Last night’s China Texas City Council Meeting was a turning point in the agenda I had set for my first term as Mayor of our tiny community. 

Three grants have been applied for and awarded to the city in the last few months:   One for $45,000 for Hurricane Ike damage, another for $27,000 to install solar panels on our City Hall and the third for $3,200,000 for various water/sewer projects.  The third grant will also be used for installation of the first sidewalks in China.  

On other issues: 

We designated the month of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. 

With the help of a volunteer coordinator, our annual Chinaberry Festival will be revived this year after being mothballed since Hurricane Rita in 2005. The festival should bring thousands of dollars in much needed revenue to the city for almost no capital outlay. 

I was able to set clear job descriptions for our employees; an issue that the employees have been seeking for some time. 

I have secured a citizens group who will replace the dilapidated playground equipment at the city park. 

I now have the financial authority to replace all of the city’s water meters with new digital, remotely read meters.  These meters will not only increase revenue by recording accurate water readings but also reduce cost in man hours required to read the meters. 

I have begun the process of city zoning.  As it stands now, there are no zoning requirements anywhere in the city.  Consequently, your neighbor could construct an oil refinery, or hog processing facility or a nuclear power plant next door to you.  Zoning of the town would allow the city to guide development in order to protect existing neighborhoods and make the city more attractive to new businesses and residents.  

I have sought and been given authority to initiate a City Development Council made up of volunteers to help in bringing to fruition much of the agenda I have proposed.  By this time next year the City of China will be operating a Community/Senior Center, a Library with a summer reading program, A farmer’s market, and an annual acoustic music festival. 

The catch to all these things is that China has no city property tax.  Our only sources of income are sales taxes, franchise fees (which are actually taxes) from the electric, gas and cable TV companies and the water and sewer fees.  Therefore, every city service must be self-supporting or developed through grants.   

The good news is that either because of a new Mayor or the fact that we are moving into a new City Hall (actually the old China Elementary School Campus) or the re-birth of the Chinaberry Festival or some combination of these things, there seems to be a new sense of community and volunteerism in the City.  I am determined to both nurture and harvest this attitude and use it for the benefit of the city. 

The only contentious element of last night’s meeting revolved around stop signs.  In the center of town is a large park.  On the main street through town, there is a stop sign on each end of the park.  The signs allow people using the park to more safely cross the street and keep the traffic moving slower in front of the park.  There are those who want the stop signs removed.  I opposed the removal on the basis of safety for the children and others who use the park. 

Those who oppose the signs made a big push through advertising and word of mouth to show up in mass at last night’s meeting to voice their disapproval.   

While I am a big believer in citizen involvement in community affairs, I feel that those who want the signs removed are concerned only for their own convenience over the safety of the community as a whole. I therefore, in hopes of swaying the Council, readied myself with a short speech on the good of the community and ammunition regarding pedestrian traffic, safety and the like.  

Late Monday night I carried out a small experiment regarding the stop signs.  I drove from one stop sign to the next twice.  Once, I stopped at both stop signs and using a stopwatch determined the elapsed time of the trip.  The second time I ran through both stop signs.  In comparing the two times, it takes a mere thirteen seconds longer to make the trip from one end of town to the other with the stop signs in place. 

The City Hall was fairly well populated last night and I assumed that most of those in attendance were there to encourage the council to remove the stop signs.  But, after I had given all of the citizens an opportunity to say their piece, I was pleased to discover that by far, the majority of those attending were in favor of leaving the stop signs in place and only two of the speakers opposed the signs.   

Feeling confident about the outcome of the issue, I decided to forego my safety speech.  Instead, I confessed my lawless transgression of the night before and explained that I didn’t feel that thirteen seconds was worth anyone’s safety.  Further, I mentioned that while as Mayor I didn’t have a vote on the Council I would hate if I were to vote to remove the stop signs and someone was injured because that vote.   

I opened the floor to the Council saying I would now entertain motions on the matter.  The Council sat silently.  Since maintaining the status-quo required no action by the Council, a few minutes later I declared that the issued had died for lack of a motion.  The stop signs will stay. 

While many gears have begun to turn and while I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by the speed and number of issues that I have set in motion, (keep in mind that I also hve a regular full-time job) I am optimistic about our beginnings and our chances for success.  I feel that if I can keep the people behind me by being sensitive to their concerns and keeping their best interests at the forefront of city business, our successes will continue. 

I am so very pleased and heartened by all those who have come forward to volunteer and otherwise lend their support to making China a better place. 

This meeting is hereby adjourned.