By Allan Jamail
At 6PM on January 2, 2018, the Galena Park city council meeting was called to order by Mayor Esmeralda Moya. After the opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, the council approved the meeting minutes of December 19th and the Accounts Payable through January 2, 2018.
The council also pproved hiring Gary Fisher as full-time and Melissa Galan as part-time police dispatchers.
The council approved hiring Emerson Chavez full-time in Ground Maintenance.
Cheryl Ponder of the Committee for a Better Galena Park presented Ellaine Underhill representing United Healthcare with a recognition award for their continued support to the Secret Santa Program.
Ponder said, “The Committee for a Better Galena Park has sponsored the Secret Santa Program since 2014. For the past three years United Healthcare has adopted families with needy children.”
“United Healthcare employees go out and purchase gifts for the needy kids, what makes their help this year so special. Some of the employees are displaced from their homes because of Hurricane Harvey, but they still took care of the children,” Ponder said.
The Committee for a Better Galena Park supervises the food pantry located at 1702 3 RD Street, which provides food to qualifying citizens. Citizens desiring the pantries goods must first complete and application where they’ll be required to provide proof of residency and disclose their household income to determine if they qualify.