Community split could have been avoided

Mayor Heckler, City Council, city staff and citizens, I believe the thoughts of our citizens are important to our community’s well-being. These past several weeks’ letters in the local papers have been so full of anger and divisiveness that it has been hard to believe that they are written by neighbors of this peaceful Hill Country.

I want to share with you the reason I believe there is so much divisiveness in our community because I believe it could have been avoided. I also believe that all of you who rushed the Esperanza Development Agreement through to a City Council vote contributed to this divisiveness. I am not alone in my beliefs; in fact, the Boerne Star and the Hill Country View both validated this point. Here is what they printed.

In the Boerne Star editorial on Feb 19, I quote “…we do not agree that the development agreement was ripe for action on Feb.12. Posting a 188-page document to a Web site on Feb.1 and then voting on it 12 days later is inappropriate. Not in a matter this important, not in a matter this divisive. That is not the Boerne way.”

In the Hill Country View Linda Byrne questioned the overall process of the Mayor’s handling of the City Council meeting. She stated: “Often rifts in communities start from the top, not the grass roots”.…”Something was lost in translation when the development agreement was released at the 11th hour. Was it the people’s trust?”

In the future I hope that you will consider the importance of the community coming together in town hall meetings and the importance of transparency in governing.

That is what Boerne Together is all about and this is why council members Ziegler and Manning asked for 30 more days to review the development agreement. It doesn’t take much time to stop and listen and often prevents unnecessary community divisiveness.

Anne Lambert

Boerne