My breakfast with Gerald

In response to my apology, Gerald Daugherty invited me to breakfast last Wednesday morning. We met at a coffee shop at 360 and Bee Caves Road. You have to get up pretty early in the morning to meet the Commissioner.

We had a good discussion for an hour, covering a wide range of topics, including Hammett's Crossing, Reimers-Peacock Road, that crazy map showing a highway connecting South Mopac to 2222 and 620 (!), land use planning, cycling safety, and baseball. Visions of My Dinner with Andre.

(If you haven't seen My Dinner with Andre in a while, do so. I saw it again on TV last night. And I get it a lot more deeply than I did 25 years ago. Here's 5 minutes that will remind you why you need to see it.)

I appreciate his taking the time to discuss these topics with me, a simple constituent, not a power broker.

Nobody changed any minds on any topic. But there are areas it was easy to agree on.

I had started to give a full report of our conversation on this blog. But I changed my mind. You ought to be able to have a conversation with me and not see it on the Internet the next day, even if you are a politician. I'm not a reporter.

I will, however, mention a couple of policy promises he made.

1. He said the county can't really expect to do another bond issue before 2010. At that time, should a bond issue for improving Reimers Peacock Road be on the ballot, he would support it being in its own line item. That way, opponents can campaign against it without sinking other bonds. This seems a small concession to the neighborhood, but it's one we can hold him to.

2. He's going to look into signage along Hamilton Pool Road, to increase awareness of cyclists. I'll post later about my suggestions. He prefers shoulders and a turn lane -- yes, even west of RR-12 -- and I can't change his mind; but my suggestion costs negligible money, so is hard to resist.

[Updated to repair links]