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How many people have read the City Charter? Very few I would I guess. What would make better small talk at your next social event than the Charter? You could be the life of the party. It’s really not a bad read. Basically, it’s 32 pages of do’s and dont’s that govern the way the City is to run. To some this may sound inane but in actuality it’s a very important document. These do’s and dont’s are supposed to be black and white, but as times change so do the shades of grey. It has been 10 years since the Charter has been reviewed by an appointed group of citizens. The last Charter Review Committee was charged with making sure the document was in compliance with state laws and was in keeping with the direction that the City was moving. I had the privilege of serving on this committee and while I can tell you that we suggested some important changes, we didn’t anticipate everything the Council might face 10 years later. One issue we didn’t anticipate was the issue of awarding millions of dollars of contracts to a sitting Councilman. The current situation is unprecedented in our local politics and should be discussed in this type of forum.

All this being said, I have yet to convince my fellow Councilmembers that there is merit to this idea. For those of you that have been cheering me on from the sidelines in my crusade to get the Council on board, I need some help. First, please make your opinion on this topic known to the other Councilmembers. Second, please let me know of any issues with our current Charter that you think need to be reviewed. Click here to view a PDF of the document.

Have you ever wondered about the phone calls and politics of math?  I’m not talking about super-delegates or the popular vote.  I am talking about the kind of math that drives action or inaction by your locally elected representatives.

I remember, not so long ago, when my boy’s answer to any addition question was the obligatory “lots”. “Ezra, what is one plus one?” I would ask. Without even looking up he would answer “lots”.  “What about two plus two?” After giving me the why are you bothering me look, he would again answer “lots”.  Finally, I would ask him what 9,367,987 plus 690,000 was. He would mumble “lots” as he walked out of the room looking for a more exciting playmate.

Here’s how the math of lots works when applied to city politics.
1 call = calls
2 or 3 calls = lots of calls
3 or more  = a whole lot of calls

The word “lots” is such a handy word to use in place of actual numbers.  Which comment by your city councilperson would best move people to action?
“I got a call about this issue and I want something done about it!”
“I”ve been getting lots of calls about this and I want something done about it!”
“I’ve gotten a whole lot of calls about this and I want something done about it!”

You see how helpful the word is?  I think it was created specifically for the purpose of being clearly ambiguous.  The next time you need to make a case and the numbers don’t help your cause just substitute the word lots and see what happens.

By the way, I have lost count of the number of calls, letters and emails concerning my stand on awarding construction contracts to a sitting councilman.  And I’m not blowing smoke!  I was amazed at the number of people that actually watched the entire video of the discussion I posted a couple of weeks ago.  The overwhelming consensus by lots of voters is that it is a problem that needs to be addressed.  Remember you have a lot more power than you think. It doesn’t take a lot of calls to make big things happen!

Last Sunday, there was a water line break on North 1^st around the corner from my home. KaBoom, the line blew and all of a sudden there was a 50 ft geyser spraying into the air. I tried to fix it myself to no avail. Man, that water was really coming out hard. Check out the picture below if you don’t believe me.

This got me to thinking about the condition of the water and sewer infrastructure on the North and East sides of town. We have miles and miles of water lines and sewer pipes that were installed 50+ years ago. In fact, I’ve been told that some of the sewer lines installed during the war are actually made of paper since iron was in short supply. The approximate cost to replace one mile of an existing water or sewer line is one million dollars. I know, I know, there’s that million-dollar figure again. For those of you that are literalists please note that I used the word “approximate.”

Replacing our aging water and sewer lines has been a top priority during my tenure and will continue to be a focus for the rest of my term. I believe it’s really easy to get caught up in planning for, and looking towards, the future. But we also need to be diligent in making sure we’re taking care of what we have.

The photographs were taken by Alisa Ozment.

Judging from the response to my last post, there were a number of you readers dying to post a comment. Alas, I don’t allow comments, and I thought I’d tell you why.

There are several blogs that I read where the comments are as much fun to read as the posts themselves. I think comments are great, though not for me. The main reason is that I would feel compelled to answer every comment or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes me way too much time just to write new posts let alone the time it would take to even think about responding to comments.

Last of all, some comments have been a little too over the top when it comes to diagnosing what ails the City and who’s to blame for the ailment. While I do like provocative, I don’t do incendiary.

So, until I have a whole lot more time, say when my kids graduate from high school, this blog will be a “comments free” blog. For those of you who want to take issue, or better yet agree, with a post feel free to send me an email at tony@tonyjeter.com . I promise I have thick skin so don’t worry about hurting my feelings.

First of all, I am not one of those people that predict the demise of newspapers. It seems like every day there is another article online that is lamenting the end of newspapers. I am actually a fan of ‘em. In fact, there are very few things I enjoy more than spending an hour each evening reading the Wall Street Journal. The Journal is interesting, relevant and educational and thus I am willing to spend my finite time reading, exploring and learning about the world via the printed page. That being said I spend little time reading the Telegram. The reason being, it is not even slightly interesting, relevant or educational to me.

The one thing the Telegram could do better than anybody else is local news. This is the one thing it chooses to be subpar in. Case in point, at the last council meeting we spent almost an hour discussing the topic of conflicts of interest and how it relates to Councilmembers’ businesses. We discussed what the City Charter had to say about it, current State laws, and how we interpreted it in context with the controversy surrounding the awarding of City contract to sitting Councilmembers. The discussion was civil yet spirited. A lot of points and counterpoints were made. The people that sat through the meeting or watched it on TV will have a much better idea on where the individual Councilmembers stand on this issue. They will have a real foundation on which to form their beliefs and opinions concerning the topic and their elected officials.

What a great opportunity for the newspaper to educate the community on this most important issue. What a great opportunity to fulfill their civic responsibility. What a great opportunity to be relevant, interesting and educational. Instead it is seven days and counting and nothing meaningful has been written on this topic. The silence is deafening. There are a whole lot of people that depend on the Telegram for their local news. They form their views and opinions based on what they read or don’t read and if it ain’t in the paper it must not be important.

This is the main reason I started this blog. While you may not agree with me you will at least know where I stand, and I am more than happy to pick up the slack on being relevant, interesting, educational and yes, even provocative.

BTW, I uploaded a video of the full discussion on Google Video for your viewing pleasure. Click here to check it out. It is a little long but I think it will be time well spent.

I have had people ask me why the City will not disclose the locations of the proposed new fire stations being voted on this weekend. People have expressed to me, on more than one occasion that they think the locations are already a done deal. I can honestly say that we really don’t know where either the main fire station  or fire station #8 will be located. There are multiple sites being considered.

The following are some of the reasons why it is not a good idea to publicly make information available on proposed land acquisitions by the City:

Disclosure of specific locations could fuel speculative property purchases, driving up the cost of the property.

Disclosure of specific locations could create some ‘false’ expectations for both potential sellers and nearby property owners.

Disclosure of specific locations and the resulting increase in the cost of property acquisition could cost taxpayers more.

Disclosure of specific locations has little to do with whether the need for the stations exists. The ability to continue to maintain current services and service levels is not directly related to where a particular station will be located.

There are operational advantages and disadvantages of particular sites for both the main fire station and Station 8 and the City is still evaluating the relative merits of different sites.

Disclosure of specific locations could adversely impact the bond election process as some voters might believe (incorrectly) that the City has already decided upon the need for the stations, by the acquisition of the property, in advance of the voters approving the projects at this time.

Finally, if a location were designated in the bond the voters approved it would not give the City the flexibility to pick an alternate location out of necessity. For instance, what if the City and the property owner could not agree to terms? The City would either have to build on that location or go through another election to change locations.

Whew! I’ve lost count of the number of you readers that have razzed me about my last post “Great Deal.” It seems that everyone thinks I either made a mistake or greatly exaggerated my comment about the $1,000,000 the City spends on street and traffic lights. Evidently it was even the topic of several Sunday lunches. So which is it?  Error or embellishment? Actually it is neither. The City will, in fact, spend $914,000 on electricity on just street lights and stop lights to be approximately exact. And I’ve also been told by a reliable source that we will probably end up spending over a million next year. Any way you look at it, that’s a whole lot of cash for a whole lot of lights. So did I fudge the numbers? You be the judge.

As I recently read over my 2008 tax appraisal, the following statement got my attention: “The Texas Legislature does not set the amount of your local taxes. Your property tax burden is decided by your locally elected officials and all inquiries concerning your taxes should be directed to those officials.”

To that statement I say a big Amen! There are six taxing authorities listed on our tax appraisals. Of those six, the City of Temple will collect approx 21% of the property taxes paid. The City Council has no control in what the other taxing authorities collect or how they spend it. While there is always room for improvement I believe that the City does a good job of managing our tax dollars. I also believe we get a good deal for what we pay. That 21% we pay to the City goes towards paying for our police and fire protection, parks and library, roads and animal control. It even goes towards the million dollars a year we spend on electricity for our traffic and street lights.

A few weeks ago I had to call 911 for my father who had become incapacitated in his apartment. Within a couple of minutes of making the call I could hear the sirens moving toward me. In around five minutes the firemen and paramedics were already administering aid. Shortly thereafter we were in the emergency room at Scott and White. He was discharged later in the day and is doing fine now. The professionalism of the responders as well as their fast response is very impressive to me. It also gives me great comfort to know that they are literally a heartbeat away and are ready, willing and able to provide assistance to my family at a moment’s notice. What a deal!