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. Read More »

“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. Read More »

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. Read More »

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. Read More »

On Tuesday, September 1, 2009, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted three to two to financially aid Tecolote Farms in drilling a new well. I was one of the two votes against.

Although I advocate for the preservation of agricultural industry, especially the organic variety, I will not commit public funds for the benefit of private interests without a reasonable belief that the public expenditure will solve the public issue at hand. Read More »

The EPA recently changed its standard for rating the quality of air in regard to ground-level ozone in the United States. The national human health standards for ozone have been lowered to 75 parts per billion, measured by monitoring equipment, including a monitor in Travis County. The upshot is that Travis County is now unofficially in non-attainment. Tailpipe emissions and electricity consumption (because of coal-powered plants that produce most of our electricity) are our chief contributions to dirt in the air. Our driving, mowing and energy consumption habits are creating high ozone concentrations affecting our health as well as the health of our vegetation and our economy. Read More »

There is no doubt that we in Central Texas are hurting more economically than we have in a long time. Wherever I go, I hear hopeful speculation of what federal dollars our region may draw down. I too am hopeful that federal stimulus will chart a course toward new or renewed investment in education, health care and energy independence. But, we must do our part locally to the greatest extent possible so that federal dollars can be routed to the most desperate areas of our national economy.

The following chart illustrates how our region is better off than our state and our country in most metrics of economic health. Read More »

Monday night the CAMPO Policy Board, on behalf of Williamson, Travis and Hays counties purchased less than 7 miles of highway, 12 lanes wide, stretching through the short grass prairie of eastern Travis County, containing no added benefit in reduced vehicle miles traveled (no rail, no rapid bus, no high occupancy vehicle lanes, no congestion pricing).  According to a study conducted for CAMPO in 2006, this project will increase the average speed by 3 miles per hour for a commuter traveling from Elgin to Austin City Hall resulting in a decrease of up to ten minutes in average commute time.  The price tag for this nominal increase in convenience for our predominantly single occupant commuter population is $630 million.
In transit terms, $630 million would pay for: Read More »