"Lessons" Coming Soon In Caller/Times!

The local media is about to launch their pro-development media blitz to attempt to swing the public attitude their way.
Now is not the time to become complacent. Don't think the issue is just "going to go away!"
It is going to about be more than just losing our beach rights but about what kind of beach do we want. What kind of environment do we want to live in.
These supporters call South Padre and Galveston "world class" beaches!
If you don't agree with that, and if you like to enjoy our beaches as we have done for decades you need to get busy.
The following is a letter I sent in to the Caller/Times this morning in response to letters to the editor there and to the ominous side-bar ad on the front page. Notice the picture depicts a "nice" walkway to the beach, as if that will take care of the beach access problem if vehicular access is denied. Also notice there is not a building or a person in sight! Blatant propaganda if there ever was!

Be A Son of the Beach! Save Our Beaches!


Dear Editor,
This morning's edition (Saturday, January 21) has several letters on both side of the beach issue.
It is extremely odd that people still write letters concerned about "safety" on the beach to "protect us" from that "awful traffic that is nearly running us over." Or some saying "we must protect the turtles!" Some say "We are not going to "close" the beach, just remove vehicles.
None of these really address the question at issue in this dispute.
The issue is greed, plain and simple. Some want to change beach access for money. The supporters of the status quo want to preserve a way of life and some degree of a natural beach without turning it in to another Miami Beach.
In the same issue, on the front page is a sidebar ad proclaiming "Lessons" in beach building. "Galveston, South Padre Island and Destin, Fla., have blocked car traffic on their beaches and built 'world-class' resorts. A four day series examines how they did it." "Lessons!" Indeed! How condescending can you get!
This is further proof, as if any was needed, that the Caller/Times is now the official propagandist/mouthpiece for the local developers that want to ruin what is left of our beaches.
To call Galveston and South Padre Island a "world class" beach is a gross misrepresentation of that term. Wall to wall development, wild bacchanalia, theft from parked cars, long walks over hot sand or concrete or sea wall steps to reach the beach, over population, continuous restaurant and bar trade and crass commercialism are the hallmarks of these so called "world-class" beaches!
Overlooked in all this is the fact that in the long run we have much more to gain economically, environmentally and for the good of peaceful, meaningful beach experiences by keeping our beach relatively pristine. As the last one of its kind many visitors will come here to seek the more natural experience, with wide open spaces. There is value in undisturbed, pristine places as they become more rare.
It is going to take a major effort from the grassroots public to stop this beach grab being orchestrated by our civic leaders, developers and local media.