Category: Government and Free Choice

It’s your choice

All local government is ideology

At its core, ideology is identity . . .

Too often, local governments – those we elect – end up listening to and carrying out  recommendations of staff bureaucrats, which raises some interesting observations:

For decades we’ve been “educated” to believe that local elections are not partisan, so no party affiliations are disclosed, as party labels might sway voters.

So the potential for local government officials to sway elections in their party’s favor seems obvious.

Special interest groups that put government interests ahead of taxpayers have long held sway over local elections. They want them to be officially declared nonpartisan – because party labels will sway voters.

Any faux outrage over partisanship entering local government elections is hilariously hypocritical.

Some of the indignation comes from those who routinely accuse others of being partisan because of their policy beliefs, their ideology. But they insist that their positions are not partisan.

Partisanship may most often be associated with party identity but, at its very core, it’s ideology

We all have an ideology – a collection of beliefs and ideas – but some people criticize someone with whom they disagree as an “ideologue ’… just as they apply a negative connotation to ‘partisan’ while extolling their own partisan ideology by claiming that they ‘just follow the science/experts.’

But cooperation between elected officials belonging to different parties is more likely to assure more transparency and better government.

The absence of party labels confuses voters; a voter who must choose from among a group of candidates whom he or she knows nothing about will have no meaningful basis in casting a ballot.

Today, local government is political.

Affable, cheerful, sincere, political-partisans that we elect are given the authority and responsibility to spend our dollars wisely, to make decisions that benefit each citizen equally, and to assure that our schools are teaching the values of limited government and equal economic opportunity in a society that requires personal accountability.

Unfortunately, those we elected have failed us for decades.We have allowed their political identity to hide behind a ‘nonpartisan’ facade.

They’ve listen to and allowed the “good government” professionals – the city managers, school administrators and the political opportunistic – those who benefit personally and professionally – to lead the process of setting the policies and making key decisions they want . . .

The reason we elect so many of the partisans is because they’re nice people; they mean well. Some just fail to understand, however, that the first part of their job is to ride herd on those whom we pay to carry out the policies to meet goals that benefit all of the community.

Too many of these seats are conceded to those who are part of the crowd who believe government is good and there should be more of it. It’s why Texas has the second-highest local debt nationally, and the 4th highest property tax rates in the nation.

Governmental staffs and the professional educationalists want these problems ignored.

When its for “the children” and “community” or “economic” development, there is no end that these partisans see to the use of taxpayer’s money.

When most of us think of government, we think of civil government with its various laws and controls.But local government is, like all government, ideology.

But in the most basic of terms, there are essentially two kinds of government – internal and external. Internal government or self-government is the most important and always shapes the nature of external government.

Self-government comes from the heart and the conscience, one’s character, motives, affections, and convictions of life. Self-government affects everything in a person’s life – the way one relates to his fellowman – his speech – his aspirations – his conduct – his hopes – his future.

Every sphere of civil local government is a reflection of this internal sphere.

Shouldn’t we ask ourselves why government keeps expanding?

In fact, the more self-government the people possess, the less external forms of government are actually needed.

No government can be good – or just – unless its citizenry and rulers have learned to govern themselves.

Paris Texas seems to fear what kind of town it needs to be . . .

return to the Paris Texas Chamber

TRASH PICK-UP . . .

 

Back in July, 2022, the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce warned, “Privatization of trash collection is coming. It will be interesting to read the fine print.”

Evidently, we said, privatized trash pickup is more efficient and less costly. (And added, “than by government? Gasp!”) 

Sure enough, in February 2024, trash pickup by a private firm begins, and the base rate increases to $18.08 a month for residential pickup. This is good until September 2024 – which is a scary thought or a reason to rejoice, depending on whether you’re paying or receiving the money from the new rate.  The way the City of Paris keeps book, this is a $1.49 monthly increase.

CARDS, the private firm will receive $10.29 of the $18.08 fee to pickup and deliver the trash to the landfill.  The rest of the fee goes to the city for “bill administration, liaison between the two, and monitoring the city-owned landfill.”  Included in this rate-game-playing, $1.79 is ear-marked for “city street usage and maintenance.”

As CARDS picks up and delivers the trash for 10.29 per month, isn’t that the trash pickup rate? So, when such city categories as “administration, liaison, monitoring, and city street usage” estimated costs are increased, WHY aren’t such costs included as a rate increase? 

After the addition of two new assistant city managers, since 2022,  surely “administration” charges have increased?

 

The city budget HAS not increased by diffusion.

Back in 2022, when explaining why there was no corresponding reduction in rates when trash pickup frequency was reduced, the city manager offered that the reduction of trash collection is related to the volume of waste collected, not its frequency of collection.  He also claimed that the last rate increase was 12-years ago, and that he would not recommend adjusting rates “at this time”.

The Paris Texas Chamber observed that IF the reduced trash collection was related to the volume produced, Paris was either producing less trash or littering the streets with it – and it was hard to tell which . . .

Our Chamber also said If we were not losing population, it would be as clear as Buttermilk.

The Paris Chamber stated that “It’s difficult to believe there hasn’t been a rate increase on everything over the past 10-years. And there has been – check a few past water and sewer bills.”  And we still stand by that . . .

 Every time an “adjustment” is made on “administrative, liaison or management cost” relating to city services, a rate increase is soon to follow. Money is swept from services – based on an estimated cost the city assigns for those items – and added to the general budget. That process allows the city to keep crying about how sad it is that rates for a service must be increased to cover the increased expenses of the selected service.

Its all a financial game or a way to fleece the rate-payers.   

Worse, what should be a criminal act of deliberate lies, citizens are told that trash pickup rates have “not been adjusted in more then 10-years.” It’s the chattering of weasels.

In 2017-18, the city added an estimated $7.60 monthly to the local sewer rates (around $100 a year MORE than we were paying) to “help pay for a new sewer treatment plant.” Then, in 2020, water and sewer rates were again increased another $$7.65 a month for 5,000 gallons. This we were told, again, was needed to help the sale of bonds to “finance construction of a new wastewater plant.”

And if the income from rate increases isn’t in an established, ear-marked fund for a new plant, as was promised, where did the money go? If the money isn’t there, where is the accountability? For that matter, where is the accountability for the jiggery-pokery with estimated “related? costs and deducting it from a services’ rate income?

 

Priorities lack structure.

Even published legal notices in Paris lack transparency; you seldom know what’s where – addresses are hidden behind legal descriptions of who did the surveys and unknown large block numbers.

Transparency, despite any claims to the contrary, does not exist in Paris, nor in government, local or otherwise. Government is very good at snow jobs, and coming up with schemes whereby it can fleece money from the taxpayers.  Supposedly, its the reason why we elect people to oversee those in government positions: To protect the rest of us, the citizen taxpayers, who provide the money.

But what do you do when they do wrong? Or even when they never ask, “Is it needed; is it worthwhile; and can we afford it?” or even more importantly, “Why would we waste the taxpayer’s money on that…?”

Paris has a history of using tax dollars to pay a few too much and too many too little.

There are not twelve people in Paris who knows to a dollar the total amount of incentives, in cash and kind,  given to a few large firms or insiders over the last two years – or the net value (if any) Paris has received in turn?

It’s doubtful, if even twelve people know the actual costs of trash pick-up in Paris. But looking at voting results in city elections, there are not 599 who care . . .

Occasionally, however, taxpayers are rewarded with a small Dr. Pepper, as those who close the door on full transparency know, man cannot live by the bread of chicanery alone.

                        return to    Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce

 

links:  On Organizational Innovation

         Local Government

       A Free Press . . .

One of the reasons why the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce distrusts so many government bureaucrats (not workers, bureaucrats):

After years of community and economic wrong-doing by several large and small Texas’ cities, legislators gave them a sly wink that a ‘safe haven” now exist in the Chapter 380 law for any of their past, on-going or currently contemplated sins. Under the new Chapter 380 Program, anything legal or semi-legal can be economic development.

It is such a bad law that state legislators declined to determine specifically which incentives, when offered singularly or in combination, constitute a “program … to promote state or local economic development.”

There are no rules governing community and economic development anymore, except for civil injury or death.

Economic development is now anything a city council says that it is – Whether an incentive is requested or not, it gives a city control over all development efforts.

Government takes care of government; government grows government.

Taxpayers have raised such a ruckus over wasted tax-dollars that lawmakers had to do something to bail-out their brethren.

Therefore, 380 agreements serve to only memorialize economic development projects that cities create. It gives a city council the rights of management and control over anything that it designates as a 380 project, thereby setting aside the Constitutional rights of private property ownership.

If government can control it, it – or their friends or supporters or the bureaucrat administrators – can reap the rewards while you pay the taxes, which government also puts into its pockets . . . IF someone can control and manage your property, in ways that they determine, what good is your ownership of it?

Logic is not a government strong point.

The Chapter 380 law requires that a “claw-back” or “recapture” provision be in every 380-agreement. It’s a way for cities to claim that taxpayers can get the total cost of incentives and grant or loan money back – IF their economic development partner does not meet or deliver on the agreed performance.

Cities and economic development corporations now have an excuse: A guarantee that no incentive will be wasted – as every and all are recoverable.

Whoopee!

The cockroach in the coffee is that cities have always been free to have “claw back” provisions from failed goals set forth under agreement terms. Its why we’ve had agreements and contracts since 1215 (the Magna Carta signing). But moving on:

The problem for taxpayers – who pay for all incentives – is that under Section 380.001(b), the governing body may: (1) administer a 380 program by the use of municipal personnel; (2) contract with the federal government, the state, a political subdivision of the state, a nonprofit organization, or any other entity for the administration of a program.

That is a cronyism loophole large enough for the 138,600,000 supporters of “democratic socialism” to do the Boot Scootin’ Boogie in . . . (That’s the left-leaning 42% that polls are reporting of the nation’s 330-million population, if you’re wondering.)

Recently, over a cup of coffee, one of our Paris Chamber’s supporters observed that “government has replaced the Mafia as the nation’s organized crime system.” He added, “All it is anymore is a legalized system for plunder.”

He said it was his fault because he “didn’t vote for Goldwater.”

Half of those present were not even born in 1964. One of the eldest said, “Its like I’m living in a society with Alzheimer’s.“

Anyway:  Chapter 380 is to protect government, while taking care of government’s friends and insiders.

It certainly is not about achieving results, as not all projects are “economic development programs.”

An improvement or a restoration of a building, allowing new instant slums in a neighborhood, some guy cleaning up junk in his yard, some crew selling “pot” on the streets, some gal painting her navel at the Culbertson Fountain, anything that can be claimed to have a potential for “community development” or to improve Paris’ appearance, can now become “economic” in the eyes of the city or when used by the PEDC (when they want it to be).

A 380 designation gives the city total administrative control and management of an entire project – which are the basic rights of private property ownership. And don’t be fooled: Control and management far exceeds any government right of ‘reasonable’ regulation.

Paris is now trying to treat community development as a need for a Chapter 380 economic development agreement; even if no loan or grant or incentive has been made by the city.

Forget any understanding of what, why, and how a project should be done.

return to          –          Paris Texas Chamber

Links:

     The Big Myth

     Affordable Housing

    The Good Stuff, right?