Hello,
Lawton has been riding high
lately with BRAC, Grady Brewer, Miss America, and now Extreme Home
Makeover. It’s time for a reality-check. This letter is about why Lawton is a lousy place
to live. Here are just some of the reasons why many people hate Lawton; not necessarily
in this order:
1) Really
bad streets. I have lived in Houston, Dallas, Miami,
and many other places, and the worst streets by far are in Lawton. The reason, of course, is poor
management at City Hall. They will cry, “We are working hard on the problem,”
but they are not. If the street crews cannot keep up with the holes and bumps, HIRE
MORE CREWS!
2) Stupid
laws. The law that prevents people from parking on their own grass is a hardship
for many residents. Most driveways only hold two cars, so the third and fourth
must park in the street, but if they have curbside mail delivery they cannot
park on the street. I know this law is greatly hated and if it were brought to
a vote it would be thoroughly defeated. There is no purpose for this law to
justify the difficulty that it puts on Lawton
residents.
3) Loud
mufflers. Another stupid law is the one that says all motor vehicle mufflers
must be factory equivalent. As a result, the local police do not enforce the
muffler law. I called and spoke to the desk sergeant and he said they take no
action unless there is a complaint. But if you do not know the tag number of someone
with a loud muffler, nothing will be done. The law needs to be changed to limit
decibel level, regardless of what type of muffler it is.
4) Outrageous
noise. You have to be careful what house you move into in this town because you
are liable to be awakened at 5 a.m. with what sounds like a bomb going off, but
it is a trash truck slamming down a dumpster onto the pavement. The noise can
be heard for several blocks. There is no good reason why they have to empty
dumpsters before daylight. Some locations have cars that block access to the
dumpsters, but those locations can be emptied after 5 p.m. or in the case of
restaurants, they can be emptied mid-morning and in the afternoon when there
are few customers.
5) Middle
schools. What a boondoggle. Right when Lawton
was switching to middle schools, it came out on the evening news that middle
schools do not work. Anyone with a brain should have known that. Junior high
school is very stressful and difficult; putting sixth graders into that
environment is not going to improve their absorption of knowledge; that is just
stupid. I barely had time to make it from one class to the next and had to run
to catch the bus every single day or it would leave without me. No time to get
to know anyone, no time to talk about cars, or sports, or to talk to a girl--
just RUN! I know for a fact that THINGS
HAVE NOT CHANGED since I was at CJHS! If I had kids I would certainly move out
of Lawton
because I would not want my kids subjected to the horrible LPS school
experience.
Many of you may have heard about a Target store coming to Lawton, but no longer; it
will not be built because of mismanagement at City Hall. If Lawton is going to keep moving forward we
must get people into office that know how to get things done. Please, I am
begging you citizens, please RUN FOR OFFICE so we can vote for you rather than
the bunglers who are now running Lawton.