A tourist was walking down the beach in Galveston and saw a hunched over figure up ahead of him on the shoreline. The early morning sun glinted off the water, so he couldn’t make out what he saw until he got closer.
Finally, he was able to tell that it was an old weather-beaten man who was shuffling from the shore line to what looked like a hole in the sand. He was wearing the Galveston uniform of shorts, flip flops, a faded T-shirt and a floppy hat.
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Peter Davis is chief of the Galveston Island Beach Patrol. The views in this column are Davis’ and do not necessarily represent those of the Beach Patrol, Galveston Park Board of Trustees or any other entity.
(10) comments
Very well said Pedro.
Leroy
Crabs will not gather around a 25 million dollar new Pavilion no matter where you build it
Oh come now Bill. Given the right justification., sure they will.
Good piece Peter.
I guess Peter want's a fancy office on the beach as well. I have great respect for Peter and the beach Patrol, this whining isn't his best look. Peter how about BPP #2 and the Carmona Pavilion, how's that progressing? Go to Charleston SC if you want to throw out models of a functioning Parks Dept. that actually does things to promote tourism as well as benefits for it's residents. Start with Seawolf Park, $16 per person to go fishing from the bank of a Park with no annual passes. How many fishing locations are open to the public, any piers? The city re-built the bulkhead pier an 61st, the Jamail Park or however it is named. Seems to me the Park Board spends a lot of money promoting itself and buying recycled sand every couple years but really doesn't give back to the residents much. It would be nice to see a pier alongside the Causeway maintained by the Parks Dept. and built with parking fees. People that live on the Island have to pay to park on the Seawall, give them something to see where there money goes. Because it's pretty hard to see it between the guts of the 5th and 6th sandbars covered in 20' of saltwater.
Interesting to mention Charleston. It was not the Parks Dept that turned Charleston around, it was the single minded work and dedication of Joseph P. Riley Jr. He served as Mayor from 1975 to 2016. A great argument against term limits.
Not taking sides either way, other than to note the dangers of building where the first storm will wipe it out, but none of those places mentioned have been functionally dormant as to population growth for the last 50 years, and are not as heavily dependent on federal government grants and handouts as Galveston....
Could that be one why...?
Peter you do a great job . Of what you do. Don't let the amateur politicians throw you under the bus.
Do like the rest of us do. Take what you've got improve & modernize it
Make it pleasing to the eye & functional. It's not your money that will be spent on the proposed 25 million dollar pavilion. It's ours.
Don't let them make you the front man for a pipe dream that's never gonna happen. Galveston needs you.
Sir, you took the words out of my mouth with that last sentence.
And mine too Jarvis. Lets all leave with what Jarvis gave us.
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