In May 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in favor of Greece, New York, which town has opened its public meetings with prayer since 1999. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the prayers are ceremonial and in keeping with the nation’s traditions. “The inclusion of a brief, ceremonial prayer as part of a larger exercise in civic recognition suggests that its purpose and effect are to acknowledge religious leaders and the institutions they represent, rather than to exclude or coerce nonbelievers.” The tradition of legislative prayer began with the very first session of Congress.
During the five years that I have served on the Visalia City Council, and long before that, our council meetings have opened with prayer. Ministers of various faiths and religions are invited to invoke blessings upon the council and the city. A little extra help is always appreciated. If your faith or congregation would like to have your religious leader give an invocation at a future council meeting, please contact city clerk Michelle Nicholson at 713-4512 or michelle.nicholson@ci.visalia.ca.us.
FLIC: Visalia’s newest canine police officer is “Flic,” and his handler is Officer Ryan Park. We want to thank the Friends of Visalia PD Canine for financing the acquisition of Flic, at a cost of $10,000.00. Depending on where such dogs are trained, it is interesting to note that they actually respond to commands in a foreign language. Flic was trained in Holland, so he understands commands in Dutch; and thus Officer Park had to learn to speak the commands in that language. Flic will be assigned to the patrol division as a “protection canine.” Other canines are trained in different ways, such as Visalia PD’s “Kate,” who was trained in narcotic detection and who can detect the odors of marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.
RECON: In May I took a couple days off work, and attended the ICSC Retailers Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada along with city staff. We met with various developers, retailers and franchisers, to publicize Visalia as being a great place to do business and to encourage them to locate here. I was amazed at how many of those we spoke with were already very familiar with Visalia. In particular, there was a lot of interest in locating new businesses on Mooney Blvd., since it is the retail center of Tulare and Kings counties. While it would be premature to divulge whom we spoke with, there are some exciting businesses looking to locate in Visalia in the near future.
RECREATION: My wife Alisa and I have signed up to participate in a beginners pickleball class put on by our Parks and Recreation Dept. We are looking forward to learning a new sport. The city should be breaking ground soon on the new pickleball courts it is constructing at Recreation Park. As of the end of May, the city had 108 softball teams registered for the summer league. Its mother/son camp is full. The 50+ Rocks Hiking Club had its first hike scheduled for June 8 and was full. Through the end of May, 1,390 participants were registered in programs and classes put on by the city, not including sports and swim teams. Adult classes had 206 participants, family programs had 550 participants, pre-school programs 64 registrants, seniors 173 registrants, and a new line dance class had 28 registered for the first month. Fire camp already has 54 participants, and youth enrichment had 396 participants. Kudos to our Parks and Recreations Dept. for getting our citizens active and involved. For more information, visit liveandplayvisalia.com.
GRANTS: The city was recently awarded $1,566,886.00 by the State Water Resources Control Board to improve water quality runoff in the downtown area into the Mill Creek and to help replenish groundwater. Planting areas will be added or expanded to assist with on-site overflow catchment of storm water, and permeable pavement and interlocking concrete pavers will also be added. The city was also awarded a $400,000.00 hazardous substances grant from the federal EPA. These monies will be used to clean up approximately two acres north of the Riverway Sports Park. Also, these funds will help the city complete the St. Johns Parkway, whose terminus is at that location, as well as to expand public green space. Kudos to city staff for writing terrific grant applications. The more grant money we can obtain from other sources, the less local taxpayer funds we need to spend on improvement projects.
If you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313. For past articles, visit directfromwarren.blogspot.com.
Warren Gubler
Visalia Vice Mayor
