Douglas Athas, Mayor-Elect

City of Garland Press Release:

Garland Neighborhood Summit
Saturday, October 25, 2008 8 a.m. -2 p.m.
The Atrium at the Granville Arts Center
300 N. Fifth Street

The great city of Garland is bursting with great people and places. You are invited to meet, greet, mingle and learn with other Garland stakeholders during the annual Neighborhood Summit. Register for exciting workshops that are sure to motivate and energize you to ensure Garland’s future is a great future.   The purpose of the Garland Neighborhood Summit is to communicate overarching themes affecting our City’s basic building blocks – neighborhoods. The City of Garland seeks to build bridges among stakeholders, assist stakeholders in discovering resources and partnership opportunities, and motivate our community to move toward a common vision – a great city.   Summit workshops include Solving Chronic Nuisance Problems, Living Green in Garland, Building Community Block by Block, Creating Great Places With Landscaping and much more.   The cost is ONLY $15 for Garland stakeholders and $20 for those outside of Garland (this includes the continental breakfast and lunch). After October 10, registration increases $5 per person for all registrants. The event is open to communities throughout the Metroplex. Registration ends October 20. For more information, call 972-205-3864 or e-mail Felisa Conner. You may also register online at play.garlandparks.com.   The Summit is sponsored by the Garland Chamber of Commerce and Garland Power & Light.

Featured Speaker Ethan Kent Project for Public Spaces

 
My single purpose for seeking to serve on the Garland City Council was to help neighborhoods. It gets a lot more complicated after that:

• To benefit neighborhoods, we must have a strong tax base and be able to afford those things that enhance a city — that requires sound fiscal policies,
• To enhance the value of neighborhoods, we must enable the tools that encourage investment and reinvestment, and partner with neighborhoods — that is the pioneering effort initiated by our Neighborhood Vitality Program and, relatedly, the Envision Garland process underway,
• To strengthen community and neighborhoods, residents must take the lead for themselves and their neighborhoods — I see that as the purpose of the Neighborhood Summit.

As a city, we have a ways to go but we are pioneers. There just doesn't seem to be any templates out there to follow. There are good examples and some identified best practices but we're writing the book as fast as anyone and much faster than almost everyone.
 
Please take advantage of this annual opportunity offered by the City of Garland that is unique from all other cities and start writing the future story of your neighborhood, the cornerstones of great cities.