The meeting will take place in the City Hall Council Chambers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday,
December 3, 2009.

For further information, please contact Director of Community Development Noah A. Simon, at 972-564-7386 or via email at nsimon@cityofforney.org

PDF of map below

historicoverlay

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Forney Police Department is pleased to announce the promotion of two new Sergeants. Friday October 30, 2009 Chief Barnes announced the promotion of Patrol Officer M. Hopkins and Patrol Officer T. Eudy to be Forney Police Department s newest patrol sergeants. The officers have studied, tested and were a part of an oral review board prior to the promotion.

Sgt. M. Hopkins joined Forney Police Department in 1999 as a reserve for the department and later in 2001 became a full time officer for the agency. During his tenure with the department he has been a member of the Forney SWAT team and in 2004 became a Field Training Officer for patrol new hires.
Sgt. T. Eudy was appointed as a patrol officer to the Forney Police Department October 2004. In the past 5 years Sgt. Eudy has become and involved member of the Forney SWAT team and is also a Field Training Officer for patrol new hires.

The Forney Police Department would like to commend them on their achievements, and look forward to their continued leadership for the citizens of Forney.

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Each member is required to attend a thirteen week Citizens Police Academy training course and also attend an eight hour citizens on patrol course outlining the limitations and the responsibilities of the volunteers.
Sheriff David Byrnes stressed to each graduate how important their volunteer efforts are.

The National Association for Citizens on Patrol was founded in 1999 and each individual association is manned by volunteers. These volunteers patrol their community looking for suspicious activity, aid stranded motorists, and most importantly increase the level of comfort for those who see the extra units on the streets.
Sheriff Byrnes also presented the Travis Ranch Citizens on Patrol group with a retired Kaufman County Sheriff’s squad car to be used in the patrolling of neighborhoods in the Travis Ranch addition.

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According to Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office reports, over this past weekend almost all areas in Kaufman County were phone phished by scammers attempting to obtain confidential information from area residents. Scammers represented themselves as representatives from a local bank, calling residents with a pre-recorded message warning of account suspension and seeking pin codes and confidential information. Some residents also received calls and texts asking them to reset their debit card pin numbers.

“If you received one of these calls and provided the information, please contact your area local bank as soon as possible,” said Pat Laney, public information officers for the sheriff’s office.

According to Laney, phishing (pronounced “fishing”) is exactly what thieves are doing.

“They are fishing for any type of personal financial information,” Laney explained. “Phishing scams take many forms. It can be an email, a telephone message to your home or cell phone and even a cell phone text message. These scammers will use various ways to contact you, phishing for one thing- your personal information.”

To help county residents from falling victim to such scams, KSO is offering the following tips:
-Never provide your personal information to an unsolicited email, telephone call or a text message. Remember, if you did not initiate the call, text or email, do not give out any personal information.
-If you believe that it may be a legitimate telephone call or email, visit or contact the institution directly, by using a telephone number or web site you have verified yourself. Verify those numbers through published numbers found in a telephone directory or on a web site. A monthly statement, such as your bank statement, is another source for verifying legitimate telephone numbers and websites.
-Never provide your password or PIN number over the telephone or when replying to an unsolicited email or text message. Institutions, especially financial institutions, will never ask you to verify any account or personal information online, over the telephone or through a text message.
-Review your account statements regularly. Checking your accounts through an online Internet banking program gives you the ability to view your accounts on a daily basis to catch any suspicious activity, rather than waiting for your monthly statement.
-Do not be intimidated by an email, caller or text message. Be suspicious of an email, caller or text message suggesting that if you do not respond immediately with account information or verify account information, your account will be in jeopardy.
-If you receive a suspicious email, text or telephone call, report it to the business or institution immediately. If it is an email, forward the email to the business or institution. Provide the fraudulent telephone number that you have been directed to contact, if you received a text message or telephone call.
-Report all suspicious contacts to the Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT.

According to Laney, residents who suspect they have fallen prey to a phishing scam should contact their personal banking institution immediately.

“If you disclosed any personal or confidential information in a phishing scam, contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your file,” Laney added. “This will prevent the scammers from opening new accounts in your name.”

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AUSTIN – MSNBC.com and Moody’s Economy have announced that the Austin-Round Rock, Brownsville-Harlingen, Dallas-Plano-Irving, El Paso, Lubbock, McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr and San Antonio areas are among the first in the nation to move from recession into recovery, indicating that their economies have grown over the past six months.

The announcement is based on MSNBC and Moody’s Adversity Index, which uses data on employment, industrial production, housing starts and home prices to place each state or metro area in one of four categories: expanding, at risk of recession, in recession or recovering. This is the first month this year that any U.S. metro area has moved from in recession into recovery.

Additionally, CNN Money has ranked Texas as one of the Top Five Best States to Launch a Business thanks to our reasonable tax structure and incentive funds such as the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. The article also credited the franchise tax exemption, passed at Gov. Perry’s direction during the 81st Legislative Session, with fostering growth in small businesses in the state. Texas is the only large state to be ranked.

To view the MSNBC and Moody’s ranking, please visit
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33312701/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/

To view CNN Money’s ranking, please visit
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/smallbusiness/0910/gallery.best_places_tax_havens.smb/2.html

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District 4 State Representative Betty Brown will visit Warren Middle School on Wednesday, Oct. 21 to present a U.S. Flag to the school. The flag was flown over the State Capital in Austin, Texas earlier this year.

Representative Brown is scheduled to be at Warren Middle School at approximately 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21 to present the flag to the staff and students.

For more information about the presentation, contact Lester Stewart, Warren Middle School Student Council Sponsor at lester.stewart@forneyisd.net or by phone at 469-762-4156.

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Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today took legal action to defend the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) from a legal challenge to its constitutionality. Former Alpine city council members Avinash Rangra and Anna Monclova have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of penalties that TOMA imposes on government officials who violate open meetings laws. On September 24, Solicitor General James Ho will defend the law during an oral argument before the full 17-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

In February 2005, Rangra was indicted for violating TOMA. According to local prosecutors, Rangra sent e-mails to a quorum of the Alpine City Council. Because those e-mails discussed official government business, Rangra was charged with conducting an illegal, closed meeting. The charge was later dropped. However, Rangra and Monclova subsequently challenged TOMA in federal court, claiming the law violates the First Amendment. Their lawsuit sought an injunction preventing TOMA’s enforcement. The federal district court rejected the lawsuit, but a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit later sent the case back to the trial court to review TOMA under a stricter standard of review. In response, Attorney General Abbott asked the Fifth Circuit court to accept the case for rehearing before the entire court.

Click to read the Attorney General’s Brief

In a brief that was filed today, the Attorney General argues that TOMA furthers, rather than frustrates, fundamental First Amendment values. “Elected officials work for the people. They do not have a First Amendment right against the very people they serve. They suffer no actionable First Amendment injury from being required to conduct public business in public, rather than in secret, to the exclusion of the voters who elected them to office in the first place,” the brief states. “In short, open meeting laws expand, not suppress, communication. Such laws do not limit public discourse—they broaden it. … Open government is precisely what the First Amendment envisions, not condemns.”

The Attorney General’s brief also argues: “Like virtually every open meeting law across the country, . . . the Texas Open Meetings Act is based on a simple premise: Because the decisions of governmental bodies are made not on behalf of the members themselves, but on behalf of the people they serve, the people have a right to view the decision-making process.”

In addition to defending TOMA’s constitutionality, the brief argues that the court should dismiss the case because it is moot. The brief argues that Rangra and Monclova lack standing in the case because they are no longer city council members and, as a result, are no longer subject to the act’s penalties.

To learn more about the Office of the Attorney General’s efforts to ensure openness in government, visit the agency’s Web site at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov.

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Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today took legal action to recover $4.6 million that a bankrupt “debt settlement” company wrongly withheld from its clients in Texas and other states.

In June, Debt Relief USA Inc. of Addison filed for bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Texas. As a result, more than 2,500 financially distressed customers did not receive the debt relief they were promised. In fact, debtors’ problems were exacerbated by the bankruptcy because some of Debt Relief USA’s clients received no assistance and are now being pursued by collection companies.

According to investigators with the Office of the Attorney General, Debt Relief USA targeted individuals with thousands of dollars in unsecured debt, promising customers it would render them “debt-free in as little as 36 months.”

Under Debt Relief USA’s model, debtors stop paying their debts in order to save the money they would have paid creditors over time. Instead, they paid monthly installments to Debt Relief USA, which promised to later negotiate discounted pay-offs with creditors.

However, investigators indicate that Debt Relief USA assessed an “administration fee” of about 8 percent of each customer’s total debt, as well as monthly “maintenance fees” of up to $40. If the company successfully settled a debt, it then charged a “negotiation fee” of 13 percent of the amount of debt saved.

According to court documents the state filed with the bankruptcy court, Debt Relief USA collected “set-aside” funds from its customers. However, the Texas Finance Code prohibits set-aside funds unless a company is licensed or registered and has posted a bond with the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner. Debt Relief USA failed to meet the legally mandated registration and bond requirements. As a result, the Attorney General has filed a proof of claim in the bankruptcy case seeking restitution for financially harmed debtors and the return of any fees paid to Debt Relief USA by current or former clients.

In addition, the Office of the Attorney General moved to protect the defendant’s clients’ privacy by successfully arguing that their names and confidential information be removed from the public record. Further, the Attorney General successfully moved to have the bankruptcy case converted from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation with a neutral trustee appointed by the court. The trustee’s duties will include liquidating the debtor and paying claims to creditors.

Investigators with the Office of the Attorney General found that Debt Relief USA often never contacted creditors on behalf of their “clients,” which ultimately damaged its customers’ credit reports and even led to debt collection lawsuits by creditors. Debt Relief USA customers risked the ongoing accruals of late fees, interest, over-limit charges and other fees associated with the creditor’s account. Therefore, even in the event of a settlement, customers often owed significantly more on their accounts, which reduced their overall debt settlement savings. In addition, any savings realized under a settlement would be subject to taxation, since these are considered “income.”

In addition to restitution, the Attorney General seeks civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as attorneys’ fees.

Texans who believe they have been deceived by similar fraudulent business practices may call the Office of the Attorney General’s toll-free complaint line at (800) 252-8011 or file a complaint online at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov.

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The number of employed Texans remained relatively steady in July, however the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in July due to the number of people entering the workforce. Last month, the Texas labor force totaled more than 12 million people for the first time. The Texas unemployment rate is up from 7.5 percent in June. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July stood at 9.4 percent.

“The national economic recession continued to have an adverse impact on the Texas economy. Nonetheless, the Texas unemployment rate remained well below the national rate, and there were signs of positive growth in certain industries,” said Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Chairman Tom Pauken.

Texas employers recorded broad-based job gains in seven of eleven industries in July regaining some of the lost ground from earlier in the year. Professional and Business Services jumped by 18,700 jobs in July for the third monthly increase this year. Education and Health Services employment grew by 14,400 positions in July, bringing the industry’s total job growth to 63,800 jobs since July 2008.

“At more than 12 million workers, the Texas labor force is larger than ever,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Ronny Congleton. “TWC is here to help those joining the labor force with work search assistance, skills training and other services.”

Construction posted a job gain in July of 3,000 jobs after several months of job losses. Leisure and Hospitality employment increased 2,800 positions in July bringing the annual job growth to 14,300 positions. Financial Activities employment increased by 1,800 jobs in July marking the third month of job growth.

“Although the Texas unemployment rate was up in July, Texas continued to trend well below the national unemployment rate of 9.4 percent,” said TWC Commissioner Representing the Public Andres Alcantar. “Job growth in many industries in July provided job opportunities for those entering the labor force.”

The Amarillo Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) experienced the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 5.8 percent (not seasonally adjusted) followed by the Lubbock MSA with 6.1 percent and the Midland MSA with 6.3 percent.

This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com

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Gov. Rick Perry today, along with Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Commissioner David Lakey, Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, highlighted the state’s preparedness efforts in advance of the anticipated H1N1 flu season.

“Texas’ effort to deal with the H1N1 virus is robust and we are more prepared than ever to handle the challenge with more anti-viral medication in stock, more state and local coordination and more science to battle H1N1,” Gov. Perry said. “With the new school year beginning in most communities today, it’s a good time to remind Texans that frequent hand-washing, good hygiene and staying home if you’re sick can fight the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.”

As a proactive measure, in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today, Gov. Perry requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide an additional 25 percent, which is approximately 800,000 courses, of Texas’ allotment of antiviral medications from the Strategic National Stockpile. He also sent a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano requesting that the federal government allow a pandemic to be eligible for a major disaster declaration.

Texas currently has 2.5 million courses of antiviral medication prepositioned in the state, including the state’s previous 25 percent allotment from the Strategic National Stockpile and an additional 805,000 courses purchased with funding from the 81st Legislature.

“Although this flu season will be a challenge, it can be effectively managed. The good news is that, although this virus has rapidly spread worldwide, it has not changed and has not become more severe,” Lakey said. “We must remain vigilant and take personal precautions such as covering our cough, washing our hands, staying home when ill and getting vaccinated for the flu.”

To prepare for the upcoming flu season the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management (GDEM) and DSHS co-hosted an H1N1 summit earlier this month, regional summits across the state, and a statewide conference call with state, regional and local leadership.

GDEM has been working with DSHS, the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and the Department of Agriculture to provide guidance to local school districts and health departments and the state will also provide H1N1 guidance letters to all school administrators.

“The health and safety of our students is paramount,” Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott said. “TEA will continue to provide information and support to districts as they prepare and coordinate with their local communities in advance of the upcoming flu season.”

The Department of Agriculture and TEA have developed a plan for the continued distribution and access to free and reduced lunches for children should schools close (Currently, 2.1 million school children participate).

“We are committed to protecting students from illnesses and ensuring nutritious meal services continue,” Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said. “Millions of Texas children depend on the meals served at school every day, and we want to make sure schools have the option of continuing this crucial service, while still protecting those students from any public health threat.”

Health officials say everyone should follow standard precautions to reduce the spread of any respiratory illness.

Stay home when you are sick to avoid spreading illness to others.

Cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow or a tissue and properly dispose of used tissues.

Wash hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

The CDC estimates the H1N1 vaccine will be available by mid-October and in Texas the distribution will be managed by DSHS. It is estimated that 45 million doses will be available nationwide.

Groups targeted for the vaccine will include pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers for children younger than six months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, all persons six months through 24 years of age and persons 25 years through 64 years of age who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza.

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