Thank you, Commander Robert Lara Jr., for being clear about VFW Post 9194’s withdrawal of support for a proposed veterans museum at North Central Park.
Those who do not want the valuable green space of the park and its tranquility to be encroached upon by any construction wish:
• That other citizens and veterans come forward to stop the divisive fast track on which District VI Council member Charlie San Miguel has chosen for the proposed museum, for which no designs, environmental assessments, or sustainable funding plans have been presented.
• That Laredo veterans end up with a museum worthy of their honor, dignity, and service to Country — a museum far more archive oriented and more accessible than the bodega proposed at North Central Park.
• That City Council members come to their senses about who all the stakeholders are, who should have a voice in where the museum will be located — veterans, neighboring residents, Laredoans who understand the value of parkland, and the taxpayers who already have a $1 million investment in the museum and who will likely be asked to pay for its construction and operation.
• That the City consider other proposed locations.
• That the City undertake outreach to more veterans than those represented by so few.
It’s a stretch — even if you are an oily politician whose blinding ambition has made you forget the sum total of the constituency you serve — that 11 commanders of 11 veterans organizations have reached 6,000 Laredo veterans and speak for them. It’s a bigger stretch to believe that the handful of veterans who have San Miguel’s ear represent all Laredo veterans.
We — taxpayers, veterans, voters, Friends of North Central Park, members of the Río Grande International Study Center — watch as Council members prepare the dreadful waltz with the one that brung them or the Zumba of favors owed.
Compromiso is a bitch.
