Feeding the Fat Green Pigs

In an article dripping with irony, energy history and the environment are chronicled over the last two centuries. Here are key excerpts:

In the era before coal, oil, and electricity, the environment suffered greatly.
Whales were slaughtered for lamp oil. Forests were cleared for firewood, mine props, building materials, roofing shingles, and sailing masts. London ("The Big Smoke") and Pittsburgh ("The Smoky City") were smothered in smog from open fires, charcoal kilns, and iron smelters. Horses powered public and military transport, and city streets were layered with horse manure.

Then came the hydrocarbon revolution. Kerosene lamps saved the whales, and coal-powered steam engines delivered electricity (clean-coal-by-wire) to the cities — and much of the sulfurous smog disappeared. Coke from coal replaced wood charcoal to make iron and steel. Steel and concrete saved the forests, and trucks and railways allowed the farmland, which once fed millions of horses, to produce food for humans.

A key event occurred in 2006, when a leading left-wing politician, Al Gore, invented the Global Warming Industry. Despite a finding by a British High Court judge that his movie An Inconvenient Truth contained nine key scientific errors, it is still shown in schools. This has misled students and teachers and created spreading circles of damage to jobs, industry, and the cost and reliability of electricity. It also created the fake industries of climate hysteria and green activism.

Land that once fed horses is now used to produce biodiesel and ethanol for cars, so food prices must go up. Forests are felled to burn in green power stations and for green-tick buildings while grasslands are invaded by feral pests and woody weeds from the ever growing parks and Kyoto Protocol forests. Birds and bats are being sliced by wind turbines; flatlands are being smothered by solar panels, access roads and transmission lines. But electricity costs soar, and supply is rationed while reliability crashes.

And now we have come full circle with the fat green pigs that feed on green energy and environmentalism are getting richer and richer while the average citizen's standard of living declines as the price of energy increases and reliability decreases.

Thank Goodness Texas Opted Out of Common Core

The state of Texas opted out of Common Core as a philosophy and curricula several years ago. It has been a disaster nationwide as the 2019 results have been published.

For the third time in a row since Common Core was fully phased in nationwide, U.S. student test scores on the nation’s broadest and most respected test have dropped, a reversal of an upward trend between 1990 and 2015. Further, the class of 2019, the first to experience all four high school years under Common Core, is the worst-prepared for college in 15 years, according to a new report.

Georgetown ISD needs to focus on teaching students how to read, write cursive, and perform mathematics. They have 4 failing schools that need the attention of the school board and the superintendent.

Purge all elements of common core that have snuck into the curricula and teaching process would be a good first step and the nationwide results cited above show that it is a failed experiment in educating the nations young people.

Read the entire report at the link. 

City Budget Comments on the Electricity Debacle

The City tries to explain why it is such a great deal for the City to own the electric company and how it wasn't their fault that they lost money and how they are going to reestablish the solvency of the electric company by charging you more $.

Here is the description in the FY2020 City budget. Text in Red is the blogger's comments.

Stabilization of the Electric Fund and Purchased Power Costs

The City derives multiple benefits from owning an electric utility. (Yes the ratepayer is captive with no way out.) The utility provides a payment to the General Fund as a “return on investment (ROI)”, which is common for a municipally owned utility, and has provided over $50 million in funding of general services since 2008, helping keep property taxes low. (Yes they over charge the ratepayers, who are captive, and transfer the $ to the General Fund where Council can spend on their pet projects.) While very fiscally healthy for the last 100 years, the past few years have produced changes that detrimentally impacted the financial condition of the fund.

The City signed long term contracts for wind and solar energy during a time when market forecasts indicated that the pricing locked in by the City would be fruitful to either meet the City’s peak energy demands at the consistent price, and that the City would be able to clear its excess energy (its long position) into a market where the impact would not affect the City’s retail rates. (I guess it is the market forecaster's fault, who ever they are.) Because rates in today’s energy market often clear for less than the City’s contracted rates, losses occur on some of the excess energy. In FY2018, the City ended its electric operations at a $6.8 million shortfall, leaving the fund out of compliance with City fiscal policies.

Several one‐time strategies were implemented to improve the position of the fund, including selling debt for capital needs (Great! More debt.) and a reduction of the transfer to the General Fund by $1.725 million from the original adopted FY2019 budget, but ultimately the City had to make Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) increases to customers during FY2019. In February of 2019, the City increased PCA by $0.0135 per kWh, resulting in an $8.9 million increase in revenue through September to improve fund balance. In June 2019, the PCA increased again by $0.00625, to a total of $0.02375 per kWh to bring in an additional $4.1 million to meet year‐end purchased power obligations and 90‐day contingency reserve required by City policy. For FY2020, electric revenue is budgeted to increase by $4.8 million due to anticipated customer growth and the full year impact of the power cost adjustments (PCA) made in June 2019. 

A full twelve months of the June PCA of $0.02375 per kWh, adjusted for seasonality, is approximately $15.6 million. This amount is necessary to meet expenditure obligations and to restore the fund’s rate stabilization reserve. The General Fund will continue to reduce the ROI it receives from electric by $1 million during FY2020.

So it is costing the ratepayers $15.6M/year to fix the city's mistakes!

Property Taxes

Remember when the Texas political leaders promised property tax relief for all? And then when the state legislature passed and the Governor signed HB3 to great fanfare that the promise had been kept.

Lets do a check on that claim.

Average Georgetown 2019 home value: $278,113
City property taxes: $1168

Average Georgetown 2020 home value: $285,357
City property taxes: $1199

That $7742 increase in the appraised value of the average home results in a $30.42 increase in property taxes.

Some tax cut!

But, wait till next year say the politicians!

KXAN Investigates Williamson County Road Bonds

KXAN has investigated the people and companies behind the campaign for passing $447M bonds for roads in the election that ends November 5, 2019.

Investigative Summary:

In one week, Williamson County voters will decide whether to take on another $447 million in new debt to build roads and parks. This investigation delves into the businesses funding the campaign to convince voters to approve the bonds. Those campaign dollars also ended up in the campaign pockets of the politicians who’ll award the contracts. This Position of Power investigation found the same thing happened in Williamson County in 2013, too.

If you’ve driven through Williamson County in the last few weeks, you’ve seen the signs. Vote “Yes,” is the demand. Yes, to approve $412 million in road construction and another $35 million for parks and trails.

In May, a political action committee formed to convince voters to approve the $447 million bonds. The PAC is almost exclusively funded by engineering firms; firms that could be awarded no-bid bond contracts.

If you’re wondering who’s paying for those signs, you have to read the fine print at the bottom: Citizens for Safety, Quality Roads and Parks. It’s a Specific-Purpose Committee formed May 28, 2019.

The SPAC’s treasurer is listed as Mike Robinson. Robinson is also listed as the business development manager for Halff and Associates, a Dallas-area engineering and consulting firm. Calls and emails to Robinson and Hall and Associated were never returned.

Within four months, the pro-bond SPAC raised $161,050 to convince voters to approve the bonds. The entities contributing the most: engineering firms. Campaign finance reports show the largest contribution came on August 20 when HNTB Corporation – a Missouri-based engineering firm – gave the SPAC a $20,000 check.

Out of 24 contributions, only one did not involve engineering, construction or surveyor interests. Rifeline, LLC, an Austin-based public relations firm, gave the SPAC a $1,000 contribution in September. Rifeline “has an affinity for facilitating public buy-in,” according to the firm’s web site."

Campaign contributions to the County Judge and Commissioners are particularly troubling.

Not a single Williamson County Commissioner turned down campaign cash from engineering firms during the time the commissioners court was considering whether to ask taxpayers to pass the bonds between 2018 and 2019.

In fact, campaign finance reports show all four commissioners—plus county Judge Bill Gravell—accepted a total of $55,046 from firms that could share in the benefits of the $447 million bond. 

Wind Energy Industry Requesting More Taxpayer $

The reason that Georgetown was able to contract for wind generated electricity at favorable prices is that the wind energy companies receive massive subsidies, approximately 30%, from the federal government, aka, the American taxpayer. Additional direct subsidies are provided by the state of Texas and of course the $7B high voltage transmission lines from the windy west to the populous eastern and central Texas are being paid for by the ratepayers.

Now it seems they wind industry wants to extend the subsidies another 5 years even though they had promised they would not need additional help.

Only with very generous taxpayer assistance on top of local mandates requiring local utilities to buy wind and solar power can green energy compete.

Big Wind said it will lobby for a continued subsidy so wind power will "have parity" with the solar industry subsidies. The solar industry sun gods get even higher subsidies than wind producers. 

Today, natural gas is by far the most cost-efficient source of electric power generation in most markets. Thanks to the shale revolution, natural gas prices have fallen by about two-thirds. Only with very generous taxpayer assistance on top of local mandates requiring local utilities to buy wind and solar power can green energy compete. 

Bicycle Master Plan

Are you behind the "eight ball" with respect to the proposed bicycle plan? If so, then you need to get engaged with city staff and your council members before the plan is approved in December.

Here are the people who are structuring and recommending the proposed plan.

Does this group look like people who are concerned about vehicle driver concerns?

Here is the proposed map.

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Do any of the proposed bike lanes encroach on vehicular driving lanes? It sure appears to, but, go look at the master plan in detail to make sure.

Pay particular attention to the designation "Sharrow". This appears to be where bikes and vehicles share the same lane,

Oh, by the way, it will also cost more than $15M to implement!

Here is the schedule leading to approval.


November 8, 10 a.m., Recommendation from Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board, Williamson Room, Georgetown Municipal Complex, 300-1 Industrial Avenue

November 14, 6 p.m., Presentation and recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Board, Parks and Recreation Board, Parks Administration Building, 1101 N. College Street

November 19, 6 p.m., Presentation and recommendation from Planning and Zoning Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission, Council and Courts Building, 510 W. Ninth Street

November 26, 6 p.m., Presentation and first reading of ordinance to adopt the plan, City Council meeting, Council and Courts Building, 510 W. Ninth Street

December 10, 6 p.m., Presentation and second reading of ordinance to adopt the plan, City Council meeting, Council and Courts Building, 510 W. Ninth Street

MUD Facts

Municipal Utility Districts, MUDs, are a little known taxing entity authorized by state law. In addition to property taxes, MUD residents also pay Emergency Services District (ESD) taxes, school district taxes, county taxes and sometimes other property based taxes.

MUDs are usually established by a developer to establish a taxing authority that allows bonds to be issued for the construction of water, storm drainage and sewer lines including processing facilities. This transfers the initial construction costs from the developer to the home buyer or business operator.

For instance, MUD #25, cited in the previous post, has authority to tax property at $0.92 per $100 valuation. This is more than twice Georgetown's tax rate of $0.42 per $100 valuation.

The law governing MUDs also provides for the election of a board of directors to govern the MUD. Often these boards issue huge amounts of debt for recreational and community facilities, such as are found in the Brushy Creek MUD between Round Rock and Cedar Park.

Brushy Creek MUD incurred large bond debts to preclude them from being annexed by Austin or any other adjoining city, since the annexing city would have to assume the MUD debt.

One consequence of MUDs is that it allows cities to extract money from the MUD residents to support its own utility developments in excess of what a city can charge city residents because of the higher property tax rates that MUDs are allowed to impose. This occurs when MUDs sign agreements with cities for essential services such as waste water and potable water treatment.

Growth Continues

The City Council has approved a development agreement with the owners of Parkside on the River, a development within the City's ETJ West of I35, South of SH29 and North of Leander Road. Here is a location map:

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Since the development lies outside the city limits, the City has limited ability to control development. So as a means of exerting some control, the City has signed a development agreement to provide city services in return for adherence to City requirements.

1. Quality Development. The development meets or exceeds the intent of the development, infrastructure, and design standards of City codes;

2. Extraordinary Benefits. The development provides extraordinary public benefits that advance the vision and goals of the Comprehensive Plan, such as, but not limited to, extension, financial contribution, and/or enhancement of master planned infrastructure, diversity of housing, and enhanced parks, trails, open space, and recreational amenities that are available to the public;

3. Enhance Public Service and Safety. The development enhances public services and optimizes service delivery through its design, dedication of sites, connectivity, and other features.

4. City Exclusive Provider. The development further promotes the City as the exclusive provider of water, sewer, solid waste, and electric utilities;

5. Fiscally Responsible. The development is financially feasible, doesn’t impair the City’s ability to provide municipal services, and would not impose a financial burden on the citizens of Georgetown in the event of annexation;

6. Finance Plan. The developer(s) contributes financially to cover a portion of infrastructure expenses without reimbursement by the MUD or the City and as reflected in conditions placed on the issuance of bonds by the district;

7. Annexation. The development will not impair the City’s future annexation of the MUD or adjacent property or impose costs not mutually agreed upon.

The Water Oak development on SH29 connects with the Parkside development as shown in the next two illustrations.

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Both Water Oak and Parkside are in MUD #25 and the City will provide water and electric services through contracts with the MUD.

Finally, the following chart shows the kinds of development envisioned for the site.

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2500  new single family homes with multi-family dwellings and commercial development along Leander Road.

Attention Refugees From California

If you have recently escaped from the progressive state of California, you need to read this article.

If you live in California, you probably know how aggressive California’s state tax agency can be. In fact, even if you live somewhere else, you might have heard of the Golden State’s aggressive tax rules. Buy a vacation home in California, and stay a little too long? Come into the state and do some work for your non-California employer? Travel to California trying to sell some products or collect data that you’ll use out of state when you get back home?

Any of these things and many others can pique the interest of California’s tax collection agency, the Franchise Tax Board. In fact, it can feel like just about any connection to California can be enough to at least raise tax issues.

Does this .... mean other little businesses that happen to sell into in California could face tax troubles? Yes, it sure seems that way. California can now push even on sole proprietors who might have California customers. They might have to file California returns and pay California taxes. This is so even if all the services are performed outside of California, and even if the sole proprietor has no connection to California.

Election Tibits

After three days of early voting, the Sun City voters are really turning out.

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Over 20% of votes cast so far have been cast by Sun City voters with Cedar Park voters at Randalls and the Library casting almost 15% of the votes.

Another measure of growth in our area is the number of registered voters. Williamson County had 344,257 registered voters as of the registration cut-off date of October 7, 2019. County voters registered since the cut-off date for the 2016 election have increased by 37,446. That is an increase of 12% or an annual rate of 3.91%.

The registered voters in the City of Georgetown has also increased from 38,634 in May 2017 to 43,633 currently. That is almost a 5% annual growth rate and is somewhat larger than the overall annual population growth rate of 4.3%. This difference may be explained by the growth rate in Sun City where most people register to vote.

Do You Know What is In the Gerogetown 2030 Plan?

The City of Georgetown is hosting a public meeting to share and review proposed changes to the future land use map on Oct. 30 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. Eighth St.

Here are the people who are deciding the future of Georgetown. They are the "2030 Comprehensive Plan Update Steering Committee".

In attendance: Mayor Dale Ross; Ercel Brashear; Lou Snead; Linda McCalla; Danelle Houck; Suzy Pukys; Hugh Brown; Josh Schroeder; Tommy Gonzalez; PJ Stevens; Wendy Cash. Linda McCalla joined the meeting at approximately 6:45pm. 

Lou Snead left the meeting at approximately 7pm. 

Staff present: Sofia Nelson; Nat Waggoner; Susan Watkins; Andreina Davila; Wayne Reed; David Morgan; Michael Patroski; Ethan Harwell; Chelsea Irby; Wayne Reed.

Are there members that are committed to slow, balanced growth without a financial interest on this committee? That is left as an exercise for the reader to determine.

Here is the proposed land use map. It is hard to appreciate on the small screen and those interested should really go to the library to see a large scale map.

Click to enlarge

There will be financial analyses for the various scenarios that have been considered presented at the November 12, Council Workshop.

It should be pointed out that land use maps and zoning ordinances are used to control land use at the expense of land owners. It is a method of picking "winners and losers". If your land lies in a high value use area, then your land is much more valuable than the poor smuck who's land lies in a low value use area.

It is also interesting that the map also covers areas that are not in the City. Can the City control use of land not within the jurisdiction of the City? Inquiring minds would like to know. 

More Publicity for Georgetown's Renewable Energy

More and more news outlets are picking up the story of how Georgetown's foray into renewable energy has turned sour. The Texas Monitor is the latest publication to chronicle Georgetown's solar electric debacle and the ongoing costs to the rate payers.

In addition to the lawsuit that Georgetown has filed against Buckthorn Westex, LLC, there is another lawsuit against the City for failing to justify keeping secret the break-even or payback period of the solar panels installed on the roof of the Westside Service Center.

As part of its renewable program, the Georgetown utility announced it was installing solar panels atop its service center at a cost of $271,452. Terrill Putnam, a resident and customer, filed a Texas Public Information Act request to find out if, or when, the panels would pay for themselves.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office agreed that the city could withhold the information, claiming state public disclosure law allows a municipality to withhold information in a competitive market like energy.

Putnam’s recently amended lawsuit, filed in August 2018, claims Georgetown has produced nothing to support its competitive market claims. 

The lawsuit touched off public demand for more transparency regarding Georgetown’s entire renewable energy program. The city has provided some information on costs of the program and losses due to changes in the energy market, but little else.

This article highlights and reemphasizes the need to change Texas law that allows municipally owned utilities to keep all their financial information secret.

Georgetown - Buckthorn Westex, LLC Timeline

It is very difficult to keep track of the many twists and turns of Georgetown's involvement with the contract for solar energy. The actual owner of the solar farm near Ft Stockton appears to be Buckthorn Westex, LLC even thought it has been reported in the press that Georgetown's contract for solar generated electricity was with different entities ranging from SunEdison, LLC to Clearway Energy.

Here is the timeline of major events surrounding Georgetown's foray into solar generated electricity.

Click to enlarge

There are many other entries that should be added and may be in the future, including when financial losses were first made public and how the City is extracting additional money from the rate payers to cover those losses.

Jonathan Dade Announces Candidacy for Mayor

Jonathan Dade announced his candidacy for Mayor on October 10 at Mesquite Outfitters. He is the first announced candidate.

Mr Dade emphasized the need for leaders with traditional American values, transparency, bravery and kindness toward their fellow citizens.

He announced first because he is unafraid of being bullied by detractors or other candidates, either publicly or in private.

Here is the flyer that show the three major planks of his campaign.

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Georgetown Lawsuit Versus Buckthorn Westex

The case number of the lawsuit is: 19-1614-c26. The key charges are shown below as well as the requested remedies.

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Local War Veteran Fights for Property Rights

John Yearwood is a decorated military veteran. He runs a small business and lives on a farm in the Georgetown ETJ that has been in the family since 1871. 

Over the years, John and his family have used their farmland to benefit the community. The Yearwoods have allowed local church youth groups and the high school 4-H club to use the property for camping. In 2018, Mr. Yearwood built a shooting range for the high school 4-H club to practice gun-sports. The Yearwoods do not charge the groups to use the property.

These community outreach projects are in jeopardy, however, because the best part of the land for camping is also home to the Bone Cave Harvestman. (BCH). Under the Endangered Species Act, it is a federal crime to do anything to harm the BCH or its habitat. So the Yearwoods are left to choose between thousands of dollars in permits or thousands more in civil and criminal penalties or to abandon the use of the property.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to use its authority under the Interstate Commerce Clause to regulate interactions with a small arachnid (the BCH) that doesn’t cross state lines or affect commerce.  This federal overreach costs cities and landowners millions of dollars a year and prevents families from using their land for harmless things like camping and recreation. 

Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Yearwood to protect his constitutional right to use his property without federal interference. Should this lawsuit be successful, the protection of the Bone Cave harvester would go back to state and local governments — which, incidentally, already have protections for cave species. More importantly, a dangerous 5th Circuit precedent that could be used for virtually unchecked federal authority would be taken off the books. In the end, the federal government should not have a say as to whether children camp on Mr. Yearwood’s property.

Read more here.

Excuses for Poor GISD Performance

The GISD superintendent has publicly admitted that GISD students "have not been performing". What is going on here? Is this blame shifting? Is it not the superintendent, staff and teachers who are responsible for student performance? Don't blame the students!

Then the superintendent tries to blame the "State of Texas" on shifting performance targets.

It makes no difference what the "targets" are if the students are fundamentally being taught reading, writing, history and arithmetic!

The superintendent has admitted he and GISD staff and teachers have not been focused on the subjects that would ensure good state test results. They were focused on more qualitative aspects of instructions instead of quantitative measures of learning such as test scores.

The Georgetown ISD superintendent is paid almost $350,000 per year. Are the children and community receiving value equal or greater than that pay? That is a relevant question that needs to be asked and answered.

The superintendent's 2018/19 contract can be found on the GISD website. Looking at the compensation part of the contract the following pay and benefits are identified.

This salary is more that twice that of the Texas Governor according to the 2018 Book of the States. ($153,750)

Recall that GISD recently received a grade of "B" from the Texas Education Agency. Three of GISD schools were rated F and three were rated D.

 Why are there are no incentives provided in the superintendent's contract to improve those grades? Should there be?

Get involved with your school system, including the school board if you want to see improvements. Hold them accountable!

Update on Georgetown Employee Pensions

It was reported earlier, http://georgetownwatch.blogspot.com/2019/09/what-is-status-of-georgetown-employees.html, that the pension fund that Georgetown's employees invest in had a 5.36% return for the last reporting period.

John Mauldin, a financial advisor in Dallas has some inciteful comments about GEs recent changes to it's retirement plans that apply to all pension plans.

"I dug around and found the “expected rate of return” was 8.50% as recently as 2009, when they dropped it to 8.00%, then 7.50% in 2014, to now 6.75%. So over a decade they went from staggeringly unrealistic down to seriously unrealistic. They still assume that every dollar in their pension fund will grow to almost $4 in 20 years."

Of course, 6.75% is the assumed rate of return for the Texas Municipal Retirement System portfolio, which Mauldin identifies as seriously unrealistic based on history.

The reality is simple. Valuations are high and returns based on historical numbers do not suggest anything close to the 6.75% GE expects, let alone the ridiculous numbers public pension plans expect.

Historical returns based on 110-year models suggest future returns will be anywhere from -1.8% to +3.6%, from where we are today.

Read the entire article for more relevant analysis and information. 

More on the Georgetown Lawsuit Against Buckthorn Westex

The following excerpts from the Austin Statesman sheds additional light on the contract between the City and Buckthorn Westex. The City has gone to great lengths to keep the contract details secret from the rate payers of Georgetown.

"The city of Georgetown has sued the company that it contracted with for solar power alleging that the firm breached at least three sections of the contract.

The lawsuit says Buckthorn Westex LLC had information about the expected performance of its solar facility that it was supposed to disclose, but never revealed it during negotiations with the city over contract amendments in 2016. 

The city is seeking more than $1 million in damages and a cancellation of the 25-year contract, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. 

Buckthorn Westex sent the following comment by email on Monday night:“Buckthorn strongly disputes all claims in the complaint made by the City of Georgetown,” the email said. 

“Buckthorn has and will continue to honor all terms of its contractual agreement with the City and any claims to the contrary are inaccurate. Just two days before filing its lawsuit, the City agreed to formal mediation.” 

“Rather than working in good faith, Georgetown elected to pursue litigation in a clear attempt to terminate its contractual obligations, the email also said. It said “Buckthorn is eager to present the facts in the legal process.” 

By October 2017, Georgetown Mayor Dale Ross had visited South America and done interviews in China, Japan and England to talk about the city’s switch to renewables. 

Ross had also appeared in three movies about the city’s reliance on wind and solar power. “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution,” Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” and the anti-coal documentary “From the Ashes." 

But Georgetown contracted for more energy than it could use and the falling prices of gas and oil meant it has to sell its renewable surplus for less than forecast. Last year, city officials said they would try to renegotiate the wind and solar power contracts."

At last report the City has lost $33M selling excess electricity into the ERCOT market at a price below the contract price they are obligated to purchase under the secret contracts with the solar and wind energy companies. 

Another Candidate for Mayor!

Josh Schroeder has announced his candidacy for Mayor of Georgetown.

As Mayor, he wants to help steer Georgetown’s future.

“Some folks want us to remain a small town. Some want us to be a big giant city. Some want to remain a distinct city apart from oth­er suburbs that surround us.”

Mr. Schroeder is an attor­ney at Georgetown-based Sneed, Vine and Perry, a for­mer chair of both the Plan­ning and Zoning Commis­sion and the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the city, and current chair of the Historic and Architectural Review Commission.

He also is a member of the city’s 2030 Plan Steer­ing Committee. The plan will be a road map to guide Georgetown’s growth and future development deci­sions.

Mr. Schroeder plans to focus on land use and devel­opment, his passion, because they tie in with oth­er issues such as transportation, public safety and the budget.

As former chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission, he said he was faced with develop­ment application concerns from developers, res­idents and city staff.

Mr. Schroeder said it was all about balancing the different needs of the com­munity.“I feel like we were able to do that when I was on P&Z in a way that even if commissioners didn’t agree on a particular application, we had a civil debate and good back and forth with staff without being antagonistic,” he said. He added that he hopes to bring that skill to the dais as mayor and keep everyone moving forward to­gether.

Jonathan Dade is the other announced candidate for Mayor and his announcement will be covered in another post.

The 2020 election is May 2.

Georgetown Police Has Drones

The Georgetown police department has acquired numerous small drones and are training officers on their deployment and operation.

Here is a photo of the drones:

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Several trainers have been acquired as well as different models for day and night operation.

The program acquisition costs have been funded from forfeited assets:

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Drones with cameras can be used for many things, including surveillance. The Chief assures the Council that the drones will only be used for lawful purposes!

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It will be incumbent on Georgetown citizens to be vigilant and make sure the police are not infringing on our rights to privacy and that no laws are broken.

Unbelievable Austin Statesman Editorial

The Austin Statesman newspaper editorial board has blatantly endorsed a NO vote on Proposition 4 to amend the Texas Constitution to make it virtually impossible to impose a state income tax.

This position is against 70% of Texas voters as shown in a recent poll.

The audacity of the major newspaper in Austin, the Capitol of Texas, to call for voters to defeat Proposition 4 and allow current or future legislatures to impose an income tax by a simple majority vote is truly mind boggling!

They decry the loss of a potential revenue stream for the State that would allow government to grow ever larger. It is clear what a ever growing government does to taxes and public safety. Just look at the Austin city government with their attempts to impose health insurance requirements on all businesses and their non-solutions to a growing homelessness and drug problem on the streets of Austin. The list goes on as the progressives/socialists try to reduce individual freedoms and exert more control over our individual lives.

Here is the key statement: "We strongly urge voters to defeat Prop 4."

Ignore the Statesman's recommendation and vote for Proposition 4! Control the growth of government by limiting its income sources!

Who is Paying for Wilco Bond Signs?

Its clear that the financial beneficiaries of road bonds are funding the campaign to entice voters to pass the bonds in the November election. Courtesy of the Wilco Sun, we know the identities of the campaign backers.

“Because government officials are legally prohibited from campaigning for the bond packages they want voters to support, citizen committees are often formed to accomplish that task on their behalf. Such is the case with Williamson County government’s proposed $447 million package for roads and parks. 
On May 28, Citizens for Safety Quality Roads and Parks filed its first paper- work with the county’s Elections Administration office. In it, former Round Rock Mayor Mike Robinson was designated as campaign treasurer. The specific-purpose committee, as it is called, filed a financial report September 30, outlining more than $150,000 in contributions and almost $79,000 in expenditures.” The expenditures are mainly for printing and advertising. Major contributions to the support committee include: • BGE Inc. — Houston, consulting engineers, $5,000 • Binkley & Barfield Inc. — Austin, construction managers, $10,000 • CP&Y Inc. — Dallas, engineering firm, $10,000 • Cobb Fendley & Associages — Houston, civil engineers, $15,000 • Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. — Houston, $10,000 • Garver LLC — Little Rock, Arkansas, engineering and environmental services, $5,000 • HDR Inc. — Omaha, Nebraska, engineering and architecture, $10,000 • HNTP Corporation — Kansas City, Missouri, infrastructure design, $20,000 • Halff Associates Inc. — Richardson, engineering, $10,000 • Jones/Carter Operating Account — Bellaire, civil engineering, $5,000 • K Friese & Associates Inc. — Austin, civil engineering , $2,500 • Klotz Associates Inc. — Houston, civil engineering, $5,000 • LJA Engineering — Houston, $10,000 • LNV Inc. — Corpus Christi, engineering, architecture and surveying, $2,000 • Raba Kistner — San Antonio consulting engineers, $5,000 • Rifeline LLC — Austin, public relations, $1,000 • Southwest Surveying and Mapping LLC — Austin, $5,000 • Structurepoint Inc. — Indianapolis, Indiana, engineering, $10,000 • WSB and Associates Inc. — Minneapolis, Minnesota, consulting engineers, $10,000