A painful promise for us to keep—supporting the city's $424 million bond package. But Garland absolutely must have it, so we support it.

Despite huge tax increases due to DCAD's reappraisals, we continue to support the city's bond election, however painful that's going to be for us.

Like many Garland property owners, I opened our letters from the Dallas County Tax Appraisal Office this year with much trepidation.

I knew tax appraisals would be going up. I was expecting ours to rise also. Neighbors living in nearby areas had told me horror stories about how high their reappraisals were last year. I also follow such trends very carefully in the public media.

Was I expecting to see the tax appraisal on our personal home nearly double in this year's tax reappraisal? No. Only in my nightmares. Fortunately, of course, we are both over 65, so our taxes for our personal residence are somewhat capped at a lower value.

Except for one commercial lot in central Garland (whose tax valuation, oddly, stayed the same), all our other Garland properties were up at least 50 percent; most were like our personal residence and up nearly double. Those taxes will go up immediately with no restraints whatsoever—no homestead exemptions, no over-65 exemptions, no legislative measures to protect us. Only one's personal home is eligible for exemptions and protections.

What this means in plain English is that our combined city, county, and school district tax bills will jump dramatically next year. I'm talking thousands of dollars, not nickels and dimes. Since I don't like to raise the rent for excellent tenants (which all of ours are, because we go to excessive lengths to maintain our properties), I'm now left with the choice between personally swallowing a huge tax increase or raising rents all the way around—or finding some middle ground in between.

And all this is occurring as Garland marches toward its upcoming $424-million bond election, which will raise our taxes even higher.

I tell you all this to simply say, the dramatic increase in our tax bills from the reappraisals has given us cause to look again at all the items on the $424-million bond proposal on the May 4 ballot.

After receiving their letters from DCAD this spring, friends and neighbors are also asking lots of questions and closely scrutinizing the bond proposal and how it will impact them, too. Politicians meanwhile are doing their usual: hiding behind (and pointing fingers at) DCAD and the huge tax hike it is handing all the governmental entities in our area—as if they have no control whatsoever over what is happening.

If everyone in town received the same steep property tax increases we did (which some already have and others eventually will), the city, county and school district will reap a huge windfall in new money for their coffers.

Will that windfall be enough to offset the need for the city's new bonds?

My answer is an emphatic "no"! Garland has so many needs right now, both the steep increase in taxes from the reappraisals and the tax increases from the bond proposals will not do all that is needed to get this city to where it needs to be. After 15 years of no new bond election and the city's foot-dragging and reluctance to spend all of the money approved in the 2004 bond election, our needs are legion. Remember, the citizens study committee on the bond listed more than $1.1-billion in needs. And that was not an exhaustive list but one pulled together somewhat in haste, with parks and libraries incomplete.

Will the windfall the city is reaping from the reappraisals be enough to reverse our personal support for the bond election? Dampen, perhaps, but not change our support for the new bonds!

Why? This question is not new for us to answer. We've been asked questions like this for decades ever since we opted to become "urban pioneers" in the traditionally historic residential part of downtown Garland. Even family members shook their heads and wondered aloud why we were staying put in "old" Garland, which they considered a dangerous and declining area like much of south Garland.

We live and see firsthand the neglect of streets, parks, and other aspects of the city.

We live and see the neglect of streets, parks and other aspects of the city daily. Potholes are only the tip of the iceberg of what needs to be addressed..

After all, anyone who knows us well is aware that we have multiple options and choices for where to live. Unlike some, we are not "stuck" in Garland. We can live just about wherever we please. Being a native Houstonian, that city always beckons, but re-settling in Houston is in third place next to southern Oklahoma, where my Chickasaw elder benefits would increase by living within traditional tribal boundaries. Arizona where we already own two properties is a strong fourth option. Those are only the most obvious choices.

Kay is not only a native Garlandite with deep roots here, we both love Garland, so this city for multiple reasons is the most logical choice for us.

In our pursuit of a free-enterprise redevelopment of our small portion of historic downtown, I've had to turn aside from two stockbrokers and two bankers who tried to convince me Garland is not worth the risk. We believe it is. But, truthfully, it has been painfully slower and more difficult than we ever thought it would be when we returned to my wife's hometown nearly 20 years ago to care for aging relatives and "retire" from active employment. By now, fast approaching 2020, we expected all of downtown Garland (bounded by Garland Road, Walnut, West Avenue D, and First Street) to be flourishing much more than it is now.

The slow change in downtown and the city's failure to crack down seriously on slum-like conditions including illegal drugs and apparent prostitution in our own neighborhood presented us with the challenge: either to stick our heads in the sand and suffer the consequences, move, or buy up surrounding properties. Our last acquisition required four dumpster loads and about $5,000 just to clean out the filth and muck. And an additional $5,500 to rewire that whole house, which Garland Code Endorsement and Building Inspections and every electrician that inspected the place said was a ticking time bomb for a raging fire that under the right conditions could have taken out our home too—and maybe our lives.

We will support the bond package because Garland needs every item on the bond issue if the city is to have any hope of keeping up with the rest of the northeast DFW suburbs, which are experiencing a dramatic explosion in growth and wealth. These are crucial days in which Garland must keep moving forward and not slip backward. Otherwise, we will continue to deal with the painful stereotype of being a poor and under-educated community. (Unfortunately those realities were well documented in the bond study committee's reports, particularly the frank, honest, and superior analysis by the city's Library Board. We've got to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and stop the pretense that everything is fine in Garland as is when indeed it is not. Then we have to pull together—ALL of us—to set the city on the right path forward to prosperity for ALL.

Kay and I are heavily invested financially, emotionally, mentally, and physically in Garland because we believe in this city and want to see it march forward into a brighter future. We've been wanting that for two decades now. If the city continues dragging its heels on fixing and upgrading its streets, parks, drainage, and other infrastructure as it has for the past 15 years, it may never recover. (And the lame excuse about "Oh, the Great Recession" isn't holding back other DFW Metroplex cities or other cities across the nation that suffered during that deep recession, which officially ended in June 2009, far worse than we did.)

The "surprises" here since we purchased our personal residence in downtown Garland in 1999 have been legion. To name just a few:

1. The slow redevelopment of the Central Downtown business area for the first decade we lived here was appalling.

2. The tendency of some city political leaders to put on Pollyanna, false faces instead of confronting reality has been discouraging.

3. The past immature turf-and-political-and-personality battles among the members of Garland city council, which has slowed redevelopment and added to Garland's poor image, have been majorly disappointing.

4. The failure of the city to plan on a grand scale like Plano and Frisco have (instead of in tiny baby steps like Garland tends to do) has seemed futile.

5. And the fickleness of some of our Garland banks and other financial institutions to commit to the cause of building a better Garland has been, well, frankly disgusting.

"It's not wise to buy so much real estate in such a small area," one area banker commented several years ago. We soon took our business elsewhere.

"Do you REALLY believe those businesses on the (Garland) Square are making any profit?" queried another banker, who acted as if he knew something I didn't. We sought another source with a firm commitment to downtown Garland for our banking needs.

"Diversify, diversify, diversity," screamed our former stockbrokers—eyeing what they thought was too much investment in Garland's historic downtown area.

More than a decade ago, one self-serving local stockbroker even did a hilarious "review" of our finances, showing only stocks and bonds as increasing in value—and the values of our personal home and other properties not only in Garland but elsewhere too—as well as foreseeing the rental income from them—staying static over the next 30 years.  He, too, soon was toast.

Yes, we do believe Garland is worth it! We prove it not only by our words but by our actions, too.

We have not lost faith in this community—though I will candidly admit that in my weaker moments, sometimes it has been tempting to hoist the white flag, admit this still isn't the community we hoped it would be and never can be, and move elsewhere. We still want a better community for ALL Garland citizens. We still believe it is possible. And we still intend to work toward that goal.

With next-door neighbor Richardson drawing more multi-billion-dollar, jobs-generating operations, Plano to our north and northwest expanding economically at eye-popping speeds, Rowlett to our east building rapidly and beautifully along its large shoreline, and Dallas' massive economic boom and expanding rejuvenation and renovation at what seems like the warp speed, the stakes for Garland have never been higher than they are right now.

At the same time we continue to believe Garland will never succeed until it comes to terms pragmatically with its vast racial, ethnic, and religious diversity. Finding a way to mobilize those resources each community brings to the table instead of running from them or creating a false facade utilizing a few representatives is a major key to Garland's future success.

So, yes, even though we personally are going to pay a stiff price for it (on top of the horrible increase in our property taxes already), Kay and I stand behind our statements earlier that we  support the bond proposals—every one of them.

At our house a promise made is a promise kept—even if it is a costly one. And we already know this one will be!

 

Paying city taxes will be more painful for us because of the reappraisals and the bond election, but we still support the city's $424 million bond proposal.

What do you hope Garland 100 years from now will be like? A key question posed in Saturday's musical; we ask that same question today.

(I was honored to be the emcee at the premiere showing of Becoming Garland Avenue at the Plaza Theater at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, as part of the Garland Heritage Celebration 2019. As my blog today, I am including my opening remarks because I want to invite readers to also send in their comments about what they would like Garland to be like 100 years from now and what they personally can do to set these wheels in motion now. A key moment in the musical was when Garland leaders in 1913 wondered what Garland residents 100 years hence would say about their actions in 1913. I plan to write a blog later about what Garlandites today say they would like to see the city to be like 100 years from now for their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Obviously, most of us will no longer be living then, but our legacies will live on.)
 
Good afternoon. I'm Louis Moore, president of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street, the 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization that is sponsoring this show.

Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've been waiting for.

That opening line from the popular musical, The Greatest Showman, that took the country by storm in recent history, is appropriate to begin our afternoon, because it was this very movie musical that inspired the birth of our musical drama, Becoming Garland Avenue, which you're about to see today.

Just the hint of an expression, "Why don't we produce a play about the early days of Garland?", brought this germ of an idea to life in the mind of our show's creator. Because, through the Greatest Showman, the musical-theater genre was being elevated in people's awareness about the time this idea was voiced, we knew that what we produced couldn't be just a play; it had to be a musical drama, because only music was suitable to express the depths of emotion that surrounded the lives and circumstances of the long-ago characters that we'll be visiting in just a few moments.

First though, I want to remind everyone that this is community theater. These are not Broadway actors but friends, neighbors, family members, people who are from Garland or who are connected to Garland in some way—people who have a love for this community and who believe that this story should be told. We have some individuals on stage that are highly experienced in musical theater and some for whom this is a first. So if a line or two is missed or you see a bobble or a wobble in presentation, just remember that it's a commitment to Garland that overrides our desire for performance perfection.

In the Plaza Theatre foyer before the performance of Becoming Garland Avenue noted Garland Daily News and Dallas Morning News columnist Sue Holmes Watkins, a symbol of dedication to Garland, stands beside her mother, Willie Kate Holford Holmes' Garland High School graduation dress, left, and wedding dress, right.

We want to take a moment to recognize the Garland Cultural Arts Commission that graciously listened to our story and appropriated a part of its 2018-2019 grant funds to partially fund this drama. Thank you, Garland Cultural Arts Commission, for believing in us and supporting this endeavor. If you are a Garland Cultural Arts Commission member in attendance today, please stand so we can thank you.

We also thank our sponsors, Karin Wiseman Collection, Dos Banderas Mexican Restaurant, The MillHouse Pizza, and Intrinsic for funding our lovely Play Companion this afternoon. I hope you read it carefully. It is chock full of interesting tidbits about our actors, their lives, and their commitment to our city. We encourage you to support these businesses by taking advantage of the discounts they offer to this audience.

We want to recognize the family that is remembered today in the dedication of our performance. Several members of the Holford/Holmes family are in attendance. Today we honor the memory of Bill Holmes, who passed away last year. We thank him for his support of the arts in Garland but most especially his support of Garland's Historic Magic 11th Street in the research that led to the area being named to the National Register of Historic Places. We, like countless others, wish Bill were here today to see his family members commemorated on stage in a few minutes. But we do want to recognize his widow, Jean Holmes, and Bill's sister, Sue Holmes Watkins, who are in the audience.  Bill, we miss you. Thank you for all you did for our city.

The Saturday, April 13, performance of Becoming Garland Avenue was dedicated to the late Bill Holmes, who supported the arts and historical preservation in Garland. His sister, Sue Holmes Watkins, is in red in the center; his widow, Jean Holmes, is to the left of Sue in the picture. Others shown are family members.

We also held a contest to see which of our ticketholders would come in costume reflecting the era of our show, 1912-1913. By the way, this musical takes place in the same era as Music Man, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof and many other prominent Broadway hits. Thanks to all who dressed according to the time period!

We have Karin Wiseman of Karin Wiseman Collections, the fabulous new store just to the southwest of us in downtown Garland, here to help me announce the winners. Karin has been roaming about, looking you over, and she has made her decision. May I have the envelope, please?

Winning the first-place award, a one-night stay at the luxury The Artesian Hotel in Sulphur, OK, is District 2 Councilmember Deborah Snyder Morris. We appreciate so much Deborah’s support of this performance, signified by her presence and outfit.

Winning the second-place award, this lovely gift basket from Bedré Gourmet Chocolates, is Zaden Roman, this precious young man sitting on the front row.

We thank The Artesian Hotel and Bedré  Gourmet Chocolates for their support of our event today and their desire to help Garland citizens to appreciate their history. By the way, four members of the cast are citizens of the Chickasaw Nation, which owns the Artesian and Bedré.

One more word: we do hope you'll take time to interact with the play and fill out the card that's part of your Play Companion this afternoon. As we make our way through the drama, you'll see why you're being asked this question. We will take these cards and compile the results and post them on the Facebook page, "Becoming Garland Avenue Musical Drama". We think you'll have plenty of ideas after this musical ends. A volunteer carrying a basket will be in the lobby collecting these cards. We are interested in what you say about the future of our city and encourage everyone here to fill out one of these forms.

If you don't have a pen or pencil with you, fill this out when you get home. Be contemporary. Take a snapshot of it, and post it on the Becoming Garland Avenue Facebook page. (Or send it as an email to louismoore@yahoo.com).

I also want to note that while this is a musical about one particular era in Garland history and one particular residential expansion and its connection to what was going on in that day in the city, the state, and the country, Garland history is filled with many people, places, and events that also would make for great theater and a great script. We hope this musical will inspire others to likewise learn more about our city, its neighborhoods, its people, and its amazing history.

I want to leave you with one inspirational thought. The more than 60 people who pulled together with the common cause of presenting this musical for you—as actors, support staff, and volunteers—have grown to be like a family. We've eaten many dinners together in each other's homes, we've practiced in each other's living rooms and music rooms. My home office, in fact, became the first location for costuming our characters. We've laughed, sung, studied, and teased each other in playful ways. And some have cried quietly on each other's shoulders. When someone has been down, we've been there to lift each other up. Truly this has been the essence of community.

We hope this will be a reminder of the strong shoulders from the past—people who helped build for us the solid foundations on which our city rests today—and an awareness that a century from now others will look back on us and wonder about our decisions made in this era that will impact them then.

*******

And now, ladies and gents, this indeed is the moment you've been waiting for. Enjoy the show!

Louis Moore asks the audience at Becoming Garland Avenue to fill out the card about what they would like Garland to be like 100 years from now.