El Campo Leader-News: Editorial by Jay Strasner

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VIEWPOINT

El Campo Leader-News • Wednesday, February 4, 2015

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L-N EDITORIAL

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SPOT event helps pair responsible owners with pets

A quick drive through any of El Campo’s neighborhoods reveals a furry and feculent problem in our town. Stray cats and dogs scurry from yard to ditch all over El Campo. Perhaps your neighbor puts out a bowl of food daily to attract 14 or so feral cats, reconciling that enticing the flea-bitten and diseaseridden animals to their home is a good deed. Your neighbor’s behavior may not bother you until the wild critters decide that your welcome mat and flower bed will now be their preferred restroom – or when they deposit fleas on your patio furniture. “Someone has to feed them or they’ll die,” is the general theme from these short-sighted animal hoarders. What they don’t seem to recognize is that encouraging stray animals to roam our neighborhoods without proper veterinarian care – or failing to have them spayed or neutered – creates an endless and cruel cycle of wild animals spreading disease, parasites and unwanted offspring all over town. Veterinarians tell us that stray animals whose health has been neglected in such a manner can transmit feline AIDS, rabies and other serious diseases, not to mention all variety of parasites. But those of us who take responsible pet ownership seriously can be thankful for a group such as Wharton County SPOT. Wharton County SPOT is gearing up for the second annual mega adoption event “Looking 4 Love,” which features up to 100 adoptable dogs and cats, and will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Silver Wings Skating Rink in El Campo. The event is a collaboration of three rescue groups – Wharton County SPOT, Friends of Wharton Animal Control, and Jackson County Happy Tails, which helps rescue animals from the City of Wharton shelter. “We hope many dogs and cats find forever homes,” said event director Christine Stransky. “By choosing to adopt, you can save the life of a shelter or rescue pet” Dogs and cats are being sponsored through donations from event supporters, which covers the pets’ initial veterinary expenses and care. This includes vaccinations (including rabies), deworming, flea prevention, heartworm testing, any necessary medications, and spaying or neutering. The adoption fee for dogs is $50 (or $40 for seniors 62 and older), and cats is $25 (or $20 for seniors 62 and older). All attendees are eligible to enter a drawing for a Kindle Fire HDX. Children’s activities will be offered, including a bounce house, and food and refreshments will be sold. There will be skating opportunities as well. Event organizers are still seeking animal sponsors and all donations are greatly appreciated, the say. All donations are also tax deductible. Anyone interested in sponsorship or event information should contact Stransky at (979) 532-1894 or stransky4tk@hotmail.com. Those of us who truly love animals can recognize the importance of a group such as SPOT. We’re lucky to have them here in Wharton County. Let us be very clear: If you allow the cycle of welcoming generations of stray animals to your front door without taking care of their health or reproductive issues, you should face criminal charges for this inhumane, inconsiderate and negligent behavior. On the other hand, if you are looking for a pet to love and take care of properly, then get yourself down to Silver Wings this Saturday. We commend you for taking the appropriate steps to responsible pet ownership.

New industry vital to develop economy

There has been a lot of recent talk about state and local economic development organizations and the incentives they offer to new and existing business. Upon reading about tax abatements, 380 agreements and revitalization grants, the average citizen might question the fairness and need for deferred taxes and government participation in economic development negotiations. Here in America, individuals are free to work wherever and whenever they want provided it is legal. We have the right to hold out for the highest wages commensurate to our experience and educational background. Likewise, business owners are free to expand and relocate their factories and stores wherever and whenever they desire. Today, Texas is the fastest growing and most economically prosperous state in the union. We offer affordable land, a trainable workforce and no state income tax. To outsiders, Texas is definitely the land of opportunity as more than 1,200 new people move to the Lone Star State each day. The past governor spent years actively recruiting business investors away from California, Michigan and the like, by offering tax cuts, specialized workforce training and even cash (Texas Enterprise Fund). Similar to a pro ball player holding out for the best contract, out-ofstate investors generally relocate to regions and counties that offer the greatest incentives and opportunity for profit. Why should tax dollars be used – Jay T. Strasner to assist the private sector? Eco-

PHILLIP SPENRATH WHARTON COUNTY JUDGE

nomic development starts and ends with the private sector and jobs. As elected officials, we are charged with ensuring that Wharton County residents receive reliable protection, dependable roads and infrastructure, and that local government never becomes too overbearing or overtaxing. New business and economic investment make the aforementioned possible by generating higher-paying local job opportunities and lowering individual homeowner taxes. As an example, the construction of a new $530 million electric plant just outside of Wharton should be a major WIN for everyone living within the district. The new plant will take over paying a tremendous portion of existing county-wide taxes thereby affording the local school district, college, fire district; EMS district, county and city the opportunity to lower the tax levies on individual homeowners. In addition to providing county-wide tax relief, new industry, with its large buildings and upgraded equipment, can also generate needed sales tax revenues used to fund law enforcement, schools, and infrastructure. For more than a decade, your local city and county officials have actively sought partnerships with neighboring counties, private regional economic development groups, area chambers of commerce, and

local economic development organizations to collectively attract new regional investment. During this time, regardless if the prospect was making cabinets, clothes, or hamburgers, your county and city officials awarded a number of tax abatements, low interest loans, deferred payments, the construction of new roads and special workforce training. Locally, the Wharton Economic Development Corp, the El Campo Economic Development Corp, and the El Campo City Development Corp. all work vigorously to assist new and existing businesses with purchasing state of the art machinery, building expansion, extending utilities, sponsoring skills training classes like welding & computer literacy; and providing technical support for filing grant applications and contacting federal, state, and local officials as needed. Again, economic development starts and ends with the private sector and jobs. Added industry and the availability of quality job opportunities translate into greater local prosperity and lower homeowner taxes. My fellow citizens, please know that your elected officials conduct thorough investigations and always exercise caution before ever offering tax abatements or other forms of governmental assistance. Our number one priority will always be protecting the present and future well-being of local residents and our county. As your County Judge, my primary objective continues to be preparing Wharton County for the future while always maintaining our unique small-town way of life.

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Jay Strasner...................................................Editor & Publisher THE EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS (USPS 169520) is published semi-weekly on Wednesday and Saturday for $48 per year in Wharton County; $63 per year out of county; and $88 per year out of state; and $48 per year for the online edition only, by Wharton County Newspapers, Inc., 203 E. Jackson St., El Campo, Texas 77437. Periodical postage paid at El Campo, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS, P.O. Box 1180, El Campo, Texas 77437. © 2015 Wharton County Newspapers, Inc.

979-543-3363 Fax: 979-543-0097 Website: www.leader-news.com Email address: lettertoeditor@leader-news.com Opinions or views expressed by individual columnists or in Letters to the Editor are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper. Also, while the Leader-News strives for accuracy, errors may occur, and will be promptly corrected once they are brought to the attention of the editor.

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VIEWPOINT

El Campo Leader-News • Wednesday, September 16, 2015

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L-N EDITORIAL

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‘Cops’ contributions not overlooked here

There has been a lot of attention for much of this year towards “cops.” Peace officers. Law enforcement officials. Policemen. Deputies. Paramedics. Game Wardens. Firemen. Emergency Medical Technicians. Department of Public Safety troopers. You name it. If someone has a badge, seems as if there’s another someone nearby with an opinion towards them. Too many times lately, that opinion has not been favorable. Instead, it’s often been prejudiced, generalized and just downright incorrect. On an unseasonably mild September morning in El Campo this past Saturday, a large group of caring folks showed up to say “enough is enough.” Those who keep the peace in this part of the globe are our friends, neighbors and in some cases family. We eat lunch with them at Rotary meetings. They pull up to see if they can assist when we have a flat tire in an April rainstorm. They rush to the scene when we’ve been involved in an automobile accident. When things are going badly, when we’re experiencing our worst times, they’re alongside us. And yes, in the event that we’ve messed up and broken the law, they are present as well. We were pleased on Saturday to see such an outpouring of support for the men and women in blue, or whatever color uniform they may happen to have. The crowd was tremendous and the attitude of unity and support was palatable. In some parts of the world, the authorities have made mistakes that have led to rioting, uncivil behavior and hatred towards law enforcers. We’re proud to say here in El Campo there has been none of that. When you sit back and think about it, the job of a law enforcement official is rather unique. On any given day, you can go from peaceful patrol to having your life turned completely upside down – be it a high-speed chase or dodging bullets fired from a bad guy. We feel fortunate that from our experience those who serve as “cops” locally are well-trained professionals who have the best interests of our community in mind as they go about their routines. Perhaps one local law enforcement officer said it best Saturday: “We choose to put our life on the line ... We are going to be there for anybody in need.” We can’t speak for the rest of the world, but here in West Wharton County, we give thanks for that. – Jay T. Strasner

Equal opportunity ≠ equal outcomes A hostile review of my new book — “Wealth, Poverty and Politics” — said, “there is apparently no level of inequality of income or opportunity that Thomas Sowell would consider unacceptable.” Ordinarily, reviewers who miss the whole point of a book they are reviewing can be ignored. But this particular confusion about what opportunity means is far too widespread, far beyond a particular reviewer of a particular book. That makes it a confusion worth clearing up, because it affects so many other discussions of very serious issues. “Wealth, Poverty and Politics” does not accept inequality of opportunity. Instead, it reports such things as children raised in lowincome families usually not being spoken to nearly as often as children raised in high-income families. The conclusion: “It is painful to contemplate what that means cumulatively over the years, as poor children are handicapped from their earliest childhood.” Even if all the doors of opportunity are wide open, children raised with great amounts of parental care and attention are far more likely to be able to walk through those doors than children who have received much less attention. Why else do conscientious parents invest so much time and effort in raising their children? This is so obvious that you would have to be an intellectual to be able to misconstrue it. Yet many among the intelligentsia equate differences in outcomes with differences in opportunity. A personal example may help clarify the difference. As a teenager, I tried briefly to play basketball. But I was lucky to hit the backboard, much less the basket. Yet I had just as much oppor-

THOMAS SOWELL tunity to play basketball as Michael Jordan had. But equal opportunity was not nearly enough to create equal outcomes. Nevertheless, many studies today conclude that different groups do not have equal opportunity or equal “access” to credit, or admission to selective colleges, or to many other things, because some groups are not successful in achieving their goal as often as other groups are. The very possibility that not all groups have the same skills or other qualifications is seldom even mentioned, much less examined. But when people with low credit scores are not approved for loans as often as people with high credit scores, is that a lack of opportunity or a failure to meet standards? When twice as many Asian students as white students pass the tough tests to get into New York’s three highly selective public high schools — Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech — does that mean that white students are denied equal opportunity? As for inequality of incomes, these depend on so many things — including things that no government has control over — that the obsession with statistical “gaps” or “disparities” that some call “inequities” is a major distraction from the more fundamental, and more achievable, goals of promoting a rising standard of living in general and greater opportunity for all.

There was never any serious reason to expect equal economic, educational or other outcomes, either between nations or within nations. “Wealth, Poverty and Politics” examines numerous demographic, geographic, cultural and other differences that make equal outcomes for all a very remote possibility. To take just one example, in the United States the average age of Japanese Americans is more than 20 years older than the average age of Puerto Ricans. Even if these two groups were absolutely identical in every other way, Japanese Americans would still have a higher average income, because older people in general have more work experience and higher incomes. Enabling all Americans to prosper and have greater opportunities is a far more achievable goal than equal outcomes. Internationally, the geographic settings in which different nations evolved have been so different that there has been nothing like a level playing field among nations and peoples. Comparing the standard of living of Americans at the beginning of the 20th century with that at the end shows incredible progress. Most of this economic progress took place without the kind of heady rhetoric, social polarization or violent upheavals that have too often accompanied heedless pursuits of unachievable goals like the elimination of “gaps,” “disparities” or “inequities.” Such fashionable fetishes are not helping the poor. Copyright 2015 Creators.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR EC Public Safety Team appreciates community support of its efforts Editor, the Leader-News: In response to the execution-style murder of Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth and recent negative publicity about law enforcement in general, there has been a huge showing of support for law enforcement locally. Since the unfortunate incident, the El Campo PD has received an enormous amount of expressions of support for law enforcement. We receive cards and small food gifts almost daily, some days several. Members of our team are greeted with cards filled with handwritten notes of support, encouragement and thanks. We also have received numerous cakes, fresh baked cookies, pies, pizzas and gift cards for meals. The EC public safety team was recently recognized during a high school pep rally with a full gym of students and school staff. There were a few hundred citizens in attendance at a community walk Saturday morning to show support for law enforcement. These events were great shows of support. While no team member has ever doubted we had the support of our community, it is now very clear we do. The recent response has been overwhelming. I’ve also heard from brother and sister law enforcement officers with other agencies in Wharton County who are seeing the same support all over the county. On behalf of the El Campo Public Safety Team, I want to thank everyone for their support. We will continue to work to earn your support and work with you to make this the best possible community. Terry Stanphill Director of Public Safety