The Colony Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 62, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 3, 1993 Page: 1 of 42
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THE COLONY PUBLIC LIBRARY
5151 N COLONY BLVD
THE COLONY TX 75056-1219
4454441215444
The Colony Leader
New constable
has hands full
serving warrants
Wednesday
February 3,1993
50 cents
i..........
The Colony, Texas
Second Front
No Man's Lani
Management
study finished
Company says report signifies
positive aspects of city government
By JEFFREY BALL
News editor
The final organizational and man-
agement report presented recently
to the City Council takes the pulse of
the city and offers a blueprint for
streamlining operations.
“There is a lot of positive (aspects
in the report),” David Eisenlohr of
Ralph Anderson & Associates said.
“My objective was not to find every-
thing that was wrong and point fin-
gers.”
The report was presented to a
special session of the council last
week by Eisenlohr. The council had
contracted with Ralph Anderson &
Associates in late October to do the
management study. The contract
called for a fixed fee of $18,500 with
reimbursement for direct expenses
of the consultant “not to exceed
$5,000.”
“The organization and manage-
ment study included all city depart-
ments, programs and services,” the
report said in the executive sum-
mary. “The basic intent of the study
is to isolate areas in need of improve-
ment and to develop specific recom-
mendations in that regard. A sup-
porting objective was the identifica-
tion of areas of the city organization
likely to benefit from further, in-
depth review and analysis.”
The general conclusions from the
analysis of the survey responses, in
combination with the independent
observations of the consulting team,
include:
■ “There are significant dispari-
ties in the response patterns be-
tween administrative personnel and
line, direct service workers housed
outside of City Hall. There is a sense
of ‘them and us’ within the organiza-
tion, mainly directly at City Hall by
the non City Hall staff.
■ “The greatest concerns of city
workers tend to fall into three gener-
al areas: 1) resources and, more par-
Turn to REPORT, Page 5A
Marco Medina/Staff photo
The Colony resident Larry Miller and his son, Jeff, clean one of the guns they use when hunting. Larry's
daughter is away at college, leaving the father and son to strictly male pursuits.
ouncil members
leased with results
Being a single dad has its
tribulations and its rewards
Stories by Valerie Barna
M an juggles career while
running a household and
raising the kids. In the
1960s, the idea was so cute it became
the premise for a TV sitcom.
And so viewers wouldn’t think the
concept too preposterous, Holly-
wood producers threw in an aproned
Uncle Charlie. After all, no man —
not even Fred MacMurray — could
“do it all” by himself.
The 1990s have proven just how
unimaginative those producers
were.
Consider John Garcia of Allen, a
contracts manager who’s raising his
three sons — ages 9,12 and 15, solo.
Garcia admits to being terrified
On the Inside
Calendar......
Classifieds ...
Health.........
Obituaries....
Opinion........
Real Estate ..
Religion.......
Second Front
Sports..........
Travel..........
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■ On Thursday, noted nutritionist
Dr. James P. Meschino will present
‘The Health Destiny Seminar’ at the
Dallas Marriott Quorum — Page
7A.
■ Aleyna Vaughn, a fourth-grade
student at B.B. Owen Elementary
School, won the school-level com-
petition of the National Geography
Bee on Jan. 14 — Page 9A.
■ Constable Larry Floyd just re-
ceived several cases of hot check
warrants, some dating back to
1990, which were shipped to his
office last week from a former pre-
cinct office in Lewisville and the
process of serving the warrants
has already started — Page 1B.
■ Denton County Commissioners
hope to begin the installation of a
$106,000 security package within
the next few weeks, a move they
believe will give county judges,
employees and citizens an added
measure of safety — Page 1B.
when he first gained custody of the
boys almost seven years ago. "I
didn’t think I could do it,” he said.
The businessman allowed that he
knew nothing about housekeeping;
didn’t even realize toilet brushes ex-
isted. Laundry, grocery shopping,
cooking? Forget it.
And he was already a busy person.
In addition to his career, Garcia is
chairman of the Allen Planning and
Zoning Commission, chairman of the
Capital Improvements Committee,
an eight-year member of the Allen
City Council, vice president of the
Allen school district’s Project Kids, a
Turn to SINGLE, Page 4A
TU Electric rate hike
request stirs officials
By JEFFREY BALL
News editor
A request by TU Electric for a
15.3 percent rate increase, filed re-
cently with the Public Utility Com-
mission of Texas, is not sitting well
with city officials.
“We all expected it with Com-
anche Peak (Unit 2) going on line,”
City Manager Bill Hall said. “Quite
frankly it is coming at an inopportune
time.”
The request filed by TU Electric
is for a $760 million, 15.3 percent
increase.
“Our rates historically have com-
pared very favorably with those of
other utilities in the state and na-
tion,” TU Electric Chairman Erle
Nye said. “We intend to maintain
competitive rates, and even after
this increase our rates will continue
to be below the average of the na-
tion’s 25 largest cities.”
In a press release issued by TU
Electric, Nye said if the company is
granted the increase as requested it
should be able to continue “to supply
reliable electric service, while sup-
porting economic development in its
service area, without the need for
Lifestyle makes
solo child-rearins
even more difficult
“What’s a nice man like you doing
in a place like this?” one might ask
the young fellow surrounded by dirty
laundry, half-empty baby bottles and
a house only a bulldozer could clean.
“Why aren’t you at the office,
fighting your way up the corporate
ladder?”
The truth of the matter is this: He
is advancing in his career, but he also
is raising his children by himself. Ab-
out 1 million divorced and separated
fathers in the United States are rais-
ing almost 1.5 million children,
according to Geoffrey L. Greif in
“The Daddy Track and the Single
Father.” Another 100,000 widowers
also are single dads and a large num-
ber of fathers are participating in
joint custody arrangements.
According to the 1990 federal cen-
sus, single dads raising their kids in
Turn to CHALLENGE, Page 4A
another rate increase for at least five
years. This assumes that costs
beyond its control, such as taxes and
regulatory or environmental ex-
penses, do not increase signifi-
cantly.”
Hall said when the city entered
the budget process last fall it con-
tacted the utilities to ask about
charges and a projection of in-
creases.
“They were not projecting a rate
hike in this year they told The Col-
ony and many other cities,” Hall
said.
Hall said just because TU Electric
said it was not planning an increase
did not mean the city remained “sta-
tus quo in our budget — but we did
not project the 15.3 percent in-
crease.”
Last week representatives of 89
cities met with TU Electric officials
in Irving concerning the rate hike,
Hall said.
“The presentation given by TU
was somewhat standard, I think. It
was to justify a rate hike,” Hall said.
“There were a lot of charts and
graphs to reflect the improvement,
Turn to RATE, Page 5A
Jeffrey Ball/Leader photo
Just say ‘No’
Nationally recognized illusionist and ventriloquist Bart Rock-
ett, visited Carney Elementary School last week to entertain the
students and offer a positive message encouraging them to
say ‘No’ to the things that will get in the way of their success,
like drugs and alcohol. Rocket has been interviewed on ‘Enter-
tainment Tonight’ and ‘Good Morning America.’
By JEFFREY BALL
News editor
The recently completed organiza-
tional and management study for the
city government will be a “living
document,” according to several city
officials.
“I was very pleased. It shows we
have a lot of good employees,”
Councilman Joel Marks said. “There
are problems, the same as other
cities. There is nothing unusual in
The Colony.”
Councilman Bill Sharp said, “In
some of the review I’ve done it looks
like overall the city has not done a
bad job, but there is room for im-
provement. The report is not nega-
tive. It is positive and a means to a
more positive city.”
The City Council approved a con-
tract with Ralph Andersen & Associ-
ates in late October to prepare the
city management study for an ex-
penditure of up to $23,500.
“We more than got our money’s
worth. It’s going to save a lot of
money now and in the future,” Coun-
cilman Tom Bogan said. “I’ve been
involved with this kind of survey in
the corporate world. They are worth
their money.”
Councilman Joe Agnew agreed.
“(There is) a real potential for sav-
ing the city some dollars — or using
our dollars more effectively,”
Agnew said. “I’m very pleased there
was that much substance.”
City Manager Bill Hall said many
of the findings in the report were a
credit to the city employees.
“From my perspective, overall
the employees seem to be placing
continued emphasis on quality ser-
vice. There are numerous refer-
ences to concerns over pay, equip-
ment, training, leadership and direc-
tion — which we’ll be working to
rectify,” Hall said. “But, those con-
cerns reflect they are far more in-
terested in quality work and I think
that is a credit to every employee in
this city.”
The next step after accepting the
report is to begin the implementa-
tion process.
“We did not want a report that
would gather dust. We requested a
working and workable document
that by implementation could be
used by all employees to improve
service,” Hall said.
Marks said everyone in the city
Turn to STUDY, Page 4A
Curriculum for
sex education
is debated
By DOROTHY GENTRY
Staff writer
Sex education, if it should be
taught, how it should be taught and
who should teach it has resurfaced
as a major issue between the Texas
Legislature and the state’s school
districts.
Currently on the table is a bill
sponsored by a Fort Worth senator.
Not far behind is a list of recom-
mendations from two organizations
about how their members feel sex
education should be taught in the
schools.
Although the only item state legis-
lators currently are considering is
Senate Bill 20, the public should re-
main aware of the recommendations
from the two organizations, their
spokesmen say.
Senate Bill 20
Senate Bill 20 is sponsored by
Sen. Mike Moncrief, D-Fort Worth.
It advocates self-development and
life skills education.
It states that each school district
Turn to EDUCATION, Page 4A
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Epperson, Wayne. The Colony Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 62, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 3, 1993, newspaper, February 3, 1993; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1666733/m1/1/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Colony Public Library.