I know a bunch of you are angry that the building burned, but you can't blame the owner. These things happen and as much hindsight as you want to put into it and point fingers, you won't fix what is broken.
Jerry Rubin and River Oaks Properties suffered a set back when the building burned. It's not a good thing for their insurance premiums and it's complicates any deals where that property was part of a leveraged real estate portfolio. I can guarantee nobody over there was high-fiving thinking about some huge insurance payout - it's likely it won't be the boon you think it is. In these cases it almost never is.
What Rubin did after the disaster was much more grownup than what the local politicos did. He gave $100,000 to the EPFD equipment fund. This benefits everyone.
Better equipment means better firefighters - better first responders. Better first responders means YOU are in better hands in an emergency. That's never a bad thing.
Firefighters like a pat on the back and good "thank you" like anyone else does. However, giving them the money to make them safer and more effective at their job is probably the best "thank you" of all.
John Wesley Hardin has bigger problems to worry about than his office burning. As my dad would say - because he's the king of these jokes - "we know what the last thing going through Hardin's mind was, and it wasn't his office."
That's only a fraction of the savings realized now that the building has burnt to the ground. Now a new building can go up without worries from those wanting to save old buildings that are fire traps.
If you want to fix downtown you have to start all over from the ground up. So bring in the wrecking ball
Posted by: TexasWoman | May 01, 2012 at 11:52 AM
I agree. If you ever want downtown to look like the Dover Kohl renderings you gotta get rid of the tacky, nasty old buildings downtown. Its cheaper to tear down and rebuild than to deal with asbestos remediation, lead paint, etc on an old, ugly building.
Posted by: Native el pasoan | May 01, 2012 at 01:08 PM
I agree that he did a nice thing, David. But let's not doubt this generous decision was about good PR and business. Again, I appreciate what he did but I'd like to know if he would vote to raise taxes on his properties to assure there are fire fighters to use that new equipment? His paying for the clean-up should not be applauded as much as expected of all property owners.
I'm sorry but where I am thankful for his efforts, I don't know the man and I'm skeptical of his motivations.
Posted by: Annette Torres | May 01, 2012 at 06:10 PM
I just discovered your blog and am enjoying it. I like it when people take un-serious things very seriously and vice versa. There's actually more analysis in the snark than there is in the 'real news.' Also, we're getting a good look into your personality without you coming out and saying, 'this is me.' Good stuff.
Posted by: Julio | May 01, 2012 at 07:50 PM
Your blog is the best!
Let's tear down all the old buildings and go to France to check out some old building. Nothing says hush husk like 100K.
Posted by: best | May 01, 2012 at 08:30 PM
sometimes it seems better to be a simple and ignorant person
Posted by: Mark | May 08, 2012 at 07:39 AM