improving local governmental efficiency. To do so required working
together through joint planning meetings and avoiding “turf’ battles.
Since that first public meeting in 1988, Dalhart has acquired a
2,000-bed prison facility that will open in January, 1995. The prison
farm donated by local governmental entities, will raise enough pinto
beans to feed the entire prison population of Texas. Also, Premium
Standard Farms (PSF) of Texas is expanding a 300,000-head hog fa-
cility in Dallam County to process 7,000 hogs per day. PSF will per-
form all aspects of the process including marketing the packaged
product. More than 1,000 new jobs will be created in the two-county
area of less than 10,000 population. A downtown movie theater was
restored to become a community dinner theater and another aban-
doned downtown building was restored to become a community
youth center. An old downtown church was converted into a senior
citizen center. The local silted-in lake has been designated a state
waterfowl refuge.
Growing pains have created new problems such as housing and
increased demands for new infrastructure. Dallam County is the
Texas county furthest from the capital Austin. In fact, it is closer to
five other state capitals than Austin. Thus, our economic geography
includes the corners of five states that are learning to cooperate eco-
nomically. It also creates tremendous opportunities for food stamp
fraud. Along with our Texas pride comes a Texas prejudice against
those north of the state line and those south of the border. This
causes closed communities that are resistant to people moving in to
fill the newly created jobs. These adversities can become stumbling
blocks to economic development, or they can be sources of energy
and movement to cooperate and form creative solutions.
In our 3,000-square-mile, two-county area with a population of
9,000, five school districts, four towns, two hospital districts, two
water districts, five fire departments, three law enforcement agen-
cies, and numerous duplicated services, each of these entities is rep-
resented in quarterly meetings held to discuss problems and joint so-
lutions. Both county commissioners’ courts meet together monthly.
Annually, interested community leaders meet in a constructive
forum to define problems and assign task groups to address them. If
we cannot define what we want, we define what we do not want.
Goals are set and key leadership positions are appointed. Although
consolidation of various entities has been suggested, it is too emo-
tional an issue. Working together is paramount.
In the 1990s the successful person has arrived. He wants to play
golf and enjoy the American dream. His recreation is designed to
keep him busy and out of trouble. He expects the low achiever to
work more, to stay busy and out of trouble. Conversely, the low
achiever thinks the government and the successful owe him a living
and a high standard of recreation. To him this is the American
dream. Welfare and greed continue to perpetuate these myths.
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