Mayor Larry Spears, Focus for the City

The City of Orange has been blessed immensely over the past several years with new business and employment opportunities as well as the addition of parks, pavilions and other family friendly events for all to enjoy.

The community has stepped forward to embrace and encourage a positive atmosphere that I truly believe has helped us to move forward. When this assignment began the first order of business was to rededicate and to publicly confess that the Lord was in control of our purpose and direction. He alone has been our lead as we prepared to navigate through these uncharted territories. Some have said to me that religion has no place in politics. My response to that opinion is that "What we are doing here in Orange isn't politics, it's about loving people where they are for who they are and having faith that the Lord will take care of the rest".

Orange, Texas has endured Hurricanes, Ice Storms, Flooding and the current global pandemic that is Covid-19. Time and time again we have joined together as one family in order to rise again and rebuild or replace what was damaged or lost. The resiliency of the people has been nothing short of amazing and now as we have stepped into 2021 many have asked, "Where do we go from here"?

The direction and path forward must address the elephant in the room and that is the amount of litter, trash and debris that has plagued our city for far too long. Myles Munroe wrote that "Whatever you mismanage, you will lose", so how can we continue to ask God for blessings and opportunities if we can't properly manage or appreciate the blessings that we have now. This effort will need the support of everyone within our city and surrounding community. Together we must take on the mission of appreciating what we have and cleaning up the street corners and abandoned properties.

City Council and Staff have taken steps to begin the process, but it will also take the Accountability and Responsibility of every individual to help us achieve the goal of a cleaner Orange, Texas. This predicament and current situation did not happen overnight, yet we must all do our part to start preparing for the future. I am sincerely seeking the help of every citizen to help us beautify Orange and to help us cleanup our city streets.

We must continue to be Proactive! Several other issues across the community are being addressed concerning Drainage as well as tackling the recovery efforts from Hurricane Laura and the recent Ice Storm. There is a lot to be done and the list grows longer, yet we are determined to continue to strive for a better future and make Orange a better place for all to enjoy.

I sincerely appreciate your patience with us as we journey through this process and I want to publicly Thank and acknowledge every city employee, first responders, dispatch, member of staff and city council for going above and beyond time and time again. I do believe that the best is yet to come and I thank God for his continued blessings upon our city!

Sincerely,

Larry Spears Jr.

Mayor of Orange, Texas