Welcome to City Hall everyone! In case you're wondering, I, Wes Nessman, will be laying out your agenda. You'd be wise to heed these words. 

Actually, the ideas presented here are pretty broad. It's like a football coach does every once in a while. He'll quit moving forward and drop back to fundamentals with "here is the ball."

I think being swept into a city office has got to be a little bit overwhelming, so here's an easy five-point checklist for these city hall newbies to take a look at.

  • 1

    Look At Where We Are

    I don't have too many complaints about Mayors Robertson or Martin. Both kept a steady ship after what I consider a disastrous period with Mayor Miller. Even then, where did they leave us? What projects did they fund that we're still paying for? Are we happy with the results we're getting?

    Looking a little more deeply, how much money will be put into Citizen's Tower? Is downtown really worth developing? Are we spending enough to keep up our parks? This list could go on and on, but these things all deserve at least a cursory look.

  • 2

    Look At Where We Want To Be

    Generation "No" is currently cresting. It's about to be over, and a new generation would like to know what you're going to do to keep them happy. Will Lubbock work to preserve green spaces? Will we let the Heart of Lubbock fall into disrepair? Will the city get involved in turning the Depot District into a vibrant area?

    A lot of folks these days just say "no, enough." Well then, why did you have kids? And if you had kids, don't you want things to be nice or suitable for when they get a little older? We're going to have to suck it up just a little bit if we want this town to stay a Hub for West Texas.

  • 3

    Bring Everyone Together

    You can go two ways after an election. You can say "my side won and we're going to do everything that way," or you can work to join everyone together for a common purpose.

    Trust me, the second road makes things get down a lot easier. Lubbock (and America) have been on a treadmill for the last eight years. We've had one side wanting to move forward and another side saying "no" without even considering the possibilities.

    There's that old saying: "Even a busted clock is right twice a day." With that in mind, all points should be considered when making any decision.

  • 4

    Control Our Sprawl

    This one is more important than you think and it's not being taken seriously enough. We do have all the land you want and more, but that's no reason to use it all. Can you imagine if you lived in a neighborhood where you could walk to the grocery store, a theater and maybe a park Sure, that kind of centralized living is pie-in-the-sky thinking, but it's never going to happen while things spread out.

    If we ever want good public transportation, things need to be kept as close together as possible. Then there's the matter of other areas of town going into disrepair because you have to pay for services on the "new" side of town.

  • 5

    Raise Our Profile

    Raising our profile means many things. First, we've really been a member of the *derp* squad for the last few years. Maybe if we can keep the embarrassment level down just a bit, we could be considered a major city and player in Texas.

    The other part of this is tourism. Now, people like me kind of laugh when you say "tourism" because we think of the few attractions the city has to offer. What we need to remember is that tourism to us very much means those people who come in from small towns to shop or party on the weekends.

    We need to consider their experiences when they come to the Hub City and make sure they keep coming back.

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