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Upcoming Important Meetings
District 10
Community Meeting
Meet the Mayor
NEC Business
Alliance Meeting
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Want to publicize your
neighborhood event?
If so, please send an e-mail to Rebecca
Podowski to make a request to post
on our Facebook page!
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Dear Neighbors,
This week I'll
be in our nation's capital for the San Antonio Chamber of
Commerce's 38th Annual SA to DC trip. This yearly event started out
as a way to say thank you to Pentagon officials and members of
Congress for their support of the military presence in San
Antonio. However, in more recent years, the scope of the trip
expanded to include a dialogue on education, aerospace, healthcare,
energy, cybersecurity, manufacturing, water, transportation,
international trade, immigration, hospitality/tourism and small
business. While we are still Military City, USA, San Antonio is
rapidly expanding in other sectors, and it's important to maintain
a constant dialogue at the federal level. I look forward to
bring you news from the capital during our District 10 Community
Meeting on February 15th.
I'd like to
congratulate the neighbors of Leeland Terrance for forming a new
neighborhood association. Neighborhood associations are vital in
shaping city policy and development. I commend the neighbors
joining together as a group, and encourage others to join or start
their own organization. If you are interested in starting a
neighborhood organization, call our office for details or
assistance.
Speaking of
development, the NEC Enhancement Matching Grant Program is still
accepting applications for grants. Applications will be accepted
through March 1, 2016. If you own or operate a business inside the
NEC boundaries, be sure to attend their final grant Q&A session
on February 5th at the ITT Technical Institute. For more
information on the NEC, please visit the website here.
With income
tax filing under way, be on the lookout for tax scams. I recently
filmed a PSA about
this issue to alert residents about scam phone calls or emails.
Remember, IRS agents do not call you out of the blue, and never
demand payment over the phone. Be on the lookout for fraudulent
emails as well. If you think you have received a fake IRS email,
you can forward it to phishing@irs.gov for
investigation.
As a reminder,
the annual Basura Bash clean-up of Salado Creek at the Tobin
Trailhead is on February 20th. We still need about 40 volunteers to
sign up for this event. To sign up, visit the event's website and
select Salado Creek - Tobin Park (District 10) as your clean-up
site. Resolve to get involved this year, and work alongside our
office to help keep our creeks and parks beautiful.
Thank you for staying actively involved in our community and for
your continued support of our neighborhoods.
Sincerely,
Mike Gallagher
City Councilman District 10
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The
2015 NEC Annual Report has been released. Click here to
read about the NEC's achievements for 2015.
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Emerald Village
Apartment Homes
As Chairman of the City Council
Housing Committee, it gave me great pleasure to speak at the Grand
Opening of Emerald Village Apartment Homes. This was a special
project geared toward those working in our City's northside and
wanting to live nearby. We heard from residents whose lives were made
better as result of living here, and look forward to hearing more
success stories.
Signs
of San Antonio
Signs of San Antonio is a
well-known name in District 10. While they may have been around for
over 30 years, they recently completed a new facility just across the
street from their old office. Not only will they be staying in
District 10, they built additional commercial space for another
business to lease. This is exactly the type of commercial development
and commitment we want to occur in our district.
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On
January 1, 2016, a new city ordinance took effect. In an effort to
create a safer environment for all residents, the City now requires that
your address be posted in the alley.
- Homes using an alleyway longer than 10
lots in length to access a rear garage, carport, or driveway
will be required to have address numbers in the rear of the
property along the alley (Sec. 304.3).
- As a reminder, City Municipal Code
requires that alleys be kept cut, clean, and unobstructed at all
times (Sec. 14-10 and Sec. 14-61).
To view San Antonio's Property
Maintenance Code, click here. To contact
Code Enforcement on how this change affects you, please call (210)
205-2405.
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Pre-K
4 SA now accepting applications
Applications for the 2016-2017
school year are now being accepted. The process entails a simple
online application form available in English and in Spanish.
Parents who do not have access to online resources also have the
option of completing an application by phone in English or Spanish.
The lottery will be held on Monday,
April 11, 2016. Based on feedback from parents and staff
recommendations, there will be a change in the procedures for the
lottery. The lottery will be drawn by Education Center, starting
with the East Center, then the South Center, then the West Center,
and ending with the North Center. The first round will be by
the family's first choice. The second round will again be drawn
by center, in the same order, this time by the remaining families'
second choices. This will ensure that as many families as
possible are offered their first choice for enrollment.
Enrollment will remain open after
the lottery until all 2,000 spaces are filled. At that point,
names will be placed on a waiting list in order of application time
and date. Wait listed children are placed as soon as we have an
opening, and we continue to place children as openings become
available throughout the year.
Click here
to complete an application.
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Upcoming
Events at District 10 Libraries
Free fun at San
Antonio Public Library branches February 5 - 7
Friends of the
Semmes Branch Library Book Sales Preview
Semmes Branch Library (15060 Judson Rd., 78247)
Friday, February 5
10 - 11:30 a.m.
This preview event is open to Friends of the San Antonio
Public Library members. You may join the Semmes Friends at the door
for entry into the preview sale.
Friends of the
Semmes Branch Library Book Sale
Semmes Branch Library (15060 Judson Rd., 78247)
Saturday, February 6
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Join us for the Semmes Friends Book Sale. All sales
benefit the Semmes Branch Library. Come out and support the Friends!
Meet the Author:
Friends of the Tobin Library at Oakwell Annual Meeting Event
Tobin Library at Oakwell (4134 Harry Wurzbach Rd.,
78209)
Saturday,
February 6
12:30 - 2 p.m.
Come meet the author of "San Antonio Beer" and learn about
the history of the Alamo City pint by pint!
Traditional
African Dance (Family Fun)
Tobin Library at Oakwell (4134 Harry Wurzbach Rd.,
78209)
Saturday,
February 6
3 - 4 p.m.
Join us for an interactive performance of traditional West African
dance and learn about the history and a signature dance move
presented by The Olaju Art Group.
Every Vote
Counts!
Tobin Library at Oakwell (4134 Harry Wurzbach Rd.,
78209)
Saturday, February 6 - Sunday, February 7
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
We are
celebrating Black History Month with a look back at the Voting Rights
Act of 1965. Join us for a special Come and Go craft and have an
election of our own. Your vote for a favorite picture book character
might be the one that decides the election!
VITA: Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance
Thousand Oaks Branch Library (4618 Thousand Oaks, 78233)
Friday, February 5 - Sunday, February 7
10 a.m. - 4 p.m
Free tax preparation for individuals and families
earning $60,000 or less.
For more
information or additional events, visit the library website.
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2016 NEC Enhancement Matching Grant Program
Do you
own or lease commercial property in the NEC? Have you been thinking
it's time to give your building a little refresh? The NEC
Enhancement Matching Grant Program assists owners and tenants of
commercial properties with façade, landscape, and signage
improvements. Grants are awarded on a matching reimbursement
basis; total eligible project costs are split 50/50 between the
grantee and the City of San Antonio. The maximum award amount is
$27,000. For complete grant details and an application, see
the NEC Enhancement Matching Grant Program Guidelines and Application
Package.
For
those who may be interested in applying or would like more
information on the grant process, the final information session will
be held on:
- Friday, February 5th from 8-9 AM, at
the ITT Technical Institute (2895 NE Loop 410).
Applications will be accepted
until March 1, 2016.
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22nd
Annual Basura Bash Waterways Cleanup
February
20, 2016, 8AM-12PM
Last year's Basura Bash cleanup of
Salado Creek at the Robert L. B. Tobin Trailhead was an
incredible success. We are once again spearheading this event for the
Robert L. B. Tobin Trailhead. If you are interested in volunteering
this year as an individual or team, you can register here. When
registering, select "Salado Creek - Tobin Park (District
10)" as your tributary.
If you are
signing up a group, please provide as accurate of a headcount as
possible. Our registration closes when we hit 200 volunteers; if you
overestimate, we will be shorthanded the day of the event.
About the Basura Bash Planning
Organization:
The Basura Bash Planning
Organization is a volunteer organization with a mission to increase
stewardship of the San Antonio Area Waterways through the
mobilization of volunteers, community education and building
public/private partnerships for the betterment of our community's
environment. Basura Bash is the largest single-day waterway cleanup
in Texas. This event has seen continued growth over the past 22 years
in both the number of volunteers and waterways cleaned.
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Now
available: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program
The Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) sites are open and serving
individuals earning up to $60,000 a year.
- All
sites open January 19th through April 18th.
- You
may be eligible to receive an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- The
VITA Mobile Team is available seven (7) days a week to groups at
organizations, companies, apartment complexes, community
centers, school, etc. Call (210) 207-2817 or (210) 207-1711 or (210)
222-2975 x212 to schedule an appointment.
- For
more information, call 2-1-1.
- Complete
site listings can be found here.
What is VITA?
VITA San Antonio is a collaboration of public and
private entities dedicated to family and individual financial
self-sufficiency. Other partners, such as local colleges and
universities, local financial institutions and other non-profit
organizations provide support in a variety of ways to the Coalition.
The goal of VITA is to increase the financial stability
of working individuals and families in San Antonio & Bexar
County. The focal point for this effort is the Coalition's Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. VITA is a vital part of the
Coalition effort.
VITA volunteers provide free income tax assistance to
taxpayers, and help them claim important tax credits such as
the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.
The program continues to expand each year. During year
2014/2015 TAX FILING SEASON, volunteers operated 22 sites located
throughout the city and completed more than 34,000 tax returns.
Over $72,000,000 in refunds were returned to the San Antonio
Community.
Without the help of all those who support and volunteer
for VITA, many of whom return each tax filing season, VITA could not
continue to expand, touching an increasing number of San Antonio's
working families and individuals.
For more
information, visit the VITA San Antonio website.
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TxDOT
Announces $171.4 Million Effort to Address Congestion in San Antonio
Upon approval by the Texas
Transportation Commission, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
plans to improve drive times and reduce costs to Texas drivers
through a $1.3 billion effort focused on delivering projects at an
accelerated pace that address gridlock in some of the state's most
congested areas in the five metro areas of Texas, including the San
Antonio area.
San Antonio will
be receiving $171.4 million from this $1.3 billion effort. Two major
projects that are planned as part of this congestion initiative
include I-410 from US 90 to SH 151 and US 281 from Stone Oak Parkway
to Bexar/Comal County Line.
As part of the I-410 from US 90 to SH 151 project, phase one of the
interchange will be reconstructed and operational improvements
including ramp revisions will be made. This project will break ground
by the fall of 2016. $90.1 million from the congestion initiative
fund will be received for this $98.9 million project.
The second phase of US 281 from
Stone Oak Parkway to Bexar/Comal County will expand to a 6-lane
expressway (4 general purpose and 2 HOV lanes) and frontage roads.
$81.3 million of the $304 million project from the congestion
initiative fund will be used for right of way acquisition which will
accelerate the project to begin in the fall of 2018.
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Board,
Advisory Council Positions Open
When Dr. Turgay Korkmaz, a
professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio, saw that freshmen
students were not prepared for entry science and math courses, he
believed he could do something about it. With his vision and the
dedicated effort of other committed leaders, the School of Science
and Technology opened its first campus a decade ago in San Antonio,
and the college prep K-12, tuition free system has established a high
performing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) program.
The School of Science and
Technology now asks that local leaders join teachers, administrators,
alumni and students in propelling the rigorous STEM program to higher
levels of relevancy and success. Interested business professionals are invited
to apply to become members of the SST STEM Advisory Board and
the SST Outreach Advisory Council. While
professionals in the science professions are needed for the STEM
board, a broader variety of professionals with skills in
communication, marketing, advertising and community building are
needed for the outreach advisory council. Volunteers
selected will serve 1-2 years on the Advisory Board or Advisory
Council.
Anyone
interested should contact Nancy Dunn Thompson at nthompson@ssttx.org or (210) 530-8366, extension
102, by February 29th.
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Open
Commissioner Position for District 10 Students
The San Antonio Youth Commission is
comprised of 22 high school youth leaders, two members from each
City Council District and two Mayoral appointees. Each appointee
is selected for a two-year term and is vetted through the City of San
Antonio's Board and Commission process. The Youth Commission meets
monthly to plan events and programs that give a voice to the concerns
of San Antonio's youth.
SAYC is a unique organization
redefining the shape of student leadership in our city.
Students are the primary catalysts for change within this group, and
see great impact made from their vision and the wherewithal to take
on big challenges. They are given the tools to establish
sustainable programs and foster imaginative initiatives throughout
the school year, supporting their fellow students, schools, and the
community at large. They are committed to serving with professional
communication, compassionate action, and selfless service in order to
truly follow a model of servant leadership.
District 10
students are encouraged to apply for the now-vacant District 10
Commissioner position in the San Antonio Youth Commission. Interested
applicants must be a current student residing in District 10. For
more information, contact Adam Tutor at (210) 332-7263 or email at Adam.Tutor@p16plus.org.
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