TOP TEN STUPID

The Laredo Chamber of Commerce has made my top ten list of most stupid things I have seen since I moved here in 1992.

By urging the removal of Nuevo Laredo from the highway information signs along I-35, the chamber has shown just how superficial they are when trying to distance Laredo from the violence in Mexico.

I remember several different meetings which I attended with Laredo Development Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, and Logistics and Manufacturing Association members where I pointed out that the only way Laredo can distance itself from the perception of high crime rates in Laredo is to publish our crime statistics in a package where we compare ourselves with other cities in the northern parts of the US.  By doing so, we can show we are as safe as other cities that those inquiring about us would know.

For instance, if we say and document that Laredo is safer than Kansas City, that would go along way to helping our image.

For example, here are the FBI’s 2010 crime statistics for violent crime per 1,000 people. 
Laredo – 2.51
Providence RI – 3.61
Baton Rouge, LA – 5.43
Springfield IL – 6.11
and my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, which no one calls a violent city, had a violent crime rate of 5.26 per 1,000 population.

Comparisons of Laredo’s violent crime statistics to other well  known cities is something that people from anywhere in the world can relate to.

By asking TxDOT to remove Nuevo Laredo from the highway signs, the CoC has opened a can of worms that will have long lasting effects, and open wounds that may not heal. 

By the way, there is NOT ONE place on the Laredo Chamber of Commerce website that talks about the violence in Nuevo Laredo, nor any mention of how safe Laredo really is. 

Laredo CoC, work on real solutions, not gimmicks, to show that Laredo is safe.

PS, I hope our city leaders were not involved in this fiasco.