| Thanks, and congrats to you, today, the day of your photo op. - Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Thanks.
I just wanted to take a little time out of my day to extend my greatest thanks to President Obama, on this the day of his photo op at Ft. Hood. You see, I have a friend who is serving in the Army, and is stationed at Ft. Hood. And, after everything that he and his fellow soldiers have been through in this past week, it is safe to say, a few days off would be welcome, if you could get it. It is also safe to say, that my friend was quite pleased to hear Sunday, that his leave had been approved, and he would have five days off, and a mileage pass to see his friends and family back in his home town. You see, I was supposed to heading down to Ft. Hood to pick him up and bring him back, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op. I am sure most anyone would agree, that a leave away from these events of the past week to visit friends would do wonders for the moral of any and all, of the many soldiers that were lucky enough to receive leave this week, that was until, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op.
You see, Monday night, all leave was cancelled, for the events of today, the day of President Obama’s photo op. Although visiting friends and family in one’s home town would no doubt have an uplifting effect on any soldiers morale, I can only assume, that such a temporary uplifting, can only pale and dim, when compared to the opportunity to be required to stay on post and commune with The One, and have his golden continence to shine upon you. To be there, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op.
The thing I just don’t get though, was that, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op, is not the first presidential visit since the tragic actions of a deluded jihadi sympathizer taking his impotent rage out on unarmed service men. You see, former president Bush, was there yesterday, the day before, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op. Mr. Bush of course did not arrive with a cadre of simpering photographers and thrill up my leg reporters, he just arrived, visited soldiers, and the family of those directly effected by the tragic cowardice of a hateful terrorist, and then he left. Another funny thing, his visit had no direct effect on any soldier and their hard earned leave.
But I suppose, after asking these young men and women to sacrifice so much, and asking their families and friends to be with out them, maybe forever, an opportunity such as the one today, the day of President Obama’s photo op, to commune with The One, and have his golden continence to shine upon you, is an opportunity you simply cannot miss, and shall not miss, because you cannot leave, at all, and is worth a few days of leave with friends and family.
So, many thanks, Mr. President, and congratulations to you on this day, the day of President Obama’s photo op.
|
| Meeting 09-22-09 - Monday, September 28, 2009 |
| Meeting 09-08-09 - Thursday, September 10, 2009A short meerting with out much to report on this time. The main point of intrest for this meeting being the; Annual Fire Fighters Dinner. This is a fundraiser for the fir dept. They are trying to raise money for some personal protective equipment for our fire fighters, so, I encourage any and all Hurst residents to attend if you can, and support these men and women who come to our aaid when we need them.
Agenda minutesfound here;
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Publications/Council/Agenda%20Archives/2009/20090908.pdf
Thanks,
Q |
| Council Meeting 08-25-09 - Thursday, August 27, 2009 A Rather long meeting this week, the council had to consider zoning issues along with the upcoming budget, and receive some awards. The awards in specific were,
Top Public Library Award
From the TMLDA, Presented by the director of the Mansfield Public Libraries, and received by the director, and board of the Hurst Library. (notice no names? no one introduced themselves) I was glad to see we received an award because, we really do have a top notch library for such a small town.
The Stars and Stripes Event Award
Presented by Julie Akins, and accepted by Councilman Henry Wilson.
"I might be accepting these awards but they really go to the staff and the persons in charge, the council just attends. It goes to everyone, thank you very much."
Now, on to something more substantial. The Quick trip at the corner of 183 and Precinct Line wants to expand, buying about 100 feet of land of the now defunct Del Sol Apartments. Located behind its current location.
Randi Duke, a resident in that area, spoke to the council concerning noise and trash that is already a problem in that area; and disregard for a stop sign outside the parking lot of the QT at the end of the road that leads to her neighborhood.
In response representatives from QT in attendance, assured her that this expansion would help solve many of her concerns and that they would do their best to make sure any other problems were solved.
The resolution was passed, 6-0
But even after the meeting representatives from QT had their own meeting with the duke family to find out what more they could do to help solve their problems. So, they get the white hat award for this meeting.
The budget meeting was very interesting, They provided us with a very informative presentation showing how Hurst has the lowest tax burden of any city in the area. Informed us that there would be no tax rate increase for the third year running, no decrease in services, and most impressive; in these dark economic times; no layoffs of city staff. The staff had to approve a freeze in wages for the coming year though. Still, not bad.
I was so impressed that I really wanted to provide a link where the presentation could be viewed online, and asked the council if it was available to the public anywhere. When I addressed the council however, they were less than enthusiastic about my inquiry; Councilman Allan Weegar handed me HIS budget presentation package, and said "There it is, now sit down."
This after I spent the last two weeks without success, trying to find information for the board openings. I am really impressed with the work that my council does, they run a tight ship; but, I am less than impressed with the transparency they allow. Most of the work and discussion is done in executive session, and little to no dialog is allowed during the meetings. Furthermore, very little current information can ever be found online. And that really is a shame, perhaps if some of the other cities around here could see how they do things in Hurst, a lot of other citizens would be better off.
Budget passed, 6-0
Last came a discussion on the sewage replacement program, presented by Ron Hayes, who said, "I hate to present this after that budget, cause it means spending money"
But, they are working with a good company and using a good technique to replace old clay and metal sewage pipes, a method called pipe splitting, that does not require digging up everything in sight.
Passed 6-0
Actually everything on the agenda passed, with the exception of the appointment to boards and commissions, which was continued to the next meeting. View the agenda here.
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Council/Minutes.htm
But, one thing that was brought up by councilman Weegar, that I think all of us in the metroplex should be aware of and bring to the attention of our various councils, is a plan by TXDOT to garnish taxes collected by cities to move utilities on their right of ways. There are presently some court cases pending but it seems like the underhanded thing that we should be aware of. It is not hard to imagine a thousand ways that TXDOT could use that authority to ram through a lot of extra cost to citizens on these already bloated highway projects. No doubt if the situation arose, it would be cheaper to have a bond hearing to raise the money for the city to do it itself than to be beholden to TXDOT for God knows how long. |
| August, 11 2009 - Wednesday, August 12, 2009 The meeting began with a presentation from the Chisholm Trail Chapter of the Red Cross. A presentation of a type I have never seen from a non-profit organization. It centered on encouraging the City of Hurst to use their services more often. Apparently being called to only four fires in a year is somehow negligent. (I have yet to find out just how many fires we have had in the last year, but I will look into it.) I suppose, that it is nice to know that the Red Cross is there, ready willing and able to help.
The Chisholm Trail chapter of the Red Cross serves all of tarrant and parts of most of the DFW area, so, if you think they may be able to help you, you can find information below.
http://chisholmtrail.redcross.org/
New business.
Item 8-Ordinance No. 2124, Approval of the Crime Control and Prevention District budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Budget was around $9M funded by a half cent tax. This has been in place for the last 15 years, and has remained budget neutral at roughly $4.5M a year. The surplus is in place in the event of a transition away from this program, or in the event of a serious decline in income.
Approved, vote-6/0
Item 9-Publication of the effective and rollback tax rates. This is required by state law to show the tax rate the city is using. The City of Hurst refused to raise tax rates, again. Our current rate is .535%, and the available tax rate approved by the state stands at .5553794%.
For the motion Councilman Henry Wilson stated, "we should send a copy of this notice to the Governor with a letter explaining that not all cities feel the need to raise taxes every year."
The Chairman Richard Ward asked, "Do you think he would read it?"
To which councilwoman Anna Holzer responded, "He would probably veto it."
Ah politics in Texas. Although I am inclined to agree with the council woman.
Measure passed, vote-6/0
Item 11-Resolution No. 1477 The adoption of the Bellaire Sustainable Redevelopment Plan. This resolution is to adopt the afore mentioned plan as the permanent "guidelines" for development in the Bellaire area of town. Now, what this plan is, or how it could be used as "guidelines", or even what "guidelines" is supposed to mean is not readily evident. A quick search on the city website didn't turn anything up, but, I will be looking into it more fully tomorrow.
Approved vote-5/1
Item 12-Authorizing to extend the contract with Valley View Consulting L.L.C. for investment management services. I have to say I liked these guys. They work on commission, a commission of .004% until they make us $85M then they take a pay cut to .003%. I know I am only a construction worker, but that seems a very good rate. Furthermore the form of investment they specialize in is called CDARS. A program that encourages investment in smaller and mid-sized banks in Texas. So our small town money goes to help other small towns. Because of this I am giving these guys the white hat award for the meeting.
Approved vote-6/0
Other business
There are opening on three boards that need to be filled,
Library Board, Parks and Recreation, Hurst Senior Citizens Advisory Board;
so, if you live in Hurst and would like to donate some time to help your community by all means contact the council. (I will have direct contact information here tomorrow)
Good of the community.
The Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting was lead by members of the Boy Scouts, Troop 324;(Cody and Woody), and Troop 509;(Nathan). They then sat through the meeting and reported on it and the end, as part of earning merit badges in citizenship and communication. The gist of the report seemed to be that it was not as bad as they thought it would be.
They agenda is available at this link.
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Publications/Council/Packets/2009Packets/20090811/08-11-09%20wks_cc_agenda.pdf
Be safe, and be kind to each other. |
| Just getting my feet wet. - Friday, July 31, 2009 This is all quite new to me so, I am still trying to learn how to use it. So far there is not a lot to post about. The first meeting this month is on the 11th. At the moment I have no idea of what to put on these pages or really how to use them; so, I am going to spend a few days getting familiar with them and checking out what my fellow council members have done and see what I can do. |
| For those of us in Hurst. - Friday, July 31, 2009 Mettings of the council are on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The month of August those days are the 11th, and 25th. Last months meeting consisted of motions for a zoning change, discussions of improvment to the municipal complex, and the purchase of a firetruck. The agenda for the next meeting is not yet available. To review the agenda and minutes follow this link.
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Council/Minutes.htm |
|
| Thanks, and congrats to you, today, the day of your photo op. - Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Thanks.
I just wanted to take a little time out of my day to extend my greatest thanks to President Obama, on this the day of his photo op at Ft. Hood. You see, I have a friend who is serving in the Army, and is stationed at Ft. Hood. And, after everything that he and his fellow soldiers have been through in this past week, it is safe to say, a few days off would be welcome, if you could get it. It is also safe to say, that my friend was quite pleased to hear Sunday, that his leave had been approved, and he would have five days off, and a mileage pass to see his friends and family back in his home town. You see, I was supposed to heading down to Ft. Hood to pick him up and bring him back, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op. I am sure most anyone would agree, that a leave away from these events of the past week to visit friends would do wonders for the moral of any and all, of the many soldiers that were lucky enough to receive leave this week, that was until, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op.
You see, Monday night, all leave was cancelled, for the events of today, the day of President Obama’s photo op. Although visiting friends and family in one’s home town would no doubt have an uplifting effect on any soldiers morale, I can only assume, that such a temporary uplifting, can only pale and dim, when compared to the opportunity to be required to stay on post and commune with The One, and have his golden continence to shine upon you. To be there, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op.
The thing I just don’t get though, was that, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op, is not the first presidential visit since the tragic actions of a deluded jihadi sympathizer taking his impotent rage out on unarmed service men. You see, former president Bush, was there yesterday, the day before, today, the day of President Obama’s photo op. Mr. Bush of course did not arrive with a cadre of simpering photographers and thrill up my leg reporters, he just arrived, visited soldiers, and the family of those directly effected by the tragic cowardice of a hateful terrorist, and then he left. Another funny thing, his visit had no direct effect on any soldier and their hard earned leave.
But I suppose, after asking these young men and women to sacrifice so much, and asking their families and friends to be with out them, maybe forever, an opportunity such as the one today, the day of President Obama’s photo op, to commune with The One, and have his golden continence to shine upon you, is an opportunity you simply cannot miss, and shall not miss, because you cannot leave, at all, and is worth a few days of leave with friends and family.
So, many thanks, Mr. President, and congratulations to you on this day, the day of President Obama’s photo op.
|
| Meeting 09-22-09 - Monday, September 28, 2009 |
| Meeting 09-08-09 - Thursday, September 10, 2009A short meerting with out much to report on this time. The main point of intrest for this meeting being the; Annual Fire Fighters Dinner. This is a fundraiser for the fir dept. They are trying to raise money for some personal protective equipment for our fire fighters, so, I encourage any and all Hurst residents to attend if you can, and support these men and women who come to our aaid when we need them.
Agenda minutesfound here;
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Publications/Council/Agenda%20Archives/2009/20090908.pdf
Thanks,
Q |
| Council Meeting 08-25-09 - Thursday, August 27, 2009 A Rather long meeting this week, the council had to consider zoning issues along with the upcoming budget, and receive some awards. The awards in specific were,
Top Public Library Award
From the TMLDA, Presented by the director of the Mansfield Public Libraries, and received by the director, and board of the Hurst Library. (notice no names? no one introduced themselves) I was glad to see we received an award because, we really do have a top notch library for such a small town.
The Stars and Stripes Event Award
Presented by Julie Akins, and accepted by Councilman Henry Wilson.
"I might be accepting these awards but they really go to the staff and the persons in charge, the council just attends. It goes to everyone, thank you very much."
Now, on to something more substantial. The Quick trip at the corner of 183 and Precinct Line wants to expand, buying about 100 feet of land of the now defunct Del Sol Apartments. Located behind its current location.
Randi Duke, a resident in that area, spoke to the council concerning noise and trash that is already a problem in that area; and disregard for a stop sign outside the parking lot of the QT at the end of the road that leads to her neighborhood.
In response representatives from QT in attendance, assured her that this expansion would help solve many of her concerns and that they would do their best to make sure any other problems were solved.
The resolution was passed, 6-0
But even after the meeting representatives from QT had their own meeting with the duke family to find out what more they could do to help solve their problems. So, they get the white hat award for this meeting.
The budget meeting was very interesting, They provided us with a very informative presentation showing how Hurst has the lowest tax burden of any city in the area. Informed us that there would be no tax rate increase for the third year running, no decrease in services, and most impressive; in these dark economic times; no layoffs of city staff. The staff had to approve a freeze in wages for the coming year though. Still, not bad.
I was so impressed that I really wanted to provide a link where the presentation could be viewed online, and asked the council if it was available to the public anywhere. When I addressed the council however, they were less than enthusiastic about my inquiry; Councilman Allan Weegar handed me HIS budget presentation package, and said "There it is, now sit down."
This after I spent the last two weeks without success, trying to find information for the board openings. I am really impressed with the work that my council does, they run a tight ship; but, I am less than impressed with the transparency they allow. Most of the work and discussion is done in executive session, and little to no dialog is allowed during the meetings. Furthermore, very little current information can ever be found online. And that really is a shame, perhaps if some of the other cities around here could see how they do things in Hurst, a lot of other citizens would be better off.
Budget passed, 6-0
Last came a discussion on the sewage replacement program, presented by Ron Hayes, who said, "I hate to present this after that budget, cause it means spending money"
But, they are working with a good company and using a good technique to replace old clay and metal sewage pipes, a method called pipe splitting, that does not require digging up everything in sight.
Passed 6-0
Actually everything on the agenda passed, with the exception of the appointment to boards and commissions, which was continued to the next meeting. View the agenda here.
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Council/Minutes.htm
But, one thing that was brought up by councilman Weegar, that I think all of us in the metroplex should be aware of and bring to the attention of our various councils, is a plan by TXDOT to garnish taxes collected by cities to move utilities on their right of ways. There are presently some court cases pending but it seems like the underhanded thing that we should be aware of. It is not hard to imagine a thousand ways that TXDOT could use that authority to ram through a lot of extra cost to citizens on these already bloated highway projects. No doubt if the situation arose, it would be cheaper to have a bond hearing to raise the money for the city to do it itself than to be beholden to TXDOT for God knows how long. |
| August, 11 2009 - Wednesday, August 12, 2009 The meeting began with a presentation from the Chisholm Trail Chapter of the Red Cross. A presentation of a type I have never seen from a non-profit organization. It centered on encouraging the City of Hurst to use their services more often. Apparently being called to only four fires in a year is somehow negligent. (I have yet to find out just how many fires we have had in the last year, but I will look into it.) I suppose, that it is nice to know that the Red Cross is there, ready willing and able to help.
The Chisholm Trail chapter of the Red Cross serves all of tarrant and parts of most of the DFW area, so, if you think they may be able to help you, you can find information below.
http://chisholmtrail.redcross.org/
New business.
Item 8-Ordinance No. 2124, Approval of the Crime Control and Prevention District budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Budget was around $9M funded by a half cent tax. This has been in place for the last 15 years, and has remained budget neutral at roughly $4.5M a year. The surplus is in place in the event of a transition away from this program, or in the event of a serious decline in income.
Approved, vote-6/0
Item 9-Publication of the effective and rollback tax rates. This is required by state law to show the tax rate the city is using. The City of Hurst refused to raise tax rates, again. Our current rate is .535%, and the available tax rate approved by the state stands at .5553794%.
For the motion Councilman Henry Wilson stated, "we should send a copy of this notice to the Governor with a letter explaining that not all cities feel the need to raise taxes every year."
The Chairman Richard Ward asked, "Do you think he would read it?"
To which councilwoman Anna Holzer responded, "He would probably veto it."
Ah politics in Texas. Although I am inclined to agree with the council woman.
Measure passed, vote-6/0
Item 11-Resolution No. 1477 The adoption of the Bellaire Sustainable Redevelopment Plan. This resolution is to adopt the afore mentioned plan as the permanent "guidelines" for development in the Bellaire area of town. Now, what this plan is, or how it could be used as "guidelines", or even what "guidelines" is supposed to mean is not readily evident. A quick search on the city website didn't turn anything up, but, I will be looking into it more fully tomorrow.
Approved vote-5/1
Item 12-Authorizing to extend the contract with Valley View Consulting L.L.C. for investment management services. I have to say I liked these guys. They work on commission, a commission of .004% until they make us $85M then they take a pay cut to .003%. I know I am only a construction worker, but that seems a very good rate. Furthermore the form of investment they specialize in is called CDARS. A program that encourages investment in smaller and mid-sized banks in Texas. So our small town money goes to help other small towns. Because of this I am giving these guys the white hat award for the meeting.
Approved vote-6/0
Other business
There are opening on three boards that need to be filled,
Library Board, Parks and Recreation, Hurst Senior Citizens Advisory Board;
so, if you live in Hurst and would like to donate some time to help your community by all means contact the council. (I will have direct contact information here tomorrow)
Good of the community.
The Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting was lead by members of the Boy Scouts, Troop 324;(Cody and Woody), and Troop 509;(Nathan). They then sat through the meeting and reported on it and the end, as part of earning merit badges in citizenship and communication. The gist of the report seemed to be that it was not as bad as they thought it would be.
They agenda is available at this link.
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Publications/Council/Packets/2009Packets/20090811/08-11-09%20wks_cc_agenda.pdf
Be safe, and be kind to each other. |
| Just getting my feet wet. - Friday, July 31, 2009 This is all quite new to me so, I am still trying to learn how to use it. So far there is not a lot to post about. The first meeting this month is on the 11th. At the moment I have no idea of what to put on these pages or really how to use them; so, I am going to spend a few days getting familiar with them and checking out what my fellow council members have done and see what I can do. |
| For those of us in Hurst. - Friday, July 31, 2009 Mettings of the council are on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The month of August those days are the 11th, and 25th. Last months meeting consisted of motions for a zoning change, discussions of improvment to the municipal complex, and the purchase of a firetruck. The agenda for the next meeting is not yet available. To review the agenda and minutes follow this link.
http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us/Council/Minutes.htm |
|
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