Happy New Year! And happy one-year-of-blogging to me! Today we have the Jan 3rd city council meeting, and then I’ve got some good old self-reflections on the past year for you.
City Council business first
It was a short meeting, only two hours long. Partly because the agenda was short, but partly also because there’s much less discussion without Max Baker there. I think this is mixed. Max probably gummed up the works overmuch at times. But the danger is that too much discussion happens behind closed doors, and the public only sees the final vote. It gives the appearance that Council is rubber-stamping whatever comes along.
I do not exactly think that Council is rubber-stamping every item. Some items do get some discussion. And not every item needs to be discussed. However, without discussion, the context of a vote is opaque. On complicated topics where no one says much, it’s very hard to tell the difference between a good vote and a bad vote.
Hours 0:00-1:01: In which we see very little discussion in two rezoning cases.
Hours 1:01-2:10: Several small items, plus the Mano Amiga petition against the SMPD meet-and-confer agreement.
Onto the self-reflection
It’s been one year since I went public with this site! I am not frequently asked anything, but I thought it might be fun to make up some FAQs.
1. Who am I?
I promise you that when my identity (inevitably, eventually) gets discovered, it will be a giant letdown. I am incredibly boring, and the suspense is way more interesting than my actual dumb self.
2. Why am I doing this?
A long time ago, I heard Diane Wassenich talking about how she made an effort to attend every city council meeting and every P&Z meeting. She said something like, “Well, someone needs to be watching them.” I really admired that sentiment, that at least one person should consistently be watching. The thought stuck with me. I noticed that there was a vacuum when she retired.
However, I’m not a social person who wants to be a part of a lot of organizations. So if I just watched all the P&Z and council meetings, the knowledge would then just die with me. This blog is a substitute for all the conversations I’d have, if I liked having conversations.
3. How many readers do I have?
It’s pretty tiny. There seem to be about 30-40 of you that turn out regularly. One thing that I’m particularly pleased with is that most of you all seem to actually read the entire thing. My stats show me both the number of readers and the number of views. So, for example, on days when I post 4 links, the number of views tends to be close to 4x the number of readers. I’m humbled that this small-but-loyal group truly reads the whole, excruciating thing.
(I did get a small bump from people finding election posts via google. Most of you come over from Facebook, though.)
I’m playing a long game. I figure that having the ear of 30-40 progressive, engaged community members in San Marcos is actually a really big deal, because you all are likely to turn up to events and have the conversations and actually make change happen.
4. What was my most popular post?
Oh my gawd: the time Shane Scott waved around a baggie of 3 oz of pot, I got 235 views. He’s the gift that keeps on giving.
5. Are you planning on expanding the blog?
I really loathe self-promotion, so I haven’t mustered anything beyond posting links on Facebook and Twitter. If anyone has an idea that requires very little time, energy, and money from me, I’m open to it.
I’ve vaguely mused about covering Hays County Commission or the SMCISD school board, but I don’t really have any additional time to spare. This is kinda time-consuming as is.
Seriously, thank you to all of you who read this thing. You make it worth writing. Cheers to 2023.
The San Marxist 