"The ongoing migration of persons to the United States
in violation of our laws is a serious national problem
detrimental to the interests of the United States." -
Ronald Reagan, 1981
06-25-2010: City Of Lewisville - This 8 Minute video is a Tour of the NEW
Lewisville Center For The Creative Arts near City Hall. It is
narrated by James Wear (our Art Center Manager) and should answer all
your questions. The Direct link is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewAqptBzQuo
From Luby's to the Legislature - I had the privilege of meeting Suzanna Gratia-Hupp on June 16, 2010. She was very nice and took the time to talk and answer questions.
See more...
Healthcare Bill put into perspective... This little video by Glenn Beck puts things in perspective.
Simple and easy to understand. One of Glenn Beck's messages that is as clear as the AntiDrug commercial that says, "this is your brain on drugs"...
06-24-2010: DCTA public meeting to discuss Fare and Service
Integration with the A-Train Rail Service.
• When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday
• Where: Lewisville Municipal Annex, 1197 W. Main St., Lewisville,
TX 75067
06-26-2010: Family Concert in the Park
The City of Lewisville’s Family Concert in the Park
will be held Saturday, June 26, from 5-9 p.m., at the Vista Ridge
Amphitheater, 3049 Lake Vista Drive, south of Vista Ridge Mall.
The event will feature local talented dance groups,
arts and crafts vendors and will be headlined by Natural Bridge (http://naturalbridge.biz/fr_photos.cfm).
Door prize giveaways and concessions will be available.
For more information, call 972.219.5061 or 972.219.3560. Interested
dance groups and vendors may contact
mwinters@cityoflewisville.com, or call 972.219.5063.
OTHER:
See this video on You Tube... Just curious, anyone know citizens who need a job? {The question is rhetorical and does not need to be answered.}
06:30 PM, Workshop Session. As Usual, this is an
open meeting and I encourage you to attend.
07:00 PM, Regular Council Meeting. Please look over the Agenda -
Short Version or the
Long version with backup material.
Please look over the long version which has some backup material
that might peak your interest.
After Meeting Comments: I voted No on Item #4 which
is basically a way to deny people from renewing a drivers license or
car tags if they have an unpaid ticket or bench warrant for not
appearing in court. On the surface, I think this looks pretty
good, however, I think it is just one more domino to fall on these
people that are financially strapped. Let me be clear, they
need to pay their tickets and fines. But if they can afford to
pay for their license or tags, then let them do so. They
already have to produce insurance coverage... I know that many
cheat the system by buying it for only a month.... I just think that
if they can afford to pay for something, then let them pay for it.
06:00 PM, Workshop Session. Topic: Presentation by Denton County Transportation Authority on New Member Policy and Status of Rail Project. As Usual, this is an
open meeting and I encourage you to attend.
07:00 PM, Regular Council Meeting. Please look over the Agenda -
Short Version or the
Long version with backup material.
Please look over the long version which has some backup material
that might peak your interest.
As a Lewisville City Councilman, I had the honor of being
invited to help setup The Vietnam Traveling
Memorial Wall in the neighboring city of Farmers Branch, TX. I
have attached a few pictures...
click here for more.
Memorial Day weekend, 2010 Liberty Fest on May 28-29, 2010.
The City of
Farmers Branch is having their inaugural edition of Liberty Fest to
pay tribute to our country and the men and women that have served
our Country. The two day event will feature a variety of activities
for all ages.
Thanks to all that came to Monday's City Council meeting
for my RE-Swearing in. It was nice to see so many friendly faces.
Lewisville Area Republican Club Meeting. Do you want to know what is going on in Denton County? On Friday we will have a Sheriff’s Deputy speak to us about drugs. I thought I could not be surprised and then I heard this speaker…how shocking can it be?
Please bring a friend and come hear him. We meet at Casa G’s on FM407 going west just after McGee Lane on the left at 11:30 for a buffet lunch
($12), the meeting starts at noon and we will be out by 1:00 P.M.
TO SHOOTERS... If you like to shoot pistols and you want
to be on my Shooting list, please let me know. I send an email blast
when matches are coming up or when I am going to the gun range. If
you want to come, then let me know. For me it is pistols and self
defense practice. Newbies are always welcome. So if you are feeling
like you need to learn about the gun you just bought, then there are
many of us that want to help you.
KLB Miniature Golf Tournament - I need two more players for
my team! Let me know if you want to play with Maria and me.
This Friday, MAY 21ST:
KLB
will be holding its annual fundraising event, a MINIATURE GOLF
TOURNAMENT at Zone Action Park (FM 407 and Summit) from 5:00pm to
9:00pm. Individual registration starts at $20 a person, or $60 per
team of four (4).
Join us for a night of fun and miniature golf! Players
will enjoy dinner, a round of miniature golf, goody bags, silent
auction prizes, and an awards ceremony immediately following the
tournament. We are looking for tournament players and event
sponsors, so sign up today and help raise money for your favorite
environmental non-profit! ALL proceeds will go directly to your
favorite KLB projects and programs--such as the Adopt-A-Spot and
Clean Stream Team programs, Garden Secrets Classes, planting
daffodils in October, our fall Trinity Trash Bash Clean up, and
more!
06:00 PM, Workshop Session. Topic: Center for the
Creative Arts. As Usual, this is an
open meeting and I encourage you to attend.
07:00 PM, Regular Council Meeting. Please look over the Agenda -
Short Version or the
Long version with backup material.
Please look over the long version which has some backup material
that might peak your interest.
SWEARING IN: My RE-Swearing in. AGAIN THANK YOU for all of your
votes and support.
MINIATURE GOLF TOURNAMENT: Next Friday, MAY 21ST:
KLB will be holding its annual fundraising event, a MINIATURE GOLF
TOURNAMENT at Zone Action Park (FM 407 and Summit) from 5:00pm to
9:00pm. Individual registration starts at $20 a person, or $60 per
team of four (4).
Keep Lewisville Beautiful will hold its third annual
charity fundraising miniature golf tournament Friday, May 21, at
Zone Action Park. All proceeds from the four person miniature golf
tournament will go to Keep Lewisville Beautiful for community
programs.
The event opens at 5 p.m., with dinner being served and
a silent auction being held prior to play for all registered
golfers. At 6:30 p.m. a shotgun scramble will start the tournament.
The awards ceremony will immediately follow the tournament.
Registration information, call 972.436.5100, visit
www.keeplewisvillebeautiful.org or email
info@keeplewisvillebeautiful.org.
Media contact: Coralee Lennert, KLB Executive Director,
972.436.5100.
BROCHURE:
http://www.keeplewisvillebeautiful.org/2010 golf tournament
brochure.pdf
05-13-2010:Fire department bagpipers,
drummers to stage Old Town show
Hundreds of firefighter bagpipers and drummers,
representing departments nationwide, will fill the plaza in front of
Lewisville City Hall on Thursday, May 13, from 7 to 10 p.m. for the
third “Keeping Tradition Alive” Jam Session. The public is invited to
attend this event that will showcase various aspects of the many talents
firefighters bring to their profession.
Competitions will be held throughout the evening among
fire service honor and color guards, bagpipers and drummers. Food and
beverages will be available during the event.
The public show is part of a three-day pipes and drums
symposium started last year and coordinated through the Lewisville Fire
Department. Top bagpipe and drum instructors from the United States and
overseas will conduct workshops at the Lewisville Convention Center for
symposium attendees.
In addition, the National Honor Guard Academy is
holding a four-day workshop leading up to the symposium for members of
fire and police honor guards across the country.
For event information, please call the Lewisville
Visitor Information Center at 972.219.3401. For information on
volunteering, contact Melinda Stephens at 972.219.3712 or
mstephens@cityoflewisville.com. Media contact: Jennifer
Galante, Marketing and Tourism Manager, 972.219.3710
The annual City Election is TODAY, Saturday May 8th. You will
have to vote at your City precinct location and polls are open from
7 to 7.
See voting location information.
Please tell your family, friends and neighbors to vote
for JOHN GORENA.
If re-elected, I’ll continue to be guided by my
Christian Conservative values, personal & fiscal responsibility, and
the Rule of Law. Thank you for your vote and your
support.
Get the election results after the polls close at the
Denton County Elections Website. The results will be
posted after 7:00 PM and updated until all the polls have reported.
The City of Lewisville Open Checkbook register has been added to
City website. The City of Lewisville launched a new feature May 7,
2010 on its website that will let visitors view and sort an electronic version of the city's check register.
In an attempt to expanded financial openness and transparency with residents, the city’s new Open Book program allows users to see a list of checks written by the city and to sort them by several criteria. The system will be updated monthly, and users will be able to find checks by looking up a specific vendor, or by fund, department or expense type. Data is available from October 1, 2009, to the most recently closed accounting period. Due to privacy concerns, payroll checks are excluded from the on-line database.
The feature, which was implemented with existing staff and resources at no additional expense, will be accessible at
www.cityoflewisville.com under “Quick Links.”
Click here for more.
Today marks the 4th anniversary of my political awakening as
stated on the
first entry of my blog site. And four years later the
marches are scheduled to close down our streets in major cities
across this country once again. I do admit the problems with
illegal immigration was my alarm clock, but I do see many other
issues that need to be addressed. Since the creation of this
blog website about three years
ago, I have tried to talk about the issues that are important to me
as shown on the menu to the right.
Do you share these same values? In my email blasts, I preface
my signature with the phrase "You are not Alone" as I had also felt
alone myself after speaking at council meetings and public meetings.
Over the last four years, many of you have let me know I was not
alone through the attacks of those whom I call liberals that do not
share my
core
values and beliefs. Many of you share these too.
Together we stand! Thank you for your support.
City Council Meeting 05-03-2010:
06:30 PM, Workshop Session. As Usual, this is an
open meeting and I encourage you to attend.
07:00 PM, Regular Council Meeting. Please look over the Agenda -
Short Version or the
Long version with backup material.
Please look over the long version which has some backup material
that might peak your interest.
04-20-2010: Keep Lewisville Beautiful Spring Clean up.
This Saturday (04-24-2010) SPRING CLEAN UP 9am-Noon
@ Lewisville Residential Recycling Center (330 Jones Street). To
pre-register, please contact KLB at 972-436-5100 . Join us at LLELA
afterwards, for an earth day celebration! For more info please see
the
flyer.
Earth Day Celebration
@ LLELA. 9am to 4pm. Join us after the Spring Clean Up with LLELA and
the City of Lewisville for an earth day celebration. Please see event
flyer.
06:30 PM, Workshop Session. As Usual, this is an
open meeting and I encourage you to attend.
07:00 PM, Regular Council Meeting. Please look over the Agenda -
Short Version or the
Long version with backup material.
Please look over the long version which has some backup material
that might peak your interest. Here are a few that I encourage
you to look over.
Two Public Hearings on rezoning
Item 16. Consideration of Naming I-35E "Liberty Freeway"
(Requested by Councilman Gorena).
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMENTS:
The City of Farmers Branch recently passed a resolution
attaching "Liberty Freeway" name to I35 within their
corporate limits. It is technically a nickname because the
official addressing along the corridor was not changed.
There are various approaches to naming state highways
depending on the purpose and intent, ranging from state
official naming to local official naming to nicknaming. I35
in Lewisville currently does not have an official local
designation, however, it has numerous other names that are
recognized by addressing authorities such as the city, the
post office, central appraisal district and Denco 911. In
addition, the state of Texas currently recognizes all of I35
from north to south as the "Purple Heart Trail". Also, the
city has recently commenced work on a master plan for I35 to
address a wide spectrum of issues that will impact the
corridor for many years into the future, including
aesthetics, imagery, redevelopment, standards,
infrastructure design, etc. Naming of the corridor (perhaps
even officially) would be within the scope of issues for
this committee to consider.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
That the council include naming options in the scope of issues to be considered by the I35 Corridor Plan Steering Committee and not take any further action at this time.
RECAP: In the 10-19-2009 workshop meeting we
discussed the Liberty Freeway resolution that was passed by
Farmers Branch and Carrollton. The Liberty Freeway
nickname will not change addresses. The purpose is to
recognize the sacrifices that our armed forces have made to
protect our Liberty. The idea originated in Farmers
Branch and each City North of Farmers Branch was asked to
designate their section of I35 as Liberty Freeway. At
this point it is stops in Carrollton unless we continue this
and name our section too. To read more, please see
pages
132 thru 139 of the agenda.
POST MEETING COMMENTS
After some discussion, it seems that I was the only one who
wanted to go forward with this concept. Therefore, to keep
it alive, I made the motion to give it to the Steering committee
that was recommended by Staff.
Some good ideas came up too. One idea was that since I35 is
also the Purple Heart Trail, that the committee consider
sign toppers for the Purple Heart Trail signs instead. We
will see what is suggested by the steering committee. It
may be years before this is addressed.
The Neighborhood Preservation Committee Meeting is tonight at
6:00 PM at City Hall. Tonight's topic is "Property
Owner Incentive Programs. One of the interesting bits of
information from a 2009 report from the North Texas Council of
Governments is that Lewisville has more Multi-family housing units
that single family housing units.
At the last meeting 03-04-2010, the Police Chief gave a
presentation about crime in the City. The slides show police
calls data by neighborhood and also shows data about gangs.
06:15 PM, Workshop Session. As Usual, this is an open meeting and I encourage you to
attend. Topic will be a "Discussion of the I-35 Corridor Plan Steering Committee".
07:00 PM, Regular Council Meeting.
Please look over the Agenda -
Short Version or the
Long version with backup material
will be here when posted.
Primary Runoff Election: Don't forget that there
are runoffs for the Primary Election (County and State elections)
for three Judge positions. Early voting is April 5-9, 2010 and
the Runoff is on April 13, 2010. Any registered voter in
Denton County can vote in the Runoff. However, if you voted in
the Primary, you can only vote in that party primary in which you
voted. Those who have not voted in the Primary can vote in
either Democratic or Republican primary runoff.
[NOTE: This is
for those who want to know how I am voting, if not then skip to the
next item below, - a thing I do with my
blog. For those voting republican... I like all the candidates but sometimes you have to take a stance and choose one over the other. I find these people to be my choices. FYI, I am voting
for ... you have to call me....]
GORENA CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Please see
http://www.Gorena.org to help
with the campaign. Early voting starts on 04-26-2010
and the Election is on 05-08-2010.
Yard Signs for your yard! Do you know people that live
on busy streets like Valley, Corporate, College, Purnell,
etc...? Please talk to them and ask them if we can put a
sign in their yard. Also, think about those who live on a
corner or second house from a corner.
Walk Lists are being generated. Would you like to walk
streets? Let me know what streets you want to do and I can
get you a list of houses to visit and drop off a card.
Spread the word to your Friends, Neighbors, email lists,
Facebook, etc... talk to them about what I have tried
to accomplish in my short time on the Council which is listed on
the Status
Report.
