Travis County Commssioners Court
November 26, 2002
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Citizens Communication
Citizens communication is next. This is to give citizens an opportunity to add the court on any matter not on the -- to address the court on any matter not on the agenda for up to a full 3 minutes. Two signed in, gus pena first.
>> good morning, judge, commissioners, gus pena, president of east Austin concerned hispanics and we also welcome you on board, commissioner daugherty.
>> thank you.
>> remember this, I have a lot of family and friends in precinct 3, also. Anyway, welcome aboard. Commissioners three. (commissio , two things really concern us and I think that we dialogueed this about these issues during the summer as to any proposed cuts that provide services to the needy and the poor. I believe that you all have heard enough from me on these issues, but I need to come back over here and remind some of you all that why do the poor always have to suffer? Poor pay taxes, also, they are burdened also by this tax burden. They pay it because they deserve responsibility to do it. But to have some services cut, to have some people tell me, don't worry, you know, they will be taken care of is not good business. We need the services not to be cut, to provide services to the poor. I read the paper, but I want to get the straight skinny, I want to know the correct information to educate our members, also members of the rain bow coalition of whom I am vice-president of. Some of these things that are scaring these people out there, cuts, jobs, what are we going to do about jobs, what are we going to do about health care. Some people are being turned away from the clinics, believe it or not, from the eligibility office. I have taken this to the city council again. I'm back here after a long vacation because of my health. I'm not in the best of health, but I'm here because these two things concern me and concern us. Hospital district. We don't know in the specifics. We are in support of the hospital district. We are in supported of it. We need it. We don't know the specifics or the taxing formula and how the taxing will further burden the taxpayers and the poor. I think I listened to the presentation that you all had over here last week with -- with former councilmember mr. Lowell lieberman, whom I highly respect, rafael quintanilla, I highly respect all of them, we want specifics, if the community is going to be inclusive, grass roots people, people that know about health care issues and know hmo, ppo's, whatever. We have intelligent people out there. Not just people who work for the city, county or state. We need representation there. Cuts, homeless families with veterans need transitional housing. You know my history. Been there, done that. Just feel that you all need to have a good, positive dialogue so nobody will be hurt by these proposed cuts. Nobody. I know some of the funding priorities go to healthvue go to health and human services, this is not the time to do is. We are in a bad economical down fall. Hurting everybody. Jerry harris attorney, mr. Paul linehan, [inaudible], recycling will be providing assistance to feed -- I will wrap up, judge. 120 families for thanksgiving dinners. The reason I say this is because we need to be appreciative of the people that have talked to the people out there, as have a lot of you, also, on the commissioners court. This is going to feed the people the ham at thanksgiving and all of the canned goods. Something that we have been doing for the last 25 years. I don't say it for acknowledgment for me. I just want to thank these people for helping out. Again, please involve us in the dialogue about this hospital district and also these proposed cuts. It won't do us any good to have people suffer any more. Thank you all very much, happy thanksgiving to everybody.
>> you, too.
>> thank you, gus.
>> contend neath schnieder is -- kenneth snyder is second.
>> my name is kenneth snyder, north ridge acres, precinct 2. Congratulations, I'm glad we got water up there and everything, I was hoping for one more and two more. This has been going on for nine years. The city council in Round Rock, they said I couldn't speak anymore. Problems and everything. Williamson county done the same thing. It's been going on nine years. What are we going to do out there to get any help? But -- kennedy ridge got their problem fixed out there with grant several years ago. The original grant. That's good. I understand that you almost get $250,000 for a grant, for subdivisions for water and everything. Which is good, I'm glad of that everything. I didn't understand it. Of course we don't have a commissioner in precinct 2. That's the bad thing about it. We don't have a commissioner. If you don't have a commissioner, mike hilgenstein said in the chronicle, I meant to bring a copy up here, but I forgot. We don't have a commissioner at all, we don't have one in Williamson county, it's been going on for nine years. I don't know what else to do. Fighting a dead horse, I guess. But it's a colonial neighborhood, 7 or 8 miles down the road, 90% hispanic out there. I have a videotape, a cassette tape from mexico city made, I was going to bring it up here and everything, talking about all of the colonials, everything. They got whales, buckets, pulled water out and everything -- they have got wells, buckets. We are going to be uses back houses in our place, right now raining like this here, you cannot flush your toilets out there. All of the water lines are sitting under the sewer. I wish that you would take a dry mr. Daugherty, it's ridiculous, nine years, begging, begging, begging for somebody to help us, everybody. Precinct 2 and everything, she does not care about the neighborhood. She's never been outs to the neighborhood to my knowledge. Suffering out there. Poor neighborhood. We pay taxes, we can't get nothing for it. We don't get nothing for it. Our ditches out there look like swamps. Williamson county and Travis County both look like swamps. You call the county, road and bridge, ask them to come out there and cut ditches out there. I don't want to go out there and wade in that sewer, that's what they tell you. Most of the time you have to give them directions how to get out there. I don't understand how we can have a commission like that, there, to pay the high rates, taxes that we pay. Our water bills is higher than our light bill. The state is running the water system. Our water bills is higher than our light bills. I think that's ridiculous. Sonleitner worrying about her trash bill being higher than her electric bill. But our water bill is higher than our electric bills out there. And we got 30 families sitting out there with no water at all. Some of them just moved out, left their house sitting there because they cannot pay 5, $600 water bills out there for water you didn't drink. I have to bring bottled water for my puppy goes to drink. I can't understand precinct 2, heartless people that don't care about the people just like you saw in the paper the other day [buzzer sounding] they got a big riot going in Williamson county, a theater or something out there in brushy creek. 7,000 people got a big petition and everything because they don't want it. These are real nice people out there. They can get grants for everything else, I don't see why they can't get grants for us.
>> thank you, mr. Snyder.
>> probably die [inaudible - no mic] I wish that you would take a drive out there. Talk to the people. See how they like precinct 2's commissioner.
>> I will give you my word that I will drive out there and see what you are talking about, just so I'm a little more informed.
>> I appreciate it. Read the chronicle, have you read the chronicle last week?
>> I try not to read the chronicle any more than I have to.
>> he put a real good story out for it. Next week I will bring you a copy of it. [inaudible] [inaudible - no mic] people -- sitting out there in the ditches [inaudible] and a lot of people sick out there, too. The state is running the water system. Working with the state now because they are running the water system.
>> thank you, mr. Snyder.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 2, 2003 10:25 AM