Candidate for GISD Board

A candidate for the GISD Board has emerged that appears to want to take on the "real" issues facing the students in Georgetown.

Francis Jackson has filed as a candidate for Place 4 on the GISD Board of Trustees.

In an interview with the Wilcosun on February 26, 2020, he articulated his concerns and approaches to change the Board and administration focus.

He is running on a platform of “well-thought-out change.” “Georgetown is in trouble,” he said, citing the district’s multi-year decline in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) program.

Mr. Jackson is outspoken about Superintendent Fred Brent’s salary — $319,534 in 2018-19. He said it’s too high for a district of 12,000 students. “He’s the 24th highest-paid superintendent in Texas,” Mr. Jackson noted, citing data from the Texas Education Agency.

He also believes that the superintendent and senior administrator's pay should depend on meeting or surpassing state averages on STAR scores. This is a transparent way to hold them accountable.

For those citizens in the GISD, this candidate provides an opportunity to vote for a person with a focus on accountability, both for student achievement and financially.

Beware of Road Construction at HWY 195 & Berry Creek

It appears to this non-transportation engineer that TxDOT is going to make the intersection of HWY 195 and Berry Creek less safe than it is now. Check out this plan.

Click image to enlarge

Merging across three lanes to turn onto Berry Creek Dr. in 60mph traffic does not seem especially safe.

Be safe when transiting this area!

Violent Crime in Georgetown

A person was killed by Georgetown police officers in a shooting late Tuesday, Georgetown police said.

Officers responded to the 700 block of Garden Meadow Drive after a 911 caller reported at 11:19 p.m. that someone was possibly trying to break into a home, police said, according to KXAN.

The area is east of the intersection of Lakeway Drive and Williams Drive.

Two officers arrived at the scene and the person shot at them, police said.

The officers shot back at the person and the person was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both officers were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds and are in stable condition, police said.

City Wants to Make Your Front Yard UGLY!

The Georgetown City Council will meet on February 25, 2020 at 3:30 PM at City Council Chambers, 

SUBJECT: 

Presentation and discussion regarding the Electric Line Extension Policy -- Daniel Bethapudi, General Manager of the Electric Utility 

ITEM SUMMARY:

As a part of the electric utility restructuring, all cost recovery models are being evaluated and updated as needed. The Electric Line Extension Policy has been evaluated and identified for revision.
With a growing utility it is vital to have effective, streamlined processes in place to properly plan for and address the challenges of system growth.

Past policy did not collect all costs prior to construction. The City often spent significant time and resources ahead of construction. This sometimes made it difficult for the City to recoup these costs once construction began. The updated policy evaluates each job and collects all fees and infrastructure costs ahead of construction. 

The revised process works well for both the City and developers as both are aware of the process and costs. 

The new electric line extension policy allows for a streamlined process by which growth pays for growth as it happens.

If you can get through all the jargon in the presentation, you will find that they plan on erecting a pedestal in front yards next to the curb to mount your electric meter.

This makes it easy for the City, but makes your front yard ugly and hard to landscape. Check out these pictures.

Aren't those gray boxes beautiful? They will be in the front yards of all new houses and not on the house wall where they have traditionally been mounted.

Incentive Pay for GISD Teachers?

Is it time for GISD to implement an incentive pay system to reward the most effective teachers who raise the skills of their students? Overall, merit pay is a win for students and those who teach them.

Frisco’s move to teacher merit pay means a strong district will get even stronger.The Dallas Morning News

Frisco ISD, a high-performing school district, is moving toward an incentive pay system to reward its best teachers based on student performance, classroom observation and the qualifications of teachers. Districts everywhere need to take this approach.

City Election May 2

The municipal election on May 2 for the City of Georgetown will include candidates for mayor and the District 2 and District 6 city council seats. The filing deadline was Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.

Candidates for Mayor are Larry Brundidge, Jonathan Dade, and Josh Schroeder; candidates for District 2 are Shawn Hood, Lisa King, and Jason Wirth; and candidates for District 6 are Rachael Jonrowe (incumbent) and Michael Walton.

To see maps of council districts, go to maps.georgetown.org/council-district-maps.
The last day to register to vote in the May election is April 2.

Early in-person voting is April 20-28. In the early voting period, voters may cast ballots at any early voting location in Williamson County. Early voting polling places, dates, and times will be listed at wilco.org/elections.

On election day on May 2, voters may cast ballots at any vote center location in Williamson County. Polling places, dates, and times will be listed at wilco.org/elections.

Georgetown Pension Update

The employees of the City participate in the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS). It is actually one of the better public pension systems in Texas, but, there is always room for improvement.

They tout that their funding ratio is over 80%. The question is: Why isn't the funding ratio at 100%?

The reason is they assume a discount rate, or rate of return that is higher than actually achieved in recent years. That rate is 6.75%.

Even though the stocks have been in a bull market for over 10 years, TMRS is still not meeting their goal.

Click image to enlarge

Notice the Total Fund Composite (Net) line in the table above the graph. The 5 year return is 6.41% annually versus a goal of 6.75%. The 5 year period is used to smooth out the annual variability.

Of course TMRS does not want to reduce the annual goal of 6.75% return because that will make the funded ratio fall below 80%, which means participants would have to increase their contributions. That would cause the cities too much political pain!

They should reduce their assumed investment return to be more in line with those achieved over the last 13 years. The old days of 8-10% returns are likely gone.

Legislator Against Taxpayer Funded Lobbying

Here is a Texas Legislator who has experienced lobbying funded by taxpayers and he thinks it is time to ban the practice.Briscoe Cain Op Ed

A taxpayer-funded lobbying ban does not stop our city council members, mayors, county commissioners, and county judges from themselves advocating in front of the Texas Legislature. If a local official wants to oppose property tax reform, let them publicly go on record and not hide behind a contract with a lobbyist.

Currently, a Texan is forced to check the Texas Ethics Commission website for lobbying registrations, find what lobbyist their city or county has hired, and then search each piece of legislation for what position that lobbyist has taken in a committee hearing. It’s a game of “connect the dots” that still provides cover for the local official when they run for re-election and promise that they have the best interests of the taxpayer in mind. 

Representative Mayes Middleton added an amendment to Senate Bill 65 to shine light on the lobbying records of school districts, cities, and counties.

Senate Bill 65 requires that these contracts be posted on the government entity’s website. Unfortunately, not many of our cities, counties, or school districts are in compliance. I also want to note that none of these records would include the lobbying work that goes on away from committee hearings and the public record.

The time is now for the Texas Legislature to empower the taxpayer in front of their state and local government. During the 87th Texas Legislature, I know many of my colleagues and I will be focused on passing a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying. I only hope that our fellow legislators are ready to start listening to their constituents and pass this important piece of legislation.

More on Taxpayer Funded Lobbying

Recall the legislative objectives of the City of Georgetown? NO? Well here they are.

Notice how they are using your taxpayer dollars to oppose transparency in the electric company solar and wind contracts, and their hired lobbyists are paid to oppose limiting property tax growth and to oppose unfettered annexation of property without a vote of the affected land owners.

This video captures the essence of the restrictons on personal liberty that taxpayer funded lobbying imposes on Georgetown citizens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0cIWtB_5M0
Contact Senator Schwertner and Representative Wilson and urge them to sponsor and pass legislation to stop taxpayer funded lobbying.

Average Taxpayers Subsidize Tesla Purchases by Rich Californians

Electric vehicle sales have grown in recent years, and cars such as the Tesla Model 3 have made the market a bit more affordable (though not much) for everyday people. But data show most of those who claim the electric vehicle tax credit earn far more income than the national average. In fact, people with annual incomes of $100,000 or more have claimed nearly 80% of federal electric vehicle tax credits, and about half of all sales take place in California.  

Taking a deeper look at the issue means asking ourselves an important question: Should average taxpayers be responsible for subsidizing electric vehicle purchases that overwhelmingly benefit high-income earners? The Case Against Electric Vehicles

Green Energy Reality Check

The advocates for green energy do not have a clue about the practical political, environmental and infrastructure costs required to implement their dream. Here are practical issues to be considered.

Two green-dream fantasies are heading for a massive and costly collision. 

Firstly, they dream of generating all grid power from wind and solar propped up by battery storage (such as lots of giant Tesla batteries and pumped hydro).

Secondly, they dream of replacing all petrol, diesel, and gas cars, trucks, and buses with electric vehicles, powered by more batteries.

But wind farms do well if they can average about 35% of their rated capacity, with low predictability, while solar panels average just 25% of their capacity, produced intermittently.

To stabilize a green energy system without using hydrocarbons will require an eye-watering quantity of batteries, costing as much as 200 times the cost of any wind or solar facility needing backup.

Read the entire article.

Georgetown is Infamous Again

Here is part of the Wilco Sun editorial published 2/19/2020.

Here’s a curious item that appeared in the New York Post Saturday afternoon: “Nobody can resist a fart joke — not even the President of the United States.  

“President Trump caught wind of a five-year-old video of a Texas town council meeting that broke down in laughter when the mayor went to use the bathroom — and forgot to switch off his wireless microphone.  

The president shared the video with his 72.5M twitter followers. “The original clip went viral in 2015, racking up more than 5 million views.  

The two-minute snippet shows Georgetown, Texas, council member Rachael Jonrowe collapsing in helpless giggles at a May 2015 meeting as she tries to give a sober report on infectious disease over a soundtrack of Mayor Dale Ross tinkling in the toilet.  

“But the clip that Trump retweeted without comment on Saturday was doctored with additional audio of a wind symphony and crowd reaction shots that were not in the original.” * * *  

The thing is, the Prez retweeted a fake. And the fake, with its overdubbed sound effects, has a mean streak that the original doesn’t have. The original is just funny in a sweet sort of way. If it were a Saturday Night Live skit, Mayor Ross would play the straight man and Rachael Jonrowe would do the comedy angle. Although Ross takes a little heat in the video’s comment section, Jonrowe charms.  

From the comments: “I love this lady. She’s adorable. Marry me. — Her laugh is infectious! — She’s so cute trying to hold it together. — Rachael, I love you. — She is so cute! I love happy people. — She did her best to stifle, but it would have been impossible for most of us. — She has the cutest laugh. — Bless her for not giving up!”  

As of Monday afternoon, the fake with 3.3 million views, is creeping up on the original with 5.4 million views. So now we have our own example of how fake news, with its malicious twist, can replace the truth. 

GISD School Accountability

Georgetown ISD has embarked on a new effort to establish accountability standards to be applied to Georgetown schools. The effort is described in the February 16 issue of the Wilco Sun.

Georgetown ISD has embarked on an initiative to develop a community-based “True Accountability” system and the community will have opportunities to weigh in on what that would look like and how it would benefit students.  

At his State of the District address on Feb. 8, Superintendent Fred Brent introduced the initiative, saying it will determine the standards against which GISD performance will be measured.  

“This is heavier work, transformative work,” he said.
Community forums to discuss True Accountability are scheduled at 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 and March 2. Both will be at the Hammerlun Center for Leadership and Learning, 507 E. University Ave. 

The forums’ goal is for GISD to learn parents’ “hopes and dreams” for their children, school and community.  

Information gathered — and partnered with GISD’s Vision and Mission, Strategic Plan and Learner Profile documents — will form the backbone of the initiative, Mr. Brent said at a Feb. 12 meeting introducing the concept to community partners.  

Mr. Brent said GISD’s intent is not to diminish the importance of the State Accountability System.
“This doesn’t mean we are not committed to doing well on state measures,” he said. “We’ll always strive to do our best for students.”  

He said a true accountability system can better represent community standards because, “Your voice is not in the current (state) accountability system.”
He said the district will be held accountable to a higher standard with this system.  

Georgetown ISD has joined the Texas Public Accountability Consortium (TPAC). The group of 50 public school districts is working to develop “next-generation measures and assessments,” according to its website. 

Components of a community-based accountability system include seven TPAC-developed pillars of school accountability —
• student learning and progress • student readiness
• engaged and well-rounded students
• community engagement and partnerships 
• professional learning/ quality staff • fiscal and operational systems • safety and well-being.  

More information about GISD’s True Accountability initiative is available on the district’s website.

Keep in mind that the objective of any school should be to produce students that read, write, perform math, and understand science and social studies at grade level. 

STAAR is the state’s testing program that measures student ability and is based on state curriculum standards in core subjects.

STAAR tests are designed to measure what students are learning in each grade and whether or not they are ready for the next grade. The goal is to ensure that all students receive what they need to be academically successful. Meeting these individual student needs depends greatly on schools, parents, and community members working together.

Now look at the TPAC developed "pillars" above that have been embraced by GISD and see if those objectives explicitly call for measures of student ability to meet the curriculum standards established by the Texas Education Agency(TEA).

The TEA has established a Local Accountability System pilot in response to House Bill 22, 85th Legislature, although several TPAC districts are participating in the TEA pilot.

However GISD has opted to not participate in the TEA accountability program. Why Not?

The overall goal of the TPAC is to eliminate the STARR test. It is evident by reading the following: "When accountability fails"

Imagine, when you can define your own standards and targets, it’s easy to find a way to make yourself look good.

Isn't it time to hold GISD to the standards established in law by the Texas Legislature?

Engage your school board and administrators.    

STAAR is the state’s testing program and is based on state curriculum standards in core subjects including reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. 

Georgetown City Government Candidates

The filing deadline for an elected position in the governance of Georgetown has passed. The election is May 2, 2020.

Three newcomers are running for Georgetown mayor in the May 2 election while City Council Member Rachael Jonrowe will face one opponent challenging her for her seat. Austin Statesman 

Three people are also running for a Georgetown council seat left open when incumbent Valerie Nicholson decided not to seek re-election.

Jonrowe is seeking her fourth term against Michael Walton, an IBM manager.

Larry Brundidge, a retired construction company owner, is running for the mayor's seat against Jonathan Dade, a rabbi for the Messiah Echad congregation, and Joshua Schroeder, a real estate attorney.
Mayor Dale Ross has announced he will not be running again in order to concentrate on his accounting business and his family.

The candidates for the District 2 council seat are Shawn Hood, an architectural designer, Lisa King, a clothing business owner, and Jason Wirth, a construction company project manager.

Nicholson, the District 2 incumbent, is not seeking re-election so she can focus on her family and career. 

The mayor and city council members all serve three-year terms.

Georgetown has Dodged a Bullet

Thanks to the Trump administration, an obscure rule called Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing(AFFH) has been recinded/replaced. HUD sought to remake America’s cities, towns and villages, forcing any community that was getting federal funds to meet racial quotas,  Team Trump just called a halt to the Obama-era war on American suburbs

Since Georgetown is large enough in population to apply directly for HUD funds, they would have been subject to these AFFH rules that would  have resulted in HUD bureaucrats dictating zoning, density and other rules governing local housing.

Now Georgetown can proceed to approve housing units that are compatible with local values.

Dangers of Long_Term Economic Incentivies

The city of Round Rock is facing the possibility of losing $20M+ annually in sales tax revenues due to a potential rule change by the Texas Comptroller. Community Impact

The proposal would redistribute sales tax collected on internet purchases by routing tax revenue to the purchaser’s city rather than the city where the online sale is received by the business fulfilling the order. Currently, the opposite takes place: Sales tax revenue stays in the city where the business is located.
For Round Rock—the headquarters of Dell Technologies—this shift would result in tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue annually, city officials said. In fiscal year 2018-19, the city of Round Rock collected a total of $28.5 million in sales tax from Dell, Sheets said. Based on the terms of an economic incentive agreement signed in 1993, the city rebated around $8.5 million to Dell in FY 2019.

These incentives were given to Dell Computer in the early 1990s to encourage Dell to move its headquarters to Round Rock.

Now the city has become dependent on these incentivized revenues and their loss will necessitate a tax hike says the city.

How about a reduction in the city budget instead? As is typical of government, reducing the budget is never an option.

Round Rock makes the disingenuous argument that since the sales tax from brick and mortar stores stay in the community, so should internet sales taxes. Do the sales taxes paid to Amazon stay in Seattle or in the Texas City that houses the Amazon distribution center from which purchases are dispatched, or they allocated on the basis of the buyers location?

Inquiring minds would like to know.

City Council Passed Lobbying Contract

By a 6-0 vote, the council approved the $104,000+ annual contract to lobby the Texas Legislature on behalf of the City. The contract term is for 2 years.

The surprise is that this is basically a contract renewal as the same firm has been under contract to the city since 2014.

Georgetown citizens will have to pay attention to proposed legislation in the next session and be prepared to go to Austin to testify for/against specific legislation that impacts them. 

Personal visits by constituents carry more weight with elected representative than paid lobbyists. So be prepared to defend your own interests when those are in conflict with Georgetown's interest.

Meanwhile let your elected representives know that you support legislation that prohibits local governments from spending taxpayer funds on lobbying.

Parking Garage on Hold

The City Council is holding a workshop today at 2pm to discuss the need for downtown parking and the location options for a parking garage.

The Georgetown City Council will meet on February 11, 2020 at 2:00 PM at City Council Chambers, 510 W 9th Street Georgetown, TX 78626

SUBJECT:

Presentation and review regarding the downtown parking garage project and discussion of options for further review of additional sites -- David Morgan, City Manager

ITEM SUMMARY:

This workshop is to provide background for the current work on the proposed downtown parking garage at 6th and Main and to discuss options for council direction on analysis of different sites.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

The funding for the current garage was included in the FY2019 Budget at $5 million. A contract for $348,000 was approved in November 2019 with Wantman Group for the architectural and engineering design on the proposed structure.

Here is the staff recommendation:

There does does not seem to be a recommendation as to how the public will be involved in the site selection, but, it is recognized that a process has to be developed and presented to Council before moving forward.

Roads Deterioration

Have you noticed that the condition of the roads in and around Georgetown are getting rougher and generally deteriorating rapidly?

One main reason is the use of our roads by heavy trucks hauling aggregate required to keep up with the building boom in central Texas. Even Ronald Reagan is showing signs of distress and it is a relatively new road!

Williamson County now has the dubious distinction of hosting the most aggtregate mines in the State of Texas!

The Texas Speaker of the House has created a committee to examine all the issues associated with mining. The committee name is "Aggregate Production Operations" and it is chaired by our house representtive, Terry Wilson. 

Here is the committe charge:

Click image to enlarge

Any concerns about mining operations and transportation should be addressed to the committee.
Aggregate Production Operations

Why Do Cities Hire Lobbyists?

Why Do Cities Hire Lobbyists? To Protect their POWER!

In past legislative sessions, lobbyists successfully defeated bills that would prohibit public funds being used for lobbying.

Lobbyist and the City of Georgetown were against the annexation bill passed last session that gave those property owners in areas to be annexed the right to vote for/against annexation.

Lobbyist and the City of Georgetown are against full transparency in the finances and contracts of municipal owned utilities! Isn't it time the Georgetown energy contracts are shared with the utility customers?

The list goes on and on, but, it is clear the City does not want any new limits placed on their power. The city staff and council members like to cry about "local control", when the real issue is about personal liberty and control over what our tax dollars and utility fees are spent on.

Georgetown Council Out of Touch with Citizens

According to two different surveys, Texans DO NOT want taxpayer funds to be spent on lobbying the Texas legislature. 

“At the 2018 State Convention, Republicans supported ending taxpayer-funded lobbying by an overwhelming 94 percent,” said RPT Chairman James Dickey. “They voted for this because they know it is vital that we prohibit taxing entities from using tax dollars to lobby against the interests of the taxpayers. This deplorable activity must come to an end.”

A poll taken last December by WPA Intelligence and reported by The Texas Public Policy Foundation, showed that 91 percent of Texans opposed using tax dollars to pay for lobbying, including 80 percent who strongly opposed it.

Isn't the Council supposed to be representing the best interests of their constituents? 

This is Item N on the City Council Agenda for Tuesday evening at Council Chambers.

"ITEM SUMMARY:

In order for the City of Georgetown to have greater impact/influence in State and Regulatory affairs impacting the community; the need to engage highly competent governmental affairs services is important. The services provided assist the City in coordinating and communicating at the Legislative and Regulatory levels of State Government, regarding issues that will affect the City and impact Local Control. The next legislative session is poised to focus on many issues critical to local governments and municipal utility operations.

This service will seek to expand and increase the City's influence with State government and Local State level elected officials, by dedicating time and resources to ensure the City’s interests are protected. With assistance from Focused Advocacy, the City will be better able to shape and enhance our working relationships and work with State officials toward common goals.

The City Council is asked to consider approval of a Professional Services Contract with Focused Advocacy, LLC, of Austin, Texas for continued support associated with utility and governmental affairs.


FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding for these services will be paid equally from Electric, Water, and General Funds."

Ins't it great that the Electric, Water and General Funds have excess money for this travesty against our liberty and freedom? 

Here are the first two pages of the proposed contracts.

click images to enlarge

The City is proposing to spend $100,000 per year on this contract plus $350 per month ($4200 annually) on meals, etc. plus travel costs.

It has been repeatedly documented that publically funded lobbyists work for the government entity that hires them, not for the citizens that pay their fees.

Perhaps the City could use those funds to directly benefit citizens instead of paying Austin lobbyists.

Who is behind this anti-taxpayer effort? Is it the city manager? The Mayor? or The Council? Inquiring minds would like to know so that this kind of anti-taxpayer activity can be stopped.

Georgetown Hiring Lobbist Firm

According to a survey of registered voters in Texas from WPA Intelligence, 91% oppose using tax dollars to fund lobbyists, with 80% saying they strongly oppose it.(Texas Public Policy Foundation)
Yet here we are with Georgetown planning to hire a lobbying firm to lobby the Texas Legislature against the best interests of the citizen/taxpayer. 

Ending taxpayer-funded lobbying was a Legislative Priority for the Republican Party in the 86th Texas Legislature. Sadly, that effort failed. It should be a priority for the next legislative session starting in January 2021.

Contact your State Senator, Charles Schwertner, and your Texas House Representative, Terry Wilson to let them know it is time to pass legislation to prohibit using taxpayer money to fund lobbyists.

As taxpayers finally begin to learn the details of the taxpayer-funded lobbying contracts, which their elected representatives have entered to lobby against the interests of their constituents, the likelihood of greater reform and political threats to the careers of local government representatives who vote for such contacts will increase geometrically.

The proposed contract with Focused Advocacy is item N on the Tuesday council agenda.

Call your council person and tell them to vote against this anti-taxpayer measure. Their contact information can be found here. Just click on their photo.

Better yet, show up at the council meeting and voice your displeasure with this proposed contract. 

The Georgetown City Council will meet on February 11, 2020 at 6:00 PM at City Council Chambers, 510 W 9th Street Georgetown, TX 78626.

Know Your Rights for Open Government

Excellent overview of citizens rights to an open and transparent government by Kelley Shannon.

"Whatever our political views, certainly we can agree we have the right to know how government is conducting business. How are taxpayer dollars spent? Who is influencing decisions? Access to information allows us to speak up and hold public officials accountable, while a lack of transparency diminishes trust in government.  

The Texas Public Information Act and Texas Open Meetings Act are the state’s main open government laws. Based on recent frequently asked questions about these laws, here are a few important reminders: Requested information must be provided promptly. That means as soon as possible and without delay. It’s a misconception that a governmental body, once it receives a written request for information, can wait up to 10 days to make the records available. Ten business days is the deadline under the Public Information Act for the governmental entity to ask for a Texas attorney general ruling if it is attempting to withhold information.  

Records requests can be made in multiple ways. Some government offices these days insist that requestors use a specific online form when making a public records request. Wrong! Using an online form is optional. Written requests may also be made via email, regular or certified mail or hand delivery. If you wish to email your request and can’t find the appropriate address on a government’s website, call and ask for it. Note: If a government office designates a single email address for records requests, then emailed requests must be sent there.  

Searchable-sortable information should be made available. Electronic information shall be provided in the format a requestor prefers if it is stored that way and can be provided in that format at no greater expense or time, the attorney general’s office has stated. So, if government data is stored in a searchable and sortable electronic spreadsheet and it’s requested in that format, it should be provided as a spreadsheet rather than as a PDF, which can be less useful when looking at numbers and large amounts of information.  

Closed-door meetings are for deliberations only, and only for certain subjects. The Texas Open Meetings Act allows a governing body to meet in a closed or “executive” session in some cases, such as to consult an attorney for legitimate legal questions or to discuss the purchase of property. Public officials can only deliberate behind closed doors. Any vote or final action must happen in public.  

A “walking quorum” is a no-no. A quorum of a governmental body discussing official business is supposed to occur in a posted public meeting. Members of a governing board cannot knowingly have one-on-one conversations about public business — whether talking, emailing or texting — when it is part of a series of private communications that will ultimately constitute a quorum. This deliberate behavior, known as a “walking quorum,” is banned, and the Legislature clarified that again in 2019. Texas law does allow discussion of business outside of a public meeting through a publicly viewable online message board.  

The public can comment at meetings. Under a law that took effect in September 2019, governing bodies must allow members of the public wishing to speak on an issue on the agenda of an open meeting to do so before or when it’s considered. Reasonable rules can be adopted limiting the total amount of time a member of the public may address the body on an item. Officials cannot prohibit the person from criticizing the governing body or its acts, policies or services.  

These and other topics will be addressed in a series of open government seminars the non-profit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is participating in this year with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The first seminar will be February 25 in Corpus Christi, hosted by state Representative Todd Hunter. Let’s take every opportunity in 2020 to improve knowledge of Texas’ transparency laws. That, in turn, can lead to more effective government." 

Kelley Shannon is executive director of the nonprofit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. For more information about the foundation and regional open government seminars go to www.foift.org.

Georgetown Schools Need Help!

The following letter was published in the Wilco Sun on February 2, 2020. It describes the sorry state of Georgetown schools and the resources that are available to help improve those schools.

"I am writing to continue the conversation of Eric Robinson and the Reverend Ron Swain regarding the pitiful state of public education in Georgetown, with six schools out of 16 being given a rating of F and four schools being given a rating of D, a rapid drop from no schools with an F rating in 2015.

Education is the civil rights issue of our time as it is the gateway to our goal as a country of equal opportunity. I think it is past time for Georgetown citizens to evaluate the current leadership in the school board and system superintendent to determine where leadership changes are urgently needed.

Dr. Swain noted the criticality of reading as the most important learning tool. Research has shown that children who can’t read at grade level by seventh grade will fail, and when they fail, they drop out of school. And when they drop out of school, it is much more likely that they will join a gang and eventually get into serious trouble.

School leadership might learn something from the Waco Independent School District, which publicized the need for volunteers who would read during lunchtime with children who were reading below their grade level. My wife and I volunteered and were given brief training and then regularly lunched with three third graders who read at 2.0 and three fifth graders who read at the 3.5 level. The school provided the reading materials and periodic testing to measure improvement and to gradually increase the reading material as the children’s reading skills improved.

It was a remarkable and wonderful experience. I made six new friends and was thrilled to see how this small amount of individual attention allowed my third graders to increase from 2.0 to 2.6 in their reading skills in the first two months of our time together. Volunteers were recruited from churches and civic groups or individuals who had heard about this opportunity. Today most of the public schools in Waco have such a volunteer program.

Georgetown is lucky to be the home of Sun City, where 14,000 retired “volunteers” live and could potentially be reading practice tutors.

Two extraordinary movies on the “civil rights” of a good education that I would highly recommend are Miss Virginia, an award-winning movie that documents a remarkable true story, and Waiting for Superman, another award-winning movie about the seven Harlem Academies (charter schools in New York City) and how inter-city children who are properly taught can have a 96 percent graduation rate, with 90 percent going to college with test scores comparable to private schools in wealthy suburbs.

WALTER L. BRADLEY, Ph.D."

Sale of Alcoholic Beverages in Georgetown

The City Council recently held its first public hearing on amending its ordinance concerning the sale of alcoholic beverages to be consistent with a Texas state law passed last year. Public Hearing

House Bill 1545, enacted by the Texas Legislature on May 24, 2019 and signed into law by the Governor on June 15, 2019, reauthorizes the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (“TABC”) for twelve years and changes the number and types of TABC licenses and permits, effective September 1, 2021.

At the Council Workshop on October 22, 2019, Council reviewed and discussed amending Chapter 6.40 of the Code of Ordinance related to the sale of alcoholic beverages in the city limits and determined that a local licensing process is unnecessary to collect local fees and directed staff to review the options available for late night sales of alcohol. The proposed revision includes the changes as enacted by the legislature, eliminates the City's local licensing requirements and clarifies the requirements governing alcohol sales within the city limits.

The table below shows the comparison of the hours allowed now and what could be allowed under state law. Council may consider extending the hours consistent with state law at a later meeting.

Click table to enlarge

City Council Special Meeting on Naming City Facitities, ie Airport

It sometimes seems that the City goes out of its way to make it difficult for city residents to participate in their government.

A special meeting has been announced on the city website for Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at a time not specified at a new location where the council typically does not meet. Special Meeting

Even though this is purportedly a meeting of a council subcommittee, it is billed as City Council Special Meeting where citizens have the right to participate.

The purpose of this meeting is to present the results from the public comment period which has concluded, as well as a review of the request to policy criteria.

In accordance with the Naming Policy, the City accepted public comments related to this request for thirty (30) days. Now that the public comment period has concluded, the committee will take into consideration all public comment when making a recommendation to the City Council regarding this request.

The airport naming issue has generated a fair amount of public interest.

Is this obscure meeting place at a unspecified time another effort to minimize public participation?

Inquiring minds would like to know!