Feb. 19: Paul Martinez; Nicholas Raby
Feb. 21: Kindall Mitte
Feb. 22: Allyson Luna; Brooke Young; Christopher Parlicek
Feb. 23: Carmine Gibson; Gene Boerm; Paige Satterfield; Bobby Perez
Feb. 24: Bao L. Tran; Billy Ragusin
Feb. 25: Tabitha Gonzales; Steve McManus; Melissa Rivera; Jasmine Gordon
Feb. 26: Michael Medford; Mark Stoddard
Feb. 27: Bill Satterfield
Feb. 28: Josie Covarrubias; Stewart Valigura; Maason Luckey
Feb. 29: Angie Z.
March 1: Juan Castro; Coy Lewis; Henry Anderson
March 2: Bert Haynes
March 3: Elizabeth M. Edwards; Travis Mapp; Henry Truett
March 4: Rebecca Lovett; Jimmy Crouch; Marcos Gohlke
March 5: Jessica K. Young; Zachary Taylor
March 6: Betty Hart
March 7: Grady Jean Clark; Tim Cobb
March 8: Jessica Trevino; Amanda Lento; Belinda Tigrett
March 9: Bridget Raby; Jerome Preslar, Jr.; Mikaela Overton
March 10: John Michael Clifton II, Brenda Smith; Poke Wilkinson
March 11: Lamar Wilkinson
March 12: Daisy Lee Arnold
March 13: Duyen T. Nguyen
March 14: Mark Pendergrass Jr.; Cameron Manuel; Zackary D. Wittnebert
March 15: Gayle Wilson
March 16: Samantha D. Daniel; Kelli Stryker; Cameron Wisenant; Susie Onishi
March 17: Kelly Ryan; Pat Garner
March 18: Randall McLemore; Thomas Skalak; Stefani Spears

Week ending January 15: PreK- Cristian Ruiz; K- Jonathan Grifaldo & Riley Dworaczyk; 1st- Lorena Torres & Hunter McGill; 2nd- Mia Morales & Jeremiah Mayorga; 3rd- Caden Clendennen & Mrs. Petrisky; 4th- Trinity Morgan & BreAnn Kelley; 5th- Deandre Moreno & Ayden Madduz Junior High: Henderson- Spencer Allen; Cady- Malachi Arriaga; Parnell- Aubrey Moore; Anderson- Cassie Perez Vallejo; Sternadel- Evan Clifton; Charnetski- Mrs. Braun; Lillge- Mrs. R.

Week ending January 22: PreK- Janie Pendergrass; K- Brylie Penney & Izabella Chatham; 1st- Alexis Green & Matilyn Gibson; 2nd- Logyn Middaugh & Christina Ragusin; 3rd- Jasmine Banda & Derrick Youngblood; 4th- Rhiannon James & Mr. Anderson; 5th- Zayda Estrada & McKenzie Bierschwale Junior High: Henderson- Mrs. Cady; Cady- Sierra Callaway; Parnell- Jasmine Dodson; Anderson- Julissa Banda; Sternadel- Irvin Vazquez; Charnetski- Keegan Brumfield; Lillge- Rebecca Mendez

Week ending January 29: PreK- Payten Rivera; K- Christopher Barcenas & Anna Nguyen; 1st- Brice Petrisky & Kendell Cady; 2nd- Layla Myers & Kevin Turner; 3rd- Francis Hoang & Destiny Starkweather; 4th- Rhiannon James & Sydney Rasmussen; 5th- Marisol Vallejo & Jacob Nguyen Junior High: Henderson- Keegan Brumfield; Cady- Fernie Mendez; Parnell- Canion Epley; Anderson- Adrian Munoz; Sternadel- Nataly Rodriguez; Charnetski- Amber Rodriguez; Lillge- Jasine Doston

Week ending February 5: PreK- Penny Wolf; K- Kea Tovar & Alyannah Briol; 1st- Amaya Stringo & Rylynn Green; 2nd- Kingston Cady & Emma Lancaster; 3rd- Briley Christensen & Braylyn Galloway; 4th- BreAnn Kelley & Athyn Moreales; 5th- Keaton Cady & Kathy Huerta Junior High: Henderson- Katy Frazier; Cady- Mrs. Caldwell; Parnell- Brianna Lashley; Anderson- Skye Click; Sternadel- Avery Flood; Charnetski- Brenda Ledesma; Lillge- Jada Dean

Week ending February 12: PreK- Chance Floyd; K- Jonathan Grifaldo & Marcus Moncrief; 1st- Aspen Crittenden & Briley Clark; 2nd- Cadynce Gonzales & Jada Dean; 3rd- Sabrina Nguyen & Natalie Hunt; 4th- Jonathan Nguyen & Lydia Cowan; 5th- Tim Pham & Isabella Arriaga Junior High: Henderson- Shelby Cady; Cady- Kris Salinas; Parnell- Liliana Torres; Anderson- Maritza Jaramillo; Sternadel- Scott Esch; Charnetski- Lydia Cowan; Lillge- Ayden Maddux

Week ending January 15: PreK- Addilynn Ruddick; K- Abygail Gonzales; 1st- Landon Jones; 2nd- Luke Doggett; 3rd- Jackie Gutierrez; 4th- Sergio Sanchez; 5th- Gage Spencer

Week ending January 22:  PreK- Riley Pagel; K- Laela Aranda; 1st- Connor Ferrell; 2nd- Byron Ferrell; 3rd- Keegan Short; 4th- Kyle Doggett; 5th- Leah Lucey

Week ending January 29:  PreK- Jakob Donaldson; K- Audrey Rhoads; 1st- Kyndra Carriles; 2nd- Cole Spicak; 3rd- Aiden McClelland; 4th- Aislin Guzman; 5th- Elizabeth Carriles

Week ending February 5:  PreK- Avery Gosnell; K- Landy Resendiz; 1st- Gracie O’Shields; 2nd- Kamyla Guzman; 3rd- Hagen Rhoads; 4th- Ayden Brown; 5th- Damian Guzman

Week ending February 12:  PreK- Marcos Blanco; K- Christian Gutierrrez; 1st- Adamariz Zuniga; 2nd- Anthony Flores; 3rd- Maddix Delgado; 4th- Blake Bundrick; 5th- Ashton Fowler-Albrecht

AA meets each Saturday night at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Port O’Connor.
Seadrift Chamber of Commerce meets the third Thursday of each month, 6:00 p.m. at First National Bank meeting room, Seadrift
Commissioner’s Court meets the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month at 10 a.m., 1st Floor of the Court House, Port Lavaca.
Crossroads Astronomy Club meets at 7:00 p.m., third Mondays, at U of H, Victoria, Room 223 info: wes81461@yahoo.com   935-2016
Calhoun County Quilt Guild meets the first Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at the Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.
Calhoun County Democratic Club meets the last Thursday of the month at CASA (Christians Against Substance Abuse) meets each Thursday from 7-8 p.m. Call 361-652-7451 for meeting place.
First Baptist Youth Group (Port O’Connor) meets every Wednesday night from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Grades 6th – 12th; Team Kids Grades 1-5
Friday Night Youth meets each Friday, except the first of the month, at Fisherman’s Chapel, Port O’Connor, 7-10 pm
Port O’Connor Cemetery Association meets 3rd Thursday of each month at POC Community Center
Ladies Bible & Book Study is held every Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Port O’Connor
VFW Post 4403 meets first Tuesday of each month. 552-3886
Open Mon-Friday; Closed Weekends R. Guitierrez 210-872-1198

Sat., Feb. 20    Abandoned Crab Trap Removal 8:00-12:00    POC TPWD Docks
Sat. Feb. 20    Game & Puzzle Day 10:00 am        Port O’Connor Library
Thurs., Feb. 25    Winter Lecture (Sea Beans) 1:00-2:00        Port O’Connor Community Center
Sat., Feb. 27    Republican Candidate Coffee/Forum 9:00 am        Port O’Connor Community Center
Feb. 26-27    Children’s B.I.G. Event  Fisherman’s Chapel, Port O’Connor, 361-648-4622
Sat., Feb. 27    Movie “The Good Dinosaur” 10:00 am        Port O’Connor Library
Tues., March 1    Primary Elections
Tues., March 1    Seadrift City Council 7:00 pm        Seadrift City Hall
Tues., March 1    Bunco 7:00 pm        Port O’Connor Community Center
Mon., March 7    Financial Course begins at First Methodist, Seadrift 7:00 p.m.        Info: 361-920-1743 or lionpeggyg@gmail.com
March 14-18    Seadrift Spring Clean Up

Dedication and Diligence Required to Govern a Small Town

Seadrift Mayor Elmer DeForest

Known locally as a hard-working man who puts in long hours, Seadrift’s Mayor Elmer DeForest will have served four two-year terms as Mayor come May, 2016. He came into office in June, 2008, inheriting the problems of a small community with a crumbling infrastructure and ever-increasing crime – the problems common to small cities with low tax bases and few funds. Mayor DeForest set about to try and turn the tide on these problems.

In 2008-2009, there were 29 burglaries and thefts reported, in addition to many other types of crimes. Many streets were, and some still are, beyond simple repair, along with many drainage issues requiring extensive work. The street budget at the end of fiscal year 2008 was $56,000.00.

Dealing with aging and deteriorating water and sewer systems is a big problem within itself, much less the maintenance needed to keep the water and sewer pumps, motors, electronics and process controls in operation. At the end of fiscal year 2008, the electrical cost for operating the water and sewer systems was $84,000.00.

It would seem that the Mayor’s task was daunting. It took a little while for Mayor DeForest to become more knowledgeable of the problems and issues and the systems the City was using. In 2009, Mayor DeForest appointed Councilman Wesley Hunt to head the Public Safety Department. Wesley had law enforcement experience and the Mayor’s instructions were simple to Wesley, “Fix it.” Over time, with increased police patrols, drug arrests, instructing officers to be trained in investigations and drug interdictions, the following year only one burglary was reported. In addition to solving the one, many previous burglaries were solved.

Mayor DeForest went to work researching grants that could help the City. While working late one evening on the computers at City Hall, a councilman asked the Mayor, “Do you ever take a break?” Mayor DeForest stated, “I shake every bush and tree to see what falls out for our community. Sometimes we hit home runs and sometimes we strike out.”

During his time, Mayor DeForest, working with City Council and other agencies, has increased the pace of replacing water and sewer lines, cleaning and digging drainage ditches, replacing plugged and collapsed culverts and rebuilding some streets within the limited budgets. The street and drainage budget has grown from $56,000 in 2008 to a total of approximately $500,000 spent on streets and drainage through 2015.

Working with grant writers, the City received two separate grants for wind turbines. The first was placed at the waste-water treatment plant, resulting in a reduction in electrical consumption. Later, a different wind turbine was acquired for the water system. The current 2015-2016 fiscal year, the budgeted amount for electrical consumption is $53,000, compared to $84,000 in 2008. The City created a Utility Contingency Fund shortly after the first wind turbine began operation. The electrical savings created from both turbines are deposited in the Utility Contingency Fund each month.

But the work is never done, says the Mayor, with plans to put asphalt caps on the streets that have been rebuilt, continue working on other street and drainage projects, adding water and sewer lines so lots can become developed, thus improving the tax base. The current challenge and the biggest budget item is to continue to improve drainage in certain areas of the City.

The City has only so much money to work with and can’t spend what it doesn’t have. When Mayor DeForest came into office, the City was operating in the red by the time August and September came around during each budget year (ending September 30). Before the fiscal year ended on September 30, 2008, Mayor DeForest implemented a spending freeze and only salaries and the bare minimum of expenses could be paid. It also required the Mayor and the Council persons over the departments to approve and the Council to authorize the Mayor to borrow money from the Contingency Fund the needed amounts to keep the city in operation. The Mayor stipulated that all borrowed funds be paid back, with interest, back into the Contingency Fund.

With tighter controls, the City began operating with a surplus at the end of each fiscal year beginning in 2011, with no need to borrow needed operating funds since then. The City still must be careful, as funding can be precarious and fickle. The Mayor shared that he had contemplated temporarily reducing manpower and cutting back City Hall hours by the end of August, 2008 due to the funding shortfall. Thankfully, he didn’t have to.

To be an effective Mayor in today’s world, one must keep abreast of the latest State Legislature changes and laws, be able to budget and foresee problems that may come up over the course of a fiscal year, and be able to adapt accordingly. Budget workshops and hearings can sometimes be long and tedious, requiring hours of number-crunching, and working with Council members to set priorities of where work needs to be done, versus funding availability.

Mayor DeForest has brought more accountability and transparency to the City of Seadrift under his administration. It was once stated at a workshop meeting that there are now so many line items and it’s a lot to read. The Mayor’s response was, “That’s called transparency and accountability.”

Mayor DeForest appoints Council members over areas of the community in an effort to help solve problems and oversee their areas. Currently there are Council member Rainer Brigham over Public Safety, Geoff Hunt over Streets and Drainage, Peggy Gaines over Parks, Recreation and Historical, Buddy Cross over Harbors and Waterways, and June Cantrell over Public Utilities.

As Seadrift looks to the future, Mayor DeForest wants to have a hand in helping lead the City move into an era of growth that appears to be beginning, whether we want it to or not, meaning the type of growth that normally accompanies communities located on bays, lakes, etc. On the horizon, there are potential opportunities developing in and around the City for the City to take advantage of to enhance its position. At the same time, the City is confronted with the issue of a continuously aging infrastructure that must be dealt with sooner, rather than later. Some infrastructure issues in the water and sewer systems, to remain compliant with State and Federal environmental mandates, will need to be dealt with and will require some tough decisions by the Mayor and Council within the next two years.

With its fine school, churches, and businesses, Seadrift is a great opportunity to invest, retire, or raise a family.