Thursday, September 21, 2011 at 10:00 AM. That is the date and time for the annual State of City presentation. The location is the Lea Ledger Auditorium on the Copperas Cove High School grounds.
By way of this column I am inviting all of you to join me as City Manager Andrea Gardner highlights the growth, development, progress and potential of our community. You will also be introduced to many of the City’s elected officials, staff and employees, the people that play a vital role in the growth of our community. Also present will be representatives from the Copperas Cove EDC, the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce and the Copperas Cove ISD.
The column is not about giving out a lot of details regarding the presentation; you’ll need to attend so you may hear it firsthand. What I can tell you is that you’ll hear about the many activities your City and its partners have worked on this past year, the growth and development all of us are working on and vision for the future.
I read an article the other day that said these days every speech delivered or article written should start or finish with words that go something like this: “in this economy”. I don’t think the City Manager will start out using those words. But as Executive Director of the Copperas Cove EDC I think about the economy, especially the local economy all of the time. So when the State of the City message is delivered I will be listening for opportunities that give the Copperas Cove EDC Board of Directors the ability to work with the City on projects that will create new wealth in our community.
For unknown reasons some small and what seem at the time inconsequential incidents in our lives tend to stick with us. Such is an incident such as that happened many years ago as my dad and I were walking home from a city council meeting. We had been at the meeting to ask the City to rezone a small piece of property he and my mother owned so they could sell it to someone that wanted to build a business on the property. I asked my dad why we had to be there. His reply has stuck with me to this date. He said, “government is run by those that show up”. He said it in Spanish and then repeated the words in English. He always did that when he wanted to emphasis something.
Government is indeed run by those that show up. Whether it is at the polls, at a City Council meeting or at a presentation of the State of the City, as citizens of this community we have an obligation to show up if we intend to have an influence on how the City moves forward.
But enough of the lecturing; just be at the Lea Ledger auditorium on September 21st to hear where your City has been and where it is going. I feel confident that you will be surprised at what you will hear.
Next month I will use this column to introduce the two newest members of the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors; Bradi Diaz and Danny Palmer. I will also write about what our next economic development fiscal year is bound to bring.
Take care and pray for rain.
Polo Enriquez
Executive Director
Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation