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Winding Hollow HOA Meeting

I was honored to speak at the Winding Hollow homeowners association meeting on Thursday. I acknowledged the positive things happening in Cedar Hill, but I also discussed the challenges that lay ahead.

You can hear my comments using the audio player below.

Code Enforcement Report

The full report can be downloaded here. (pdf)

On March 8, 2005, the Honorable Mayor Rob Franke commissioned a Citizens’ Advisory Committee to review proposed revisions to the City of Cedar Hill’s code enforcement ordinances. The revisions would create a comprehensive Property Maintenance Ordinance and Minimum Housing Standards. The Mayor appointed Wade Emmert, Council Member, to Chair the committee, and Daniel Haydin, Council Member, as Vice-Chair. Council Member Clifford Shaw also assisted.

The Committee was composed of representatives of homeowners associations, public improvement districts, Keep Cedar Hill Beautiful, and other interested citizens, totaling approximately 35 members. City staff included Johnny Kendro, Stacey Graves, and Patty Bushart.

The Committee was charged with the following responsibilities:

1. To review and make recommendations regarding the proposed code revisions;
2. To accept comments regarding the advisability of the proposed code revisions; and
3. To determine if pertinent code enforcement issues were adequately addressed by the proposed code revisions.

The Committee unanimously supports the comprehensive Property Maintenance Ordinance and Minimum Housing Standards.

The Committee also supports the following initiatives:

1. Prompt resolution of violations. The Committee expressed a desire that the Code Enforcement department diligently monitor all unresolved violations and actively manage each case to bring violations into compliance in an expeditious manner.
2. Increased customer service. The Committee expressed a desire that citizens who make complaints regarding code violations be kept updated as to the status of the violation.
3. Focus on highly visible violations. The Committee expressed a desire that code enforcement efforts under the proposed ordinances initially be focused on highly visible areas in the City.
4. Escalating fines for unresolved and repeat violations. The Committee supported an escalating fine structure in which the fines for code violations would increase when a single violation goes unresolved despite prior citations and when the same violation is habitually repeated.
5. Increased education efforts. The Committee found helpful a pamphlet that was provided during the initial meeting which provided a brief overview of common code enforcement issues. They felt a similar pamphlet provided to homeowners regarding the new ordinances would be helpful in raising awareness of the new ordinances and avoiding some of the most common violations.
6. Lower maximum grass height. The Committee recommended decreasing grass height limits from the current restriction of 12 inches, to a maximum height of 8 inches.
7. Increase fence standards to required maintenance of fence posts and slats.
8. Prohibit temporary signage in favor of a kiosk-style system.

Nothing Is Firm for Schools’ Budgeters

The Dallas Morning News has a story today about the budgets of local school districts. With the uncertainty of the outcome of the special legislative session on school finance, area districts are finding it hard to finalize their budgets.

In Cedar Hill, budget officials can’t wait that long. The school district is on a July 1 through June 30 fiscal year.

“The bottom line is that even when the board approves a budget by the end of this month, there will be amendments probably through mid-August that we’ll have to make,” said Cedar Hill Chief Financial Officer Debbe Roesler.

Cedar Hill Superintendent Jim Gibson said this is the district’s second July-June fiscal year. Most school districts operate on a September through August fiscal year.

He said the district’s external auditor recommended that cycle because it resulted in 10 months of operating expense the year Cedar Hill first executed the July-June move. The district’s fund balance improved about $2.5 million because of the move, Dr. Gibson said.

He also said the off fiscal year gives district personnel time to concentrate on the budget without the added pressure of the school year beginning.

Dr. Gibson said the biggest hit in the 2005-06 budget is opening two new campuses – Bessie Coleman Middle School and the new Ninth Grade Center.

“There are added operational costs of the two new buildings. Maintenance and cleaning, insuring them, associated utilities. All of that has to be paid for,” he said. “We’re being very conservative about adding staff.”

Cedar Hill is proposing a $1.15 million increase in instruction and a $1.63 million increase in maintenance and operations on the expenditure side of the budget.

The worst-case scenario shows the Cedar Hill district spending about $2.42 million more that it has in revenues for the 2005-06 fiscal year, Ms. Roesler said. However, the district has about $8.75 million in reserve funds.

Ms. Roesler told board members at a budget workshop Monday that the district was not “broke. We are one of the lucky districts that have a fund balance to fall back on.”

Dr. Gibson said there were no salary increases in the preliminary budget.

“That’s yet another factor that needs to be in there,” he said.

What Issues Do You Want Addressed

As the City Council prepares for the fiscal year 2006, it would be helpful to have your input about issues you think need to be addressed in the upcoming year.

I have talked with many of you about this already. Several people want to see more strict code enforcement. Others want drainage issues addressed. Still others want to continue to emphasize public safety. Maybe you think there should be an ordinance addressing a specific concern. Whatever it may be, please let us know by commenting to this article.

It is never easy to to allocate the City’s finite resources to seemingly infinite needs. Cedar Hill is not a one-issue city. We, like all cities, have many needs, most of which citizens are not even aware. I am certain there will not be enough revenue to address all of the concerns. But as we work through this process, your constructive input will help us use what funds we do have available in the most productive way possible.

Math and Science Pull Down TAKS

There’s an article in the Dallas Morning News today about math and science scores on the TAKS test in Southwest Dallas County schools.

In the Cedar Hill school district, only 54 percent of 10th-graders passed the science portion of the state-mandated test. Those numbers are even more disheartening in DeSoto, Lancaster, and Duncanville.

“We certainly have a lot of work to do in math and science,” said Dr. Jim Gibson, Cedar Hill school district superintendent. “We fell short of meeting the challenge of increasing those scores.”

Dr. Gibson said staff and faculty are assessing how to better focus instructional time and how to allocate fiscal resources to meet that demand in the upcoming budget year.

“We also have to make sure students’ time is properly scheduled,” Dr. Gibson said.

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