Editor's Commentary

Saturday is Election Day, a fact you’ll be reminded of several times if you read this week’s edition of the Enterprise. From our page one election coverage to our featured columnist Fred Gray to a reader’s letter to the ads from several local politicians, it is hard to miss the fact that local voters have a job to do this weekend.

An impressive number of people have already stepped up to the plate and done their civic duty. As of Tuesday morning, 284 people had early voted in the City of Clarendon election, 309 had early voted for the Clarendon school board, and 42 had early voted in Howardwick. The early turnout this year has outpaced total turnout two years ago. In 2011, about 55 Howardwick citizens voted total, 233 Clarendon voters cast ballots, and about 250 people voted for school board. Last year, there wasn’t even enough interest to hold an election for those boards.

Interest is high in Hedley also, where 36 people had early voted for school board by Tuesday morning. School officials say early voting usually amounts to about seven or eight people.

It is a great thing to see people getting involved, but it is also important to see candidates involved in the process. Certainly, they are involved just by being on the ballot, but it is nice when we see participation beyond just campaigning and specifically participation through attendance at meetings. The incumbents in each race are familiar with the issues facing their respective boards, but challengers can only attain that knowledge by coming to meetings and learning firsthand how a board functions and the topics before it.

Howardwick has had good participation at a town hall meeting and a meet-the-candidates forum, and we applaud the way citizens in that community have rallied to work together.

In Hedley, there was high interest immediately after Coach Darrell Wallace was not given a new contract. But in the numerous meetings since then, the Enterprise has only seen one challenging candidate in attendance. That candidate was Lana Ritchie, and she is to be commended for coming and learning first hand what’s going on.

Likewise at the Clarendon ISD board meetings, there has only been one challenging candidate who we have seen at board meetings. CISD has a lot on its plate right now, facing a budget deficit and declining enrollment and now a June election asking taxpayers to pony up more money. Linda Rowland deserves recognition for taking the time to come to a couple of board meetings to educate herself on the issues.

The City of Clarendon has also been the center of attention lately, and numerous citizens have made the time to attend the meetings of the Board of Aldermen. Two of the three non-incumbents running for the board have been among those truly interested citizens – Sandy Skelton and Janice Knorpp.

Again, the incumbents know the issues, and it is a great thing to have new candidates run for office. It is a better thing when those new candidates are fully informed and ready to serve on day one should they be elected.

We have tried our level best to keep you up to date on the issues surrounding our cities and schools, and Enterprise representatives have put in extra time covering board meetings lately – doing our job, reporting on what’s happening when we could be home with our loved ones playing Yahtzee. We’ve done our part, the candidates have filled their roles, and now we leave it in the hands of the people. Go vote.

One of the duties of a newspaper is to serve as a watchdog and a check on the government, and for this newspaper, it has been a busy month in terms of standing up for open records and open meetings.

Last week’s column was given over to the explanation of the Texas Open Meetings Act in light of the behavior of the Clarendon Board of Aldermen; and while we were busy speaking out against an improper closed meeting of that board, we neglected to report on the results of the previous week’s editorial.

Readers will remember that in the April 11 issue, this column reported that the Enterprise has filed a formal open records request with the Hedley Independent School District. In a letter dated April 9, we requested copies of all board agendas and minutes (whether approved by the board or not) as well as a list of contracts renewed during the contentious March 19 meeting in which the athletic director, Darrell Wallace, was not renewed.

After the paper went to press that week, there was a brief back-and-forth between the district and the Enterprise. Ultimately, we submitted a legal opinion from the Texas Attorney General’s office to the district, and by Friday afternoon, April 12, we were in possession of all that we had requested.

Subsequently, when we called the school this week to ask for copies of upcoming agendas and last week’s minutes, they were faxed to our office in less than 24 hours.

It should also be noted that following last week’s meeting, board members thanked the paper’s representatives for coming and voiced their continued support for open records. They have also begun audio taping their meetings to add even more sunshine to the process.

We applaud that effort and expect that Hedley ISD will continue to cooperate on future open records requests. We also hope that all involved understand the importance of operating above board, without hidden agendas, and in the best interests of the taxpayers and the children of the Hedley school district.

The Enterprise is still pouring over the minutes obtained by our request, but we have learned a few things. The board actually took two votes on Mr. Wallace. The first was to renew his regular contract, but that failed on a 3-4 vote. There was then a brief executive session, which was followed by a second vote to extend him a probationary contract for one year, but that also failed 3-4.

The minutes also reflect what appears to be an ongoing schism between the board – or some board members – and the school administration with several references to board members wanting more and more information on a variety of topics.

What this all means is still unclear, but the board will hold its next regular meeting April 25, and we intend to be there. We would recommend that other interested parties attend as well to observe for themselves prior to the upcoming school board election.

 

Meanwhile…

Taxpayers in the Clarendon Independent School District will have a chance to find out more about a proposed tax increase next week during a public meeting on Tuesday, April 30, at 7 p.m.

School officials are proposing increasing the district’s ad valorem tax rate from $1.04 per $100 valuation to $1.17. Because the state has capped the district at the $1.04 rate, the increase would have to be approved by voters in a June 1, 2013, election.

If approved, the new rate would increase taxes on a $50,000 home by $65 per year.

School officials say they need this increase because of a deficit they are facing due to declining enrollment and cuts in state funds, but do they really need it? Superintendent Monty Hysinger says the district will have to “cut programs” if voters don’t approve the measure, but which programs?

Clarendon ISD needs to lay it all on the table before voters go to the polls. What are all the options? Are we really doing all we can to trim spending? Maybe. Maybe not. We don’t yet know the answers to all those questions, but they need to be addressed. Next week is as good a time as any to start looking for answers.

Government works best for the people when its actions and deliberations are carried out openly in the full view of the public. Last week’s meeting of the Clarendon Board of Aldermen, however, did not live up to that standard.

The Texas Open Meetings Act governs every meeting of every local government board in this state, and every intention of that statute is to give the most access to the public. It outlines the posting of agendas to insure the public has some warning of what is to be discussed at upcoming meetings; it prohibits a quorum of government boards from discussing, planning, or taking any kind of action outside of a public meeting; and it even provides certain protections for public employees.

It is a serious law, and one with criminal penalties for those who blatantly ignore its requirements. Organizations like the Texas Association of School Boards and the Texas Municipal League aren’t big fans of the Open Meetings Act. TML was even recently involved in a lawsuit that challenged the federal constitutionality of the act, but last month the US Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling that upheld the Texas law.

The law does recognize that some items may need to be discussed privately, and it provides nine very specific reasons that a board may meet in a “closed session” or “executive session.”

Call it what you will, but it’s still a secret meeting… behind closed doors… out of the sunshine. They are sometimes necessary, usually innocuous, but always secret.

The law absolutely prevents a board from taking action in closed session. Anything they are going to do must be done when the board reconvenes in open session. But when a board meets in closed session and then doesn’t do anything, the public is left to wonder, “What just happened?”

One of the reasons a board may convene in secret is to consider “personnel matters,” and it was that exception, along with a blanket agenda statement reserving “the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise…”, that the board hastily beat feet to the second floor of City Hall last Tuesday while deliberating city job descriptions.

The board certainly did not follow proper procedure when it moved into closed session, and there are substantial reasons to believe the closed session itself was improper.

According to the Texas Attorney General’s office, the Open Meetings Act “allows a governing body to hold a closed meeting to discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee.” However, the exception only allows “the discussion of a particular person or persons in a closed meeting. A governmental body may not discuss general policies regarding an entire class of employees in a closed meeting held under the personnel exception. Such general policies must be addressed during the open portion of a meeting.”

Furthermore, the Attorney General’s office says, “…the more important the position being discussed, the more specific the posting will need to be in describing that position.”

In other words, if the city’s agenda had specified they were going to discuss the City Secretary’s position or duties, then a closed session would have been valid. But the agenda didn’t say that. It said they were going to discuss “updated job descriptions.” In other words, all job descriptions, not just City Secretary Machiel Covey’s. That’s too broad to go into closed session.

Another absolute provision of the Open Meetings Act is that the board is not allowed to meet in closed session if the employee in question requests the discussion be held in public. The discussion of “job descriptions” never made it to anyone’s job but Machiel Covey’s, and several observers felt she had been pretty clear that she was willing to discuss the agenda item in open session.

But that was before Alderman Debbie Roberts launched her inquest about Covey’s duties, and it was Roberts that later insisted the meeting be moved upstairs. It is possible that Roberts just wanted to privately ask Covey for her recipe for sopapilla cheesecake, but it is more likely that she was about to continue her litany of questions specific to the city secretary’s job and that she wanted to do so away from the scrutiny of the 17 citizens observing the meeting.

What really happened in City Hall’s modern day Star Chamber is known only to the seven people who climbed the stairs last week. It was a secret meeting after all.

All we know for sure is that they took no action on job descriptions that were previously described as being out of date from 2002 – which may or may not mean Covey has less work to do – and also took no action on the city’s chain of command – another topic that was far too broad for discussion in a closed session.

Clarendon’s citizens have a right to know what’s happening at City Hall, and the Board of Aldermen have an obligation to conduct their affairs as openly as possible. Moving forward, they need to do a better job than they did last week.

“May you live in interesting times” is how the old Chinese curse goes, and nothing better describes last week’s meeting of the Hedley School Board of Trustees than “interesting.”

Word had earlier in the day reached the Enterprise that Athletic Director Darrell Wallace had been “non-renewed” during the previous board meeting, but that in and of itself didn’t raise any red flags with us. Coaches are, after all, “non-renewed” all the time across Texas.

But then we asked for the minutes of the March meeting and learned they were “unavailable.” That got this newspaper’s interest, and it got the editor on the road for the next meeting.

Is Darrell Wallace a good man or a good coach? Never having met the man until last Tuesday, your humble editor can’t answer that question with any direct knowledge.

What this column can answer though is that the public and the press have a right to see the minutes of any of our local boards, and it doesn’t matter whether those minutes have been “approved” by said board or not. Once the board’s secretary puts pen to paper in taking the official minutes that becomes a public record subject to the Texas Public Information Act (also known as the Open Records Act).

The minutes were again asked for during the meeting, but our representative was not given those minutes. But more troubling than that was the attitude exhibited by some board members that the public and certainly the media was not entitled to know why Coach Wallace had been dismissed. Board member James Edwards Potts even went so far as to say that he didn’t “have much use for any of the Donley County media anyway.”

He’s entitled to his opinion, but we’re entitled to the minutes. And at press time, we still don’t have them.

We have, however, filed a formal Open Records request with the school, and we expect that they will be made available very soon.

The silly thing about the whole fiasco is that we don’t really expect to learn much from the minutes. All we wanted to know was the wording of the motion and the recorded vote of those in favor and against.

What we did learn came from the behavior of the board itself where there seems to be a pretty strong split between the trustees themselves and a lot of animosity from at least one board member toward the superintendent.

And of course there was also several very unhappy residents who voiced their support for their coach and their concern about the state of the board.

For a town like Hedley, the school is the community in a very real sense, and the trustees need to take heed that they are not there to serve just their own interests but the long-term interest of Hedley’s very identity.

Interesting times indeed.

The Way Forward, Part 6 

Information is power, and government works best when power is vested in the people. To that end, the Enterprise joins other newspapers across America in observing Sunshine Week March 10-16 as we continue to examine the way forward for Clarendon and Donley County.

Sunshine Week typically focuses on the public’s “right to know” with an emphasis on government transparency. But acquiring information is a two-way street. Yes, the information has to be available, but people must also engage themselves in the process and educate themselves about what is happening.

James Madison, the author of the US Constitution, said, “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.”

The former president went on to say that a government of uninformed people “is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both.”

Is our government a farce or a tragedy in Washington, Austin, or even at City Hall, the school house, or the Courthouse? That’s all a matter of opinion. But if it is, then it is largely the fault of the people for not being more involved in a positive way.

This newspaper, like so many others across this great land, goes to great lengths to try to keep our local voters informed. We attend meetings when no one else bothers to. We pour over minutes of the meetings we miss, and we try to keep tabs on what our elected officials are doing. And then we tell you about it – whether it’s a new ordinance, a water system study, or a discussion about raising your school taxes.

Governments do their part, as well, while working with your local newspaper. Following the rules set down by law, they publish notice of their intent to purchase certain things, undertake certain projects, levy taxes and fees, and to engage in a number of activities. They post notice of their meetings at least three days in advance, and then they hold those meetings in an open session where members of the public are allowed to attend.

At appointed times, the governments must have elections. The newspaper reports on which positions are up, and the government calls for the election during an open meeting and then publishes notice of the election to be held.

Your newspaper serves a vital role in reporting to you the activities of your governments and publishing the notices of the governments while at the same time policing the governments to make sure they follow the rules.

But all of this is for naught if the people fail to participate in the process.

When people disregard the information in front of them and choose instead to trust gossip, hearsay, or social media chatter for their decision making, then we may well be on our way to the farce or tragedy of which Madison warned us.

The problem of course, as your humble editor told a dear friend recently, is that the truth is often boring. The “talk” is scandalous and therefore exciting. But the day-in and day-out activities of local governments are generally humdrum. The typical business of a resolution to name an investment officer or consideration of a bank depository bid is a major snooze fest. But that is part of the process. People complain, for example, about brown water coming out of their tap but then don’t show up when tax rates are discussed or budgets are adopted – the times when funds could actually be dedicated to the problem.

Too often our complacency spills over into election season to such an extent that most local governments call off their elections due to a lack of interest. Howardwick officials a month ago even raised the prospect that the city itself might be dissolved if participation did not pick up.

Fortunately, this year we have several competitive raises, and the people have some real choices to make. Voters in Clarendon and Howardwick and in the Clarendon and Hedley school districts have a responsibility to find out everything they can about the candidates on the ballots. Who are they, what do they want to do, and what is their motive for running? Do they have an ax to grind or do they have the city’s or school’s best interest at heart? Voters must answer those questions for themselves and then go to the ballot boxes armed with knowledge.

Candidates, too, need to educate themselves, attend the meetings of the boards for which they are running, find out how things really work, and be able to bring something constructive to the table if they are elected.

Representative government takes a lot of effort for it to work correctly. The system is participatory – you have to participate for it to work. You have to resolve to get involved, get informed, and get educated; and all of that takes time and energy. But when we all play our parts – when government operates openly, when the newspaper informs the public, and when voters pay attention – then things can move forward in a positive manner and our communities come out as winners.

The Way Forward, Part Five

“The City Beautiful.” That’s how this newspaper and its editor referred to Clarendon in the earliest years of the 20th century. Kearney Street was lined with trees, the Courthouse could be seen for miles, and an impressive Methodist Church and new college buildings were making this town one of the most attractive on “The Denver Road,” as the BNSF railway was then known.

Compared to many West Texas communities, Clarendon is still “The City Beautiful,” but there is certainly room for improvement as we continue our series promoting growth and progress.

Taking stock for moment, Clarendon appears to be an oasis coming in from the west. Travelers end their journey across the flat, “Staked Plains” just before entering Donley County and soon find themselves enjoying the Rolling Plains and what (during years of normal precipitation) was historically called the “Green Belt” of the Texas Panhandle. Their first site entering the city is Clarendon College sitting on its hill, a modern day acropolis befitting the moniker of “The Athens of the Panhandle.”

That beautiful campus, also visible coming from the north, is perhaps one of this city’s most well-known features and is recognized by many people from downstate who travel US 287 on their way to vacations in the Rocky Mountains. How marvelous would it be if our entire city was as clean, well kept, and memorable as Clarendon College is.

This is not to say we’re a dirty or trashy town, but surely we can all agree that there are areas that could use some attention. As the old Head & Shoulders commercial said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” We therefore need to make sure that the first impression any visitor has of Clarendon is good – no, make that great!

Much of this has to be done on an individual basis with each home owner, business owner, and vacant lot owner taking pride in their community and making sure what they have is clean and neat. Weed control and a good coat of paint go a long ways, but it’s important also to keep up with maintaining any structures. Preventive maintenance is much cheaper than major repairs or rehabilitation, and your neighbors will appreciate your efforts.

Too many times we have heard about folks who simply don’t keep up the exterior of their homes or businesses because they fear their tax appraisal will go up and it will cost them money. Is that just a terrible attitude or an excuse? Be an example to others and fix up your property, and everyone will benefit from a nicer community, including you.

City Hall has already taken steps to spruce up the town. The city code compliance officer and municipal judge are working with property owners to correct code violations and clean up properties. In the west part of the city, in a section originally called “Clarendon Heights,” an old homestead that was overgrown by trees and vegetation is now visible from the street for the first time in decades. Behind the scenes – literally – city workers have been cleaning and blading alleyways and doing other things to help improve our town. The Board of Aldermen and the city employees deserve our thanks for making these things happen.

Downtown, the most obvious improvement has been the work of the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation to rehabilitate the Mulkey Theatre, but that’s not the only thing the CEDC has been doing. Since 2008, it has invested nearly $17,000 into 13 storefronts up and down Kearney Street with façade grants ranging from less than $100 up to $2,000. Next month the CEDC Board will consider revising and possibly expanding the façade grant program to do even more improvements.

But there are also other things we can do to help us reclaim our title of “The City Beautiful.” Organized clean up days, such as those held by the Chamber of Commerce in the late 1980s and early 1990s, would be an easy start. The city could bolster such an effort by reinstituting the free dumping that it used to hold one week each fall and spring. Yes, it may cost the city a little bit of revenue, but a cleaner city would certainly be worth it.

We also need to think about targeted infrastructure improvements that would be specifically designed to be attractive to visitors as well as locals. A perfect example is the streets leading to and surrounding Broncho Stadium. Leaving US 287, you have to travel over one block of dirt on either Sims or Allen streets on your way to football games or to the gym, and then the paving on three sides of the stadium is deplorable.

Fortunately, last spring’s bond election approved replacing the paving in question. We just need to make sure that we don’t “poor boy” the paving by making the streets narrower than they currently are or by doing anything less than the best job possible.

The bond election did not, however, cover those single blocks of Sims and Allen that get people from the highway to the school; and looking around, we can all easily find other areas that desperately need improvement. Consider First Street from downtown to Lowe’s Family Center. There are places where the brick paving needs repair and two blocks of what used to be paving that frankly needs total replacement, and then there is dirt from Kearney going east by the recycling bins.

And then there is a need for sidewalks, improved pedestrian lighting, park improvements – such as a splash pad or a skate park or both, and more. Indeed, one has to wonder if Clarendon didn’t set its sights high enough last year with a $750,000 ten-year bond election. Perhaps we should have gone bigger.

Every little bit helps though, and we all have to do our part and resolve to get involved in 2013.

 The Way Forward, Part 4

A wise man once noted that, “It was never boom or bust in Clarendon. It was just always a struggle.” 

That tongue-in-cheek comment may sound a bit pessimistic to some, but in reality it actually reveals one of our community’s strengths, which has been a certain economic stability over the last century.

Not having been blessed with oil or gas wealth, Clarendon and Donley County hasn’t seen the wild swings of good times and bad times that some other communities have had. We have, instead, enjoyed a couple of assets that have bolstered our situation compared to other rural West Texas communities, namely Lake Greenbelt since 1968 and Clarendon College since 1898.

Barring the occurrence of a hundred-year flood, the lake’s future doesn’t look good right now, but Clarendon College remains the beacon on the hill that shines the way to progress and prosperity – both for its students and our community.

Enterprise columnist Fred Gray has taken to referring to CC as “The Pearl of the Panhandle,” but your humble editor still prefers the tried and true moniker “The Athens of the Panhandle,” reflecting its place in history as the Panhandle’s first college as well as its ongoing role of providing an education – and therefore a path to a better life – for local and area students.

Much has been said about the opportunities our dear college offers students, but we must also realize that Clarendon College is the number one economic development tool our city has. It is critical that the Board of Regents and administration recognize that they are not just caretakers of a college. In a very real sense they can have a greater impact on the future of this town than the Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Corporation, or even the city council.

Consider this. Each fall, Clarendon College brings in about 300 students to live in our community for two semesters. In addition to enriching our town with cultural diversity and annual economic stimulus, this gives Clarendon an opportunity that most small cities could only dream about – prospective new citizens.

We probably all can think of someone who came to college here and either married a local person or returned here after going on to get their four-year degree. Each CC student from out of town is someone who potentially could settle down here… if they find the town to their liking and find an opportunity for employment here.

A constant influx of young people and young families is a tremendous asset to any community, particularly if those new citizens get a quality education while they are here.

The challenge for Clarendon College is growing enrollment on the home campus with an eye toward helping Clarendon and Donley County. The headcount for the last few semesters has been down after an extended period of growth. We trust that this is only a temporary reversal of fortune, and college officials are already making plans to get their numbers back up.

Plans to get CC back above total enrollment of 1,200 here and at its satellites in Pampa and Childress are great. We must look at growth everywhere, but it is also incumbent that we – alumni; taxpayers; and CC regents, administration, faculty, and staff – take a long look at what creative things can be done to boost enrollment on the home campus.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen an increased focus on athletics as the path to growth for the college, but each new sports team carries a cost of increased travel and other expenses. While we are certainly proud of our Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs, we must also focus on bringing more traditional students to College Hill. We need to expand our course offerings, particularly in the fine arts, and recruit a more diverse student body whose members are interested not only in sports, rodeo, and judging but also in music, art, drama, literature, and the sciences.

One limitation to growth is the lack of student housing, and this column has more than once called on the college to work with the city and other entities to find solutions to this. But the college could also take better advantage of the housing it does have by opening one dormitory for the summer months and offering more classes during those sessions. This would have the added benefit of keeping more students – and their economic impact – in Clarendon over the summer months, which is something that will be sorely needed if Lake Greenbelt continues to shrink.

CC also needs to develop new technical programs that are based here in Clarendon. A truck driving program or a hospitality training program might be good additions. We’ve tried offering programs – such as wind energy and nursing – in Clarendon and Pampa and then shake our heads when the program migrates to a larger population center. If a program is in demand and it is offered only in Clarendon, students will come to Clarendon. We have seen this historically, and it is still true.

More students eventually means the need for more faculty members, and that means more good paying jobs for other potential new citizens. And in all of this, we must work hard to find ways to include our students and new instructors in our community, to cater to their needs, and attract them to our merchants.

The growth of Clarendon College must be paramount as we resolve to get involved in 2013.

If you have any doubt that great things can happen in Clarendon, just look around this week.

In addition to the continuing work on the Mulkey Theatre, construction has gotten a quick start on a new business on US 287 – Family Dollar – that represents a $750,000 investment in our community, a new fitness center is getting closer to reality, and another new business is taking shape south of Every Nook & Cranny downtown.

Clarendon is a place of promise and opportunity, and this column continues the look forward that we began two weeks ago. Our focus this week is on our heritage, and the point that our history can be an important element of our future.

There is no better example of tapping into our rich heritage than the annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff, which brings people flocking to our town each September. It is hosted by the Saints’ Roost Museum, the board of which knows full well the value of history, and it does an excellent job of promoting a local gem – the museum – while celebrating a local legend – Col. Goodnight.

Another big draw is the 1890 Donley County Courthouse that was restored in 2003 at a cost of $4.2 million (most of which was state money). There were some critics at the time, but now the courthouse is perhaps our community’s most treasured landmark, attracting visitors from far and near on a weekly basis. We are home to the Jewel of the Plains – the Panhandle’s oldest operating courthouse – and we are proud of it.

Heritage tourism is a big business. There are many people out there that like to tour old courthouses and museums and learn more about our regional, state, and national history. Recent survey information from the Texas Historical Commission states that tourists who visit historical sites spend an average of $340 more in a community than other visitors.

We have a lot to offer these travelers now, but that is one asset that could easily be expanded. I like to call it the “low hanging fruit.” It is right there for easy pickings if we just use a bit of creativity.

Very easily we could develop self-guided – or guided – tours of historic landmarks throughout Clarendon. A simple brochure could walk visitors to our historic buildings and businesses and take them to some of the Texas Panhandle’s most historic churches and homes.

But with a little coordination, that could even be a bigger draw. Perhaps a combined effort could be joined between the county, the county historical commission, and the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation to research and apply for one historical marker every year for the next few years. We have many “firsts” or “oldest” that aren’t properly recognized right now. The area’s oldest African American church (St. Stephen’s Baptist) and the first Masonic lodge in the Panhandle come to mind right away. Clarendon College deserves its own marker, and there are other historic sites, buildings, and homes that might qualify under the right circumstances. The rock walls at City Park and around Broncho Stadium are also unique to our community.

The city, county, and other entities could be persuaded to develop tax abatements favorable to historic preservation or efforts to restore historic structures. There are at least three buildings on Kearney Street that were built in the 1890s. What treasures those might make! Turn of the century homes are dotted all across our city, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could encourage restoring these places the way the late Zell SoRelle did the S.W. Lowe house back in the 1980s?

We might consider creation of a designated historic district and offer incentives to invest in those properties or perhaps there are other ways to capitalize on the structures that our forefathers built.

We can also do more to tap our local history and expand our museum to tell a broader story of Donley County beyond just the cowboy and ranch aspect. Perhaps we could work with the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum and others around the country to develop a paleontology wing to the museum that would feature the three-toed horses, mammoths, and other extinct creatures that have been found here from the Clarendonian Stage of geologic history.

More could be done to feature the Native American heritage of this area. The Quanah Parker Trail is a fine thing to be on and will be a nice addition, but we also need to talk in our museum about the Indian village that once existed near Greenbelt Lake.

And we can’t forget that history doesn’t just stop. It is ongoing, and we need to support our museum in such a manner that it can include the accomplishments of more recent events. Shouldn’t Kenny King be featured in the museum somewhere? What about our native son in Congress?

As the oldest thriving town in the Panhandle, we have no shortage of history, the depths of which we can plumb for our future. Just stop and look around. We’re surrounded by potential and stories that are waiting to be told, and buildings and jewels that are waiting to be polished.

As we resolve to get involved in 2013, let’s make the past part of our future and make some new history to make our kids and grandkids proud.

Clarendon has great potential that is just waiting to be tapped by the right people. It’s been this way for many years, with our community just flirting with what it could become. As we continue to resolve to get involved in 2013, we need to constantly look for ways to improve our town, to capitalize on the opportunities here, and improve the quality of life for those of us who already live here as well as those folks who might consider this as a place to “stay all night… or stay a little longer.”

Last week’s column describing potential businesses that might prosper in Clarendon was well received and leads us into another discussion about tapping our natural resources.

The best example of this is Monroe’s Peach Ranch near Hedley and Howard’s Pumpkin Patch east of Clarendon. Here are two businesses that capitalize on fresh products grown right here in Donley County, but this is an area that could be expanded in local and area stores.

Fredericksburg Farms has done very well with an assortment of jams, jellies, and other products, and God has blessed Donley County with many native plants that could lead to our own niche products. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to buy Donley County Wild Plum Jelly or Mustang Grape Jelly? You wouldn’t try to compete with Smucker’s, but some homemade jellies could make great gift items.

Since grapes grow wild here, maybe that’s God’s way of telling us that we need a winery here? It’s something to think about. They are making them grow on the South Plains, but they seem to do very well on their own here in the Green Belt on the Rolling Plains. Just think of it… Saints’ Roost Winery featuring the Clara Cabernet in an ironic salute to the old prohibitionist herself. My mind runs wild with the marketing ideas for this one.

Along those same lines, we should be able to buy some roasted Donley County peanuts in bags somewhere. What a great gift for the holidays! And it would be a terrific give-away for visitors to the Economic Development & Tourism Office in the Mulkey Theatre. Or heck, sell them in the concession stand at the theatre someday! Local peanuts could also be put into candies and chocolates for even more local flavor.

And here’s something you probably didn’t know. Super Bowl legend and former Clarendon Broncho Kenny King has his own brand of barbecue sauce! Kings Q Sauce boasts a “woo…aah” taste, and it would be terrific to have it for sale in his hometown. There are Kenny King friends and fans right here who would love to “woo” and “aah” for ourselves.

These products would fit very nicely into the already available market of homemade boots, saddles, and leather goods and bring even more notoriety to our fair town. And every locally made product we come up with just further enhances what we have and our prospects for the future.

Meanwhile…

33,802 reasons Hill should quit

Two weeks ago, this column did something it had never done before in calling for a local official to resign from his position for the good of the city. We cited Clarendon Alderman Tommy Hill’s adversarial attitude toward each of the last three city administrators – including voting to fire the last two, his tendency to micromanage city affairs, and his burning need to know what city employees are doing every minute of every day. Now to that list we add official recklessness and apparent incompetence.

Hill’s hasty and emotionally driven motion to fire City Administrator Lambert Little at the December 11, 2012, city meeting called for paying the man’s accrued vacation and sick time. But according to city policy, an employee who is terminated shall not receive compensation for sick leave or vacation time. That money should have never been paid… except that the board, by Hill’s motion, voted to do it.

Alderman Hill served on the board of aldermen for eight years from 2002 to 2010 before choosing not to run for reelection that year. He jumped back into the fray running for election in 2011 and now has nearly ten years of experience on the board… more than any other member. He makes it a habit of nitpicking the city’s employee policies and he constantly harps on saving the taxpayers money, worrying most recently over expenditures by the administrator of 60-something dollars at a conference and a 45-dollar Sam’s Club membership. And yet his motion cost this city an unnecessary $6,609.80.

And to add insult to the taxpayers’ injury, Hill’s motion dismissed the administrator without cause, triggering a provision in Little’s employment agreement that cost this city $25,000 cash plus $2,192.76 in continued health and life insurance benefits. Total cost to fire the administrator: $33,802.56.

Hill wasn’t alone in voting for Little’s termination, but Hill’s experience and obvious roll as a leader on the board puts an added burden on him to do what is right for this city and not make a rash decision that wastes tens of thousands of tax dollars.

“I represent the taxpayers,” Hill has said at city meetings on numerous occasions. But now we have 33,802 very specific reasons why he doesn’t represent the taxpayers and should step down. And that doesn’t include the bill from the city attorney.

As this issue goes to press, our city leaders were again meeting to discuss important matters before them. Without any premonition of the results of that meeting, your humble editor hopes we can all agree that Clarendon is a town with a lot of potential if we can to focus our energies properly and set our goals high.

After Christmas, our family took a much needed vacation to the Davis Mountains, and our travels took us through many small West Texas towns. Some of them were clearly doing well. Others were just as clearly teetering on oblivion.

Over four days we stayed in and toured Fort Davis and Marfa. Both towns are wonderful places to get away from it all, enjoy a slow pace of life, and take in some enriching Southwest history. The McDonald Observatory provides a great educational opportunity for kids of all ages, and our stay at the Prude Ranch was very restful indeed. Like nearly all West Texas folks, everyone we encountered was very friendly and helpful.

But one thing was obvious, setting aside a couple of obvious attractions, Fort Davis and Marfa aren’t that much different from Clarendon. They both have done very well at attracting tourists and unique businesses, but let’s face it – you have to be going to Marfa. You’re not just on your way to Denver or Dallas like so many thousands of people are when they travel through Clarendon on US 287. And we have some things that other rural communities could only dream of having – Clarendon College being the most prominent example.

And so this begins what hopefully will be a series of editorials that will offer suggestions to move Clarendon forward by capitalizing on our assets and seizing opportunities. If any of you readers have ideas along these lines, I encourage you to write them down and share them with us. This week, let’s look at some business ideas that I think would work in Clarendon and enhance our quality of life or our attractiveness to potential residents. Some of these could be incorporated or co-opted by existing businesses, and others would require a new establishment.

It is important to remember that sometimes it takes thinking outside the box to make a business idea work in a small town. In Marfa we visited an ice cream parlor, espresso shop, and laundry mat… all in the same location. It was a unique idea, and the barista there said they stay busy all the time from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. All three of those functions, by the way, would be a nice addition to our city.

Another thing we need – desperately – is new housing for students and medium income families. A lack of housing is the number one detriment to attracting more college students to Clarendon and is a big stumbling block for young families who move here to take jobs at the school, college, and elsewhere. Most rental properties seem to stay full, so perhaps we could attract a developer to build a small apartment complex or series of duplexes to fill this bill.

Clarendon needs a “destination restaurant.” We have some good places to eat, but what I’m talking about is the kind of place that builds a reputation for itself to such a degree that travelers plan to stop in Clarendon to eat at that restaurant because of its consistently good or unique food, a unique atmosphere, and its reputation.

Mrs. Bromley’s Dining Room was such a place. Her food was featured in the Ford Times published by Ford Motor Company and people came from all over the nation to eat with her. Mrs. Bromley closed her doors about 30 years ago, and every couple of years, we still have people stop by the newspaper asking for directions to her dining room. In more recent times, JAMZ became something of a destination with its pizza, fresh sandwiches, and Debbie’s homemade pies; and I would say that Sam Hill’s Pit BBQ was certainly a destination until it burned to the ground. With a little work, a couple of our local places have the potential to become destination restaurants, but we need an eating establishment that puts Clarendon on the map again.

We need a bookstore… or a least a store that sells books. They make great gifts, and tourists love books with a local flavor. The Donley County Courthouse is featured in at least two books on Texas courthouses, a book was written a few years ago set in early day Howardwick, Lonesome Dove has ties to local history, I saw a book in Fort Davis that featured modern tintype photos of cowboys from the JA Ranch, and the list could go on and on. Combine all those with books on Panhandle history, books about Charles Goodnight, books about the Palo Duro, and books of West Texas photographs like those by Wyman Meinzer, and you’ve got a heck of a start on a bookstore or a book section anyway that focuses on Donley County’s heritage.

We need an art gallery or maybe several art galleries. With all the current and historic talent we have here – most prominently with Harold Bugbee – it is a shame that we don’t have a gallery downtown. Perhaps a local artist or organization could partner with the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum and set up a Harold & Olive Vandruff Bugbee Gallery in Clarendon that would feature works by famous and up-and-coming local artists and draw people off the highway.

We need donuts! My kingdom for donuts! In fact, I think a bakery could do well here if it made donuts and other pastries and featured a light lunch menu.

And there are other businesses we need, but we’re short on space. We’ll continue the conversation next week, but in the meantime I encourage everyone to dream a little bit about what we’d like to see Clarendon become. Write your ideas down and let’s put them in print. Resolve to get involved in 2013, and let’s move this community forward.