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| All About De Leon | P & M Festival | D. H. S. | Toward 2000 |
The Texas Rural Development Council (TRDC) has provided a resource team to assist the City of De Leon in evaluating the community's assets and liabilities and in developing suggestions for improving the environment, perception, and economic future of the De Leon.
The City of De Leon requested a community assessment from the Texas Rural Development Council and preliminary calls were made between Ronnie Boston, RC&D Coordinator with Leon-Bosque RC&D; Cheryl Hinckley, Executive Director, TRDC; and Frances Pelley, Texoma Council of Governments, and Chair for the TRDC Resource Teams. This group laid out the parameters of the process and gained commitment from the City of De Leon to see the process through to completion. Resource Team members were then selected to visit De Leon; interview citizens, business and community leaders; and develop a plan of recommended action for the city. The team members were carefully selected based on the fields of expertise that De Leon officials indicated would be needed to respond to the problem areas identified.
The Resource Team toured the city and interviewed 173 individuals over a three-and-one-half day period from April 29 through May 2, 1997. The team interviewed representatives from the following segments of the De Leon community: Agriculture, City and County Government; Youth; Senior Citizens; Civic Clubs; Business and Retail; Education; Banking and Finance; Health Care, and Utilities. Each participant was asked to respond to four questions designed to begin communication and discussion, and to serve as a basis for developing the action plan.
Upon completion of the interviews, the team met to compare notes and to share comments following the three days of intense study. The team then agreed that each team member would carefully analyze the things said, synthesize what they heard with their knowledge of program and resources, prepare their notes and suggestions, and forward these items to be combined into TRDC's final report to De Leon.
The oral report was presented to the people of De Leon May 2, 1997. Cheryl Hinckley, Mark Freeman, Ronnie Boston, Tom Johnson, Pat Butler, and Ruby Perez represented the team, and many of the citizens of De Leon who participated in the interviews were in attendance. More importantly, many who were not a part of the interview process were present to hear the comments and recommendations.
Following the oral report, a formal written report was prepared and presented to the De Leon Chamber of Commerce. It was agreed that the Chamber would print copies or summaries for each person interviewed and provide 10 copies to the Texas Rural Development Council.
