The tide’s a-turning on the Copperas Cove city council. At
the first council meeting for 2018, all members were there, David Morris, James
Pierce, Dan Yancey, Jay Manning, Kirby Lack, and Chuck Youngs. Chuck is the new
guy. Another post about him another day, because he’s whining and crying about
the chamber of commerce being destroyed.
Anyhoo, if you follow the local grapevine, changes have been
brewing for a couple of years now. Changes which first flared when councilman Marty
Smith left in a huff because of how the city manager treated her. She spewed
out her rage on Facebook.
The “city” of Copperas Cove took over
everything, the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation and tourism. (Poor EDC, poor chamber…waaaaa, nobody can't do nothing because of that mean old city manager!)
Some folks ain't happy the
EDC employees are under the city manager. Nobody seems to see all the money
that was saved with the change. Check the EDC spending numbers from year to year; they don’t lie.
You get a
numbers person (Andrea Gardner) in charge, what do you expect? No warm ‘n
fuzzy, “let’s give everybody money and don’t ask any questions because their
feelings will get hurt.” Waa, poor EDC, poor chamber.
It was doom ‘n gloom when the EDC’s fans got their knickers
in a twist when the council LAST year voted (UN-unanimously) to let the voters
decide on the EDC funding reduction of 1/8-cent. They wanted to keep their money pot. Funny, they’d rather the
voters NOT make that decision. Then out of the other side of their mouths they
say it’s the citizens’ money. So, which is it?
Anyhoo, the then EDC president Bradi (DEWALD
i.e., home builder and first family) Diaz said if the EDC's funding was cut that “economic
development will CEASE.” Almost heard the dramatic organ music when she told the council that back in summer 2016.
(Holy moly, wouldja look at that!! The EDC has a crap-ton of money, more than a year
later. Check it out. They started THIS fiscal year on October 1 with $3.9 million
in fund balance, a whopping $700K more than the year before. The only reason economic development ceased is because of a reactive, passive board and a new director who wouldn't listen to his superior and ask for help. Hey and if you have a website nobody goes to, nobody will notice you. Another post, another day about that.
But of course, Dewalds are developers, as are MANNINGS, and
YANCEY was the former head of the EDC, so, watch for the tide to change,
Copperas Cove. Because of who they are, they must know better than us pee-ons. Hey, Cove, you put them in there. So get ready for more of the same-old , same-old.
My prediction – the council will vote to remove the EDC employees
from the city’s employee lists, as soon as possible after Marc Payne is sworn in
on January 16.
Because, you know, EDC and all that. Yancey and Manning and
company would rather rubber-stamp EDC board decisions like the council has done in past years.
Stay tuned. Curmudgeon out.
Curmudgeon, you are obviously well versed on the topics you covered and I look forward to seeing more. I can tell you that your facts are spot on.
ReplyDeleteJust to highlight one point about the chamber of commerce; this was an 18 month ordeal that started as a simple attempt to just be able to tell/show citizens where tax dollars were being spent. The council was met with stiff resistance at every step of the way. At one point the council was told that they had no right to ask questions about the financial transactions of the chamber. Finally, Joe Newman appeared before the council to announce that the chamber would no longer request hotel/motel tax dollars from the city. This is what forced the city to create a position under parks and recreation to advertise the city and host city-wide events.
There's much more to this story. For now the short synopsis I have offered sums it up without a whole lot of what happened over the 18 months. Bottom line: they got caught, they were reluctant, they were resistant and openly refused to work with the city and ultimately quit.
George
Wow, my first commenter! Hi there. I haven't posted a new update because this latest turn of events has my head just a spinnin' like a top, ready to pop off! Where do I start from here?
DeleteYou are very right - the chamber brought this on themselves. if they would have listened to a simple request for documentation, not so simple because their books were evidently so screwed up (note: I said screwed up, not illegal), it was a lot harder job than anyone thought. Their passive-aggressive approach backfired and brought us to today. Which, their whining in public is a bit much, too.
Thanks for stoppin' by!
As expected, you are all over this and your accuracy is unmatched. The celebration of the tide turning "from" the good-ole-boy system is now over as you describe so poignantly. We are on the cusp of teh good-ole-boys are back in town.
ReplyDeleteJust a year ago we were proud of the transparency and full accounting of budgetary issues and overall finances of the city but I fear those days are gone. In fact, the desire for transparent government began with citizen's questions about the full accounting from the chamber of commerce. And we saw exactly where that got us; nowhere until Joe Newman finally threw his hands up and tossed in the towel which at the time even surprised the Mayor who advised him to reconsider.
We also witnessed the mismanagement of the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) lead by Dan Yancey for almost 10 years. This was uncovered by Mark Peterson who had been a staunch critic of financing by the CCEDC for some time. And yes, even Marty Smith agreed with him since we all knew he told her exactly what to say and when to say it (her words not mine). Who can forget the September 1, 2015 regular meeting where Dan Yancey briefed the council and was immediately set on his heels by Mark Peterson's questions?
Mark ask why CCDEC was paying $50,000 a year for Heart of Texas Defense Alliance (HOTDA) when we were invoiced for $17,000 just like Harker Heights. Dan's answer " there's a number out there" (as if we had no need to know what is was) and the CCEDC felt it was necessary to pay them more. Mark then asked why CCEDC paid this for 8 years amounting to $264,000 that the CCEDC just gave away for no reason. Of course this was not sufficiently answered nor did anyone other than the council take note. It was shortly after that meeting that the citizens voted to elect Dan to serve on the council.
This is not the only questionable activity of the CCEDC but probably the most glaring example of what we have coming. Council was able to put a stop to this kind of give away attitude but only for a short time. I expect to see our City's payment go back up to $50,000 even though we are charged $17,000 and this will come fairly quickly.
Blogs like this are a good way to get the word out. No one can expect citizens to attend every meeting or to follow their local government; they expect a certain amount of trust, but that is exactly what the good-ole-boys are counting on. Uninformed voters elect terrible representatives - case closed.
Your only hope for transparency and fair government rests with Kirby Lack, James Pierce and David Morris. Up til now Andrea Gardner was you most strident supporter and protector but that has too gone awry.
I think HOTDA has value. We need good parternships. But $50K per year? What are we getting for the $250K we shelled out, already? Is it the cost to smooth the way in land swaps? We are closest to FH like Killeen but not even a third the size of Killeen. There should be a scale HOTDA uses for requested fees, based on proximity and population like that other grant for the Fort Hood airport.
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ReplyDeleteLet Chuck speak.
ReplyDeleteChuck can speak. I think he used the delete button.
DeleteThe Good Ole Boys are better any day than the Stepford Wife Council.
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