Future of Mesquite

No one is a greater advocate of the many wonderful blessings Mesquite, Texas has to offer! No one is more proud to have grown up in Mesquite than myself. No one is more happy to pastor a church and run a business and raise a family in Mesquite than myself. We have one of the most involved and active mayors of our city's history in John Monaco and I was proud to support his reelection this last spring. We have a very talented and capable city staff and some of the best teachers in Texas working within MISD.

But make no mistake: We do have real problems and challenges in Mesquite!

We are struggling to have more activities and places to go for families that have small and pre-teen children. We have a greater crime situation than I think we'd like to really embrace and accept. We have many infrastructure deterioration problems in our older neighborhoods--with old sewers, water pipes, streets, sidewalks and more simply wearing out after many years of use. And yet, more and more of our citizens who would help pay for such infrastructure overhauls with their local tax dollars keep moving to new communities. We have more and more Section 8 residents who unfortunately do not all appreciate being able to live in our city and they cause a lot of problems! And we have many unemployed neighbors who desperately need work--even a part time job!

These are all big issues. What do we do?

First we have a "Can Do" attitude! A very wise man once told me that our "Attitude determines our altitude!" We need to have an attitude that says "We are still a great city and we are going to overcome our struggles and challenges with God's help and we will prevail!"

Second, we must actually recognize and be willing to admit we have real problems and challenges and not try to gloss them over or point to other positives instead. The book "Good To Great" teaches us that one of the critical areas of success for great CEOs who transform companies for the better--is the ability to recognize the reality of a situation and deal with it just as it is!

Lastly, WE HAVE TO ACT! And when I say act--WE CANNOT SIMPLY RELY ON THE GOVERNMENT TO FIX EVERYTHING! We don't have enough tax dollars to pay for the vast resources it would take to really address every issue impactfully. But we do have many citizens in every neighborhood who can stand up and say "This is my neighborhood and I will no longer be ok with the status quo." And then more and more citizens begin to partner with local government and things really begin to change slowly but surely!

And with such action--we will need future elected leaders willing to take bold and sometimes uncomfortable stands to deal with difficult problems!

And of course, we need to keep praying for our city! For prayer is powerful! And of course, do a lot more "Loving Thy Neighbor!"

These are not all nicely, laid out plans. But they are a start. Let us begin!

Bruce Archer