On February 8th, under a cloud of a failed bond, legal issues related to the bond, and revelations by husband Michael Lewis that she had been offered bribes yet never reported them, Mayor Amanda Lewis announced she would not seek re-election. Ironically, she began her announcement by stating she, Sarah Salgado, and Jason Roberson, who she goes on to endorse for Mayor, ran as a team in 2021 because of their mutual desire to re-establish residents’ trust in City leadership.
During the February 15th City Council meeting the Public Works Director presented the findings of a Pavement Condition Index study the city had completed to determine what roads within the city needed the most repair. The list (shown below) was comprised of 85 road parcels and they were all rated by severity of their condition. Two columns in the list show two different ratings, one being the PCI 2022 and the other being the PCI Category. The roads listed with the lowest numbers under the PCI 2022 column are in need of the most repair and as you will see, the PCI category is listed from worst category of Failed to the best category of Fair.
Also presented was a list of the roads within that list that would be repaired as part of the $1.5m road repair budget for this year. One road in particular stuck out on that list and it is none other than Kings Court where some of Forney’s elites call home. Forney Mayor Amanda Lewis and husband Michael Lewis’ $1.7m estate is located on Kings Court, as well as the Treasurer for the Vote Yes PAC Amanda Lewis formed to promote the bond election last November. What is particularly interesting is that Kings Court finished 41st on the list of roads that need to be repaired yet somehow it was moved to the top of the list. I challenge the residents of Forney to make a short trip over to Kings Court and compare it to the rest of the roads ahead of it on the list. In fact, during your trip you will find that W Shands, which did not make the list, is the road that leads to Kings Court and is in much more need of repair.
I emailed the Public Works Director and asked if cost estimates were completed for any of the roads that did not make the list of roads to be repaired this year and he stated that estimates had not been completed for any of the other roads on the list. The roads that did make the list were hand-picked by leadership within the City of Forney, including the City Council. Instead of re-establishing trust in our city leadership we are left, yet again, questioning the integrity of the Amanda Lewis, Sarah Salgado, Jason Roberson team, who had no objections when the list of roads to be repaired were reviewed. Forney, leave a comment below and tell us where your road finished on the list and just how badly it needs to be repaired.