HOT for HOTDA?

Hot for HOTDA?

Curmudgeon’s got a fever, and is simply so hot for HOTDA, the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance.

Just kidding.

Today, I’m goin’ with HOTDA from the other night's Copperas Cove city council meeting because that’s been tumbling like rocks in my brain for a while.

Howdy, y'all! 

Curmudgeon’s inner jury is still out on the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance. Not hatin’, not lovin’, just wonderin’.

What in the world is HOTDA, dear readers?

Sad to say, garden-variety citizens don’t know, prob’ly don’t care. They're more upset over a Popeye's comin' to town.

Anyhoo, the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance is a tax-exempt 501c6, the services for which it is tax-exempt are, according to its 2016 Form 990 filed with the IRS, the “Promotion of Fort Hood, Texas”. 

HOTDA received $281,520 in contributions in 2016. Among those contributions are funds from various cities and counties in Central Texas, to include Copperas Cove. Those contributions are listed on the 990 form as “Government Grants.”

HOTDA spent $126,757 in salaries for 2016. The main salary is for its executive director, at that time Kenneth Cox, a retired colonel, who was paid $101,000 for that full-time position. His salary is included in the “compensation of current officers, directors, trustees, and key employees” on the form.

Its non-interest-bearing cash was $170,626, and savings and temporary cash investments at the end of 2016 were $478,869.

HOTDA has a board of 13. In 2016, that board included individuals from various cities, which has included in the past Bradi Diaz (also a former EDC board chair) from Copperas Cove. Right now the rep from Copperas Cove is Mr. Clyde Glosson, a former Fort Hood garrison commander.

HOTDA has been around since 2003 when there was “an expressed need by the communities of Central Texas most effected by the activities of Ft. Hood. When HOTDA was first created, the City of Copperas Cove was the paying member. The second year of membership the City and Copperas Cove EDC shared the membership responsibilities equally. The third year of membership, the City Manager of that time requested the CCEDC Executive Director of that time to assume 100% responsibility for the payment of the membership fees.” (This quoted info comes from a March 2015 city council agenda when the council was requested to nominate someone locally to be on the HOTDA board)

Curmudgeon is done with the Cliff’s notes on HOTDA.

So, the hundreds of thousands of dollars question is  – what does the City of Copperas Cove – or The Copperas Cove EDC, depending on the budgets – pay to “belong” to HOTDA?

Or, how much are “they” spending OUR money to receive whatever benefit HOTDA brings to us?

It’s not a members’-only club, not like the Copperas Cove Camber of Commerce, but all you’ll hear from those HOT FOR HOTDA is the “benefit” the region receives from HOTDA.

Right now, to give HOTDA some credit, “they” are “in” on the talks for a future land swap between Copperas Cove and Fort Hood. This land swap would get the city a triangle of acreage between Business 190 and State Highway 9 that the city could use for development – as in, commercial development. But so is/was our city manager. Our Congressman is in on the talks, too! He already introduced a bill to make it happen. 

[CURMUDGEON ASIDE: This isn’t a bad idea. But, right now, we have The Narrows, which is owend by the EDC and that’s been available for THREE YEARS and only has one taker so far. AND then, there’s the property beside Cinergy that’s owned by the enigmatic Copperas Cove Industrial Foundation – not public but private, and they only have ONE piece of that property developed. Oops, a bunny trail. There are also four more pad sites still undeveloped by Endeavor Real Estate that owns the shopping center.|

Lemme get back to HOTDA and what it has cost the EDC and city.

The Copperas Cove EDC in the past paid $50,000 annually to HOTDA.

The EDC paid $50,000 in 2013, 2014, 2015 then dropped to $17,000 after city councilmember Matthew Russell made the question – what are we getting in “bang for our buck” for that $50,000 grand annually?

Mr. Russell pissed a lot of people off by questioning the annual expense and contribution by the EDC. More than $200,000 of our money, collectively, over the years. (That amount was eventually slashed to $17,000 (same as Harker Heights), then cut to $5,630). Tuesday night, the council bumped that back to $17,000.

50-grand of OUR sales tax dollars every year.

Did you know, dear reader, that the EDC is funded by our sales tax dollars? More than $1 million every year? 50-grand compared to a million isn’t much, but –

WHAT DO WE ‘GET’ FOR THAT?

And, Fort Hood isn’t going anywhere. Not sure why HOTDA thinks it needs promoting.

The idea of the EDC and groups like HOTDA is to spur economic development and help our area. I totally get that.

But what do we AS A CITY all together, get for funding HOTDA?

[ANOTHER ASIDE HERE: We (via HOTDA) aren’t really helping Fort Hood. Fort Hood doesn’t care as much about the area’s economic development as much as we think they do.

If they did, why would Fort Hood have built a $47 million PX that it opened in 2015 to encourage service members to stay on post and shop tax-free, instead of shopping off post “on the economy” which would boost local sales tax coffers? 

See this 2015 news article on that grand opening: http://kdhnews.com/business/grand-opening-thousands-flock-to-fort-hood-s-new-px/article_1b30e780-68ac-11e5-83cf-33d7c6124922.html

Fort Hood is constantly building new things/retail experiences for its soldiers and their families, which is great for them. But doesn’t help our local economy much.]

Councilman Dapper-Dan Yancey (Sorry, snark leak - but those TIES! And he’s so dang polished/smooth) made his case for HOTDA the other evening at the council meeting, because he LOVES HOTDA. A lot.

He even showed the payments by the numbers, what other cities etc. “pay” to HOTDA:

Killeen $109,000

Harker Heights $17,000

Copperas Cove $17,000 (requested – Currently $5,630 approved per City of CC budget)

Temple $12,000

Bell County $12,000

Belton $5,630

Coryell County $5,630

Gatesville $5,630

Lampasas $5,630

Lampasas County $5,630

TOTAL $195,150

Curmudgeon here again:

I think we get maybe a little benefit from HOTDA, but because Mr. Russell dared question the EDC budget and Mr. Yancey in 2015 (Mr. Yancey, as you ought to know is the former EDC chair who signed off on these agreements repeatedly), Mr. Yancey took it as a personal offense that someone would question his judgment. As did others.

Don’t forget Ms. Bradi Diazs' blasting the council during another “attack” on the EDC not long after that questioning of the EDC’s spending.

They believe HOTDA is golden and worth every penny, even if it’s 50-grand and what we “get” hasn’t changed even if we spend less.

Mr. Yancey tried to make the case Tuesday night that it was “right” to pay what was “proportionately correct” compared to other cities. As in, because Copperas Cove is closer to Fort Hood, we would see more impact or benefit. 

But funny thing, he has never mentioned being proportionally correct in all the previous discussions about HOTDA, when it was questioned by Mr. Russell WHY Copperas Cove was spending $50,000 and Heights was only spending $17,000.

Things that make ya go hmmm……

Thanks for reading and stickin’ with me. Money talk can be “boring” but in this case it’s vital to look at motives and people’s connections to groups and past track records. 

On a graver note, some could even speculate HOTDA decided to pay its director a six-figure salary just to help a retired army officer pal during his retirement and let’s call it a nonprofit. 

Why so pricey? Why not do something just to be helpful and let’s cover their expenses and a stipend for their time, each trip to D.C. or wherever? Is it an Army-pal cash cow? Yikes! Wouldn't wanna think so.

HOT for HOTDA?

Nah, Curmudgeon believes some of this comes down to a matter of personal pride, y’all, that this clash in the council and EDC even took place to begin with. All because of questions by one of our own elected officials.

Question. Read. Look things up.

Peace, love, and bunnies , y’all!