Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 (Agenda)
Item 2
Number 2 is approve resolution recognizing November 11, 2011, as veterans day in Travis County.
and I know we have mr. Pope, elfant and several others here on this item.
should I read this proclamation?
>> yes, judge, please.
>> it reads: whereas the department of veterans affairs certifies that Austin, Texas and Travis County are designated by the veterans day national committee as a national regional site for the celebration of veterans day 2011.
whereas the Travis County veterans day parade committee has proclaimed persian gulf war 20th anniversary, 1990 through 2010, as the theme for this year's celebration.
whereas August 1990 iraq's invasion of kuwait marked the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the persian gulf war, launched with desert shield with u.s.
forces arriving in saudi arabia followed by operation desert storm, operation iraqi freedom/operation enduring freedom, and afghanistan and continuing with today's combat mission, operation new dawn, as a continuum to the war in afghanistan and the global war on terrorism following the events of September 11th, 2001.
whereas the united states and its residents reflect on the past decade having gone to war in afghanistan over ten years ago.
remember our fallen, support the return of our troops and offer a firm commitment to our many new veterans for whom the struggle has not ended upon their return.
whereas on August 23rd, 2011, the Texas association of counties under the Travis County veterans intervention project for its groundworking work by awarding the 2011 best practices achievement award and celebrates veterans intervention project fourth anniversary pointing to successful and innovative initiatives like the establishment of the Travis County veterans court in judge denton's courtroom and the graduation of its first veteran from the program.
whereas the v.a.
staff throughout the country is committed to fulfilling president lincoln's promise, quote, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, end quote.
and on October 21, 2011, president obama stated, quote, our service men and women will be with their families for the holidays, end quote.
and whereas vets helping vets is the motto of the Travis County veterans service office and is steadfastly committed to serve one veteran at a time.
now therefore be it resolved by the members of the Commissioners court that all citizens of Travis County are urged to observe November 11, 2011, as veterans day with appropriate programs and activities focusing on the achievements of those who have served this great nation ensuring appreciation for their dedication and service, and I move approval.
>> second.
>> good morning.
>> good morning, judge and Commissioners.
olie pope with the Travis County veterans service office.
I am pleased to accept this application for the veterans of Travis County and also for all of the veterans across the country.
this year we have seen a huge peak in the -- the awareness of the veterans day.
right now in the past if you look back, we have had approximately 75 entries into the veterans say parade.
this year we have -- we have reached 120 applicants to participate in the parade.
and that's amazing.
that is truly, truly amazing.
and I may say that some of those additional groups are youth groups, the girl scouts, the boy scouts.
and aisd has on their calendar officially given the students off for November the 11th, and applaud them for that.
they participated in the veterans day essay contest where we have reached 925 participants in the essay contest for this year.
in the past it has only been about 560.
one school alone sent in 385 essays.
these are individual students, middle school and high school students.
so I tip my hat off to aisd for giving the students off for that day.
the parade is going to start at 9:00 on the ann richards bridge and cesar chavez and will proceed up congress up to the steps of the capitol.
at that time at the steps of the capitol 11:00 there will be a ceremony honoring veterans -- the veterans day program for Austin and the city of -- I mean the city of Austin and Travis County.
so I'm giving you an open invitation to come up to the parade, to be a part of the parade and be a part of the ceremony, and let's give all these individuals, these soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, a warm welcome and show their appreciation for the 20th anniversary of the gulf war.
these guys will not be forgotten.
this is the longest war in history.
20 years.
and to this day it is still going on.
so I thank you and you see I have other members up here with me.
>> maybe they have comments too?
>> do you want to introduce yourself.
>> michael jay ramirez, I'm a gulf war veteran.
I remember back whenever I was a much younger person that I got the call to go over there.
it's really pretty much it.
I'm helping olie with the registration of the veterans day parade.
they asked me to come help out and I'm very pleased to do that at this time.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> and continuation with the part of the proclamation, we have mike warren.
>> mark.
>> mark warren with tact.
>> good morning, everybody, mark warren with the Texas association of counties and I have a brief statement and then we have a video if everybody would like to see it.
Travis County is one of 11 Texas counties honored in 2011 by the Texas counties leadership program, selected for innovation, achievement and delivery of services in 2011 at the county best practices awards presentation in conjunction with our annual conference this past August.
tact executive director gene terry said people in counties across Texas are coming up with such creative solutions because counties have so few streams of revenue and every good idea that can be shared is terribly important.
the counties initially, as I said, were honored during a special reception at August 23rd at our poverty legislative or annual conference.
Travis County was honored for outstanding achievement.
constable maria canchola worked to spearhead the veterans project, a collaboration of 40 state and federal agencies t focus of the collaboration is identify arrested veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, drug abuse and other war-related injuries and connect those veterans to legal aid, housing assistance, employment services and treatment programs. On behalf of tack and the leadership program, congratulations Travis County.
and I have a video if it's -- is that okay?
>> yes.
>> we think it's loaded and ready to go.
>> after serving their country in sometimes multiple war tours, many soldiers very difficult us readjusting to civilian life due to war time traumas and post-traumatic stress.
>> a lot of our vietnam veterans are in prisons to this day because of their post-traumatic stress disorders or other mental health issues were not treated when they came back from wars.
these wounds are invisible so you don't see them.
it's very hard to recognize that someone is very, very ill from having been in a war zone.
>> Travis County constable initiated the veterans intervention project, a large committee with representatives from local, state and federal agencies.
>> we have 35 members, about 35 members in the committee now and their from time to time, there -- treatment, that do job training and housing.
we have the district attorney, we have the county attorney, we have the sheriff.
we have the adult mental health public defender.
we have public defenders, pre-trial services.
these are all people in the criminal justice system that these soldiers or veterans are going to encounter and all of these people in Austin are at the table.
>> in a 2009 survey, about 150 veterans were in the Travis County jail on a day basis.
committee members created a veterans court to help connect soldiers to available veterans services and treatment.
>> my husband talked about feeling his heart in his throat when he was in vietnam all the time.
and when he came back there was nothing so he felt very dead.
and they start living life dangerously in order to regain this feeling of being alive again.
it's all part of the disorder.
>> thanks to the committee and the collaborative efforts of its members, more soldiers are accessing treatment and are finding their way out of the criminal justice system.
>> I think that veterans courts are essential to communities for our public safety.
and for the -- for the betterment of our -- of our veterans and their families.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> anybody else?
>> let me say this to you.
>> any other member of the group?
last opportunity.
Commissioner.
>> thank you, judge.
>> judge, thank you so and Commissioners, thank you so much.
I'm very, very nervous.
I'm unacustommed to this kind of publicity.
I did this because my husband is a veteran.
>> mr. Pope makes me nervous.
>> I thank all the veterans for your service in Travis County and throughout the nation and the world.
it really does mean a lot.
I recall when just recently sheriff hamilton sponsored a situation to deal with the wounded warriors in san marcos.
oli.
was there, of course many of the veterans in the area were there to support this particular cause.
olie, you mentioned something earlier about children being involved in this process, allowing aisd to allow its children to be off so they can witness such an awesome event.
let me say this to the children of Austin, if you could have seen the children in hays county and when we went to that elementary school, the flags waving, the loud screaming, the chanting, the hollering in recognition of the service of these wounded warriors, you would be amazed.
and it was one of the best emotional, thrilling turnouts and just heart-felt emotional type of demonstration and presentation, the interchange between the children and the veterans, the wounded warriors at this particular point.
so it does mean a lot to see the children in Travis County or in aisd Austin get involved to recognize and applaud these particular veterans for their service, and I'm really glad I'm a part of all of this and thank you all very much for your service.
really appreciate you.
>> thank you.
>> may I say one more thing, please, I'm sorry, I forget and I shouldn't forget because this work that this committee is doing, there are a lot of agencies, Travis County agencies, state, federal, local agencies that are involved, and they have done a tremendous amount of work.
we have been meeting for four years working on veterans issues and they have stuck with it.
and I'm very, very proud of all of the members of this committee and I want to thank them at this time for hanging in there and helping us work together and for the betterment of our veteran community.
>> [applause]
>> I would just like to give a -- just like to give a shout out for the Travis County staff on the website, the work that they did on our website.
chris and pamela.
that site is www.nov.org.
and on that site we will have all of the activities and events for veterans day throughout -- from fort hood all the way down to san antonio, there are items listed on there, places for discounts, free meals and so on and so forth.
it's about 30 pages long, okay?
so just go to the site when it comes up and, you know, pick and choose where you want to go, where you want to eat, where you want to spend your money.
all right, just be proud and live free.
>> that's this Friday and aisd has declared a school holiday.
why don't we at Travis County do the same thing?
>> [laughter] all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
>> [laughter]
>> [applause]
>> I know mr. Pope well enough to do that.
>> I've got to correct this.
it was November 11.org.
I'm sorry.
>> while we're all still here, I want to say congratulations.
this gets the message to the community this is what county government does.
it really is very inclusive and since folks get involved with our criminal justice system, this obviously is one of our mandates, one of the main core responsibilities that we have and I think we do a very good job.
thank you.
>> now, you all don't have to leave the courthouse, but we need those six chairs.
>> [laughter]
>> thank you all.
>> thank you.
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