force of a police state. What Was The Lamar County Chamber supposedly operates on money voluntarily donated to them, but it has been subsidized by city tax dollars for years. (An example being the city gives it the annual $700,000 or so of visitor’s tax to managed, and pays it a healthy sum to do so.)

Like the feds, not one of these Three Mustyrears have money of their own. They operate by OPM (other people’s money).

Government, including Paris’ own, always seem to agree that there is a lot of activity going on in drug use, border crossing, crime, and wishful thinking on the part of those who want someone to give them other people’s money.

Victims (those providing the money) take a dim view of these activities, however, arguing they only benefit a few, and the positive long-term benefits are questionable.

Paris needs a big production to offset the arguments: Play some of that Devil Music and have a high ol’ time. Do some boot-scootin’ booging around the dance floor. Sing a little bit of “Give Me That Old Time Religion”- which we need while cussing about some things that were done last year:

• The leadership purchased a few industries to replace the ones we’ve lost: Giving land, abatement (no taxes), other incentives, and our hard-earned cash in exchange for a promise to create jobs.
• A similar policy subsidized a few promoters offering to build 1000 to 1200 square foot “affordable, low-income homes” (at a $200,000 cost per home).
• A portion of the Retail Tax dollars collected by four retail businesses (replacing four businesses that closed in a shopping center) were refunded (given back, whether legal or not, to the retail businesses), and a partial abatement of property taxes given the shopping center owner.
• The city pledged $7 million to build a street for a proposed residential development with a retail shopping area on the SW Loop – in violation of existing city ordinances requiring developers to pay the cost of new streets to/from and in their developments.
• A proposed motel on North Main Street got an abatement and utilities help.
• The city, PEDC and What Used To Be The Lamar County Chamber paid a Florida firm $85,000 to develop a logo for use as a local “Brand.” Then, spend an another estimated $85,000-or so painting the brand on vehicles and signs, re-doing websites, reprinting brochures, business cards, stationery and other office materials, etc. (Its hard to tell, but the brand or logo seems to promote or warn of drug use: Paris Texas – where Texans Reach Higher.)
• The city entered into an another reported $230,000 study on what Paris should do. (As at least five such studies are on shelves or in boxes at city hall – if not lost among the old files or thrown out. They should be like new. They’ve hardly been used.)

In general, these are some of the things Paris have done over the last year or two, or is doing.

But is picking – choosing – who gets what, who wins and who loses, and robbing Bob to pay Paul, progress? Or is it s regression to old world socialism, where a few individuals control resources and the means of production?

                             return to  Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce