MILAM COUNTY TRANSPARENCY

 Well, finally blog time again.  My last blog was in January, and after posting it and considering the various options I had to blog about I decided to wait until after the election.  Some of the facts that I will share could have been taken as political rhetoric against Steve.

Now that the election is over there are a lot of facts that are finally coming to light that were known back in January.  Had Steve been truly transparent, as he touted in his campaign ads, he would have shared the facts during the campaign.

One of the issues I mentioned in my January blog was a formal complaint filed against Judge Young with the Milam County District Attorney’s Office.  To cut straight to the point it deals with Steve deciding to give away furniture and fixtures in the hospital building being renovated for the new county annex.  It was done in violation of the Local Government Code Chapter 263.  Specifically, Chapters 152, 153 and 155.  The complaint was filed in July, 2021.

Basically, the law says the county has to notice and take bids on any county property it wants to get rid of.  The law states the “Commissioners Court shall” not may or can, but shall follow certain procedures to dispose of county property.

The DA’s office has made all kinds of excuses for Judge Young.  Citing the property was private property even though common real estate law says anything left behind becomes property of the buyer.  Further Texas Property Code Sec. 72.104, says personal property found on county property becomes property of the county after 120 days.

The DA’s office has protected Steve time and again with excuses for why the law did not have to be followed when giving away the hospital fixtures and furniture.  They have termed it junk, of no value, private property and other excuses.  I wonder if the fact that Torrey was a BIG supporter of Steve had anything to do with the cover-up.

 It is very strange that during the Commissioners Court meeting on March 14, Assistant DA Kyle Nuttall informed the commissioners that before giving away soil from ditch cleaning, they must take bids on it.  This is soil that has bottles, cans grass and other foreign matter that makes it pretty much worthless must be stockpiled, and bid notice given in the newspapers to allow the public the right to bid on it in accordance with the law.  Yet the Judge could give away desks, medical equipment, hospital beds and other items without following the law?  Guess Judges are treated differently than Commissioners.

 Another interesting fact is that there has been an ongoing investigation into the giving away of some millings from the old hospital parking lot.  This material according to several sources has absolutely no value to the county, yet the DA is looking into possible violations of the same law quoted earlier in this blog.

 Judge Steve Young and Milam County Transparency at its finest.  Stay tuned there is more to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DO

 

Okay, I have said I was back and I am.  I have just been having a REALLY hard time trying to focus on my first topic for my blog.  Should it be on the formal complaint filed against Judge Young in July of 2021 that is being held up by the DA’s office.  Or should it be all of the things that are happening in Milam County that Steve is taking credit for, but actually had nothing to do with.  Yes, he was Judge while they came to fruition, but the fact is that much of what is happening now began long before his election.  He even stated in one of his early commissioners’ court meetings, “there is not a whole lot the county or judge can do to make it happen” referring to the events occurring at the Alcoa property.  Now he is taking the position that he did it all.

 Maybe it should be about the issues with the 2022 county budget which have been brought to his attention yet nothing has been done.  Or perhaps his supporters contacting supporters of his opponent and telling them to urge Whitmire not to run because Steve will spend whatever it takes to win.

 Or maybe I should write about the calls Steve’s supporters are making to candidates for commissioner that basically have said if you support Judge Young your campaign funds will be taken care of.  If you don’t believe me, ask them.  He has already bought one commissioner.

 Or maybe I should share his referring to himself as the “only conservative” candidate.  Check his background in Harris County.  BIG TIME DEMOCRAT, and big time liberal.  Or could it be how hard he has fought crime in Milam County?  Possibly we could discuss how he has kept taxes low.

 How about all the jobs he has created, how he has increased funding to schools, or maybe the “opportunity” he has created.  All of these claims, and they are only claims, not facts are on his re-elect Steve site. 

 Now all this being said I am not anti-Steve.  Take a look at my blogs in 2019 right after Steve took office.  He was truly a breath of fresh air.  I was excited about the potential that was there after eight years of gloom and doom.  However, I now have a much better view of what he is and where he is going.

 Having worked with attorneys for 18 years as a Judge I have learned that attorneys have one goal in mind.  That goal is to convince you of their position.  James Gray Robinson’s October 2021 article in the ABA Journal states, “A great deal of practicing law is persuading someone to believe, act or agree with your client’s position, whether it is in a courtroom, a boardroom, a negotiation or at a dinner table. We seek to persuade juries, judges, colleagues, friends, family or the press that we are right and that others are not”.  This is a guy who has spent the last fifteen years training and researching how to persuade people effectively.  I do believe that Steve took his class. 

 Steve is a smooth operator and can suck you in before you know what is happening.  I truly believe he could sell a load of cow manure to a feedlot owner.  He is a fantastic marketer.  He sells himself well, but once you really get to know him and see him in action you quickly come to believe he is not all he tells you he is.  He banks on people believing his rhetoric and not being aware of the reality we are experiencing in Milam County

 Stay tuned.  I’ll be back with the real story on some of the issues I have mentioned.

I'M BACK!!!!!!!

 Been a long time since my last blog.  Lots of changes and figure it is time for me to start blogging again.  Lots to blog about.  So, stay tuned for those of you who might still be following there is more to come.  I'm BACK..............

TO MOVE OR NOT TO MOVE

I attended a special meeting of the Commissioners Court on Tuesday April 16 addressing the idea of moving county offices to the vacant hospital in Cameron.  It was a very informative meeting.  Judge Young did a great job outlining the proposal.

As most of you know by now both Milam County hospitals have shut down.  Milam County is not the only rural county that has been affected by medical facility closures.  According to Judge Young over 20 rural county hospitals have closed in Texas during the past year..The reality is that rural counties simply do not have the population to support a full service hospital.  We were lucky to have full service hospitals for as long as we did.

So now we have a 30,000 plus square foot building that is vacant and could potentially house a majority of the county offices located in downtown Cameron.  Relocating county offices would accomplish several positive things for Milam County and the city of Cameron.

In the current proposal the county would swap eight downtown properties for the hospital building.  These eight properties would then be put up for sale and eventually get back on the tax roles which would help the city and the county.  By getting rid of eight buildings the county would rid itself of the costs of utilities and maintenance for these buildings.

Further economic development  could occur as these former county owned  buildings house new businesses in the downtown area.  Currently a majority of the downtown square is occupied by county offices.  As new businesses come to the downtown area we would see increased traffic which theoretically would mean increased business for the city and increased sales tax collection for the city and county. 

Another positive for the county is that individuals needing county services would have access to a one stop shop.  All county services being located in a central location would make taking care of county business easier for the general public.  One of the major benefits to the county is that if the deal is done it will not cost the county any cash for the transfer.

However, there will be costs to the county for the renovation of the hospital facilities to make them compatible for housing county offices and county business.  These costs have been estimated to be somewhere in the vicinity of 865,000 dollars.  The real costs will not be known until county officials get together with an architect and determine what will be needed to make the building workable.  Once the required building changes are decided on the county would go out for bids for renovation to get an idea of the real costs.

One of the issues I have heard raised by some folks is that if county offices are moved into the old hospital building then Cameron will never get another hospital.  Let's face it folks Cameron will never get another hospital until population makes it a profitable business proposition.

Another point that has been raised is that perhaps the county and the city could come together to maintain an Emergency Room or Urgent Care center in the old emergency room facilities.  While this idea may sound far fetched to some it just might be workable if the city and county cooperate on the idea.  Hopefully the Commissioners Court will hold a public meeting sometime in the future to discuss this project and get public input.

Bottom line is that there is still a lot to be decided, and as Judge Young stated during the meeting not a done deal just yet.  However, it does have its pros which I personally believe outweigh the cons.  This is definitely a work in progress and the final decision is still down the road a good way.  If it is doable it would be a win win for the city and county.

BREATH OF FRESH AIR

I have made several of the Commissioners Court meetings in the last few weeks and can tell you that Judge Young is truly a breath of fresh air.  His manner during court is positive and optimistic.  While I am not a great fan of power points, I think they are over used; his power points are concise to the point and readable

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His explanation of the agenda items is to the point and not overdone.  Not to be critical of his predecessor, but Dave sometimes lost the average listener by getting off point during his explanations.  Judge Young's comments on economic development are positive.  As he says there are good things coming to Milam County whether we like it or not.

During the last court meeting it was reported that Precinct 3 would be getting 70,000 dollars from Treadstone Oil Company to help maintain CR 358 which has a tremendous amount of oil field traffic on it due to the increased oil production in the area.  There was also discussion on making Milam County a film friendly county.  There is a lot of money that comes along with any kind of film production.  You might say it is CSG economic development.  They come, they spend and they go.

My only real criticism is in the way the meetings are being conducted.  Instead of being seated with the court members like a formal court meeting the Judge moves about the room, more like an instructor.  I must say that it does make everything a bit more informal, but not sure that it maintains the decorum of the Commissioners Court meeting.  Just something I have to get used to. 

The other issue I have is that the agenda items are all listed as if they had already been approved.  The listings are approve this or approve that on the agenda items.  During the last meeting there was one item that was listed as approve, and it wound up being tabled.  Perhaps the agenda items should be prefaced with Discuss and take Appropriate Action.  Just a thought, but then again as they say; 254 counties in Texas 254 ways to do anything in county government.

Judge Young has taken the bull by the horns and is working hard to get things done in the county.  He has the energy and vision to do the job.  We all need to get behind him and his efforts to move Milam County forward.  His positive vision about the county and our future is certainly a change from his predecessor.  Truly a breath of fresh air in the courthouse.