The Wilco Watchdog posted an interesting article about this race on their site. It's a very interesting read.

On September 6, 2011 at 9:00 a.m., the Mental Health Task Force will be hosting a Suicide Prevention Week event on the steps of the historic courthouse to kick off National Suicide Prevention Week.  As part of the event, they plan to have 39 teddy bears on display to represent the 39 suicides that occurred in our county in 2010.  After the event, the bears will be donated to the Children’s Advocacy Center.

We would like to help out with this event and are in need of teddy bears. Please help out by dropping a teddy bear off with the receptionist at the County Attorney's Office next week.  Also, all of the Williamson County EMS stations are accepting bears for the event so you can donate there as well.

Tough On Crime or Win At All Cost? The Past Often Dictates The Future.

A discovery made in researching court records has upped the ante considerably on the need to declare a man who has been in prison almost 25 years innocent of murder.  The document, which has not previously been cited or published by media, also begs for a fresh and complete investigation of the Williamson County commissioners court and its attempt to protect a lawyer who was involved in that murder case, as well as commissioners court's apparent retaliation against the county attorney who tried to confront the protection practice.

See the whole story at www.wilcowatchdog.org

Peggy Venable, a Rock Rock resident and the Texas State Director for Americans For Prosperity sent this message to the Williamson County Commissioners today. We appreciate AFP for their support and are very grateful to the citizens of Williamson County who are speaking out against these "reprehensible" actions. 

The Eyes of Texas are on Williamson County Commissioners

As everyone knows by now, a list was produced by Williamson County Commissioners to cut jobs. This list includes vital positions that the citizens of Williamson County depend upon to assure they receive the high level of customer service this same court campaigns upon.

This county has grown by 68% in the past ten years. The past two years, there have been only a small handful of new positions added. Now, the Commissioners feel it is appropriate to cut the workforce. Commissioners have invited explosive growth with a new system of roadways. Now they are ignoring the responsibility of what those new roads bring. Growth. With that explosive growth, comes the need, not want, for more services. Who is going to service these folks? We are essentially utilizing the same workforce to service 2011 Williamson County with a 2008 workforce. Now, we go backward by cutting positions. I can’t speak to specifics of the detrimental impact this will have on various departments, but I can for one position on the “list”.

We have an independent Budget Officer for a reason. However, the Budget Officer, Ashlie Blaylock has recommended a budget that is again being ignored. The requested budget for 2011/2012 was $140,811,180.56. The Budget Officer trimmed the budget to a recommended 129,547,679.00. Eight percent (8%) was cut. The recommended budget prepared by the Budget Officer, Ashlie Blaylock, is only one point eight percent (1.8%) higher than the recommended budget LAST year and that INCLUDES the $700.00 plan for health insurance AND a 3% raise for employees. Pretty amazing if you ask me. But yet these are the same Commissioners who made further cuts last year to the Budget Officer’s recommended budget that has and will continue to result in budget amendments. Grandstanding about cutting the Budget Officer’s recommended budget during the adoption process that results in budget amendments during the fiscal year is nothing more than a deceptive accounting practice played by Commissioners for political gain.

The citizens of this county should be ashamed and outraged that this political gamesmanship is being played in an election year to further a few Commissioners political agenda and careers. These cuts will be touted as being fiscally conservative. However, the end result will only hurt the citizens and a few employees of Williamson County.

It’s time all Department Heads, Elected Officials and employees stand firm and show they truly care about Williamson County and the residents we serve. Allowing the incessant micromanaging of departments by a group of five people who have no clue what those departments role and needs are must stop. Ignoring the Budget Officers recommendations must stop. Pandering to a political voter base with arbitrary, unjustified and retaliatory cuts must stop. "They know their departments better than we do"  Birkman says in the clip below. However, that must only apply in non election years as one person commented. If you are a department head or Elected Official that “skated” this year, there’s always next year for this group to ignore the Budget Officer and target you with baseless cuts. This will not stop. That is a fact and is being proven with this “list”.

41 sec audio clip "They know their departments better than we do" than we do"

1 minute audio clip of cuts

See attached list of cuts.



Please listen to this short audio as well.

Will will have a report of information available very soon.

Commissioner’s Court approved to extend the Affidavit for Tobacco-free Premium Discount deadline to Wednesday, August 31, 2011.

Also the Court approved the health insurance rates for 2011/2012.

The below email was sent to employees yesterday from HR, so be sure to get the affidavit submitted.

If you previously submitted the affidavit by June 30, 2011 you do not need to submit another.

If both the Employee and Spouse are enrolled in the Williamson County Medical Plan, both the employee and spouse must submit an Affidavit in order to be eligible for the Discount.

All questions and concerns should be directed to the

following HR Service Team Members:

Suzanne Hays – shays@wilco.org or 512.943.1604

or

Joyce Nemec – jnemec@wilco.org or 512.943.1532

www.wilcowatchdog.org

There is a "list" of employee positions that will be recommended to be cut.
The "list" from County Judge Gattis includes, but not limited to:

MOT
Ag Extension Agent (vacant position)
County Trapper
Investigators (Not specified which Department)
Parks Assistant Director
Recycling Center
Museum
Cell Phone Stipends

An Open Records Request was filed to obtain the full list and "lists" from other Commissioners. Once that is received, we will publish it.

Audio of recommended positions to be cut

As we reported last night, we just recieved this email from HR.

The Benefits Committee will recommend to Commissioner’s Court on August 16^th to extend the Affidavit for Tobacco-free Premium Discount deadline to Wednesday, August 31, 2011. 

If approved, a New Affidavit will be distributed on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 for those who are tobacco-free but did not previously submit an affidavit. 

If both the Employee and Spouse are enrolled in the Williamson County Medical Plan, both the employee and spouse must submit an Affidavit in order to be eligible for the Discount.

All questions and concerns should be directed to the

following HR Service Team Members:

Suzanne Hays – shays@wilco.org or 512.943.1604

or

Joyce Nemec – jnemec@wilco.org or 512.943.1532

We felt it would be beneficial to post this graph that indicates the breakdown of your local taxes. Hopefully this will dispel some misconceptions.

The Benefits Committee voted to approve an extension deadline to file affidavits for non tobacco users. This will go before the Commissioners Court next Tuesday for approval.

If this passes a vote of the Court next Tuesday, non tobacco users will be given an extension, being August 31, 2011 to file their affidavits. If employees do not file the affidavit by the August 31, 2011 extended deadline, they will be subject to paying tobacco user rates for the entire year of 2011/2012 cycle. The tobacco user rates are much higher so please be aware and file your affidavit. If you have not received an non tobacco user affidavit from Human Resources, please contact HR immediately.

As we predicted, Ms. Hanson has taken the bait. Problem is, she once again uses incorrect information as she has done several times in the past. We pride ourselves on posting facts and allowing the public to decide. Ms. Hanson has been called out publicly in the past by the Hutto ISD Superintendent for posting invalid and misleading statistics on her blog.

The Superintendent says her blog information is “deceiving”, “flat out incorrect”, and states “I'm not sure if you can trust any of Ms. Hansen's numbers”.

Ms. Hanson fails to mention in her latest rant that the Williamson County Employees Association has not asked for a raise this year. We have not asked for anything that would cost the taxpayers anything additional. Not a dime. She also fails to mention that the County Judge is the one recommending the employer insurance contribution health insurance rate be increase from $586.10 to $700.00 and also in favor of a cost of living increase. not the employees.

As we said on August 4th, she would spin this and lay blame on the WCEA in yet another attempt to lay cover for Commissioners Birkman and Covey, not having the courage to "report" facts as to who is advocating for a COLA and increased rate for health insurance. After all, that would be breaking the 11th commandment she swears by even at the cost of omitting facts and being deceptive. This is not surprising given Ms. Hanson’s past misleading and deceptive personal commentary.

It’s as if Ms. Hanson seems to forget the employees of Williamson County are taxpayers who also depend on the same high level of quality service provided. She also seems to forget that we are the same people she describes as “families that are struggling for survival in this difficult economy”, painting employees as the problem. Providing political cover is one thing, but the act of following blindly is detrimental to this county and its residents and that is where the line must be drawn.

The employees of Williamson County will always provide a high level of customer service, even to those such as this “activist” who belittles employees. Feels employees are undeserving, a mere problem and just “lucky to have a job”. Why? Because we are professionals and thankful to serve those in the community in which we live.

The Examiner story outlines the Wilco Watchdog.

 

It has come to the attention of the WCEA that many employees and their dependants were surprised to find that they have been classified as a "tobacco-user" because they failed to send in the Affidavit declaring them to be tobacco-free.  1,300 to be exact. Most were under the impression that the affidavit being sought by HR earlier this year was for people who currently use tobacco and planned to stop before April 30, 2011.

Many employees complained that they had seen so many "don't use tobacco on County property" and "Beat the Pack" emails that by the time they started sending out the affidavit emails, they were sending all tobacco-related emails straight to the trash.

So, we, like many employees, were shocked to learn this meant a higher premium for our families during fiscal year 2011-2012.  The changes will be very different, depending on how the employee is classified.  An increase in the low-single digits can be expected for non-tobacco users, but an increase in the middle-two digit range will be expected for those labeled tobacco-users.  This will be true for all employees who failed to turn in the affidavit, whether they use tobacco or not.

Many have approached the WCEA to ask if anything can be done.  To that end, we have contacted several members of the Benefits Committee (individually and collectively) to consider giving one last chance to get the Affidavit filed, now that the importance of it is more widely known. This is the only fair way to rectify this issue. After all, non tobacco user employees should not be punished and forced to pay much higher premiums in effort to keep the fund afloat based on inadequate formulas comprised by Eric Smith, the county’s consultant.

The next meeting of the Benefits Committee will be on Tuesday, August 9^th in the “Old 26^th District Courtroom” in the Historic Courthouse Building in Georgetown.  If you have an interest in these events, please contact us, contact HR (specifically Joyce Nemec), or just plan on being there.

In the audio clip below, you will hear the discussions of how Eric based his assumptive premiums.
You will also hear Judge Gattis talk about how the funds reserve has been exhausted based on Eric’s assumptive practices by funding the plan at 100%, not 125%.

Usually I don't feed the trolls in the comment section of blogs. It's just not worth fighting with someone behind a keyboard, and honestly, what does it really accomplish. But today, I just had to jump out and write a quick reply to someone who we can all guess authored the comment. This was posted as a comment on The Estate Of Denial website.

First, their post:

Taxpayer Watchdog says:

Don’t get too cozy with the Williamson County Employees Association Union. They are constantly lobbying to increase taxes on the residents of the county so that they can have annual raises and some really cushy benefits. They are no friend to the taxpayer and have their own political agenda.

Second, my reply:

Williamson County Employees Association says:

I’ll repeat this here for the Tax Watchdog to chew on. For the record, the WCEA has not asked for a raise this year. We have not asked for anything that would cost the taxpayers anything additional. Not a dime. We understand our nation is in a financial crisis. We have not asked for anything other than our county leaders to act in a transparent manner and not spend taxpayer dollars like drunken sailors. I am a fiscal conservative, not a blind follower of those who portray to be one thing in party name and conduct business as just the opposite. Unlike you ma’am, I don’t believe in the 11th commandment. I put principal above party. I don’t believe in going along to get along. THAT is what is wrong with our nations leaders on a local, state and national level. I just call em like I see em and let the facts speak for themselves.

Now, we sit back and watch if Commissioners Covey and Birkman will lobby their good friend Holly Hansen to come back to court again this year, as they did last year, to speak out against county employees. We will see if their good friend launches another assault against county employees, from calling them everything from liberal progressives to union thugs and saying employees we’re undeserving of a 2.0% cola. We will see if their good friend launches the same attacks of name calling against the County Judge who is the one recommending the employer insurance contribution rate be increase from $586.10 to $700.00 and also in favor of a cola.

Since it is the County Judge recommending these items, not the employees requesting them, we will see if their good friend Holly will continue to fight for her “beliefs” or show her actions last year were nothing more than a political stunt to provide cover for her good friends Commissioners Covey and Birkman. So is I ask, does Judge Dan Gattis have his own political agenda? Is he too not a friend of the taxpayer? After all, he is the one advocating for the employees this year. Is he now a “liberal progressive” and “union boss”?

Now, let me explain a few things about the folks I advocate for.
They are the men and women who proudly serve their community. They are the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect you when you call 911. They are the men and women who dispatch emergency personal when you call 911. They are the men and women who provide you with customer service second to none when you apply for a marriage license, renew your automobile registration, assure the elections process is properly maintained and serve your civil process. They are the men and women who respond and save your life when you have a medical emergency. They are the men and women who assure once criminals are arrested they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They are the men and women who assure crime victims are treated fairly and assure they are treated with compassion and dignity. They are the men and women that assure any records you request from civil to criminal are provided to you in an accurate and timely manner. They are the men and women who see that your roadways and other infrastructure are fully maintained. They are the men and women who maintain your parks. They are the men and women who repair and service county equipment and vehicles to assure they are functioning properly. They are the men and women who you call to pick up stray and dangerous animals. They are the men and women who assure criminals are supervised when placed on probation. They are the men and women who sees the county budget is properly prepared for the Commissioners. They are the men and women who assist the judges in our court system. They are the men and women who work evenings and nights, weekends and holidays to assure you are safe. They are the men and women who oversee the county finances and recommend and manage proper accounting. They are the men and women who develop new roadways that you travel. They are the men and women who maintain, repair keep our county departments computer systems operational. They are the men and women who deal with juvenile delinquents. They are the men and women who assist our veterans with the assistance they need. They are the men and women who serve as the custodian of the county finances.

They are the men and women who serve you. They are the men and women who pay taxes to the community they serve. They are the men and women who vote in the community they serve. They are the men and women who choose to serve you not as a paycheck but out of a desire to serve their community. They are the backbone of your community in which you live. They are the men and women who make Williamson County the safe community in which boast. They are the men and women who each contribute in providing the excellent environment in which you live by providing service that is second to none.

They are the 1,680 people that make this community safe, strong, efficient and productive. So the next time you call them “whiners” or say they are “undeserving”, “have a hidden political agenda”, “If they don’t like it they can leave” or perhaps “they should be thankful to just have a job”, remember one thing; they are thankful. They are thankful to serve the community in which they live.

Royger Harris
President WCEA

Last year and again this May, we reported that Williamson County Human Resources Director Lisa Zirkle was given marching orders by Commissioners Lisa Birkman and Valerie Covey to benchmark both employee and Elected Official salaries against counties that are not comparable to Williamson County.

We obtained emails through a public information request last July that showed Commissioner Covey gave orders to benchmark against Burnet, Bell, Bastrop, Hays counties last July in order to drop the average to give the appearance Williamson County salaries were much higher. Commissioner Birkman also gave the same instructions for benefits benchmarking.

Today through an open records request, we obtained the salary benchmark study (click here for study) HR Director Lisa Zirkle compiled that lists the counties used in benchmarking. Of the eight counties, Bell, Bastrop, Burnet and Hays counties were present just as Commissioners Covey and Birkman ordered.

Commissioners Birkman and Covey may think it is acceptable to use these counties for the sole purpose of skewing the report by lowering the average salaries of benchmarked counties, but as the old saying goes, “figures don’t lie but liars figure”.

A professional HR Director can not and should not in good conscience allow this behavior. Allowing Commissioners Birkman and Covey to dictate behavior that will destroy the workforce of this county is incompetent and an outright disservice to the employees she is hired to represent and the citizens and tax payers of Williamson County she serves. The citizens of Williamson County not only deserve but should demand the best service for their tax dollars.

Comparing Williamson County to counties with a fraction of the workforce, overall budget size, population and workload is not only incompetent, it’s dishonest.

Williamson County has an operating general fund budget of 125,000,000.00 and population of 422,679.

Here are three counties that Commissioners Birkman and Covey ordered Williamson County benchmarked against.

Burnet County population 42,750 General Fund Budget  $20,979,280.00

Bastrop County population 74,171 General Fund Budget $22,149,812.00

Hays County population 157,107 General Fund Budget   $54,893,535.00

Williamson County has 148,651 more residents and almost 27 million more in the general fund operating budget than all three of those combined.

Commissioner Valerie Covey and Lisa Birkman’s management style of skewed benchmarking, intentional deceptive budgeting practices that result in future budget amendments, out of control spending on pet projects and the incessant micromanaging of department heads and elected officials are detrimental to Williamson County.

Yesterday, the Williamson County Budget Officer, Ashlie Blaylock presented the Commissioners Court with budget recommendations for 2011-2012.

Items of interest:

• 56 positions requested / 9 recommended
• A 3% cost of living increase. Employees have not had a cost of living increase since 2008
• A 2% increase for Elected Officials. (That was voted down yesterday by the Court)
• A 2% increase for Department Heads1.5% increase for the POTS Plan (Law Enforcement) 
• Re-classifications:82 requested 42 critically recommended
• Increase in the Monthly Employer Insurance Contribution rate to $700.00 from $586.10.

Last year, a few of Mrs. Blaylock’s recommendations were arbitrarily slashed by Commissioners Covey and Birkman with no basis. Commissioners Valerie Covey and Lisa Birkman were both warned last budget cycle that arbitrary and politically motivated cuts to the budget would be detrimental. The County Judge stated over and over this was bad accounting practices and was deceptive to the tax payers. They did it anyway. Now, we have the EMS gasoline budget running on empty with two months left in the budget cycle, thanks to a $55,000.00 cut by Commissioner Valerie Covey. Another that was motioned by Commissioner Covey and seconded by Commissioner Birkman was cutting indigent defense by $250,000.00. Fortunately that was voted down 3-2 or we would be $150,000.00 in the hole with a budget amendment needed to fund that cut.

Hopefully, Commissioners Covey and Birkman have learned a valuable lesson that they are not budget professionals and politically motivated cuts are harmful. Micromanaging the Budget Officers recommendations have proven to be costly and not worth the “I cut the budget even more” grandstanding only to have budget amendment after budget amendment the following year.

Now, we sit back and watch if Commissioners Covey and Birkman will lobby their good friend to come back to court again this year, as they did last year, to speak out against county employees. We will see if their good friend launches another assault against county employees, from calling them everything from liberal progressives to union thugs and saying employees we’re undeserving of a 2.0% cola. We will see if their good friend launches the same attacks of name calling against the County Judge who is the one recommending the employer insurance contribution rate be increase from $586.10 to $700.00 and also in favor of a cola.

Since it is the County Judge recommending these items, not the employees requesting them, we will see if their good friend will continue to fight for her “beliefs” or show her actions last year were nothing more than a political stunt to provide cover for her good friends Commissioners Covey and Birkman.  Or perhaps even more telling, we will see if Commissioners Covey and Birkman “act” a bit more “employee friendly” by remaining neutral or even supporting a cola in an attempt to gain employee support hoping employees forget the past 4 years. After all, both are up for reelection in March 2012.

Help these guys out by liking their page. Since facebook removed the box that shows who "likes" a page, no one will know you became a fan but you.

Please help support these guys.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wilco-Watchdog/221225547923401

Commissioners voted 5-0 to not increase their salaries or any other elected officials salary. Next week the Court will discuss a possible tax rate.

A group of concerned citizens have launched a site to oversee Williamson County issues. Recently, many negative issues have plagued our county. This distracted the WCEA from its goal of promoting a professional environment for our employees and providing outstanding customer service to the citizens of Williamson County. This will allow us to refocus our efforts. It is our pleasure to introduce www.wilcowatchdog.org

Stay tuned!

Yesterday brought some good news and also some of the same anti-employee rhetoric from Commissioner Covey. She feels helping employees is "going in the wrong direction".

Judge Gattis advocated for employees regarding a proposed employer contribution rate increase for health insurance, increasing that portion from $586.10 to $700.00 per position.

The rates will now also be split into tobacco / non tobacco user rates.
Tobacco users take a big hit with increases. Even though statistics show our health claims are driven much more by issues related to being overweight and not tobacco use, tobacco user rates are much higher.

Attached are the proposed rate sheets. One is the $670.00 employer contribution and the other is the $700.00 employer contribution rate plan that Judge Gattis is recommending.

Judge Gattis stated a lack of properly funding the employer contribution rate in the past has now exhausted the health care fund surplus. He states that in the past the county budgeted at 125% of the projected claims to help assure a surplus was maintained. When Eric Smith, the consultant took over, he recommended the county budget at 100% of projected claims. Judge Gattis says now the fund reserves have been exhausted. Obviously Eric’s recommendations aren’t working out so well so maybe it’s time we go back to what was working.

Failing to incrementally and appropriately adjust the rate, combined with a higher number of large claims over the past few years exhausted the funds reserves. Now we are faced with a large employer contribution lump sum from the county to keep the plan afloat.

Commissioner Covey then asks “is our goal to build up reserves”? Obviously Commissioner Covey didn’t listen to Judge Gattis the previous five minutes he spoke regarding reserves. Of course the goal is to appropriately support the fund in order to build a reserve in the event we have another year of higher than average catastrophic claims.

Also, at this point, it appears even if you stop using tobacco anytime during the year, you will still be paying tobacco user rates the remainder of that year regardless if you are tobacco free or not. Judge Gattis is advocating that be addressed to assure if a person stops using tobacco that they are rewarded with non tobacco user rates. There needs to be that incentive year round for employees. Quitting is hard enough but to quit and still be mandated to pay tobacco user rates is not appropriate.

Also something noteworthy, there was no talk of BirkmanCare.

Another issue worth mentioning, even though Commissioner Covey is adamant about lowering the retirement match rate for employees, there was no mention of this. Hopefully her demands will not be met.

Bottom line, rates will be increasing regardless if you are a tobacco user or not. But, given Judge Gattis’ recommendation to adjust the employer contribution amount to the $700.00 plan, it could be much worse. Commissioner Covey feels this is “going in the wrong direction” because the county will adjust the employer portion to fund 87% of the cost. The county now funds at 85%. Question is, will she lobby her good friend to come back to court again this year, as she did last year, to speak out against county employees. It worked last year for her regarding a COLA so we will see if the members of the court who support the $700.00 plan now will stand strong against this type of behavior from Commissioner Covey.



Commissioner Covey comments Audio 29 seconds

We are reviewing material from today's meeting. We will have a full report soon.

The funding reports issue was resolved and are now back online.  

After almost eight business days, we finally received the one page document we requested. Many of the listed items on the 75+ million dollar list prepared by Bob Daigh are obvious "wants" not "needs".

 

To our surprise, the figures on the list are much higher than first thought.

This was reported in the Round Rock Leader on Sunday:
"County government officials are weighing their options, after Senior Infrastructure Director Bob Daigh delivered a July 12 report stating the courthouse might need about $1 million in repair work not included in a $9 million restoration project that lasted from 2005-07.”

The report, submitted to the Commissioners Court on July 12, 2011 by Bob Daigh, showed a figure six hundred thousand dollars more than the reported one million dollar figure bringing the cost to $1,600,000.00.

The report also highlighted other “proposed” new facilities including one labeled “Wilco Admin”, otherwise known as the new Pct 3 Annex being dubbed as the “Covey Castle”. The “Covey Castle” came in at a whopping 27.5 million dollars. Keep in mind that the Pct 1 Annex labeled as the Birkman Taj Mahal ended up costing tax payers around 12 million dollars.

These proposed projects, taken together, set a new, budget-and-bond-ripping precedent never before experienced in this county, especially on top of the out-of-control right-of-way acquisitions, road-building, BirkmanCare and Lobbygate expenditures. And it challenges disbelief that all of these items would roll out at one time, never having previously been revealed to the public, though some of items, such as the “Covey Castle” have obviously have been in development for quite awhile.

On a side note, we sent Commissioner Covey a PIA request on July 1 asking her for all memos and notes associated with plans to construct a new Precinct Three Annex building to include all correspondence and emails with any person regarding the construction of a new Precinct Three Annex building. All meetings attended, dates and locations of those meetings and any notes and memos from those meetings regarding the construction of a new Precinct Three Annex building.

Her response: Other than the request listed for a new Pct 3 Annex in the Long Range Strategic Plan, “There is no other responsive information to this request.” So the meetings that have occurred in the past few months regarding this new facility never really occurred?

Transparency issues are becoming more and more prevalent and for Commissioner Covey to have us believe she has “no responsive information” only makes that issue more of a problem.

We sent this request for Public Information on July 14, 2011. Today is day 7 of the 10 day deadline.

As you see, it is very limited in scope, very detailed (as all others we have sent in the past) and not "burdensome" and time consuming to produce as Commissioner Lisa Birkman would have everyone believe. It is a document that was provided to the Commissioners Court on July 12, 2011. We cannot understand why there is such a delay in providing this document. But given recent events, the answers are becoming clearer as each day passes.

"This request is made under the Texas Public Information Act, Chapter 552, Texas Government Code, which guarantees the public’s access to information in the custody of governmental agencies. 

1.  Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, please provide all information regarding any document provided to the members of the Williamson County Commissioners Court by Bob Daigh, regarding facility improvements, additions and costs. This document was referenced several times in Commissioners Court on Tuesday July 12, 2012.

We will inspect, research and report on the findings once the document is turned over. We have also discovered another very disturbing issue that will be reporting soon.

 

   Lobbygate, Birkmancare, the Covey Castle, Investorgate, Commissioners Covey and Birkman's deceptive budget cuts that have forced budget amendments and future amendments and now this. The surprises keep rolling in.

    On Tuesday, July 12, Bob Daigh, Williamson County's senior director of infrastructure, delivered more than a million dollars' worth of  bad news.

    Even though the county and the State of Texas had combined to spend some $9 million[1] to restore the historic courthouse on the square in Georgetown, culminating in a dedication of the project on December 8, 2007, the fact that another million dollars would be needed so quickly raised eyebrows.

    According to various statements by county officials, the million dollars or so will be needed to seal the mortar between the bricks on the outer walls so that moisture doesn't get inside the walls, and to take care of “drainage issues.”  (It's known that there was a long-standing “leak” problem on the second and third floors at the northwest corner, so the question arises as to whether that particular problem remains unsolved.)

    The final 11 months of the project which ended about four years ago were overseen by all the current members of commissioners court, who either took office or already were in office on January 1, 2007.[2]   The dedication of the restored courthouse near the end of 2007 finally occurred after delays, postponements and problems which continued until the bitter end.

   Cost overruns began to plague the project after its beginning in 2003.  The initial, total cost was pegged in the neighborhood of $4.5 million.  In mid-2007, an obviously frustrated commissioners court terminated the consulting experts who had represented the county and took over directly.  That may have been the pivotal mistake because, in July of 2007, when commissioners received the keys, there were still a lot of things left to do and two other major items that were missing.

    The punch list of items left to do was described in an article in The Taylor Daily Press published on August 16, 2007 and titled: “County postpones courthouse rededication.”  One paragraph of the article stated:

   Reasons for the delay include the fact that the county does not have a certificate of occupancy, the new stairwell is not completed, benches in commissioners courtroom are not installed, the commissioners bench in commissioners courtroom is not constructed or installed, chairs in the balcony of the district courtroom are not installed, and the landscaping is not completed.

   The “to do” list, while aggravating and even serious, could be fixed, but it paled in comparison to the two missing pieces which members of commissioners court apparently felt were not very important, because they did nothing to find them.  And what were those pieces?  Simply put, they were (1) a warranty, such as the kind people have when they buy a new home, and (2) sufficient retainage from the contractor to cover anything that might come up later, such as a million dollars for sealing the outer wall.

   In that same August 16, 2007 article, Pct. 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey sought to explain the delay and was quoted as saying:

    “When we rededicate this historic landmark, we want the taxpayers to recognize the value of how their tax dollars have been spent,” stated Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey.  “We don't want to rush the opening and have the public see a building that does not look finished.”

     Obviously, Covey's priority was on cosmetics, the spit-and-shine, the gleam and gloss, but with no mention of structural integrity, warranty or retainage, or even sealing the outside wall.  She just wanted the place to look good.

     But now that another million dollars will have to be spent, the cover-your-backside statements already have begun.

     Connie Watson, the county's public information officer, was quoted in a July 22 article in The Round Rock Leader as stating:

    "The initial plan for the courthouse restoration was set up over 10 years ago. Ten years ago [commissioners] set priorities in order and - knowing that with a building this old maintenance and repair issues will need to be addressed - said: 'We can do this later.' Now, it's later."

   It's well documented that the county didn't get the state grant until 2004, and the detailed design plans ensuing from the more general plans for the grant application didn't emerge until 2005.  The actual renovation work didn't begin until mid-2005, which is only six years ago, not 10 years, as Watson claims.  And Watson thus suggests that since  the problem was created by natural entropy, it isn't anybody's fault and the issues of retainage, warranty, and finish-the-job completely” involving the renovation aren't in play.

    Watson's explanation more than suggests that a ten-year maintenance cycle with a million-dollar price tag (on top of the renovation cost) was expected, so it could come as no surprise now.

Some members of commissioners court have taken a stab at softening the pain as well.

In that July 22 Round Rock Leader article, Cynthia Long was quoted as saying:

"At our age we need a lot of maintenance. Think about double our ages."

   No one would dispute the need for maintenance on either an old building or an aging human body.  But then, that's not really the point here, is it?    The point, in the form of a question,   why didn't this commissioners court, which was in charge of this project for its final 11 months, see to the wall-sealing and drainage issues while the job was still in progress, and why didn't they make provision for retainage and/or warranty for the work?  But, focusing on comparing the county courthouse to an aging body is a convenient way of changing the subject.

  Another way of changing the subject is to propose that there is no crisis and plenty of time remains to fix it.  In the same Round Rock Leader article, County Judge Dan Gattis was quoted as saying:

  "These are things that we need to be considering, (but) not something that needs to happen  today."

   That statement provokes yet another question:  If there is no risk in simply waiting, why would Bob Daigh bring up the problem now in order for it to be considered in the context of the county's budget, which will be approved in August?

   And, reflecting Covey's spit-and-polish mentality from four years ago, Pct. 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman was quoted in the same Round Rock Leader article regarding the priority of style rather than substance:  “We're trying to determine if it's looks, or if it's a maintenance-driven issue.”

   Actually, the senior director of infrastructure, Daigh, a registered, professional engineer, cleared that up when he spoke to commissioners court on July 12.  According to Daigh, it is a maintenance-driven issue and not some exterior decorating problem.

  The exterior work performed on the restoration makes it more than evident that the most cost-effective time to seal the mortar between the bricks was during the renovation itself.  As stated in the article in The Taylor Daily Press from the December 5, 2007 issue: 

   Most prominent among the changes is the removal of the brick parapet installed in the 1960s and replacement of the original terra cotta triangular pediments and balustrades.

    In other words, renovation and maintenance are pretty much the same thing.  And as long as you have the aging body opened up, with the exterior scaffolding in place, go ahead and seal the mortar in between the bricks.  And just to add suspenders to the belt, go ahead and lock in the retainage/warranty so that anything that may come back to bite you—say, four years later--is covered.  And when that fateful day arrives, don't try to dodge the accountability.

   This million-dollar problem regarding the courthouse is really just a drop in the bucket compared to other physical plant issues in the county.  In that July 12 presentation, Daigh estimated that the county is looking somewhere in the ballpark of $100 million in infrastructure and utilities costs.  Perhaps instead of buying up all kinds of right-of-way and building a highway through nowhere (the north end of Ronald Reagan Boulevard) at this point in time, the physical plant needs should have been taken into account.

   The million-dollar courthouse problem is just one of three major, critical issues on the county's facilities front burner right now. 

  With the evacuation and crime-tape exterior of the county parking garage still a looming issue, members of commissioners court only seem interested in self-financing the seven-figure repair bill rather than going after whomever it was that designed, built and inspected the building. 

[1]    A grant from the state's Courthouse Restoration Project provided $3.75 million, and Williamson County provided the approximately $5.25 million balance.

[2]    Pct. 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman and Pct. 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey were the only members of commissioners court on January 1, 2007 who had been members of the prior court.  (Covey had not been elected but was appointed in 2006 to serve out the unexpired term of Tom McDaniel, who died while in office.)  The three others, Dan Gattis (county judge), Cynthia Long (Pct. 2), and Ron Morrison (Pct. 4), were sworn into office for the first time on January 1, 2007.  Gattis, because he was unopposed in the 2006 general election after having won the Republican primary, attended executive sessions of commissioners court during the last half of 2006 before taking office.) 

More breaking news coming soon...

Further research of  Commissioner Valerie Covey’s claims on her resume have revealed more discrepancies.

Financial Management Partners Inc.

Research has conclusively revealed that Commissioner Covey has never worked for the Texas Comptroller’s Office nor has she even applied for employment with that agency.

Commissioner Covey was employed by a vendor, Financial Management Partners Inc. The agreement between the Comptroller’s Office and Financial Partners Inc. required the vendor to certify and disclose that no one working on the assignment audit could be current employees of the Comptroller’s Office or have been employed by that agency within the prior 12 months.

Per the agreement between the Texas Comptroller’s Office and Financial Management Partners Inc, TMP Inc. acted as an independent contractor and its employees were not to be construed as employees of the Texas Comptroller’s Office.

Commissioner Covey attended contract auditor orientation beginning on December 16, 2002, for Financial Partner’s Inc.

The agreement between the Comptroller’s Office and Financial Partners Inc. terminated on August 31, 2003 due to unsatisfactory performance. See evaluation

The maximum period of time Commissioner Covey could have been performing state tax audits via Financial Management Partners Inc was just over 8.5 months, not two years as Commissioner Covey claims.

According to public records, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner Covey was not listed or otherwise disclosed as a manager in the agreement between Financial Management Partners Inc and the Comptroller's office.

Ernst & Young, LLP

No employment records could be located on a “Valerie Covey” or “Valerie Boyd” (maiden name).

The source also stated that entry level staff auditors supervise only the audit process, not personnel and is not considered a “management position”.

Attempts to verify written confirmation of Commissioner Covey’s employment at Ernst & Young were unsuccessful. A representative of the company stated records could not be located. However, sources at that firm stated that Audit Managers are required to have a minimum 5 years professional auditing experience and most have a Master’s degree.

We have more breaking news coming soon regarding Lobbygate and a new "transparency" issue.