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1. Choose someone as Mayor whom you believe represents the Whole of the City and thinks in terms of progress.. This person will call upon legislators at the state and federal level, as well as grant makers, executives, university leaders, the media, and potential financial benefactors and push for the school board members in the city districts to understand better how to align their school aims with city aims.
2. Choose someone who can lead groups of people, including the Council, who all have strong interests and views, and who might not all agree. Choose someone who has demonstrated that they are a consensus builder. Choose someone who has demonstrated respect for differing viewpoints. Choose someone who has the ability to Community with the People and Motivate the young, the middle age and the elderly.
Then,
3. Choose someone who is interesting in the city and its progress and not driven to be simply a career politician.
4. Choose someone who understand the value of working with the School system and Understanding that the school system is tied into how a city is view, how it performs and what it becomes in the future.
5. Choose someone who never assume they are above communicating with the public and someone who is devoted to utilizing good ideas even when they don't create them all by themselves.
6. This person must aggressively pursue opportunities and learn to become a promoter of connecting with the world community and featuring our city as a quality member of the world community of cities.
7. Choose someone who is not hung up on degree status, sororities, fraternities and the other clique groups, but addresses the city as a whole, and certainly one who is connected to the young people and their interest. Choose one who is a champion for the Senior Citizens, as well as one who will promote High Level Quality Standards for anyone who wants to operate a Senior Citizen Housing Facility. They must include a quality of life investment if they want to run a Senior Citizen Facility in this city.
8. Choose a Mayor who continuously review city employment labels, and make adjustment to keep pace with the skill level and the respectful designation of job titles and classifications, with pay to support a standard of living. No city employee should be paid so low they are at the level of poverty, or put in a position to require the usage of public assistance for food or housing.
If Statistical list our cost of living at a income range, then as a city employee, their pay should be within that range, not below that range.
9. When we choose a Mayor, if the mayor is trying to advance our city and the council becomes one of contention, competitiveness and conflict. Then we need to step up and re-call the council members who become grid-locking and grandstanding members who stand in the way of city progress. If the Mayor is the contention maker, then we need to stand up and address the Mayor to return focus to the people and the city and not get involved with council bickering.
Things to Ponder
Never have we seen a council be as much a contention making group as we've seen over the past 8 yrs. We've had too many council members who tried to assume they were the mayor and controller of the city, Rather than to focus on their areas, and work to improve their areas, seek out how to grow and improve the economics, diminish the crime and clean up their communities. And stop trying to act as if they are the Mayor.
We need a council which first understands the role of the Mayor and work as council members, to align their districts with the goals of the Mayor, so we can work as a unified city. Equally so, for the Mayor to be of regard for the council districts to insure his goals are aligned with the aims and capabilities of the council districts.
We have too much work to be done, for our time and their time to be wasted in ego battles, and mouthpiece chatter and small thinking.
When we pass agreements to get things done, let's get them done, not put them on hold until they fade away.
We need to become a system which can 'fast track development process for builders and business persons".
We need to realize our children are members of the city, and know their interest go further than city parks. But we must not diminish any provision we provide in our parks, but we need to learn how to improve the public usage and participation in utilizing our parks.
Most of all, we need a positivity promoter, we don't need any teaching, and professing about lack, limitation and desperation's. We need to focus on hope, will, the capability of the people, and how to continually seek means to inspire people to be and believe as Americans with a can do spirit.
We need to not hide from, nor be afraid to speak about the racial segregation's, and push and promote racial teamwork, unity and how to push ahead of the ideals of the Pre-1960's and become a city of Americans.
We need to learn to see and become a region which is again the center of the Arklatex, and know that if we don't push to become a Tech leader in the South, we will find ourselves on the short end of progress and left out of the focus for investment in the tech sectors and innovations within the tech.
We can't stay a segregated seemingly stuck in the past city of utter segregation, in the ways we are segregated.
Business Lending, must be equal and fair in all areas of our city. If are going to enforce public signage in one areas, then we enforce it in all areas. If we are going to have Medians in our streets, then we need to keep them neat and trimmed. If we are going to have street lights, then let's upgrade them to energy efficient systems which actually put out light, and do away with the dim yellow glows that waste energy and do not light up our areas.
YES, We have to invest in ourselves, if we have faith in ourselves and our future, then we won't fear the investment. The original builders of this city would never have gotten the city built, if they had the fear filled, destitute thinking mentality which we have come to adopt and promote.
We need to stop 'shutting down one area of the city' so another area can prosper. Like the way Southern Hills was treated and what resulted. Not the way, Queensborough was treated and left to decay, Not the way the area around Woodlawn was neglected and left to decay. Not the way, Sunset Acres was treated and left to decay. The list can go on and on and one. This is as much the responsibility of the Council People as well as the Mayor and the Citizens.
We need to look carefully at our areas. Example: We need to push mandates. Especially in areas with our historic homes. IF one cannot demonstrate the ability of upkeep, then the standards should be in place to insure buyers are not only qualified to buy the homes, but to maintain the home and its landscaping concerns.
It takes something as simple as designating areas as "Historic Zones".
We should be ashamed as a city, how we let areas of Highland area in the sectors North of Kings Highway. We did nothing, but sit and just let them crumble, It's quite sad, with the high volume of Craftsman Era Homes, because we were not aware of how to protect them. These Precious creations cannot be replaced, currently now there is a whole volume of them which is at the point that nothing is left but to demolish them, if we hope to preserve those which remain in a reasonable level of upkeep. This is a major project worth considering and developing a means to address how we can restore these areas.
Since so Many Churches want to be and claim to be "community concerned", then maybe they should take some of the money they collect, and keep the areas clean. They can do simple thing, like buy a fleet of Lawn mowers, and task the Youth and the Unemployed in the Church community, to help people maintain their lawns at a reasonable cost to earn enough to maintain the equipment, buy fuel and use the profits to help keep the youth busy and the unemployed with the ability to earn some level of income which can reduce the driving force of crime in many communities. NO, they won't get paid a fortune, because part of it is considered community service but it can provide enough to insure they can eat a decent meal on a daily basis. These are task the Churches can undertake.
Instead of the Minister making 3-4-5+ thousand a month plus some work a regular job, why not put some of that money paid to them from the church, into means to improve the community where those churches reside. (Surely, many ministers won't like to hear that !!! ) but, is the church not of design within its aims and claims to be of function, to be of service to the community? It certainly is not by design for the personal and/or sole elation and enrichment of the minister?
Do you think it is interesting and amazing, how we have more Church building that sit locked and empty more hours then they say open to be of service to the community. Why is that so?
We have many ways to make better our city....
Add in the things which you think are ideas and of interest and concerns.
Last edited by Chance and Change; 03-27-2014 at 07:24 PM..
It''s about time we start hearing some information from the canididates who propose to become Mayor of this City.
If we have a lacklustre campaign, ( by that I don't mean to expect one of high bickering and mud slinging), I mean lacklustre in the sense. They are not telling us what they plan to do, and they are not telling us how they plan to get it done.
If the candidates think they can passively assume this office and if they succeed in doing so, passively. Then WE THE CITIZENS ARE THE BLAME.
What do we want, what are we demanding and what is within the makeup of our expectations? If you don't know, and if you have not given it any thought, it is quite likely that you should consider these things and do so carefully.
YOU LIVE HERE, many cannot afford to just get up and move, and for those who do choose to get up an move, if you are taking the same apathy and unconcerned attitude with you, then you are not improving your situations, you are only moving with a hope that others will uphold and provide their invested time to create an environment for you, where you can remain in your un-concerned and apathy modeling.
Much of what makes up a city, involves everyone. You can't be a part of a city, and stand back and claim that it only represents you, in the good things, as if you have no role and position as a citizen to address the not so good things.
We have the tools and we certainly have the numbers in voice to push the council to act on behalf of the citizens and we have the ability to insure that we get a Mayor who actually talks with us, and talks to us, and has a platform to positively motivate the city and its citizens.
We are often forgetting so much and some even think moving to a gated enclosure or running to a high dollar area will solve the problems, when they forget they are still part of the whole of what is the city.
I'm yet to see the vision presented of any of the Canididates. We have some running who have built a career from and within public office. What are their Outstanding and well known achievements? What can you name without thinking deeply. If you can't come up with something in an instance, then maybe they have not made a resounding impact in their political career. Therefore, who is that to play out in a new political role. Will it change, will they be better, will they be productively proactive? Truth is, We don't know !!!; We've not heard enough from them for the role and position they are pursuing.
You think it does not matter; well think again, its where you live, its where your children will grow up and it is where you work and it is where you call home.
Now in that regards it should have a great elements of matter for your concerns.
Go look around, and ask yourself, can we go another 4 years without an Economic Development Department? Can our Film industry survive another 4 years without expanding the division and the employees within that area.
How will we improve out usage of the Fair Grounds, and what will we do to improve the infrastructure around it?
Will we ever get the Ledbedder Community Center Built, ( when money has been allocated more than 12-15 years).
Will we get Youree and Kings Highway intersection completed, when money has been allocated by voter approval since 1996-98 and other years. Yet not one thing has been done at the intersection.
Yes, these are real things. How many areas were neglected during the Mayor before our existing Mayor was in office. How many parts of the city were simply left to decay with no improvements. What has happen to areas like Highland and Broadmore.. how did we let them slip down beyond what they were. How did we allow the 70ths Street Corridor from I49 to Jewella, simply deterioate beyond belief.
We are not a city that needs to play segregationist based investment and maintenance games, we are a city which needs to be a whole, and improve all our areas.
What are our plans to push for making "Gangs" a crime by recogonizing them as Urban Terrorist Organizations. If we can push for stamping out Terrorism around the other side of the Globe, but we can't stamp it out right here in our American Cities. Then why are we wasting our time trying to stamp it out on the other side of the globe.
First Demonstrate that we can effectively eradicate here in these United States. Then we know better how to approach and deal with it on a sense and method outside of these United States.
Do we even have an idea what the value of the GM plant and the infrastructure around it? Do we have understanding of what that massive complex can become. Do we even know how to look at GM, Ford and others and pursue specialized part manufacturing in parts of that massive facility.
Nope, we have no Economic Development Department which can even sit down and discuss these things.
Surely, this list can go on, so I'll address other matters in another posting.
The point is, "How Concerned Are We, about Our Political Office and Those Who Hold Those Offices" ?
Over many years, to sum two or more decades, we have seen communities fall further and further into despair. We've seen and exodus headed to the "Southern Loop", We've seen communities devastated by Business Location Shifts, along with the Age Old programming of "white flight" shifts, which has not only expanded the city boundaries, but become a drain and challenge to the core communities of the city. These things weaken the core of the city. Growth Expansion is good, when it does not take from existing cities, to go to the outer fringes and transfer both resources and quality standards, thus causing decay within older communities to take on a rapid cycle of decline.
The city needs a great deal of work, as did the school system, which resulted over time to need and still need Million and 10's of million in Investments. But both need focusedVision, This is what needs to be delivered.
The question is, Who Can Deliver. What the City nor the Schools need is 'austerity modeling", We suffer both as a city and a school system due to short sightedness when these things began to deteriorate. yet, the deterioration was allowed to continue for Decades, until the cost to repair and rebuild, re-direct has been slow and in some areas not forth coming. How is the capacity to delegate the needed authority to Departments to do what needs to be done? Is a big matter, whether its at the level of City or the level of any other organization.
Then there is always the matter of a 'Stuck in the Mud" Council with a short under sight when it comes to financial investment concerns for and of the city. Our School board suffer from the same issues, a "Stuck in the Mud" Board.
As to the City, with the continuance of a weak and contentious council, therein lies a great deal of troubles. Thankfully some of the more contentious and troublesome Council Members are term limited. People should be very careful when selecting Council Members, as well as when selecting a Mayor.
But a bigger question looms, who will fill these Council Positions, and will there be new members who can bring new vision to the Council. Will the Council become one that thinks in terms of growth, or persist with Austerity Posturing?
Let's look at Contrast, One the other side of the River, we have seen growth, we see the will and want to grow.
On This side of the River, we've seen our ghetto's expand. These are serious concerns.
One thing that is not needed, is people who are all open to relate as long as they want the vote, but become distant and standoffish once they have the position.
We have both a delinquency issue, as well as a need for a true focus for our city citizens, as well as how will that work with our education system?
Will we continue with the vain aim of everyone being a University Graduate, or will we embrace and understand the value of Vocation and Technical Training?
Will we understand the need for improving the home-ownership of a city with vast and fast declining areas? Do we have a strategy to get the homes occupied, renovated, empty lots with new housing structures.
The every pressing questions is: What is the vision for Revitalizing Downtown. A sore lacking issue is "Parking", what is the vision to improve this condition.
Will we deal with "Ordinances", in a way that promotes the city and not focus on those that compress the citizenry.
We have Career Politicians pursuing the seat of the Mayor, How will we view their past contribution? Were they effective? At what points do and what points did they become passive? What is the nature of their understanding of Economic Revival ? How well do they understand the make up of the community, by this I mean the youth community? Are they aware of the volumes who need massive enrollment in vocational and technical fields? This is a very critical point.
Will the Mayor understand how to work with the Parish, Work with the School System, and will they work with the adjacent Mayor of our Across the River Mayor for unity in the regions twin city atmosphere?
Are we looking at an open opportunity field, or will this field be one who develops a clique network, and shut out mentality.
Will the New Mayor be able to break the clique networks of the ("LSU" / "Southern U" / "LA Tech" / "Grambling" independent clique networks) Will we have a system that deals with capabilities of individuals, or will it become more of a 'degree label" open door and all others shut out ?
At this late stage of the system, our options have become limited in who will become the next Mayor.
We have a great deal to consider- We have many things to factor within those considerations. Yet. within a blog post, we can't get any interactive responsiveness, therefore are we sure we can get people to invest in the thinking necessary to make the right selections.
We as citizens of Shreveport, will not vote based on skin color nor gender, we must be wise enough to vote based on 'Potential to Advance Us" as a City. It does not matter if the pool of Candidates are all white or all black, we have to vote based on what is best for the city. What will bring the needed changes. We also need someone who is not going to cave in to the over bearing influence from Willis Knighton, Christus Schumpert, Comcast, Wal Mart and Public Utility Executive people. Equally so, we need someone who can work with Banks, and not fall prey to the push of the mega company heads who seem to push their agenda without regard for improving the benefits they bring to the citizens as a whole. How will they work with Developers.
I personally think, we need a strong mind when it comes to Economic Developmental concerns, because we have far too many places that have been turned into 'storage facilities' that never should have been made into such. They destroy economic viability with the occupancy of some locations they have taken over. Certainly we don't need anymore mindest that allow things like a Church to take over a Major Facility that was designed to promote Commercial Programming. We also need to put some regulations on the fact that some people can't drive past a empty building without trying to turn it into a store front church. there needs to be some regulation as to what is the requirement to establish a church, which does not include any and every empty commercial facility. (I think this is something people are afraid to address, but it is far past time that it becomes addressed). We have enough lands in places which are more suitable to build or convert to church.
Beside we have enough empty church's, that should first become occupied before we allow every strip mall or other commercial properties to be turned into these store front churches.
~ Enforce the Ordinance on "Business Signage". If you want to open a business, then put up a PROFESSIONAL MADE SIGN. (NO MORE of this take a paint brush and paint a name on a board and hang it up)
~ Fix our Street Signs, so people can navigate with a sign big enough and properly placed at intersections so people can know where they are.
~Fix these Intersection which have too many Stop lights hanging in the middle, and set it up where it looks and performs with efficiency.
~It might be a smart idea to have some regulations on 'Painting Choices and Options for Commercial Structures".
~Manage all these excessive signage in front of some business, which makes it into a ghetto looking establishment.
~ Commercial Parking lots - Owners get a citation to Fix it, or the city will fix it and bill the owners for the work to do so".
~Eliminate the usage of "Downtown Building Commercial Buildings" being used for Storage. ( Rent or Lease it as a business establishment, or pay a penalty for being a deterrent to Economic Commercial Usage and Development.
~Double/Triple Deck Parking Lots downtown. (develop join ventures between City and the Parking Lot owners, to share revenue) ( Study what some cities have done with Economic Domain programs).
Are we prepared to vote with awareness of the manner, method and mode of disposition and dedication to deal with the whole city with a growth minded vision?
Last edited by Chance and Change; 06-01-2014 at 11:42 AM..
Happiness depends upon ourselves. Maybe it's not about the happy ending, maybe it's about the story.
The purpose of life is a life of purpose. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
Happiness is a direction not a destination. Thank you for existing. Be happy, be free, believe, forever young. You know my name, not my story.
You have heard what I've done, but not what I've been through. Love is like glass, looks so lovely but it's easy to shatter.
Love is rare, life is strange, nothing lasts and people change. Every day is special, so make the most of it, you could get a life ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day. Life is only bad if you make it bad.
If someone loves you, then they wouldn't let you slip away no matter how hard the situation is. Remember that life is full of ups and downs.
Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about. I want to be that girl who makes the bad days better and the one that makes you say my life has changed since I met her!
Love is not about how much you say I love you – it’s about how much you can prove it’s true. Love is like the wind, you can feel it but you can't see it. I'm waiting to fall in love with someone I can open my heart to.
Love is not about who you can see spending your future with, it's about who you can't see spending your life without... Life is a game for everyone but love is the prize. Only I can judge me.
Sometimes love hurts. Now I’m fighting myself. Baby I can feel your pain. Dreams are my reality. It hurts but it’s okay, I’m used to it.
Don't be quick to judge me, you only see what I choose to show you... you don't know the truth. I just want to have fun and be happy without being judged.
This is my life, not yours, don't worry about what I do. People gonna hate you, rate you, break you, but how strong you stand, that’s what makes you… you!
There's no need to cry because I know you'll be by my side.
Athena Orchard
Last edited by Chance and Change; 06-06-2014 at 08:00 AM..
FWIW: Recent news story about Roy Burrell who is running for mayor. According to this news report (and others) Burrell may have pocketed amounts up to 70% of (tax) money which was given to run I.C.E. Inner City Entrepreneur Institute ( a non-profit which he is the director). The report discloses that Burrell's average pay was 51% of the operating costs of the non-profit.
It's a very good idea, When young people devote their time and dedicate themselves, then it need to result to present more than 20% as a performance achievement. What does it do for follow up with these students, or connecting them with other programming guidelines and counseling directions?
Quote:
In its first ten years, ICE claims that it's graduated 500 teenagers from its BizCamps. They estimate that less than 20% of them go on to business education and/or business ownership
Has there been a study on why the 80% do not move forth.
Consider it has existed for 10 yrs. Why hasn't it evolved to be more broad based? They owe it to the kids to have more than just two weeks in the summer. Does it have other programming offerings for kids?
QUESTION: Is this article saying it pays him 50k to run a 2 week program? What does it do the rest of the year?
I think a good plan for the program is to open it to all kids; it should be about diversity, because successful business has to serve a diverse community of customers, regardless of what kind of business it is.
Last edited by Chance and Change; 06-14-2014 at 05:18 PM..
Former Caddo School Superintendent Ollie Taylor announce back in May she was running. I have a few older friends that say they are voting for her. Also Sam Jenkins has had some tax issues that has kept him from announcing his candidacy
Glover's political supporters are behind Ollie Tyler's candidacy. If you look at her resume, you'll see that her main accomplishments have been escaping her humble roots, getting educated and getting appointed to good jobs. Other than that...what have been her major contributions? She was interim school board superintendent and had state education board jobs but no one can say much about her accomplishments other than she's good at getting jobs for herself. She'll be a figure-head mayor taking her cues from whomever (Glover's camp) is supporting her. So if she gets elected it will be another 4 yrs of "same ol', same ol'".
Jenkins would've been a good choice as he has shown real leadership on the city council by bucking Glover's procrastination on road repairs. Glover wanted to hire a consultant to "study" the issue, Jenkins said that would be a waste of money as we know what streets need repairing. Too bad his tax liens have involved his clients, guess Jenkins figured it would be too much hassle for no reward to have to argue these technicalities in a campaign. I don't blame him.
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