What I am about to impart is going to come across to many as cruel and condescending so if you interpret it that way, let me apologize out the outset. There is a discussion currently taking place on Facebook among former council member Tammy Swaton, current council member Damon Fogley, Lila Knight, who has probably forgotten more about government than the first two individuals will ever know, and others on the subject of PIDs.
Swaton and Fogley are both at a distinct disadvantage here. Like many of the top officials in this city they are a pair of unsophisticated country bumpkins who have been sold a bill of goods by a corporation that exists for one purpose only – to profit from the creation of PIDs, especially PIDs created under their terms. These slickers sold our local folks a Chevrolet by convincing them it was a Mercedes. But, then, that’s exactly how confidence men operate. Don’t ever let the fish know he’s been hooked.
Do other cities use PIDs? Certainly they do. But it’s going to be difficult to find two PIDs that are constructed exactly alike. So to argue, like Fogley and Swaton are, that since many other cities use PIDs, the notion that our city leaders, by introducing PIDs, have done a wonderful thing to benefit all mankind or even one possible future Kyle homeowner is completely illogical. That’s like saying every city with a baseball stadium has a baseball team of equal caliber.
There are, however, certain features legitimate PIDs have in common. First and most important, the PID was created by a majority of the property owners within the district in question by signing a petition in favor of creating that PID. That’s an important distinction because it means the PID was created and the terms of the PID were agreed to by those who will actually be paying the PID assessments. They know and have agreed to the amount of their annual assessment before the petition is ultimately filed with the municipality. The way the PIDs will work in Kyle, those poor schmucks forced to pay the assessment have absolutely no voice in any part of the PID creation or its administration. Personally, I find it terribly disheartening and actually downright disgusting that just three days ago we honored those who stood up against taxation without representation while at the same time accepting city leaders here in Kyle who are forcing future residents to live under such a tyranny.
The other major difference is that it is the PID itself issues the debt. Now the city entertained a bunch of lying, thieving outlaws (the same ones that sold our inexperienced bumpkins this deal in the first place) who tried to say it was impossible for PIDs to work that way because there could be no lien on the property. That’s analogous to claiming individuals can’t purchase a new car with a loan, that money an individual needed to purchase a car could only be borrowed by a government entity. What happens if you fail to make payments on a car loan? The same thing that happens if payments are not paid on PID loans (and let’s keep in mind, when all is said and done, these are nothing more than loans) — the property is seized, it is liquidated and the proceeds are used to pay the bond holders.
Those, however, are about the only things PIDs have in common, although, unfortunately for the future homeowners of this one-horse town, PIDs in Kyle won’t even share those features. For example, different entities have different time lines within a development as to when a PID is created. Like I have pointed out in earlier articles on this subject and will prove again here, Dallas, to cite just one municipality, will not permit the use of PIDs for new development. They can only be created to pay for improvements in existing neighborhoods. Many other municipalities – Pflugerville is a good example of one in this area – employ PIDs as a last resort to complete funding of certain projects, relying for the most part on Tax Increment Financing, which is a much fairer system for the property owners and, unlike PIDs, really does prevent other parts of town from sharing in the rewards reaped by improvement in the PID district.
I have been writing about and covering governments all around the globe longer than Damon Fogley and Tammy Swaton have been alive. I know, for example, that Mayor Todd Webster’s new methodology for bringing agenda items before the council is goofy. He will try to tell you he’s following Roberts Rules of Order, but, as most knowledgeable government officials know, Roberts’ rules are rules for debating an issue, not discussing it. And if you don’t know the difference between debate and discussion, you don’t belong as an active participant in the legislative process. It’s like deciding to play tennis wearing roller skates. There’s nothing to prevent you from doing that. If you want to look stupid in the eyes of the world, so be it. But don’t try to convince anyone else that the proper way to play tennis is wearing roller skates. What we have here in Kyle, however, is a handful of city and former city officials who have never seen tennis played any other way so they just blindly accept the notion that playing on roller skates is the proper way to play tennis.
And when I describe Kyle as one-horse town, I am not making any reference to its size, only its sophistication and world view. Take in a City Council meeting at a much smaller community just up the road from us, Mountain City. Mayor Tiffany Canutt knows exactly how a city council agenda meeting is supposed to function. And she probably learned it from her predecessor and her predecessor learned it from the mayor before that. This type of intelligence has to be nurtured, you don't just pluck it out of the air. The truth may be painful to accept, but is the truth just the same. The little town of Mountain City gets it right, its much larger neighbor comes across as a tennis player on roller skates. And that's what I mean by a one-horse town.
Let me make something else absolutely clear. I don’t believe for even the briefest of seconds that either Swaton or Fogley are deliberately trying to deceive or swindle anyone. They are simply mouthpieces regurgitating the lies they have been fed and probably desperately want to believe. Look, Fogley is guilty of accepting illegal campaign contributions. Did he commit this illegal act because he was purposely trying to deceive or cheat anybody? I, for one, don’t think so. Personally, I am absolutely convinced he did it because he is new at all this and didn’t know any better. That’s why I have not even mentioned his illegal acts until now.
For all I care, you can give the man a tennis ball, a racket and a pair of roller skates the let the unknowing fellow have the time of his life.
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