Tribune Progess Article on Public Budget Hearing

Meeting recorded by James Grant Audio Above--Video Coming Soon Takes 5 minutes for meeting to start

Bartlett Adopts Rollback Rate, Old Budget

Link to Posted Agenda's
News Article By Gayle Bielss
   A vocal audience challenged the mayor and council at a public hearing for the City of Bartlett budget  Monday night. Mayor Pro Tem Arthur Mason was not present.

   Mayor Arthur White told the council and audience that if the council did not adopt a budget by the September 30 deadline, the old budget goes into effect. He said it would be monitored closely. White said he was unable to work up a new budget since he did not have an accurate accounting of income and expenses for the previous year.

   White stated "they" were working diligently in city hall reviewing checks to see how much went out and what came in for the previous fiscal year.

   Former city secretary Diane Evans asked how a tax rate could be passed without a current budget. She said last year (2008) an ordinance had to be passed to go into the next month until a budget was ready.White said he did not know.

   City attorney Paige Saenz was present to answer questions.

   Ms. Evans and Kathy Jones, also a former city secretary for Bartlett, stated that the budget is supposed to be available 30 days prior to the tax rate hearing. Ms. Jones said the budget was supposed to be available on the counter, and individuals should not have to ask for copies.

   Councilwoman Alice Rodriguez said she had asked about a budget and had not received her copy until noon the previous day.

   Ms. Saenz said a budget is required to be adopted each year following statutes to adopt the tax rate. She said things need to be done in an orderly fashion to adopt a tax rate. She said cities frequently come back with budget amendments one or twice a year.

   Ms. Evans said the way it stands, the public will have no input on the budget. Mayor White said that budget hearings will be held through October with another public hearing at the end of October. Ms. Evans said, so this meeting was for nothing. She said a lot of things could have been changed but were not. White stated, "You created the budget, so I beg to differ." Ms. Evans responded with, it was correct last year, but things have changed since then.

   James Grant asked when last year's budget was amended and was told it had not been. He then asked when was the last full year's audit and was told 2005. Grant wanted to know why there had not been an audit. White said Grant would have to ask the previous city secretary. Grant pointed out that the mayor is responsible and culpable. Grant said these are not new questions. White said he had no recollection. White said the information for the auditor was not available. Grant stated that the city is required to have an audit.

   Mayor White discussed setting the tax rate at the rollback rate. Ms. Evans asked why go with the rollback rate, what if it's not sufficient for the budget. Who decided on the tax rate? Mayor White said the rate was set by the county, but Ms. Evans insisted that the council had a choice. She asked why choose the lower tax rate? She said the council could choose between the effective tax rate and the rollback rate. As Ms. Evans continued to query the mayor about who picked the tax rate, first he said no further comment, and then said the council is about to vote on it.

   Grant inquired about the newspaper of record for the city of Bartlett and asked when the proposed tax rate had been published. White said it was probably not published.

   Mayor White stated that since Ms. Evans was released on July 20, there had been one city secretary who stayed 30 days and one who stayed five. Ms. Evans told him that's not her problem, "I'm just trying to get answers you don't want to answer." White told her he did not have the experience she had. When White mentioned Mattie (as city secretary), Councilwoman Alice Rodriguez said the council had not appointed her city secretary and White asked, What's your problem there?

   Grant stated that last year's budget still had shortfalls and questioned how one could adopt a budget with shortfalls with a rollback tax rate. White said the council was at fault, him primarily. Grant asked if the council planned to use Plan B and raise utility rates.

   Mayor White closed the public hearing promptly at 7:30 p.m. White convened the called meeting at 7:30 p.m. and called for a motion on the tax rate based on the appraised value of property. He read ordinance No. 2009-7 levying ad valorem taxes for use and support of the municipal government of the city for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2009 and ending September 30, 2010. White stated that the total tax rate should be set at $.5244 on each $100 valuation with $.2749 for maintenance and operation and $.2495 for interest and sinking.

   When Mayor White asked for a motion, Councilman Charlie Johnson that he was of the understanding that the current budget would be extended 30 days. He said he felt misled and wanted no part of it.

   White asked the council's wishes, stating they had to adopt or disapprove the tax rate. Johnson made the motion to disapprove with a second by Ms. Rodriguez.

Councilwoman Gina Grove asked the city attorney if another ordinance could be created. Ms. Saenz said that the old year's budget went into effect if a new one was not prepared. Saenz said the city was meeting statutory requirements, and extending the budget year was an usual circumstance.

   Johnson said, "That the council did not have information that the city was using this budget. Now we have a deadline and have to take whatever is thrown at us."

   Once again, Saenz stated that the city was meeting statutory requirements and Johnson said you tell me about the process, but other processes have not been followed. Saenz said the city is trying to do the right thing.

   Ms. Evans said the city would be better with the default budget. Three council members voted to disapprove the tax rate with Councilman Reuben Lindemann not voting, since "I don't understand everything being said."

   Saenz said the old budget would be extended and that the council should go ahead and establish a tax rate. October 1 starts new budget regardless of what we do, White said.

   White reread the ordinance and Lindemann made the motion to approve it based on what was read. His motion died for lack of a second. After White asked the council what they wished to do, Lindemann asked what's our problem, why can't we approve, what's wrong with it? Saenz asked if the council was concerned about the tax rate. Lindemann again made the motion to approve the tax rate with a second by Grove. It passed 3-1 with a yes by Johnson and a no by Rodriguez.

   An agenda item regarding invoices for technical services by Lon Hammonds was deleted, since Mayor White said it was pretty much straightened out.

   The minutes for the regular meeting on September 21 were approved and the meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.

Debbie McKeon
Tribune-Progress
254-527-4424

CowBoy Song Old Paint Written In Bartlett

Ol' Paint's Ride Started in Bartlett by Clay Coppedge

From TexasEscapes.Com Click & Go for More about BARTLETT TEXAS

Identifying who actually penned the classic trail drive song "Goodbye Old Paint" is about as easy as trying to figure out which horse on which cattle drive inspired the song. One thing we can say with certainty is that the song's journey from trail drive ditty to enduring American classic passed through here.

The man most often credited as composer of the song is Jess Morris, who was born in Bartlett in 1878. Jess Morris never claimed to have written the song; he said he learned it from a black cowboy named Charley Willis.


Woody Guthrie

"Charley played a Jews-harp and taught me how to play it," Morris said. "It was on this Jews-harp that I learned to play 'Old' Paint' at the age of seven.

"In later years I learned to play 'Old Paint' on the fiddle, in my own special arrangement - tuning the fiddle accordingly."

Fiddlers recognize Morris' arrangement as sophisticated and difficult, adding credence to rumors that he studied violin in Austin and at Valparaiso, Indiana. But Jess Morris he always identified himself as a cowboy fiddler.

His unique "Old Paint" arrangement caught the attention of folk music collector John Lomax. Lomax wrote to Morris that he (Morris) had "the best tune that exists to Goodbye, Old Paint" and he wanted to record it as Morris performed it. That version is included on the album "Cowboy Songs, Ballads and Cattle Calls From Texas."

Jess Morris left Bartlett when he was 12 and settled on the Texas panhandle where he was known as a good ranch hand as well as a superb fiddler.

An Amarillo newspaper first identified Jess Morris with the song in 1928. Reporting on a tri-state fiddle contest, Morris is singled out for "Goodbye Old Paint." "The audience forgot all dignity and joined in a hearty yell on 'Goodbye Old Paint,'" the reporter wrote.

The song was probably credited to Jess Morris because of the unique way he tuned his fiddle for the song.

Other versions of the song invariably surfaced, all of them "original compositions." "Many publishers swiped my song and had it published, and many old maverick 'Paints' were running wild and unbranded," Morris later said.

Charley Willis' great-grandson, Artie Morris, grew up in Temple, the son of a railroad man. He says his great grandfather was born a slave in Milam County in 1850 and learned the cowboy trade as a slave.

The book "Black Cowboys of Texas," published by Texas A&M University Press, reports that in 1871 Willis was hired to help the Snyder brothers of Georgetown take several thousand cattle up the Chisholm Trail to Wyoming.

Willis returned to Milam County and settled in Davilla. He went to work for E.J. Morris on the Morris Ranch near Bartlett. Willis' specialty, both on the trail and on the Morris Ranch, is said to have been breaking horses.

Willis taught E.J. Morris' seven-year old son, Jesse, how to play "Goodbye Old Paint" in about 1885. Jess Morris' first fiddle lesson came from another black cowboy on the ranch, Jerry Neely.

Two generations later, Artie Morris grew up in Temple wanting to be a country singer. Hank Williams - not Charley Willis - inspired his passion. "I wanted to be a country singer and I couldn't do it because there were no black country singers," he says. "I'd go in clubs and the band didn't want to play for me. They would play off-key, they'd do all sorts of stuff just to make me mess up."

Artie Morris went to Nashville in 1955, a decade before Charley Pride became the first black superstar of country music. Doors opened for him when record executives heard his tapes, but closed just as quickly when he showed up in person.

"He said he was afraid 'blacks won't buy it because it's country and country won't buy it because you're black,'" he said of one record executive in a 2001 interview. Things weren't any better at home. "Even in Temple, you go into a club, one club had two stages and two bands," he said. "One stage was where the white musicians played and the other side was where the blacks played and they couldn't play on the same stage together."

He left Texas for California and stayed there 30 years, working as a television host, a recording artist for Adkorp Records and, for seven years, as a writer for Buck Owens' publishing company.

Ten years ago, Artie Morris left the Golden State for the Lone Star State. He released a 10-song CD featuring traditional cowboy songs, including "Good-bye Old Paint." He said he tried to put himself in the mindset of his great grandfather, on a 2,000-mile trail drive up the Chisholm Trail. "I always wanted to be a cowboy, but I was afraid of cows, so I thought it was best to sing about it," he says.

Western writer and singer Jim Bob Tinsle believes there is enough credit to go around for "Goodbye Old Paint." Credit for saving the song must be given to three Texans: a black cowboy (Willis) who sang it on cattle drives, a cowboy who remembered it (Jess Morris) and a college professor (Lomax) who put it down on paper," Tinsle wrote.

Leave it to a man named Jim Bob to get it right. .

Donahoe Creek Watershed Dams Story by Temple Daily Telegram

READ TCEQ Doc "Texas Dam Guidelines"

BREECH IMPACT PUT IN SPOTLIGHT: Officials Analyze Earthen Dams
by Paul A. Romer
Published: April 5, 2009
Dale Mengers looks over the Elm Creek Watershed Dam shortly after its completion last year. (Scott Gaulin/Telegram)
Part of Bell County’s infrastructure has been classified as “high hazard” by the National Resources Conservation Service, a designation that requires the development of emergency action plans.

Many people may not have considered the earthen dams spread around the county in three different watersheds as infrastructure, but during times of heavy rains the dams are critical for preventing flooding.

The designation has nothing to do with the structural integrity of the dams, but is instead a reflection of increased development downstream.

Eight of 25 earthen dams in the Bell County jurisdiction of the Elm Creek Watershed Authority are being analyzed to determine the impact a breech from one or more of the dams would have downstream.

Another three dams in the Donahoe Creek Watershed, which spans southern Bell County, are being analyzed because they are potentially “high hazard.”

Dale Mengers, a consultant with Elm Creek Watershed, said the NRCS classification was based purely on a visual inspection of the area downstream from the dams. Since it looked like loss of life or significant loss of property could result in the event of a breech, the state agency moved the dams up on the classification list.

“The dams are inspected every year,” Mengers said. “They are in a safe state, but new roads, homes and businesses could be inundated in the event of a breech.”

Bell County Engineer Bryan Neaves said the county entered into an agreement with the watershed authorities in December to pay half the cost of engineering studies of the dams, which are now under way.

The Elm Creek project is $96,000 and Donahoe Creek $26,000.

When the studies are complete, the county and watershed authorities will understand better the impact of potential breeches.

“We expect to receive models and maps this spring,” Neaves said.

Mengers characterized the studies as “a preventative thing,” something that emergency officials could use in a catastrophic event to quickly determine people who might need assistance or could be in danger.

In the Elm Creek Watershed most of the dams being analyzed are in the Zabcikville area.

One dam off Brewster Road is close to Temple’s industrial park and has lots of homes downstream. Another dam near Pecan Road has homes downstream that could be in a breech zone.

The studies at Donahoe Creek Watershed are in a more rural area of the county near the Milam County line. The Donahoe Creek Watershed also includes part of Williamson County.

Elm Creek Watershed maintains more than 30 dams in a four-county basin area. Most are located in rural parts of northeast Bell County.

Former Little River Police Chief Arrested

Michael Meissner

Posed as a Woman to Solicit Nude Photos from Boys


MEISSNER TCLEOSE RECORDS
WARNING EXPLICIT PROBABLE CAUSE AFFIDAVIT



By MITCH MITCHELL and DARREN BARBEE
mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

A 39-year-old former police chief being held in the Dallas County Jail on Wednesday posed as a woman to solicit nude photos from a 17-year-old, investigators said.

According to court documents, Michael Meissner used a bogus MySpace page, then asked for nude photos of teen boys.

Some of the boys who sent nude pictures to Meissner are barely legal and appear to have multiple criminal incidents on their records, an arrest warrant affidavit said. Investigators said they believe that Meissner used his position as police chief in Little River-Academy to find potential victims and has obtained nude pictures from people in the Belton, Killeen, Temple and Waco areas.

One investigator said that in 2006, while Meissner was police chief in Caney City, a 15-year-old boy spent the night with him without his parents’ knowledge or consent and looked at pornography stored in a police computer. The teen told one of Meissner’s friends what had happened and began to get threats from Meissner, the affidavit said.

Meissner altered the computer’s hard drive and operating system, and as a result, the district attorney chose not to pursue the case, the investigator said.

But now, investigators have more than 4,900 text messages and e-mails that they say outline the scope of Meissner’s enterprise, according to the affidavit. The stored messages show numerous pornographic pictures, as well as messages with references to sexual acts with boys and videotaping.

Those text messages show that Meissner filmed at a residence off Collins Street in Arlington. The text messages also describe the use of narcotics, the promotion of prostitution and other illegal activities, the affidavit said. A 17-year-old has agreed to be a witness for the state, according to the affidavit.

If he’s convicted on the six felony charges he faces, Meissner could spend 110 years in prison and be fined $70,000, police said. Meissner faces charges of aggravated promotion of prostitution, sexual performance by a child, possession or promotion of child pornography, engaging in organized criminal activity, misuse of official information, and obstruction or retaliation, Dallas County Jail records show. Bail has been set at $1.5 million.

Joseph Dauben, whom police suspect in connection with the case, was arrested on warrants in Plymouth, N.H. Dauben was in the Grafton County Jail in Plymouth on Wednesday, awaiting extradition to Texas, police said.

Dauben faces charges of engaging in organized criminal activity, obstruction or retaliation, and misuse of official information.

Meissner has a been a itinerate police officer and chief, once serving six days as the chief of the New Summerfield Police Department.

Meissner was charged in Tarrant County with impersonating a public servant in May 2005, but was no-billed by the grand jury.