Travis County Commssioners Court
December 17, 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 gives Travis County residents an opportunity to address the court on any matter not on the agenda. Number one is kenneth schneider. Number two is gus pena. If you are here on a posted item, our preference is that you wait until that item and actually your comments will be viewed more seriously because we can think of the item and the issue as we receive your comments. Yes, sir.
>> kenneth schneider. 13 miles of [inaudible] and everything by northridge acres. They took the cameras off me and everything. For nine years I was trying to get water and sewer in northridge subdivision. In Williamson and Travis County both. They did it last year, now they are going to do it again, a million dollars for spiders. That's more important than people the way it looks. But the chronicle -- everybody in the state about our problems and everything and it's amazing, there's more publicity out of this open government deal out of discrimination out of Round Rock. I could not believe it. Everybody thought I was making up a story on northridge acres colonial because we go up there and talk about our problems. Thank god Williamson county is not like that. If these kids [inaudible] like a fire hydrant, all these kids drink water from a fire hydrant. And last week netie broken went to the capitol.
>> I was in new york city last week.
>> she saw you over there.
>> I was in new york last week.
>> I guess it's somebody that looks just like you. But anyway, I can't understand how come northridge acres been discriminated against so much. Somebody said you been out there over and over and talked to every resident and said they never saw her unless be flies over in a helicopters. It's getting worser and worser out there. We got kids with body bags. I got pictures, bring them up here next week, of dead dogs, cats out there in the ditch. It's all been documented and everything. It's getting worser. The ditches out there look like swamps. I have pictures of the ditches that we have to live with. [inaudible] said they are going to get grants for the ditches out there. This is what's in front of our homes. That's sewer, that's not water. That's sewer. You can't flush toilets or nothing out there. But Karen Sonleitner does not care. [inaudible] does not care. I know judge Biscoe cares because he sent me a letter saying he wants to help me and everything but I cannot sign it because it got a couple clauses we did not like. I can't put it off for four months and not get this problem fixed. Eventually somebody is going to have to wake up. It may end up in court, this here might end up in court because i've got attorneys working on it. It may end up in court, and once it does that, maybe all this other stuff will come out and find discrimination against 300 residents out there in northridge acres, sit out there in a colonial neighborhood. Just a few miles down the road at la frontier, you cannot miss it. You can smell it. You get a block down the road from it, three or four miles down the road, you can smell it. It's amazing these kids got to drink that water from a fire hydrant. We got 30 families sitting out there with no water at all because they can't pay $100, $200 water bills since the state took it over. The state is running the system, tnrcc. They got a [inaudible] anything he wants to do to us out there and nobody says nothing. And I just cannot understand how we got such heartless people out there. Mike heiligenstein don't do nothing for us. Austin don't want us. Round Rock [inaudible] basically. But Austin is here and Round Rock all around us. I come up here for nine years straight. This year is almost gone. It's time to get basic human services. Our taxes tripled on us out there. The taxes doubled on us out there. And we pay higher water rates than anybody the state. We was in the chronicle and we'll be in the chronicle every week on our problems out there. And I [inaudible]. It's getting ridiculous out there. [inaudible] Karen Sonleitner puts us into. They will send money for spiders, salamanders, everything you can think of. They went out and fixed the road in Travis County, they done it three times the same year and there's nothing wrong with the road. But you look at the ditch necessary Travis County, you see water lines sitting across there and weeds out there this high. Travis County -- I mean Williamson county finally went out there and cut the ditches out there. But I just cannot understand. How they can do stuff like that. The money they waste, just the money that's been wasted in Travis County and Williamson county to fix our problem. It's I guess a penny off every dollar of interest that you all pay for the jails and this kind of stuff to fix our problem out there. And we're taxpayers just like anybody else. We're low-income area, but we're taxpayers just like anybody else. Just like I told the city of Round Rock, I told the mayor, everybody that lives in northridge acres, [inaudible]. We don't go to Austin to buy anything. So I think Round Rock should take us in basically. I think it's a problem city of Round Rock basically. But Round Rock don't want us and Austin don't want us and Austin [inaudible]. Either one don't want us, it fall ins the hands of the county. Nettie brown went up there and testified. [inaudible]. Sonleitner ain't doing nothing out there. That's the reason I'm going to [inaudible]. I'm begging them to go out and look at it. Maybe you can talk to the rest of the people and help. I think you got three good people, maybe four.
>> it's been about time. The clock is not working today.
>> I understand. Just take a look at [inaudible] three or four hours and get something done out there because it's a [inaudible]. .
>> mr. Pena is not here.
>> I looked around and didn't see him. Gus pena.
>> [inaudible].
>> okay. Good morning.
>> good morning. Sir. Judge, I have a video if your good t.v. Crew has on cue and I'm wondering if we can get your permission to play that.
>> media, do you have that ready? Okay.
>> the city's five star energy efficiency rated [inaudible] from around the country. There were two dozen policy makers, bigwigs from washington, d.c., [inaudible]. They stepped off a [inaudible], hustled through a cold, gray day to make their way [inaudible]. They were greeted at the door by the young people of american youth force casa verde building program. Along with their instructors, positively beamed as they showed off the work.
>> another good feature about this is that you can actually texture and tape and float [inaudible]. You don't have to pay for extra drywall.
>> the students go to school half time and work on the houses the rest of the day.
>> it's non-irritating [inaudible].
>> I mean quite literally on top of all that, are some solar panels, cells that work so efficiently that if you look very, very closely, what you can see is an electric motor actually running [inaudible]. To save energy.
>> [inaudible].
>> drugs.
>> were you in trouble?
>> [inaudible].
>> and did you?
>> thinking about what I want to do and then just have no self-esteem and just, you know [inaudible] I really [inaudible] hope for myself.
>> [inaudible].
>> the policy makers were impressed.
>> they don't have opportunities to be [inaudible] with their community and this is their opportunity to do that.
>> [inaudible].
>> in summary, judge and commissioners, hundreds of Travis County young lives are reclaimed and put to work. In precinct 1, commissioner Davis, we've built these award-winning affordable homes. Crime is cut by 50% in the lincoln guardness neighborhood. Utilities use is cut by 40%. New tax revenues are increased by 75 new hes. In all of your precincts, commissioner Sonleitner, commissioner daugherty, successful work has been completed. They have been -- saving tens of thousands of Travis County tax dollars. Most importantly, this partnership -- in this partnership we have also built our award-winning clinic which you invested in to get started in the first place, and our health and human partnership saves lives, keeps people out of the criminal justice system, something that I know that you are also very in tune with, while making people able to be tax generators versus tax spenders. Together we create new models of human investment attracting positive national attention. Through the good news we make together.
Thank you for your investment in these young people in our community and new ideas and simple ways to turn things around.
>> thank you.
>> best of the holiday season to all of you.
>> thank you. Let me ask you this question. Is the program itself still have -- does it still have a vehicle in it whereby persons, young persons that actually work in these particular projects will actually have opportunities to go and further their education?
>> yes, sir.
>> is that component still there?
>> yes, sir. In fact, we've just had a successful relationship with the Texas education agency, and they've given us a 10-year contract to pay for part of the educational costs, not the human service cost, but the educational cost of these young people. That means that we will be able to draw back to Travis County about $37.5 million over the next 10 years that otherwise would have been lost in educational dollars to these young people. And these young people you just saw all earn college scholarships.
>> scholarships.
>> yes, sir.
>> good. I wanted to make sure that was emphasized whereby the persons that may view this may lend themselves to the program that you are working in.
>> yes, they come in college scholarships or the homes in your precinct.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, sir.
>> as a former board member of your organization, you know, we really ought to be telling you thank you. I mean, you are an amazing guy in this community, do amazing service, and you've really through awful these things with very few people know what you are do. And I appreciate it very much.
>> this is a team effort.
>> thank you very much.
>> thank you very much.
>> we are missing sign-in sheets 8 and 9. Anybody else for citizens communication? That's to address the court on any matter not on the agenda.
You are here on 40 or citizens communication?
>> I need to leave. And I would like to [inaudible].
>> my name is joyce [inaudible] and at the risk of being taken less seriously because I'm not speaking during the agenda item, I would like to speak on agenda item number 40 which regards a Travis County contract with w.m.i. Landfill for waste disposal. For the past year at least we have been working with the commissioners because of problems with the northeast landfills of which w.m.i. Is one. Have you told us that you acknowledge that there are problems there, that several of you wish there were ways you could help us more and having more strict standards about these landfills. You have acknowledged that the residents have put up with a lot of problems, and yet you are considering a contract with this landfill to take garbage from the county because it's the cheapest price, the cheapest price comes at the expense of the people who live in that area. And I'm asking you, because we did not realize this item was even coming up until we saw the agenda. I'm asking you if it's possible to delay this until we find out more about it, but we don't understand why the county would like to do business with this particular landfill when so many problems exist in the area and when residents are suffering because of their actions and their poor operating practices. We would like to ask you not to use this landfill, even though they may have the cheapest price. Thank you.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 2, 2003 10:25 AM