Sorry (Not Sorry) Charlie

It's a bye week again for the Copperas Cove city council. 

But - you KNEW, dear readers, I had more to say about Sorry-Charlie Youngs. 

Sooooo, here goes:

With the government comes paperwork, lots of paperwork.

Curmudgeon noted with great interest that Copperas Cove Place 7 councilman Sorry-Charlie Youngs is now $500 lighter in the wallet after being fined by the Texas Ethics Commission. Evidently he didn't file the required paperwork during his campaign for last year's election.

Ah, yes, with running for office, comes paperwork, lots of paperwork.

So what’s the big deal?

Dear readers, those who run for political office MUST-MUST-MUST not only register as a candidate with the City Secretary, but also report on several things during the course of an election. There’s a big honkin’ packet candidates need to read thoroughly.

It is a known fact that candidates will often accept donations from individuals to support their campaigns. Those donations are a matter of public record. Curmudgeon believes that is pretty self-explanatory as to why.

Candidates must also file to have a campaign treasurer and may name themselves their own treasurer.

So what if a candidate doesn’t plan to take donations but run on their own dime?

No biggee. But they still have to file how much they plan to spend. It clearly states on the election calendar and in the packet the regulations to do so. 

This isn’t a Copperas Cove thing. It’s a state of Texas elections thing.

So what’s the big deal about Sorry-Charlie Youngs not filing ANYTHING other than a form for candidacy at the required times?

I mean, Sorry-Charlie didn’t spend anyone else’s donation money.

So what’s the big deal?

Ladies and gentlemen, dear readers, dear city council, this ain’t Charlie Youngses’ first rodeo on the Copperas Cove city council. He has been a seated member of the Copperas Cove city council not once, but twice. 

He’s run for office THREE TIMES at least, including this past election in 2017.

The rules haven’t changed.

Curmudgeon wonders, though, and hopes others wonder:

What’s with Charlie?

Why didn’t he complete his paperwork?

Did he feel rushed and hurry through filing?

(I mean, he’s spent more than a year being pissed off at the SUPREME INJUSTICES as he sees them that have been done to the Copperas Cove chamber of commerce and the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation that he was just in a hurry to “get on with things.”)

Did Sorry-Charlie not know about these filing requirements, even though he's done this THREE TIMES AND THE INSTRUCTIONS WERE IN BLACK AND WHITE IN FRONT OF HIM?

Did Sorry-Charlie think he was an exception to the rules?
(We seem to have a deluge of that lately, with Dapper-Dan Yancey and Marky-E-Marc Payne doing whatever they please, I'M SURE BECAUSE THEY HAVE GREAT INTENTIONS. Sorry, snark leak.)

Was Sorry-Charlie hoping no one would notice?

Are Sorry-Charlie’s mental faculties slipping, that he didn’t want to take the time to be thorough and take care of his due filing, that FOUR other candidates for TWO offices ALSO WERE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE?

Again, did Sorry-Charlie feel he was an exception to the rules?

It took one candidate receiving a copy of a PUBLIC RECORD and then manning up to file a complaint for Sorry-Charlie to get “called” on this. Both literally and figuratively.

Is this really the best we could do, Copperas Cove?

We put a man in office who, again, is so ANGRY that he doesn't even have the presence of mind to properly complete LEGALLY REQUIRED paperwork on time, and we get only a “shucks, my bad” out of it?

In fact, all we heard during the campaign was how pissed off he was. Nothing else of substance, no other goals other than getting the EDC and chamber “back to how things were”. 

"The fish was THIS BIG when I pulled it in! Really!" - (Sorry-Charlie, I don't believe you)

Sorry, sorry, sorry, Sorry-Charlie.

I call on Copperas Cove Mayor Frank Seffrood to step up to the plate and take some up-front leadership on these matters instead of giving more speeches on volunteerism and how we’re all in this together and we just need to "work together for the good of Copperas Cove."

I agree, we are all in this together, but the competency and ETHICS of at least THREE of these members I call into question. They seem, to me, to believe they are ABOVE the rules and the city charter.

"Working together for the good of Copperas Cove" means more than "let's play nice because nobody meant anything bad by it."

Dismal days, these are, Copperas Cove.

Yet, Curmudgeon hopes and believes there are still some on city council who will do the right thing.

It is also my hope and belief that they will not give up DOING THE RIGHT THING even though they are OUTNUMBERED BY INCOMPETENCE AND QUESTIONABLE ETHICS. 

Thank you for reading, dear readers, whether you love this or whether you think I'm the one who should get run out of town on a rail. Oh, wait, we don't have a depot and the train doesn't stop here anymore! (Ha!)

I have no agenda other than asking questions which I and, I strongly believe, many, MANY others deserve answers to.

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Curmudgeon out. Tuna casserole for all!

Ax grinding and other fun pastimes

It would appear that councilman Charlie Youngs is a very angry man. He uses terms like “destroyed” and “cut off at the knees” when referring to actions by the Copperas Cove city council.

Such violent terms!

There must be nothing like the feeling of power at entering an office and feeling like you are the “righter of wrongs.”

He’s got an axe to grind, and boy howdy it is sharp!

At the start of every council meeting, when it is time for council members to make announcement, Mr. Youngs jubilantly proclaims the number of days until the November election, when TWO city council positions and “maybe” the mayor position is up for election.

Almost like it's a countdown to Christmas!

 

He encourages people to consider running for office if they “want to see a change.”

Curmudgeon finds it disturbing that such an angry man is wielding the proverbial axe that he’s spent plenty of time sharpening

He’s made it his mission on the council to make his decisions based on his own agenda and that of his cronies who urged him and encouraged him to run.

He’s making it personal with the not-so-subtle barbs (or is it the pretend axe swinging) at the councilmen who he believes have come against his personal pet projects – like the chamber of commerce, which again, Curmudgeon reminds the dear readers is a members-only club that looks for favors from the council because of some distant past successes. (All hail the Bunny!)

Again, Curmudgeon finds the anger and thinly veiled barbs quite disturbing.

If we’re not for him or his pet projects, then we’re against him?

Voters, beware the candidates and councilmen who call others names (those they run against and those with whom they SERVE), whether in conversations at the coffee shop or belly at the bar.

Do we want a man in office who clearly has an agenda, and clearly his focus is his own anger and his own causes?

What about the streets and sidewalks of this city? What about city-owned buildings that are crumbling, vacant? City Park bathrooms?

We need council members who will get "angry" about the right things.

Mr. Youngs, times a-tickin' until it's your position on the line.

Beware the walking quorum. 

Peace, love, and bunnies, y'all!

Dear future city manager (to be sung to the tune of "Dear Future Husband")

Not all of Copperas Cove ran Ms. Gardner out on the proverbial rail. It seems some of her employees wanted to wish her well in letters at least three feet tall.

So now the city of Copperas Cove is looking for a new manager. Or, the council is, rather.

Nobody wants to put a sign on the city's front door saying "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," because that would be a tad dramatic.

So, is the Copperas Cove city council a good boss? That depends on which way the winds of change blow. It seems like every 10 years or so there is a big shake-up of some kind in city government or operations. A little more than 10 years ago a recall election - an initiative started by one bound 'n determined woman who used her energy in a different way other than complaining online - cleared out the city council so there was no government. Things still kept going in Cove. Like they will now.

Only, a segment of the "inner circle" led by the GOBC (Good Old Boys Club) is already pushing for getting things the way "they used to be." I will hold off on making any predictions this post and try to stick to the subject of city leadership.

Dear future city manager, be prepared for a council who will tell you one direction to go, but then won't let you make the managerial decisions to run things efficiently.

It's like hiring someone to build a deck on your house because you have limited carpentry skills. But instead of letting them build the deck, you keep grabbing the hammer and adding things, or ripping out what they've already done. Good luck with that, future city manager.

But, dear future city manager, our most recent manager found herself in a perfect storm that eventually resulted in the last nail in her managerial coffin being driven home, and she knew for certain she had done all she could here.

The perfect storm, part of which she helped create, was too much change in our fair city. Nobody likes change; people would rather keep things "comfortable", like a hoarder who panics when someone tries to clean house.

Take a look at all the changes in the last three years alone, added to a council majority which began to ask questions of local groups as to why things were being done the way they were.

I give Mr. Mark Peterson credit for starting to ask questions, at least three years ago, before MOST of the current council was even on board - the only one serving at that time being Mr. Frank Seffrood, as councilman before he was mayor. Quite frankly, and I never imagined writing this, I think Mr. Peterson ought to consider running for council again.

Anyhoo - those changes I was talking about.

• Two new highways, which have been received with mixed results; 
• A proposed new median down Highway 190 that has been in the works for several years, with people howling about it before the trees are being planted (oh wait!! NO TREES!!);
• A "downtown revitalization" project on Avenue D, with issues, putting it mildly; 
• Moving the Copperas Cove EDC employees "under" the city manager - saving the EDC tens of thousands of dollars yearly; 
• The city opening its own tourism department after the chamber of commerce decided not to apply for hotel occupancy tax funds, and of course, the city laid plans to use that tourism money for its own community events (something I am not a fan of - more on that another time); 
• And the last big nail in the coffin being a $7 million debacle that was transitioning the city's utility account management to FATHOM, an out of state service. 

(Changes ALL approved by the city council ($3000 trash cans and benches, y'all.) BUT FOR WHATEVER REASON, THIS IS "ALL ANDREA'S FAULT.")

It was way, way too much change at once. And when your most vocal residents AND council members aren't fans? Well, kudos to Ms. Gardner for staying as long as she did.

Then you throw in a disgruntled former city councilwoman whose knickers got in a twist and she resigned because she had "problems" with the city manager. This former city councilwoman alleged on social media that Ms. Gardner was verbally abusive to at least one city employee, but these employees were "too afraid" to come forward when former city councilwoman said she would try to provide "proof". Anyhoo, for whatever reason, former city councilwoman let her own personal offense make her leave office in a huff. (Oh, I do have a point in all this -- former city councilwoman was also the former chamber of commerce director.) She then rounded up the GOBC (Manning & company) who fall for the sob stories without substance and she used her personal issues with Ms. Gardner to advance her overall cause and fuel her personal pride. Then, she backed down on the verbal abuse allegations, said she would try to be more positive and moved away.

Now, we have a council majority who has the same leanings as this former councilwoman who once publicly said in a council meeting that the property tax rate explanation was "clear as mud".

So, dear future city manager, this is the fine mess you'll be walking into. A council majority with its own "inner circle" agenda rather than listening to the citizens of this city.

Now, dear readers and future city manager, if you've made it this far, here are the city manager qualifications as listed online in the job posting of the Texas Municipal League. If you want to keep reading for the kicker, skip to the end. This time, I will refrain from making snarky comments in the midst of listed qualifications:

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED:

Works under the broad policy guidance of the City Council. Exercises supervision over all municipal employees either directly or through subordinate supervisors.

DESIRED MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Education and Experience:

Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a degree in public administration, political science, business management or a closely related field and;

Minimum five (5) years of experience as a municipal administrator;

Master’s degree in public administration, political science, business management or a closely related field preferred and;

Three (3) years of experience as a municipal administrator.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Must be bondable.

Complete the TxDOT Local Government Project Procedures Training within one (1) year of hire date and re-train every three (3) years.

Valid State Driver's License, or ability to obtain one prior to employment.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

Knowledge of modern policies and practices of public administration;

Knowledge of municipal finance, human resources, public works, public safety, and community development;

Skill in preparing and administering municipal budgets;

Skill in planning, directing and administering municipal programs;

Skill in operating the listed tools and equipment;

Ability to prepare and analyze comprehensive reports;

Ability to carry out assigned projects to their completion;

Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing;

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, city officials and the public;

Ability to efficiently and effectively administer a municipal government.

- - -

And now, this reminds me of the old song, "If you like pina coladas", about the discouraged boyfriend who takes out an ad, looking for a new "lady", and he lists everything he's looking for. Then, funny thing, he meets up with the one who responds to his ad - his "old lady", who unknown to him, was also looking for what she wanted.

Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got until its gone. In the case of Copperas Cove, I don't think that will happen where she is concerned.

All hail the fest!

Dear Copperas Cove council,

I have watched with great interest the Feb. 6 workshop in which the chamber ordinance was discussed. 
 
Let me get straight to the point - 

Hey council, why are we residents who use City Park charged a restoration fee for the pool, sports, facility rentals, golf, etc. so we can help "restore" the effect of wear and tear in the parks and other city facilities, but it sounds like you want to let the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce use City Park for FREE, if this ordinance gets changed?

The sudden realization gave me so much heartburn that I had to pause the video after Mr. Payne brought up about the golf course and where those restoration fees went. 

He first asked Mr. Haverlah about where the money paid by the chamber to the city went? By "the money" I mean the "as much as 25% of profits". Does it go to the general fund, or what? Mr. Haverlah said the funds went to the general fund, but were dedicated to park improvements. 

So, dear council, why will you propose a group get special treatment, but those of us who use park programs get charged a fee to help "restore" the parks?

Who pays to restore City Park? 
Why shouldn't the chamber, or any other group, pay for the wear and tear its events, especially LARGE ones, have on the park? 

If someone rents the Civic Center, they have to pay a "restoration" fee. 

So why should the chamber get special treatment? 

This discussion starts around the 1:08:00 minute part of the workshop (1 hour, 8 minute point). 

Listen hard, y'all! 

Evidently the council is leaning toward the chamber receiving a free ride, except for direct expenses which the chamber already said it had no issue with paying. 

Let's just allow them to set up in City Park, let 30,000 people and thousands of vehicles tear the place up, without paying the city a dime, because we "all" benefit from it. 

Kumbaya, y'all.

Let's set up a rabbit statue and kneel before it, for all the things this festival has done for this city! 

Sorry, I said I can't help the snark sometimes.....

Anyhoo - Mr. Manning said the council could esteem that the cost of wear and tear is equal to the benefit that Rabbit Fest brings the citizens of Copperas Cove and he asked the attorney if it was that simple. Pretty much, the attorney said.

Mr. Yancey chimed in and said the wear and tear on the park is "subjective" and that the "benefit" to the city is somewhat "quantifiable" with heads in beds, although that was "somewhat subjective too". He said both those things cancel each other out. Um, really?

My interpretation of his remarks: the festival benefits the city so much, it's okay if the park gets torn up!!

We have long heard the song of "the motels are full" and that people shop and eat in Copperas Cove during Rabbit Fest. Just gobs of money pouring in, y'all!

I find that EXTREMELY hard to believe, council. 

Three reasons why:

First, look at the sales tax revenue reports for the month of July over the course of several years. 

When sales tax gets collected in the month of May, the city doesn't get paid for that until July. 

It would then follow that every July we should see a spike in sales tax revenue compared to the month of June, if all these TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE shop and eat in Copperas Cove. 

Then, in August, the sales tax report amount should be lower due to the drop-off of that FOUR DAYS OF ECONOMIC BOOM! from the fest. 

IF over time, the city sees a sales tax benefit from Rabbit Fest, then it should see a spike in GENERAL over a pattern of years, yet accounting for dips for other reasons. 

Here we go. Cove's sales tax report $$$ from the state comptroller, for June-August for 2015-2017.

June - June 2015 $326,247.97; June 2016 $323,357.47; June 2017 $345,956.19
July - July 2015, $322,553.48; July 2016 $321,153.96; July 2017; $367,891.02. (THIS IS SALES TAX COLLECTED IN MONTH OF MAY IN COPPERAS COVE - WHERE'S RABBIT FEST BENEFIT?)
August - August 2015 $412,813.80; August 2016 $410,841.36; August 2017 $428,696.51

I don't see a Rabbit Fest sales tax benefit because it's not there. Numbers don't lie. People aren't shopping and dining IN Copperas Cove more than usual during Rabbit Fest. There may be a little uptick somewhere that I can't see, but the amount of tax doesn't justify tearing up the park. I don't see a public benefit. 

Two, the chiming in with the "heads in beds" mantra.

Take a step back and give the fest a good, hard look. I don't believe anyone within a 3-hour radius of Copperas Cove would come to our increasingly lackluster festival and pay for a hotel overnight because they just can't get enough of it. "But the carnival!!" - Nah, if I were to drive three hours and stay overnight for a carnival, I'd go to Six Flags or Fiesta Texas. If you're going to travel an hour away, or 30 minutes, you'd go straight home. Why stay in a hotel? Carnival people stay in trailers, maybe a handful of vendors, food or craft, stay in a hotel. 

We don't have enough hotel rooms in Copperas Cove for there to be a noticeable spike for hotel tax revenue in May. Even if there WERE, the amount isn't enough to justify the parks being used and torn up. 

Third, Mr. Manning said the city gets a share of the sales tax that vendors collect at the festival. Not entirely true. Those individual vendors file their sales tax reports with the state of Texas and must collect the full amount of what they sell, but their reporting is not city by city. The state knows how much is collected, but not city by city for each independent vendor. Also, see my first point above.

Sadly, if Rabbit Fest went away, it would not economically impact our city that much. There would be a time of mourning due to its sentimental value and then EVERYONE would blame the city of course, "because the city manager sucks, y'all, and there is nothing for anyone to do in Copperas Cove" (Oh, wait, she's going, going, and will be gone. Sorry, more snark leaking out here)

I will watch with interest what ideas the attorney comes up with and reports back to the council on Feb. 20th. But again, the poor, poor chamber wants something for nothing because, they're, well, the chamber, y'all, and we worship the bunny.

Two more things: 
Disclaimer: The Curmudgeon doesn't hate Rabbit Fest. It's been a family tradition for years. Rained on, hailed on, baked, fried, mud, etc. My own critique is that the festival has lost a bit of its luster. It has plenty of "thing-y" vendors you can find almost anywhere. Not to put down the direct sales vendors and those who sell "sniff-y, makeup-y, clothes-y, t-shirty, air cleaner-thingy, donate to our cause groups" and the sellers of whistles, fidget spinners, other fads, light-up swords, blah, blah, blah. They all have their place. 

But it's less and less appealing to PAY $5 to enter a festival ($1 if you walk) that offers far less than it used to. I think the vendors have to pay too much, discouraging other up 'n comers. 

Rabbit Fest needs a serious re-do and re-focus. While we enjoy seeing our local kids perform, we see them at EVERY festival. Why not spend the money to get someone to come to Copperas Cove that people would drive to Copperas Cove to watch perform, and then stay overnight on a Saturday and truly PACK all the hotels? 

Two:
I figured I should offer some "evidence" of the $3000 benches and trashcans on Ave. D I mentioned in my last post. Here it is, below. This is 1 page of one of the phases but you can see the amounts. There are 8 trashcans and 8 benches proposed with the winning bid, totaling about $48000. That's enough for a good park restroom re-do, council. THIS YEAR. Why do we need to have porta-potties for events at the park when we have restrooms? Oh, yup. Scary bathrooms from a bad SyFy apocalypse movie. Use your voice, council.

One more thing. Where'd I get the above document? Right on the city website. Not hard at all if you know where to look No "cover-up". No inside info.

Big thanks for reading all this to the end. Share with a friend and subscribe, whether it interests or irritates you! It's all good, either way.