Well, I know how verbose I can be, but I think more is better right? (or is that about butter?). Anyway, after reading the Burleson Star's reporting of the last candidate forum, I feel that everyone deserved to know exactly what happened at the Hill College Forum this past Thursday night. So, as a public service, I have provided you with a blow by blow of what I considered the best moments of the evening. I know that it's long, hence "War and Peace", but you just have to keep reading as it gets more interesting near the end because that is where the Mayor and his opponent get into the action. So, here goes!
Reporting from Burleson campus of Hill College:
April 26, 2012
I was one of the maybe 75 people that attended the Hill College Forum last night (Thrusday) to hear the City Council and Mayor candidates answer questions posed to them by Hill students and members of the audience. I was left a bit under-whelmed. (ump)
While I am very thankful that the students and faculty took the time and effort to put it on, and it was very well organized, some of the questions were not applicable to the questions facing Burleson council members in the coming years. Questions about Crowley-Rendon Rd status, sprinkler systems for historical buildings (eh, maybe), left me a bit needy for more. I did think the "Heart of Burleson" question was a good one and I liked the answers given by council candidates for the most part. I think "Old Town" was really the "right" answer in my opinion.
It was actually a bit humorous that all the candidates talked about the "Old Town" revitalization until they were almost giddy. For candidates, save one (That's you, Ronnie), that want to "change" how Burleson does things, they sure seemed to like what has been done over the last 8 years.
Oh, and one of the lighter moments for me was when the question was asked about what type of business would you like to see in Burleson that would attract 18-23 year olds? Well, one candidate was really stoked about bringing a Theatre to town (can you guess which candidate?). No, not to watch the "Hunger Games" or anything like that, but for live performances. She even indicated that it was apparently second rate to have to make use of the two perfectly good theater auditoriums that were build at the two high schools with tax paid bond money . If we can only find another Bass Brother. Oh, and I'm sure it would bring in some highly paid jobs that theatre always brings. (Exactly what did you do with that Theatre Arts degree specializing in Stage Design? Oh, yeah, you worked at Macy's.)
OK, Im getting on with it.
Matt Aiken gave a good videoed "vision statement" and introduction. He wasn't there due to a previous engagement, but his video with scrolling words was effective, I thought. I think that he certainly put to rest who has a better grasp of the job that needs to be done. Experience certainly speaks volumes. (The only problem I had with it was Matt like to say the word "Transparency" a lot. Come on now. Don't be so greedy, the city has already won that award how many years in a row now?) Just kidding, Matt. I'm still voting for you.
There were two subjects brought up -most likely as a queston from the audience - that sparked a little spit fire to the evening. One was about public housing and the other was about the Opportunity Fund. First the council candidates were given a shot at the questions and then the Mayoral candidates had a go. Actually, the Mayor started with a "shot across the bow" when he took the podium for his opening statement. Afterwards, the moderator asked the Mayor's opponent to give his views on the question. (that made him actually have more time to speak, but that could be a good thing).
Back to the council candidates.
Regarding the federal housing issue. It appeared that the candidates that had bees in their bonnets about the possiblity of five proposed housing developments coming to Burleson all at one time (never happen), appeared to have gotten the message* that had been spreading around town that these candidates were painting themselves into a corner should they actually win election and then have to serve on the council and live with their prior statements. However, I knew a few of them couldn't help themselves as I remember some of the candidates expressed flashes of anger while speaking at the Tea Party Forum. Apparently they wee indignant that the Mayor and current council members would not pledge to disapprove all additional federal housing requests for support. There was a lot of "humming and hawing" but even with guarded speech, it was clear who were saying, "NIMBY" (not in my backyard) to Federal housing.
One candidate added to her opening statement that all our elementaries were "busting at the seams" from all the students they had, citing the busing of students to her children's elementary from other schools due to "over-crowding". I am pretty sure that the busing is going on to keep from adding classes in the other schools to reduce the number of waivers necessary to maintain the 22:1 ratio. It really has nothing to do with space in the elementaries. Now, the middle schools, that's a different matter.
The other question that added a bit of excitement was the question about the Opportunity Fund, its original funding mechanism and whether it was legal. Wow! What if it had not been legal??
As luck would have it, Ronnie Johnson was there as he is running for the council and he just happened to have been president of the BISD Trustees when the Opportunity Fund was proposed and approved. Ronnie was Vice- President of the Opportunity Fund Board. Wow! Straight from the horse's mouth!! (Sorry Ronnie). He said unequivocally, "No, it (is) was not illegal". Stating there were more lawyers than .... I couldn't hear his comparison, but I got the message. It's not illegal. You would have thought that would have put it to rest, but no. With the two other candidates "passing" Ms. Gammon, gave a somewhat disbelieving sigh and said, "I'd like to know if it IS legal". She either can't hear or she believes she is the appeals courts and Ronnie was over-turned!
However, when the Mayor gave his opening speech, he was less than demure when he said he wanted to lay to rest this question. The Opportunity Fund is NOT illegal. It began as a method to develop a workforce to prepare for and entice industry to Burleson. There was always the intent to use economic development funds for it and they dedicate 1/50th of the fund to the Opportunity Fund. Then, taking a final swing, he added that businesses and individuals did contribute to it and yes, those funds have waned somewhat but the City of Burleson always planned to provided some of the funding. There! (Editorial comment here. I think that business gifts have waned because of who is in control of the Chamber of Commerce now.. Just sayin')
But wait. The moderator decided that since this was such an interesting topic, the Mayor's opposition needed to address the subject. The opponent began, "Well, I can't speak to the legality of it...." "What?" The Mayor said. "Yes you can. "You voted to fund it" just a short time ago.
Yes!!!!
Of course, the moderator called for decorum; the candidates aren't supposed to address each other but to addressed the student panel. The opponent didn't turn his head; just stared straight ahead. I did detect a bit of a twinkle in the Mayor's eye, however. I was high fiving in my mind!!
The discussion of the housing issue was much more mundane with the Mayor and the opponent. There really wasn't much left for the opponent to say other than, if the developer follows the rules, there really isn't much that can be done. I was sitting in the back by this time, observing one of the council candidate hacking 'poo" out of her mouth. There was obviously disagreement. Darn, it's maddening when you can't get your way, right?" The Mayor had already prepared a position statement on this issue and it was distributed at the Forum to the few people there. If you want to see it go to www.kenshetter.com and look for "housing". There were so many untruths, half truths and mis-understanding that have been given out, it is really hard to make the issue clear without a long two page article. So read his so I don't have to type it here.
One interesting thing that came up was the Mayor's opponent kept hammering on the his assertation that many industries have wanted to locate in Burleson but have not done so due to to many regulations. He added one other reason... they were not sufficiently "wined and dined". The opponent said that these people (industrialist) are "enterpreneurs" and they need to be handled "with kid gloves". Well, my husband has 30+ years in corporate manufacturing and that is code for "Wine, Women and Song". So, does that mean that Mayor Shetter and the city staff haven't been spending enough city money on big expense accounts and wild parties? I know where they can find some "Cowtown Hotties". You might even ask the opponent.
In regards to the burdensome regulations on building design, etc... Well, I agree that you probably don't have to have the same building design requirements in an industrial park as you do on Main Street, but it seems a little pre-mature to have those ready to go since they just turned dirt on the Highpoint Industrial Park not long ago. I also am sure that the Planning and Zoning Committee hasn't brought that before the council yet. I could be wrong, but I think I remember something about that. I wonder why the Mayor's opponent hasn't asked his friend Ms. Gammon about that since she is on that City Board and enjoys the job so much she wants to stay on it. Since that is a citizen group, maybe the "people" will have an opinion on what those requirments should be to house "widget" manufacturing.
I had a questions I was eager to ask the Mayor's opponent, but it didn't make the list. So, I was happy when the Mayor alluded to my question when he asked how it was possible to lower the debt, reduce taxes, reduce the budget, build infra-structure and pay police and firemen more. I agree with the Mayor, it sounds like a fairly tale.
Just sayin'
Ann
* For info on the "message" please read the previous post, "What Would Jesus Do?"
Also, if you haven't already, read the other two prior posts as well.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
What Would Jesus Do?
This is a copy of a Letter to the Editor of the Burleson Star that I know won't be published as they refuse to take political letters after April 24, 2012. However, this is important information that is not available to everyone. While some may feel that "Not in my backyard" is a good defense for homeowners, if elected officials bow to that pressure due to discriminatory reason (which NIMBYis) then they can be sued as well as the city. The officials are put in a terrible position by those who would quote Bible verses on one hand and claim the poor and disabled are the curse of the devil. Do not let yourself be a part of this movement. P.S. After you finish reading, don't forget to read the two previous posts, "Larry Pool and Silver Star" and "The Truth is Free".
To the Editor:
Below is a copy of aletter being sent to members of the Wakefield Home
Owner Association in Burleson, and probably others, by Shelly Grant, a Burleson
Community member who it is rumored to go by a Face book alias of "Praise Jesus".
Unfortunately, the rhetoric used in her letter has nothing to do with
"Jesus"; the words he taught or the behavior he championed. In fact, He
had a lot to say about our relationship to the poor. I guess Ms. Grant missed
those red lettered words. There is even a quote of John 3:16 at the end of the letter.
(It kinda sounds like someone thinks that low income people don't know Jesus).
BTW, she was assisted in distributing this letter by the HOM’s management group, DentonCMG. (Who won't return phone calls).
The basis of the letter is that according to her, some elected
city officials (the mayor and two city council members) have committed themselves publically to supporting the import of
additional HUD housing, mainly in the form of Section 8 apartment housing for
low income. She makes no distinction as to whether the purpose of the housing is
for the elderly, families, or disabled.
It is important to note that her statement is NOT TRUE. Officials
have gone on record saying that no commitment of any kind has been nor can be
made as decisions such as, setting housing development policy, accepting zoning
requests, giving abatements, and providing letters of support, cannot be made
prior to the presentation of facts and due consideration. While there may be
reasons to deny requests for zoning changes, letters of support for this and
other types of development, it can only to be based on non-discriminatory
factors.
Ms. Grant may write letters make inflammatory statements and
unfounded assumptions about her beliefs regarding low income housing as it is
her First Amendment right. Elected official are not free to act on threats
made by people such as Ms. Grant and her organization. They must adhere to
the Fair Housing law and do nothing to illegally impede the provision of low
income housing of protected classes. By the way, this month is "Fair Housing
Month" as declared by Governor Perry. What a coincident that Ms. Grant would decide to begin her crusade
on this topic.
If you would like to read a brief synopsis of a public official’s duty to give equal access to HUD housing applications, you can do so by going to:
Should Ms. Grant succeed in her efforts and a future official
that she endorsed has embraced her rhetoric in writing or in public; they will have left the city unable to ever deny housing applications that
were designated low income without putting the city in a vulnerable legal
position.
Is that where you want your tax money to go? Is that what Jesus
would do?
From: "Carter Low" <Carter.Low@DentonCMG.com>
To: " Carter.Low@DentonCMG.com" <Carter.Low@DentonCMG.com>
Subject: FW: Section 8 (low income housing) Location Listings on TDHCA Applications Near Wakefield Estates/Burleson/TX
This email is being sent to all members of the Wakefield HOA who have
provided their email address:To: " Carter.Low@DentonCMG.com" <Carter.Low@DentonCMG.com>
Subject: FW: Section 8 (low income housing) Location Listings on TDHCA Applications Near Wakefield Estates/Burleson/TX
The following information is provided by Shelley Grant from the Burleson Citizens Against Section 8 Housing. If you have any questions, please contact Shelley directly at
shelley@burlesonstars.com<mailto:shelley@burlesonstars.com > (817) 919-4982
Also, according to Ken Davis (Pastor, Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro), there is a City Council Candidate Forum this Thursday, at Hill College (130 E. Renfro) starting at 6:45PM. Please plan to attend the forum and find out where each candidate stands on section 8 housing near Wakefield HOA and other issues.
Dear Wakefield Home Owner Association Member:
The purpose of this letter is to send you the TDHCA log information which illustrates the Section 8 applications for the state of Texas which include Burleson locations located on Hwy 731, John Jones Road, Hwy 174, Summercrest and Alsbury Blvd.
In regard specifically to Wakefield Estates, located in Burleson, TX, 76028 the TDHCA log illustrates there are five locations listed for Section 8 application. The five Section 8 locations near Wakefield Estates are:
The 1701 Wilshire (Hwy 174) location application includes 175 Section 8 units.
The John Jones Road (FM 731) location application includes 160 Section 8 units
1300 Alsbury location application includes 120 Section 8 units
1300 Summercrest location application includes 120 Section 8 units
Alsbury at Ridgehill location application includes 84 Section 8 units
In 2007, our current Mayor, Ken Shetter, and the 2007 city council enticed a Section 8 apartment complex to Burleson by offereing the developer a $400,000.00 tax abatement. This Section 8 unit, the Alsbury Villas, is located at 755 Alsbury. As a result of the tax abatement, our city has been qualified for federal grant money from hud.gov< http://hud.gov> that stimulated the five applications currently filed with TDHCA for Burleson, TX.
The mayor and council have gone on record endorsing the Section 8 Multi-Family additions to our city. As a result, the citizens of Burleson have formed a political group seeking to seat a new mayor and 3 new council members in the May 12, 2012 municipal election. A new mayor and council will give the citizens of Burleson a window of opportunity to protect their home values from being jeopardized.
It is our hope that you will notify the members of the Wakefield Home Owners Association in order that they will have the opportunity to examine the city and TDHCA documentation, create their own opinion and have the opportunity to vote, if they so choose to, in the municipal election for the candidate of their choice.
Respectfully,
Shelley Grant
Burleson Citizens Against Section 8 Housing
Regards,
Carter Low, CMCA, AMS
Community Management Group
P.O. Box 104
Argyle, Texas 76226
(940) 464-1107 Phone
(940) 464-4502 Fax
Carter.Low@DentonCMG.com
The views expressed below are that of Community Management Group and do not necessarily reflect those of the HOA Board of Directors or the Homeowners' Association.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ~John 3:16
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The Truth is Free
"All too often in politics today, elections are marred by negative advertising and innuendo about candidates. During my 2010 race for Congress, my opponent spent millions of dollars on negative advertising; and, as a result, I have a firsthand view of what it is like to be on the ‘receiving end’ of this type of behavior. Unfortunately, some of this behavior has arisen in this race and I am disappointed by the allegations being made about Larry. I want the citizens of Burleson to know that I think that Larry is a fine man, who has run his businesses properly and I consider the negative comments about him to be unfair and inappropriate.” Quote from U.S. Representative Bill Flores in the Cleburne Times Review -
Perhaps when the next financial reports are due, we can look to see how much Larry Pool paid for that endorsement. I post this here to make a point. No money has been spent to tell the truth about Larry Pool. Ken Shetter hasn't paid one dime to me or Susan Cloud to tell the truth about Larry Pool and the Silver Star Bar. Citizens in the Burleson Community learned of Pool ownership of Silver Star and made it public. He tried to disassociate himself from it by posting a useless document that meant nothing in regards to who owned and operated the bar. Mr. Pool is the sole Director and member of Silver Star Event Hall, LLC. The business that had the entertainment shown in Ms. Cloud's Facebook post and her Video took place in Silver Star bar. He cannot run away from it. If I have to take an ad out myself in the paper to publish this information, I will do so.
I want to make it clear that I believe that Pool attempted to hide his ownership of the bar because he wanted to get into politics in a conservative city. If he wants to disprove that, then he needs to show a bill of sale for his business to the people that bought it and then show why he is still the Director and only member of the enitity that he formed. He filed the documents saying he was Director - twice. If it is not true, then he is guilty of a misdomeaner for filing a false report. If he filed the report or caused it to be filed and knew that it was false information, then he is guilty of a state jail felony.
He can put this to rest by showing the documents that actually show the sale and then explaining why he filed documents with the Secretary of State stating otherwise. If he doesn't want to do that, then I will file a complaint with the Secretary of State's office and he can explain it to them.
Mr. Pool is the one that has been telling untruths to the community about himself. Representative Orr and Flores just bought in and lied to you as well. There is no evidence of any kind that Pool has been successful at "balancing budgets and controlling debt." He has not released any information about his private business dealings. He has numerous corporations. Who knows how much debt he has as a real estate speculator? He has had one corporation suspended twice for not paying Franchise tax and for not having a registered agent on file. What do we really know about Mr. Pool's ability to be successful?
We can look at his one year on the City Council. Mr. Pool was elected with the idea or controlling debt and managing the budget. I don't recall any news reporting that described Mr. Pool asking to put debt on the agenda to discuss reducing it. In fact, I think he voted to increase it. I don't recall anytime that he pounded the table with his shoe insisting that debt be reduced. I don't even recall him voting "no" on the budget that he likes to complain about. If he didn't have it in him to vote against the budget then exactly why would you expect that he would do so any other time. No, this is about control and getting credit for things done by others.
At the Tea Party Forum in March, Pool stated without any hesitation, that "The Brick should never have been built". Yet, as Susan Cloud so aply showed in her last video, there was Pool holding ballons at the grand opening of the Brick supporting Mayor Shetter. I would have thought that a man as "principled" as Pool would have gone on record as opposing the opening of the Brick; maybe even not being present to "make a point". That would have been a man of integrity; showing consistency. That, however, is not the man that we see opposing the current Mayor.
It's a good thing that Bill Flores will not be representing Burleson in the next election, due to re-districting. I would have to campaign against him if he had opposition. If he doesn't, I could wait.
Just Sayin'
Ann
Perhaps when the next financial reports are due, we can look to see how much Larry Pool paid for that endorsement. I post this here to make a point. No money has been spent to tell the truth about Larry Pool. Ken Shetter hasn't paid one dime to me or Susan Cloud to tell the truth about Larry Pool and the Silver Star Bar. Citizens in the Burleson Community learned of Pool ownership of Silver Star and made it public. He tried to disassociate himself from it by posting a useless document that meant nothing in regards to who owned and operated the bar. Mr. Pool is the sole Director and member of Silver Star Event Hall, LLC. The business that had the entertainment shown in Ms. Cloud's Facebook post and her Video took place in Silver Star bar. He cannot run away from it. If I have to take an ad out myself in the paper to publish this information, I will do so.
I want to make it clear that I believe that Pool attempted to hide his ownership of the bar because he wanted to get into politics in a conservative city. If he wants to disprove that, then he needs to show a bill of sale for his business to the people that bought it and then show why he is still the Director and only member of the enitity that he formed. He filed the documents saying he was Director - twice. If it is not true, then he is guilty of a misdomeaner for filing a false report. If he filed the report or caused it to be filed and knew that it was false information, then he is guilty of a state jail felony.
He can put this to rest by showing the documents that actually show the sale and then explaining why he filed documents with the Secretary of State stating otherwise. If he doesn't want to do that, then I will file a complaint with the Secretary of State's office and he can explain it to them.
Mr. Pool is the one that has been telling untruths to the community about himself. Representative Orr and Flores just bought in and lied to you as well. There is no evidence of any kind that Pool has been successful at "balancing budgets and controlling debt." He has not released any information about his private business dealings. He has numerous corporations. Who knows how much debt he has as a real estate speculator? He has had one corporation suspended twice for not paying Franchise tax and for not having a registered agent on file. What do we really know about Mr. Pool's ability to be successful?
We can look at his one year on the City Council. Mr. Pool was elected with the idea or controlling debt and managing the budget. I don't recall any news reporting that described Mr. Pool asking to put debt on the agenda to discuss reducing it. In fact, I think he voted to increase it. I don't recall anytime that he pounded the table with his shoe insisting that debt be reduced. I don't even recall him voting "no" on the budget that he likes to complain about. If he didn't have it in him to vote against the budget then exactly why would you expect that he would do so any other time. No, this is about control and getting credit for things done by others.
At the Tea Party Forum in March, Pool stated without any hesitation, that "The Brick should never have been built". Yet, as Susan Cloud so aply showed in her last video, there was Pool holding ballons at the grand opening of the Brick supporting Mayor Shetter. I would have thought that a man as "principled" as Pool would have gone on record as opposing the opening of the Brick; maybe even not being present to "make a point". That would have been a man of integrity; showing consistency. That, however, is not the man that we see opposing the current Mayor.
It's a good thing that Bill Flores will not be representing Burleson in the next election, due to re-districting. I would have to campaign against him if he had opposition. If he doesn't, I could wait.
Just Sayin'
Ann
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Larry Pool and Silver Star Redux
There has been a lot of talk about the "outing" of Larry Pool's involvement in the Silver Star bar in Alvarado and the entertainment by the Cowtown Hotties and the "midget wrestlers". The latter exhibition attended by children as young as 12 as documented in pictures taken by the Hottie’s own scheduler.
Susan Cloud, a Burleson resident and producer of the morning talk show at WBAP, asked Mr. Pool to respond to some information that she had been given about his involvement in the Silver Star bar. She gave him nearly two weeks and he didn't respond so she posted her information with pictures and supporting documentation on her Face book page. This is her post – pictures are for mature audiences.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/susan-cloud/hows-this-for-traditional-family-values/10150634835026430
Mr. Pool cried foul and accused her of slander and demanded that she apologize. I re-posted her story as did others. I also looked deeper into the situation and found that everything she said was true.
http://larrypool.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ChangeofOwnership-2010.pdf
However, one his documents was just a change in Registered Agent and the other a copy of the tax statement showing the property was owned by Homes-N-Land, LLC, which is Larry's Pool's corporation. The other document showed the business entity was owned by "Silver Star". He says that mean he doesn’t own the business. However, you will see that the Secretary of State will disagree with him; he is the only Director and Member of Silver Star.
While Mr. Pool apparently submitted documents on two occasions showing a change in Governing Person, he or his agent (Rogers Law Firm) later submitted Public Information Reports (PIR) showing that he and he alone remains the Director and only member of Silver Star Click here. Whether the PIR was filed out correctly or not, one thing is certain: he was attempting to prove a change of ownership with a document that did not carry that meaning. That is dishonest, deceptive and just plain wrong. It means that he thinks people are too stupid to know the difference.
Now, Mr. Pool has been attempting to dismiss Ms. Cloud's information. He doesn't think that he has to answer any questions asked by anyone. Apparently, he has made sure that the Burleson Star doesn't ask him any questions. The Texas Patriot Tea Party that is backing him doesn't want to ask any questions. Two elected representatives, Rob Orr a State Representative and Bill Flores, a U.S. Senator both are apparently ignoring this information. Everyone seems to be happy with Mr. Pool’s dishonesty. What does that say about their character?
This saddens me as it means there is no outlet for the average voter to learn that a candidate has represented himself to be one thing and apparently is something else.
In my opinion, I think Mr. Pool bought a building and some land in 2009. The filing of a Certificate of Formation 10-27-2009 with the State of Texas and in the name Silver Star Event Hall, LLC stated the purpose was a "nightclub" (bottom of page 3) There is no question; this is a fact. Mr. Pool registered the name Silver Star for a web address on 1-9-2010. He filed a franchise tax report on 5-11-2010. This report listed him and another name on the original formation documents as Director and Member.
Mr. Pool’s attorney took over as Registered Agent on 8-3-2010 and two days later became the only Governing Person. It was only a matter of a few months before the attorney found two other people to take over as Governing Person effective December 1, 2010.
However, why on 12-31 2010 did he file a Public Information Report (PIR) with the Secretary of State stating an effective date of 2-11-2011? This report showed Mr. Pool again as the sole Director and Member. Because he bought it back? The others didn't pay? He really never changed the ownership but wanted it to look like he did for a while?? To make it more astounding and less likely that this was the result of a mistake is the fact that another Franchise Tax filing was made on 5-5-2011, again showing Mr. Pool as sole Director and Member. This was followed by the filing of another PIR on 12-31-2011. Again Pool was listed as the sole Director and Member. This time the effective date was listed as 8-22-2011. That is the last document that has been filed. Click Here. . Another Franchise tax filing is due early in May, 2012. Whose name will be on this one? I guess we will see.
Now, some may feel that this is a non-issue. After posting Ms. Cloud’s post exposing his ownership, I was blasted by some of the Cowtown Hottie’s fan club. They didn’t see anything wrong with the entertainment and defended Mr. Pool. But, how can misrepresentation of your character be a non issue? Mr. Pool has made much out of being a "conservative". He brags about his belief in “traditional family values” as well as Judeo-Christian values. Yet, prior to his stint as President of the Burleson Chamber and his current campaign, he decided to open a bar. I personally don’t see that choice lining up with his value system. Not that I think you can’t drink or dance, but I can’t believe that Mr. Pool having had his values for so long and practicing them so ardently, didn’t have a good understanding of what kind of activity traditionally goes on in a bar.
Could Mr. Pool be so innocent that he doesn't know about wet tee shirt parties, 2 for 1 drinks, dancing girls, bikini contests, etc..? I would think that he would knows that bars over serve people all the time and those people get into cars and drive home. Morally, how does he think that it is Christian to be a part of enabling that kind of activity? He may not have known that the Silver Star allowed children to attend events at the bar even though the website states they have to be 18 or over. He may not have known that the Cowtown Hotties were dancing during their bikini contest or that they were making it easy for audience members to "touch them on their buttocks", but then again, should he have known? Is that really responsible ownership as a lease holder as he purports to be?
Maybe he doesn't wear women's clothes, but he might as well have, as he is not who he portrays himself to be.
Just sayin'
Ann
P.S. This was Susan's response to Larry's call for an apology:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34d9gEyi3G8&sns=fb
This video has very risqué and adult content with all activity taking place at the Silver Star Bar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ashq4KuZQU&feature=youtu.be
Friday, June 17, 2011
Flip Flop Season
(This is an article that was written for the Burleson Star, I said you probably won't see it due to its length, but the new publisher put the entire letter in his Sunday addition! It is well over the 300 word limit, but then again so was Keith Kelly's letter. Seems he USED to get more space than anyone else in the STAR. )
I welcomed Mr. Kelly’s letter to the editor in the Sunday (6/12) Burleson Star for two reasons. First, it apparently signaled the end to the Burleson Star’s requirement that letter must be 300 words or less and second, his comments completely contradicted those of the Chamber Board President when he said the use of the postage permit was not political, it was just a “perk” of being a chamber member.
It is America and we have freedom of association and the right to campaign and promote our causes. The problem is we should have to follow the law to do it. The Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit 501(c)6 organization. They can lobby for and promote their ideas to further business. What they cannot do is direct that effort into a campaign for a specific person.
Mr. Kelly is a member of the Chamber board and therefore was involved and, in my opinion based on what I know of Mr. Kelly, he was probably the instigator of the use of the permit to mail campaign literature. He and the two members are also part of the Texas Patriot Tea Party in Burleson where Mr. Kelly also serves as a board member. The Patriot Tea Party has made it no secret that they plan to take over all the elected yet non-partisan boards in Burleson, if not Johnson County. Mr. Kelly counts himself as a political movers and shaker in campaigning. At least that is what his bio on the Tea Party website says.
While Mr. Kelly didn’t mention the Chamber fiasco in his letter he did describe in detail his views on the current City Council and his perception that they are a “tax and spend” bunch of liberals. He’s entitled to his opinion. However, I would like to contrast his statements that elections have consequences with the subject that he uses as the basis for his complaint about the city leadership.
The city does have debt but, in part, due to city bond elections that were brought before the citizens of Burleson and passed. That is the consequence of people having a say about what they want to see happen in their city. Apparently, Mr. Kelly doesn’t like it when citizen have their say as to what they want in their city and even school district if it doesn’t agree with his agenda. You may remember Mr. Kelly as the chief prosecutor of the Burleson ISD administration and board during the last TRE election in October.
Mr. Kelly makes much ado about how taxes and spending are ruining our nation and I would agree with him, on some points, but I think that those things constitutional required on the federal and state level should be funded by the citizenry. The Tea Party Movement would have you believe that any tax is un-American and deserved to be beat back as we have seen for the last nearly six months in Austin. I have found their stance to be down-right fanatical on public education. However, for someone that barks a good talk, Mr. Kelly seems to change his opinion about taxing whenever it suits him.
Consider that Mr. Kelly is also an appointed Commissioner on the Johnson County Emergency Service District board, commonly referred to as the fire board. In February 2010, he and his fellow Commissioners decided that they wanted to double the fire tax for country residents and called an election for May 2010. Not only did he apparently feel that doubling the tax was ok, he also felt that it was ok to allow publications on the ESD website promoting the passage of the doubled tax. He and the rest of the ESD board also allowed ESD broadcast equipment to be used to promote the call for all firefighters to pick up signs for distribution advocating passage of the tax measure. Mr. Kelly doesn’t let ethics rules get in his way either; so much for the “rule of law”.
Less than three months after the ESD tax passed, Mr. Kelly became a board member for the newly formed Texas Patriot Tea Party. It was at this point that he became a “no-tax” advocate. After being fed some disappointedly bad information, he began an assault on the tax increase proposed by the BISD. He was joined by a few of his pals, each with their own agenda, and proclaimed that the school district was lying about their deficit and were guilty of fraud. (We will know soon if that deficit was real) As Mr. Kelly stated in his letter, the TRE was defeated by 8 votes, but he couldn’t leave it there; he wanted someone fired. This time he appeared before the BISD board and advocated a tax increase suggesting that if the superintendent was fired, he might support it. He then admitted to supporting the 2006 BISD bond program as a “friend of the district”. So, is he a “no tax” patriot or what? How many times do you flip flop on your beliefs before you are found to be lacking in any?
It is a sad day when a previously great organization that brought good press to the City of Burleson is reduced to a partisan, political operation. Those who have long stood proud to be a part of the Chamber and its true mission were displaced by those with a political agenda that will not serve all businesses of Burleson but instead will only be a mouthpiece for the Tea Party.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
What Goes Around, Is Coming Around - Part II
I have been waiting for The Star Group and the Cleburne Times-Review to publish a story about the audit of Johnson County financials. I have made phone calls for the last two weeks inquiring as to when those stories would be published. I have been told by Cleburne Times-Review it should be this week. The Star has made no such commitment. We'll see. This is basically the letter to the editor for The Star Group. The yellow highlighted section was added for this blog post and is not in the submitted letter due to word count restrictions.
To make amends, it would be nice if Commissioner Stringer took the lead, compared the two reports and announced publicly that he had been wrong about the BISD. However, it won’t undo the damage to those whose reputations and careers were affected by his unfounded accusations. What goes around always comes around.
Audit copy -
Ann Rose
I am aware that audit results for Johnson County were presented to the Commissioners’ Court on April 25, 2011. The audit, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, reported a significant increase in the unrestricted fund balance ($6 million was the number I heard) that according to the audit is due to rebounding property values. It is reported that Commissioners were unaware of this information until the report was released.
After reading the report, I found it oddly similar to the audit report issued for the Burleson ISD in November for the period ending June 30, 2010. As I recall, PCT 3 Commissioner Jerry Stringer was extremely vocal with his opinion of the BISD board and administration for not knowing about excess funds that were reported in their audit. I think that one would have to be totally blind to not notice how similar these two audits are unless there was some reason that prevented one from objectively looking at the situation.
While I find the audit reports of the county and the BISD perfectly acceptable in explaining why there was unexpected revenue, Commission Stringer must believe otherwise. When the BISD audit was released, Commissioner Stringer and friends took advantage of the report of under-projected revenue to make charges of malfeasance and mis-management. This leaves one to wonder how Mr. Stringer intends to spin the county audit report so that it doesn’t bring recriminations onto him and the rest of the Court such as he brought onto the BISD officials.
Mr. Stringer can say that he is not guilty of all I have laid out herein, but Commissioner Stringer knows it is true. He sat behind me in the November BISD board meeting where the $5.1 million question was explained in public. I listened to his rude, condescending comments made to another sitting nearby. He refused to accept any explanation for the excess revenue other than what he could condemn. . He left there with his notes and by December 1st, those notes were included in his friend and ESD appointee, Keith Kelly's letter to the community published in the Burleson Star. Commissioner Springer and members of his family are known to have made disparaging comments around the community about how our district officials.
Commissioner Stringer became known by spending years at BHS as a Resource Officer. He then took the opportunity to turn it into an $80,000 job, attacking and besmirching the very district that gave him the public exposure to help attain his elected position. I call his actions extremely bad form. .
Audit copy -
Just sayin...for the second time.
Ann Rose
Friday, April 29, 2011
What Goes Around...Is Coming Around.
Some interesting information came my way yesterday. Someone thought I might want to know about the goings on at the Johnson County Commissioner's Court meeting held Monday. I was informed that the Commissioners found themselves to be the proud owners of a previously "unknown" $6 million dollar addition to the County's fund balance. That's right, a governmental body found themselves in the position of not knowing that they suddenly had an extra pile of money.
Where have we heard this before?
OK, let's take this slow, refresh the grey cells a bit. Imagine, an auditor makes an announcement that there is money in the bank that apparently the people in charge don't know about. (In this case it was the County Judge and the Commissioners who didn't know it was there.)
For those of you who may have been living under a rock at the time, here's a hint. Last November when the Burleson ISD received an audit report that they had a $5.1 million dollar addition to their fund balance, with $2.8 of it coming from property taxes. (You might remember that the Superintendent of the BISD wrote a great letter explaining all that, but it didn't get published, so you may not have heard of it).
However, something different happened when this "found" money news was announced; no one announced it.
I called the Cleburne Times-Review and talked to reporter, Steve Knight. I asked if he was at Commissioner's Court on Monday April 25. He said that he was. I asked if there had been any reporting of the previously unknown $6 million dollar addition to the county's fund balance. He said, "No, I"ve been busy with other things such as the beginning of the early voting and the funeral of the Sheriff Dept. deputy". However, he said he is planning on interviewing the Judge and will be getting right on it next week.
I then called the new publisher of the The Star Group, which includes the Burleson, Joshua, Keene and Alavarado Stars. I left a message and was called by Paul Gnatt. I asked if the Star Group had covered the Commissioners' Court on Monday. He said that they do cover the Court. I asked if there had been a story about the "found" $6 million dollars in the fund balance made up of mostly tax revenue? He said that they are going to cover that story but "they have just been busy with other things". I said, "Like the beginning of early voting and the funeral?". He said, "Yes, but we are going to get on that next week". (First let me say, the death of the officer is a tragedy and I bear no ill will that the story has been covered-they were right to do it).
But I would like to make a point: that was NOT the way the school district was treated when their audit report came out! Headlines were blaring that "found" money was sitting in the district coffers and no one knew anything about it. It was a big surprise to everyone!
Then a half-page Letter to the Editor appeared in the Burleson Star on December 1st charging that all the administration was corrupt and incompetent. There were calls for "heads" to roll if they had anything to do with the district finances. It didn't seem to matter that the Finance Dept had won awards celebrating transparency in government and "Excellence in School Accounting" someone had to pay.
There was talk about criminality, lying and disappointment was all over the community. Nice people were writing letters to say how offended they were and angry that they had "trusted" the district only to learn they had been hiding money.
Maybe you remember now without any further prompts.
I wonder how Commissioner's Court will explain this breach of fiduciary responsibility? After all, each Commissioner sits on that Court and makes decision about tax rates and assessments; they read reports and review collection data. Why didn't they know? Wasn't the money in the bank prior to the closing the books? Why did Johnson County tax payers have to wait for the auditor to tell the people in charge that they had collected an extra $6-7 million dollars in taxes?
Oh Yeah, wasn't the Commissioner of Precinct 3, Jerry Stringer, involved in questioning the professional ability of the school district to take care of their financial affairs due to their accounting mishap? I believe that he and his Emergency Services District appointee, were both out in the community proclaiming that our school district is being run by incompetents and someone should resign.
Well, Commissioner, who should resign now? Whose fault is it that you and your fellow commissioners as well as the County Judge didn't know that the Barnett Shale was going to provide such an increase in tax revenues? Tell me why you didn't know back in July that there would be extra tax revenue and it was going to be adding to your fund balance.
How do we know there wasn't some "back room" deal or sinister motive behind all that extra tax money? Wasn't it sitting in the bank all this time? Doesn't anyone in the County reconcile the county check book? What kind of accounting staff does the County have anyway, Commissioner?
I can almost hear the legal engines of the Texas Patriot Tea Party roaring! I'm sure they are already working with their Austin counsel to file a writ or something or another against these derelicts as I'm typing!! I'm assuming they treat all government officials the same, right?
Well, I look forward to reading next week's issues of the Cleburne Times Review and the Burleson/ Joshua / Keene/Alvarado Stars about where this surplus money came from and what excuse the County Commissioners have for not knowing about $6 million dollars lying around in their bank account for several months.
Whatever the excuse, it is probably the truth...
Just saying...
Ann Rose
Where have we heard this before?
OK, let's take this slow, refresh the grey cells a bit. Imagine, an auditor makes an announcement that there is money in the bank that apparently the people in charge don't know about. (In this case it was the County Judge and the Commissioners who didn't know it was there.)
For those of you who may have been living under a rock at the time, here's a hint. Last November when the Burleson ISD received an audit report that they had a $5.1 million dollar addition to their fund balance, with $2.8 of it coming from property taxes. (You might remember that the Superintendent of the BISD wrote a great letter explaining all that, but it didn't get published, so you may not have heard of it).
However, something different happened when this "found" money news was announced; no one announced it.
I called the Cleburne Times-Review and talked to reporter, Steve Knight. I asked if he was at Commissioner's Court on Monday April 25. He said that he was. I asked if there had been any reporting of the previously unknown $6 million dollar addition to the county's fund balance. He said, "No, I"ve been busy with other things such as the beginning of the early voting and the funeral of the Sheriff Dept. deputy". However, he said he is planning on interviewing the Judge and will be getting right on it next week.
I then called the new publisher of the The Star Group, which includes the Burleson, Joshua, Keene and Alavarado Stars. I left a message and was called by Paul Gnatt. I asked if the Star Group had covered the Commissioners' Court on Monday. He said that they do cover the Court. I asked if there had been a story about the "found" $6 million dollars in the fund balance made up of mostly tax revenue? He said that they are going to cover that story but "they have just been busy with other things". I said, "Like the beginning of early voting and the funeral?". He said, "Yes, but we are going to get on that next week". (First let me say, the death of the officer is a tragedy and I bear no ill will that the story has been covered-they were right to do it).
But I would like to make a point: that was NOT the way the school district was treated when their audit report came out! Headlines were blaring that "found" money was sitting in the district coffers and no one knew anything about it. It was a big surprise to everyone!
Then a half-page Letter to the Editor appeared in the Burleson Star on December 1st charging that all the administration was corrupt and incompetent. There were calls for "heads" to roll if they had anything to do with the district finances. It didn't seem to matter that the Finance Dept had won awards celebrating transparency in government and "Excellence in School Accounting" someone had to pay.
There was talk about criminality, lying and disappointment was all over the community. Nice people were writing letters to say how offended they were and angry that they had "trusted" the district only to learn they had been hiding money.
Maybe you remember now without any further prompts.
I wonder how Commissioner's Court will explain this breach of fiduciary responsibility? After all, each Commissioner sits on that Court and makes decision about tax rates and assessments; they read reports and review collection data. Why didn't they know? Wasn't the money in the bank prior to the closing the books? Why did Johnson County tax payers have to wait for the auditor to tell the people in charge that they had collected an extra $6-7 million dollars in taxes?
Oh Yeah, wasn't the Commissioner of Precinct 3, Jerry Stringer, involved in questioning the professional ability of the school district to take care of their financial affairs due to their accounting mishap? I believe that he and his Emergency Services District appointee, were both out in the community proclaiming that our school district is being run by incompetents and someone should resign.
Well, Commissioner, who should resign now? Whose fault is it that you and your fellow commissioners as well as the County Judge didn't know that the Barnett Shale was going to provide such an increase in tax revenues? Tell me why you didn't know back in July that there would be extra tax revenue and it was going to be adding to your fund balance.
How do we know there wasn't some "back room" deal or sinister motive behind all that extra tax money? Wasn't it sitting in the bank all this time? Doesn't anyone in the County reconcile the county check book? What kind of accounting staff does the County have anyway, Commissioner?
I can almost hear the legal engines of the Texas Patriot Tea Party roaring! I'm sure they are already working with their Austin counsel to file a writ or something or another against these derelicts as I'm typing!! I'm assuming they treat all government officials the same, right?
Well, I look forward to reading next week's issues of the Cleburne Times Review and the Burleson/ Joshua / Keene/Alvarado Stars about where this surplus money came from and what excuse the County Commissioners have for not knowing about $6 million dollars lying around in their bank account for several months.
Whatever the excuse, it is probably the truth...
Just saying...
Ann Rose
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Mountain out of a Mole Hill - The Ultra Right in Texas
The April 17th Ft. Worth Star Telegram presented a feature article or "expose" if you will, of the outlandish salaries of administrative assistants to the superintendents of Texas public schools. Isn't it funny how most people think other people make too much money?
The article discussed the salaries of several North Texas school districts and the salaries paid to those employees that work directly for the Superintendent. I find it humorous that the ultra conservative who was pointing out the waste associated with the inflated salaries being paid for this position was only talking about one or two employees per district! Her other point was they are paid a lot more than teachers even with a Master's degree. Did it occur to her that administrative assistants have degrees too?
Teachers should be really enjoying the limelight for this brief moment in time. It wasn't too long ago that teaching was considered the career of last resort. Now, it's a profession that seems to be untouchable. Good for them. But, while saying that, must we demean other careers or professions that are honorable and also vital to the smooth operations of a school district? The truth of the matter is, behind every successful CEO or school superintendent is a great ad min. Someone has to have their backs. There are too many things that are too important to slip through the cracks. Many, if not most, ad mins have college degrees. Many have come up through the ranks and know the district inside and out. Many have years of experience and a lot of responsibility.
The ad min is not the first to go when superintendents change. Most smart new superintendents depend on seasoned ad mins to teach them the district ropes. Go out on the open market and see what an executive administrative assistant makes. It's not peanuts.
Also, another totally unfair salary comparison is to look at teachers on 187 day contracts and administrative assistants on 227. If a teacher makes $46,000 working 187 days, a comparison to the administrative assistant would be to take the teacher's $245.98 a day earnings and multiply it by 227. That would equal $55,837. It seems no one remembers that summer vacation.
For one to make a wholesale assumption that the work of an executive administrative assistant is somehow not important, as professional, or as worthy as a teacher's is a wrong assumption. They are just different. Everyone should be compensated for their chosen profession as the market place will allow. Certainly the ultra conservative can find something better to hang their hat on than cutting the salary of one or two people in an entire district.
I have a suggestion. Why not start with the amount of money spent developing new tests for students to take every few years. Let's see, we started with the TAAS, then we got the TAKS and now we will have the STAAR. All this testing comes with a price, however.
In the year 2000, TEA paid $9.8 million a year for a five year contract to develop and administer mandated state wide testing to students. In 2009, it had grown to $93 million a year. No telling what it is for 2012 when they introduce the new STAAR end of course testing. Not only is it an outrageous amount of money on the state level, it has expensive implications for every school district. Testing days for high schools will potentially go from 25 a year to 40. That means substitute teachers so the classroom teacher can be out of class monitoring. It mean more training so that teachers can learn how to teach students to write with brevity after years of requiring that writing be descriptive. It also means that a classroom teacher will be preparing some students for STAAR testing and others for TAKS testing if multiple grades are in one class, which is the case in high school.
Schools are to be held accountable, but they should at least have a target that doesn't blow like the wind every time the legislature is in town!
Just for the locals - the Burleson ISD executive administrative assistant, Mary Ellen Burch, is no light-weight. She has a BS in Elementary Education, with a minor in English and Math from TCU. She taught fifth grade in Arlington ISD for ten years where she was also GT certified. She has been in the BISD since August of 2003 when she assumed her current position after the promotion of Judy Brazeel to Assistant Director of Community Education. I didn't ask her pay rate, but I'm ok with what ever it is...
Just sayin'
Ann Rose
The article discussed the salaries of several North Texas school districts and the salaries paid to those employees that work directly for the Superintendent. I find it humorous that the ultra conservative who was pointing out the waste associated with the inflated salaries being paid for this position was only talking about one or two employees per district! Her other point was they are paid a lot more than teachers even with a Master's degree. Did it occur to her that administrative assistants have degrees too?
Teachers should be really enjoying the limelight for this brief moment in time. It wasn't too long ago that teaching was considered the career of last resort. Now, it's a profession that seems to be untouchable. Good for them. But, while saying that, must we demean other careers or professions that are honorable and also vital to the smooth operations of a school district? The truth of the matter is, behind every successful CEO or school superintendent is a great ad min. Someone has to have their backs. There are too many things that are too important to slip through the cracks. Many, if not most, ad mins have college degrees. Many have come up through the ranks and know the district inside and out. Many have years of experience and a lot of responsibility.
The ad min is not the first to go when superintendents change. Most smart new superintendents depend on seasoned ad mins to teach them the district ropes. Go out on the open market and see what an executive administrative assistant makes. It's not peanuts.
Also, another totally unfair salary comparison is to look at teachers on 187 day contracts and administrative assistants on 227. If a teacher makes $46,000 working 187 days, a comparison to the administrative assistant would be to take the teacher's $245.98 a day earnings and multiply it by 227. That would equal $55,837. It seems no one remembers that summer vacation.
For one to make a wholesale assumption that the work of an executive administrative assistant is somehow not important, as professional, or as worthy as a teacher's is a wrong assumption. They are just different. Everyone should be compensated for their chosen profession as the market place will allow. Certainly the ultra conservative can find something better to hang their hat on than cutting the salary of one or two people in an entire district.
I have a suggestion. Why not start with the amount of money spent developing new tests for students to take every few years. Let's see, we started with the TAAS, then we got the TAKS and now we will have the STAAR. All this testing comes with a price, however.
In the year 2000, TEA paid $9.8 million a year for a five year contract to develop and administer mandated state wide testing to students. In 2009, it had grown to $93 million a year. No telling what it is for 2012 when they introduce the new STAAR end of course testing. Not only is it an outrageous amount of money on the state level, it has expensive implications for every school district. Testing days for high schools will potentially go from 25 a year to 40. That means substitute teachers so the classroom teacher can be out of class monitoring. It mean more training so that teachers can learn how to teach students to write with brevity after years of requiring that writing be descriptive. It also means that a classroom teacher will be preparing some students for STAAR testing and others for TAKS testing if multiple grades are in one class, which is the case in high school.
Schools are to be held accountable, but they should at least have a target that doesn't blow like the wind every time the legislature is in town!
Just for the locals - the Burleson ISD executive administrative assistant, Mary Ellen Burch, is no light-weight. She has a BS in Elementary Education, with a minor in English and Math from TCU. She taught fifth grade in Arlington ISD for ten years where she was also GT certified. She has been in the BISD since August of 2003 when she assumed her current position after the promotion of Judy Brazeel to Assistant Director of Community Education. I didn't ask her pay rate, but I'm ok with what ever it is...
Just sayin'
Ann Rose
Monday, April 4, 2011
No Much Fact but A Lot of Fiction!
This post is an answer to the Letter to the Editor in the Burleson Star published in the 4/3/2011 edition. This letter is three times the length that the Star will publish but all the information is important so I'm posting it all here now. By Monday night. Click here , download and print the letter in order to read it. All this is proving once again,"Figures don't lie, but liars figure"
.
There has been a lot of press these days about teacher layoffs, mainly due to those districts that incentivize retirement of those eligible and the termination of probationary contract holders. However, those were mainly maneuvers to decrease payrolls cost with less experienced and cheaper workers as well as reduce legal costs should the budget crisis intensify in the legislature as budget deadlines approach.
The real losers in this political rhetoric battle are the administrators that are being blamed for everything but the war in Libya. One thing that should be noted is that all administrators were once teachers. However, just as any business model in America, there has to be a supervisor and a CEO. Teachers cannot be successful in today’s educational world without a support group of other professionals, again, all who used to be teachers.
Senator Shapiro would have one believe that the state provides a curriculum that comes ready to be distributed to teachers who then pops the top and applies evenly to every student. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. In this day, every student has a right to learn in his/her preferred method, if they meet certain criteria for need. To insure this, each teacher will have multiple modifications to make to fit the different students who have individual educational plans to be implemented. Our own district has had an increase in students in need of remediation and extra services in the last 15 years.
However, to be fair, it would be good to look at the numbers that the 4/3/2011 Burleson Star letter to the editor writer provided in a different context.
Professional public school employees are paid by the day. Teachers are paid for 187 days as a rule. Administrators are paid 207 or 227 days. Neither get any paid holidays or paid Christmas and Spring breaks. They don’t get paid except when they are teaching/administrating, in training or on leave. Their pay for those contract days is spread over 12 months, giving the illusion that they are paid for the same amount of time. In Burleson, a first year teacher is paid $231.02 a day. An assistant elementary principal on the minimum pay scale is paid $246.00 a day. However, that administrator has already been a teacher for 3-5 years, has a Master’s degree and has earned an administrator’s certification.
Also, as evidence that Burleson has attempted to maintain quality teachers in the classroom they have put their money where their mouth is. Over the last 15 years, from 1995 to 2010, the average salary for teachers has increased 61%, more than for any other professional staff classification. Professional support staff were next at 50%, Central Office professional increased by 49% and the lowest increase was by Campus Administrators at 40%. While teachers comprise 47% percent of total staff in 2010, Central office and campus administrators make up only 4% combined. Professional support comprises 9% and educational aides come in at 10%. Ask any teacher if they would willingly give up their aides. It is also good to note that Central Office and Campus Administrators have not increased in percentage of staff in the entire 15 years from 1995 to 2010. Professional support (4%) and aides (2%) showed some increase with the largest being auxiliary staff by 7%.
TEA’s website does not support the numbers listed in the Burleson Star’s 3-2-11 Letter to the Editor. The actual number for operating expenditures per student in 2005 was $6310 and in 2009, (most recent year that TEA has published) it was $7601. Certainly not a 247% increase as was stated. I would suspect that the writer took the liberty to misinform by using the total expenditures of the district in 2010 which included the total bond sale for five elementary schools and one high school . Should that be the case, the number would return to normal once all the bonds are sold and bills are paid. However, TEA reports per student costs on operating and instructional expenditures only.
Finally, one last erroneous statement needs to be addressed; that some BISD neighborhoods have seen a 300% increase in taxes in the last 20 years. Perhaps, but if true, their property values have increased by as much. Taxable property value per student in 1995 was $131,400. In 2010, it was $361,903. Also, records on the district website indicate that from 2001 to 2010, the total tax rate for BISD was lower in the last 3 years than it was the previous 7 years; $1.68, $1.82, $1.78, $1.75, $1.75, $1.74, $1.59, $1.41, $1.47, $1.54. It’s a certainty the owners wouldn’t want to sell that property today for what it was valued at 20 years ago.
Try as they might, those who want to find fault with the BISD’s efforts to be good stewards of district resources and provide the best education possible for its students, will fail. Our students are achieving and our schools are operating with efficiency. Anyone that says otherwise, just doesn’t know the facts. Just sayin' Ann
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Death Panels in Texas??
How much will it cost us to recover from the financial impact of the cuts being made in the Texas Legislature? The Burleson Star actually had an interesting article by Lee Hamilton on their Editorial page Wednesday. Hamilton has served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Indiana. I didn't even look up if he was an R or a D. It didn't matter. What he said was the truth for either party when they win elections lately.
The article was about the general topic of pollitical "over-reach". My application of that concept is that the Republican win that created a huge majority in the Texas House is being interpreted by the Tea Party and those controlled by them as a mandate to do their extremist agenda in a extremely conservative state. Pre-legislative polls said what the people of Texas wanted and what they didn't want. They didn't want education and health care for children, elderly and disabled cut. Yet, what are these politicians doing; they are in Austin, doing exactly that. (To see info about these polls seem my February posts "....Make'm Listen".)
The issue of "no new taxes" applies to Washington because they have been spending like drunken sailors. That is not the case in Texas. The recession does not need to be dealt with the same in Texas as it is in Washington. Yet, the Texas Tea Party crowd wants more blood out of that ole turnip. Not one of their priorities involves education. Yet, they say they care about education. The Tea Party complained that Obama's health plan had provision for "death panels". Simply put, there would be groups of select individuals that would decide who got treatment and who didn't. Then those deemed too old, too insignificant, or too poor would get counseled that it was best to accept their prognosis and go on and die. This week, the Texas Legislature decided that the expected 2000 new HIV+ patients in the next bienium that need help paying for life sustaining medications will be out of luck - they won't be funded. It's the same "death panel" concept minus the counseling.
Why doesn't that outrage us?? Because it is HIV? Because their behavior led to their illness? You know, some people get HIV in a very unknowing and innocent way such as an unfaithful spouse, a blood transfusion, needle pricks, etc... Not everyone engaged in risky behavior that is in need of the very very expensive, life-saving drugs. Politically, it is easier to save Grandma's nursing home payment than an HIV+'s person's life. Both are important.
Interestingly, I've found that some TexasTea Party groups have prayer pages on their blogs and websites. Some posted prayers for God to bring back the principles our great County was founded on. I agree. But, maybe they should be praying that HE bring back their compassion as well.
Just sayin'
Ann
P.S. IF you haven't read my post about the truth about the Burleson ISD as opposed to the untruths told by the Texas Patriot Tea Party during the TRE election in October 2010, please read my post, "You Want the Truth?...". It's long but the links are important to read.
The article was about the general topic of pollitical "over-reach". My application of that concept is that the Republican win that created a huge majority in the Texas House is being interpreted by the Tea Party and those controlled by them as a mandate to do their extremist agenda in a extremely conservative state. Pre-legislative polls said what the people of Texas wanted and what they didn't want. They didn't want education and health care for children, elderly and disabled cut. Yet, what are these politicians doing; they are in Austin, doing exactly that. (To see info about these polls seem my February posts "....Make'm Listen".)
The issue of "no new taxes" applies to Washington because they have been spending like drunken sailors. That is not the case in Texas. The recession does not need to be dealt with the same in Texas as it is in Washington. Yet, the Texas Tea Party crowd wants more blood out of that ole turnip. Not one of their priorities involves education. Yet, they say they care about education. The Tea Party complained that Obama's health plan had provision for "death panels". Simply put, there would be groups of select individuals that would decide who got treatment and who didn't. Then those deemed too old, too insignificant, or too poor would get counseled that it was best to accept their prognosis and go on and die. This week, the Texas Legislature decided that the expected 2000 new HIV+ patients in the next bienium that need help paying for life sustaining medications will be out of luck - they won't be funded. It's the same "death panel" concept minus the counseling.
Why doesn't that outrage us?? Because it is HIV? Because their behavior led to their illness? You know, some people get HIV in a very unknowing and innocent way such as an unfaithful spouse, a blood transfusion, needle pricks, etc... Not everyone engaged in risky behavior that is in need of the very very expensive, life-saving drugs. Politically, it is easier to save Grandma's nursing home payment than an HIV+'s person's life. Both are important.
Interestingly, I've found that some TexasTea Party groups have prayer pages on their blogs and websites. Some posted prayers for God to bring back the principles our great County was founded on. I agree. But, maybe they should be praying that HE bring back their compassion as well.
Just sayin'
Ann
P.S. IF you haven't read my post about the truth about the Burleson ISD as opposed to the untruths told by the Texas Patriot Tea Party during the TRE election in October 2010, please read my post, "You Want the Truth?...". It's long but the links are important to read.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)