LC's Andy Mann: If you need help getting around, move to Galveston

League City Councilman Mick Phalen said he plans to ask the council to reconsider a vote to discontinue subsidized door-to-door service for low-income or disabled residents that transports them to and from jobs, medical appointments and other places they need to go.

The program, provided through grant money acquired by the Gulf Coast Center, has been operating for several years at no cost to the city, but after Aug. 31, federal grant funds to continue the program, which provides about 800 trips a year for League City residents, will depend on a local match of $8,500 per year, or $27,013 for three years, said Gulf Coast Center consultant Gary Goodman of The Goodman Corp.

Many of the people who use the program, who will pay about $12 per trip, are disabled and need help getting to work or to clinics for medical services, Goodman said.

Phalen said Friday that he’s disgusted by fellow Councilman Andy Mann’s comments during Tuesday’s city council meeting, when officials voted 6-1 against continuing the service.

“I don’t get this,” Mann said at the meeting. “There was a period in my life where I was broke, and I didn’t have gas for my car, and I walked.

“I guess I’m coming off as a heartless Republican, but this sounds like something that the churches and community services organizations like the United Way would address.”

Mann said “League City does not want to become some sort of entitlement community,” adding that the city should encourage self-reliance and suggesting that people who require public services move to Galveston, “because that community has already made the choice - ‘We want to build public housing. We want people to have free rides everywhere.’”

“America gives us all choices of where we can live,” Mann said. “How do we build a community that is self-reliant, understanding that we’re part of a bigger network? How do we instill self-reliance so that this thing goes on to the next generation and it’s a place where they can come back to. It just reminds me so much of my hometown, Port Arthur. And I can’t go home. I can’t raise my kids back there.”

After the Galveston County Daily News interviewed a dialysis patient who said he needs the transportation service to get medical care, Mann posted on his Facebook page Thursday night: “I called Mr. Prior and told him my son would be glad to drive him to his appointment. He didn't pick up so I am attempting to get an address so I can stop by.”

‘Mistake’

Phalen said that although he also voted against continuing the service, he now feels his vote was a mistake and he does not agree with Mann’s comments. “I would call them embarrassing,” he said. “We can philosophically talk about role of government, but phrasing it in that context....it was embarrassing for League City.”

Phalen said he does believe that a door-to-door transportation service would be better suited to a nonprofit organization or church, and said he’ll ask the council to consider providing the public match with the understanding that officials will explore ways to transition to burden to charitable organizations.

Councilman Dan Becker said during Tuesday’s meeting that he disagrees with taking federal funds for programs that he philosophically does not agree with, adding that until cities start standing up to the federal government, “the system is never going to get fixed.”

Councilman Dennis O’Keefe said that while “I have great compassion for people who are not as fortunate as we are,” he feels the need for transportation will be met by a park and ride service that was approved at Tuesday’s council meeting, providing service between UTMB facilities in League City and Galveston. “I believe we have an adequate substitute at this time.”

With Tuesday’s lone vote in favor of the transit service, Councilwoman Joanna Dawson said Friday that she feels the service is beneficial for League City residents, including veterans and families caring for relatives while trying to hold down a job.

“I feel a deep empathy for working families in League City who have to transport an aging parent,” Dawson said, noting that it’s often not possible for a working adult to take time off for a relative’s medical appointments. Often, the relative winds up in assisted living instead, she said.

“I think we need to help them, and I think the price was good,” Dawson said.