With little explanation, Whisenant switched horses on Tuesday and voted to cut out a significant portion of his Dripping Springs constituents in order to bring Texas State University and Hometown Kyle into his precinct
Editor's note: We've heard the newly redrawn county commissioner Precinct 4, anchored in Dripping Springs and represented by Commissioner Ray Whisenant, is being described as the "trash precinct." It was tossed all the pieces the county's three other commissioners could not or would not accommodate in their own turf. The trip ending with the county's final redistricting map M2 – re-approved this week after last week's false start – was no less than a wild and wooly Wild West show. Political aspirations won the day. Common sense came up short.
The infamous 'no man's' gap
Consider that the redrawn Pct 4 includes Dripping Springs, fans out west to the Blanco County line and now at its extreme southeastern end hooks in the grounds of Texas State University. The precinct's two bulging territories, on its western and southern ends, are connected by a narrow gap inside which lies the Driftwood Post Office. It is a precinct with very different and disparate communities – the sun, the moon and the stars – and overlaps three emergency services districts, to boot. Mr. Whisenant may need to build a new satellite office or two to fairly serve constituents in his far-flung new kingdom. Did anyone consider the potential cost to taxpayers? To top it off, the finally approved map M2 falls just a hair shy of the maximum population deviation allowed by federal law (10%) at 9.44%.
Send your comments and questions to roundup.editor@gmail.com, to Commissioner Whisenant at ray.whisenant@co.hays.tx.us or click on the "comments" at the bottom of the story
RoundUp News Analysis
Map M2/Click to enlarge
In a surprise move on Tuesday, Commissioner Whisenant voted to dump longtime Dripping Springs constituents by voting yes for the M2 redistricting map that was presented to the commissioners court.
The move, which has the effect of bringing Home Town Kyle and Texas State University into Whisenant’s Precinct 4, was in stark contrast to his earlier position. It also significantly reduced the voting strength of the Dripping Springs community.
Weeks ago, Commissioner Whisenant, in an effort to keep his Dripping Springs constituents united, presented redistricting map O to commissioners court as an alternative to the M2 plan. Whisenant cited several reasons why it was important to give Dripping Springs a strong united voice that was not diluted by adding ‘unlike’ communities such as Texas State University and Home Town Kyle.
Texas State – hook, line and sinker
However, with little explanation, Whisenant switched horses on Tuesday and voted to cut out a significant portion of his Dripping Springs constituents in order to bring Texas State University and Hometown Kyle into his precinct.
On August 16, Map M2 was voted in on a 3/2 split of commissioners court (Jones, Conley, Cobb voting yes - Ingalsbe, Whisenant voting no). Because the agenda item posting for the vote was deemed to be ‘administratively deficient,’ the maps were brought forward again for another vote on August 23rd.
Instead of voting against Map M2 as he had a week earlier, Whisenant flip-flopped and voted for it.
During the August 23rd court meeting, Whisenant read a letter into the record citing actions he had taken since the August 16th vote — his vote against the inclusion of parts of Home Town Kyle and Texas State. Whisenant said he sent letters to the City of San Marcos, City of Kyle and Texas State University on August 17th welcoming them him into his precinct.
Whisenant is reported to have assured constituents that he would not vote for map M2, whether it be to ratify a previous vote or for the map itself. Then, on August 23rd, Whisenant did what he assured his constituents he would never do – vote for map M2.
One commissioners court observer commented, “this business of redistricting still has to pass muster with the Department of Justice. Sometimes I think these local characters get just a little bit too full of themselves. Let’s wait a little while longer and see how the DOJ views this.”
29 comments:
Glad to see Whisenant go. Don't trust the guy. Sorry he got to be commissioner. Would like to get him kicked out in the next election.
Sounds like Whisenant got taken to the wood shed.
Wise-enant he is not.
Whoever wrote this article either was not in Commissioners Court or was not listening to Commissioner Whisenant. He read a letter into the record before the vote was taken and then handed it to the County Clerk. Among other things, it stated:
"My opinion is that by the matter of posting the previous action for confirmation or ratification as opposed to re-posting for proper action, requires me to state that my vote to confirm or ratify the previous action is by no means to be considered as support for Map M-2. Had the normal procedure of the Court been followed I would have moved to accept Map O."
It was my understanding after hearing this statement, that Commissioner Whisenant was voting "yes" to confirm his previous vote of a no to Map M-2.
Commissioner Ingalsbe seemed to take a different approach to the matter and just simply voted "no" with no comment.
The nameless author of this account just didn't get the facts right - for whatever reason.
- Lila Knight
This is straight out of the National Enquirer - except everybody knows the National Enquirer is B.S. and people don't follow it blindly like a herd of freaking lemmings. We are in an age where information is plentiful and easy to obtain - if this author even did any kind of research, then he would have seen the videos with Ray standing up to Jones, Conley, and Cobb. If any of you Roundup Lemmings would take a moment to read beyond this increasingly one-sided propaganda blog, you would see that Inglesbe and Whisenant voted for Map 2. Contact the county and ask for a copy of the letter that Whisenant had put into record stating his objections to the way the original vote was carried out by Judge Cobb and once again stating his support for map o.
Of course, why do your own research? It so much easier to be uninformed. Ray Whisenant is not the enemy here. The blame and anger should be focused on Mark, Will, and Bert - in the end, we all got Cobbed.
The Roundup has some good info in it, but I would hope the owner of it would force his editors to do more fact checking before allowing them to post propaganda like this.
I don't understand the map of Precinct 4. It is designed for ongoing conflict. The communities within do not share many common interests and bonds. It looks to be designed for failure.
"Discussion and Possible Action to ratify and confirm the court's adoption of Map M-2 as the map to be submitted to the Department of Justice for the purpose of redistricting commissioners' precinct boundaries. COBB/WHISENANT"
That is what is on the agenda and is SPONSORED BY WHISENANT and Cobb.
Why would Whisenant agree to sponsor an agenda item he didn't want? Further the agenda item does not say ratify commissioners vote on August 16 but to RATIFY MAP M2 as the map sent to the Department of Justice.
If Whisenant wanted to ratify his no vote he should have voted no as Commissioner Ingalsbe did. Map M2 still would have been the map sent to the Department of Justice.
Seems to me that there is some mighty far reaching spin going on here - or are you trying to politely tell me Whisenant can't read and sponsors agenda items he, 'when read to him by someone who can read' decides he doesn't agree with. Then Whisenant can't figure out how to vote no 'to ratify his own vote August 16'.
Please......
If Commissioner Ray wanted Map O wouldn't he have made a motion for Map O?
The fact is that on August 16th or the 23rd Commissioner Ray never made a motion for Map O.
Kind of like getting suited up for the game but never getting off the bench.
I think Anonymous 9:38 AM meant to say that "Ingalsbe and Whisenant voted AGAINST Map M2."
Ray Whisenant has been a staunch supporter of Plan O throughout.
On August 16 in Commissioners Court, Commissioner Whisenant didn't make a motion that Plan O be adopted because, before Judge Cobb had hardly stopped speaking, Commissioner Conley jumped in and said he moved that the Court adopt Plan M2. Jones quickly seconded the motion, a vote was taken, M2 passed, and that was it. Whisenant didn't have a chance to make a motion for Plan O.
This article is misleading in that Comm. Whisenant actually gains more voters. He's not leaving anyone behind.
This approved map stinks.
We are seeing first-hand why commissioners should NOT be the ones who redraw county maps.
A motion for Plan O this week would have failed. It was obvious to everyone there were 3 firm votes for Plan M2. Pissing into the wind at this point was fruitless.
Bulldog Conley grabbed the stage in Round One and made the first motion on August 16th. Cobb was probably already in his pocket.
It is necessary, however, to get on with this and start getting the voting precincts in order. We have elections coming up people...
It is odd that suddenly Whisenant is the bad guy.
Not Conley
Not Mark Jones (who submitted Plan M2)
Not Judge Cobb
Did Conley and his pals write this anonymous piece?
Whisenant is taking his licks for being run by the Kinney's, and siding up with the Bartonistas. That goes with the territory.
Interesting... had Whisenant made the original motion before Conley, Cobb would have been forced to vote "no", which would have been very uncomfortable for him.
This stuff is so ugly...
I did screw up. I meant to say that Whisenant and Ingalsbe voted for Map O. Ironic that I'm railing about an article that didn't seem to check it's facts and I myself didn't catch my own error. The difference would be that my mistake was unintentional. This article seems to be a complete sham whose only purpose is to take the heat off of Cobb, Jones, and Conley and place discredit firmly on the most honest Commissioner we have on the court.
Who would of thunk it? Washingtonian gameplay in little ole' Hays County.
Don't fall for it. Do your own research.
Open your eyes and head down to Luviano's in Kyle on some weekday morning. Jones is with the Bartons, not Whisenant.
That's right. You can find Mark Jones at Luviano's with:
Bob Barton
Tom Searcy
Constable Kohler
Craig Young
Don Brooks
former Mayor James Adkins
formerly - Tom Mattis, Kyle city manager
and a host of others
If you are going to name names - then name names.
Who knows - maybe we will be seeing Whisenant in the future there as well. Might be fun.
It's a public forum - everyone is invited. Just pull up a chair!
When you look at the subdivisions added to Precinct 3 by Map M2, you understand why Commissioner Conley was pushing it so hard. Several of the subdivisions added are upper-class Republican strongholds: La Ventana, La Ventana West, Vineyard Ridge, Lost River Ranches. Conley's
precinct is inching toward the Salt Lick area, which has plans for houses costing upwards of $800,000, but he hasn't taken the area in -- yet.
Grabbing more area does not mean grabbing more support. Grabbing La Ventana, for example, will dilute down Conley's support from elsewhere - because he doesn't have it there.
The people there wind up paying high taxes - and what for? What does the county provide in return for those tax dollars? Conley has taken large amounts of tax dollars and funneled to the benefit of his scandal-ridden buddy, David Baker in a series of shady land deals. Millions and millions of taxpayer dollars.
Nope, I don't think Conley is going to find support in La Ventana - at least not by the numbers. Crazy spending and pursuit of ordinances/laws taking away property rights will get you fired by those paying the bills regardless of whether you are Republican or Democrat. Ask Karen Ford.
Some of you are forgetting Whisenant wrote a letter to the city of San Marcos and Texas State welcoming them into precinct 4, before the vote on the 23rd. If that's true, it looks to me like he'd seen the writing on the wall and he wasn't going to fight it. Why then are some insisting that he was opposed to M2 to the end?
Whisenant had written letters to
Texas State U. and to other new
members of Precinct 4 because he knew that Conley-Jones-Cobb weren't going to change their votes from Plan M2 to Plan O. But Whisenant was for Plan O to the end.
Read comment #4.
The 23rd was to fix whatever Cobb did wrong when he, jones and conley voted for u2 at the previous hearing. Whisenant never approved of map m2 but also knew none of the three were going to change their minds. The real vote took place at the earlier netting. The 23rd was a formality because Cobb screwed up. That's why Whisenant welcomed the new precinct people.
I think we can fix this problem.
Don't vote for Ingalsbe.
Don't vote for Conley.
Don't vote for Cobb.
Don't vote for Jones.
Don't vote for Whiseant.
Beat them in the primaries.
The M2 map flap shows how an honest commissioner who is open to all points of view, even those from outside his precinct, can be used and soiled by association.
Those who deride Jones are throwing out the baby with the dirty Conley/Kinney/Barton bath water.
It's just too complex for a lot of folks (especially if it challenges their established loyalties):
~Jones released voters as required by law and explained his rationale (a no win situation)
~Conley with Cobb in tow seizes the opportunity to demonstrate his political prowess
~Bartons joined Whisenant/Kinneys to check Top Dog Conley's tightening grip on special interest agenda
~Ingalsbe voted to maintain her grip on Pct 1
~Conley/Cobb win; Whisenant, et al, lose and then create a smoke screen to obfuscate and save face
That wasn't so hard, was it?
That whole Ramus affair really made your brain explode
Charles, let's hope the government hurries up and legalizes whatever you've been smoking before you get nailed with it in your possession. As soon as you claimed Jones is an honest man, you've lost all credibility with anybody who has ever grown up with or had dealings with him. You act like you have all this insider information. Who has been whispering in your ear? Sounds like you are a means to an end for somebody who wants to discredit Whisenant. This is getting ridiculous. The X-Files were canceled in the 2002, they aren't looking for any more writers. Stop trying to pass off your opinions as facts.
Charles, per your last comment, I agree with you 100 percent.
Keep up the good work.
"Sounds like you are a means to an end for somebody who wants to discredit Whisenant."
Folks only discredit themselves by what they do---much like you do Anonymous when you write:
"As soon as you claimed Jones is an honest man, you've lost all credibility with anybody who has ever grown up with or had dealings with him."
If you have something to say about Commissioner Jones then say it instead of making slimy statements and hiding from the public.
Looks more like you have something to hide. Show some credibility Anonymous and come out of the shadows.
Here's an interesting read. It gets really good at the comment section.
For you blind followers of O'Dell, he seems to get a charge out of being the loudest guy in the room.
"Followers of O'Dell" ???
That's VERY funny.
Since when is agreeing with the Truth being someone's follower?
Are you THAT jealous of O'Dell?
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