Everything is just a little more irritating when you don't feel well

Been sick all this past week. Was sick the week before. Probably be sick this week, too.

So it may be the virus talking, but I have been rather irritated lately by some of the silliness propagated by local governmental agencies. I'm not a doctor - or even an enfermera - but venting just may be therapeutic.

Let's start with the one that impacts me the least: the city commissioners' decision to make the Harlingen Downtown Board the arbiters of taste and decency for about 40 blocks in the center of the city.

This impacts me the least because I don't own property there, don't plan to buy property there and rarely do business there. But if I did own downtown property, or had plans to open a business in the area, I know that I would not like having to go to the 12-member board, hat in hand, to ask them to allow me to make changes to my property.

I understand the desire to make the downtown area look attractive - to recapture some of the architectural style and economic vitality that it had from the 1920s to the 1950s. I love history and I respect attempts to preserve that history.

But I also love freedom, including the freedom to own property and to do with it as one chooses. I think this freedom is given to us by our Creator, not by government, and that it is government's job to protect this freedom and others.

The new city ordinance clearly violates, rather than protects, that freedom, which makes it wrong on principle. I also think that it is unlikely to accomplish what its supporters desire.

Existing businesses now become less likely to be improved because of the new standards, since some owners will opt to avoid the hassle and cost of abiding by the HDB's stipulations. The downtown, where vacant storefronts already are a problem, also becomes less inviting to people wanting to open a new business. Why jump through the HDB's hoops when there are other locations where property rights are still in relatively full force?

It would not surprise me if the downtown became less relevant as a result of this ordinance.

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A gripe a little closer to home is the expansion of Loop 499 from East Harrison Street to Morgan Boulevard. I tend to use the road a lot, since it is a convenient way to get around town quickly.

My complaint here is not the disruption that the construction is causing. Anytime a road is worked on, you have to expect some disruption. That comes with the territory.

What I find irritating is that the work seems so unnecessary. Prior to the "improvements," the loop had two lanes traveling in both directions, with a center turning lane and two large shoulders on each side. The road was plenty wide, in good shape and any congestion on it was little more than a minor impediment.

According to a Texas Department of Transportation Web site, the loop is being expanded to six lanes, along with the addition of raised medians where the center turning lane used to be. The total cost exceeds $4.6 million.

Apparently, TxDOT has determined that raised medians are the next big thing. They have been added to the northern portion of Loop 499 and to Padre Boulevard on South Padre Island, and have been discussed in connection with Boca Chica Boulevard in Brownsville, Business Highway 77 between Harlingen and San Benito, and Nolana Loop in McAllen.

The thinking behind medians is that they increase safety by keeping opposing traffic from using the same turning lane, which can lead to some tricky driving. But business owners don't like them because they prevent drivers from turning into their establishments. And drivers aren't crazy about them for the same reason.

Loop 499, which doesn't have a lot of places to turn into in the first place, seems like an odd choice for medians. Work isn't done yet, but it looks to me like what we're getting for our $4.6 million is that it will be harder to go to Dairy Queen.

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Finally, a personal anecdote about picking up my son from school.

Last year, I noted how silly things were when my 18-year-old daughter had a doctor's appointment. I had to drive across town and sign her out at the Harlingen South attendance office, then drove her around to the other side of the school so she could get into her truck and drive to the appointment.

This week, Bobby had a dental appointment. I arrived at South and proceeded past the security officers at the front doors to the window at the attendance office, where I have signed out my children for the past eight years. The student office aide told me that I had to go back to the principal's office - all of about 10 feet away - to get my visitor's pass. I told them that I wasn't visiting, I was just picking up my son. They said it didn't make any difference; I still had to go to the office.

So I went to the principal's office, where I was asked for my driver's license. I had left it in the car. I retrieved it and returned to the principal's office, waiting in line for the privilege of "visiting" the attendance office window next door.

As they processed my license and printed out my pass, I registered my displeasure with this new way of doing things. I was told that everyone was doing it, that it was state law and that it was for the safety of the children. (Isn't everything these days?) I remarked that schools were becoming more like prisons every day, then proceeded to the window to request that the prisoner - I mean, my son - be released to my custody.

As we headed out the front door, I realized that it had taken eight people - two security guards at the door to ask me what I was doing there, two workers in the principal's office to issue my visitor's pass and two attendance office employees, along with two student office aides - to ensure that I was taking the correct child to my car.

Such is the state of education.

Davidson is the Star opinion editor. He can be contacted at 430-6289 or at randyd@valleystar.com.