Keith Self's Blog

I attended the Partners in Mobility briefing to the Texas Transportation Commission yesterday and listened as the regional transportation leaders gave an excellent briefing. They produced a very nice pamphlet that tells the story of transportation efforts in the Metroplex until the year 2030. You can find Partners in Mobility at http://www.nctcog.org/trans/corner/PIM/index.asp

I was struck by one figure - the planned dramatic growth of tolled highway miles in the Metroplex from 2000-2030. Unless the state of Texas starts funding transportation as a primary core function of state government, the region will be forced to increase the miles of tolled highway from 25 to 700 in just 30 years. That means that by 2030, there will be almost as many miles of tolled highways as free highways. And if that does not make you wince, those tolled miles will be necessary to make up a shortfall in state funding to the tune of $59 billion (with a "b".) That takes my breath away. $59 billion is real money in an area the size of Dallas-Ft Worth. And it will be collected from you; Texans who have already sent your hard earned tax dollars to the state to pay for primary state functions. Does anyone NOT think that transportation is a primary state function? The sums needed in this fast growth area to build our transportation network require state participation. I ask that our legislature fund transportation as a top priority of the state.

We need SH 121 built immediately in order to continue our growth in Collin County, and that decision is effectively made (I think, but the legislature is still in session.) However, the longer, strategic planning should include funding future highways our of current tax revenues. This is a simple concept - we fund the most important government functions first. This not only is correct use of tax dollars, it also increases our freedom by restricting the growth of government into areas more properly left to free markets and free people.

Sincerely,
Keith

Citizens of Collin County,

When I was campaigning for office, I promised you a report on my 5-Point Action Plan by the end of my first 90 days in office. This report fulfills my promise to you. You can find the plan at www.KeithSelf.com

Collin County is large and complex; and growing more so every day. Collin is the eighth fastest growing county in the nation; counted in real bodies, not by percentage points. The Census Bureau estimates that we now have 730,000 citizens in this county. The major issues that we face require serious and detailed attention in order to balance the many competing interests in a way that provides the best services and representation to you, the citizen. I will continue to let you know other issues as they arise, but this report focuses solely on the 5-Point Action Plan.

Action Point #1: Freeze salaries of the Collin County Commissioners Court.

The day I took office, I froze my salary for the duration of this four-year term. However, mine is the only salary over which I have control. Over the next six months, I will work with my colleagues on the Commissioners Court on the budget that begins October 1, 2007.

Action Point #2: Terminate longevity pay for the Collin County Commissioners Court.

The Commissioners Court took this action in 2006 before I took office.

Action Point #3: Reduce the Collin County property tax rate by at least 4 percent. Since expenditures in the Operating Funds of the General Fund grew by 11 percent from 2004-2005, there is fat enough to cut without hurting our capital improvements.

The county tax rate when I wrote this action plan was $.25. Before I took office, the Commissioners Court lowered the tax rate to $.245, a 2 percent decrease. In order to achieve my goal of a total decrease of at least 4 percent, we need to decrease the tax rate another one half cent to $.24. I believe that this goal can be reached through careful husbanding of your tax dollars to make certain that we are funding core county services and functions. I will work with my colleagues on the Court in the belief that this tax rate decrease can be achieved. The explosive growth we are experiencing in population and property values should provide the revenue we need to provide county services and functions. I don't believe that we need ever more tax dollars per capita, we instead need ever more discernment in order to prioritize an unlimited number of projects so that we fund those most important services and functions.

Action Point #4: Move the Commissioners Court open sessions to a facility large enough to accommodate all fully-engaged citizens of Collin County who wish to participate in the open conduct of county business. Citizen input and action will be encouraged at Commissioners Court sessions.

While I have not yet achieved the goal of meeting in a larger facility, we have taken several other steps which will provide more open access to county government. Effective communication with our growing population requires some sort of electronic broadcast. The larger cities have offered us free time on their cable channels. We also need to offer access to Commissioners Court recordings through the internet. The Commissioners Court will take action this week on a set of proposals for both broadcast and webcast.

In addition, we have effectively doubled the number of Commissioners Court meetings by adding workshops every other week; more informal open meetings where the public can listen to the Commissioners Court discuss issues in more depth without taking action.

During our workshop on March 19, the commissioners indicated that they would like to see one workshop each quarter conducted during the evening hours, rotating through the commissioners' precincts. I believe that the votes are there to institute this rotational meeting schedule consistent with the Local Government Code.

Once the new county courthouse is opened in September, the large ceremonial courtroom will provide a larger venue for evening Commissioners Court meetings.

Action Point #5: Convene an emergency meeting of Collin County Mayors and state/regional transportation officials in order to start repairing relationships and develop a county coalition to move the Collin County transportation infrastructure into the 21st century. State Representatives and Senators will receive my personal invitation to participate in the meeting and the coalition.

Advocating transportation has evolved differently than I envisioned. Rather than a single large conference, I met numerous times with elected officials and transportation officials at every level in order to develop the appropriate relationships and to find ways to build our transportation infrastructure faster in order to keep pace with our explosive growth. We must be vigilant to ward off any efforts to delay construction of the major thoroughfares through Collin County.

We have a window of opportunity that includes two elements; the transportation funds associated with the State Highway 121 contract (regardless of who executes the contract) and the agreement in principle that the State will reimburse a portion of our construction costs of other transportation projects in the near future, known as pass-through financing. I will be working with my colleagues on the Commissioners Court to charge through this window of opportunity to maximize the return on your transportation dollar. I also testified before the state Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, making the point that Collin County faces severe constraints on future growth if the legislature delays construction of SH 121 and US Highway 75.

In another area of transportation in support of long-term efforts by local leaders, I am vigorously advocating the construction of a true regional passenger service airport at the Collin County Regional Airport, which seems to be taking wing with interest growing in the private sector and with public sector funds already identified to build a replacement runway.

Building our badly needed transportation network continues to be my highest priority.

Sincerely,
Keith

1. I testified before the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee yesterday, March 21. You can view the archive at http://www.senate.state.tx.us/avarchive/?yr=2007
Go to Mar 21, Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security, Part II. Once the media player is open, fast forward to minute 23:10 to view my testimony. My key points were to build State Highway 121 without studying transportation funding for another two years. I stated that I don't care who builds the highway; our growing population needs the road now in order to continue growing. I also recommended that the legislature fund transportation from the general budget as a core state function, rather than adding new taxes or tolls on a selective basis on selective projects.

2. We conducted our first evening Commissioners Court workshop on Monday evening. I believe that workshops are giving us the opportunity to discuss issues and topics in a more informal manner. We will be exploring the possibility of moving future workshops around the county to the various commissioner's precincts.

3. An editorial is scheduled to be published tomorrow morning (Friday, March 23) in the Dallas Morning News. I appreciate feedback from you on it.

1. I am blogging on Friday in order to give you time to plan to attend an evening Commissioners Court workshop at 6 PM on Monday evening, March 19, at the Emergency Operations Center, located at the county justice center at 4300 Community Ave, McKinney. There will be guides in the Sheriff's reception area to direct you to the EOC. There are several interesting items on the agenda, such a discussion of night meetings, commissioners precinct redistricting, and the webcasting/broadcasting project. You may see the complete agenda at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/public_notices/Lists/Public%20Meetings/Attachments/298/Agenda.pdf

2. I testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, March 12, regarding the new District Court that we requested. The Commissioners Court voted to ask that the legislative bill stipulate that the new judge be elected during the 2008 election cycle so that the judge can take office on January 1, 2009. We have no idea what form the bill will take as it winds its way through the legislature, but Representative Ken Paxton has carried the bill in the form that the Commissioners Court requested.

3. You are reading a great deal in the media about the tentative award of the contract to build SH121. My position has not changed since before I was elected - I do not believe that we should establish additional taxes in the form of tolls, but for years the legislature has abdicated its responsibility to build the state transportation network and we in Collin County need SH121 built in order to continue our growth. If SH121 is built, we will continue our growth and reap the benefits of economic development that will provide jobs for our growing population and decrease the air pollution created by stalled traffic. The moratorium on Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDA) being debated in the legislature is potentially devastating to Collin County in terms of grave damage to our future. At this point, paying tolls on SH121 is the lesser of two evils. Some of my conservative friends are supporting the moratorium based on their opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor, but that is a separate issue from our current need for SH121.

Sincerely,
Keith

1. Friday, March 2, was Texas Independence Day, when the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed in 1836. The man, for whom both the county seat and the county are named, Collin McKinney, was one of the primary drafters and among the signers of the Declaration at Washington-on-the-Brazos while the Alamo was under siege in San Antonio. The Declaration and the heroic stand at the Alamo served to ignite the victory at San Jacinto and win freedom for Texas. In a day when young Americans are serving freedom around the world, we need to remember the history of sacrifice that has so richly won and so dearly preserved our individual freedoms.

2. As an update on the new district court discussion, based on new evidence as presented in my Feb 24 blog below, the Commissioners Court voted on Feb 27 to ask the legislature to establish only one court instead of the two originally requested. The decision came down to balancing official evidence that does not support additional courts with unofficial anecdotal evidence that supports some relief in civil cases. If the bill passes the legislature, the new district court will be established in January 2009 with the judge elected by you, the voters of Collin County.
An interesting concept was raised that would relieve pressure on the civil cases handled by the district courts. By raising the statutory dollar amount of civil cases that our county courts at law can hear, it would give relief to our district courts in the area where they believe that they most need relief - civil cases, rather than criminal cases. I have asked for inputs from the county court at law judges to see if this idea is worth pursuing with the legislature.

3. I am striving to represent you with decorum and respect toward all. We should never allow the national level politics of personal destruction and strident verbiage to seep into our local level. Reasonable people can disagree without becoming personally vindictive.

4. Transportation funding has recently gained clarity with the decision by the Texas Transportation Commission to award the construction of SH121, which will provide significant dollars to construct other roads as well. In addition, TXDot has agreed in principle to support a request for reimbursement of a percentage of construction costs for a number of other projects. On Tuesday, the Commissioners Court will discuss a bond election to fund construct for the reimbursement projects. We will be refining the projects under each funding mechanism over the next few months.

5. Collin County Day in Austin, February 19-20, was a resounding success. The Chambers did a wonderful job coordinating the various logistical requirements for almost 300 attendees. Please join us next year.