TOWN TALK | City Hall celebrates, gets ready for more progress

As Mayor Brandy Flanagan puts it, sometimes a community needs ‘momma’ to get everyone in line.
That was one of the closing quips Thursday night as council members updated residents on local progress and the plans ahead during their second Town Hall in six months.
Personnel at City Hall are pulling together with people throughout the community to move the city forward together, Flanagan told the crowd of about 60 visitors and city staffers Jan. 30 at the Gladewater Former Students Building.
“It is a total team effort,” she said. “We are blessed that with the team that we have, and I hope that the citizens are starting to recognize it as well.”
That team is growing, Flanagan added, as locals step into volunteer roles: “We have really been thrilled with citizens wanting to get plugged in.”
The evening was largely a rundown of city achievements the past year – from fixing scores of leaks to upgrading 2,000 feet of waterlines, enhancing road infrastructure, prepping the airport for improvement to getting the Lake Gladewater Dam in full compliance and ready for grant-funded repairs.
“It’s when we work together that we’re able to see bigger changes,” Flanagan said.
The evening also saw the council members fielding residents’ questions, concerns and complaints, from the evergreen pothole problem to parking, curfews, vandalism and finding a balance between a community primed to draw outside commerce while also ensuring local business thrives.
“If there’s a business of that stature that wants to come to Gladewater, we should be celebrating. We’re still gonna support our local businesses,” Flanagan said. “We either get business growth or we get home developments or we have to go up on taxes…
“The growth is coming, we need to prepare for it and guide it or it’s going to overtake and sink us.”
City Hall is open to residents, she reminded the crowd, ready to hear their concerns. That’s what it’s there for.
“Call them and talk to them about your issues. We know that there are a lot of issues but we are committed to sitting here and developing strategies for fixing them.”