THE SPECTATOR – SHOULD BLINN COMPROMISE?
Should Blinn College compromise with Bryan State Representative John Raney? My gut reaction is a resounding “No!”. I don’t believe it’s the place of the Texas Legislature to stick its nose into a county-owned junior college’s business. And I sure don’t think Bryan, College Station and Brazos County deserve a say in the decisions made by the Blinn College Board of Trustees.
Blinn has a Bryan campus because Allen Academy closed its junior college division in 1970, and Blinn was asked to step in by Texas A&M President Earl Rudder and the superintendents of the Bryan and College Station School Districts. From its small beginning, the Bryan campus has grown to accommodate over 13,000 students. Through the years, millions of Blinn College dollars have been invested in various campuses, buildings and equipment in Bryan/College Station. Faced with tremendous growth, on several occasions the Blinn Board has attempted to purchase property for a larger campus….only to be thwarted every time by other property owners and residents in those areas who didn’t want a college campus nearby. Only by keeping their plans a secret was the Board able to recently purchase 94 acres of land for a future campus for just under $4 million, and they have committed another $10 million to making improvements to the existing Bryan campus. With Blinn making these huge commitments to the Bryan campus, it makes you wonder why Raney is continuing his attack on the college’s finances, trying to force the Board to spend money the way he sees fit.
So why should Blinn compromise on this issue? Because it cannot afford for Raney’s bill concerning funding to be approved. That’s why our State Senator, Lois Kolkhorst, has teamed up with Bryan’s Senator, Charles Schwertner, to author a bill giving Brazos County two seats on the Blinn Board. Do I think they deserve two seats on the Board? “No!” But Senator Kolkhorst must line up enough support to block Raney’s bill in the Senate, should it be approved in the House. That’s why she is willing to compromise on the board representative issue, because stopping the bill concerning funding is much more important. Unfortunately, that’s the way things work in our state legislature. Sometimes you have to give up something, in order to get what you really want.
And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.
I agree and Brazos County needs to pay taxes in proportion to the number of students on their campus
I totally agree with FD !!!!!! Let Brazos start paying some taxes. You want representation, how bout a little taxation !! Our children used to be able to take dual credit courses with Blinn while still in High School and pay only for books and that is no longer the case, now we have to pay tuition also, on top of our taxes! Evidently no one told this Raney clown how Blinn got started in Bryan in the first place. Who paid for that, Bud ?? If you want your voices heard at Blinn, then start paying taxes like the rest of us Washington County Citizens!!!
If you look up John Raney on Google, you will see that he is a businessman from Brazos County. He started and still manages Aggieland Book Store. Blinn has always had their own book store. Now you know why Rainey wants control of Blinn. It always amounts to the dollar!!!!
If we do not want the state to tell us how to run Blinn, then STOP taking state funding. Claiming ownership of this college may have been correct 50 years ago, but now?? If you compare the dollars paid by Washington county to the dollars Blinn takes from the state thru the past years, then the ownership is about 50/50. The Bryan campus revenue is the cash cow for the Brenham campus. Can the Brenham campus survive without Bryan revenue or state dollars? No. If we want the Brenham campus to flourish, then it should be managed like a well run business, not a retirement venue for the native administrators.
I guess I wouldn’t have a problem with any of it if Brazos County residents paid taxes to fund Blinn College as do Washington County residents. Our children used to be able to take dual credit courses with Blinn while still in High School and pay only for books and that is no longer the case, now we have to pay tuition also, on top of our taxes! So if Brazos County citizens want their voice heard at Blinn they need to start paying taxes like us Washington County Citizens!!!
Amen! Agree with FD statement 100%