The Hellfighter Returns to Baytown

The last time Baytown Texas saw someone determined to fight hell with their fists was 1968 and that man was John Wayne. Go on down to Rooster’s on Texas Avenue and eat a Rooster Burger and you can still see evidence of his work here. There’s even a life-size cutout of the Duke, just so folks don’t forget.

If what we citizens are seeing continues, Mr. Lowell Cox will need to clear a wall to make room for the legacy our new city manager Garry Brumback will create. I liked the man the first time I shook his hand and I figure myself a pretty good judge of character.

Mr. Brumback came into my view a little over a month ago and almost immediately there was opposition to his appointment from a certain sector – that sector appears to have a lot of complaints about everything. It seems one outspoken fellow in this here town is convinced Mr. Brumback is not the man for the job. Well, time will tell, but I was and am, willing to give the man a fair shake.

I’m reminded of a story I read years ago and involved a small western town in the late 1800’s. In this town, a vile element had inserted itself into a position of control and the good citizens felt threatened by the lawlessness. They had a town meeting and decided the best course of action was to hire a man who would take control of the bad guys and win their town back.

Initially, there was opposition to hiring this man because he was considered a warrior and had a history of getting down and dirty when it was crunch time. Some viewed him as crude and unqualified, others thought him unrefined and a few saw him as a possible trouble maker himself. Finally it was decided that the town was under siege and it would take someone with heavy warfare expertise to secure the citizens safety and with this mindset, they hired the gunfighter.

The story went on to detail how the warrior cleaned up the town using no nonsense tactics and restored peace and safety to the community. When the threat was removed and the bad guys were gone, the sector who had initially objected to hiring the gunfighter cranked up a hubbub again, citing the warrior as the new threat. Eventually the man who had brought security to the little town was dismissed because he was now viewed as the primary threat.

Baytown is under siege and has been for a long time. We hard-working Baytonians are ready for someone to cut through the bull and grab this crime-steer by the horns. We want real decision making on Cedar Bayou, Texas Avenue and the future of this city. We want leadership. We don’t care who did or who didn’t do what. We simply want it fixed.

When Garry Brumback heard we citizens were having what could be viewed as a rogue meeting, he flew from Florida to attend. He wasn’t intimidated by us. He actually ran towards the fight and that impressed me, because our city is in a fight and we need a warrior to double-fist up for us. We need a hero.

The Colonel, as I call him, was a commander in the Army. He comes to a city under siege with a lot of proven leadership. I like what I see so far. He isn’t abrasive and he is very personable, but I know a warrior when I see one. His no nonsense approach to dealing with the Lakeview Terrace Apartment complex makes me want to stand up and do a one man human wave! Bam-bam-bam!

If there is one thing I hate and I mean to tell you, I really hate it, it’s the current American business paradigm that we need to have meetings and meetings ad nauseum to finally make a simple obvious decision. It frustrates me to the point of screaming.

Being a logical thinker, I am an avid proponent of Occam's razor, which is a principal which states “All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one”. George Patton was guilty of this kind of decision making and there’s a good chance if he would have been loosed to do what he wanted, we would have annexed Europe about 60 years ago, instead of attempting to placate them.

I say we back our new city manager and watch as he busts the chops of every criminal and city slacker until this town gets on track. Then…we don’t turn on him, like that old western town did to the man they hired.

There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Brumback’s frontal assault is going to make some very vocal critics and enemies before this city gets on track, but I don’t plan to be one of them.