Travis County Commissioners Court
October 2, 2007
Citizens Communication
Citizens communications is next. This item gives residents an opportunity to address the Commissioners court for up to a full three minutes on any item not on the agenda. Phillip a. Dick is first. Kimberly pierce is second and third. Somebody may be trying to beat the system today. We know you have your entourage with you there. Ms. Dick, how are you doing this morning?
>> just fine, judge, and everybody to the panel, good morning, everyone. My name is miss fill implant a. Dick and I was here about two weeks ago and I am concerned about the report that I made about the officers. I have had phone calls, I've written the dates and everything down. I've been having phone calls from this 97400 number, but no one answer. I say hello, hello, and I have been getting those type of calls with breathing in there, in the phone. So what I've done now, I came to your office and ms. Cheryl brown suggested I get in contact with mr. Nelson lender and I did. And he has put me in contact with mr. Tommy lee. We're trying to get all of this straightened out so I can get my record cleared because, like I said, I am not guilty of these charges. Also, I am here to talk about the -- my judgment that was granted to me. I have been trying my best to get this resolved. It's just driving me -- I'm out of classes right now trying to get all of my problems resolved all of my plate before I can resume college. I just can't concentrate. My son is incarcerated innocent. I've been trying to work on that. I've been trying to work on my judgment. I have been trying to clear my name. I have been trying to -- at first I was trying to get my driver's license back from a car wreck that I wasn't even responsible for. I was told that I backed up and struck someone, and I really didn't do that, as you can see the person did hit me inside of my car, totaled it out, and I have injuries from that. And I have so much on my plate that I am trying to get resolved. And I am thankful to judge, your office and all of the rest of the panel for giving me a helping hand as public assistance service. I have also tried to get in contact with chief savada and I went to the city of Austin and I talked with ms. Pharaoh and I'm trying to get on the city council to talk with them and show them my paperwork and my evidence and stuff so I can get this cleared up. I want to go back to school. I need to continue my education at virginia college as a paralegal. I want to get my associate degree. So I had to take off a semester in order to try to get my plate cleaned before I can go back to school and concentrate. Thank you.
>> thank you, ms. Dick. Kimberly pierce and company. And she will be followed by scott johnson.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners, kimberly pierce criminal justice planning. I'm here this morning to introduce to the court two new programs and staff members. To my left is jeanette kinard, director of the mental health public defenders office. She was hired in April of this year and since that time she has been hiring her star for her office and with that I'll turn it over to jeanette.
>> I'm happy to be here. I know your time is limited. We'll come back later with a report. Melissa sheer is an attorney. She has an undergrad in social work and worked with the denver public defenders office and she's have in our office. Valerie whiting is our head social worker. She has a master's in social work. Previously worked for the Travis County sheriff's office at del valle. Stephanie doyle is another master's level social worker. I hired her away from mhmr. She is doing a great job. Patrick is a caseworker. He previously worked with juvenile probation. You may remember christina rodriguez our legal secretary, she used to be with j.p. 5 and most recently with the a.g. A.g.'soffice. And
>> [inaudible] was formerly with juvenile probation, so we're happy to be here.
>> did we meet everybody?
>> there's one open slot which would be another caseworker and I'm working hard on finding that person.
>> is hiring age still 18?
>> [laughter]
>> people look younger these days, don't they? Welcome to all of you.
>> thank you.
>> to my right is mary moran, she is our workforce development specialist. And she too will be back in front of the court in the next couple weeks, maybe a month to lay out her work plan for f.y. '08.
>> very good. I'm honored and blessed to be in this position. I thank you all.
>> you're welcome.
>> hope you all are still having fun.
>> we are. Never a dull moment.
>> I came here 18 years ago to stay one year and 18 years later I'm still here. Good luck to you.
>> thank you.
>> any comments from any of you? Any of you bold enough to make comments today? Well said.
>> [laughter]
>> well said. Scott johnson is next.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners. My name is scott johnson. I'm here to talk about air quality. The first part is the review that I led along with some non-profit groups. We presented our findings to the clean air force, the clean air coalition and other elected officials and influential folks in the community and that is gaining some traction. There is review underway of the clean air force that is being requested by judge Biscoe and the mayor's office and hopefully that will yield some tangible benefits focusing on refining or improving or revamping programs to get the most out of them to help people who suffer from ground level ozone and other ailments making sure that we're focusing our publiclyly funded dollars to the best of our ability. I'm here mostly to talk about, as I understand it, the Commissioners court has -- they vote to approve the folks that are on the central Texas regional mobility authority. The board. You approve board members for that group; is that correct?
>> three.
>> I'm sorry?
>> three.
>> I've been in communication with them recently because I'm always trying to request that groups involved in transportation funding and spending and planning are thinking about air quality, health effects, global warming, other issues, so I have written two letters to mr. Bob tesh and I did receive a response that was a thoughtful one, but the crux of the response letter is that air quality is improving, we're making tremendous strides, tremendous improvements in reducing air pollution. And while for some pollutants that's very true, for lead and carbon monoxide we are. Overall there are more counties that are in non-attainment now than there have ever been. Partly that's due to population growth but partly that's due to how we build our cities and the fact many people drive alone in vehicles both to work and to home. But I would bring your attention to the fact that the county has an opportunity when they give funds towards their own projects and perhaps when they funded sh-130, if an opportunity was there to say this is the funding that we're going to give to txdot, 60 or 65 million dollars. Do you have a clean contractor program? How will this Monday be spent? Are you using the cleanest fuels available? Are you reviewing the equipment to be sure that you are using the cleanest equipment available? Those are some opportunities that could be had certainly within Travis County and possibly when you are contracting or giving funds to other entities. These are decisions that are made really in a vacuum now. It's simply that we need more roadway capacity and we're going to fund new roadways. And granted, some are needed, but it's just important to know that the funding -- you could make requests at the very least. You could maybe even make stipulations. In the letter to the ctra, I requested they develop a clean contractor program and they did not respond directly to that request. I would be happy to answer any questions.
>> thank you, mr. Johnson. Anybody else for citizens communication? That is to address the court on any matter not on the agenda.
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 3, 2007, 18:30 AM