KAAC Grand Opening

I visited the Killeen Arts and Activities Center this morning.  Given Mayor Hancock's enthusiastic recommendations and the extensive promotion of the project by the city government, I had high expectations.

And I have to admit that the exterior is striking.  It still looks like the First Baptist Church, but it's clean, with some modern-looking windows and doors, and the landscaping is very well done.  The contrast with the warehouse-like back wall of the HEB across the street is strong.

I have to wonder if we got our money's worth, though.  As I understand it, the total cost was around $6.5 million ($2 million to the Baptist Church for the property, and $4.5 million to refurbish.  For that money we got

• A small, mostly concrete park.
• A Farmer's Market area that today attracted exactly one person selling fresh produce (there were about 10 vendors in all, and one was selling local honey).
• Office space for some city and county agencies which had been housed elsewhere downtown.
• An office for the Killeen Arts Guild.
• Some rental space currently occupied by a private high school.
• An old chapel with wooden pews.
• A performance hall (the old sanctuary) with a large stage, theater seating, and really bad acoustics.

Many people in Killeen will at some point be happy that KAAC is there.  I can see some good things in it.  But we have to keep asking ourselves (especially when we're talking millions of dollars) if we are making the best use of city resources.  I have yet to see evidence that, in the case of KAAC, we did so.

Okray and Gamel

It's interesting how much difference a candidate's public persona makes when he appears on TV.  In the YNN interviews of Jonathan Okray and Mike Gamel, candidates for at-large seats on the Killeen City Council, both speak very generally.  If anything, Gamel comes closer to actually addressing issues than Okray does.

But it works for Okray and not for Gamel.  Jon can get away with avoiding specifics because most of the city knows he did something very specific--he started (whatever Billy Workman says) and successfully ran last year's City Council recall movement.  If there is such a success in Mike Gamel's background, he needs to make it better known.

Just because Okray probably can skirt the issues doesn't mean he should.  He's one of the few at-large candidates who has strong enough support that he can take the risk  of having an agenda.  (Agendas, as those of you who follow politics probably know, are targets for other candidates to shoot at;  that's one reason why you'll probably hear no city council hopeful talk about specific budget items, changes needed in the city charter, changes to downtown revitalization policy or operation of the city council.)

Both candidates in this video were for the recall.  That's interesting to note, but as Mayor Hancock said in his State of the City address this week (see Monday's blog post), it's yesterday's news.  Voters should (though I can't guarantee they will) focus on what candidates want to do tomorrow, not what they wanted to do last year.  Okray did a good thing a year ago, but far more important is what he plans to do starting in May.

Okray doesn't seem to have a campaign web site.  He does administer the Killeen Tax Payers for Responsible and Accountable Governance page on Facebook.  Mike Gamel does not have any online presence that I could find.

Mims-Owens, Goodnight

The next YNN video (I'm sorry I've fallen behind in reviewing them) features two candidates with some name recognition, but not much position-recognition.  I haven't talked to either of them, yet.

Doris Mims-Owens, a substitute teacher, doesn't get many points across in her interview, and the ones she makes are very general.  She ran for the District 1 seat against Kenny Wells in 2007.  Known as Doris Owens then, she lost 282 to 151.  Using hindsight, it's easy to see we might be better off if she had won that election, but she is going to have a hard time getting people to listen to her as one of 16 at-large candidates this year, and her YNN interview did not help her.

Benton Goodnight, a local builder, is running as a builder. "You have to have input," he says, "from people who understand development."  I think he's going to have trouble with that argument on two fronts: first, a lot of people think they do understand development even if they're not working as a builder.  And second, input and a seat on the city council are not the same things.  Goodnight will have trouble getting voters to take him seriously until he comes up with a more plausible angle.

I haven't found a campaign web site for either Mims-Owens or Goodnight.  That's something each of them should consider fixing.

The State of the City

Killeen Mayor Timothy Hancock is an intelligent man.  He has a dry but accurate sense of humor.  But I think he'll tell you what I'm going to: he's not comfortable as a public speaker.

Tonight at the KCCC, Mayor Hancock delivered a rambling "State of the City" address.  He promised to show us "where we've been; where we are; and where we're going."  It was a promise kept, if you could follow him through discursions and sudden jumps to new topics.

(My raw notes of Hancock's speech are online.  Dan Kott's video will be available on the YouTube EyesOfKilleen channel in the morning.)

The largest part of the Mayor's talk dwelt on the past:  successes in improving city services; police and fire protection; awards; grants; and advances in quality of life during his time of city service, which began in 2000 when he was elected to City Council.  So the "where we've been" piece was pretty well covered.

In the "where we are" category, he stressed the city's financial soundness and our need for more infrastructure, particularly a controlled-access SH 201; better rail service; and a second runway.  He also made a comment that city employs are stressed because they don't know who their boss is going to be; I'm not sure where he was going with that, and the city workers I know don't seem particularly stressed.

Hancock ended the meeting on "where we are going": he said that the past must be set aside.  In a few weeks, there will be a new mayor and a new city council; and perhaps after that a new city manager.  People who want to continue to rehash the old disputes are just getting in the way of those new people who will want to move forward.

In an aside that didn't fall into any of the above categories, Hancock defended the city's partnerships with the Chamber of Commerce and Killeen Economic Development Corporation (KEDC).  The reason those partnerships are necessary, he said, is because the city, while it's good at  providing city services, is not very good at economic development.  The City needs to partner with the private sector to be effective in bringing in new jobs and industries.

Don't Tell How Nice It Was Today

Please don't tell people from outside the area about the weather today.  Everyone will want to come.  I took my kayak to Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir this afternoon.  It was beautiful.  The water is back -- the lake has risen 12 feet in the last week -- and clearing and the temperature was 82.

I paddled from the Long Bridge almost to Gravel Crossing and back. I saw

• people catching white bass
• lots of other kayakers
• ducks
• cormorants
• an osprey
• about 100 vultures congregated in one spot; something to do with mating, I'm guessing
• turtles
• gar
• spawning carp

The breeze was light, the water was cool and the sun was bright.  In short, Central Texas was such a paradise today that if word gets out we will be inundated with people wanting to get a little of it for themselves; so be careful what you say.  If you inadvertently let something slip, make sure you ask the person to visit in late July.

It's good to live in Killeen

I've been stewing about the senseless murder in Sanford, Florida.  If a young black man in a hoodie walks down the street in my neighborhood, I'm most likely to say "Hey, Jimmy, how's your dad?"  If my black neighbor sees a white guy with a tattoo on the sidewalk, she probably will say "Thank your mom for the cookies!"

There's plenty wrong with Killeen.  There's a lot we need to improve with regard to race relations.  Thank God we don't shoot each other because we're in the wrong neighborhood.

JoAnn Demonbreune, Ralph Cossey

I've talked to Joann Demonbreune and Ralph Cossey, the subjects of the third YNN At-Large Candidate video,  a couple of times;  Ralph more than JoAnn.  They both seem to me intelligent and sincere people.  Ms Demonbreune makes two important points in her brief appearance:  it's really important that Killeen people get involve in Killeen matters; and you will get the government you deserve.  I'm going to seek out JoAnn for conversation.  She doesn't seem to have a campaign web site.

Ralph Cossey has run for office (District 4 -- he almost beat Ernest Wilkerson) before. His calmness comes across in this video, but perhaps not his perceptiveness.  I think Ralph may be one of the smartest people running for an at-large seat, but he still hasn't presented a clear agenda.  (Ralph isn't alone in that; none of the other candidates have done so, either.) Ralph has a campaign site on Facebook. You may have to click "Like".

This video should make you curious about both candidates.  Your curiosity may be satisfied at the Exchange Club candidate forum (there's still no web site for it: are you listening, Dick Young?) on April 9, from 1800 to 2100.

And a tiny bit more on budget

OK, I think I understand now that Glen Morrison has represented Killeen's 25-year long term goals as this year's budget priorities.  He's wrong. This year's budget priorities should be aligned with the long-term goals, but they are far from being the same things.  I'll be blogging more on this after I catch up on the campaign.

OK, So It Wasn't the Last Budget Post for a While

Doing a little more research on the 2012/13 budget goals presented by Acting City Manager Morrison on Tuesday, I came across the Killen 2030 planning document put out by the Chamber of Commerce in 2007.  The budget priorities are identical to the Killeen 2030 goals on page 9, and (bonus) the goals are explained in a little more detail on pages 10-12.

I still have doubts whether these long term goals translate directly to this year's budget priorities, but I feel better knowing there's something more behind them than those twelve bullet points I blogged about yesterday.

Last Budget Post For a While

I think this stuff is putting people to sleep.  I'm going to finish (for now) my series on the 2012/13 city budget in one long post.

According to Glen Morrison, the interim city manager, the city held meetings, involving lots of people, to develop 12 "Strategic Planning Priorities".  This post will look at each in turn.  The priorities, as presented by Mr Morrison, are in bold print.  My comments are in normal type.

Quality Community Development and Revitalization. I think this is code for "clean up downtown some more." The city has been trying to do so for 30 years that I know of, and probably more, with only limited success.  If we can "revitalize" downtown with OPM (Other People's Money), then maybe it's worth prioritizing; otherwise, it may be as economical to plow several blocks and turn the space into community gardens.  (Just save Tank's.)  Revitalization is one of the programs that badly needs an analysis of its rate of return.

Preserving, Enhancing, Leveraging, Partnership with Fort Hood. I'm all for it, but I don't see why this principle is central to the budget.

Safety and Security. Code for "pay for good police and fire protection."  No argument there.

 Financial Stability. Motherhood, too.  This is also one of the "fence posts" discussed in yesterday's blog. My only comment is that it probably doesn't have to be in both places.

Improved Efficient and Effective Transportation.  Coming from a city that has steadfastly refused to syncronize its traffic lights for 50 years, we may have to take this with a grain of salt.  What I think it means, though, is that we need to stick to our thoroughfare  plan and continue to fund public transportation in the form of HOP.  Both may have merit, but the city needs to provide information that shows the return we get for funding them.

Preserve and Promote a Positive City Image. We may want to start with something less ambitious.  This could absorb all funds available.

Provide a Sense of Community and Provide an Exceptional Quality of Life. To the extent that this is code for "fund the library, volunteer services and code enforcement", I'm OK with it.  I am worried what else might fall under the wide umbrella, though.

Targeted Economic Development. That's an interesting phrase, but open to too much interpretation to be very useful in budget discussions.  If it's code for "let KCC pick the targets",  I anticipate push back from some quarters.

Quality Educational Opportunities. Meaning what? Has Harvard put out feelers about a Killeen campus?

Sound Infrastructure. I'm assuming this is code for "keep the roads paved, the sewers flowing, and the ditches unclogged."  If so, who could be against it?

Recruiting and Maintaining a Talented and Committed Workforce for the City of Killeen. This is definitely code for "pay city employees enough that it isn't more attractive to quit and work KP on Fort Hood."  Lately, city pay scales have been flirting with that level.  This is an important priority.  If you except the City Manager, City Attorney, Police Chief and Fire Chief, almost every city employee earns significantly less salary than his or her counterpart in the private sector.

Local and Central Texas Regional Leadership. I can't comment in this priority because I think it is a phrase devoid of meaning.

Budget "Fence Posts"

In kicking off the 2012/13 budget season, acting City Manager Glenn Morrison presented six "fence posts", or fundamental principals around which the budget should be built.  A more common term might be "corner stones".  Four of them are too fuzzy to build on, but that's probably OK because the first two circumscribe the budget.  They are

* Maintain Fiscal Soundness
* Maintain Ad Valorem Property Tax Rate

Even these may sound fuzzy, but they are not.  "Maintain Fiscal Soundness" means keep a reserve fund balance equal to 25% of annual expenditure, which is about where they are now.  "Maintain Ad Valorem Property Tax Rate" means don't increase the property tax rate.

(OK, the second one is a little fuzzy because it doesn't say anything about changing the property evaluations on which the rate is levied.  But the city has little influence on that any more.)

What these fence posts mean for you, for city services, and probably most emphatically for city employees, is that the money available to pay for everything next year will be about the same as it was this year.  That's in spite of the almost guaranteed double-digit increase in fuel prices, health insurance, and asphalt, and an increasingly pressing need to give city workers long-delayed pay increases.

So what do you want to give up?  The Fire Department Swift Water Rescue team?  Heck, they only saved three people's lives yesterday.  Police patrols?  There's only been one murder this week. Street repair?  Drainage?  Code enforcement?  Given the "fence posts", at least some of these are probably on the table.  If you care, here are a couple of things you can do:

• Ask the 26 people who have offered to serve you in the next city government where they stand on the budget.  Don't accept vague answers.  Find where their priorities are and vote accordingly.  I will try to help with that in coming weeks.
• Make your views known.  The city has a facebook page where you can post ideas on the budget.  Tell them what your priorities are.
• Talk about it with your neighbors. Two or more heads is probably better than one.

Tomorrow: a discussion of the budget priorities presented by Mr. Morrison on Tuesday.  Then it's back to discussing candidates.

Budget Forum

Introductory note:  I still don't know all the candidates by sight.  If you were are the budget hearing and I didn't see you, please leave a comment.

OK, back to the blog:

You can gauge the level of interest in next year's city budget by the fact that many of the candidates for city offices didn't bother to attend tonight's budget forum.  Of the mayoral candidates, I saw only Dan Corbin (Dan's a CPA and a lawyer: this is his meat and potatoes), and Billy Workman.  Of the 16 at-large candidates for City Council, I saw Dan Kott, Jonathan Okray, Ralph Cossey, Jim Butler, Doris Mims-Owens and Mark Manning.  District 1 candidate Jason Lawhorn and District 2 candidate Frankie Williams were there, too.

I think 8 people spoke at the hearing.  Several of them were candidates.  Rather than trying to filter the commentary for you, I'll refer you to Dan Kott's videos of the meeting at the EyesOfTexas channel on YouTube.

This being Killeen, having 8 people out of 130,000 express an opinion on the city budget has to be called a success.  If you weren't there (and the odds are heavy that you were not), you can still send in your views by filling in a form on the city web site.

There are some givens about the budget that you should keep in mind:

• It's huge.  Our little town will spend over $258 million -- a quarter of a billion dollars -- this year.  That's about $2000 for every man, woman and child in Killeen.
• It's mostly non-discretionary.  We have to repay our debt; build streets; provide people and equipment to clean the water, take away the sewage and garbage, catch the crooks, put out the fires, mow the rights-of-way, collect the taxes and fees, etc., etc; and buy books for the library.
• There are a lot of demands on the discretionary part.  That will be the subject of tomorrow's blog: the proposed Strategic Priorities for 2012/3.

KDH Gets a Point Back

Sean Wardwell had an interesting and instructive piece in today's KDH about the various state and local regulations governing campaign advertising.  The sentence I found most interesting was in the last paragraph: A sign "... cannot carry the primary political message on a temporary basis on a sign generally available for commercial advertising or other messages that are not for a primary political purpose."

One candidate in particular has advertised heavily on the rotating LED signs in town.  I see them regularly on the one at W.S. Young and Veterans Memorial.  That candidate is a lawyer, so I suppose he knows the rules.  I wonder if Sean or the candidate has it right?

KDH Disappoints

On the day before the first hearing in what promises to be the most contentious Killeen city budget cycle in years, did the local daily newspaper list its priorities for the year?  Did it encourage readers to attend the hearing?  Did it stress the importance of the budget plan in improving (or maintaining, or diminishing) the quality of life for 130,000 citizens?  No.

(Before I go on:  GO TO THE HEARING.  It's at 1700 tomorrow (Tuesday, March 20) at the Utility Collections Building, 210 W. Avenue C., in the large conference room.)

But if KDH didn't write about the city, what did it editorialize about?  Well, they reprinted (without attribution) an article by a Washington, D.C. hack, Dale McFeatters, about what nice weather we're having this spring.  This pertinent piece was also printed by such prestigious papers as the English-language Korea Times.

The refusal of the Killeen newspaper to take a stand, or even make an editorial comment, about local affairs is very disappointing.  Why are they in business here if their opinion about the city is that the weather is sometimes good, and even that opinion is best expressed by a writer 1500 miles away?

Dan Kott and Jim Butler

Still in a corned beef and cabbage haze, I watched the YNN segment featuring two more of the 16 candidates for Killeen city council at-large seats, Dan Kott and Jim Butler.  I was disappointed with how both candidates presented themselves.

I have talked to Dr. Kott several times and find him likable.  On the video, though, he comes across as cold and distant.  He dances around an important point -- that he understands technology and how it can help the city do business better -- but doesn't make it concrete.  Although I think he would support a broad constituency, he sounds like his emphasis will be on retirees.  All in all, I think he should ask for a do-over.

I do not know Jim Butler, but I've sat in meetings where he presented.  In his professional capacity, he carries himself well.  His performance in the video, though,  did not help him at all.  Of all the candidates for at-large seats, he has by far the most experience in running a city, but he came across as defensive and against change.  Believe me Jim, "against change" isn't going to win this election.

Dr. Kott performs a great community service by running his EyesOfKilleen channel on YouTube.  He attends city meetings and other local events, captures them digitally, and posts the videos -- usually complete -- on the internet.  There is nothing more democratic than that.

Jim Butler worked for the city of Killeen for a number of years and retired last year as Director of Public works.

Neither Kott nor Butler seems to have campaign web pages.  Both of them ought to have one.

YNN Face Time: Foster and Amir

YNN, the news service of local Time-Warner cable, is broadcasting interviews with the candidates for Killeen City offices, starting with the 16 running for the 3 at-large places on city council.  I thank them for it.  It's more than other news outlets are doing, even though candidates get only about a minute to make their points.

I'll be blogging about each segment.  Tonight, after corned beef and cabbage (my wife makes good corned beef and cabbage), I caught Jared Foster and Abe Amir.  Neither is one of the usual subjects.  Jared grew up in Killeen and returned to work at Power Sports.  He's a young but well-spoken man who comes across as friendly and reasonable. In this snippet, he gets extra points for mentioning "civil discourse", something I hope all candidates will adopt as a principle.  I don't know anything about Abe Amir, and I don't know what restaurant he managed, but he presented himself fairly well.  Certainly his idea that better communication is needed between the Council and the people of Killeen is something lots of people can get behind.

Foster has a campaign web site with a video on which he does not come across as well.  He's also on Facebook.

I can't find any online information for Mr. Amir.  I encourage him to get a web presence quickly if he's serious about his candidacy.

This YNN segment is a good start for both candidates.  Neither is a front-runner, in my opinion, but there's a lot of time between now and the election, and both of them could gain ground be stressing the issues they mention in the video.  Both of them, however, are going to have to answer convincingly questions about how their limited backgrounds help them understand city issues and deal with the conflicting priorities that characterize city government.

Budget time. Pay attention.

Killeen politics is mostly about posturing, self-aggrandizement and special interests.  That's not said as a slam on the last City Council or any particular group of city leaders; it's been the case generally for the 35 years I've lived here.

The one essential duty of the City Council is to approve the annual city budget, and there's a truism you should never forget:  You can't count on them getting it right.


This year the traditional failure to pay attention to the budget will have very serious consequences.  For the last couple of years, the city budget has not really been balanced.  Payments (including the Connie Green settlement) came at the cost of reducing the "reserve" -- the bank account the city maintains to make sure it can meet its obligations in the worst case.  A reserve of 25 per cent. of the budget is the fiscally-responsible level.  That (in round numbers) is where we are today.

The problem is that we've drawn all we can from the reserve.  The 2012-2013 budget will have to be paid for entirely from taxes and fees.  And there are huge demands on those resources:

The city continues to expand, requiring more fire, police, EMS, parks, sewers, water, road maintenance, right-of-way maintenance, library services and trash pickup.

Our infrastructure is aging.  The city's vehicle fleet is decaying.  Drains and sewers are another year older.  The streets need paving whether we have revenue or not.

The cost of health care for city workers continues to increase.  Keeping good city employees requires them to get occasional (it's been too occasional lately) pay increases.

So what do you want?  Do you want taxes and city fees to go up? Do you want city services to degrade or get better (keep in mind here--we're talking about how long it takes the fire department to get to your house, or KPD to respond to your 911 call)?  Do you want new city services or a reduction in city services?  Do you want streets and sewers to improve or are you OK with them deteriorating?

If the past is any guide, you can't count on the city council making good decisions in these matters.  You need to  make your wants and needs known.

The 2012/2013 budget process starts next Tuesday (March 20) at 1700 at the Utility Collections building (College and Ave. C).  Be there.  Learn what the challenges are and the alternatives.  Suggest some new alternatives.  Don't assume your elected representatives are going to do it because a) They never have; and b) most of them have been recalled anyway.

Addendum to "Today was a slow news day"

I should have added that Jason Lawhorn, candidate for the District 1 Council seat, has a couple of blog postings at http://votelawhorn.wordpress.com/.

Today was a slow news day, election-wise (at least for someone like me who was in Austin for 14 hours), so I'll just pass on some items that came my way:

• Dan Kott tweeted that YNN, Time-Warner's local cable news operation (cable channel 8 in Killeen) will broadcast interviews with all 16 candidates for at-large Council seats.  The interviews begin Friday, March 16; four interviews will be broadcast each day.  I'll post links to them as they come available.  Thanks to YNN for stepping up.
• Dan Corbin now has a campaign web site.
• Dan Kott has a campaign mobile phone app.  (I hope this doesn't become a trend;  I don't yet consider my phone a political device.)  Dr. Kott also administers the Eyes of Killeen channel on YouTube, which is a very valuable resource for anyone interested in what goes on in Killeen.
• I'm painfully putting together a web page that I hope will be one-stop shopping for information on all 26 candidates for city office.  More details some time this weekend.

Mayor Race

You can read a (very) little bit about the five candidates for Killeen mayor in today's KDH.  I think they make up a weak field.  One of the candidates, Hal Butchart, managed to miss being interviewed for the article; I can't take seriously a candidate whom the newspaper can't find.  A second candidate, Eric Nells, is young and inexperienced; he's worried about an important issue--local jobs--but there's precious little the mayor can do about that.

In fact, there's precious little the mayor can do about anything.  The main qualifications for mayor of Killeen are a friendly smile and the ability to run a meeting.  The second qualification may not be that important, either.  Tim Hancock has held the position for six years without any conspicuous skills in that area.

So how do the remaining three mayoral candidates stack up in the friendly smile department?  Check out their portraits in today's paper.  I think they support my case that it's a weak field.

OK: that was facetious.  The ability to run a meeting is important.  Maybe if there had been an experienced moderator in the chair, paying close attention, sensitive to all the issues, the Connie Green discussions would have stayed on the rails.  When I talk to the five candidates (assuming I can find Mr. Butchart), I'm going to ask them how they are going to keep the council on track.

The other chartered duty of the mayor is to break Council voting ties.  I don't think it's an important responsibility--it is rarely required--but it will make me ask the candidates some of the same things I want to know from the Council candidates.  Things like their positions on

• the City Charter (does it need to be fixed? replaced? how?);
• fiscal responsibility (would you have voted to buy the First Baptist Church?);
• consistency in zoning and comprehensive planning (how are we going to get some?);
• and the need to pay attention to city business (do you have time to do your homework?).

KDH and the Election

In my line of work (and probably in most other people's) the idea of the Elevator Speech is important.  It's what you say to a person who may be important to your business when you've just met them and you have only a minute or two to interest him or her.  Businesses have thrived or been broken on the strength of an elevator speech.

Today's article (http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=64882) in the Killeen Daily Herald introducing the five people who are running for City Council in districts 1 and 2, was not quite sufficient to allow the candidates to give their elevator speeches.  It certainly was better than yesterday's article, in which the 16 candidates for at-large places introduced themselves in a sentence or less, but today's article fails an important Elevator Speech test: it doesn't provide enough information for readers to know what questions to ask next.

You can make the case the KDH plays an important part in Killeen city politics: the paper has a series of articles (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) on the candidates.  They are co-sponsoring the Exchange Club candidate forum.  You can also make the case that KDH isn't very interested in Killeen city politics:  they prefer to buy editorials from a syndicate for $10 rather than write about what's happening here; they budget about a column inch per candidate when they're writing about the election; they publish letters to the editor infrequently; and over the course of a year, they switch city beat reporters five or six times.

Unless things change, I'm pretty sure citizens won't be able to make a good decision about electing a new  city council by reading the newspaper.  Fortunately, there are some other ways to find out about candidates (besides this blog, of course):

On April 9, KDH and the Exchange Club will sponsor a candidate forum at the Civic Center beginning at 1800.  Unfortunately, the Exchange Club has a nearly-useless web site, so I can't provide any more information.  Inn the past, the Exchange Club forum has been a tepid affair, but  I expect more animation at this year's edition.

April 13, NAACP and LULAC will co-sponsor a forum at the Community Center.  That one also begins at 1800.  Both those organizations also have weak web presences, so there's nothing to point to.

I'll provide more information about the two April forums, as well as events planned by individual candidates, as I find out about them.  You'll do a lot better attending one or more of these meetings than relying on KDH for candidates's views.  At least you'll get the Elevator Speech.

Sixteen candidates for 3 seats

Sixteen people have filed to run for the three city-wide council seats in Killeen.  Some of them have name recognition and strong backing across district lines.  I'd put Jonathan Okray and Jim Butler in that category.  Others may be hoping for a boost from their association with the military, the school system or local business.

It's going to take a lot of sorting to determine which three of these 16 should represent the city as a whole. Today's article in the KDH (http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=64871) doesn't help much.  This no slam at the reporter, Sean Wardwell: he did well to get quotes from all of the candidates.  But the information in the article is pretty much useless to people trying to find the right three candidates.

I'm going to try to meet each of the sixteen candidates and talk to them.  If a candidate gives me permission, I will publish my notes of the conversation here. If you have questions that you think I should ask a particular candidate, or all candidates, please let me know what they are.

The Killeen election season got off to a bad start with the attempted hijacking, by Shawn Richeson, of the KTPFRAG (Killeen Taxpayers for Responsible and Accountable Governance) identity. See the KDH article at http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=64826

Richeson has tried to spin this, but it boils down to a not very clever attempt to confuse people searching for information about KTPFRAG and Jonathan Okray.

You can be assured that Richeson's assertions that he has captured information about KTPFRAG supporters is total bull.  That's just not the way things work on the internet.  But in case he actually wants the information, I live at 1307 Ruiz.  It's in the book.

I completely believe Dan Corbin's assertion that Richeson acted without Corbin's knowledge or permission.  I do think that Corbin needs to further disassociate himself from Richeson's bad behavior.

A word about Richeson's justification is needed.  He said "Just because a fish is dumb enough to fall for the bait, in now way makes the fisherman unethical, just smarter than the fish."  Bernie Madoff  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff) was of the same opinion.

Killeen Politics

Initially, this blog will deal with the Killeen, Texas city election to be held in May 2012.  The election is contentious.  It puts in opposition the coalition that forced the November, 2011 recall election (which resulted in the dismissal of five of the seven city council members) and a resurgent group of the traditional movers and shakers in Killeen.

I was a part of the recall effort.  I'm also an acquaintance (and in some cases, a friend) of many of the old guard.  This blog will attempt to walk a fine line that balances civic responsibility with personal relationships.

My name is Bob Blair.  I'm not related to Major Blair, or Coach Bobby Blair (although I got his phone calls a lot), or the Blair of Cochran, Blair and Potts.  I moved to Killeen in 1978 to be the Accounting and Data Processing Manager for Central Telephone Company of Texas.  I've lived here (and in the same house) ever since. Centel folded (and I left them before they did), so I've been working in Austin ever since.  Currently I'm a software architect for Calxeda, a computer chip manufacturer.

My purpose in this blog is to widen the discussion of Killeen city issues.  The May, 2012 election is the obvious focus for the next few months.  I will to clarify the issues (as I see them) and try to present the views of others.  I hope to interview all 26 of the current candidates for mayor and city council and to publish their views here.  I intend to make clear when I am expressing my own opinion and when I am presenting the views of others.

Comments on this blog are always welcome.  Two classes of comments, however, will always be quickly deleted:  comments containing profanity; and comments accusing candidates of illegal activity.  In the first case, you should be able to express your opinion without profanity; in the second, if you have evidence of illegality, go to KPD, not to this blog.