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Denton County Commissioners Court |
Not Official Minutes. For official minutes, please contact the County Clerk at 940-349-2012. |
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July 29, 2003
Be it remembered, Commissioners Court of Denton County, Texas was called to order on the 29th day of July, 2003, at 9:05 AM in the Denton County Pre-Trial Facility, 1406 Troy H. LaGrone Drive, Denton, Texas by County Judge Mary Horn. Commissioners Sandy Jacobs, Jim Carter, Cynthia White and Bobbie J. Mitchell were present along with County Clerk Cynthia Mitchell's representative, Deputy Clerk Kathleen Bransford.
Court opened with an Invocation by Bob Schell, Assistant District Attorney, Civil Division of the Criminal District Attorney's Office, followed by the Pledges to the American and Texas Flag led by Hank Scheible, Veteran's Service Officer.
Mr. Schell: Almighty God and Father, we come to You today. We ask You for Your guidance, Your grace and Your blessings. Be with us today as we go about the County's business. Give our Commissioners Court Your grace, Your strength to do Your will. We ask that You bless them as they proceed. We ask You to bless all our county officials. Give them the wisdom and the strength to do what is right in Your will. In Jesus Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
ITEM 1 PUBLIC INPUT
ITEM 17 RECESS 9:08 AM
Court Convened in Briefing for Public Input
Willie Hudspeth, Denton, Texas
Mildred Hawk, Denton, Texas
ITEM 18 RECONVENE 9:28 AM
ITEM 1 PUBLIC INPUT
Dr. Darla Kincaid spoke as a volunteer advocate for Pedi-Place.
ITEM 2 CONSENT AGENDA
(Items 11.A & 11.B were removed from Consent Agenda for further discussion and/or a separate vote.)
TREASURER
5.C) Approval of Payroll.
PURCHASING
6.B) Approval of rejection of bids for the Tray Washer and Waste Equipment System, Bid #03-03-1546, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
6.C) Approval of renewal of Terrorism Coverage for Property Insurance, RFP #04-02-1484, with Scarborough, Medlin, & Associates, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
6.D) Approval of renewal of Travel Management Services, RFP #06-02-1496, to Bismark Travel Agency Inc., and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
6.E) Approval of specifications and authority to advertise for Armored Car Services, Bid #06-03-1562, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
6.F) Approval of renewal for Tires and Tubes (Passenger and Light Trucks), Bid #07-01-1434, to Gray's Wholesale Tire, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
6.G) Approval of renewal for CMAP (Cold Mix Asphaltic Pavement), Bid #07-01-1438, to APAC-Texas, Inc., and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
6.H) Approval of specifications and authority to advertise for a Tray Washer and Waste Equipment System, Bid #07-03-1570, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
6.I) Approval of renewal for Voice and Data Cabling, RFP #11-02-1530, to Richmond Communications Group, Inc., and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
BUDGET
7.B) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101520 for Vehicle Repairs including the transfer of funds from Non-Departmental Unappropriated Contingency-Vehicle Repair Contingency for Emergency Management in the amount of $5,275, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
7.C) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101530 for Court Appointed Attorneys including the transfer of funds from Non-Departmental Unappropriated Contingency-Court Ordered Contingency for 16th District Court in the amount of $30,000 and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
7.D) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101540 for Court Appointed Attorneys including the transfer of funds from Non-Departmental Unappropriated Contingency-Court Ordered Contingency for 158th District Court in the amount of $60,000 and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
7.E) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101550 for Court Appointed Attorneys including the transfer of funds from Non-Departmental Unappropriated Contingency-Court Ordered Contingency for 367th District Court in the amount of $52,000, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
7.F) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101560 for Court Appointed Attorneys including the transfer of funds from Non-Departmental Unappropriated Contingency-Court Ordered Contingency for 393rd District Court in the amount of $10,000, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
7.I) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101580 for Office Supplies for Commissioners Court in the amount of $1,500, and any appropriate action.
7.J) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101630 for Law/Reference Books for Criminal District Attorney in the amount of $5,800, and any appropriate action.
7.K) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101640 for various line items for County-Wide Technology, Information Services and Telephone Department for a total amendment of $40,570, and any appropriate action.
7.L) Approval of Budget Amendment Request #101670 for various line items for Centralized road & Bridge in the amount of $10,151, and any appropriate action.
HUMAN RESOURCES
8.A) Approval of Order Making Appointments. (Appointments have been posted and advertised. Interviews were conducted as set forth in the Denton County policies adopted by the Commissioners Court, except as otherwise stated in the appointment orders. These appointments are within the budgetary constraints.) Kimberly Shelton, Deputy Clerk - Courts/County Clerk; Michael Franklin, Deputy Clerk - Courts/County Clerk; Mary Stusek, Juvenile Probation Officer/Juvenile Post Adjudication; Randy Robinson, Corporal - Investigator Narcotics/Narcotics Task Force Grant; Richard Garcia, Detention Officer 1/County Jail; Michael Sullivan, DO 1/County Jail.
LEGAL
14.B) Approval of the Managed Prescription Drug Program Agreement between Denton County, Texas and Express Scripts, Inc., and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
Move to approve Consent Agenda with the exception of Items 11.A & B and amended to also exclude Items 7.G & H from Consent Agenda by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0394
ITEM 11 COUNTY CLERK
11.A) Approve the transcribed minutes and the County Clerk minutes for Denton County Commissioners Court Meeting, July 8, 2003 - Formal Session, and any appropriate action.
11.B) Approve the transcribed minutes and the County Clerk minutes for Denton County Commissioners Court Meeting, July 15, 2003 - Formal Session, and any appropriate action.
Move to approve by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Judge Horn.
Motion Carried 4-0-1 (White abstained)
Court Order 03-0395
ITEM 3 RESOLUTIONS/AWARD PRESENTATIONS
3.A) Recognition of awards received by Jim Wheeler of the Veterans Service Office, and any appropriate action. Veterans Service
Discussion of this item is included in the Commissioners Court Transcript attached to this set of minutes. (Page 10)
ITEM 5 AUDITOR
5.A) Approval of Bill Report and Acceptance of Monthly Financial Report for month of June, 2003.
(Payments from Adult Probation, Community Corrections, Pre-Trial Services and District Attorney Check Fee Fund are presented for recording purposes only.)DELETIONS FROM GENERAL -
$ 825.00 to Hardy Burke, Attorney, incorrect invoice number;
$ 100.00 to J.T. Borah, Attorney, incorrect vendor;
$1,250.00 to Daniel Kossman, Attorney, incorrect invoice number.ADDITIONS TO -
GENERAL -
$ 40.00 to Texas County Sheriff for protective order;
COURTHOUSE SECURITY -
$5,367.45 to International Investigators for Security Officers.Move to approve the amended Bill Report and by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Carter.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-03965.B) Approval of: (a) Setting the project list, amount and date of sale of tax notes to finance equipment purchases, building improvements; (b) Refinancing existing debt issues in NPV savings of 3% can be achieved; (c) The selection of a financial advisory firm for debt issues, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
Move to approve the Proposed Tax Notes of 2003 for 14 Projects throughout Denton County as outlined on the attachment to Court Order No. 03-0397 for a Grand Total of $5,738,200, $4,663 below the 5% Maximum Non-Voter Debt Policy Amount, by Comm. Carter,
seconded by Judge Horn.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (Jacobs, nay)
Court Order 03-0397Move to authorize the County Auditor to proceed with an analysis of financial advisors and a selection of only those advisors who can offer a savings of three percent of the county's debt refinancing by Judge Horn, seconded by Comm. White.
Motion Failed 2-3-0 (Jacobs, Carter & Mitchell, nay)
ITEM 6 PURCHASING
6.A) Approval of specifications and authority to advertise for RFP #06-03-1568, Human Resources Management System, and any appropriate action.
Move to approve by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-03986.K) Approval of specifications and authority to advertise for Job Order Contracting, RFP #07-03-1574, according to the provisions of Section 262.120 of the Local Government Code, and any appropriate
action.Move to approve by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. Jacobs/
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0399
ITEM 17 RECESS 10:25 AM
ITEM 18 RECONVENE 10:35 AM
ITEM 7 BUDGET
7.G) Accept the submission of the appraisal roll for Denton County for tax year 2003 from the Tax Assessor-Collector, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
Move to accept by Judge Horn, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-04007.H) Approval of the presentation of the effective and rollback tax rates for tax year 2003, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-22-03)
Move to approve by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0401
ITEM 15 EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Commissioners Court reserves the right to exercise its discretion and may convene in executive session as authorized by the Texas Government Code §§551.071, et seq. on any of the agenda items.
For purposes permitted by Texas Government Code, Section 551.071 - Contemplated or Pending Litigation or Settlement Offer, Section 551.072 - Real Property, Section 551.074 - Personnel Matters, and Section 551.076 - Security.
Court Convened in Executive Session 10:40 AM
Court Reconvened in Formal Session 11:30 AM15.A) Real Property: Texas Government Code, Section 551.072: Real Property.
15.B) Deliberation regarding security procedures and devices - Texas Government Code, Section 551.076.
15.C) Consultation with Attorney: Pending Litigation, Texas Government Code, Section 551.071 (1)(A); Luther Joe Lee, individually and as Trustee of the Dorothy LaVerne Lee Testamentary Trust, Frankie Jo Robbins, individually, as Trustee of the Jason Lee Robbins 1994 Irrevocable Trust, and as Trustee of the Jon Mark Robbins 1994 Irrevocable Trust, Jon Mark Robbins and Jason Lee Robbins v. Town of North Lake, Texas, Denton County, Texas and the State of Texas; Cause No. 2001-40730-362, pending in the 362nd District Court of Denton County, Texas.
15.D) Consultation with attorney concerning pending litigation, pursuant to Government Code, Section 551.071 (1)(A); Tarrant County v. Denton County, Cause No. 02-0795, pending in the Supreme Court of Texas.
NO ACTION ON ITEMS 15.A THROUGH 15.D15.E) Consultation with Attorney: Pending Litigation, Texas Government Code, Section 551.071 (1) (A); DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS, v. PHILLIPS SWAGER & ASSOCIATES, INC., HUBER, HUNT &
NICHOLS, INC., n/k/a HUNT CONSTRUCTION GROUP, INC., AND R.C. SMALL & ASSOCIATES, INC.; Cause No. 2001-40738-362, pending in the 362nd District County, Texas.Move to approve granting the Mediation Team in this Pending Litigation the authority to settle for the amount of money set in Executive Session on July 29, 2003, and any settlement under any other terms will be brought back to Commissioners Court for approval with the recommendation of the Mediation Team by Judge Horn, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-040216.A) EXECUTIVE SESSION - Consultation with Attorney: Contemplated Litigation, Texas Government Code, Section 551.071 (1) (A); Denton County Bail Bond Board v. Farmers & Merchants
State Bank. DA/CivilMove to assign this Contemplated Litigation to the Criminal District Attorney's Office, Civil Division, for any appropriate action to protect the County's interest by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0403
ITEM 6 PURCHASING
6.A) Approval of specifications and authority to advertise for Emulsified Asphalt, Bid #06-03-1567, and any appropriate action. (Briefing 7-15, 22-03)
Move to approve by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Carter.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0404
ITEM 13 OTHER DEPARTMENTS
13.A) Approval of any action related to the 78th Legislative Session. Commissioners Court
NO ACTION13.B) Approve the submission of an application for the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant through the Criminal Justice Division of the Governor's office for the Denton County Juvenile Probation Department including approval of a resolution, and any appropriate action. Juvenile Probation
Move to approve by Comm. White, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0405
ITEM 14 LEGAL
14.A) Any appropriate action on Executive Session matters - Legal Department.
NO ACTION14.C) Approval of Chapter 381 Tax Incentive Agreement between Denton County, Texas, and Granite Properties, Inc., and any appropriate action. (Formal 7-22-03)
Move to approve by Comm. Mitchell, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (Horn nay)
Court Order 03-0406
ITEM 16 ADDENDA
16.C) Approval of the Agreement between Denton County, Texas, and the North Texas State Fair Association, Inc. to provide a water truck for the 2003 North Texas State Fair and Rodeo, August 8-16, 2003, and any appropriate action. DA/Civil
Move to approve by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-040716.D) Approval and implementation of the revised Denton County Vehicle Use Policy and any appropriate action.
Move to approve by Comm. Carter, seconded by Judge Horn.
Motion withdrawn by both motioners.Move to approve a recommendation by the Vehicle-Radio Assessment Committee and the Purchasing Director for the following statement to be added under Section II, Role of Commissioners Court: Budgeted replacement vehicles will not be added to a department's fixed-asset inventory until the vehicles being replaced are transferred to surplus by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Judge Horn.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0408
ITEM 17 NOON RECESS
ITEM 18 RECONVENE 1:35 PM
16.B) Approval of Ex Officio Road Commissioners Rules and any other appropriate actions needed to implement the Ex Officio Road Commissioner System of road and bridge administration pursuant to Texas Transportation Code Chapter 252, Subchapter A, as approved by Commissioners Court on May 25, 2003.
DA/Civil16.B-1) Move to approve two divisions of Road & Bridge: the Aubrey/Eastern Division under Jack Dyer including the Engineering Section supervised by Ex Officio Road Commissioners Jacobs & White; Argyle/Western Division including the Planning Section under Kelly Zwinggi supervised by Ex Officio Road Commissioners Mitchell and Carter. For budgetary purposes only, each division and the Engineering Section will track their own budget within the Road & Bridge Budget by Comm. Carter, seconded by Judge Horn.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (Mitchell nay)
Court Order 03-0409
16.B-2) Move to approve Planning functions for Public Works be paid out of Road & Bridge funds rather than from the General Fund by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Failed 2-3-0 (Jacobs & Mitchell, aye)16.B-3) Move to approve the equipment allocation between the two divisions of Road & Bridge as agreed to by both Mr. Zwinggi and Mr. Dyer by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. White.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-041016.B-4) Move to approve manpower allocation between the two divisions of Road & Bridge as agreed to by both Mr. Dyer and Mr. Zwinggi by Comm. Carter, seconded by Comm. White.
Move to amend this motion in the setting of the salaries: Mr. Zwinggi's salary lowered to $90, 901 and Mr. Dyer's salary raised to $86,000 by Comm. Mitchell, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Amendment to the Motion Carried 4-1-0 (Carter nay)
Court Order 03-0411Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-041216.B-5) Move to approve for Mr. Zwinggi and Mr. Dyer, jointly and immediately, to begin the process of filling four vacant Road & Bridge positions: Foreman, two Heavy Equipment Operators and a Quality Control Technician by Judge Horn, seconded by Comm. White.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-041316.B-6) Move to approve the effective date of October 1, 2003 for all the Steps of Reorganization of Public Works as outlined in the sheet numbered from 1 to 9 by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-041416.B-7) Move to approve the deletion of Steps # 5 and # 9 (# 3 having already been deleted in a prior motion) in the Department of Public Works, Steps of Reorganization Chart, with court approval of Mr. Zwinggi's and Mr. Dyer's recommendation of which of them will be serving on various county committees by Judge Horn, seconded by Comm. Jacobs.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0415
ITEM 17 RECESS 3:15 PM
ITEM 18 RECONVENE 3:30 PM
ITEM 7 BUDGET
7.A) Approval of any action related to the 2003-2004 Denton County Budget.
(The following is an attempt to provide only the highlights of this budget work
session. The motions are official upon review by the Budget Director, the Chief of the Civil Division of the Criminal District Attorney's Office and the approval of Commissioners Court. For a viewing of the entire proceedings, please contact the Information Services Department for a video, the website at dentoncounty.com or the County Clerk's office for the audio tapes.)
AGENDA ITEMS
1. Tax Rate Update
2. Commissioners Court Proposed Reductions
3. Raises/Employees & Elected Officials
4. Reclassification Recommendations
5. New Hires included in Recommended Budget
6. Non-Profit Organization Funding
7. Road & Bridge Reorganization
8. Retirement Plan Options
9. Review of Various Appeals
a. Elections
b. Others
10. Future Agenda Items
Pre-Trial Facility Opening
Health Insurance
Public Defender System
JP/Constable Statistics
11. Other Discussion
12. Reports Requested for Next MeetingJudge Horn: Having concluded Briefing Session, we will now go into our Budget Workshop.
Ms. Stewart: A tax rate update tops our agenda along with various other items. We handed out a new Changes Sheet - the legal-sized document before you - and a packet with a new Table of Contents under the Reference Section.
I sent you an email on Monday giving you the Tax Rate Update information we are about to cover. The good news is that the effective rate will bring an additional $426,326 to our funding. If the court were to maintain the current tax rate, that would generate an additional 3.3 million dollars. If court were to adopt the tax rate that is 3% above the effective rate, that would generate approximately 2.7 million dollars. Just for your information, adopting the Rollback Tax Rate would generate an additional 4.4 million dollars.
Next on the our agenda is Commissioners Court's proposed reductions beginning on Page R-75 and Page 1 of 11 on the Changes Sheet.Comm. White: Every year we are requested to give our proposed cuts and additions from appeals to Donna and the other court members. I have tried to do that every year. I have not heard from the other commissioners regarding their proposed reductions. Mine are as outlined in the Reference Section.
Comm. Mitchell: I will be bringing my proposed reductions forward later in the week.
Comm. White: On Page S-73 in the Budget Manual are the grants of which I am proposing cutting all of them except for two of the three Greenbelt slots. In the D.A.'s department, I propose cutting the following: DWI Felony Prosecutor @ $111,326, DWI Felony Investigator @ $65.673, Family Intervention Specialist @ $17,849, Child Victim Intervention Specialist @ $16,071, and DWI Legal Intern @ $17,309. Sheriff's Office: Warrant Research/Detention Officer 002-WR @ $43,871, Warrant Research/Detention Officer 001-WR @ $42,961, Greenbelt/Deputy Sheriff 002-GB @ $54,397. (Out of the three positions for Greenbelt of which the Sheriff had prioritized, I kept his top two priorities.) Also, my proposal includes Underage Drinking/Investigator 001-UD @ $64,976. The total grant positions I am proposing to cut equals $434,433.
I am also proposing to cut the part-time position in the office of Commissioner Pct. # 2 and that figure, including benefits, is $29,334. In Training & Education, I am proposing a 5% across-the-board except for the following departments that we cannot cut as, for example: D.A. Hot Check Fund, etc. Also, those departments that appealed this item for needed training such as Human Resources, Tax Office and County Treasurer. That totals $18,876 for a Grand Total of $474,551.Lee Ann Breading, First Assistant District Attorney: My concern is that if this court continues to adopt the stance that a Grant position is always going to be the first item cut, my staff will begin to wonder why they should even bother applying.
Comm. White: I've heard that before but I do not believe that is the history of this court.
Ms. Breading: Our taxpayers already pay federal taxes, why should they not receive some of these benefits back in the form of grants? State grants are not taxpayer funded but are a requisite of state disbursements and I do not want to see this county fall behind in trying to lessen the taxpayer's burden while, at the same time, trying to provide them with additional tools for crime-fighting. In the past, grants have been referred to as a sneaky way to bring in more positions. There is nothing sneaky about it when all applications come before this court with all data and justification.
Comm. White: To clarify my position, grants work on different cycles than our fiscal year so it is difficult to evaluate them against the backdrop of all the other items being evaluated doing the budget process.
Ms. Breading: This court evaluates projects all the time outside of the budget process.
Comm. White: This is a budgetary decision being asked of us outside of the budget process.
Ms. Breading: When we received the DWI grant three years ago, 90% funding - which may be the present amount of this grant - did not exist. It went from 100% for the first year, 75% the second year and 75% for this current year as it was a three-year grant. While the ultimate responsibility for an employee's failure lies with the Criminal District Attorney, Mr. Isaacks expects his staff attorneys to follow through on their responsibilities. He never expected the attorney, who initiated this grant in the first place, to forget to apply for it. Our knowledge of the missed deadline did not come-to-light until after his being called into active duty.
Nevertheless, this three-year grant does expire at the end of this year. The County has received almost $375,000 over the three years while the County's contribution has been almost $76,000. Our request for a continuation of this grant is to maintain a consistent day-to-day prosecution of these felony offenses. Felony DWI's mean the offended has been convicted twice before - also includes intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter cases. Earlier this year an article appeared in one of the local newspapers regarding the differences in conviction rates of these offenders among the counties. In Denton County, 64% of the defendants tried and prosecuted for a third DWI are imprisoned. In Tarrant County, the rate is 42% and in Dallas County, 14%. This is not a case of them having fewer DWI offenses or with the offenders having shorter records. Our jurors take this offense very seriously. Our office applies dedicated resources to researching prior convictions so those jurors have all the information they need to convict. Jurors realize our diligence pays off in terms of public safety. Also, because our jurors do return higher verdicts by sending defendants to prison, our defendants plead quicker thereby reducing our court expenses, increasing our fine and court costs and, hopefully, serving as a deterrent to other potential offenders. Currently, the prosecutor filling-in for the originator of this grant until he returns, is trying twelve cases before juries in Denton County: Only in one case did the jury grant probation. Sentences range from 60 years, 48 years, to 30 years - a long time for a DWI in this state.
Additionally, we monitor defenders assigned an Interlock Device on their cars, unlike other counties. Our investigator follows people to their cars to ensure the devise is working and, periodically, visits them at their employment place, at their home, etc. The core of this program is to reduce the repetitive nature of the offense. The grant allows our team to train law enforcement, prosecutors and visit schools. As of June 30, 2003, there were 972 law enforcement officers trained, 1023 prosecutors trained, 18 educational seminars in schools and 24 in the community; also trained, 1736 high-school students and 264 community members. 816 court-ordered ignition interlock devices were monitored. I realize it is a tough budget season but it takes dedicated resources to manage the ever-growing problem of DWI's.Comm. Jacobs: We are discussing three grants for DWI's, Family Intervention and Child Victim Intervention. To me these grants sound very sensible. Do we need help in getting drunk drivers off the road?
Ms. Breading: Yes.
Comm. Jacobs: Do we need help in Family Violence Intervention?
Ms. Breading: Yes.
Comm. Jacobs: Why?
Ms. Breading: This grant involves a licensed counselor working in our office on staff dealing with the victims. Family violence has some peculiar circumstances surrounding the offense. Victims often do not want to go forward with prosecution, threatening our staff and being unable to deal with the reality of the situation.
Comm. Jacobs: What about Child Victim Intervention?
Ms. Breading: This grant deals specifically with child abuse - not necessarily physical but sexual - in which the child will have to testify in court.
Comm. Jacobs: Would cutting these grants - as Comm. White wishes to do - have a negative impact on these programs?
Ms. Breading: I believe it would have a negative effect on the ability to be consistent in how this county approaches those cases. Dedicated resources allow this county to maintain and promote a secure web for catching offenders of our public safety.
Comm. Jacobs: By cutting these programs, we are allowing drunk drivers on the road and victims of Family & Child Violence to increase.
Ms. Breading: We could not afford a trained counselor for the victimized children. No one on our staff is capable of handling the tarnished psyche of a child victim. Often, a child is traumatized twice- once from the victim and again from our own justice system. This County is working hard to avoid that trap.
Comm. Jacobs: Judge and members of the court, I know we talked about discussing appeals later but these are not appeals. Donna, would it be helpful to your staff if we took action on these reductions today? There are people here today impacted by these cuts.
Ms. Stewart: These positions have been included in the Recommended Budget. I felt strongly that these positions are justified. I even cut vacant positions instead of cutting these.
Comm. Jacobs: Question for our Human Resource Director. Is there a downside by us waiting to take action on these recommendations?
Ms. Phillips, Director of Human Resources: I am sure some of these employees involved and are here would like to know today as to whether or not they are going to have jobs in the fall.
Comm. Jacobs: Members, I am asking you if we should take action today.
Comm. Mitchell: These are important positions - no one here would deny that. Does the prosecutor in the DWI grant only do DWI's?
Ms. Breading: That is the only dedicated prosecutor we have for DWI's. If approved, the Investigator will have other duties. The counselors for the Family & Child grants are also dedicated.
Ms. Mitchell: Are all of these positions being requested not already a part of the D.A.'s job, whether you obtain grants or not?
Ms. Breading: It is a part of our legal obligation but the grant counselors facilitate the process. Without the dedicated prosecutor for DWI's, these cases would go to the end of a long line of all other cases being tried in the five district courts.
Comm. Carter: I would like to take exception to one statement you made early-on in your presentation about us getting our fair share of federal funding. The justification for this position is not who pays for it but is the service needed in the county? If it is, would we pay for it 100% out of our budget. The grant is a bonus and the question is, are we willing to maintain that position after the grant is gone?
Ms. Breading: We ask for these positions in our own budget prior to ever asking to apply for grant funding.
Judge Horn: When we called Austin and discovered that the grant application had been too late, they told us it was 90% grant funded.
Ms. Breading: That's what we learned when we called Austin. We begin our budgeting review and process in January. That is when our division chiefs are given their grant applications for them to begin the process. The attorney for this DWI grant had, at that point, left for Fort Hood so no one made the call on this particular grant. It was due in Austin on December 17th. It was an unfortunate oversight for our department and for our taxpayers.
Judge Horn: This County is obligated to rehire this gentleman in the same position or one of equal standing once he returns from active duty.
Ms. Breading: Correct. Given the length of his absence, he will no longer be an at-will employee for a year after he returns.
Judge Horn: So, grant or no grant, he will have a job when he returns.
Ms. Breading: As to the Training & Education cut across-the board, our department, along with the Sheriff's Dept., have licensed and certified people who, by law, must maintain their certification. That means all of our lawyers, investigators, counselors, etc.Comm. White: My belief and position is, there are always places to cut from a budget. My cuts in T & E stemmed from the fact that there were many interdepartmental transfers from this area over the year. I'm not arguing that these cuts won't have an effect on our level of service but 5% across-the-board is not a big chunk for any one department. The total of all of them is $19,000. It is not a fair analysis to characterize these cuts as coming from someone who wants to see drunk drivers on the roads. How many prosecuting attorneys do you have in the DA's department?
Ms. Breading: Maybe 54.
Comm. White: It is not as if you will not be prosecuting DWIs without these three people. The prosecution may not be the level of service it is now. That is the nature of cuts. But, I have no problem with the court voting up or down on any of my proposed reductions.
Judge Horn: I would like to share with the court something my Director of Administration, Frank Phillips, and I have been working on concerning Training and Education, particularly in the Law Enforcement area. It is not a viable option for this year but could be extremely viable in the next few years in cutting our costs in this area. Our proposal is an in-house Training Academy.
Some of this requisite training is now on-line through TCLEOSE. This should help reduce expenses in our T & E line item. With the help of the Sheriff's Department, our Constables and Budget, we might be able to get a handle on money saved by having them complete the training on-line rather than traveling elsewhere for it.
Collin County is one example of a county establishing its own Training Academy. We already have several employees who are certified instructors. At a future time, a lot of this training could take place right in this room. Of course, a lot is involved in establishing such an academy so we are focusing initially on applying to the state as a Contractual Trainer. The need for this is great not only for our county but also for all our surrounding cities, etc. There are various ways to go about this, but we will need someone overseeing this project and quantifying our needs.Comm. Jacobs: I believe that is an excellent recommendation and is an example of creating better ways to accomplish our task of streamlining the budget without cutting vital resources. Comm. White asked earlier if I had any recommended cuts. I have asked Amy to look into the possibility of an in-house secretarial/clerical pool, saving us the overhead of hiring from temporary agencies. The same may be true of a hybrid Public Defender System. Unlike Comm. White's sentiments, I do not believe there is any fat in this budget. I do not believe our Budget Director, Donna Stewart, would deliver us a budget with any fat in it. Some areas we may need to look at but not to cut whole enforcement services like DWI prosecutions that would affect our public safety sector. Comm. White says the service may decrease some so we might drop from 64% to 50 or 30%. To me that represents a huge difference when discussing individuals' daily lives. If we can just save one life from a drunk driver, or help one family or one child, it is a worthwhile program.
Judge Horn: Will you be reapplying for the DWI grant this year for next?
Ms. Breading: Yes. We will meet the deadline of December of this year for a '04-'05 grant.
7.A-1) Move to approve the DWI Grant position of Felony Prosecutor I at $111,326 as reflected in the Recommend Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (White nay)
Court Order 03-04167.A-2) Move to approve the expiring DWI Grant position of Felony Investigator at $65,673 as reflected in the Recommended Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Carter.
Motion Carried 3-2-0 (Horn & White, nay)
Court Order 03-04177.A-3) Move to approve the expiring grant position of a Family Violence Intervention Specialist at $17,849 as reflected in the Recommended Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (White nay)
Court Order 03-04187.A-4) Move to approve the expiring grant position of a Child Victim Intervention Specialist at $16,071 as reflected in the Recommended Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 3-2-0 (White & Carter, nay)
Court Order 03-04197.A-5) Move to approve the expiring grant position of a DWI Legal Intern at $17,309 as reflected in the Recommended Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Carter.
Motion Failed 2-3-0 (White, Horn & Mitchell nay)
(Please see Court Order No. 03-0424, Item 7.A-10)Captain Powell, Sheriff/Administration: I'd like to begin the discussion with the Deputy for the Underage Drinking Grant. I am assuming that Comm. White's reason for cutting this program is economic. If so, there will be an economic loss to the county if cut. You've been presented a spreadsheet showing that the Underage Drinking Deputy last year brought in $128,123 at a cost of $64,976. Beyond the finances, let's take a look at what he does. He is the only person working weekends trying to stem the flow of adults giving alcohol to underage people. I ask him to describe to this court a recent sting he coordinated. [Deputy Cliff Couch related to the court the procedures involved in a "shoulder-tap" sting - first time performed in Denton County.] More important than just the economics is the value of his service to this county. He is the only one doing this county-wide.
Comm. Mitchell: Are you telling me that this position pays for itself?
Captain Powell: Last budget year he brought in $128,000 in fees and fines. So far this year, he has brought in $114,000 with a couple more months remaining. Yes, the position pays for itself.
Comm. White: Donna, can you verify these figures before us indicating that the position pays for itself?
Ms. Stewart: This is the first time I am seeing these figures but I will be glad to check on that.
Comm. Jacobs: I do not think the bottom line question is whether or not the position pays for itself rather how effectively are we spending the money. With these dollars, we are trying to make sure that underage kids are not accessing alcohol because we know it is on the increase. My question to the Captain is, can you show me results.
Captain Powell: Yes Ma'am, if you will refer to Citations Issued. Last year, Deputy Couch issued 571and this year, so far, 355.
Deputy Couch: These are Class C citations only and do not include the cases I have filed for furnishing alcohol to a minor. I have boxes of criminal cases sitting in my office.
Comm. White: I am not discounting that you are performing a valuable service. If we were sitting here debating whether or not we could take care of all the ills in the world, we'd be here a long time. My point is prioritizing how to spend county dollars.
Captain Powell: These figures on this spreadsheet are not before you for the first time. Understandably, you may not recall being presented with a similar spreadsheet when you approved this grant the last time. This Deputy is extremely careful in his tracking of citations and this spreadsheet reflects actual payments, not just orders of the court where payment was never made. These figures are cold, hard dollars coming into the county.
Comm. White: I am willing to review all the information before me and certainly, if the position pays for itself, that will be part of my decision making process.
Captain Powell: Next, I would like to address the Public Safety Unit. Please refer to our handout. We have quit calling it the Greenbelt Unit. Let me remind you, this program began because the Sheriff foresaw a whole new area of this county to handle. At the same time, we noticed that a majority of calls for service were coming from unincorporated mobile home parks. We saw an opportunity at the Sheriff's Office to be pro-active which is rare in law enforcement because most everything we do is reactive. We applied for a grant allowing a three-man unit plus equipment to regularly patrol the Greenbelt as well as unincorporated mobile home parks. With the expiration of this grant, we can add the lake adjacent areas to this patrol unit. These additional areas are crucial because of the parties going on with underage drinking, drugs, etc.
Comm. Mitchell: So this unit represents three slots?
Captain Powell: Correct, supervised by a Corporal who was not on the grant.
Comm. Mitchell: Is this unit revenue generating?
Captain Powell: No. What they do is give us that proactive approach so rare in law enforcement. We are also now finding evidence of perverts in these outlying areas and, we believe, without our regulars patrols, this could become a big problem.
Captain Leveling, Sheriff/Warrants: The two Warrant Research positions at approximately $86,832 represent 1/3 of the workforce in this division. The processing of warrants is a long, drawn-out procedure and we cannot afford to lose 1/3 of our workforce. This division has requested but not received any new hires in the civilian support area in seven years and six years for our warrant officers. It has been since the Robinson administration that we have gained a Fugitive Retrieval Deputy. What that has done has forced us to review our options and I have stated before to you that the answer is not always new hires and more money. One of those options was our application to the Governor's Office for this Warrant Research Grant. The grant has helped us accomplish two things: one, allow officers to stay on the street longer where they belong - not in the office doing paperwork, phone calling, etc. This has helped us keep up with the growth of the county and consequently the increased workload of this department. By comparing the ratio of our staff to that of the clerks in the JP courts, County Courts at Law, District Court and not even including all the municipal courts sending us Probable Cause Warrants, you will see there are 12 clerks for every one of my staff.
Since the establishment of these positions in October of 1998, we have increased our ability to serve warrants. With the advent of warrant and fugitive personnel, at-large apprehension deputies are retrieving more in-custody prisoners allowing us not to lose our service capability due to the growth in the county. These four research technicians have the ability to not only do research but also warrant entry, warrant maintenance and warrant archiving. Archiving is a tedious and drawn-out process and, on average, consume one and ½ hours of a technicians time over the entire life of the warrant. Multiply that by the number of warrants per year equals many hours for one technician. On average, over the past four years, we have been able to stem the tide, which can literally flood a room of this size if not kept in check. Without the constant maintenance of these files comes the nightmare of false arrests, recall statements, etc.
We are in the final year of this grant. The loss of these two positions represents a loss to the constitutionally mandated core of our civil and criminal process. To answer some of the court's questions, these positions are necessary, represent a good use of the funding and do make sense. Revenue Generation: please refer to the second column of my handout, from 1999 to 2003 the increased revenue is $194,000. The entire concept is making this work and keeping us out of a three to four month backlog.7.A-6) Move to approve the expiring grant position of Warrant Research/Detention Officer 002-WR at $43,871 as reflected in the Recommended Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm.
Mitchell.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (White nay)
Court Order 03-04207.A-7) Move to approve the expiring grant position of Warrant Research/Detention Officer 001-WR at $42,961 as reflected in the Recommended Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm.
Mitchell.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (White nay)
Court Order 03-04217.A-8) Move to approve the expiring grant position of Deputy Sheriff 002-GB at $54,397 for the Greenbelt/Public Safety Unit serving not only the Greenbelt but also mobile home parks as well as all lake adjacent areas in our county and as reflected in the Recommended Budget by
Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (White nay)
Court Order 03-04227.A-9) Move to approve the expiring grant position of the Investigator/Underage Drinking at $64,976 as reflected in the Recommended Budget by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-04237.A-10) Move to cut from the Recommended Budget the expiring grant position of a DWI Legal Intern at $17,309 by Comm. White, seconded by Comm. Mitchell.
Motion Carried 3-2-0 (Jacobs & Carter nay)
Court Order 03-0424Comm. White: I am willing to hear justification from Comm. Jacobs but when looking at all four commissioners, she is the only one who has 1and ½ positions in her office. Pct. 1 has the largest geographical area including 17 cities and the highest number of county maintained roads. I could certainly justify keeping a part-time person busy. I am not suggesting that, but in looking for budget cuts, I leave no stone unturned.
Comm. Jacobs: Let me begin by asking you some questions. Are you in favor of public value?Comm. White: Yes.
Comm. Jacobs: Are you in favor of good governing?
Comm. White: I would like to hear your justification before answering any more questions.
Comm. Jacobs: Let me say to you that I question your intentions of this entire list of your budget cuts. I am proud of what my office has accomplished over and above other precincts due to our championing of causes. Partly this is due to simple longevity - this part-time position has been there for ten years. It was not there prior to me being a Road & Bridge Commissioner - which it am now, again a Road Commissioner - and was not secured to deal with road issues. It is a necessary position primarily because of the number of committees assigned to me. It is not that I am a better commissioner because of these committee assignments; it is an indication of my longevity.
I have three committees totally outside county government but directly affecting Denton County. One is the North American Super Highway Coalition - an appointment to a state committee made by this court. The other appointment of me by this court was to the State Health Council Commission. In addition, I have just been appointed to the State Integrated Criminal Justice System to ensure that Denton County gets it fair share of not only money but also to ensure the system is comprised of parts compatible to Denton County. You see, I believe in good governance and public value. Comm. White, if you can justify having an additional position, request one.
But, I cannot help questioning your intentions and let me show you why. Amy, as Director of Human Resources, can you remember any member of this court ever placing on a cut list a position that is in good standing, not a grant position or not within a department to be cut anyway?
Ms. Phillips: I do not remember any.Comm. Jacobs: Same question to our Budget Director.
Ms. Stewart: I'm not aware of any.
Comm. Jacobs: How long have you been in the Budget Dept.
Ms. Stewart: Too long……I have been there since 1984.
Comm. Jacobs: So I am sitting here looking at the only position, outside of the grant positions, that you could find in this whole budget and yet I am the one having to justify my position. I fear that with this type of micro-management, we could eventually face a situation where more and more elected officials - just as the Sheriff did and won his case - may determine interference with the scope of our authority. If they feel we are inadequately staffing their departments to fulfill the duties of their office, they could sue the county. I find it interesting that your hit list includes not only my department but also that of the Sheriff and the Criminal District Attorney. Finally, why did you not contact me earlier about cutting my position because obviously you have been thinking about it for at least a week.
Comm. White: Let me put some context here. When it comes to budget time, there are going to be cuts. Maybe you like to increase the budget but my aim is to cut. I have been thinking about this for a long time. In my three years on this court, I have always voiced my opposition to grants. This is not personally directed, despite your implications. I called your office on Friday afternoon and got a voice mail, which is normally the case when I call your office. I left a message and sent an email.
Comm. Jacobs: Why did you wait until Friday?
Comm. White: Can I ask you a question?
Comm. Jacobs: I may or may not answer it.
Comm. White: Well, it may be a rhetorical question just left hanging out there….when you talked about the Road & Bridge policies that you were working on with Kelly, supposedly, why did you say that I will talk about them when I present them? Normally, when you present something, you hand it out that day. So, that is what I did. In three years, I am the only one having my cuts ready when we were supposed to.
Comm. Jacobs: Be careful on that statement - that is not correct but is beside the point. Comm. Carter, Mr. Zwinggi, Bob Schell, Thomas Keever and I had a luncheon meeting on Thursday to compile the material - the court shortened our time by one week to do a presentation. It was to be sent out on Friday to all members of the court but you told Kelly not to send any of it out, therefore it did not get sent.
Comm. White: I did not tell Kelly not to send it out.
Comm. Jacobs: Then you better talk to Kelly. Members, I am ready to make a motion on this item.
Comm. White: I do not appreciate you throwing out accusations. First, you tell me my intentions are other than what they are. These are my cuts - I am consistent in these cuts and in trying to find ways to save the taxpayers' money. I do not know what your conversations are with your taxpayers in your precinct, but in mine they are always telling me there is a lot of fat in county government, in any government. I happen to agree with them. Do not try to cloud and confuse the issue by stating that I am doing this for some evil motive. All I am asking for you to do is justify your part-time position. So far, your only justification has been the number of committees you serve on.
Comm. Jacobs: Yes. This is not unlike Comm. Carter. He has the burden of the Bail Bond Board and he uses a lot of Vickie's time to aid him. There are different ways to save money. My taxpayers like more creative ideas than just cutting DWI, Family Violence Intervention, etc. Cutting is the easy part.
Comm. Mitchell: I think every Commissioner has questioned why you had a part-time. I do not need another position and that is why I have not requested it. Comm. White knew she would take the heat for asking the question but she bit the bullet and asked the question. I believe it is a legitimate question to ask.
Comm. Jacobs: Anyone could have called me at any time to ask me this question. There is a professional manner in which to handle a situation like this.
Judge Horn: It's 5:30 and we need to proceed on with some other items.
Comm. Jacobs: You cannot just leave this person hanging, I would like to take a vote.Judge Horn: We need you to bring us back justification on paper.
Comm. Jacobs: Please remember, court members, that there are a varied number of employees throughout the same departments within the county. For instance, both JP and constable offices have a varied number of staff.7.A-11) Move to approve to keep in the budget the part-time position in Commissioner Pct. # 2 by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Carter.
Motion Failed 2-2-1 (Horn & White nay and Mitchell abstained)Judge Horn: We still have one very important vote to take today and that concerns raises for elected officials and employees. Without this vote today, the whole budget process could be affected by possible appeals from the Elected Officials before the Salary Grievance Committee.
Ms. Stewart: That is correct, Judge, based on our calendar, today is the deadline to meet our schedule to adopt. The salary survey and car allowances are on Pages R-26 & 73. As you can see on Page R-73, we currently have two positions where the assistants make more than their Elected Official. We prepared it based on their current salaries, their proposed salaries and 2 & 4 percent scenarios for raises.
Judge Horn: I wish this question did not come so early in the budget process without knowing how things are going to shake-out. In talking to other city and county councils, I am not seeing many giving salary increases to their employees - they are having difficulty meeting their budgetary responsibilities. I cannot support a salary increase for anyone even though I would like to. I'd like to hear from the other members before making such a motion.
Comm. White: I would agree. I do not see where the money could come from for raises. This budget process needs to determine the amount we have to spend prior to our disbursing it. As it is, the process is backward. Can we not address the issue of which tax rate we will be using prior to fund disbursal?
Judge Horn: I know you are for the effective tax rate.
Comm. White: That or below and I know that would mean no raises.
Judge Horn: This court faces other priorities beyond raises: opening this building - the jail - will be a tremendous hit to our budget, even by delaying the opening by half a year.
Comm. White: We received a memo from the Sheriff regarding jail issues. Other than that, I have not seen any scenarios, documentation, etc. regarding opening the jail. We need more information before we can even discuss this subject.
Judge Horn: Information is being compiled right now.
Ms. Stewart: A meeting is scheduled tomorrow for a work-up of a proposal to bring to court next week.
Comm. Carter: We need to know how much money we need to spend before learning how much we can spend. Setting the tax rate should proceed from setting our needs.
Judge Horn: I believe that is why the state requires us to adopt the budget and then the rate, in two separate motions.
Comm. Carter: I had a passion for raises last year due to the employee's increase in health insurance. I believe the raises we gave last year offset the cost somewhat. I would like to be able to give raises, but I do not see how we can for anyone, including elected officials.
Comm. Mitchell: I don't think we will be able to give raises this year. It is a tight budget year as it was last year but last year we did want to help the employees with the health insurance issue. This year we have other priorities.
Comm. Jacobs: I disagree with all of you. I believe there is a way to give raises to both elected officials and employees staying under the 3% increase. I know the budget is tight but I worry about the morale which translates into the type of job being done. In consideration of the words of the Budget Director, a 3% raise above the effective rate would generate 2.7 million. Wouldn't that be enough for a raise?
Ms. Stewart: A two-percent raise amounts to about 1.2 million.
Comm. Jacobs: Leaving enough left-over to help with the jail opening.
Ms. Stewart: Possibly, but I won't know for sure until next week.
Comm. Jacobs: It may be harder to justify a raise this year but I am asking you to keep yourselves open to all of our options.
7.A-12) Move that Elected Officials' salaries be brought to the lowest amount-level provided on the Spread Sheet based on the latest surveys, including car allowance averages, totaling for all Elected Officials $347,000 by Comm. Jacobs, seconded by Comm. Carter.
Motion Fails 1-4-0 (Jacobs aye)Comm. Carter: I seconded for discussion purposes only because I cannot do for one group that which I cannot do for another. Giving raises to Elected Officials without first considering employees would appear self-serving.
Comm. Jacobs: I am in agreement with you and that's why I am suggesting we go to the three percent level so that we can give our employees raises.
7.A-13) Move to not grant any salary increases for any Elected Official this year and discussion of employee raises will be made later by Judge Horn, seconded by Comm. White.
Motion Carried 4-1-0 (Jacobs nay)
Court Order 03-0425Ms. Stewart: One clarification - our Treasurer, Cindy Brown, has an appeal on a fixed-car allowance.
7.A-14) Move to grant the Denton County Treasurer's appeal for a fixed-car allowance of $1200 by Judge Horn, seconded by Comm. Carter.
Motion Carried 5-0-0
Court Order 03-0426
ADJOURNMENT 5:50 PM
This set of minutes for July 29, 2003, was prepared by Deputy Clerk Kathleen Bransford and reviewed by County Clerk Cynthia Mitchell.