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Sponsored and Facilitated by: Calhoun County Office Texas Cooperative Extension The Texas A&M University System |
Introduction
This report presents the results of the Calhoun County Forum
conducted February 12, 2004 in Port Lavaca. This Forum is part of the
Calhoun County Futures Forum coordinated by the Calhoun
County Extension Office. Such events are being held in every Texas
county as part of the Texas Community Futures Forum, a state-wide needs
assessment sponsored and facilitated by Texas Cooperative Extension.
Texas Community Futures Forum
County-level involvement in the Texas Community Futures Forum began in January 1999, with Texans from all segments of the population participating. Citizens in every county were asked to study, discuss and define their communities' current and future needs. Because the populations of Texas counties vary widely, within the framework of the Futures Forum a "community" may be a neighborhood, town, county or region.
Texas Cooperative Extension facilitated the partnering of county government, state agencies, organizations, businesses and other groups to gather information about local needs and issues, and then helped organize action teams to address them. This was an ambitious undertaking. It was also a unique opportunity for many groups to work together in meeting the needs of Texans in the 21st Century.
The 2004 Texas Community Futures Forum process builds off of the previous effort to once again gather information about local needs and issues in all 254 counties. This information will be shared with all of Extension's partners and used as the basis for Extension's long-range outreach education plan for 2005-2008. Extension educational programs, which are available to all Texas residents, will be developed in response to community needs and in conjunction with participating partners.
The products and benefits of this process will be many. All of the issues identified locally will be posted on the Internet for county government, state agencies and other organizations and groups to review and use in developing their own strategic plans. The results from all counties will also be compiled and analyzed in light of trend data to create a comprehensive report. This report will be available to all partners in the Texas Community Futures Forum and to others on request. The information will help all groups to more directly focus their activities and resources; it also will reveal areas of common interest in which partnering groups can work together to solve community problems.
Participants in the Calhoun County Forum
On February 12, 2004, 24 individuals attended the Calhoun County Forum. They represent a cross-section of county residents, public agencies and businesses in the area. This forum was facilitated by the following individual(s): John P. O'Connell, A. Zan Matthies Jr.. Other(s) supporting this effort included: Adrianna Whitwell, Dana Petri, Gwen Perez.
Purpose of the Calhoun County Forum
The purpose of the Forum was to solicit and prioritize citizens' opinions about the most important needs and concerns in Calhoun County. A modified Nominal Group Technique was used to conduct the forum.
The County Forum Agenda
Introductions and Overview: The Forum began with a general session to review the overall agenda, discuss the facilitation process and rules, and pose the question to be considered. Participants were then divided into 4 small groups.
Small Group Session: Participants were asked to respond to the following question:
Participants recorded their responses on paper. These items were displayed for all small group participants to see. Items were then grouped and edited by participants to eliminate duplicates and combine similarities. In the last step of the small group session, each person was allocated ten votes (represented by adhesive dots) to be used among the items he or she believed to be the most important. The outcome was a group consensus for the relative importance of the items. The top-ranked items from each small group were reported in the large group session. All items generated in small groups are in appendix 1.
Large Group Session: First, duplicate and similar statements from the 4 group(s) were edited to eliminate redundancies. Using the voting procedure described above, participants then voted for the items they considered most important.
A final step in the process gave the participants an opportunity to identify entities in the county which are best positioned to work on the issues identified. Participants were asked to respond to the following question:
Which entities (agencies, organizations, community groups, etc.) are positioned to best address these issues?
Information from this step was recorded for each of the top-ranked issues. Results of this part of the process are provided below.
Priority Needs in Calhoun County Identified by Participants in the County Forum
The following table reports the final rank of items generated by the Calhoun County Forum.
Table 1: Critical Issues and Entities Identified in Calhoun County, February 12, 2004.
| Rank (Vote) | Description | Entities/Organizations Involved |
| 18 | Economic Development - forum discussed the need for economic development over the next 5 years as the primary concern. Small business development, drawing of events to Calhoun County, and increase in wages were noted as smaller issues relating to the larger issue of economic development. | Chamber of Commerce, Small business groups, realtors, Extension (secondary role) |
| 17 | Youth & Family Programs - forum identified the need for expansion of youth and family programs to target wholesome activities that promote positive development of youth in Calhoun County. | Extension, YMCA, Calhoun ISD |
| 15 | Drug Use - forum identified the use of drugs as an issue facing young adults in Calhoun County. Education and other proactive approaches need to be implemented to target this growing problem. | Law Enforcement, Calhou ISD, Extension, YMCA, Hospital |
| 14 | Housing - the lack of available housing in Calhoun County as well as affordable housing was targeted as a primary issue. There has been only 1 new subdivision put into construction in recent years. | Realators, Chamber of Commerce |
| 11 | Water - forum identified groundwater and surface water as issues facing a county with abundant industry and agriculture production. Forum also discussed the possibility of growth and the correlation with increased water consupmtion that would accompany that growth. | Local and County Government, Extension |
| 10 | Improved City Infrastructure - forum identified infrastructure as a primary concern over then next 5 years. Large businesses such as retail chains have expressed interests in the Port Lavaca area. Infrastucture such as roadways are a concern considering the increased traffic produced by these businesses. | Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Local Government |
| 8 | Tourism - forum expressed the increased amount of tourism in Calhoun County over recent years and have identified the need to expand on programs that support tourism. | Local Businesses, Chamber of Commerce, Extension |
| 5 | Health Care - forum discussed current health care (facilities & equipment) and concluded that we should strive to maintain a competitive level with facilities in neighboring urban areas to provide opportunities that will appeal to health care professionals. | Hospital, County Government |
| 4 | Beautification - forum identified beatification of the Port Lavaca are as a concern. This issue is closely related to both the tourism, economic development, and infrastructure issues previously identified. | Volunteer Groups, Local Government, County Government |
| 3 | Workforce Preparation - forum discussed the need for vocational training and other programs that would assist with preparing adults entering the workforce. | Chamber of Commerce, Local Businesses, Calhoun ISD, Extension |
Note: Items are the actual and unaltered responses submitted by the participants. Any discrepancy between an item listed here and the same item in the small group listing (see appendices) is due to editing by participants in the general session. The numbers in the Rank column represents the number of votes participants gave to the corresponding item. Higher numbers denote greater importance.
Future Plans for the Calhoun County Community Futures Forum
The Futures Forum process gives residents of Calhoun County the opportunity to identify critical issues that affect them, their families, and their communities. Many local and area agencies and organizations want input from local residents to better focus their activities and resources. Working together, such groups can plan individual, joint or coordinated actions to effectively address a county's or community's critical needs.
Note: Small group results are reported here as they were submitted; they have not been edited or changed in compiling this report.
Items Identified by Participants of Small Group(s), Calhoun County Forum, February 12, 2004.
| Small Group # |
Vote | Description |
| 2 | Economic Development (Jobs) - group identified the lack of jobs and wage concerns of jobs that are available. | |
| 2 | Youth & Family - group identified family structure and youth development as primary issues facing Calhoun County in the next 3-5 years. | |
| 2 | Housing - group identified lack of available housing as well as affordable housing in relation to wages in Calhoun County. | |
| 3 | Economic Development - group identified economic development as a primary issue in Calhoun County. Group discussed the lack of new businesses coming to the county as well as wage levels corresponding to job opportunities already available. | |
| 3 | Drug Problem - group identified the use of illegal drugs as an issue among youth. They seperated this issue from youth and family programs due to the fact that they believe it is a large issue that should be categorized seperately. | |
| 3 | Tourism - group identified tourism as an issue which will become a larger portion of economic development in years to come. Calhoun County offers recreational beaches and sportfishing due to our location on the bay, and they feel that programs to expand our tourism enterprises will assist with drawing more businesses as well as tourist to Calhoun County. | |
| 3 | Housing - group identified the lack of housing as well as the cost of housing in correlation with wages as a problem in Calhoun County. | |
| 3 | Expansion of Youth and Family Programs - group identified youth and family programs as a primary issue facing Calhoun County. Group feels that programs currently offered should be expanded to increase participation among youth and families. | |
| 4 | Drug Issue (Youth & Adults) - group identified drug use among youth and adults to be a primary issue in Calhoun County. Group also identified the expansion of current programs to target more people residing in the county to offer alternatives to drug abuse. | |
| 4 | Fairground Improvement - group identified the expansion and improvement of fairgrounds to draw more events to Calhoun County which would have a positive economic impact on the county. | |
| 4 | Housing - group identified housing availability as well as affordable housing for people working in Calhoun County. | |
| 4 | Workforce Training - group identified training of teenagers and young adults for entrance to the workforce as a primary issue. Group stated that youth entering the workforce today are lacking skills to make them hirable to industry and business in Calhoun County. | |
| 4 | Youth & Family Education - group identified the lack of activities and facilities to support growth of family related activities for youth (i.e. soccer, movie theater, community parks). Group discussed the improvement of these facilities to create more participation for families. | |
| 4 | Infrastructure - group identified improving infrastructure for residential, recreational, business, and industry as an issue facing Calhoun County over the next 3 - 5 years. | |
| 1 | Water Supply - Group identified both groundwater and surface water (Guadalupe River and other rivers that empty into our bay) as areas of concern. Will the supply be great enough for future years. | |
| 1 | Youth Development & Drug Education - Group identified our youth drug problem as a critical issue. Group suggested that more programs be developed to involve youth in order to decrease drug use among young people. Also the group identified a lack of 'arts' type programs for youth in Calhoun County. Additionally the group discussed the possibility of initiating a curfew for teenage youth in order assist with decreasing deviant behavior. | |
| 1 | Economic Development - group identified a lack of jobs as a major concerning of adults in Calhoun County. | |
| 1 | Affordable Housing - group discussed the housing costs in relation to wages in Calhoun County. | |
| 1 | Health Care Support - group believes that we are competitive with health care options in Calhoun County, but that we need to strive to stay a high level of facilities and equipment in order to draw new doctors to our county. | |
| 1 | Beautification of County - group sees a need for increased activity in beautification efforts to increase tourism to our county which has a number of recreational beaches as well as sportfishing in the bay as well as offshore. | |
| 1 | Courthouse Renovation - group identified the need to begin remodeling the courthouse as a concern of citizens and employees of Calhoun County. |