Oh, doggone it, Y’all!

 

It’s been a while, I know.

I’ve got so much to talk about, but I’ll just start with one thing:

It’s budget season again within the city of Copperas Cove and we have yet again a city council who can’t see the trees for the forest.

Let’s take a look at a recent post on Ye Olde Social Media about the City of Copperas Cove Animal Control.

They put out a pitch for food. It’s no secret that organizations and individuals have helped collect pet supplies, food and such for our Copperas Cove Animal Shelter.

Why? Why isn’t sufficient pet food a part of the annual budget?

Why don’t they budget for more food?

Are there more animals than usual?

But the animal shelter needing food is something that happened before the pandemic: DON’T BLAME COVID. This is yet another city department that is not being allowed to budget more due to growth. Another post, another time… anyway -

So here we see, the community stepped up and brought more food and pet supplies. Bravo!

But why should this be?

Why can’t the city council members say in an upcoming meeting that they would like for the animal shelter to budget for more food, to avoid this?

Why doesn’t the Animal Shelter put more money into their annual budget for food? They certainly could justify it.

But – and this is my whole point – look at what the Copperas Cove city council is spending more money on, without batting an eyelash.

Drumroll and trumpets -  A BRAND-NEW DAIS for the city council chambers. The current dais is five years old and is GRANITE. Granite, y’all!!!!

Since my last post, Dapper Dan Yancey is now MAYOR Dapper Dan, justified the design and construction of a BRAND-NEW DAIS FOR ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!!

$100,000!!

And that doesn’t include the design costs which was put in ad a budget amendment earlier this year.

Mayor Dapper said that this is necessary because of the “new AV equipment” etc.

Without batting an eyelash, NOBODY, NOT NOBODY, seated on that council has brought up the idea of “WHY NOT MAKE DO WITH THE DAIS WE HAVE?”

How is this right in the world?? --- Copperas Cove Animal Control must BEG on social media for dog food, and I am sure the powers that be and city leadership will say, well, we just don’t have the money and we’ve just grown so much, and lots of animals, y’all!!!

Yet they think there is NOTHING WRONG with DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTING a brand-new DAIS to replace one that is five years old????? They pitched a bigger hissy fit over trying to find funding for the Five Hills Pageant float storage facility. But that’s another side issue… anyhooo….par for course  

PLEASE, READERS,  read these supporting documents from the agenda and continue reading below:

Voters, take note! Election filing time is but six weeks away and there are THREE spots on the ballot –

Shawn “Crickets” Alzona (more about him soon)

Jay “Heartburn” Manning

Diane Yoho Campbell

 

Of note, Jay is term limited! Hooray! He can now go back to being a developer full time. Yoho is ending her first term. And Crickets, who won the 2021 election….

Back soon!

 

Some things to think about, or a trip down memory lane:

https://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/05/peace-love-and-bunnies-yall.html

 

IT'S THE FREAKIN' APOCALYPSE, Y'ALL!!!

Here we go, Copperas Cove!!

Tuesday night will be a big evening for the city and its residents. Many will not know nor care until it is too late. 

Fall-o-Ween festival?

Buh-bye.

Christmas Extravaganza?

Buh-Bye.

Farmer’s market in City Park?

Buh-Bye.

Polar Bear Plunge?

Buh-Bye (after about 15 years!).

Food Truck Fetsival?

Buh-Bye.

All of the above will go away as we know them, Copperas Cove. 

If we’re lucky, durn lucky, we might see a shade of what these events used to be. Safe Trick or Treat, Christmas Extravaganza, and Polar Bear Plunge all existed before the city took on tourism with its 2016-2017 budget. They were very small, but were something.

Come Tuesday night, it looks as though the Copperas Cove city council will make all those go away when it will (LIKELY) designate the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce as being the “official” visitors bureau of the city.

The council will also let one full-time worker, the tourism director, know they don’t want her to have that job anymore. Who knows what she’ll be doing in the city, or if the job will be the same wage/salary as she has now. Maybe she can drive a truck for Solid Waste, but who knows????

If they approve that ordinance, they will ALSO approve GIVING the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce funding for ALL THEIR EVENTS and MONEY TO HELP RUN THEIR OFFICE AND PAY SALARIES.

Instead of events for our community, more events than the chamber used to “give” us.

All, for the sacred bunny and the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce.

Curmudgeon does not need to refer the reader to the wildly humorous and histrionic grandstanding of Copperas Cvoe city councilman Charlie Youngs, who from the dais made it very clear on Tuesday evening how he feels and how he is using his position to essentially say “UP YOURS” to five individuals – former City Manager Andrea Gardner AKA “Darth Vader” – Charlie’s moniker for her; and four Copperas Cove city councilmen – George Duncan, David Morris, James Pierce Jr, and Matthew Russell, whom Charlie also claimed “DESTROYED” our city and also “DESTROYED THE CHAMBER” ----- Um, what about the chamber was destroyed, Charlie?? – and “DESTROYED THE EDC” – maybe I’ll talk about that another time.

What  so HORRIBLE has happened to the chamber other than them NOT getting big fat checks from the city to help run their office and bring a handful of running and a couple bicycle races to the town,

and one large festival in dire need of revamping, and an open air Christmas market with plenty of plastic toys for kids and plenty of vendor things we can find anywhere else?

When will the voters of Copperas Cove get tired of Charlie? 

One more year, y’all, one more year, and his position will be up for election. 

Who knows what nonsense he will be able to do in the next year??

The four horsemen simply asked the chamber to be ACCOUNTABLE like EVERYONE ELSE getting hotel occupancy tax funding to provide receipts for what they used those funds. And a former president couldn’t do that. 

Not until she quit the job, they brought in a new president who conducted an extensive audit --- as required not only by the council BUT required by the chamber’s own bylaws when a president leaves.

Nothing “bad” was found but it was an interesting sight to see, I’m sure, what they spend their dollars on.

Here again is what the city wants to use the funding for:

Fall-O-Ween - $11,805

Tree Lighting - $12,550

Polar Bear Plunge - $8,325

Farmer's Market - $3,400

Food Truck Festival - $19,225

City of Copperas Cove Visitors Bureau - $75,147 to fund the CVB itself to include 1 fulltime staff person to run the office and plan events, 1 part time person for event setup etc.; advertising the city and what it has to offer; and publishing a quarterly recreation and activities guide.

Here is what the Copperas Cove Chamber of Copperas Cove wants to use the funding for:

Krist Kindl Markt -  $17,400

Jack Rabbit Run - $1,417   - Running event

Rabbit Fest - $18,375

Summer Run to Fun - $1,962  - Running event

Gallop or Trot - $1,499 – Running event

Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau operations, etc.  - $106,695

Staff – 2 full time, 1 contract worker. Also for advertising the city and what it has to offer. A tourism guide. 

Remember, dear readers, the chamber is a PRIVATE, DUES-PAYING organization.

It is a MEMBERS-ONLY CLUB.

There is nothing wrong with a members-only club.

But we are on the brink of going back to the same-old, same-old.

What’s the solution, council?? More on that in a moment.

OH, AND LET’S NOT FORGET A MUCH SMALLER THIRD PARTY –

The Five Hills Art Guild. They have requested $16,000 of hotel occupancy tax funds for their festival. Have you been, dear readers? The vendors at that fest pretty much blow away the vendors at Rabbit Fest. No commercial “vendors” as such. AND – somehow that group is able to put on a two-day festival run by VOLUNTEERS.

What will they do if the council does not give them the tiny slice of the pie they have requested?

Charlie Youngs is a hateful bitter man who is using his position to be vengeful and vindictive.

He’s a bully, and NO ONE has had the courage to tell him to shut his pie hole.

He’s like the creepy uncle who comes around at Christmas and makes people uncomfortable and says things that make the rest of the family cringe, but NO ONE says anything because they don’t want to “cause drama.”

Cause some drama, council. Why let him be a bully and act as he has? Call his behavior out on the dais, as he is conducting himself in a boorish manner. 

I've heard it said that my posts are "EMBARASSING" to the city. Well, Charlie Youngs is a HUGE EMBARASSMENT and is continuing to use his position for a special-interest group.

Chambers of Commerce historically help BENEFIT businesses in a city - um, their MEMBER businesses, that is.

 It is clear that both Charlie Youngs and councilman Jay Manning want the chamber to handle all  the tourism for the city. Jay Manning said he was ready to vote too, but wanted to let the presentations be made after hearing back from the Texas Hotel Lodging Association.

So, what would Curmudgeon do, if Curmudgeon had a seat on the dais and a vote? 

Fund the city events.
(But Don’t let the city pay for a recreation guide with hotel occupancy tax funds).

Fund the chamber for Rabbit Fest and Krist Kindl Markt. Don’t pass out, dear readers. At least give them something for their festivals and a chance to prove people wrong and make them better.

Fund the art guild festival.

And that’s it. It’s late and I have not crunched the numbers to see if it works and doesn’t dip into the HOT fund balance.

Has anyone checked to see how many of the seated council members own or work for businesses that are MEMBERS OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE?

Of COURSE you will vote for your own organization!

Joann Courtland AKA Dark Horse. Operation Stand Down Central Texas – chamber member.

Fred Chavez. Longtime chamber sympathizer. Unsure of his chamber affiliation.

Dapper Dan Yancey – First National Bank VP. Chamber member.

Jay Heartburn Manning – Manning Homes. Chamber member.

Kirby Reverend Lack – Minister and yes, chamber member – I believe.  

Marky-E-Marc Payne – unsure of his chamber affiliation.

Sorry-Charlie Youngs – chamber’s biggest fan. 'Nuff said  Sure hope former councilman Marty Smith is proudof his behavior.

Should the majority of the seated council recuse themselves???? Their own organization will benefit financially from the council’s action to approve funding. But it happens all the time, y’all.

The Copperas Cove city council would do well to remember that there at least 200 city employees and Curmudgeon would venture to think that they are ALL registered voters. It’s not a union, but they can share their voice with their votes.

It’s (almost) the most wonderful time of the year

In lieu of Christmas in July, dear readers, Curmudgeon is celebrating the upcoming Copperas Cove city council election season.

It starts in a few days, on July 20, when all the would-be’s have the chance to toss their hats into the proverbial ring for one of three spots:

Copperas Cove city council, Place 3 – presently held by Dapper Dan Yancey. No he is not term limited – yet – because he just finished his first full term in office. City charter limits place holders to two consecutive terms in the same position.  

Copperas Cove city council, Place 4 – presently held by Jay Heartburn Manning. He came onto the scene in 2016, nudged into running by who-knows-who and expressing “heartburn” over a number of things. He hasn’t used that term as much lately.  

Copperas Cove city council, Place 5 – presently held by the Reverend Kirby Lack. Reverend is a repeat council member, having held a position in the early 1990s. Kinda like Sorry-Charlie Youngs, who was wont to tell everyone of how things were done “when he was on council before.”

Early candidate predictions

So, the big question for future would-be’s is:

Who of the three incumbents will run for office again?

Curmudgeon predicts that both Dapper and Heartburn will run again. They’ve hit some momentum (self-perceived) and don’t want to lose any of the reversals that they and their fellow members of the GOBC (Good Old Boys Club) have enacted ever since Marty Pitch-a-Fit-on-Facebook Smith threw one and left the council in 2016, when she and former city manager Andrea Gardner had a bit of kerfuffle. ‘Nuff about that.

The Reverend will likely not run again, Curmudgeon thinks. He’s done what he set out to do – enact some long-put-off park improvements.

Candidate predictions:

Curmudgeon believes that some former candidates will fill out the paperwork and get out there again to see if they can get more votes this time.

It would not be surprising to see Ron Nelson up there again after he lost the bid for mayor. He has kept his social media page afloat and active, even since the special election in April.

Curmudgeon will watch for other former candidates Joey Acfalle and Azeita Taylor to make another bid for one of the chairs on the dais. Mr. Joey has kept busy in the community and has had incrementally higher numbers than his first bid for an office (Coryell County district clerk).

Curmudgeon is unsure about 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th time’s a charm Taylor. Her Azeita Taylor for Copperas Cove Mayor Facebook page is up and active, although the position of mayor won’t be open again until November 2021.

Former city councilmen and councilwomen might be up there again. Curmudgeon will watch to see if George Duncan, David Morris, Cheryl Meredith, or Matt Russell will file to run again. 

Mr. Duncan was one of the first to follow former councilman Mark Peterson’s lead and start questioning groups on how they spend hotel occupancy tax funds. 

The relentless and justified questioning of the chamber’s expenses, questioning led by him, which eventualyl led to a 2016 shake-up to the chamber of commerce’s very foundations, and also led to what appears to be an ardent reboot of the organization to be more business-focused as opposed to tourism focused, so it could use at one point NEARLY $200,000 in HOT funds! – to help pay a robust staff and office. Whew, that was a long sentence. Let it sink in. Don't forget the numbers I gave you previously, dear readers, to show you how much the chamber was given to produce little results, far littler than now with their ZERO funding!

Now, things are different for groups seeking HOT funds, as it should be. Hopefully this change will “stick” and continue to be applied to the chamber. Sorry-Charlie insists that the chamber was “cut off at the knees.” Yet, surprisingly, the chamber has continued to flourish with ribbon cuttings and business events, despite not having HOT funds to pay for its staff, etc., for three years.

I digress…where was I? Oh, possible candidates!

James “for it before I was against it” Pierce is presently occupied with his first six-year term on the CTC board of trustees, the election victory which was a minor coup of the status quo in that arena.

As always, Curmudgeon will look for a Dark Horse newcomer to the ranks, a local citizen who has quietly been educating themselves on municipal operations and already has an established support base, and who is ready to campaign. Place 1 councilmember Joanne Courtland is a prime example of that Dark Horse finishing first in the 2018 election.

Dark Horse newcomers, do not be like Ms. Brandi Weiand, who did virtually no campaigning, missed one of two political forums, and at another forum talked about things that were more relevant to school district than city operations. And, got 15 votes. She had more attention locally after her arrest for an alleged assault charge earlier this summer which she contends was self defense. Then, she has taken to rants on social media as well, clearly perturbed at the current mayor.

All of this goes to say, Dark Horse and/or newbie candidates, prepare for people to follow you and question you about your life and what what you do.

Anyhooo, July 20 and the 30 days to follow, and the time leading up to November 5 will be interesting, to say the least.

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.