The Midland Reporter Telegram contained a front page article that should have been a wake up call to complacent taxpayers. See Economic development tax: 10-year review detailing what the Midland Development Corporation has done and not done. In sum, they've taken in millions of dollars from taxpayers with negligible results in regard to industry diversification and job creation.
The anonymous bloggers at Jessica's Well have been hammering away at this for years, and back in '09 I suggested they get out of the house and take the initiative to get the tax repealed. Although I did acknowledge that it might be difficult getting signatures on a petition if they had bags over their heads. But the MRT has outed them. Problem solved. Ditch the bags.
As for what they need to do, the one called Ospurt left a comment on these pages with a link to a site purporting to lay out the procedure for accomplishing just that. There should be no stopping them now.
The Midland Development Corporation has a flashy website that's sure to draw in lots of lookie loos. But here's my favorite part:
Water
Midland has a more-than-ample water supply, and the water needs of industry and residents are met by both underground and surface water sources. The City of Midland controls 700,000 acre feet of underground water resources. The Colorado River Municipal Water District includes the O.H. Ivie Reservoir, Lake Spence and Lake Thomas, which combined contain 65.9 square miles of surface water.
Glad they cleared that up. Citizens are facing a $500 fine for accidentally spilling water onto the street, and here we learn Midland has a more-than-ample water supply. Someone needs to tell the city council.
Actually, three of us were outed back in the early summer of 2009 by an anonymous individual who spammed the comments of every single local blog on our blogroll.
The action was roundly condemed, and though the editors at the paper have known who we were for quite some time, they were at least nice enough to ask if the two of us would go "on the record" for this report.
The rest of the contributors to Jessica's Well remain anonymous to this day.
Posted by: Ospurt | November 07, 2011 at 05:51 PM
I'll keep an eye out for your dissolution petition, Ospurt.
Posted by: Geo | November 08, 2011 at 11:56 AM
When we were "outed" for being anonymous by an anonymous outer it was kind of heart-warming to see the way other bloggers and even the paper condemned the move. And we appreciated how quickly these fellow bloggers removed the outing comment from their own blogs.
It should be noted that one blog that did not remove the comment that outed us was our own.
Posted by: DG Heck | November 09, 2011 at 11:13 AM
Bloggers heart-warming? Well, there's a first.
Posted by: Geo | November 09, 2011 at 03:46 PM
they plan to win! More than a dozen Democrats who lost by thin margins in 2010 are looking for a rematch. They know that 2010 was lightning in a bottle for the Tea Party and the Republicans - and they will never repeat that again. The Tea Party failure, the Republican impotence, has been on display for a year.
Posted by: TRO | November 10, 2011 at 01:52 AM
No offense, but if there's a facebook like button, it'll be much easier for me to share.
Posted by: Elliptical | November 29, 2011 at 04:11 AM
Thank, ER. I've tried to do that, but it hasn't showed up yet.
Posted by: Geo | November 29, 2011 at 06:36 AM