THE GOLDEN HAMMER’S NOVEMBER 22, 2016 COMMISSIONERS COURT RATINGS!
HEADLINES: PURCHASING DIRECTOR ZENOR FIRED (SECRETLY); ANIMAL SHELTER DIRECTOR JACKSON HIRED; ANIMAL SHELTER OVERSEER JIM CLARK SHOVED ASIDE.
Points are good.
COMMISSIONERS COURT MEETING NOVEMBER 22, 2016, 9:30 A.M. (Judge Doyal and Commissioners, Meador, Noack, Riley, and Clark were present.)
Agenda Item 9A1 – Payment of Accounts – None of the Commissioners showed any knowledge or interest whatsoever in ensuring that these accounts were proper, correct, or within the budget. A “NO” vote is proper under those circumstances. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 9A2 – Approve unaudited financial report for month of September, 2016. – None of the Commissioners showed any knowledge or interest whatsoever in ensuring that this report and accounts were proper, correct, or within the budget. A “NO” vote is proper under those circumstances. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 9A3 – Consider and Approve More Budget Amendments for the Prior Fiscal Year – Are the Commissioners and Judge serious? They failed to follow last year’s budget and still have to make changes to fall within some sort of budget. That’s not a budget; it’s a candy dish to them! More ridiculous changes to the previous year’s budget passed without oversight from the Commissioners Court, since the County Auditor rules the County. A “NO” vote is the proper vote. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 9A4 – Consider and Approve Budget Amendments for the Current Fiscal Year – More unchecked budget amendments only 39 days into the current fiscal year. A “NO” vote is the proper vote. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 9D – Consider and Approve several small spending items. No interest in any of these items by any member of Commissioners Court. A “NO” vote is the proper vote. 17 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 9E did not involve any points but deserves special mention. It involved several use agreements and opening a position within the Precinct 4 budget. Compliments to Commissioner Jim Clark for ensuring that his staff explained the purpose of these line items to keep the public informed! Commissioner Clark gets a 5 point transparency and openness bonus!
Agenda Item 9G1 – Consider and Approve Payroll Change Request Forms. No discussion, no consideration, no oversight. A “NO” vote is the proper vote under those circumstances. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Mr. Bill O’Sullivan, a citizen of Precinct 1, made a citizen comment that the Montgomery County Animal Shelter desperately needs a mission statement.
Agenda Item 11A – Consider and act on appointing a representative to the Houston Galveston Area Council General Assembly and Delegate to the Board of Directors. Judge Doyal nominated the current representative, Charlie Riley. A “NO” vote is the proper vote under these circumstances. Commissioner Riley has shown a substantial disinterest and lack of knowledge regarding HGAC’s transportation plans. Furthermore, he has failed to report HGAC’s plans to the citizens of Montgomery County. While he received the appointment, he needs to eliminate these deficiencies immediately. This vote is a major vote. 25 points. A “No” vote is proper.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 11B – Consider and act on appointing a representative to the Houston Galveston Area Council General Assembly and Alternate to the Board of Directors. Judge Doyal nominated himself. A “NO” vote is the proper vote under these circumstances. Judge Doyal has shown a substantial disinterest and lack of knowledge regarding HGAC’s transportation plans. Furthermore, he has failed to report HGAC’s plans to the citizens of Montgomery County. While he received the appointment, he needs to eliminate these deficiencies immediately. This vote is a major vote. 25 points. A “No” vote is proper.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 11C – Consider and act on appointing two alternates to the Houston Galveston Area Council General Assembly. Judge Doyal nominated Mike Meador and James Noack. A “NO” vote is the proper vote under these circumstances. 5 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 11D – Consider and act on appointing a member to serve as Montgomery County’s representative on the Administration Public Health Board of the Montgomery County Public Health District. Judge Doyal nominated himself to this bureaucratic boondoggle. A “NO” vote is the proper vote under these circumstances. 5 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 12. Judge-Elect Jennifer Robin of the 410th District Court made a presentation that she intended to cut expenditures of $55,000 but also needed $45,000 of additional funds in order to handle the expanded family and civil dockets the court would have during her tenure. We should all thank and compliment Judge-Elect Robin for watching out for the interests of the taxpayers.
Agenda Item 14 – Approve emergency repairs of the emergency backup system in the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management to replace and repair faulty switches costing $120,000, because disconnects had been omitted by the previous contractor. That’s a lot of money to file to seek any redress from the previous contractor who failed to install the disconnects. Since the installation was for an emergency system, the County Judge and the Director of Purchasing should have made sure the installation was done properly. A “NO” Vote is proper. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 16A – Consider and Approve tax abatement of 6 years for peanut processing facility in Precinct 1. Not many jobs for a sweetheart tax deal. A “NO” Vote is proper. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 18B – They seriously discussed, deliberated, and voted on this item! Consider and approve a $14.00 coffee maker for the Willis Library Branch. A “NO” Vote is proper. Could Commissioner Meador or one of his highly-paid secretaries not contribute the $14 for the coffee maker rather than wasting the Court’s time with this silly proposal? A “NO” Vote is proper. 1 point
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 20A – Consider and act on purchasing a $175,348.76 Kenworth T370 truck. No explanation, no discussion. A “NO” Vote is proper. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 20B – Consider contract change orders totaling about $57,000. No discussion, no deliberation, no consideration. A “NO” Vote is proper. 5 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 20D – Discretionary exemptions for various contracts. No discussion, no deliberation, no consideration. A “NO” Vote is proper. 10 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 25A – Consider and approve payroll change request forms. No discussion, no deliberation, no consideration. A “NO” Vote is proper. 5 points.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Agenda Item 26 and Parallel Agenda Item from Separate Agenda – Executive Session for Personnel Matters. A lengthy executive session occurred. While the agenda only mentioned the animal shelter director, the discussion also included two items and DELIBERATION which should not occur in an executive session at all.
A. DARLOU ZENOR, DIRECTOR OF PURCHASING – Judge Doyal reported to the Court that Ms. Zenor was taking early retirement. In actuality, numerous county employees have reported that Judge Doyal fired Ms. Zenor, because Ms. Zenor provided document requests too quickly to public requestors of information. After Doyal fired Zenor, someone in the county advised him that it would be better for everyone concerned if Ms. Zenor took “early retirement.”
B. CHARLES JACKSON, ANIMAL SHELTER DIRECTOR – The Court conducted a final interview of Mr. Jackson. Properly, the Court did not vote on this matter until they returned to the open session.
C. JIM CLARK, COMMISSIONER OVERSEEING THE ANIMAL SHELTER – The Court improperly deliberated and determined that Commissioner Clark would no longer oversee the Animal Shelter. This matter was not a personnel matter at all and should not have been discussed in executive session. Furthermore, since no vote occurred in the open session, the pronouncement by Judge Doyal after the executive session that the Animal Shelter would now fall under the entire Commissioners Court was an improper and arbitrary fiat. Hopefully, the county attorney, JD Lambright, will take appropriate legal action to ensure that this clear legal violation will not again occur. Since he was in the meeting with them, that this action occurred right under his nose suggests a serious problem.
MAJOR VOTE IN OPEN SESSION AFTERWARDS – HIRE CHARLES JACKSON AS THE NEW DIRECTOR OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER. A “YES” VOTE IS PROPER. 25 POINTS, MAJOR VOTE.
Doyal YES
Meador YES
Riley YES
Noack YES
Clark YES
Citizen Comments:
Eric Yollick commented on Goetzgate.
Walter Boyd commented on various matters including his wish that there was not a Texas Open Meetings Act.
TOTAL SCORES FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2016 MEETING.
Doyal 25/208. Grade = F.
Meador 25/208. Grade = F.
Riley 25/208. Grade = F.
Noack 25/208. Grade = F.
Clark 30/208. Grade = F.
CUMULATIVE POSSIBLE SCORES FOR FY 2017 = 802 Points.
Cumulative Scores through November 22, 2016:
Doyal = 160/802. Grade = F.
Meador = 135/802. Grade = F.
Riley = 185/802. Grade = F.
Noack = 185/802. Grade = F.
Clark = 165/802. Grade = F.
Disappointing (again). As citizens, we must remain vigilant and raise our awareness.
