Keith Self's Blog

1. Public Hearing location changed.

The location for the Public Hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, August 30, has been changed to the Central Jury Room at 314 S Chestnut St, McKinney, immediately adjacent to the Courthouse. Please note at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/public_notices/Lists
/Public%20Meetings/Attachments/177/Public%20
Hearing%20-%20Commissioners%20Court%20Agenda.pdf that the Commissioners added an Executive Session at 6 PM prior to the Public Hearing at 7 PM.

2. Why stick to core county functions?

As I travel around the county and the region meeting the folks who work in various areas that touch county government, I am struck by one prevailing idea. I believe that these folks correctly understand that if government touches any issue or any area, government will determine the winners and the losers, rather than allowing the people to determine winners and losers through hundreds of thousands of daily individual decisions. I want this blog to outline my political philosophy as well as discuss current issues, so come with me for a look at that idea.

As we have discussed earlier in this blog, government is coercive at its core; government compels behavior, such as paying taxes. To those who want a big, muscular, prescriptive government; the coercive nature is good. To those who want a limited government that sticks to core government functions; the coercive nature can also be misused.

This is not a distinction that can be strictly tagged to one end of the political spectrum or the other. Those toward the liberal end of the spectrum reflexively want government to determine the direction and scope of many issues; that big, muscular, prescriptive government. Those toward the conservative end of the spectrum, while philosophically espousing limited government, can be drawn into wanting government to engage where decisions by the people may not go as desired. Probably because of our recent experience with the federal government, folks now want government at all levels to intervene for those interests they individually support.

This is the main reason that I want our county government to stick to core county functions and not to compete with private enterprise or private charity. The people of Collin County can decide for themselves what businesses and what charities they support. The county role is to provide a county infrastructure and provide services as directed by State law as an agent of State government. The county compels you to pay your taxes; you have no choice whether or not you pay taxes. Since you must pay taxes, county government should limit its work to those areas where tax funds are required; thereby preserving individual liberty in every other area possible. That is the only way that success in business and even in charitable giving is decided by the citizens of Collin County, not by elected officials. Individuals decide for themselves where they spend their hard-earned dollars. Economic freedom is one of the bedrock freedoms that allows you to make your own decisions and to control your own life.

Sincerely,
Keith

Citizens,

If you have read the recent newspaper articles, you know the county budget process is moving along. You know that I believe that citizen inputs are important to the government process, and you now have the opportunity to give your inputs directly to the Commissioners Court at a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, August 29 at 7 PM in the 6th floor Commissioners Courtroom, located at 210 S. McDonald Street, McKinney.

The title of the mandatory notice is Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase.
The notice can be viewed at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/public_notices/Lists/Public%20Meetings
/Attachments/163/NoticeofPublicHearingofTaxRate082906.pdf

After I take office on January 1, 2007, I will remain committed to fiscal responsibility as outlined in my 5-Point Action Plan, which can be viewed at http://www.keithself.com/action.html

As many of you, I am closely following the budget process and look forward to seeing you at the hearing. This is a very small courtroom, so plan on arriving early in order to get a seat.

Sincerely,
Keith

Citizens,

This is Budget Workshop week at the Collin County Commissioners Court. I am very grateful for the two briefings that I received at the macro level on the emerging budget for the upcoming fiscal year that starts October 1st. The Commissioners Court has sessions scheduled every day this week, as needed, to discuss the budget. The agenda can be viewed at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/public_notices/Lists/
Public%20Meetings/Attachments/140/Agenda%20-%20CC.pdf

I intended to attend the Commissioners Court today, Monday, August 21, but the agenda indicates the budget discussion will be in Executive Session and therefore not open to the public. It is unclear if the Court will conduct the budget workshops tentatively scheduled through the remainder of the week in Open Session or Executive Session.

Obviously, I am very interested in the budget under development because nine months of this budget will be executed during my tenure. I consider budget development as the most important job of the Court, bar none, since this determines how wisely your hard-earned tax dollars will be spent. Budget workshop week is a vitally important week for Collin County taxpayers each year. Although the free-spending Federal government gets most of the media attention, every level of government is generally increasing their respective level of spending.

I was elected, in part, on a campaign that emphasized fiscal restraint. Three points of my 5-Point Action Plan deal with spending issues. I believe that fiscal restraint, balanced against the infrastructure needs of our county, leaves your hard-earned dollars available to you to choose where you spend, where you invest, and how you support the economy of Collin County. The wide diversity of our private economy is why our county is one of the fastest growing in the nation. There is an unseen cost to every tax dollar you send to the government; the unseen cost to our economy because you have one less dollar to spend or invest.

I look forward, as I am sure you do, to learning the details of where your tax dollars will be spent this coming year.

Next week: We will discuss the prevailing, but wrong-headed idea that government is efficient, and even correct when choosing winners and losers.

Sincerely,
Keith

Citizens, I delayed this blog entry until after the Health Care Task Force Recommendations were presented to the Commissioners Court (the Health Care Foundation trustees) this evening.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the citizens of Collin County present their positions, both FOR and AGAINST the recommendations. As I listened, I thought of Norman Rockwells Four Freedoms, specifically Freedom of Speech. You can view the Freedom of Speech at http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/
four_freedoms/images_html/save_freedom_speech.html

Citizens mustered the courage to stand before their fellow citizens and let their voice and their opinions be heard. In most cases, but not all, the entire audience gave the speaker their full attention. I have never heard such a clear presentation of personal views as I did this evening. One of the true strengths of our nation was on full display at this meeting.

Also on full display were two vastly different political philosophies. The philosophy that espouses personal responsibility and freedom was presented by one side while the idea that government can and should fix every issue was presented by the other. By my unofficial count, not including elected officials, 9 citizens spoke AGAINST the recommendations and 13 spoke FOR the recommendations. Both sides were cheered by their supporters in the crowd. Some spoke of moral imperatives, some of the rule of law, some of illegal aliens, others on different issues. By my count, 4 speakers FOR the recommendations openly and proudly identified themselves as either Democrat or Liberal, although several stated that this is not a partisan issue.

As you know from my 5-Point Action Plan, I believe that more citizens should actively participate in Commissioners Court sessions, and I am now even more convinced. You missed a treat this evening as democracy was in full throat. I learned a great deal.

The Commissioners did not vote on the recommendations this evening, so it is not too late to let your voice be heard on this issue. The report, minus the financials, can be viewed at http://www.co.collin.tx.us/public_information/news_releases/
2006/IndigentTaskForceReport.pdf

Sincerely,
Keith

1. Wright Amendment Agreement and the Collin County Regional Airport: The support of Congressmen Sam Johnson and Ralph Hall was absolutely crucial to the successful resolution of the Collin County issues with the Wright Amendment Agreement between the cities of Dallas and Ft Worth. Our two congressmen fought the good fight to make sure that legislative language adequately addressed our issues. The Collin County Regional Airport is now free to attract passenger service when market conditions warrant. Please contact our congressmen and let them know how much we appreciate their strong support on an important issue.

2. Health Care Task Force Recommendations: In my June 24 blog entry, I wrote about my impressions of the Health Care Task Force recommendations. In the weeks since, I have not changed my mind. Make no mistake; the recommendations constitute a brand new spending line for county government. Past expenditures in this area came from Health Care Foundation funds. The task force wants new spending from the general budget. I believe that there are two government budget items that never die; a new tax and a new spending line.

The task force recommendations do not encourage the private citizens of our county to personally and willingly contribute to the non-profit organizations that are asking for public funding. The citizens of our county are able and, I believe, willing to generously support worthy causes if they know and understand the causes. However, it is easier to ask for public funding than to run a marketing campaign to attract private charity. Government is in essence a coercive entity, and the recommendations seek to use that coercive nature to commit tax dollars to support what should be private charity. The recommendations are a perfect example of county government competing with private charity, which I addressed in my July 23 blog entry.

I have yet to hear how these recommendations fit into the overall spending priorities of the county so that all taxpayers can see what priority the Commissioners Court places on the recommendations. How does this new spending line compare in priority to additional transportation network improvements or to air quality initiatives? For a more complete discussion of all my issues with the recommendations, please read the June 24 blog entry.

You have the opportunity to participate in your county government on August 14 at 7 PM when the Health Care Task Force presents the recommendations to the Commissioners. This is an opportunity to participate in transparent county government, to hear the recommendations for a major new county funding request and to make your voice heard as a county taxpayer. On August 14, I encourage you to attend the open meeting of the Health Care Foundation Board of Trustees, which includes the commissioners. The meeting will be conducted in Central Jury Room, 314 S. Chestnut, McKinney, immediately adjacent to the Main Courthouse.

I will see you there.

Sincerely,
Keith