The City replaced the plastic fence with this metal wire and T posts in their continued efforts to keep folks off the street. Here are two agendas, with my agenda analysis and my meeting analysis underneath. Also, here is some of my commentary on the Preamble to the Constitution and how it instructs us during this time of government reform. A. Agenda analysis The December 2 meeting is one that I have described elsewhere as a "stock agenda". There is no new business for this meeting. That said, the "Administrative Report" is often one of the most informative parts of the meeting. And, the "Daily operations update" is when you can learn about the physical plant operations of the City. Always worthwhile. Folks don't know how complex running even a small city is until you regularly listen to this part of the meeting. The November 25 "Special Called" meeting - A "special" meeting is just one that is not regularly scheduled and is for a specific purpose. First Amendment priority: Note that in both types of meetings (special and stock where there is no new business), the Council has still has to have a section of the meeting dedicated to "public comment". The Open Meetings Act makes this a requirement for all public meetings. Our laws give special priority to citizen free speech, and that priority exists for all public meetings, including school board meetings. (You tend not to think about this until the 1st Amendment is taken away from you!) B. Meeting analysis 1. December 2 meeting: a. Here are the meeting documents for this meeting. b. No new business: As stated in my agenda analysis above, the agenda showed there was no new business at this meeting. The Council did approve several meetings worth of minutes, and I always recommend reading minutes of meetings to get a sense of what government does . After that, read my comment below for what government is supposed to be doing. 2. Nov. 25 meeting: a. Health Ins, item 5: The Council voted to reduce its costs for employee health ins. by moving to TML Health. b. Waive the pay, item 6: Council members and the Mayor get paid for attending meetings , and they have an understanding among them that for very short meetings they will not ask for pay. This meeting was about 5 minutes long, and the motion to waive the pay was made by Councilmember Holland, a strong proponent of keeping council member pay. I'm pleased to see the Council stick to their understanding that they would use their discretion and not charge taxpayers for brief meetings. Commentary As our country goes full tilt this January in Washington toward all sorts of governmental reform, along with our state legislature beginning its next biennium at the same time, I think it worthwhile to reflect on our Preamble to the US Constitution . "We the people" means it is our preamble, our constitution, our law. The language goes, in part, "We the People of the United States, in Order to...promote the general Welfare..." Now, stop right there at the word "general". My legal training compels me to look it up and write a brief on it with full legal citations. (I used to do a lot of that kind of writing!) But, I think you already have in your mind what "general" means. And "Welfare"? I think "well-being" is close enough for these purposes. Remember this about our Constitution: it was written before our two party ideologies were enshrined in our national zeitgeist . The drafters were looking for a way to make government function for the well being of all . Not a few. Not the wealthy. Not the poor. Not Republicans, not Democrats. All. Everyone. The Constitution of the U.S. obligates our elected representatives, from the President down to the level of our school board members and our city council members, to look out for the well being of all of us. It is, on its face, an impossible ideal to achieve. At best, the well being of all is aspirational . But, the language is enshrined in our Preamble...when political ideologies were not enshrined in the very same document. So, ask yourself, if government has this lofty goal of looking out for the well being of all of us, at the same time, how is it doing at this goal? Then ask yourself, if you are a dissatisfied citizen, what are you doing about it? And ask yourself, if you are part of our government, whether your are a groundskeeper or you hold an elected office, what are you doing to achieve this goal? You might be thinking, "I can't achieve that goal," and my response is, "That is the point". You have to keep trying. We all do. That is the profound obligation our Founders placed upon us all. Here is more reading about the Preamble , if you would like to mull this over some more. I hope you will. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

This photo is the view from my front porch. What you are seeing is a moving river of stormwater extending from my front yard, across Fleming Street, and into the IC ISD playground. There is a mathematical formula that is used to determine the amount of runoff from impervious surfaces. Before the passage of the 2019 school bonds, I used that formula and publicly made a point to IC ISD, the Mertzon City Council and fellow citizens that this degree of flooding would occur if they proceeded with construction. I was ignored, and I have had to continue to speak out because the new 2024 bonds are being used to redistribute even more storm water into this same basin . Regretfully, this photo makes my point that I am correct. All of this water ends up at City Park where IC ISD, the City and the County all share public land - making this an unfortunate example of government flooding itself. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath that are my agenda analysis and meeting analysis. A. Agenda analysis See my meeting analysis below. I have incorporated my agenda analysis into the meeting analysis. One of the first things I said to Supt. Moore when she began to study the drainage issue was "follow the gravel". The huge volume of water from a storm like the one on November 7 moves large amounts of sand and gravel from higher locations. This is because the streets are improperly used as aqueducts for the District's stormwater. That gravel is what builds up the shoulder and retains the stormwater on the pavement. Here is an example of the previous clean up by the City . Of course, what does not stop here is washed onto my property, without my permission, shown in the background. B. Meeting analysis 1. Design and construction, agenda item 8 : After a discussion with Parkhill's Chip Whitlock , the Board approved these plans to go out for bid, via Gallagher , to construct the new transportation and maintenance facility at the intersection of 5th and W. Fleming and to construct the addition to the field house at the OK Wolfenbarger stadium (football field) for additional storage. Commentary on this vote: a. Stormwater: I have actively discouraged the District from building the facilities at 5th and Fleming because the proposed facilities will add even more stormwater to the basin that is already flooding, shown in the photo at the top of this page. I have also proactively requested and not yet received the topo and lidar data already created by Parkhill that will help verify the additional quantity of stormwater that will be added and where the drainage will go. Moreover, I have published this website to substantiate and inform the community that the stormwater created by the the Districts capital improvements flood city streets, private property and our public park. Yet, notwithstanding all of these efforts, one can readily ascertain from this discussion at this meeting that there is still resistance on the Board to addressing stormwater. "I heard we weren't doing anything with that!" one board member blurted out when the issue was being introduced by Mr. Whitlock. Mr. Whitlock carefully replied, "We aren't but we are." This kind of "we aren't but we are" response by Mr. Whitlock, an agent of the District, regretfully confirms my opinion that has been brewing since the community committee pre bond meetings in April 2024: it would not be the Board who would protect our community from stormwater. Rather, it would be the District's agents - the Parkhill's and the Gallagher's - who would do so out of legal necessity . As I said publicly to the City Counsel last month, to date since 2016 not one school board member has publicly or privately to me expressed an ounce of concern that my property, our streets or our City Park was being flooded from District stormwater. Their silence on the matter continues to be.... deafening . What progress on the issue that might still occur, however, turns on governmental immunity and liability insurance coverage. Even the Mertzon City Council (who like the Board still has members resistant to solving stormwater flooding) has come to its senses that governmental immunity is not a bullet proof defense, as evidenced by their closing the flooded portion of W. Fleming. City council members can't intentionally allow city streets to be used as aqueducts and expect to be individually protected under the Texas Tort Claims Act. Likewise, a school district and its board members can't rely on governmental immunity when they knowingly dump their stormwater in such a way as to endanger children and flood the community. The District's argument that once their stormwater enters the street it is the problem of the City of Mertzon is not a legal defense . Just ask Parkhill and Gallagher whether their legal counsel are willing to bet on their liability insurance carrier covering a claim where there is a sea of evidence that the District is making the flooding worse with its new construction. The fact remains that Parkhill and Gallagher have to comply with stormwater law as well. They know well that their own liability insurance and the District's Tort Claim Act immunities will not be a guaranteed protection, so they, Parkhill and Gallagher, have the economic incentive to get this right… in spite of a board member's thoughtless comment, "I heard we weren't doing anything with that!" b. Stormwater Plans are pending. Mr. Whitlock confirmed that the plans for the stormwater retentiion/detention structures would be complete and to Gallagher in the February/ March timeframe. Our community should recognize that if the plans are in this stage of development then Parkhill should already have data on how much stormwater is coming down the respective two basins AND how much the new construction will add to the basins AND where they anticipate redirecting the water away from new buildings. The two structures will be at the corners of 2nd and Juanita and along W. Fleming and 4th streets, assuming they are finally built. (The board member's comment above is reason enough to remain circumspect about the District's actual intentions.) c. There's more than enough bond money. Another part of this discussion underscores that the $53 million bond will be more than enough to accomplish the publicly stated goals of the bond, plus more for the unstated goals . The vote at this board meeting included additional storage to the field house at the football field, a project which was not disclosed prior to the 2024 bond vote. In addition, funds are planned to be used to redo the bleachers in Estes Gym, also not disclosed to voters. Keep in mind that in 2020 dollars City Gym cost $9 - $10 million, so the 2024 bond dollars could theoretically build 4 to 5 new 30,000+ square foot gymnasiums. All this is to say that the $53 million of bonds means that the District is sitting on a lot of money . There is more than enough bond money to successfully tackle stormwater. "Successful" includes building stormwater projects that can be scaled with future school bonds. Remember, there have been bonds in 2013, 2019 and now 2024. Expect more capital improvements on the campus again in 2029, if not sooner, because in 2025 the Matterhorn pipeline should be fully appraised by the appraisal district. c. Location, location, location: This discussion also revealed a possible change in location of the proposed marching field from the west side of the Band Hall to the east side of Band Hall. One might wonder whether the City and the District have come to any agreement on the MOU to close 3rd Street. There have been no agenda items on the City's meeting notices addressing this issue after this meeting , so there is reason to believe the District is moving forward without the City. Coincidentally, the east side location was once voted on as the alternate site for City Gym . Its attraction then, as now, is that any construction would be on property already owned by the District and would not require a street closure. Had the Board moved forward with this alternate location back then it is quite likely that this blog would not exist 2. Retention Stipend, item 11: The Board approved fall retention stipend of $1,500. I'm sure they are grateful for anything, but remember the Legislature and Governor totally failed them in the last biennium. And, school vouchers are regretfully almost a certainty for 2025. 3. Audit Report, item 7: I intend to further review this item once I look at the actual audit report. The District has a new auditor, so there is reason to look it over. 4. Closed session, items 14 and 16: The Board did not vote on any items coming out of closed session. As to the items discussed in closed, I am aware of no specific exemption in the Open Meetings Act that would permit a closed session for 14. b. Track Equipment / Co Purchase. I don't know what that is, but given the budget debacle by Coach Conner under the previous administration concerning track equipment it is worth paying attention to. 5. Everything else : As stated earlier, I did not attend this meeting but reviewed the audio after I did an open records request for it. I may amend this page in the future. With winter upon us, below is a video reminder of what W. Fleming Street is like when its shoulder is not properly maintained. This makes my point that it is not in the public's interest to dump stormwater into City streets. Stormwater dumping makes our streets unsafe, especially when the ground freezes. Finally, down stream, this football field photo shows the debris line from the November 7 storm. Any more rain and the field would certainly have flooded. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

March 27, 2023 ICISD stormwater flooding my property See my November 10 2024 Update to this page . I pulled the comments below that I had made in 2022 to the City Council out of archives because they became relevant to these 2023 comments . Board Member Ashley Hill was the sole vote opposing the alternate gym location when its current 4th street location was not initially approved by the City of Mertzon, and she (along with former board member Wade Miller) successfully swayed the Board and the City Council to reconsider so that the gym now sits on 4th Street.  (Had the Board and City been satisfied with the alternate site, I would not have standing to complain.) George Noelke Comments to Mertzon City Council April 4, 20 22 Last night’s rain was about a half inch according to my rain gauge. And we had a little bit of rain last week as well. My guess is that we’ve had less than an inch of rain since November, 2021. This drought has been an opportune time to put a roof on a 30,000 sf gym on a hill. But, even last night’s brief rain is large enough to foretell the future of flooding on our streets and on my property. Increasingly, I am witnessing larger amounts of stormwater on my property with smaller amounts of rainfall. In other words, there is more runoff. It is easy to see where the construction gravel at the gym construction site is entering the street. It is also easy to see how the gravel caliche base is being washed out of the potholes and construction ditches along Juanita Street. That gravel is entering 4th Street and washing down to my property. WBK is not sweeping up the construction site or the streets. Both Juanita and Fleming streets have standing water in them today. This is your responsibility. Last month marks the 6th year anniversary since I first contacted the District and protested their flooding of my property. Six years. And the problems only seem to get worse. My father, Monte Noelke, handed me a pearl of wisdom when I was going to high school here. He said, “George, remember this: It sure is easy to start a fight, but it is damned hard to get out of one.” The City Council, remember, reversed its own decision and then worked hand in glove with the District to help reverse the school board’s decision on the gym location. The board approved gym location on 2nd and Juanita (a location that would not have flooded me) to its current location (where it will flood me), was made possible only by the support of the City Council. The City and the District, therefore, chose to start this fight. You shouldn’t have done that. I can’t let either the District or the City forget that the District had an approved site that would not have flooded me. I can’t look away and pretend water doesn’t flow downhill. Now, 6 years into my protests, we not only have worse flood and road safety issues to contend with, the City has an undocumented easement through my property and an unknown sewer line location. There’s even more stormwater, and different parts of my property are eroding because of the construction site gravel that has built up on the shoulders of Fleming. As I said before, the problems are mounting in complexity and number. My father was right. It’s damned hard to get out of a fight. One way, though, that you can start to work the City out and begin protecting our citizens is to begin regulating construction so that new construction is not allowed to dump storm water into our streets. Thank you for your time. November 10, 2024 Update: While listening to Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963–1964  by Michael Beschloss, I came across a conversation between LBJ and McGeorge Bundy, the U.S. National Security Advisor. LBJ made a strikingly prophetic statement about the Vietnam War: “It’s damned easy to get into a war, but it’s very hard to extricate yourself if you get into it” (Chapter 3, 18:21). I’m not suggesting that this dispute with IC ISD is comparable to the Vietnam War; rather, my father’s advice reflects the lessons of his era and his practical understanding of conflict resolution. Copyright 2023-2024 G Noelke

THIS MEETING HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED UNTIL NOV 12 BECAUSE OF A LACK OF A QUORUM . In order to distribute the stormwater away from the proposed new bus barn, IC ISD will need approval from the City to use this alley as aqueduct. The height of the brick wall shows the degree to which the District had to change the course of the natural course of the stormwater when the tennis courts were constructed in 2014. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath that are my agenda analysis and meeting analysis : REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MERTZON CITY HALL MONDAY, November 4, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. OPENING PRAYER 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/SALUTE TO THE TEXAS FLAG 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS Persons wishing to address the Council will be called at this time. Speakers must sign up on provided list before meeting begins. Speakers are limited to three minutes. DELIBERATE, CONSIDER AND/OR TAKE ACTION ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS: 5. IRION COUNTY ISD AG PRESENTATION (a) ICISD students will be here to practice a presentation for a fall competition. 6. COMMUNITY WIDE CLEAN UP (a) Discuss and consider setting a date for a fall community wide clean up. 7. ADOPTION OF LOCAL POLICY FOR PROHIBITED TECHNOLOGIES ON PERSONAL DEVICES (a) Discuss and consider policy for installation and use of prohibited technologies on personal devices used to conduct state business. 8. EMPLOYEE PHONES (a) Discuss and consider supplying all employees with work phones. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT (a) Approval of minutes. (b) Other announcements. (c) Review/approval of financial documents 10. DAILY OPERATIONS UPDATE (a) Updates on daily operation 11. ITEMS FROM THE COUNCIL (a) Items for future agendas. (b) Other announcements 12. ADJOURNMENT A. Agenda analysis 1. IC ISD Ag Presentation, item 5 : This is an annual presentation by the Ag students as a mock presentation in preparation for their advocacy competition. Feedback is provided by the council members on how they might improve. It's a great opportunity for students to interact with their local government. I'll report below on their topic - it changes from year to year. 2. Employee phones and prohibited technology on personal devices, items 7 & 8: The prohibition of technology part of this is mandated by state law. As to the supplying employees with work phones, this is a new initiative. I suspect this is connected to the upgrade to the new digital water meters. In any event, a monthly stipend for phone use might be a less costly solution than paying full price for phones and phone plans. IC ISD provides a stipend to its superintendent each month for her cell phone. B. Meeting analysis: 1. Pending

I early voted, and it sure felt good to cast that ballot. I try to keep this site an issues based site, so I generally avoid endorsements. All I will say about this election is that I voted for candidates from both parties. My strain of independence comes naturally, and probably it’s from my father. Below is a 1962 Livestock Weekly article about his run for County Judge as a Republican at a time when the state was majority Yellow Dog Democrat . He did not win, though he later served as School Board President at IC ISD in the 1970’s. He too owned up to voting in both parties, even at that time in his life when the state was majority Republican. I hope you will go vote. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

Below is the agenda for this meeting, with my agenda and meeting analysis underneath. My full analysis of the meeting is pending. A. Agenda analysis 1. Road closure, item 12 : I did not request this to be on the agenda, so any analysis on my part would only be speculative. The photo above illustrates a larger concern: while the new parking lot is a Phase 2 bond project for IC ISD, its ultimate runoff will exacerbate Phase 1 challenges, such as managing and reopening W. Fleming Ave. Given the planned bus canopy and maintenance barn that will also drain into W. Fleming, both the City and the District must address stormwater management holistically. 2. Items 5 and 10, rate change ordinance and sea container: These are matters tabled from the last meeting. My recollection is that the rate increases are required. One way the City could shore up its budget, btw, is to stop paying for private water wells and secure its own water source. 3. Wastewater treatment and water improvement financing, items 6, 7 and 8: The City is going through the motions here to get the financing approved. 4. Tire disposal, item 9: Learn more about the laws related to tire disposal and why you shouldn't just keep them hanging around at this TCEQ page . While waiting for the 2024 topo map recently done by Parkhill that I have requested under the PIA, I went into my archives and found this topo map done for Jeff Potter, Architect of the 2019 build out. I’ve added the blue arrows to represent the flow of the stormwater as depicted in the photo at the top of this page . This map shows how stormwater has been misdirected away from its most direct path at the lowest elevation. Indeed, the WW (sewer) line is the natural low line, and the District built the elevated tennis courts over over it with 2013 bond funds. The tennis courts misdirect all of its water into Juanita and 4th streets. Thus, with each bond passage the District leverages the City streets and alleys as aqueducts to keep water off its property and passes the burden onto others, including private property owners. B. Meeting analysis 1. Road closure, item 12: There continues to be traffic driving around the barriers at each end of the closed W. Fleming between 3rd and 4th Streets. In a 3-1 vote, the Council voted to install a field fence at each end. Motion to fence was made by Councilman Crutchfield, seconded by Councilman Lindley. The vote was Crutchfield, Lindley and Councilman for, and Holland against. I spoke during a portion of this item First, folks are continuing to drive the street when it is closed, while others are ignoring the stop sign at the 4th street end. The Council has to continue to manage these intersections because they have become dangerous. Second, I updated the Council to let them know that the amount of water coming down the street as a result of the 2024 bond build has not yet been disclosed to me by the District in response to my PIA requests. And, third, I stated my position that the expense of remediating W. Fleming should be on the District, not on the City. Why the City of Mertzon would be so willing to pay for the clean up after the District is beyond me. The District's stormwater runoff is the most significant contributor to the destruction of the street. And, it is mind boggling, and frankly, offensive, that the District has abused the City by dumping its stormwater into the streets and then acting as if once the water enters the street it is the City's problem. 2. Ordinance to raise rates, item 5: The Council voted to raise rates. Imagine applying for a home mortgage and the lender saying it will deny you unless you can show more income. Or, alternatively, it won't deny you but you will have to pay a higher interest rate because you have so little income. That's basically the situation here. The City has. possibly for the first time, dipped into the municipal bond market and their bond council has said it cannot write a favorable opinion that the purchase of the bonds would be a sound investment. So, in order to get the bonds sold the City has to raise its income by raising its water and sewer rates. The Council voted unanimously to raise the rates. The base sewer rate will go up $4.25 this year and again $4.25 next year. The base water rate will also go up $4.25 a year for two years. Note: Alarm bells ought to be going off for citizens. Running a super lean government budget like the City of Mertzon does regularly has consequences. Consider this a message that outside, independent resources are effectively saying the City is underfunded. Is it broke? No, but it doesn't have much. Can it operate in a serious emergency? Probably not. Government budgets should not be as thin as the City's is now, and a better approach would have been to regularly implement rate increases over a period of years and diversify income resources with investments. Even the mighty can fall, as made clear when IC ISD had this budget mishap and it was only through its investments and a good market did it avert a significant budget disaster . 2. Ordinance and resolutions, items 6-8 : These items were approved by the Council without discussion. 3. Upcoming 2025 legislative forecast: The City's attorney, Jeff Betty, gave a sobering analysis about the potential for the elimination of property taxation. Apparently, Gov. Abbott has this on his agenda for the 2025 session, starting in January. The elimination of ad valorem property tax for the City would likely devastate its budget, and any replacement revenue (sales tax?) would not nearly be enough. I won't go so far as to say this is pie in the sky legislative wishful thinking, but I do think it would be a herculean task to undo the ad valorem system we currently have and replace it with, well, anything. This Texas Tribune article says it would take the State about $81.5 billion a year to replace property taxes. And, do a word search for the word "exemption" in Article 8 of the Texas Constitution that deals with taxation and revenue and what do you find? It shows up 112 times! Texas voters have already granted loads of tax exemptions through constitutional amendment, and all of that will have to be revisited and repealed. It numbs the mind to think about the complexities of rewriting the constitution and getting final voter approval. (Constitutional amendments must be approved by voters.) The other huge uncertainty is how any revision like this will impact financial markets, which thrive on certainty. According to the Tribune article, getting rid of property taxes would cost the State $39.5 billion in school property taxes alone . As I mention in my post about the school bond industrial complex (see Commentary) , there's a lot of money being made off of the sale of school bonds. And, those bonds are paid for through ad valorem taxation. That is going to equate to a lot of legislative pushback from those markets currently profiting from the status quo. We'll see... By the time the session starts in January 2025, all eyes will be on Washington and our next President, not on Austin and the Texas legislature. All manner of governmental restructuring (privatization of the public's wealth) can happen when the people aren't paying attention because the firestorm is elsewhere. In the end, though, remember, in Texas it's the people that get to amend the Texas Constitution. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

Below is the agenda for the October 7 Board meeting, with my agenda analysis and meeting analysis underneath. Also, see my commentary here . A. Agenda Analysis 1. Administrative Reports, item 5 : There's a full lineup of all 3 top administrators at this meeting. 2. 2024 Tax Roll, item 6 : This will pretty much cement the revenue that will begin coming into the District from the tax office. Here is the disclosure (Rule 15c2-12 signed in February 2024) for the top taxpayers used for the bond issuance last month: The tax roll approved at this meeting will be different. There's a lot of meat on this bone because the Scottish Rite revenue has dropped off, mineral values have depreciated, wind power revenue has proven totally unreliable and the new Matterhorn gas pipeline is not online yet. I will be providing more tax roll analysis in the future. 3. Design of construction projects, item 8 : The City of Mertzon punted on the flood control structures at their last meeting, so its anyone's guess what can happen with this item. 4. Consent agenda, item 9 c : It was Supt. DeSpain and board member Ashley Hill teaming up during a board meeting several years ago and complaining about the rising costs of legal services that now causes me to keep the annual approval of this contract in focus. (A certain "community member" was the cause of the increase, they said. I was the only public member in the board room at the time and the tension was palpable. And, later, Eichelbaum even tacked on an extra $100 per hour just to deal with my advocacy.) From my perspective, it's not the one, and only one, community member (me!) that is responsible for the increase in legal fees the District has experienced in recent years. Leaving the decisions by board leadership off the table for these purposes, one huge problem is the method of delivery of legal services. The Eichelbaum lawyers are never present. This board is now managing roughly $75 million in taxpayer funds, and the District doesn't have an in house lawyer present and rarely do they have a lawyer present at their open meetings and executive sessions. That's risky business, and it allows for legal problems to develop and fester and that increases costs. Well, and the Eichelbaum firm , given its size and prestige, is bound to have a lot of overhead. 5. Closed session, items 11 and 13: As always, what arguably gets to be said in private should always be recognized and questioned. This month it is health insurance and personnel. B. Meeting Analysis: 1. Design of construction projects, item 8: In a significant move, Supt. Moore, after consulting with Parkhill, recommended that the Board adopt building codes for the new construction. In brief, the Board adopted the codes found at 19 TAC 1040(j)(1)(B)(i)-(vi) . That is, the Board adopted the International Building/Existing Building Code (2014), International Mechanical Code (2014), NFPA 101 and NFP 1 as adopted by the Texas Fire Marshall, International Plumbing Code and International Fuel Gas Code, National Electric Code and International Energy Conservation Code. Which is all to say: New construction built from the 2024 bond funds will be built to code, something that cannot be said with any degree of certainty about the 2019 construction projects (gym, cafeteria kitchen and football stadium upgrades.) Read my commentary below for a deeper dive on construction codes. 2. Tax roll approval, item 6: The Board approved the 2024 tax roll, in this case a stack of 8 or so notebooks about a foot high, without discussion. Funding for the 24-25 academic year is basically a certainty at this point. (Tax Assessor Collector Joyce Gray has a very high collection rate.) 3. Consent agenda, item 9c: The Board approved a 6% retainer fee increase for Eichelbaum’s legal services. That makes the annual contract $21,200. There was no discussion by the Board, but a strong recommendation by Supt. Moore. 4. Closed session, items 11 and 14: The Board voted to initiate negotiations with Shannon Hospital on part of a health insurance claim. There was no discussion. 5. Other matters: Board members DJ Rainey and Tony Martinez were absent. On the ESL (English Second Language) program at item 7, six students took the STAAR test last year. Of those, 1 student performed Masters, 2 students performed Approaches and 3 students performed Does Not Meet on reading. For math, 1 student performed Meets, 3 students performed Approaches and 2 students performed Did Not Meet. C. Commentary My regular readers perhaps know the lengths I went to during the 2019 IC ISD bond build out to point out that the District and City of Mertzon were throwing caution to the wind by approving the dumping of stormwater runoff from a 30,000+ sf gym directly into a city street. Among my arguments was a Texas Administrative Code (TAC) rule passed by the Texas Education Agency that required the District to adopt building codes because the City of Mertzon has none. I decided to revisit my history with that TAC provision, , and rediscovered my effort in an email as far back as January 2021 - before the gym was built - to convince the District and City to follow building codes that would prohibit water dumping and unlawful construction on an improperly closed city ally. Indeed, my email was shot gunned to everyone: President Flores, Supt. DeSpain, two Eichelbaum attorneys, WBK Construction representatives and, of course, architect Jeff Potter. No one ever replied to my email. Similarly, the City Council never responded to my years' long efforts to get them to adopt building codes. I was quite certain back then that IC ISD was coming back with more construction and would not adopt any. Well, I was partially right. They came back for more construction, but this vote shows a never seen before interest in construction codes. One role of government is to protect people, particularly children, who cannot protect themselves. I confess I find it extremely disturbing that the 2019 bond leadership at IC ISD was so callous to adopting building codes. Mistakes happen, as everyone learned when the lighting of a pilot light caused a gas explosion during the construction of the new cafeteria kitchen back then. That leadership and the construction/design team they hired appeared to act as if they were inoculated from the consequences of the poor decisions they were making. Today’s leadership is different, though. Sunlight on government is a good thing. Sometimes, like in this instance where the Board finally adopted building codes, it has tangible results. Why this has taken literally years to accomplish, though, is a worthwhile question for everyone, especially our elected Board and City Council members. It should not have taken this long. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

Any proposal by Parkhill to resolve the flooding on W. Fleming, now closed, needs to address the large amount of street debris and caliche that is pushed there by the floodwaters. The source of the debris and caliche is as far away as two blocks at the intersection of 5th and Juanita. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath that is my agenda analysis. October 6 update : I did not attend this meeting due to the conflict with the IC ISD meeting; I finally was able to listen to the audio of the meeting, and I’ve posted my analysis of that here . A. Agenda analysis There’s no “new” business at this meeting that requires a vote from the Council, so this meeting agenda is an example of a “stock” agenda. (These items are found on every agenda for this Council. See another stock agenda here .) I highlighted 6 c, Review/approval of financial documents, as yet another reason why citizens should attend City Council meetings. The Council is spending your tax dollars at each of its meetings, and if citizens are not engaged the Council will spend it as they see fit and without the benefit of your opinion. The latest 2024 bond proposal is to raise the original Ag building pictured in the upper right and add more parking between this parking lot (the GMPL) and City Gym. More runoff directed to these drain holes will undoubtedly overwhelm them. All runoff from the existing GMPL and any new lot ultimately will reach the Community Center and OK Wolfenbarger Stadium, unless a robust flood diversion plan is developed by Parkhill. Will you remain silent and allow City Park to be flooded even more? If you are so inclined, consider putting up a ribbon on the prayer fence for the community because the Community Center quite literally exists at the mercy of IC ISD and it’s agents. Again, as IC ISD gears up to issue the first of the 2024 bonds , don’t forget this map and that all floodwaters go to City Park . B. Meeting analysis As mentioned above, there was no new business at this meeting. There was, however, a worthwhile discussion among Council members about whether there was any impact from the recent rains on the street that is closed, W Fleming. The photo at the top of this page shows that the road debris continues to build up on the street, so that is the most readily identifiable impact. (The impact was broader, of course. The stormwater that washes across this street ends up at City Park and looks like the photo here , and a careful inspection of the Park shows erosion of the topsoil.) So, just because W. Fleming no longer looks like this during a flood , it is worth remembering that this is is so because of the removal of the debris from the street back in December 2023 . Thus, the flooding problem is not illusory merely because there is no longer standing flood waters on W. Fleming. Indeed, let's hope we are beyond the days of Superintendent Ray DeSpain, who denied the obvious: the storm waters from the new gym flood the new renovations at the District’s football field (leased to the District by the City of Mertzon), all paid for with the 2019 school bonds that he spent. This stormwater flooding is a community wide problem , and I am merely the determined messenger who as long ago as 2016 asked the District to stop flooding me and in 2019 correctly forecasted before the school bond election that the problems would worsen. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

Here is the agenda for this meeting, and below that are my agenda analysis and meeting analysis: A. Agenda analysis Approve tax roll, item 5: This is formality, but an essential one if the Council properly funds the City with ad valorem taxes. I’ve never seen a “roll” with these votes, just numbers on sheets of paper that will invariably be approved of by the Council. Amendment to ordinance 20.02: This is a mandatory rate increase in sewer/water fees. My recollection is the Council is spreading it out over 2 years to ease the pain. Two things to note here. First, any rate increase has to be posted as this one is. This provides citizens notice and opportunity to protest. (If you want to complain about this increase, this meeting will be your only opportunity to do so.) Second, regularly attending meetings as I do leads me to believe that these Council members are not tax and spend types. They are not running a deficit budget as in years past. Sea Container, item 7: The City has been in negotiations with the State to buy the property associated with the north Wool House building alongside the railroad at Railroad Street and Sherwood Ave. Other matters: there is nothing on this agenda related to the MOU between the City and IC ISD addressing street closures and flooding that was raised at the last meeting . IC ISD has announced on its Facebook page that it is doing topography studies, so perhaps the District is gathering the hydrology data it is already obligated to do by law. B. Meeting analysis (Pending) While you wait, consider my October 6 update for one of the September City Council meetings . Copyright 2024 G Noelke

Updates : Go here to see my latest update , September 21, 2024. DOCUMENTS (Initially posted on February 14, 2024. Posted in chronological order.) Jacob Conner's Irion County ISD job description as Athletic Director, received pursuant to my Public Information Act (PIA) request on April 24, 2023. Jacob Conner's Irion County ISD employment contract for 23-25 , received pursuant to my PIA request on April 24, 2023. PIA request , January 23, 2024, to Irion County ISD concerning Jacob Conner no longer teaching or coaching. Voluntary Separation Agreement between Irion County ISD and Jacob Conner, January 8, 2024. TEA subpoena of Jacob Conner documents, received pursuant to my third PIA request on March 20, 2024. PIA clarification and new request , January 26,2024, to Irion County ISD. Initial request to protect documents (10 day letter for my January 23 request) by Irion County ISD to Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton, with copy to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Secondary letter to protect documents (15 day letter for my Jan 23 and Jan 26 requests) by Irion County ISD to AG, with a copy to TEA. Release of responsive documents by Irion County ISD. (Of the documents I requested in my Jan 23 and Jan 26 requests, these are the documents initially determined to be public by their lawyer.) Here is the April 10, 2024 Attorney General ruling OR2024-02481 stating that the documents sought to be protected by Irion County ISD are protected, with letter from the District’s counsel at Eichelbaum Wardell notifying the same. June 29, 2024: Here is a screenshot of the SBEC (State Board of Educator Certification) page showing that Conner received a Reprimand . See my commentary below. July 19, 2024: -November 2023 letter from Conner’s attorney to ICISD requesting documents, received pursuant to my July 2024 PIA request to ICISD -My June 2024 PIA request to TEA for Conner’s disciplinary file -TEA’s July 2024 brief to the OAG seeking to protect the file -June 2024 Agreed Order between Conner and SBEC , released by TEA pursuant to my June 2024 PIA request New on September 21, 2024: Here is the OAG’s ruling on my PIA request for TEA’s disciplinary file on Conner. UPDATES AND COMMENTARY (in reverse chronological order) : New September 21, 2024: I’ve posted the OAG’s determination letter on my request for Conner’s disciplinary file at TEA. There's no surprise here - they poured me out . In a nutshell, their ruling says the entire file (other than the Agreed Order between Conner and SBEC) is protected because it is "attorney work product" developed in anticipation of litigation and is therefore privileged. This is a specious argument at best. The possibility of litigation was ended with the signing of the Agreed Order . This case is closed, so the litigation can no longer be anticipated! Public policy ought to dictate openness about the misdeeds of teachers, up to the limit of protecting the student's identity. What good public policy reason could possibly be given to protect Conner once the Agreed Order has been signed? I don’t think there is one. Now, my larger point is this: directing sunlight, and thereby creating accountability, on public education has, in certain areas, become impossible. Jacob Conner as both teacher and administrator is emblematic of that impossibility. While this page dedicated to Conner may not see any more updates, every public meeting I attend and every PIA request I make are all intended to probe the larger boundaries of those impossible dark regions in public education. This, indeed, is what makes the 1st Amendment useful and interesting. This page and Government in the Sun are about way more than Conner. July 19, 2024 update: I've posted 4 documents that I received pursuant to two separate PIA requests. See # 12 above. The letter from Conner’s attorney to ICISD  requesting documents is both a statement of denial and a PIA request. I've included my PIA request to TEA  for Conner’s disciplinary file. And, sure enough, here is TEA’s brief to the OAG  seeking to protect the file. (TEA, in my experience, acts as a bottleneck to protect both school districts and teachers.) In a word, this letter is overkill by TEA. There is no legal basis or policy reason to protect the file - except for protecting the student’s name - since this is now a closed investigation . Arguing, as Mr. Montgomery Meitler at TEA did, that the attorney work product protects everything in the file is some serious overreach. There's some big time legal jujitsu going on here. Indeed, all that they released was only the Agreed Order between Conner and SBEC that shows the enforcement action against Conner has been agreed to and that he is receiving an inscribed reprimand for violations of 19 Texas Administrative Code 247.2 (3)(H) . Notably, the document is devoid of all factual allegations, which makes it the norm in my experience for settlement documents with state agencies. Read the document as many times as you wish and you won't find a single fact about what happened at ICISD that was the basis for the complaint against him. For sure, you won't even find in the Agreed Order the name of school where Conner worked. So, my options at this point are to 1. respond to Mr. Meitler at TEA by uploading my own brief to the OAG before they issue their ruling (requestors are allowed to respond) or 2. let this play out and see how the OAG rules without my involvement. I'm doing option 2. I predict the sun won't shine when the OAG issues its final decision, but let's keep hope alive. It would not be much effort at all for TEA and SBEC to run their digital redaction marker over the few things they need to protect in the record and then release the file to me in redacted form. I think this could in part be about TEA/SBEC not dedicating adequate resources to man that redaction marker not their driving personal desire to protect Mr. Conner from the world knowing about his sins. If so, however, that failure to fund becomes an "out" for rule breaking teachers statewide. As Meitler writes in his brief to the OAG, "Your office has issued 158 rulings since January 2019 permitting TEA to withhold closed investigations of alleged educator misconduct" for the same reasons as he is now arguing for Mr. Conner. One hundred and fifty-eight. 1-5-8. In the meantime, while we wait for the OAG to make its decision remember this: in the time it takes this all to go through the "system" Mr. Conner, or any teacher in his shoes with the same or even worse allegations, can secure his/her next job in another community and no one, including their future students, would be the wiser for what really happened or where it happened. That ought to frighten you. This means that the "inscribed reprimand" designation on Mr. Conner's license is indeed a farce . Stay tuned. I'll post the OAG decision when it comes out. June 29, 2024: At this point, not much can be said about his reprimand by SBEC . First, the reprimand date, June 9, 2024, is roughly 6-7 months after the initial complaint from ICISD. That suggests that Conner sought to resolve this dispute through SBEC's informal process without a formal contested case administrative hearing. Contested cases can take years to resolve, and this appears to have been quickly resolved. So, this suggests that Conner sought to get this behind him as quickly as possible. Second, of the two types of SBEC reprimands, Conner received the more serious one. Note that this is a public matter that is noted on his certificate as "Reprimand". This meets TEA's definition of an " inscribed reprimand, which is a formal, published censure that appears on the face of the educator's official certification records". Alternatively, Conner could have received a private reprimand or an "non-inscribed reprimand, which is a formal, unpublished censure that does not appear on the face of the educator's official certification records". Conner's name does not come up in the online do not hire registry , however, so to be clear this reprimand is not a revocation of his license. Today I submitted a public information request to TEA/SBEC for the Conner disciplinary file to see what all is publicly available. I specifically stated in my request that I did not want the name of the involved student. Again, this page is not going there. I'm more interested in gaining some understanding about how it is that this particular community leader got so far afield professionally. And, then he left us without his leadership in cleaning up after the flooding being caused by City Gym , his professional masterpiece...a masterpiece that he and everyone involved knew from the beginning would also flood the District's football field . NOTE: A few hours after this update I was contacted by Conner. It is difficult to characterize those communications because he doesn’t want to be quoted. But I will say this. I have put my name behind this protest now for over 8 years. Throughout that time I’ve been the object of trolling, scapegoating, gaslighting, deception and all manner of tomfoolery (like faux reporters!) by folks who ought to know better. Trust me, I know the consequences for speaking up in a small town. For some causes, like this one where folks are literally losing their homes, streets and park to stormwater, it is well worth the price. So, for those I criticize, I welcome your response but you’ll have to own your words. I’m owning my words, and my advocacy work is not near complete. If we are to reach any understanding of the truth together, you will have to own your words as well. April 19, 2024: I've received word that the AG's office has poured me out on the remainder of the documents I requested. See OR2024-02481 and the Eichelbaum letter confirming the decision. I've highlighted each with some arrows to make a few points. a. There are no real surprises here. Once the District asserted FERPA , as referenced in footnote 2 of the AG's letter, the request is over and anything related to the student gets protected as deemed necessary by the District. I support the intent of FERPA, though in this case I think there could have been some redaction of the requested documents and student privacy would still have been maintained. Here is more on FERPA . It is not my goal, of course, to "out" the student. Any "outing" on this page is for the purpose of shining the light on an educational system that has in place all the tools necessary to sweep compromising matters under the rug. b. The PIA gives the requestor (me) the right to respond to the governmental body's request for determination to the AG. I did not do so here, in part because the protection the District was seeking under FERPA and their subpoena argument was bullet proof. In contrast, with other requests I have filed a response when I stood on sound law and the District was making a specious argument. For example, see OR2022–7229 , discussed below, where I protested that the District could not keep the names of its donors confidential. The AG ruled in my favor there. Generally, you should assume that if you don't file a response the AG will go with the arguments presented by the governmental body in their request for determination letter. c. Note at footnote 3 of the letter ruling the AG says that TEA, whose subpoena is at issue, never submitted any comments to the AG. TEA's investigation of Conner stands to be compromised if the contents of their subpoena had become public, so their lack of interest here is surprising. I’m surprised they didn’t at least send a stock letter to the AG re-stating the law. d. The letter opinion also resolves an almost identical PIA request as mine submitted by the local paper, the San Angelo Standard Times. Their reporter, Paul Witwer, wrote this article about Conner , and his request received the same treatment as mine. e. Is this the end of the Jacob Conner story? No. The 2024 bond election is upcoming, and it potentially will correct some of the drainage issues at the new gym built during Conner's tenure as AD. Also, TEA's administrative action against him at SBEC is pending, and the outcome of that is unknown. You can search his certification status on this TEA page , and any disciplinary action reports here . f. What's the universe of pending and recent requests for determination to the AG by Texas school districts? A new law effective last December makes it much easier to find out. Go to this AG database page to search . For all districts statewide, I suggest searching with "ISD" or "school" using the "governmental body" box. At the time of posting this, April 19, 2024, there were over 450 requests since mid December 2023 to the present. March 28, 2024 update: I have uploaded the TEA subpoena to Irion County ISD for documents related to the TEA investigation of Jacob Conner. This document reveals that TEA is investigating Conner for violations of 19 Texas Administrative Code 247.2 (3)(H) . This section reads, "Standard 3.8. The educator shall maintain appropriate professional educator-student relationships and boundaries based on a reasonably prudent educator standard." So, while we still don't know the particular facts, this document indicates the alleged incident involved a student. I received this document by way of my March 20, 2024 PIA request for simply, "A copy of the TEA subpoena to Irion County ISD requesting documents concerning Jacob Conner." There's no magic wording to use to request documents, folks. March 14, 2024 update: As I prepare my next PIA request, I was reminded of this language that I put in each of my requests and that was included in my request for Jacob Conner documents: " Please contact me prior to referring any request to the Office of the Attorney General. I may be amenable to limiting or even withdrawing the request depending on your objection to producing the documents. " The intent is to talk first. Just talk. While Superintendent Moore has been far more prompt at producing documents than Superintendent DeSpain ever was, the District's law firm, Eichelbaum Wardell , has been the same with both superintendents. Once they get involved their knee jerk response has consistently been to ignore my pleas to talk and merely refer everything to the AG for an opinion request, even when the District has a specious legal argument to protect the documents . (See AG OR2022-17229 where I successfully beat back the firm's specious argument that the District could keep donor information private because their donors had a constitutional right of privacy to give to a public school district.) Requests for an AG decision on public document requests often are merely an effort by the governmental body to delay and obfuscate. This Texas Tribune article, Texas' open records law is 50 years old - and routinely flouted, makes a similar point. The Tribune quotes Texas attorney Missy Cary as saying, " They use the process as a weapon rather than using the process as intended. How is it that requests for briefings keep skyrocketing, when there aren’t that many new governmental bodies? " No effort was made by the Eichellbaum firm to ask me to limit my Conner request before they sent it to the OAG for a determination, notwithstanding the clear language in my request that I was willing to do so . Such is the common practice of that firm (I know because I now have about 5 years worth of experience with their efforts to deny me documents through the OAG) , and their take no hostages approach is the best evidence ever that they are using the OAG process as a weapon instead of how it was intended. Eichellbaum is the preeminent law firm in Texas for school law, and they should be called out for this unacceptable practice. February 19, 2024 updates: a. I am going to continue to be circumspect about why I think Mr. Conner has separated from the District. The "why" is not as important as the accountability at the moment. Yet another leader involved with the 2019 bond build out is gone from the scene, and another bond election is scheduled for May, 2024 . b. The Standard Times published an article, Documents shed light on Jacob Conner's separation from Irion County ISD , by Paul Witwer. c. Students: There is no age limit on who can use the Public Information Act . There are fees that can be charged for labor and on a per page basis, so it can be quite costly. One way to approach open government record requesting is to ask to "inspect" the documents, as opposed to asking for a "copy" of them. This might get you to documents sooner and cheaper. If you "inspect" them you will literally go to a room where the documents are collected and review them on location. You could then take your own copy of the document you wanted with you phone. Another way to minimize the cost is simply to limit your request to one or two classes of documents. d. Legal process. Now that we know Mr. Conner is being investigated by TEA (see below), there is an entire legal process that gets started. Here are the rules . Generally, once TEA's State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) concludes its investigation, Mr. Conner will get an opportunity to an informal settlement. If that doesn't work out, he can opt for a formal administrative hearing. If he loses that hearing, he can appeal that to a District Court. (I got involved representing agencies - not SBEC - at the Attorney General's Office once cases reached the District Court level.) From the District Court, his case can be appealed to the 3rd Court of Appeals and on to the Texas Supreme Court. Should you wish to do a truly deep dive on how complicated this process can be, here is one of my reported cases from 2009, Texas State Board of Dental Examiners v. Brown , where I successfully represented the Texas Dental Board. Here's one takeaway - if Mr. Conner is well funded and can pay the high legal costs, this process can take years to resolve. This kind of law where there is a contested case proceeding involving a license is part of what makes up " administrative law ". There is a very significant administrative law case pending right now in the US Supreme Court, Loper Bright v. Raimondo . However the Court rules it will almost certainly impact Mr. Conner's case. That analysis is for another day, however. e. Go here to see SBEC's reporting on disciplined teachers. I didn't realize there were so many! Mr. Conner is being investigated by TEA, as evidenced by the legal arguments made by the District in the 15 day letter that TEA's subpoena to him is protected. In time, I will be exploring the nature of this investigation on these pages. In the meantime, you can go here to learn about the State Board of Educator Certification , the arm of TEA responsible for certifying and disciplining Mr. Conner. Why I am posting these documents? To promote and encourage transparency and accountability, and as a part of my civic duty are my reasons why. Mr. Conner, as Athletic Director, was present at the 2019 board meeting when the $18, all million bond was called . He oversaw, from beginning to end, the expenditure of $12-15 million of those funds without any meaningful public oversight . (For more on Jacob Conner search for him in the search bar above.) The funds were largely spent on City Gym and renovations to the football field to convert it from 11 man to 6 man ball. A concession stand was added, and it floods with stormwater coming in part from the new gym. Indeed, the entire field floods from stormwater from the new gym. So, requesting these documents is yet another effort of mine (in April, 2024, I will have been at this 8 years!) at creating accountability where none has existed before. Whatever the reasons for him leaving Irion County ISD (and the public may never know!), the fact remains that he had a tremendous impact on our community . The reasons for his departure should be known publicly . "If you are a coach, you are a teacher." Nick Saban "Teachers are our greatest public servants; they spend their lives educating our young people and shaping our Nation for tomorrow." Solomon Ortiz "Every citizen owes to the country a vigilant watch and close scrutiny of its public servants and a fair and reasonable estimate of their fidelity." Grover Cleveland What documents are you going to ask for as part of your duty as a citizen? Don't limit yourself to the AD position at Irion County ISD; all levels of government are subject to open records laws. You can visit my Resources page to access the tools to learn how. "Where is there government overreach?" is a starting question you might ask yourself when you begin your advocacy.

Below is the agenda for the September 16, 2024 City Council meeting, with my combined agenda and meeting analysis underneath . Here are the meeting documents . A. Agenda and meeting analysis: Why my posting on this meeting is different : This meeting almost escaped my attention. So, I am posting about it after the meeting date. Who attended and who should have attended: On behalf of IC ISD, present were Board members Maegin Carlile (President), Ashley Hill, Taylor Douglas, and Superintendent Moore and two representatives from Parkhill . For the City, their attorney, Jeff Betty, was present, and Councilmember Holland was absent. Other than myself, no member of the public was present. Finally, no representative from one of the key stakeholders at City Park, Irion County Commissioner's Court, was present. Why this meeting was so significant : IC ISD and the City of Mertzon are each making genuine efforts to stem the tide of stormwater flooding that is so damaging to our city streets, private property and City Park, which is co-owned/managed by the City of Mertzon, the Irion County Commissioner's Court and IC ISD. If the representations made back in April before the bond election by Parkhill on behalf of IC ISD are true , the $800,000+ being dedicated by IC ISD to the retention walls in item 6c of this agenda will slow the flood waters down so their impact will be less destructive. The distrust between the City and IC ISD is longstanding, and it was made all the worse by the School Board's mismanagement, to be polite, of its relationship with the City Council during the expenditure of the 2019 bond funds. So, any time there is a public meeting where IC ISD and the City Council are doing the public's business together is hugely significant. Moreover, the absence of the Irion County Commissioner's Court is significant because that is a sure signal that my request that the County be more proactive with stormwater flooding , a community wide problem, has indeed fallen on deaf ears. Their apparent apathy concerns me because it means there is no reason for the County to consider ongoing improvements to our facilities at City Park given their indifference to its flooding. What was accomplished, item 6a: The proposed MOU, a draft found here in the meeting notes , between the City and IC ISD was not adopted, but, in a nutshell, the Council voted to grant Mayor Stewart the authority to negotiate terms with IC ISD. This keeps hope alive for the retention projects, which are still not a sure thing at this stage. They are not a sure thing for a host of reasons, but one significant reason is the bad blood spilled on both sides involving the street closure of 4th Street for the new gym paid for with 2019 bond funds. Sometimes it is important to memorialize the precise wording of motions because their specificity can limit - or expand - a governing body's authority. Here is the verbatim motion, made by Councilmember Lindley, that was approved by the Council: "I make a motion to authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement which will ultimately provide for better traffic flow at the school district facilities, address drainage issues related to said property and facilitate construction of those facilities." If you are a regular reader of my site, you might recognize this as the quid pro quo that has been in the works for some time now - the City will agree to abandon 3rd Street in front of the school if and only if the District addresses the drainage problems they have already created. But, it is more complicated than a mere quid pro quo, because a public hearing is involved in closing a city street. (More on this later, but here’s my post on the street closure wreck back in 2020 .) I spoke briefly about the proposed MOU and pointed out that there needs to be written acknowledgement that IC ISD will also maintain any retention structures. (Coincidentally, commenting at the time of an agenda matter is permitted under the Open Meetings Act. See 551.007(b) . Just request it at sign in when you state you want to speak during open forum.) What was not accomplished, item 6b : After an urgently requested executive session effectively demanded by Mr. Betty, the Council punted on item 6b and did not approve any of the retention projects options on pages 7-9 of the handout . Mayor Stewart said the Council would leave it to the District and its engineers to choose. This means the District was left hanging without any clear guidance on which of the plans to pursue. Why was the District left hanging? In part, I believe it had something to do with advice from its counsel during executive session that the City Council did not want to be in the business of prematurely approving any plan that might later include changing the flow of the stormwater coming off of the District's new construction. Such approval could create legal exposure for the City as well as the District. Indeed, topo maps will show that the District's proposed bus barn is going to require a redirection of stormwater around a private residence...and onto my property. These thorny problems may well complicate whether it is in the public's interest to close that portion of 3rd Street that the District is wanting. For my tag " How to read a public meeting " take note: always pay attention when the governmental body's lawyer interrupts the meeting and tells the chair to immediately call an executive session, as Mr. Betty did here. I've done that before, and when its done one reason is to shut the meeting down so that a board member is stopped from saying something compromising. I think that is exactly the case here, as the stopping point had to do with the direction of the flow of stormwater. Who Gets the Gold Stars : Mayor Pro-Tem Jayton Lindley gets some redemption for making the motion I mentioned above that will hopefully start the clean up that is necessary because of the closure of 4th Street for the new gym, which he supported back in 2020. Also, when I spoke I took an opportunity to thank Board President Maegin Carlile for leading a school board now taking stormwater seriously. Notwithstanding my urging at the time, the previous board leadership did not take it seriously...and we are all now paying the price for that because they worsened what was known even then to be a community wide problem. B. What else did the City Council do at this meeting, items 7 and 8 : In brief, they raised some revenue to pay for some mandatory expenses, and they approved hiring an additional office position. If I thought Mayor Stewart and the Council were mismanaging the public trust here, I'd dig in. But, I think these are good decisions that, in time, I will be covering in this blog. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

This fence at the football field is all that stops the floodwaters from flooding the football field during last week's 4+ inch rainfall. The arrow points to the single drain on the other side of the fence that is barely able to keep up with the rainfall. The fence was built after the Texas School Safety Center ding'ed the District for not having a security fence around the field. See more about this fence here . Below is the agenda for this Sept 9 2024 meeting, with my agenda analysis and meeting analysis underneath. You can also find my commentary about the sale of the bonds here . A. Agenda Analysis 1. Open forum, item 4 : If you are thinking you will speak here to protest the tax increase, well, good luck with that. The time to influence the Board on the tax rate was at the Public Hearing at the last meeting . 2. Bond issuance, item 5 : And so it begins - this is the first step in leveraging our county’s unique ad valorem wealth: minerals from Irion County oil and gas that can’t be recaptured by the State’s dysfunctional education finance system. It’s a bit like buying a shiny new car with a loan that can never be repaid…the buildings purchased with the bonds never appreciate and the cost to maintain them continues to increase, causing ongoing tax increases. As I did with the 2019 bonds, I hope to be putting some sunlight on who is getting these funds. (Architect Jeff Potter, for example, took a cool $900,000+ of the $18 million 2019 funds.) Live Oak Public Finance took home a portion of the 2019 bond funds, and, yes, they are returning again in 2024 for more funds...and they get theirs at the barrel head . Here is the fee structure for Live Oak for the sale of both the 2019 and upcoming 2024 bonds: Not including the expenses, this means Live Oak was paid $85,000+ for the sale of the ($18 million) 2019 bonds, and potentially $210,000+ for the sale of the ($53 million) 2024 bonds. That's a lot of dough for a jug keeper (what my father called money changers), and there's no wonder Live Oak had a representative, John Blackburn, at the community meetings when IC ISD was pitching the bond election in 2019 and earlier this year in 2024. Financing public school bonds is quite profitable, and there is little or no risk because the bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the State of Texas. (IC ISD can bust its bond budget like it did in 2019, but even that won't impact its Moody's rating because of the State's backing.) Finally, here is the entire contract between Live Oak Public Finance and IC ISD that I received pursuant to my recent PIA request. Note that the contract hasn't changed since 2018. 3. Adoption of 2024 tax rate, item 6 : This vote is a mere formality for the Board at this point. No one protested at public hearing, and, regretfully, the parents are oddly apathetic about how taxes impact public education. In theory, this is a "neutral" tax increase, as the District is clawing back some of tax savings given to homeowners by the Texas legislature last session . In reality, however, I think we will see increased maintenance and operations expenses as a byproduct of the 2024 bonds, just as we are seeing with the 2019 bonds. (More on increased M&O expenses in the future, but to perhaps pique your interest consider this: the District in 2024 is spending more on electricity in one month for the new gym, City Gym , than it did for its entire campus for the entire year in 2008.) 4. Closed session and actions on closed session, items 11 and 13 : I am not aware of any open meetings exception that will allow a closed session on the school calendar or on portables. Enough said. It's not as if Supt. Ray DeSpain cornered the market in bad hydrologic designs with the 2019 bond funds. An earlier superintendent ( Billy Barnett? ) approved the plans for this single drain to be the sole remedy for the floodwaters pictured in the photo above. This happened back when the field was converted from grass to artificial. Some of the 2019 bond funds were used to clean it out, and I'm betting it needs more attention by now. It is always going to need cleaning, another example of ongoing M&O expense from a bond project. B. Meeting Analysis 1. Open forum, item 4 . No one was present, thus allowing for a friction-free meeting for the Board to borrow, tax and spend. 2. Bond issuance, item 5 . Mr. Blackburn presented a PowerPoint on the District’s first bond issuance, $30.37 million, of the 2024 bond authorization. The Board approved the sale, which was a foregone conclusion as the sale happened this morning - that is, the sale had already taken place. Read my commentary about this bond sale below . 3. Discuss/approve adoption of tax rate, item 6 : As predicted, the Board approved the tax rates mentioned in the agenda item without discussion. Tax Assessor Collector Joyce Gray was present and diplomatically guided the Board on the proper motion. The bond sale was a foregone conclusion, and so was this. To wrap this part up, no community member objected to the tax rate. 4. Administrative Reports, item 7 : Principal Parker gave a report on both schools. During her presentation the question of "What is FAFSA ?" came up. One thing to consider in this fall's presidential election - if the Department of Education is abolished, so potentially will all the aid that goes with the FAFSA. Superintendent Moore's report covered a number of things, but, to the point, she gave an update on bond matters. The renderings on the proposed maintenance barn are complete. More on all that later after my next PIA request. 5. Discuss/approve bus, item 8 : Ryan Kramer, the District's new transportation consultant, was present and gave what I considered to be a fascinating review of federal and state bus/transportation laws. He was so careful to say, in effect, I am aware of some districts who are fudging on these laws, but I don't recommend that ! (A van that transports students still has to comply with all federal safety regulations.) After discussion, the Board took his advice and approved the purchase of a 14 seat bus for $98,300.00 . To put this in perspective, about 100 years ago when my grandmother, Nan Lackey, attended school in Irion County as a student, she rode her horse from the family ranch about 8 miles out and kept it in a stable a few blocks from Sherwood Courthouse. 6. Consent agenda, item 9 : Less than was spent on the consent agenda. That's how fast consent agendas are meant to go, but too fast to be certain the District is properly spending our tax funds. 7. Closed session and items from closed session, items 11 and 13 : Nothing was voted on at item 13, so I'm sticking with my analysis above. I'm not aware of any exception for portables or the calendar that would allow this closed session. 8. Who wasn't at this meeting and more : Board member Taylor Douglas and Principal John Morrow were not present. More: watch for news on the closure of 3rd Street near the school for the placement of portables in preparation of raising the old part of the elementary school. C. Commentary on the IC ISD bond sale Of that $30.37 million bond sale, Mr. Blackburn and a host of other Jug Keepers, including JP Morgan Chase, will be collecting about $370,000 in fees. Mr. Blackburn, coincidentally, mentioned that there were literally “billions” of Texas school bonds sold last month. A lot of public wealth just got transferred, folks. A lot. So, consider this for this school district with only 339 students comprising a county wide boundary with less than 2,000 population AND that is not growing: the Jug Keepers set their sights set on the public wealth of this community, and in 30 days when the financing is funded they will handsomely profit off our our community's educational system yet never have lived here, worked here or even physically participated in our local economy. Moreover, they have no vested interested in improving the educational outcome of the local students. They have had one interest: profit. And government is helping them make that profit with in fact as few regulations as possible. I'm going to coin a phrase here and ask that you re-align your thinking to macro economic levels: the sale of these bonds makes IC ISD an integral part of the school bond industrial complex . Think beyond the Jug Keepers here and ask this simple question: what companies and individuals are going to profit from these $30.37 million in bond funds? And, which investors? And, what will their profit be based upon? The future market value, a mere bet really, on the price of oil and gas. This is hands down neoliberalism - that is, a neo laissez faire economic model that supports global capitalism and that favors the deregulation of free markets and the privatization of wealth. So, who gets all that wealth? Well, to start with, it is simpler to state who doesn't get all that wealth: the children attending IC ISD, and, to throw salt on this wound, neither do the children of those ambitious IC ISD school board members who voted for the bonds in the first place. Absolutely none of this massive investment in education has anything to do with improving education. (As I've said before, none of the 2019 bond funds were spent on the construction of a single classroom .) Indeed, if Mr. Blackburn's analysis happens to be wrong (as it was in 2019 with the school bond industrial complex betting on wind energy ) it will be the children who will pay the most for the lack of wealth. And, next, the teachers will pay. They will pay in the form of low wages and lay offs. At this point my daughter, a Gen Z'er, might point out, disapprovingly, "This is late stage capitalism , Dad!" Think on it. What happens when, not if , this economy moves to an energy source more efficient than oil and gas? To be clear, Mr. Blackburn is not the personification of evil...he is the personification of a mere... bet . I'm not spouting economic theory here. This is economic reality. And, this reality is the same in school districts all over Texas, whether it be from over dependence on oil and gas wealth or property wealth, and it has the blessing of the Texas Legislature, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and, most importantly, the Texas Education Agency. School bond industrial complex. More reading: TEA's Bond Guarantee Program ; also, consider this section of the law, Texas Education Code 45.0533 , that in effect keeps all communications TEA might have with "nationally ranked investment firms" concerning the health of the Bond Guarantee Program and the fund that supports it, Permanent School Fund, protected from disclosure under the Public Information Act. Copyright 2024 G Noelke