Sadly, on Saturday, April 23 Johnson County Sheriff's Deputy Clifton Taylor was killed in the line of duty at a domestic disturbance call near Venus, TX. I did not know Deputy Taylor, but my heart breaks for his family, the other officers that responded alongside him, Sheriff Bob Alford, the Johnson County Sheriff's office personnel and all law enforcement officers in agencies across America.
I've written before that since taking office and working closely with the Joshua Police Department I have developed an immense appreciation for the men and women in blue who selflessly stand guard against the evil in our midst, running towards danger when all human instinct is to run away. Few times in my life can I honestly say I understand empathy, but this is one of them.
Thank you for your service, Clifton Taylor.
A.J.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Joshua City Council - April 2011
Last Thursday was the regular monthly session of the Joshua City Council. In the days leading up to the meeting rumors circulated about the possibility of hundreds of people showing up in opposition and support of the Renegade Club opening in the city. In case you haven't heard, it's a private club currently undergoing renovation. The opening date is not yet set as far as I know. It has become quite a heated debate for many Joshua residents since alcoholic beverages will be served if the owners application is approved by the TABC.
We ended up with about 75 people in attendance on the issue from what I could tell and just 13 addressed the council. Both sides of the position were very respectful and orderly which was nice to see. I'm about as big a fan of addressing our elected leaders and petitioning our government as you will find so I felt bad for everyone that, unfortunately, action they would like to see is outside the authority of the city council and any changes that we could make to zoning in the future would not affect the current situation.
In other business the opening day for the new Joshua city park "Splash Pad" will be Friday, May 20th. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of kids out there this summer!
The city will be holding several public meetings on upcoming drainage projects in the city over the next few months. More details on those dates and places as it nears. This is related to the bond package that passed in 2009.
Mayor Hollarn proclaimed April as "Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month". In attendance to receive the certificate was Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford who works closely with the Johnson County Child Advocacy Center.
The council accepted two resignations from our Planning & Zoning Board. If you would like to get involved with the city this is a great board to serve on. Please contact city hall for an application.
The council approved a gas well drilling application from Chesapeake Energy for the East Allen 3H well. Last month the council tabled the application until pending ordinance issues were taken care of by Chesapeake on existing well sites in the city. Chesapeake moved quickly and corrected all noted issues.
The council approved a change to the Cooper Valley subdivision concept plan.
The council awarded a street project contract to Reliable Paving for phase three of our 2009 bond package street repairs in the city. This is actually an additional phase of work being performed with savings from the originally planned work in the bond. Market conditions allowed for lower cost repairs to the streets noted in the bond so a great many more residents will now enjoy new street surfaces.
The council approved cancellation of our local May municipal election since the two city council seats up for election were unopposed. Although the two gentlemen serving in those positions are great assets to the city I wish we would find more citizens interested in local government to bring more discussion and excitement to the election process.
A.J.
We ended up with about 75 people in attendance on the issue from what I could tell and just 13 addressed the council. Both sides of the position were very respectful and orderly which was nice to see. I'm about as big a fan of addressing our elected leaders and petitioning our government as you will find so I felt bad for everyone that, unfortunately, action they would like to see is outside the authority of the city council and any changes that we could make to zoning in the future would not affect the current situation.
In other business the opening day for the new Joshua city park "Splash Pad" will be Friday, May 20th. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of kids out there this summer!
The city will be holding several public meetings on upcoming drainage projects in the city over the next few months. More details on those dates and places as it nears. This is related to the bond package that passed in 2009.
Mayor Hollarn proclaimed April as "Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month". In attendance to receive the certificate was Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford who works closely with the Johnson County Child Advocacy Center.
The council accepted two resignations from our Planning & Zoning Board. If you would like to get involved with the city this is a great board to serve on. Please contact city hall for an application.
The council approved a gas well drilling application from Chesapeake Energy for the East Allen 3H well. Last month the council tabled the application until pending ordinance issues were taken care of by Chesapeake on existing well sites in the city. Chesapeake moved quickly and corrected all noted issues.
The council approved a change to the Cooper Valley subdivision concept plan.
The council awarded a street project contract to Reliable Paving for phase three of our 2009 bond package street repairs in the city. This is actually an additional phase of work being performed with savings from the originally planned work in the bond. Market conditions allowed for lower cost repairs to the streets noted in the bond so a great many more residents will now enjoy new street surfaces.
The council approved cancellation of our local May municipal election since the two city council seats up for election were unopposed. Although the two gentlemen serving in those positions are great assets to the city I wish we would find more citizens interested in local government to bring more discussion and excitement to the election process.
A.J.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Cleburne egg drop: FAIL
It was a demonstration of a great idea executed poorly. The instructions were to bring 10 eggs per kid by yesterday at 5pm and get a ticket. Apparently the response was so high that they ran out of tickets but felt like they had so many eggs that anybody could just show up. That was their first mistake. What they ended up with was at least a thousand people and very few signs to let anyone know what was going on, where to go and what to do.
The WWII plane was supposed to fly over with what I imagined would be a dramatic drop of eggs. What we ended up with next was greedy kids taught by greedy parents rushing to scarf up all they could. Areas that were supposed to be for certain ages to make it fair were not followed. In the end my three year old ended up with three eggs and my seven year old got six. I think this quote from him on the way home sums it up nicely, "This was the worst thing I've ever done."
Anyone planning a public event needs to go above and beyond on information and communication for those attending. Next year we'll stick with smaller events.
A. J.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Remembering the Alamo
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| Photo courtesy of Brian Porter |
Upon arrival Mr. Hackett informed us that we'd meet John Anderson, the library's preservation officer, for our tour which would take about 15 minutes. An hour and a half later we finally finished what turned out to be a real highlight of the trip. Mr. Hackett's and Mr. Anderson's passion for what they do was evident and certainly contributed to the enjoyment of the tour.
William Travis' letter from the Alamo affected me much more than I expected. It was literally hair raising to take in. Anyone with basic Texas history knowledge knows the battle of the Alamo, the tragic end and the rallying cry that came afterward. It wasn't until I saw in a man's own handwriting the request for assistance just days before the end of his life at the hand of Santa Anna's army that I really was able to grasp the enormity of the situation and the bravery of those in his midst.
In the course of our tour we were privileged to view areas the public never gets to see from the conservation room to the stacks of archives in their climate and light controlled environment. As a member of the Joshua library board of directors I specifically enjoyed discussing the programs the state library has to assist us and efforts we should take to preserve our local history especially through archiving our local Joshua Star newspaper.
It was a great finish to a morning at the Capitol participating in the government that came at the price of blood and treasure provided by the likes of William Travis and those who believed in Texas and the freedom we enjoy today.
A.J.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
A Day in the Life. (of a lobbyist)
Last Thursday I headed down to Austin again for a hearing of the House of Representatives County Affairs Committee. A quick lesson in committee scheduling - when the time on the agenda is followed by "or upon final adjournment" then there is no way of knowing when it will take place. Pack a lunch and a sleeping bag. I'm still glad I arrived when I did since I got a lot of work done even though I ended up missing the hearing. The House was in session with a myriad of amendments to work through in the budget bill so the timing of the committee meeting was completely unknown at 10:00 am. What to do? I quickly re-evaluated the situation and decided that if I couldn't speak to all the members at one time I'd do it individually, at least to their staff. I used the handy-dandy Texas Legislature Online Blackberry app to find all the committee member's offices in the Capitol, made a list and started walking.
The first office I entered had none other than the ESD lobbyists, SAFE-D, on their way out. That told me two things. First, I'm on the right track. Second, I'm already one step behind. At the conclusion of that meeting with Rep. Gonzales' Chief of Staff I switched to plan B of plan B, go to the other end of the Capitol since the ESD was taking the path of least resistance and obviously hitting the closest offices first. I went to the committee chairman's office. In the end I don't think it mattered who got there first since the staff members in the latter offices were able to get some eye-opening information from me and provided some sometimes amusing eye-rolling in regards to what the ESD was telling them.
The facts of the case have not changed. There is still no reasonable explanation for not letting a city out of an ESD. I'll continue my communication with the committee member's offices this week and I still won't let up on our own Rep. Orr and Senator Birdwell. In the truest sense of the term I "lobbied" Rob Orr literally in the lobby outside the House floor in the Capitol. We had a good, frank discussion about what I'm working on and for the first time he admitted being against it. He did concede that at some unknown population number a city should be able to get out of an ESD, but he didn't know what that population should be yet. I say population should have nothing to do with the requirements. If a city can provide the necessary emergency services for their local population without ESD assistance then they should be eligible to vote themselves out.
If you're with me on this then keep up the pressure on the powers that can make this change. Use my list in my previous post to make contacts in Austin and pass this on.
A.J.
The first office I entered had none other than the ESD lobbyists, SAFE-D, on their way out. That told me two things. First, I'm on the right track. Second, I'm already one step behind. At the conclusion of that meeting with Rep. Gonzales' Chief of Staff I switched to plan B of plan B, go to the other end of the Capitol since the ESD was taking the path of least resistance and obviously hitting the closest offices first. I went to the committee chairman's office. In the end I don't think it mattered who got there first since the staff members in the latter offices were able to get some eye-opening information from me and provided some sometimes amusing eye-rolling in regards to what the ESD was telling them.
The facts of the case have not changed. There is still no reasonable explanation for not letting a city out of an ESD. I'll continue my communication with the committee member's offices this week and I still won't let up on our own Rep. Orr and Senator Birdwell. In the truest sense of the term I "lobbied" Rob Orr literally in the lobby outside the House floor in the Capitol. We had a good, frank discussion about what I'm working on and for the first time he admitted being against it. He did concede that at some unknown population number a city should be able to get out of an ESD, but he didn't know what that population should be yet. I say population should have nothing to do with the requirements. If a city can provide the necessary emergency services for their local population without ESD assistance then they should be eligible to vote themselves out.
If you're with me on this then keep up the pressure on the powers that can make this change. Use my list in my previous post to make contacts in Austin and pass this on.
A.J.
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