Lots of Public Comment at LG Council Meeting
Most of Monday’s La Grange City Council meeting consisted of comments from the public. Four others spoke at the meeting besides the comments from Myeva Armstrong regarding the Trump Train (which we detailed in last Friday’s edition).
Husband and wife William and Brianne Bernsen of Plum urged the La Grange City Council to rescind its emergency orders regarding COVID-19.
William Bernsen cited a recent Texas Supreme Court case challenging the Governor’s emergency orders. The Texas high court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, however, Bernsen quoted an opinon in the case written by Justice John Devine.
“Many businesses have felt the impoverishing effects of being deemed, by executive fiat, ‘nonessential,’” Devine wrote in his opinion. “And many others—unemployed—found out quickly that economic liberty is indeed ‘a mere luxury to be enjoyed at the sufferance of governmental grace.’ That can’t be right.”
Brianne Bernsen said she and her daughter recently visited a local church to pray. She said no one else was in the sanctuary except she and her daughter, yet a church attendant came inside and instructed them to wear masks or leave.
“She said it doesn’t matter because the City’s ordinance says you have to wear a mask,” Brianne Bernsen said. “Your ordinance is making people police each other. They don’t understand that you can social distance and not wear the mask.
“I think you should repeal the ordinance,” she continued. “I don’t think it’s necessary anymore. I think it should be up to the citizens to decide for themselves how best to respond to the COVID crisis.”
Judith Balch of La Grange spoke about the political tensions in town. She started by describing how she and her husband moved to La Grange about 10 years ago for the welcoming and friendly environment they experienced here. She told a story about someone who honked at her at an intersection about two years after they moved here.
“I was driving through an intersection and apparently I didn’t drive fast enough for somebody, and they honked at me. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that person was not from La Grange,” she recalled, a comment which earned a good laugh from everyone in the room. “Because I’ve never been treated discourteously here.”
However, Balch said the friendly town she came to love has changed somewhat during this Presidential election cycle. She mentioned the recent spate of political sign thefts that have happened around La Grange.
“We can use our freedom of speech in so many ways,” she said. “During this time, it is a very contentious election. We have signs everywhere in La Grange and they are like flowers blooming in people’s yards. And that’s OK. That’s what we do, that’s just fine. People write letters to the editor. That’s fine, too … The problem is, some people in town don’t necessarily feel like continuing the tradition of civility in La Grange.”
She criticized people who seek to impose their views on others “in ways that make them feel intimidated.”
“That’s just not how we treat our neighbors, whether they live on both sides of us or across town,” she said.
Brandon Scheilack of La Grange criticized the City’s economic development program for promoting Chick-fil-a of Bastrop’s recent pop-up stand in La Grange but not promoting three other local food businesses launching new services during the COVID-19 crisis. He didn’t mention the other three businesses by name during his talk. After the meeting, he told the Record he was referring to a home delivery meal service offered by Ledominique Fenix, Fresh and Fit Meal Prep by Brett and Tamara Freedman and Redi Market operated by Sheilack’s wife Britney.
“They pay local sales taxes and buy almost all of their essentials in La Grange,” he said.
“Last week a fourth venture came to our town,” Sheilack added. “An out-of-county corporate chain came to town for three hours to sell sandwiches. Don’t get me wrong, their food is great and their Christian values are second to none. However, 100 percent of this money left our community.”
Sheilack said he was “heartbroken for our neighbors” when he saw the City of La Grange promoting Chick-fil-a.
“It was not our neighbors risking their savings to bring value to our community,” he said. “It was the corporate chain. Why are you not trying to promote us?”
No one from the City responded to any of the four speakers.