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Editorial: Time to move forward with new leaders

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A visit to Clarendon’s City Hall by the District Attorney’s investigator. Three resignations of city aldermen. And the complete paralysis of the city’s legislative process. It’s been an interesting month, but now it’s time to figure out how to move forward.

As plans continue to take shape for an election this fall to fill the vacant board positions and get the city council functioning again, it is important to consider the qualities we want in future aldermen. First and foremost, Clarendon deserves aldermen who are committed to following the letter and spirit of the law to conduct the people’s business out in the open.

For the past year, it seemed that there was more happening outside of the council chamber than inside official meetings. Decisions appeared to be predetermined, and some folks – including your editor – believed that the

Roger Estlack, Editor
Roger Estlack, Editor

Texas Open Meetings Act was being side-stepped. All elected officials are supposed to be trained in the requirements of that law, but some still don’t understand it fully. In addition to setting forth the guidelines for posting agendas, conducting meetings, properly holding executive sessions, and other requirements, the law prohibits officials from meeting to conduct official business outside of public meetings.

The law also bans members from meeting in numbers of less than a quorum – through successive meetings, phone calls, or electronic messages – for the purpose of circumventing the act. That’s called a “walking quorum.” In laymen’s terms, Alderman Z cannot call or go see Alderman Y about an issue, formulate a plan, and then call or visit Alderman X in an effort to coordinate their actions or to plan to vote as a block.

In addition to being unfair to the public, violations of the Open Meetings Act can have serious consequences including fines up to $500 and up to six months in jail. Current and future city aldermen and other local elected officials need to be aware that this newspaper will expose them if they violate the law.

The second quality potential aldermen need is the ability to put aside personal feelings and act only in the best interests of the City of Clarendon and its people. The past behavior of the board can most kindly be described as unprofessional. Some would go so far as to say dysfunctional. Your editor has been attending city council meetings for 18 years, and never has the actions of the board been so driven by personal vendettas, animosity, and vindictiveness. Those emotions have no place on an elected board. Working only to thwart the efforts of city employees or participating in witch hunts does nothing to move Clarendon forward. Instead, those actions sully our town’s reputation and stymie progress.

We need aldermen with a vision of what Clarendon can become rather than always harping on the negative. We need men and women who can let the past be the past and focus on the future. We need leaders who want to take Clarendon to new heights instead of holding it down or undermining it. We need people of integrity who will stick with the job with which they have been entrusted and work to bring about solutions to our problems. It’s fine to disagree on some things but not when disagreement devolves into dysfunction.

And we need people who understand some key things. First, we can’t fix this city’s issues by always trying to spend less money. The “poor boy” way doesn’t work. You want better streets? Someone has to pay for it. We’ve got a street project underway on Third and Sixth streets. Let’s make sure it’s done right; and remember, progress can sometimes be an inconvenient mess while it’s happening.

Second, someone needs to be in charge and that person’s authority needs to be clear. It just doesn’t make sense to have a million-dollar operation with 18 employees and try to run it with a five-member committee meeting twice a month. It’s not 1980 anymore. We need a boss, we need a good code compliance officer, and we need to act professionally. Some people will get their toes stepped on, but it will be okay and Clarendon will be the better for it.

And finally, we need leaders and citizens who will concentrate on the good things about Clarendon and seek to build upon our assets. There are a lot of positive things happening here – some are the result of actions taken by our former city administrator, some are due to the efforts of our Economic Development Corporation, some are the result of just plain old hard work and determination of our citizens, businesses, and city employees, and some are the blessings of divine Providence.

Clarendon controls its own destiny; and if we can put aside petty politics, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. Instead of looking at what other communities have and pining for it, we need to bring those things here. We need to work for more jobs, more amenities, more businesses, and a better quality of life. Together, we can do that. But to make it happen, we all have to start rowing this boat in the same direction and stop working against each other.

Opinion: Don’t fret about geezers; we’re fine

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 As a recent inductee into the Geezer Brigade, I must admit that I’ve been a little concerned that Social Security, a program into which I’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars over the years, would go belly up, and I would be forced to either live in a tent or commit a tiny misdemeanor so Butch and his deputies would rent me a cell at a reasonable price.  Not to worry.  I’m pleased to report that Social Security will do just fine, both now and into the distant future.   Butch can continue to rent his cells to those who need them.

Fred Gray.
Fred Gray.

Last month, the Congressional Budget Office released its most recent anticipated projections for debts and deficits.  The deficit disciples immediately wailed and gnashed their teeth because the numbers show that our deficits are falling fast, and the ratio of debt to gross domestic product is projected to remain fairly stable over the next decade or so.  While most people think it would be nice to eventually reduce our debt, those who have made their careers around proclamations of imminent fiscal doom, this was not a report that they wanted to see, much less become public.

Still, we can still try to find a way to blame the baby boomers for delivering disaster, can’t we.  Doesn’t the tidal wave of retiring baby boomers mean that Social Security and Medicare are doomed?  Don’t we need to change (cut back) those programs now, like yesterday? 

Hmmm.  Maybe not.

To be fair, the reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees released Friday do suggest that America’s retirement system needs some significant work. The ratio of Americans over 65 to those of working age will rise inexorably over the decades ahead, and this will translate into rising spending on Social Security and Medicare as a share of national income.

However, the numbers are nearly as overwhelming as one might think.  If one looks closely, the numbers suggest that we can, if we so choose, maintain our social insurance as we know it with only minor adjustments.  Eureka!

Start with Social Security. The retirement program’s trustees do project rising spending as the population gets older, with total payments rising from 5.1 percent of G.D.P. now, to 6.2 percent in 2035, at which point they stabilize. This means, by the way, that all the talk of Social Security going “bankrupt” is nonsense; even if nothing at all is done, the system will be able to pay most of its scheduled benefits as far as the eye can see.

Still, it does look as if there will eventually be a shortfall, a few score years into the future, and the usual Republican suspects insist that we must move right now to reduce scheduled benefits. But I’ve never understood the logic of this demand. The risk is that we might, at some point in the distant future, have to cut benefits (and let the old people eat pet food); to avoid this risk of future benefit cuts, we are supposed to act pre-emptively by – cutting future benefits. What problem, exactly, are we solving here?

What about Medicare? For years, many people have warned that Medicare is a much bigger problem than Social Security, and the latest information from the program’s trustees still shows spending rising from 3.6 percent of G.D.P. now to 5.6 percent in 2035. But that’s a smaller rise than in previous projections. Why?

The answer is that the long-term upward trend in health care costs — a trend that has affected private insurance as well as Medicare — seems to have flattened out significantly over the past few years. Nobody is quite sure why, but there are indications that some of the cost-reducing measures contained in Obamacare, are actually starting to “flatten out the curve” just as they were supposed to. And because there are a number of cost-reducing measures in the law that have not yet kicked in, there’s every reason to believe that this favorable trend will continue.

Even better, there is plenty of room for future savings, mainly because recent research confirms that Americans currently pay far more for medical care than the citizens of other advanced countries pay; and the price premium can and should be brought down to a more affordable level.  When it is, Medicare’s financial outlook will improve.

What are we facing here?  The latest numbers show the combined cost of Social Security and Medicare rising by a bit more than 3 percent of G.D.P. between now and 2035, and that number could easily come down with more effort on the health care front. Of course, 3 percent of G.D.P. is a big number, but it’s not an economy-crushing number. The United States could, if we really wanted to, close that gap entirely through modest tax increases, with no reduction in benefits at all, and still have one of the lowest overall tax rates in the advanced world.  The result would be senior citizens that are happy, happy, happy.

But haven’t all the great and good Republicans been telling us that Social Security and Medicare as we know them are unsustainable, that they must be totally revamped – and made much less generous?  Why yes, they have; they’ve been telling us that we must slash spending right away or we’ll face a Greek-style fiscal crisis. They were wrong about that, and they’re wrong about the longer run, too. The truth is that the long-term outlook for Social Security and Medicare, while not great, actually isn’t all that bad.   We’ll be just fine.  Don’t hurt us further.

Editorial: Phase One completed, the future looks bright

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Wow! What a party we had last Saturday night on Kearney Street!

Our community took a well-deserved rest on the long road to Bring Back the Mulkey and celebrated the official lighting of the theatre with lots of fanfare and good, old-fashioned fun.

Getting an accurate headcount for the evening was nearly impossible with people milling about up and down Kearney Street in front of the Mulkey, wandering into the car show on the Herring Bank parking lot, slipping off to First Street for the kids’ bounce houses, and going in and out of the theatre itself. A sheriff’s deputy estimated that as many as 1,000 people may have attended over the course of the four-hour event. Your humble editor counted nearly 600 at one time by “eyeballing it.”

Roger Estlack, Editor
Roger Estlack, Editor

As this column has said many times in the past, there is not much that Clarendon and Donley County cannot do if its people work together, and the Mulkey Theatre project is an example of that. As with any endeavor, there are a few naysayers out there, but overall the Mulkey has enjoyed broad support from folks of all ages, all walks of life, and even folks who might otherwise have some opposing political views. But by and large, we can all see that a revived Mulkey Theatre can be nothing but good for Clarendon.

Since work began on front of the theatre, there has been renewed interest in downtown. New shops have opened up in previously vacant buildings, and next month another new business will open in the building adjoining the Mulkey to the north – a building that has been nothing but storage for about four decades.

Is the Mulkey project responsible for this uptick? Probably not on its own, but I think it is part of a mix of things that includes the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation’s Façade Grant Program, which has pumped about $17,000 into storefronts on Kearney Street in the form of matching grants ranging from just over $80 up to $2,000.

The future is bright and getting brighter. As we go to press, the CEDC and city officials are considering an application for a downtown revitalization grant that, if successful, would help pay for new street lights and address accessibility issues on Kearney Street.

The CEDC believes the Mulkey can be a catalyst for all kinds of improvements downtown, and that project is by no means close to being finished. The CEDC purchased the theatre in 2008, and it has taken time to get to this point. Funding and completing Phase Two – Interior Renovations will also take a lot of time, energy, and, of course, money; but when it’s done, the Mulkey will again be a first rate movie theatre and serve as an even more functional Visitor Center. Phase Three then will be to extend the small stage in the Mulkey and add more audio and lighting capabilities in order to host live performances like the Ritz does in Wellington.

In December, my wife, Ashlee, and I attended an Oak Ridge Boys concert at the Ritz, and I think our imaginations – as well as those of dozens of people in attendance from Clarendon – were on fire with the possibilities of the Mulkey one day hosting that kind of entertainment.

The Mulkey project has been fortunate to have good supporters thus far from people who have opened their wallets to assist the project to a host of volunteers who have done whatever was asked of them. It has had support from preservationists across the state and from local politicians at home. Clarendon and its theatre owes a debt of gratitude to everyone involved in this project, and I want to especially thank my colleagues on the CEDC Board – Bill Stavenhagen, Terri Floyd, Sherol Johnston, Steve Hall, Abby Patten, and Ann Huey as well as former board members Bob Watson, Terry Noble, and Will Thompson – all of whom have put in a lot of thought and love into this project. And we are also fortunate to have our Executive Director, Chandra Eggemeyer, who has focused so much time and talent on this project, as well her husband, Jared, who is always there to lend a hand.

Going forward, the Mulkey needs all of us to stand behind it, promote it, and bolster it. To succeed in Phases Two and Three, the project will need grants and donations of sizeable amounts. But it also needs the support of the community.

We have two generations who have never seen a movie at the Mulkey. Let’s change that. Let’s get behind this project and take the next steps. We owe it to ourselves to save our heritage and to our children and grandchildren to preserve this piece of the past and give them the gift of culture, entertainment, and a love of the visual and performing arts.

Keep the lights shining, and let’s get busy and make the inside just as glorious as the outside. Let’s work together to “Bring Back the Mulkey!”

Opinion: People have spoken, time to cooperate

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The people (at least some of them) of Donley County have spoken. Local democracy still works, and that’s a good thing, a really good thing. Now it’s time for the newly elected and reelected officials to go to work. We’ve got a lot of important challenges and opportunities to address.

However, as they get started on their respective boards, I would like to remind our local politicians that possessing a sharp tongue does not necessarily mean that they possess a keen mind. Some of the boards still have members on them who are known to possess sharp tongues, much to the detriment of the citizens of Donley County. They need to understand that identifying a good scapegoat is not nearly as effective as implementing real solutions to our challenges and issues.

Fred Gray.
Fred Gray.

Our aldermen and school board members need to find ways to work together to identify and positively address the issues facing them. Too many of these people seem to think that sabotage is much more effective than constructive dialogue. Our community can no longer tolerate either criticism or sabotage. They need to find ways to create synergy in order to more effectively serve their constituents. Hopefully they will realize that an agreeable person is not a person who agrees with them, but a person who they can work with to create positive results from differing points of view. I’ve no doubt that they can work together even if they don’t agree with each other, and learn to treat each other respectfully in the process.

Hopefully, the newly constituted boards and councils will understand that having self control is better than having control over others. There have been enough petty disagreements that resulted in divisive factions between our politicians. Some of our board members seem have the extraordinary power to channel their imaginations into ever soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia. This type of behavior must stop. If not, we the people must vote them out of office.

The candidates, who stepped up to the plate and ran for office, regardless of the outcome, deserve our respect and thanks. We the people had excellent people to select from. Let’s give them a fair chance to successfully represent our interests. Let’s support them as they work together and support each other while conducting our business.

Of all the elections held, perhaps the most vital was the election of the Clarendon board of aldermen and mayor. In the recent past very little deliberation and focused attention has been placed on Clarendon’s economic needs, particularly the development of new business. Little attention has been paid to this critical area because of gridlock on the board, primarily caused by friction between the members. If not for the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation, very little would have been accomplished.

The addition of Sandy Skelton, who has significant experience, could change the dynamics of the board and result in a new focus on improving Clarendon’s economic future. There are several gun manufacturers that have been courted by the State of Texas. Clarendon is strategically located in the gun friendly Texas Panhandle, and is in a good position to offer an attractive economic package to one or more of these manufacturers. We have a well educated workforce available to provide the needed manpower for this type of manufacturing.

Additionally, Donley County has something very valuable that very few areas of the US can offer – good, clean air. Our air may be frisky, but cleaner air cannot be found in the United States. We also have a suitable supply of clean water for long-term growth. Donley County also provides a good, safe environment in which to raise children, with good schools and a low crime rate. We can do a much better job of capitalizing on our strengths.

Donley County, Clarendon, Hedley ISD, Clarendon ISD, and Howardwick surely have challenges ahead, but these challenges can result in exciting new opportunities for growth and advancement. Clarendon College, our local banks, an excellent newspaper, and the innovative entrepreneurial spirit of the business people of Donley County provide us with a fairly strong economic base.

If the newly elected politicians fulfill their potential, then we should all benefit from this new group of community leaders. They were elected to address and implement solutions to our challenges and opportunities. We should expect that they will do this; and, we should do all we can to support their efforts.

Editorial: Time for the people to take action

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Saturday is Election Day, a fact you’ll be reminded of several times if you read this week’s edition of the Enterprise. From our page one election coverage to our featured columnist Fred Gray to a reader’s letter to the ads from several local politicians, it is hard to miss the fact that local voters have a job to do this weekend.

Roger Estlack, Editor
Roger Estlack, Editor

An impressive number of people have already stepped up to the plate and done their civic duty. As of Tuesday morning, 284 people had early voted in the City of Clarendon election, 309 had early voted for the Clarendon school board, and 42 had early voted in Howardwick. The early turnout this year has outpaced total turnout two years ago. In 2011, about 55 Howardwick citizens voted total, 233 Clarendon voters cast ballots, and about 250 people voted for school board. Last year, there wasn’t even enough interest to hold an election for those boards.

Interest is high in Hedley also, where 36 people had early voted for school board by Tuesday morning. School officials say early voting usually amounts to about seven or eight people.

It is a great thing to see people getting involved, but it is also important to see candidates involved in the process. Certainly, they are involved just by being on the ballot, but it is nice when we see participation beyond just campaigning and specifically participation through attendance at meetings. The incumbents in each race are familiar with the issues facing their respective boards, but challengers can only attain that knowledge by coming to meetings and learning firsthand how a board functions and the topics before it.

Howardwick has had good participation at a town hall meeting and a meet-the-candidates forum, and we applaud the way citizens in that community have rallied to work together.

In Hedley, there was high interest immediately after Coach Darrell Wallace was not given a new contract. But in the numerous meetings since then, the Enterprise has only seen one challenging candidate in attendance. That candidate was Lana Ritchie, and she is to be commended for coming and learning first hand what’s going on.

Likewise at the Clarendon ISD board meetings, there has only been one challenging candidate who we have seen at board meetings. CISD has a lot on its plate right now, facing a budget deficit and declining enrollment and now a June election asking taxpayers to pony up more money. Linda Rowland deserves recognition for taking the time to come to a couple of board meetings to educate herself on the issues.

The City of Clarendon has also been the center of attention lately, and numerous citizens have made the time to attend the meetings of the Board of Aldermen. Two of the three non-incumbents running for the board have been among those truly interested citizens – Sandy Skelton and Janice Knorpp.

Again, the incumbents know the issues, and it is a great thing to have new candidates run for office. It is a better thing when those new candidates are fully informed and ready to serve on day one should they be elected.

We have tried our level best to keep you up to date on the issues surrounding our cities and schools, and Enterprise representatives have put in extra time covering board meetings lately – doing our job, reporting on what’s happening when we could be home with our loved ones playing Yahtzee. We’ve done our part, the candidates have filled their roles, and now we leave it in the hands of the people. Go vote.

Opinion: Make your voice heard this Saturday

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As we go to press today, the last day of early voting is coming to a close. If you haven’t voted, please plan on taking a few minutes to go vote Saturday, May 11. This may be one of the most important elections we’ve had in many years. Three specific elections concern me: the Clarendon Board of Aldermen, the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees, and Hedley ISD Board of Trustees.

Fred Gray.
Fred Gray.

Howardwick is no longer a concern. They have stepped up to the plate and have many candidates vying for several positions available. Good for them. Seriously! Good. For. Them. The city made a plea for help and the good folks of Howardwick responded marvelously.

Regarding the Clarendon Board of Aldermen, many concerns still need to be addressed. It is my understanding that the early voting turnout has been excellent. Hopefully, this trend will continue through this weekend and most of our citizens will choose to be heard. If the turnout is good, regardless of the results, Clarendon citizens will reap the benefits of a fully engaged citizenry.

The attitudes of the aldermen have for the most part (excepting a couple of aldermen) have become churlish and vituperative as they conduct the city’s business. It’s sad to see, and sadder still to hear concerned citizens speak of their dysfunction. Hopefully, the voices of the people will result in wise choices.

Hedley ISD is also holding elections, with six candidates vying for two places. The incumbents are James Edward Potts and Bonnie Brown – currently the president of the board. After spending a few months watching the board conduct the business of the Hedley Independent School District, I must admit that I’m more than a bit shocked at the attitudes of the board members. With a couple of exceptions, the board seems to be more concerned with making sure the administration, particularly superintendent Bill Sanders, tows the line as delineated by the board.

Rather than focusing on the teamwork needed to maximize the learning experience of Hedley’s students, the board, again with exceptions, seems to be determined to keep a short leash on Mr. Sanders. For example, in Monday’s board meeting, one of the board members (who isn’t running for re-election) rather pointedly reminded Mr. Sanders that he is not allowed to spend more than a specific sum of money without their prior written authorization, never mind that he had not spent more than the allowed amount in a single purchase. She had misunderstood that the amount in question concerned several purchases rather than one specific item. My point is that she was more concerned with controlling Mr. Sanders than with doing what is best for the students of Hedley.

A similar question was raised by Bonnie Brown, wondering why purchase requisitions were sometimes dated after the actual purchase date. Again, this was done to micro-manage the administration, rather than spending their valuable time setting policy and exploring ways in which to create synergy between the board and the administration to maximize the benefits to the students.

Mr. Sanders, Mr. O’Dell, and the rest of the administration do an excellent job of professionally educating Hedley’s students. Yet, they are continually fighting to overcome silly little obstacles that are artificially raised by members of the board.

Take for example, the recent trip of Marijke Tiddens, the first Hedley student to win a medal in the state UIL tennis championships.

Prior to the trip, Karen Watt, a board member who isn’t up for re-election, required Mr. Sanders to jump through an absurd serious of hoops regarding the issue of a properly constituted school concussion team – even as they prepared to travel to College Station. Mrs. Watt even went so far as to remind Mr. Sanders that he would be at fault if Ms. Tiddens was prevented from competing in the championships. Really? Didn’t the board hire Mr. Sanders to handle these issues? Geez! Leave him alone and let him do his job.

FYI: Ms. Tiddens was allowed to compete, which she did very well, and I’m certain that the totally bogus issue of a properly constituted school concussion team was never raised.

Yet, these outrageous interferences by the board continue ad nauseam, and by several different board members. Hopefully, the citizens of Hedley will see the light and elect board members who will be committed to setting policy, and seeking ways to build the teamwork and synergy needed to give the students of Hedley a first class education, which they deserve.

Which brings me to the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustee election? While reading the names of the students who made the “A Honor Roll” I noticed that there was a substantial drop off after the second grade, then there was a drastic drop off after the eighth grade. In high school, we only had five students make the “A Honor Roll”. In the “AB Honor Roll”, there is a steady drop off as the students progressed towards graduation. Perhaps we need to ask our candidates why our students’ achievements seem to decline as they progress through school.

Let’s all go vote Saturday, May 11.

Editorial: Keep shining the light on local officials

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One of the duties of a newspaper is to serve as a watchdog and a check on the government, and for this newspaper, it has been a busy month in terms of standing up for open records and open meetings.

Last week’s column was given over to the explanation of the Texas Open Meetings Act in light of the behavior of the Clarendon Board of Aldermen; and while we were busy speaking out against an improper closed meeting of that board, we neglected to report on the results of the previous week’s editorial.

Roger Estlack, Editor
Roger Estlack, Editor

Readers will remember that in the April 11 issue, this column reported that the Enterprise has filed a formal open records request with the Hedley Independent School District. In a letter dated April 9, we requested copies of all board agendas and minutes (whether approved by the board or not) as well as a list of contracts renewed during the contentious March 19 meeting in which the athletic director, Darrell Wallace, was not renewed.

After the paper went to press that week, there was a brief back-and-forth between the district and the Enterprise. Ultimately, we submitted a legal opinion from the Texas Attorney General’s office to the district, and by Friday afternoon, April 12, we were in possession of all that we had requested.

Subsequently, when we called the school this week to ask for copies of upcoming agendas and last week’s minutes, they were faxed to our office in less than 24 hours.

It should also be noted that following last week’s meeting, board members thanked the paper’s representatives for coming and voiced their continued support for open records. They have also begun audio taping their meetings to add even more sunshine to the process.

We applaud that effort and expect that Hedley ISD will continue to cooperate on future open records requests. We also hope that all involved understand the importance of operating above board, without hidden agendas, and in the best interests of the taxpayers and the children of the Hedley school district.

The Enterprise is still pouring over the minutes obtained by our request, but we have learned a few things. The board actually took two votes on Mr. Wallace. The first was to renew his regular contract, but that failed on a 3-4 vote. There was then a brief executive session, which was followed by a second vote to extend him a probationary contract for one year, but that also failed 3-4.

The minutes also reflect what appears to be an ongoing schism between the board – or some board members – and the school administration with several references to board members wanting more and more information on a variety of topics.

What this all means is still unclear, but the board will hold its next regular meeting April 25, and we intend to be there. We would recommend that other interested parties attend as well to observe for themselves prior to the upcoming school board election.

 

Meanwhile…

Taxpayers in the Clarendon Independent School District will have a chance to find out more about a proposed tax increase next week during a public meeting on Tuesday, April 30, at 7 p.m.

School officials are proposing increasing the district’s ad valorem tax rate from $1.04 per $100 valuation to $1.17. Because the state has capped the district at the $1.04 rate, the increase would have to be approved by voters in a June 1, 2013, election.

If approved, the new rate would increase taxes on a $50,000 home by $65 per year.

School officials say they need this increase because of a deficit they are facing due to declining enrollment and cuts in state funds, but do they really need it? Superintendent Monty Hysinger says the district will have to “cut programs” if voters don’t approve the measure, but which programs?

Clarendon ISD needs to lay it all on the table before voters go to the polls. What are all the options? Are we really doing all we can to trim spending? Maybe. Maybe not. We don’t yet know the answers to all those questions, but they need to be addressed. Next week is as good a time as any to start looking for answers.

Opinion: We need to vote in this election

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Donley County is blessed with many hard working, creative, talented, and intelligent people. Unfortunately, with a few notable exceptions, that vast reservoir of talent and intelligence is not adequately represented on two of our most important boards, namely the Clarendon Board of Aldermen and the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees.

Currently, with one or two exceptions, both boards are blessed with a mixture of arrogance and naiveté. For the most part they seem to have a unique ability to crank almost every problem they address into a mind-bending crisis. Additionally, both boards could be characterized as rowdy, raucous, ill mannered and ill tempered. Changes in both boards need to be made and pronto!

Fred Gray.
Fred Gray.

Let’s start with our Board of Aldermen. They have, usually with a static 3-2 vote, made several decisions that are not in the best interest of Clarendon. First of all, they allowed their personal angst against Lambert Little to negatively affect their evaluations of how well he was performing his job. Secondly, they dismissed him without first checking with the city attorney. Thirdly, they fired him without cause, thereby costing the city more than $30,000. Finally, they fired him in a cold-blooded and merciless manner just before Christmas. We are better people than that. They did not reflect our values of fairness and compassion.

Moving on, let’s review the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees. That board has lost contact with reality. Again with a few exceptions, they have behaved in a disgusting and ill-mannered way. When the board didn’t renew Coach Darrell Wallace, it was not for cause, regardless of what they may claim. Sure Coach Wallace made mistakes while coaching the team, both in regards to tactics on the field as well as in his interactions with his players. All coaches make mistakes. If they aren’t making mistakes, then they aren’t trying. If they aren’t trying, then they are useless.

However, when they fired Coach Wallace, they also forced the resignation of his wife, Suzanne, who also happens to be a first rate teacher. Both of the Wallaces represent values and ideas that are far superior to the values and ideas that were represented by the majority of the board that voted to get rid of them. He was a good man who was treated with disdain and disrespect by people who don’t have a clue about grace and good manners. As importantly, they ran off two really good teachers. Good people are hard to find, and I find it abhorrent that a board could run off such talented people so callously.

As the Enterprise goes to press, that same board is currently in closed session, “evaluating” the contract and employment performance of their superintendent of schools, Bill Sanders. I’m certain that when they come out of closed session and hold the subsequent evaluation of Mr. Sander’s employment performance, a group hug will not follow the meeting. Again, the board appears to be prepared to run off a very talented and skilled administrator, an administrator who cares first and foremost about his students and his staff. Bill Sanders is a man of great skill, integrity, and emotional stability.

Lastly, the board, in a surprising and insensitive manner, removed Ted Wright as its president, again without cause. Ted Wright served Hedley with distinction, honor, and integrity. He deserved to be treated better – much better.

The Hedley ISD Board of Trustees has apparently not learned a vital element of success. Namely, that you nurture and do everything you can to retain good teachers and staff. Any organization is only as good as its people.

Luckily, we have elections coming up soon, with early voting starting next Monday, April 29, a great day to be a Texan. We, the people, can make the necessary changes in these boards by exercising our right to vote. In the big picture, local elections are vital to maintaining our way of life, remaining true to our values, and nurturing a strong democracy. So let’s all get out and vote. These elections may be the most critical elections we’ve held in a very long time.

Therefore, we need to go the extra mile, and learn about the candidates and the issues – then vote! The future of Donley County, Hedley, and Clarendon will largely be determined by the decisions we make in the upcoming elections.

Editorial: Government works best in the light

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Government works best for the people when its actions and deliberations are carried out openly in the full view of the public. Last week’s meeting of the Clarendon Board of Aldermen, however, did not live up to that standard.

The Texas Open Meetings Act governs every meeting of every local government board in this state, and every intention of that statute is to give the most access to the public. It outlines the posting of agendas to insure the public has some warning of what is to be discussed at upcoming meetings; it prohibits a quorum of government boards from discussing, planning, or taking any kind of action outside of a public meeting; and it even provides certain protections for public employees.

Roger Estlack, Editor
Roger Estlack, Editor

It is a serious law, and one with criminal penalties for those who blatantly ignore its requirements. Organizations like the Texas Association of School Boards and the Texas Municipal League aren’t big fans of the Open Meetings Act. TML was even recently involved in a lawsuit that challenged the federal constitutionality of the act, but last month the US Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling that upheld the Texas law.

The law does recognize that some items may need to be discussed privately, and it provides nine very specific reasons that a board may meet in a “closed session” or “executive session.”

Call it what you will, but it’s still a secret meeting… behind closed doors… out of the sunshine. They are sometimes necessary, usually innocuous, but always secret.

The law absolutely prevents a board from taking action in closed session. Anything they are going to do must be done when the board reconvenes in open session. But when a board meets in closed session and then doesn’t do anything, the public is left to wonder, “What just happened?”

One of the reasons a board may convene in secret is to consider “personnel matters,” and it was that exception, along with a blanket agenda statement reserving “the right to meet in closed session on any agenda item should the need arise…”, that the board hastily beat feet to the second floor of City Hall last Tuesday while deliberating city job descriptions.

The board certainly did not follow proper procedure when it moved into closed session, and there are substantial reasons to believe the closed session itself was improper.

According to the Texas Attorney General’s office, the Open Meetings Act “allows a governing body to hold a closed meeting to discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee.” However, the exception only allows “the discussion of a particular person or persons in a closed meeting. A governmental body may not discuss general policies regarding an entire class of employees in a closed meeting held under the personnel exception. Such general policies must be addressed during the open portion of a meeting.”

Furthermore, the Attorney General’s office says, “…the more important the position being discussed, the more specific the posting will need to be in describing that position.”

In other words, if the city’s agenda had specified they were going to discuss the City Secretary’s position or duties, then a closed session would have been valid. But the agenda didn’t say that. It said they were going to discuss “updated job descriptions.” In other words, all job descriptions, not just City Secretary Machiel Covey’s. That’s too broad to go into closed session.

Another absolute provision of the Open Meetings Act is that the board is not allowed to meet in closed session if the employee in question requests the discussion be held in public. The discussion of “job descriptions” never made it to anyone’s job but Machiel Covey’s, and several observers felt she had been pretty clear that she was willing to discuss the agenda item in open session.

But that was before Alderman Debbie Roberts launched her inquest about Covey’s duties, and it was Roberts that later insisted the meeting be moved upstairs. It is possible that Roberts just wanted to privately ask Covey for her recipe for sopapilla cheesecake, but it is more likely that she was about to continue her litany of questions specific to the city secretary’s job and that she wanted to do so away from the scrutiny of the 17 citizens observing the meeting.

What really happened in City Hall’s modern day Star Chamber is known only to the seven people who climbed the stairs last week. It was a secret meeting after all.

All we know for sure is that they took no action on job descriptions that were previously described as being out of date from 2002 – which may or may not mean Covey has less work to do – and also took no action on the city’s chain of command – another topic that was far too broad for discussion in a closed session.

Clarendon’s citizens have a right to know what’s happening at City Hall, and the Board of Aldermen have an obligation to conduct their affairs as openly as possible. Moving forward, they need to do a better job than they did last week.

Opinion:Abuse of children must be stopped

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Unofficially, Clarendon and Donley County may have more crosses and proverb signs, per capita, than any other town and county in the land. Who knows, we may have more than anyone in history, excepting the Romans – when they were feeling aggrieved or wanted to remind the locals to follow the straight and narrow of Pax Romania.

Fred Gray.
Fred Gray.

Officially, Clarendon and Donley County ranked third in Texas, in the per capita number of child abuse and neglect cases in 2012, an improvement from second place in 2011. Obviously, something is lost in translation. How can we appear to be so righteous in our public displays of religious devotion, yet abuse our children so?

I won’t bore you with too many stats, but last year Clarendon (Donley County) had 21 confirmed cases of child abuse and/or neglect. This is a situation that convicts us all. We all have a stake in protecting the children of our community. It matters not if they are abused by a family member, neighbor, or a complete stranger; children cannot defend themselves from abuse, so they rely on us to do it for them. So far, folks, we aren’t doing too well.

Last Saturday, 203 people walked or ran in the first annual Chance Mark Jones Memorial 5K, and another 25 or so volunteered to help out in its production. It was great to see that so many people care enough about this crucial issue to pay the $20 registration fee, and then took the time to participate in this event. The money, by-the-way, will fund new playground equipment for the kids. Even Mother Nature got involved, by giving us a sunny, cool day with gently caressing breezes.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. While in Dallas over this past Easter, I saw a grassy field with dozens of beautiful blue and silver pinwheels twirling in the warm Texas sun. I thought they were beautiful, until I was told that each pinwheel represented a child who had been abused. While still lovely to see, watching those pinwheels furiously twirling in the breeze now haunts me. How can we be so vile and evil to our children?

When children are sexually abused, 99 percent of the perpetrators are actually known by the children: 9 percent by their fathers, 11 percent by their mothers’ paramours or step fathers, 17 percent by their relatives, and 8 percent by their step parents. Imagine that, almost of them are abused by friends or family, even 5 percent their mothers!

When our children are abused, 50 percent are ages 6-12, 30 percent are ages 0-5, and 20 percent are ages 13-17. White children account for 54 percent of the sexually abused, Hispanic children account for another 13 percent of the victims, and black children make up 6 percent. Of sexually abused children, 66 percent are girls and 34 percent are boys.

Child abuse comes in many forms. For instance, 74 percent of the children are sexually abused, 14 percent are physically abused, 6 percent are victimized by drug users, 4 percent are victims of domestic violence, and 2 percent fall into the category of “other.”

It is imperative that we find better ways to protect our children from predators. One of my favorite heroes, Albert Einstein, once said, “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” Too many of us are remaining silent about things we need to speak up about. We must not do nothing and remain silent about things that matter. There is nothing more precious than our children, and we must become more diligent about noticing child abuse.

In fact, Texas law requires that we report child abuse. Texas Family Code (261.101) states that a person having cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare has been, or may be adversely affected by abuse or neglect must report it immediately. Failure to report it is punishable by imprisonment for up to 180 days and/or a fine up to $2,000. Granted, I still do not understand how Chance Jones’ grandmother, Gayle Edes, got off with a mild sentence of just 90 days. Imagine that?

More importantly, we have a moral responsibility to stop the abuse of children whenever we see it, or even suspect it. We have a great sheriff, with excellent deputies, who do a good job of protecting us and keeping us safe. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that if they are made aware of child abuse in any form, they will respond accordingly. However, they need for us to let them know if we even suspect instances of child abuse.

We, as citizens of Donley County, need to stand up against child abuse and neglect. We don’t need to report child abuse just because the law mandates it. We need to report it because we stand up against what is evil, even if that evil is caused by someone we know. Yet, reporting on someone we know takes courage, regardless of the consequences to ourselves.

This includes reporting pregnant teens as victims of child abuse (Texas Family Code Sec.261.001 & 261.101). Even though Texas law mandates that we report pregnant teens, most school personnel refuse to do, or claim that they didn’t know that it is mandated by law. This included medical personnel, including doctors and nurses. Yet, in most instances, people remain quiet about this.

As individuals and as a community, we must do better. The definition of courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, uncertainty, or intimidation. Courage is acting in spite of fear. We must act to protect our children.

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