Travis County Commissioners Court
March 24, 2009,
Citizens Communication
Citizens communication is next.this item gives residents an opportunity to address the Commissioners court on any matter not on the agenda for up to three minutes.
three residents have signed in.
ronnie reeferseed not one, number two, morris priest, and no.
3, gus pena.
>> thank you, judge, and ronnie reeferseed here, celebrating fellow citizens, because out of the chaos south of the border comes potentially the salvation of our nation and thus the world, the ongoing horrific political meltdown by narco drug folks of late is both frightening and inspirational because soon our very own secretary, felony hogwash will visit mexico to offer her two cents of advice on how to solve their problems with drug warlords.
since ms.
felony and her truly evil husband solidified their right to power in arkansas by funneling cia illegal drug operations through the airport in arkansas, ms.
felony is distinctly disqualified from helping the situation.
in fact, secretary clint raiders stanch is a long time conspiring criminal in this issue of the cia illegal drug running operation out of the airport in arkansas, only complicates the matter.
however, absolute freedom for farmers shines brightly as the beacon of a solution to this and many other problems facing our nation today.
voters in lucky 13 states since 1996 have overwhelmingly chosen to at least decriminalize themselves in relation to medicinal marijuana.
sadly, in open defiance to the wishes of the citizens of these united states, they've held us hostage to the continually productive war on pot smoking and enthusiasts for decades now.
rejoice, people.
thanks to psycho pathic violent ruthlessness exploding from those drugs, the citizens of this united states can see clearly now that cancelling the ill legality of farming marijuana here helps solve many, many problems.
for example, overnight all family farms in our nation would become more wealthy and sustainable, no matter what they grow because of the inescapable dynamics of supply and demand.
everybody wins, because some farmers will grow some of this miraculously multiply functional medicinal product.
some farmsers will choose not to.
fine.
all crops will earn more money across the board, fine.
less money, a great deal less money will help finance violent criminal activity worldwide.
let's conserve our honest law enforcement personnel by better prioritizing their much needed valuable work for our nation, even our ongoing bankster instigated economic meltdown demands that we cannot afford to imprison more than half a million people here for non-violent marijuana convictions anymore, because well over 80% of the u.s.
already favors decriminalization at least of medicinal marijuana because we can't afford to imprison them, and because we all want to help mexico survive as a nation, we must all now unite behind freedom for farmers to help feed our future and save our world.
>> thank you, mr.
reeferseed.
mr.
priest?
>> judge, Commissioners, for the record.
you know that cap metro's budget is 92% tax and 8% of their budget comes from the fares that they charge, and on the first year of the rail budget they had 11.8% increase with 10.5% of that increase coming from rail.
in 2002 cap metro had $214 million in reserves and in just six years that's down to 44 million.
of course you know they need 38 million required to operate.
cap metro does not have the $115 million owed to other government entities, so that is 170 million that they spent, and that's 115 million that they don't have that they owe.
that's a combined total of 285 million that they've either spent or have incurred debt.
still no rail.
just one delay after another.
employee issues, everything from strikes to now today we find out buy-outs, training issues, safety issues, state and federal investigation, fare increases, and no doubt there will be tax increases from this domino effect of this $115 million that they owe that they don't have, and it just goes on and on and on.
but to compare cap metro to campo, it's night and day.
the 290 east tollway, an over $700 million project for just 6.2 miles of a toll road, this is unbelievable.
i mean, cap metro's is doing just a fantastic job compared to campo, because this 700-plus million dollars that we'll be spending on a road that we've already paid for for a tollway, we're told by the ctrma, we're told that they think they can use these toll revenues for rail and it doesn't really matter what the attorney general says or the fact that our governor says that tolls are user fees, not a tax.
and this has just been a never-ending nightmare.
i did testify at the state k579, at the select committee on federal economic stabilization funding.
that agenda was on 3/19/09, and there in that meeting representative donum did call the txdot top person a liar, and I was proud of him for doing so.
the environmental protection agency has said that they have the ability to put everything on the fast track.
many of these roads that the county has said that they can't do, they need to talk to the state because virtually anything that wants -- that's wanted or needed to be built in Texas, the stimulus package, the epa has everything on fast track.
we're just basically being told one lie after another by campo, and I would hope that this court will -- the members of the campo board will address the bylaw changes that's needed and I'll get back with Commissioner Eckhardt that I gave her some documentation today on citizens' comments and how we can get things on the agenda.
thank you.
>> thank you, mr.
priest.
mr.
pena.
>> thank you, judge, Commissioners.
gus pena.
i would like to make it abundantly clear when we mention william morris golf course in west Austin and bring equity to the golf course, we're not seeking funding.
we know the budget process is pretty slim right now but it's going to be very slim this year, next year.
we're just trying to bring awareness of the neglect and the need to repair issues at morris williams golf course.
we have great employees over there at city side and we also have great employees here on the county side, but I just want to make it very clear, Commissioner Davis, I want to thank you for speaking to wilma jr.
it makes us feel good.
we know the funding isn't there, we know it's not there but it's been neglected for many years.
housing, comprehensive job training, counselor ptsd training.
ptsd means -- it's an illness, a treatment, posttraumatic stress disorder the veterans receive in combat and afterwards divorce rate is high, sight rate is higher and getting higher.
unemployment is very high for veterans.
the veterans board of housing program is a sham.
vouchers that were supposed to have been trickled -- or allocated to Austin are jammed in temple.
we have had to call washington, d.c.
to open up the pipeline to allow vouchers to be allocated for Austin veterans.
that will help alleviate the homelessness at the Travis County housing authorities.
social service agencies, I've said this before here in the city council and in the legislature and also at the school board meetings.
social service agencies need more funding.
i know that what you have here in the funding mechanism.
i worked in the county side for about 30 years on the budget.
i was in the city side about 35, starting way before mayor roy butler.
please, if you can increase the funding, there's a great need out there with the economic downturn and the recession.
there's going to be more needy people losing jobs and needing more food and assistance for rent, if they can find a place.
please continue to fund the summer job youth programs and senior citizens programs.
it's important to keep our youth occupied in organized activities instead of crime, and senior citizens will lead a healthier lifestyle and live longer.
if you're going to give to the food bamp, give canned goods, but remember a lot of people have diabetes, heart conditions, make sure the cans are low in sodium and sugar, et cetera so a lot of people can partake of it.
i want to say this, judge and commission, I want to thank you for the hard work you-all do, as I did the city side.
i think this budgetary cycle the next year will be one of the tough ones, but, you know, working together we can get over the situation, and we will.
we see some key indicators that are improving the system and situation.
anyway, you-all have a good day.
god bless you.
thank you all very much.
>> thank you.
anyone else for citizens communication, whether you signed in or not?
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, March 24, 2009 2:12 PM