Pedernales Electric Co-Op Scandal Begs Legislative Action

One of the most offensive scandals of 2008 has been the Pedernales Electric Co-Op’s continuing saga of greed and corruption. The PEC has royally urinated on its “members” – captive customers of the utility.

It has been the subject of extensive coverage by the Austin American-Statesman. See the most recent article http://www.statesman.com/search/content/business/stories/other/12/17/1217pec.html
as well as the accompanying Editorial by the Statesman: http://www.statesman.com/search/content/editorial/stories/12/17/1217pedernales_edit.html

Like most scandals, the web is woven by a number of players, and the circle is often unbroken:

The alleged ringleader in the scandal is Bennie Fuelberg, the former General Manager of the PEC. Apparently, the PEC made some questionable payments to the law firm of Clark, Thomas & Winters that eventually made their way to Curtis Fuelberg, the brother of Bennie Fuelberg. Among his many clients, Curtis Fuelberg is one of the lead lobbyists for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

In the AAS story, the spokesperson for Bennie Fuelberg is none other than Jason Stanford. Stanford is one of the leading liberal opposition researchers in Texas, a perennial Democratic Party vendor and frequently works for the TTLA on various political campaigns.

It appears to me that Curtis Fuelberg and Jason Stanford may be getting paid with monies from ill-gotten gains.

This week, a 390-page investigation was released which is full of problems for the PEC executives – and the captive ratepayers.

There are few heroes when corruption is so prevalent and ongoing, but the Austin American-Statesman and reporter Claudia Grisales along with Sen. Troy Frasier and Rep. Patrick Rose are to be commended for shedding light on the problems, and encouraging action.

Let’s hope the legislature sees fit to release the customers of this failed monopoly and brings justice to the members.

Perhaps the PEC should be split up, sold and the members get the profits, along with opportunity to shop for another electricity provider.

Sky-high salary brings promises of improved student performance

Most businesses would wait until an employee's demonstrated value to the organization before giving them a raise or bonus. Not so in Round Rock ISD. There, school board members reward the Superintendent hoping that improved student performance will result. It appears the school board is rewarding his personality, not performance.

Survey examines pay for district supers

LAURI ZACHRY
Education Reporter

Round Rock ISD Superintendent Jesus Chavez's salary falls into the upper range of Texas superintendent salaries for the 2008-09 school year.

The average superintendent salary for the 2008-09 school year is $113,334, a 3 percent increase from the 2007-08 school year, according to the Texas Association of School Boards Superintendent Salary Survey released recently. Average superintendent salaries range from $79,493 in districts with less than 500 students to $272,347 in districts with more than 50,000 students.

Six percent of the responding districts gave a raise averaging 4.2 percent to their respective returning superintendent's for the 2008-09 school year, according to the TASB salary survey. The average bonus paid was $9,339 or 7 percent of the superintendent's salary.

The Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees voted in February to increase RRISD Superintendent Jesus Chavez's base salary to $243,080 from $221,991. In addition, the board increased his business expense allowance by $1,000, giving him a total of $5,800 for the year. Chavez's contract was extended to June 30, 2011. His previous contract would have expired in 2010.

"This was an easy decision," RRISD Trustee Diane Cox said in February, after the board made the decision to give Chavez a raise. "He has more than proven himself with the board. He has developed such community support. You even hear at regional and state meetings good comments about him and how he is leading RRISD. He's a strong mentor, cognizant of needs and always willing to give of his time."

Since Chavez became superintendent in 2006, he has helped contribute to some memorable moments in the district. He said the highlights of the past two years have been:

• completing a bond study report with the community in early 2006

• passing the November 2006 bond for approximately $267 million

• reorganizing the district into elementary and secondary sectors

• standardizing the curriculum, programming and benchmarking tests

• adopting "Failure is Not an Option" as the district's school improvement model and developing curriculum around that model

"There is no doubt we as a district will improve and individual schools will improve," Chavez said in February. "Good things will happen in Round Rock."

The TASB Superintendent Salary Survey is a compilation of superintendent salary and benefit information submitted to TASB's Human Resources Services during the fall semester of the 2008-09 school year. TASB sent invitations to participate in the salary survey to 1,030 Texas school districts.

Texas Ranked #1 in Consumer Choice in Electricity

A newly released study reveals that Texas is the top state in the U.S. in competitive electricity. And that competition has benefited consumers. Consumers win when they are given choices in the marketplace. The study confirms the benefits of consumer choice.


Electricity competition has given Texans the freedom of choice in providers, services and pricing of electricity among numerous power producers and retailers.


While much of the electricity in Texas is generated by natural gas, and those prices have been volatile, Texans have been insulated from some of the price surges other states have seen, largely due to the competitive marketplace.


Some of the recent criticism of competitive markets (by folks like the liberal AARP) is also addressed in the report. Critics claim that "rates are increasing in competitive markets" when rate fluctuations are really the result of fuel price increases that can be exacerbated by regulatory or legislative decisions to artificially depress prices below market costs.

We also need to open the municipal electricity and co-ops to competition. These are currently monopolies and residents served by munis and co-ops are held captive to those providers and have no electricity provider options.


The study can be accessed at: http://www.defgllc.com/news/news.asp?show=VIEW&a=66

Texas Cities line up in DC for money

Texas Cities line up for federal dollars

The country's mayors went to Washington this week to hand Congress a wish list worth $73 billion. And Texas mayor were lined up at the trough.

The Wall Street Journal wrote: “But before taxpayers give them a dime, let's see the mayors rank those 11,391 goodies -- I mean "infrastructure" projects -- based on effectiveness and potential return on investment for taxpayers:

- Arlington, Texas, needs $4 million to expand its tennis center.
- La Porte, Texas, wants $7.6 million for a "Life Style Center."
- Euless, Texas, wants $15 million for the Midway Park Family Life Center, which, you'll be glad to note, includes both a senior center and aquatic facility”

Robert Poole from Reason Foundation penned the piece which ended the with:
“It was very nice of the country's mayors to hand taxpayers a wish list worth $73 billion. But before taxpayers give them a dime, let's see the mayors rank those 11,391 goodies -- I mean "infrastructure" projects -- based on effectiveness and potential return on investment for taxpayers.”

Read it all here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122887075956093233.html

DISD pays extra for administrator to steal

Steal $1 million and Dallas ISD will pay you $65,000 in severance pay. It’s a scam and a shame.

We could not write it any better – Dallas Morning News reporter Scott Parks penned a news article which ran last week on a school district which continues to be the “poster child” for what can go wrong with a monopoly school system.

“Ruben Bohuchot lived like "a rock star" during his five years as Dallas ISD's chief technology officer, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. In January, he will report to a federal penitentiary and start living like an inmate.

“U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay sentenced Mr. Bohuchot to 11 years in prison for participating in an elaborate bribery and money-laundering scheme involving lucrative computer contracts. Mr. Bohuchot showed no emotion as the judge announced the sentence and chastised him for his crimes.

"In doing this, somewhere along the road, something went bad," Judge Lindsay said.
“Federal investigators calculated that Mr. Bohuchot took almost $1 million in illegal gifts, gratuities and cash payments from Houston computer vendor Frankie Wong. In return, Mr. Bohuchot made sure that Micro System Enterprises, Mr. Wong's company, won two contracts to supply computers and other technology services to the school district for more than $120 million.

“The most sensational aspect of the bribery scheme involved two deep-sea fishing yachts named "Sir Veza" and "Sir Veza II." Testimony during Mr. Bohuchot's three-week trial last summer showed that Mr. Wong purchased the 46-foot "Sir Veza" for $305,000. After Mr. Wong won a second big DISD contract, he bought the 58-foot "Sir Veza II" for $800,000.

“Mr. Bohuchot, an avid fisherman, named the boats and controlled their use, according to testimony.”

At Americans for Prosperity, we were well aware of the allegations even before they hit the news as at one of our grassroots training sessions in Dallas, an activist had met with and shared much of this information with us.

Certainly, DISD is a poster child for what is wrong with public education. We’d like to think this is unusual, but fear that with as much money as is spent on public education, there are likely many other abuses.

It is important to note that the Dallas Morning News may be largely responsible for the investigation which lead to conviction. Their investigative reporting first challenged a trip the DISD official took aboard the computer company’s yacht.

It is important to note that, in typical style of school districts, the financial officer who stole at least $1 million from ISD was put on paid leave for 8 months then received a $65,000 “buyout package.” His salary is $143,492. So again, a school district pays one of their own (a thief). It’s a scam and a shame. Taxpayers, students and parents deserve better.

Read the full article here: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/111308dnmetbriberysentence.4a3707f.html


-- Peggy Venable, AFP-Texas director

Dallas City Council Passing Go, Collecting $550 Million Taxpayer Dollars

By: Allison Miller

Dallas City Council members believe a new convention center and hotel will serve as a centerpiece for their efforts to revitalize the city’s downtown area. But several taxpayer advocacy groups say the project is a waste of public money and won’t meet Mayor Tom Leppert’s expectations.

Leppert has said he believes the Convention Center hotel is essential to the city’s growth and will allow it to compete with other top convention cities like Las Vegas and Orlando.

The hotel will be connected to the Dallas Convention Center on land currently owned by Cincinnati-based Chavez Properties Ltd. The City Council already approved spending $500,000 on an option to buy the Chavez Property for $42 million, which is estimated to be twice the size actually needed for the development. The hotel will be publicly financed, costing the city an estimated $550 million. 

The group Citizens Against the Taxpayer Owned Hotel collected more than 60,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the issue in May 2009. But developer Jack Matthew said that before the vote takes place, the city will have already spent $10 million on construction costs. City Council members plan to hurry the project along, hoping voters will see their tax dollars already in use and vote to complete the hotel so their money is not wasted.

The Dallas City Council has repeatedly claimed that Dallas must build the hotel in order to stay competitive in the convention center business with other cities that have added hotels. This includes the cities of Austin and Houston. 

Furthermore, Leppert has treated the hotel as an economic generator, saying it will bring new revenue, generate new business, and create new jobs in Dallas. The City Council adds that Dallas stands to lose several businesses if they can’t keep their convention center booked. They say that consistent bookings of the convention center can only occur if they add the extension.

A study by Dr. Heywood Sanders for the Brookings Institute on the economic impact of convention centers finds these grounds given by Mayor Leppert and the City Council to be erroneous and misleading to the public.

According to Dr. Sander’s study, all three rationales can be disproved by the fact that the trend of large convention center events has been in decline since before the post-9/11 economy. Existing convention centers have lost large amounts of business within the past decade, while newly constructed centers and expansions have not been able to gain or keep consistent business.

This trend doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon, and it seems like convention centers and their expansions, like the hotel in Dallas, will become a drain on taxpayers’ wallets. Even a turnaround in the industry would not create a substantial increase in business for any given city. 

A testament to the failures of Dallas’ plan is the St. Louis taxpayer-owned hotel, which was largely financed the same as the planned Dallas hotel. The St. Louis hotel is now missing its second mortgage payment and projects business to deteriorate even more this year.

If the Dallas hotel fails, taxpayers will be the ones incurring the debt. Taxpayers deserve to know the real facts that surround the taxpayer-owned hotel.

Links:
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/10/hey_look_theyve_alrea...
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20050117_conventioncenters.pdf
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2008-04-17/news/demanding-answers-as-the-d...
http://www.notaxpayerhotel.com/
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/mound-city-money/uncategorized/2008/11/...

Secondhand Smoke: The Phantom Menace

We received an excellent column from Dr. John Dunn, a physician from South Texas, who says the American Cancer Society should re-check the "facts" they've been spreading about the effects of secondhand smoke.

Of course, we know the ACS's true agenda has nothing to do with secondhand smoke. They want to ban smoking altogether, and they're chipping away at the issue through smoking bans, "for public health reasons," they say.

We call this back-door prohibition.

Here is the column from Dr. Dunn, which pokes holes in the pro-smoking ban argument:

I can say with confidence that second hand smoke may irritate some, but it does not kill. Those claiming thousands of deaths from second hand smoke to the Dallas City Council and the public are deceitful for a political goal.

I have been a Texan for 22 years, and a physician specializing in emergency medicine for 36 years. I am familiar with the public health science on second hand smoke.

Public health studies cited by the American Cancer Society and the Surgeon General claim thousands of deaths result from second-hand smoke. These are weak, cherry-picked studies. Their supporters compound the deceit by ignoring studies by the World Health Organization (Buffetta 1998 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute), Stranges, 2006 in Archives of Internal Medicine, and Enstrom 2003 in The British Medical Journal – all of which show no effect from second-hand smoke.

In science, one study that disproves a scientific theory is more important than a pile of studies that are slightly positive. Anti-smoking advocates and fanatics ignore that basic rule and ignore any study they don’t like.

They are propagandists, not scientists.

The crusaders are willing to do and say anything about second hand smoke, including making public statements about thousands of deaths from second hand smoke. Those claims are diverse and duplicitous—they are lies. Second hand smoking, even for the spouse of a smoker is one cigarette or less per day—which has no effect. The second hand smoke scare is a phantom menace conjured up by the High Holy Church of Smoke Haters to support the anti-smoking crusade.

Smoking Bans violate the Texas tradition of minding your own business. If the City Council thinks it has a role in telling people how to live, they should get a Divinity Degree and find a congregation. Folks in Dallas can easily avoid second hand smoke, and employment in a bar or restaurant is voluntary. Smoking is legal. Avoiding smoke is easy.

John Dale Dunn, MD, JD

Policy Advisor American Council on Science and Health, NYC, and the Heartland Institute, Chicago.

McAllen officials dump more debt into the lap of taxpayers

Apparently McAllen officials would rather fund fluff projects instead of paying off the current city debt.

Officials in McAllen are planning to build “outdoorsman's oasis”, which will include a 6.4-acre fishing lake and camping grounds at Fireman's Park in addition to 11 acres of park land. The park will include a playground, pavilion, restrooms, showers, concession building, trails with bridges, fishing piers and a sand volleyball court.

The City of McAllen is adding $800,000 from its coffers to fund the project.

While the idea of an outdoorsman’s addition to Fireman’s Park seems like a great idea, how is it that the City of McAllen feels like they have enough extra taxpayer dollars laying around for a frivolous project?

According to the Texas Bond Review Board website, as of 2007 the current outstanding debt for the city of McAllen is: $207,789,903.

And who stands to pay the city’s debt? – McAllen residents via taxes.

Ellis County's Lowest, Highest Taxed Cities

The Ellis County Press' Megan Gray compiled a list of Ellis County's highest taxed cities and the lowest taxed cities (she's working on a list for the county's school districts, too), and here are the results:

Top 3 Highest Taxed Cities
1.Italy ($0.937 per $100)
2.Venus ($0.801506 per $100)
3.Ennis ($0.70 per $100)

Top 3 Lowest Taxed Cities
1.Pecan Hill ($0.30 per $100)
2.Garrett ($0.328803 per $100)
3.Oak Leaf ($0.348544 per $100)

To view all of the Ellis County cities, click this link.

Sen. Kip Averitt Is Being Watched

State Sen. Kip Averitt, R-McGregor, will have his every vote, motion and campaign visit monitored by the District 22 Blog.

The District 22 Blog - http://district22blog.blogspot.com - is published by The Ellis County Observer and seeks to eye Averitt on his liberal voting tendencies.