At the End of a Long Day

We had a long-ish day in medical care land today, and at the end of it I went to the meeting of the Point Roberts Advisory Committee which is, among its many other possible activities, fossicking about in the $370,000 fund for improvement of roads and transit in Pt. Roberts, a fund made possible largely by the Canadians who come cross the border to buy, in large quantities, our (relatively) cheaper gasoline.  (According to Wikipedia, "Fossicking is a term found in Cornwall and Australia referring to prospecting. This can be for gold, precious stones, fossils, etc. by sifting through a prospective area. In Australian English, the term has an extended use meaning to "rummage".")  Whether the committee is prospecting or rummaging is surely a matter of perspective.

The committee has put out a survey and the 49 responses received so far are enthusiastic about trails and walking paths.  And a bridge to Blaine (or maybe Bellingham, I forget).  And more street lights.  And fewer street lights.  There seemed a good deal of talk about 'what people wanted,' but it is not clear to me that 49 responses provide much evidence about what people want.  Perhaps the 1, 451 non-responses indicate that the people want nothing at all.

In any case, beautification is a possibility, apparently, although there are many unanswered questions about any possibility.  Some things are not possible at all because they are not included in the narrow definition of roads and transit; some things are problematic because they would require meeting county standards that would make them very expensive.  E.g., there was at least an assertion at the meeting, that a walking path along Benson Road, e.g., would have to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, such that a wheelchair could easily move along the new walk's surface.  Which would be a very different standard than, say, just making sure that the shoulder of Benson is regularly mowed.  It was not clear to me whether Benson was just an example, but upon pointing out that people already walk on the shoulder of Benson all the time, I was told that walking on Benson is very unsafe.  Although I"m not sure that making it wheelchair accessible would make it any safer since the cars would still be driving 40 mph and the shoulder would still be right next to the part where the cars travel.

Well, perhaps it was just the end of that long day, but perhaps I'm not really suited to small town government activity.  I felt more like I was watching a TV show about small town government meetings than actually watching anything that had to do with Point Roberts as I know it.  But maybe the Committee members all know a different Point Roberts.  They all seem to have a vision for Point Roberts.  Me?  Like the first George Bush, I don't seem to have 'the vision thing' (and don't we all wish that the second George Bush hadn't had the 'vision thing'?).

And particularly I don't have a vision of or for Point Roberts.  I like it the way it is.  And I think it will more or less continue to take care of itself in the same way that it has done for a century.  Things come, things go; people come, people go.  What I most like about Point Roberts is its uniqueness.  And a substantial part of that uniqueness either derives from or means that things are difficult here.  The vision people seem to want to make it less difficult and, I suspect, that will result in it being more like other places.  They want more services, more tourists, an economic development plan, more stability, a bigger share of County dollars.  And I suspect they don't care at all about llamas.