Sunday, May 10, 2009

Oh, please don't.

New Mayor to Tackle Economy.

Many congratulations to Julián, of course. I've heard tell he's shaving now, and that he has Joaquín substitute for him only rarely these days. And really, with Hardberger's legacy including gems like the Main Plaza fiasco, he's got a good chance of ending up at least as beloved as his old nemesis. (Who do we blame PGA village on, by the way? I was out of state when that went down.)

But he wants to tackle the economy? Granted, that's the EN's word, not his, but still it gives me pause. When you tackle something, in sports vernacular, you knock it to the ground & stop forward movement. (To be fair, the verb can also mean to address a problem, but let's be real here: the connotations aren't positive, in general.) Methinks that's the wrong tactic to take with our economy.

Do we have problems? Yes. But far fewer than the rest of the country. We lose jobs, but we're gaining them as well. In fact, just yesterday the newspaper announced that 1400 new jobs are coming to San Antonio, courtesy of MedTronic. The national unemployment rate is 8.9%. The local? 5.9% (This may well be a decline in the local rate, if I'm reading other charts correctly.) The housing market is ranked as the 4th-strongest in the nation by Builder magazine. We're not exactly having a rip-roaring good time, but we are "one of the least weak metro areas in the US." (watch out, that source is a PDF) Is there room for improvement? Maybe, but in this economy it's hard to tell. I'm not sure that being among the "least weak" in the country is a bad thing when everyone is weak.

So please, Mr Castro, don't mess with it too much. And if it's not asking too much, could you dye Joaquín's right hand blue, that way we can be sure which of you is at City Hall?

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