Many people were stunned by Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas’ request for more than $2 billion to rebuild the island.
Locally, opponents of a plan to open the East End Flats to development saw a conspiracy to get the public land into the hands of private developers. The release of the flats was on a list of things that city officials said the federal government could do to help Galveston rebuild.
Nationally, while the mayor’s speech about why Galveston should be rebuilt was well received, reviews of the wish list were less enthusiastic.
The New York Times observed that the request worked out to about $36,800 per Galveston resident. A chicken in every pot is one thing. A Cadillac in every garage is another.
We have no hope of laying to rest all the conspiracy theories that were spun off by the list.
But we do think people should know a bit more about the list and how it was compiled.
It’s worth noting that Thomas did not discuss the wish list when she gave testimony before the Senate’s subcommittee on disaster recovery.
There was no discussion of the merits of the request for $350 million to help businesses rebuild, for example, because she did not read that request — or any other specific request — into the record.
The list was left with the subcommittee. Thomas’ remarks dealt largely with Galveston’s historic struggles with hurricanes.
Her remarks left at least one senator in tears — or close to them.
City Manager Steve LeBlanc said the list was compiled on short notice. He convened the city’s department heads and some consultants to get their views on the city’s most pressing needs. The discussion lasted about an hour, and the list was finished just hours before the mayor addressed the committee, he said.
One of the most interesting items on the list was money for a flyover off Interstate 45 at 61st Street and for a bridge to the West End over West Bay.
Those with long memories will remember the controversy those proposals generated through the 1990s.
The state finally settled that debate by saying the bridge was unthinkably expensive.
Why, then, was a bridge over West Bay on the list?
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, another bridge had a lot of appeal. Storms tend to blow out bridges at the point where they connect with land.
With the Bolivar ferry and the bridge at San Luis Pass out and reports that the new causeway might have been damaged, city officials were concerned the city had come close to being isolated. One more way to get supplies and relief to the island after a storm had a lot of appeal.
Years ago, many Galveston residents complained that a proposed flyover lane off Interstate 45 was nothing but a political favor for Moody Gardens. Many complained the West End bridge was a political favor for developers.
The fact that both projects were included suggests the wish list was compiled by people who were thinking about hardening the city’s infrastructure, rather than about Galveston’s political realities.
It’s hard to see much in the way of intrigue and conspiracy in the fact that this list was tacked onto the mayor’s testimony in Washington, D.C.
However, it is also hard to see how anyone at city hall might think large sums of federal money actually might be spent on the items on that list without further discussion by the city council. After all, any money the city receives should be spent on projects that reflect the will of the people, and that is properly expressed through elected representatives.
