Redistricting is a distraction; real story is the jockeying for county's Top Dog

Former Pct 2 Commissioner and defeated county judge candidate, Jeff Barton (D), was also pushing Kinney’s map O. We believe it was simply a matter of joining forces to keep Conley in check

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From left, Commissioners Ingalsbe and
Whisenant, and Wally Kinney speaking at last
week's county redistricting public hearing/RoundUp Photos

By Charles O'Dell
Contributing Editor

Redistricting in Hays County has been little more than an emotional process diverting public attention away from major long-term special interest efforts underway, and an opportunity for Pct 3 County Commissioner, Will Conley (R), to demonstrate who’s Top Dog in Hays County.

County budget problems, skyrocketing county debt, Hays County Water and Sewer Authority actions involving opaque dealings with a Delaware incorporated real estate group, and covert dealings regarding the LCRA water infrastructure divestiture are just a few of the major special interest efforts underway by our local elected officials.

As for the distracting redistricting process, Dripping Springs Republicans Linda and Wally Kinney had a falling out with Conley so Pct 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant (R) is pushing the Kinney redistricting map O. Linda Kinney was/is Vice Chair of the Hays County Republican Party, election campaign manager for Whisenant and is now his paid Precinct 4 Assistant.

Conley angles to keep his top dog status,
but for how much longer?

In a classic case of “good ole boy” self-interests creating strange bedfellows, former Pct 2 Commissioner and defeated county judge candidate, Jeff Barton (D), was also pushing Kinney’s map O. We believe it was simply a matter of joining forces to keep Conley in check.

Conley endorsed Pct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones’ (R) map M2, commenting, “Precinct lines make no difference to me. I can be elected in any precinct lines.” I’m sure Conley believes that, and Conley’s endorsement of map M2 suits his immediate political purposes.

For others, map M2 is important primarily because it most accurately represents the actual voter mix in Pct 1 and does not perpetuate the false impression of a Hispanic majority precinct. That may be why four-term incumbent Pct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe (D) abandoned her own map P and endorsed the Kinney map O along with the Bartons, since map O gives Ingalsbe the same political advantage as her map P.

Ingalsbe continues to push for a majority “minority precinct” so she can maintain her stranglehold on Pct 1 with a Hispanic patronage system. Southside Community Center, partially funded by Hays County taxpayers, is the heart of that political patronage system.

Long-term commissioners’ court observers understand the annual Southside subsidy is a quid pro quo for Ingalsbe’s support of Barton and Conley projects and for election votes.

Southside Executive Director Ruben Garza is Ingalsbe’s “go to guy” for citizen advisory appointments. Ingalsbe’s most recent Garza appointment is as a member on the Hays County Water and Sewer Authority board. Ralph Gonzales, Ingalsbe’s father and former Pct 1 Commissioner before being convicted of tax evasion, works for/with Ruben Garza in creating an effective voter block through a system of patronage and control of elderly voters living in taxpayer supported Southside facilities.

The argument of map O having a smaller “deviation” from the average precinct voter total is meaningless and irrelevant, especially when compared to the realities of map M2.

Federal law allows for a maximum deviation of ten percent from average total count among county precincts. Consider countywide elections in which typically fewer than twenty five percent of registered voters go to the polls. A nine percent deviation (1,800 voters) for map M2 pales in comparison to 30,000 voters not voting within each precinct.

The whining about map M2 is promoted by the Kinneys and the Bartons who need to hold Conley in check if they are to keep “skin” in the Hays County special interest game.

Map M2 isn’t about election outcomes; it’s about who’s going to benefit from special interest projects financed by Hays County taxpayers. Map M2 fairly represents voter mix in all four commissioner precincts, and most fairly represents voter mix in Precinct 1.

Barton got the special interest road bond passed before he lost in his 2010 bid for county judge, and he had special interest commitments to keep, especially regarding FM1626.

Unfortunately for Barton, federal environmental impact study (EIS) requirements put work on FM1626 in limbo until Conley managed to circumvent the required studies by getting US Fish & Wildlife to expedite EIS through the County’s Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). That’s one of the reasons Conley traveled to Washington, D.C. in early April at taxpayer expense.

Our “streamlined” HCP is now at the heart of a broader effort to expedite development throughout Hays County and to pave the way for public financing of water and transportation infrastructure for developers.

Whining about adoption of map M2 also distracts voter attention while Pct 4 Commissioner Whisenant positions the Hays County Water and Sewer Authority in a scheme that lacks public planning, or that Whisenant isn’t revealing to the public. Either way, HCWSA, the entity that County Judge Jim Powers pushed through in 2000, to jump start the LCRA 290 water line to Dripping Springs, is now being positioned to facilitate new development in Hays County and make some folks a lot of money at taxpayer expense.

Redistricting in Hays County is a distracting internal power play to see who is Top Dog and will benefit most from special interests come election time. Voters will have less say about election outcomes than the special interests, and right now with County Judge Bert Cobb in his pocket, Conley is Hays County Top Dog.