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City Hall Renovation Project Nearing Start

The DeLeon City Hall remodeling project continues to make progress. Scott Morehead, representing the office of Ben Barnes visited DeLeon last Tuesday, February 3, for a firsthand look at the proposed renovations.

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LOOKING IT OVER. Hiram Smith, on the left, and Scott Morehead look at the north wall of the DeLeon City Hall.

Texas Midwest Day at the Capitol

More than 130 people representing rural cities in the Texas Midwest region traveled to Austin for “Texas Midwest Day” on Feb. 3, to honor legislators and demonstrate a unified voice for rural Texas.

DeLeon Chamber of Commerce executive director Linda Levens participated in the activities at the Capitol, as did DeLeon Chamber director Kevin Storey.

A VISIT TO THE CAPITOL. DeLeon Chamber of Commerce directors were among several Comanche County residents who toured the State Captiol and visited with State Representative Sid Miller (back row, center) Tuesday, February 3, as part of Texas Midwest Day. Pictured on the back row with Miller are Benny Allcorn, vice president of the Comanche Chamber, left, and Kevin Storey, DeLeon Chamber director. Front row, left to right, Jacci Stewart, Comanche Chamber director; Christina Tandy-Perkins, Comanche Chamber executive director; and Linda Levens, DeLeon Chamber executive director. Courtesy photo

Texas Midwest Community Network sponsored its eighth biennial visit to the State Capitol during the Legislative Session. Highlights of the day included a photo session on the steps of the Capitol, a briefing on regional issues, visits to lawmaker offices and an evening reception.

“Texas Midwest Day provides a means for community leaders from our region to be recognized at the State Capitol and have face to face visits with lawmakers,” says TMCN President Mike Schweikhard.

“Our presence in Austin helps legislators from our region send a message to urban lawmakers that concerns about such issues as state services, tax reform and natural resources have special significance to us.”

The Texas Midwest delegation gathered on the Capitol steps for a photo session with state representatives and senators serving the region. Governor Rick Perry joined the group for the photo and used the opportunity to offer comments related to the State’s economy. The day included visits to
legislative offices to meet with staffs and an evening legislative reception sponsored jointly by TMCN and the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce.

State Senators for TMCN include Troy Fraser-Dist. 24, Robert Duncan-Dist. 28 and Craig Estes-Dist. 30. State Representatives include Harvey Hilderbran-Dist. 53, Sid Miller-Dist. 59, Jim Keffer- Dist. 60, Rick Hardcastle-Dist.68, Susan King-Dist.71, Drew Darby- Dist. 72, and Joe Heflin-Dist. 85.

TMCN includes 43 member cities in 26 counties: Abilene, Albany, Anson, Aspermont, Baird, Ballinger, Brady, Breckenridge, Bronte, Brownwood, Buffalo Gap, Cisco, Clyde, Coleman, Colorado City, Comanche, Cross Plains, DeLeon, Dublin, Early, Eastland, Eden, Goldthwaite, Gorman, Hamilton, Hamlin, Haskell, Knox City, Menard, Munday, Ranger, Rising Star, Robert Lee, Roscoe, Rotan, San Angelo, Santa Anna, Snyder, Stamford, Sweetwater, Throckmorton, Tye, and Winters.

For more information about Texas Midwest Community Network visit the website at www.TexasMidwest.org

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Commissioners Disagree Over Floodplain Administrator's Salary

By JERRY MORGAN, Reporter

COMANCHE -- Whether to pay a salary to the floodplain permit administrator and frustrations with intermittent internet service at the various county offices were the two longest topics of discussion
at the most recent meeting of the Commissioners Court.

County Judge James Arthur conducted the meeting on Monday morning, February 9, with Commissioners Gary Underwood, Kenneth Feist, Jimmy Dale Johnson and Sherman Sides participating.

County Clerk Ruby Lesley and County Auditor Joey Boswell also sat at the meeting table and were involved throughout the meeting.

Other county officials present and sometimes participating included Sheriff Jeff Lambert, County Attorney Craig Willingham, County Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust, Chief Deputy-Enforcement Chris Pounds, Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg and his and the Commissioners' assistant, Trish Grimshaw.

Ruby Lesley read the draft minutes of the previous Commissioners meeting on January 23. Sherman Sides noted that the draft minutes incorrectly referred to FM 2823 as FM 2832. The minutes were
unanimously approved as corrected.

Economic Development Project Request

The next matter involved a request by Jacci Stewart on behalf of the Comanche Texas Economic Development Corporation (CTEDC) regarding a project on Highway 67/377, the old James Transport building. An existing fabrication business wants to purchase the building in order to expand floor space in order to have multiple fabrication projects under way at one time. She noted the expansion was projected to create additional jobs.

For full article, subscribe to the DeLeon Free Press. E-mail edition is only $20/year.

DeLeon I.S.D. Board Report

Special to the Free Press by DR. RANDY MOHUNDRO, Superintendent

The 2007-08 Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) Hearing led off the monthly agenda for the February board meeting of the DeLeon I.S.D. trustees.

The report and hearing were held as a statutory requirement for the district by the State of Texas. The AEIS report is a compilation of all the data that is collected by the state about the school district for the school year, including student achievement data from state testing and other data sources.

The administration reviewed the data with the Board and also discussed several trend lines that appear to indicate that the district is improving in several areas, particularly in the area of student performance.

The Board then reviewed all matters listed on the consent agenda. In addition to the regular monthly reports reviewed and submitted for Board for approval, several other items were included on the agenda.

The 2008 State Comptroller Property Value Preliminary Study showed that the district had returned to the confidence interval for the appraised values set for the district.

The Property Value study is an annual occurrence where the state reviews the values set by the local appraisal district to insure that values are set at a level that is satisfactory.

The study has great impact for a school district by losing state money if the district falls out of the interval for two consecutive years. In those instances the district is assigned state values for state funding purposes, which would cause a decrease in state funding for school districts.

DeLeon I.S.D. receives approximately 70% of its total funding from the State of Texas.

For full article, subscribe to the DeLeon Free Press. E-mail edition is only $20/year.

Possible Wet-Dry Election Generates Interest

By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

DeLeon citizens on both sides of the May local option election regarding the sale of alcohol spoke out this week on whether such an issue would be beneficial for DeLeon.

Andre Koda, owner of The Gallery, a bar downtown that generated approximately $160,000 in alcohol sales in the past year (through a private club status), believes it will be very beneficial, not only for himself but for DeLeon.

“The increased revenue will be very important for DeLeon,” Koda said. “We could use the money -- how much can you can you keep going up on water bills.”

Koda led the initiative to collect the 175 registered voter signatures required to put the issue on the May ballot.

“Actually, we got almost 300 signatures,” Koda said, adding that his group also helped DeLeon residents register to vote.

Malcolm Johnson, the pastor of Northside Baptist Church, said that his congregation is “against the sale of alcohol in DeLeon.”

“In the short time we have lived in De Leon, the destructive effects of alcohol to local families has become apparent,” Johnson said. “Worse is the effect it has on the children in these families. I have
yet to see a positive effect that alcohol has had on any family in our town. Making alcohol more readily available will be a mistake.”

Although the possibility of increased revenue is a serious issue for any city these days, some people believe that additional expenses, such as the need for an increased police presence, will offset any gain.

“I really believe that all of DeLeon will benefit (if this is approved),” Koda said. “Right now, people have to go to Proctor or Ranger for liquor, and (if this passes) people from other cities will be coming to DeLeon.” Koda added that he expects increased traffic from Comanche and Dublin, even though they recently passed elections allowing the sale of beer and wine, because the DeLeon option, if it passes, will allow the sale of all alcoholic beverages, including mixed drinks.

Koda said he also believed that alcohol sales would bring new businesses to town, in the form of liquor stores and new bars. And he thinks the town will not only profit, but will be safer.

“I think that 90 percent of DeLeon people drink,

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Danny Owen, the Mayor of De Leon, has a personal website.

Open Danny's website by Clicking Here

Scott Hall has creating an Internet website with history & photos of our town.

Click Here to visit his website

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