Crickets on Tuesday?

Well, well, well…

It looks like the Copperas Cove city council has some Copperas Cove city manager finalists.

Finally. About 18 months after Andrea Gardner said “deuces, Cove! I’m outta here!”

The city council has been nothing but crickets with this search after kicking the can down the road repeatedly.

Does the public deserve an explanation? Yes.

The first time around, if you recall, dear readers, there was a bit of a tussle and kerfuffle over the search firm they would use. This took up the greater part of summer 2018.

At last, in the fall, an RFQ (request for qualifications) was sent out for the position of Copperas Cove city manager, and the council received a bunch of proposals back, with their favorite, SGR Strategic Government Resources getting the okay in November.

SGR put together a 97-page document about their process for finding the BEST.CITY. MANAGER. EVER. for Copperas Cove.

You can see it here: http://67.79.126.21:8085/docs/2018/CC/20181120_1357/8591_SGR%20Recruitment%20Proposal-Copperas%20Cove%2010-18.pdf

Don’t sweat. It’s just the whole document. But I want you to see what I am talking about.

Curmudgeon tries not to sigh about people doubting my credibility. Here’s some paperwork and documents in the link above to BACK UP WHAT I’M TELLING YOU.

I’m not just blowin’ this out my rear end, y’all.

Anyway!!! SGR has apparently completed  STEP 4 of this process. A process that has taken since November. Or, since New Year's at least.

One can only guess if the council was presented with semifinalists at all. Because, they didn't tell us ANYTHING. Not even a  "we're working on it, voters!"

We now have finalists!!!!!!

You can see it on SGR's website here:

https://www.governmentresource.com/CurrentSearches

Then, scroll down to where you see Copperas Cove:

Yep. Finalists have been selected.

On Tuesday morning, the city council will meet again. In executive session, as they are allowed to do by law.

Yet again, we HEAR NOTHING FROM THEM.

Not a peep. Not a sound.

Not even a “Okay, y’all, we appreciate your patience. We’ve received some semifinalists from the search firm and are working to go through each of their files to see who might be good for Cove.”

Nada.

It’s a matter of respect, y’all.

It shows a gross LACK OF RESPECT for the city council to not even keep us the Copperas Cove voters and citizens apprised of the progress in the city manager search Or, lack thereof.

They could have said something at the end of ANY of the most recent sessions to at least give us the courtesy of a statement, but nothing: April 16, May 7, May 21.  

Let’s see if they do our community the courtesy of following through with this in Step 5, as follows:

Stakeholder Engagement (if desired)

At the discretion of the Search Committee, we will work closely with your organization to engage stakeholders in the recruitment process. Our recommendation is that we design a specific stakeholder engagement process after we learn more about the organization and the community. Different approaches work best in different communities. Below is an array of options we have used in the past, but we will collaborate with your organization to determine which option, or combination of options, will be the most effective for the unique needs of the organization.

• Interviewing community leaders at the outset of the recruitment;

• Holding a public forum for citizen engagement at the outset of the recruitment;

• Facilitating a Q&A series in the local newspaper with finalist candidates. This would run a week or two prior to the interviews;

• Utilize a citizen committee to conduct the early stage candidate screening and then turn over a semifinalist list to the City Council (if applicable);

• Community leader reception;

• Meet and greet;

• Search Committee and key community leader dinner meeting;

• “Round Robin” forum meetings with various community groups during a multi-day interview process; and,

• Site visits by citizen committee members to the finalist candidates’ communities to report back.

Dear readers, I believe after our city’s biscuits were burned so badly, to use Sorry-Charlie Youngs’ terms, after the chamber was “cut off at the knees” and the EDC was “destroyed” it would be an absolutely magnificent goodwill gesture to welcome these finalists to our fair city so we can ALL get to see them instead of sneaking in and out under cover of night. It’s not like finalists for OTHER CITY MANAGER spots are kept under wraps. (Do a simple Google news search for city manager finalists, dear reader, and you’ll see what I mean!)

Do the right thing, Copperas Cove council. If you’re truly all about us “working together” and being a warm cozy circle of kumbaya, let the rest of the city stakeholders  in on this too!

If you don’t, this reinforces the notion that our council would rather keep the rest of the community out of the loop! Stop hiding from us all. 

People are still angry about FATHOM and other things in the city that were carried out publicly, how the council did not use at lest individual voices - until months and months and months down the road - and right now you’re making a great show of hiding from us publicly. 

LET'S HAVE ALL THE FORMER EDC MEMBERS THAT ARE NOW ON THE COPPERAS COVE CITY COUNCIL REMEMBER WHO THE STAKEHOLDERS ARE!!

At least give us STAKEHOLDERS and VOTERS the courtesy of an update instead of us finding out from the search firm’s website that – oh, by the way, there are finalists for Copperas Cove city manager.

BE TRANSPARENT.

The screen shot image below is for you, dear readers.

Saturday night special - WALKING QUORUM ALERT!!!!

Just when you thought it was safe to have a lazy Saturday, you see this:

So what's the big deal with this photo?

Context, dear readers!

Look at the full article here and see the photo on the website for context:

http://kdhnews.com/copperas_cove_herald/hill-country-transit-to-request-slightly-less-money-from-copperas/article_9c26bf96-8981-11e9-9ade-373278080977.html

The reporter photographer names each of them and states they are talking to the HOP's urban operations director.

Why are FOUR members of the Copperas Cove city council talking openly with the head of the HOP transit bus system AFTER a public meeting on Friday?

Dear readers, a gathering of a majority city council members having a discussion with a representative of another entity is called a QUORUM.
In the case of our city council, the majority would be FOUR members. They MAY NOT discuss public business together OUTSIDE OF A SCHEDULED, CALLED MEETING.

This is ILLEGAL if they do.

The meeting was no longer in session, but adjourned.

So,

What were the four of them discussing with this man?

Were they talking about weekend plans?

Were they talking about the outlook for the Texas Rangers games?

Were they talking about whether they say TOMATO or TOMAHTO?

We don't know.

Were they discussing the workshop topic and how to fund the HOP?

Were any of them promising they’d try to find more funding?

What were they saying that they hadn’t said during the meeting?

Where does the city's share of funds to help the HOP come from?

Oh....dear readers, that would be GENERAL FUND. From the city's TAXPAYER dollars.

This needs to stop, dear readers...

The freshman members - Fred Chavez and Joann Courtland, are new to this, still. Fred Chavez, even less so.... he ought to know OPEN MEETINGS ACT regulations.

Let's see who gives them a pass.

Is this the legal TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE? or merely GUIDELINES?

Does it matter? Should it? YES!

Here is a link to the Open Meetings Handbook, which Curmudgeon assumes these council people should know about

This is published by the Texas Attorney General and not pulled out of a Crackerjack Box.

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/OMA_handbook_2018.pdf  

To make it even quicker, dear reader, here is some copy/paste from the booklet link above, the LEGALITIES regarding quorum:

"C. Gathering at Which a Quorum Receives Information from or Provides Information to a Third Party 
Section 551.001(4)(B) defines “meeting” as follows: 
(B) except as otherwise provided by this subdivision, a gathering:
 (i)that is conducted by the governmental body or for which the governmental body is responsible; 
(ii)at which a quorum of members of the governmental body is present; 
(iii)that has been called by the governmental body; and
 (iv)at which the members receive information from, give information to, ask questions of, or receive questions from any third person, including an employee of the governmental body, about the public business or public policy over which the governmental body has supervision or control. 

 The term does not include the gathering of a quorum of a governmental body at a social function unrelated to the public business that is conducted by the body, or the attendance by a quorum of a governmental body at a regional, state, or national convention or workshop, ceremonial event, press conference, or the attendance by a quorum of a governmental body at a candidate forum, appearance, or debate to inform the electorate, if formal action is not taken and any discussion of public business is incidental to the social function, convention, workshop, ceremonial event, press conference, forum, appearance, or debate
 
I'm sorry, dear readers That was a lot but it is necessary. This was a

I'm not just gonna slap a picture up on the blog without SHOWING you WHY this was an ILLEGAL action on the part of the council members. This constitutes and ILLEGAL meeting after the special meeting was adjourned.

No less illegal than the ones who were recalled back in 2008 due to a email exchange among the four of them on how to oust Odie O'Dwyer.

More copy and paste from the booklet:

D. Informal or Social Meetings 
When a quorum of the members of a governmental body assembles in an informal setting, such as a social occasion, it will be subject to the requirements of the Act if the members engage in a verbal exchange about public business or policy. The Act’s definition of a meeting expressly excludes gatherings of a “quorum of a governmental body at a social function unrelated to the public business that is conducted by the body.”141 The definition also excludes from its reach the attendance by a quorum at certain other events such as conventions, ceremonial events, press conferences, and candidate forums.142 In both instances, there is no “meeting” under the Act “if formal action is not taken and any discussion of public business is incidental to the social function, convention, workshop, ceremonial event, or press conference.”143


Dear readers, with all this, the things to note are DISCUSSION OF PUBLIC BUSINESS.

Which brings me back around to the question:
WHAT WERE THE FOUR OF THEM DISCUSSING WITH THE DUDE FROM THE HOP?

Just askin', dear readers.

Keepin' it Classy, on the Dais

Yep.

Sorry-Charlie, just keepin' it classy.
Aside from his election ethics violations, with $500 in state penalties due to his illegal actions.
Aside from violating the Texas Open Meetings act, at least once. Illegal action.

Filing to run for his position on the city council opens in a little more than a year!

Here's the full page in context.

(UPDATE: I'VE BEEN ASKED TO SHARE WHERE I FOUND THIS PIC. It was at the website for the Copperas Cove Leader Press news when Mayor Diaz was sworn in.) See the full article and pic here:
https://www.coveleaderpress.com/news/diaz-sworn-mayor

Congratulations to Ms. Diaz. She had no problem cutting him off mid-sentence at the May 21 meeting, "Charlie, I don't mean to interrupt you, but..." Points for the new mayor!

I'm working on another post, dear readers, but thought I'd slip in a Hump Day Special. I've been crunching hotel occupancy tax numbers and stuff like that.

Peace, Love, and Bunnies!