Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Video of Conley-Brannon debate: Debt, (non)transparency and who's more conservative
Here's the exchange that took place at the Republican candidates forum Sunday March 24 between Precinct 3 County Commissioner Will Conley and challenger Sam Brannon. It's worth a watch. In the video – did you know commissioners court recently slipped past the voters an additional $4 million in debt for a new government building? If you depended on the vague wording in the court's agenda, you wouldn't have a clue. Voters in Precinct 3 will determine the winner (and next commissioner) in the May 29 Republican primary. Thanks to Nerissa for sharing the video.
If you're a resident and taxpayer in Precinct 3, you'll be stuck with one of these guys as your county commissioner to 2016
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Commissioner Will Conley stated at the March 25 forum that Hays County has a "balanced budget." Sounds good, doesn't it? But having a balanced budget means only that the county has enough income (taxes) to make all its payments (expenses). It's an accounting term, and it doesn't tell the whole story.
Yes, Hays County has had enough money to pay for the services and projects it has taken on. But only because it is borrowing money hand over fist by floating bond issue after bond issue. There is a section in the county budget called Debt Services (paying off debt), and that section is consuming a larger percentage of county revenue every year. To make the debt payments, other sections of the budget will be shortchanged.
So Commissioner Conley can disingenuously tout that the county has a balanced budget, but he doesn't mention that Hays County has the 6th-highest per capita debt of all Texas counties and that the county ranks number one in debt as related to total county property value.
On a personal level, it's like saying you have a balanced budget if you are able to make the $100 minimum monthly payment on thousands of dollars of credit card debt. That's not a situation we want our county to be in.
Conley's sole purpose in office is to pad the interests of business people, developers and special interests at the expense of ordinary tax payers. I think it would be wise for voters to retire Conley, elect Brannon and let us all take a breather from the growth frenzy, runaway spending and debt.
It's time to put a stop to Mr. Private Meetings Hidden Agendas Conley and bring aboard the commissioners court a person with a new mindset open to the thoughts of the whole community. I have no reason to believe that Mr. Brannon cannot provide that. The worst that could happen is that the special interests would lose their favorite sugar daddy in the county. Not such a bad deal, is it?
You know that Nationwide TV commercial? The one where a woman is sitting on a bench with the Nationwide guy, and an ominous boulder is hanging over her head?
Well, in place of that woman, picture the taxpayers of Hays County. Instead of a boulder, picture the Debt of Hays County.
Instead of the salesman, picture Commissioners Court. Only, the Court is urging the taxpayers to let the Debt grow larger instead of smaller. Sooner or later the Debt will drop on us.
as much as I dislike Conley he did do well in this debate. It would be interesting to know what Sam does plan to cut, so far it's been just talk. What services, roads or projects would be on the chopping block. I hope Sam releases a list of cuts, because at this point I'm leaning toward Conley as much as I hate to say it. Please help me change my mind by producing a real plan instead of the just talking about debt and spending, it's no secret Hays County has both, now what are you going to do about it? The fact is Conley has never voted to raise taxes, how would your vote be any different? Running on NO NO NO won't change a thing, we need action, please show me some so I'll feel comfortable voting for you.
Sam Brannon looked and sounded like a conservative statesman. His opponent looked like what he is, a fat cat who has gone from washing cars to owning property that he could not have attained washing cars.
Let's clean house and elect Sam Brannon because he is right, HUGE DEBT IS DANGEROUS FOR GOVERNMENTS AS WELL AS FOR BUSINESSES AND FAMILIES!
Anon 10:01 PM,
Did we attend the same debate?
Neither Conley nor Brannon talked about cuts. Conley just tries to say, "La-de-da, all is well, folks! Trust me (heh,heh)."
Brannon pointed out that the difference between him and Conley is that he will be open and transparent with taxpayers. Not like Mr. I'll-Talk-a-Mile-a-Minute-and-Say-Nothing Conley.
@Anon March 28 10:01 PM: Conley loves to brag about never voting to raises your taxes. While it may be true, you have to understand how it is. You should pay closer attention to Mr. Conley's votes on the court.
Before and all during the budget process he will recommend, and vote to approve, a slew of new spending and debt measures. At the last minute when commissioners' court is considering the tax rate, Conley will be the only no vote if there is even the slightest increase, leaving the rest of the court twisting in the wind.
The budget passes and Conley gets credit from his special interest backers for all the spending he inserted and is able to keep his conservative creds by voting against a tax increase.
Talk about having your cake and eating it too. CYA! Another thing: Mr. Brannon pointed out in the debate that Conley declined to vote for the $4 million in new debt for the Pct. 2 office building. Looks good on the surface but Conley could have voted NO.
I don't know why fiscal conservatives haven't seen through Conley's deception. Must be the blinders.
The right wing hypocrites are coming out of the closet.
Why are all the nasty things the right wingnuts are saying about Conley apply 200% to the fat cat Republicans in the most state legislatures (especially Texas) and in Washington DC., yet you keep voting them in office?
Oh, I forgot, Conley is running against a new guy who promises to be different - just like Bert Cobb did.
Comprende?
Thats funny. I seem to remember Conley pointing out ,line by line, what he would and wouldn't cut on each budget he didnt vote on. In fact it was in writting in every news paper in the County.
Fat Cat is exactly what Conley acts like: Smug and self-righteous, without a shred of self-awareness or guilt about how he has indebted the county by giving our money to his campaign contributors.
Conley has come to see this as "How business is done in Hays County." And he is right, but we have a chance to change this way of doing business.
Brannon is open to change, he is not owned by anyone and he can still tell right from wrong.
Conley actually thinks he knows what is best for the rest of us. What a deluded young man.
I think it is the nature of the beast leaving an elected official in office for too long and they come to believe their own hype.
They start to really believe that their most important job is to "work with their colleagues" or to "build roads" or multimillion dollar "government centers" because they are no longer connected to everyday life anymore.
Conley goes to work at the Courthouse and in the course of his day, he is surrounded by "colleagues", each with their own agenda, with whom he has to negotiate how to get his agenda accomplished.
When he kept saying "my colleagues" over and over again during the debate, I kept hearing the word, "co-conspirators."
These people have forgotten who they work for and think that their highest goal is getting stuff done for their contributors and getting along with their "colleagues" at the Courthouse.
They have forgotten about us and the projects that would actually improve the lives or ordinary Hays County citizens.
Send Conley back to the real world. The sooner the better.
Can you just imagine how much money this County could save if we got him to leave today?
Will Conley is a liar who is playing us all for fools.
If we allow him to continue to be County Commissioner, then I guess he is right.
We really are fools.
Well, we thought Bert Cobb was going to be presiding over the Court, but when he got there, he just sublet his office to Will Conley.
That has been a big disappointment for all of us who really believed Bert was an honest man who might address some of the "pay to play" habits in Hays County.
I guess we voters just keep trying to find an honest person to represent us and not just take orders (Fries with that?) from special interest campaign donors.
I have not yet given up looking for an honest person to elect to public office. Call me an optimist.
We know for a fact that Conley is flawed in the extreme, so why not give Brannon a chance?
The difference between Bert Cobb and Sam Brannon is chicken salad and chicken sh*t. Sam has a 20 + year history of honesty, openness, straight talk and a "Can Do" attitude. VOTE FOR Brannon !
If Conley wants to make political office his career he should say so. Brannon spoke more passionately about breaking the debt and spending binge. For me, that was a Brannon Slam Dunk!
Once again someone points out a fact about Conley and then the response is, avoid the fact and call Conley a liar, you people are sad. When asked a direct question about what he would cut Sam answer was we have to much debt, just like he has said for a year. Talk about a Con, Sam whole motive is to find employment from day one, if you dont see that you are the fool.
It is interesting than neither Sam Brannon nor any of his Democrats backers in Republican clothing have ever said what they would do to make things better as they see it. All they know how to do is carp about Conley raising the debt with no real plan of their own. They have no Democrat candidate so they have latched on to Sam making him think he has a chance to win then they just bash Conley. If all you can do is knock your opponent, it exemplifies your lack of character and your desperation. Sam is a good guy and if he ever had a chance, the lefties on this Blog and elsewhere have destroyed it with their mindless vitriol. Someday I hope we will again have closed primaries in this State.
Why don't you lefty losers get your own candidate? Answer: Because all the qualified potential Democrat candidates know they would lose, big time!
According to the study of ethics, there are two kinds of lying:
1.lying by commission - in which case the liar says something s/he definitely knows to be false; and,
2. lying by omission - in which case the liar tells only part of the facts, knowing that s/he is giving a false impressinon by not revealing other pertinent facts.
Will Conley usually practices the second kind of lying. Example: he tells us that the county budget is balanced ("Great!" thinks his audience), but he doesn't tell us that the county is either number 1 or 6 in debt, among all Texas counties, depending on which metric you use ("Oh..." the audience would have said).
Conley is expert at this, and so the next time you hear good news from him, beware.
Mr. Arless
Actually listening to your constituents and having open and honest public discussion about our financial situation sounds like a real plan to me.....and that is what I heard Mr. Brannon propose.
to Arless,
Patrick Rose, a Democrat, served more than one term in the Texas House as our representative, and so Hays County can elect a Dem to office.
The reason Rose was turned out is that Dems themselves got tired of his crony capitalism - giving developers and road builders everything they wanted.
Something similar can - and probably will - happen again. Will
Conley may be turned out by his own Republicans, most of whom are fiscal conservatives and are tired of Conley's reckless debt-making. Dems - who don't have a horse in this race - will vote for Brannon, too.
I think it is interesting that Brannon gets all this flack for having Dems behind him (some might call them potential constituents), but in '08 Conley was endorsed by Charles Soechting, Marcus Hernandez, Mike/Nora Moeller, Carbajal, Bob Benson, Dottie Simms.........
What about Jason Isaac? There is another non-forthcoming politican.
He sure doesn't respond to his constituents. I've sent many emails to him, and all I ever get back is a robo-email-response thanking me for giving him my views. Friends tell me the same has happened to them.
Probably Jason just doesn't know WHAT to say. Someone has to write a monosyllabic script for him.
We need to replace Isaac with Drippin' school board member John Adams. John will work hard for us, and he is determined to tackle the education mess.
Q and A
Q. Why did the Democrats not field an opponent for Will Conley's Precinct 3 seat on the Court?
A. Not withstanding the inflated number of liberal extremists here on this Blog, there is simply not enough voting Democrats in Precinct 3 to defeat a successful Republican incumbent.
Q. Why do there seem to be so many commenters on this Blog that are unhappy with Will Conley ?
A. This Blog is in no way a cross section of Precinct 3; it is but a small disgruntled core of liberals centered in the Wimberley Valley. A good example of the breed is Rock B. and his alter egos who comments under several aliases to inflate the numbers.
Q. Why did Sam Brannon run as a Republican instead of a Democrat?
A. Short answer; because he is a Libertarian /Conservative Republican and the Democrat leadership in Hays County could not bring themselves to support such a candidate with Obama and other liberals on the Ballot.
Q. Why are so many Democrats supporting Sam Brannon?
A. Actually, just a few of them will actually vote for Sam; it's that they have nobody else. The few that do so, only want to get rid of Conley; his success and popularity are causing the Hays County Republican Party to grow by leaps and bounds.
Vote for Will Conley, Honesty Conservative Leadership!
I think Democrats are actually in the catbird's seat in Hays County more than some of you Republicans want to let on. Democrats can still use their substantial voting power to separate the wheat from the chaff at the local level by voting in the Republican primary. In the case of precinct 3 commissioner it is pretty clear to me that the chaff = Conley and the wheat = Brannon. Voting in an honest broker and a stickler on spending and debt would be a good thing for all of us tax payers, Republicans and Democrats. Democrats can make a huge difference in this race and I hope they turn out in droves to vote in the GOP primary.
Conley and Brannon face off again in the candidates forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters-Wimberley Valley on Thursday, April 26. The forum will be held at the Wimberley Community Center at 7 p.m.
The two candidates will spar again at the forum sponsored by the San Marcos LWV on Monday, May 7. That event will be held at 7 p.m. in the San Marcos Activity Center, on Hopkins Street next to the public library. Plenty of parking.
Y'all come!
"Arless" - which is also a fake name (what is your last name, "Arless"?) - because most of these right wingnuts are too cowardly, self-loathing, and just plain nutty to use their real names, accuses me of using fake blog monikers.
What are these fake names, Mr. "Arless" hypocrite?
And give us proof, no doubt using your OCD delusional vast knowledge of linguistics and rhetoric.
I know you are too frightened to use your real name. But trust me when I say that using your real name is the only real "freedom" that you right wingnuts don't understand.
You and your ilk are a sad lot. Ask God for help in addressing your hate for mankind.
Thank you, Save the Dates.
Also know that the San Marcos LWV forum allows attendees to ask the candidates directly.
The Wimberley LWV are usually too afraid to ask the candidates hard questions - often questions that the audience really want to ask.
Conley is trying to paint Brannon as an outsider, hoping to set Brannon in voters' minds as "not one of us."
It shows that Conley is desperate. He can't refute Brannon's facts, and so he sinks to personal attacks on Brannon -- who is NOT an outsider.
They should be GOOD ONE'S, I wouldnt miss them for the world.
To Save the date-
Look for Will Conley to be "sick" or "have a prior engagement" for at least one of those forums. Debate is definitely not his strong suit. He can't think on his feet and starts spouting platitudes.
Odd that Texans keep electing keep electing inarticulate men to office: Rick Perry, Will Conley, Jason Isaac.
Will Conley thinks he is from "here" because he went to college at TxState.
Deal is: if you live here now, you are as qualified to say you are "from here" as anyone else.
That is the way it works.
Sam Brannon doesn't have to prove anything to voters except that he is 1.) Capable of learning the job of Commissioner, which takes a little while and that he 2.)Is genuinely interested in working for the people, not for the developers and road barons.
In short, he just has to prove that he is not the crooked, cronyistic, criminal, creepy guy who is holding that office today.
Sam Brannon is smart, genuine, open-minded, informed and most importantly, he is
NOT WILL CONLEY.
Has anyone else noticed that Will Conley's head is getting really fat?
Conley needs to be sent packing.
Us taxpayers cannot afford his brand of "small" government another day.
We have created another monster much like Patrick Rose: a young man fresh out of college gets elected to office, then whose newfound power goes straight to his head.
Time for a change.
Conley's a good politician, he knows how to deliver payola to the key political players in the county and precinct, on both sides of the isle. But by any stretch that doesn't make him a great leader or a great thinker.
Conley is lying through his teeth and robbing us blind.
Did you notice at the forum that Will Conley mentioned he owns two pieces of property that are near county government buildings? One property is close to the new Hays County Government Center.
What are the odds of a county commissioner owning properties -- purely by chance -- near two county government projects? Maybe chance had a little help...?
Conley probably mentioned the properties because he wanted to do it before someone else did. He's hoping to de-fuse the situation.
I didn't quite understand how owning property near a government center was beneficial(and therefore requiring he abstain from voting), but I guess Conley does.
@not often enough:
Owning land near any sort of government building is beneficial because:
many people have reason to visit government offices, and so the site gets a lot of traffic; which means
the property is valuable to a lot of businesses or individuals who want to be near such a high visibility site; which means
the crummiest lots located in such places can sell for many times their former value; which means
a huge profit for whoever "happens" to own the property when the government building is being built.
Haven't you ever noticed that attorneys and bail bondsmen like to be near courthouses, for example? The most rundown shack near a courthouse will fetch big bucks from someone who will tear down the old shack and build an office.
"Here endeth the lesson." (movie "The Untouchables")
Thank you, Anonymous.
Lesson learned and appreciated.
Not everyone visiting a government building gets a car wash and his carwash is not in an area undergoing redevelopment.
That carwash is directly across the street from a large subdivision(Plum Creek)and that props up the value more than some small government building down the road.
The only people making a hugh profit on this transaction are the previous owners of the property and the folks the county will pay to build the building.
Bottom line, his excuse is just another example of his political gamesmanship. A real conservative would have voted against a building which was not even in the budget.
@Anon 10:57 AM:
"Not often enough" understood the "lesson," and I think you did, too. I believe you're just pretending to be dense, hoping to confuse other readers.
I was not referring to Will Conley's San Marcos car wash. He has other property in San Marcos, and one is near the new $70 million Hays County Government Center.
I was not pretending to be dense nor confuse anyone. Neither was I referring to his San Marcos car wash.
I was referring to his car wash in Kyle. And the government building I was referring to is a proposed Precinct 2 "headquarters" and not the Government Center in San Marcos.
I don't yet know anything about his property close to the new Government center or the circumstances under which he acquired it.
Please teach us that lesson.
Take 5 folks. When you are not looking someone in the face, it is very easy to percieve a tottaly different meaning from a single post. VOTE BRANNON
I do believe Mr. Conley said that he owns property where it ("government center") used to be located. I'm not sure if he was referring to the old courthouse or the old justice center.
As per Hays CAD:
P119905 CONLEY CONSULTING GROUP 1200 THORPE LN SAN MARCOS, TX 78666 $390
P101332 CONLEY ENTERPRISES CO 1200 THORPE LN SAN MARCOS, TX 78666 $110,353
R91663 CONLEY ENTERPRISES CO 6150 FM 2770 KYLE, TX 78640 $342,640
R93284 CONLEY ENTERPRISES CO 1200 THORPE LN SAN MARCOS, TX 78666 $808,510
R45910 CONLEY JOHN P & CINDY A $13,380
R96292 CONLEY JOSHUA J & GIBBS SARAH M & GARY L & ARCELIA G 5770 MCNAUGHTON KYLE, TX 78640 $132,660
P121182 CONLEY LASER WASH 6150 FM 2770 KYLE, TX 78640 $61,900
R45194 CONLEY MATTHEW D & DIANA P $50,300
R113136 CONLEY THOMAS W & DEBORAH A 914 TATE TRL SAN MARCOS, TX 78666 $454,270
R36273 CONLEY WILLIAM PLAYER & ERIN BETH 701 MOUNTAIN CREST DR WIMBERLEY, TX 78676 $254,030
R70613 CONLEY, EILEEN 107 ASH ST BUDA, TX 78610 $74,700
R131973 CONLEY, HEATHER 261 KARRIE DR KYLE, TX 78640 $144,590
R36292 CONLEY, PAULA 301 WEST VIEW DR WIMBERLEY, TX 78676 $270,140
R85656 CONLEY, WILLIAM 511 ARROWHEAD PASS WIMBERLEY, TX 78666 $30,460
R85655 CONLEY, WILLIAM P 501 ARROWHEAD PASS $33,340
To my dear Republican friends and neighbors. Please vote Conley OUT OF OFFICE in the upcoming May 29th primary.
Since the Democrats didn't put up anybody in that race (frankly, we Democrats are a bit demoralized), we will help you get rid of Conley, but please, we need for you fiscal conservatives to vote with us Democrats to trim the Hays County budget and get this arrogant young power monger out of office before he eats us all alive.
Vote BRANNON.
We need a change, don't you think?
If you think about it, Hays County taxpayers essentially paid for all those new properties that Conley has bought up.
He could never have done this kind of wheeling and dealing on his carwash tips alone, so he has us to thank for his new acquisitions.
We taxpayers need to send him home to trim his own budget.
Hey anti road group, bc that is all this is about, the bond passed in large numbers in our county, including Wimberley, you talk about debt, but we know it has to do with the road bonds, funny no one here ever talks about the parks bond. Sam is just a puppet of your group. Do a CAD search on Sam, you wont find anything bc he pays no property taxes, and lives with his dad in federal housing. Talk about hypocrisy for the anti government guy. Our federal debt is large enough, maybe people like Sam need to get off its dime and contribute something instead of a lot of hot air
Hey, Will (=Anon 11:43 AM), what do you think about our State Comptroller telling VOTERS to beware of more county bond debt? She also appealed to county officials to think hard before putting any more debt issues before the public to vote on.
Listen up!
See Anonymous, April 1, 11:43 am above:
As someone said, Conley can't refute Brannon's statements, and so Conley just lays into Brannon with personal attacks.
What the heck difference does it make where Brannon lives, as long as it's in Precinct 3?
When Young Will first became Commissioner, he was barely out of college.
He has learned so much in the past few years: about how to rob from the taxpayers to pay his pipers.
Why does this happen so often?
I guess people get into power and they just cannot resist the temptation to make it worth their while.
The longer people stay in office, the worse it gets.
VOTE BRANNON.
We are not anti-road.
We are anti-big, unnecessary roads.
We are not anti-growth.
We are anti-big, unnecessary growth.
We are not anti-government.
We are anti-big, unnecessary government.
Will Conley likes to pretend that the only reason his constituents are unhappy with him is that we don't like the skyrocketing county debt.
No, Will, the debt is just a symptom of your unloved policy: you use hard-earned taxpayer money to enrich your land developer and roadbuilding patrons at the expense of common garden-variety taxpayers. You represent the 1%, and we 99% whom you ignore and treat like idiots will show you the door.
Yeah, Conley doesn't really have much of substance to say. Notice that he takes an inordinate amount of time thanking everyone even remotely connected to putting on the event. Then he points to his wife in the audience and thanks her and the kids for supporting him. He's using up time because he really has little else to talk about. He doesn't inform us, and he doesn't give a hoot about our opinions.
To Sounding the alarm: I doubt the comptroller's warning will make one bit of difference. Conley, Judge Cobb and commissioners are using stealth tactics to pass new debt and keep it hidden from voters. To me it breaks down to two simple propositions: If you want to keep the Hidden Agenda Game alive and well in Hays County, vote for Conley. If you want to help crack it wide open, vote for Brannon.
Will Conley has become his own worst enemy: an entitled, arrogant blowhard.
Debt is nothing to be arrogant about, but I guess when you are not the one paying it back, what does it matter?
I am sure Will has some kind of job lined up with at least one of those companies he has been funneling our money to for all these years.
If not, I suggest he firm that up.
Judgment Day is a comin'!
How about we fix the roads we already have before we build any new ones?
@Anonymous April 1, 2012 11:43 AM who said...
Hey anti road group, bc that is all this is about, the bond passed in large numbers in our county, including Wimberley, you talk about debt, but we know it has to do with the road bonds, funny no one here ever talks about the parks bond....
Okay, I'll bite - let's talk about the Parks & Open Spaces bond. First, surely you agree
that the taxpayers pay for this via taxes.
Second, upon the passing of the parks bond, the county commissioners (e.g., Will Conley) appointed "citizens" to a committee to determine how to spend the money. One of the first appointed was David Baker (2007). Ask Conley, he should know.
Third, a year later, Baker's WVWA is the recipient of about $3 million from the Parks & Open Space fund courtesy Will Conley. $2.6 million allowed Baker to pay off a loan that his WVWA organization took out on property around Jacobs Well. Baker's organization was allowed to keep title to the property that the county taxpayers purchased. The remainder paid for a "management contract" to care for the WVWA property that taxpayers paid for. Ask Conley about that.
Fourth, about two years later and via a lot of hand waving and diversion tactics, Conley & Co. come up with a scheme to route another $1.7 million of taxpayer dollars to the benefit of Baker's WVWA organization. Approximately $850,000 came from the Parks & Open Spaces bond money. The other half was "borrowed" at twice the rate the county could otherwise borrow money from with a 2 year term - from The Nature Conservancy (TNC). WVWA is just one of the organizations that TNC utilizes to obtain all development rights to real estate. Ask Conley why the taxpayers are paying for the same land twice, why at least some of the land is still titled to WVWA, and why taxpayer dollars are being inappropriately gifted to David Baker's organization (Baker is the self-proclaimed "executive director" and the prime beneficiary of money paid to WVWA).
To this day, Conley continues to direct taxpayer dollars to WVWA and promotes elimination of groundwater rights or groundwater access for property owners in a 9 county area including parts of Hays County - all for the benefit of WVWA. As despicable as his efforts to throw so many constituents under the bus with the hopes of buying votes from WVWA's followers, much of the claims by WVWA are a con and are completely refuted by science and fact. Yet Conley won't bother to do anything except parrot the same propaganda from Baker's WVWA.
So exactly what point do YOU want to make about Conley's involvement with the "Parks & Open Spaces Bond"? Why not also ask about Conely's efforts to deny groundwater access to property owners throughout Hays County and even outside Hays County? Why not ask why Conley was trying to harm constituents via legislation sponsored by Jeff Wentworth which was pretty much designed to eviscerate groundwater access in Hays County.
Thank goodness Wentworth's bill never saw the light of day. Send Conley AND Wentworth packing. At the very least, you should ask Conley about the bond money he is gifting to WVWA, the "maintenance contracts" that WVWA is the beneficiary of at taxpayer expense, the exclusive "docent touring" program that WVWA is the beneficiary of, the retention of title to property that the county paid for, and why he is colluding with David Baker's WVWA in an effort to eviscerate property rights and property values right here in Hays County.
If you go to the county website (www.co.hays.tx.us) and search under the Parks Department, you can find a poll of Hays County residents called "Hays County Parks, Recreation and Open Space Survey." It is dated July 2000, and Hays County paid The Scripps Howard Texas Poll to conduct the survey. Here are some parts of the report:
pp.5-6 "Funding:
Another series of questions asked residents to rank the top three ways of funding a county program to acquire, develop and maintain new parks. More residents (33%) ranked grants from the state and foundations as the No.1 way to fund such a program. Other funding suggestions and the percentage of residents who ranked them No.1 were:
Donations of land or money (23%)
Entrance/user fees (18%)
VOTER-APPROVED BONDS (ONLY 8%)
Creating a special park district 2%
Increase property tax (2%)."
As you see, residents ranked grants as the most desirable way to fund parks, but only 8% said bond debt was the best way.
So what funding method did the Commissioners Court decide to use? They didn't represent the wishes of residents at all; they gave us the very method most people didn't want -- more county bond debt!
Now I know Will Conley likes to say voters approved park bonds. But we all know how low voter turnout is all over the US. Unless the election also has a big draw like a presidential contest, few people are going to get up off the couch to go stand in line to vote on park bonds. So, the avid proponents FOR bond debt carried the election.
And speaking of lounging on the couch, the number 1 reason (40%) residents gave for not visiting parks is that "they spend their leisure time doing other things." p.5
So another case of Conley's lying by omission: he says the voters voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of the park bonds -- but he doesn't say that the total number of people who voted was very low indeed. They were only a tiny fraction of the population of Hays County.
So with all these informed comments trashing the County Commissioners, we can only come to one conclusion:
Conley could not do all these bad deeds on his own. Cobb and all the others must go too.
I'm glad we all finally see the light.
Brannon can do no wrong. Let him decide who all the other commissioners should be and we aill just fall in line and vote them in as the elections unfold.
Then we just cancel government all together.
Do I hear a "hell yes"?
It is pretty obvious that Rocky B. is Blogging under a slew of made up aliases here, trying to keep this non-story alive.
Bob Ochoa why don't you close this thread there has been nothing but slams against Conley for days; It is frankly BORING!
to Bob Ochoa,
Don't close this thread. People are posing questions, and other people are providing some of the answers.
Many of us "Anons" are not Rocky B.
Whoever asked you to close the thread is either a Conley crony or Conley himself.
Is anybody checking into the close connection Conley has to the "deep pockets" of the Midland/Odessa backers of Wimberley Springs-Quicksand? Is Conley merely a puppet in the hands of that entity and his long-time friend, Winton Porterfield? Are these the folks that are really calling the shots regarding how this part of Hays County is developed? It is definitely a money issue; a power issue!!
Hey Bob, I find it ironic that you are willing to post the comments of these paranoid nutcases about all my "fake names" - supposedly spreading their hate, only opposite, yet you don't post my comment calling these idiots out on their conspiracy theories?
And I don't even use Anomymous. Is that free speech?
This thread is about Conley because this article was about the election to decide is he will continue being Commissioner or if voters will choose a new person for that office.
Conley works for Winton and his Midland money bags.
Conley has used his office as Commissioner to buy off residents by fixing their potholes. That is the old trick road bosses have used since the dawn of time.
Conley has used his office to buy the silence of the Wimberley environmental community while he and Winton continue to develop residential areas, allowing their other buddy, Aqua Texas, to suck the aquifer dry.
One hand 'saves' the water while the other hand destroys it.
Zero sum game, and we all lose.
Many refer to the new Hays County Government Center as the Taj Mahal to indicate its size and grandeur.
But, guess what? The original Taj Mahal in India rests on a platform 186 feet x 186 feet (= 34,596 sq. ft.) The building itself is unevenly octagonal and is smaller than the platform on which it rests.
Even at that the Hays County Government Center (232,000 sq.ft.) is almost 7 TIMES AS BIG as the Taj
Mahal.
Commissioners Court (Cobb, Conley, and 3 others) are the rajahs who gave Hays County its over-the-top palace.
Word is going around that Conley be will a no-show at the May 7 LWV candidates forum in San Marcos.
Conley showed himself to be a liar and buffoon at the March 25 Repub. forum in Wimberley, and he doesn't want to make a similar bad showing in San Marcos.
Go to www.youtube.com and watch very short videos of Conley be rude to Liz Sumter, IN COURT.
Search for these videos:
1."Glad When You're Gone" -Conley tells Liz he can't wait until she's gone.
2."Hays County, Texas Bubba-Fest"- The rube even says "S--t" to the judge in this video, and tells her she doesn't know how things are done in Hays County.
Vote out the jerk, Commissioner Will Conley in the Republican primary. Vote for his opponent in the primary, Sam Brannon.
Thanks! And YOU will thank yourself.
P.S. In the inset of the citizens' podium in the upper right of the video frames, you can see Jimmy Skipton laughing. Is he laughing at Judge Sumter or at Conley?
To Not Fooled, March 29--
You wondered why Conley abstained (didn't vote yes OR no) for a $4 million new Precinct 2 office building.
It's because Mark Jones is the commissioner for Pct. 2. Conley and Jones back each others' projects. Conley got a $111 million grand parkway on RR 12 to San Marcos. Jones will get high-dollar improvements to widen roads to nowhere, east of I-35.
Conley didn't want to be on record as voting For an expensive new Pct 2, building, but he had determined first that the proposal would pass if he abstained.
Just another case of "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."
Perhaps the residents of Hays County could send a petition to all the bonding agencies, asking them not to issue any more bond money to Hays County. If we point out to them that Hays County is number one among all Texas counties in debt as related to the value of all property in the county, that should give pause to the bond-ers.
At any candidates forum you attend, be sure to ask candidates their views on the rapidly-increasing bond debt load of Hays County. If they try to tell you it's not important, don't buy it!
Mr. Conley,
You abstain not infrequently from voting in Commissioners Court if the issue is some sort of spending matter. You told the Mar. 25 Repub forum that you abstained on voting for the new Hays County Govt Center because you own land near it.
Why did you abstain from voting on other construction projects? Do you now own strategically-placed property all over Hays County?
As another poster said recently, you seem to avoid putting yourself on record. You will determine in advance of voting by commissioners that the project will pass without your vote, and then you cowardly "abstain." Leaving the other commissioners "twisting in the wind." They have their votes on record.
Next chance to see Conley and Brannon face off will be Thursday, April 26, 7 p.m. at the League of Women Voters-Wimberley Valley candidates forum -- if Conley shows up.
At Wimberley Community Center.
Then, both candidates may show at the LWV-San Marcos forum on May 7.
I would have said that the next chance to see a Conley/Brannon meeting is April 22 in San Marcos. But Conley "can't make" that one. Just like he'll probably be a no-show at the San Marcos LWV forum on May 7.
Wonder if Conley will show for the Wimberley LWV forum on April 26?
Surely he won't dodge every single opportunity the public has to hear him...?!
Brannon WILL attend.
As I said on April 5, Conley and Jones help each other reciprocally.
Proposed by CAMPO (of which Conley is head) will be some goodies for Jones' Precinct 2:
Construction of a 4-lane divided roadway on FM 110, east of I-35 = $17,500,000.
Right of way purchase and construction to widen FM 1626 to 4-lane roadway with center turn lanes = $40,000,000.
Realign and widen Highway 2001 = $34,626,340.
Note that these 3 projects add up to not much less than the $111 million parkway Conley got for his precinct.
And let us not forget that Mr. Conley's judgment is not the best. He appointed to the Citizens Advisory Board for Transportation a man who was a convicted felon.
Will Conley has said he will appear at the San Marcos LWV candidates forum on May 7, 7-9 p.m. He knows he won't have to talk much; there are many candidates to hear from in just 2 hours.
By the time he thanks everyone, including the janitor, for making the forum possible, he will have used up most of his time. Then he'll recognize his wifey (minus the kids -"It's past their bedtime"). "Oops! Time's up! Sorry I couldn't take any questions...."
Conley is afraid to debate Sam Brannon, that much has become obvious.
He was a no-show last night at the League of Women Voters in Wimberley.
What a putz.
I guess this is his strategy for winning: Hide from the opposition.
Sissy.
Will,
You are running out of places to hide.
Just resign if you are too afraid to face the public and defend your cronyism and poor judgment.
Conley is too busy to debate. He and Winton Porterfield are spending all their time trying to disband the WPOA and allow WSP to take over all of woodcreek north. I for one do not want WSP to take care of my section they won't even clean up their dump sites. Plus after the shameful way Will allowed Winton's people to disrupt the WPOA general meeting last sat. I will be asking everyone to vote for Sam Brannon. I know my family is voting for Sam.
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