Collin County Politics: Organize!

December 21, 2021

Covid Update: Collin County has 136,692 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 1,422 more cases than I reported last week and 1,198 of our Collin residents have died (an increase of 8 people since last week). While omicron hasn’t hit us hard yet, it’s coming. Anyone watching what’s happening in New York City now – and remembering early 2020 – knows it’s coming for us next. Boosters seem to be effective against omicron, so get your 3^rd shot now. It’s going to get bad, especially since our healthcare system is already overrun and exhausted. Please, for all that’s good in the world, wear your masks and avoid large gatherings! Believe me, I get it, but Covid doesn’t care how tired you are of all the restrictions.

Commissioner’s Court: The commissioners heard from attorney Mark Fratter who submitted invoices for work he did for indigent clients in 2018. They clearly don’t care for Fratter and have already had a mediation with him over bills they considered too large. Despite Fratter mentioning these new invoices to the mediator and judges signing off on them, all the commissioners except Duncan Webb refused to pay him. Even Bill Bilyeu, the county manager, appeared to be on Fratter’s side. This isn’t the first time these commissioners have refused to pay lawyers. In 2017, they used their refusal to pay lawyers THEY HIRED to prosecute Ken Paxton as a delaying tactic. It’s solely their fault he has yet to see his day in court.

During public comments, Joshua Murray pointed out that the commissioners have been defunding LifePath, our county healthcare provider. As the need for mental health services has increased, actual funding for LifePath has decreased from 2018-2020 when accounting for population growth and inflation. Josh mentioned that the commissioners vote to give themselves raises based on inflation yet haven’t seen fit to give Lifepath the same consideration. I really enjoy seeing the commissioners get irate after Josh speaks. He truly gets under their skin, probably because he’s right and they know it. Webb asked Bilyeau if they funded 100% of what LifePath requested this year. Chris Hill then demanded to know if they’ve funded what Lifepath asked for over the last 10 years. Both answers were yes.

I’m sure both Webb and Hill thought they were making excellent rebuttals but they weren’t. Lifepath probably knows what the commissioners are willing to shell out, so their ask is always within that limit. Goodness knows the court can never be proactive and consider providing what people actually need. Besides, Josh never said they hadn’t given Lifepath what they requested. His point was that their funding for Lifepath has been static. Despite Collin’s growth and inflation plus a global pandemic that increased mental health issues, Collin County hasn’t kept up. The commissioners totally ignored this either because they’re being disingenuous or because they truly don’t care. Either way, we’d all better hope we don’t have a mental health crisis in Collin County. Although, if you wait a year or so, you’ll have a nifty new jail infirmatory equipped to handle all your mental healthcare needs (for a brief time).

Allen City Council: In November, the council approved (6-0 with Daren Meis absent) a 3-year agreement with the police association via a Meet & Confer process that started in October. Their pay is market plus 2%. They also agreed to a shift differential pay (day versus night: $200 differential per month), education pay (which they don’t do currently but think is beneficial), and SWAT team pay ($100 per month). I’m curious if Allen really needs a SWAT team of 18 people. What is it they do? Is crime in Allen truly that bad? If not, it seems like swatting a fly with a cannon (which we’re funding).

In the discussion prior to the vote, the 6 council members present fell all over themselves with excitement and could hardly contain their appreciation for the police. While that’s lovely, the elevation of the police to god-like status around here is irksome. Yes, first responders have an important and difficult job but they’re not the only ones. Especially during the pandemic, healthcare providers and teachers come to mind as professionals who’ve gone above and beyond. Yet somehow the police and firefighters are the only ones who receive such accolades.

Keep in mind that this Meet & Confer process involved the police UNION. The council was thrilled at how smoothly the negotiation process went. Mayor Fulk even said it was a great example of two parties that are fair and reasonable, how they can work together to do good things for the community. Given that all these guys are Republicans, I wonder if they’d feel the same way about any other union – like workers at a Kellogg’s plant for example – trying to get the best deal for those they serve. Somehow, I doubt it. This leaves me to wonder why it’s OK for police and the fire department to have unions in Texas but all others are forbidden.

By the way, if you want to support the courageous Kellogg workers on strike for over 10 weeks, be sure not to buy Rice Krispies or any other Kellogg product. So no Rice Krispies treats for the holidays unless you want to make them using potato chips instead.

Richardson City Council: The council heard a presentation about recommended tactics to achieve goals for the city. Notable ones include increasing community outreach across different cultures for service on boards and commissions, piloting a program for public artwork on traffic control boxes, and an autonomous vehicle shuttle pilot program for the new IQ district which the city has received a $4 million grant to implement. These all sound great! Some came from direct community input. This demonstrates that a diversity of opinions can lead to great ideas, a lesson many other local city councils should heed. Joe Corcoran asked to increase engagement between the police department and the community. That’s a good idea but only if the community has some power too.

In 2022, Richardson will study city council district boundaries to determine if adjustments are needed. Historically, the council has appointed the City Plan Commission to serve as the Council District Boundary Commission. Thus, Democrats need to put forth recommendations for good people to serve. If we don’t, the usual suspects will be put in place. As it stands, the Assistant Chief of McKinney Police – who also serves on the board of Minuteman Disaster Response with Chris Hill (yikes!) – and Mayor Voelker’s campaign treasurer will get to directly influence what the new council districts will be.

All Richardson city council seats are voted for at large. This is deeply problematic. Different neighborhoods have different needs, which affects how those areas should be represented. The all At Large council model prevents that. It’s also a way to keep communities of color and lower-income areas from being adequately represented. It’s much easier (and cheaper) to run a campaign in a Place where people already know you and you have the chance to speak with many of them personally versus trying to reach everyone in the city. True grassroots campaigns are at a distinct disadvantage compared to those campaigns with money to burn. If we want to change things, we need the council to move to a Place model.

Richardson School Board: The fallout from the resignation of popular Superintendent Jeannie Stone continues. At the board meeting where they unanimously voted to accept her resignation, Board President Regina Harris cried and 90% of the more than 45 parents, teachers, and students expressed sadness, anger, and embarrassment over the board’s action in letting her go. More people protested outside and thousands have signed a pro-Stone online petition. No one believes she just quit. Even State Representative Ana-Maria Ramos, a Democrat who represents the district, showed up to speak in support of Stone and joined others in blaming the board.

We now know for a fact that it was a board decision since Karen Clardy, the previous board president who suddenly stepped down in September, broke her long silence and said she quit because she didn’t want to be part of the board that forced the departure of someone as great as Dr. Stone. She worried that trustees — most of whom are new to the board — were swayed by complaints from “a loud minority” rather than standing strong on policies that are in the best interest of all students. Although I can’t quite follow her reasoning, Clardy seemed to think her leaving might change the dynamics of the board and jolt them into considering a restart with Stone. It didn’t. But we all need to learn from what’s happening in Richardson ISD because it’s clear the trustees either caved or supported the angry crowd in the first place (like Eron Linn). We cannot allow this to continue.

The recent onslaught of angry parents and community members showing up at school boards is not an accident; it’s incredibly organized and well-funded. You can track the progression of the complaints and how they bleed over from one ISD to another all across the country. They started with anti-Covid sentiments (“It’s a hoax! They’re trying to control us!”) and moved almost seamlessly into being anti-mask (“It’s child abuse to make our kids cover their faces!”). From there, they went to being against Critical Race Theory (“It’s anti-American and is prejudiced against white people!”) and Socio-Emotional Learning (“It’s just code for CRT and encourages mental health issues!”) to being against Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion programs (“They’re prejudiced against white people!”). Their most recent tactic is to insist upon rules that you cannot insult or address trustees directly during public comments. I’m not certain what the last one is about but I’m sure it will become clear in time.

Steve Bannon has called for Republicans to take over America from the ground up, starting with school boards and city councils. Many have answered his call. Conservative PACs, like We the People in Allen and now the Richardson ISD Families First PAC, have started popping up. As I mentioned, they’re organized and well-funded. If we’re not careful, they’re going to get their way and our children and communities will suffer. We need to not only start showing up at every school board meeting but also vote for Democratic candidates for school board races, like Vanessa Pacheco who’s running against Eron Linn for the election in May. We also need a like-minded candidate to step up for the vacant seat in Place 5.

“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered, yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”

Thomas Paine

Liberal Women’s Action Network (LWAN): We’ve obtained democracy cheaply for far too long. The majority of Americans haven’t suffered for it, so it’s been taken for granted. But if we want to keep our democracy, we’re going to have to fight. This means paying the price of time and energy to ensure we keep the privileges we value. If you want to stave off the encroaching tyranny, then join LWAN (men welcome) to help monitor every city council and school board in Collin County. This is something anyone can do. Frankly, it’s something we all must do. Please contact me at localpoliticsdirector@collindemocrats.org to let me know if you’re willing to fight.