Columns

Thank you to Riley Funeral Home!

I did something last week that has not happened in 48 years of newspapering.

It has been my honor and privilege to serve as your mayor for the past two years. It has given me the opportunity to meet many citizens and affirm that Hamilton is the best town in the world to live in. I will find other opportunities to give back to Hamilton and look forward to new challenges in making Hamilton even better.

The Corpus Christi board of health closed all schools, churches, theaters, parks, playgrounds and swimming pools on May 12, 1946 in response to an outbreak of polio.

Dear Editor and Voters:

Tuesday night, April 21, the city council held a special workshop. The purpose was to discuss our visions for the future of Hamilton and prioritize them in order of importance. All-in-all, there were probably six or seven goals discussed and the best way to begin preparing our budget to obtain those. Number one and two were our infrastructure and streets. All of the council members were present, our city administrator, city secretary and finance director. Also in attendance were those running for mayor and city council. Normally, public discussion is not allowed when the council is in session because there is a Public Comment agenda item on all council agendas. But I was asked to allow those who were there who are running for council positions the opportunity to offer their input. I thought this was something that was very important to do.

Letter to the Editor Evant ISD has issued a bond for 5.98 million. The bond estimates are grossly inflated, also any overages in money to proposed projects should be paid towards the bond to relieve taxpayer burdens. The issues at the school are self-inflicted. Issues are due to deferred maintenance. Voters and taxpayers deserve straight answers as to why the school district has allowed the buildings to deteriorate on current superintendent’s and school board watch. We need answers as to why maintenance was not done and maintenance money was spent elsewhere. Taxpayers should not be asked to spend money to pay for mismanagement.

Laura and I moved here six years ago from Allen. While I was on the city council, Steve Terrell was our mayor. As a matter of fact, Steve was mayor of Allen for over 20 years. I learned a lot from him about what it meant to be a mayor. My weekly Notes from the Mayor came from Steve’s article in the Allen American, “A Note from the Mayor.”

There were some items on this month’s City Council agenda to take note of. But first, congratulations to Elyssa Martin for volunteering for and being appointed by the City Council to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. The Hamilton community is very blessed to have so many who want to be involved and help make the quality of life in Hamilton better.