Mark you calendars! There will be a public forum to discuss T. Don Hutto facility in Taylor on September 24, 2008 7:00 PM, at the Georgetown Public Library:
Immigration Reform Effort (IRE) will host a public forum to explore the many and diverse aspects of this particular facility-and the future expansion of similar facilities as a part of our immigration policy.
As presented by Dr. Terri Hall, on behalf of Immigration Reform Effort (IRE) at yesterday’s Williamson County Commissioners Court (WCCC) meeting the forum “is to be a dignified and serious exploration of issues relating to this most important controversy”. Here’s who has been invited to participate.
Invited panelists include:
Barbara Hines, clinical professor of law and director of the Immigration Clinic at The University of Texas School of Law; co-counsel in the lawsuits challenging conditions at T. Don Hutto.
Wayne Krause, Legal Director, Austin office for the Texas Civil Rights Project.
Bob Libal, Texas Coordinator, Grassroots Leadership: Grassroots Leadership works to abolish for-profit private prisons.
Jose Orta, President, LULAC Council 4721, and longtime Taylor resident and critic of T D Hutto.
John Carter, United States Congress, 31st District of Texas, in which T Don Hutto is located.
Dan A Gattis, County Judge, Williamson County Commissioners Court, Texas; serves as chief administrator for T Don Hutto pass-through contract with CCA.
Julie Meyers, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
John Ferguson, President and CEO of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which owns, and has contract with ICE to operate, T Don Hutto.
Moderator: Doug Smith, Georgetown community leader and former Mayor Pro-Tem.
So far Professor Barbara Hines, Wayne Krause, Bob Libal, and Jose Orta, have all agreed to participate in the forum. Let’s hope the rest will join the forum as well. Dr. Hall was at the WCCC meeting yesterday and spoke to the fact that Judge Gattis, and the entire WCCC, act in a contractual over-sight capacity of the contract between ICE and CCA strongly supports Judge Gattis’ responsibility to participate.
Getting all of these people together along with the public to have a dignified and serious discussion of this issue can only help everyone to have a better understanding of the T. Don Hutto facility in Taylor. More information to come as the forum approaches.
School districts across Texas are likely to face extreme fiscal hardships over the next two years as transportation costs spiral out of control, enrollments continue to grow and the transition from textbooks to technology progresses.
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Most of the educators agreed that the school finance overhaul enacted by lawmakers two years ago — an attempt to settle the ongoing dispute between rich and poor school districts — is already falling short on generating the funds needed to sustain public schools.
“We always pull up with a penny-wise, pound-foolish solution,” said Richard Kouri, who represents the Texas State Teachers Association.
Added John Folks, superintendent of San Antonio’s Northside school district: “It’s one [state] mandate after another that’s being put on us.”
Of course that was a tax-shift and was not meant to fix, or “overhaul”, education financing in Texas. More something for nothing conservatism at work.
Diana Maldonado had her letter to the editor regarding the transmission lines in Hutto published in the AAS yesterday:
Transmission lines
Oncor Electric Delivery Co. and LCRA Transmission Services Corp. have recently submitted applications to build 12 acres of high-voltage electricity transmission lines. The 30 steel structures would become the tallest in Williamson County. I oppose this because of its adverse impact to the development of Hutto and the irregular manner in which these applications have been processed.
No other small city in Texas has had one of these massive industrial facilities deliberately placed inside the city, countering the city’s natural plan of growth. These transmission lines are not necessary to meet the needs of Hutto or Williamson County now or in the foreseeable future. It doesn’t make sense that such a facility would be located in the city of Hutto’s inner growth area, so close to schools, churches and homes.
The residents of Hutto are willing to work to find a solution that suits all parties and are being ignored.
Diana Maldonado
Candidate, House District 52
info@dianamaldonado.com
Round Rock
Also check out the interview that Charles Kuffner, of Off The Kuff, did with her at Netroots Nation.
It appears that Greg Windham, Democratic candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 3, is getting under the skin of the GOP Commissioners Court. So much so that County Judge Dan Gattis, Sr., interrupted him while he was speaking and asked him to leave the Commissioners Court meeting podium on Tuesday, (See clarification by Greg Windham in Comments). Going so far as to threaten him with contempt.
On his blog Windham states he was told there was “to be no political ‘campaigning’ during citizens comments” and was threatened with contempt if he did not leave. Reading over the WCCC’s Rules of Procedure, Conduct & Decorum, political campaigning is not specifically mentioned as being against the rules. Here’s what it say Section IV:
E. It is not the intention of the Williamson County Commissioners Court to provide a public forum for the demeaning of any individual or group. Neither is it the intention of the Court to allow a member (or members) of the public to insult the honesty and/or integrity of the Court, as a body, or any member or members of the Court, individually or collectively. Accordingly, profane, insulting or threatening language directed toward the Court and/or any person in the Court’s presence and/or racial, ethnic or gender slurs or epithets will not be tolerated.
It would appear that these vague rules have been interpreted to include a commissioners opponent speaking at court meetings. And, of course, how these “new” rules would be interpreted was a concern from the beginning. From yesterday’s actions it’s pretty clear that the commissioners no longer want to allow Greg Windham to speak at their meetings, and they’ll use their rules to make sure he doesn’t. Here’s what he would have said had our elected officials allowed him to exercise is First Amendment Right.
The forum at Noto29 has all the information. Originally scheduled for 6 – 8 pm, it’s been extended an hour and will now go from 6 – 9 pm. As well as a format change.
The format has also been modified from the initial meeting announcement. In addition to an open house with visuals, including maps of the alignments and the issues matrix, a presentation will be made to provide attendees with the latest update and progress report. If you would like to submit a question to be answered during the presentation phase of the meeting next Monday, please do so in writing to roads@wilco.org or fax to 512-943-1662 by Thursday, July 31, at 5:00 p.m.
“We hope Monday night’s open house will serve to provide a thorough update of where we are in the process, clear up any misinformation and respond to questions that are important to the citizens,†said Commissioner Covey.
Much of the format will remain in place with multiple ways to provide input. Citizens still will have the opportunity to visit individually with the engineering firm leading the study, as well as representatives of the County. The primary objective for the evening is to provide a venue in which members of the community can provide feedback about the various alternative alignments under review and the plan to eliminate 13 alternatives.
That statement makes it clear that they still don’t get it. Their primary objective is to get residents to buy into their scheme, by goading them to choose their preferred route. They don’t appear to want to discuss whether or not their Perry-esque corridor should be considered in the first place. Williamson County has much more pressing traffic needs at this time.
I would also recommend this comment at NT29 that speaks to how Liberty Hill is coming together as one to combat this radical idea. The comment also mentions what those that live in the area are expecting on Monday, and what they’ll do if they don’t get it:
If you check the signs around our town that used to represent my old team, you will notice the “send it South†and “noto29north.com†parts of the signs have been cut down. I personally did this at the request of the family of the gentleman mentioned above. I did this because it was the right thing to do and the time to do it in support of a united front. Those signs did a lot of things, but at the end of the day, they woke up a lot of people and got them to support to a united front. This is the best result we could have hoped for. We all represent Liberty Hill now. We also represent Gabriel’s Overlook and they represent us. Were working our way down the 29 corridor with ranches willing to represent us and in return we represent them. If we have our way, we will get Georgetown on board with this mutually beneficial relationship. We all have an interest in a responsible solution that addresses our growth, but does not include a 400 ft wide road.
If you can, please attend the 8/4 meeting and please wear something red. Red shirt, red hat, red sweats, red top, red boots, red bandana in your pocket, red whatever. Wearing red means you support one solution that is acceptable to all with a stake in this.
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Our politicians need to understand were the best so bring your best. Bring your best engineers and bring your best consultants to this 8/4 meeting. We will have better ones in the audience taking notes. If the responses we receive to our questions in this meeting are “spun†or not factual, we will be running editorial pages (as opposed to comment sections), setting the record straight in terms we can all understand. If we get “we need to look into that†answers, they have failed to adequately prepare for this meeting and bring the appropriate resources (put 7 more on our scoreboard). Please bring every expert, every computer, every server, every white board, every statistic, every report any most importantly, everything else you need to objectively answer every question we pose. You have been working on this, on our dime, for over a year. If you don’t know by now, we know you are wasting our tax money.
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Last, lets treat our friends, neighbors and politicians with respect at this meeting. Anything less opens the door to “spin†us into a bunch low class, low budget, unreasonable, unworkable rednecks from backwater Liberty Hill. Were way better than that.
If we get anything less that honest and truthful answers, bite your tongue. We will set it straight in as many pages as required in our local papers.
All very good information. Wear red and be polite.
The bottom line: “It is no coincidence that the same politicians who guffaw at the idea of effective government have installed a regime in which incompetence is the rule.”
Or as EOW likes to say, “How can anyone expect people who think government is the problem to use government to solve a problem”.
‘ll start out with one of his most stunning finds, “A Plea for Inefficiency in Goverment,” , a same-as-it-ever-was masterpiece published in 1928 by the magazine of the Chamber of Commerce. The speaker is Homer Ferguson, a military contractor and former head of the organization:
The best public servant is the worst one. A thoroughly first-rate man in public service is corrosive. He eats holes in our liberties. The better he is and the longer he stays the greater the danger. If he is an enthusiast—a bright-eyed madman who is frantic to make this the finest government in the world—the black plague is a house pet by comparison.
Here was Lyn Nofziger’s version of same from 1981: “We have told members of the Cabinet we expect them to help us place people who are competent. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who supported Reagan is competent.”
All of that is just a precursor that highlights what’s happened, happening, and going to happen to public education in Texas. Recently state Sen. Steve Odgen (R-Bryan) made some interesting comments about the failure of the Texas GOP’s new business tax. Here’s a reminder of what Ogden said and the Texas AFT’s response:
Sen. Ogden nonetheless finds redeeming value in the 2006 school-finance package, asserting (according to the San Antonio Express News): “The winner here has been public education.”
We beg to differ. As Texas AFT President Linda Bridges stated right after the 2006 legislative package passed: “Our schoolchildren were left with meager new funding and a big target on them for future cuts when the unfunded tax cuts promised in this plan come due….lawmakers will face a budget crisis created by the unfunded promise of property-tax reduction made in the bills passed this session.”
One suspects Sen. Ogden recognizes that minimizing the revenue shortfall and claiming education is “the winner here” will be a hard sell. For he also said this week: “I’m glad I’m not up for re-election this November.”
The thing to remember in all of this is how poorly public education is faring in Texas. Last week State Education Commissioner Robert Scott decided to exempt schools, for a second year, from having to meet dropout standards.
Texas schools with high student dropout rates are getting a break in the state’s performance ratings this year – which is likely to spare dozens of school districts and campuses from being slapped with “academically unacceptable” ratings.
State Education Commissioner Robert Scott has decided to excuse schools that fail to meet the minimum criteria under the new federal definition for dropouts as long as their passing rates for all student groups on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills are satisfactory.
The decision means that no district or campus will receive an unacceptable rating solely for dropout or school completion rates that fall short of the federal standards.
Fixing the worst schools in Texas is about to get harder.
A 2006 law meant to spur improvements at low-rated schools gave the state two options for campuses that rack up five consecutive years of “unacceptable” ratings – closure or the use of outside managers to run them.
In practice, though, there’s just one choice. The state did not attract a single bid – from either a private company or a nonprofit entity – after soliciting proposals for several months for an outside manager.
“At this point, we have no one to call on,” said state Education Commissioner Robert Scott. “Because there are no takers, we are left with just one option – closure” for chronic underachievers.
In other words he would have had to threaten to close a bunch of schools, in an election year, and that wouldn’t be good for the GOP. That there are no takers from the private sector or non-profits, just points to the bankruptcy of another “conservative” theory. Many may wonder if this is incompetence or the rule. Do they really want to destroy public education? One thing is for sure that if the GOP keeps all the reins of power in Texas things are sure to be much worse for public education two years from now. And will it matter if it’s incompetence or been the plan all along?
This issues are very serious. That so many students are dropping out of school is a major concern for our economy and society moving forward. That those currently in power are unable to do anything about it is just making it worse. This just goes to show how dire the issue of public education is in Texas, and unmentioned is the budget crises that are coming – with the price of food, gas, electricity, etc.., going through the roof. It’s time for a change and the only way we can have change is with the Democrats taking back the Texas House. Go to TexBlog PAC and Texas HDCC to help bring accountability and competence back to government in Texas.
There’s a good article today discussing what effect the Libertarians may have in Texas House races in November. In HD-52 in 2006 Libertarian Lillian Simmons was able to get over 5%, 5.35% to be exact. While they may not win an legislative races they believe they will be able to sway a few, Libertarians want to be kingmakers in legislative races.
The Libertarian Party of Texas is not ready to be king, but it expects to be kingmaker — or spoiler, depending upon your point of view — in the state’s most competitive legislative races this fall.
The state’s perennial third party, hoping to draft behind the momentum of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s failed presidential run, counts Central Texas as its stronghold in the Lone Star State.
“It used to be nobody looked at us; now they are looking at us,” said Pat Dixon, the party’s state chairman and a Lago Vista City Council member. “We can swing votes. We’re going to be a factor in more races.”
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In some election cycles, a handful of House races might not matter much in the bigger picture. This year, however, the control of the House — and House Speaker Tom Craddick’s hold on the leadership — are in play. A few seats could make a difference.
In 2006, Central Texas was the Libertarian Party’s highest performing region in statewide races (averaging 5 percent of the vote or better). Party officials credit the region’s entrepreneurial and tolerant bent, plus the party’s local efforts in fielding candidates for races ranging from the courthouse to the state house.
For 2008, Libertarians are targeting the Central Texas races to replace retiring Reps. Mike Krusee in Williamson County and Robby Cook, whose district includes Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado, Fayette and Lee counties and part of Brazos County.
The article goes into much more detail. Of particular interest was the part about how the Libertarian platform cuts across a wide swath of the political spectrum and that despite protestations, they still mainly seem to hurt GOP candidates in general elections.
Dixon disagrees: “We hurt Democrats, too.”
The perception that Libertarians and Republicans dip from the same pool of voters arises, in part, from the Libertarians’ confusing cast at the top of their national ticket.
Paul, a Lake Jackson Republican, was the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in 1988, but he ran this year for the GOP presidential nomination.
Campaigning on a libertarian message, Paul tapped into a groundswell of support in GOP primaries, raising millions on the Internet and outlasting many bigger-name candidates from the GOP mainstream. In September, Paul is headlining his own convention to coincide with the GOP national convention to drive home the point that he feels the Republican Party has drifted from its conservative roots.
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They favor ending welfare — for individuals and corporations. They support gun rights and oppose the government’s drug laws. They favor marriage as a right for all citizens and oppose laws defining what a family is. They envision smaller governments limited to their constitutional duties and the elimination or dramatic reduction of the taxes that support government. They oppose foreign entanglements and a military draft.
“People on the right think we’re far left because of our support for individual liberties,” Dixon said. “People on the left think we’re far right because we favor the free market.”
Lawrence Jacobs, political studies chairman at the University of Minnesota, said Libertarians generally hurt Republicans in close contests and that Libertarians have been a factor in national and statewide elections.
It’s likely that those who come out to vote and don’t like either party, for President and in down ballot races, will choose the Libertarian candidate. The question is will those voters be more likely to hurt the Republican or the Democrat? And will there be enough votes for the Libertarians to change the outcome of any of the house elections mentioned? With McCain’s support seeming not so strong with the base of the GOP, Bob Barr and the Libertarians could cause some havoc in November.
Here are the list of races they think they can make a difference in.
Libertarian Party targets state House races
The party says it thinks it has a high probability of affecting the outcome of the top four House races below and a medium chance of influencing the final four races:
Very late in getting to this. The candidates for Preceinct 1 County Commissioner, WCGOP’s Lisa Birkman and Democrat Mike Grimes, answered a series of questions about their qualification, experience, and what they will focus on if elected. Check it out, Williamson County Commissioner Precinct 1 Candidates.
U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez’ Republican challenger for the 23rd Congressional seat is taken to task by Mike Thomas of Rhetoric & Rhythm for shirking his responsiblity on a critical hospital expansion vote before the Bexar County Commissioner’s Court.
McBlogger had a great time in the subprime panel at Netroots Nation. So good in fact that he decided to offer some of his own solutions since the panelists, including the dimwitted Rep. Brad Miller, decided to offer nothing of substance.
XicanoPwr reports on the latest poll by the Pew Hispanic Center on the Latino vote. Latino polling shows that 66% of Latino registered voters will support Obama.
Burnt Orange Report points out that Ag Commissioner Todd Staples finally comes around to what Democrat (and future Ag Commissioner) Hank Gilbert has been saying all along- Texan’s are being overcharged at the gas pump due to lack of state inspections.
jobsanger writes about how after years of the Bush Presidency even our cloest traditional ally no longer trusts us in Brits Don’t Trust Bush On Torture.
Mean Rachel writes an open letter to Rep. Elliot Naishtat, encouraging him to consider joining the technology age and starting an inexpensive, easy-to-use website tailor-made for state legislators with Wired for Change’s DLCCWeb, a Netroots exhibitor.
nytexan at BlueBloggin keeps an eye on Mitch McConnell, the GOP king of distortion and extortion. McConnell plans to block legislation that can impact Americans now and push for a bill whose product will not be seen for 10 years; McConnell Extorts Senate For Off Shore Drilling. McConnell never fails to please Bush and his corporate buddies.
WhosPlayin looks at a new USGS petroleum estimate for the Arctic Circle, and notes that only a small portion of ANWR is estimated to be productive, and that the study doesn’t address economic feasibility. (Includes Map)
In a new sign of increasing inequality in the U.S., the richest 1% of Americans in 2006 garnered the highest share of the nation’s adjusted gross income for two decades, and possibly the highest since 1929, according to Internal Revenue Service data.
Meanwhile, the average tax rate of the wealthiest 1% fell to its lowest level in at least 18 years. The group’s share of the tax burden has risen, though not as quickly as its share of income..
The richest Americans have the highest share of the nations wealth since the “Crash of ’29” and they’re paying the least amount of taxes since Daddy was president. Interesting.