Well, left-wing scumbags have taken Gab down again. Guess we do this the old fashioned way:
5:37pm: Finley at the podium yapping about the Comprehensive Plan. Sounds like the old Soviet politburo and their Five Year Plans. Total waste of time.
(Kuehne STILL wearing the mask? Reminder: Kuehne has ALREADY had Covid, by her own admission. She is now IMMUNE. Why is she wearing a mask? Beats me. Why not add a beanie with a propeller on your head and complete the costume!)
There is no surer path to failure than having a small group of people “planning” the City economy, growth and “community character”. Especially when that small group includes bureaucrats like Finley and morons like Chuck Williamson and TJ Monroe.
Wow. TJ piping up more than usual tonight! Perhaps trying to look “mayoral” ahead of the May election?
Another new elevator in the Hostess House building! That should be fun. Apparently the current elevator is “residential” and they want a “commercial”. Ummmm….what the fuck is the difference?? Does it get you from the first floor to the second floor? Yes? Great. Keep it.
I mean, Christ…if the existing elevator is so awful, why was it used successfully for all these years? Nobody asks these basic questions on City council. Maddening.
New “technology” rules for City employees…
IT Department finally starting to give some thought to maybe making sure City workers don’t, like, download viruses and ransomware and stuff. Cool! Only 19 months after The Great Ransomware Attack of 2019…but better late than never!
Workshop adjourned. Ten minute break until the regular meeting…
Me running to the garage fridge to stock up so I can make it through the rest of this shit….
As predicted, council approves the $6,600 to Reliant for “master plans” for the Hostess House. Unanimous approval. Kind of surprised Randy didn’t pipe up there.
Choosing website photo contest winner: the most important item of the night!
Aaaaand….that’s all folks. Four people watching on YouTube! That’s .0533% of the population of the town. Good stuff.
We recently looked at the new personnel policy and pointed out the nice benefits received by City employees. Benefits that City Manager Finley deGraffenreid NEVER talks about – he likes to focus on salaries and pretend these lovely benefits (which amount to over $22,000 per year on average per City employee) don’t exist.
Let’s check the math of the policy versus some ACTUAL paystub receipts I requested a couple of years ago. My contention back THEN was that a lot of these Nerf jobs at the top not only paid well and had outstanding benefits, but that the hours worked were even LESS than they should be.
Let’s compare using the paystubs of our City IT Director Monica Wright.
According the City’s own policy, a full year of work entails 2080 hours (52 weeks times 40 hours). Our IT Director falls into the “between 6 and 16 years with the City” – and therefore entitled to 15 vacations days (3 weeks). So we’ll subtract those 120 hours (15 days x 8 hours per day = 120 hours).
2080 – 120 = 1960 hours
Then, we also know that sick days accrue at 3.69 hours per bi-weekly pay period. That works out to 96 hours per year (3.69 hours x 26 pay periods = 96 hours). So we’ll knock that off too:
1960 – 96 = 1864 hours
(I might mention here that I don’t think I’ve ever been sick for more than 4 or 5 days in a year, which would work out to 32-40 hours. I find it hard to believe that someone would be sick for 12 days every year, but whatever. I’ll ignore that for a minute).
Therefore, if our IT Director took every single hour of vacation she was entitled to AND took every single sick day, she should never be working LESS THAN 1864 hours per year. In other words, she is entitled to TWENTY SEVEN days off – which works out to 5.5 weeks or WELL over a month off (120 hours + 96 hours = 216 and 216/8 hours per day = 27 days off. There are 5 work days in a week: so that works out to 5 weeks plus 2 extra days)
2013 1827.5 hours (equivalent to over 6 weeks vacation)
2014 1798.5 hours (equivalent to over 7 weeks vacation)
2015 1730.5 hours (equivalent to 8.7 weeks vacation – well over 2 months)
2016 1711.5 hours (equivalent to 9.2 weeks vacation – 2 months plus a week)
2017 1736.5 hours (equivalent to 8.5 weeks vacation – two months)
2018 1725 hours (equivalent to 8.8 weeks vacation – well over two months)
Well, she came kinda close in 2013….but then it went downhill from there. Those last 4 years came it at around 1725 hours on average – or a full ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY HOURS below the expected minimum of 1864!
We see that 140 hours divided by a 40 hour week = 3.5 weeks of work that apparently disappeared into thin air and were not performed.
Huh. Odd indeed. Somehow, 17 days of work just didn’t get done! What is the explanation, I wonder? Federal holidays maybe? There are only 10 of those…and the average sucker who works in the private sector only gets 7 or 8 holidays off per year. I guess it would only be fitting that City government workers somehow get 17 holidays off.
Furthermore, if the discrepancy IS because of holidays, we would expect those “hours worked” numbers from the payroll stubs to be pretty consistent from year to year. They clearly aren’t.
I don’t have the paystub data for 2019 or 2020 but I could easily request that, I guess. This blog appeared in the summer of 2018 and started making information like this public, so it would be interesting to see if the numbers popped back up as the Nerf job holders at City Hall realized they were finally being watched.
Either way, remember all this the next time Finley cries to City council that every single warm body on the payroll NEEDS a 5% raise across the board. Remember the tens of thousands per year in health insurance and retirement benefits the average City employee receives. Remember the months of vacation they get...not to mention all those holidays off!
Unfortunately, this blog was not around when City council started on the Old City Hall debacle. So the best I could do is go back through a ton of minutes and try to add up all the waste. It was a tough job, but I proved the OCH “remodel” cost WAY more than Finley’s oft-repeated nonsense of “only” $1.05 million dollars. It was REALLY more like $1.6 million.
Unfortunately, $550,000 is a rounding error when it comes to government waste around here.
Anyhow, I get to start from the very beginning with this Hostess House nonsense. I have no doubt this list will grow to be long and nauseating. Here we go:
Feb 14, 2018 – City pays Lamco Construction$19,270 for “Hostess House repairs” [city council packet 3/12/18]
October 2019 – City takes over Hostess House from DRT. They told us it just needed a ”few minor repairs”:
November 19, 2019 – Council votes to spend $5,850 with All Seasons for a new 5-ton AC unit [Dispatch front page news].
August 10, 2020 – Council votes to spend$2,500 with Hendrix Consulting Engineers (HCE) to evaluate the Hostess House [Council minutes page 7 item 7.3]
February 15, 2021 – HCE report is huge and repairs look expensive. Council debating what to do. Council member Cathy Kuehne is quoted in the Dispatch as saying they should keep the historical look “even if it costs more” [Council packet pages 26, 27, 28]
March 8, 2021 – Council votes to spend $6,600 with Reliance Architecture to draw up a “master plan” [Council packet page 10].
October 25, 2021 – Council votes 5-2 to approve $130,570 payment to Reliance Architecture to plan the Hostess House “upgrade” – representing roughly 10% of project cost.
January 18, 2022 – Reliance Architecture$8,460for “Predesign”
September 12, 2022 – Reliance Architecture$14,775for “Construction Docs”
August 22, 2022 – Reliance Architecture$32,012and$12,312for “Design Dev”
City council unanimously waved through some tweaks to the City employee personnel policy lately. Not surprising, considering most of City council do not now (nor have they ever) worked in the private sector where money is earned as opposed to shaken from the taxpayer wallet.
First up was adding some more longevity pay to the workers there a really long time. Some of the dumber council members (Williamson, for example) in the past have expressed concerns that pay isn’t competitive here and that City workers might leave. Yet on the other hand, we have more than a few workers who have been with the City 18, 20, 23 years or longer. Kind of kills that argument, wouldn’t you say?
Vacation time is generous too. As you can see below:
Remember, 15 days of vacation is three weeks off!
Then there are the “sick days”. Those “accrue at the rate of 3.69 hours per biweekly pay period” according to the pay policy. There are 26 biweekly pay periods in a year, so at the end of the year you have about 96 hours of sick leave built up. Or ANOTHER 2.5 weeks of paid time off.
This even applies to part time workers of at least 20 hours! Pretty nice benefit!
Better yet, those sick days can be carried over to the next year! You are allowed to accrue up to “a maximum allowable accumulation of 1040 hours, which is ONE HALF of a regular year of 2080 hours“.
Of course, Finley NEVER EVER talks about “benefits” when he is up at the dais pushing for pay increases every year. He ONLY talks about salaries. But as you can see, the benefits are quite nice as well.
Did I mention the City ALSO spends over $200,000 EVERY MONTH on retirement and medical benefits for employees? That works out to roughly $24,000 per year PER employee just in health and retirement bennies.
In the interest of continuing to have school, a traditional graduation ceremony, and end this school year successfully in just over two months without delays and closures, we will continue with the mask order at this time.
We must give all our staff members the opportunity to be vaccinated. From there, we will be consulting with other local officials and the local health authority over the coming days as the Governor’s order goes into effect. The decision to maintain our current health safety protocols will be re-evaluated on at least a weekly basis. As more information is obtained, we will consider lifting the requirement and getting back to normal which we will all love to do very soon.
SO many things wrong in this decision! Where to start??
“We will continue with the mask order” – who is “we“? I’d like to know exactly who is responsible. If it is YOU, ‘doctor’ Chane, then at least say “I” and take responsibility. I just want to know – so a year or two from now, when a bunch of kids have irreversible respiratory problems, they know who to sue the shit out of for forcing them to wear a filthy mask seven hours a day when ALL the science says it’s a completely useless gesture, and may very well be harmful.
Maybe “we” is the TEA. Is that who makes the rules? If so, why are we paying “Doctor” Rascoe $170,000 per year plus benefits? May as well cut out the middleman and save over $200k a year.
Is “we” the parents? I don’t think so. You sent out a questionnaire last week asking parents if they would like the see the masks go away. It was OVERWHELMINGLY in favor, from what I could see of the public comments. What were the results of that survey, Chane? I’m betting it was 80% in favor of getting rid of the masks.
What “mask order” are you talking about? There is no mask order any more – or didn’t you get the message, Chane? Does the good “doctor” think he has unlimited powers? What if tomorrow he ordered everyone to wear a fake moustache because he felt like it. Would the parents just go along unquestioningly? I know Bruce Haywood would, but I mean the OTHER parents. The ones with brains. Where is the good “doctor” deriving his authority from…and what are the limits?
“We must give all our staff members the opportunity to be vaccinated“. No you don’t. That is ludicrous. Teachers who are female and under 50 (I’m guessing a HUGE majority of them) do not need to bother to be vaccinated. They are more likely to die of flu….or a car accident. Their risk is infinitesimal. Many of them (**cough**Cathy Kuehne**cough**) have ALREADY had Covid and are therefore immune. They have, in essence, ALREADY been vaccinated.
[I would LOVE to see how many staff have ALREADY been “out with Covid” – I have no doubt it is a huge number, if only because the incentive is there to bullshit the system and get a free vacation]
The number of staff actually in need of a vaccination in the ENTIRE school system probably numbers around 40 or 50. That should take you all of a couple days to vaccinate. Ergo, “vaccinating the staff” is a bullshit excuse.
Females are FAR less likely to die of Covid. The VAST majority of teachers are female. Do the math, Chane.
“We will be consulting with other local officials and the local health authority“. Really?? Is that the same local health authority who, last year, said that wearing a cloth bandana was helpful in stopping the spread? Truth pill: WRONG – it’s not. Pardon me for not eternally bowing down before the local “authority”.
Asymptomatic transmission is NOT a thing. It just doesn’t happen. If you have a class full of kids who appear perfectly healthy, chances are that they ARE perfectly healthy. On the very small chance one kid is “asymptomatic”, don’t get your panties in a bunch. You are not at risk from him either.
So, with a dozen reasons to get rid of the masks and ZERO reasons to keep them, why is a guy who is paid $170,000 per year to make good decisions for the school system so intent on making a VERY BAD decision?
Simple: he’s a bureaucrat. A very well-paid bureaucrat. Why do ANYTHING that even has an infinitesimal chance of upsetting HIS apple cart? Better to make 3,000 kids suffer needlessly and keep his cushy $170,000 paycheck (PLUS benefits for 9 months of work) than to have ONE kid die of something (anything – it doesn’t matter because it WILL be blamed on Covid even if the kid is 600 pounds and diabetic)? It’s WAY better (for HIM) to play it safe and keep his Nerf job and benefits.
I mean, here is a guy who, if it weren’t for this Nerf job, would probably be making $50,000 a year (with NO bennies) managing the local Verizon store. He has to realize, on some level, that he has won the lottery and has zero desire to fuck that up. Even if it means future problems for all these kids by forcing them to wear masks.
The FDA does the same thing. It’s why life-saving drugs are forced through a DECADE of bullshit testing rather than letting terminal patients volunteer to be guinea pigs and try an experimental drug. The FDA bureaucrat would rather avoid ONE public death from a drug it approved even if it means 10,000 die due to prohibition of the same drug. It is the SEEN bad effect versus the UNSEEN horrendous effect. The overpaid bureaucrat will choose to protect his own ass 100% of the time.
That is what we are seeing here. Just another sad example of bureaucrats putting themselves before the kids.
Clayton Tucker is running for City council this May against Zac Morris.
Clayton who? Exactly. Apparently he recently ran for state senate, got squashed, and decided to go through his campaign website and change “TX-24” to “Lampasas” and just run for something. I’ve never heard of the kid.
So I did some digging. The last thing we want in this town is a pinko commie Bernie Sanders Bro making any decisions of ANY kind.
I CAN tell you this: he is a huge Bernie Bro. Loves Robert Francis O’Rourke. Is petrified of “climate change” and thinks we have only 11 years to stop it (think of him as AOC…but shorter….and more feminine).
He thinks Texas should go 100% renewable energy in the next decade. He is absolutely in love with the idea of “free” medical care and “free” college for everyone.
Chuck Williamson has been involved in City decision making in one way or another (CIP Committee, council) since the early 1990s. TJ Monroe has been doing the same for at least 10 years as a council member and LEDC member.
I would argue it’s time for both of them to hang up the cleats and go play golf or bingo or something. They have both left a trail of money wasting, bad ideas, and idiotic predictions in their wake.
Unfortunately, Williamson just wormed his way BACK into the seat he lost last November, so we are stuck with that clown for another year or so.
BUT, we have a chance to vote TJ Monroe out once and for all this May as she runs for mayor against local businessman Myles Haider.
Let’s take a look at just ONE snapshot from July of 2013 to prove how badly TJ and Chuck have managed things over the years.
“Also at the recent meeting, the council discussed selling, reusing or moving unoccupied city buildings. The council decided to sell the former City Hall at the corner of Main and Third streets. Mrs. Monroe and Mrs. Bierschwale said they can envision a private buyer refurbishing the building nicely, possibly for use as upscale apartments.
Translation: On the advice of the CIP (of which Chuck Williamson was a member at the time), City council – including TJ Monroe – decided to sell the old City Hall building for a measly $75,000!
At the VERY SAME TIME, City council was sitting around saying “gee…we need a new council chambers!” and they were budgeting $250,000 for the project.
“Several City council members said they would like to consider funding for a new council chambers — estimated to cost $250,000 — in the upcoming fiscal year. “We need it [a larger meeting space] as soon as we can get it — I’ll put it that way,” said McCauley, who serves on the CIP Committee”
So in one breath, these idiots said “we need a place for a new council chambers” and then ALSO said “hey, let’s sell this old building we aren’t using for a pittance!”
What ACTUALLY ended up happening??
There was no “private buyer” to magically turn the building into “upscale apartments” like the monumentally mentally impaired TJ Monroe dreamed about! No…what happened was the morons on City council BOUGHT BACK that very same building for $225,000 just over a year later!!
They THEN spent roughly $1,500,000.00 to “renovate” this building and turn it into a new City council chambers. Thus spending 500% MORE than they were considering spending! ($250k versus $1.5 million).
Did anyone show any regret, remorse or shame for bungling things so horrendously? Hell no! Chuck Williamson was PROUD of his genius idea to sell the old building for a song. He said so in the June 10, 2014 issue of The Dispatch:
“He added that the Capital Improvements Program Committee has shown foresight with recent plans — such as its suggestion, which the council followed, of selling unused city-owned buildings. The longtime CIP member said he hopes the committee’s quarterly meetings will help identify both current and future needs for Lampasas.”
We are stuck with Williamson for a short while longer, I’m afraid. But YOU have the chance to get RID of TJ Monroe this May. She has proven over and over that she has no idea what she’s doing, no common sense and NO respect for the taxpayer’s money.
Vote Myles Haider for Mayor of the City of Lampasas.
The City foolishly took over the Hostess House at the end of 2019, you may recall. Apparently, they think they should be in the business of running an event center instead of just leaving that to the private sector.
They apparently also learned ZERO from the $1.5 million they wasted on the Old City Hall “remodel”.
Immediately after taking over, council approved the expenditure of $5,850 to replace a 5-ton HVAC unit [Dispatch 11/19/19 front page news].
According to then-councilman Mike White: “The Hostess House has had extensive air-conditioning problems, and he alluded to multiple service calls in recent years.“
Here we are about a year later. The City managed to make about $1200 renting this thing out in 2020. Yes, that’s an entire twelve hundred bucks. I requested the rental sheet for 2020.
Clearly, it was a rousing success! So what is City council to do after taking on this idiotic project they never should have touched? Why, go and spend another $300,000 remodeling the building, naturally! A building which everyone NOW apparently sees as a dilapidated piece of shit. Council had Hendrix Engineering come in and do a major assessment of the Hostess House recently.
[Of course, one might ask why they didn’t do all this BEFORE they took it over, but that’s City council for you. Leap first and look later.]
Very weird. They literally just replaced the HVAC 15 months ago, but it is now nearing end of life cycle?
I see that “nearing end of life cycle” phrase a LOT in the minutes over the years. It’s an easy way to get new stuff they want even if the old stuff is perfectly fine. It’s safe to pull this stunt, because what kind of asshole is going to comb through thousands of purchase orders over 60 or 80 months to try and find out when the original equipment was ACTUALLY purchased??
Seriously. This is how “logic” works in the government sector and in the minds of government bureaucrats who have never worked in the real world. It’s sad, and it always costs the taxpayer a pretty penny.
Here is an idea! If this Hostess House project is SUCH a great use of funds and there is SUCH a high demand for it, why don’t all the Goldfish and Finley get together, open their own wallets, buy the fucking thing, fix it up and rent it out themselves?
Should be a no-brainer, right???
I think council member Cathy Kuehne ESPECIALLY should jump in on my idea! After all – she was quoted in the Dispatch as saying “the city should work to keep the historical integrity of the building, even if it costs a little more.“
Sure, why not? It’s the taxpayers dollars! Not Kuehne’s. So she is all for blowing more dough on the idea. Maybe she and her husband can take some of the roughly $115,000 in salary they are paid by the Lampasas school district and buy the Hostess House! I’d love to see it.
