Travis County Commissioners Court
December 19, 2006
Citizens Communication
Citizens communication is next. This item is designed to give residents an opportunity to address the Commissioners court on any matter not on the agenda for up to three minutes. Jimmy castro is first, followed by stephanie miller.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> thank you, judge.
>> good morning, jimmy.
>> good morning, judge Biscoe and Commissioners, my name is jimmy castro, I am here to speak on by own behalf. The holiday season is a time for giving and sharing. According to the united network for organ sharing, every 18 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list in the united states. Transplantation is one of the most remarkable success story in the history of medicine, it provides hope for thousands of people with organ failure. In addition transplanted tissue offers hundreds of thousands of people active and renewed lives. But organ transportation requires the commitment of organ and tissue donors. Unfortunately the need for donors is much greater than the number of people who actually donate. The need for donated organ and tissues continues to grow. More than 94,000 men, women and children currently wait for life saving organ transplants. Sadly an average of 17 people die each day due to the lack of available organs. Each organ and tissue donor can save and enhance the lives of up to 50 people. Once you have decided the most important step is telling your family. Most americans support donation. But few have told family members of their decision to donate. Talking about organ donation is talking about giving another person a second chance at life. You have the power to change someone's world by being an organ and tissue donor. It's about living. It's about life. It is the greatest gift of life one human being can give to another. Having spent time on a dialysis machine over a year and now being a kidney transplant recipient from brackenridge hospital since March 10th, 1990, especially with the help from the doctors and nurses from brackenridge hospital, the Austin diagnostic clinic, and the north Austin medical center kidney transplant program, I along with my family know the true meaning of the gift of life.thank you, judge, commissions.
>> thank you, mr. Astro. Stephanie miller.
>> I would like to speak on agenda items 33 and 34. Would you like me to wait for that?
>> yes, ma'am.
>> that's the policy. Anybody holding form number 3? Form number 4? Number 5 is gus pena.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners, gus pena. Here to speak first of all I want to thank our lord god in heaven for giving me another day in this world. I want to say this, I -- I don't care what people think when I say this, just remember what christmas is all about. The birth of the lord jesuschrist. Not about gifts or having turkey whatever, remember who put you on this earth. You know, last week we -- we heard about the brown santa program needing help, continue to help brown santa, especially the christmas bureau need a lot of help to provide gifts for the most needy. Also -- also I'm over here just to advocate for phoenix house. Serves 47 students from the Austin independent school district. Various issues, education, whatever. But the executive director is laurie long. The -- excuse me, laurie delong. And good lady, 440-0613, 4714 if you can help them out, they need help, 47 kids need help badly for gifts. To all of the parents and all of the communities, keep your students and your sons and daughters active and engaged in program activities during the christmas holiday and school break. The city of Austin recreation center's programs. Keep them away from the streets. Gang members and wanna bes are actively recruiting and soliciting recruits for gang membership. I will tell you this like I told you earlier last year or this year. Gang membership is on the increase. They have infiltrated the schools. You saw the formation of a -- of a group from Austin police department, Austin independent school district police officers, and staff, to combat gang violence and gang involvement in the schools. They are there, believe it or not, they are there. We need to interveend get these cast -- intervene and get these rascals outs of there. I am scared of the wanna bes, not so much scared of the gang members, these guys and lounge ladies are out to prove something. They will do it without even thinking about your health. Another thing also you heard us advocate for more funding for mental health programs. So my friend david hillins is the executive director of the Travis County mental health, mental retardation. There are a lot of homeless individuals, other people with good homes, good jobs with mental health issues, need to identify them, assess them, treat them. Last of all, I just -- I want to thank you all very much for the hard work that you all do and -- in giving many hours to the community. I know that you are elected officials, still it's not enough salary, I'm going to advocate an -- I'm not going to advocate an increase of your salary, no, no. Don't get me wrong, taxpayers.
>> don't get carried away.
>> yeah. I saw you smiling a whole lot there, Sam Biscoe.
>> [laughter] anyway, feliz navidad. Are you going to be here next week Commissioner.
>> I will be here Friday.
>> I want to thank you personally, I know that we have had our differences of opinions, thank you very much for your
>> [beeping] dedication to not only to your constituents and all of Travis County. Judge, item no. 20, is that going to come up for discussion? Funding for homeless veterans?
>> yes, sir.
>> okay. I will wait until then, thank you very much for your time.
>> all right. If you will be here on 20, we can discuss it. I was hoping that we add that to consent and approve it.
>> I just need to have more input on the differences of definition of homeless veterans. I need to speak briefly on that.
>> thank you, sir.
>> thank you, gus.
>> next item slip that I have is for robert christianson. Robert christianson. Phillip a. Dick.
>> good morning judge and to the panel and everyone. My name is ms. Phillip a. Dick. I am the proud founder of parents of concerned inmates being abused in Texas prisons, jails and youth facilities. And of course you know that I'm here not only to speak out about my son, but about other members of my group that's going through the same thing that my son is going through. I -- I went to court yesterday. And I revealed that -- that my son had, you know, given me statutory power of attorney, that means that -- that I can conduct any of his affairs while he is incarcerated. That -- that this will gives me the power to do that. I also went and I have been investigating, as you know, because I am in paralegal studies, you know that I am participant of school, and my -- my search have led me in the files that was created, not only to judge bob perkins and in which he tells me he has no acknowledgment of this paperwork that's in the file. I also went to -- to mr. Terry keel, he was our district attorney, he worked in that office. He also was working as, you know, in the capacity of the sheriff's department. Well, he's now an attorney over here on 14th street. So I went over and I carried my files to him of the entire case. In November. And he called me December the 6th, 2006, and he had went over my son's files, told me that my son was innocent. He told me ms. Dick, he says, your son is innocent. I said oh, thank you, mr. Terry keel for those words. I said because it proves all the time that my son is falsely incarcerated in state prison. Now, the thing is how do we go about, you know, getting him out. Everyone said I need a lawyer. I'm disabled, I'm a student and I am trying to get him out because he is innocent. But I think -- I don't know if what I need to do next, you know, come to the state, I've come to the county. I'm -- I'm seeking advice, I'm seeking assistance to get my innocent child out because he's being abused in your Texas prisons. And he is an innocent person. I have confirmed that because I am eyewitness, I'm his mother, I know what took place, I know what happened to my child and why he's incarcerated falsely and in prison.
>> [beeping] I also know that -- that -- that the honorable judge bob perkins know, now mr. Terry keel has admitted also he knows that my son is innocent and he does not belong in state prison. And trial trying to see what can be done with my state representatives and county representatives to get him released. Thank you.
>> thank you, ms. Dick.
>> jessica cortez is next.
>> judge, I'm going to wait
>> [indiscernible] the subdivision the holler at slaughter creek, I have a case number. Is it appropriate for me to wait or can I just say it now.
>> what number is that?
>> the case number?
>> no the -- is that on the dag today?
>> yes.
>> which number is it.
>> I couldn't find it on the --
>> 33, 34.
>> hopefully we will need that real soon.
>> okay. David hall, ms. Court necessary. Lordes.
>> flores?
>> [inaudible - no mic]
>>
>> [indiscernible]
>> check it --
>> I think purchasing notified interested persons to reach that item at about 10:30.
>> anybody else for citizens communication whether you signed in or not? We are wrapping up combined charities, we exceeded $100,000, based on the information that I received yesterday. Some of our employees have not yet contributed and planned to. We did send out a notice to retirees, many of our retirees used to be active campaign charities contributors, so we -- we wanted to remind them of that -- of that current opportunity. So for a few more days, we will be receiving contributions and recording them. And should have a final report -- in a couple of weeks.
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:
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:51 PM