The Ennis Daily News (Ennis, Tex.), Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 27, 2013 Page: 4 of 10
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Opinion
Page 4
Wednesday, November 27,2013
Ennis Daily News
Hone plans,
get it right,
see it work
Our
Point of
View
Ennis City Commissioners made a
series of positive choices at a work-
shop meeting Monday
The first good move was in setting
up a more graduated program for of-
fering historic redevelopment grants
in downtown. The grant proposal’s
first drafts left out a sizable chunk of
possible project sizes,
with the intent osten-
sibly to encourage
property owners to
take on the big proj-
ects in short order to
see downtown get a
big facelift.
The chance of that happening
seems less likely the more one con-
siders the finances of individual
owners in downtown. Probably, busi-
ness owners will only be somewhat
induced to make large expenses by
having grants available — owners
will be thankful to receive them, but
work will often a function of need,
not want, so to speak.
Making expense levels below
$75,000 that qualify owners to receive
grant funds can be helpful in ensur-
ing small projects get a chance on the
drawing board.
Another big one: A review provi-
sion. It’s not quite what Commis-
sioner Brian Holley has referred to
as a true “sunset” clause, but it does
include a mechanism to annually
evaluate the program to see its use-
fulness. Whether the program is
working, creating the inducements it
is intended to create and helping
drive a rehabilitation of the struc-
tures that need that work, is key to
making wise use of the dollars asso-
ciated with the project in the first
place.
Ironing out a few other issues of
transferability and assignability of
tax abatements and necessary levels
of insurance coverage are also im-
portant steps in the honing process.
Getting it right the first time around
will be a big help to all of those wait-
ing for these ordinances to get passed
before undertaking the work down-
town needs.
Striking a balance between taking
our time and moving with enough
purpose to keep the momentum for
downtown going is the challenge we
face now, and commissioners seem
quite intent on making sure that hap-
pens.
© Contents copyright 2013 and cannot be reproduced
without the written permission of the publisher.
Tre Bischof ■ Publisher Tammy Fry ■ Advertising Manager
Nick Todaro ■ Editor Teresa Watson ■ Office Manager
Jared Massey ■ Production Manager
Nikki Cohan ■ Circulation Manager
Melissa Honza ■ Composition Manager
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A busy holiday awaits
CHAMBER
SPSTUGHT
November is a month of
Thanksgiving and Ennis has
been fortunate in many ways
this November. Just ask Princi-
pal David Averitt at EHS. Con-
gratulations go to EHS for
winning a $25,000 grant through
State Farm Insurance’s Cele-
brate My Drive Campaign. A
huge thank you goes to Jenny
Vidrine with State Farm Insur-
ance for telling the school, the
Chamber’s Partners in Educa-
tion Committee and other civic
organizations about the Cele-
brate My Drive Campaign.
Thanks to the students, parents,
educators and community for
taking the time to vote daily for
EHS. I know that these funds will
be put to good use at EHS. We, at
the Chamber, promise not to
send out another “Remember to
Vote” email blast daily until next
year when the campaign is of-
fered again.
In visiting with the Greater
Ennis Redevelopment Associa-
tion, they too have been busy
planning the redevelopment of
the tornado damaged buildings
in downtown Ennis. A number
of the buildings have been pur-
chased and owners are meeting
with architects. I know so many
have been concerned with the
delay in processing building ren-
ovations, but your dedicated pa-
tience will be well worth the
wait.
The city of Ennis is working
with owners of the historic
downtown buildings in develop-
ing an incentive package to as-
sist in the reconstruction costs.
On an average, the age of the
downtown area buildings is 102
years. I know you can under-
stand what the owners will be
facing in revamping the build-
ings to entice retailers and
restaurants to be a part of our
downtown.
The Chamber’s Partners in
Education Committee has been
working diligently to learn more
about beginning an Education
Foundation benefiting Ennis
ISD. The committee has met with
a number of surrounding school
districts that have such pro-
grams in place and are working
with the EISD School Board and
administrators. The foundation
would be a separate entity of the
chamber and EISD, and would be
used to assist in funding various
projects including educational
supplies, trips and educational
courses beyond those provided
through the school’s funds. It
would also be a nonprofit agency
If you are interested in learning
more about Partners in Educa-
tion or the foundation, call me at
the chamber and join us at the
next meeting. In addition to
working on a foundation, PIE
Chairman Tre Bischof has made
arrangements with different
school campuses to host our
monthly meetings. The princi-
pals and staff members of the
campus have shared programs
they hold at their school and
some have shared a wish list of
items they may need help with
for their programs. Last month,
the committee met at Lummus
Intermediate and got to know
about the excellent after-school
programs for each of the differ-
ent grade levels. Their wish list
has had a big response from our
members. If you would like to be
added to our email mailings,
email manager@ennis-cham-
ber.com and ask that your email
be added to our email contacts.
You may have materials lying
around your office that would
help these different campuses.
By the way, thanks to Polyguard
Products, who are helping with
the Lummus wish list.
There are a number of big
events scheduled for the month
of December. To begin the
month, the Ennis Chamber
Christmas Parade of Lights will
be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 5. Prior to
the parade, the lighting cere-
mony for the Lights of Ennis is
set at 5:30 p.m. near Pierce Park.
The Ennis Junior High band will
be performing Christmas Carols
for the lighting and the Railroad
Museum will be holding their
annual Christmas Open House
from 5 to 9 p.m.. Santa will be at
the museum from 5 to 6 p.m. for
pictures with the kids, so be sure
to bring your cameras. Santa
will return to the museum after
the Parade of Lights if you
missed sharing your Christmas
wish list.
City Real Estate will host a
Christmas Open House from 5:30
to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 also. Refresh-
ments will be available and
Santa will also be there for photo
opportunities.
The chamber is asking for any
downtown shop that will be open
during and after the parade to
contact Gina Rokas at the Ennis
Convention and Visitors Bureau
by calling 972-878-4748, so that a
list of open shops can be made
and distributed to those attend-
ing the parade. This will be a
great night to start your Christ-
mas shopping or maybe com-
plete your Christmas list.
At 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, Give
a Kid a Chance will host “Christ-
mas with Santa” at San Jacinto
Auditorium. This is a free event
that will include an afternoon of
entertainment, food, fun and fel-
lowship.
Lawyers Title and Massengill,
Schanfish PLLC will host a Busi-
ness After Hours at 5:15 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 12 at the home of
Marcie Schanfish, and Theatre
Rocks! will host a Business After
Hours at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec.
19 at the theater, located at 505
NW. Main St.
On a different note, Gina
Rokas and I recently attended
the Texas Downtown Associa-
tion’s Annual Conference held in
Bastrop this year. We each at-
tended breakout sessions cover-
ing a range of topics from retail
recruitment and retention and
strategies for improvements, to
social media, marketing, events,
Cash Mobs, Bridging the Gener-
ation Gap and so forth. It was in-
teresting to hear how all the
communities have grown, sur-
vived and all organizations
worked together to expand their
communities. We heard stories
that worked and strategies that
didn’t. How downtown areas
grew from only three shops open
to 50-plus in restaurants, retail
and specialty shops in only a
three-block area. Shop owners,
city commissioners, economic
development committees and
chambers have all worked to-
gether to build thriving down-
town areas elsewhere. The
conference was truly a great op-
portunity for us to learn from
other communities who had
faced similar challenges.
As I write this article, I real-
ized there less than 30 days till
Christmas! Have you starting
your Christmas shopping? Re-
member to shop locally. Shop-
ping locally helps the local
economy and businesses in a
number of ways including cre-
ation and retention of jobs, sup-
port of local charities, schools
and community events, and the
addition of new businesses mov-
ing into the area as well as re-
taining those that are here.
Jeannette Patak is the presi-
dent of the Ennis Chamber of
Commerce.
Letters to editor
Family caregivers
are priceless
November is National Family
Caregivers Month.
There are so many family
members that end up being a care-
giver for a loved one. The care-
givers do their job because they
love the one that is ill and wants
them to have the best care possi-
ble. The caregiver then tries to do
the job by themselves. This job of
being a caregiver is much more
than anyone could imagine at the
beginning. Many times the care-
giver doesn’t ask for help because
of the intimate nature of the ill-
ness or a promise made to the one
that is ill. The caregiver feels that
if they don’t take care of the one
that is ill, they are letting them
down.
At first, it’s just being there for
their family member. As days go
by the caregiver ends up doing a
little more for their loved one.
Weeks, then months go by and the
caregiver is helping with all the
needs for their loved one. Eventu-
ally the caregiver is so busy tak-
ing care of their loved one that,
they forget to take care of them-
selves.
We at Family First Hospice and
Palliative Home Care want to ac-
knowledge the effort and sacri-
fices that these caregivers make.
Margie Norum
Family First Hospice
Term limits — a bad
idea whose
time has come
The Framers knew best; pub-
lic servants and not a ruling class
would represent the citizens of
new Republic that they created
with the founding documents.
Their vision worked for the first
150 years. After that point in time
the career politician was born.
Over the past 100 years the
growth of government and the
length of tenure of our elected of-
ficials have gone hand in hand.
Whereas prior to that time, the
House of Representatives’ mem-
bers’ average tenure was two,
three, or four terms in office, now
the length of time is two, three or
even four decades!
The time is come to demand
Congress address this egregious,
flagrant abuse of our republic
and the people. It is time to de-
mand our employees accept the
founding view that public ser-
vants should go to Washington,
represent We the People, and
then return home to their life
and live under the rules they cre-
ated.
I know, I know... we have term
limits on our representatives; we
vote on them every two years...
Well, that is bull. Once estab-
lished in the ruling class, with all
the perks and privileges, our
“employees” just thumb their
collective noses at us, raise hun-
dreds of thousands and millions
of dollars to throw back any chal-
lengers and continue the good
life of Big Government career
politicians.
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, 30-year
career big government Republi-
can is a perfect example. Good
old Joe has served the Sixth Dis-
trict since 1985, and has been in
Congress as the federal govern-
ment’s annual budget has in-
creased by five times and the
national debt has increased by
nearly 10 times.
Length of the term can be dis-
cussed, but I believe 12 years
total service is enough. Two
terms in the Senate or six terms
in the House, or a combination
and we get the turnover we need
to restore the vision of the
Founding.
Article V of the Constitution
allows Congress to address this,
but we know that Washington
will not solve the problem: Wash-
ington IS the problem. Article V
also allows the several states to
convene and tackle the issue as
well. I am calling on my state rep-
resentatives, candidates for
HD10, and incumbent Sen. Brian
Birdwell to consider the State
Convention method to return the
power to Texas and the people.
We deserve better; we can do
better.
Bill Carson
Midlothian
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Todaro, Nick. The Ennis Daily News (Ennis, Tex.), Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 27, 2013, newspaper, November 27, 2013; Ennis, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth771347/m1/4/?q=green+energy: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ennis Public Library.