Happy Election Eve-Eve

Howdy, dear readers! Are y'all as excited about Tuesday as I am? Happy Election Eve-Eve!!!!

Let’s get this out of the way, first, before we talk elections.

Disclaimer: The Curmudgeon is in no way affiliated with the individual calling themselves the “Cove Guardian.” The “Cove Guardian” sends out correspondences to selected individuals in the community.

One, Curmudgeon is too cheap to spend the bucks on stamps and printing and all that rot, and would rather sit at the keyboard with documents and such. Who has the time to dig up addresses, etc.? Not CC.

Two, Curmudgeon is too busy chuckling at the Copperas Cove city council’s antics to focus on all the CCISD “stuff” such as it is. The council is far more entertaining. Also, anyone who knows Mrs. Manning knows she does not have a maid (wink, wink).

Three, Curmudgeon doesn’t make stuff up other than nicknames for the council members – Dapper Dan (love those ties, dude), Sorry-Charlie (who has violated the city charter at least once – oops, as has DD Yancey), Marky-E-Marc Payne (befuddled and bewildered), David “I’m-a-writer-not-a-talker” Morris, James “I was for it before I was against it” Pierce Jr. Hmmm….Curmudgeon realizes the only two without nicknames are Frank Seffrood and Kirby Lack. Maybe Mr. Seffrood should be “What item are we on?” Seffrood and Mr. Lack should be the Right Reverend.

Anyhoo, Curmudgeon digresses. (Although the Guardian’s little note and comments about CCISD board of trustees members having access to the track facilities is a bit interesting. Is it true? Can it be proven? When will the district open up the track to the community? Is using the track a “thing of value” that has been provided to these board members? Is that legal, when doing so could be construed as privileges given to them and not the rest of the community? Interesting questions.

Again, not Curmudgeon’s fish to fry, or steak to grill.

Okie-dokie, dear readers, it’s election eve-eve, and Tuesday is THE big day in Copperas Cove.

Curmudgeon has called it before that there would be a face returning to the political realm (enter Fred Chavez, with Copperas Cove EDC board experience, who has reentered the public political realm after some years’ absence).

Also, that there would be a dark horse candidate – possibly someone new (enter Joann Courtland, of Operation Stand Down Central Texas and military veteran/former pilot).

There is one three-way race and Curmudgeon believes there will be a runoff election, as odds would have it. Unless there is a resounding clamoring against Frank Seffrood, who as the head of the KTMPO policy board, voted with the rest of the board to support the changes to the Business 190 median project. Note: this is not a dig against the Postman….hmm, that may work for a nickname…because the rest of the board voted unanimously to support the changes. ‘Nuff about that for now.

Let’s look at Place 1 race: 

Not much to say other than Curmudgeon can GUARANTEE a woman will be filling the spot that Mr. Morris is vacating upon his term expiring (Curmudgeon still owes him that drink after his bright, shining moment, one of the best, right actions by the council this year). See my other post, if you don't remember: http://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-bright-and-shining-copperas-cove-city.html 

Cheryl Meredith has prior council experience, which is a plus and a minus, depending on how you look at it. There is a lot to understand in city government, and if Curmudgeon hears one more time, “Why don’t we just spend the Business 190 median money on _____ (fill in the blank)?”, Curmudgeon will faceplant on the keyboard. When government is involved, you can’t just spend money any way you want to. 

There is a gross lack of knowledge among the majority of the general populace, which is easily cured if people really want to know real facts and search them out. Sure, it would be “super-dee-duper” to divert funds to other projects, BUT you can’t spend state and federal fuel tax dollars on anything else. 

Ms. Meredith, one would assume, knows the ins and outs of government operations going by the fact she has already served two terms on council. 

(BUT, then you have Sorry-Charlie who loves to spiel about  when he used to be on the council, but for whatever reason, couldn’t file his campaign paperwork on time and then was FINED $500 by the Texas Ethics Commission for failing to do so. OH, and he violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by replying all to an email that was sent from a citizen, thereby creating a walking quorum….so, there’s that.) 

As far as Ms. Courtland is concerned, one would hope that she is a quick study and as smart as she looks running her nonprofit. Whoever wins the Place 1 election, Curmudgeon feels like it is a win-win either way. This one is too close to call.

Place 2: Now here’s where it gets a little dicey. Incumbent James Pierce Jr. has his hardcore fan club of a quartet of ladies who have torches and pitchforks for everyone and anyone who didn’t vote against the median. However, Mr. Pierce DID vote  in favor of the agreement with FATHOM, and FINALLY started listening to the people crowing the closer the election came. Question: WHY didn’t anyone start listening until now? Clearly, the city was bilked by this inept company. 

So, Mr. Pierce's FAB FOUR LADIES (Loe, Furey, Deans, Moore) are trumpeting all over social media in his favor because he voted against the median. Is that reason enough to keep him in office? We don’t always get what we want? Does “listening” to the people mean we give people what they want? Just askin’.

Enter Mr. Fred Chavez. He’s pro-EDC. Isn’t it funny, the number of SEATED councilmen who USED TO BE on the EDC board? Manning, Youngs, Yancey, and Payne. Wowee, kazowee! 

Mr. Chavez has used kumbaya wordage, of “let’s all get working together again.” Which sounds super-dee-duper. It really does. Sure. Let’s get the City of Copperas Cove, the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce, the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation, and the Copperas Cove Independent School District working together again. Go team! Okay, tryin’ not to sound a bit snarky on this part.

Where did it all go wrong? Where did the tension start? It started in 2015-2016, when council members wanted to start calling groups like the CCEDC and the Chamber of Commerce to be ACCOUNTABLE. Sure, let’s work together. But let’s be ACCOUNTABLE to who FUNDS YOU with PUBLIC MONEY, CCEDC and Chamber of Commerce (at that time).

Not to reopen any scabbed over perceived wounds, but there were council members who began questioning the EDC’s budget:

WHY were EDC employees getting raises when City of Copperas Cove employees not getting raises, or at least not as significant as the EDC?

WHY did the EDC spend close to $500,000 over the years to the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance, for reports that have not differed, even though over the past three years the City of Copperas Cove has chipped in far less than the $50,000 per YEAR which was paid to the high-balling military/political consulting firm?

The same happened over on the Chamber of Commerce side of the table, when there were city council members who began questioning the chamber on how it spent its hotel occupancy tax funds:

Where are the receipts and invoices for how the money was spent? An easy question to answer, if your books are in order. 

This was the biggest question asked, repeatedly, by at least one council member, to the point that the chamber president stepped down from her job in spring 2016 and there has not been a seated, official chamber president since that time, but a series of interims? 

It took one interim chamber president slaving away day and night for about two weeks or so to get everything together to present to the council. And then, the toxic infighting drove a good leader away from the job.

 

Please remember, dear readers, in the grand scheme of things, the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation and the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce are NOT EQUALS at the table with the City of Copperas Cove.

The CCEDC is a voter-approved organization which is funded by SALES TAX DOLLARS and seeks economic development opportunities for the City of Copperas Cove and an EDC, in some way, shape or form, has been singing the same song for more than 20 years with nearly ZERO primary jobs to show for it!!! The voters approved 3/8-cent of sales tax dollars to go to the EDC. It is a valuable commodity but only when operated correctly. 

But the CCEDC is NOT equal to the city. Its board members are citizens appointed by the city council.  

The Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce is a “nonprofit” organization that is made up of PAYING BUSINESS MEMBERS. The Chamber does NOT represent ALL businesses in Copperas Cove only those who PAY THEIR DUES. It is a members-only club which is as only as effective as its programs, which for YEARS had been so caught up in races and in bicycling and worshipping the all-holy-rabbit-fest that it lost sight of the BUSINESS COMMUNITY. 

Breaking ties with getting hotel occupancy tax funding was the BEST THING that could have happened to the chamber to get it back on track.

All that said, Mr. Chavez has high hopes that groups can work together. But that does not mean that groups like the EDC and chamber should get carte blanche. 

Nor should the chamber get special privileges that other organizations DO NOT get, privileges which this CURRENT SEATED COUNCIL has bestowed upon them. (Let’s look again at the crying military affairs committee who is still SO UPSET that they can’t grill steaks nor afford the civic center, but other PBULIC PURPOSE groups are shut out of the civic center rental. Again, working together does NOT mean not holding groups accountable….)

All that about Place 2 and Curmudgeon believes, like with Place 1, the race is a little too close to call at this point. It is a tossup. Mr. Pierce has brought his “A” game campaigning, but then again, Mr. Chavez is not an unknown among the voting core of the city.

Okay, take a break. Curmudgeon has thrown a lot of stuff out there, not fecal matter from male cattle, but stuff. Go potty. Get a drink. Come back to me, Dear Readers.

Stretch break over? Okay, continuing on….

The Mayoral Race:

Odds are that there will be a runoff. Can the Postman Seffrood pull off a second term? Perhaps there are some who think he needs to sit out a bit, despite his call for volunteerism and talk of the value of community. 

That would leave Joe Acfalle and Azeita Taylor. Mr. Acfalle is – ta da!! – a current member of the CCEDC board. Curmudgeon senses a theme here. What is it that EDC board members know that the rest of us don’t? Anyhoo, Mr. Acfalle has a strong local following already, but that did NOT seem to help him in the race for Coryell County district clerk, when he received 159 votes in the March 2018 primary in a four-way race that had 4,683 voters. Will more Copperas Cove voters turn out for him than they did for the March primary? Unless he has drummed up more support, odds are not in his favor to move on to the runoff. So far, more than 10,000 voters have turned out in the county to vote? How many from Copperas Cove, so far? We'll see....

Lastly but of course not least-ly, Ms. Taylor has stayed out of the political realm officially since her last run in 2015. 

However, she hasn’t been out of it altogether, building up her following via the chamber of commerce people (all hail the holy Rabbit Fest, without which we would have ZERO sales tax dollars in May and therefore the chamber gets to use a city facility for FREEEEEE, but all us peons must pay full price. Just sayin’, an unapologetic snark leak here.). Also, she has beefed up her education in homeland security and emergency response, and has likely earned some votes from those on that side of the voting realm -- that is, if they believe in her ability to lead

Curmudgeon believes it will come down to a runoff between Ms. Taylor and Mr. Seffrood. 

HOWEVER, in all races, it all comes down to who shows up to vote. 

Let’s talk current members and election numbers: There are rumblings of a recall, which Curmudgeon will write about another time. Mr. Pierce is safe from that, should he get reelected. He has said that if he wins, this will be his final term in office. Forever. He wants lifetime term limits for all positions – two terms only, and that’s it. Curmudgeon gets and understands Mr. Pierce’s wanting to roust the GOBC’s hold on the city (as in, Good Old Boys Club). Until enough people care and seek to be well informed, the GOBC or whoever is in “charge” and their cronies will keep showing up. In the 2015 election runoff between councilman Morris and Azeita Taylor, a mere  22 votes separating them, 278 to 256. So fewer than 600 voters from among thousands decided one council seat, a pivotal one at that.

What’s Curmudgeon’s closing point? Vote y’all. Vote. Vote informed. Vote smart. Don’t vote like your friends. Vote with your brain, not with your buddy.

See ya on the flip side. Or, who knows where Curmudgeon will pop up?

Y'all are fab, by the way... more than 25,000 page views since January! Wow!

KTMPO board, plus elections and such

Howdy, dear readers. It’s been a while, again.

Curmudgeon looked at the numbers – more than 25,000 page views since January! Thank you, Dear Readers. Love me, hate me, don’t ignore me!

Let’s backtrack to the Oct. 2 Copperas Cove city council meeting for a moment and then maybe jump into Election Central. Depending on how long I go with this.

The history-making vote by the Copperas Cove city council went down on October 2, and it went about like Curmudgeon expected. I always wondered who would ultimately be for it. It was abundantly clear how some councilmen felt – especially James Pierce Jr., Jay Manning, and Charlie Youngs who were against it, and councilmen David Morris and Kirby Lack, who were for it. Dapper-

Dan Yancey was abundantly silent from the dais on the matter until it came time to discuss and vote, and Mark-E-Marc Payne would murmur about the uncertainties of it all.

There is still a LOT of backlash going on, on social media and elsewhere about the vote by citizens are upset that the vote didn’t go their way.  Because everyone needs to get their way and be listened to or “we won’t be your friends no more.” (sorry, snark leak)

The story is not over on the Business 190 median project.

There WAS a lot of uncertainty prior to the vote on Oct 2., and even now the decision on the amended plan rests with the Killeen Temple Metropolitan Planning Organization, and if that group believes the amendment is still in keeping with the original intentions of the project.

The changes will keep three lanes in each direction, keep the sidewalk, and have a dedicated bike lane that is separate from the sidewalk.

So, who is on that policy board? Is it a deep, dark secret? Nawww…. It amazes Curmudgeon how people do not look for information that is easily accessible. But instead ask their friends instead of going to the source.

It’s a matter of public record on the KTMPO website. Here is the KTMPO policy board:

Mayor Frank Seffrood (Copperas Cove), Chair

Mayor Tim Davis (Temple), Vice Chair

Judge John Firth (Coryell County Judge)

Councilmenber Susan Long (Temple)

Mayor Spencer Smith (Harker Heights)

Mayor Jose Segarra (City of Killeen)

Mayor Tammy Cockrum (Rogers)

Tim Brown (Bell County commissioner precinct 2)

Mark Rainwater (Lampasas County commissioner precinct 4)

Mayor Marian Grayson (Belton)

Councilmember Gregory Johnson (Killeen)

Councilmember Butch Menking (Killeen)

Carol Warlick (General Manager, Hill Country Transit District)

Elias Rmeili (District Engineer, TxDOT Brownwood District)

Stan Swiatek (District Engineer, TxDOT Waco District)

Why so many Killeen and Temple people on that board? Here is how the board is selected:

“The voting membership of the Transportation Planning Policy Board consists of one representative for each city with a population between 10,000 and 40,000, two representatives for cities between 40,000 and 75,000 and three representatives for populations over 75,000 as determined by the most recent Census. All cities within the MPO Boundary with a population under 10,000 shall be represented by their county official or appointee. Additionally, all counties have one designated representative, with the exception of Bell County which contains a majority of the MPO and population.”

So there ya go.

What’s the point of all this? It’s important for people to know who’s on the KTMPO board and what they do and why they do it. MPO’s, metropolitan planning organizations, are groups that are required for all all metropolitan areas of over 50,000 in population. MPO’s approve the use of federal transportation funds in their planning area.

(Interesting, also, that a BIG chunk of the policy board is also the technical advisory committee, which already said yes to the amendments.)

You can also read more here about MPO’s: https://ktmpo.org/about/mpo-101/

There’s gobs and bogs of info on this website about what KMTPO does and why, etc.

Which leads Curmudgeon to the next point: The Business 190 project is BIGGER than Copperas Cove. It is abundantly clear that a contingent of the council (at least three) don’t want this project which “another” Copperas Cove council approved as a priority, before these three took office. This is a crappy way to long-range plan. No wonder Copperas Cove’s main roadway looks like a drunk planned it.

Anyhoo, Business 190 isn’t a short-term project, by any means.

But it will all come down to the policy board on Wednesday this week.

Of course Curmudgeon isn’t a policy expert nor does Curmudgeon have the ability to read minds, nor am I a clairvoyant engineer like so many naysayers, but if *I* were on the board, I’d look at a few things for this amendment:

Does the amendment to the project still make safety paramount for the project overall?

Curmudgeon believes so.

Will the sidewalks proposed make Business 190 safer?

Yes. Curmudgeon has wanted to take photos of all the haphazard sidewalks and lack thereof on Business 190. It’s dangerous now, y’all, and like Curmudgeon said before, the city of Copperas Cove will NEVER be able to afford sidewalks for Business 190. Especially since it can’t install them in other key areas of the city now. (Will get to that in another post.) This chance will NOT come our way again. Unless TxDOT decides to just go and do it anyway.

What about the bicycle lanes? Safer?

Yes. If you have seen bicycle lanes in other cities, they are clearly delineated. The reason people don’t bicycle on Business 190 now is a given. It’s too dang dangerous without a dedicated area to ride.

(The one possible deal-killer that Curmudgeon sees for the amendment, is if keeping the three lanes, PLUS adding the median from the center “suicide/let’s-play-chicken” lane, and adding the bicycle lane, and keeping the [narrower] sidewalk all within the existing right of way, will meet TxDOT lane width criteria. It’s not clear how wide those six lanes of traffic must be. I mean, we saw the fiasco with Avenue D, which was silliness….but Curmudgeon digresses…)

Curmudgeon now refers the reader to this information on the KTMPO website:

“KTMPO is working to develop a Regional Multimodal Plan. The RMP will identify vision and goals for integrated multimodal transportation systems in the KTMPO area, and will develop specific needs-based potential projects for the thoroughfare, bicycle, pedestrian, transit, and freight systems.”

You can see it all on this page right here: https://ktmpo.org/planning/bike-and-pedestrian/

The Business 190 project is in keeping with that plan. “Integrated” means it’ll work with the regional system as a whole. I-14 is coming and hopefully another two lanes of 190 south bypass in the future (pleeeeease, KTMPO board who will score the proposed two more lanes for the bypass– THAT is a safety issue, for sure!!! Also adding those two lanes will bolster the regional effort to enlarge I-14. A win for all.).

Remember, dear readers, Business 190 does NOT belong to the City of Copperas Cove, nor to its citizens. It belongs to the State of Texas and is overseen by the Texas Department of Transportation.

Okay, ‘nuff said about that.

Curmudgeon was going to talk about Copperas Cove elections, but will call it a day with this one and get back to elections next post. Which will probably be sooner than later!

Oh, Lawdy, the Cove Chamber and EDC will rise again – will they receive again the carte blanche of the past after the November 6^th election? Will the CCCISD school board see two incumbents nudged out of office? We shall see!

Peace, love, and bunnies, y’all!

D-day for the Business 190 median project

It's almost D-Day, y'all...or, Decision Day, when the Copperas Cove city council decides whether or

not to continue down the road toward a better, safer Business 190. Or, at least 2.1 miles or so of the road.

We already saw how the vote went when the council just barely passed authorizing interim city manager Ryan Haverlah to send a letter proposing changes to the median.

Councilmen David Morris, Dan Yancey, Kirby Lack, and Marc Payne voted to let him send the letter to the Killeen Temple Metropolitan Planning Organization. Councilmen James Pierce Jr., Jay Manning, and Charlie Youngs did not want him to send the letter at all.

Curmudgeon has been on Team Median all along. In case you haven't guessed. Below, I will share links to my previous thoughts on the whole rigamarole that this city has been through, thanks to pot stirrers and uninformed individuals who suddenly are engineers and traffic experts and whatnot.

Worse, there is a sore misunderstanding of the project funding. The funds come from FEDERAL and STATE fuel tax dollars. Texans everywhere who buy gas at the pumps pay that tax, with those funds going into a big money pot. That delectable money pot then gets doled out and organizations like KTMPO are the ones who decide how that gets spent.

Did you know, dear readers, that our median project ranked NUMBER 6 on the scoring list of more than 90 - THAT'S NINETY - projects proposed to KTMPO from area cities?? Wow!! Safety, mobility and transportation planning are high priorities and OUR project scored that well.

Anyway, why am I in favor of the median and sidewalks?

1. We need safe sidewalks in our city and this would be a great start for our main thoroughfare. There are NO continuous sidewalks or safe modes of travel along this stretch of Business 190 for its pedestrians. One would THINK that business owners would welcome safe access for pedestrians to travel. Dear readers, Copperas Cove has a LARGE population of working poor who do not have vehicles and many have the option to only walk where they need to go, whether it be to work or to shop. They exist. Don't ignore them -- because their numbers are growing. Good luck trying to get those sidewalks installed otherwise. You're in a fantasy world if you think it'll ever happen if we don't do it now. The city can't afford to install them, that's for sure!!

2. TxDOT and Co. would like to "manage access" on Business 190. These means, dear readers, that with a median it won't be a free-for-all game of "chicken" anymore. Of course, one cannot find a sufficient remedy for stupidity, and yes, accidents will occur whenever people are involved. Wouldn't you want to manage access to limit the free-for-all factor? It would make sense that fewer points of access than what we have now would exponentially decrease the odds for playing games of chicken. I can't count the near misses I've had one 190 because of that stupid center turn lane where anything goes!

3. We can't claim a "green" sustainable community without giving bicyclers a safe way to travel. Dear readers, it is the funniest thing in the world when the mayor issues proclamations about walking and biking to school. It's hypocritical. We give lip service to making safe routes and Business 190 is just one of those routes. I would say, if this does not go through, don't issue anymore proclamations encouraging citizens to bicycle and walk places if you're not going to work on safe travel.

4. Beautification. This is in the eye of the beholder.  Curmudgeon gets it. The proposed xeriscaping will help. Yes, it will need maintenance. Rather than going with the squawkers who are harping about the city not maintaining things, why doesn't the council direct a plan to make that maintenance happen? Saying we don't need a median because we don't maintain what we already have is kind of dumb. Let's just not do ANYTHING else in this city because of that. Forget the park improvements, etc. All of it. That line of thinking is flawed and tragic. And while you're at it, council, figure out a way to incentivize businesses to fix up their Business 190 storefronts.

5. COPPERAS COVE CITY COUNCIL, LET'S DO THE "HONORABLE THING" - to quote Councilman Jay Heartburn Manning.Where does the phrase come from?
Let's refresh everyone's memories. When the Copperas Cove Saddle Club fiasco happened last year, Mr. Manning led the charge to continue with the property sale because to renege on the idea would be a "dishonorable thing" to do. The property was small potatoes compared to the $10 million in funding for the Business 190 phase 1. In the case of the Business 190 median, there are many more organizations in play - KTMPO, TxDOT, the city, and many, many more federal and state dollars on the table. If the Copperas Cove city council reneges on this project and walks away, it is thumbing its nose at the other cities in the region, and would be a statement to them all "Eff y'all, we're going to do what we want. Eff sidewalks, eff keeping in with the regional transportation plan. Eff having a vision beyond the inconvenience of construction and having to learn a new pattern of driving." We do not have the report from TxDOT on the May 31 public meeting. KTMPO people just came out for a public comment period for the proposed changes. So we're going to thumb our nose at all of them and not see this through a little more? What happened to negotiating and making things work?

Don't talk honor, councilman Manning, when it suits you.

It will be interesting to see what the vote does tomorrow.

Gentlemen, your job is not to satisfy the whims of citizens NOW. Citizens come and go. We won't be here forever. Think about the FUTURE PLANS for the city and take a cue and get a clue. It's more than a median and sidewalks. Construction will be a royal pain in the keester, but c'mon, we all take the side streets when we need to anyway!!

Here, dear readers, is a lineup of some of my past posts on Business 190. If you're on the fence, I hope you'll read them and, I hope, become better informed:

We're all psychic engineers, y'all!!!

https://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/05/business-190-broo-ha-ha-or-copperas.html

https://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/04/aint-got-no-time-to-sing-kumbaya-on.html

James Pierce Jr. was for it before he was against it! (aka, I'm running for office again!!) 
https://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/05/here-we-come-waffling-or-up-yours-ktmpo.html

On a side note to Mr. Pierce, Curmudgeon wonders if he will share these thoughts because Curmudgeon knows he reads this  blog. However, his job is not to ignore constituents who disagree with him. He should represent all of us, not just people who are his fans and who agree with him! Just some food for thought.

Some information that people seem to want to ignore about the project 
https://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/06/curmudgeon-splains-few-things-or.html

How a disgruntled former councilwoman might be one of the root causes of the possible demise of the very project she championed before she quit because she was pissed off at Andrea Gardner!
https://copperascovecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/07/unintended-consequences-or-at-least.html

Curmudgeon out. Will I, or won't I, be at tomorrow's big meeting?