It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog

As the familiar saying goes. I ran across a good story in the Dallas Morning News from last month about one Grand Prairie resident, 63-year-old Doranna Corley, who began getting involved in helping people in her neighborhood and ones nearby to understand what is at stake for them with the Barnett Shale gas drilling and mineral rights leasing and how not to get taken advantage of in the process. The article says:

Mrs. Corley is the leader of a grassroots movement to assemble Grand Prairie’s underrepresented neighborhoods – some of which haven’t organized in decades – to inform residents about gas well drilling. Spurred by a bad experience with a drilling company, she launched her door-to-door campaign, issuing fliers and planting yard signs. The first meeting drew more than 400 people.

As I noted a few weeks ago, none of the neighborhoods in our alliance, Neighborhod Group, had an established formal neighborhood association when we began this gas lease endeavor. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we can’t engage the big boys of the energy world and come out with an advantageous contract. It will take tenacity, patience, ingenuity and most of all the commitment, especially from the homeowners we represent to see this process throught to the end. Mrs. Corley is a great example of all of those traits.

Mrs. Corley, consider yourself saluted!