The Elite Agenda In Rockport Texas And The Move To Remove Low Income Residents

On the surface the City of Rockport is exactly what everyone believes it to be, a perfect paradise nestled on the Texas Coast. Yet underneath this polished exterior is a low income and struggling lower class hidden from the eyes of tourists.

According to the United States Census Bureau approximately 20.4% of the Rockport Community is living below the poverty line, a number when compared to other communities of similar size is staggering. Also disturbing enough is the number of uninsured residents under the age of 65 which comes in at  approximately 19.5%, again a shocking statistic.

The medium household income in Rockport from 2010 to 2014 is approximate $47,787 per home while the per capita income documented over the last 12-months of 2014 came in at $26,513. Compare this to the cost of the average medium occupied home at $186,800, and the average gross rent coming in around $891 per month, one has to wonder how the lower income resident of Rockport survive.

At last census report in 2014 Rockport had approximately 10,323 residents, which means approximately 2000 of these residents are living below the poverty line and at least that many don't have health insurance. Another shocking number provided by the census shows that a little under 50% of Rockport residents were willfully employed locally in 2014, with a high percentage of those jobs being in the food and beverage industry.

Despite these numbers everything on the outside looks pristine and perfect, a perfect image the elite upper class want to maintain. The entire town is poetic motion in transition, as a steady flow of tourists come to fish and enjoy the coast. The tourists stay for a weekend or so, eat, spend their money, and leave, never to see the truth with their own eyes. For the rest of us who live in the area, we know better.

There is no meaningful so called professional career track employment options available in Rockport unless you intend to cater to the wealthy elite.

As a man or a woman, your options are seriously limited. The only true professional career tracks in the city and the entire county is for teachers, bankers, real estate agents, or your local government. Even if you do decide to find employment in the professional sector jobs are definitely scarce, and even harder to keep.

To work as a woman in a professional career path in Rockport is to cater and join the elite social club. One small slip of the tongue or move away from the status quo and you will find yourself out of a job and ostracized by the elite employers. In the end, you will find your self-serving the ones you slighted eggs and bacon at the local cafe while they admonish you with their stares and snickers.

As a man, your options are even more short-sighted, yet the consequences of stepping out of the socially acceptable realm are the same for men as they are with the women. To work in a professional career path means you must participate and cooperate to graduate, and that's the end of that.

Professional blue-collar jobs for men are even more scarce than they are for women, most likely because a majority of the hiring managers are men. Woman have always been more suited to an area where presentation and tourism are key since men still on average control the buying power in today's society employers seem to prefer women in these positions.

So all this being said that leaves the rest of us. Construction and hospitality services all around. Working your self to the bone for minimal pay, no health insurance, and catering to the elite and the tourists. Your day at work is filled with sweat, back pain, and little reward, only to come home and barely be able to provide for your family.

I know some people will say that if you don't like the arrangement than move somewhere else. You get what is available to you or get nothing at all. And on the surface that sounds great and acceptable. Sure, you can uproot your family and move to an area with more opportunity, but how does one do that when they are struggling to pay the electric bill? How does one save and leave for a better opportunity when life's misfortunes such as car accidents, injuries, medical bills, continuously have you behind the curve and struggling?

While these issues are just another part of life's struggle, the elite knows this and pretend to care while slowly forcing you with no other options but to leave town. Sure, they need construction workers, they need cashiers, they need waitresses, they need mechanics, but there are just too many of us. The fact that 20% of us in the community cannot afford rent in a suitable home or dwelling forces many to pack into homes like sardines, or live in dilapidated RV Parks run by slum lords. It is this percentage they want to do away with.

Take a good look at the situation for what it is. The elite run the schools and courts, and those lucky enough to find employment there are under harsh scrutiny and must walk a fine line or be kicked to the curb. The elite also own most of the businesses in the area with Wal-Mart and HEB being the only real exception. Since a majority of business are locally owned by the top 10% wealthiest residents, these people determine who will work and who will not.

The business owners in turn also vote in large numbers and decide collectively who to elect into office. The elite choose candidates more suited to the overall operations of their desired outcomes and work hard to get these individuals elected. This elite class, back candidates financially and use their positions to cater favor during the elections for their candidate.

As a result of their efforts measures are put in place by the elected officials and projects are passed resulting in an increase of sales tax rates, of property tax rates, and out of control spending develops. This is done purposely to affect the lower income residents who eventually won't be able to afford to live in the area over a period of time. All the projects are catered to the tourist and the elite, and never once cater toward the impoverished or those in need. Despite the need, projects are passed costing millions to do nothing more than cater to the wealthy and pass the buck to you.

Slowly but surely this incremented increase will result in the lower income residents moving and selling their properties to move else where. Once the end result is achieved the elite then purchase the low-income families property at a drastically reduced rate and invest thousands to improve the said property for substantial gains and then move in more suitable residents.

Piece by piece the elite slowly take over and revolutionize the area for modern homes that only their brothers in finance can afford. As a direct result of this, the elite who run the banks can foreclose on properties in tax default as well as finance new developments. The elite contract construction company owners get paid substantial amounts of monies to build, remodel, and clear properties for the new residential agenda.

As part of the process, county and city officials begin a systematic campaign to cite and prohibited unwanted properties through ordinances and measures in court that many of us are too busy to even be made aware of. A cloak of secrecy is cast over the community and the media is shut out and communication to the public trickles to an end. As a result of the effort to shudder the free flow of information the residents most widely affected by these measures are unaware or not made aware of the changes and are then caught off guard by enforcement officers.

As this continues locally law enforcement identifies and secludes certain residents as problematic and mount extensive investigations to acquire search warrants on the properties, later attempting to confiscate them or demolish them all together. As this takes place the local government begins a steady annexation of surrounding county lands in an attempt to create a border or buffer to forbid light or medium industry to infiltrate the area and quell any corporately owned business in setting up shop unless absolutely necessary. Only a grocery store and retailers are allowed in out of necessity, not want or need. The more corporate businesses available the lower income jobs open up.

You ever wonder why Rockport never has gotten an I-Hop and Denny's? Or why only one steak house is here? Or why only fast food is available and not any corporate owned restaurant? They do this in order to not take the money out of the small business in the area, this way those owners can capitalize and charge larger sums.

A Denny's or I-Hop would charge you $4.99 for what a locally owned restaurant charges $6.50 or more for. Also, most local restaurants pay many of their employees under the table, specifically those who work in the kitchen. A corporately owned business would not be allowed to do this as they follow the tax laws to the letter, and would employ dozens of workers. This competition though good for the market is not wanted. Now don't get me wrong, one of the charms of Rockport is the small town business, but to what ends are we willing to go? This move not only costs us in tax revenue, but it also costs us in unemployment. Don't we want people to grow up here and love their town, or are we for sale to the highest bidder who wants to relocate.

Another item to bring to every one's attention is the lack of public assistance programs in Rockport. Good luck attempting to get indigent healthcare through the county or city. In order to receive indigent assistance, one must be completely homeless and show no income of any kind. Even more disturbing is that those who apply have to show a residence and proof they live in the county, which is impossible for a homeless person to do a majority of the time.

No medical service are available to the lower income families, and the only service offered are at one local clinic that is overwhelmed with patients.  A majority of these patients have to scrap and save just to get a routine visit then survive off the gratitude of the doctors who provide free medication samples. The only other service available to the less fortunate is emergency clinics that charge a substantial amount for a visit and only specialize in trauma, not on going medical conditions.

Need some extra food to feed the kids? Good luck with that one. There is currently only a hand full of public assistance programs in the area where a family can acquire some extra food. All of these services are provided by the churches in the area, which I will applaud their efforts, but it does little to help.

A little known fact about the availability of food banks to residents is that the County Judge denied access to the Corpus Christi Food Bank many years ago. This denial was done despite local churches pushing for such services. These churches have allowed this to happen under pressure from the elite in the area who attend and donate funds to said churches. The County Judge, who is a member of the elite as well, denied the food banks permission to come to town apparently for no other reason than to help stiffen the services to the less fortunate in the area. This is a fact that cannot be ignored.

As for clothing? When was the last time you walked into our one and only thrift store in Rockport. Castaways is not a thrift store at all, but a second hand dispensary retail outlet for the elite. Walk in there and your going to see that 80% or more of the clothing on hand are women's clothing. Most of these clothes are high end dresses, shoes, things of that nature. Of course they still cost you $20 or more to purchase a dress and god help you if you just need a pair of shoes and some jeans. If your a man, just forget about it. The men's section is a fraction of what space is available.  Even more disturbing is every week you can look out back and plenty of decent clothes are being thrown in the trash. Why, because they would cater to the poor. And kids clothing is also scarce. Why do you think they needed a new building? They want to make sure to sell their left overs to the tourists before they leave town I'm sure.

There is no middle class in Rockport to speak of, only low income and the wealthy elite, so no balance exists to counter act the move to isolate the minority as a distinctly second class. As options for employment continually increase in other areas of the region and work trickles to a stand still in Rockport continues, the low-income resident will have no other choice but to sell and leave.

Those who are fortunate enough to own property will sell out of desperation and will lose their properties under a distinct disadvantage to the buyer, who will offer cash to get the owner to sell and walk away. Properties that would normally sell for $45,000 a lot, now sell for $25,000, and the owner bites at the recommendation of the real estate agent. Of course all the real estate companies in the area are all on the same team and have the same agenda, so it shouldn't shock anyone they want those properties to sell, and sell cheap. And why not? The real estate company owners own all the building and construction companies, so they will make up losses on that end by developing and building homes. It's a win-win for them.

You only have to look at the photo above to see how far the conspiracy apparently goes. In this photo taken just a few months ago shows the Aransas County Attorney, the County Judge, a leading County Commissioner, a former mayor, and a real estate company owner, having lunch making deals about a new ER facility. Since when was it acceptable for our leaders to discuss business that affects us all out in the open and on our dime. Last I heard these discussions took place in an executive session, not over a few beers and shrimp. As a matter of fact under the law I believe this meeting was most likely illegal, but who is around to tell them otherwise?

So in the end what does this leave for everyone? The drug arrest rate is staggering, with at least a dozen arrests weekly for meth, heroin, marijuana, and drinking-related offenses. Children and young adults quickly learn that the easiest way to make a buck and provide for themselves and their families is to sell and distribute drugs. This activity goes hand in hand with crimes like theft, burglary, and assault. Of course its not like the elite wants to encourage this, but they do everything in their power to avoid the appearance of a problem. In their minds everything is peaceful and perfect and the problem will eventually take care of its self as long as it doesn't directly affect them.

Of course, that's not to say that everyone in a low-income bracket uses drugs, but a problem does exist. Drugs affect everyone on many levels, so I don't want to come across like low income is the all-encompassing issue that causes the drug trafficking problem, but it sure the heck doesn't help. Besides, you have to have money to buys drugs, so that being said the larger purchases are coming from somewhere, but that's a whole other topic all its own.

As for treatment of these types of issues in Rockport? There are none to speak of and the few that do exist are under funded and under appreciated until election time when the local Sheriff diverts funds for a public relations gig. So, the problem evolves, develops into something larger and more sustainable to allow for federal or state funding to fight crime. And what do the politicians do? They increase police presence and buy new things like boats that sit idle and armored personnel vehicles as if ends of times are coming.

Take all of this and top it off with a County Attorney and County Court at Law Judge who have vested interests in local real estate and have the final say, and you got your self a nice deal going for the elite in control.

This is not just a half-witted conspiracy, this is what is happening right before your eyes. You elect these people in and because the lower income  (now labeled by the elite second class) does not come out to vote it will continue.  I implore you to make your self-aware and vote accordingly and ask for a change in the elite agenda before its too late. Why families in the area starve, were building tourist infrastructure. While drug trafficking and use continue we buy more toys. As people are forced to their lowest, the elite champion on, and that's just sad.

A majority of the residents in Rockport either rich or poor are decent hard working people, its that 10% elite that holds the cards and determines our future fortunes locally.

Keep in mind these are only my thoughts on the matter and opinions can vary greatly but to me its pretty obvious. I welcome an open discussion on the matter.