Commissioner John Matthews

As my schedule allows I like to attend meetings of the Johnson County Commissioners Court just to keep up with issues in the county and to stay current with the types of things the commissioners deal with. When choosing to attend yesterday's meeting I got way more than I bargained for.

Before starting in on the day's agenda County Judge Harmon announced Precinct 2 Commissioner John Matthews had a statement to make. A tearfully emotional Matthews announced his resignation from the position he's held for 8 1/2 years.

Plenty has been written recently about the ongoing investigation into suspected improper purchases supposedly made by Matthews. I'm not going to get into the merits of the case or any speculation regarding guilt or innocence.  That's the job of the justice system.  When I left the court house I just prayed for John. I prayed that if he's done what he's accused of then whatever is going on in his life that might have led him to that action will be healed.

The one thing I want to focus on today is a statement made by Matthews that has bothered me for the last week or so since I read it in the Joshua Star. Matthews was quoted as saying "Is it really good use of taxpayer money to spend three days with three people to audit paper towels and paper cups?" I say "Yes!" That's exactly the kind of thing taxpayer funds should be used for - to root out impropriety if it exists. I read a similar statement by a Star-Telegram reader. They think the investigation should turn towards the Sheriff and Texas Rangers for investigating something so minor. Are you kidding me?  Monetary value should have no bearing here. That's not the point at all. Integrity is. Trust is. If the suspected $1400 is not worth investigating then what is? $2000?  $10,000?  Do we need to create a law that allows a certain dollar amount of theft allowable by an elected official before an investigation takes place? That's insane.  I think Mr. Matthews statement says an awful lot about his state of mind and maybe even his character.  It was disappointing to read to say the least.

The recurring sentiment I'm hearing now is that all politicians are the same...crooks. It feels like that sometimes, doesn't it? It makes it tough for those of us in public office really trying to do our best and model the higher level of integrity that I believe we should be held to.  Bad apples that don't think they should be scrutinized make us all look bad and I'm tired if it. We need to find them all and replace them.


A.J.

Burleson's City Manager Strife

Last night's City Council meeting in Burleson was one for the record books.  Nearly four hours on one agenda item made for an interesting evening.  On a side note I love that the City of Burleson makes there council meetings available live online.  Being able to watch from home with my usual evening snack sure made it easy to attend.

The big deal last night was a debate on the City Manager's performance and his possible termination.  The charges against Curtis Hawk were brought by Councilman Aiken who requested the item be placed on last night's agenda.  Mr. Aiken illustrated some serious charges against the City Manager.  Mainly, he accused him of withholding information or pushing a bias among staff when presenting items to the council for deliberation.  Mr. Aiken felt the council did not receive all the information necessary to make informed decisions for the citizens.

The night went on with numerous citizens addressing the council and but for a few most all spoke glowingly of Mr. Hawk and his performance as City Manager.  In the end a motion was made to remove the item from the agenda and won in a 4-3 vote.  Mr. Hawk, who is scheduled to retire in March 2012, will most likely work though that date now I would guess.

I know Mayor Shetter as an acquaintance from several local and regional meetings.  I know Councilman Pool   as a business client since he's called on my company (standby for shameless plug), AcceliNet Computer Services, for support of his office systems.  Other than that I'm not familiar with the Burleson Council or most goings on in the city.  Except for a few that spoke last night most also do not have an intimate knowledge of the internal workings between the City Manager and the City Council.  Judgement, I feel, is a dish best served with a side of information so I won't come to any conclusions here today.  What did stand out to me though was that Mr. Aiken had very specific allegations and all the public defense was related to the growth and success of the city under Mr. Hawk's watch.  That growth and success is indisputable, but that wasn't the point.  I find it interesting that nobody said "Mr. Hawk has done well for the city, but this should be looked at closer."  Everyone pretty much ignored the actual charge against him and just stood as character witnesses.  There is value there don't get me wrong, but it doesn't get into the merits of the allegations.  Why was it that nobody was alarmed at what might be going on at city hall?  I believe it's because things are rolling along well in Burleson.  When people are pretty happy I think they don't care too much about how it's being accomplished.  Right or wrong that's my observation.  This may just come down down to a severe personality conflict and communication problems.  I hope so.  I too like how things are going in Burleson from an outside stand point and I hate to see such conflict with my neighbors.

A.J.

Style America: FAIL

I sat pondering the two haircut coupons in my hand.  Pro-Cuts, $8.95; Style America, $9.99.  Not a huge difference so I thought I'd try out the new Style America shop in Burleson, TX even though I've always had a great experience at the Burleson Pro-Cuts.

It's a 10 minute drive to the new Burleson location.  I arrived at the front door of the store at 9:24 am.  I know the exact time because I looked at my clock after pulling on the door and finding it locked.  I checked the hours sign - "Friday 9 am". "Today is Friday", I thought.  "9:24 am comes after 9:00 am.  How could this be?  How could a brand new store that took the time to send me coupons so I would change my routine and visit the store not be open when they say they will be open?"  I was baffled.  In the highly competitive field of hair care in which one has to do better than their competitors to survive how could a store not even be open and compete in the market place?  It doesn't seem as though that can happen.  That's pretty basic economics and yet that founding principal seems to elude the Style America management.  Astounding.

So I drove the 10 minutes back home and pulled my Pro-Cuts coupon off my bulletin board.  I then drove back through Burleson, past the Style America store to the Pro-Cuts store.  They were open.  They were cutting people's hair.  They cut my hair.  They'll cut my hair again next time.

My time is valuable.  Style America wasted 20 minutes of it today.  Beside that here I am on your website where I came to find your phone number to tell you about your local business practices.  I didn't find a number to call because you don't have one on here.  You want me to write to you so you can decide whether or not I'm worth your time.  Well my writing time is also valuable and I hate to see good sarcasm go to waste so I'll copy and paste this account into my blog too for my readers to enjoy.  Some may not want to risk a drive to a Style America store if they may not be open.

A.J.

2011 ESD Legislative Wrap Up

With several Emergency Service District related bills filed during the regular session of the 82nd Texas legislature  it was no surprise that several got stalled out in committee.  One senate bill from Senator Wentworth, SB 917, seemed to keep some traction and finally pushed through.  It had a direct companion on the House side and a couple similar bills including one from our own District 58 Representative Rob Orr.  Senator Wentworth had another ESD bill, SB 359, that I traveled to Austin to testify against before the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee.  It's purpose was to repeal Chapter 776 of the Health & Safety Code.  I opposed it because it would remove the ability of a municipality in a 776 ESD to get out of an ESD.  That power is something I sought for the City of Joshua and pushed to get added to Chapter 775 which is what our own Johnson County ESD is incorporated under.

SB 917 is now waiting for the Governor's signature.  Here's what affects Johnson County:

• Board Training - Each ESD board member will be required to have 6 hours of continuing education related to the duties of serving on an ESD board every two years.  Failing to complete the training becomes grounds for removal from the board.
• Removal of a Board Member - The power of the county commissioners is somewhat expanded in the reasons that a board member may be removed from office.  They now include:

1. Incompetency, as defined by Section 87.011, Local Government Code.
2. Official Misconduct, as defined by Section 87.011, Local Government Code.
3. Misconduct, as defined by Section 178.001, Local Government Code.

This provision would have been nice to have last year when numerous issues were found at the Johnson County ESD.  Especially since "incompetence" includes gross ignorance or carelessness in the discharge of official duties.  Of course getting the Johnson County commissioners to actually act on that would have probably been an uphill battle.  Since Precinct 3 Commissioner Jerry Stringer reappointed ESD Treasurer Keith Kelly, competence and conduct are obviously not high on his list of personal requirements for the position.  These new removal options may never be used anywhere in the state, however, since our legislators, in the most cowardly fashion, have made this section only applicable if the county commissioners adopt the power by resolution.  I'll certainly make our Johnson County Commissioners aware of this new power available to them so hopefully they'll choose to grab hold of it for future use.

• An ESD must not set a tax rate for the fiscal year before the date they adopt a budget for a fiscal year. Last year the JCESD chose to set their tax rate before adopting a budget.  Their method of budgeting seemed to be determining how much revenue they could generate and then figuring out how to spend it.  I'm hopeful that the leadership this year will take a more responsible approach.
• When an ESD fails to submit an audit of the previous fiscal year to the county commissions by September 1st the board president and treasurer are removed.  This sure would have been nice to have last year!  This is a really good thing for extreme cases like we had last year, but when you really see what we got it's pretty meaningless.  The current law already states that an ESD is to submit their audit to the commissioners by June 1st.  Why now do we need to give them three more months before there is any discipline action?  All this does is make the June 1st date meaningless and allow an ESD to progress well into budget preparation time for the next year without a certified report of what money they really even have to work with.
• The final kicker, Chapter 776 is repealed.  The bill I fought so hard against, SB 359, was crammed into SB 917 in the final days and passed right though.  Though the state doesn't have many 776 ESD's any cities in them have lost the power to ever get out.  Along with that we have lost the argument of precedence in pushing for that provision to be included in chapter 775.  The ESD lobbyists did a good job of securing their revenues since that's the only reason to hold a city's taxpayers hostage.

I'll pick the ball up again next year when the legislature begins preparing for 2013.  What we'll need is a bill specific to the issue of allowing cities a way out of ESD's.  I plan to write it myself and shop for a legislator to sponsor it.  I'll give Representative Orr another chance to do the right thing, but I won't hold my breath.

A.J.

Weiners, Losers

It's quite a sad state our country finds itself in when situations such as Anthony Weiner's are so common amongst our "leaders".  After lying to the entirety of America for 10 days he then chooses to confess.  Has he resigned his position though?  No.  Why?  Because he's not really that sorry.  And he doesn't really have that level of integrity.  Why do such actions not have pre-determined consequences anymore?  In days gone by if such an occurrence took place it would go without question that he would resign or be asked to leave by all of his colleagues.  Why is he so important that any one of his constituents would have to put up with his type of behavior?  What great value has he contributed that we all have to overlook now that a confirmed liar sits with those who determine our national destiny?  Are there so few worthy people among us that we cannot possibly fill the hole that would be left by his departure?  I think not.  I think there are a lot of people that could do quite well in that seat and not lie to us all.

The days of tax cheats, adulterers, liars and all other derogatory descriptors of politicians has to end.  We need to take our country back and raise up leaders of character and morality.

A.J.