Here we are, the legislative session finally winding down, and most of think we’ll be able to take a breather and loosen the grip on our wallets. Well, not so fast, folks, because government doesn’t really take a break – it’s just a matter of which government is pecking when.
Case in point: Weslaco ISD, a mid-sized school district in a south Texas town where the trustees are reportedly considering spending $1 million on a new scoreboard for the football stadium. Friday night lights is often the justification for outrageous spending, sad to say. I love a good local football game as much as the next red-blooded Texan, but I think we could do just fine a smaller scoreboard than the rival town. After all, a bigger scoreboard doesn’t mean bigger scores.
Carthage ISD boasts a 1200-square-foot scoreboard, the largest in the state at present, which was justified by school officials claiming it would bring revenue to the town by way of playoff games and such. Weslaco ISD wants one that’s 1296 square feet. The mind literally boggles. I did a quick search for a 1296 square foot home in the nearby McAllen area, and found one built in 2004 that is priced at $163,890. So, the school district wants a scoreboard that is the size of a modest family home but costs about eight times as much. The district also stated that at the cost of $1 million, the scoreboard would take ten years to pay off.
Everything is bigger in Texas, we all know that quite well. Does it follow that we need 1296-square-foot scoreboards in high school football stadiums?
Keep a tight grip on those wallets, folks. If can happen in Weslaco, it can happen in your hometown.
