I fully support the press questioning the value taxpayers receive for the salaries county commissioners are paid. As you report in your editorial of August 2, the Commissioners Court voted a 2.5% increase to the ceiling of salaries available to the elected officials of Travis County (excluding district judges who are paid by the State). This 2.5% increase results in a $92,362 salary ceiling for county commissioners. Any of the 48 elected officials in Travis County may make their own salary determinations within the salary ceiling provided. For instance, I have taken less salary than was budgeted all four years I have been in office and I have reduced my office expenses in FY 10 and expect to keep them at the reduced level for FY 11. More Info»
July 4th was a doggone good time. See photos on my Flickr page.
While I have been and remain a persistent critic of the toll road regime in Texas, the MoPac Managed Lane is a vastly superior model for a toll road trend that I cannot stop. More Info»
[April 22, 2010 is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day; below is an e-mail from Charles Williams, Travis County Conservation Coordinator. Enjoy! - SE]
Earth Day, a day to reflect on our relationship with the planet. But we need more than an Earth Day. We need more than a week, a month, or even a year. We need an Earth Generation. We need to be the Earth Generation.
Sustainable living has certainly become a buzz phrase. More and more people are looking at ways to reduce their ecological footprint: driving less, eating less meat, wearing sustainable fashions. As individuals, we are increasingly aware of the impact we have on the planet and our fellow humans. But is greening our own lifestyle enough? More Info»
We have seen hatred on a grand scale and at the street level this week. We have seen hatred propel a plane into an office building with the intent to kill people because they worked for the IRS. We have seen hatred assail two men in a parking lot with the intent of harming them because they are gay. Our community is sick with an addiction to hatred. More Info»
“If he would have talked to my dad, my dad would have helped him” said Ken Hunter of his father Vernon Hunter, who died from Andrew Joseph Stack III’s attack on the IRS offices where Vernon Hunter was a manager. Praise the resounding humanity of both Mr. Hunters and try to recognize the humanity silenced by rage in Mr. Stack. Which is the better tool for improving our society, compassion or rage? Look at ourselves, our thoughts, our words, our deeds – which tool are you using?
On Tuesday, January 26 Travis County approved a floodplain permit for TXI to locate a gravel mine atop natural beauty and amidst thriving agricultural and residential neighborhoods at Hunter’s Bend along the Colorado River. Under the law and the facts available to us, Travis County could not prevent the TXI mine from happening. But, Travis County can influence how the TXI mine functions. More Info»
Many have contacted me regarding the sensitive and very personal topic of abortion services provided by contractors with the Travis County Healthcare District (TCHD). The issue understandably is an emotional one. Whether and to what extent abortion services will be included among the array of services provided by the TCHD is not my decision to make. That decision resides with the TCHD Board to which I have some say over the appointment of five out of the nine members. More Info»
Please read retiring Senator Eliot Shapleigh’s “Getting Out of Grover’s Tub,” an incisive and unbridled indictment of a State government in lock step with Grover Norquist’s philosophy that government must be shrunk to a size that can be easily drowned in a bathtub. Senator Shapleigh includes case studies of the Norquist philosophy as applied in Texas state government. The full text can be found at http://shapleigh.org/grovers_tub.
The result of the Norquist philosophy is government by corporation of an uneducated population living with dirty air and water, without access to health care, justice, tolled roads or the jobs they lead to. When government is privatized, there will be no one to “vote out.” Our Democracy will be drowned in “Grover’s bathtub” along with the government he and his disciples so despise.
A few months back a deputy employed and supervised by the Travis County Constable of Precinct 3 pulled over a senior citizen named Ms. Winkfein for speeding. She refused to sign the citation and when the deputy attempted to arrest her she challenged his authority resulting in the deputy Tasing Ms. Winkfein. While Ms. Winkfein did exhibit a lack of cooperation with the deputy constable in his attempts to cite her for speeding, I believe the danger Ms. Winkfein posed to the deputy or to the public is far outweighed by the danger in which the deputy constable put Ms. Winkfein. Further, support for the deputy’s lack of control in the situation indicates a greater risk to society than speeding. More Info»
