Economic Development discussion at the 1/27/15 Council Meeting

At the last Council meeting we discussed plans to develop an economic development advisory board.  This was tabled from our last meeting as there were several different approaches we had to work out.  When we initially discussed the idea I made a comment that I'll summarize here.  When I drive through town I see a growing number of empty store fronts.  I see these as opportunities for us to bring jobs to MWC.  On the flip side of the coin I hear many stories about concerns over the future of several areas in our community.  We have made great strides on our 29th street development, but we have to do more to develop the other areas of the City.  We have a new economic development director and he is doing wonderful work and I am enjoying working with him.  After deliberation, we developed a good compromise on the advisory committee and we will soon be building that team.  It will be made up of Municipal Officials, Chamber of Commerce Members, and local business owners.  I pushed to add the local business owners to the group to add new perspective and ideas to our economic development conversations, and I am thankful for the Council in adopting the idea.  I believe that business owners know business best and am glad to have the opportunity to have more input on the issue. I look forward to seeing the group help us to make progress in this area.

We have room for improvement, especially in the quality job creation area and finding ways to develop the area surrounding the dilapidated Heritage Park Mall.

PS I will will follow up on this post again in the future, I am never short on words about Economic Development.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or ideas!

Thanks,

Daniel McClure
danielmcclurejr@gmail.com
4059195730

Pastor of the Day 11/26/14

Special thanks to  Dr Mike Tignor for leading the invocation this week at Council.  I will be asking other local Pastors to come out and lead the invocation each  meeting.  I think its a good way to get to know our local clergy and let them know what we have going on in the City.

Recent news article by the MWC Beacon

The MWC Beacon recently ran an article about the City moving forward with crime task force recommendations.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

November Update: Inmates to work & Pastor of the Day

Well I just wanted to post a few updates.  This last Council meeting the Council approved an item, as well as implemented an item I have been working on.

The first item was to renew a Memorandum of Understanding with the OK County Shine program. This will allow us to send our offenders to the county for punishment.  They will do hard labor that includes cleaning roadsides, ditches, and removing debris and underbrush from dilapidated areas. This is beneficial for multiple reasons, among them adequately punishing offenders as well as making them improve the community they have damaged.  It's a win-win. This was an action item suggested by the Taskforce on Crime, Punishment, and Rehabilitation.


The second is the Pastor of the Day program.  I will be leading this effort and will invite local Pastors and Clergy to our meetings.  They will open our meetings in prayer.  It will also give us the opportunity to learn more about our local churches, as well as share information with them that they can take back to their Churches about municipal programs and opportunities for service.

Update - Oct 8

Happy Fall,

I have been really busy w the Crime, Punishment, and Rehabilitation Task force and haven't posted in a few weeks. Our task force has concluded, and I will be presenting the findings at the next Council meeting.  After that, I will begin bringing actual policy changes to the Council for their consideration.  The first two things I will be addressing will include drug testing policies as well as mandatory hard community service/labor for offenders.  I will keep introducing items off the task force list throughout the coming weeks and months.  If you would like a copy of the report, feel free to let me know.

Please call if you have questions and concerns.

Daniel McClure

405-919-5730

Crime and Punishment Taskforce Meeting

We had our second meeting of the Crime and Punishment Taskforce last night. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to have such a great group of people helping us out on this effort.  When people have their hearts in the right place good things happen, and that's this group! We had a large number of recommendations including topics such as changes to drug testing policies, rehabilitation/reintegration concepts, and "sweat community service" (working hard as service and punishment).

I thought it was our last meeting and had planned to submit our report. HOWEVER the group did not like that idea :)  They want to have one more meeting to wrap up their thoughts and submit final reports.  We will meet at the end of the month, and then it's time to get to work on their recommendations.

Return of the Trash Debate

Last night at the Council meeting we heard a proposal to raise the bulk rate trash pickup fees.  This was the same proposal we heard a few months ago.  At that time I asked for some specific numbers that outlined the expenses and revenue generated from the operation.  If a program has a cost I am more than supportive of the person who uses the service paying for it.  I simply wanted to adequately explore the figures and come to a balanced and fair conclusion.

I was provided data (see below), and the numbers were not entirely correct.  As a result I have asked for the numbers to be revised to accurately reflect the situation to help us make a better decision.  It appears from the data that the program was $26K in the red in 2011, and has improved the numbers significantly and last year was just over $9.9K in the red.

My concerns left to address on this issue are...
1. If we raise the cost for pickup will less people use it?
2. There is a benefit to a neighborhood when someone with a messy residence cleans up their place.
3. What is the dollar amount needed on the rate increase needed to cover the program cost adequately?


I will report back to you when I get the information. I would love your feedback on the issue.  This is one where both sides of the idea have valid concerns.

Daniel


*currently the charge is $35/ half hour.  Below are the numbers on that, as well as proposed changed to higher amounts.  This information was provided by city staff.