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

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.

I love hooping

I was in Killeen last weekend when I'm scanning through my facebook page to see my chalkboard with the above sign on it. "I ♥ HOOPING".

Now I knew immediately who the culprit was. My first instinct was, 'Oh revenge will be sweet'.  But before any revenge is taken, I thought I'd let you know a bit about the message.

Christine Moers is the hooping queen of Gonzales, and she has a challenge for us all.  Her blog welcome to my brain has discussed the merits of the old hula hoop. It truly is aerobic fun.  She's shared how adults should build their own hoops, as the ones in the stores are really made for kids, and links to videos on how to accomplish this. Her challenge is for the month of September to hoop for 30 minutes a day.

So how does my chalkboard get involved?  Well Christine was doing a hooping video of her and her girls in several places in Gonzales as a scholarship fundraiser.   The Old Jailhouse, The "Welcome to Gonzales" sign, Heros Square, and of course 'The Chalkboard' are all places shown in her video. 

I am not the perfect example of exercise, but my wife and I are planning on taking the September challenge.  In todays world where we sit in front of our electronics and don't move this is a great way to do something fun and active.  You can get the kids involved and it will be a family thing. Why don't you consider joining us?

If you want to learn more about Christine Moers Blog or watch the hooping video go to her latest blog here.

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser

PS - Don't think revenge still isn't in the back of my mind and heaven help the next person who writes on my chalkboard.  Ask if you want something on there, if I'm OK with it we'll do something. 

Term Limits

Gonzales Citizens,

I’ve been a citizen of this town for 15 years now, and have watched as our politics in this town has gotten stale and corrupt.  I’ve seen 2 long term politicians be removed from office because of corruption of one sort of another, and with the DA’s mandating that ballots be retained as evidence in an on going investigation, I’m lead to believe there is more to come. I’ve seen senior officials believe they are above the law as they ignore our city charter, and run our budget like your and my money grows on trees.

It seems to me that they get complacent as they sit on their thrones.

I for one am tired of it, and am no longer going to hold my tongue to what I see.  I’ve put up my bulletin board on the back of my fence that has lead to many water cooler conversations over the last couple of weeks. On this weeks sign I call for term limits for our mayor and city council.

I'm not exactly sure what it will take to get those limits placed, but I know between now and the next election I plan on making that happen.  

I want to see new ideas in this town to make it grow respectfully.  I want people from the outside to see us as a gem, not a crooked place.  I want some vision, and our city management has to take the blinders off. 

Let's take a stand together.  If you know how to get something on the ballot here in Gonzales, PLEASE let me know. I don't mind being the point guard here, but I need a starting place. You know that mile starts with a first step type thing.

God Bless
Dennis