Travis County Commissioners Court
May 22, 2007
Citizen's Communication
Citizen's 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. Gus and luc yo are first.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners. Gus pena and to my right my handsome and productive son lucio pena.
>> morning.
>> first and foremost, I want to let the viewers know that my fourth and fifth grade teacher is not feeling well. If anybody, former students, you have millions of people watching y'all, so if any of her former students are listen, call her at 254-773-0066. It's a rare privilege and honor still being able to say I can speak to my fourth grade teacher who taught me at zavala. This is leaning to what we're talk being today. You have a holiday, those of you who work, on Monday, next Monday, memorial day. A lot of us veterans, we will not have the day off. Mild seems to be a day -- memorial day neelz sooemz to be a day where people forget about the sacrifices that the military veterans did to defend our countries and other country's freedom, safety and democracy. I, as you well know, every veteran's day in November and I think last year I was ill, the last infantryman to die in vietnam, alex, one of my fellow classmates at zavala, at alan is junior high and also johnston high school, alex died in 1971 in vietnam, the last infantryman to die in vietnam. I still carry the newspaper, many, many years. I just want to say don't forget the sack faces that our -- sacrifices that our mill taken men are making. Whether it be a political issue you agree on, support our troops out there. I spent six years in the marine corps, proud marine corps veteran. I can tell you this much, we suffered a lot. We don't ask anything for anybody. We don't beg. Hi a person who helped us out when I was down and out, Gerald, you did too. Thank you very much for that. But we don't want a hand out, we want a hand up when we ask. We never ask for anything, but if we ask, let's be there for our military veterans who suffered and died. Vietnam vets reunion in houston with general william westmoreland. Just remember we're losing a lot of the vets, especially the korean war veterans and also the vietnam veterans. But also the beruit veterans who died. One just died in a bombing over there in '80s and we tend to forget our military fet vet rans. Please remember them and help them out in any way you can. Listeners, remember the sacrifices we made. We did it -- I went -- I knew I was probably going to get killed. If I had gone with my buddy alex, I wouldn't be here today. I know that for a fact.
>> [ buzzer sounds ] remember our veterans. And thank you for all the hard work for Travis County. Keep up the good work. God bless you.
>> have a good summer, lucio.
>> boss dowdy is next and he will followed by bruce todd. This is just one document?
>> I'm the principal for the purchase of the Travis County farmer's market. I'm here to basically very simply and quickly explain one change that we would like to make to the contract, which is request for an extension to the feasibility period. That is because an environmental site survey is obligated upon us and we need some extra time to do that. The reason we need to do the survey is because what Travis County has so far done is not sufficient to fulfill the legal requirements to show that the soil at the farmers market isn't contaminated. So we need to get the environmental site surveys done. This will take some extra time and we're willing to basically, frankly, pay the county for the extra time that we need in lieu of getting this extension on the feasibility period.
>> our lawyers will tell us that we cannot negotiate during citizens communication, but we did receive your comments.
>> thank you very much.
>> and as a point of information, how much time do you believe you need?
>> we're asking for an initial extension of 30 days, for which we're willing to pay the county $10,000 and an option for an additional 30 days and which we will pay the county an additional $10,000, and I think that's a very fair and equitable situation.
>> good information which we have received. We'll get back with you on that.
>> thank you.
>> mr. Todd?
>> thank you, judge and Commissioners. Let me add very briefly. I know that all here want to get this property closed and this issue dealt with as soon as possible. The environmental issue is obviously very important. Perhaps do your work, city council's work and others around. Our economy is doing great and those environmental folks are very busy; however, we have already received the bids to do this work. We will -- mr. Dowdy will make the county whole by the payment of $10,000 for each of the 30 days to if necessary -- the second one if necessary of course. But we are moving as expeditiously and we possibly can. It's important that what be done now, probably what should have been done in 1986 when we were no longer using it -- stopped using it as a row and brink office, the county did, so I think this is an appropriate way to do it. The county will be made whole in the process and I think it's a good solution which will provide a clean bill of health for that property in the future and I think it's a very good way to go. But I wanted pat to be able to meet all of you. I wanted him to meet with you and present the contract to you and as they say, we're ready to go.
>> we're not nearly as mean as we look on tv, mr. Dowdy.
>> you look great. Thank you.
>> linda Moore smith is next, and she'll be followed by stewart thomas gerstacker. Linda Moore smith and company are next.
>> good morning, judge. Linda Moore smith, director of human resources and lieu aen shiewl. We are both here because we are too delighted to introduce to the court two very key positions that we have filled. To my left is ed kelly who andto my right is paul kitchen. These are positions that both lou anne as well as I and the staff of hr have been holding it together until we could find what we feel are the absolute right people for the position and the smile is because we feel that we've done that. Paul to my far invite rite is an alum of st. Edward's university, graduated with an mba as well as concentration in computer science. He started out in the private sector and technology services and was introduced to the business part of hr through his role in working through benefits with executive management teams in the private sector. He quickly moved into, after being involved in that area, into the area of compensation, job analysis, evaluation, market salary surveys, the kind of work of course that we bring to you to make your policy decisions on. He most recently has come to us from a senior comp position at the lower colorado river authority, so we're awfully happy to have paul on board. To my left as I indicated is chuck kelly. Chuck comes to us also out of the private sectors. He started his career a graduate in the whole area of industrial engineering and labor relations. He started out as a labor relations and conflict resolutions specialist with general motors. He quickly moved into serving as a consultant with a large consulting firm for fortune 500 companies working in all aspects of employee relations staffing as well as training. And of course those are the areas that he will be responsible for here. Most recently he was employed and came to us from the Texas parks and wildlife state agency. So we're delighted they're both certified professionals in their respective jobs. Lou anne and I when you see us walking through the halls with smiles on our faces you will know why. These are key positions and we're happy to introduce each of them to you.
>> welcome.
>> do you want to say anything?
>> glad to be here.
>> same for me.
>> [ laughter ]
>> they're learning well. You'll hear more from them later.
>> [ laughter ]
>> thank you all.
>> look forward to working with you.
>> mr. Gerstacker is next. Is that how you pronounce your last name?
>> yes.
>> morning.
>> Sam Biscoe, thank you for having me. I spoke to you about four years ago regarding corruption and mistreatment by a visiting judge during my divorce. That matter has since been resolved to my satisfaction and I recall that you told me back then that if I ever had any more problem over at the courthouse I should come back and talk to you about it. Here I am and I just want to say that I'm a public (indiscernible) and I come in peace. I want to report a felony crime in progress to the grand jury along with other felony crimes and I am being obstructed by the doarn district attorney's office. I am a witness in a case and also a federal witness against the dorian group, both cases for which I'm a witness are related to the felony complaints I am trying to present to the grand jury. I have been retaliated against by attorney wilford aguilar. He was a former judge. Wilford aguilar solicited judge jan breland to throw me in jail and she discussed how to accomplish that deed in front of witnesses. After his solicitation, bill bender popped in for a visit and threw me in jail for 32 days last' year. No one can explain why I was thrown in jail. Nobody. Nobody can tell me why I was jailed. I was never magistrated. And to this day I still do not know who my accuser is. I was jailed with intentional intimidation by bill bender about my testimony and also forced to plea bargain on a trespass charge. Bill bender is sitting as a judge without any oath in violation of Texas penal code 37.11, impersonating a public servant, and I have verified complaint here and supporting affidavit. And I've also given copies of this to claire dawson brown and she's just sitting on them. She won't present them to the grand jury. (indiscernible) bail bonds versus state of Texas is holding case law and requires all judges to have oath and all judges without oath are void. I want bill bender removed from the bench immediately and prosecuted for his crimes. I ask any grand jury members watching this right now to please subpoena me. My name is stewart thomas gerstacker. My address is 9504 eddie stone street, Austin, Texas 78729. My phone number is 590-9995. Once again, my name is steward thomas gerstacker. My phone number is area code 512-590-9995. Again I ask any member of the grand jury to please send me a subpoena. I wish to report these crimes to you. I ask you, Sam bis bis co-, to take me to the grand jury so I can present this complaint against bill bender and I ask each and every one of you watch withing on tv today to call the Travis County district attorney at 854-9500.
>> thank you.
>> ms. Andrews is next and she will be be followed by michael ray lutz.
>> I met with judge dietz last week. As you know, judge dietz is the administrative judge of the Travis County courts. It turns out that behind my back all these years rumors are hard to fight, but judge dietz actually called me, matetron for the republic of Texas. When one is called the maytron for the republic of Texas or gets a pejorative label as being a member be of the republic of Texas, all due process ends, the system shuts down, all kinds of nasty things take place. Judge dietz assured me last week after meeting with him that he would circulate a memo in the Travis County courthouse so the pejorative label would end. He said that I would be referred to as an arrest dent constitutionalist from this point forward and there would be no more lack of due process due to unnecessary and incorrect labels. For which I'm very grateful. It's been very difficult for the last five years to pin down -- once rumors start it's very, very difficult to stop them. And when one is labeled republic of Texas, again, there is no due process and the system shuts down. I'm here today to talk about the fact that there are no public officer of a civil nature in this country, and we the people are somewhat tired of that. The article 1 stat 23, the very first page that the founding fathers put together as the ruling law of this country says that all officer, including officer of the several states, are to take an oath to the constitution of the united states before they enter office. That is separate than the oath contained in article 16 section 1 of the Texas constitution. The constitution of the united states is the supreme law of this land, and all public officers have to follow its limitations and live by it. And I would venture to say that there is not a single public officer or official in this country or in Texas that has on file with the secretary of state the oath of office required. I would venture to say that all of the people that sit in public positions don't meet any of the requirements, including a personal surety bond to the people so that when you do wrong we can take your free hold or we have redress. The people in Texas have no place to go for redress anymore since everything has been turned into a business.
>> [ buzzer sounds ] so we'll be coming down in the weeks to come and educating the people in division land about the inthe questions in the system -- the inequities in the system. Thank you very much for your time.
>> thank you. Michael ray lutz is next and he will be followed by middle name robert, last name pease. You will be next.
>> thank you for having me. I want to comment on the previous two speakers. I too have been labeled a republic of Texas. I'm still waiting for someone to give me a deaf definition so I really know what that is. I've been denied due process repeat lid and I've been repeatedly harassed by both Travis County and city of Austin members of law enforcement. You know, the declaration of independence was the beginning of this country and it states in the first part of that declaration of independence the purpose of government. And government's institute among men to protect our rights. But I see very little of that going on today. It's very sad today because I experience in court all the time. I'm a witness. I've witnessed cray being convicted of an impossibility. I've seen stewart put in jail for nothing, for trespass on his own property. And these abuses repeatedly go on in these courts. And we the people don't have any redress anymore. It's sorry to say this, but I see it everyday. It's a business be. It's a business to all these people. And it's very unfortunate that labels are put on people who take the time and the effort to read the law, to read the constitution. I know for myself I've spent hundred of hours in a law library, hundreds of hours. And when we bring forts what we've stoferd -- bring forth what we've discovered because we don't have a juris doctorate next to our name we're labeled the republic of Texas. I would like the council to understand that this is -- it should be almost really a crime, and it is when our due process is denied, but I want you to be aware of it and hopefully some action be taken that the public servants who are there who are supposed to protect our rights don't label us and treat us like some sort of second class citizen because we've taken the time to read the constitution, we've taken the time to read the statutes. We've taken the time to read what the founding fathers said and we know what this country is supposed to be like. And we need to start recognizing that. We need to start standing up for what america is supposed to be, and we are, but we're prosecuting for it and denied due process for this. That's all I have to say. I thank you for the time.
>> thank you. Mr. Pease.
>> I'm here basically, mine is short and simple. I'm here because bill bender does not have an oath of office on file just like Sam robertson did eight years ago. Eight years ago I was in your office on a Thursday and you said you would get back to me on Monday. That was eight years ago on Sam robertson. Now we have the same problem be down here where we have vez continuing judge and if you look at ohio or oregon or utah or nevada, they call them rent a judges, and it's a big scam and these people don't have oaths of office on file. That's a constitutional vietion. We've been trying for eight weeks to get in front of the grand jury. We've been threatened with criminal trespass, we've been threatened with arrest, we've been threatened at every turn. The reason we're being threatened is that ronnie earl's daughter, elizabeth el, who is a judge over there, appointed junk bill bender as a junk may o. My case. I've been screaming ever since that he didn't have an oath of office on file. For some reason we can't get there. We spent eight weeks trying to get into the grand jury and we can't get in. Ronnie earl can take six grand juries and get an indictment for tom delay for a law that doesn't exist in the state of Texas, but we can't get in on constitutional violations. And I would like access to the grand jury. We only need a little bit of time. We just need to get our foot in the door and get in front of them. I don't understand why we're being stonewalled. I don't understand why we're being threatened. And everybody that threatens us, the assistant district attorneys, that is under government code 2.03, that's neglective duty. And they are diligent in neglective duty. And we would like to get in front of the grand jury. Every one of them that has gone in front of us and stonewalled us, they are culpable for their actions. All we want is time in front of the grand jury. How do we get it? That's my question to you. Thank you very much.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> by the way, if somebody will give me questions in writing, I will give answers in writing. But this court does not control the grand jury.
>>
>> [inaudible - no mic].
>> they may not be the answers you like, but they will be the best answers I can give.
>>
>> [inaudible - no mic].
>> [overlapping speakers]
>> so far the biggest question is mr. Bender's oath of office.
>>
>> [inaudible - no mic].
>> send me questions in writing, I'll get your answers in writing.
>> zeta garnet. And dan mansour are next. Garnet or gammet?
>> it's garnet.
>> judge, Commissioners, a couple of weeks ago we report tooupon tcoleonf run tex training program that a number of our employees were involved in. And they worked very hard during the winter and spring training sessions and we just didn't want the summer sun to melt away all that hard work, so she has put together a program and she's going to tell you what this is about to extend the training into the summertime.
>> good morning judge and Commissioners. My name is beta garnet and I'm in benefit assistance and human resources. I'm here to talk about the training maintenance program that is being offered by the we willness committee beginning Wednesday, may 23rd through July the 11th. This program wil hp you stay healthynd throughout the summer -- throughout the hot summer days. It will also prepare you for upcoming race events such as the bat run 5 k, which is July the 13th. So I'm encouraging all employees, walkers, joggers and runners to join me every Wednesday at 12 noon in front of the granger building for this program. If you're worried about hygiene, don't be. We will provide cleaning wipes so you can sponge off and disbo back to work refreshed. If you have any questions, please contact me at 854-9874. I'll see you on Wednesday.
>> that's Wednesday like tomorrow?
>> tomorrow, yes, sir.
>> that does it for citizen's communication.
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, May 23, 2007, 8:00 AM