Published: August 04, 2008 10:48 am            

8/3/2008 Letters to the Editor

Mayor of Cleburne updates residents



This letter has several purposes. The first part is to update our citizens on what is happening at city hall in regard to the day to day operations and the formulation of next year’s budget. The second purpose is to explain an unintentional mistake that I recently made.

First, the good part. While our state and nation remained locked in the throes of an economic downturn, our area’s economy and business climate continue to be excellent. Despite energy and fuel costs that are much higher than expected, your city government has managed to stay well within the approved budget for this year. Evidence of our booming economy can be found in the fact that our sales tax collections continue to climb by double digit percentages when compared with last year’s collections.

We certainly realize, however, that these increases cannot go on forever, and we will be prudent and conservative when we budget for the future. Income from gas royalties is also expected to be higher than originally expected for the current year. It is important for the citizens to know that a great deal of money has been budgeted and set aside for work that has not been started as of yet.

A few of the many projects for which money has been appropriated and not spent are: purchase of land for a new fire station in north Cleburne, purchase of a large parcel of park land in northwest Cleburne, extensive downtown renovations, new sidewalks and several expensive drainage improvements in flood prone areas.

These are only a few of many projects for which money has already been set aside. The city staff has been working for several months on next fiscal year’s budget. After receiving a final report of property values, the city council and staff can begin the process of putting together next year’s budget. The city council is interested in giving the citizens the very best value for their tax dollars. We will examine many options for the use of our expected energy royalty money. I feel sure that the council will be interested in funding many needed infrastructure projects. We will talk about developing a plan for possibly putting some of this money in reserve for future use. Special called meetings to discuss budget issues will begin in the near future. We welcome your input.

Recently I found that I had made an inadvertent mistake in the preparation of filing of some of my campaign reports. The fact that I accepted only one small campaign contribution ($100) does not relieve me of the obligation to properly prepare and submit a report. I am in the process of fixing my mistake and apologize for my oversight. I offer no excuses. I just forgot. All of us on the council have worked hard to gain and maintain the trust of our citizens. I can promise you that I will redouble my efforts to conduct my city business in an open and transparent manner.

All of us at city hall are working hard to provide you with the very best service that we possibly can. Please contact me if I can ever be of service.

Sincerely,



Ted Reynolds

Mayor of Cleburne



Democrats want us unarmed



For the first time in history the Supreme Court affirmed the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was and is an individual’s right as intended by our Founding Fathers. Sen. Obama has never been a Second Amendment supporter. He has said outright that he “doesn’t believe people should be able to own guns.”

Remember that as president he will be able to appoint anti-gun judges who, with a Democratic Senate, will be quickly approved, and they can and will overturn the current ruling. Because Democrats want us unarmed.

I would like to present you with an article about Barack Obama written by Charles Krauthammer on July 18, a journalist for The Washington Post. As he is a professional journalist he can present these points with which I heartily agree in a much better way than I: ... Obama is a three-year senator without a single legislative achievement to his name, a former Illinois state senator who voted “present” nearly 130 times. As president of the Harvard Law Review, as law professor and as legislator, has he ever produced a single notable piece of scholarship? Written a single memorable article? His most memorable work is a biography of his favorite subject: himself.

It is a subject upon which he can dilate effortlessly. In his victory speech upon winning the nomination, Obama declared it a great turning point in history — “generations from now we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment” — when, among other wonders, “the rise of the oceans began to slow.” As Hudson Institute economist Irwin Stelzer noted in his London Daily Telegraph column, “Moses made the waters recede, but he had help.” Obama apparently works alone.

Obama may think he’s King Canute, but the good King ordered the tides to halt precisely to refute sycophantic aides who suggested he had such power. Obama has no such modesty.

After all, in the words of his own slogan “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” which, translating the royal “we,” means “I am the one we have been waiting for.” Amazingly he had a quasi-presidential seal with its own Latin inscription affixed to his lectern, until general ridicule — it was pointed out that he was not yet president — induced him to take it down.

He lectures us that instead of worrying about immigrants learning English, “you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish” — a language Obama does not speak. He further admonishes us on how “embarrassing” it is that Europeans are multilingual but, “we go over to Europe and all we can say is ‘merci beaucoup.’” Obama speaks no French.

His fluent English does, however, feature many such admonishments, instructions and improvements. His wife assures us that President Obama will be a stern taskmaster: “Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism ... that you come out of your isolation ... Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved and uninformed.”

For the first few months of the campaign, the question about Obama was: Who is he? The question now is: Who does he think he is?

We are getting to know. Redeemer of our uninvolved, uninformed lives. Lord of the seas. And more. As he said on victory night, his rise marks the moment when “our planet began to heal.” As I recall — I’m no expert on this — Jesus practiced his healing just on the sick, Obama operates on a larger scale.



W.V. Bonds

Cleburne



Thanks from Grandview mayor



Editor’s note: This is an open letter to Grandview residents.



Those of you who have driven on Louisiana Street lately have surely noticed the sad state of repair and condition of the road.

Thanks to the efforts and contacts made by Roy Roberts, public works director, we now have donations to the city of Grandview totaling $45,253.50 for repairs to the heavily traveled street from Devon Inc. and EOG Inc. These repairs can now be made at minimum cost, if any, to the taxpayers of Grandview.

It pleases me greatly to write this letter on behalf of the city, taxpayers and citizens. Thank you, Devon Inc. and EOG. Inc.



Mayor Jack Orr

City of Grandview



Letter writer must have lots of time to fill



I would like to congratulate W.V. Bonds for his letter to the editor about Barack Obama. Approximately the last half of his letter told us something we political hacks did not know about Barack’s mother, “spent her high school days hanging out in coffee shops with other radical young leftists.”

Of course, the downside was that we had to read about 350 words before we got to anything that hadn’t been said over and over by the television punditry.

Another downside was that he did not ascribe credit to his source. Surely Mr. Bonds would not make up something so damaging to Obama. If his readers, and I assume they are few because he is so voraciously wordy, managed to soldier on to the last half of Mr. Bond’s letter then they must be in a class with me — retired with lots of time to fill.

Respectfully,



Maryjane Brady

Cleburne

        

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