The challenging task of remaining optimistic

 Two nights ago,  the city council held its most important meeting of the year. Not just the year to date, but the entire year. Two nights ago the council assumed the awesome responsibility of planning how much money the city should spend over the 365 days beginning Oct. 1 and exactly what they should spend that money on, as well as deciding the rate at which they would tax property owners in order to help pay for those expenses. And, as it should be, there were a host of concerned citizens ready to speak both in-person and remotely during the public hearings scheduled as part of last night’s agenda.

Except they weren’t concerned about the important part. They weren’t concerned about how the city was going to tax them. They weren’t concerned about how the city planned on spending the money that taxpayers were about to entrust them with. No, instead they were concerned about a comparatively trivial matter — a street name.

Don’t get me wrong. I was openly critical of the council’s decision last week to rename Rebel Road Fajita Drive. But, in the grand scheme of things, that road name pales in importance to the level of the city services our tax money is going to fund for the upcoming year – how the city plans on spending the money they receive from our tax payments.

Now I’m really going to try to be optimistic here. For the last 24 hours, I’ve been trying to convince myself that these people who spoke during last night’s public hearings don’t represent the thinking of the overall majority of Kyle citizens. I remain optimistic that the majority of Kyle’s residents, to reduce this to a personal level, actually do believe it’s more important to make sure their household has an income sufficient to meet their expenses than the name of a street they need to drive on to take their child to school. And I’m praying that the majority of Kyle residents aren’t as completely out of touch with the what’s going on in America today as too many of those speakers, who displayed a complete lack of empathy, were last night. But I’ll get back to that in a moment.

First, let me just throw some numbers to consider. The public meeting on the tax rate took all of three minutes and six seconds, most of which was consumed by City Manager Scott Sellers reading from the required text that must be a part of the record before any municipal government in Texas enacts a tax rate. The public hearing on the budget – how the city plans to spend all the taxpayers’ money over the next year — consumed a whopping seven minutes and 17 seconds. The public hearing on the name of one 1.67-mile section of a farm to market road consumed two hours, 29 minutes and 36 seconds. That is textbook for “Priorities Completely Out of Whack.”

I will admit, however, that, for the most part, the tone, the presentation, the content of what was said by the citizens during that marathon was civil. I did appreciate hearing something I had not heard before — the comment from one resident whose residence in Kyle predated 1969 when Sonny Falcon journeyed down from Austin to sell the very first fajita here. She said that event which was held in such high esteem at last week’s council meeting was not only not considered that big of a deal at the time, but also  not that big of a deal anytime after. And, frankly, I must say I believed her. She lived here back then. She should know about what was happening more than any of the rest of us who have located here after 1969. So, yes, I’m going to take her word for it. She probably accurately described, at least from her point of view, the mood of the city at that time. And her point of view, at least in the opinion of this writer, is absolutely valid and worthwhile and I don’t believe anyone who did come here after 1969 should challenge that validity.

There were, however, some absolutely painful moments. Like when some guy called in from Los Angeles to offer a definition of the word “rebel” even though such a definition, while possibly accurate, is completely irrelevant in today’s discussions of these issues. But that cringe-worthy moment absolutely paled to that drop-dead scene of someone named, I believe, Chevo Pastrano, who, demonstrating he is completely, totally, 100 percent out of touch with today’s realities, said in response to keeping “Rebel” as the name of the road in question “I don’t think anyone is going to be offended by that.”

That’s exactly the same thing as saying “Officer, I don’t think anyone is going to be offended if you keep your knee on the black man’s throat’s a little bit longer.” And I hope, I fervently pray, that the overwhelming majority of Kyle residents don’t share that total lack of empathy. And I’m going to be optimistic about the fact that they don’t. I’m not so optimistic as to believe they will be as equally offended by that name for the road, but only that, unlike Pastrano, they will recognize that other people will be. And hopefully, some of those folks will trying to understand why they are offended, even though they might not agree with them.

I’m a huge NBA fan. I did not watch Tuesday night’s city council meeting live because I was watching the unpleasant carnage that befell my beloved Dallas Mavericks at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers. But I also watched Clippers head coach Doc Rivers in his post game news conference and something he said literally brought tears to my eyes. “I love this country,” Rivers said. “Why doesn’t this country love us back?” Doc Rivers, for one, would be offended by keeping the name Rebel Drive. So would the all the members of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team who, in protest of another unarmed black man being shot seven times in the back by a white police officer a couple of nights ago in Kenosha, Wis., refused to take the court during yesterday’s playoff contest with the Orlando Magic. So would all the other NBA teams who displayed their solidarity with the Bucks so that the NBA was forced to postpone all three of today’s scheduled games until Friday, at the earliest.

Yes, I am going to remain optimistic. I’m going to keep telling myself that the overwhelming majority of Kyle residents have their priorities straight and that’s why they didn’t participate in last night’s circus. I’m going to keep telling myself that the overwhelming majority of Kyle residents accept the reality that those who are the targets of racism can indeed actually be offended by that racism. I’m going to keep telling myself that the overwhelming majority of Kyle residents are better than some of what I saw on display at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

I’m even going to be optimistic that some of the Kyle residents actually remember that they were warned three, four years ago, that water rates were going to have to be increased significantly this year because the city pledged to share the debt associated with financing a mammoth pipeline endeavor to deliver water to the city from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. Kyle’s share of the debt for this project through the end of 2021 is around $52 million, Finance Director Perwez Moheet reminded everyone Tuesday night. As with all debts, it must be paid. So I’m going to be optimistic that the individual complaining about the water rate increase was not just grandstanding, but that he simply wasn’t knowledgeable about this agreement and this debt obligation. I’m going to be optimistic that those citizens who claim they are examining the budget will also learn to examine the source of the funds they are concerned about (Hint: not all municipal expenditures come from taxes, so it’s foolish to assume that they do).

See, I’m trying. I really am. But it isn’t always easy. Especially when I hear that many of these people who haven’t a clue about what’s going on in this city, what the history is, what the solid reasoning is for these decisions, who don’t know how to actually read and understand a budget, have announced they are candidates for political positions.

For the record, the city council during Tuesday’s meeting officially lowered the property tax rate, albeit by only 2 cents per $100 valuation. They also adopted a budget for the upcoming fiscal year as they are mandated by law to do by no later than Aug. 29 (one person speaking at the meeting suggested passage of the budget be delayed, i.e., that the city should defy state law — but, still, I’m going to continue to try to be optimistic) with only a few minor changes. Sellers informed the council it had received a rebate check from the Texas Municipal League’s insurance pool in the amount of $37,000. Council member Robert Rizo suggested that $31,000 of that should be applied toward a 2 percent salary increase for the city’s department heads to match the 2 percent raise awarded to all other city employees in the current budget. The council unanimously agreed. Then council member Tracy Scheel suggested the remaining $6,000 be set aside to help businesses located along the former Rebel Road deal with the required change-of-address costs. That, too, was approved unanimously and enthusiastically.

Oh, and about that road. Officially, it’s no longer Fajita Drive. It’s not officially back to Rebel Road either. It will be referred to in polite society as FM 150, pending the appointment of an ad-hoc committee that will be assigned the task of recommending a permanent new name. Those ideas were also agreed upon unanimously, which is also cause for some optimism.

Like, I said. I’m trying. I really am.

Date change dilutes state of city address

 The Kyle Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of the City luncheon normally occurs in July, a week or two before the city manager unveils the proposed operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year and, thus, the speech often offers a valuable preview into the contents of that budget proposal. This year, however, today’s State of the City Address from Mayor Travis Mitchell came three weeks after the budget was originally presented — in fact, only hours before the City Council is scheduled to finally approve the budget and the new tax rate — and, as a result, was largely devoid of any major announcements. It was more like a recording artist issuing a greatest hits album instead of a collection of new songs.

Still, Mayor Mitchell said some things I found interesting, if not exactly earth-shattering.

First, and the detail I thought was most fascinating, was Mitchell’s mentioning that while Kyle and the rest of the state and nation are still in the grip of a deadly pandemic, local businesses are not only not exactly suffering from economic downturns, but, in reality, “We just recognized the most sales tax revenue in our city’s history in any one month last month.” These sales tax figures reflect sales during the month of June. “The June sales tax collections were over $1 million,” Mitchell said. “We’ve only breached $1 million a few times and this time was higher than we even forecast.”

As a result, Mitchell said, “Our budget is strong, and we’ve been able to reduce our tax rate.”

Mitchell also mentioned the fact that the Greater San Marcos Partnership and Hays County set aside $.5 million for small business grants during the pandemic and “We were the only city to partner with Hays County and the GSMP, adding $100,000 that we had received from the federal government and earmark those dollars specifically for Kyle businesses.

“So not only will Kyle businesses be receiving the $100,000 we have put forward, but they will also be receiving their share of the $500,000,” Mitchell said. “So it puts a lot of money into the small businesses in Kyle that were affected by COVID. We’ve already started issuing some of those grants to small businesses.”

Mitchell also spent a significant amount of time talking about the two bond proposals that will be on the November ballot — $37 million for a new police headquarters and $10 million for park improvements — proposals, which, if approved by voters, will mean that tax rate which is going down via tonight’s vote, will most likely be going up again this time next year.

Mitchell also reiterated that Hays County also has a parks bond proposal on the November ballot and, if it passes, $10 million in revenue from the sale of the those bonds will be used to match what Kyle’s bond sales generate. What I had not heard before was what Mitchell said next:

“Originally, the majority of those (county) dollars were to go to Wimberley and the Hill Country. We worked very hard to help the county see the value in the parks projects that we have here in Kyle. While we may not have vast open spaces for the preservation of aquifers and things like that, our park systems are just vital and they’ve never been more vital than they are going through this pandemic.”

Council blows education opportunity in street renaming

 Being an educator is a noble profession. And what is even nobler is the fact that every single one of us, at one time or another, will have the opportunity to serve as an educator. I vividly recall several years ago driving my son and his best friend through Austin on the way to San Marcos on I35. As we approached the Colorado River crossing, my son’s friend saw an exit sign and asked “Why did they name a street after a boxer?”

That question provided me the opportunity to be somewhat of an educator, to talk about the distinction between Julio César Chávez, a multiple time world champion boxer in three different weight divisions, and one of my all-time heroes, Cesar Chavez, one of the founders of the United Farm Workers labor union and the man behind the mid-1960s grape boycott, which I should admit, I supported enthusiastically. In fact, to this day, 55 years after the initiation of the boycott, I refuse to shop at a Kroger’s grocery store because it was the only major grocery chain that steadfastly refused to honor the boycott. Yes, one of my many faults is that I can hold a grudge for a very long time.

Back when I was attending the University of Texas in Austin, what is now Cesar Chavez Boulevard in Austin was called First Street, just like Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was 19th Street. Think about what might have happened if Austin city leaders back in the day came to the conclusion that they should honor the heroic efforts of Cesar Chavez by renaming First Street Grape Street. For one thing, I sincerely doubt my son’s friend would have asked me why Austin named a street after a popular fruit, which, of course, would have denied me the opportunity to act, if only briefly, as an educator.

The Kyle City Council, on the other hand, did, in fact, pull a Grape Street out of the hat last night when they voted 7-0 to rename Rebel Drive Fajita Drive.

For those who don’t know the background on this, in September of 1969, Austin meat market manager Sonny Falcon, operated the very first commercial fajita taco concession during a Dies y Seis celebration here in Kyle. That’s not to say the fajita was invented here. It’s not even accurate to say the very first fajita was concocted and served here. All that’s true is the Kyle was where the first fajita was sold. Falcon’s fajita, in fact, bore little resemblance to the dish we know today. It was actually Otilla Garza, who, after being served queso flameado on a cast iron plate during a visit to Acapulco, came up the idea of serving fajitas on a sizzling plate at his Round-Up restaurant in Pharr, Texas.

Which brings me back to the council’s missed opportunity for education in the street renaming. In conversations I had with city leaders on this subject during the last couple of weeks, I endorsed renaming the street Sonny Falcon Drive, because I firmly believed, and I still believe, the more intellectually inclined residents of and visitors to Kyle would ask when they saw the street signs “Who is Sonny Falcon” than will ask “What’s a fajita?” In fact Mayor Travis Mitchell, in his introduction to this agenda item, said it was time to honor “a true hero to the City of Kyle, Mr. Sonny Falcon,” and then proceeded to make sure the city failed to honor him and instead chose to memorialize something Falcon commercialized.

I actually cheered watching this at home when council member Michael Tobias said he liked the idea of renaming the street after Falcon as a way of honoring “the diversity we have here in Kyle, honoring the Hispanic culture and community that we have here in Kyle and the family that I’ve known for many years.”

Council member Robert Rizo interjected that Kyle already has a Falcon Street, located off Center Street across from Wallace Middle School. But that’s a faulty argument because there’s a huge difference between a Falcon Street, that could conceivably be named after a bird, and a Sonny Falcon Drive that’s pronounced as though his last name ended with the letter “e.” How many people have wondered aloud or even quietly “Why is that street named Falcon Street?”

Austin and other cities renamed streets after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez because they had the wisdom to realize it's important to celebrate and honor the person who altered society, not simply the alteration. It's troubling to realize that noble ideal is nowhere to be found here.

If the city was truly dedicated to the concept of honoring Kyle’s relationship to the Fajita, why didn’t city leaders attempt to market Kyle as “The Center of the Fajita Universe” instead of the “Pie Capital of Texas,” a distinction that also draws attention to a commercial enterprise, albeit one that makes the best freaking non-cream pies I ever tasted?

To me, Fajita Street is an excellent name for a restaurant located on a Sonny Falcon Drive.

There’s also questions about how the city went about renaming this street. The normal procedure for this type of action is for the city to notify everyone with an address on that street to collect their opinions on the renaming. For a commercial enterprise — and according to last night’s meeting there are 14 such enterprises located on Rebel Drive — a name change can be an expensive proposition, considering the money they may have invested just in stationary, business cards, invoices — all the various items and marketing tools that may have to be scrapped because of the name change. It also means changing bank records, notifying utility buyers, completing change-of-address cards, contacting on-line shopping providers, all as a result of an action for which those affected had no voice in the decision-making process. According to the debate last night, these business owners and the residents of Rebel Drive will actually be notified of this as a fait accompli. The city confirmed that today when it issued a news release on the name change that said "The City will send a certified letter to all affected business owners, property owners and current residents. Post office box holders along this roadway will be notified with a letter distributed by the postmaster." Council member Tracy Scheel said last night this fact bothered her, but apparently, like Tobias, it didn’t bother her enough to do anything about it. Anyone can have pangs of conscience, but leaders follow up those pangs with action.

One also has to wonder whether this action was the result of the council attempting to “do the right thing” or was it merely opportunism, tokenism? It’s worth speculating whether this subject would have even come to the attention of this council had not the name George Floyd been seared into the nation’s consciousness. Here’s one way we can discern the council’s motivation: Does this street renaming become a one-off event, simply a copycat reaction to Hays High School dumping the Rebel as the school’s mascot, or does the council “do the right thing” and authorize a comprehensive audit of the city’s streets to determine how many others, if any, have origins in the Confederacy and then begin the process of changing all those names?

“Over time, I think the name change will be accepted in the community,” Mayor Mitchell said last night. That’s absolutely true, for no other reason than “over time” the community won’t even be aware the street name was ever changed. What is sad is that, unlike a name such as Sonny Falcon Drive, this new name will simply be taken at face value, just like Falcon Street is today.

Council approves charter changes that will go to voters

The profound genius of the U.S. Constitution lies not in what it includes, but what it doesn’t include. That body of laws which all federal government employees must swear to uphold and defend hasn’t been amended since 1992 and that amendment, which delays laws affecting congressional salaries from taking affect until after the next election of representatives, finally became the 27th Amendment 202 years and 223 days after it was proposed. The 26th amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, celebrates its half-century anniversary as a part of the Constitution next July.

Yes, the profound genius of the U.S. Constitution is that is was so well conceived that it hasn’t really needed to be changed all that much in its 231-year history.

Then there’s the Kyle City Charter, which some wags I’ve talked to like to think of as the city’s version of the U.S. Constitution, but, of course, doesn’t come close to the structural integrity of that document. For example, in the misguided minds of city leaders, the city charter needs to be amended at least once every three to five years.

Why? There are many reasons, but I’m going to focus on two. The first is that when looking at possible charter changes no one thinks about whether the exact same objective desired by the charter change could be achieved by another method. “Hey, we want this to happen so let’s stick it in the charter.” Let me give you one example. There’s a provision in the charter that requires the city manager to live within the city limits of Kyle and when this subject came up for debate the argument revolved around whether the city manager should be required to live within the city limits of Kyle. No one, not one single member of the charter review commission or the city council, realized that was NOT  the subject that should have been debated — that is, if they really wanted a city governing document that, like the U.S. Constitution, stands the test of time. The debate should have involved whether that requirement belonged in the city charter or could the exact same objective be achieved by another method, say, for example, adopting an ordinance requiring it be included in any employment contract extended to a possible city manager.

Which leads me to the second reason the charter is amended so often. Those city leaders amending the charter today are basically saying they have absolutely no faith, no trust, in the future of this city. They simply assume that everything they believe is right and correct and they damn sure don’t want anyone coming along 50 years from now saying something different. “We are smart,” today’s city officials are saying. “Those that come after us, won’t be as smart as we are.”

Think I’m exaggerating? Council member Dex Ellison flatly said as much during the city council debate Monday night over a convoluted propose change in the charter involving the police department. “My concern,” Ellison said, “is what future councils will do, is what people three, four, five, 10 years from now will do. Will they continue to do all the things we’re talking about?”

But what happens when “all the things we’re talking about” become completely unnecessary or outdated? This new police-related charter change requires the department to use “social media” to make public certain police records and procedures. Fifty years ago, no one ever heard of “social media.” Will it even exist 50 years from today? No one knows for sure. There is absolutely no guarantee that the way information is disseminated today is the way it be disseminated in 2071, the year that will mark the 100th anniversary of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In fact, this proposed charter change has an expiration date in its very language. The last sentence of the proposed change that will be one of the many proposed charter changes on the Nov. 3 ballot reads “The City Council shall adopt an ordinance implementing the terms of this section.” What happens after the council adopts such an ordinance? As written, it could be argued that every new council would have to adopt such an ordinance or, and what is most likely, once such an ordinance is adopted, a future council is going to have to waste voters time and taxpayer money to hold another charter election to strike that sentence from the charter. Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows. It makes no sense.

Don’t get me wrong. The objective desired by the charter change is laudable. But is there any way it could be achieved without changing the charter? We don’t know because no one even bothered to ask the question. If the council has decided it needs to “adopt an ordinance implementing the terms of this section,” why not simply draft, debate and pass such a comprehensive ordinance without going to all the trouble of amending the charter requiring you to take that very step. “Mama, make sure I’m in bed no later than 10.”

The other significant proposed change to the charter would authorize the city council to call elections on non-binding propositions for the purpose of learning how voters react to a certain idea — basically a citizen survey conducted as part of an election. Do you need to change the charter to allow you to call an election to achieve the objective of measuring citizen sentiment? Perhaps. Or, perhaps, the city could hire a reputable polling firm to achieve the same objective without over-burdening an already overburdened charter document not to mention an electorate already overburdened by the number of elections held every year. But, just like in the debate on all the other proposed changes, no one sought to determine whether another means other than amending the charter could be employed to achieve the desired objective.

That’s why the Kyle City Charter is ultimately doomed for the garbage dump. It probably won’t happen in my lifetime — but then I’ve already been on this planet decades longer than any member of the city council — but I can assure you it will happen during my son’s lifetime. Some future city council is going to appoint a group of truly independent thinkers to a charter review commission and those folks are going to realize “Hey, this thing is a mess. Let’s scrap it entirely, and start from scratch and get it right this time. Let’s fashion a municipal constitution that truly does try to emulate the federal one.”

Bonds for new police station, park upgrades to be on November ballot

The Kyle City Council voted 6-0 Monday evening to ask voters whether they are willing to spend an average of $160.53 a year for the next 20 years in increased property taxes to build a new police station (the official rendering of which is pictured above) and an additional $43.37 a year for a new sports complex and upgrades to existing park infrastructure.

Voters will get to decide whether these additions and upgrades are worth the cost on the same Nov. 3 General Election ballot in they will also decide on three city council positions as well as such items as who they want to be president of the United States for the next four years.

According to a news release from the city, “In light of COVID-19, council has deferred the tax rate impact until October 2021,” which is not exactly true. If voters approve the bond measure, it is true that the first tax bills to include the additional taxes won’t be mailed until October 2021, but the reason has nothing to do with the pandemic and everything to do with the fact that, as Finance Director Perwez A. Moheet told the council, the bonds won’t be issued until March or April of 2021.

The price tag for the police station bonds is $37 million and the parks bonds would cost $10 million.

Moheet told the council the estimated property tax increase for the new police headquarters would be $.0744 per $100 valuation,

“For an average homestead in Kyle, which has a net value of $215,762, the annual impact of the tax increase will be $160.53 or $13.38 a month,” Moheet said. For Proposition B — the parks bonds — Moheet estimated the property tax increase at $.0201 per $100 valuation for an increased tax bill of $43.37 per year or $3.61 per month for that same home currently listed on the tax rolls for $215,762.

It’s important to note that Moheet’s estimates are based on the current evaluations which means there’s a possibility that the tax rate won’t have to be increased — that what might happen is property values will  increase enough to provide that $203.90 per year per household in additional tax revenue without a tax increase. But that’s a gamble the voters will be betting on when they make their decision at the polls in November. And, in the event of an economic recession akin to the one that hit in the early years of this century, failure to increase the property tax rate would likely result in the necessity to severely curtail much-needed city services.

Mayor Travis Mitchell along with council members Robert Rizo, Alex Villalobos, Rick Koch and Michael Tobias were particularly gung-ho about the bond proposition. Council member Dex Ellison, while voting to put the items on the ballot, did not speak on the issue and the seventh council member, Tracy Scheel, whose name will also be on the same ballot as she is seeking re-election to her District 2 seat, did not participate in Monday’s meeting.

“The truth is we’ve been passing the police department around in inferior facilities for the better part of a decade now,” Mayor Mitchell said. “That is certainly something you can get away with for a period of time. But we really have reached a point of no return. The city council is faced with the decision of whether we want to adequately invest in the police department with the resources they need to do their job or whether we think it’s appropriate to continue with the facilities they already have.”

Later in the meeting Mitchell said “Our residents deserve high quality public safety services in a purpose-built facility that will last for the next 20 years and beyond.”

According to the city's official statement, the police building bond proposition would pay for the construction of a 64,000 square foot, two-story facility "that would provide dedicated space to fully staff the police department – in a single location – with room to grow over the next 20 years. Additionally, the Public Safety Center would create dedicated space to create an Emergency Operations Center where the city could collaborate with surrounding counties and authorities during critical times such as natural disasters, community-wide security threats, or even pandemics like COVID-19."

Mitchell mentioned what is happening in Austin where its city council voted unanimously last week to eliminate funding for three planned police cadet classes and reallocating those funds to areas like violence prevention, food access and abortion access programs. Additional cuts in Austin would come from a year-long process that will redistribute money used for civilian functions like forensic sciences, support services and victims’ services to other departments. About $50 million would come from reallocating dollars to a “Reimagine Safety Fund” that would divert money toward “alternative forms of public safety and community support through the year-long reimagining process.”

“The City of Kyle is not defunding the police,” Mitchell said. “We’re investing in the department. We are not blindly supporting whatever the police want to do. What we’re really trying to do is take a balanced approach that includes investing in the department and at the same time allows for the community to have a bigger impact on the type of police department we want to see.”

Mitchell said Kyle is below the national average in the number of sworn police officers per 1,000 residents, although, as director of public information for the City of Dallas, I participated in a national audit cities with more than 500,000 in population that revealed that the cities with the lowest crime rates also had the lowest number of officers per 1,000 population. In addition, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) recently issued a white paper arguing this method should not be used by cities to determine proper police staffing.

The $10 million parks bond sale would be used to fund a sports complex and festival grounds ($7 million) at the northern edge of the Uptown Development, $2 million to upgrade the Plum Creek Trail east of the interstate and $1 million for improvements to Gregg-Clarke Park, which would include the installation of the skate park long advocated by the Kyle Area Youth Advisory Committee.

Theoretically, the $10 million would be matched by Hays County, contingent on whether county voters approve a $75 million bond proposal which will also be on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Mitchell said that translates into a total of $20 million “of parks improvements in the City of Kyle while the actual taxpayers in the City of Kyle would be responsible for only half that,” which is a tad disingenuous because Kyle residents also have to pay county taxes as well as city taxes. In fact, Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, noting the economic uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, said in statement “This may seem like an unlikely time for a bond election, but Hays taxpayers and voters deserve to have their say on this important decision.”

Thanks to Monday’s vote by the city council, so will Kyle taxpayers and voters.

Former San Marcos teacher, leader of recall effort join mayor’s race

Dave Abdel, a former San Marcos School District social studies teacher who currently works for the district as curriculum specialist, and Peter Parcher, who led the failed effort to recall the current Kyle mayor and another city council member, became the third and fourth candidates to seek the city’s top elected position beating Monday’s filing deadline by just hours.

Thus, the City of Kyle November General Election lineup is set with four candidates, including the incumbent, Travis Mitchell, running for mayor and two candidates each in the District 4 and District 2 races.

It’s worth noting that in two different sections of Abdel’s filing papers in sections labeled “Office Sought,” the term “District 4" was struck and replaced by the word “mayor.” 

"Initially I was going back and forth with the decision to run for mayor or city council," Mr. Abdel said. "I wanted to serve, and after a long talk with my family, surveying the options, I came to the conclusion that narrowing my focus to my district may be best. However, when I went to apply, my voter registration never changed when I moved from Amberwood to Plum Creek, thus my ineligibility for running in District 4. I considered this to be a sort of divine intervention, pointing me toward running for mayor."

It’s also worth repeating that Mitchell also faced three other opponents when he first sought the office of mayor three years ago and, not only did he win without a runoff, but he captured more than 60 percent of the total vote. In a year when a presidential race tops the General Election ballot, thus attracting what will most likely be the largest number of voters ever to cast ballots in a Kyle municipal election, this could also turn out to be the most expensive campaign ever waged in the city. This is especially true because a larger than normal amount of votes will be cast early in the election cycle meaning the three mayoral challengers have a compressed amount of time to garner name recognition and get their messages out to the larger voting public. 

Linda Tenorio, the fourth candidate in the mayor’s race, who three years ago unsuccessfully sued the city she now desires to lead, does have the recognition that comes with having a family name that’s already familiar in local political circles. She also served one term on the city council, but Kyle is a completely different city today than it was in 2005 when Tenorio was elected and the city’s population was only 18,683, compared to 52,300 today. Parcher attracted some notoriety for his recall effort, but that alone won’t be enough for an election that will attract this many voters. In terms of name ID alone, Abdel faces the most formidable challenge of the four, although he appears to have established a significant Twitter presence. According to his Twitter profile, Abdel has 1,001 followers, compared to 403 listed in Mitchell’s profile. Of course, what isn’t readily apparent, is how many of Abdel’s 1,001 followers are registered Kyle voters and how many of them are followers of Abdel because of his tenure as a social studies educator in San Marcos. It should also be noted, however, that Abdel taught at Kyle's Lehman High School.

Earlier Monday, Abdel tweeted: “As many who know me understand already, servant leadership is more than simply something I believe in, it is at the core of who I am. I believe I've been put on this Earth to serve, to help, to educate. It is my purpose, and a passion that I give all of myself to. So, as of early this afternoon I am officially a candidate for the office of Mayor of Kyle! I believe I have the skills, vision and leadership required to transform our town into a destination for ALL people that is safe, affordable and community focused.”

Speaking of tweets, in a reference to the lawsuit Tenorio filed against the city, Mitchell tweeted this weekend: "The path to public service should not start with a lawsuit against the people you wish to lead."

In one of the other two races, District 4, which includes the subdivisions of Plum Creek (the most politically active neighborhood in Kyle), Hometown Kyle, Silverado, Cypress Forest and Brooks Crossing, will have Planning and Zoning Commissioner Tim McHutchion, who was defeated by incumbent Alex Villalobos for this same seat three years ago, facing Ashlee Bradshaw, who has been active in the Plum Creek Homeowners Association and the Negley Elementary School PTA. Villalobos was barred from seeking re-election when he became the Democratic candidate for Hays County sheriff.

The final race is in District 2 which covers a large swath of South Kyle including most of Old Town Kyle as well as such subdivisions as Waterleaf, Bunton Creek, Post Oak, Quail Ridge, Woodlands, Sunset Ridge, Four Seasons and others. That race features a contest between incumbent Tracy Scheel, who ran unopposed when she was first elected three years ago, and Yvonne Flores-Cale, also part of the recall effort targeting Mayor Mitchell and Mayor Pro Tem Rick Koch. In that race three years ago, Scheel learned the day names were being drawn for ballot positions that she would run unopposed when her listed opponent Robert Rizo was declared ineligible because his listed residence was outside the district. Rizo has since won the at-large Place 3 seat on the council. 

Because this blog is called The Kyle Report ...

 ...I feel it’s my duty to inform you that we have our very own storm. 

It’s not a hurricane — most likely will never even become one — and the National Weather Service predicts it will never — ever — pose any danger to land, but it is a tropical storm and its name is Kyle. And since this is The Kyle Report, I feel it’s my solemn duty to report that, as of 5 p.m. yesterday, it was centered about 185 miles southeast of Atlantic City, N.J., heading east-northeast, away from land, at 17 miles per hour.

But here’s why we should take some semblance of pride in our namesake storm. Tropical storms and hurricanes are named sequentially by letter at the beginning of each storm season. With K being the 11th letter in the alphabet, Tropical Storm Kyle is thus the 11th named storm this season. But what makes it special is that it is the earliest 11th named storm on record. In fact, on average, a K-named tropical storm or hurricane forms on Nov. 23. So Tropical Storm Kyle coming along in August is somewhat of a big deal or, if you’re a proponent of the effects of climate change, a somewhat scary big deal.

Here’s something else I found somewhat scary. Before our Tropical Storm Kyle came along, the earliest K-named storm in history formed on Aug. 24 2005. You may have heard of it. It was called Hurricane Katrina.

Anyway, according to the NWS “Kyle is a minimal tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, which are predicted to increase to 50 mph over the weekend. By early next week, as it races north over colder water, it is expected to transition to a nontropical weather system over the North Atlantic.” 

There you have it — a genuine Kyle Report.

Woman who sued city files for mayor

 Linda Tenorio, a member of a prominent local political family and a woman who lost a lawsuit she filed against the City of Kyle three years ago, has filed to run for mayor of the city she sued against incumbent Travis Mitchell in the Nov. 3 General Election.

Tenorio faces an huge uphill battle against Mitchell, who, three years ago, captured more than 60 percent of the vote against three opponents in his initial mayoral bid.

Tenorio, along with her husband, Abel, filed suit Nov. 27, 2017, against the City of Kyle and the Union Pacific Railroad stemming from damages caused to her home on Live Oak during the so-called “Halloween Eve Floods.” In addition to the actual claims of damages, she also alleged the city and the railroad should pay her $30,000 for mental anguish as a result of the flooding and her husband asked for $25,000 compensation for mental anguish.

The Tenorios claimed the railroad trimmed trees in their neighborhood and that those trimmed branches ultimately blocked a culvert under the railroad that caused the flooding in their neighborhood. Linda Tenorio and her husband claimed the city was liable because it knew of the blockage and failed to correct the problem. In addition to the mental anguish claims, the pair sought $56,000 to restore their home and another $30,000 for diminished value on the home.

The city and the railroad prevailed in the lawsuit.

Linda and Abel are members of a family that also includes Willie Tenorio, the District 2 HCISD trustee, and Daphne Tenorio, former Kyle city council member and the Democratic nominee for Hays County Tax Assessor Collector in the November elections.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Linda and Abel Tenorio as the aunt and uncle, respectively, of Willie and Daphne Tenorio.)

Espinoza withdraws from council race, Plum Creek resident enters

Jesse Espinoza, the former Kyle police sergeant fired for insubordination who then sued the city in attempt to get his job back, has dropped his bid for a spot on the city council after “speaking with my attorney.” In a separate action, Ashlee Bradshaw, active in the Plum Creek neighborhood, has filed to oppose Planning & Zoning Commissioner Tim McHutchion in the District 4 race.

With the deadline for filing just four days away, that leaves five persons running in three races. Mayor Travis Mitchell and District 2 council member Tracy Scheel are seeking re-elections to second terms. Scheel is opposed by Yvonne Flores-Cale, who failed to unseat council member Dex Elllison in last year’s council election. McHutchion, the manager of a local self storage location and a member of the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission, and Bradshaw, active in the Plum Creek Homeowners Association and the Negley Elementary School PTA, are opposing each other for the seat being vacated by Alex Villalobos who defeated McHutchion three years ago, right around the time Bradshaw moved to Kyle.

Espinoza sent an e-mail to City Secretary Jennifer Holm yesterday saying “After reviewing the City of Kyle City Charter and speaking with my attorney I would like to withdraw my name from the District 2 Council seat.” 

Kyle middle school band director arrested for child pornography

 Kyle police arrested 30-year-old Dahlstrom Middle School assistant band director Tyler Townsend today on charges of possessing or promotion of child pornography and intimated that the suspect could have had in his possession “invasive” photographs of Dahlstrom students taken without their knowledge.

According to a Kyle Police Department prepared statement, police had a search warrant for Townsend’s residence that was granted as part of a child pornography investigation.

“Several electronic devices were seized from Townsend’s home during the execution of the warrant,” according to the statement. “After reviewing the devices, Kyle Police found that invasive visual recordings of unknowing students were on Townsend’s cell phone. Police are working to identify the victims of these visual recordings and will notify victims directly.”

A statement from Hays CISD stated: “During the course of the police investigation, law enforcement notified Hays CISD that invasive, but not pornographic, photos of unknowing female students, possibly while in school at Dahlstrom, were discovered on Townsend’s cell phone.”

The district said it placed Townsend on administrative leave back on July 27, the same day it was notified police were looking at Townsend as part of a child pornography investigation. Townsend resigned four days later.

Townsend’s arrest comes almost five years to the day he first came to Dahlstrom.

“Townsend’s duties as assistant band director at Dahlstrom included directing the campus symphonic and jazz bands, and the percussion program,” the district said today in a prepared statement. “When Dahlstrom was a feeder middle school to Hays High School, Townsend sometimes assisted with the Hays High School marching band program. In August 2019, Dahlstrom became a feeder pattern for Johnson High School, but Townsend did not assist with the Johnson High School marching band program after the school opened last school year.”

Townsend was charged with 10 felony counts of possession or promotion of child pornography and 10 felony counts of invasive visual recordings. Each count of the third degree felony carries a possible sentence of two to ten years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000. If any of the victims are younger than 14, it becomes a second-degree felony with each count carrying a sentence of two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Townsend was booked into the Hays County jail.

“Child pornography is not a victimless crime and we are dedicated to working this case with the utmost diligence and are leaving no stone unturned,” Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said in statement.

Disgraced former police officer joins city council race

Jesse Espinoza, indefinitely suspended from the Kyle Police Department for “insubordination, untruthfulness, violating the city’s Code of Ethics, conduct prejudicial to good order, conduct bringing discredit to the department or profession” and several other offenses, has filed to run against incumbent Tracy Scheel in the District 2 city council election.

Yvonne Flores-Cale, who failed to unseat council member Dex Ellison in last year’s election, has also filed papers to oppose Scheel in the November elections.

Espinoza was indefinitely suspended from the Kyle Police Department on May 15, 2015 on charges he lied to investigators concerning allegations he conspired with Louisiana anesthesiologist Dr. Glen Hurlston to have Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett fired. Espinoza appealed the suspension but it was upheld March 2, 2018, by Civil Service hearing examiner Paula Ann Hughes who wrote: “The City has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Espinoza violated numerous rules, orders, codes and policies of the City of Kyle. There is no mitigating circumstance that causes this to be an exception to proper police procedures and behavior. Having Espinoza reinstated to the department would impact the morale and efficiency of the department in a negative manner.”

In a somewhat ironic touch, Hughes also wrote in her decision: "Espinoza stated he was the third most important person in Kyle and he acted like the rules, procedures and processes did not apply to him. The City Council runs the city, not one policeman."

Now Espinoza is seeking to trade in that role of one policeman for a spot on the city council.

 

Council gives preliminary nod to mixed-use zoning on south Philomena

There is a significant difference between zoning and reality.

The only thing zoning accomplishes is to designate what’s permitted to be located on the property being zoned. It doesn’t actually force anything to be located there. It doesn’t actually mean something will be located there.

Several council members made a big deal — perhaps too big a deal — over the fact that they approved Tuesday the very first piece of land in Kyle to be zoned for a mixed use development. The vote to approve the mixed-use zoning was one-part of a three-part deal involving property near the southern tip Philomena Drive. The mixed-use zoning was applied to what is labeled as “Tract 2" in the photo to the left. In the same vote, Tract 1 was zoned for retail services and Tract 3 was zoned for apartments.

It would be wonderful if a mixed-use project became a reality on Tract 2. Personally, I am a big fan of properly-designed mixed-use developments. I personally witnessed how they economically rejuvenated rundown neighborhoods in Dallas, so when I was on the Planning & Zoning Commission I helped develop mixed-use as a zoning designation for Kyle.

According to the definition found in Kyle’s zoning regulations, land zoned for mixed-use will feature “buildings with activity center retail, service, and other commercial uses on the ground and lower floor(s), and residential units above those nonresidential space(s); as well as encourage development that exhibits the physical design characteristics of pedestrian-oriented, store front-style shopping; and promote the health and well-being of residents by encouraging physical activity and greater social interaction.” I know that’s wonky language, but to get an idea of what that language means look at the picture here of the mixed-use development just south of us on Springtown Way in San Marcos.

But, as far as the Philomena Drive project is concerned, I will wait until a design is in place, a contractor is named and ground is actually broken on it before my excitement mounts to the level that a few council members displayed during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled council meeting.

“I am very excited that we finally have a landowner in Kyle that is looking to adopt MXD (the mixed-use zoning designation),” Mayor Pro Temp Rick Koch said. “It’s pretty awesome.”

One thing I am willing to bet on and that’s an apartment complex will be located on Tract 3 (unless, of course, council members try to pull a switcheroo between the first and second readings of this zoning ordinance and, truth-be-told, a couple of them hinted at just that Tuesday). The reason for that is the people behind this project, according to what David Cancialosi of Permit Partners told the council, are primarily developers of apartment complexes. Not only that, developers get a bigger monetary bang for their investment bucks with apartment complexes than many other types of developments. The developers are selling this idea based on their plans not to have the apartments located right on the I-35 frontage road even though an apartment complex is already located on that frontage road just a few hundred yards north of this proposed development.

Council member Dex Ellison was one of those who wondered why both Tracts 2 and 3 couldn’t be zoned for mixed-use. “The only thing that makes me comfortable with it is the mixed-use and retail services are the ones along the interstate and the multi-family is in the back,” he said. But he added “Would there be any consideration for doing a different zoning (on Tract 3)?”

“We really like to do apartments,” Cancialosi replied. “It’s part of the plan.”

Cancialosi conceded, however, he would “confer with my client” before the final reading of the ordinance in order “to bring back a more concise answer.”

Even though this, as was noted earlier, the first piece of land in Kyle to receive the mixed-use zoning designation, it’s doubtful to be developed as the first mixed-use project in the city. That distinction will probably belong to the Uptown Development on the northwest corner of FM 1626 and Kohlers Crossing.

But that project is under the auspices of a development agreement which makes it a reality. And, as I said at the beginning, there is a significant difference between zoning and reality

Council passes proposed charter changes knowing they probably will be killed in two weeks

The political term for this is “kicking the can.”

In a strictly parliamentary move, the City Council voted Tuesday on first reading to let voters decide on whether they want to allow voter initiatives and police/community collaboration language to be included in the city charter, even though neither of those changes may ever actually get placed on the ballot.

What the council effectively said was “Why kill these items now when we can think about killing them during the next two weeks and then kill them at our next meeting.”

This may sound a lot more Machiavellian than it actually was. And a lot of it came to pass because, quite frankly, the ballot language for the charter changes in question wasn’t in a form that council members felt really comfortable voting on Tuesday evening. They figured the wording on these items will be in much better shape in two weeks so why not just wait until then to give them a lethal injection.

All this came about as a result of the recommendations of the most recently formed Charter Review Commission. The commission recommended a series of changes to the charter and the City Council last Saturday agreed to pass along three of them — items on annexations, voting locations for special elections and the aforementioned police/community involvement change. The first two are small, non-controversial changes that may leave many voters wondering why a change is even needed and the third was supposed to be reworded from what the commission recommended to new wording drafted by council members Dex Ellison, Michael Tobias and Alex Villalobos.

The fourth item — arguably the most interesting one — was the brainchild of Mayor Travis Mitchell who said that between the time he first brought up the idea on Saturday and Tuesday’s council meeting “I have sort of cooled on the entire idea.” His plan was to include language in the charter which would grant the council the authority to call non-binding referendums so that voters could voice their opinion at the ballot box on … well, any subject five council members agreed the voters should be allowed to voice their opinion on. I know that sounds a tad ambiguous, but that was essentially the idea.

Apparently what happened between Saturday and Tuesday was that City Attorney Page Saenz sought feedback from other municipalities who use citizen ballot initiatives and that feedback wasn’t as positive as anticipated.

“I got your email about the various cities you tracked down and they way they deal with these items and it was very helpful,” Mayor Mitchell told Saenz during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I will say that it cooled me off toward the idea of initiatives because the feedback seemed fairly reserved.”

Saenz also said more changes were needed in the police/community ballot language.

Mitchell said it might be better if the council approved all four potential changes Tuesday on first reading so that they could be looked at more carefully on second reading during a special meeting the council has scheduled for Aug. 17.

“I’m thinking we won’t recommend all four during the second reading,” Mitchell said. “But if we take them out now, they will be completely lost to us. I know the police provision is due for revision and possible elimination, along with the ballot initiative, so it would be my preference to send the whole thing forward for second reading so on the 17th we can decide what we want to put on and what we want to take off.”

An argument for more council briefings from city department heads

During yesterday’s debate on whether additional money should be diverted to the Economic Development Department’s advertising budget, city council member Alex Villalobos asked department director Diana Torres why she needed the additional funds. She told him that back in February, her department had concocted the grandiose outreach plan that loosely revolved around the department’s 15th anniversary and was designed to reach those decision makers involved in business locations. “I wish I had known about that earlier,” Villalobos replied and I immediately realized “He’s absolutely correct. He should have known about that. And what’s more, we, the tax-paying citizens of Kyle should have known about it as well.”

Allow me to backtrack a bit. I’m a big fan of Kyle City Manager Scott Sellers. During my (thankfully) long (and some may say “notorious”) professional career, I’ve worked alongside, consulted, advised between three and four dozen city managers around this country. I’ve been up close and personal with the good, the bad and the ugly of city managers — from the excellent to the utterly incompetent — and, you’re going to have to trust me when I say this, but Sellers is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

But one thing Sellers could really improve on is keeping the council — and in the process, the taxpaying residents of Kyle — better informed on what’s going on within the various city government offices and departments. The most-often asked question I hear from citizens revolves around the central idea of “How are the folks at City Hall spending our tax money?” There’s an easy, efficient way Sellers can satisfactorily answer that question and that is to regularly schedule formal departmental briefings for the city council.

Which brings me back to the “I wish I had known about that earlier” comment from council member Villalobos. Back in February, when Torres conceived her outreach plan, Sellers should have prepared her to make a formal presentation to the council — and hence to the rest of us great unwashed — to announce this project, and, incidentally, lay the groundwork for the next budget discussions.

In fact, Sellers should schedule at least one formal council presentation per month by a department head, either during the first or second council meeting of each month. In the almost six years I have been following this council, the only department head I see regularly briefing council is City Engineer Leon Barba, who will briefly describe the latest reasons for delays in the road bond projects. And every once in a while, Assistant City Manager James Earp will talk about a pending development agreement, but that’s only because council action is needed on the subject. No one conducts public briefings to the council during the regularly scheduled council meetings just for the sake of keeping council members, along with those of us who supply the funds that keep them in business, informed — up-to-date — on what’s going on inside City Hall.

Following yesterday’s discussion of the upcoming budget, the council weighed in on proposed changes to the city’s charter. During those conversations, Mayor Travis Mitchell expressed his desire to somehow, some way, change the charter language in such a way as to promote a higher percentage of Kyle’s registered voters to actually cast ballots during city elections. Council member Robert Rizo mentioned the fact that just a few hours earlier the council had voted to add two more employees to the Communications Department and perhaps those folks could get the word out. At that moment, alarm bells should have sounded in the office of the city manager and in the head of Samantha Armbruster, the city’s director of communications: “We need to get to work immediately to develop a crackerjack measurable get-out-the-vote communications plan.” And once that plan is developed, but before it is launched, Sellers should schedule Armbruster to announce the plan during a formal council briefing, a  complete dog-and-pony show with slides and any other audio/visual material that would aid in selling the concept. Give council members the opportunity to ask questions about the plan, offer advice, to become a part of the project and, perhaps even more importantly, give Kyle residents a preview of what’s in store.

This is just one example of a possible subject for a monthly formal council meeting from a city department head. I trust the inventive minds of Sellers, Earp and others to think of others. Charge the individual department heads with the responsibility for developing subjects on which the council and the rest of the us, should be briefed and then prepare those briefings.

One bit of cautionary advice: prior to these department heads delivering these briefs to council, they should conduct a dress rehearsal to a small group to top city administration officials consisting of, say, Sellers, Earp, and Jerry Hendrix (listed as the city’s chief of staff, but the upcoming budget completely defunds the office of chief of staff and I have no clue what that means for Hendrix or the higher-echelon of the city’s administration). They could possibly anticipate the questions council members might pose about the plan during the presentation and then develop the best responses to those questions. But even more important, they could spot holes, weaknesses in the presentation and make recommendations for improvements before it goes to council.

These once-every-month council briefings could go a long way to not only satisfy the “I wish I had known about that earlier” concerns of Villalobos and other council members but answer that “How are the folks at City Hall spending our tax money?” question posed in one way or another by residents.

A little knowledge can go a long way.

Council decides to bring four possible charter changes to voters

The City Council decided today to ask voters to consider four possible changes to the city charter — three of which were recommended by the Charter Review Commission — as part of the November General Election. The changes involve annexation policy, polling places, police/community collaboration and voter initiatives.

The council will be presented with the proposed ballot language during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday and take the first of possibly two votes at that time on whether to actually put the proposed changes on the ballot.

The voter initiative suggestion is arguably the most interesting item suggested if, for no other reason, it is one that was not recommended by the Charter Review Commission. As proposed by Mayor Travis Mitchell it would allow the council to call elections so that voters can decide on certain issues, in either a binding or a non-binding referendum. As outlined, five council members would have to approve an item before it could be placed before voters.

The annexation and polling place changes are largely procedural and serve mainly to bring the city charter in compliance with state law. The final change would mandate, according to the recommendation of the commission, that the “City of Kyle Police Department shall collaborate with community members to develop policies, strategies, data sharing and deploy resources that aim to reduce crime by improving relationships, increase community engagement, and promote cooperation.” Three council members — Dex Ellison, Alex Villalobos and Michael Tobias — thought that language was too ambiguous and agreed to collaborate on more precise wording they wanted to present to the voters.

Proposed city budget reduces property tax rate, but increases utility rates

City Manager Scott Sellers unveiled a $134.2 million proposed city budget today that recommends a 4 percent reduction in the property tax rate but increases water and wastewater rates by 10 percent.

However, even with the proposed reduction in the property tax rate from $.5416 per $100 valuation to $.5201, the average homeowner will pay about $100 more in property taxes to the city in 2021 than they paid this year because of an average 8.5 percent increase in property valuations. According to the budget figures presented, 20 percent of an individual’s total property tax bill will go the city, while more than twice that amount — 53 percent — will to the Hays Consolidated School District, and 14 percent will go to Hays County. The remaining 13 percent is divided among several smaller taxing authorities.

The water rate increase projects to $7.28-per-month in the average water bill and the wastewater fee hike will mean an average monthly increase of $4.28 in that bill, Sellers told the city council in his presentation of his proposed budget.

The budget is now in the hands of the city council that can juggle any of the funds before it has to be approved on the second reading of the budget ordinance Aug. 25. The council will also have the opportunity to offer additional budget amendments at a meeting scheduled for Aug. 18, during which time they will also vote on first reading of the ordinance.

A slight majority of the total budget — 57 percent — is devoted to capital improvement projects and 30.5 percent of those capital improvement expenditures will be devoted to two items, a proposed Public Safety Center that’s dependent on voter approval in November, and the expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant from a capacity of 3 to 4.5 million gallons per day.

(Click here to see the complete budget presentation.)

“The council has made it very clear over the course of the last several years that this (capital improvement projects) is a priority and we have heard that loud and clear,” Sellers said.

Where the individual council members — particularly Mayor Travis Mitchell — seemed to have the most concern was the $1.3 million side aside for the establishment of 25 new positions while, at the same time, no merit increases were proposed for current employees, except for police officers, whose union-negotiated contract guarantees them a 7.3 percent pay increase this year. Mitchell suggested eliminating several new positions that would allow for an overall 2 percent merit pay increase for non-uniformed city employees.

“We’ve reduced economic development’s budget, which I’m always hesitant to do because economic development drives a lot of our future revenues,” Mitchell said. “What I want to know is whether it is appropriate and wise to add some of these (new positions) that arguably could be delayed. Is it appropriate to add this many new positions while not doing merit increases this year? In my mind there are ways we can change these new positions presented here in order to create a margin that we need to allow for the merit increases to back into the budget.”

Several council members said instead of creating new positions in the Parks and Public Works Department, it might be more beneficial to the city to add positions to the Communications Department.

Following a lunch break the council voted to eliminate five of the proposed 25 new positions along with equipment that accompanied those positions and use those savings for two new positions for the Communications Department, adding $10,000 to the Economic Development Department’s advertising budget and a 2 percent merit pay increase for all civilian employees below the level of the department heads.

The presentation of the annual budget, which usually begins around 8 a.m. on the first Saturday of August, was delayed two hours this time around because the council decided to conduct a closed-door executive session to discuss the proposed new Public Safety Center.