Main Street

There are many boards and committees in Gonzales.  Many of them play some very important rolls in our day to day life.  They maintain order to our daily lives, they bring jobs to our community, they work on bringing money to the town in many different ways. 

To me one of the most effective boards we have is the Main Street Advisory Board.  It's has brought together our community in ways that I don't think any other board has.  It's brought us things like our recent Christmas parade, the Friday night concert series during the summer, and our 4th of July celebration to name a few. 

They are constantly listening to the public for what they've done right and what they've done wrong to make next years event better.  They are creative in their thinking.  They have gone back and revamped what didn't work before to get them to work this time. 

I've written about them before and hopefully will have cause to write about them in the future as they bring our downtown into the spotlight and in doing so bring our community together. 

They've had a member step down after many years of great work, and there is an opening.  The city put the above ad in the paper, the way it should be, asking for help in this committee.  If you're a thinker and a doer, and want to be part of this board, don't hesitate, get your application into the city.  Bring some fresh ideas that will be heard to a board that is making a difference in our town.

God Bless,
Dennis

Traffic

I remember about 15 years ago I was at the stop light by McDonald's and there were 6 cars going the same direction at the light.  When I saw then Mayor O'Neal a couple of days later I told him he'd better get a handle on the traffic before it got out of hand.  Joking as I was at the time, it appears I was onto something and didn't even know it.

Now I know that the increase numbers of 18-wheelers have had some impact, especially on Sarah DeWitt and 183.  The city council even created trucking routes to keep 18 wheelers out of the town, and on those 2 streets.

But that's not what I want to address. 

Several times last week I was almost hit by someone running red lights.  Not one of those was an 18-wheeler.  The first one came off of St George and turned right as I was coming from KCTI.  I had to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting the car. 

Second was by the courthouse when some ran a seriously red light at high speed on St. Louis.  I was already into the intersection (on a green light) and had to slam on my breaks to prevent this pickup truck from ruining my life. 

Now there have been others in the last couple of weeks of people running red lights, but those 2 were not only the closest but the scariest to me.  I'm talking heart pounding, pull the car to a stop and take a deep breath type of close. 

So I've been watching.  I think at least part of it's been that we as a group are not the best of drivers.  We drive like we're the only ones on the road and it's not a big deal, and 15 years ago that kind of driving didn't matter.  There wasn't a car waiting at every corner, so by default we could drive through a lot of intersections and it didn't matter.  Now note I have referenced "we" in this statement.  Until I started teaching my boys how to drive, I was very much in that group.  There is nothing like having a teenager in the car, who by their very nature know everything, and you're trying to tell them not to drive like you are if they want to pass their driving test, to make you change the way you drive.  I'm about to start on #3 teenage about to drive. 

I've also noticed that while teenagers drive like teenagers, especially right before and after school and during lunch, that the lack of driving skills is not limited to teenagers. 

This weekend one of our mainstays of Gonzales, Mr Burchard, was medi-flighted out of here because of an accident.  I don't know the details, but what I do know is that to many people I know have been in accidents over the last 6 months.  That these are local people getting hurt and yes, even killed because of people not paying attention to their driving, or in to much of a rush to wait for a stop light. 

If you're not able to drive in this traffic then you are just as much to blame as those going to fast.  Get off the road.  I know it limits your life style, but when you cause an accident and someone else gets killed what is that trip to Walmart going to mean to you? I know I've heard it 1000 times in the last couple of years, "it's just down the block" or "we're on the back roads after we get off 90a".  This from unlicensed kids driving while their parents are in the car, or worst letting the kids drive without them, and from people, 1 elderly and one who had medical problems and shouldn't be driving.  To young and to old or sick but the laws don't apply to them. *can you hear me rolling my eyes?*

I'm begging you, slow down.  Stop at lights and stop signs.  Pay attention to what's going on around you.  Be responsible about your driving. Don't drive if you shouldn't be (for whatever reason). 

The 18 wheeler deal is a whole other problem and it's just as serious.  But not much 'we' can do individually about that.  The council and police will have to handle those.  BUT we CAN and MUST take care of the problems I've listed above.  I'm tired of hearing about people I know in accidents, and am scared to death, wondering how many we'll have to bury before we'll change the way we think.

God Bless,
Dennis

NJHFR

The following is a note for our city council in reference to Item 9 on the agenda for the meeting tonight 12/4/12.  

Mayor and council members,

I’ve come before this council over the last several months with concerns about JB Wells Park, and tonight because of item 9 on the agenda I’m missing my sons band concert to be here and speak against this agenda item.

I want to make it clear that I love the fact we have a grade “A” arena that people from around the state seem to love to visit.  It obviously has attracted national attention for the national jr high finals rodeo to even give us a nod to accept a bid from us.  I think our arena is a great asset to our community, and could possibly in the future provide even more benefit to our community.

But with all that said I have extreme misgivings with the proposal for us to pursue the NJHFR finals.  I wish to go over some of them right now. 

           1)      The last several times that the current budget of JB Wells has been brought before the council and questions have been asked about its’ financial status, our city manager has not been able to give us any real numbers.  We still do not really know what our current level of management is able to do for not costing tax payers money.

If I’ve seen the budgetary information posted in your packages correctly JB Wells spent 99% of their budgetary funds in about 6 months.

Our current concessions is on a probationary period because we’ve still not been able to get that under control and managed properly.

            2)      Our city manager has told us that we are already short on manpower for current events.  That the current ‘small’ rodeos are causing stretching our manpower to swap arenas and get prepared, so is it even feasible for our staff to manage something of the magnitude of the NJHFR Finals?

             3)      Let’s take a look at the requirements

a.       1200 stalls.  If I’m correct that’s approximately 6 times our current size.

b.      30,000 sq ft under air building, a 2,500 sq ft under air building,  along with 9 meetings rooms with under air accommodating between 20 and 100 people.

c.       A dance floor for 1000 people.  Last I saw Herman Sons has a capacity of 275, so something 4 times the size of Herman Sons.

d.      A minimum of 550 camping slots, preferably 800, PLUS 150 trailer drop off locations.  So read between 700 and 1000 slots.

e.      A shooting range for 500 individuals

f.        Parking for 8000 people a day.  Even at 4 people a car that’s 2000 vehicles. 

g.       400 golf carts

      h.      The sanitation facilities, bathrooms, showers, etc that will need to be built to handle this one event. We still haven’t built the bathroom promised the soccer players several years ago at Independence Park, and you want to accommodate 800 families with facilities at JB Wells Park.

And that’s just the start.  We definitely don’t have a hotel that even has 175 rooms in it, and even with the hotels on the books, you’re going to have a hard time getting 175 rooms.  That would be over 3 entire hotels at the size hotel we have in our community.  

Now looking at these requirements I want to make a correction to the Agenda Item Briefing Data that was prepared for you by the city.  On page 2 under budgetary considerations there is listed $0.  Unless the city has found Aladdins’ Lamp and still has 3 wishes on the genie, or found their fairy godmother who is willing to perform some bipity bopity bo and make all this appear then this information is grossly understated.  These things do not magically appear without huge financial and man hour investments. Additionally it has already cost us in time and money spent by the city attorney and employs per the agenda item.

But that’s just the start, once these facilities are built we now have continued financial responsibilities to maintain these facilities. 

Have we even considered the environmental impact of doubling the size of our community for a month?  Water is never in great supply, especially in June and July.  Trash, Manure, road damage, and other impacts would be significant during this time period, all at a cost to the city.

Security and health also falls under our part of the bargain.  With police already stretched thin we want to double our size and problems for a month?  Have you visited the ER and seen the issues we have there, without adding 8000 more citizens to be injured for the month.

In addition I’ve read all the financial impact information provided by the rodeo association. I want to point out a couple of discrepancies.

            1)      Gallop NM is over 3 times the size of Gonzales and has a budget of over $100 million dollars.

            2)      A quick google search shows over 100 restaurants listed in Gallup

            3)      2 full theaters running 7 days a week along with bowling alleys and 3 other amusement parks listed for entertainment. 

            4)      2 trailer sales businesses 

            5)      7 new car dealerships 

            6)      Dozens of hiking trails

            7)      Etc, etc, etc

And that’s just a start.  The $5.2 million impact that was created in Gallup is almost impossible to reproduce in our current economic state.  To call it a pipe dream to bring that kind of economic impact to our community would be nice at best.  We do not have the businesses in place to sell that much, so let’s not pretend we do.

But what upsets me as bad as anything else is that this proposal, like every other proposal concerning JB Wells expansion, is ‘popped’ up on the city council agenda with a short fuse deadline.  This project is 10x bigger than the biggest event we have in Gonzales, and you are expected to in a few minutes understand the entire scope of this project, repercussions, and true financial pitfalls that you are being asked to support.  This should have been in front of the council in July, not December, just over 2 weeks before a proposal deadline is looming before us. 

And I haven’t even gotten into the part of the JB Wells PARK that has not been completed and never will be completed if these facilities are increased to the size required to host the national finals.  When are we going to focus on our taxpaying citizens and their needs and desires?

I was at the ‘vision planning meetings’ we had a couple of months ago. I know that the NJHFR is a vision that this community has.  But if you’ll remember that vision was 20 years from now.  Time enough for us to truly plan.  Time for us to prepare.  Time for us to make sure that we have a successful NJHFR.  Who knows, maybe even time for us to expand what is now JB Wells Park in acreage so that we could accommodate not only a rodeo this size, but the parks and trails that the citizens of Gonzales could truly enjoy and use and were promised by this council.  

Please don’t put the cart before the horse tonight by approving this proposal.

Veterans Day 2012

This has not been an easy weekend for me.  It's been Veterans Day 2012 weekend.  I've attended 3 events with the Boy Scouts for Veterans Day.  For those who don't know it's the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War this year.  But that's not what has been so tough on me.

I've never really cared much for Veterans Day.  I feel uncomfortable receiving recognition for not being extraordinary.  My generation had a few skirmishes and the start of Desert Storm, but I didn't have to go through a WWII.  I wasn't rejected as the Vietnam Veterans were on their return.  And I never saw terrorist actions like the young men in Afghanistan or the middle east.  So I'd much rather the attention go to those that do deserve it.   

But this year Taps has a more eerie sound for me.  It's always struck a chord in my heart, but this year, 2012, it's shook me to the core every time I've heard it.  You see, this is the first Veterans Day since one of the heros of WWII passed away, my grandfather Capt. William F. Nesser.  He wasn't in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard.  He was in the Merchant Marines.  He went where our Coast Guard and Navy wouldn't even think of going.  His command went to Russia and points between where u-boats were peppering the waters.

I remember back in the 80's when the Government recognized the Merchant Marines, my grandfather was elated to hold the title of veteran.  He received medals from the governments of France and Russia for his efforts in delivering goods to their countries, but the thing he was proudest of was his DD214 releasing him from military service and making him a veteran.  At his funeral the Navy played taps and handed the family a flag in his honor.  He deserved every bit of it. 

Recently the WWII museum in New Orleans had a display of my grandfathers maritime goods from his time in service and travels around the world.  The article is here if you're interested in reading about him and the museum.

Just weeks before he passed away they spent a day interviewing him about his adventures.  The stories I heard over the last 20 or so years about trips to Russia, watching explosions on the horizon as his buddies ships were blown up and watching them sink, politics over where the cargo ships were to go, and many others are held for my childrens children to remember what this man was part of.  I'm sure I've forgotten as many stories as I remember, but I remember many of them.

WWII vets are becoming fewer and fewer.  My grandfather was 92, and he was a young man when the war started.  If you know a veteran, especially a WWII veteran, make sure you take the time and listen to them.  Hear their stories of adventure of battles and sorrow of losses of their best friends.  It's time you'll never regret.   And honestly I can't think of anything a veteran would want more than to spend a few minutes telling another generation of their hardships and their victories. It really is a great way to pay honor and tribute for all they went through.

God Bless, and may He guide our country and put a protective hand over all the young men and women still in harms way protecting our freedoms.

Dennis Nesser

Following the Rules

In my house hold I make rules.  Now anyone who has kids know the routine.  You make a rule, it goes along for a bit, then all of a sudden the rule has been forgotten.  "I didn't know that was a rule", or "I forgot that was a rule".

I saw that happen at city council on Monday night.

Council made a rule about a year ago that they wanted ALL board vacancies to be posted in the newspaper of record, followed by applications being taken, and then the council would decide who would be appointed.

The last 2 times someone has vacated the city manager has brought a name to the council prior to the procedures being followed.  Last time they tabled the appointment so that the proper procedures could be taken.  This time they (the council) let the kids make the rules.  Why bother having rules and procedures if you're going to circumvent them at every opportunity?

Now I have a couple of points on this.

1) What's the rush?  A single vacancy on any given board can wait a month or two and not stop business from happening.

2) Why didn't the council just table this like they did last time?

3) What are we afraid of by following the rules?  That 'one of the boys' won't be selected?  The person selected might be the best person for the job.  But after talking to some of the council members no one has a clue who she was, so how can we know because no application was filled out, and not ads were put out.

I believe Mr Barnes when he states he wants transparency in our city government, but he's failed here.  Transparency is allowing the ENTIRE community getting involved by asking those who are interested in a specific board know that there is a vacancy.  Not allowing the 'good old boy' get selected to the board because of who they know.

Additionally I've mentioned that when they put their ads in the paper that it specifically states what boards have vacancies.  NO ONE is going to apply to "join a committee or board" ad.  They will join a "Library Board" or "Cemetery Board" or other board that they have interest in.  That's simple marketing 101.  

Second item that bugged me was that Mayor Logan was trying to make a statement of fact in response to a public comment made.  Our city attorney, Jackie Williamson, stopped him in his tracks and told him they were not allowed to speak during the public comment section.

WRONG!

I get so upset when either "we've always done it that way" or we just don't know the real answer so we make up a 'safe' answer to look like we do know what we're talking about.

I wish to quote the Texas State 2012 Open Meetings Handbook (Pg 41).

The Act permits a member of the public or a member of the governmental body to raise a subject
that has not been included in the notice for the meeting, but any discussion of the subject must be
limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a future meeting. Section 551.042 of the
Act provides for this procedure:
 
   (a) If, at a meeting of a governmental body, a member of the public or of the
governmental body inquires about a subject for which notice has not been
given as required by this subchapter, the notice provisions of this subchapter
do not apply to:
 
      (1) a statement of specific factual information given in response
to the inquiry; or
 
      (2) a recitation of existing policy in response to the inquiry.
 
   (b) Any deliberation of or decision about the subject of the inquiry shall be
limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a subsequent
meeting.214

Mayor Logan was trying to do just that, make a statement of fact, that there was already a law covering the problem in question.  Nothing more.

Third, anyone who knows Mike Hanson knows he's loud and he's not a smooth speaker, but even in his boisterous way he sometimes has valid points.  During the meeting the council decided to go to month stays at JB Wells for the trailers.  Mr Hanson asked the city attorney if that meant that the city would have to start going through court instead of using the police to evict people when necessary.  Jackie wouldn't answer Mr. Hanson.  Well the fact is he had a good question and none of the council members turned to her asking for the answer.  Instead they voted 'aye' to the amendment without all the answers. So the question is still out there, will we have to start going through court to evict people from JB Wells now?

I will give Mr Barnes a thumbs up on one of the points that Mr. Hanson made that SHOULD of been answered during the Public Comments.  Mr. Hanson made the point that many of the agenda items are vague or make no sense unless you have background information on the item, and it was no fair that we as citizens didn't know what they were going to talk about. For those who don't know, about 3 months ago Mr Barnes has had the city secretary started posting the entire booklet that the city council receives online.  This is generally right above or right below the agenda announcement.  This last week it was 122 pages and in Adobe format.  **Note - If for some really odd reason you don't have Adobe reader you may download it here free **  It has background information, backup documentation (sometime to excess), recommendations, actions that would be taken, cost, budget information, and more.  I highly recommend people start reading these even if they don't print them out.

Note - I print these out 2 to a page and double sided for my personal use, it's easy to do in Adobe and allows you to read at your leisure without waiting 122 pages. 

This weeks meeting had a 2 page agenda, and we didn't get out till 8 PM.  I understand that the meeting was long, but we don't stop asking question if that's what it takes to get the right answers so we make informed decisions.  It was almost as if some of the council were afraid of asking the obvious questions in fear of making the meeting 10 minutes longer.  We had a full house in the seats and those citizens who took the time to attend and be part of our city processes deserved the right to hear answers to valid questions.  After all the council is there for the citizens.

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser

Wednesday Nights

Tonight was a community pep rally for the high school football team.  I like the idea of bringing the community together to support our teams, and Gonzales does a better job then most other cities I've lived in.  We bleed orange here. 

But the problem with that first statement is tonight is Wednesday night.

Now I'm not one for we do it that way because it's always been done that way UNLESS there is a valid reason for something.  In our society Wednesday nights have been sacred, second only to Sundays.  If you were an organization, you didn't meet on Wednesday nights out of respect for church. 

PTA, Scouts, boosters, etc, etc etc met Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thurdays.  Rarely Fridays, but they were open if necessary in non-football season. 

I know many members of the booster club that sponsor these rallies and know that they belong to churches that meet on Wednesdays, so I know they understand that Wednesdays are the time many churches teach our teens about God and responsibilities. And yet they continue to schedule these rallies on Wednesdays. 

So my questions are, is football really more important that God? What are we teaching our kids about priorities?

God Bless,
Dennis

JB Wells Park or JB Wells Arena?

If I understand it correctly it was 1996 that the JB Wells idea was brought to life.  It was brought to the citizens of Gonzales as a place for ALL of Gonzales to be able to enjoy. In nearly 170 acres there would be walking trails, sports fields and courts, and much more with a great arena as a crowning jewel.

Since then citizens and city have worked together with state agencies to make phase 1 happen.  The areans and several other buildings are out there.  We've even added to the original parking/rv slots not once, but twice.  We've had several attempts to basically double the size of the rodeo facilities.  We've had additional 'studies' done about the arena portion of the JB Wells Park.

Then Tuesday night came.  That's right our city council had on their agenda to spend $18,000 for a feasibility study for...wait....oh do you know already?.....it coming...yes a second arena AND...here's the good part, the 20,000-50,000 sq ft building (*snifff...yes, that's the smell of the Texas Center coming back*...the rat sticks to high heaven!).

Now during the meeting City Manager Barnes alluded to the fact that every time we have an event that the work crews had to move the sand from the current arena to replace the sand and it cost the city serious money.  Not so.  What he told me the next day was fees are about $4000 to move the sand, and the cost to Gonzales is about $500 to do.  He made it sound like it was costing us serious money every time we had to this, not that we were making $3500. (**** insetered 10/11 - I was told I misunderstood, and that's we make about $4k a rodeo so the $500 is covered****) He then told me the next day he's more concerned about manpower than dollars.  REALLY?  I understand we're fighting oil companies for labor, but there is manpower out there.

I spoke before the meeting  addressing the fact that 1 segment of Gonzales has been promised, and promise delivered for what belongs out at JB Wells.  And while I love the arena, there is a huge portion of Gonzales that are still waiting for their end of the promise to be upheld.  That once the rest of the community had been delivered their end of the promise I would, if it was fiscally responsible, support growing the arena, but not until.

This was NEVER meant to be JB Wells Arena.  It was always JB Wells Park, that had an arena in it.

I understand that we could get larger rodeos if we kept expanding.  But I know that we have soccer leagues playing in cramped quarters instead of nice fields at JB Wells.  I know that there are lots of people that would use walking trails.  I know we have a great volley ball league.  I know that a pool over there would be used not only by citizens but by visitors alike.  And that's just a start.

And for the records, feasibility studies were done BEFORE we started working on JB Wells.  Texas Parks and Rec gave us money to build not an arena, but a park.  I'm a bit miffed the state hasn't come down and asked for their money back or for the project to be completed as approved.

With the exception of maybe the museum, there hasn't been a bigger drain on our tax dollars than JB Wells arena over the last several years.  Even now we still don't have it where we can just pull a budget and P&L on JUST the arena like we were promised 2 years ago.  But last I heard Mr Barnes anticipated it to break even, but said it was definitely NOT in the black this year to date at the downtown town hall meeting.

So that's on the arena, what about this building?  "Oh, no this is not the Texas Center".  Really?  A large building for community usage is the Texas Center.  Metal building or not.

"We rent tents at about $15,000 a year for rodeos, and this would eliminate that need".  And apparently there is some private money willing to help with this.  THEN WHY AREN'T THEY PAYING THE $18,000 FOR THIS STUDY???  That's yours and my dollars.  Trust me I understand the difference between renting and buying.

So am I for a second arena and a building out there?  Yes RIGHT AFTER the rest of the citizens see what they were promised almost 25 years ago when this started.  Put the bulldozers out and start the courts and playing fields, the paths and THEN and ONLY THEN am I for spending another dime on the arena expansion.

If Dr Graham would like to haul his bulldozers over there to make it happen, I'm all for it.  Even better.  But the 97% of Gonzales that is still not represented out at JB Wells needs to get their fair due before we lose all vision of a great family park and it becomes what most people grumble about it has ALREADY become JB Wells Arena. 

I heard this week a quote that I loved and think applies here, "Our projects started need to equal our projects finished."  Well we have an outstanding project out at JB Wells that needs to be finished before we start another project.

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser

Where's the Justice

For long enough the town of Gonzales has been waiting for justice in the theft of money from JB Wells. 

It is my personal opinion that the charges are far nicer than the crime.  Nope, have no proof, and no one has told me otherwise, but the numbers don't add up, even with 13 counts of theft between $1,500 to less than $20,000 that doesn't explain the losses out there for the cash based parts.

So Belinda Walker has once again gotten a postponement.  She was indicted in MARCH!!!  When to WE the citizens of Gonzales get OUR justice. This is the same lady that the city wouldn't give us her name for the longest time.  Why? Why? Why?

Oh but wait, we're not related to .....

We can't afford.....

And we didn't support our DA in Gonzales did we?  Wonder why?

Once again I suggest you call, email, or write the DA's office and tell them it's time to quit messing around and give us justice!!!


God Bless,
Dennis

Read about it here - http://www.gonzalescannon.com/node/11135

Verizon Poles

So after almost a half a million dollars we finally have St. George street finished and ready for public usage.  But like a teenager it has 6 pimples on it.  Seems our city engineer didn't do any due diligence and missed the fact that there were 6 poles not belonging to the City of Gonzales were on the street.  So all the money the city spent moving poles to the rear of the buildings were for not when Verizon told the city they weren't going to be good corporate citizens and either move their poles or their lines.

So the city approached them again, and for a mere $72,000 (estimated...could be a bit more), they would move the poles. 

As much as I hate that these poles are a blemish on an otherwise very inviting street, the council did right by not taking Verizon up on their offer to diminish $72,000 from our coffers.  But that's not the gest of todays blog.  Nope, as bad as all that is, it gets worse!

Now I love GVTC.  And I love that they've spent millions coming to town with fiber.  In my industry that's the Rolls Royce of providers.  But they messed up here.  Knowing good and well that the city wanted those poles moved to the rear of the buildings and out of the public eye for aesthetics, they decided to run their fiber right down the front of St George.  REALLY?

Come on guys!  Here we are trying to make a difference and instead we throw another can of trash in the street?  I thought you wanted to be good corporate citizens. I have to say that's not the way to do it. 

Maybe we can hope that Come and Take It will provide a pickup truck driven by "Bubba" that will play pinball with 6 poles down St. George.  Maybe then the City can get the poles, and their eye-sore lines where they belong on the back of St. George and out of site.

Mind you, we the taxpayers spent good money moving electricity poles and even more money and headaches getting St George looking as nice as it is, hundreds of thousands of dollars, not chump change. So I"m a bit upset at the engineer that told council it would work without checking, Verizon for not moving the poles, but even more that GVTC would run new lines down those poles. UGGGGHHHH!

Dennis

PS - I've taken a break from all blogs over the summer.  I haven't read or written any in months as it was a bit overwhelming and I needed a break.  Think it's time I got back on track though.  So if you've got some food for thought email me and I'll look into it.

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

Almost three years to the date and so far over initial budget that it's not even funny, but St. George is open!

It looks great!  It it truly will extend out our town square in a positive direction.  It's sad that the corner store, the old Kotzebue Drug store, isn't there to anchor the street.  I hope that someone will open up there soon, and help not only the downtown square but St. George grow.

Honestly I'm not sure how some of the businesses survived the 3 years of destruction.  It's hard enough in these times when everything works well, but when people can't get to you it's next to impossible to survive.

I know our council were a bit sideswiped when they were told that they had only voted to approve 'phase 1' 3+ years ago, but this is where communication between a city manager and the city council is so important.  Honestly I doubt anything would of been done on St. George had the council been given all the facts up front.

But all things said and done it looks nice, and we're finally there.  Take a moment over the next week, maybe while you're at the Friday Night Concert Series hosted by Main Street and walk over to St George.  It really is a nice addition to your downtown and I hope many folks will go visit the forgotten street.

God Bless,
Dennis

It's Friday - In June

That means it's time for the annual summer Main Street Summer Concert Series.  It starts tonight and goes through the month of June, with a July 4th spectacular and fireworks.  And it's all free.

Tonight is The Texas Jamm Band (featuring members of George Strait's Ace In The Hole band).  And it's free. 

 Now I don't know about you, or why you might choose to live in a smaller town, but events like this is EXACTLY why I want to live in a town like Gonzales.  This is where neighbors come out, we have a beer, we laugh, we joke, we have a great time building bonds and coming together as a community.  Did I mention it's free?

I'm a people watcher, and I love sitting and watching all the people come and go because of the work that Main Street has done for the last several years.  

So change your plans if you have to, but head down to the squares tonight and come listen, dance, sing along, and have a great time.  And yes, it's for the kids too!  And best of all it's free!!! So even if you're broke like I always seem to be, you have no excuse. 

Thanks Main Street!!!

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser

GEDC - $20,000 Position

So part of this weeks agenda at the council meeting was to hire a person as a personal assistant to Carolyn Gibsons. The GEDC board would pay $20,000 of the salary.  (Mind you GEDC just says tax dollars from another pocket)

I'll be honest, I'm not exactly sure what Ms Gibsons position is, though I know that GEDC pays a good bit of her salary.  I do though remember when she was hired that a good part of her position was to get grants and help GEDC with communicating with potential employers wanting to move to or expand in Gonzales.

So this new person will be there to, and I quote, "return phone calls and emails". 

I speak from personal experience, as I'm still awaiting a response to an email sent over 6 weeks ago, that Ms Gibson lacks the discipline or organizational skills to timely return calls and emails. 

My question though is do we need to hire ANOTHER person to do the work Ms Gibson was hired to do in the first place?

Look we've been through this before at JB Wells.  We didn't get the person in charge the training they needed to make them a better employee.  Instead we waited for years until it festered and blew up.

So why don't we, instead of hiring a new person, spend 1/2 that money and send Ms Gibson to school to teach her to be more organized and/or how to do her job better?  There are no excuses not to be able to return phone calls and emails except a lack of organizational skills.  And if we sent her to classes and she started writing grants and communicating with businesses better, don't we as a community think it would pay off 100 fold? 

June 5th the tabled discussion will come back on the floor.  I hope the new council will take a serious look at this issue and make a wise decision for the community.

God Bless
Dennis

What now?

So I'd like to take a POSITIVE set of ideas to the priority of what needs to be done next to our council members as they get started with new positions and a new person on the council. 

So give a couple of suggestions of what you've like started - finished - a new direction taken on. 

1) What should we do with JB Wells?
2) What priorities is our roads in town? Any particular street need working on?
3) What should we do for our kids in this town?
4) What needs to be done to help downtown thrive? 
5) What about all these committees, are they necessary? 
6) What should we do with the additional $400,000 in sales tax we just received?

Ok, I'm going to ask that you keep this positive, like a new kid on the block that is looking for suggestions, not complaining about the past, I want to look forward for this post.  Not that we're going to forget anything in the past, but for this post, pretend there is no past.

If I were king (queen) for the day I would............................

Let's hear it and I'll make sure you're comments are heard by those up on the bench.

God Bless
Dennis

Vote Vote Vote

Ok,

- Just because you received 2 voter registration cards does not mean that you get to vote 2x.

- And just because our city has already messed up part of the election, and I'd say there is a 50/50 chance we'll have to have a re-election at substantial cost to the taxpayers.
- And just because you don't like any of the candidates.
- And just because....well you get my drift here

you STILL have a civic obligation to VOTE!  If you weren't one of the nearly 500 who voted in our city election in early voting tomorrow is your day!  If you didn't vote in the water district election, tomorrow is your day!

There are NO excuses that you either didn't vote, or don't vote.  When you don't vote, all the other idiots in the world (guys like me) get to pick for you!  So you get to live with what I (and those like me) decide, not what you want.

No excuses.

Go vote in our local elections.  County and state are coming up too, then we'll get a reprieve until November.

So VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!

God Bless,
Dennis

VOTE

Texas started no-excuse early voting in 1987.  While the first couple of years wasn't exactly what it is today, by 1991 we had pre-election day voting for elections with no reason necessary for you to go and vote.  It would prevent everyone from having to stand in long lines on election day. 

Voting for the City of Gonzales starts Monday April 30th - May 6th from 8 AM - 5 PM and May 7 - 8th from 7 AM - 7 PM. 

For almost 3 years I've been activist on our city council.  But for almost 30 years now I've voted.  Even when I was in Germany I voted via absentee. 

It is not only our civic right, it's our civic duty to vote! 

I don't care which of the candidates you are supporting for mayor, or if you're in district 4 which candidate you're supporting, What I do care about is hearing people complain about what's going on in this community and doing NOTHING about it.  Now is your no-excuse time to do SOMETHING about our city. 

We ARE going to get a new mayor and district 4 IS going to get a new council member.   So are YOU going to be a part of that? Or are YOU going to be someone who just whines when things aren't what you think they should be.

One thing I'll give to everyone who is running, at least they are trying to make a difference, and not just sitting on the sidelines complaining without doing anything.

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser

REFERENCES
Texas Early Voting
City of Gonzales Order of Election

Our Neighbors

Ok, the last 2 post of mine, and several conversations later I've come to some conclusions.  Now I'm not going to take credit for these ideas being mine originally, but I will say that I'm going to try to in-brace the thought a bit more.

Back 2 1/2 - 3 years ago a newspaper editor named Greg Little attacked not the policies of, but the personality of one of our council members.  In a single instant he made it okay for small town politics to go negative and for us to 'hate' our neighbors based on their politics and/or personalities.  The worst part, and I'm just as guilty of this as the next guy, is that we've allowed that to happen!  We have allowed the negativity to drive wedges between people to the point we don't want to even talk to some people.

We can't allow that to continue.

Just because we don't agree with someones personal life, or  a decision they've made, doesn't make them evil.  Nor does it mean that we can't work together for the betterment of our community. 

Some of you would think that after my posting on ethics I think Bob Burchard is a two headed monster.  I don't.  I don't like the current tactics he's using in his attempts for mayor.  I wish that all we heard from his campaign were what Bob was going to do for this community, and cut out the bashing of his opponent Bobby Logan.

But last weekend Bob and I worked together with the scouts and other organizations to help clean out the city cemetery. We can agree to disagree and still work together to make our town, that's right yours and my town of Gonzales, a better place for all who live here and visit here.  For 3 hours we worked as a team.  No punches were thrown.  No snide comments were made.  No x-ray visions hoping to blow the other one up with their superhero powers were being used.  No, didn't happen that way.  We came together, we saw a problem, we conquered it together.

Still don't like his political tactics, but love what's he's spearheading in the cemetery.  No hatred. 

There is not a councilman sitting that I haven't gotten onto about something over the last 2+ years.  But that's not personal.  It's not because I think they are the evil city monsters trying to rule the world. It's because I felt like in those instances they didn't think things through, they didn't look long term, or they weren't looking at the whole picture. But I get along with most everyone that sits on the council including Bobby Logan whom I've smacked hard over the last 2 years in this blog.  Everyone of them INCLUDING the mayor has sit at my dinner table for some talk or another over the years. 

Now I'm going to say that part of this demeanor is still perpetuated by our papers.  Notice that's papers not paper.  Headlines like Judgement Day and similar have to stop.  Facebook comments about 'the other paper' have to stop.  If you want to make a personal comment then make it under your name, but don't put it on the newpapers website or Facebook page for the public to see the dirty laundry! Leave them under your blog or own personal page and don't link them. Just worry about the news you're going to report next paper, and the real news in our community that our town needs and wants.

Our community has come a long ways over the last 2 years in healing a lot of wounds created after Mr. Little opened Pandora's box.  But there is still some festering and ooze leaking out.  It's time we finish the healing. 

When there's something wrong let's address it.  This blog will continue to do that too. It doesn't mean that we won't have issues with JB Wells, finances, or other things in our city, but they need to be about what's going to make our city better, not the personalities. 

As one who has crossed that line more than once I'm going to apologize now, and I'm serious when I say I'm going to make every attempt to take the personalities out of this blog and keep it more narrowly approached on the issues. 

It is NOT okay to hate your neighbor.  I don't care what some editor might of told us 3 years ago. 

Who's with me on this?

God Bless
Dennis

Judgement Day

Ok, I'm not sure that Gonzales needs a tabloid for one of our newspapers.  Recently the headlines read in the Gonzales Inquirer read in bold print "Judgement Day".  This for an article that had misinformation and basically stated while there were deficiencies there were not going to be ANY sanctions or penalties being accessed.  So this was so serious that it needed a National Inquirer style title of "Judgement Day"?

I have to tell you I was very disappointed in this headline, and a couple of others lately.  I have never understood what the Inquirers personal vendetta against Mrs Kacir has been all about, but any time her name is in the paper there is a tabloid story that goes with it.  This vendetta goes back over 2 years when she was running for Mayor and the Inquirer was covering up for those at the city.  I really thought when the new regime came in that trash reporting like that would be a thing of the past.

It's a shame too because I thought with real articles like the city 'finding' $250,000 we were moving in the right direction.  That covering the stock show, and doing several other things for the positive of the community were actually going to bring around the paper and start to re-legitimize their place in this community.  They've even taken some interesting angles on some stories that I think have been thought provoking and actually good reporting.

So why would they want to throw in sensationalize, crap reporting that is more acting like 2 year olds than 100+ year old paper that has a long standing reputation in this community?

They acted the same way when they lost the bid at the city.  I'll be honest, the council didn't select the Inquirer exactly BECAUSE of this kind of reporting.  Okay, you might not get someone to fess up to that, but trust me that's the bottom line.  Remember most of the council members that voted that night were directly affected by the Inquirers tabloid reporting 2 years ago.  Things like that are not going to be forgiven or forgotten over night, and continuing to report articles like "Judgement Day" will keep those memories fresh in their mind for that much longer.  But keep reporting real investigative reporting and life in Gonzales and those memories start to fade.

And for the record, I've seen Mrs Kacirs emails attempting to reply too, and give answers to the Gonzales Inquirer.  The Inquirer responded that the word count was to long for their policies, but they didn't report that, and THAT is misinformation when you say that attempts to contact Mrs Kacir went unanswered.  So what the Inquirer posted is a lie!

I don't care if it's the Gonzales Cannon or the Gonzales Inquirer if it's not in the Op-Ed page, then it should be facts, and non-opinionated.  It should not be sensationalized.  If they want to write an opinion article on the facts after writing a story then that's their right! But let's label it correctly.

And that is just MY opinion on the situation.

God Bless,
Dennis

Ethics, Really?

So I'm a bit miffed.  I have had at least 2 other people and Mr. Burchard tell me how unethical Mr. Logan is.  And mind you I've called out Bobby Logins' ethics in this blog. But I think that someone who was fined $112,000 over the course of the last 7 years by the Texas Department of Insurance wouldn't be pointing out the ethics of someone else.

In March 2004 the following was listed on the Texas Department Of Insurance - Summary Of Operations For 3rd Quarter, FY 2004  page:

Then in March 2007 the real hickey came, and is also on the Texas Department Of Insurance - Summary Of Operations For 4th Quarter, FY 2007 page:

You will notice in the first case Burchards was the second largest fine, and in the second he was 2x the next closest fine. What does that tell me?  It tells me this wasn't for minor little, oops we forgot something.

Now I'm going to say this one more time, let's talk about issues!!! I'm tired of the talking about who slapped who, or who slept around and cheated on their wife.  Or who chopped down trees or who didn't fire Huseman, or who wants to be holier than thou, or who skipped school in 1957.  Frankly the character card in this race should NEVER have been brought up by either candidate and I said that a month ago.  Hell I've only been here 17 years and even I knew better than to bring up character with these 2. So this race has to come down on issues:

Now that JB Wells is under management how are we going to make sure it stays a vital part of our community and never get into a position where we were at a year ago?

How are we going to deal with the $20,000,000 debt ($6,000,000 + 25 years interest) we've put on our citizens for our water system so that we never are in this position again?

How can we manage our current prosperity to the best benefit of our citizens?

How can we drive visitor friendly businesses downtown to revitalize the wonderful downtown we have?

How are we going to grow our infrastructure to meet the current demands without leaving us hanging in a couple of years without unpaid for projects 1/2 finished when the boom is all over?

How are we going to make sure that a our children have something that keeps them occupied, educated and employed?

How are we going to make sure we're running as efficient a city as possible so that we are never looking to have to lay off employees?

Are we going to pay for museum repairs (millions of $$$'s) with our tax dollars or are we going to make sure private sector and grants are paying for repairs?

Are we going to be business friendly, or are we going to try to keep Gonzales in 1825?

Oh, the list goes on and on, so don't talk to me about who slept with who, or who said what. Geez, it's not even a presidential election and it yet you'd think it was ....I've heard a lot of bs when what we really need is answers to real issues.

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser



 

Want to Make a difference?

Ok, so this one is a bit personal. This weekend one of my boys is finishing up his project for Eagle Scout. The project is working with Normas House here in town. They've needed some work on the outside of the building and he's taken on a good bit of that work.

So far they've removed and rebuilt several of the shutters. They will be removing and repainting the rest of them, power washing the building, replacing the sign on the side of the building (not the one out front) and working on the handicap ramp.

For those who aren't aware of what Normas House is, it's a child advocacy center on St. Paul. To read more about them see their website here. It's a worthy cause and I'm a very proud papa to see my son take this on.

If you want to make a difference at Normas House and help a young man earn his Eagle Scout, then come out Saturday morning and help out. We will start at 9 AM and continue on till the project is finished. There will be drinks and at lunch time he'll feed the workers. But this is one of those things that the more hands we have the faster this will go. Both of these are worth while causes, so please come out and make a difference.

There are many people to thank, and I'll let my son do that when he's done, but without the generosity of the community this project would not have been possible.  The overwhelming response has been amazing and Normas House and Dennis III have been excited about getting these projects done. 

God Bless
Dennis Nesser

PS - Thank you Gonzales Inquirer for printing a nice article on this. If you'd like to read it go here

Way 2 Go Troop 262

This weekend I got see how hard work and dedication can pay off. Troop 262, along with scouts from Live Oak District (Lockhart, Luling, Gonzales, Cuero, Yoakum, York Town, Shiner, Molton, Halletsville - I think I have them all), came together for a pioneering competition. Gonzales took 3 patrols (31 boys).

The boys worked hard leading up to the event. For 6 weeks prior they extended their meetings to 2 hours to make sure they had it down. They spent part of Spring Break at my house working on their projects. They came up with some very unique ideas. The goal? In 6 hours lash together a signalling tower, a kitchen, and a latrine.

This was a patrol competition, each patrol had to build all 3 projects, along with helping build a front entry. At 8:30 that morning they got started lashing their projects together. I was extremely proud of how well the boys worked together in their patrols. By midday we had most of the structures up and were tightening them down. The campsite was starting to look like a playground with wooden structures all around.

At 3 pm all the projects had to be finished. While 1 other Troop finished all of their projects, no other patrols did. We had 2 out of 3 finish all of theirs, and the 3rd patrol had some issues at the end causing their tower to come down.

By now it was good and hot in the afternoon, but these boys had more. We moved to the "Chariot Races" These 3 pole structures have to be whipped together using specific lashings, then you put a person in the middle and drag the chariot up about 40 yards and back. Not only did we have the 3 patrols, but we had a group of Webelos (4th-5th graders from Gonzales Pack 261) to teach how to do this. If your guy falls off or any of your lashing come lose you have to go back to the beginning and start over again. We didn't have to worry about either of those happening. These boys make some of the tightest lashings I've ever seen!

After that it was on to the "Non-Cobbler Dutch Oven Dessert" competition. Again 4 entries went in, as the scoutmasters also had a side competition going. Cherry filled brownies, stuffed baked apples, apple, cherry and blueberry turnovers, and last ice cream all made in the dutch oven.

With that down we ended the day the way scouts all over love to end the day, around a campfire. Nothing like watching 20 group of boys being creative in song and skit to end the day. The energy these boys have is incredible even after a full day of activities. We all laughed at the comedy routines, sang along with the campfire songs, and in general wound down from a day of hard work.

But this being spring meant that boys that had been chosen by their peers to be worthy of Order of the Arrow would also be tapped out. This is the "Honor Society of Scouting". These boys truly exemplify what scouting is all about. We were honored to have 10 boys tapped out. Andrew and Sadrack Moers, Brent Poteet, Max Moreno, Jacob Lockhard, Wyatt Couch, Ali Hoghoughi, Jesus DeLeon, Ian Maxwell, and Jay Newton all earned that honor. What a great way to end a night.

Sunday morning we were up and at it and then down to the parade ground to find out what we might of won. Man did we ever rake in the ribbons. When it was all said and done we took the following:

Live Oak Challenge Winners – Over All Winners
1st Place – Best Camp (Leave No Trace)
1st Place – Dutch Oven Cook-Off (Aggie Patrol)
3rd Place – Dutch Oven Cook-Off (That Patrol)
1st Place – Pioneering Projects (Aggie Patrol)
2nd Place – Pioneering Projects (Challenge Accepted)
2nd Place – Chariot Race (Aggie Patrol)
Golden Toliet Seat – Best latrine (Aggie Patrol)
And our Webelos from 261 took 2nd Place in the Chariot Race

These guys worked hard, and deserved every one of the ribbons and trophy they got. They learned teamwork and perseverance. They learned to overcome many obstacles they encountered during the last several weeks. They learned that hard work DOES pay off!

Doesn't it do your heart good to know that there are still boys out there who want to play outdoors? Who want to be the best? Who will take a challenge and conquer it? For 48 hours they lived without electronics (not even cell phones) and survived. It todays world that alone is an accomplishment.

Before I close I have 2 more things.

The first is a note of thanks to Ken Hendrick who allowed our troop to go through his scrap pile and get all the wood we needed for the competition. What we couldn't find in the pile he graciously donated to the scouts. I can't imagine what we would of done without his generosity. And to South Texas Poultry Supply and Darryl Catchings for all the rope that worked so well with out projects. With 3 patrols we went through over 300' of rope.

Last is a note of congratulations to the Girl Scouts of Gonzales who celebrated their 100th year of scouting this weekend. While we all know about the Girl Scout cookies, the activities and learning experiences given these girls for the past 100 years is fantastic. May they have 100 more years of success.

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser
Over 100 years of scouting in America, and over 50 years of scouting in Gonzales, TX

Scoutmaster Troop 262
512-799-1556
www.trp262.com
www.gonzalesscouting.com

Venturing Crew Liason - Crew 264
www.crew264.com

Note to Candidates

This is a copy of the email I sent to all the candidates today. Hopefully all will respond:


As someone interested in getting information out to the voters I’m offering to all candidates a platform to get your message out free of charge. If you will send me what you want for my readers to see I will copy and paste it into a blog with your name at the top. I will not modify this posting, nor will I respond back to what the readers have to comment about unless it’s a question of fact that I’m positive of the answer on. I will not respond back to questions on position, or platform, or the likes. It will be your responsibility (or someone in your campaign) to monitor and answer those questions.

The blog is located at www.90asign.com, and once your posting is there you can ‘follow’ comments at the bottom of the page so that you get an email when someone post on ‘your’ blog posting.

The intent it to let my readers know where you stand and allow interaction with the candidates. I will not tolerate vulgar or over the top type comments from anyone. If you see one on your posting please let me know and I will remove it.

Dennis Nesser

Reminder

Just a reminder that tonight at 5 PM is the deadline for signing up for running for city council or mayor.

There are still a few names that are floating around that haven't completed their package. Are they going to? We'll know tonight!

God Bless,
Dennis

Mix and Match

I had several thoughts and wanted to just go through a couple of things.

First on this blog someone tried to say the people of Gonzales don't care. I begged to differ with them, and through several means, and spearheaded by Mrs. Leifeste, this community raised enough PRIVATE money to pay for the damage caused by vandals in our city cemetery. Thank you Mrs. Leifeste for spearheading this.

I want to stress two things here.

1) This was PRIVATE money used for this project. Not a dime from our city tax dollars. I believe that's the way it should be. Even today I heard a commercial for a private cemetery and they talked about perpetual care basically covered lawn maintenance. I even went to the state laws and the Texas Cemeteries Association and they both state headstones are not covered in perpetual care.

2) It's nice to see that even though the nay sayers swore it wouldn't happen, that the people of Gonzales have done what good citizens do, we took care of those things that needed to be taken care of even without the government getting into the middle of it. You go Gonzales!

Next, Monday is the final day to file for elections in our city. We've had 2 file for mayor. I hope it's a race on issues, not on personality. I think it's good for Gonzales to have people running for mayor. Who knows, maybe there will be more than the 2 by Monday. It will also be interesting to see who files in 4.

Reminder that Wednesday we have a new stop light in Gonzales. It's long past due and hopefully this will prevent some of the major accidents we've seen recently at that intersection at the new HEB and Tiger Tote. All the truck traffic coming out of industrial park has been an issue for years.

I know in conjunction with that I'm excited about the new HEB opening up in just a couple of weeks.

Is anyone else tired of seeing St. George torn up? Now don't get me wrong, I know the guys working on it haven't been on it terribly long, but the entire project has got to of been one of the worst managed projects ever. I'm hoping we're down to the end of this project and we can wipe it off our list.

Last is that 2/28 is a budget meeting. No no one showed up for the last one except our council members. While they might appreciate the quiet, the citizens should take an interest in what's going on. The proposed budget is in the city office and I believe a copy is in the library for public inspection. It would be nice to see and hear from a few concerned citizens at the meeting.

God Bless,
Dennis