Travis County Commissioners Court
April 14, 2009,
Citizens Communication
Citizens communication is first.and this item gives residents an opportunity to address the court on any matter not on the agenda for up to three minutes.
ronnie reeferseed is number one.
number two is gus pena.
and number three is billy kelly.
>> good morning.
>> morning.
>> thank you, judge and all the rest of y'all.
briefly, about 30 years ago today I was still in a coma.
some people say that I still am, but ironically I was riding my bicycle so as to visit and smoke with one lovely Sarah, a friend of mine from the dallas arts magnet high school who had followed me to denton to attend the then north Texas state university, now called the university of north Texas at denton.
it was Sarah and her also lovely friend from the dallas arts magnet high school, mary, who visited me at the hospital with a joint at my request.
after smoking that joint with the girls on the hospital balcony that night, I went to sleep after the girls went home, and when I awoke the next morning I was gladly startled to realize that my ongoing recovery from that coma-inducing brain injury had greatly improved.
suddenly I could remember what had happened the day before.
sure enough, I was released from the hospital soon after and immediately returned to mpsu to make up my 17 hours of incompletes left on my record.
frankly, I then found that schooling was a bit more difficult than ever before.
wow, what a surprise!
except for a few visible scars, I thought that I had recovered fully from my own coma-inducing brain injury, but in reality I have discovered that even for this day cognitive differences remain from my traumatic brain injury and I suspect that some of our many returning armed service military personnel from iraq and afghanistan who may or may not have also experienced their own traumatic brain injuries can benefit from all of our patience and understanding, specifically I've been trying to share information about my own ongoing recovery from my own traumatic brain injury and the role that the reintroduction of tetra hydro ca nab national into my bloodstream has had on me.
obviously it is clear to me that medicinal marijuana should be made available to help our returning heros.
and I also believe that our nation as a whole will benefit from decriminal liesing marijuana across the board.
today there are well over half a million fellow americans rotting behind bars for non-violent marijuana offenses because you and me have not yet demanded differently.
the team is now to wake up from this -- the time is now to wake up from this nightmare and that only benefits organized crime nugz and other enemies to our nation.
so will not you join me in demanding that our nation finally fully cancels our ongoing, continually court productive war on pot smokers and enthusiasts.
we owe this at least to show support for our troops sws to help our nation's struggling family farms and to help deplete the topsoil.
deplete the jails of non-violent pot smokers.
once again lead our world by example of how we treat each other instead of with bullets and bombs.
90.1 fm here in Austin is a great source of info.
alex jones 11:00 a.m.
to four p.m.
on weekdays, four to six on Sundays as well as other times.
check out 90.1 fm.
>> thank you.
>> judge, Commissioners, tough act to fellow for mr.
reeferman, but I'll try.
the handouts that I gave you is a handout that we got at the city council meeting yesterday regarding single member district.
it is styled house bill 1618 sponsored by senator jeff wentworth, republican, part of south Austin is in his district.
anyway, I ran for city council in '96 and '97 and I had been advocating single member districts for many years in the late '80's, early '90's, mid '90's.
i was shot down by a lot of east Austin activists.
i grew up in east Austin.
i'm a native east Austinite.
now everyone wants single member districts.
i support single member districts, but I will not support an initiative that is sponsored by anybody from the state of Texas legislative session who wants to usurp the local municipality governing system, ie the city charter.
it was in place to govern the city council meetings, city council on goings, etcetera.
let the city council and also the city of Austin taxpayers and voters vote for what they want, whether they want it or not, it is up to us, the city of Austin residents, not for slaughter to tell us this is what we're going to do, unless the mandate comes from the department of justice.
if the mandate from the feds, sorry, you've got to do it.
i'm a former i.r.s.
investigator.
i also know that when the feds say you do this from doj, department of justice, you will do it by federal statute.
having said that, I am in support of single member districts.
i am totally against the initiative by senator wentworth to impose something on us that we're not supposed to be doing in the first place.
let me see.
if we feel that it is a good -- we feel we have the votes if it's place odd a voter referendum.
we have the votes for it to pass, I am sure of that.
anyway, morris williams golf course, thank you, judge Biscoe and Commissioner Davis for your support and advocacy, along with city manager marc ott, exphoal, exphor, councilmember martinez, councilmember leffingwell and councilmember morrison to tour the golf course to see the need for improving conditions and outdated machinery at morris williams golf course.
it is located at the old mueller airport.
it's a city-owned golf course.
we thank and appreciate the staff at morris williams golf dpowrs for their hard work and doing what they can with what they have.
sometimes it's difficult to thank employees because we feel that you are getting paid.
no, we need to acknowledge their hard work.
veterans need educational assistance, mental health treatment, ptsd re-entry program, counseling, suicide rate is at an all time high with afghanistan and iraqi war veterans as mr.
reeferman alluded to that fact.
it's very high.
it's higher than the suicide rate during the vietnam war.
tell me about the vietnam war, we experienced it.
>> [ buzzer sounds ] bear with me one last item.
we need tutors -- math tiewtders for kids and students who are taking the test, the taks test.
math is very well needed.
anybody can donate some time to mentor a student.
we need your help.
last item, this is what I've been talking about.
a lot of people that are unemployed are not in the unemployment rate statistical data that come out from the labor department.
why?
they give up.
the unemployment rate is higher.
thank you very much, judge.
kxan poll results, I think it's great.
zero percent, I think it's about 87%.
12%, what does it tell you homestead preservation not wanted by poll.
thank you very much and have a good day.
god bless y'all.
>> billy kelly is next.
are you here on the mountain view item.
>> yes.
>> we'll get to that item real soon.
>> excuse me?
>> we'll get to it real soon.
>> thank you.
>> and mr.
and mrs.
reski.
you're here on that item also?
>> yes.
>> we'll get to it real soon.
>> robin ramey, mountain view estates?
>>
>> [inaudible - no mic].
>> come up.
>> it is on the agenda?
>> it is.
what I came here also today was to support (indiscernible) and their agenda.
>> I'm sorry, I was mistaken.
>> are you here on an item on the agenda?
>> well, it looks like it just so happens that it's on the agenda.
i didn't know it.
>> which one is that?
>> number 7.
>> we'll get to it real soon.
>> you don't want me to come up right now?
>> no, ma'am.
i would like you to wait.
>> but I have something to say about a March 3rd meeting that -- that was about this.
that has all transpired.
i came here to talk about the March 3rd meeting, sat down and just so happened that this happened to be on the --
>> about hidden lakes, right, in Pflugerville?
that's --
>> no, this is hidden lakes in manor, Texas.
>> okay.
>> so tell me what to do.
>> it's on --
>> it's item number 7.
>> if this is what -- if that's the one off trailer lane.
>> we'll call it up real soon.
>> it's not available for citizens comment because it has a specific agendaized time.
so I'm sorry, if you could just be patient until we actually call it up.
>> jerry, mountain view estates, we'll see you soon.
richard hallpin.
>> is that charles and shane?
>> yes, sir.
>> charles, you and shane write too much like richard halpin.
>>
>> [inaudible - no mic].
>> thank you for seeing us this morning.
i'm here with these two gentlemen because we have a very important story to share with you.
before I get to the materials in the packet and go over those with you, I wanted to bring you up to date on some things that are going on.
as you know, you have for years sponsored a program here in Travis County called youth build.
that program is now in front of the Texas legislature.
the work that you've pioneered here, we've pioneered together here is now in front of the strama committee.
it's house bill 2492.
mr.
strama tells me as sponsor of the work bill he's interested in seeing it replicated across the state of Texas.
house bill 2492.
it went to committee last week and we got a very positive and successful hearing.
and if passed -- when passed, this bill will provide millions of dollars to replicate the model that you've done here in Travis County to teach young people who dropped out of school all across Texas, green jobs, particularly energy efficient home building.
the bill is styled in the senate, senate bill 1770 by watson.
so I wanted to share with you that work here is getting its visibility across the state.
i also wanted to share with you that these two young men who are with me here represent some extraordinary work being done right here in montopolis, and also being done in the capitol of the united states.
we just got back from washington, d.c.
where charles and colleagues of his and I brought our green technology from Travis County up to washington, d.c.
we designed the green parts of an energy efficient affordable home and we built it on the u.s.
mall, the national mall right across from the congress, the capitol.
and I wanted to have mr.
charles share a minute or two with you about that.
and I wanted to ask mr.
shane to share with you these green energy efficient homes going up in montopolis.
and where they've traveled from and where they're going now based on the experiences that your investment has allowed them to get.
>> [one moment, please, for change in captioners]
>> >
>> >
>> we build homes, you know, for other students or kids who want to be able to get involved in any type of programs like this, you know, it teaches us, you know, a lot with math and using bigger and better tools.
just -- just out there having a good time.
but most importantly this program is for students to stay off the streets.
for those that are in need of jobs.
you know, who need money to help out with their families.
those who don't have a family but has, you know, raised kids.
at a certain age.
when I was growing up, before I came to awy, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I was hanging out, you know, with the wrong people.
i couldn't stay out of trouble, having trouble passing like all of my classes so I was planning on withdrawing from the school, but there was a lot of people there who really disappointed who supported me and didn't want me to -- to go down that path.
so -- so I found out about this school through my grandma's sister.
she had a family member that attended ayw.
so I went to the gear up and pretty much looked through the little short clip that they have of it.
they have really good programs like you mentioned casa verde buildings, e corps, landscaping as well.
coming to the school and doing these programs changed me, made me a better person.
you get to know a lot of people, make new friends, get to accomplish a lot of things at the school that I couldn't do at the others like playing basketball, making it into the playoffs, achieving, finishing up e corps and of course doing construction and, you know, I feel like having these programs around the world like washington d.c., san antonio, arizona, oklahoma, these are big -- these are really big jobs that I feel like that we should give to the whole environment, the clinic for kids and adults as well.
>> great.
>> thank you.
>> your honor I wanted to note that the homes that we are building are the finest energy efficient homes in Travis County or any county in the state of Texas.
mr.
charles is a little modest, he actuality built this home with others from around the nation with mrs.
obama, she spent an hour and a half with us that day on the mall.
seeing how this energy efficient home went up.
once the home was completed we took the home apart, it was on a flatbed truck on its way to brownsville Texas where it will set up for a single mom and flee kids whose trailer was blown away in a hurricane.
came from Texas.
went to washington and he is coming back to Texas.
your investment is paying off big time.
people are now coming after us from all over the country to teach them to do green affordable home building.
i really wanted to follow up a minute or two about the cost here.
i clearly don't have time to go through all of the details, but just the highlights.
i wanted to on the left-hand side you will see that there are two documents one by professor coen at van der built.
he tells us that dropped out young people will cost us $464,000 apiece.
as public policy makers, decision makers, you know that's unsustainable costs to us as a nation.
if these young people get involved in the criminal justice system, according to dr.
cohen, it will cost us between 3 million and $5.7 million each.
in lost costs, we simply can't afford that.
investment in young men like these extraordinary young men like me today is -- is probably five percent.
maybe -- no, I take that back, probably a quarter of a percent of what that $3 million at the low end would be.
so your return on investment is extraordinary.
here the second document is from the state of Texas.
a study that we had the Texas legislature do on dropouts in Texas.
$17.5 billion annually is the cost of the dropout class to us.
there's new jobs coming in Texas.
new green economy is on its way here.
on the right-hand side these are pictures of the kind of homes that the casa verde program that you have invested in has produced.
now over 100 homes, as decision makers you are also looking at return.
here's the kind of return on taxes.
that you are getting from homes that can pay taxes.
and lastly, if we don't change the pathway we're going on, this is the copy of the city priorities, you can see that the city is spending 67% of its budget on public safety.
that is a trend that is -- that is escalating and we simply can't afford that kind of a trend.
we can begin to turn that around by investing in young people who instead of costing us money in the public safety arena will actually be able to provide the jobs.
that's the last thing that I wanted to bring to your attention today.
behind that is a picture of, story of the washington post article.
on our project in washington d.c.
this young man charles, picture of him building a home in east Austin, the last thing, we are proposing a green jobs training center.
you always said go find the money, come back to us with funding in your hands.
we have raised a million seven from the u.s.
department of commerce to build a green jobs training center here in Austin to serve the residents of Travis County.
when you begin to think about -- about where you are going to get the new employees for Travis County, who will do the energy efficiency monitoring and management of all of your facilities of who is going to run your parks and other -- other departments that you have and people are retiring, I submit to you that there are an extra ordinary young people in our county waiting to be part of your workforce.
and investment in this green jobs training center will allow you to get the kind of people who are skilled enough to do the kind of work that the new economy will demand.
it will also be able to reach out to those most marginalized.
i know the county priority of serving people in poverty is one of your priorities.
historically those -- that population, as we all know, continues to be marginalized and left behind.
what if at thisni green jobs training center, judge, we had an evening program where people came, were able to bring their kids, get an evening meal, get literacy, other specific basic skills they need to then be able to understand these new jobs and the skills in these jobs?
the last document that I wanted to show you --
>> that's the fourth last one.
>> [laughter]
>> this is the very last one.
>> I'm so glad that you are counting.
on the right side of your packet there's a list of jobs coming to Travis County.
the kind of -- of kind of requirements to earn those jobs, many of these, most of these, are high school diploma or g.e.d.
and these are extraordinary living wage jobs in the solar field alone coming to our county.
we want you to know about that money that we have raised for green jobs training center.
it will be completed by August 30th of this year.
out here on ben white boulevard, so that anybody in the county can get to it.
and we would love to get you as investors in that project to train people in weatherization and other jobs that will go somewhere.
thank you so much for your investment and -- in these young people.
>> elaborate, per se, because of the citizen communication is not really something that was posted.
but I want you to call my -- call me as soon as you possibly can on this subject matter.
call my office, okay?
>> yes, sir, thank you very much, Commissioner Davis.
>> thank you so much.
>> I will.
>> thank you.
>> [ applause ]
>> good luck to you.
>> excuse me, judge, if I may, anna bolin, Travis County, t.n.r.
ms.
ramey is here to discuss a previous agenda item, not number 7 which is in precinct two.
she's looking to discuss the -- the villages at hidden lake that was in -- I think on the March 1st agenda, the third agenda in a different precinct.
>> if you will just wait -- one minute.
>> sorry.
>> let me do this consent motion, then we will come get you.
okay.
under citizens communication.
now, ms.
ramey, please come forward.
and this is under citizens communication.
>> I'm referring to our March 3rd meeting for the hidden lakes estates.
it was a vacation lot that they wanted to vacate.
and we were asked to go -- to go into the meeting with anna and joe to -- to discuss the issues.
about this subdivision, how we feel about the land, the black land prairie.
in that meeting that lasted over an hour.
not once did I hear the taylor lane old kimbro road extension discussed, nothing was discussed with me about that.
when I came back and reviewed the video of this meeting, I saw that on the -- on the video.
and I was concerned about why that wasn't mentioned in our discussions behind closed doors.
i'm -- I'm not -- still not clear, taylor lane does not even intersect old kimbro road and I went to a campo meeting and I saw their plans for the 20/30 and I'm just so confused about -- about why -- why -- I don't know if it's because of the money or the stimulation package or where we're getting the money or if Travis County gets more money if a road is built on this land or what.
but I -- I feel that -- I feel the lack of communication and outright explanation of -- of this road.
i am trying to figure out why no one is talking about it or no one will let me -- no one will explain what their plans are for this land.
which is an extension.
>> so your question is --
>> my question is --
>> plans for taylor lane and old kimbro road?
>> yes, it wasn't discussed during our meeting and it's -- it's based on this land, it was only a vacation of a plat and then like I said, when I saw the video of the meeting anna had -- had talked about the extension.
and so what I'm saying is that I feel like you all know more about this extension and y'all have plans for it and I -- and as a community I want to know what the plans are, that's what I wanted to know when we went behind the closed doors.
>> okay.
well, why don't we just get ms.
bolin to give you in writing the plans as we know them: I assure you that you know more than I do about this.
>> I would hope not.
i certainly would hope not.
>> that's our expert over there.
can we do that ms.
bolin.
if you have questions after you receive her written description, let her know.
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, April 14, 2009 2:20 PM