Truckee vs Taco (H)Bell....
this guy is really pissed about Taco Hell getting the shaft from Truckee Planning Commission. Dude's gotta have a place for the late night tacos...
My Turn: Signs of the times not for everyone
Mark Kucera
September 13, 2005
I was really appalled by the latest decision of the Town Planning Commission regarding Taco Bell. They don't like the colors of the company's logo? How absurd and childish. Maybe if they did something to make public trash cans available to all their revered tourists we wouldn't have so much colorful trash to look at all around this town.
Taco Bell has been around much longer than the Town of Truckee and probably longer than many of the members of the planning commission. The working and the young residents of Truckee don't want stuffy, overpriced "Yuppie" restaurants that they can't afford to eat at. They want affordable, tasty choices, and Taco Bell was one of the favorites in this town. Most of the people in this town that aren't millionaire land owners can't wait for Taco Bell to reopen.
Judging from the town council's excuse that they "want to make Truckee a destination, not just another town along Interstate 80" I am convinced that our local leaders are severely out of touch with the needs and desires of the locals that elect them.
Truckee is a destination for hundreds of people, but not because of the color of the signs that are scattered all around town. People come to Truckee because of the beauty and diversity of God's creation that surrounds our town, not because of the type, color, style, or selection of stores and shops that are in our town.
Obviously, our leaders give themselves way too much credit for Truckee's attraction to tourists. They forget the reasons that they, themselves, were originally attracted to the Truckee are the same things that attract others now - and that has nothing to do with the shallow decisions our leaders are making.
I have yet to meet someone who has flown all the way from Australia or Europe or has driven from Vermont, or even Sacramento, just to go shopping or dining in Truckee.
The wealthy people that come up here to buy overpriced homes so that they can spend $10,000 a year in property tax just to go skiing or fishing a couple weekends a year are coming just for that, enjoying the great outdoors. And that has nothing to do with the color of Taco Bell's signs, or McDonald's signs, or a lack of drive-through restaurants.
Our Truckee leaders need to get away from their self-serving agendas and forget about copying the other over-priced towns for the elite and get down to the business of taking care of the needs of their own constituents, the working families of this town that want bike trails, good affordable food, reasonable gas prices, and paved roads without pot holes.
We don't care about the color of someone's sign, just as long as it's not obscene or so big and lit up that it blocks what we care about - the surrounding trees and mountains.
Mark Kucera is a Truckee resident.
