Sports?

My neighbor asked me this morning if I'd like to get in on a fantasy football league he was getting started.  It was nice of him to ask, but I declined and explained that I would not have any idea what I was doing.  I'm just not into football...or baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis, soccer, etc, etc.  I guess most kids go through some sort of athletic interest phase, but any I went through were short lived.  Were I to build a fantasy football team today with my knowledge of the sport I'd have the likes of Roger Staubach and Too Tall Jones.  When I actually paid attention to Roger Staubach though I was sure his name was Roger "Starback" and as of right now I have no idea what Too Tall's first name really is.  Such was the comprehension of a second grader with limited interest.

I'll take a pass on yelling at the TV with groups of people, painting my face, cooking meat in a parking lot and spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on tickets to fight tens of thousands of people into and out of a relatively small space (yes the new Cowboy stadium is still relatively small for 80,000 people to be together).


I won't rule out future sports obsessions though.  I've got a 7 year old aspiring golfer and a 2 year old that's happy catching and throwing any kind of ball.  I may have some TV yelling in my future.

Good game,

A.J.

Police Ride II

I had the honor and opportunity to once again ride with some of Joshua's finest yesterday afternoon.  I went out a couple hours before a shift change so I got to ride with two officers over the afternoon.  It wasn't a terribly busy afternoon, but it was productive.

I had my first ever visit to the Johnson County jail during the first shift I was out when we transported a subject with numerous outstanding warrants.  I had my second ever visit to the jail when during the second shift we again transported a subject due to outstanding warrants.  If you have outstanding warrants go get them taken care of.

I've found these rides to continuously be eye-opening about what modern day police officers have to deal with.  I love the work they do and much of it is exciting and interesting, but the not so fun side is not lost to my glassy-eyed, giddy side found from hitting the lights and spinning around after a scofflaw.  The strict legality of everything they do is mind numbing.  If every "i" is not dotted then all the work may be for naught and the paperwork that everything seems to require certainly adds to the stress of a stressful job. 

As a city councilman this is a good opportunity to be able to really get to know what may make this job easier for these men and women.  As a citizen it's a good opportunity to see what goes on in my city and what it takes to maintain order and safety.  As a person it's a great opportunity to get to know individuals who choose a dangerous career and are many times not thanked for it.  So to police officers everywhere, thanks!

A.J.

Joshua City Council meeting - July 2010

Tonight's meeting was rather short (2 hours) which is always nice.  Nearly all our action items were pretty routine and unanimous.  This post, however, will not be short.  I'll probably spend more time writing it than the meeting lasted!

• Our police department is partnering with the City of Keene in an agreement to use their police dispatch system for our patrol car laptop computer access to the state databases.  This will be a big improvement to our department and a great asset for our officers to quickly get information on automobiles and individuals especially during traffic stops.  It will also cut down on radio traffic which can get rather busy sometimes.
• Phase 2 of our bond package street improvements will get underway now with the approval of the contract to Reliable Paving.
• Additional street repairs will be getting started around town with the approval of an interlocal agreement with the county.
• We passed the final language of our mud farm ordinance to make sure drilling waste does not get dumped in the city again.
• The council approved a speed limit change with TxDoT affecting FM917.  An area that is now 40 MPH on the west side of town will be increasing to 45MPH which was of concern to Councilman Moore who voted against the measure.  I appreciate his reservations on the change due to safety concerns, but with traffic currently averaging 49 MPH per the TxDoT study if we step up enforcement of the new 45 zone perhaps we'll actually slow traffic down.

The most discussion of the evening came from item number one on our work session agenda.  Before the council was a draft of an ordinance to regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages in the city.  This was put on the agenda for the council to begin discussion on the topic to make sure we have an ordinance in place ahead of a possible vote on this issue next May. This was not an action item and probably will not be an action item for at least one more council session, maybe more.

The possibility of the sale of alcohol being on the May 2011 ballot is being spearheaded by me.  I believe we are in a unique window of opportunity to capitalize on economic growth and the passage of this measure will help ensure it's success.  This is not a city council issue.  The only way this comes to a vote is by a citizen of the city starting the process and gathering the required number of signatures.  I have chosen to be said citizen for the betterment of our city in the long term regardless of the political repercussions.  I am well aware of the opposition to such a measure and I'm familiar with most of the reasons people cite in opposition.  I disagree.

Councilman Davis passionately presented his opposition at tonight's meeting.  I fully respect his opinion though given the nature of the agenda item his issue really had nothing to do with the regulation of alcohol sales in the city, but with the legalization of the sale of alcohol which, again, is not a council issue.  With the laws in place in the State of Texas it will never be the responsibility of the city council to debate the merits of legalizing the sale of alcohol in our city.  Each member of the council will have their opportunity to voice their opinion at the ballot box.

Councilman Davis cited some scripture for us this evening warning of the necessity to discern good from evil.  Those are good words for everything we do every day of our lives, but I don't find them compelling in this instance.  I do not believe the legal sale of alcoholic beverages is a debate of good or evil actions.  The two strongest oppositions to this will be religious arguments and safety arguments and I'll address both here now.

I am a Christian in the most true definition of the word (and Word).  The Bible warns of many evils, but alcohol touching your lips is not one of them.  Jesus miraculously turned water into wine and I'm pretty confident it was consumed after that.  Especially since they had run out of wine at the party already.  When He broke bread with the twelve for the last time He drank of the fruit of the vine and told them He would not do so again until He was in the presence of the Father with them again in Heaven.  Councilman Davis likened this to Sodom and Gomorrah, but there was a whole lot more going on there than a glass of wine with a steak dinner. There will be countless scriptures quoted in the coming months on both sides of this, but if all the Christians will love one another in the end then we'll get through it.

The fact of the matter is people have weaknesses and make bad decisions.  Some people don't know when to stop drinking.  Some people drive after they've had too much and kill innocent people.  Whether Joshua's six square miles of dirt becomes a place to buy alcohol isn't going to change that.  Within 1.5 miles of our borders you can buy beer.  To our North it's only about 500 feet.  Like it or not there are people who live in Joshua who drink alcoholic beverages.  It's legal to do so in the United States of America.  They leave our city and purchase it from neighboring cities and bring it home.  Sometimes they go to neighboring cities and have a drink with a meal.  I'm not satisfied with Joshua being a fast-food-as-you-pass-through city.  We can be better.  We can be a destination.

If you want to get into what's good for the body or not then choosing between every possible fast food is not going to prolong your existence any.  In fact there are people who abuse food.  They cannot stop eating once they start.  There are people who live in Joshua with that problem.  It's a serious health concern plaguing our entire nation, but we're not wanting to keep grocery stores or fast food restaurants out of town.  It was even suggested we get a McDonald's instead and be happy with that sales tax revenue.  The next argument would be that people who over eat are not a danger to others.  Good point.  How about those who abuse drugs though?  I'm not talking about illegal drugs.  I'm talking prescription drugs and even over the counter medication.  I'll bet there are people living in Joshua who abuse both.  Where do they get such awful things?  Burleson?  Cleburne?  No, they can get that in a pharmacy right here in town or even the grocery store.  Do you think too many Tylenol PM's could cause someone to kill someone else out on the road tonight?

I get that alcohol related deaths are way too high and driving under the influence is against the law.  I'm not trying to minimize that in the least.  Everyone probably knows someone who has been affected by a drunk driver.  The people that want to drink will drink because it's legal to do so and I see no moral issue in them being able to purchase it in the City of Joshua.

This will be an interesting 10 months.  Lets keep this civil and let the voters decide.

God Bless America.

A.J.

Freedom!

I knew this morning's program at church was going to be related to the holiday, but I didn't know how emotional it would be for me.  I guess I should have known since I feel very strongly towards the foundation of this nation, our military and God's providence over our great country, but the twist in today's service was the inclusion of immigrants.  Pantego Bible Church has an African congregation that meets on Sunday afternoons and they were invited to worship with us this morning for one large celebration.  It was amazing!

The African choir joined the praise team and the voices were wonderful.  Patriotism and praise just can't be beat!  Later the African signers would bless us with two very powerful songs.  I love the rhythms and sound of their voices.  After seeing the translation on screen once it was easy to follow along without reading because of the expressions in their dance and hand motions.

Many of these people came here as religious refugees, legally.  Their leader and liaison to the church described he and his wife's journey through three African nations before making it to the United States in 2005.  They are now citizens and so grateful for what they have here and the work God has blessed them to do.

We met another member of our church, Sergey, from Russia.  He came here when he was 12 years old with his family to escape religious persecution in Russia back in 1986.  His father narrowly escaped prison for leading a Christian church there.  Sergey is also here legally and trying to navigate the process of citizenship.  The absurdity of Sergey's story is that he served 5 years in the United States Army.  He was scheduled to be fingerprinted as a part of his citizenship process, but on that day he shipped out for a year tour of duty in Iraq.  Since he missed that appointment he's been told his application was denied.  You've got to be kidding.  I'm sure there exists somewhere in our dreadfully bureaucratic system a person with a brain who will get Sergey back on track and repay him for his devotion to this country.

Our stage was graced with a dozen other people who have migrated here and become citizens.  People from all over the world.  It's absolutely inspirational and a great reminder of the blessings we take for granted every day.

The elephant in the room, for me at least, was our current illegal immigration issues.  I get that a lot of people want to come here, but I also get that we have laws not unlike most countries on Earth.  While I have nothing but respect for those who follow the law and come here to contribute to our country in the most positive way they can, learn our language and bless us further I have nothing but disdain for the lawbreakers who come here with nothing but selfish entitlement goals and simply use our land as a place to further their own country.  It's beyond unfortunate that even our own President turns his nose at our laws.  Shame on you, Mr. President!

The other reminder this morning was the indisputable inclusion of God's wonderful grace in the formation and endurance of this great country.  Try as some might to remove God's divine intervention into the lives of our founders history will not be rewritten!

I'll leave you with a quote from John Adam's letter to his wife Abigail sent July 3, 1776 that opened our church service this morning.

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

God Bless America.

A.J.

Joshua City Council June 2010

June's council meeting marked out first full meeting with our newly elected members.  Our work session began with briefings from Joshua F.D. Chief Baker regarding the future of our ambulance service.  It has become an expensive redundancy and later in the regular session we voted to sell our ambulance to the City of Keene for $35,000 (roughly what the city had invested in it many years ago).  With Care Flight operating under contract in the county with a base of operations just outside out southern border it makes more sense to let them do what they do very well.  The possibility exists that when construction of our new fire station is complete Care Flight may actually base it's ambulance in our station.  That would be a win-win for the city.

In other fire department news we're on the hunt for a new fire truck at a reasonable cost after having to remove from service our newest truck that has been riddled with issues for several years.  Our backup apparatus are fortunately performing well.  My hope is that through our upcoming budget process we'll begin carving out a savings program for future big tickets items like this.  I'm confident though that God will provide the wisdom and means for us to acquire what we need in the short term.

After a recent incident where a contractor for EOG dumped drill mud inside the city limits the council reviewed the first draft of our new mud farm ordinance.  It's relatively simple and should be effective at prohibiting such acts in the future.  I offered a minor change to the general definition and we should see it on our July agenda for consideration.


Mayor Hollarn discussed with the council his suggestion for making the council members more accountable for attracting and retaining commission and board members such our economic development boards.  I think this is a good idea and agree with his logic that the voters elected us to manage the city so functioning boards that lead up to council decisions should be more closely managed by the council.  I believe a big part of our responsibilities as council members is to be out in the community meeting people and working with our residents so should therefore be good resources for recruiting talent to serve withing the city.

In our regular session several board members were reseated to there positions and we welcomed in a few new ones too.  Mayor Pro-Tem Walden was elected again to serve in that capacity for his remaining year on the council and I was honored to be appointed to the Joshua Library board, a cooperative effort between the city and the school district.  I'm really proud of our library and I'm looking forward to doing what I can to promote it and expand it's use in the community.

My only disappointment in the meeting was losing a fight for a tree.  Our new north entry sign is finally going to be erected on a terrific site, but a large cottonwood tree stood in the way.  I would have preferred a change to the layout or size of the sign, but I was outvoted and 12 hours later the tree was no more.  You can't win them all, but real failure comes from not trying.

A.J.