What a joke.
Remember when former-mayor Talbert (now the President of the Lampasas Economic Dunces Club and pilferer of $971,000 in City funds for her Business Pork) blabbered on about how “transparent” her administration was?
“I feel like (City) staff and Council oughta be tasked with being accountable to answer on the spot…and..uh…I would be comfortable doing that….that’s transparency at its finest…is…you know…we don’t put off a question, we answer it on the spot”
Yeah. That was all a lie. It was a lie when she was mayor and it’s a lie now that she is in charge of the Keystone Kop organization known as the LEDC. The same LEDC that has squandered over $7 million tax dollars on a “Business Park” that has sat empty for nearly twenty years.
Austin attorney JC Brown has decided to waste another month by refusing my request and sending it all to the Texas AG to see what he says about it. Last time they played this idiot game, I was vindicated. This is just a big stalling tactic.
Among JC’s more ridiculous arguments:
“The City notes that the Requestor does not request or identify and [sic] document or material he desires the City to produce. Thus, the City has no material or document to provide in response to the Requestor’s ORR”
Ho ho ho. Get it? I didn’t request a SPECIFIC document. I just asked for a name. Of course, I CAN’T request a specific document because it is all secret and hidden away in “executive session.” See how that works? So clever. A nice Catch-22 for me.
Then she goes on to argue that releasing the name of the prospect would cause a “bidding war” with other cities, as they also tried to lure the prospect to THEIR business parks.
Hey! Burnet Has an Economic Development Corp Too! And Land!
I’ve got news for you. Any “prospect” worth their salt is going to look at Burnet (and other nearby cities) and THEIR big, empty business porks as well – and play you against each other. There are big empty business porks all over the place – because most City governments are populated by morons at the top.
Also, our EDD Stacy Ybarra told us back in a January 25th radio interview that all the cities “work together” and tell each other about business prospects – and that some cities will “let other cities know, hey this business wants to expand.” She said [9:40 mark] “if we all grow, we all benefit…so it’s about…building those relationships in the central Texas region“
Huh. So you’re telling me it’s NOT all one big happy family and that if we all grow, we all benefit? Sounds like you are jealously hoarding your possible prospects and fucking over those “other cities” you claim to have relationships with. No? So who is the liar? Ybarra or JC Brown?
Oh well. While we wait weeks and weeks for this nonsense, it may be time to be a dick right back to them. Maybe it’s time to really dig into the members of the LEDC and make sure none of them have any personal bankruptcies or things of that nature in their past.
After all, if you are in charge of millions of tax dollars, I think the taxpayers have a right to know if you can’t even handle your own personal finances. Bankruptcy records are deemed public records by federal law and, thus, accessible to any member of the public who makes a request to the clerk’s office or through PACER.
Or maybe it’s time to get my lawyer involved again by requesting the emails of certain newer (and maybe less intelligent) City employees who don’t realize that everything they have been emailing on the government servers for the last four months is fair game for me and my lawyer. Perhaps a few keyword searches like “Business Park” or “prospect” or something like that would turn up some tasty nuggets!
I am also placing a $300 bounty on information about the Business Pork prospect – prospect name, industry, incentives, etc. I know that at least three dozen people in the City must know who it is. Probably a lot more, given this is a small town and people talk. Email me at lampasshole@protonmail.com. Your anonymity is assured. Feel free to make a burner account if you wish. I’ll figure out a way to get you your $300.