Category: Management

Stadium Cracks, Forensic Investigation and Bureaucratic Sedation at McKinney ISD

.Reading time 3 minutes.

You can’t make this stuff up. MISD has known since January 2018 that the new stadium, in the race for the most expensive high school football stadium in Texas – or is it the world?, had problems with cracks. A forensic firm has been hired to figure out what to do. Months ago. And apparently it was not the contractor and engineer who found the cracks.

It’s too much to restate here, and you might not even believe me.  See the video. You can see more than you can hear since the Board Chair doesn’t have the sense to ask key speakers in the audience to step up to the microphone. Oh by the way, I can only see about a dozen humans sitting there to witness this giddy gathering.

But so far there is a bigger story here I see. Watch the video and how calm (and rehearsed?) the Board and staff are. There is a lead up to the official news unveiling at the meeting. No, it is not somber. It is all but a lead in to a Bruce Springsteen concert. The praises for the construction firm and engineering firms drip like syrup. I thought the staffer was going to choke up as he spoke of the privilege to be working with such a fine group.

Then the revelation. It’s a dry, boring, evenly paced announcement delivered like Ben Stein talking – after he’s had an extra dose of muscle relaxers.

Then comes the softball questions from the Board. Well trained to defend the bureaucracy, they grind up the strength to ask a question or two. They even award an attaboy at the end for “vetting” the problem.

One speaker even chunked in the obligatory word “transparency” to emphasize the honesty in the room. Kumbaya, my Lord! Someone is crying. And it’s the taxpayers. Or will be. No wait. A handful voted for these Board members and for The Stadium. And they are getting their full worth from MISD.

Holy cow! Look back over my blogs about MISD at http://www.citybaseblog.net. The Elected and the Bureaucrats want to lull us into acceptance of anything and everything they say once again.

Not me! LFM

Assertions, Exaggerations and Anecdotal Evidence

.Reading time 10 minutes.

Last Wednesday night at the Special Meeting of the McKinney City Council, the Censure of La’Shadion Shemwell ended with a pleasant surprise. The public spoke, followed by individual Councilmembers speaking, saving Mr. Shemwell for last. I thought the monologues were more scrambled eggs than insight until the very end. Councilman Shemwell made the motion to approve his own censure. It was better than the ending I was hoping for as explained in my last blog. Like a professional, statesman and gentleman, he let his fellow Councilmembers off the hook.

But that wasn’t the biggest takeaway from the evening. Mayor Fuller was making notes of the public speakers’ comments. Then he led off the council comments with a response. He made a point of the way many people brought forth complaints to the City Council, including an illustration of how one of his closest friends and campaign volunteers had claimed an incident occurred. It was also recorded. The Mayor was quite blunt. The video provided a rebuttal of the events told to  him by a trusted friend. The event didn’t happen the way he was told. The Mayor stopped short of saying the friend was a bald-faced liar. He didn’t need to. We all got the point.

One very articulate woman made the claim that the City had done nothing to improve race relations since the ugly pool party incident three years ago. The Mayor rebutted that her statement couldn’t be further from the truth. He then enumerated the things the City had put in place. Another equally impressive speaker from the delivery standpoint asserted that if the Council thought Mr. Shemwell had done wrong, then just wait, he was going to reveal the very next day the number of shady deals that had occurred by past and current Councilmembers. The Mayor didn’t flinch. He all but deputized the speaker to bring those charges forth and said it was his duty to reveal such actions. Again, put up or shut up!

The Warning Shot for Future Speakers

It happens all the time and not just in McKinney. Speakers get up to register a complaint. Then to authenticate their assertion, they make an outlandish statement. “My taxes have doubled in the last three years!” Whoa! Hold it right there. Is that a true statement? I doubt it. The good thing is that the facts are obtainable. And should be. That would not be a smart move with the McKinney City Council. Most people of reasonable intelligence know when a story has been embellished. You will get nailed here.

In most cases the staff is obligated to check into assertions and complaints made by the public. Can you imagine the hours spent researching faulty statements? Not a problem if the claim is true and something needs to be done to rectify the findings. Most of the time, the Council is informed that the claim was in error with the facts documented made available to them.

I would like to see a follow-on report made public, just as the false or embellished claim was made public. Especially when made to feed an anti-government audience.

Stay on Track

Oh my gosh, watch the video of last Wednesday’s meeting. Some of the speakers started on one path and then veered off like one of those crazy race car video games. The facts in this meeting are very clear and simple to enumerate. But somehow some speakers wanted to throw in stories and extraneous information that would have rendered the Council playing Whack-a-Mole if they had tried to respond. Even Mr. Shemwell’s mother made a passionate statement that took us back to his childhood, one of terror and extreme odds to overcome. I was touched. There was only one problem. It had nothing to do with Mr. Shemwell speeding, refusing to sign a ticket and then getting arrested.

Anecdotal Evidence

One of the speakers I mentioned started her comments by yelling out that McKinney has a racial problem. If so, then let’s dig into it and prove or disprove her assertion. What I do know is that all 180,000 people in McKinney have seen or experienced a problem of some kind. We could all stand up and say McKinney has a pothole problem, a high-weed problem, a junk car problem, a leaning street sign problem or a littering problem. And I don’t want to downplay any of these. But there is a big difference between anecdotal evidence and a widespread problem.

There is also a distinction that needs to be made between now and the past. If McKinney had a racial problem a decade ago and has made great strides to address and correct the problem, where do we get credit for the improvement? Almost any statement about anything the City tries to fix is tempered with an obligatory comment: But we have room to improve, and we won’t be satisfied until we are better than we are now. Professional city management and good governance will never be able to sit on its laurels.

Then comes a companion issue. Let’s not be bashful when it comes to cost. On some things, response time and capacity are realities. If we were to fix every single pothole the instant it is spotted, and I’m talking 100%, that could be possible. But it would be an exorbitant expense, meaning taxes would have to be raised to pay for it.

If every ounce of our energy was spent to eliminate even a tinge of racism, that would be a different issue where the cost is more than just dollars. And dollars wouldn’t be the solution. Hey, I would like that. I bought in to every word the Chicago Bishop said at the recent Royal Wedding. Did you?

I thought it was interesting at last Wednesday’s meeting that a couple of white speakers used anecdotal evidence to make a point about racism. They have a friend or someone important in their life who is black. Yeah, that won’t cut it either. It works both ways. Alone, that doesn’t prove or disprove racism.

But where is the evidence that McKinney has a racial problem? I haven’t looked at the government required police racial profiling report where there is more than anecdotal evidence revealed. Yes, I know not one single piece of information would tell the entire story.

So, how do you prove McKinney has a racial problem? Or, how do you prove that McKinney does not have a racial problem?

And just exactly where and how is it manifested? And if it is rampant, point that out to me. And if existed but is improving, where would I find the people standing up to say it’s better or, someday, almost non-existent?

A Recommended Requirement

The Mayor reads a statement at the beginning of each meeting that basically enacts a decorum mandate for speakers and the audience, such as to address the entire Council and not single out an individual person.

I think he should add a similar note ahead of the Public Comments portion of Council meetings:

“We are genuinely interested in public comments. You are being asked to identify yourself and to provide contact information on your speaker’s card. We also want you to know that in almost all cases we will seek to answer your question or respond to your need. Please be factual and accurate with any assertions you make regarding your situation. We do not want to embarrass you or put anybody on the spot. However, as your comments are public, we will make our responses to you public at a later date. Thank you for assisting in the decorum of these chambers.”

 

Is It Time to Reconsider the GFOA Awards & Transparency Awards?

.Reading time 8 minutes.

INTRODUCTION

It was in the mid-1980s when I was called into the City Manager’s office at a medium-sized city in Missouri. I was there as part of a consulting team looking at the IT department and, in my case, the accounting software needs. I wasn’t sure why the City Manager asked to meet with me behind closed doors.

I quickly learned the purpose of the meeting was for the City Manager to vent about the Finance Director. I already knew they did not get along. Well, that’s an understatement. They despised each other. The City Manager came up through the public works channels. The Finance Director, I soon learned from those inside the City and even those in the wider government finance industry, was one of the most obnoxious individuals to ever walk Planet Earth.

The City Manager’s complaints about the FD were laced with fiery profanity. It didn’t take him long to direct the discussion to the GFOA Awards that the CM painted with his hand across an imaginary wall that was ostensibly the finance and accounting hallway. The CM ranted about how much time and money the FD spent on obtaining the awards that, to him, took time away from being productive. Specially, the CM complained about how he was getting no timely and meaningful reports out of the FD. I don’t actually recall my response to him, and I’m not sure he asked for my input. Like I said, he was just venting. Let this story simmer on the back burner for now.

TODAY

Fast forward about 3+ decades to just a few weeks ago. I was with a group of people that included CMO officials as well as some finance officials. Suddenly, the discussion landed on the GFOA Awards. In a slightly more gentle and professional way, representatives from both disciplines repeated almost verbatim the opinions of the Missouri CM. Without the profanity. One finance professional said he estimates that he dedicates about 2 FTEs to doing nothing but preparing the CAFR and Budget to submit for the GFOA Awards.

Worse, as the discussion unfolded, the time and money were spent to produce two documents that virtually nobody read. Not the Council, the City Manager or anybody else in the City. And even fewer citizens! Profanity almost entered the discussion when the participants started talking about the uselessness of most Performance Measures included in the Budget. One finance official had a PDF of his Budget on the laptop. He counted the pages of PM data and surprised every one in the room that it was about 30+% of the Budget document. And worthless – only done out of duty to satisfy the requirements to earn the GFOA Budget Award.

More than one person in the room said they could produce a much more valuable set of Finance Statements and a better Budget document without the worry of GFOA Awards. The extra time they gained could be used to work on true management reports. One city showed how they actually prepare yet another version of the Budget that is understandable with most of the pertinent information readers need to assess the City’s financial resources.

However, there was one problem revealed. A serious one. The City had so many consecutive years of awards on the walls that it was certain they would be fired if the loss of an award happened on their watch. That was a sobering thought and took a few minutes to soak in. Is that the real reason more people don’t speak up?

CONCLUSION

It dawned on me that the discussion I am describing, 100% true, is likely to be descriptive of what some City Officials may have been thinking for a long time. I’m even aware I might be ostracized for bringing it up. I must confess it has occurred to me many times in the past three decades – even as I was once a GFOA Reviewer for the Budget Award. So was at least one other person involved in this described discussion.

Separately, I was talking to one of my respected colleagues several months back about how I have grown to really appreciate and use some of the infrastructure and depreciation data included in the otherwise confusing CAFR. I was then shocked when told that he didn’t place much stock in the accuracy of that data and that it was only included to satisfy GASB requirements. I’m still dumbfounded.

I wonder sometimes if we haven’t continued to fall into the “Awards Trap.” Even the Transparency Awards, now the goal of many cities, appears to be adding some flashy stuff that can be more sizzle than steak. After playing around with a few sites, I think the jury is still out. Are you able to make decisions from information or is it simply interesting at best? The hope is that the answer is “both objectives are satisfied.” But I wonder.

A basic dilemma governments face is whether to just add on tasks to staff, especially overhead functions, or to Reallocate Resources. Adding is a computer function. Reallocating Resources is Management in its purest form, often not practiced at all. The companion question regarding information has always been this: “just exactly who would notice if we stopped doing this task or preparing this report?”

Wait, don’t shoot me with the “Rating Agencies Gospel Gun.” I know they are the only readers of the CAFR (along with a few of the larger Bond Holders), and the CAFR Award carries more weight than the Budget Award. But in your heart of hearts, is it time to reconsider the effort and costs of the “Award Trap” and time to Reallocate Resources to something people need, read and use? LFM

Reflecting On The Days of New York Bond Rating Trips

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Okay, Tea Party Zealots, here comes one that will make you go berserko.

There was a day when most local governments went to NYC to make their case to the bond rating agencies. The business case presented was how well local governments were managing money, including past and proposed bond issues.

These were usually annual trips. They included the City Manager,  Finance & Budget Director as well as the Mayor. Sometimes the entire City Council or Commissioners Court attended but not usually.

These trips were expensive and often made into junkets, some more extravagant than necessary. My line and your line would probably differ. I have made a one-day round trip to NY and never want to do that again. They were usually two-day trips, maybe three.

I’m pretty sure the Financial Advisors hated them. I recall during a busy issuance season when an FA would put one client on an airplane back to DFW with the same plane bringing another client.

I think the bond rating agencies hated them, too. All three major firms created Texas offices that made the trips unnecessary for the most part. They also wanted more direct contact with the governments.

But my memories of those trips are mostly fond experiences.

Going to NYC to speak to the rating agencies was the only time in my career I felt I was being treated like my corporate counterparts. The agencies had good questions. And to this day, they are the only parties that truly care more about the future of your city than they do about your situation right now. It’s an entire different line of questioning. For instance, they were asking about infrastructure four decades ago.

And I loved to be in the same room with elected officials listening to those questions and responding to those questions when directed to the Mayor or County Judge. If they hadn’t thought about it before the meeting, these elected officials sure as hell walked away realizing there was a constituency they best never forget.

One that is taking $millions out of their pockets to buy your bonds in good faith that they will be repaid as much as two or more decades from now.

There were other things I remember. One I cherish was getting to NYC on a Sunday for meetings the following two days. The entire Dallas County Commissioners Court and a few staffers gathered in one room to watch the Cowboy game. These guys who fought and got downright ugly for the media on a regular basis were enjoying each other’s company for a few hours. And the collegiality spilled over to the bond rating meetings. They were unified and committed to fiscal responsible decisions equal to a blood oath in front of the agencies. It was a beautiful moment.

And yes, Tea Party, it was an unequaled experience to dine at Tavern on the Green and then see a Broadway Show with the Mayor or Councilmember while being driven in a limo rather than a cab. Caught in a snowstorm one time when cabs disappeared, no limo meant being stranded.

I was a corporate CFO with the President and Chair of the Board for a few days before returning to suffer the politics as a bureaucrat. I can feel the exhilaration like it was yesterday.

Yes, it was expensive even though a small part of selling $millions in bonds in light of other fees. If you are a TPZ, you haven’t paid attention to a damn word I’ve written, except for the cost part.

But many of the benefits cannot be replicated today. I truly miss those days and experiences, especially the professional respect that went in all directions. LFM

 

Should McKinney Refund $29,770,931 to Taxpayers from Excessive Taxation? You Make the Call!

.Reading time 7 minutes.

McKinneyFB

Municipal budgets are a compilation of tons of numbers. The focus is usually on Revenues & Expenditures. However, not to be overlooked are the resulting Fund Balances, both the incremental addition or drawdown for any particular year as well as  the cumulative Balances.

Fund Balances should be clearly highlighted in a budget. They should also be viewed in light of the overall expenditures in each fund. There are several “funds” such as the General Fund, The McKinney Economic Development Fund, The McKinney Community Development Fund and the Water & Sewer Fund. The largest is the General Fund where most of the property taxes, sales taxes, franchise taxes and building permit revenues can be found. Also, the Police, Fire, Parks & Recreation Departments and most all typical city tax-supported services can be found in the General Fund.

The McKinney General Fund budget indicates a financial policy desired minimum Fund Balance of 90-days of Expenditures or about 25%. That’s pretty healthy. I also wouldn’t consider a 120-day balance or about 33% to be excessive but rather very healthy.

While the Budget documents are of value, I consider them secondary to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which are the audited financial statements for a government entity. You will note from my table above that I have recapped some key number from the last 10 years of CAFRs for McKinney. These CAFRs are available at this link. The pages from the CAFRs I am using to compile my table can be found here.

To summarize my table and the CAFR schedules behind it, the City of McKinney has continually under-budgeted Revenues and over-budgeted Expenditures. Sure, there will be a variation out of a 10-year view, but the story is unmistakable.

The supporting schedules also show the changes between the Original Budget, the Revised Budget and the Actual Results. The Revised Budget figures are often shown late in the year about the time the Budget is presented to the City Council. That would be right about now as the City Council Budget Workshop is scheduled for tomorrow August 4th, when there are less then 60 days remaining in the Fiscal Year (October through September).

I would like to think that such a sophisticated staff as McKinney has, with all kinds of software and computing power to slice and dice the financial data, tailor queries and such, could stand flat-footed in August and get a very close estimate of the year-end actual numbers a few weeks away.

As you can see, the Actual results show the General Fund Balances to be well in excess of 120 days or 33% year after year for a decade. As of the end of September 30, 2016, the Fund Balance in the audited financial statements totals $65,606,029. When compared to Expenditures of $108,998,422, the metrics are 220 days or 60.19%.

If you compared to 120-days, the excess would be $29,770,931!

So, what could be done or should be done with that excessive amount? First, you would have to convince the City Manager that it is excessive, because he argues just the opposite. Actually, all you have to do is convince the City Council, the policy makers who adopted at the staff’s recommendation for a General Fund Balance level of 25% at a minimum.

Ah, nobody said anything about a maximum!

Would the City be in dire straits if the Property Tax Revenues had been $29 million less in recent years? Hardly. But you make the call. I want to see somebody stand up and tell me that $25-35 million at 120-days is too skinny.

Could the $29 million have been spent to buy 2-3 downtown garages out of cash and the City still be in sound financial condition? Yes. Or the same spent on a new city hall or on any kind of infrastructure needs? Yes.

Could or should the $29 million be returned to the Taxpayer since the rates could have much much lower in recent years and the City still be fiscal responsible? I think so, but you make the call. The $29 million excess got there because of unneeded taxation, pure and simple.

Has a refund like this ever been done before in the region? Yes, Farmers Branch did so many years back. They called it a dividend to the taxpayers.

Does the City have excessive reserves in other Funds? Yes, download the most recent CAFR and take a look. You will be blown away.

Did the City Council sitting in early 2017 when the FY 2016 CAFR was presented to them and accepted by the Council understand the General Fund had a $65 million balance? Dunno. Ask the three still on board or call up the four still active in the community. What about the current Council members? Dunno either. Ask them.

What is the staff projecting for the contribution to the General Fund Balance (or drawdown) going to be as of the end of the fiscal year in 60 days? I’m told a decrease of $381,105. And for FY 2018? I’m told it will be zero, that Revenues and Expenditures will be exactly the same.

We shall see.

Will Fund Balances even be discussed at tomorrow’s Budget Workshop?

Tune in.

LFM

 

 

A Few Governance Wishes on July 4th

.Reading time 8 minutes.

It was only a couple of months ago that I had high hopes of there being a big turn in political leadership in McKinney. Then it happened in grand style. A corner was turned and now the road ahead looks promising. I’m not expecting 7-0 votes on every issue by any means. But I see possibilities for new unities that serve the good of McKinney. That wish of mine is happening – yet to fully unfold, but the formation is visible and tangible. And it is beautiful!

I only wish that the Citizens of McKinney would wake up and get active to assure a more balanced, reasonable and business-like approach to politics and governance for the long-term. For political extremists like the Tea-Party to control or unduly influence city politics is flat wrong. Unlike County, State and Federal government, most of the municipal services are here because the Citizens asked for them. We want safe neighborhoods, recreation, parks, libraries and senior programs. We are here for a Quality of Life to meet our needs in the Maslow sense.

A reasonable person knows those things we want and asked for do not come free. We have a right to ask for these services, and the municipal government has a duty to provide them as efficiently as possible – and to require a reasonable payment for those services. That’s why we became a Home-Rule City about 155,000 citizens ago.

It is easy to count off the obvious services that are mostly paid for by property and sales taxes: Fire, Police, EMS, Parks, Recreation, Libraries, Streets & Lighting, Median Maintenance and Property Code Enforcement. There are many, many more services that you would notice only if they stopped being provided.

Based on an average house value in McKinney of $319,000, before exemptions, and current tax rate of $0.573, the tax bill would be $1,827.87. That equates to $5.01 per day per household. Yes, I know all about how to make things look small by dividing by the greatest denominator or look really huge by multiply the tax bill by 10 or 20 years.

But look, this is reasonable arithmetic. We are getting all of these services and paying property taxes equal to a venti Frappachino at Starbucks! Dear Citizen, you have been sucked into the vortex of Tea-Party hate-mongering by unthinking reaction to taxes. They are the cost of providing largely 24×7 protection of life and property in McKinney.

Do I think the taxes are too high? While reasonable, I am 100% positive they could be lowered and should be for the next fiscal year beginning October 2017 and ending September 2018. However, the full answer is too elaborate for this blog. I will be blogging more on this after July 25 when the property values are certified by the appraisal district followed by the obligatory publishing of the Truth-In-Taxation rates two weeks later.

I can talk about lowering taxes and even raising taxes when necessary without my blood pressure going up or down. So long as we are able to keep a perspective!

Since this is My Wish List blog, my point here is that I simply wish elected officials and citizens would do a little homework and keep things in perspective rather than being blindly persuaded to buy into the Tea-Party rhetoric. You are being deceived in the worst way.

For those of you elected largely because you had to subscribe to the Tea-Party propaganda to get elected, I wish you would simply think for yourselves. It is obvious when you are being sent text messages on the questions to ask. Or when your vote doesn’t match the expression on your face.

Collin County

I believe the same hysteria applies to Collin County politics. You can be conservative and still be responsible. County government is a little different. They deal mostly with the ugly services. That is the phrase I have used since the 1970s when I worked for county government for a couple of years. I actually love county government. They deal with the criminal justice system, mental health and other services that fulfill the State’s obligation. They are the chief administrative arm of the State. Who steps up to bury or cremate the dead pauper nobody will claim? That would be Collin County.

With the average Collin County home value being $339,000 and a tax rate of $0.208395, the annual tax bill (before exemptions) would be $706.46 or $1.94 per household per day. So, it is appalling to me when Collin County won’t pay their bills instead of protecting the Tea-Party Darling, AG Ken Paxton. C’mon, County Judge Keith Obvious and Commissioner Chris Oblivious. Get real. Actually, Get out! A robot can be programmed to say NO!

I wish for a Commissioners’ Court that would simply be realistic and honest rather than being puppets for the Tea-Party. I wish for a Court that would be more of a regional participant. I wish for low taxes but not at the expense of deferral in needed spending or to siphon off of Dallas County for indigent health care while recklessly blaming them for stepping up to the responsibilities Collin County shuns.

I wish for Commissioner Court leadership that engenders a more collaborative relationship with Collin County cities. Collin County is not an island within the region and the Commissioners’ Court is not an island within the county itself.

Our future is too important for Tea-Party control to annihilate basic good business decisions that affect everyone over the next several decades. I believe the Tea-Party to be the essence of evil motives without regard to reality.

Please, Dear Citizens. Get educated. Get involved. Help Collin County find a balance that is fair and reasonable. Put the people in front of and above politics. We have a chance to make this great county become even greater. Elect collaborators and communicators who can think for themselves and make informed decisions on their own. LFM

 

When Conservatism Stinks

.Reading time 13 minutes.

I hate labels. But I know we can’t escape using them. I’m conservative for the most part, but then I’m not a Republican (although I’ve always voted so while pinching my nose) and certainly don’t buy in to the Tea Party mindset of “just say no often and loud and ignore reality.” And add Patriot to the description so the positions can look iron-clad and justified. Fact is, I don’t like any extremes.

But I am a human. And a Citizen. And neighbor. And a Religious Person.

I support a few charities like Hope Women’s Center in McKinney. But I don’t go to their dinners any more – the banquets where some of Collin County’s finest conservatives stand up and plea for help for a good cause in the region. There are many good causes. And there are several agencies that help. I heard the number of charities in McKinney alone reaches way past several dozen, way more than I would have guessed. And of course, Collin County churches are always there to help. Help to feed and clothe and counsel.

But not to treat for health needs, especially critical health issues.

If Collin County leaders were as caring as they sound when asking for money and help at banquets, we would have our own hospital for indigent care. Oh, calm down. I can hear the Political Conservatives shouting and levitating off their cushy seats at the horrible thought of imposing on a taxpayer to help someone less fortunate.

The cry is first and foremost how poor people are that way because they are lazy. And some are, I’m sure. But what about those who are genuinely in need? And just exactly who makes that call? Would County Judge Self and Commissioner Chris Hill volunteer to stand at the door of Parkland Hospital when a Collin County indigent is rushed in by ambulance or simply taken there by choice so they could hold up their thumbs up/thumbs down sign? Easy enough to sit at the Dais while the real boots on the ground look a person of need in the eyes.

I was the first County Budget Officer in Texas when hired by Dallas County in 1977 after enabling legislation was passed to allow the Commissioners’ Court to prepare a budget instead of the County Auditor appointed by District Judges. The Commissioners’ Court did not prepare the budget for Parkland Hospital, but they had to approve it. Therefore, I had my first introduction into the issues surrounding a public hospital in the late 1970s. There were many.

Of course, one of them had to do with the high costs of a hospital. Extremely high costs. And then the linkage to the cost-drivers, number of people served. And the inability to pay. Whoa! And then the lopsided issue of people being served who came from outside of Dallas County! Although entrants were screened for the ability to pay, and even more pressure was put on Parkland to tighten the standards, it was an imperfect system. And I’m sure it is still so. But it was not an open-door policy by any means.

The ability (and yes, even the willingness) to pay issue has not gone away forty years later. It has only grown in size. So, I have a question to ask of every Collin County citizen/taxpayer. If the situation was reversed with Collin County treating Dallas County’s indigent people, what would you do? And if another county’s response was “tough luck, sucker, the problem is there because you Collin County weaklings just don’t know how to say NO, how to slam the door in the face of the needy,” what would be your reaction?”

For the last 11 years, I have lived in Collin County. For almost six decades before that, I lived in Dallas County with a few years in Denton County. My view is the same: Take care of your own; pay your fair share; do the right thing! DO THE RIGHT THING!!!

But that’s not the response from the Ultra-Conservative, Tea-Party driven Collin County leadership manifested in two men and their backers. And that’s wrong on so many levels that I want to puke.

I was set to blog about the topic this morning after a news story came out a few days ago. Then this columnist below penned his views that included my thoughts and even some of the exact phrases I was going to use. I will take advantage of his writings to complete my comments on this topic.

Meanwhile, I look forward to the day when the Conservative Extremists of Collin County find a balance and do what is right.

Oh, did I just hear you say, “move if you don’t like it.” No way. I’m here for the duration, dude. You move. Actually, just drop your intoxicating mantra, do a group hug, step up to the plate and be responsible citizens. You are the weaklings whose days are numbered. One can be conservative and still say Yes to a need.

 

How dare Dallas County’s neighbors bite the hands that treat them at Parkland

Dallas Morning News
Written by
James Ragland, Columnist

It’s bad enough that Dallas County’s public hospital has become a lifeboat for so many uninsured people across North Texas.

We don’t need our richer neighbors up north in Collin County mocking or maligning us for doing the right thing — especially when we’re required to do so by law.

We need them to chip in.

Here’s the long and short of it: Without Parkland Memorial Hospital’s excellent trauma and emergency-room care, we’d have a bunch of people — especially those without insurance — suffering longer or dying sooner.

That’s not a polite thing to say, but it’s true.

Thanks to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — a 31-year-old unfunded mandate from Uncle Sam — Parkland can’t turn away anyone coming through its emergency department even if they’re without insurance or the means to pay.

With 600,000 uninsured people in Dallas County alone, you can see how big of a potential burden that is on our hospital and our taxpayers.

But guess what? It doesn’t stop there.

We’re picking up the tab for out-of-county patients, too, as my colleague Naomi Martin recently reported.

Uninsured and indigent patients from across North Texas are benefiting from Parkland’s mandated largess — to the tune of $27.4 million last year alone.

This has been going on for decades.

And you know which out-of-county patients benefit the most from Parkland’s expert care and generosity? That would be Collin, the seventh most populous county in the state and one of the wealthiest based on per capita income.

Still, patients streaming in from Collin County last year cost the hospital $6 million. If you’re hoping we’ll get any of that money back, don’t hold your breath.

That’s a huge and bitter pill for Dallas County taxpayers to swallow. The one-sided deal strongly suggests that Collin and other counties aren’t able — or willing — to take care of their own.

Except — hold on — that is not the way Collin County Judge Keith Self spins it. Instead, he blames Parkland’s “liberal policies” for catching nearly 6,000 Collin County residents in its health care safety net last year.

“These are not indigent citizens,” Self said. “These are people who don’t pay their bill, they’re uninsured.”

In other words, the judge is saying his county is home to a bunch of deadbeats. Perhaps Dallas should figure out a way to slip that into its corporate recruiting brochures.

Anyway, in a tone reminiscent of the partisan bickering coming out of Austin and Washington — and we see where that’s gotten us — Self shamelessly throws salt on the wound by blaming Parkland’s CEO, Dr. Fred Cerise, for the hospital’s dilemma.

“If he’s got very liberal policies — I’m not going to comment on Parkland hospital policies that give more generous health care,” he said.

This is what happens when you’re a blue county in a red state: No do-good deed goes unpunished.

Parkland Hospital slashes 300 jobs amid budget cuts

What the Republican judge fails to acknowledge, however, is that this is far more complicated an issue than Parkland being too generous with taxpayers’ hard-earned money.

About half of Collin County’s 110,921 uninsured residents are eligible for indigent care. And it’s true, as Self mentions, that Collin isn’t the stingiest of counties in Texas when it comes to taking care of the indigent.

But the county simply doesn’t have a big enough safety net. And its health providers still can turn away people who don’t qualify for the network of services it offers.

That’s why so many out-of-county patients end up in emergency rooms — mostly Parkland, which happens to boast some of the best trauma care in the nation.

To be fair, not everyone in Collin County shares the judge’s harsh, if not downright ungrateful, judgment.

Some, like Rick Crocker, head of a homeless shelter in McKinney, understands the critical role that Parkland plays in saving lives. And he agrees that that Parkland “can’t bear the entire burden of this” alone.

It’s a “shared responsibility,” he said.

It sure is. And what we need is a regional partnership coupled with a cost-sharing strategy that takes into account the special role that Parkland plays in North Texas.

More pointedly, we need our suburban neighbors to step up to the plate. And, for once, they need to leave partisan politics out of the mix.

Last I checked, Parkland’s ER doctors don’t ask any of its patients whether they’re “liberal” or “conservative” before treating them.

They simply want to know where it hurts.

For Dallas County taxpayers, we know the answer: That would be the pocketbook, followed closely by the condescending rebukes from suburban politicians who should know better.

The Next Improvement Step in McKinney Governance

.Reading time 3 minutes.

I have high expectations for McKinney with the new City Council members now seated. However, the improvement steps won’t be nearly complete until there are a few new faces on some of the Boards & Commissions. And a few recommitments. I trust that some changes are about to be made.

This is not a new gripe for me. I have blogged about some members of the McKinney Economic Development Board and the Board of Adjustment in the past. What we don’t need is anybody on McKinney Boards & Commissions that melt into sheep-boards like they have at McKinney ISD. We don’t need people looking after their friends or are self-serving.

My suggestions to consider before appointing/re-appointing the current slate of Boards & Commissions:

  • Are you truly independent and willing to serve the entirety of McKinney with considerations for the citizens today and in the future?
  • Can you commit to doing your homework before meetings AND faithfully attending meetings?
  • Are you wanting to serve on this board solely as a stepping stone to run for City Council in the future?
  • Is there anybody in McKinney for whom you fear consequences if they don’t like your comments, recommendations or vote?
  • Do you have the ability to say NO when your conscious tells you the deal in front of you is not wise or in the best interest for McKinney?
  • Do you understand the Council-Manager form of government?
  • Do you understand the Open Meetings & Open Records Laws and are willing to abide AND to call out your colleagues when you know a violation is taking place?
  • Do you have a strong personal code of conduct irrespective of any written Code that might include many or all of the items many Codes as in this example?
  • Related, is your nature to raise the bar or let others around you to set your standards?
  • Do you have the ability to ask good questions that are necessary to evaluate an issue and be equipped to make an informed decision?

A list of the current Boards & Commissions can be found here.

If you are teachable and diligent as a student of government, and are of good character and can give an affirmative response to the questions above, please apply. You are greatly needed, and you can be an integral part of improving McKinney to be the most balanced community that can be found. I’m just a citizen blogger with 44 years of experience in municipal government. But I will do anything within my power to make you successful. LFM

I Got My Answer On The McKinney MUDs

.Reading time 6 minutes.

The question was posed in a previous blog.  Who is monitoring McKinney Utility Districts? Exactly one year later I got my answer. I knew the City Council and Staff weren’t asking the right questions when they entered into a consent agreement in 2012. That decison set a bond issuance cap of well over $200 million on a relatively small parcel of land in Trinity Falls that put them into the big-league of indebtness. Last Monday night Trinity Falls came back to the Council asking for the debt ceiling to be raised to $318 million!

Bad decision. Bad timing. Bad presentation.

Four new Council members are now asking questions. Good questions. The right questions. Common sense questions. If you have $262 million authorized and you’ve only issued $38 million, what’s the rush? And, by the way, let’s better understand who allowed this beast and why?

If you want to see my nominiation for the Presentations Gone Bad Award, see the video of last Monday night’s meeting at http://mckinney.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=3930 at the 1:39:13 mark. First, note the rate of speed in which the speaker is talking. It’s close to those disclosures at the end of ads on TV or radio.

It might also be a tip-off to the validity of this request.

Note first that he says the MUD is not in the City limits of McKinney. That’s a true statement, but stick it in your back pocket for a minute. We will come back to this little jewel.

Note that there is mention of 5,000 rooftops, but the speaker can’t answer a basic question about the amount of expected commerical property. And the 4-5 suits sitting behind me failed to come to his rescue. But I can attest they were squirming.

Then wait for the slow-motion train wreck when the Mayor starts reading an excerpt from a letter written by a homeowner inside the MUD.

Oh, it gets worse. The Council starts playing tag team with simple questions. Questions like where does the MUD board post notices of their meetings? Well, they are posted at the Collin County Courthouse. Yep, you heard correctly. In case you don’t know, you don’t go by the Courthouse on your way to get a loaf of bread. It’s a destination trip, but not in the vacation sense.

Where are the meeting held? At the MUD engineers’ offices in Frisco. FRISCO??? Strangely, there is no place to have a meeting in Trinity Falls. They don’t have a community center, and they don’t have the money to build one. Wrong answer to a Council being asked to bump a debt ceiling from a gigantic $262 million to an interglactical $318 million.

Then comes the biggest goof of the night. The Trinity Falls representative was asked about why notices were not posted online? The response was that the MUD did not have a Web site. And then he turned into a lawyer and started giving reasons why a Web site invoked all kinds of burdens. However, assurances were given that a Web site would be available sometime in the future.

May we take a break here and ask that you go to http://www.trinityfalls.com? Dang if there isn’t a Web site! It appears to be fairly mature. None of those “under construction” icons.

Whoa! Look at this on the front page: “Trinity Falls is a 1,700-acre master planned community in McKinney, Texas.“

Now reach back in your hip pocket where you saved that earlier comment from the speaker, the correct one.

Trinity Falls is not in the City limits, but it is being marketed as if it is. No wonder people living there are confused.

As a side note, look at their monthly newsletters. I checked a few, and I don’t see any notices about Board meetings, agendas or minutes. I did find a huge splash encouraging residents to check out the shopping in Plano. How interesting. Could you please come begging to catapult a debt ceiling from the McKinney City Council and then promote shopping in another City!

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

What I do see is that the New Council is not going to be the Rubber Stampers of old. Trinity Falls was told the item would be continued at the regular Council meeting on Tuesday, the next night. I watched that meeting and the item was pulled from the agenda by Trinity Falls. “Indefinitely.”

As is Wooden-Stake Indefinitely? We shall see.

And I am guessing that whether Trinity Falls comes back or not has no bearing on this Council’s desire to dig deeply into MUDs. The inquiry isn’t over. It’s just getting started.

What is of great importance is that Trinity Falls residents don’t have a vote in McKinney. But they do have a voice now. LFM

La’Shandion Shemwell: A Story of Redemption

.Reading time 3 minutes.

How could a person with a questionable history end up being elected to the McKinney City Council? His opponents were relentless in pointing out his undeniable flaws, all in the past, both in the initial election and the run-off election. He is in District 1, mostly the older part of McKinney. I understand he lives in public housing. I could not vote since I don’t live in that district. The first time I saw a picture of him, I wondered if he had many supporters. I heard nothing bad about Mr. Shemwell. In fact, what I did hear was encouraging. He is a barber by trade and a man on a mission to lift up the standards for youths in his passionate side-ministry. So I just watched. And he won.

My 14-year-old granddaughter was with me at the standing-room-only Council meeting Monday night when three new members were sworn in. The new mayor had been sworn in at a previous meeting since he did not have a run-off situation. It was a lively night, full of celebration and gushing with compliments for those going off the Council and those being seated. Lindsey got to see first-hand how hope and goodness and vision starts out with every expectation that things will improve in the future.

There were many highlights, but La’Shadion Shemwell
Shemwellstole the show. Gratitude to God and family came from the lips of most of the newbies. But you simply must watch this clip of the meeting at the 40 minute 48-second mark. I’m expecting that it will make your day as it did those of us serving as witnesses. I think it is a sign of things to come for McKinney governance and leadership.

There’s a new sheriff and posse in town, and the changes will be noticed near and far. LFM

You need Internet Explorer to view the clip:

http://mckinney.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=3930

I am a

00:40:49 mountain, I am an eagle, I am a lion,

00:40:56 down in the jungle. I am a marching

00:40:57 band, I am the peo

00:40:57 band, I am the people, I am a helping

00:41:03 hand, I am a hero. If anybody asks you

00:41:09 who I am, stand up tall, look me in the

00:41:15 face and say, I’m that

00:41:15 face and say, I’m that start up in the

00:41:17 sky, I’m that mountain peak up high, I

00:41:32 made it. I’m the world’s greatest. I’m a

00:41:33 little bit of hope. When my back is

00:41:34 against the ropes, I made it, I’m the

00:41:35 world’s greatest. I am district 1, thank

00:41:38 you