In preparation for the 2009 Ozone Season, AACOG and the City of San Antonio are hosting our third annual Fresh Air Friday Event on April 3 at Main Plaza, from 11:30 to 1:30, to promote walking to lunch in the downtown area rather than driving to another location. Attendees will either bring a brown-bag lunch or buy lunch there, and enjoy live music, informative talks, and exhibits on the latest alternative commuting options, potential improvements to air quality, and many other healthy, green topics. Click here for more information about the event or contact Annette Prosterman at (210) 362-5213.

This monthly feature in the AACOG Region Newsletter spotlights our AACOG Board Members. This month features our newest Board Member, Texas State Representative Doug Miller, who represents Gillespie, Kendall, Comal, Bandera Counties.

Please tell us about your career highlights and education: Highlights of my career would certainly include my current service as a Texas State Representative. Serving the people of the Texas Hill Country is its own reward. I am proud to have served as a peace officer and Mayor earlier in my career. After that, I built a business in New Braunfels. I am a graduate of Southwest Texas State University. I'm still getting used to calling it Texas State University!

What do you like best about your work as a State Representative?
There are three major aspects of my service as State Representative that I enjoy. First and foremost is visiting personally with the people of Bandera, Comal, Gillespie, and Kendall Counties. I can't begin to tell you how inspiring it is to have my constituents get in their cars and trucks to drive to Austin to visit with me on the issues that affect them. I read e-mail, letters, and take phone calls regularly but it's that personal office visit that makes such an impact. Second, I feel so honored to have the confidence of Texas House leadership in assigning me to the House Appropriations, Natural Resources, and House Administration Committees. The first two committees afford me the opportunity to help my constituents directly and quickly. Third is knowing that the work that I do on a daily basis can make someone else's life better.

What is the best advice you've received working as an elected official?
Listen.

What do you look forward to as a new member of the AACOG Board?
Learning what I can do to help improve the economy in Central Texas. We face challenging times and I want to take my experience and do my part to improve it.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? These days, I spend a lot of time reading legislation. That doesn’t sound very interesting but it really is insightful. When I need some downtime, I read history books, and catch up on time with my wife and kids.

What would people be surprised to know about you? That I read legislation in my spare time and I am a Texas country music aficionado.

AACOG recently published the 2nd edition of Business Images of the Alamo Area, a spectacular magazine promoting economic growth and development in the Alamo region.

AACOG and key area businesses distribute this magazine to prospective new businesses, employees and residents. Copies are also given out to attendees at various trade shows, conferences and events throughout the year.

Business Images of the Alamo Area is part of a complete publishing program that also includes an online edition of the magazine, a photographic streaming-video tour of the region, a targeted distribution network and a customer retention and acquisition program.

This unique marketing tool is truly a collaborative effort, and we sincerely thank all of the area businesses that supported the project through advertising. Business Images of the Alamo Area is published annually. For information on how your company or business can be a part of the next edition, please contact our publishing partner, Journal Communications, directly at (800) 333-8842 or e-mail jramos@aacog.com. To request copies of the magazine, contact mail@aacog.com.

AACOG's Alamo Regional Transit (ART) will begin offering transportation services to the residents of Atascosa, Frio and Medina Counties with the introduction of a vanpooling service. Twelve passenger vans will be available for significantly reduced monthly rates per passenger to groups looking to commute to work, school or other technical training centers either in San Antonio or surrounding counties. Vanpooling is an economical alternative to driving alone and offers many time saving advantages as well. For more information about the vanpool service, contact Rene Chadick at (210) 362-5286.

The Alamo Service Connection (ASC) recently began providing eNews Blasts and a monthly eNewsletter to subscribers. These publications provide important information such as new resources, current offerings, promotion of upcoming meetings, health fairs, training programs, and other scheduled functions.

This modern communications approach enables the ASC, as the Aging and Disability Resource Center for Bexar County, to fulfill their vision of having an informed community that promotes personal choice and is connected to long-term services and supports.

According to Martha Ramirez, ASC Access and Assistance Coordinator for the Bexar Agency on Aging, “We continue to receive very positive compliments from recipients. We certainly are well underway in becoming the single point for information dissemination for our target populations, older adults, persons with disabilities, and their caregivers.”

Click here to sign up to receive the eNews Blast and/or the eNewsletter.

ASC community partners include: Bexar County, AACOG Bexar Area Agency on Aging, AACOG Bexar Mental Retardation Authority, City of San Antonio/Program for Seniors/ Families, COIL, S.A. Food Bank, SAILS, TXDADS, TX Health/Human Services Commission, and the United Way of S.A./Bexar County.

The 2009 National Hurricane Conference, the nation's forum for education and professional training in hurricane preparedness, is slated for April 6-10, 2009, at the Austin Convention Center.

The event will feature workshops, training sessions, exhibits and an awards banquet. Nearly two-dozen emergency response agencies and organizations will participate and provide a national forum for federal, state and local officials to exchange ideas and recommend new policies to improve emergency management as it relates to hurricane preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation to save lives. Attendees will discuss lessons learned from previous hurricanes, hear information on state-of-the-art programs, hear about new ideas being tested or considered and receive information from assistance programs.

For more information or to register, visit www.hurricanemeeting.com.

AACOG invites homeowners to attend a free Foreclosure Prevention Workshop on Saturday, May 2, 2009, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The workshop will be held in the Al J. Notzon III Board Room, 8700 Tesoro Drive, Suite 100, San Antonio, TX. Workshop sponsors include the AACOG Housing & Weatherization Department, the City of San Antonio Department of Community Initiatives, and the San Antonio Foreclosure Prevention Task Force.

The workshop will be a valuable opportunity for homeowners to meet privately with representatives from area banks, mortgage companies, lenders, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development officials, and certified housing counselors to discuss and learn about mortgage assistance and options available to homeowners to prevent foreclosure. Besides mortgage lenders and certified housing counselors, homeowners will also have the opportunity to visit with non-profit housing counseling agencies.

Free parking and refreshments will be available. Seating is limited so for more information or to reserve your seat call Mayra Rivero at (210) 362-5282.

Submit your nomination today for the 2009 AACOG Regional Awards. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 8, 2009!

Categories for nomination are:

Regional Citizen of the Year
Corporate Citizen of the Year
Community Project of the Year
Governmental Regional Project of the Year

Any person, corporation, community project, or governmental regional project that has contributed to the significant positive advancement of the region and/or any communities in the twelve counties of the Alamo Area (Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, and Wilson Counties) is eligible for nomination. Current elected officials and public sector employees are ineligible for nomination, unless directly involved in a governmental regional project.

These nominations are open to the public. Awardees will be recognized at the AACOG Board of Directors meeting on June 24, 2009. To submit your nomination visit www.aacog.com/award or contact Tiffany Harris, AACOG Community Relations, at (210) 362-5204.

AACOG will sponsor a one-day newly elected officials workshop on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Registration from 8-8:30 a.m.) in AACOG’s Al J. Notzon III Board Room, 8700 Tesoro Drive, Suite 100, San Antonio. The workshop will cover such topics as the duties and responsibilities of elected officials; introduction to city government; roles of the mayor and council; budgeting and financial management; and legal issues such as open meetings; open records, purchasing and conflict of interest. There is a $5 charge for this workshop. To register, call Cora Kimble at (210) 362-5243.

AACOG would like to invite all local government representatives and purchasing staff to a free workshop to introduce attendees to the State of Texas Cooperative Purchasing Program. The workshop will be held on Thursday, July 23, 2009, from 9 to 11 a.m. in AACOG's Al J. Notzon III Board Room, 8700 Tesoro Drive, Suite 100, San Antonio, TX 78217.

Attendees will learn about the benefits and resources available to program members, as well as how this program can help them save time and money. The workshop will also allow attendees to get acquainted with the state's new TXSmartBuy online purchasing system. The presentation will be given by Charlene Rendon, State of Texas CO-OP Program Coordinator - a certified Texas purchaser. For more information, contact Charlene at (512) 463-3336 or charlene.rendon@cpa.state.tx.us.

The National Fair Housing Law of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing and declares it a national policy to provide, within constitutional limits, for fair housing in the United States.

The principle of fair housing is not only national law and national policy, but a fundamental human concept and entitlement for all Americans. The Law provides an opportunity for all Americans to recognize that complete success in the goal of equal housing opportunity can only be accomplished with the help and cooperation of all Americans. For more on the Fair Housing Law, visit www.hud.gov/offices/fheo.

AACOG operates ongoing housing programs within its twelve county region. These include the Weatherization Assistance Program, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program and rental assistance, and the Housing Finance Corporation and its Home Mortgage Loan Program. AACOG is committed to the promotion of Fair Housing in all its housing programs and urges all citizens to become aware of and support the Law. For more information about AACOG's Housing Program, click here or contact the AACOG Housing Department at (210) 362-5282.

April 12-18, 2009

Each year, the second full week in April is dedicated to the men and women who serve as Public Safety Telecommunication Professionals. During this week we thank our 9-1-1 Telecommunicators for all that they do on behalf of the citizens in our local communities. This week is recognized in each state.

“Public Safety Telecommunications Professionals serve as a critical lifeline to the public & particularly to the most vulnerable members of our society”. (National Emergency Number Association Website)

It doesn’t matter if they are responding to a flood, tornado, or a local emergency, our 9-1-1 Public Safety Telecommunications Professionals, are the hands that serve, the hearts that care, and the work they do saves lives on a daily basis. On behalf of the staff at AACOG we send our gratitude and appreciation to all of the 9-1-1 Telecommunicators. For information about becoming a Public Safety Telecommunicator visit www.nena.org.

AACOG is hosting a State Notary training seminar on Thursday, May 28, 2009, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. The training, presented by the State Notary Commission will be held in AACOG's Al J. Notzon III Board Room, 8700 Tesoro Drive, Suite 100 (first floor), San Antonio, TX 78217. The seminar is recommended for current Texas Notaries and persons wanting to obtain their State Notary Public Commission. A minimum of ten (10) seminar participants are required to hold this training seminar. To register, or for more details and State Notary Commission contact information, click here. Individuals interested in attending can also contact AACOG Government Services Manager Joe Ramos at (210) 362-5212 or jramos@aacog.com.

Those interested in voting in the upcoming May 9 local elections in Texas must be registered to vote by Thursday, April 9, according to Secretary of State Hope Andrade. Andrade reminds that, in spite of rumors that a constitutional amendment relating to the homestead tax is on the ballot, there are no statewide propositions on any ballots. All elections are local issues only.
Courtesy of Strategic Partnerships Inc.

The AACOG Region Newsletter is compiled and distributed monthly
by Tiffany Harris, AACOG Public Relations.