Keith Self's Blog

1. I hosted my first citizens' breakfast this past week, and enjoyed the interaction with the small group that attended. I will follow up on one excellent idea that was presented. I now plan to hold a breakfast every other month with an expanded number of attendees. If you would like to be in the pool of folks for random invitation, please join the Public Information Distribution List at http://www.collincountytx.gov/public_information/email_list/distribution_list.jsp

2. Health care bills continue to appear on legislative reports, many detrimental to our interests. The Commissioners' Court approved the drafting of a resolution on health care independence, which will be approved at the February 13 court session. I have asked for other counties to join us in working to preserve our county's independence from the major urban hospital districts. By next week, I hope to have a better picture of the assistance that I need from you with our legislators so that they can better represent our interests in Austin. I ask that you prepare to engage in the political process on our common interests.

3. Transportation funding continues at the top of the priority list and urgent work is being conducted every week. One of the breakast attendees in paragraph 1 said that she sees a difference every week in the amount of traffic on Preston Road. I hope to have news for you soon.

Sincerely,
Keith

1. I just completed my first three weeks in office, and thoroughly enjoyed representing you. The learning curve is steep, but the only thing that has really surprised me so far is how many documents I have to sign. Most have to do with spending your tax dollars, though, so I will continue to read the documents carefully and ask questions!

2. I host my first citizens' breakfast on January 26. The attendees are selected at random by the Public Information Office, chosen from those who receive the county email notification emails. They are interested in county business, so I believe that they will have good inputs. If you want to join the distribution list, go to http://www.collincountytx.gov/public_information/email_list/distribution_list.jsp

3. I have commissioned a coin (not paid for by taxpayer funds) that I plan to present to deserving county employees and citizens who represent the phrase, "Pioneering Excellence." I chose the phrase to recognize both our history and our future. Collin McKinney, the signer of the Texas Declaration, for whom both our county and our county seat are named, gave an excellent start to the nation of Texas, now our great state. I trust that we will continue "Pioneering Excellence" as we move forward into our bright future. The front of the coin depicts the original courthouse, the founding date of 1846, and "Pioneering Excellence." The reverse side says, "In recognition of exceptional performance." I presented 5 coins to Public Works employees who worked through the recent icy weather.

4. I have heard and read a great deal of emotion in the debate between Collin County and Parkland Hospital regarding our paying for our indigent citizens who are treated at Parkland. This is an important topic for you because there is talk about the Legislature establishing a Regional Hospital District, which will most likely double your county taxes, although there is no bill yet filed.

My research has turned up that of the 1572 citizens treated during 2006, primarily at Parkland, we could verify only 116 as actually indigent under State law and the county standard of 50% of Federal Poverty Level. State law requires only 21% of FPL and the county now pays for 100% of FPL. When a citizen is verified as eligible they are entitled to $30,000 in health care paid by you, the taxpayer.

With those starting facts, I wondered why Parkland takes such a different approach than our county, why there is so much emotion as folks argue about what is "fair." I determined that Parkland has very different incentives from the county. Our county verifies eligibility in order to protect you, the taxpayer from potential fraud - after all, $30,000 is a substantial sum. Parkland, on the other hand, has every incentive to maximize the number of indigent/low-income visits because they get vast sums of federal subsidies in two programs based on indigent/low-income visits. In 2005, that figure was $300,000,000 - that's right, $300 MILLION.

My last point is that regardless of the level any government establishes for eligibility, whether it is 21% of FPL by State law, 50 %, 100%, or even 200%, if you do not verify eligibility, it does not matter what the policy is, because every person can claim to qualify.

I hope to remove emotion from this discussion so that we can start addressing the incentives that Parkland has compared to those incentives we have to protect you, our taxpayers. We will meet our obligations, but we want to be good stewards of your hard-earned dollars.

Sincerely,
Keith

Thank you for all the notes of support and encouragement as I took the oath of office last week. I posted a photo of Judge Greg Willis and me at the ceremony on January 2. You may view the photo at http://www.keithself.com/photo_gallery.html

This week starts the 2007 political processes at both State and county level. I am looking forward to my first Commissioner's Court tomorrow, January 9. We have a full agenda, which you can view at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/public_notices/Lists/Public%20Meetings/Attachments/229/Agenda%20CC.pdf

The other significant event is the opening of the 2007 State legislative session, also on January 9.

One initiative that may develop is an attempt to include Collin County in some sort of Regional Hospital District, a new taxing district to support Parkland Hospital in Dallas. While there are no details, and we have to watch the initiative carefully, Dallas County residents currently pay more in property taxes just to Parkland Hospital than Collin County residents pay in total county taxes. In other words, if Collin County residents were forced to pay the current Parkland tax rate, your county taxes would more than double. I am working with several of our State Representatives on this initiative to make sure that our interests are well represented if it moves forward. I will keep you up to date.

Welcome to 2007! Now let's get to work for Collin County! We all need to be involved in the political processes that impact our daily lives.

Sincerely,
Keith

This morning (January 4) I have been in office three days. The past week has been a whirlwind of activity. The swearing in ceremony on Tuesday was a great event. During the ceremony, I made the announcement that I hinted at earlier - that I am freezing my salary throughout this term of office. I hope to find a method with which my colleagues on the court can agree that will help us set Commissioner's Court salaries in the future with some outside input from citizens.

My official email address is Keith.Self@CollinCountyTexas.gov

If you want to give me citizen inputs, please send them to my official account, although I will certainly accept them however you care to send them.

Another program that I will be instituting is a quarterly meeting, probably a breakfast, with a small group of Collin County citizens. I am still working out the details, but I want you to know that I continue to value your inputs.

It is a high honor to serve you,

Keith