Council Member Rich Whitehead Clarifies the NISD Issue
Rarely does a political decision get made that isn’t praised by some while being ridiculed by others. Such is the curse of being an elected official.
Many of the dilemmas I face are a result of the need to enforce an ordinance that I disagree with. However, in my opinion, the need to enforce laws supersedes the need to give preferential treatment.
In an attempt to clarify what is going on in this issue, I would like to relay parts of a conversation I had with NISD Superintendent Dr. John Folks.
I explained to Dr. Folks that while the City has a right to differentiate between businesses and school districts, our current ordinance provides no such distinction. Additionally, while I am not opposed to amending our ordinance to make such a distinction, I am opposed to treating different groups of people differently.
In principle, just because we can treat people differently doesn’t make it the right thing to do. I believe in the equitable application of rules across the board. To be certain, if there is just cause for one group, such as a school district, to be treated differently, then that distinction should be made in the ordinance and not with a variance. As such, it was my intention to uphold the ordinance, even though I personally think it may be too restrictive.
As to the over-emphasized statement in the Northwest Weekly pertaining to the “give and take” between the NISD and the City of Helotes, I wholeheartedly understand and appreciate the positive contributions of NISD. This includes the obvious benefits of the education of our children, the extracurricular opportunities, and the employment of our citizens, as well as the social and economical contributions to our community, including various much-appreciated fundraisers for our Fire Department, amongst other donations of time and effort by various school groups.
Of course, this is not an altruistic contribution bestowed upon us by the good graces of NISD. The overall school system is a service that we as citizens pay for, and pay dearly, vis-a-vis property taxes.
None-the-less, various dealings between the City and executive management of NISD deal with topics such as permit fees, inspections, fire lane blockage, traffic, bus lanes, and use of facilities. It is within the confines of these ‘managerial’ topics that disagreements arise resulting in differing opinions as to the balance of “give and take.”
One such example, and clarification of Ms. Smith’s article, would be under use of facilities. My statement in Council was specifically to the use of the Helotes Elementary playground instead of the track at the high school.
Dr. Folks maintains that he had no idea the playground was locked up. My contention was that we had been continually told we CAN’T use it, although an agreement was struck roughly a year ago to allow its use. That use lasted about a week, and since that time, every time I’ve visited it has been locked up. Dr. Folks advises there is no reason we can’t use it, as public use of NISD’s other schools is common practice. It has become apparent that there is someone else that is making this particular decision, and I will be investigating this issue.
While it should come as no surprise that he and I disagree on certain issues, we walked away with a mutual respect of each others’ positions, and, in my opinion, will maintain a good working relationship.
We also agree that often the media portrays a report that only shows a limited picture of the issue at hand. That being the case, I encourage everyone to attend City Council meetings to see and feel for themselves the nature of the topics at hand and to judge firsthand the ‘reality’ behind the story.
I encourage all feedback and do respond to all emails. My email address is rwhitehead@helotes-tx.gov.