Travis County Commssioners Court
April 29, 2003
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.
Item 43
43. Consider proposed election precinct realignments, and take appropriate action.
>> excuse me, dana debeauvoir, Travis County clerk. We do need to hear from our voter registration people, they may see this and come running over. Just to touch base on where we are, there are three precincts that -- really four that are of special interest to you as we go through redrawing our lines. In our new precinct number 113, we have good news, the bible baptist church is going to offer us a polling place for this new precinct area, so we are -- it's the ideal landmark location, we had just a bit of difficulty getting in touch with the pastor. We now have his cell phone number. We thank them for doing that for us.
>> how do you notify the folks of that [indiscernible] selected place to cast their battles.
>> we need to talk -- ballots.
>> we need to talk with voter registration, but it's my understanding that we send notice out to the new areas that are involved. That would of course be the will of the court, too, based on what your policy is. We will do whatever you want for that area. I think v.r. Has a program set up where they notify folks.
>> okay.
>> okay. Precinct 316. We do have a bit of an issue out there. City of Bee Caves asked us to draw a boundary for their city and e.t.j. So have all of the folks vote together. The problem that we are having, we thought we had a solution in bee cave elementary. But when we confirmed the boundary line of where that school is, it is in fact within the city not within the tejano so that sort of mess -- not within the tetj, we are looking for a solution to still meet the boundary lines and tests of law. We don't know for sure yet. We are considering it. In precinct 330, there are two parts to that one of --
>> I知 sorry.
>> you said 3 will you mentioned bee cave.
>> 316.
>> 16.
>> okay. That's the carved out rest of it.
>> well, that's what we are trying to deal with is the carved out part of it. We thought bee cave elementary might fit into it, look like it doesn't.
>> got it. In relation to what was left over in terms of carving the new district, 318, did we come to consensus related to lake point versus the city hall.
>> yeah, I believe we did.
>> before we leave that precinct.
>> okay.
>> good question.
>> the residents basically came down wanting lake point elementary school, but looked like some city officials wanted --
>> I thought we were going to come back and discuss it or I would have mentioned something about that as well.
>> you are talking about the 318, 316 bee cave recommendation, et cetera, et cetera. Where we are at today is that we can in fact accommodate bee cave, the village of bee cave, the e.t.j. Boundaries specifically if we use the westridge school. As a polling location instead of the city hall. What we can do, because the problem was that 3616 then didn't have -- 316 then don't have a polling location. What we do creatively is go in and bring that in, that little portion in, back to 316. But what it's going to do is it will affect about 57 voters in the village of bee cave that won't be able to vote with 318 because we have to follow a creek line down to highway 71 and bring that road and bridge back. But that is a -- a creative I think recommendation for trying to keep bee cave whole, minus the 57 voters in that little pocket up there to bring the road and bridge office back to 316. That's a consideration.
>> they may not like our recommendation, we want to talk it over with them, make sure that they are comfortable. It has up sides and down side.
>> they haven't heard it yet?
>> no. They have not. No.
>> the residents who came down last, I left last week thinking that the residents want the --
>> lake point. You just confused me by saying westridge.
>> you mean lake point [multiple voices]
>> yes, yes. There's two recommendations. The one is from us and that is to split 318 using isd boundary line for Lake Travis and then making 318 vote at westridge middle school. Thin the new portion of 318 would vote at lake point elementary. That is voter registration's recommendation to the court. Splitting the precinct up.
>> was that your recommendation last week.
>> that was our recommendation last week, yes, sir bee cave then said we would like to stay whole, carve out a precinct within 318 and in doing that the problem arose about the polling location for 316. There's really two things on the table. Our recommendation and bee cave. We can work with the bee cave recommendation if you approve us to go in and pull that precinct 3 road and bridge office and bring it back to 316. They drove the precinct yesterday, couldn't find anything.
>> almost see if I got it. Old 318 would stay at westridge school. Carved out what we are going to call carved out 318 which I the e.t.j. Of bee cave, the recommendation is to go with lake point elementary school and the remainder of what used to be 318 and what's still left over in 316 we are still working on a solution represented to where those folks in 316, the new 316, going to vote.
>> right.
>> I think we might be able to draw the voter registration might be able to draw a line to bee cave elementary, but there's down side for about 50 voters if we do that.
>> I知 trying to keep it all straight.
>> it can be very confusing.
>> I知 there.
>> okay.
>> were you here last week on lake point? You were not?
>> yeah.
>> but the people that came and testified for lake point elementary school last week, is what you are recommending now consistent with what they --
>> we will work with either one. Our recommendation still sits on the table because we think it's a cleaner break. 318, nice break. However --
>> I thought that I was told last week that today is the deadline.
>> today is the dead line. I broke them down for you on attachment number a the first section of our recommendations and the special requests. We will go with the special requests. We can work with it. That's not a problem for us. We just want it to lay it out differently so you could see that this was a recommendation from the village of bee cave, a little different from ours, but we will go with it. That's not a problem. If we can go in and carve out the polling place for 316 and bring it back. If not, then -- then elections definitely has a problem finding a polling location. The residents last week did say they wanted to vote at lake point elementary within the bee cave, but then bee cave said we want to vote at the city hall. I think a good mesh there would be keep them at lake point for the new precinct that carves out village of bee cave.
>> okay. Too the new people we say okay lake point elementary, for the bee cave residents not in any area, we are trying to figure out a place for them to vote at bee cave?
>> no.
>> no.
>> no. The new carved out bee cave, this is 318, here's bee cave right in the middle. Takes a little bit of 316. That is the village of bee cave. They want to vote, the residents that came last week want to vote at lake point elementary, that's in the village of bee cave.
>> the village wanted them to vote at the city hall. And I talked to the city manager and he's -- I said let's live with this right now if you don't mind he said for a couple of years, all right, let's do that.
>> until it grows, then we split it again.
>> that's your recommendation.
>> yes, yes.
>> for the ones that came down last week and their neighbors, lake point elementary school.
>> they will be happy.
>> okay.
>> they are going to get what they want. [laughter] [multiple voices] the map is confusing. Again we need to caution you, if you do go with that becave recommendation to stay whole, we have to bring in a precinct to 316. She said if we can't bring it -- the polling place, excuse me. F I can't bring in that precinct road and bridge office, 316 stays out there and doesn't have a polling location. Because there's nothing outlet there.
>> so we have additional time to find a location is what you are saying. If we carve out the polling place we can later find out the exact location where the voting will be done.
>> correct. We are shopping this that area right now for something, we will run by the proposal for providing the place out there, but it's going to involve the small boundary line change to make it happen. We can provide those folks with a good place to vote.
>> until something gets built.
>> there is enough going on out there that we eventually would probably be able to --
>> absolutely.
>> they have a lot of planned areas coming up, absolutely. You were going back for 3:30, weren't you?
>> I was going to talk about the lake point elementary moving out of the old 330 into -- you are going to help me with this one, the wild basin preserve, which takes on the boundary -- observes the boundary line of the city of Austin. Did you want to make a comment about that one?
>> that was the davenport special request from a republican party official. I can't recall who it is now. They wanted to stay whole as well, much like wells branch. The news development is bob Moore from your office found it was fantastic to be able to use the wild basin preserve at no cost to the county. That sort of fixes the problem if we want to keep davenport's recommendation to stay whole, we can do that now because the new portion now has a polling location.
>> well, I don't -- I don't think it's the greatest place for a voting spot, but it's what they -- it's what they want. Coming on and off of 360, right there, I can imagine we are going to get -- when people really get wind that that's where they are going to have to vote, I mean given that it's free, given that, you know, that it is so close, of course, you know, what isn't close to you when you have 982 voters, vote next door. So -- so that's -- that -- I mean I know stringing that -- springing that on some people we are going to have some concerns. Maybe we have in another couple of years, we can look at doing something with the country club or their mudd office or something. I know that the problem they with -- they had with the mudd office it wasn't a.d.a. Compliant. I would say 50% of those people vote early.
>> vote peril.
>> so you have 4000, we are -- I知 going to send out everything, everybody vote early so you don't have to vote at the preserve. I知 a precinct 3 Commissioner I can say that.
>> we can't say that.
>> I知 going to tell 'em.
>> that's a good solution.
>> right. What we usually could brand new folks voting in a new place, I believe you all do a notification program.
>> I mentioned last week that we do, we are going to send out the new certificates this December that are effective January 1, all of these changes are effective January 1, not for this November election, not until next year. We will send out a separate notice to everybody that's affected with any of these changes that their precinct number changed, their polling place changed, give them the address to the polling location, real quick description of the directions to get there, then a phone number and website for them to call us. That would be going out at the same time that the certificates go out, roughly in the middle of December.
>> okay.
>> everybody will get a notice.
>> okay.
>> so approve the -- to approve the new recommendations that you are making, there's set forth in your order, the proposed order that we have been provided ?
>> the new order of the attachments, yes.
>> did we have another one?
>> I was going to ask if you wanted to talk about kiker elementary. Wells branch [multiple voices]
>> speaks for itself.
>> you say 80's no brainer, I probably have gotten as many calls on that as I have the -- the other ones.
>> but all saying that they want it.
>> no.
>> oh, really?!!
>> and it's because, I mean if you take the circle c north or whatever you call the new one, they are closer to the primitive baptist church or whatever and it just the typical thing about some people that are not going to be overly convenient, but I do think everybody has been so used to voting at kiker, the people that got the most upset were the ones that had to go to bailey. If you owned a helicopter it was okay.
>> we all got those phone calls. I know the court realizes but after the legislation passes its bills, we may be back looking at another solution for circle c, very hopeful, they are the first in my mind, first on my list. That would be affected by that new law. Wells branch and crestview.
>> and wells branch.
>> like a half a dozen central city ones.
>> if I look at the order, on attachment a, I don't find the language that we have just discussed about the different -- different new precincts.
>> you should have them in the attachments of the field notes description, they should be there.
>> attachment order.
>> front page, right?
>> we have a whole lot of numbers, I don't see a narrative that explains -- attachment a is the same as exhibit a, right? I thought I made find something that if you vote in this one, here's where you go.
>> you are looking for the table that actually says this it's where you are moving to, so this is your new location. I -- I thought it was in the attachment.
>> okay. I don't see --
>> I guess the question is does it need to be there? What I知 getting at if somebody calls Commissioner on -- [multiple voices] attachment a, precinct realignment. So we have exhibit a and attachment a. Attachment a -- exhibit a. All right. You need an order approving this --
>> actually, I need approving three thing. The precinct realignments, boundary line adjustments and the field note descriptions, those were all a part of the original order, they should all be there.
>> the order, exhibit a, attachment a will cover all of that?
>> yes.
>> that's why I move approval. Any more discussion? So when I look at the originals of these, I should have several [indiscernible] of those three, right?
>> two.
>> of the order? Readopting county Commissioners' precincts.
>> right. You have a second order that indicates [inaudible - no mic]
>> under each one of them I should have an exhibit and an attachment.
>> under the second two, you should have -- you should have an exhibit, exhibit a.
>> we should have because the whole court has to sign.
>> correct.
>> okay.
>> question, comments?
>> was that seconded?
>> uh-huh.
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. Thank you all very much.
>> thank you. Appreciate it.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 6:52 PM