“Shabby Bellaire”
I recently came across an article in the Houston Chronicle. A group of residents have made a list of items that are making Bellaire look shabby. When I read this article I grinned realizing I am not the only one who has noticed what I call the “Aura” of Bellaire and how it needs to be restored.
Experience has taught me that you can get 99% of a job done correctly, but mess up that last 1% and it will look flawed. Spend hours washing and detailing your car, but leave a spot on the driver’s door and everyone will ask you what did you do for hours. If you missed the whole passenger side no one would have noticed and you are a detailing expert. All it takes is that one small blemish to make the whole project look “shabby”
Anyone who has ever worked retail has heard how a manager will put a piece of trash on the floor, usually a cup, and place cash inside. The cup is placed somewhere obvious and is easy to see and pick up. The employee who picks it up to throw it away gets to keep the cash as a bonus. The exercise illustrates if the employees are willing to go the extra mile, to see if they have pride in their job. Even thought they are not part of the janitorial crew, they saw an easy to solve problem and they JUST solved it
Yesterday, I talked about pride. Really it was about the lack of pride. It seems it is citywide and the small, easy to fix details are being overlooked. In my opinion this is the real problem. Why doesn’t anyone care? WE have a fleet of actively moving employees who drive the city daily. Would it be so hard to see and find these issues? I SAY NO. There is a Police department patrolling and a fleet of public works trucks moving thru the city. We even have a Community Development person who looks for these things. OK, it is bad to think the worst of people. Lets say the employees are actually finding and reporting the issues. In fact, there are employees with pride in the City of Bellaire. THEN WHY is nothing every fixed?
I do not have an official response to this question. It is easy to arm-chair quarterback and point out everything wrong without knowing the REAL reasons why the CIty of Bellaire has lost its “Aura” or using the word, shabby. As your Councilman on the Bellaire City Council I will look into this, find out the reason why it is allowed to happen and how to fix these issues immediately. I will not accept as a response that we do not have the manpower to fix, that we do not have the funds, or this is not a high priority item. We should take advantage of every employee in the City of Bellaire and use them fully to the best of their abilities. Things that are simple, should stay simple.