DJ Says...

Following on the heels of the Houston Tea Party Society's wildly successful Health Care Town Hall, the Harris County Republican Party will host its own version tonight at the Humble Civic Center.

Wow, what a turnout last night in Baytown for the latest Rep. Gene Green Town Hall meeting. My best guess is that a total of 250+ showed up at the Sterling Library, with 100 of them allowed inside. At least 75 constituents with photo id in hand were turned away because they ran out of room and another 75 from out of the district showed up to protest his positions on healthcare and cap/trade. I'll have a separate post on the whole id issue forthcoming.

Once again, the crowd arrived early. I pulled into the parking lot at 5:20 pm for a scheduled 6:30 pm start and the line was already half a block long.

[caption id="attachment_17868" align="alignnone" width="449" caption="Queue for Gene Green Town Hall 8-19 at 5:30 pm."][/caption]

The lady in the bright green suit is Linda Taylor. Ms. Taylor was the first to arrive at 4:30 pm. She wanted to make certain that she got into the meeting and was hoping for a chance to ask a question. She told me that she was there to express her opposition to HR 3200. She did get her chance to ask a question, which was "why should she be forced to pay for someone's insurance when they are carrying Gucci bags, iPhones, driving BMW's, etc." Her point was that many people do not have insurance because it is their choice, not because they can't afford it. The congressman didn't have an answer for that one, relying upon his 47 million estimate and 230,000 in his district that do not have insurance, not all of them by choice.

Back in the first part of June we told you about the City of Friendswood filing suit against itself in an effort to thwart the voter's defeating a couple of bond proposals: Friendswood City Gov’t Run Amuck. The situation got even messier when the city tried to force five residents that had traveled to Austin to put up a million dollar bond: Friendswood Sues Five Citizens. Public pressure forced the city to back off of that demand: Friendswood Drops Bond Request of Citizens.

After several delays, the judge finally ruled last week that the Friendswood 5, as the residents came to be known, were correct and the city cannot issue debt without voter approval nor can they purchase land outside of the city limits.

The city cannot move forward with plans to issue certificates of obligation without voter approval to buy parkland outside the city limits, a Travis County judge has ruled.

Judge Scott Jenkins of the 53rd District Court signed an order Friday ruling in favor of five residents, who have dubbed themselves the Friendswood 5. The residents fought the city’s plans, which they said violate the city’s charter.

“It is a victory for Friendswood and a victory for taxpayers everywhere,” said Janis Lowe, a member of the Friendswood 5.

Because of the city council's actions, the city is now facing, in addition to having to pay the court costs from the failed lawsuit, a $1.43 million loss from the illegal attempt to purchase the land, unless they are able to sneak out of it on a technicality. What really caught my eye in this story were the comments from two of the principals in the land deal talking about being heartbroken.

‘My Heart’s Broken’

Friendswood, however, agreed to pay three times more for the land than its assessed value, according to Brazoria County Appraisal District records.

The city in September signed a contract to spend $1.3 million for the 60 acres, which is in three parcels of 30, 20 and 10 acres. The appraisal district assessed that property in 2008 for less than $400,000.

Friendswood agreed to pay $658,108 for 30 acres, four times more than the property’s assessed market value of $149,550, appraisal district records show. The city agreed to spend $440,000 for 10 acres although appraisal district records show the property is assessed $125,000 on the market.

However, Wanda Morris, a Brazoria County Realtor, said $1.3 million is reasonable for 60 acres along FM 528.

Residential property in Alvin typically sells for $10,000 to $12,000 an acre, but the size and property on FM 528 makes it more valuable, Morris said.

Wight said he didn’t know the market value of the land, but he was confident Friendswood was not paying any more for the property than it should.

“I actually had the city’s best interest at heart,” he said.

Hill said he was disappointed the city would be unable to buy the space for a much-needed ballpark.

“My heart’s broken over this,” he said. “We were assured all the way that we were on solid legal ground.”

Heh. Whenever I hear someone say they are heartbroken for someone else after losing out on a small fortune, it makes me go, hmm. Four times the appraised amount? Yeah, I'd be heartbroken too.

In a perfectly just world, the mayor and city council of Friendswood would be held personally responsible for this money. Unfortunately, it isn't a perfect world and the citizens of Friendswood will be responsible for it. I do hope the voters remember that at election time.

Super duper congrats to the Friendswood 5 for taking on a mucked up city hall and winning.

between posts! Guess I just wanted a break or something, although I've been doing a lot of political blogging at LoneStarTimes.com. Wow, I just checked, it's been over two months since I posted anything in the Life category. A few things have happened since then, to say the least.

Biggest and most important of course was the wedding. We finally got the yard and house completed from the Ike damage and it looks better than ever! I think I'm going to enjoy the more open space of the yard, we've already had a couple of parties. But back to the wedding, my girl should be a wedding planner! Wow, did she do good or what? It was perfect. Just perfect.

The ceremony took place at Clear Lake Church of Christ and was so "simple". I mean, totally stripped down to just the commitment of two souls joining as one. The wedding vows were inspiring, Hero having written out a long one and Kaia using a passage from Ruth. And she was so pretty. My little girl, all grown up and ready for the next stage of life.

Then we went back to the house for the reception, catered by El Toro (as if you had to guess that). Terri did a wonderful job with the decorations, we had a 40 x 40 tent, tables, chairs, candles, all kinds of stuff. Even had candles floating in the pool, that was cool. And off they went to the Bahamas to begin their new life.

The following Monday, 2 set out for Italy again. This time it was for three weeks of "hosteling", just bumming around the country, looking for a place to lay her head at night. Some say it sounds scary, I thought it was awesome. She matured so much the last time she went over there, I knew it would be a positive experience again. And it was. She is now safely back in Austin for her last semester before who knows? Maybe she'll live overseas, I wouldn't bet against that.

Terri and I thought we were going to have some downtime after all of the repairs and wedding but man life seems busy. Maybe because she's had to travel a lot lately, it just seems that way. Nothing especially noteworthy, just busy. My work has been pretty stressful lately, adding to that busy feeling, I'm looking forward to retirement.

Speaking of retirement, we hosted or rather, I volunteered Les to host, a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University at church. That was 13 weeks, every Thursday. We had a great time, 19 people went through it. Relationships were strengthened right along with finances. Pretty good stuff.

I'm hoping to get back to writing regularly soon, I just haven't felt like it. I finally did the Facebook thing, I've had the account for awhile but never used it. I've sort of enjoyed it but must admit that I don't want to remember some people or things! Hey, not all of us have had perfect lives, you know? Well, that's it for now, hopefully I'll be back soon.