We've had tight budgets ... forever. While that is often a negative, there have been a whole string of positives that have resulted, too. As Plato observed, necessity is the mother of invention. I am regularly amazed by Garland employees that have produced incredible results with less than their counterparts in other cities.

Photo: Jim Mahoney/DMN Grand Prairie is studying city-employee clinics in other cities, such as this one in Garland, which reportedly trims sick time.

 
One such example is the employee clinic. As I wrote last year, the Garland employee clinic has been providing faster and better care than employees were often receiving under the old system — and doing it for less money. That post was prompted by an article in the Dallas Morning News about Grand Prairie's consideration of following our example.
 
Last Friday, the Dallas Morning News carried an article on the City of Dallas' new clinic at their city hall. Even though Dallas has many more employees, their clinic is smaller but I'm sure it will grow. Their goal is to reduce their health care costs by 20% and reducing costs was Garland's motivation. Unlike Dallas, which is contracting for the operation of their clinic, Garland continues to manage our clinic.
 
In another DMN article several days earlier, it was noted that Dallas had started towing cars of uninsured motorists. Obviously, anyone driving without insurance is driving illegally but that person is also putting the rest of our community at greater financial risk.
 
Again, Garland has been doing that for several years, from before I was elected to the Council.
 
Just two more examples of Garland's leading influence!