By now most people have heard about yet another pee-wee sports issue involving parents with less than satisfactory decision making skills. This time it was pee-wee football and Joshua has unfortunately become the focus. I'm not interested in getting into the people involved or what transpired. I was not there and most likely, you weren't either. That's for the justice system to deal with, but the court of public opinion is in full swing and for some reason the City of Joshua seems to be the one getting convicted.
Some people hold the opinion that any small town is somehow backwards and beneath the enlightened people of larger population centers. I've been reading comments online from many such people. Admittedly I am biased. I represent the great City of Joshua, but I think these people need to step back and look at the facts.
First, the Joshua ISD has become a highly acclaimed district with ratings few others near or far have achieved. The Joshua Chamber of Commerce is on an upward trend in membership and recently moved into the historic McPherson House providing a beautiful gateway for businesses to thrive in our city. The Johnson County Special Utility District is pursuing grant funding for infrastructure improvements in the city. Pathway Com-Tel and AT&T are working on telecom infrastructure expansions and improvements in the city.
Over the last several years the Joshua City Council and staff have opened a beautiful new park, the city's first. Construction is wrapping up on our new fire station. A year ago we got a new fire engine capable of more efficient fire suppression. We now have a full-time paid fire chief that has made a multitude of improvements to the department and reduced response times in the city. Our police department has received numerous improvements to vehicles and equipment that all result in greater public safety and the safety of our officers. For those who still insist that Joshua is just a speed trap you'll be surprised learn that we issued over a thousand more traffic warnings than tickets this year so far. That's because it's about safety, not revenue. In an effort to reach out and connect with the community our Citizens Police Academy is about to enter its fourth year and 2013 will bring our first Citizens Fire Academy. We have a brand new Brookshire's grocery store set to open in about 4 months and construction will start on our new YMCA recreation center around the same time. The city council is actively engaged with a research group at UTA to develop a beautification project for Highway 174 and just a few days ago we learned that due to conservative fiscal diligence Standard & Poor's has upgraded the city's bond rating from A to A+.
The list goes on and on so before you take the actions of one person and associate my entire city with it remember that individuals will always make bad decisions from time to time, but over last many years a collective in the City of Joshua has made a lot more good decisions.
A.J.
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