Travis County Commissioners Court
November 30, 2004
Citizens Communication
Citizens communication is next, and we do have four residents who have signed
up to give comments and this gives residents an opportunity to address the
court on any matter not on the agenda. Number 1 is ken it snyder. Number 2
is Ron [inaudible].
>> appreciate it, judge Biscoe and everything, we got the
grant and everything that's very good. Of course I understand there's another
grant you all are trying to get and everything. You have programs out there
already that they've been using two or three years. That's why it's got road
blocks on that part of it which I think you all -- Williamson county have
said they will give you the 150,000 or whatever. I think you all can guarantee
that. Needs to be done immediately. I do appreciate everything you've done.
But we can't live like this here. I gave you all a picture what it's like.
It's been three months trying to cover up the work you've already done. The
line that's on the side made out of conduit, it he goes into the water tank.
That [indiscernible], there's a meter cover that goes over the top of that
valve there. He don't cover his work up. This ain't right. We had birds out
there. I've been trying for three months to get this sewer done. It's bad
when you got a water system run by the state and this guy can do anything
he wants to. He can run poison through the water lines and the tnrcc don't
seem to be worried about it. This is wrong. So we won't have $400 water bills
and people have water shut off and can't get nothing done. We have a water
operator 100 miles away from us. That water starts freezing up, it's wintertime
now, they are going to start freezing and breaking and take two, three days
to get ahold of somebody to fix it and they patch it and leave it open. We
don't have anybody to talk to about it. It's really unsafe. I bet that tank
is plum full of trash because nobody ever checks it or anything. We got weeds
this high where the water tank is and the watershed is and everything. He
can do anything he wants to and I think it's wrong. If we got grants, we shouldn't
have to wait for them to take two or three years to get them to work. They
should go out immediately and get them started. Dan smith worked hard on this
project and he's still working hard and I give him plenty of credit and you
too, judge. But we shouldn't have to live like this. This is wrong. You all
are doing everything you can and everything, but it's run by the state. I
think you are going to have a hard time getting him out to run it right. I
think you are going to have a big roadblock there because he's making anywhere
10, $15,000 a month. He will tell you he's not making any money. Something
has got to be done. I know you are doing everything you can, but there's going
to have to be more done. You call the health department and they say call
tnrcc. They say write us a letter and we'll think about going out there and
looking at it. I don't know what this guy is, god almighty? I don't think
he's god, but he sure acts like it. Nobody wants to go against him and I think
it's wrong and we shouldn't have to be in harm's way like this. People are
getting raped out there badly. Thank you very much.
>> thank you, we'll move as fast as we can on that and try
to get it done.
>> I just hope we don't have to wait two or three years down
the line. I understand you got a project going two, three years and they already
got it to be posted to be started. It might have been held up for two years.
Might be why you can't get any more money out there.
>> this court may change its mind.
>> well, he can get that all and you can take the guarantee
of 150. It able to ain't going to take a million dollars to fix that little
area. Just like the storage tank. Just leave it set there. And for that kind
of money. I'd go down and knock it down for that kind of money, but we could
sell that stuff. But we need to get the project going and don't need to wait
two or three years down the road. It needs to be done immediately.
>> we hear you loud and clear. Thank you. Ron lucy.
>> judge, would you mind calling up the third person as well
because we're combining a bunch of folks so we can --
>> and renee border. And company.
>> and company. Come on up. A special presentation, some
of our folks in health and human services and we thought this would be a very
good opportunity for Ron and company to let everybody know about --
>> good morning, everybody.
>> good morning. My name is Ron lucy. I知 the chairman of
the Austin mayors committee for people with disabilities. I want to thank
the Commissioners court for allowing us this opportunity to present an award
recognizing a partnership between the city of Austin and Travis County. Last
month during October it was national disability employment awareness month,
and each October the mayor's committee holds an annual employment awards program
to recognize the employment of persons with disabilities. This year was special
for us in that it was our 25th anniversary of service to our community, and
during our 25th anniversary awards program, we present a lot of awards recognizing
local employers for their support of persons with disabilities and for their
employment. One very special award that we present every year is our partnership
award which identifies a community partner who shares our values of employment
of persons with disabilities and creating opportunity for persons with disabilities
in our community. This year we are very proud to select as the recipient of
our employment award the Austin-Travis County work base learning program.
This year the staff of the work based learning program were unavailable to
accept this award in October for a very good reason. They were out of state
sharing the good work that they do with the rest of our nation. Tpherp in
california at a conference -- they were in california at a conference to talk
about the work based learning program and the support of persons with disabilities.
Just to give you a little bit of information on the significance of this award,
nationally the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities is 70%. It's
the highest unemployment rate of any group in our nation. Here in Austin,
we believe that we do a little bit better than that, but still there's an
opportunity gap for persons with disabilities in our community. One of the
ways that the mayor's committee identified to successfully close that opportunity
gap is to start young and support our youth with disabilities by providing
vocational training opportunities and employment opportunities. We were very
pleased to begin working a few years ago with linda espey and debra britain
to build that participation level among youth with disabilities. Beginning
back in 1999, the program was serving approximately 20 youth with disabilities.
Since then, since we initiated our partnership, that participation level has
grown significantly by 475%. We're proud to report to the Commissioners court
that their investment in this program is paying off and this past summer the
work based learning program served more than 90 youth with disabilities in
our community helping to close that opportunity gap and provide important
work opportunities for youth with disabilities. With me to present this award
to linda espey, debra britain and the staff is renee borders who is the supervisor
of aisd supported employment program who goes back several years working with
linda. And I知 going to ask renee to share a little more information on how
important vocational training is for youth with disability.
>> good morning. I would like to add that for our students
with disabilities it is very important for them to have this time to be in
employment in the community where expectations for our students are high.
This opportunity for our students allows them to gain this work experience
to know what they need to work on next summer or as far as social and behavioral
skills. Showing up on time, calling in when they are sick, learning how to
communicate on the job. The experience is so valuable for all of our students.
And in aisd we have 11 high schools so you can imagine the number of students
that we do have, not only students with disabilities, but students without
disabilities. It also allows our students with disabilities to be a part of
their peer group. To be around and participate with other students that they
may go to school with and also establish relationships. I cannot tell you
how important this program is. I can't tell you how many parents and students
talk about this has been the best experience for my child. So this is a well-deserved
partnership award which I知 proud to be here today to help present. Thank
you.
>> thank you. And I guess we ought to give a special thanks
to the employers.
>> oh, yes.
>> do you know offhand who they are? Are there just a whole
lot of them? I know Travis County was probably at the top of the list. [laughter]
we had quite a few. Transportation. The department of health. Good will. Safe
place. Come on, help me. City of Austin. Absolutely, city of Austin. But that's
just a few of our private sector employers. Of course city of Austin and Travis
County offices participated 100%.
>> thank you. [applause]
>> and this program has been asked to do more and more with
less the the past couple of years due to the economy and we're hoping that
in the future as the county grows that both the city and county's investment
in this program to grow to continue the support o. O. Most successful way
of supporting persons in Travis County with disabilities. We think this is
the best way to close that opportunity gap and make sure all persons in our
community are able to take advantage of economic opportunities. We thank you
very much for your support in this program and we thank you, linda, for the
outstanding job you are doing. Thank you.
>> thanks to all of you.
>> I would like to say something. I have to thank my staff
because they work hard with a lot less money and they give a lot of their
in-kind contribution, long hours to include Saturdays to go out and train
and do some things that most people take for granted. A lot of people think
of summer youth employment as summer youth employment. People don't realize
that it takes a lot of logistics and planning to get ready for 600, 700 to
800 kids in the summer. So these guys make it all happen. And I have a good
manager.
>> keep up the good work.
>> thank you. [applause]
>> were you about to say something? > I just wanted to say
something. Linda thanked her staff. This is linda espey, the coordinator of
the program. Theresa wright handles the youth with disabilities portion of
the program which is very significant and very new. This is the first time
we've actually had a position to specifically manage that work. And we have
manual vilanueva who has been with our program for -- as a matter of fact,
he started with our youth corps program when he was a teenager and we've seen
him through his development as a teenager and college.
>> [inaudible].
>> yes. So we not only -- we kind of cultivate our own workforce.
Ms. Shirley peebles, she is kind of our backbone in our office and manages
all the data and handles the database and without them we couldn't do it and
we want to thank you for your support.
>> these people, they are all good advocates.
>> we're patting each other on the backs because without
them we couldn't do it.
>> [inaudible] some earlier persons that are not employed
that are disabled in that arena. If we compare Travis County, where does Travis
County rank?
>> population size, approximately 126,000 persons with disabilities
in Travis County.
>> okay.
>> now, we don't have any firm statistical data on how many
of those individuals are employed. We know among persons with disabilities
nationally that want to work that the unemployment rate is approximately 70%.
We know that our community does a better job than other areas of the country
so we expect that we're doing better than that, but we don't have any firm
data. I do believe that by starting young and supporting our youth with disabilities,
this is the best way to ensure that you can do much better than the national
average.
>> right. Okay. Thank you.
>> you are welcome.
>> thank you very much.
>> one link in a whole lot that we invest from the parent
and infant training center to easter seals. We've done things along the way
for kids with disabilities [inaudible].
>> I知 glad we funded the program for this coming summer.
[laughter]
>> thank you all. Thank you very much.
>> appreciate it.
>> keep up the good work. [applause]
>> trek english is next.
>> good morning. My name is trek english, for the record.
I知 here because I couldn't attend the meeting last week due to the devastating
floods that were plaguing our neighborhood. And I was ready to go and I watched
you on t.v. The first thing I would like to address is the fact that you all
said you didn't receive my e-mail; however, some of the -- some of your staff
did receive it so I知 not sure why it didn't make it to your offices and made
it to some of your staff. The e-mail was quite explicit and referred back
to the agenda item of -- it said the subject was additional comments on items
number 39 of November 9, 2004, agenda. And it was addressed to all of you
including your staff. And for some reason you said you did not receive it.
So my -- my position today is that one of the considerations I was talking
about in that e-mail was the 2013 closure date, which you said had nothing
to do with what you did. The legislature both senator barrientos and jack
stick intervened in this and asked the tceq to consider that closure data
final closure date if they were not going to be made to pay the fine. And
I think it's time that the county takes the same position, that a company
cannot perpetrate fraud at all aspects of the -- of their life cycle. You
know, just a couple years ago they told the city they had 30 years capacity.
Two years later they were 90% full. Nobody made them account for that discrepancy.
This was in writing. The 2013 is not a date I知 throwing out of my mind or
that they carelessly mentioned in their argument, this is a study that was
done for them. This is scientific theory that came forward based on what s.c.s.
Engineers, which I believe are your engineers, put forward in order to avoid
being classified as a major source. If you look at e.p.a. Rules, because of
their size, they are a major rule. Not only that, but they are next to a major
source of emission. So the two combination of facts make them a major source.
But now they went way out of their way to prove that their limited capacity
could not -- did not have the potential to emit as much as a major facility
and they went, you know, 13 pages of explanation to prove that they are a
minor facility and therefore they should be classified as such. And I hope
you will give me one more minute. I feel that -- I understand that they are
looking for another location and I understand that you could not deny a subdivision
process based on capacity or a closure date, but I think that that capacity
and closure date needs to stay a fact. Whether they close down in 2013 or
they pay the half a million dollars, that's reality. And that money could
have gone a long ways in helping with the problem we have right now. Instead
they've managed to keep all the money for themselves and go on through the
subdivision. I think the fraud is everywhere. The industry, these two giants
are managing to capture, everybody at the city, county, the capco level, they
are over there trying to coal the permitting process. Tceq. I don't have time
to argue my next point, but I just wanted to remind you that when we were
here arguing that the setbacks for transfer station were inadequate when you
were trying to address one of the ordinances, everybody said we were out of
our mind when we said they will put transfer station there type 4. Everybody
at the time said we were just out of our mind. The reality is that's what
they want to do and we weren't out of our mind and yet they sat there tion
of putting a transfer station. I think you should understand now why we don't
want a transfer station.
>> thank you, ms. English.
>> I will be back next week.
>> let me say this to you, trek. After listening to waste
management, inc, Texas, and also to b.f.i., Disclosed their information as
far as a status report on when they were going to relocate those 290 east
landfill facilities, I at that time requested for them to come back to the
Commissioners court and report in 90 days, like to have that 90-day status
update brought back to this court to continue to pressure and put before this
court when they actually plan and actually find a location to move to. So
that is still an ongoing thing, and of course they did have some reports.
So I just wanted to let you be aware of that in case you missed that.
>> no, I didn't miss it and I did receive the correspondence
that was forwarded to us by the court.
>> thank you.
>> I appreciate all your efforts. I知 not trying to say that
you are not doing anything or I知 an ingreat, but I think if you go to that
extent to pay an engineering firm to approve the closure date in a limited
capacity, then it needs to be enforced by all local authorities. I just don't
think you can lie and get away with it. I知 sorry, that's the way I feel.
Thank you.
>> thank you, trek.
>> the final citizens communication is by the county judge.
First, we have a combined -- extended the combined charities to December 10
and this is the absolute drop-dead date. We have moved that several times
to accommodate some of our employees who, like the county judge, sort of insist
on being last. There are several departments who have -- that have exceeded
the pledges and contributions last year. Five of them specifically. Counseling
and education services, health and human services, justice of the precinct
5, the probate court, and criminal justice planning. Those five departments
and that leaves, what, about 45 others that are still working out there. And
so we want to urge them to keep on keeping on. These five departments are
leaders. And let's try to pick up the effort between now and December 10th.
The Commissioners court is lagging a little bit including the judge's office.
The judge's office though has committed to do a whole lot better between now
and December 10th and so I would urge the other members of the Commissioners
court to do that. And I have been making some phone calls. We will make some
others over the next few days. So that's it for combined charities. We'll
have a final word next week and probably the week after that a report of the
total amount that we have raised. We are probably about 50% toward our goal.
The goal being the amount that we raised last year, which is, like, secondary
goal. The initial goal was a little bit higher. I have not given up yet.
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.
Last Modified:
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 2:44 PM