Travis County Commissioners Court
January 2, 2008
Citizens Communication
Citizens Communication is first.
and this item gives residents an opportunity to address the Commissioners court on any matter not on the agenda for up to three minutes.
and I did not pick up our citizen communication forms, but mr. Pena is here.
>>
>> [indiscernible]
>> okay.
>> anybody else for citizens communication to address the court on any matter not on the agenda, please come forward.
>> good morning, judge, happy new year to each and every one of you all.
I want to thank god for allowing had he to wake up and see another year and be here and help the people in any way that I can.
first and foremost, you know, I -- you can try to read the paper and read what I want to -- read what I want to, not what I don't want to.
a good article saying protecting and serving the mentally ill, talks about a.p.d.
and the way they are training the officers to help whenever they have individuals that are called for help bylaw enforcement.
trained in mental health issues, how to act with each different type of case that -- that arise.
we know that -- that there are a lot of cases, a lot of -- a lot of veterans coming in from the war, they have mhmr issues.
they are not getting seen by the clinics and v.a.
is not helping them whatsoever.
so if it's not a non-profit that's providing services, they are going to have to go to the clinics because I will tell you one thing, the veterans administration, veterans affairs is not doing a good job of helping veterans reenter society with mental health, alcohol problems. We do a better job than that.
another issue is that non-profit agencies, you read the article that the united way, catastrophically cut a lot of funding for the agencies that provide services for the needy, the have-nots, less fortunate, vulnerable of our society.
two of the most precious gifted segments of our society that of our youth and senior citizens.
I will do anything that I can for the youth and senior citizens.
very essential that this court -- I know you all did a good job, you are doing a good job.
remember at budget time they are going to ask you for some more help.
I know we have to be fiscally responsible, I know that, I support that.
but at the same time taxpayers, also, they need help, also, to get back on their feet.
I don't think they are asking for a handout.
merely a hand up.
housing.
let's -- let's advocate for real, true blue affordable housing.
not what a person from california, I mean no disrespect to anybody.
california considers affordable.
$350,000 homes are not affordable to me.
they can be built, because they are built by a lot of non-profit agencies, 60 to $70,000 homes if possible, 80 main, but the rest of it is out of range for a lot of people.
anyway, I wanted to mention those two items. Thank you all very much for the hard work that you all do.
and -- and you due diligence to the community and taxpayers.
being here in the meetings, much more so than the city council, I have said that to the city council already.
>> you are not talking about our city council now, are you?
>> any way that I can.
they have done good stuff, too.
so I do speak positively.
thank you for everything that you do, continue the March, have a good year.
>> have a good year.
>> thank you.
>> anybody else for citizens communication.
>> if so, please come forward.
if I may take a minute here, our combined charities program started a bit late this year.
we had a problem contracting with a new third party administrator.
but we finally got everything in shape.
probably six to eight weeks later than we normally do.
the combined charities program is still underway.
the need in our community is still great.
and so employees who can contribute please do so.
we annually have had a lot of employees who make the -- who the $500 annual commitment where we have payroll deductions to coverage, although we always try to get it done before christmas, it never really was a holiday fundraiser, but really is a year-long project and so -- so in spite of our late start, I urge our employees to give as generously as we have historically and the county judge will be not twisting arms or stepping on toes, but urging those who have given historically to do so again.
I normally retain the honor of -- of being the last one to pledge, I will go ahead and get mine in.
>> I'm with you this year.
>> did you?
>> in fact I had to down load I think on the county treasurers deal they have a form out there for your payroll deduction.
so I beat you this year.
>> well, I may not give as much as you gave.
but I will be generous
>> [laughter] anyway, do what you can.
the consent items are next.
by the way, we always appreciate whatever assistance any employee can give in every -- kind of like the offer in the church.
give whatever you can.
every little bit helps.
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, January 2, 2008 2:24 PM