Griffith Talks Street Bond Proposal, Police Pay Raise, & More

Wednesday on KFYO Mornings with Dave King and Matt Martin, Lubbock City Councilman Jeff Griffith joined Dave and Matt to talk about a bond proposal, crime and Lubbock and possible police pay raises, city charter changes, water bonds, renovations to the Lubbock airport, and more.

The conversation started with the topic of the proposed $174.5 million for street improvements, which would include the Broadway road bricks. When Griffith was asked to speak on the topic, he said that Broadway is the one street that the city feels like is a "corridor" between Texas Tech and downtown, and Mackenzie park and Canyon lakes, and is therefore very important. Because of this, the city council wishes to, "keep Broadway historic." To do this, they would keep a lot of the historical bricks, but would incorporate other parts into the road as well. He did stress, however, that the design is not exact yet. Additionally, there is a plan to change avenue K, avenue L, and avenue M back into two way streets. Griffith explained that they know there are problems with having some one way and some two way streets, and people are already going the wrong directions down roads anyway, so he thinks this will be a good change. The bond proposal is planned to be put up for citizen vote in the November election, and Griffith said that with these historic low interest rates, he thinks that the time is right.

The topic shifted when Griffith was asked to respond to a text about the crime in Lubbock, and the need for police pay raises. The Councilman explained that it is a heightened topic for the council going into the budget, and something they knew was coming. He personally believes that crime is the #1 issue in Lubbock, and therefore there is a need to make Lubbock a competitive city for police pay compared to other cities in West Texas. "Police deserve pay increases, no doubt about it," Griffith said, going on to applaud the police for not just asking for more money from the city, but instead approaching the council with a possible solution. The council's budget workshops start in a few weeks, and he plans to push to make pay competitive above the normal increase you might see at 2-3%, although he does not know how much he will push for just yet.

Finally, The Councilman talked about the remodeling progress of the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport. He explained that they will be able to use funding from the American Rescue Act in the remodeling process, and the transformation should be able to be completed by the end of summer. He went on to say that it will be more efficient, TSA will be easier to get through, and suitcases will not be as noisy without the brick flooring. Griffith is excited that people are flying in and out of the city, and therefore wants to create something that every Lubbock citizen can be proud of.

Watch the full interview with Lubbock City Councilman Jeff Griffith in the video above.

KFYO Mornings with Dave King & Matt Martin airs weekday mornings live, from 6:00 AM to 8:30 AM on News/Talk 95.1 FM and 790 AM KFYO, online at KFYO.com, & on the free KFYO app.