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Sponsored and Facilitated by: Bexar County Office Texas Cooperative Extension The Texas A&M University System |
Introduction
This report presents the results of the Bexar County Forum
conducted March 3, 2004 in San Antonio. This Forum is part of the
Bexar County Futures Forum coordinated by the Bexar
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 Bexar County Forum
On March 3, 2004, 35 individuals attended the Bexar 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): Elaine Fries, Connie Sheppard, Lynn Rawe, Nathan Riggs, Grace Guerra-Gonzales. Other(s) supporting this effort included: Patrice Hertzock-Barnes, Sonija Tedesco, Rick Villarrreal, Mike Shockey, Gail Shockey.
Purpose of the Bexar County Forum
The purpose of the Forum was to solicit and prioritize citizens' opinions about the most important needs and concerns in Bexar 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 5 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 5 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 Bexar County Identified by Participants in the County Forum
The following table reports the final rank of items generated by the Bexar County Forum.
Table 1: Critical Issues and Entities Identified in Bexar County, March 3, 2004.
| Rank (Vote) | Description | Entities/Organizations Involved |
| 72 | Improve the educational and life skills levels through increased opportunities in an equitable manner for all county residents. Issues included: tax base; homelessness; affordable child care; comprehensive early childhood education; increase skills level; lack of life skills training; public education provided equally by school system with trained professionals regardless of the child's ability, raising the learning standards; higher education costs; education on technical education. | Harcourt Publishers, school districts, TEEX, TEA, El Rey Feo Scholarship group, San Antonio Independent Living, Toyota, Alamo Area Community College District, Texas Cooperative Extension, Cooperative Extension Program. |
| 36 | Improved health of county residents through increased health education, health system and health care access. Issues included: decrease in prevalence of diabetes, heart disease; aging population; nutrition education on diabetes and obesity; increase opportunity for physical exercise; improving health care access with emphasis on prevention health care and ethical treatment; affordable insurance; prescription drug coverage; alternative or supplemental benefits; health care education; services and facilities for the elderly; how to keep children healthy and attending school; access to public health care for under served populations, indigent and uninsured. | Any Baby Can, University Health System, Fit City, TDHS, University of Texas Health Science Center, Ella Austin Community Center, Center for Health care Services, San Antonio Metro Health, Access to Care, Texas Cooperative Extension, Expanded Nutrition Program, Better Living for Texans Program, Cooperative Extension Program. |
| 32 | Water quality, quantity and access. Issues included: resources, environmental contamination possibilities; quality; plan for growth while protecting our natural resources; water conservation and close monitoring of the utilization of aquifer water; protecting the use of recycled water for yards and agricultural purposes; cost to consumers and cities. | Texas Cooperative Extension, TCEQ, USDA, NRCS, Bexar Land Trust, Texas Nursery Landscape Assoc., Edwards Aquifer Authority, San Antonio Water System, San Antonio River Authority, Public Utility Commission, 4-H, Sierra Club, Bexar Met, Master Gardeners. |
| 31 | Expand community education programs that promote healthy lifestyle choices. Issues include: Healthy communities support programs that improve lifestyle choices to decrease obesity and promote good nutrition; obesity in children and families need nutritional information posted at restaurants and in kid meals; free lunches for every school child every day; establish community gardens to help people have fresh veggies and fruit; educate on how to raise small livestock for food use such as ducks and chickens- how to process and cook; nutrition at school levels and exercise; meals for elderly and disabled and home bound; increasing healthy lifestyles; physical fitness-plan and develop a city wide track for walking, cycling, or jogging/ more and better sidewalks in residential areas. | Health Collaborative, San Antonio Dietetic Association, Texas Beef Council, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, Metro Health, Texas Cooperative Extension, Cooperative Extension Program, Texas Diabetes Institute, San Antonio Food Bank, Christian Senior Services, TDA, TEA, WIC, ENP, BLT, University of Texas Health Science Center, Methodist Health Care Ministries, TDHS, Ella Austin Community Center, Fit City, THSteps, Medicaid, Maximus, Daughters of Charity, Heart Association. |
| 21 | Increase and enhance workforce opportunities and training at all levels. Issues include: increase enhanced workforce opportunities; job readiness training, including computer and writing skills, to be provided to skilled and unskilled workers to accommodate the corporate needs of community and provide living wages for citizens; more jobs for Bexar County; higher tech, better paying, well educated citizens with an emphasis on creating and retaining jobs; economy in Bexar County- jobs, training, benefits, living wages, long range planning; enhance workforce. | Project Rio, Project Quest, Texas Workforce Commission, Kelly Workforce Development, ACCD, AmeriCorps, VISTA, Senior Corps, Vocational Ed departments in school disrticts, AACOG. |
| 18 | Agricultural Education in all public schools in Bexar County. | Texas Land Heritage, Farm Bureau, S.A.L.E., T.D.A, 4-H, FFA, Texas Cooperative Extension. |
| 18 | Comprehensive community support and services to prevent child abuse including trained staff and transitional care facilities. | City of San Antonio, CPS, Bexar County Child Advocacy, Children's Shelter, Any Baby Can, Respite Care, Family Service Association. |
| 15 | Increased civic engagement and responsibility though improved leadership and knowledge of opportunities. Issues included: public involvement in local governance boards, commissions, interest groups, leadership; limiting tax increases caused by budget shortfalls; city/county consolidation and cooperation; more quality community resources for homeless, poor and single parents, more child care. | CA Stubbs, TCE, IDRA, Community Action Advisory Board. |
| 15 | Youth need positive role models and increased opportunities for positive activities and volunteerism. | IDRA, Youth Mentoring, Big Brothers and Sisters, Magic Theater, Healthy Families, Any Baby Can, Together We Can, Respite Care, MELD, Christian Heritage, Joven, Gemini Inc., 4-H, Bexar County Juvenile Probation, USAA, Gervin Youth Group, TNLA, Cindy Krier. |
| 13 | Historical Preservation. | Toyota, Conservation Society, DRI, Bexar Land Trust, American Indians of Texas. |
| 4 | Enhance transportation system to address environmental, infra-structure, safety and access concerns. | TxDOT, City Planning Department, AACOG, Traffic Jam Coalition, Texas Department of Safety, Texas Highway Department. |
| 4 | Improved access to safe, fair, affordable housing county wide. Issues included: affordable, fair, re-vitalizing older neighborhoods, down payment assistance, public services to the homes, awareness of community social services. | SAHA, HUD, SA Housing Authority, local financial institutions, FHA, Bexar County. |
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 Bexar County Community Futures Forum
The Futures Forum process gives residents of Bexar 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), Bexar County Forum, March 3, 2004.
| Small Group # |
Vote | Description |
| 5 | 14 | Agriculture education in all public schools-broaden base to areas other than livestock and farming. |
| 5 | 12 | Health care improvement with emphasis on prevention and ethical treatment for all people. |
| 5 | 10 | Improved protection of natural resources during growth of county. |
| 5 | 7 | Need for jobs of skilled, unskilled, educated, agricultural and green industry people. |
| 5 | 6 | Needed for qualified judges for 4H events. |
| 5 | 6 | Plan for healthy new growth in community. |
| 5 | 6 | Quality park system, public areas and mass transit. |
| 5 | 5 | Public education that will provide tools for achieving the greatest potential in the work force. |
| 5 | 4 | Environmental protection through public education about chemical usage. |
| 5 | Strengthen social service support for all ages and socio-economic groups. | |
| 5 | Broaden revenue base to avoid higher taxes. | |
| 5 | Improved quality child care. | |
| 5 | Education with behavioral problems. | |
| 5 | Need for volunteer activities mixing young and old. | |
| 5 | Help with uneducated youth that are prone to crime and violence. | |
| 5 | Education about how to deal with aging population. | |
| 5 | Education for families at risk (abandoning children). Community education on public resources. | |
| 5 | Increase in jobs base for education, hi-tech as well as skilled and unskilled. | |
| 5 | Beautify the county. | |
| 5 | Upgrade schools instead of re-building. | |
| 5 | Improve process of City permits. | |
| 5 | Improved air quality. | |
| 5 | Promotion of U.S. agricultural workers. | |
| 5 | Limit imports of green industry products. | |
| 4 | 11 | Healthy community-support programs that improve lifestyle, decrease obesity, and promote nutrition. |
| 4 | 11 | Improve access to public healthcare for underserved, indigent and underinsured. |
| 4 | 9 | Water conservation-closely monitor the utilization of aquifer water and promote usage of recycled water for homes and agriculture. |
| 4 | 9 | Job readiness training-computer and writing skills for people to accommodate the corporate needs for the community and provide a living wage. |
| 4 | 8 | Increase community resources for homeless, poor and single parents such as housing, child care, job training, parent education. |
| 4 | 8 | Public education-by school systems, by trained professionals, regardless of a child's ability/disability. |
| 4 | 7 | Comprehensive early childhood services and education for parents and children. |
| 4 | 7 | Improve child protection services-overcrowding is causing a need for more trained staff. |
| 4 | 5 | Public safety-Traffic lights at all elemetary and secondary schools. |
| 4 | 5 | Treatment service for adolescents with substance abuse issues. |
| 4 | 3 | Economic development-attract new businesses to south and east side of San Antonio to expand economic base. |
| 4 | 1 | Population growth control-develop guidelines for growth in city. |
| 4 | 1 | Over-crowding in the criminal system of people with mental illness. |
| 4 | 1 | Historical conservation with means of promoting cultural resources. |
| 4 | 1 | Infant prematurity prevention education. |
| 4 | 1 | Increase public transportation. |
| 4 | 1 | Control increasing number of illegal or undocumented people migrating into area. |
| 4 | Establish networking with Mexican cities. | |
| 4 | Increase hiring of people to meet cultural and linguistic needs of San Antonio. | |
| 4 | Increase property tax to develop infrastructure by county to have access to provide roads in rural areas. | |
| 4 | Better safety for children while in school. | |
| 4 | Quality education for children. | |
| 4 | Improve inequities in school services for children with special needs. | |
| 4 | Quality education for all children without penalizing rich districts. | |
| 4 | Better training for teachers dealing with children having behavioral problems. | |
| 4 | Improve ability for people to sustain steady incomes. | |
| 4 | Education of Baby-boomers transitioning into retirement on health care, volunteer opportunities, community resources. | |
| 4 | Water-improve and sell of reuseable water. | |
| 1 | 45 | Increase and support educational skill levels- need more high paying jobs, training for job specialization, higher job skills, increase household income; Successful economic development involving current and new employers. |
| 1 | 16 | Improve effectiveness of and involvment in community issues and local government. |
| 1 | 14 | Promote healthy lifestyles choices- diabetes, obesity and heart problems; Increase in the prevalance of diabetes and heart disease; educate on how to keep children healthier in schools; reasonable insurance costs; no charge for health fees with income guidelines; increasing number of residents without health coverage; increase fitness and nutrition; plan and develop a city wide track for walking, cycling or jogging. |
| 1 | 9 | Increase and enhance workforce opportunities. |
| 1 | 9 | Improve health system with access of care for all. |
| 1 | 4 | Improve public transportation by 1)increasing accessibility to rural areas and physically impaired individuals 2)improving roads by paving or repairing roads in all areas with an additional rural focus 3) decrease congestion and increase traffic safety. |
| 1 | 3 | Support and develop community centers to help build family values and encourage healthy active lifestyles. |
| 1 | Transportation- encourage use of mass transit; improve roads; bike racks added to buses. | |
| 1 | Increasing amount of traffic on highways and other infrastructure. | |
| 1 | Improve use of mass transit to decrease wait time and increase number of locations. | |
| 1 | Have affordable public transportation in rural areas. | |
| 1 | Need street lights in communities in rural areas. | |
| 1 | Rural roads must be upgrading and paving. | |
| 1 | Property splits and subdivisions are happening without infrastrucure to support new landowners. | |
| 1 | Loss of owner control of water and other rights in rural areas. | |
| 1 | Trash problems increasing in rural areas. | |
| 1 | Loss of production acreage to urbanization or urban sprawl. | |
| 1 | Support performance arts organizations to bring a wider array of cultural arts. | |
| 1 | Increase awareness of community on how to keep SA beautiful and clean up volunteers need support from city and county officials. | |
| 1 | Need free parks for children with picnic areas, ball games, meeting areas in urban and rural areas. | |
| 1 | Increase parks, bike/hike paths, green space and sidewalks. | |
| 1 | Encourage diversity by providing support (financial and leadership) to various racial, ethnic, religious and sexual orientation issues. | |
| 1 | Keep kids in school (pregnancy, clothes, school supplies). | |
| 1 | Education should not be limited. | |
| 1 | Discrimination. | |
| 1 | Schools are over populated. | |
| 1 | Equal to all programs. | |
| 1 | Scholarships open to other fields besides agriculture. | |
| 1 | Provide and support education and educational activities (cultural, economics and language forums). | |
| 1 | Develop 'top-tier' (quest for excellence) rather than mediocre mind set community wide. | |
| 1 | Student drop outs from colleges and universities in San Antonio. | |
| 1 | Education of parents on motivating children to attend higher learning experiences. | |
| 1 | Increase the number of high school and college grads. | |
| 1 | Higher priorities on high school education with a focus on math and science. | |
| 1 | Mentor students in college on personal needs to be a successful student/adult. | |
| 1 | Scholarship distribution to other states. | |
| 1 | More educators in the program/ more teachers, teacher aides, support staff. | |
| 1 | Increase the number of 2 parent families/ support 2 parent families. | |
| 1 | Lack of resources for education. | |
| 1 | Trouble shoot and correct inefficient use of public funds and promote frequent summary reports to the public to increase/enhance accountability. | |
| 1 | Progressive and engaged goverment officials. | |
| 1 | Increase voting. | |
| 1 | Adequate resources for city govenments and nonprofit organizations to work effectively. | |
| 1 | Improve household water delivery, access and quality. Less breakdowns in the water lines with no sand in the water. | |
| 1 | Protect water rights for agribusiness. | |
| 1 | Limit construction of subdivisions in Bexar County over the recharge zone. | |
| 1 | Improved health through education on diabetes and obesity and increase opportunity for physical activity. | |
| 1 | Teach people how to grow their own food and how to process it including small animals and vegetables. | |
| 1 | Implement nutrition education in the schools with exercise. | |
| 1 | Freeze property taxes for elderly and farmers. | |
| 1 | Better control of tax money and less wasteful spending. | |
| 1 | 1 | Increase education and planning to maintain air quality standards. |
| 1 | Decrease in jail/prison/probation population. | |
| 1 | Increasing homeless population. | |
| 1 | Improve 911 system and services especially in rural areas. | |
| 1 | Improve traffic safety and reduce present trends of road rage and motorists injured by increasing fines for road rage. | |
| 1 | Better communication system/equpment needed by law enforcment for their safety and the communities. | |
| 1 | More deputies needed in rural areas. | |
| 1 | Improve and develop policies for land use issues and address urban sprawl issues like trash, water, taxes and education. | |
| 1 | We have unskilled workforce for high skilled jobs. | |
| 1 | Allocation of resources for older population. | |
| 1 | Low cost or free meals to seniors and home bound; improved nutrition for the elderly. | |
| 1 | Lack of elderly care especially in rural areas. | |
| 1 | Sick building syndrome. | |
| 1 | Aging work force. | |
| 1 | Community development. | |
| 1 | Reduce poverty and increase household income. | |
| 1 | Establish community gardens to help people have fresh food/veggies. | |
| 1 | Free lunch for every school child every day. | |
| 3 | 8 | Youth opportunities including mentoring, at-risk, youth volunteers, youth activities. |
| 3 | 7 | Historical preservation. |
| 3 | 7 | Aging population; financial impact, job market, health care, cuts to federal programs, increase in the retirement age. |
| 3 | 6 | Transportation improvements; funding solutions to help TxDOT and cities; HOV lanes. |
| 3 | 4 | Zoning and code to clean up neighborhoods. Vector control, property maintenance, junked vehicles. |
| 3 | 4 | Obesity in children and families. Need nutritional information posted at restaurants and in kid's meals as a start. |
| 3 | 4 | City and county cooperation and consolidation. |
| 3 | 4 | Increase public involvement in local governance. Boards, commissions, interest groups. Improved and increased leadership. |
| 3 | 3 | Lack of life skills training; budgeting, parenting. |
| 3 | 4 | Conservation of Natural resources; water, environmental, air pollution |
| 3 | 3 | Acquisition of affordable water for cities. Cooperative efforts improved. Help with Edwards Aquifer Authority. |
| 3 | 3 | Undereducated community. Need more higher education. |
| 3 | 3 | Higher paying jobs. |
| 3 | 3 | Lack integrated services - food stamps, health care. |
| 3 | 2 | Shortage of public education staffing. |
| 3 | 2 | Sidewalks needed in older parts of town. This impacts safety, fit city, ability to access buses. |
| 3 | 2 | Hunger and malnutrition: obesity paradox. |
| 3 | 2 | Lack of access to services. |
| 3 | 2 | Property taxes-keeping them low and not increasing them. |
| 3 | 2 | Increasing cost of day care - need state funds for preK not limited to income of the family. |
| 3 | 2 | Character education funding for at risk youth as well as self esteem issues. |
| 3 | 2 | Continuing education opportunities for adults. |
| 3 | 1 | Education: redefining TAKS testing. |
| 3 | 1 | Taxes-when to spend and when to save. |
| 3 | 1 | School crowding and costs put to parents. |
| 3 | 1 | Community preservation through taxation. |
| 3 | 1 | Lack of education in health care/nutrition. |
| 3 | 1 | Lack safe and affordable housing conditions for families. |
| 3 | 1 | Crime: lowering crime in neighborhoods. |
| 3 | 1 | Transportation for low income workers especially in outlying areas. |
| 3 | Environmental air pollution. | |
| 3 | Lack of jobs for all ages. | |
| 3 | At risk youth. | |
| 3 | Cultural preservation. | |
| 3 | Youth activities outside public school system. | |
| 3 | Lack of youth volunteering requirements. | |
| 3 | Lack of parental accountability. | |
| 3 | Obesity in children and adults. | |
| 3 | Crime. | |
| 3 | Traffic. | |
| 3 | Transportation in communities - need HOV lanes or incentives to car pool. | |
| 3 | Providing information and technology to citizens to help- e-government for senior provisions. | |
| 3 | More school buildings. | |
| 3 | Education - making education relevant to issues in the market place, especially jobs. | |
| 3 | Illegal disposal of hazardous waste. | |
| 3 | Overuse of municipal landfills. | |
| 3 | Open space and development. | |
| 3 | Sustainable agriculture. | |
| 3 | Increase in property crime - graffiti. | |
| 3 | Jobs for ex-felons. | |
| 3 | Overcrowded prison system. | |
| 3 | Lack of funding for the arts. | |
| 3 | Pet overpopulation. | |
| 2 | 12 | Youth opportunities and education - Youth need role models; education; mentoring; learn wants from needs; pregnancy prevention; single parents; employment opportunities; education. |
| 2 | 11 | Elderly services- food for meals on wheels; prescriptions; housing/nursing homes; medical care; affordable medications; commodities; education programs; senior citizens care; elderly care - nutrition and health services. |
| 2 | 10 | Health Care Access- Medical Assistance because of cuts in Medicaid, CHIP, Carelink; affordable insurance for all, prescription drug benefits, alternative or supplemental benefits, health care education, services and facilities for the elderly; affordable health insurance. |
| 2 | 9 | Economic Generators- jobs, benefits, growth and stabilization of current business, education or skills for workers; availability of jobs, job training, low wage jobs, living wages, benefits; training for employment, job opportunities due to businesses moving in; living wages and salaries; economy in Bexar County; jobs, training, benefits, working wages, long range planning, recreational opportunities; jobs. |
| 2 | 7 | Water- resources, cost to consumers, environmental contamination; quality. |
| 2 | 6 | Education; trades vs. skills; technical or computers; schools being built-funding; raising standards for elementary schools including reading, math, English structure; teacher pay; high school dropouts; cost of higher ed; preparation for higher education; adequate education - facilities and teachers: raising learning standards, funding school teacher pay, higher education costs, emphasis on technical ed as well. |
| 2 | 4 | Minority population increase - education, jobs, tax relief: influx of Hispanic population; education issues. |
| 2 | 3 | Neighborhood security/ crime. |
| 2 | 3 | Transportation- supply and demand increases; regulations regarding air, noise, pollution; mechanical check ups; transportation; fuel costs; public transportation, environmental concerns, alternative fuel, traffic flow, better roads, emergency services. |
| 2 | 3 | Affordable child care- prevents parents from working; less money and funding from state/city sources. |
| 2 | 1 | Public services - police, fire, hospital. |
| 2 | 1 | Housing costs- home ownership; down payment assistance; rental units available; discrimination; affordable housing; affordable, fair, re-vitalize older; homelessness issues, neighborhoods, public services, down payment assistance. |
| 2 | Crime- police services; community safety. | |
| 2 | Adequate water supply- water resources. | |
| 2 | Population growth- increase as Bexar County develops, employment and trades, surrounding counties' workforce; jobs - outsourcing; unemployment. | |
| 2 | 1 | Recreational facilities. |
| 2 | Tax base rural vs urban: move outside county and travel into city to work; tax base comes from residents; taxes or tourist; tax base. | |
| 2 | Affordable child care. | |
| 2 | Youth- education, health -pregnancy and nutrition, employment opportunities, character development. | |
| 2 | Educating, preparing and training youth for gainful employment and involvement in the community. |