That suburban in the background is Superintendent DeSpain's. It is impossible to deny the flooding caused by City Gym. Here is the audio of the Irion County ISD special board meeting on April 26, 2023. In time after this site gains momentum (a sure thing because the destructive force of storm water will make my case), the Board may realize that it is more to their advantage to follow their policies and post their own audio on their website rather than allow me to upstage them on Government In The Sun. Until such time, I will be posting what will seem to most to be mundane audio, but to the trained ear speaks volumes. Here's some analysis of this meeting. There's no discussion during the meeting that Superintendent DeSpain is leaving for Giddings ISD. The Vice President, Maegin Carlile, is presiding. Where's the president, Vicente Flores ("Junior" in the audio at the ping)? He's on vacation and has "permanently checked out" according to statements from Superintendent DeSpain to Ms. Carlile before the meeting started. But, as of this posting, there is nothing in the public record showing that Mr. Flores has resigned. They don't state the pledges to our flags, an easy symbolic win for good and patriotic leadership, as I have discussed before. Open forum? None. I'm the only member of the public present. And, speaking of public, it's been raised on this site and elsewhere that both DeSpain and Flores are headed out the door. A significant sign of disfunction of the board and administration in this meeting is that no one in the community is present to ask about it or show an ounce of concern. The District is truly disengaged from parents and stakeholders in the worst way. Background noise? You won't hear much. The only staff present was Chief Financial Officer Robert Helms. And, at one point during the Executive Session both DeSpain and Helms left the building. A sure sign of a board improperly conducting business in an executive session is when staff is absent. A two hour and ten minute executive session for a "private consultation with Board attorney" and "Personnel Discussion" is highly suspect. Both areas under the Open Meetings Act are thick with pitfalls and traps. The Board came out of executive session and took no action. Again, this lends itself to questioning what decisions, particularly financial decisions since the CFO was present, were made in private. The board came out of executive session improperly. (Listen for the ping in the audio.) Because it must document its executive sessions, it should read a script each time it goes back into open session and when the public is present. Their lawyer should have provided them a script to read; reading from a script at the conclusion of executive session and beginning of open is common practice. Generally, once in open session again they should be stating when executive session concluded, when open session is beginning AND an affirmative statement that no action was taken by the board in executive session. Calling for a motion to adjourn as was done in this meeting fails to create this record. There was no lawyer present in the meeting, nor was one piped in on their video equipment or from what I could tell during open session on call by phone. Frankly, were I a school board member handling the kind of money and issues they regularly handle, I wouldn't serve on the board without having a lawyer physically present in the room or always on the line. State agencies handle meetings with lawyers always present, and it does a lot for keeping board members out of the weeds and subject to the kind of problems I have seen this board get into. This school district can certainly afford to pay for more legal guidance.

4th St. next to the tennis couts with its flood ruined pavement and speed bump (This post has corrections.) Mertzon Mayor Bill Taylor took some parting shots at his next to last council meeting on April 17, 2023. The topic on the agenda was speed bumps, but it turned out to be about much more. This combined audio clip of Superintendent DeSpain's update to the school board on speed bumps and the City Council's discussion on whether to allow ICISD to put speed bumps around the school on city streets underscores the tensions between Irion County, Irion County ISD and the City of Mertzon. The timing of it all was nothing short of extraordinary because the School Board and City Council were meeting at the same time, April 17, 2023 at 6:30, so neither could have known what the other was in fact doing or saying and neither had representatives at the other's meeting. Here is the 7:38 audio of Supt. DeSpain's update and the City Council discussion on the Government in the Sun YouTube channel. First up in the audio is Supt. DeSpain's update (1:40 in length) to the Board in which he clearly is reporting that he has already purchased the speed bumps and has several locations he intends to place them. From his perspective, it is a done deal and he is only waiting for the order to come in to place the bumps and add another feather in his "safety and security game plan". DeSpain's presentation was an update, and no action was taken by the Board. After his clip, at -5:55 in the clip, I have added the discussion from the City Council. Apparently, the City had a request from Supt. DeSpain to place the issue of speed bumps on the City Council's agenda in order to receive their blessing to place the bumps. (The City has jurisdiction over our streets under state law, not the school.) What takes place in the City Council discussion is a surprisingly robust discussion about the merits of speed bumps and a final vote to table the matter. But their discussion was about so much more than speed bumps. Here are some highlights to listen for, at minutes and seconds in the audio: -4:46 Mayor Taylor takes a swipe at Irion County Sheriff, W.A. Estes, (without giving his name) and makes the point if speeding is a problem the citizens and the City shouldn't be using speed bumps but looking for "better law enforcement". -1:18 Mayor Taylor and Mayor Elect disagree on whether Superintendent DeSpain (without giving his name) is acting in good faith because no one from the school is present at the City's meeting, but they do agree on one thing: the school is "pushing us around". -:39 Council Member Councilman mentions that the ongoing meeting of the School Board may be the last meeting for Supt. DeSpain and President Flores (without giving their names), and Council Member Crutchfield quickly defends, "Allegedly. Allegedly." Refer to this post about the Board's special meeting regarding Supt. DeSpain, where I first raised publicly DeSpain's potential termination. -:17 The City Council vote to table the issue of speed bumps, not knowing that Supt DeSpain had just updated the Board that this was another victory for safety and security. So, this audio is about way more than speed bumps... My analysis: Mayor Taylor is right to be concerned about our Sheriff's failure to enforce certain laws, but this argument goes both ways because the City has no enforcement mechanism of its own and some municipal ordinances are too weak to be enforced. The City has complete authority to ramp up an enforcement department, but clearly Mayor Taylor and this Council have not wished to fund it. There is a sentiment on the Council that the way to keep Mertzon a small town is to not enforce the law. When Supt. DeSpain, or any school superintendent for that matter, mentions "safety and security" watch for the sun to go behind the clouds. ICISD more often than not is creating more safety and security problems than it resolves. "Safety and security" is an emotional hook to justify spending tax dollars or an attempt at covering something up. Case in point: one justification for closing 4th St. for the new gym (City Gym) was for the "safety and security" of the kids, even though the school had not one child injury incident on the street. If the school wants to tackle "safety and security", it need look no further than the flooding problems it has created for itself and our community. There is real merit to the exchange between Mayor Taylor and Mayor Elect Stewart that the school is pushing the City around. Supt. DeSpain's update proves that point well; he was taking the streets for the school's purposes, regardless. But, see this post where I point out that both the school and City knew that the 4th Street was improperly closed. And, Mayor Taylor cooperated in all that, at the behest of Supt. DeSpain and board members Ashley Hill and Wade Miller. The City will trade with the school when it thinks it has to or has something to gain, but when the stakes are down it gives in. It will be interesting to see if Mayor Taylor puts the matter on the agenda again. Though the election is on May 6, it has been cancelled since it is uncontested. Mayor Elect Stewart's first meeting as Mayor is May 15. (I previously had Mayor Elect Stewart taking over on May 2. That was incorrect, and I apologize any inconvenience this might have caused Mayor Taylor and Mayor Elect Stewart.) Here's a potential way to go forward: The governing bodies, Irion County Commissioner's Court (the Sheriff's office is part of the County), Irion County ISD, and City of Mertzon, should have representatives at each other's commissioner/board/council meetings. This would create sunshine for all.

Sun is the best disinfectant... According to TexasISD, Irion County ISD is in search of a new superintendent...upon Gidding ISD's acceptance of Superintendent DeSpain as its new superintendent. KWHI Radio has also announced that DeSpain is the "Lone Finalist" for the Giddings job. This certainly explains Irion County ISD's posting for yet another special board meeting this week, Wednesday, April 26 for the sole purpose of an executive session on personnel and to meet with their attorney. I have posted that agenda below. Technically, DeSpain is in the window under the law where nothing can be finalized for 21 days. That period appears to have started on April 12 or 13, if one considers Giddings ISD postings, so at the time of this posting, April 25, it is still ongoing. TexasISD states that TASB Executive Search Services did the search for Giddings. Last year I copied TASB with a number of my issues concerning Irion County ISD and how it has mishandled the 2019 bond package. Surely everything has been fully disclosed to Giddings. But even TASB failed to open a dialogue with me on the issues I raised, the most significant one being whether anyone ever should be allowed to donate to a public school anonymously. (No!) But this timing is indeed awkward. Maybe folks don't know?! Right now is a good time to recall my message to be good to your neighbor found in my About page. The District, lead by Superintendent DeSpain and President Flores, has wholly dismissed me as its neighbor. Perhaps now folks wish they had at least invited me over for a cup of coffee and confirmed that they intended to work with me to protect my 110 year old home from being destroyed by the District's storm water runoff. In addition to this post, in the last 24 hours I have continued my journey for more sunlight with yet another open records request to ICISD, along with a log provided to them that spells out how they haven't responded to my last request and all the ones before. In an era of free ink, such things can be posted online in seconds, I am well aware, and could potentially impact the Giddings decision. As a reminder about the seriousness of the impending floods to the football field that will be caused by City Gym, before their meeting I had initially planned to post a drawing of architect Jeff Potter. (Potter was the District's architect, and it is his plans that send storm water directly into the street from District property.) I have a page of his that shows exactly how many gallons per minute of water will be coming off the new City Gym and thus will be flooding the football field. Then I was going to convert that to acre feet of water. Yes, acre feet. But, I am reminded of the 2019 joint special meeting between the City of Mertzon City Council and the ICISD school board when ICISD Principal Jessica Parker spoke and asked her elementary students to stand. She then announced that she didn't need data I was saying the District needed about storm water runoff, her students were all she needed as proof that the gym needed to go on 4th street. The 2019 bond has all along been about the students and, of course, their safety and security. Right? Or has it? What to do, what to do? For today, I'll emphasize this: Be good to your neighbor. Be good to your neighbor. It's really that simple. When that water gap busts and cattle are everywhere, man is it a good idea to have been decent to your neighbor before the flood. Sometimes sharing a simple cup of coffee with your neighbor will do. My father taught me that at the ranch, and its something we all need to remember. Below is the posting for Wednesday's board meeting. In my opinion, there has never been a darker day at ICISD. By reading this posting one could never know what was really going on. Total blackout. No sun. A deep infection.

A portion of the agenda. Within an hour after its regular meeting on April 17, the Board purportedly posted a meeting to meet again 72 hours later solely to have a "Personnel Discussion" in executive session. The Board did not hold an executive session during its April 17 meeting. I had previously raised in this post the possibility that the board had not properly posted its executive session because it did not state why it was meeting with its attorney. This new posting corrects that issue by mentioning it is for a personnel issue. Again, the underlying issue is whether Supt. DeSpain is being or has been terminated. Interestingly enough, a City Council member raised this very issue in this audio I posted today, which also raised the possibility that the Board President Flores was stepping down. The Board did not mention during its April 17 meeting that it would be meeting again in 72 hours. They also did not post the agenda online until after the 72 hours, and possibly until after the date of the meeting. (I am a hawk about watching their posting page, and I checked online before the time of this meeting and nothing was posted.) I am in the process of seeking an audio of the meeting through the Public Information Act, as their board policies require that they record and post meetings online. At least an executive administrative assistant and the Board President, Mr. Flores, also record their meetings. Getting that audio will take weeks if they provide it at all (a prior years request for their audio was ignored), so if you have information about this meeting, please contact me. Chances are the public portion of this meeting was totally sanitized so that everything is in the dark. But, one can't tell because of the "ACTION ITEMS FROM CLOSED SESSION" language at agenda item 5. They could have run a Mack truck through that and taken any action they wanted, though it arguably would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act. A guiding principle of Government in the Sun is that sunlight is the best disinfectant. There is only darkness and a chronic infection when a school board acts this way, especially when the board knows only one person from the public attends their meetings. Below is the complete agenda. I will update this page when I have more information.

More impervious paving being added to the ICISD campus on April 17, 2023, against my advice back on November 28, 2022 that paving this location would increase the flooding of our streets, my home, my neighbors' homes and the football stadium. Here is the audio of the April 17 2023 Irion County ISD school board meeting. Here is the agenda for this meeting. Commentary: April 19 update: What's to dislike about saying pledges to the State of Texas and United States flags? In the first 15 seconds of this audio what jumps out at me is the Board's failure to honor our flags. I'm not one who drives around town with flags flying from the back of my truck, don't get me wrong. But government leadership is about honoring our state and country. Recognizing our flags at the beginning of board meetings is symbolism for the board's appreciation and acknowledgement of what our democracy stands for. It also symbolizes our leaders' willingness to follow our laws. Texas law requires students to say the pledges (Texas Education Code 25.082), so why would a school board not lead by example? The Irion County ISD school board is the only board I have ever known that does not say our pledges. There is no law that mandates it, but the absence of the pledges speaks volumes. Solution: the Board should begin inviting student group leaders, as well as Boy and Girl Scout members, to the meetings and lead the pledges. This might be a good reminder of what Abe Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." Related: can students protest saying the pledge? Here's an article about a recent settlement in which TASB paid $90,000 in a settlement. (If behind a paywall, search for Mari Oliver v. Klein Oak ISD.)

Irion County ISD's new paving project along Juanita. This photo also shows the crocodile cracking on 4th Street where ICISD wants more speed bumps. Our city streets cannot hold up to the flooding, and speed bumps won't help. Here is the agenda for this meeting, with my annotations in red. "Sun flares" are matters that I consider important and worthy of special attention. "Sun Bursts" are matters that I consider to be of extreme importance. This page may be updated until meeting time.

Above is the agenda for the April 17, 2023 Irion County ISD Board meeting, with my annotations in red. Some of my annotations are provided to give you an idea of what I look for in an agenda. "Sun flares" are matters that I consider important and worthy of special attention. "Sun Bursts" are matters that I consider to be of extreme importance. This page may be updated up until meeting time.

Ripening Agarita berries in the sun, Mertzon See my update to these comments here. George Noelke Comments to Mertzon City Council, April 3, 2023 One year ago at this meeting I passed along some wisdom to this council that my father, Monte Noelke, handed down to me when I was in high school. He said, “George, remember this: It sure is easy to start a fight, but it is damned hard to get out of one.” I’m thinking about this advice again as I put up my new website, Government In The Sun .com, to publicly blog about my dispute with Irion County ISD and the City of Mertzon over the flooding of my property and our community. Mark Twain famously said, “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel”. What he meant was that it isn’t wise to pick a fight with newspaper folks because they have endless supplies of ink to write their side of the story. In today’s world it sounds a bit dated. I remember, though, the days in Mertzon when it would have made perfect sense. Those were the days that Brent Evans (son of superintendent and rancher Stew Evans and best ever teacher Janet Evans) had the paper route in Mertzon. Brent delivered both the morning and evening editions of the San Angelo Standard Times on his Schwinn Sting-Ray bike. No one would have imagined back then we would have the digital news of today or that kids delivering paper copies of newsprint would be gone forever. In today’s world of the internet, though, Twain’s comment still rings true. I think it is important to remember that we all have an unlimited supply of “ink”. Digital ink. And, it’s inexpensive, and in some places on the web it is completely free. So, it still isn’t wise to pick a fight. Any one of us can write our side of the story endlessly. And, you know by now how much I like to write. So, when I mix some Monte Noelke wisdom with some Mark Twain wisdom, I get Government In The Sun .com. It is going to be hard for Irion County ISD and the City of Mertzon to get out of this fight (essentially an inverse condemnation fight but with so much more) with me while I have an unlimited supply of digital ink. Please know, Mr. Mayor (Bill Taylor), that even though you are leaving your post as mayor soon, your past actions as mayor are not going to escape my review on the site. Same goes for Vicente Flores, who I understand will soon be leaving his post as president of the school board. Both of you will remain leaders in this community. Part of my blogging will be about explaining to my readers how the flooding got so bad, and each of you are part of that history. And, I will be publicly asking you both to help us out with our flooding problems. Be good to your neighbors. Thank you. Note: These comments, as all of my comments, have been copied to Irion County ISD Board President Vicente Flores, Superintendent Ray DeSpain and the school's lawyers. This has been my practice from the beginning, and I have never received a reply; their deafening silence has been a stimulus for the creation of this site. You can find the audio of this City Council meeting here. You can find my related April 4, 2022 comments here.

Catclaw in bloom, Mertzon Here is the YouTube link to the audio of the City of Mertzon City Council meeting on April 3, 2023. The audio of my public comments have been excluded, but the written comments are available here. The agenda for this meeting can be found on the City's website here.

The picture above is a photo of the still running stormwater runoff at 4th and Fleming after the March 27, 2023 half inch rain. The photo below shows the proximity to the 2019 bond improvements contributing to the runoff. Driver caution: the storm water depth in the street is approximately 8 inches. It goes even deeper during more severe storms. The Irion County ISD and City of Mertzon need a coordinated emergency response to close the street during flooding. I have repeatedly advised both about how dangerous the situation is, to no avail. Friday Night Flood Light: stormwater at this location eventually reaches and floods City Park and the football stadium. Such flooding usually requires an inch or more of rain. Stormwater runoff, therefore, is a community wide problem only made worse by a municipality that will not regulate stormwater runoff from new construction.

After last night's .60 inch of rain, this morning the sun shines brightly on the street flooding left behind by the 2019 $18 million school bond, the largest in the school's history, that built no classrooms. Neither the School Board or the City Council are doing anything to remedy this problem. If you are considering buying in Mertzon, be careful not to purchase in a low lying area. If you are already here and live in a low lying area, I recommend FEMA's flood insurance.

For my inaugural Sun Blog post see below for the link to my YouTube audio for the March 20, 2023 special called meeting of the Irion County ISD school board. Irion County ISD March 20, 2023 Here is a link to the meeting agenda. Setting aside all of the legalese, the agenda was written to specifically include the possibility of firing Superintendent Ray DeSpain. Analysis I will be providing more detailed analysis of this meeting in due time. If after listening to the audio you are clamoring to know what really happened, then you are experiencing how this board has twisted open government laws and why you need to be front and center at their next board meetings asking them what in the heck is going on. And, if you want more school board audios, please let me know. I have compressed a roughly 2 hour and 45 minute meeting into less than 2 minutes.