Watson Wire
The Other Super Bowl
Monday, February 08, 2010 |
Pretty good game last night. But I have to say that for me, it was the second best bowl-related event of the week.
I was in Washington last week for business (got out just before it started snowing). Through a couple of coincidences, I found myself in the Harry S Truman Bowling Alley at the White House.
Yeah. That White House.
It was outstanding.
I mean, it would have been outstanding regardless. But it was doubly outstanding because – and maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this – I’m not too shabby with a bowling ball. Just sayin'.
I bowled a lot in college. Seriously, a lot. It’s arguable that I minored in bowling. I’m certain that my father at least accused me of that a couple of times.
I don’t do it as much anymore, but it’s still fun. I’m certainly not going to say no to a bowling invite in that venue.
Anyway, here are a couple of pictures. Please note the shirt from the Dart Bowl in Austin – don’t ever accuse me of not representing my constituency.
And just in case you had to know – yes, I had the high score (like I'd even mention bowling in the White House if I hadn't won).
Public safety endorsements
Last week was another good one for the re-election campaign. I’m happy to say I was endorsed by the Austin Police Association, the Austin Firefighters Association, the Austin-Travis County EMS Employee Association, and the Travis County Sheriff’s Officers Association.
I’ve been working with these groups for a long time – since before I was elected mayor of Austin. Their members are terrific public servants who truly do keep us all safe. I’m grateful for their work and proud to have their support.
Crawling along
One more pretty big deal from last week: the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, of which I’m vice chair, had an interim committee hearing at the Capitol.
There wasn’t much that happened . . .
Except for the parade of mayors and county judges, economic development and chamber of commerce folks, transportation experts, and the public – all of them begging, just begging, for the state to step up and do something about the congestion that’s choking our economy and quality of life.
Oh, and we also heard from finance folks, who showed us that Texas is nearly out of money to build and maintain the projects and infrastructure that Texans need.
But other than that, nothing much happened. And nothing will happen until our state’s leaders and legislators get serious about solving this issue – and stop denying what we’re up against and what realistic options we have to address it.
Transportation Committee Chairman John Carona and I wrote an editorial about the deep problems spotlighted in the meeting – click here to read it. I really encourage you to take a look, and then to pass it along to others who need to see it.
The main point is that for years, legislators have been hearing the pleas for the state to do something about its chronic congestion. And for years, they’ve watched transportation funding decline and degrade to where it is now.
It should be apparent to all of us that it will take a massive public outcry to get the policy and funding that will get us out of traffic.
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