Williamson County Democratic Party chair Greg Windham holds a peculiar view of voters’ perception of the party he was elected to lead.
Windham said Moving Wilco Forward and Annie’s (List) play into anti-Democratic stereotypes, making Williamson County residents and other Texans “afraid of Democrats.”
“They [voters] think we are here to kiss their men, kill their babies and take their guns,” Windham said.
In an interview with Round Rock Leader editor Brad Stutzman, Windham echoed derisive stereotypes that Republicans frequently use to bash Democrats. During his brief tenure as the head of the local party, these sentiments have sparked conflict with a number of precinct chairs on the party’s executive committee.
Stutzman provides a balanced summary of the disagreement between Windham and the executive committee members who voted to spend about half their cash to fund a voter registration drive conducted by a coordinated campaign representing all local Democratic candidates. However, Windham’s comments quoted in the story reveal that he is fixated on opposing the treasurer of Moving Wilco Forward, the political action committee managing the coordinated campaign.
Robert Jones is a Democratic political consultant with a remarkable track record of success, serving as the political director for Annie’s List, a statewide “organization dedicated to electing progressive women to office.” Jones formed Moving Wilco Forward in December 2008 with the express purpose of electing all the Democratic candidates in Williamson county.
In voting to move $5,000 over to Moving Wilco Forward, the majority of executive committee members expressed greater confidence in the organization’s ability to execute the voter registration program than Windham.
Windham said he believes volunteers should use “elbow grease,” going door-to-door to register voters.
Hard work is part of the plan, and the coordinated campaign will do a significant amount of door-to-door canvassing; however, the coordinated campaign will also be using mail pieces and targeting new residents of Williamson county, many of whom may have neglected to move their voter registration. Take the average street in your average neighborhood, for example. Perhaps 1 in 20 homes on that street will have moved in the past year. “Elbow grease” is wasted knocking on the other 19 doors.
Windham may not have been aware of this, which may explain why he was in a very small minority voting against the proposal. After all, Windham has only run one political campaign, a failed bid for County Commissioner in 2008.
After the executive committee voted to write the check to Moving Wilco Forward, Windham fired off an antagonistic email to a large number of local Democrats.
It would be responsible for wasteful spenders to be eradicated in order to combat the stereotypes that prevent us from winning elections. We are living in an age of consequences and it would be refreshing for some people to wake up and realize it.
One is led to wonder how to “eradicate” members of the executive committee who disagree with him. The executive committee believes the best chance for success in November is with an organization that has the experience and tools to register more voters. They believe that a Moving Wilco Forward-led coordinated campaign will make a much better case than Windham that the Democratic Party better represents the interests of Williamson County’s working families.
The top concerns of voters this election, contrary to what Windham says, are Texas’ highest-in-the-nation electric and home insurance rates, the difficulty in finding a job or getting enough hours to make ends meet, the expense of sending a child to college, the fear of being one illness away from bankruptcy and the strain of toll roads and fuel prices on the family budget.
In ways that directly impact the lives of families in Williamson county, the Democratic Party represents positive change, greater transparency and accountability. All the better ideas for government are Democratic. The Republican party deals in fear, distrust, delay, stagnation and corruption. The Republican party is sorry that BP was asked to pay for the damage caused by their negligence. The Republican party wants to eliminate Social Security and terminate unemployment benefits. The Republican Party wants to give $3 million to each of the richest 120,000 taxpayers.
Local Democratic activists feel a sense of urgency to act now to take back government and use it to defend working families instead of giant corporations like ExxonMobil or BP. Every election that passes without voters hearing our message, more children fail, more homes are foreclosed, more workers become jobless, more jobless become homeless and summers keep getting hotter.
Greg Windham needs to heed his own advice: “We are living in an age of consequences and it would be refreshing for some people to wake up and realize it.” Wake up, Greg. Realize that you’re hurting the very cause you were elected to champion. Either that or step down and allow someone who actually believes that informed voters will side with the Democratic Party.
Williamson County made a $4 million miscalculation when it determined the maximum amount the state requires it to spend on indigent health care. But that will not change commissioners’ recent decision to eliminate coverage for people without legal Social Security cards, Commissioner Cynthia Long said.
“We believe we made the right decision for the taxpayers of Williamson County,” she said.
County auditors found out May 13 — after meeting with state officials — that the county is now required to spend up to $4.4 million more than it initially anticipated on its indigent health care program, said Julie Kiley , an assistant county auditor.
The state requires the county to spend up to 8 percent of its general tax revenue to provide health care for people who qualify for its indigent program. Once the county reaches the state-mandated cap, the state begins reimbursing the county for additional costs.
County officials initially thought the maximum the county could spend on the program for this budget year was $7.1 million. That amount has now increased to up to $11.5 million, Kiley said.
County officials did not know the revenue also was supposed to include money from the debt tax levy revenue fund, Kiley said. The revenue from that fund added about $50 million to the total revenue amount, she said.
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Long said this week that the county is projecting it will spend double the amount it has budgeted for the indigent health care program. The county budgeted $4 million and appropriated $3.1 million more this spring, and it expects to reach $8 million by the end of the budget year in September, she said.
Commissioner Valerie Covey said the fact that the maximum the county is required to spend has increased is a separate issue from the county’s decision to cut coverage for adults and children without Social Security cards.
In other words the county has to spend $11.5 million dollars this fiscal year on indigent health care. It was originally calculated by “county officials” that the county had to spend $7.1 this year – $4.4 million more. As you may, or may not recall, a few weeks ago the county made a big deal out of cutting off indigent health care for anyone without a valid Social Security card. Saying it was needed to because money was running out to pay for indigent health care this year.
Now we find out they have a significant amount more money that must be spent on indigent health care. And the county, according to Commissioner Long, will not change it’s policy regarding those without a valid Social Security card. This leaves two questions. Who are they going to spend this miscalculated $4.4 million for indigent health care on? Obviously it’s much cheaper, not to mention humane, to treat these people at a doctor’s office when they first get sick, as opposed making their only option the emergency room. The second question is who are these “county officials” that made this “miscalculation”?
The Williamson County Commissioners Court voted 5-0 Tuesday to issue $35 million in debt, to finish road improvement and expansion projects already underway for U.S. Highway 183, U.S. Highway 79 and Williams Drive in Georgetown.
But – despite arguments to the contrary from County Judge Dan Gattis and County Auditor David Flores – commissioners will pay for that work without federal stimulus dollars known as Build America Bonds.
“For us to not take advantage of BABS is for us to pay a higher cost for the borrowing of dollars,” Flores told commissioners.
Flores said if Williamson County entered the BABS federal stimulus program, it could expect to be reimbursed 35 percent of the interest payment for the $35 million in debt principal it is incurring.
That reimbursement, Flores said, would work out to about $150,000 per year for the next 20 years.
Most of the commissioners objections were straight from the warmed over tea party rhetoric – in other words partisan politics over good public policy.
“This is part of the stimulus plan and this is basically Williamson County condoning the growth of federal government,” Pct. 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long of Cedar Park said. “From my perspective, its sends the message that we support the stimulus program and we support the expansion of federal government.”
Pct. 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman of Brushy Creek agreed, stating: “Every project we’ve done with the federal government, they end up wanting to micromanage and tell us what to do.”
Pct. 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey of Georgetown acknowledged that when Williamson County accepts funding from the Texas Department of Transportation, those funds include federal dollars passed down to the state level.
But, Covey said, she had also has concerns about administrative costs that might be associated with federal stimulus funding, as well as possible restrictions on how the money can be spent.
Although Gattis, makes sense in the article, he still voted with the rest of the court.
Gattis said that while he favors issuing the debt – in order to finish the ongoing road projects – he thinks the county is being shortsighted in rejecting federal stimulus money.
“We’re making a big mistake here, leaving $100,000 per year on the table,” Gattis said. “It’s going to be interesting, as we’re getting into the budget and you’re not wanting to spend $100,000. We could fund a lot of programs with that.”
Gattis realizes that the county is giving away between $2-3 million over the next 20 years, but he still voted with the rest of them. I guess it’s not polite to dissent when the court is denying federal funds. There were no comments regarding where precinct 4 Commissioner Rom Morrison this issue.
While it’s true the federal government may have some input into these roads if federal funds are taken, most times it’s regarding environmental concerns, that’s not worth giving this money away. This looks like it was done more for partisan political reasons, then for reasons of good public policy or what’ best for Williamson County.
There are always unintended consequences of legislative action, and the worse the legislation the worse the unintended consequences are. Mike Krusee’s HB 3588 and the toll roads it has wrought on our area is the case in point. TxDOT literally has no plan, or system in place, about how to collect from drivers who refuse to pay their tolls, Tough road ahead collecting late tolls, other then possibly clogging local Justice courts in Travis and Williamson County.
TXDOT’s Wisconsin-based collection agency is now calling violators at home and sending letters to try and get them to pay their tolls and fees.
But if you ignore the collection agency, there is little they can do. They cannot contact your credit report, they cannot prevent you from renewing your driver’s license and they cannot stop you from registering your vehicle with the state.
Taking violators to court could be TXDOT’s only option to collect the money. But until an Interlocal Agreement is reached, county officials said those cases will not be heard.
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More than 150,000 toll violators owe $56.1 million in outstanding tolls and “administrative fees” – but the Texas Department of Transportation is hitting a roadblock, or several, when it comes to collecting them.
To be exact, the amount of outstanding tolls is $3.12 million. But KXAN discovered TXDOT is charging some violators more than 4000 percent in those “administrative fees”. And those fees are what push the total amount of money owed to $56.1 million.
TXDOT said they’re now going to take those violators to court.
[...]
KXAN spoke with the elected officials in Williamson and Travis counties, and they agree with Gammon.
Travis County Treasurer Delores Ortega Carter said TXDOT needs to get their ducks in a row before they file any toll violation cases.
“They can file all the cases they want, how long they’ll be there we don’t know,” she said.
Carter’s colleague in Williamson County, Treasurer Vivian Wood concurs. “I just can’t see our judge and commissioners agreeing to anything even though the statute is there.”
County officials said it all boils down to what is called an Interlocal Agreement: A set of rules and guidelines to outline procedures dealing with court costs, collection of tolls and fees, where the money collected goes, payment methods, timeliness and line items.
They said there has got to be an Interlocal Agreement before any cases can be heard in county courtrooms. Ortega-Carter and Wood told KXAN they’ve been trying to get an agreement with TXDOT since 2006, but have not heard anything from the state agency.
“I don’t have anything from the state that tells me…and we don’t just send money down to the Comptroller without the state’s requirements for identification of those funds,” Wood said.
Ortega-Carter added: “We need to have a paper trail so that, for auditing purposes, we can see where it’s going. We don’t care how the state spends the money, that’s their problem. We do care how the county receives that money.”
As a Mexican-American, I support Arizona wholeheartedly!
People complain there will be profiling. I hate to burst your bubble; profiling is alive and well in Texas.
I live behind a wealthy part of the city so sometimes when I am driving home I am pulled over by the sheriff for no reason other than to find out where I am going, where do I live, etc. [Emphasis added].
I could move to the east side, but I choose to live in a quiet, reserved area. No one drinking on the porch out here. No water hoses missing out here. No real traffic out here. I like it!
Now, I may get upset sometimes when they ask, but I want to live there so I suck it up.
As to Arizona’s issue, why the masses are upset – I cannot figure that out. Do they have an illegal aunt like Obama has? A cook, maid and/or yardman they don’t want to lose?
These illegals are creating a new form of slavery – the same sort of situation they left behind in Mexico, only it’s in the U.S.
We need orderly deportation. No hearings. If they do not have papers … they don’t have to go home, but they can’t stay here.
For you bleeding hearts: Start sending money to a lawyer to help the illegal of your choice. But that will be your choice.
- Carmen Fritz, Round Rock
This makes it sound like it’s a fairly common occurrence for people of who appear to be of Mexican-American descent to be pulled over for no reason other than how they look if they are driving in a “wealthy part” of the county.
It always a little sad how programs for the least among us - in this case children, the mentally ill, and the elderly – are always the first mentioned to be on the chopping block, Wilco studies $300,000 in social service funding.
The agencies in question – providing everything from mental health services to meals for senior citizens – all have county government contracts up for renewal, Pct. 1 Commissioner Valerie Covey of Georgetown and county budget officer Ashlie Koenig said.
Koenig said representatives from the agencies are encouraged to attend the May 25 commissioners court meeting, in order to provide input and answer questions.
She said contracts for the current year are all one year in length and involve the commitment of $287,000 in taxpayer dollars. A total of $309,000 – representing a $22,000 increase (7.6 percent) – has been requested for next year.
“It’s a policy [decision],” Covey said of the proposed contract renewals. “What do we need to be doing? What are we required to do? What direction are we going in?”
County Judge Dan Gattis predicted the funding proposals will spark discussion and debate among commissioners.
“It’s one more thing in a tight budget year,” Gattis said. “That will be the whole discussion. These are things we generally have to do one way or the other. Either we support these agencies… or it [the cost] falls back on us anyway.”
Covey, who isn’t up for reelection this year, appears to be carrying the hatchet for the commissioners court. Gattis is right, much of this will have to paid for one way or another, and if we can’t fully fund “Meals on Wheels” in Williamson County we should be ashamed of ourselves. Click the link above for the complete list of programs being looked at for cuts.
The Texas Freedom Network (TFN) live-blogged yesterday’s hearing in three parts, (Part I, Part II, and Part III).
Burnt Orange report has video of the three Democratic candidates that are running for the State Board of Education (SBOE), SBOE Hearings Continue: Tweet & Donate! Including this one below from the candidate in District 10, which includes Williamson County, Judy Jennings. In the video Jennings says, if elected, she will explore the possibility of rescinding any parts of of the Social Studies curriculum that are passes that are based on ideology and not historical fact.
The Williamson County Democratic Party Executive Committee passed a resolution last week condemning the recently passed Arizona immigration law (SB 1070). Stating that the Democratic Party, “..believes in the dignity of all, regardless of immigration status, and recognizes the importance of everyone’s contributions to the social, religious, cultural and economic life the United States”.
Via the Williamson County Public Policy Coalition (WCPPC), Landfill money which benefits Hutto ISD
resulted from citizen involvement in contract [.pdf]. As the WCPPC press release points out none of this would have been possible without the direct and consistent Hutto area citizen involvement, for several years, in shaping the new landfill contract in Williamson County.
If the Williamson County commissioners court votes to convey $45,000 from a special landfill fund to the
Hutto ISD through the Hutto Education Foundation on May 11 (agenda item 14), the beneficiaries have numerous citizens to thank.
As the county’s revised landfill agreement was being debated in 2008 and early 2009, the Hutto City Council (HCC), the Hutto Citizens Group (HCG), the Williamson County Public Policy Coalition (WCPPC) and numerous citizens sought benefits for east Williamson County and especially Hutto—the areas most adversely affected by the landfill.
The initial drafts of the contract which were released to the public in February of 2009 contained no benefits for the Hutto area, but when the “final” draft was presented and passed on March 3, 2009, after a strong citizen push, the contract contained the provision for the Hutto ISD to get one percent of the landfill tipping fees—31 cents per ton.
“No one looks a gift horse in the mouth, whatever the amount,” said Kurt Johnson, Sr., staffer for the WCPPC and a member of the HCG, “and citizens are pleased that the Hutto ISD is finally receiving a belated benefit. But it’s important to note that without the continued pressure and input from citizens aimed at commissioners court, this amount, small though it may be, would never have made it into the contract.”
Actions by the Hutto City Council were included in the focused citizen and stakeholder effort to derive
mitigating benefits from the county to offset the adverse consequences of the landfill’s location four miles north of Hutto. On December 18, 2008, the Council unanimously passed a motion which insisted that the county not continue with the permit application to expand the landfill in the absence of an ironclad Master Site Plan to protect Hutto. Voting in favor of that resolution were Ken Love, Tina Slaton, Debbie Holland, Ronnie Quintanilla-Perez, David Begier, Jason Wirth and Felix Madrid.
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A long list of HCG members worked on getting the funds for Hutto into the contract along with seeking other provisions to protect and benefit the greater Hutto area. That list of members includes Felix Madrid, Jason Wirth, Mahlon Arnett, Cindy Allen-Lott, Ken Kincaid, Betty Sun, Weldon Copeland, Jeff Maurice, Deann Tidwell, Kurt Johnson, Sr., Mike Fowler, Jerry Tidwell, Mark Lidell, Charles Shell, Hugh Tidwell, Robbie Arnett, Orlynn Evans, and numerous others. In July of 2008, some 150 citizens crowded into the Hutto Lutheran Church parish hall to discuss options for the landfill. County representatives were invited, but did not attend.
“If you’re looking for someone to thank for Hutto’s funding, the people on that HCG are a good place to
start,” Johnson said.
The WCPPC also points out the the county continues to drag their feet on holding the operator responsible for meeting certain provisions of the contract, and the citizens are continuing to call them out on this.
The politicians on the Commissioners Court, and the corporation that’s operating the landfill, would never have done this on if they were not pressured to do do. But, of course, that is not stopping them for trying to take credit.
CAMPO is still taking public comments on their 25 Year Transportation Plan, comments are being taken online until 5 PM Friday May 14th. All the information including copies of the plan so far can be found HERE.
The new plan includes a much higher percentage of rail and other transit spending than its predecessor and a sharply reduced amount for maintaining highways. In the introduction, the plan claims to embrace a new philosophy of transportation planning based on encouraging dense centers of development rather than continuing suburban sprawl willy-nilly.
But even those working on the plan say the focus on centers — not an emphasis of previous plans — will make little real-world difference. The plan is only as accurate as its assumptions about the future, they said, and making predictions about the next quarter-century is inevitably an exercise in guesswork.
“To borrow a Hemingway phrase, it’s pretty to think we can plan 25 years in advance,” said Hays County Commissioner Jeff Barton , a Democrat who serves on the CAMPO board. “There’s value in the exercise, but we shouldn’t kid ourselves.”
What’s in the plan matters, however, because under federal law a transportation project can’t get federal dollars — almost all highway and transit projects are at least partially funded by the federal government — unless the project is in the long-range plan. But the 19-member CAMPO board, made up mostly of local elected officials from Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties, can amend the plan at any time. And there will be another wholesale rewrite five years from now, five years after that, and so on.
And as we see later in the article there are some differences between Travis and Williamson and how they intend to proceed in the future.