Thursday, April 23, 2009

Keep the Faith

If you were in attendance at the Transportation Commission workshop on Tuesday or at any of the recent Town Council meetings, you heard town staff talking as if the checks are signed and the bulldozers are in position.

In spite of what the town staff members said and any of the FAQ's issued by the city, this is FAR from a done deal. We ARE making a huge difference. We have to stay energized and involve as many people as we possibly can.

Most importantly, everyone has to vote. Two hundred votes can decide this election and our impact in the results could be closer to 1000, if we all get to the polls. I urge each of you to wait until after our forum if you are not sure of who to vote for. Come see what each of the candidates have to say, then, in mass, we can head to the Police and Courts building on Friday, May 1st early voting)to show our power.

This blog is receiving close to 300 hits a day, from not only here in Flower Mound, but from Austin, Washington DC, New York City, Boulder, Houston and even Finland. Please comment and join in.

I'd also like to thank every one that has taken time away from their families to attend the town meetings. Getting up to speak, it's not an easy thing to do but the impact is immeasurable.

So, when you hear a neighbor say "what's the point, it's already a done deal", tell them adamantaly that they are mistaken!

37 comments:

  1. I just wanted to give everyone an update on how the Stop Morriss 6 campaign is definitely making a difference. In the past, Rick Cleland, Tom Hayden and myself were the only candidates that took a definitive stance on stopping the Morriss/Gerault project. But a funny thing happened last night at the Bridlewood Candidate’s Forum. Again the three of us said we were against it, but Angie Cox, Steve Dixon and Claudio Forest said we should wait for right now and that they would like to see more studies done. Steve Lyda expressed that he didn’t see a need for it, so I think we have him on our side now. Mike Wallace stuck with his support of widening the road.

    This is grass roots at its finest and I want to thank everyone that put this issue out there and got the ball rolling.

    We have a little over two weeks to before the election and we need the three Places filled with candidates that will stop this project and save our neighborhood. Let’s get out in BIG numbers next Thursday the 30th and show our solidarity against this unnecessary project.

    Sincerely,

    Bob Butler
    Candidate – Place 3

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  2. You've got my VOTE!!! Let's take back our town and stop the madness!

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  3. I'm voting for Bob Butler also.

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  4. Hopefully Bob those are not statements for political expediency and proof that we can have an impact on our elected officials.

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  5. I hope so too, but at least they're acknowledging us. That's a start.

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  6. Mr. Butler: I was at the Bridlewood Forum as well and I remember Mike Wallace saying he lives off Morriss as well and would never approve something that was unsafe. It seems to me that everyone took the same position except for Mr. Wallace stating the obvious that the road will be expanded. So not only does he have experience he has common sense as well. My vote will be for Mike Wallace he has the experience we need, he's actually voted in a Town election and he tells the truth.

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  7. Morriss/Gerault Road Improvement Project
    Transportation Commission Public Hearing May 26

    The Flower Mound Transportation Commission Chair asked that I post information regarding the public hearing date for the Morriss/Gerault Road improvement project. The Commission will host a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on May 26 at Town Hall, 2121 Cross Timbers, to solicit community feedback regarding the proposed Morriss/Gerault Road Improvement project.

    The meeting agenda will include staff and engineering presentations and a public hearing that will provide visitors with an opportunity to offer comments and ask questions related to the project. Issues that could be considered and discussed during the meeting include project phasing, landscaping, and public safety.

    The Transportation Commission is charged with formulating and presenting a recommendation regarding the project to the Town Council. The Town Council is currently scheduled to review the entire Five-Year Capital Improvement Projects program, including the Morriss/Gerault Road corridor, in conjunction with the annual budget public hearings in August.

    At the request of the Transportation Commission chair, I would also like to provide links to the Morriss/Gerault improvement project fact sheet, FAQ, and workshop presentation video. All three can be viewed by visiting www.flower-mound.com/morriss. I can be reached at 972.874.6078 if you have any specific questions about the project or the information provided by the Town.

    Thanks,

    Michael Ryan
    Director of Community Affairs
    Town of Flower Mound

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  8. Thank you Michael for the information, we will get the word out. Do you have that back room set up for the overflow crowd?

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  9. Mike Wallace is not the right candidate for this town. He will continue on what our current council is doing - everything for the developer and nothing for the citizens of this town. Vote for Bob Butler!

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  10. Vote for Bob. Vote for Mike. Vote for Steve. Vote for Rick. Vote For Claudio. Vote for Tom. Vote for the other Steve. Vote for Angie. ... So many choices; I think I know who is going to stand up for us citizens. It will be VERY INTERESTING to see how the candidates address the Morriss/Gerault issue at the April 30th forum when the audience will be primarily Morriss/Gerault residents.

    Will the candidates take the safe route and say stuff like, "If I am elected, we'll look at all of the options."? Or will they give us some real meat about some concrete (no pun intended) actions they would pursue if elected?

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  11. FYI...that is what Bob said at the Bridlewood Forum. Hmmm, guess he is just like every other candidate except Mike Wallace who actually took a stand.

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  12. Really? I didn't take a stance? So when I said I was 100% against the widening of Morriss Rd., that was wishy washy in your opinion? We get it, you're going to vote for Mike Wallace, good for you. I appreciate your posts, but please state the facts. Just because you aren't voting for me, doesn't mean that you need to lie about my positions or what I said at the Bridlewood Forum. Everyone on this blog knows that I will fight to stop the widening of Morriss, so you lose credibility when you say that I would only like to look at the options. Nice try though.

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  13. Isn't "If elected, I will look objectively at all the options." better than "If elected, I will not confuse myself with facts."?

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  14. I think a better statement would be "if elected, I will care about all of Flower Mound instead of just the people that have fences off of Morriss". Mr. Butler, I have noticed that your tone has changed in the last few days, gone are the days of the good 'ol Bob. Has somethng happened to change your outlook or has reality set in?

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  15. If my tone has changed I apologize. As a matter of fact something has changed over the last few days that I wasn’t going to talk about, but you asked. Our dog Oreo who my wife and I got just after we were married almost eight years ago, had to have emergency surgery a few weeks ago. Her spleen burst and she was bleeding into her stomach. By the time they operated on her, she had three pints of blood in her stomach. Anyway, it turns out she had cancer, so they cut out the tumor and sewed her back up. After more tests they determined that she was riddled with cancer and gave her 4-6 months to live. She got very sick a few days ago and the downward spiral begun. We had to put her down yesterday morning at our home around 9:30am. This dog was like our first child in a way and I’m sorry if it’s effected my posts, I’ve been pretty upset. I promise to take a deep breath and tone it down when I reply to you in the future.

    p.s.- Please understand I'm not looking for any sympathy, I'm just answering the question.

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  16. oh my..as a dog lover I am so sorry.

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  17. Thanks. By the way, I still mmean't what I said, just perhaps not the tone in which it was said. So feel free to continue to take me to task ;). And you need to give me a little credit here, I don't see any of the other candidates willing to debate openly on a blog. Now, off to the Forum at Town Hall. Wish me luck.

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  18. Mr. Butler: I have heard from several people about last night and am interested in your thoughts as well.

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  19. I thought it went very well. Bob did a great job moderating and all the candidates did a good job answering the questions. The only thing that was tough was trying to answer questions in one minute, but with eight candidates up there, it was the only way to get through it in a timely manner. Overall, I was very satisfied with the event. What are the other candidates that you talked to saying?

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  20. One other thing. At every forum I have attended so far, at least one person has asked the candidates about the Morriss expansion. But last night, no one in the audience asked the candidates what their thoughts were on the project. I just thought that was worth mentioning.

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  21. I wasn't even aware of this forum, but will check it out on FM-TV. All the candidates will have plenty of opportunies to discuss Morriss/Gerault on thursday.

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  22. This one was at Town Hall but again not promoted very well. I am trying to figure out why they didn't want to "pack the house". This is a serious issue with our town. Communication. It was on the website but many people don't use the computer all the time. Many years ago, they would put signs on the center dividers of Morriss Rd.

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  23. This one was hosted by Bob Weir and the News Connection. There were only 30-40 people there, no over flow at all. I would have thought the paper would have promoted it, but I don't get this paper, so I didn't check it.

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  24. Bob, you have my vote!!!! Thanks for taking a stand.

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  25. After watching the debate on FMTV I have to say something. Bob, Flower Mound New Town is a concept not a place you run into when your lost. That answered showed that you haven't done your research and you don't take this seriously. Also, why haven't you voted in an election? What I got out of it was this, Mike Wallace has cared about his community from the first day he moved here and it took you 3 years to. Mike has great ideas that will take this community into the future and has the guts to stand up for what he believes in even when it might not be the popular thing to say. Yes he sees the need to expand Morriss, but he has made it clear that safety concerns need to be addressed and that he doesn't want to start this project until other roads are finished. You have taken the extremist position on this issue, and it seems that this is the only issue you have any knowledge on. Bob, you do not have my vote.

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  26. O.K., I’m going to take a deep breath before I respond to your post, like I said I would :) First off, New Town is a place, it’s currently the Timber Creek community off of Morriss Rd. south of Kirkpatrick on the east side. Not to be rude, but you should do your research. It was an Army project done in the early 70’s that would create a community of diverse people all living in an area that was self sustaining, meaning with it’s own schools, shopping, jobs etc… If you’re getting whispers in your ear that say “Riverwalk” you get the point. The project failed and went belly up in I think 1976 or there abouts and that was the end of that. Although I’m not sure why the question was asked in the first place, I still stick by my answer that I don’t think the New Town experiment will effect current day Flower Mound one way or the other.

    Second, I voted last year as I stated in the Forum, I didn’t vote in 2006 because I had just moved here at the end of March and didn’t even know there was an election. As I stated, I have voted in every general election since I turned 18, but only voted in the Flower Mound May election once and that was last year.

    Anyway, Mike is a very nice guy and I know he loves Flower Mound and wants to do the best he can for our Town (soon to be a concrete City). The difference between our positions is that I want to control the growth and he doesn’t. He clearly stated that just because there are a lot of vacancies around town, doesn’t mean we should stop building new retail and office space. I disagree with that thinking. I didn’t quite get his housing analogy as the two subjects are apples and oranges to me, but he made his case as best he could.

    Finally, when I decided to run, it was because I didn’t like the way our town was being developed and run, Morriss Rd. was part of the equation, but not the whole enchilada. I’m am proud to be against the Morris Rd. expansion will never waiver on this issue. Your side is trying to paint me as a one issue candidate, but if you watch the forum on FTV, you will see that the subject never even came, mysteriously enough. And how come Mike has guts to stand up for what he believes in even when it’s not popular, but I don’t? Give me a little credit, jeez, I’m putting myself out here and taking the fire from my non-supporters, don’t I get a little credit for that?

    Can I ask you a question now? How comes Mike Wallace didn’t put what Place he is running for on his signs and bumper stickers? In fact, I’m the only one that put what Place I’m running for out of all of the candidates. Strange, don’t you think? I will tell you why I put it on there, because I’m not going to run next year if I lose. I felt the calling this year and I won’t stick my signs in my garage and try again next year if things don’t go my way. I’m not a politician, just a normal citizen that wants what I believe to be the best thing for our community, plain and simple.

    I appreciate your post and your passion for Mike Wallace, like I said before, he’s a great guy, we just don’t agree on a few issues. The nice thing about that is we are giving the people a clear choice on May 9th and that’s what America is all about.

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  27. About Flower Mound New Town. Who cares. It was a failure anyways. Wikipedia says:(pay special attention to the words failed and scheme)
    "As late as 1970, though, the town only numbered 1,685 residents. It was part of the United States Army's failed "New Town" development scheme. However, the enormous expansion of Flower Mound began as part of the growth of the area north of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport."
    That question was thrown in there to trip up everyone EXCEPT for Wallace, Dixon and Cox. You can bet they knew that one was coming. That is why I am looking forward to Thursdays Forum. It will be run in a fair and balanced manner.

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  28. I think it was selected at a very specific time. Bob was constantly shuffling and picking the questions as he went along.

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  29. New Town was sucessful in The Woodlands. I think the point is - Much of our master planning came out of the planned community concept of New Town.

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  30. coxfortowncouncil.com
    electmikewallace.com

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  31. I have a question that I haven't heard addressed as of yet.

    Where will the main entrance to the Riverwalk be? Will it be from 2499 (Long Prarie) or will it be from Morriss?

    From the concept designs it appears as 2499 would be the main entrance/exit. 2499 will be a 6 lane main atery all the way to Highland Village. So why would Morriss have to be expanded also?

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  32. You can take a look at the plan - linked to the Town's website. As you probably know, this was available every step of the way, and as changes were made at various public hearings, it was updated accordingly. The "main" entrance to the office and retail areas is off of 2499, with entrances from 1171 and Morriss Rd.

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  33. Shows the problem with Wikipedia. Someone enters a error and it gets repeated as fact. The Army hand nothing to do with New Towns. That just doesn't make any sense. It was HUD

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  34. Thank you for posting Mike and Angies web sites here on the blog for everyone. We have welcomed comments from all candidates to use this as a forum to help inform everyone on who is best for this town. We, unlike many businesses and private land owners in town, allow ALL views. Some businesses and land owners in town have denied candidates requests to display their signs along side their opponents. Is that fair and balanced?

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  35. How many of you throw away your papers without reading them, then complain about not being informed?

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  36. To Kim, no but it's their property

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  37. Anonymous....I also reserve the right to remove any post, but believe in free speech.

    Angie and Mike are welcome to register here and post what ever they want. The same way Steve Dixon, Bob Butler and Tom Hayden have.

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