Most members of the Highland Park City Council understand, why doesn’t the mayor? Most on the HP council last night agreed putting a toll on Mockingbird Lane where it crosses their fair city would not be a good idea. All but the Mayor Bill Seay, who seemed to revel in the notion that complainers from all across north Texas accused him of a “moat mentality;” arrogant at best, snobby at worst. Hello Mayor? Anybody at home when common sense calls?
Promoters of tolls on Mockingbird, count Mayor Seay still among them (he says the issue is not off the table), pushed the idea as a way to decrease traffic on Mockingbird Lane as it traverses some of the most expensive property in north Texas. Some people called that pretty snobby, I call it just poor public policy.
First, this is a city street, paid for with tax dollars that came from many people in all different cities. Putting a toll on that stretch of “public road” is not only wrong, but the idea to give Highland Park residents a free pass is even more wrong (if that is possible),
Second, I thought the idea was to improve traffic flow, not restrict it. All that would happen by blocking Mockingbird with tolls would be funneling freebie traffic onto other Highland Park streets, just like construction on Mockingbird has now accomplished. Problem solved? No! A new one created.
Third, check with the merchants on and near Mockingbird, like the very popular Highland Park Village. They have told us point blank, restricting access to Mockingbird or to HP in any way will hurt their businesses. At a time even the folks in well to do HP are cutting back on spending, this is a lame idea.
Fourth, and finally, maybe Mayor Seay thinks it is funny, or in some quirky way complimentary for his city to be thought of as “snobby,” I know a lot of people who live in HP who don’t. Many of the good people I know in Highland Park work hard to be just normal people, who care about their homes, businesses and community, and don’t like being considered “arrogant” by association.
This is an entirely wrong account of what happened at the meeting last night.
Dear Dear Mike:
A) William White is not the mayor. Bill Seay is now the mayor.
B) Were you actually at the council meeting last night? If so, could you provide some direct quotes of this reveling the phantom Mayor White did?
C) If you actually did some homework, you’d discover that the idea was floated to the town leaders months and months ago, but never seriously seriously entertained. For some reason, it was brought up in the DMN this week, based – on what scuttlebutt is revealing now – to be a five-month old conversation between a reporter and a town engineer who was used for much of the source material.
The actual meeting last night? Even the DMN says that MAYOR BILL SEAY was not keen on the idea. No reveling involved.
Perhaps if you actually did work, instead of reading Steve Blow and ordering pancake makeup, you’d know this.
Love and kisses,
Me.
I’m not really sure which offends me more, the bad writing or the misrepresentation of information.
For starters, Mayor White is no longer Mayor White. HP has a new mayor in town, one who wasn’t even quoted.
Second, people who attended the meeting would know that, in fact, the issue is pretty much off the table. It’s been off the table since last summer. What is on the table is a traffic study – which (anybody at home when common sense calls?) is not the same thing as an endorsement of a toll road.
Also: please, please PLEASE refresh your basic grammar skills. Although it is good to know that the comma splice is alive and well, even among people who purportedly make their living communicating. Purportedly.
Yes, I misidentified the mayor’s name, sorry about that. I have for the immediate past associated Highland Park with Mayor White. I have corrected the blog to reflect the correct name of the mayor, Bill Seay.
However, concerning your claims the blog is a misrepresentation of what happened or what the mayor said, you are mistaken. Mayor Seay, told our reporter Ken Kalthoff that the toll idea “was still on the table.” You can parse what that “still on the table” means, but the mayor said those words.