Dear Editor,

On February 17, 2010, I went to the Blanco City Office to be placed on the next City Council Meeting Agenda on March 9, 2010. My purpose is to ask City Council once again to reconsider the Blanco Avenue name change. This has nothing to do with my respect for Ron Houston and the citizens wanting to honor him. I was upset with City Council for making the decision of changing Blanco Avenue to Ron Houston Avenue without taking into consideration the impact their action would have on local businesses, Blanco County offices, and the residents of Blanco Avenue. I also could not believe the residents, businesses, and county offices were not contacted before this decision was made. It is the opinion of many citizens that this change should have been brought before the citizens in a minimum of two public hearings. This has caused a lot of stress on all of us residing on Blanco Avenue. The anticipated cost to taxpayers and businesses was given little or no thought. Based on citizens’ input with petitions and letters, and the unnecessary costs to businesses and residents due to this name change, I requested that the council rescind their decision. I also suggested that future decisions made by council should allow for citizens’ input beforehand. Mayor pro tem, Bobby McClung acknowledged in hindsight that a little more communication would have been helpful, but concluded that council needed more time to reconsider my request to rescind.

I have no doubt that our city council felt the need to honor Ron Houston immediately, but their decision was emotional, and not thought through. Citizens of Blanco, you need to get more involved with our city and let the council know how you feel about issues. This certainly was a wake-up call for me. Don’t wait until something affects you; get involved now.

A special City Council meeting February 24, 2010, will be held at the library at 6 p.m. There are three items on the agenda for city council to consider and possibly take action:

1. Consider appointment of new members to the Planning and Zoning.

2. Consider closing the 400 block of Pecan Street for the grand opening of the Pioneer Museum on February 27, 2010.

3. Reconsider name change of Blanco Avenue to Ron Houston Avenue.

This will not be a long meeting, as a workshop will take place after City Council addresses the three agenda items. Give it a try and see how our city government works!

Mary Ann Millard

Blanco, TX