Ethics and principals of unselfishness, self-sacrifice, selfless service to humanity would be the legacy that some of those who voice opinions on the Public’s right to Beach Access would have the readers of these articles attribute to them.

Service to others is packaged and sold in the name of the public’s right to… (go ahead and fill in the blanks here…pick one or more of the below items).

1.Have children “saved” from being crushed under the wheels of vehicular traffic.

2.Have the gentle and vulnerable wildlife “saved” from the onslaught of vehicles.

3.Have the beach “saved” by removing vehicles thereby preventing erosion.

4.Have the pristine Gulf View “saved” from the tarnish of the general public, “Joe 6-Pack” if you will, remember these are the folks who come down with $10 Dollar bills and T-Shirts and don’t change either one during their stay.

5.Have the Dunes “saved” by restriction of access.

6.Have the beach free of litter and garbage from “those rednecks”.

7.Have a Police presence available for the safety of the public.

Of course, supporters of restricting vehicular access would argue that the restrictions to individual’s rights may be viewed as “no consequence” when held up against the standard of the “public benefit” to (pick one/or more of the above).

Those in the Galveston Planning Commission have opted to override the interests of the public individual’s vehicular access on public beaches in order to provide for the interests of other individuals who support no vehicular access.

We need to stop here and ask…Why?…Who benefits?

What the City of Galveston is actually taking a stand on is that the rights of some individuals supercede the rights of other individuals. That is to say that the politically connected individuals rights are being imposed upon the perceived politically weak individuals rights.

Why would a local government attempt to implement this strategy upon the vastly superior numbers of the general public at large?

This is exactly what is happening on Galveston Island. The local government is attempting to force a perceived politically weak minority of citizens to sacrifice their rights in order that a relatively few well connected individuals may have their will asserted.

This is being imposed by lobbying efforts to support real estate development on the West End of Galveston Island by the Property Owners representatives, in order to further their goal of development on the West End.

Thus essentially privatizing the public beaches so that developers will be attracted and investment opportunities will follow.

Claims of the benefits of closing the beaches to vehicular traffic echo in a never ending drum beat centering on the seven (7) general items listed above.

Interestingly enough, the General Land Office (who must certify the Beach Access Plan submitted by the Galveston Island Planning Commission) in a letter to the City of Galveston Planning Commission addressed items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of these issues…a portion of that letter is included below:

* Opening up new areas, and keeping existing areas, that are accessible to vehicles on either a year-round, seasonal or use-restricted basis. This could include permitting or pay-per-use type accessibility. Areas that might be used in this way include the beach to the west of Apffel Park, the beach to the east of Stewart Beach, undeveloped beaches on the eastern portions of the west end, and the beaches in front of Bay Harbor and Playa San Luis. We were pleased to see the concept of seasonal restrictions implemented on the 1200 ft. stretch of beach near San Luis pass. (Addresses items 3, 4 and 5)

* Expansion of some of the on-beach parking areas to provide more vehicular access to the beach. (Addresses item 1,2,3, and 6)

* Improvement in the maintenance of the roads that provide vehicular access, where the sand can become soft and block vehicular access. (Addresses items 1, 2, and 5)

* Expanded presence of law enforcement personnel on the beaches. (Addresses items 1, 6 and 7)

* Placement of additional trash receptacles on vehicular and pedestrian beaches. (Addresses item 6)

Oh yes, item 2 above can easily be addressed by halting all future development on the West End, as this will certainly foster a greater and longer lasting impact on various local wildlife populations on Galveston Island (and any Sea Turtles) than any vehicular traffic that is managed and allowed on the beach.

The attempted privatization of the Galveston public beaches has been crafted and designed to benefit relatively few individuals who are politically connected and stand to gain financially.

IF they can modify the existing legislation in order to bring in big time development to the West End of Galveston.

The City of Galveston and the Planning Commission have worked hand in hand to accommodate the implementation of that plan.

The question that I pose to the readers of this message board is this…

Our principals of government are based on the idea that all individuals are created equal, why should we (the public at large) allow the City of Galveston to select which individuals agenda’s they intend to endorse (those who wish to strip the public of their rights), while at the same time choosing to deny the vast majority of individuals their rights that have been in place since Texas became a republic.

Government should not be for sale.

Government is made up of individuals. Therefore we must look to the individual and get them back on the right course, or remove them from public office.

Avaritia facit Bardus (Greed makes you Stupid).