The following article was furnished by Sergio Garcia of the www.mesquitelion.com
3/14/09 - Rep. Robert Miklos gave his 4th Town Hall meeting with the citizens of Texas House District 101
On Saturday March 14th, Rep. Robert Miklos gave his 4th Town Hall meeting with the citizens of Texas House District 101 at the resource room of Town East mall . With over 50 people in attendance, including city officials from Balch Springs, Sunnyvale, and Mesquite.
Mesquite Mayor John Monaco opened with an introduction for Mr. Miklos. Mayor Monaco gave praise to the Representative for working hard for the city of Mesquite, and said that he feels that he can provide us with the tools that our city needs to succeed.
Miklos began by thanking all of those present. He assured them that his top priority is to communicate with the people of the District and to provide the tools needed for local leaders here at home to do what is best for their prospective cities.
“When I am in Austin, at my desk, on the floor, voting, I’m hearing what you have said in my ear.”
Miklos took a few minutes to give a brief review of some of the issues he has been focusing on during the session, including HB 1391, which would create a system to encourage Texans to install solar panels, and increasing penalties for AC thefts, as well as fighting for individual city's rights to decide on bringing Regional Rail to their communities. He then opened the floor for questions from the attendees, stating he was eager to hear what their concerns and ideas are, and how he could help here, and in Austin .
The first question from the front row of the roundtable style audience,was in direct opposition to one of the issues Miklos had said he was working for in Austin, Bringing Regional Rail to Mesquite thru HB 3341 which would allow municipalities to hold a local option election to create rail projects in their cities and gives cities control of the timetable and location of those projects. Mr. Stephen Moore of Mesquite, quizzed the Representative on the history of the issue, of which Mr. Miklos proved to be well informed. Mr. Moore questioned why the Representative felt it necessary to revisit the issue, or “put our foot in the door now” as he put it, (with HB 3341) when the issue had already been voted on in the past. The last time the issue was voted on in Mesquite was in 1986, 23 years ago.
Miklos advised the room that he was aware that the issue had been voted on in the past, but also said that the world has changed much since the issue was last voted on. Mayor Monaco entered into the discussion, taking point with Mr. Moore which became a rather heated exchange between the two. Mayor Monaco has been an advocate of late for bringing Rail to Mesquite, citing it as a goal in his recent State of the City address.
Rep. Miklos explained to Mr. Moore that the Bill he is co-authoring with Rep Marc Veasey (D-Ft Worth), is one that doesn't necessarily say we have to have Rail in Mesquite, but gives Mesquite as well as the other individual Cities the right to make the decisions on their own, not through the county. Miklos stated he is a strong proponent for bringing Rail to Mesquite because he feels "We are isolating ourselves as a community" and have suffered economically from not having Rail. Miklos cited the fact that he knocked on thousands of doors and one thing people all agreed on was they at least wanted to revisit the idea, to have the choice.
Attention then turned to a young gentleman who spoke up stating that he had previously sent a letter concerning the House Bill for legalization of Medical Marijuana (HB164). The young man said the response he received was not satisfactory and asked for further explanation from the Representative, of which Miklos readily provided, he stated that he was open to listening and giving him the opportunity to try to convince him of his point of view, but as of right now he was "not supporting that bill"
Miklos further explained
"As of now I am not convinced that there should be changes in the law. I believe there are other medications available that work just as well, so as of now, I support the law as it stands” There was one other man in the audience that added to the conversation coming from a like history in the prosecutor's office, reinforcing the claim that marijuana crimes are taking up too much room and money in our jail system. Miklos countered, citing his extensive history in the Prosecutor's office, as well as his personal stake as a father of 3 children in this community and added “The quickest way to devalue a community is to allow that kind of element to enter in, Businesses won't bring their businesses to your community, people won't move into neighborhoods where drugs and crime are present. Mayor Monaco, here in Mesquite, is doing an awesome job of keeping Mesquite one of the safest cities in Texas"
Miklos then turned to Mayor Monaco in the audience and vowed “ I’ve got your back down in Austin ” “I will not be supporting that bill.”
The last question taken was asking is there anything currently being done to make the penalties for driving under the influence more severe. Miklos answered, saying he has seen several bills, and there are a few he is closely looking at and agreed that it is an ongoing concern.
Miklos closed the meeting making note that the Chinese word for 'crisis' and 'opportunity' were one in the same, noting no doubt that during these trying times in our Nations History, there is also opportunity to be found.
As the meeting was breaking up, many citizens shared their thoughts about Mr. Miklos. " I think he is very open and straightforward, and makes himself accessible to his constituents" said Betty Haynes of Mesquite.
Throughout the afternoon it was a common thread that a lot of people had sent letters to Rep Miklos and were surprised he had not only responded but personally read them. Balch Springs Councilwoman Karen Grey said that "I was impressed that he handles letters personally, That shows concern for what the citizens want."
Miklos throughout the afternoon made countless calls for the public to make use of his local office at which he will meet with anyone and listen to ideas. Mesquite resident George Rangel says of the Representative "I appreciate the sincerity of Robert Miklos, he really is in tune with the issues of the community and is giving us the opportunity to take part and vote on legislation that is being forced on us."
Rep. Miklos will be holding his next Town Hall meeting at Eastfield College, tentatively set for March 28th
If anyone has further questions or comments for Rep. Miklos or would like more information on a particular issue. Please contact his District office at 210 W. Davis, Ste 101, Mesquite TX 75149 972-285-9270 fax 972-285-9267 or his District Director Sam Jones at Sam.Jones@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Mikos also maintains a website www.robertmiklos.com where citizens may sign-up for Robert's Report's e-mail updates