Meeting Tuesday Night
The city council will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday night. The agenda is available using the links to the right. The first items deal with replacing Lorina Chavez who has resigned. Two citizens have submitted letters of interest, Carl Robinson and Gloria Rivera. Gloria Rivera recently commented at a city council meeting that people were "out to get Florencio because he is Mexican." Nothing could be further from the truth: 1) he is American, and 2) the issue is not race but performance.
It was sad to see the race card played by a former and possibly future councilmember. We need calm deliberations about the best way to manage the city. Everyone needs to perform their job or be replaced. Marfa deserves competent management and leadership.
None of the urgent financial matters from September 29th are on the agenda. It appears to be a contest to control the pivotal council position before tackling the more important fiscal matters. All shoud attend to let council know what citizens want.
It was sad to see the race card played by a former and possibly future councilmember. We need calm deliberations about the best way to manage the city. Everyone needs to perform their job or be replaced. Marfa deserves competent management and leadership.
None of the urgent financial matters from September 29th are on the agenda. It appears to be a contest to control the pivotal council position before tackling the more important fiscal matters. All shoud attend to let council know what citizens want.
posted by RobC at 6:14 PM
17 Comments:
It never fails to amaze me... When is Gloria going to get it through her thick skull that NOBODY WANTS HER THERE??!!!
Jeesh... Take the hint already!!
Gloria showed her agenda when she brought out the racial issue and Sauceda ate it up as he uses the racial item to hide his incompetancy, but what Mexican-American whats to be compared to Flo except Oscar since he still believes in him. Again, Gloria is showing her ignorance.... She not only hurts herself, but the rest of the Mexican-American people that have overcome some of the racial feelings and are trying to get beyond. Leave it up to the few big mouths to show their ignorance....
The political maneuvering on this issue is astounding. FloDave is more concerned with politics and power than city business. FloDave chooses to delay all the important financial business of the city to another day. FloDave decided to delay financial consideration until there is a chance to put a ringer in the council seat. We could work on the budget. We could work on the bank information. We could approve MISD to collect taxes. No No No. FloDave wants to cook the council first, then push through their financial shannanigans. Watch every move it makes, this FloDave monster is up to no good.
i could've sworn that i heard Ms. Rivera was trying to sell her home and leave Marfa - also that she had big travel plans in the near future. what we really need are 2 council members perpetually out of town, but that might be just what Flave wants.
oh - and why isn't Ms. Devine on the agenda? are they ever going to take on that issue? or just continue to act like its a non-problem.
to answer mad in marfa-they are not talking about Lupe DeVine because they would have to have a special election 22.010(d). Here are some excerpts, it seems to be written in plain English.
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/lg.toc.htm
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE CHAPTER 22. ALDERMANIC FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN TYPE A GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITY SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 22.010. FILLING VACANCY ON GOVERNING BODY OR IN OTHER
MUNICIPAL OFFICE. (a) If for any reason a single vacancy exists on
the governing body of the municipality, a majority of the remaining members, excluding the mayor, may fill the vacancy by appointment unless an election to fill the vacancy is required by Article XI,Section 11, of the Texas Constitution. The mayor may vote on the appointment only if there is a tie.
(c) In lieu of appointing a person to fill a vacancy on the
governing body, a special election may be ordered to elect a person
to fill the vacancy.
(d) If two or more vacancies on the governing body exist at
the same time, a special election shall be ordered to fill the
vacancies.
§ 22.011. FILLING VACANCY IN MUNICIPAL OFFICE UNDER
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. If a vacancy occurs in a municipal office by a resignation or in another manner and if the vacancy cannot be filled as provided by other law, the commissioners court of the county in which the municipality is located shall order an election to fill the vacancy if the court is petitioned to do so by at least 26 taxpaying voters residing in the unicipality.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
§ 22.038. MEETINGS. b) The mayor may call a special meeting on the mayor's own motion or on the application of three aldermen. Each member of the governing body, the secretary, and the municipal attorney must be notified of the special meeting. The notice may be given personally or left at the person's usual place of residence.
(d) An alderman shall be fined $3 for each meeting that the alderman fails to attend unless the absence is caused by the alderman's illness or the illness of a family member.
§ 22.041. VACANCY ON GOVERNING BODY IS CREATED. (b) If a member of the governing body is absent for three regular consecutive meetings, the member's office is considered vacant unless the member is sick or has first obtained a leave of absence at a regular meeting.Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987
Pretty interesting, eh? Are there enough malcontents to try to push for 22.011?
"None of the urgent financial matters from September 29th are on the agenda." No, they aren't. I guess the budget isn't so important anymore. I'm supposing that not having a budget is in violation of State Law, but there aren't any penalties. My guess is that there are going to be some cuts, that everything the City can shove onto the 1/4cent tax-funded Parks and Rec Commission will be, that water will go up, that any decrease negotiated for the trash because of gasoline price decreases will not be reflected in rates, that any and all fees (except for building permits) will increase, that the gas company will be pressed to increase prices so the City can get a bigger 'surplus' (and just in time for the winter heating season). Bet they will not be passing a budget until they get more 'revenue' in place first. Wonder if EMS will be blamed? Wonder if Fire Dept's unspent funds will really be set aside in a separate account for future new vehicles or if it will 'disappear' in the General Fund. Last I knew they hadn't done any research (vendors, prices) for the dying water pump. Wonder how long they can hold onto the grant money for the Code Enforcement Officer before it has to be returned? It's going to be an interesting ride.
I hope Council Members read this. I would like to hear them DIRECT that budget discussions and items be put on the agenda. I would like to hear them apologize to the citizens of Marfa for this mess. I would like to hear them make a clear statement with definate steps, in order, what actions they are going to take and exactly when they are going to do each one. I want them to take the reins of power that are theirs and use it to fix all of these problems. I want our leaders to lead, in the open. No excuses, no fingerpointing, no politics, no personal agendas, no private agreements or deals. City business, take care of it, in a professional manner, follow the law. The Fire Dept will soon need a new vehicle, Utilities needs a water system pump, if it hadn't been for an ordinary citizen following up on the EMS varience on there wouldn't have been a response from Marfa to a recent tragedy (Wait for Ft Davis to get here!)(Sorry, please excuse me, Rob is an extra-ordinary citizen.) The City NEEDS another auditor, more EMS personnel, a Code Enforcement Officer, needs to ask for help from the State Comptrollers office, doesn't have an Animal Control Officer, and who knows what else. Is there really a letter from the State saying that the wastewater treatment needs to be upgraded? What's on the agenda? Aside from a new Council Member, the Library Grant, RIOCOG Mutual Aid Agreement, the sale of surplus items, Parks, pay bills (last month's?).
Marfa cannot survive, much less thrive, without your leadership. The longer you wait the more damage will be done. You must know by now that you cannot depend on the Mayor and City Administrator to take care of business. They nearly had the City taken to court last year for election problems. They have limited what you can act on by taking over the agenda, they have muddled the 05-06 budget to the point that you may never know what is being hidden. A new car was accepted and used before you were asked to pay for it. And now a landfill is being pushed while the the wheels are falling off of the water system and EMS services.
Please, help the City and the citizens.
(a) If for any reason a single vacancy exists on
the governing body of the municipality, a majority of the remaining members, excluding the mayor, may fill the vacancy by appointment unless an election to fill the vacancy is required by Article XI,Section 11, of the Texas Constitution. The mayor may vote on the appointment only if there is a tie.
Note that it says a majority of the remaining members, not the majority of remaining members present. In order for the mayor to vote Ms Devine would have to be present and have a 2vs2 vote. Should Ms Devine not be present all three attending members would have to vote for a person. If three attending members voted 2vs1, it would not be a valid vote because 2 is not the majority of 4.
I don't think we remain in an illegal state because we did not pass the budget. My understanding is that if you do not pass a budget for the new year, you simply start the new year using the most recently adopted budget. Unfortunately, that budget was never documented because Council made verbal changes that were NEVER documented by the administrator.
Budget law says that the budget officer (Lanman) "shall" prepare a budget (he didn't, Flo did). There "shall" be a public hearing on the budget. At the end, the governing body "shall" act on the budget (they didn't).
There are no fines or jail terms for failure to follow the law. The penalty is that the city can't raise taxes because they failed to define their expenses. While our taxes stay lower, our municipality struggles do to more with less and citizens ultimately suffer.
There comes a time when blundering incompetence crosses a line and becomes wilfull criminality. This time is soon coming, particularly with the ill-advised appointment of Gloria whose miserably block-
headed prejudices are well known to those of us who recall her too long tenure of the recent past. When that line is crossed there is little alternative to handing over irrefutably hard evidence to the State Attorney General's office for their well known, ponderously slow and timid intervention. Until then, events seem destined to follow an unswervable course which will only be accelerated by the inimitable Gloria.
Here's another twist: Local Govt. Code 22.011 -If a vacancy occurs in a municipal office by a resignation or in another manner and if the vacancy cannot be filled as provided by other law, the commissioners court of the county in which the municipality is located shall order an election to fill the vacancy if the court is petitioned to do so by at least 26 taxpaying voters residing in the municipality.
This alternative was brought out last February when Petrosky resigned and the vacancies were not filled to stall action on Flo's contract. Panic set in at City Hall when they found out the county could step in.
And get this. Pursuant to the Texas Constitution, the two council members, if there are two vacancies and there may be, must continue to serve until their vacancies are filled. Under proper procedure by the Mayor (ha ha) the police can be dispatched to bring the councilmember to the meeting. Also a District Court can mandamus attendance.
The Mayor, Flo, and Oscar are very well aware of these laws since they were pointed out to them when Petrosky resigned. Because there was a general election coming up in May, no further action was initiated, thereby allowing them one more occasion to circumvent the law.
NOMOFLO, NOMOGLO
No item on the agenda to address the EMS Personnel shortage? Are we about to lose more of our outstanding medics? After all our medics are not super humans. They are not robots. The few we have can do only so much with so little.
No nothing about EMS. FloDave only care about EMS when they get to drive the ambulance and play with the siren and flashing lights. After that, they have more important power to grab.
Big wreck east of Marfa just a little while ago. Marfa ambulance, Jeff Davis ambulance (an additonal ambulance was later requested from Jeff Davis, don't know if they had one, for Border Patrol Station on another emergency), Fire and Rescue from Marfa and Jeff Davis, fire truck from Marfa, Sheriff's Office, TxDOT. Car ran into an 18 wheeler turning.
Re the race card. If y'all will remember, when the Oust Flo rally was held when he fired Gracie, he and Oscar were heard to say the the protest was only from a bunch of gringos.
Too late... The One Who Shall Not Be Named (Gloria) has been appointed.
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