[3:59] Oh, okay. It hasn't come through yet. I

[4:02] just got it.

[4:06] Yes.

[4:20] » Good morning. Welcome to the Tuesday,

[4:22] August 19th, 2025 Tarant County

[4:25] Commissioner Court meeting.

[4:27] » It's okay. I now call the meeting to

[4:29] order.

[4:29] » Tim County,

[4:31] » Present.

[4:32] » Miles, Junior, Commissioner

[4:34] » Here. Alisa, Mr. Precinct 2

[4:37] » Here.

[4:38] » Matt Crouch, Mr. Precinct 3

[4:40] » Here.

[4:40] » Ramirez, Mr. Pre here.

[4:44] » All right. Today's invocation will be

[4:46] led once again by Tarant County

[4:47] Sheriff's Office Chaplain Frank Litkkey.

[4:50] Please rise for the invocation and the

[4:51] pledges to our flags.

[4:56] » Shall we pray?

[4:58] Father, we're thankful for this time

[4:59] that we have. I'm thankful Lord that we

[5:01] live in a county that recognizes you in

[5:04] a time like this. Pray, seek your help,

[5:07] seek your wisdom, and we seek values. I

[5:10] pray for the judge and the commissioners

[5:11] that you would give wisdom with the many

[5:13] decisions that they are that they take

[5:15] during the course not only of this

[5:17] meeting but of course of their day. We

[5:19] pray Lord for our leaders, our sheriff,

[5:22] his staff, as well as those that are

[5:23] working with the uh folks inmates that

[5:26] are incarcerated as well as the the

[5:28] officers on the street. We pray for

[5:31] them. We thank you for this day. We ask

[5:34] that you would continue to bless our

[5:36] nation, one nation under God. And I ask

[5:38] these things in Jesus name. Amen.

[5:41] » Amen.

[5:42] » All right. Please join me in the pledge

[5:43] of allegiance to our flag. I pledge

[5:46] algiance to the flag of the United

[5:48] States of America and to the republic

[5:51] for which it stands. One nation under

[5:54] God, indivisible, with liberty and

[5:57] justice for all.

[5:59] » And now the Texas flag.

[6:01] » Honor the Texas flag. I aliance to thee,

[6:04] Texas. One state under God, one and

[6:08] indivisible.

[6:10] » Thank you. You may be seated.

[6:14] [Music]

[6:21] Good morning, Judge Commission.

[6:22] » Agenda announcements.

[6:23] » Oh, sorry, sir. Yes, sir. A couple of

[6:24] announcements this morning. Uh, first of

[6:27] all, item H1 under the criminal district

[6:29] attorney section.

[6:32] » Go ahead.

[6:32] » Item H1 under the criminal district's

[6:34] attorney session. We're going to hold

[6:36] that item until after closed.

[6:39] Uh item P33 in purchasing that's being

[6:44] removed from the agenda completely for

[6:46] today.

[6:48] And also item T1A

[6:52] is also being removed from the agenda

[6:54] completely today.

[6:56] And court members we have several items

[6:57] which have been pulled from consent. So

[6:59] this next batch are once again that have

[7:01] been pulled from consent. So the first

[7:02] one is I4 under elections.

[7:07] Also I5 under elections,

[7:10] [Applause]

[7:13] P35 under purchasing,

[7:19] T2A,

[7:24] and finally T3G

[7:28] and T3H.

[7:33] That's it, sir. All right. Thanks, sir.

[7:36] All right. Do we have any commissioner's

[7:37] court announcements?

[7:40] » Yes, judge. I have an announcement. I'd

[7:42] like to put out one last reminder and

[7:44] call for our 10th annual Healthy Lives

[7:49] Matters Alzheimer's Symposium that is

[7:51] coming up this Saturday, August 23rd,

[7:55] starting at 9:00 a.m. and we'll end up

[7:57] around 100 p.m. We'll be providing free

[8:00] of charge breakfast and lunch for all

[8:02] attendees. It is a great event filled

[8:06] with lots of resources for the

[8:08] community, lots of access to care and

[8:11] support for those who are caregiving for

[8:13] loved ones who are dealing with

[8:15] Alzheimer's and dementia. And I would

[8:17] encourage all those who have loved ones

[8:20] or friends of loved ones who are dealing

[8:22] with dementia or Alzheimer's to invite

[8:25] them to come out. We will be at Taran

[8:27] County College Trinity River campus. So,

[8:31] you can find out more information or

[8:33] register on our website, the county

[8:36] website. Just go to precinct 1 and there

[8:38] is a link for the Healthy Lives Matter

[8:40] Alzheimer's Caregiver Symposium. You can

[8:43] call our offices and register as well.

[8:46] So, we look forward to seeing all of you

[8:47] there this coming Saturday. Again,

[8:50] August the 23rd at 9:00 a.m. we will be

[8:53] at Taran County College Trinity River

[8:55] campus. Thank you.

[8:58] » What sir? We don't we don't do point of

[9:00] information from the audience. That's

[9:02] not going to happen. If you want to find

[9:04] a staff member, you can ask a question

[9:05] of a staff member. No more interruptions

[9:08] of the meeting for what you want asked

[9:11] or put out there. The I'm I am I'm not

[9:15] going to talk to you again before I have

[9:17] you leave. So, please be quiet.

[9:22] » All right. Any other commissioners

[9:24] announcements?

[9:24] » Yes.

[9:26] So, I wanted uh today to take this

[9:28] opportunity to recognize Texas State

[9:32] Representative Nicole Collier, who's uh

[9:35] who represents District 95, where each

[9:39] of you is sitting today. Um, I want to

[9:43] say thank you to Representative Collier

[9:45] for her principled

[9:48] stand in defense of legislative dignity

[9:52] and democratic representation.

[9:55] Um, Representative Collier spent the

[9:57] night last night on the on the floor of

[9:59] the Texas House after refusing a

[10:02] Republican

[10:04] demand to be placed under the watch of

[10:07] the state department of public safety.

[10:10] And when House Democrats returned to

[10:12] Austin after their quorum break uh over

[10:15] redistricting, the House Speaker

[10:17] announced that Democrats could only

[10:19] leave the House floor

[10:22] if they uh had received written

[10:26] permission

[10:28] and agreed to be under law enforcement

[10:31] escort.

[10:35] her refusal

[10:37] uh to do that is notable.

[10:41] Um

[10:43] while the others signed the permission

[10:46] slip, Representative Collier said, "No

[10:50] way, not doing it." And she stated this,

[10:53] these were her words. I refuse to sign

[10:55] away my dignity as a dulyeleed

[10:59] representative just so Republicans can

[11:01] control my movements and monitor me with

[11:04] police escorts. So, her refusal reminds

[11:07] me of the courageous acts of resistance

[11:10] throughout this country's history

[11:13] when people of color and people of

[11:16] conscience

[11:19] refuse to submit to systems designed to

[11:22] strip away their dignity and fundamental

[11:24] rights. Just as enslaved people who

[11:27] refuse to carry passes that control

[11:30] their movement, Representative Collier

[11:33] understood that signing such a document

[11:35] would be tantamount to accepting

[11:38] treatment as something less than a full

[11:41] citizen and elected official. And this

[11:45] situation

[11:46] reflects a broader pattern.

[11:49] I've witnessed personally the targeting

[11:52] and harassment of black women leaders

[11:55] who refuse to be intimidated or

[11:57] silenced.

[12:00] As an African-American professional in

[12:02] this role myself,

[12:06] um, I've experienced firsthand the

[12:08] disrespect,

[12:10] bullying, conspiratorial

[12:12] behavior from colleagues on this day and

[12:16] county executive staff who cannot accept

[12:19] inclusive leadership. Many of my peers

[12:22] in leadership positions like this,

[12:25] including Nicole and Jasmine,

[12:27] Congresswoman Crockett, uh endure

[12:30] similar treatment. But this extends

[12:32] beyond elected leaders. Um

[12:38] this goes to African-American women in

[12:41] boardrooms, in middle management, in

[12:44] blue collar supervisory positions um

[12:49] across our nation. So, Representative

[12:51] Collier's stand yesterday, which

[12:54] continues today, was a declaration that

[12:57] enough is enough.

[13:01] And so, rather than submit to being

[13:03] treated with surveillance and control,

[13:08] reminiscence of our nation's darkest

[13:10] chapter, she chose dignity and

[13:12] principle.

[13:13] And so for that courage and tenacity,

[13:15] I'm proud to recognize her strength and

[13:19] I'm grateful to her for her leadership.

[13:22] And I'll be going to visit her in

[13:24] Austin.

[13:26] Thank you.

[13:29] [Applause]

[13:29] [Music]

[13:35] [Music]

[13:36] [Applause]

[13:39] Uh any other commissioners

[13:41] announcements? I'll make one on uh

[13:44] empowering seniors. Uh mark your

[13:46] calendars October 2nd. Uh Judge O'Hare's

[13:49] office and precinct 3 are working

[13:51] together to put that on. It's going to

[13:53] be a great event for seniors. Go to

[13:55] empoweringceniors.com. You get a lot

[13:56] more information on it. If you want to

[13:58] be an exhibitor or a sponsor, uh you can

[14:00] also do that there. But we'd love to

[14:02] have a great turnout on October 2nd uh

[14:05] for empowering seniors. And and I will

[14:07] just say it's kind of a counter part to

[14:09] what Commissioner Simmons just said. I

[14:11] was actually in the Texas House in 2021

[14:13] when there was another quorum break and

[14:15] I was subjugated to be uh held in Austin

[14:18] for 30 days not getting to work on

[14:20] anything and every day I had to get a

[14:22] permission slip to leave the chamber as

[14:24] well. So nobody's being targeted,

[14:26] nobody's being individualized, nobody's

[14:28] being quiet.

[14:30] » It's all because they fled the state

[14:32] last time and measures have to now be

[14:34] put in place to make sure that they will

[14:36] stay and do their job.

[14:37] » And so just one second.

[14:39] » Yeah. If there's another outburst, you

[14:41] will be removed immediately. We're not

[14:43] going to do that up here today. I'll

[14:45] have an announcement in a minute. I'm

[14:47] looking straight at you because I've

[14:48] seen you do it three times. You'll be

[14:50] gone if you do it another time. Okay.

[14:54] » So, I want to

[14:55] » I'll move her now. Take the lady in

[14:57] green out.

[15:00] » Good. Goodbye.

[15:03] » Goodbye.

[15:04] » Thank you for coming.

[15:07] So, I want to applaud uh Speaker

[15:10] Burroughs and uh House Administration

[15:12] Chair Charlie Garren for making sure

[15:14] that the people of Texas can continue to

[15:16] do the work uh that needs to be done

[15:18] during the second special session.

[15:20] Drastic measures have to be used because

[15:23] uh of the first quorum break. So, I I

[15:25] appreciate the House leadership there.

[15:28] » Thank you. Uh on another note regarding

[15:30] empowering seniors. So this is an event

[15:33] that puts seniors together with

[15:35] caregivers

[15:36] uh people who provide services for

[15:39] seniors, help them to be able to get

[15:41] their Medicaid right, their Medicare

[15:42] right, all sorts of things. It's a great

[15:44] event extremely nonpartisan. It is

[15:48] something started really by Commissioner

[15:50] Gary Ficus

[15:52] many moons ago and then uh Judge Whitley

[15:56] took it up. We decided, Commissioner Fus

[15:59] and I, to combine it because it ended up

[16:02] kind of taxing some of the providers and

[16:05] they ended up have sponsored twice and

[16:07] it took money out of their hands uh

[16:10] instead of uh putting it into the hands

[16:12] of those who who need the help. So, we

[16:15] combined it to have one and uh it's a

[16:18] great event for seniors. I encourage

[16:20] everyone to send their friends uh who

[16:23] are seniors or who may be becoming

[16:25] seniors. It's a it's a wonderful uh

[16:28] event that puts a lot of people in a lot

[16:30] of good spots and gives health care

[16:32] checks and all sorts of things that's

[16:33] good for our senior community. Uh any

[16:36] other announcements from the DIS?

[16:38] » I have one. Um I would like to wish our

[16:41] colleague Matt Krauss, Commissioner

[16:44] Krauss a happy birthday. It's his

[16:45] birthday today. So happy birthday

[16:47] Commissioner Krauss.

[16:48] » Happy birthday Commissioner. Appreciate

[16:49] it.

[16:49] » Happy birthday.

[16:51] » Okay. Um,

[16:54] we are now to the proclamations and

[16:56] resolutions and presentation section.

[16:59] I guess before I get there, let me make

[17:02] a couple of announcements because once

[17:05] we only got one item on there and then

[17:07] we're kind of getting into the to the

[17:09] meat of our agenda. Um,

[17:13] my goal for today for everyone here is

[17:16] for you to get to say your piece in an

[17:19] orderly, respectful fashion. So there is

[17:22] a set of decorum rules that this court

[17:25] passed,

[17:26] another set that they operated by for

[17:28] many years that uh was passed by a

[17:31] majority of this court uh I believe

[17:33] about a year ago. When you sign up to

[17:36] speak, you promise to abide by those

[17:39] rules. So what I hope to see is everyone

[17:43] gets up, speaks, follows the rules,

[17:45] everybody can do it in an orderly

[17:47] fashion. I hope to not have to tell one

[17:49] person please lower your voice. I hope

[17:51] not to have to tell one person you

[17:53] cannot make profane remarks. Uh that is

[17:56] my hope but that's going to be up to the

[17:58] speakers. So do know I will enforce the

[18:01] rules. Uh I'm a believer in decorum. You

[18:04] may not be. Some people on this dis may

[18:06] not be but I am and I think a majority

[18:09] of Americans are. So we're going to

[18:10] enforce the rules. And part of those

[18:13] rules are once we get past the

[18:16] proclamation section, there are no

[18:18] outbursts. There is no applause. There

[18:20] is no rallying. This is not a political

[18:21] rally. This is a business meeting of the

[18:24] Tarant County government. So with that,

[18:28] we will now go to the proclamations,

[18:30] resolutions, and presentation section.

[18:33] Uh the first and only item on this

[18:35] section is a memorial resolution

[18:36] honoring Mr. JW Robinson.

[18:39] » Who's presenting this one?

[18:41] » I am.

[18:41] » Okay. Commissioner Miles,

[18:43] » Before I start, I would like to

[18:46] acknowledge and recognize

[18:48] Mr. Robinson's family. If you would

[18:51] stand when I call your name,

[18:55] Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Aquanita Robinson,

[18:58] this is the wife and widow of Mr. JW

[19:02] Robinson,

[19:03] his daughter, Dr. Kiana Roberts

[19:08] and his granddaughter Natasha Robinson

[19:12] and his son-in-law Albert Roberts.

[19:19] We love you. We support you and we are

[19:22] here for you. Thank you for coming

[19:24] today. You may be seated.

[19:29] [Applause]

[19:35] Whereas the family and friends of Mr. JW

[19:37] Robinson were deeply saddened by his

[19:40] death on Sunday, July 27th, 2025.

[19:45] And whereas Mr. Robinson was born on

[19:47] June 20th, 1947 in Holly Grove, Arkansas

[19:52] to Timothy Robinson and Shed Robinson.

[19:56] And whereas Mr. Robinson received his

[19:59] formal education in the public school

[20:01] system in Holly Grove, Arkansas. Drafted

[20:04] into the United States Army and deployed

[20:06] into the heart of the Vietnam War, where

[20:09] he earned the National Defense Service

[20:12] Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign

[20:15] Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Overseas

[20:20] Service Bar, and Expert Qualification in

[20:23] marksmanship.

[20:25] And whereas Mr. Robinson worked in the

[20:28] construction industry after returning

[20:30] home to Kansas City, Missouri, then

[20:33] transitioned to the food service

[20:35] industry where he developed a passion

[20:37] and love for quality food and personable

[20:40] service. And whereas after learning the

[20:44] craft of signature Kansas City barbecue

[20:47] style, his family moved to Texas to open

[20:50] Parks and Parks and Robinson

[20:52] Construction.

[20:54] This business led to their personal

[20:56] construction of the now infamous

[20:59] Robinson's Barbecue located at 1028 East

[21:03] Berry Street, Fort Worth, Texas. This

[21:07] legendary barbecue pit pitmaster took

[21:10] Kansas City style barbecue and added his

[21:14] very own Texas twist.

[21:16] And whereas Mr. Robinson will be forever

[21:20] will be forever cherished by his wife

[21:23] Aquanita Robinson his children Lelle

[21:27] Robinson Hall Dr. Kiana Roberts

[21:30] grandchildren Natasha Robinson Kevin

[21:34] Dixon Albert Roberts III Carrington

[21:38] Roberts and a host of longtime friends

[21:42] and extended family. Now therefore be it

[21:46] resolved that I, Rodri Miles Jr.,

[21:49] Commissioner of Taran County Precinct 1

[21:52] and Commissioner Al Alisa Simmons, Taran

[21:55] County Commissioner Precinct 2, pay

[21:58] tribute to the memory of a beloved and

[22:00] honorable man, and extend our deepest

[22:02] sympathy to the members of his family

[22:05] and his many friends for their great

[22:07] loss. In witness whereof, we have here

[22:11] unto set our hands and caused the seal

[22:13] of Taran County to be affixed this

[22:16] seventh day of August, 2025. And on a

[22:19] personal note,

[22:22] I would like to say Mr. Robinson's

[22:25] barbecue spot was a formidable

[22:30] part of my upbringing in my childhood.

[22:33] As a student at OD Wide High School at

[22:37] lunchtime,

[22:38] it was not it was not unusual to see a

[22:42] host of my classmates and I driving down

[22:45] Eastberry to get to Robinson's Barbecue

[22:48] to get us a chopped beef sandwich, a bag

[22:51] of chips, and a soda for lunch. That was

[22:54] my daily meal for lunch. And it was the

[22:58] best chopped beef sandwich this side of

[23:00] heaven, let me tell you. And every time

[23:03] we would go and Mr. Robinson was there,

[23:05] he would greet us with the biggest smile

[23:07] and say, "Make sure you get enough." And

[23:10] so he will be greatly missed. His

[23:14] fingerprints and his influence is on the

[23:18] majority of the south side of Fort

[23:19] Worth, Texas. His legacy will live on

[23:23] not only through his family members, but

[23:25] those of us who were blessed to be in

[23:27] his presence and to be touched by his

[23:29] life. I thank God for Mr. Robinson and I

[23:33] thank God for his family. If the family

[23:35] will come at this time down so that we

[23:37] can take a picture with you with the

[23:39] memorial resolution.

[23:42] Let's all give the Robinson family and

[23:43] the legacy of Mr. Robinson a round of

[23:45] applause.

[23:51] My colleague reminded me I I got a

[23:54] little caught up. I move for approval.

[23:56] » Second.

[23:57] » Second.

[23:57] » All right. All right, we have a motion

[23:58] and a second to approve. Any discussion?

[24:02] » I I'll only say that working uh patrol

[24:04] in Fort Worth PD on the east side, um we

[24:07] also filled our bellies quite often at

[24:09] Robertson's barbecue and it was

[24:10] incredible. Still is.

[24:14] Uh we have a motion and a second with no

[24:16] further discussion.

[24:18] Uh all in favor, please raise your hand.

[24:22] Okay, passes unanimously. You're in

[24:24] favor. Good. I figured you might be. So,

[24:32] Welcome.

[24:34] Great night.

[26:06] Thank you.

[26:18] All right. Now we move to our consent

[26:21] agenda as amended.

[26:23] » Move for approval.

[26:24] » Second.

[26:26] » Uh we have a motion. Yeah, it takes a

[26:28] little longer to get back to this stuff.

[26:31] Uh we have a motion to approve the

[26:33] consent agenda as amended. And we have a

[26:36] second. You got it.

[26:44] All right. Any discussion on the amended

[26:46] consent agenda?

[26:48] All right, seeing none, all those in

[26:50] favor of approval, raise your hand. All

[26:53] right, passes unanimously.

[26:56] Now takes us to the regular

[27:00] section,

[27:01] starting with 10 A1,

[27:04] the administrator section, consideration

[27:06] of out of state travel requests.

[27:08] » Move approval.

[27:09] » Second.

[27:10] » Second.

[27:11] » We have a motion and a second to approve

[27:13] that item.

[27:16] Uh any discussion there?

[27:20] All right, seeing none, all in favor,

[27:21] please raise your hand.

[27:24] Passes unanimously.

[27:32] The next item is D1, budget and risk

[27:35] management.

[27:37] Do we have um any comments from the

[27:41] court?

[27:44] court wish to discuss anything related

[27:46] to the budget.

[27:47] » So there are no we have no items that

[27:49] we're presenting today for the FY26

[27:50] budget.

[27:51] » Okay. We have one speaker on the budget

[27:55] and that is Dr. Harriet Harold

[28:03] paper.

[28:18] A budget is a moral document. A budget

[28:22] is a plan. A budget is the foundation

[28:26] that lets county government serve its

[28:28] people. The goal of a budget is not

[28:31] simply to cut. Last week, we celebrated

[28:34] a low tax rate. You do know, of course,

[28:37] that a low rate also means fewer

[28:40] services. We owe residents honesty about

[28:44] that tradeoff.

[28:45] Here's how an effective budget process

[28:48] should work. Immediately after this

[28:51] budget passes,

[28:53] launch a strategic planning process that

[28:56] includes all elected officials and a

[28:59] true cross-section of Tarant County,

[29:02] urban and rural, business and labor,

[29:04] neighborhoods, nonprofits, faith

[29:05] communities, young people. Ground that

[29:09] plan in shared values, a clear vision,

[29:12] and a mission we all commit to. From

[29:15] there, build consensus on the county's

[29:18] top needs and prioritize them. And for

[29:22] each priority, define solutions with

[29:25] timelines, cost estimates, and measures

[29:28] of success. Only then are you ready to

[29:32] start to build a budget. Without that

[29:35] framework, departments compete, ideology

[29:38] fills the gaps, and power plays decide

[29:41] who gets funded. That is not leadership.

[29:45] It's roulette. And roulette produces

[29:48] unintended consequences that hurt real

[29:51] people.

[29:52] It is time for Taran County to be

[29:55] professional. I am not criticizing the

[29:58] hard work of our budget office. I am

[30:01] saying they've not been given the

[30:03] strategic tools to do their best work.

[30:07] Commissioners, your job is to lead.

[30:11] Leadership means being strategic. No

[30:15] more seat of the pants budgeting. Start

[30:18] a countywide strategic planning process

[30:21] now. Publish the values, the priorities,

[30:25] the timelines, and the price tags.

[30:28] Commit to a rolling three-year

[30:31] framework. Report progress publicly and

[30:34] adjust with data, not headlines. If we

[30:38] want the lowest taxes, say clearly what

[30:41] services we'll do without. If we want

[30:44] stronger services, say clearly what we

[30:47] will invest and why it matters. Either

[30:50] way, the citizens of Tarant County

[30:52] deserve clarity, consistency, and a

[30:55] plan. Budgets without strategy are just

[31:01] spreadsheets.

[31:03] Let's do better. Let's lead.

[31:07] Thank you.

[31:08] » Uh, any there is no applause here,

[31:11] folks. Don't don't make me have to deal

[31:13] with it. Just be respectful. Uh,

[31:17] anything else from the court members on

[31:19] the budget.

[31:21] Okay, moving on to item H1. H1 is held

[31:26] until after closed, but we do have a

[31:28] speaker.

[31:30] So, our speaker is Dr. Brooks McKenzie.

[31:41] I guess that's not Dr. Brooks McKenzie.

[31:43] Is Dr. Brooks McKenzie here?

[31:46] Is there a spillover room?

[31:49] » I believe only right outside.

[31:51] » Okay. Can y'all check and see if Dr.

[31:53] Brooks McKenzie is out there? I'm

[31:55] assuming they have microphones out

[31:56] there.

[31:58] » Is there some kind of speaker system?

[32:00] » Speakers out there.

[32:01] » Okay.

[32:01] » All right. I don't see a Dr. Brooks

[32:04] McKenzie.

[32:06] Doesn't appear to be one coming.

[32:09] So, we will now move to I1

[32:20] HIJ. We'll move to I1. Elections

[32:23] Administration consider to approve an

[32:25] order calling a special election on

[32:27] November 4th, 2025.

[32:31] » Move for approval. Second.

[32:32] » We have a motion and a second to approve

[32:36] uh this order calling the special

[32:38] election on November 24th. Any

[32:40] discussion?

[32:42] All right. Seeing none, all in favor,

[32:44] please raise your hand.

[32:46] All right. Passes unanimously.

[32:51] Next we move to I2, consideration to

[32:57] approve an order calling a

[32:58] constitutional amendment election on

[33:01] November 4th, 2025.

[33:03] » Move approval.

[33:04] » Second. All right. We have a motion, a

[33:05] second to approve that. Any discussion

[33:08] there?

[33:10] All right. All in favor, please raise

[33:11] your hand.

[33:14] All right. Passes unanimously.

[33:17] Now we get to I have it marked as

[33:20] another I2. I'm assuming we just got it

[33:23] wrong and it says I3. Whatever it is,

[33:26] it's consideration to approve proposed

[33:28] early voting and election day polling

[33:30] locations for the November 4th, 2025

[33:33] joint special and constitutional

[33:34] amendment election.

[33:35] » I move to reject.

[33:37] » Second.

[33:38] » Second.

[33:40] All right. We have a motion and a second

[33:42] to reject. Any discussion before we let

[33:45] Clint present his

[33:49] views?

[33:51] All right, seeing none, Clint, go ahead.

[33:53] » Good morning, commissioners. Judge,

[33:55] happy birthday, Commissioner.

[33:56] » Um, the last time we were up here

[33:59] discussing early voting locations, the

[34:01] court um told me, "Don't come back with

[34:03] the same list. Go do your homework. look

[34:06] at the the locations and bring forth

[34:08] something um that you can support and

[34:10] that you've done your some analysis on

[34:12] and something that will support the the

[34:14] voters. And so that's what we did. We

[34:16] went back, we looked, we looked at voter

[34:18] turnout, um looking at the locations, we

[34:21] calculated what is it, how how many

[34:24] voters can we actually process at a

[34:26] location per hour on average, that's 104

[34:29] voters per hour per location with an

[34:32] average wait time of about 10 and a half

[34:33] minutes. So that's kind of the peak

[34:35] velocity that we're looking at um with

[34:38] the max weight time or the average

[34:39] weight time. So as we were looking and

[34:42] especially our early voting locations,

[34:44] we went back and said, "Okay, 2023,

[34:46] what's our turnout?" That was the

[34:48] highest turnout oddyear election that

[34:50] we've had recently compared to 21 a 19

[34:54] um 23 had it. So I went through added

[34:57] 10% to that number to increase just for

[35:01] some growth. Um, traditionally we don't

[35:03] see 10% but went for 10%. And then uh

[35:07] calculated the velocity. How many

[35:09] locations would we need on the busiest

[35:10] day of early voting to process those

[35:13] voters? And it's 12. 12 v locations

[35:17] could process the busiest day of early

[35:19] voting in 23 adding an extra 10%. Um,

[35:23] and then we went back looked at same

[35:25] thing for election day. What's it going

[35:27] to take? Um unfortunately our odd year

[35:30] elections they just don't get the

[35:32] turnout. Um early voting we saw it had

[35:36] 10% the turnout that we saw in 2024

[35:38] during early voting in 23. And overall

[35:42] for the 23 election even though it was

[35:44] higher it still didn't even hit 13%

[35:46] voter turnout. Um, so on election day,

[35:49] doing the math, looking at it, it would

[35:51] take approximately 80 locations to

[35:53] handle the volume of voters that that we

[35:56] would receive even with the 10%

[35:58] increase. Clearly, um, we have many,

[36:02] many more locations like that available

[36:04] or for available that we could use um,

[36:06] and had used in the past. So then we

[36:09] went back and looked and said, okay, if

[36:11] if 12's what'll handle it,

[36:14] how do we make cuts? Where do we look?

[36:16] How do we make sure we get the best

[36:17] locations we can? So, we started every

[36:19] every location, it has to be ADA

[36:21] compliant. That's the first thing we

[36:22] look at. We check make sure that every

[36:25] single one of our locations is ADA

[36:27] compliant. And then we went back and we

[36:29] looked at the voter turnout. Where do

[36:30] the people choose to show up? Um, and we

[36:33] couldn't just take, you know, the 12

[36:35] highest turnout locations and throw

[36:37] those on a map because it clearly it

[36:39] puts them all in specific areas and and

[36:41] you have big gaps all over the map. So,

[36:43] we also had to look at how do we get

[36:45] locations spread around the county uh to

[36:48] to ensure that there is accessibility

[36:50] the the distance isn't too great uh for

[36:53] anybody to get there. And in doing that,

[36:55] we looked if we had two locations that

[36:57] were really really close to each other,

[36:59] the location that had the higher turnout

[37:01] was the one we would keep in in order to

[37:03] get there. And we also looked at the

[37:05] spaces in in the polling locations. Are

[37:08] they large enough to allow us to to have

[37:10] more equipment than normal? If we're

[37:12] going to use a few less locations, can

[37:15] we add some equipment to ensure that

[37:17] we're we're not creating extra lines and

[37:19] we can we can process these voters? And

[37:21] so we picked locations that that did

[37:23] have that space. And then um more

[37:26] importantly for early voting than

[37:29] election day uh recent legislative

[37:32] changes call for election equipment um

[37:35] when it is stored or when it's being

[37:37] used during the election it must be

[37:39] stored in a in a separate locked room.

[37:42] Uh, so we looked at our polling

[37:44] locations that gave us that for early

[37:46] voting that had the separate locked room

[37:48] because anything that would be in a

[37:49] common area would require the staff to

[37:51] tear everything down every night, store

[37:54] it, lock it up, then set everything up

[37:56] in the morning. And generally during

[37:58] election, we only set the equipment up

[37:59] once and we tear it down once. So doing

[38:01] that for 12 days, obviously you

[38:03] introduce a lot of risk um to the

[38:06] locations opening on time, um equipment

[38:09] breaking due to the use. Um, so we

[38:11] looked at those locations that that were

[38:13] going to give us

[38:15] and meet those types of requirements.

[38:19] Um, on the list you're going to see that

[38:20] there there are four locations that

[38:22] weren't used in 23 and that's um Forest

[38:26] Hill, the town hall. That's that takes

[38:28] the place of the Forest Hill Community

[38:30] Center. That was a decision Forest Hill

[38:32] made um in order to switch that

[38:34] location. Um then we now have the

[38:38] Arlington Active Center which is taking

[38:40] the place of the Run Wright Library. Um

[38:44] it's a brand new space. They're giving

[38:46] us a much bigger space. It's very close

[38:48] to the Run Wright Library and it's just

[38:51] a much better space and we'll be able to

[38:53] better handle the voters. So, um we're

[38:55] very thankful that that the city of

[38:56] Arlington is allowing us to use that

[38:57] one. Um and then we looked at the the

[39:00] North Park YMCA.

[39:02] Um they allowed us to move in to replace

[39:04] the Golden Triangle location. Although

[39:06] Golden Triangle would get good turnout,

[39:09] the parking and in and out was was very

[39:11] very difficult. And what end would end

[39:13] up happening is voters would park in the

[39:17] field across the street and they would

[39:19] play Frogger across Golden Triangle to

[39:21] get to the polling location. Um so

[39:23] obviously not the best situation and we

[39:25] were able to find a better one for that

[39:26] one. And then um you'll see that we have

[39:29] Sagenov Public Library which is taking

[39:32] the place of

[39:35] um TCC Northwest which took the place of

[39:38] Eagle Mountain Sagen ISD building

[39:40] because the Eagle Mountain Saga ISD

[39:42] building is no longer there. They tore

[39:43] it down. Um so we we had shifted to DCC

[39:47] Northwest but then we were able to get

[39:49] the Sagena Public Library which has far

[39:51] better parking a much better space to

[39:53] utilize to assist the voters. So, with

[39:56] all of the proposed locations, um, we're

[40:00] looking at an average distance of about

[40:01] 4 and a half miles between locations.

[40:03] Now, there is the longest distance is 10

[40:06] miles, and it's the AEL um, ISDPD up

[40:09] there in the northwest corner with the

[40:10] lake. There's we just don't have

[40:13] anything else around it. Um, now these

[40:17] recommended lists are the bare minimum

[40:21] that we would recommend. Um, we wouldn't

[40:23] recommend going any lower than this um

[40:26] to to assist the voters. Um, when we

[40:30] were looking there, there were a few

[40:32] that I wanted to brief the court on that

[40:33] that were very very tough decisions. And

[40:35] when we were looking at getting the down

[40:38] to the bare minimum, that's that's what

[40:41] this list includes. But KO Community

[40:43] Center is is one location that that we

[40:46] really really struggled with um in

[40:48] including on the list. But again, we've

[40:51] got down to the bare minimum knowing

[40:53] that the court can can make changes and

[40:55] um if they wish to add could um it it

[40:58] where it's located turnout it's it's

[41:00] right there kind of in that gray area

[41:02] and it very easily could have been added

[41:04] to the list. Um the other location is

[41:06] the Legacy Learning Center. although

[41:09] very low turnout, it's it's kind of up

[41:11] in the north section there and there's

[41:13] just not a lot around it and uh could

[41:16] also would be um a good one to consider

[41:18] adding to the list of the 24. And then

[41:21] um the last area we looked at is in the

[41:25] North Richland Hills area. We had a

[41:28] group of four locations that really are

[41:30] right on top of each other and but

[41:32] there's there's still really good

[41:34] turnout in that area and the Bedford

[41:36] Public Library gets the most turnout in

[41:38] that area and looking at our decision to

[41:41] pick the location that gets the best

[41:42] turnout. That's the one that that we

[41:44] ended up choosing. But due to the

[41:47] turnout in that area, um we could see

[41:50] adding either of the um Northeast Subort

[41:54] House or the Brookside Community Center

[41:56] to to assist with that volume. So again,

[41:59] this is kind of that that bare minimum

[42:01] that we believe we can execute and and

[42:05] pull off the election. the election day

[42:08] locations. There was a change in the

[42:10] statute in 23

[42:13] that required

[42:15] changed how we calculated the bare

[42:16] minimum and that got us to a required

[42:19] number of locations of 347.

[42:22] The legislature this past legislative

[42:24] session went back rescended that pulled

[42:27] it back to what it used to be and now

[42:29] the the number of locations that we must

[42:32] have on election day is 212. The list

[42:35] before you has 214 locations. Um, we

[42:39] didn't go all the even though the math

[42:41] says 80. Um, we didn't go all the way to

[42:44] 212 because to leave a little bit of

[42:46] wiggle room if generally something does

[42:48] happen to a location between now and

[42:50] election day, one falls off, pipes

[42:52] burst, things happen in order to make

[42:54] sure that that we hit that mark. Um, but

[42:57] 212 is as far as we could go. And again,

[42:59] we were looking at locations, which one

[43:01] provides the best voter access in the

[43:04] use. Um, something else that to consider

[43:07] is we have recently had um several

[43:11] entities are sending us their notices

[43:13] that they're going to be joining in in

[43:14] the election. And then the entities can

[43:16] choose on their own to to add locations

[43:19] that they pay for for for their um

[43:22] elections. And the ones that we would

[43:24] anticipate probably doing that um are

[43:27] Halum City, which usually they they use

[43:30] the city senior center andor the Halum

[43:33] Library. Um the city of River Oaks and

[43:36] they may request the River Oaks annex.

[43:38] City of Hurst, they may request the

[43:40] Brookside Center. Um we got the city of

[43:43] North Richel Hills and they they most

[43:46] likely would pick either the city hall

[43:48] or the the library. Um and then

[43:51] Northwest ISD is has just called a

[43:54] special election and they they may in

[43:57] turn want the Legacy Learning Center and

[44:00] then uh Kennedale also has is on there

[44:02] and they may request Doberh Hall um when

[44:05] and joining in those elections. So

[44:08] that's that's kind of the

[44:10] 10,000 view of of what we did, what we

[44:13] went back and considered to get to this

[44:15] again. This this proposal is the bare

[44:17] minimum that that we believe we could

[44:19] use to to have a good election. Um but

[44:24] there there were some some tough cuts

[44:26] that that were made and we could see um

[44:28] adding a few as well.

[44:29] » All right. I have some questions for

[44:30] you. How much does this save over the

[44:33] last election?

[44:35] » Over the last election, I didn't

[44:37] calculate. We were looking at the the

[44:39] just the reduction in cost of polling

[44:40] locations and it's over a million

[44:41] dollars. Okay.

[44:43] Did any member of this court

[44:46] ask you to put something on this list or

[44:49] take something off this list?

[44:53] » So after it was published obviously I

[44:56] received some phone calls and was asked

[44:57] to make changes to the list.

[44:59] » Okay.

[44:59] » Um

[45:00] » Let me then let me let me start with

[45:01] this. Did anybody prior is this your

[45:04] list?

[45:05] » So this elections list is

[45:07] » Yes this is elections list. myself, my

[45:08] team, every location that was

[45:10] recommended is a location that we

[45:12] recommended. Every location that didn't

[45:15] did not make the cut that we cut was a

[45:18] location that we chose to cut. Not a

[45:20] member of the court selected any one of

[45:22] those locations or asked us to remove

[45:25] any of those locations. This this

[45:27] proposal is purely ours um and and our

[45:29] recommendations.

[45:30] » Okay. So,

[45:32] um,

[45:34] after

[45:36] the county went to countywide voting,

[45:39] which I believe was 2019,

[45:42] is that right?

[45:43] » Correct.

[45:45] Elections told the court, not a single

[45:48] member is sitting here today that

[45:50] received this, but elections told the

[45:52] court after a handful of elections, they

[45:55] would go back and look at what they

[45:57] could cut because

[46:00] it with the countywide, you can now vote

[46:03] anywhere.

[46:05] Can you confirm what I just said to be

[46:07] accurate?

[46:07] » Correct, Judge. the the my understanding

[46:10] the uh the initial agreement was we're

[46:12] going to use everything that we have and

[46:13] then eventually they would go back and

[46:15] look at the locations and then reduce in

[46:18] areas that they thought they could um to

[46:20] get the cost savings. Unfortunately that

[46:22] that didn't happen prior to me then 23

[46:24] with the legislative change mandating

[46:27] that that 347 polling locations. It just

[46:31] didn't give us the room. Um if you all

[46:33] remember we were scrambling to get to

[46:37] 347 just to meet the requirement.

[46:39] » Does um

[46:42] so the first time this analysis was

[46:44] actually done was in was for ahead of

[46:47] this 2025 constitutional amendment

[46:50] election.

[46:50] » Correct. Okay. Besides the

[46:53] constitutional amendments,

[46:55] um, which I would venture to guess 99%

[46:57] of the public cannot name a single thing

[46:59] on there, and if they can name it, it's

[47:01] the homestead exemption.

[47:04] I know there's Senate District 9 is on

[47:07] there. Is there any other election for

[47:10] office?

[47:13] » For office, I don't believe so. I

[47:15] believe most of the cities are

[47:16] propositions.

[47:17] » Okay. Um

[47:20] » So um is there any law that requires us

[47:22] to have the same amount of same amount

[47:24] of polling locations for each election?

[47:26] » No.

[47:27] » Okay. Um

[47:30] how much does it cost to operate

[47:33] approximately? It's probably different

[47:34] for each one. How much does it cost

[47:36] approximately to operate one early

[47:38] voting location?

[47:39] » On average a little over $10,300.

[47:43] So, I went we went back and looked at

[47:46] some numbers. And so, I'm looking at the

[47:50] 2023

[47:53] constitutional amendment election.

[47:56] We had an early voting location that

[47:59] had, and I I did some math. My math

[48:01] could be off by a handful of hours,

[48:05] but uh we had one location that had over

[48:09] the course of what I believe was 12 days

[48:11] of early voting

[48:13] and

[48:15] I I think it was about 120 hours of

[48:18] being open. We had one location that had

[48:21] 95 people vote the entire time.

[48:23] » Correct.

[48:24] » We had another location that had 116

[48:26] people vote the entire time. So 10, if

[48:31] you just do some quick math, that lowest

[48:34] one, literally less than eight people

[48:36] per day,

[48:38] less than a voter per hour.

[48:42] And so you've gone through and cut a lot

[48:44] of those locations for 2023,

[48:47] » Correct?

[48:48] » This is not your recommended list for

[48:51] 2025, is it?

[48:53] » No, it's not, Judge.

[48:53] » Okay.

[48:59] There were several legislative changes.

[49:01] You you briefly mentioned that. One of

[49:03] them was the Springer bill

[49:07] that came out and said you had to have

[49:09] one voting location in 2023,

[49:12] I think is when they passed it. You had

[49:15] to have one voting location for every

[49:16] two precincts. There was some more

[49:18] nuance to it, but that was it. That's

[49:20] what required us to have 347.

[49:23] multiple counties, multiple elected

[49:25] officials complained, said, "You're

[49:27] making us waste money." I think LA, I

[49:29] think for the presidential election, how

[49:31] many total votes were there? 830

[49:33] something thousand.

[49:34] » Yes, Judge.

[49:35] » And we had 349 locations on election day

[49:38] and it was 20% of the vote

[49:40] approximately.

[49:42] » Close a little over 20%. Yes, Judge.

[49:45] » Um, and we had locations that were

[49:47] vacant for hours.

[49:50] » Yes, Judge. So

[49:53] they changed the Springer bill as it

[49:55] became known down in Austin to that

[49:58] allows us to go down to what on election

[50:02] day locations

[50:03] » 212

[50:04] » 212 and so your recommendation 214

[50:07] » Correct

[50:07] » All right so last

[50:10] year I guess it was when we had this

[50:12] discussion

[50:14] and I did not pull this information so

[50:16] this is purely from memory but on uh

[50:20] election day

[50:23] we had one precinct with a 100 locations

[50:26] and another precinct with 80 locations

[50:29] are the numbers that stick out in my

[50:31] head and then another one maybe had 82

[50:33] maybe had 84 and I think the message

[50:36] that was delivered by a majority of

[50:38] folks up here was

[50:41] it's too late now to go create

[50:42] uniformity but we want something more

[50:46] evenly balanced. Is this more evenly

[50:49] balanced?

[50:50] » Yes, there's a difference of one between

[50:53] the precincts.

[50:54] » Okay. Um

[51:01] I told you I said it was 839,000. It was

[51:03] 828,000 people.

[51:06] 544 voted in 2024

[51:10] election and the 2023 election had

[51:13] 156,220.

[51:16] So uh

[51:20] what is that? I mean that is is that 20%

[51:23] even? It's not even 20%.

[51:30] There was one one other question.

[51:33] One of the legislative changes

[51:37] said something to the effect of this

[51:39] past session said something to the

[51:42] effect of

[51:46] And as you talked about it when you

[51:47] picking up pack picking up pack up every

[51:50] day there has to be a secure room for it

[51:53] to happen for it to be in that you have

[51:56] access to at all times.

[51:58] » Correct.

[51:59] » Were there any

[52:01] locations that said they could not

[52:03] accommodate that?

[52:05] » The specifically two that we reached out

[52:07] to UTA and TCC TCC Southeast both said

[52:11] that they could not accommodate that.

[52:12] Okay. All

[52:16] right, I think that's all the questions

[52:17] I have.

[52:19] » Any other questions or comments? Go

[52:21] ahead.

[52:21] » I've got one. Clint, thanks for all your

[52:23] work on this and to your staff. I know

[52:24] it was painstaking, took a lot of time.

[52:27] What kind of partisan analysis went into

[52:30] these decisions?

[52:31] » Zero.

[52:32] » Okay. Thank you.

[52:37] » So, um,

[52:38] » Commissioner Ramirez just rec

[52:39] » Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see.

[52:41] » Go ahead if you'd like. Oh, you're

[52:43] you're fine.

[52:46] » I jumped I jumped in and did go for it.

[52:49] Go ahead. Go ahead.

[52:49] » Because I'm you know I'm longwinded. Go

[52:51] ahead. Go ahead.

[52:52] » Okay. So, uh it it was good to hear some

[52:55] details from our election administrator

[52:59] today. Um but let's let's kind of talk

[53:02] about process. Um and you just heard a

[53:06] previous speaker discuss process uh with

[53:10] regard to the budget. Um,

[53:14] and I don't know if anyone up here wants

[53:17] to admit to having had input on these

[53:20] list. Um, or how about

[53:25] did the elections administrator

[53:28] schedule meetings with you or your staff

[53:30] to go over this? Probably could have

[53:33] gotten a lot of your great questions

[53:35] answered if if he had stopped by and

[53:38] visited uh with each of us. Like it's

[53:41] customary when executive staff has

[53:45] policy, procedure, changes, initiatives,

[53:49] ideas, you come and get our input um and

[53:53] feedback and try to go and mash it up

[53:56] and make it work. Uh but that that

[53:59] didn't that didn't happen. So, I saw the

[54:03] um list on the agenda, called him,

[54:06] talked to him about an hour and asked

[54:09] for

[54:10] analysis. Where's your where's your

[54:13] analysis? Where's your data? Um,

[54:17] and he got this got this to got this to

[54:22] me on Sat Saturday.

[54:26] that that's that's not

[54:28] analysis and data um of the election

[54:33] process

[54:35] uh for a county of 2.2 million people.

[54:40] Um so I don't have

[54:44] faith. I don't trust the process that

[54:46] was used. It wasn't um

[54:50] forget forget the commissioner's court.

[54:52] It wasn't transparent to you. there was

[54:55] no opportunity to participate, give

[54:57] input. There are a good number of you in

[55:01] that audience that knows elections,

[55:06] polling places, the whole gamut better

[55:08] than any of us and even better than

[55:11] Clint. Um, and so to not go to the

[55:15] community, the parties, the

[55:18] commissioner's court,

[55:20] um, I have a I have a problem with that.

[55:23] So there's no evidence

[55:26] that due diligence was um conducted by

[55:32] um the elections administrator. He

[55:34] single-handedly

[55:36] developed these lists without guidance

[55:39] and input from the five member governing

[55:42] body u the top leadership in this

[55:46] county. So to to me today is not a day

[55:50] to vote on these list. Um,

[55:55] we I think we need to have a special uh

[55:58] a specially called meeting um to to

[56:02] settle this issue. Get get me the data.

[56:05] I'm interested in the data. It sounds

[56:07] like the judge is yet a lot of

[56:08] questions. Um to see how we got here.

[56:13] How did we get to a place where we will

[56:17] be causing massive voter confusion?

[56:21] Let's let's just start with that. Um

[56:25] impeding

[56:26] and limiting access to the ballot box.

[56:31] There these voters, me included. You can

[56:34] call me a senior citizen if you want to.

[56:36] I'm 62. Um

[56:40] have a specific place they like to vote.

[56:44] I

[56:46] am stunned that you and they people out

[56:50] there probably stunned too about

[56:52] particular sites. I'm stunned that you

[56:56] uh removed the Bob Duncan Center in

[56:59] Arlington. It is incredible. Senior

[57:02] citizens,

[57:03] white um Hispanic and some black that

[57:09] frequent the Bob Duncan Center. I I

[57:12] could go on, but um I I think that

[57:16] um you know, I would amend my motion to

[57:20] to table this so we can at least get the

[57:23] data, be able to analyze it as court

[57:26] members, um give input. You mentioned

[57:30] the new state law uh with regard to I

[57:34] think secure rooms at um colleges and

[57:38] universities. I have relationships with

[57:40] my college presidents. I could text them

[57:43] and say, "Hey, can you get us a secure

[57:45] room?" And I I just I don't think that

[57:48] would be a problem. But you didn't you

[57:50] didn't check check with the people who

[57:54] know their precincts extremely well with

[57:58] the people who are connected to the

[58:01] people. Um

[58:03] » Actually commissioner specifically with

[58:05] UTA I did reach directly out to your

[58:07] office and ask if you could make contact

[58:10] on the the instru when I was looking at

[58:12] going in the instruction I received from

[58:13] your office is that you yourself wanted

[58:15] to handle that communication. I did

[58:17] follow up and spoke with Gabe and he he

[58:19] had mentioned that he had looked and

[58:21] they were not willing to move us out of

[58:23] um that community center or the the

[58:27] Maverick Center.

[58:28] » Okay. Um so my My aim here is to

[58:34] not vote on this today until we get some

[58:39] data um that we can that we can look at.

[58:44] » So, is that an amendment to your own

[58:46] motion?

[58:47] » Yes, I can. Um

[58:48] » And what is your amendment?

[58:50] » Uh

[58:51] I move to amend my motion to table the

[58:55] vote on the list today.

[58:57] » Why don't you just revoke your motion?

[59:00] um your original motion.

[59:01] » I'll ask the

[59:02] » Withdraw your withdraw your amendment.

[59:04] Withdraw your motion and make a new

[59:06] motion.

[59:06] » I'll take I'll take my advice from

[59:08] council.

[59:09] » Either way is fine, Commissioner. Um I

[59:12] would suggest uh here to be clear on

[59:15] what the record is to take the approach

[59:18] of withdrawing the previous motion

[59:20] rather than amending it and perhaps

[59:22] causing some vaguess or confusion and

[59:24] just make a straight uh motion to

[59:26] postpone to u the next meeting whether

[59:29] it be a special call to regularly

[59:32] scheduled.

[59:33] » Thank you sir.

[59:35] So I would draw my initial motion. My

[59:39] » Is there a requirement for a for the

[59:41] second to with to agree to that?

[59:44] » Is there or is once they once it's

[59:46] withdrawn it's withdrawn?

[59:48] » I I I would say that in this instance uh

[59:50] if the motion is withdrawn there would

[59:53] be no requirement for a second on this.

[59:55] » So it's withdrawn.

[59:56] » All right. So I move to table the vote

[1:00:00] uh on item I3.

[1:00:03] I

[1:00:03] » We have a motion to table the vote on

[1:00:05] I3.

[1:00:06] » Second.

[1:00:07] » We have a second.

[1:00:09] » All right. Further discussion,

[1:00:11] questions, comments for Clint or each

[1:00:13] other before speakers?

[1:00:15] » I've got plenty of questions, Clint. Um

[1:00:17] and I appreciate you touching base with

[1:00:18] me last night um to answer some of them.

[1:00:21] Uh obviously, I think you're you're

[1:00:23] figuring out that communication uh

[1:00:26] probably would have gone a long way to

[1:00:27] answer questions on the front end. Um,

[1:00:29] you know, when I saw the list, first of

[1:00:31] all, I I applaud you and your staff for

[1:00:33] going through and and trying to be

[1:00:35] analytical and data driven as we were

[1:00:37] selecting these sites. Uh, as you

[1:00:39] mentioned that there are a lot of

[1:00:40] efficiencies to be found in a lot of

[1:00:42] places where um there was waste in in

[1:00:45] some of these locations where people

[1:00:46] were sitting around not doing much. Um,

[1:00:48] perhaps their efforts could could be

[1:00:50] used to funnel people to other locations

[1:00:53] as opposed to sitting in vacant areas.

[1:00:54] So, I appreciate you doing that and

[1:00:56] culling uh the the lowhanging fruit, so

[1:00:58] to speak. Uh some of them that didn't

[1:01:00] make sense to me, though, when I saw

[1:01:02] this proposal were ones that I know to

[1:01:05] be historically utilized uh very

[1:01:07] heavily. Um ones that, you know,

[1:01:10] candidates campaign ad, ones that have

[1:01:13] convenient parking, ones that are in

[1:01:15] unique uh areas. Um we talked about the

[1:01:18] KO community center last night. I think

[1:01:20] that's one that's very heavily used um

[1:01:22] by all of the surrounding communities

[1:01:24] there. Um when you when I think about

[1:01:26] Fort Worth in particular, and that's

[1:01:28] what I'll focus on here. Um you know,

[1:01:30] some of these neighborhoods are like

[1:01:32] cities in and of themselves. And so when

[1:01:34] you think about North Side, you may say,

[1:01:36] well, it's close proximity just north of

[1:01:38] the stockyards to downtown. Um well, not

[1:01:41] many folks from North Side are going

[1:01:42] into downtown every single day for any

[1:01:44] other reason. Um, so a convenient

[1:01:46] location in that area makes sense. You

[1:01:49] think about the same thing for Westside.

[1:01:50] You could say that's that's KOMO

[1:01:52] Community Center. Um, because the

[1:01:53] closest one to that one is the Southwest

[1:01:56] Subcourthouse. Um, and that's or the

[1:01:59] Benbrook Community Center, whichever one

[1:02:01] you you map it, and then they're about 5

[1:02:02] miles away or seven miles away, whatever

[1:02:04] you want to say. Uh, and then also the

[1:02:06] the the last question I'll ask, and I

[1:02:08] know I'm saying a lot, the last question

[1:02:10] is about TCC Northwest. Um, you know,

[1:02:12] that's right off of the freeway. It's a

[1:02:14] much different uh geography than going

[1:02:16] into Maroy and into Sagenol to get to

[1:02:19] the library. So, um just just kind of

[1:02:22] piece by piece what your justification

[1:02:24] was for those because what I was hoping

[1:02:26] to hear was that there was some

[1:02:28] scientific method that based it on

[1:02:30] population uh on geography. Um but I

[1:02:34] didn't hear that. I heard that that

[1:02:35] there was a lot of of of things that

[1:02:37] were kind of left discretionary, which I

[1:02:40] don't mind. You're the elections expert,

[1:02:41] not us. However, seeing uh these

[1:02:44] communities as individual communities

[1:02:47] and and especially the sites that have a

[1:02:50] history of being heavily utilized, uh I

[1:02:52] really would need a strong justification

[1:02:54] as to why we're going to cancel those

[1:02:55] out. But again, I support the effort in

[1:02:58] the aggregate. I mean, I think you you

[1:03:00] had a mission and you came back and I

[1:03:02] and I'm actually glad that it was

[1:03:04] independent um that that you decided to

[1:03:07] do this on your own. I'm glad for that.

[1:03:10] But but again, I think you're seeing

[1:03:12] some of the pitfalls by not checking in

[1:03:14] even after you had your first proposal.

[1:03:15] So, um, if you would start by explaining

[1:03:18] justification on COMO.

[1:03:20] » So, COMO, like I said, that one was was

[1:03:22] a very difficult one that we went back

[1:03:24] and forth on, and that's why I brought

[1:03:25] it up specifically as one that

[1:03:27] potentially would be worth adding. Um,

[1:03:30] we it's it's right there on the border

[1:03:31] because we got Brookside and Diane, the

[1:03:34] Southeast Subcourthouse, Taran County

[1:03:36] Plaza, it's kind of right in that area.

[1:03:38] So there's there's the capacity to

[1:03:40] handle the voters that were there, but

[1:03:42] understanding it's it's just kind of far

[1:03:45] enough. It was it was a very difficult

[1:03:47] one. And that one was

[1:03:50] we were trying to get down to the bare

[1:03:51] minimum saying we this is the least we

[1:03:54] could use to make this happen, but

[1:03:56] anything that we add obviously would

[1:03:58] would increase and add some benefit um

[1:04:01] to a point. So, that one it it was a

[1:04:03] very difficult one to to to cut and

[1:04:05] hence the reason I highlighted that one

[1:04:08] as possibly one to add. The uh North

[1:04:10] Side Community Center, that one the the

[1:04:13] location um not the not the greatest

[1:04:16] location and they had 160 voters in 12

[1:04:20] days. Um and so it just it it was near

[1:04:24] the very bottom of voter turnout. And

[1:04:26] so, um we chose not to include that one.

[1:04:30] Um, even though you know we have

[1:04:32] » Which one are you referring to right

[1:04:34] now?

[1:04:34] » North Side Community Center.

[1:04:36] » Is that what you asked?

[1:04:37] » Yeah.

[1:04:38] » Okay.

[1:04:39] » Well, I I asked specifically North Side

[1:04:42] Fort Worth. If if there were a

[1:04:44] convenient voting location that you

[1:04:46] identified for that particular area.

[1:04:49] » Yeah. The only the only location that we

[1:04:52] have kind of in that area is the North

[1:04:54] Side Community Center, and it only had

[1:04:55] 160 voters

[1:04:58] for for early voting. Well, I think

[1:04:59] North Side Community Center and and

[1:05:01] Diamond Hill Jarvis Library, correct?

[1:05:05] » Those are in close.

[1:05:06] » Um

[1:05:08] I guess Diamond Hill, if that is

[1:05:11] technically North Fort Worth, it's so

[1:05:13] far north. So, yeah, Diamond Hill is

[1:05:15] there, but the unfortunately the law

[1:05:17] requires that the election center be a

[1:05:19] polling location. So, I had to have my

[1:05:22] location, which is just down the street

[1:05:24] from Diamond Hill. Um, so we had that

[1:05:26] one and and I can't cut my location,

[1:05:30] although the turnout would say we

[1:05:32] should. Um, the law won't allow it or I

[1:05:34] would.

[1:05:36] » And TCC Northwest

[1:05:38] » TCC Northwest um parking has been an

[1:05:41] issue there historically. And then um

[1:05:43] the that one does give us um it's kind

[1:05:46] of a fishbowl thing that they put us in,

[1:05:50] but they have to go and remove all the

[1:05:51] furniture. We go in set up and then we

[1:05:54] have to pull out. They go in and put all

[1:05:56] the furniture back in. And we the Sagon

[1:05:58] Public Library has much better parking,

[1:06:00] a much better room um to to handle those

[1:06:03] those voters. So, we chose the the Syon

[1:06:06] Public Library because it is a new

[1:06:07] facility that that that has just now

[1:06:09] become available for us.

[1:06:11] » Yeah. I just I I look at and again this

[1:06:13] would have been great to have this

[1:06:14] conversation um you know a couple of

[1:06:16] weeks ago uh in an office somewhere

[1:06:18] where we could plot these things on a

[1:06:20] map uh because when you look at just

[1:06:22] demographically I'm very familiar with

[1:06:24] the area. It's where I grew up. So I

[1:06:25] know everybody that's going to Sagenol

[1:06:27] Library is coming from the north down

[1:06:29] and then primarily everybody that's

[1:06:31] going to go to TCC Northwest is probably

[1:06:32] coming from with inside the loop up. Um

[1:06:34] that's probably how it's how it works

[1:06:36] out uh every year. So it's not like the

[1:06:39] same voters are going to same places.

[1:06:40] Now, I I say all that I mean, I know you

[1:06:42] can't have an election center on every

[1:06:44] single corner. Uh, and you can't

[1:06:46] anticipate all of these things. And

[1:06:48] again, I I think you put forward a good

[1:06:51] effort in trying to accomplish the the

[1:06:53] marching orders that I think you got

[1:06:54] after the last uh exercise on voting

[1:06:57] centers. Um but but on these I mean to

[1:07:00] to get comfortable with this I mean I I

[1:07:02] I really would like to see KOMO added uh

[1:07:05] potentially TCC Northwest and

[1:07:07] potentially something in North Side

[1:07:09] Fort. The uh one other thing on TCC

[1:07:12] Northwest is out of the 44 locations in

[1:07:15] in 23 it was in the bottom 10 for

[1:07:18] turnout. Um, so there was another reason

[1:07:21] um to not utilize that and shift to the

[1:07:23] library because the library having

[1:07:24] better parking, better access, we

[1:07:26] thought might help increase the turnout

[1:07:28] as well.

[1:07:30] » Anything else over here?

[1:07:32] » I I'll say one more.

[1:07:33] » Uh, thank uh Clinton, when we talked, I

[1:07:36] know everything was driven by just pure

[1:07:39] voter turnout, and I think that's the

[1:07:41] right way to do it. I think what you

[1:07:42] were looking at I understand some of the

[1:07:44] concerns uh Commissioner RmIrez was just

[1:07:46] talking about. Um but I I actually

[1:07:49] appreciated that that that's how you

[1:07:51] looked at it. What's the most efficient

[1:07:52] effective way to handle this election to

[1:07:55] get people where they need to go where

[1:07:56] they've already shown us that they're

[1:07:57] showing up to vote at the ballot boxes.

[1:07:59] Let's take our resources there so we get

[1:08:01] people in more efficiently, more

[1:08:03] effectively. I think that was actually

[1:08:04] really well done. Um, I guess my uh my

[1:08:08] thought when when we're saying we

[1:08:10] didn't, you know, it was a unilateral

[1:08:12] decision. Why was he the one doing all

[1:08:14] this? Sounds like you were the one

[1:08:15] tasked with that. And so when we tell

[1:08:17] you, please go do this for us, it seems

[1:08:19] disingenuous for the court then to say,

[1:08:21] why did you make these decisions? I

[1:08:23] understand we need some more

[1:08:24] communication, but um that's what you

[1:08:26] were charged to do and that's what you

[1:08:28] came back. And so again, I applaud that

[1:08:29] effort. Um, if we vote down the motion

[1:08:32] to table, um, and what I was going to

[1:08:34] come in and be prepared to do, uh, right

[1:08:36] away was to, uh, move to adopt the

[1:08:39] voting centers that you had, but add

[1:08:41] three. And one was Como. I I think we

[1:08:44] ought to add KOMO in. From our

[1:08:45] conversations yesterday, that one was

[1:08:47] right there on the margins. Um, and

[1:08:50] there's really no other good

[1:08:52] geographical location that that the

[1:08:54] people in that community can get to very

[1:08:56] easily. Um, so I thought Ko was good.

[1:08:59] The Legacy Learning Center up in HLlett

[1:09:01] uh I also think was good. I was going to

[1:09:03] move to add that one because as you said

[1:09:04] that gap for that 10 miles as there's

[1:09:07] not much there and as Commissioner

[1:09:08] RmIrez knows better than anybody.

[1:09:10] Hasllett and anywhere is hard to get

[1:09:12] around Bonds Ranch Road. You probably

[1:09:13] need something closer to there to get

[1:09:15] all those people in that area done. Um

[1:09:18] and then based on our conversation the

[1:09:20] the Northeast Subcourthouse. Now, having

[1:09:22] said that, I would say that's the third

[1:09:24] in in terms of priority because we do

[1:09:27] have the Bedford Public Library. Um, so

[1:09:30] if if somebody else wanted to add

[1:09:31] something there, I get that. But based

[1:09:33] on our conversations, those were like

[1:09:35] the three that were right on the edge

[1:09:36] that we're no longer having. So, I'm

[1:09:39] prepared to make a motion uh if if we

[1:09:41] don't table it to adopt your map, but

[1:09:43] add KOMO Legacy Learning Center in the

[1:09:45] Northeast Subcourthouse unless there's a

[1:09:48] overwhelming uh reason to adopt one of

[1:09:50] the other ones. Um, but I appreciate

[1:09:52] your work and I think you've done a good

[1:09:53] job of hitting the target that we asked

[1:09:55] you to do. Um and and and I think

[1:09:58] everybody understands nobody's going to

[1:10:00] be completely excited or thrilled with

[1:10:02] losing uh precinct or voting locations,

[1:10:05] but that doesn't mean that that's not

[1:10:07] what we should do. So, thank you for

[1:10:09] your work.

[1:10:10] » Thank you.

[1:10:10] » I have a comment, judge.

[1:10:13] » The first thing I want to say is this.

[1:10:17] This is not about wasteful

[1:10:20] spending.

[1:10:22] This is about voter accessibility.

[1:10:26] Everybody deserves the the right to have

[1:10:28] a place that they are comfortable with

[1:10:31] and familiar with to go and to cast

[1:10:33] their vote.

[1:10:36] My people bled, died, and suffered and

[1:10:39] fought for the right to be able to vote.

[1:10:44] And to dismantle or to take those rights

[1:10:47] away from us that we worked hard to get

[1:10:50] is unacceptable on any level. It's not

[1:10:53] about money. It's about access.

[1:10:58] If it's only one person that goes to a

[1:11:00] voting site, so be it. That's one person

[1:11:04] that got to participate in the

[1:11:06] democratic process. It doesn't matter

[1:11:08] the cost. It matters making sure that

[1:11:12] everybody has access and the ability to

[1:11:15] go and vote and to let their voices be

[1:11:18] heard. If we want to really talk about

[1:11:20] it, let's talk about why there is voter

[1:11:22] apathy. Let's begin to build strategy

[1:11:26] around voter engagement. Instead of

[1:11:28] taking places away from people, we need

[1:11:30] to make it more accessible to the

[1:11:32] people. So, as we talk about voter

[1:11:35] access, in 2021, Taran County voters had

[1:11:39] 48 early voting sites and 323 election

[1:11:43] day polling locations.

[1:11:45] In 2023, early voting sites decreased

[1:11:48] slightly to 44, but election day sites

[1:11:52] actually increased to 330.

[1:11:54] Under this proposal for November 2025,

[1:11:58] voters would be left with only 24 early

[1:12:00] voting sites, a 50% cut, and 214

[1:12:05] election day polling sites, nearly

[1:12:08] onethird fewer than in 2021.

[1:12:12] Not to mention, many of the closures are

[1:12:15] concentrated inside the A20 loop,

[1:12:18] leaving Central Fort Worth, including

[1:12:21] historic black and brown neighborhoods,

[1:12:24] disproportionately affected. That, my

[1:12:26] friend, is problematic. While our

[1:12:29] college campus early voting sites have

[1:12:31] been eliminated, disenfranchising young

[1:12:34] voters, firsttime voters, and working

[1:12:37] students who depend on access accessible

[1:12:40] polling near their college campus.

[1:12:43] Let this sink in. The following cities

[1:12:46] have no early voting locations

[1:12:48] whatsoever. Everman, Kennedale, Halum

[1:12:52] City, Hurst, Ulis, and Edgecliffe. and

[1:12:57] there is only one location for the whole

[1:13:00] of Grand Prairie. That, my friend, is

[1:13:03] problematic.

[1:13:05] This comes on the heels of midterm

[1:13:08] redistricting battles that already

[1:13:10] weaken community representation.

[1:13:13] Now, reducing polling locations is a

[1:13:16] direct, in my opinion, a direct

[1:13:18] continuation of attacks on every

[1:13:20] citizen's fundamental right to vote.

[1:13:23] Once the number of polling places

[1:13:25] decreases, it rarely rebounds.

[1:13:29] The precedent being set here risks

[1:13:31] locking in long-term voter suppression.

[1:13:34] In my humble opinion, in the 2023

[1:13:38] election, turnout was just 12.48%

[1:13:41] of registered voters and five sites saw

[1:13:44] fewer than 300 voters. Instead of

[1:13:47] closing sites, again, we should be

[1:13:49] asking why turnout is so low and

[1:13:51] addressing excess barriers.

[1:13:54] Residents without cars who rely on

[1:13:57] public transit or who juggle multiple

[1:13:59] jobs will face the greatest burden when

[1:14:02] polling sites are miles farther away or

[1:14:05] reduced altogether. And let me add this,

[1:14:08] this is part of the systemic problem. We

[1:14:11] have people who do not connect and re

[1:14:13] resonate with the people in the

[1:14:15] community. We don't have people who are

[1:14:18] here who are making decisions who are

[1:14:20] poor, who work multiple jobs, who have

[1:14:23] transportation issues, who have child

[1:14:25] care issues and all of these barriers

[1:14:27] facing them, but they are the ones that

[1:14:29] are making the decisions for these

[1:14:30] individuals. We're leaving these people

[1:14:33] out of the process.

[1:14:35] We are making them invisible.

[1:14:38] And that ain't right. Our job is to

[1:14:41] represent every represented, every

[1:14:43] person in the county. The ones that look

[1:14:46] like us, the ones that don't look like

[1:14:48] us, the ones who have what we have, and

[1:14:50] the ones who don't. Everybody needs to

[1:14:52] be included in this process. And the way

[1:14:55] it is presently presented, they do not.

[1:14:59] And that's problematic. And we need to

[1:15:02] look at the humanness of ourselves and

[1:15:04] begin to see people for who they are and

[1:15:06] where they are and what they need and

[1:15:08] not make decisions and judgments based

[1:15:10] upon our experience and our lens.

[1:15:15] That's what we're doing. We're making

[1:15:17] decisions based upon our personal lens

[1:15:20] and we're not taking into account what

[1:15:22] the people who will be affected by this

[1:15:25] need.

[1:15:27] [Music]

[1:15:28] I want you to think about that.

[1:15:32] While state regulations and budgets

[1:15:34] create pressures, disenfranchising

[1:15:37] entire communities is not an acceptable

[1:15:40] solution.

[1:15:41] Democracy should not be sacrificed for

[1:15:45] administrative convenience or cost

[1:15:47] savings.

[1:15:49] Democracy in Taran County is being

[1:15:51] chipped away. First through

[1:15:53] redistricting, now through cuts, now to

[1:15:56] voting sites. This is not about

[1:15:58] efficiency. It's about eroding access

[1:16:01] and silencing voices.

[1:16:04] 60 years ago, these kinds of tactics

[1:16:08] were unacceptable and today they remain

[1:16:11] an insult to every voter in Taran

[1:16:14] County. And as I close my remarks, in

[1:16:17] the words of Dr. Martin Luther King,

[1:16:19] give us the vote. We're not asking for

[1:16:22] it. Give it to us because it belongs to

[1:16:25] us. Thank you.

[1:16:30] Sit down. I have something else.

[1:16:42] Okay. So, um this this plan as presented

[1:16:46] today, it just it makes it harder for

[1:16:49] people to vote. Not easier. And so

[1:16:53] making it easier for people to vote, I

[1:16:57] hopefully that's what we all want is

[1:17:01] more voter turnout. Um I've heard Clint

[1:17:04] say since I've been on this panel uh

[1:17:07] over and over he needs more polling

[1:17:10] locations. He has stood at that podium

[1:17:13] and said that repeatedly repeatedly.

[1:17:17] And so, um, we've got a perfectly good

[1:17:21] list of polling places from 2023.

[1:17:27] Use it. The ones that are not welcoming

[1:17:30] us back, of course, but use that. Now,

[1:17:34] make this make any sense to me, and um,

[1:17:38] Commissioner Krauss, I think, touched on

[1:17:40] it. The Northeast

[1:17:44] uh, Gary Ficus Subcourthouse

[1:17:48] number

[1:17:49] eight on the list of the highest vote

[1:17:53] getting polling places in the county,

[1:17:55] but he removed it.

[1:17:59] Uh

[1:18:00] that kind of thing has got to be

[1:18:03] explained. Um

[1:18:06] so

[1:18:09] people need to be able to vote without

[1:18:10] having to worry about trying to figure

[1:18:13] out where to go. Everybody's not going

[1:18:15] to jump on their phone and or try to

[1:18:17] find out what their precinct number is.

[1:18:20] U they're going to turn around and go

[1:18:21] home if it's not at the usual place that

[1:18:25] it's been at. And

[1:18:28] we know resources are not the problem.

[1:18:32] Um the the

[1:18:35] FY24

[1:18:37] fullear contract labor spend was 2.4 4

[1:18:41] million and the current budget allocates

[1:18:44] 3.3 million for contract labor. Uh so

[1:18:49] that gives us more than enough to fund

[1:18:52] the staffing needs to keep voting

[1:18:54] accessible.

[1:18:56] Uh you know, unless I'm wrong, but you

[1:19:00] can come by and tell me. I'm just I

[1:19:02] looked at your looked at the budget.

[1:19:05] Um so it feels like we're doing two

[1:19:08] things at the same time. We just

[1:19:09] finished drawing up a new map because

[1:19:12] our county is growing so fast, right? We

[1:19:15] just redistricted,

[1:19:18] got all these new people,

[1:19:21] we think, but then we turn right around

[1:19:24] and say we're going to cut our voting

[1:19:27] spots in half. Come on now. Come on. Um

[1:19:33] that just does not add up. And so when

[1:19:36] you take away places to vote from

[1:19:42] I can't even there's so many segments of

[1:19:45] the community that you're discriminating

[1:19:48] against. I it's hard to pick one. Senior

[1:19:51] citizens.

[1:19:53] You know, when you say UTA, you think

[1:19:56] the campus, but if you've lived in

[1:19:58] Arlington for almost 40 years, as I

[1:20:01] have, you know that neighborhood. And

[1:20:05] that neighborhood is a senior

[1:20:08] neighborhood.

[1:20:09] Those people can walk right across the

[1:20:11] street, get their steps in, and vote on

[1:20:14] campus.

[1:20:16] You're discriminating against

[1:20:17] African-Americans. Who takes coma?

[1:20:20] You're discriminate. Who

[1:20:23] You know, the voter turnout at Vernon

[1:20:27] Newsome

[1:20:29] is a high minority population, but

[1:20:34] um and and I'm going back and forth

[1:20:36] between the list, election day and

[1:20:39] early. Um so

[1:20:43] y'all know what this is called, voter

[1:20:46] suppression,

[1:20:48] uh impeding access to the ballot box.

[1:20:52] Um, and really Clint,

[1:20:55] it was what almost a year ago that we

[1:20:57] were up here about the college the

[1:20:59] polling places on college campuses

[1:21:02] and um it's a big fight. A whole bunch

[1:21:05] of people up here. Um, and it and it

[1:21:08] failed.

[1:21:10] So, we know the Republican party of

[1:21:13] Taran County, they've said it,

[1:21:16] thinks only students are only Democrats

[1:21:19] and they only vote on college campus,

[1:21:21] whatever.

[1:21:23] So, what you're doing is the work of the

[1:21:27] Republican party. You You went so we

[1:21:29] wouldn't have to debate it up here. You

[1:21:32] went ahead and said, "I'll I'll just

[1:21:35] remove all college campuses."

[1:21:38] Um, and you are SP you an elections

[1:21:42] administrator

[1:21:44] must have integrity.

[1:21:47] You you 100% have to. And that's called

[1:21:50] into question when you cut by 44% almost

[1:21:57] in half the number of polling places for

[1:22:02] each of these constituents. We talk

[1:22:04] about working families.

[1:22:06] gotta rush home and pick up the kids

[1:22:09] from daycare and vote. That's you're

[1:22:10] discriminating against them when you cut

[1:22:12] these vote centers in half. Um, senior

[1:22:15] citizens, African-Americans, Latinos, it

[1:22:18] it goes on and on. And so, um, I I'm

[1:22:23] I've got my motion on the floor. Um, it

[1:22:27] just this proposal, this list is not

[1:22:30] right. And I do have a PowerPoint

[1:22:33] presentation because you don't, do you?

[1:22:36] No, ma'am.

[1:22:37] » Okay, I do. And I can show you show the

[1:22:41] public what it looks like now and how

[1:22:45] many um uh spots you're taking away. Do

[1:22:48] y Where's the IT? Where are the IT

[1:22:50] people? Is it up?

[1:22:56] Gabe, if you can click

[1:23:05] All right. In 2023, we had 331 election

[1:23:10] day polling locations.

[1:23:12] In 2024, that number was 349.

[1:23:17] Uh, and this draft proposal today has

[1:23:19] 214 sites. That's a net loss of 117

[1:23:22] polling places from the last

[1:23:24] constitutional amendment election. Um, a

[1:23:27] 35% loss of location. So, um, that's

[1:23:31] what that looks like. 23, look at all

[1:23:34] those accessible locations. 24

[1:23:38] or 25 proposed 25. And that's what we're

[1:23:41] talking about um doing. That's election

[1:23:46] day.

[1:23:48] And

[1:23:50] here's early vote 2023.

[1:23:54] 44 early vote locations.

[1:23:57] in 2025 uh 2024 we had 51 but we I

[1:24:01] didn't show that. So then you go to the

[1:24:04] proposed for 2025

[1:24:08] I mean

[1:24:11] it's ridiculous. Go back to um 23

[1:24:15] 25.

[1:24:17] Thank you sir. These aren't small

[1:24:19] changes. These are drastic cuts that

[1:24:22] will have a real and painful impact on

[1:24:25] our voters. And what really gets me is

[1:24:27] where these cuts are being made. Um, all

[1:24:31] the colleges are gone. Our young people,

[1:24:33] students, they deserve a convenient

[1:24:35] place to vote. Um, and walking uh from

[1:24:38] UTA to the Arlington subcours is a hike

[1:24:41] when you're walking. Okay. Um, so we we

[1:24:46] should be encouraging participation in

[1:24:48] our democracy, not putting up barriers

[1:24:51] to folks civic duties. Um, so that's

[1:24:55] that's all I've got for now.

[1:24:57] » All right. Anybody else have anything?

[1:24:58] Yes, ma'am. Sir,

[1:24:59] » I was just going to say in 2023, we only

[1:25:02] utilize two college campuses anyway, and

[1:25:04] UTA was not one of them.

[1:25:05] » Okay. I know. I know that.

[1:25:08] » Anything else from anyone up here before

[1:25:10] we go to the speakers?

[1:25:13] » All right. Thank you, Clint.

[1:25:18] » This is I3. All right. Our first speaker

[1:25:20] you uh I will remind you please follow

[1:25:22] the rules.

[1:25:24] Our first speaker is Mindy Tacket.

[1:25:26] Following Mindy Tacket we have Daniel

[1:25:28] Peters.

[1:25:32] If you if I call your name and will you

[1:25:34] please make your way to the center

[1:25:36] aisle.

[1:25:41] It's one minute for the these this item.

[1:25:44] In 1980, Paul Hyrick, a founder of the

[1:25:47] modern right, said the quiet part out

[1:25:50] loud. I don't want everybody to vote.

[1:25:54] Our leverage goes up as the voting

[1:25:56] populace goes down. That's the playbook.

[1:26:00] And his heirs obviously are still at

[1:26:03] work closing polling places in black and

[1:26:06] Latino neighborhoods and college

[1:26:08] campuses. coming on the heels of maps

[1:26:11] that split communities apart. All behind

[1:26:14] it, white Christian nationalism. If your

[1:26:17] faith, your race, your neighborhood

[1:26:19] doesn't fit their vision, the goal is

[1:26:21] keep you from the ballot box. That's

[1:26:24] what's happening here. You all fear the

[1:26:27] people of Tarant County. You want to

[1:26:29] decide who counts and who doesn't.

[1:26:32] » But democracy only works when voters

[1:26:34] choose their leaders. And today,

[1:26:37] everyone here and everyone watching

[1:26:39] online can see how dangerous your

[1:26:42] choices are to our democracy.

[1:26:45] » Thank you. Is Mr. Peters present? Daniel

[1:26:48] Peters? Do we still have people out

[1:26:51] there?

[1:26:54] Anyone?

[1:26:55] » I don't know, but I'll find out.

[1:26:56] » All right. Daniel Peters, I called him.

[1:26:58] We're moving to Candace Swanson.

[1:27:01] Following Miss Swanson, we have Allison

[1:27:03] Compalo.

[1:27:07] Is this Miss Swanson? Okay,

[1:27:14] » Judge. We do still have people outside.

[1:27:16] » Say it again.

[1:27:16] » We do still have people out in the

[1:27:17] overflow.

[1:27:19] » Ready? Thomas Jefferson said, "We do not

[1:27:22] have a government by the majority. We

[1:27:24] have a government by the majority who

[1:27:26] participate. The new locations will

[1:27:29] suppress participation.

[1:27:31] Tarant County is growing. 89 people move

[1:27:34] here a day. Closing half the early

[1:27:36] polling locations and 130 some odd of

[1:27:39] the same day sites will suppress

[1:27:41] turnout. By creating voting deserts in

[1:27:45] minority communities, you force voters

[1:27:47] to travel farther to exercise their

[1:27:49] rights, especially the elderly and those

[1:27:52] of limited means. These tactics are not

[1:27:54] a sign of a healthy democracy, but we

[1:27:57] all understand you need to ensure a win

[1:27:59] for your side. Judge, you demand respect

[1:28:02] in your court. Cracking, packing, and

[1:28:04] suppression are unfair and disrespectful

[1:28:06] to those you serve. Please be fair and

[1:28:09] respect the voters. Do not make it more

[1:28:11] difficult to participate in elections.

[1:28:13] Thank you for your attention to this

[1:28:15] matter.

[1:28:16] » Thank you, Miss Compalo. Following Miss

[1:28:18] Compalo is Taylor Ramett.

[1:28:23] » Hello. Um, okay. So, I called Clint the

[1:28:26] other day and I I asked for locations

[1:28:27] and he said that's something for the

[1:28:29] commissioners to change the list. So,

[1:28:31] I'm officially requesting that we change

[1:28:32] the list of the proposed polling

[1:28:34] locations. Um, I would at the very least

[1:28:37] recommend that we add in some polling

[1:28:40] locations. Um, even if we don't add in

[1:28:41] all of them, I'm not asking you to open

[1:28:42] the Everman Civic Center if nobody votes

[1:28:44] there. Um, I would please request the

[1:28:46] following six locations. Uh, which is

[1:28:48] the South Service Center or something

[1:28:50] equivalent to it. uh the Ulus family

[1:28:52] senior center, the Komao Community

[1:28:53] Center, and the Bob Duncan Center. Those

[1:28:55] are the top four. So, those were in the

[1:28:56] top 24 by population and by turnout um

[1:28:59] from the 2023 list. Those were very

[1:29:01] highly uh utilized and used. And then

[1:29:04] also the Vernon Newsome Stadium and at

[1:29:06] least one location in the north side.

[1:29:08] And you know, I know Manny and I agree

[1:29:10] on almost nothing, but he's completely

[1:29:12] right. We can't have no locations in the

[1:29:14] north side. We need at least one. Um, we

[1:29:17] closed the North Side Community Center,

[1:29:18] you closed the campus, you closed the

[1:29:19] Diamond Jarvis Library. That's not

[1:29:21] acceptable. We need last one. Nobody's

[1:29:23] going to Thank you.

[1:29:26] » Is that Mr. Rett? Okay. Following Mr.

[1:29:28] Rette, we have Nicole White.

[1:29:33] » As an Air Force veteran, I took an oath

[1:29:35] to defend the Constitution. A note that

[1:29:37] didn't end when I hung up my uniform.

[1:29:39] That oath is why I'm standing here

[1:29:41] today. At its core, the right to vote is

[1:29:44] not a partisan issue. It is the

[1:29:46] foundation of who we are as Americans.

[1:29:49] Every one of us in this room may differ

[1:29:51] on policy or party, but we should all

[1:29:54] agree on this. The ballot box must

[1:29:56] remain open, accessible, and fair. The

[1:30:00] proposal to cut the early to cut the

[1:30:02] number of early voting locations in half

[1:30:04] and the closing of over 100 election day

[1:30:06] polling sites will make it harder for

[1:30:08] working people, for young people, for

[1:30:10] black and brown folks, seniors, for

[1:30:13] voters who depend on nearby places to

[1:30:16] cast their ballot. We are not saving

[1:30:18] money. We're spending trust. And once

[1:30:21] and and once trust in our elections is

[1:30:23] gone, it doesn't come back. It doesn't

[1:30:26] come back with a stroke of a budget.

[1:30:28] History may not remember the margins of

[1:30:30] this election, but it will remember

[1:30:32] whether we expanded or diminished it.

[1:30:36] » Uh Nicole White, is she present?

[1:30:40] Following Miss White, William Marks,

[1:30:43] William Marks present.

[1:30:47] Next we would have Fallon Brazzle.

[1:30:53] William Marks or Fallon Brazzle.

[1:31:01] The voters you're trying to suppress are

[1:31:03] my constituents. My name is William

[1:31:05] Marks. I'm a candidate for the Texas

[1:31:07] 25th Congressional District. So

[1:31:10] eliminating voting locations is an

[1:31:12] assault on the rights of the working

[1:31:14] class, an assault on young voters, an

[1:31:17] assault on everyday Texans, and an

[1:31:20] assault on truth, justice, and the

[1:31:22] American way.

[1:31:24] This map of voter suppression is

[1:31:27] stealing the American promise that

[1:31:29] everyone has a voice, that the

[1:31:31] government exists of the people, by the

[1:31:34] people and for the people. So if

[1:31:36] Republican policies are so good, let

[1:31:39] them stand on their own. Let the people

[1:31:42] decide and bring back every location

[1:31:45] you're trying to eliminate.

[1:31:49] » Is Fallon Brazzle here?

[1:31:53] » All right. with no foul and brazle.

[1:31:55] Whitney Wood Wararez.

[1:31:58] It's Miss Wararez present.

[1:32:01] Whitney Wood Wararez.

[1:32:04] Is that Miss Warez?

[1:32:07] Are you Miss Wararez?

[1:32:08] » Okay. Following Miss Wararez is Abiola

[1:32:12] Agoro.

[1:32:15] » Good morning. Access to the ballot box

[1:32:18] is the foundation of our democracy.

[1:32:20] Closing these locations will create

[1:32:23] unnecessary barriers for students,

[1:32:26] working families, and communities of

[1:32:28] color. Many of these voters already face

[1:32:32] challenges like transportation and long

[1:32:34] work hours. Removing convenient polling

[1:32:37] places will only make it harder for them

[1:32:39] to participate in our elections.

[1:32:42] Instead of limiting access, our county

[1:32:44] should be doing everything possible to

[1:32:47] expand it. Every voter, every vote

[1:32:52] matters.

[1:32:54] Every voter should have an equal

[1:32:56] opportunity to cast their ballot. Thank

[1:32:59] you.

[1:33:00] » Thank you. Is Abiola Agoro present?

[1:33:04] Following Miss Agoro, we have Diane

[1:33:06] Simmons or Simons.

[1:33:10] » How many of you all still have your

[1:33:11] grandparents or your parents alive? Show

[1:33:14] of hands. Nobody has grandparents or

[1:33:16] parents. If your grandmother fell in the

[1:33:19] middle of the road when I had an

[1:33:20] interview, would you want me to take the

[1:33:22] time to help her? We often talk about

[1:33:25] what is legal. We talk about what we

[1:33:27] feel obligated to do. But helping people

[1:33:30] is not convenient. Helping people and

[1:33:33] doing what is necessary for people is

[1:33:36] one of the most inconvenient things in

[1:33:38] the entire world.

[1:33:40] » But it is what we must do. Many of you

[1:33:43] all have lived by different models your

[1:33:46] entire life. I'm sure Judge will

[1:33:47] recognize veritas liberavit vos for the

[1:33:51] truth will make you free from SMU

[1:33:54] disciplina precidium civotas or

[1:33:56] cultivated minds are the guardian genius

[1:33:58] of democracy I'm not asking for you all

[1:34:01] to do what is easy I'm not asking for

[1:34:03] you all to do anything that is easy but

[1:34:06] I am asking for you to abide by what you

[1:34:07] have been said to abide by for your

[1:34:09] entire lives

[1:34:10] » Thank you following Miss Simons we have

[1:34:12] Josiah Weber

[1:34:22] I'm Diane Simons, uh, precinct. Oh, I

[1:34:24] guess it's two now. Um, but I'm also a

[1:34:27] precinct chair 1206. Also, I am a house

[1:34:30] uh, uh,

[1:34:33] coordinator uh, that takes care of 97.

[1:34:36] And I just want to let you know that,

[1:34:38] you know, I've lived and grown up in Ben

[1:34:40] Brook and I still go to KO.

[1:34:43] Why? Because the parking is horrible in

[1:34:45] Benber. And if you're disabled, the

[1:34:47] parking, all the people that park there

[1:34:50] and the parking spot work there. And

[1:34:52] it's

[1:34:54] hard to get around and not actually hit

[1:34:56] somebody if you're doing curbside voting

[1:34:58] as well. Uh KO has a lot of curbside

[1:35:00] voting. And uh anybody that's been

[1:35:03] there, they'll always see that. And so

[1:35:05] you're taken away and people that are in

[1:35:08] a wheelchair, our public transportation

[1:35:10] only holds two people max and people are

[1:35:12] having to wait for the next time to come

[1:35:14] around. You took all the other locations

[1:35:16] out of Fort Worth pretty much. We have

[1:35:19] to be able to get there.

[1:35:20] » Thank you.

[1:35:21] » And you can't take them away.

[1:35:22] » Thank you. Is Josiah Weber present?

[1:35:26] Josiah Weber. Okay. The time is 11:31.

[1:35:31] We are going to take a break, a recess

[1:35:33] until 11:40.

[1:35:35] So, we will be back at 11:40 to continue

[1:35:37] public comments. We're in recess.

[1:47:07] Sorry.

[1:47:15] Yeah.

[1:47:18] » All right. Please go ahead and find your

[1:47:20] seats. Uh we will resume.

[1:47:25] And the next person we have to speak is

[1:47:29] Stella Fair. Following Miss Fair, we

[1:47:33] have Sonia Bole. Is Miss Fair present?

[1:47:37] » I heard her say, "I'm here."

[1:47:41] I think I heard that.

[1:47:49] » Good morning. I guess it's still

[1:47:51] morning. During a commission's court

[1:47:53] meeting in early 2024, one of you said,

[1:47:56] and I quote, "I don't believe it's the

[1:47:58] county government's responsibility to

[1:48:00] try to get more people out to the

[1:48:02] polls." While this statement may be

[1:48:04] true, it is also not your responsibility

[1:48:07] to reduce voter turnout by eliminating

[1:48:10] eliminating access to polling places. It

[1:48:12] is your responsibility, however, to

[1:48:15] ensure that all voters of Tarant County

[1:48:17] have unfettered access to free and fair

[1:48:20] elections. I urge you to honor your duty

[1:48:22] to the voters of this county and reject

[1:48:24] this proposal.

[1:48:26] » Thank you. Uh Sonia Bole present. Uh,

[1:48:30] following Mr. Bole, we have Elizabeth

[1:48:32] Gonzalez.

[1:48:36] » Hello. It's nice to see y'all. Um,

[1:48:39] commissioners, I'm here speaking today

[1:48:42] to urge you not to close any voting

[1:48:44] locations and perhaps add more to HB

[1:48:47] area, DFW area, and other parts of the

[1:48:50] community, especially those serving

[1:48:51] lower income and diverse neighborhoods.

[1:48:54] These communities already face

[1:48:55] significant barriers to voting,

[1:48:57] including limited access to reliable

[1:48:59] transportation and great challenges for

[1:49:02] elderly residents. Reducing polling

[1:49:04] places would only make those obstacles

[1:49:06] worse, forcing people to travel further,

[1:49:08] wait longer, and potentially give up on

[1:49:11] voting altogether. I currently volunteer

[1:49:14] to help seniors in my area to get to

[1:49:16] appointments, grocery visits, and any

[1:49:19] other oblig obligatory appointments that

[1:49:21] they need in their free time. This would

[1:49:23] put a significant obstacle on those

[1:49:25] individuals.

[1:49:27] We have seen in the past elections that

[1:49:28] long wait times, fewer voting sites hit

[1:49:30] workingass and minority voters the

[1:49:33] hardest. This resident, these residents

[1:49:35] deserve the same access to the

[1:49:37] » Thank you.

[1:49:38] » Thank you.

[1:49:40] Uh, Elizabeth Gonzalez. It's Miss

[1:49:42] Gonzalez present.

[1:49:45] Elizabeth Gonzalez.

[1:49:48] Okay. Isabella Barnett.

[1:49:51] » Hi. Following Miss Barnett, we have

[1:49:53] Stephanie McCartney.

[1:49:57] » Hi.

[1:49:58] » Hi.

[1:49:59] » I believe that it is common knowledge to

[1:50:01] most people in this room that having

[1:50:03] equal access to the ballot box is a

[1:50:05] civil right that's recognized and

[1:50:06] protected by the Constitution. I believe

[1:50:09] it is the representatives responsibility

[1:50:11] to protect and uphold that right through

[1:50:13] their actions and policies. That's why

[1:50:16] I'm speaking today to express my deep

[1:50:18] opposition to the motion to close a

[1:50:19] portion of Tarant County's early voting

[1:50:21] locations. To call early voting

[1:50:23] locations a waste of taxpayer money is

[1:50:25] an extremely insensitive and quite

[1:50:27] honestly an insult to the people of

[1:50:29] Tarant County. Personally, I do not

[1:50:32] believe it is an elected officials place

[1:50:34] to hypothesize on how to disengage

[1:50:37] constituents from their civic

[1:50:38] participation. This decision would

[1:50:41] affect college students living on

[1:50:42] campus, specifically those without a

[1:50:44] vehicle, individuals without the means

[1:50:46] to travel, working people without the

[1:50:48] schedule to vote, and those with

[1:50:49] disabilities, and more from marginalized

[1:50:51] communities. To move forward with this

[1:50:53] decision is an active form of voter

[1:50:55] suppression, specifically targeting

[1:50:57] young working voters and black and brown

[1:50:59] voters. Thank you.

[1:51:00] » Thank you. Uh Stephanie McCartney.

[1:51:03] Following Miss McCartney, we have

[1:51:04] Vanessa Nun.

[1:51:11] Tarant County and this court have a

[1:51:13] shameful record. Texas already like

[1:51:15] ranks last in voter access and Tarant

[1:51:18] County is following the state's worst

[1:51:19] trends. We demand transparency and

[1:51:22] justice. We call on this court to

[1:51:25] immediately halt all closures and

[1:51:27] release the full list of cuts. hold

[1:51:29] public hearings in affected areas and

[1:51:32] restore voting access with mobile

[1:51:33] polling units and extended early voting

[1:51:35] like Harris County. This is about

[1:51:38] fairness and if you unwisely proceed, we

[1:51:40] will file federal complaints under the

[1:51:42] Voting Rights Act. We will mobilize

[1:51:44] voters to remember this in November.

[1:51:47] Expose who benefits from silencing

[1:51:49] black, Latino, disabled, young, and

[1:51:51] workingclass voters. The nation is

[1:51:53] watching. Will Tarant County stand for

[1:51:56] democracy or suppression? Thank you.

[1:51:59] Thank you. Uh, Miss Nun, did I call out

[1:52:02] Vanessa Nun?

[1:52:05] I'm calling out Vanessa Nun now. Vanessa

[1:52:07] Nun,

[1:52:09] Jennifer Snowden,

[1:52:12] Vanessa Nun, or Jennifer Snowden. Do we

[1:52:14] still have people outside?

[1:52:16] » Okay. Uh, Sabrina Ball.

[1:52:22] Vanessa Nun, Jennifer Snowden, Sabrina

[1:52:25] Ball. Okay.

[1:52:29] How about Suzanne Mabe?

[1:52:33] Miss Mab, come on up.

[1:52:35] No, we'll go ahead and let her go now.

[1:52:36] Miss Mab, we'll have you second. Okay.

[1:52:44] » Hi, I'm a native Texan and a mom and an

[1:52:47] election judge in Commissioner Ramirez's

[1:52:49] district, or at least I hope to still

[1:52:51] be. At my precinct, we've worked hard to

[1:52:53] grow turnout. I see men and women coming

[1:52:55] straight from long shifts, sweaty and

[1:52:57] tired, but determined to vote. I see

[1:52:59] mothers with children, seniors, and

[1:53:01] veterans who depend on us. These are not

[1:53:03] wealthy families, but they are American

[1:53:05] families with the same right to vote as

[1:53:07] anyone in South Lake. When you cut early

[1:53:09] voting sites like, KOMO, and TCU, sites

[1:53:12] with great access for working families

[1:53:14] and the elderly, you're not saving

[1:53:16] money. You're sacrificing democracy to

[1:53:19] save a buck. Working families built this

[1:53:21] country. Don't silence them now. Stand

[1:53:24] with us, not against us.

[1:53:27] » Next we have Suzanne Mab. Following Miss

[1:53:30] May, we have Gwen Bude.

[1:53:38] » Hi. I I came here to um ask you to

[1:53:42] reconsider these uh selections that you

[1:53:46] presented to us, but uh Commissioner

[1:53:49] Miles stole all my thunder.

[1:53:52] And so I want to second everything that

[1:53:55] he said, but I have a couple of couple

[1:53:58] of small things to say. Uh if your goal

[1:54:01] is to suppress voting, you're doing a

[1:54:04] really good job. And uh there are only

[1:54:07] two sites within loop 820 and the public

[1:54:10] transportation outside of loop 820 is

[1:54:13] non-existent almost. So that needs to be

[1:54:17] rectified.

[1:54:18] And uh then I want I want to ask you why

[1:54:21] should why would you make it harder for

[1:54:24] every year for people to vote? uh you

[1:54:27] are charged with overseeing the

[1:54:29] elections and you shouldn't try and cut

[1:54:32] the budget to keep people from voting by

[1:54:35] removing places to vote. Uh

[1:54:39] » Thank you. Following this birude we have

[1:54:42] Andrew Kawa.

[1:54:50] » Hello Gwen Bude here. I now represent

[1:54:53] Texans Defending Democracy, a nonprofit,

[1:54:55] nonpartisan organization committed to

[1:54:58] protecting Texans right to vote. This

[1:55:01] proposal would reduce Tarant County

[1:55:03] polling locations and it lacks clear

[1:55:06] rationale. Looking at early voting

[1:55:08] locations alone, high turnout and

[1:55:10] polling locations across Tarant County

[1:55:12] such as Brookside Center, KO Community

[1:55:15] Center, and Ulis Family Life Center as

[1:55:17] well as the Golden Triangle location

[1:55:19] would all be closed. while lower turnout

[1:55:22] areas would lose access altogether. As

[1:55:24] Commissioner RmIrez pointed out, this

[1:55:26] means voters will travel farther, face

[1:55:28] longer lines, and depend on limited

[1:55:31] public transportation services.

[1:55:34] Twothirds of the remaining sites are

[1:55:36] hard to reach without a car. And if one

[1:55:40] site shuts down due to technical

[1:55:42] problems, the backup would be the backup

[1:55:45] would be few and far as far as locations

[1:55:48] would be few and far between. These

[1:55:50] closures make voting harder, not easier.

[1:55:52] Please make voting easier.

[1:55:54] » Thank you. Is Andrew Kawa present?

[1:55:59] » All right. K K A W A is how to pronounce

[1:56:01] it. Andrew. Uh Molly Sanchez.

[1:56:08] Katherine Godby.

[1:56:12] All right. Molly Sanchez.

[1:56:14] Miss Godby, come on up.

[1:56:20] following Miss Godby and Zeta.

[1:56:27] I've been trying to understand what it

[1:56:29] means that I'm white. Uh, believe me,

[1:56:32] it's a painful journey. When I first

[1:56:35] learned that this was agendaized today,

[1:56:37] my spirit sank. I'm so tired of these

[1:56:41] racist policies, racist actions by my

[1:56:44] county government. Voter suppression is

[1:56:46] an act of violence. It's in the long

[1:56:48] tradition of what Ben Boswell calls

[1:56:51] white terrorism.

[1:56:53] As in the middle passage, child slavery,

[1:56:56] police brutality, redlinining, mass

[1:56:58] incarceration, gerrymandering, sundown

[1:57:01] towns, lynchings,

[1:57:03] urban renewal, Jim Crow laws. White

[1:57:06] people have been terrorizing black

[1:57:08] people for over 400 years, and we've got

[1:57:11] to stop it. Thank you.

[1:57:14] Uh, an Zeta following Miss Zeta's Aaron

[1:57:18] Perks or Perus.

[1:57:21] » Good morning. I'm An Zeta, newly

[1:57:23] racially gerrymandered into precinct 4.

[1:57:26] I didn't realize until I was preparing

[1:57:27] my remarks that I was dressed all in

[1:57:29] black, but I guess it's apppropo of the

[1:57:30] issue that I'm here to speak on, the

[1:57:32] steady whittling away of our democracy.

[1:57:34] With only one minute to speak, another

[1:57:36] example of your efforts to limit the

[1:57:37] voices of constituents. I will just say

[1:57:39] that I am opposed to the reduction of

[1:57:41] polling locations that

[1:57:42] disproportionately impact black and

[1:57:44] brown voters. Several years ago, while

[1:57:46] serving on the Fort Worth City Council,

[1:57:47] a demographer from Rice University

[1:57:49] presented to us the growth of minority

[1:57:51] community communities that were destined

[1:57:53] to make Fort Worth and Tarant County

[1:57:55] majority minority. And here we are. And

[1:57:57] now we have to fight to ensure that

[1:58:00] those voices are heard. Eliminating

[1:58:01] polling locations will not make people

[1:58:03] go away, but it does make it harder for

[1:58:05] those voices to be heard. This is voter

[1:58:07] suppression. I also wanted to say that

[1:58:09] with the limited process of voters, it's

[1:58:11] about it's not about limiting the

[1:58:13] ability to process voters. It's the

[1:58:15] proximity of voters to hear their vo

[1:58:18] their voices to be heard. And is the

[1:58:20] goal the bare minimum? I keep hearing

[1:58:22] the bare minimum.

[1:58:23] » Thank you. It's Aaron Perkus present.

[1:58:27] Perks, my apologies. Aaron Perks.

[1:58:29] Following Miss Perks is Anan Patel.

[1:58:32] Okay.

[1:58:33] » Hello, I'm Aaron Perks, a resident and

[1:58:34] taxpayer in the 76110 zip code of

[1:58:37] Mistletoe Heights. I'm here today to

[1:58:39] share concerns about the proposed

[1:58:40] closures of early voting locations.

[1:58:43] Under this plan, residents of Mistletoe

[1:58:45] Heights, Berkeley, Tinglewood, Overton

[1:58:46] Park, Monaceel, Crestwood, and many more

[1:58:48] would lose access to long-standing

[1:58:50] voting sites like Southside Community

[1:58:52] Center, TCU, and Health Science Center.

[1:58:55] Leaving only the downtown courthouse,

[1:58:56] which is harder to reach and navigate,

[1:58:58] tens of thousands of residents would be

[1:59:00] funneled into one location. If this is

[1:59:03] about efficiency, why aren't reductions

[1:59:05] distributed evenly across the county?

[1:59:07] Central Fort Worth and historic black

[1:59:09] and Hispanic neighborhoods would be

[1:59:11] disproportionately impacted while other

[1:59:13] areas are left untouched. What steps

[1:59:15] will this court take to ensure that

[1:59:17] these cuts don't unfairly burden some

[1:59:19] communities over others? Trust in our

[1:59:21] system depends on every voter having

[1:59:23] equal unburdened access to the right to

[1:59:25] vote. Thank you very much.

[1:59:27] » Thank you. Uh is Anand Patel present?

[1:59:32] Anand Anand. Uh, next, Loretta Hardman.

[1:59:41] Following Miss Hardman, we have Ivonne

[1:59:43] Thompson.

[1:59:44] » Good morning.

[1:59:45] » Good morning.

[1:59:46] » I am your lead for KO. I would just like

[1:59:49] to say real quick, KO is a welloiled

[1:59:51] machine. We're efficient, professional,

[1:59:54] and if you vote there one time, you'll

[1:59:58] come back. If you come in with a

[2:00:00] problem, I'm going to make sure you have

[2:00:02] a solution. That's my promise.

[2:00:05] Commissioner RmIrez, thank you for

[2:00:07] recognizing Kamo. It's needed. Uh,

[2:00:10] Commissioner Krauss, is that right?

[2:00:12] Happy birthday.

[2:00:15] That's it.

[2:00:18] Uh, Ivon Thompson. It's Ivon Thompson

[2:00:21] present.

[2:00:24] All right. Peter Irvin.

[2:00:28] Uh, Ivon Thompson. I'll call again. Um,

[2:00:32] following Mr. Irvin. We have Aisha

[2:00:34] Hassan.

[2:00:37] » My name is Peter Irvin. I have been a

[2:00:38] resident of Tarant County for four

[2:00:41] years. I urge no demand the court reject

[2:00:44] the proposed early voting and election

[2:00:46] day polling locations for the November

[2:00:48] 4th, 2025 joint special and

[2:00:50] constitutional amendment election.

[2:00:52] Furthermore, it appears that at least

[2:00:54] three members of the commissioner's

[2:00:56] court have forgotten our founding

[2:00:57] father's position on petty tyranny. To

[2:01:00] this end, I will remind you that when in

[2:01:02] the course of human events, it becomes

[2:01:04] necessary for one people to dissolve the

[2:01:06] political bands which have connected

[2:01:08] them with another, and to assume the

[2:01:10] powers of the earth, the separate and

[2:01:12] equal station to which the laws of

[2:01:14] nature and of nature's God entitled them

[2:01:16] a decent respect to the opinions of

[2:01:18] mankind requires that they should

[2:01:20] declare the cause which impel them to

[2:01:22] the separation. We hold these truths to

[2:01:24] be self-evident that all men are created

[2:01:26] equal, that they are endowed by their

[2:01:28] creator with certain unalienable rights,

[2:01:30] that among these are life, liberty, and

[2:01:32] the pursuit of happiness. That to secure

[2:01:35] these rights, governments are instituted

[2:01:37] among men.

[2:01:38] » Thank you, sir. Next, we have Aisha

[2:01:41] Hassan. Following Miss Hassan, we have

[2:01:42] Reed Bills.

[2:01:45] » Good morning. My name is Aisha Hassan

[2:01:47] and I live in North Fort Worth in

[2:01:48] precinct 4. I'm speaking in opposition

[2:01:51] to the consideration to approve early

[2:01:52] voting in election day polling locations

[2:01:55] for the November 4th, 2025 election. My

[2:01:58] message today is to you, Commissioner

[2:02:00] Manny Ramirez.

[2:02:02] I am appalled at the idea of shutting

[2:02:04] down so many early voting election day

[2:02:06] polling locations. This is a first class

[2:02:10] example of voter suppression and you

[2:02:14] know it is.

[2:02:16] This proposal disproportionately impacts

[2:02:18] people of color and their right to

[2:02:20] accessible voting locations. You cannot

[2:02:22] possibly stand for this. Um you cannot

[2:02:25] possibly stand for this proposal with

[2:02:27] goodwill and face the people you sought

[2:02:29] to represent just like me knowing you

[2:02:32] are actively suppressing votes. This

[2:02:34] proposal is a disgrace and I ask you as

[2:02:37] a citizen in your precinct to please

[2:02:39] stand on the right side of history and

[2:02:41] not vote for this. Thank you.

[2:02:44] » Thank you. Reed Bills present. Following

[2:02:46] Miss Bills, we have Libby Willis.

[2:02:59] Judge O'Hare and his Republican cohorts

[2:03:02] are again trying to suppress voting in

[2:03:05] Tarant County by drastically cutting the

[2:03:08] number of polling locations, especially

[2:03:11] in places where people of color and

[2:03:14] college students usually vote. I would

[2:03:17] like to address the funding implications

[2:03:19] of this proposal.

[2:03:22] The court

[2:03:24] communication indicates

[2:03:28] there is no fiscal impact.

[2:03:33] Apparently no fiscal impact study was

[2:03:37] conducted.

[2:03:40] So I assume that means there is no

[2:03:42] costsaving to reducing the number of

[2:03:45] locations by half. If that is the case,

[2:03:49] that leaves only political motiv

[2:03:53] motivation for this proposal.

[2:03:56] I urge you to vote against this blatant

[2:03:58] act of voter suppression.

[2:04:01] » Follow. Is Miss Willis present? Libby

[2:04:03] Willis?

[2:04:06] Libby Willis.

[2:04:08] Uh next, uh Anna or Anna Kamarena.

[2:04:13] Miss Kamarena present. Lydia Bean.

[2:04:19] Uh, following Miss Bean, we will have

[2:04:21] Rita Adam.

[2:04:27] My name is Lydia Bean. I'm the chair of

[2:04:29] the Broadway Baptist Justice Committee

[2:04:31] and one of the founders of the Tarant

[2:04:34] County Faith and Justice Coalition. I'm

[2:04:36] speaking here today to ask you to not

[2:04:38] adopt this proposal to close polling

[2:04:41] locations which are disproportionately

[2:04:43] in black and Latino and working-class

[2:04:44] neighborhoods. And I want to remind you

[2:04:47] that the right to vote is not a

[2:04:49] suggestion and it shouldn't depend on

[2:04:51] the color of your skin or the

[2:04:53] neighborhood where you live. And when

[2:04:55] you close polling locations, you make it

[2:04:57] very expensive and timeconuming for

[2:04:59] working people to vote. You force people

[2:05:02] to take off work, to take a bus across

[2:05:04] town, to walk two and a half hours to

[2:05:08] the nearest because that's how long it

[2:05:09] takes to walk 5 miles in Tarant County.

[2:05:13] So creating a pole tax is a violation of

[2:05:16] people's voting rights. Please

[2:05:17] reconsider this list, particularly

[2:05:20] focusing on historic neighborhoods of

[2:05:21] color, and make sure that everyone has a

[2:05:23] polling location where they can easily

[2:05:25] and conveniently vote without having to

[2:05:27] take off work, hire a babysitter. Thank

[2:05:29] you. Is Rita Adam present?

[2:05:33] Rita Adam.

[2:05:35] Uh Alexandria Williams.

[2:05:39] Following Miss Williams, we have Toby

[2:05:41] Laws.

[2:05:43] Hello. I am a Terry County resident,

[2:05:46] college student, and precinct chair 4179

[2:05:49] where early voting will be almost

[2:05:51] non-existent for us. Um our Texas

[2:05:53] Constitution,

[2:05:55] actually, no, I'm sorry. The study by

[2:05:57] Enrico Canton shows that a quarter mile

[2:05:59] increase in travel distance can cause

[2:06:00] voter turnout to drop by 5%. You're

[2:06:03] considering cutting more than 100

[2:06:04] polling places. So, what do you think

[2:06:06] that difference will make? Um, fewer

[2:06:09] sites means longer lines, lower turnout.

[2:06:11] It'll lead to confusion, more mistrust

[2:06:14] and unnecessary boundaries in our

[2:06:16] government. This means seniors,

[2:06:18] students, and families without reliable

[2:06:20] transportation will be unfairly

[2:06:21] burdened. This is not efficient. This is

[2:06:23] voter suppression. These changes will

[2:06:25] fall the hardest on underserved

[2:06:27] communities, young people, and working

[2:06:29] families. And at a time when trust in

[2:06:31] elections is already fragile, cutting

[2:06:33] polling places is a direct spit in the

[2:06:35] face of democracy.

[2:06:37] Voting is a fundamental part of

[2:06:39] democracy and these decisions should

[2:06:42] expand access, not restrict it.

[2:06:44] » Thank you.

[2:06:45] » Thank you.

[2:06:46] » Uh Rita Adam, is Rita Adam present? I

[2:06:48] didn't read that one very long. Toby LS

[2:06:53] following Mr. LS is David Richardson.

[2:07:01] » I too uh disagree with

[2:07:04] this proposal to remove many polling

[2:07:08] locations

[2:07:10] all across the land. People feel as

[2:07:14] though democracy is very much fleeting

[2:07:18] and representation is not

[2:07:22] reflective of the population and those

[2:07:26] entrusted

[2:07:27] to serve the public

[2:07:30] often do not.

[2:07:33] It is very disheartening

[2:07:36] uh for this to even be proposed.

[2:07:39] I admit some appreciation for Mr.

[2:07:43] Ramirez for at least trying to be

[2:07:47] somewhat objective about some things and

[2:07:51] encourage you all to

[2:07:54] not necessarily vote on this, gather

[2:07:57] more detail and truly serve Tarant

[2:07:59] County.

[2:08:02] Following Mr. Richardson. We have Laura

[2:08:04] Leman.

[2:08:11] Thank you.

[2:08:13] We've been drowned in facts and reason

[2:08:18] and enlightenment thinking today. I have

[2:08:21] too much to say for my minute. So, I'm

[2:08:23] going to tell you a story.

[2:08:26] I want to tell you about my neighbor's

[2:08:28] grandmother.

[2:08:29] She lives out past the gravel road where

[2:08:33] the mailbox leans like an old man in the

[2:08:35] wind.

[2:08:37] She's voted in every election since

[2:08:39] 1952.

[2:08:42] Rain, shine, or Texas heat.

[2:08:49] Last year, she took two buses and

[2:08:52] arrived from a church volunteer to reach

[2:08:54] her polling place.

[2:08:57] If we cut locations in half, she won't

[2:08:59] make it.

[2:09:02] And if she doesn't vote,

[2:09:04] something sacred goes quiet.

[2:09:08] Not just her voice, but the memory of

[2:09:11] every generation she carried with her in

[2:09:14] that ballot box. Am I done?

[2:09:17] » Yes, sir. I'm assuming that's what that

[2:09:19] beep was. Okay. Um

[2:09:22] All right. Laura Leman is next.

[2:09:24] Following Miss Leman, we have Stacy

[2:09:26] Melo.

[2:09:31] » Good morning. Yes, I'm Laura. Well, here

[2:09:34] we go again. How to cheat and steal to

[2:09:36] keep power by suppressing voting

[2:09:38] opportunities in Tarant County. Leading

[2:09:40] this charge, Judge O'Hare, Commissioner

[2:09:42] Ramirez, and Krauss for the November 4th

[2:09:45] special election. And these three men

[2:09:47] shamelessly want to slash over 100

[2:09:49] polling locations, cutting election day

[2:09:51] sites from 349 down to just 214.

[2:09:55] People are not stupid. While you claim

[2:09:57] this is about efficiency, we all know

[2:09:59] it's really about making voting harder.

[2:10:01] Just like when you tried to close

[2:10:02] college polling locations last year and

[2:10:05] just like you racially gerrymandered the

[2:10:06] county commissioner precincts.

[2:10:08] Commissioner Ramirez, remember when you

[2:10:10] said add more sites, don't take any away

[2:10:13] regarding the college polling locations

[2:10:15] debacle. Stealing power by cheating

[2:10:18] voters lacks morality and it it flies in

[2:10:22] the face of biblical teachings. Proverb

[2:10:24] 11, the Lord hates anyone who cheats,

[2:10:27] but he likes everyone who is honest.

[2:10:30] We've had enough of your terrible

[2:10:31] policies. Voters are already what your

[2:10:34] actions are harmful. Thank you,

[2:10:35] » Stacy Melo. Stacy Melo present.

[2:10:42] All right. Following Miss Melo, we have

[2:10:43] Karen Gryom.

[2:10:50] Well, well, well. Here we are again

[2:10:52] fighting for our right to vote. I'm not

[2:10:56] surprised though, as it seems like the

[2:10:58] only thing that y'all are really good

[2:10:59] for is suppressing people's right to

[2:11:01] vote. So, congrats on that. Um, listen,

[2:11:05] I'm not going to sit here and beg y'all

[2:11:06] to do what's right, which is voting

[2:11:09] against this voting list. You already

[2:11:11] know that that's the right thing to do.

[2:11:14] Uh, but I also know that y'all don't

[2:11:15] really care what your constituents have

[2:11:18] to say. You didn't care when you

[2:11:20] racially gerrymandered our precinct maps

[2:11:23] and you don't really care now. Um, so

[2:11:25] really what I just want youall to be

[2:11:26] aware of is that we know that the reason

[2:11:28] that you're doing this is because you're

[2:11:30] scared. You're scared of the reckoning

[2:11:32] that is coming for you in 2026.

[2:11:35] And you should be because we every every

[2:11:39] single time that y'all try to do this BS

[2:11:42] of trying to restrict our right to vote,

[2:11:44] it just lights a fire under us. So I

[2:11:47] hope that you are scared because we are

[2:11:49] coming for your seats in 2026.

[2:11:51] » Thank you.

[2:11:52] » Thank you. All right,

[2:11:53] » Miss Gryom. Is Miss Gryom present?

[2:11:57] Karen Gryom.

[2:12:00] All right. Following Miss Gryom or I

[2:12:02] guess not following but June Naylor

[2:12:05] Harris.

[2:12:08] Approximately how many people are still

[2:12:09] out there? Deputy if you had to guess.

[2:12:16] Okay. Uh June Naylor Harris.

[2:12:20] June Naylor Harris present.

[2:12:24] Jennifer MSUS.

[2:12:27] Jennifer MSAS present.

[2:12:30] Chandler, do we have uh you said there's

[2:12:32] speakers out there, so I'm assuming

[2:12:34] they're right outside those two doors.

[2:12:36] Hear it. I should see them pop up.

[2:12:38] » What I've been told by staff is we're

[2:12:39] trying to call names ahead of time out

[2:12:40] there to have them lined up if they are

[2:12:42] sitting up.

[2:12:42] » All right. Jennifer MSAS,

[2:12:47] uh Charles Bills,

[2:12:51] following Mr. bills is Leavon Cochril.

[2:12:57] » I want to reiterate something that Mr.

[2:12:59] Miles said about uh that the voters when

[2:13:02] they come they want a place that they

[2:13:04] always know they can go to vote and when

[2:13:07] you close something that's been around

[2:13:09] like Komo Center has always been open

[2:13:11] for voting and have it suddenly not be

[2:13:14] available to voting that that just

[2:13:16] causes way too much stress and

[2:13:18] confusion. You know, there's not

[2:13:20] anything buddy saying, "No, now you have

[2:13:22] to go three miles away." There's just

[2:13:24] nothing. There's just no voting there,

[2:13:26] and that's just not acceptable.

[2:13:29] Uh, Miss Cochril, following Miss Cochril

[2:13:32] is Wesie Anderson, Jr.

[2:13:39] Being unpopular is a problem. Better

[2:13:42] lost Taran County by only 24,319

[2:13:46] votes. Judge O'Hare, you won by 34,9 69

[2:13:50] votes and Commissioner Ramirez, you won

[2:13:52] by 23,628.

[2:13:55] But 38,000 registered Democrats who live

[2:13:58] on the north side did not vote.

[2:14:01] Cutting $81 million to JPS, ICE raids,

[2:14:05] locking up Nicole Collier, Taran County,

[2:14:07] Trump's approval rating is 38% and

[2:14:10] falling. Republics are unpopular.

[2:14:12] Hurting people is unpopular. Cutting

[2:14:14] polling places is unpopular.

[2:14:17] and you work basically one day a month

[2:14:20] for a 220,000 plus salary.

[2:14:24] I laugh because you can't stop

[2:14:26] publicity, the doortodoor explainers,

[2:14:28] the continuous phone calls to the

[2:14:29] Democratic headquarters, our thousands

[2:14:32] of volunteer forms filled out. You can't

[2:14:35] calm the anxiety in Tarant County

[2:14:37] because you created it.

[2:14:39] » Thank you.

[2:14:39] » You awoke a low blood sugar giant.

[2:14:42] » Please step away from the microphone.

[2:14:45] Um Wesie Anderson.

[2:14:49] Mr. Anderson.

[2:14:50] » Okay. Following Mr. Anderson is Kristen

[2:14:53] Hartwell.

[2:14:55] » Well, good afternoon. Afternoon,

[2:14:56] » Texas. Been here two years. Only thing I

[2:14:59] heard since I've been here is voter

[2:15:01] suppression. My question for you on the

[2:15:04] redistricting is how does it affect you

[2:15:07] three as far as your neighborhoods

[2:15:11] polling closes? How does it affect you

[2:15:13] three people?

[2:15:18] » It's not It's not a Q&A. Use your minute

[2:15:20] however you choose.

[2:15:21] » Okay. Well, everybody's complaining

[2:15:23] about voters being suppressed. I don't

[2:15:25] hear anybody on your side of town say

[2:15:26] y'all losing voters.

[2:15:32] It's crickets.

[2:15:35] [Music]

[2:15:39] » Anything else?

[2:15:40] » That is all, sir. I got 15 seconds

[2:15:42] » Not to just stand there and do nothing.

[2:15:44] So, thank you, sir. No problem.

[2:15:45] » Miss Hartwell is next.

[2:15:47] » It doesn't affect their districts.

[2:15:48] Redistricting didn't affect their

[2:15:50] district.

[2:15:50] » Commissioner Simmons, you just brought

[2:15:51] up that one of my polling places was

[2:15:53] closed. It was in one of the top 10

[2:15:54] polling places in all of Tarant County.

[2:15:56] So, I wouldn't say that's exactly true.

[2:15:57] » Miss Miss Hartwell, is Miss Hartwell

[2:16:00] present?

[2:16:03] Jerry Michael Stein.

[2:16:09] Following Mr. Stein is Donna Reagan.

[2:16:15] » Jerry Stein, precinct number one. Uh,

[2:16:19] Commissioner Miles summarized most of my

[2:16:21] major points. I just the only original

[2:16:23] thought I could add here is that there

[2:16:24] are consequences for your actions and

[2:16:26] I'd like you to think about that dearly.

[2:16:29] When you cut off the ability to pe for

[2:16:31] people to express their views

[2:16:33] peacefully, then you have people coming

[2:16:36] out at a meeting like this. Then you

[2:16:37] have them go having large rallies at

[2:16:40] Barnett Park. After that, there are less

[2:16:42] than peaceful actions and and that's

[2:16:45] something that concerns me and should

[2:16:46] concern you. Don't cut off people's

[2:16:49] peaceful expression of their views.

[2:16:51] Thank you.

[2:16:52] » Thank you. Are you Miss Hartwell? Are

[2:16:55] you Miss Reagan? Miss Reagan.

[2:16:59] Following Miss Reagan, we have Andrew

[2:17:01] Fizer.

[2:17:04] » Good morning. My name is Donna Reagan

[2:17:05] and it's my first time to appear here.

[2:17:08] Um, I understand it's customary to

[2:17:11] address the court as your honors.

[2:17:13] However,

[2:17:15] the only honor I've picked up on here is

[2:17:17] honor among thieves. Thieves who are

[2:17:20] trying to steal the power of we the

[2:17:21] people. While voter suppression is no

[2:17:26] laughing matter, it seems to be the

[2:17:27] running gag of this court.

[2:17:29] Instead of fulfilling your duty to

[2:17:31] safeguard fair elections, you're focused

[2:17:33] on delivering the same sad punchlines

[2:17:35] over and over. Play party politics,

[2:17:37] disenfranchise voters, target

[2:17:39] communities of color. When officials

[2:17:42] manipulate who gets to vote, who gets

[2:17:44] streamline of a process, and who gets

[2:17:46] stuck at the back of the line, it's not

[2:17:48] honorable. It's cowardly.

[2:17:50] It's fixing the game before it's played

[2:17:53] just so you don't have to face a fair

[2:17:54] fight. And if you think racism is hidden

[2:17:57] by bureaucratical language, think again.

[2:17:59] Denying minority groups their voice

[2:18:01] isn't just a bad joke, it's the oldest,

[2:18:03] ugliest reoccurring joke in American

[2:18:05] history.

[2:18:05] » Thank you.

[2:18:06] » Thank you.

[2:18:07] » Andrew Fizer present. Andrew Fizer

[2:18:10] Fiser.

[2:18:12] Uh

[2:18:14] Destin or Destiny Denini.

[2:18:18] Destiny.

[2:18:22] Following Miss Denini is Katherine Cano.

[2:18:32] I was born and raised in Fort Worth. I

[2:18:34] live in Ridgely Hills now with my

[2:18:36] husband where we're raising our

[2:18:37] beautiful little girl. I am a Texan. I

[2:18:41] get when I get excited, my eye sounds

[2:18:43] get longer. If I see a need, I scream

[2:18:46] and I help. I scream at the TV just like

[2:18:50] everyone else when the game is on. As a

[2:18:53] Texan, if I make a mistake, I accept

[2:18:55] accountability and make amends when

[2:18:57] necessary. If I lose, though I may not

[2:19:00] be happy about it, I can shake my

[2:19:02] opponent's hand and say, "Good game."

[2:19:06] And when I have a problem with someone

[2:19:08] as a Texan, I can look them in the eye

[2:19:10] and say, "So, I have a problem with

[2:19:13] you."

[2:19:15] I ask that if polling places are being

[2:19:18] added for the November 4th elections,

[2:19:21] current polling places not be removed.

[2:19:24] To be a part of a team, you earn your

[2:19:26] spot. As repres as representatives of

[2:19:29] this county, it is your job to rise to

[2:19:31] the occasion and meet the needs of all

[2:19:33] your constituents.

[2:19:34] » Thank you. Is Miss Kano present?

[2:19:41] Gary McMatterin

[2:19:45] Gary Mcmadaran Gary McMatterin

[2:19:50] Steve Christian

[2:19:54] following Mr. Christian Sad Dumis

[2:19:59] Thank you. I'm a lifelong resident of

[2:20:02] Fort Worth um precinct 4 live in

[2:20:05] precinct 4. Thank you uh Commissioner

[2:20:08] Miles for everything you said and a lot

[2:20:10] of others saved me some time in my one

[2:20:12] minute. Um the main thing that I got

[2:20:15] from the presentation from staff today

[2:20:17] was we have low voter turnout and so the

[2:20:21] answer to that is to cut polling places.

[2:20:26] What that something doesn't seem right

[2:20:28] with that to me. Um but um I'm

[2:20:32] particularly

[2:20:34] everyone else has spoken eloquently

[2:20:35] about the other reasons for this. I'll

[2:20:39] speak for the college students and the

[2:20:41] fact that eliminating all polling places

[2:20:44] from colleges and universities is

[2:20:47] sending them a message that their voices

[2:20:49] are not valued and it discourages civic

[2:20:52] engagement for our next generation of

[2:20:54] leaders which I can hardly wait for them

[2:20:56] to get here.

[2:20:58] In a healthy democracy. In a healthy

[2:21:00] democracy. Thank you, sir. We should be

[2:21:02] working to expand access.

[2:21:04] » Thank you, sir.

[2:21:05] » Thank you.

[2:21:06] » Are you Miss Dumis?

[2:21:09] » No. Did I call your name?

[2:21:11] » Okay. Please state your name for us.

[2:21:15] » Good afternoon, Shade Dumas.

[2:21:18] I want to speak against reducing polling

[2:21:20] locations because saving a little over a

[2:21:23] million dollars are meeting the minimum

[2:21:25] requirement under the Springer bill does

[2:21:27] not outweigh the harm of

[2:21:29] disenfranchising

[2:21:31] tens of thousands of voters. Democracy

[2:21:34] demands more than the bare minimum. It

[2:21:36] demands fairness and full access.

[2:21:39] Polling locations are not simply numbers

[2:21:41] on a budget sheet. Each site represents

[2:21:45] real people, real communities, and their

[2:21:48] voices matter. Their votes matter. And

[2:21:52] honestly, voting should not depend on

[2:21:55] whether a community has the financial

[2:21:56] resources to buy its way into democracy.

[2:22:00] That in itself undermines the principle

[2:22:02] of equal access. It erodess trust and it

[2:22:05] weakens our democracy. So, I urge you

[2:22:07] all to reject reducing polling

[2:22:10] locations. It is time to expand access

[2:22:12] to the ballot box, not to reduce it.

[2:22:15] Thank you.

[2:22:15] » Thank you, S Dumis.

[2:22:18] » That was me.

[2:22:18] » Oh,

[2:22:21] Kelly Tuful.

[2:22:29] Okay. Kelly Tuful.

[2:22:31] TOEFL.

[2:22:33] Allan Loba.

[2:22:38] Callie Tuful. All right, Mr. Loba,

[2:22:41] following Mr. Loba is Jessica Irvin.

[2:22:46] » Thank you so much. With all due respect

[2:22:48] to my good friend Stella, I thought the

[2:22:50] quote was, "It's not our job to make

[2:22:52] voting easier." I'd love to debate that

[2:22:54] when we have more than a minute, but I

[2:22:56] only have a minute. So, I would tell you

[2:22:58] that hardwired into your job

[2:23:00] descriptions, woven into the fabric of

[2:23:02] your calling is to make life better for

[2:23:06] every resident in Tarant County.

[2:23:10] » Serve every resident of Tarant County,

[2:23:12] make their lives better. All due

[2:23:14] respect, I love what you've said to us.

[2:23:17] You're my representative on this

[2:23:19] council. I've heard two phrases, bare

[2:23:22] minimum, 10 mile radius. you can close

[2:23:27] 20 of the closest uh polling places near

[2:23:31] my house. I'll get in my car. I'll

[2:23:34] Google where I need to go. I'll get

[2:23:36] there. But making somebody walk 9 and a

[2:23:39] half miles to a polling place because

[2:23:42] they have limited resources, limited

[2:23:44] time, limited access to transportation.

[2:23:47] » Thank you, sir.

[2:23:48] » Polling tax.

[2:23:49] » Mr. Irvin or Mrs. Irvin, I'm sorry.

[2:23:52] Jessica Irvin, sir. Jessica Urban

[2:24:02] Libertad Heredia

[2:24:06] following Miss Heredia is Richard Perez.

[2:24:21] Um, hi. My statements aren't very

[2:24:24] polished because like a lot of people, I

[2:24:25] was blindsided by, you know, this map

[2:24:27] that came out with the suggested polling

[2:24:29] location closures. And as I was sitting

[2:24:31] here listening to uh members of this

[2:24:33] court, I realized that a lot of you guys

[2:24:35] were also blindsided. And I commend uh

[2:24:38] the commissioners from precincts 1, 2,

[2:24:40] and four for voicing their concerns and

[2:24:41] standing on their principles. Um I

[2:24:46] I suppose I am echoing the sentiment of

[2:24:48] a lot of people here in saying that

[2:24:50] adding additional hurdles uh in response

[2:24:53] to low voter turnout is the wrong

[2:24:55] approach to take. Um it's a degradation

[2:24:57] of our democratic institutions and that

[2:25:00] hurts everybody regardless of our

[2:25:02] personal beliefs. Even if you might feel

[2:25:04] like you're winning something,

[2:25:05] ultimately we all lose if we allow this

[2:25:07] to happen. and respectfully contrato um

[2:25:11] if we are concerned about budget I would

[2:25:13] suggest you look at your taxpayer funded

[2:25:16] salaries before cutting access to voting

[2:25:19] locations respectfully thank you

[2:25:22] » Is Mr. Richard Perez here all right

[2:25:24] following Mr. Perez. We have Deborah

[2:25:26] Kratkkey.

[2:25:28] [Music]

[2:25:30] » I'm Richard Perez and I live in District

[2:25:34] 2 near the historic stocky darts and I

[2:25:37] stand firm with District 2 Councilman

[2:25:40] Carlos Flores and District 11

[2:25:42] Councilwoman Janette Martinez as they

[2:25:45] both oppose this proposal. They've

[2:25:47] released statements as of yesterday. I

[2:25:51] live in the historic area of Fort Worth

[2:25:54] near the stockyards. I also live four

[2:25:56] blocks from a infamous historic building

[2:25:58] called the Ellis Picon factory. We know

[2:26:01] the initial purpose of that building was

[2:26:04] the Fort Worth Claver at the beginning

[2:26:06] of the 20th century and that was used to

[2:26:09] intimidate people in North Side, black

[2:26:12] and brown people, people of diversity.

[2:26:16] They were known for suppression of

[2:26:17] voting.

[2:26:19] Uh they were known for their

[2:26:21] intimidation.

[2:26:23] I would hate to see that our great Fort

[2:26:25] Worth and I my family's been here 80

[2:26:27] years. I'd hate to see them.

[2:26:31] » Thank you, sir.

[2:26:32] » Thank you.

[2:26:33] » Following Miss Katr, we have Amy Super.

[2:26:38] » Yes, Debbie Katr here. Um in listening

[2:26:41] to the other comments, I'm not going to

[2:26:42] add what's already been said, but there

[2:26:44] are two things that concerned me. And

[2:26:46] one of them was the fact when you asked

[2:26:48] the electeduh the elections official if

[2:26:50] the amendments were the only thing on

[2:26:52] the ballot and he said yes. That's not

[2:26:54] true. Actually Senate uh Senate seat

[2:26:57] that's currently held by Kelly. Uh

[2:26:59] » Yeah, I said that.

[2:27:01] » There you go. Okay. Then the last thing

[2:27:03] I'm going to say is in 1873 there was a

[2:27:07] Dallas resident who said that Fort Worth

[2:27:10] was very much like a sleeping panther.

[2:27:13] And the one thing I can promise you is

[2:27:15] that panther has awoken and we will see

[2:27:18] you at the ballot box. Uh Amy Super

[2:27:22] following Miss Super Stanley Johnson.

[2:27:27] [Music]

[2:27:31] » Facts matter. All voters still have the

[2:27:34] same 12 days, 121 hours plus election

[2:27:37] day, another 12 hours to cast their

[2:27:39] votes. Nothing changes with that. That's

[2:27:41] not voter suppression. I analyzed the

[2:27:44] data. I told Commissioner Simmons how to

[2:27:45] analyze the data. Guess she didn't want

[2:27:47] to do that. It clearly shows us where

[2:27:49] people want to go to vote and which

[2:27:51] places they prefer not to choose to vote

[2:27:53] at. This proposed plan reflects that. Uh

[2:27:57] the proposed list is a direct reflection

[2:27:59] of that data. Here's a fun fact. 202021

[2:28:02] um 48 EV sites voter turnout 8.29. 2023

[2:28:07] you took away four

[2:28:09] voter turnout went up not down. Okay. Do

[2:28:15] do you get that? Okay. I'd remind you

[2:28:17] once again of your responsibility. Take

[2:28:18] a more pragmatic approach when making

[2:28:20] decisions that involve how our tax

[2:28:21] dollars are spent. Million dollars would

[2:28:23] cover your salary. So that's a savings I

[2:28:25] would think is good. I do recommend also

[2:28:27] to get KO back. Great parking and one of

[2:28:29] the best crew sites in Karent County.

[2:28:32] » Thank you. Is Mr. Johnson present?

[2:28:35] Stanley Johnson. Following Mr. Johnson,

[2:28:38] we have Nidia Cardinis.

[2:28:42] » I have a rhetorical question for the

[2:28:44] judge and the election administrator.

[2:28:47] Uh, but I want to preface it by this uh

[2:28:51] quote uh from our uh highly uh respected

[2:28:56] previous election administrator in his

[2:28:58] protest uh uh resignation letter. Judge

[2:29:02] O'Hare, my formula to administer a

[2:29:04] quality, transparent election stands on

[2:29:07] respect and zero politics. Compromising

[2:29:09] on these values is not an option for me.

[2:29:11] You made it clear in our last meeting

[2:29:13] that your formula is different. Thus, my

[2:29:15] decision to leave. I wish you the best.

[2:29:17] Taran County deserves that you find

[2:29:19] success. And so, my question is, u what

[2:29:23] is your formula?

[2:29:25] um we're only going to save in a million

[2:29:27] dollars, I believe 11/10enth of a

[2:29:30] percent

[2:29:32] and it's not addressing the problem. The

[2:29:35] problem is low turnout, not too many

[2:29:38] voting places.

[2:29:40] » Thank you.

[2:29:41] » Thank you. Uh following, do we have Miss

[2:29:43] Cardinis present? Nidia Cardinus.

[2:29:45] Following Miss Cardinis, we have Drew

[2:29:47] Brown.

[2:29:51] Hello, my name is Nia Cardinas and I

[2:29:53] want to know why we have a bare minimum

[2:29:54] mindset about the most foundational

[2:29:56] principle of democracy which is the

[2:29:58] right to vote. And coming into this

[2:30:00] meeting, I tried to read all the news I

[2:30:02] could find about it. And all of them

[2:30:04] said that there was no comment on your

[2:30:05] behalf, judge. And I was kind of like,

[2:30:07] why is he not saying anything about why,

[2:30:09] you know, he's advocating for this? And

[2:30:11] I realized coming into this meeting is

[2:30:12] because you barely just got the

[2:30:13] information. So, how could you feel

[2:30:15] comfortable making such a significant

[2:30:18] decision about people's access to voting

[2:30:20] with what sounds like less than a week

[2:30:22] of information? And so, I'm very

[2:30:25] concerned about how every time I come to

[2:30:27] this court, every decision is being made

[2:30:28] with little transparency, little

[2:30:31] creative thinking. And if this is

[2:30:33] financial, then I would encourage us to

[2:30:35] ask the public interest law firm for a

[2:30:37] $250,000 refund um that we're paying

[2:30:40] them to fight the lawsuit against

[2:30:42] redistricting. um and we can fund what

[2:30:44] was it 20 23 of the sites based on the

[2:30:47] um administrator's budget of 10,600 um

[2:30:51] for an early voting site. So let's do

[2:30:53] that instead.

[2:30:54] » Is Drew Brown present

[2:30:56] following Mr. Brown? We have Becky Don.

[2:31:01] » Good morning.

[2:31:02] » Good morning,

[2:31:02] » Mr. Brooks. You used to be my

[2:31:04] commissioner. I'm sorry you're not. I

[2:31:07] voted for you.

[2:31:08] » Uh and uh hi. You're my new

[2:31:12] commissioner. I didn't vote for you. I

[2:31:13] hope I don't get arrested.

[2:31:15] So, uh, and M. County Judge, uh, I had

[2:31:20] the opportunity to vote for you, but I

[2:31:22] made a different decision because that's

[2:31:24] my rights and voting. So, you represent

[2:31:26] the whole county. So, uh,

[2:31:30] and Commissioner Brooks, so all you said

[2:31:32] was facts, not opinion. So, uh, what

[2:31:35] we've got here is a bait and switch.

[2:31:38] They want to make that decision today.

[2:31:40] table the decision. What they're going

[2:31:42] to do is M commissioner Meris and

[2:31:46] Commissioner Krauss, they're going to

[2:31:47] throw a couple of bones over here. We're

[2:31:48] going to give you we're going to give

[2:31:50] you com. We're going to give you this

[2:31:51] that that vote on. We're done. And think

[2:31:54] that they're heroes. Wrong.

[2:31:57] » Is Becky Don present?

[2:31:59] » Following Mr. Dawn, we have Peyton

[2:32:01] Bullis.

[2:32:05] [Music]

[2:32:07] Some people imagine themselves as tasked

[2:32:10] by God to be liberators and protectors

[2:32:12] of purity and virtue. There are those of

[2:32:15] us who disagree and think they are

[2:32:17] merely dominators and oppressors of

[2:32:20] other people. They use the language of

[2:32:23] spiritual warfare to scapegoat out

[2:32:25] outsiders by implying they are evil or

[2:32:27] inferior beings. These so-called

[2:32:30] liberators dismiss others as undeserving

[2:32:32] of the civil rights of our constitution,

[2:32:35] demeaning them by labeling them as

[2:32:37] freeloaders, immoral or criminals.

[2:32:42] Local and federal agents are throwing

[2:32:44] innocent people in jail, often knowing

[2:32:46] they have not committed a crime. The

[2:32:48] color of their skin is their sin.

[2:32:51] Poverty criminalized when the is

[2:32:53] criminalized when the homeless are

[2:32:55] incarcerated. Mental illness needs only

[2:32:57] to be controlled and often with

[2:32:59] brutality. When those in power redraw

[2:33:02] maps, cut polling sites, eliminate early

[2:33:04] voting. The message is that being sent

[2:33:07] it.

[2:33:08] » Thank you.

[2:33:09] » Thank you.

[2:33:09] » Thanks.

[2:33:10] » Peyton Bullis, present.

[2:33:12] Peyton Bullis.

[2:33:15] Uh Jack Bowen.

[2:33:17] Jack Bowen present. All right. Following

[2:33:20] Mr. Bowen, we have Linda Henry.

[2:33:25] Big word said here today was integrity

[2:33:28] and integrity related to credibility.

[2:33:31] And Judge O'Hare, my wife and I were

[2:33:34] stunned last fall when you said WFA,

[2:33:38] this is about partisan politics. Talking

[2:33:40] about redistricting, this is about

[2:33:42] partisan politics and making sure we

[2:33:44] have a stronger Republican majority on

[2:33:47] the court. Not it was right. Not it was

[2:33:50] fair. Not it was honest. This is about

[2:33:53] partisan politics. So when we see this

[2:33:56] kind of cut proposed to places to vote,

[2:33:59] we see the president saying, "Let's ban

[2:34:01] mailin voting and we see the

[2:34:04] legislature, the governor going, it's an

[2:34:06] emergency. Let's rejerrymander the last

[2:34:09] gerrymander we did." So we're

[2:34:12] suspicious. And even before a peaceful

[2:34:16] rally here in Fort Worth, the chairman

[2:34:17] of the Republican party said, "Few

[2:34:20] wellplaced snipers could handle it." And

[2:34:22] if you wonder why Tarant County lacks

[2:34:25] credit,

[2:34:26] » Thank you sir.

[2:34:26] » There you go.

[2:34:27] » Uh following Miss Hanratty, we have

[2:34:31] Dr. Harold.

[2:34:33] [Music]

[2:34:36] » I object to the 50% reduction in early

[2:34:38] voting polling places and commensurate

[2:34:40] reduction in the election day voting

[2:34:42] places. Both of my early voting places,

[2:34:44] Ko Community Center and TCU, are slated

[2:34:47] for elimination, though apparently KO

[2:34:50] may come back in. I guess they found out

[2:34:52] it wasn't just black voters who voted

[2:34:54] there. Um,

[2:34:57] why are we reducing the number of

[2:34:59] polling places when Taran County is one

[2:35:00] of the fastest growing counties in the

[2:35:03] country? This appears to be a f

[2:35:05] furtherance of the county's court's

[2:35:07] mission to disenfranchise Tarant County

[2:35:09] voters which started with the recently

[2:35:12] recent grossly racial racist

[2:35:14] redistricting that we're all going to

[2:35:16] pay a huge amount of money for way more

[2:35:19] than all the voting places you're

[2:35:21] eliminating. The court says that their

[2:35:24] policies are helping county residents

[2:35:26] and thus deserve re-election.

[2:35:29] But but it seems to me that reducing

[2:35:31] polling places means they're afraid of

[2:35:33] us. And of course, the other thing the

[2:35:35] court has done is they reduce

[2:35:37] » Thank you.

[2:35:38] » The meeting places.

[2:35:39] » Uh following Dr. Harold, we have Carla

[2:35:41] Palyus.

[2:36:01] Running fair, accessible elections is

[2:36:04] one of your highest duties. This

[2:36:07] proposal to cut early voting in half and

[2:36:10] to slash election day polling v places

[2:36:13] will make voting harder for every

[2:36:16] citizen. The numbers are staggering.

[2:36:19] These cuts would force more than 8,000

[2:36:22] voters into each polling place. over

[2:36:25] five times the national average. MIT

[2:36:28] research shows that would add more than

[2:36:31] an hour to wait times. And I have charts

[2:36:34] here, Chandler, for you to pass out. Um,

[2:36:38] Tarant County's growth demands more

[2:36:41] polling places, not fewer. Yet, this

[2:36:44] plan eliminates

[2:36:47] college sites and slashes early voting

[2:36:49] in half. Vote no on this proposal.

[2:36:53] Making voting harder is never the right

[2:36:57] answer.

[2:36:58] » Right.

[2:36:59] » Is Miss Polyaris present? Carla Palaris.

[2:37:04] Uh Angela Rodriguez Pryin

[2:37:09] following Miss Pryin. Hollis Kirkpatre.

[2:37:16] Howdy. My name is Angela Rodriguez

[2:37:20] Prryin, but most people know me as Heli

[2:37:22] um like in Helica. Um and I am an

[2:37:25] entrepreneur um and a mom who lives in

[2:37:28] Monaceel area. And I'm the granddaughter

[2:37:31] of Pauline Gosa Valenciano. A lot of

[2:37:34] people in here know who she is. She died

[2:37:36] in 2018. She served this city for a very

[2:37:38] long time, helping open more voting

[2:37:40] locations, expanding it to people who

[2:37:42] speak Spanish and different languages.

[2:37:44] And my grandma, she's rolling in her

[2:37:45] grave right now.

[2:37:47] about all this. And I'm just asking you,

[2:37:50] you know, if you're trying to save

[2:37:51] money, use that money to put out

[2:37:53] marketing to say it's voting time. Hey,

[2:37:56] you know, here's the people who are on

[2:37:58] your ballot. Let people know who's

[2:38:00] running so they can actually come out

[2:38:02] and vote. It's just basic stuff like

[2:38:04] that. And I'm also a fighting Texas

[2:38:06] Aggie, class of09. Whoop. And we don't

[2:38:09] put up with liars, cheaters, or tolerate

[2:38:12] those who do. And I'm asking you guys to

[2:38:15] please just make it more accessible to

[2:38:18] people.

[2:38:19] » Is Hollis Kirkpatre present?

[2:38:22] Hollis Kirkpatrick.

[2:38:26] Olivia Cartwright.

[2:38:29] Following Miss Cartwright, we have

[2:38:31] Alexander Montalvo.

[2:38:39] The justification of low turnout ignores

[2:38:41] that turnout is low because of

[2:38:42] structural barriers. For example, in

[2:38:45] Polytenic Heights, voters currently walk

[2:38:47] or take a 10 to 15minute ride to

[2:38:50] Rosedale to vote. Under this plan, they

[2:38:52] would be forced to Bey Street instead,

[2:38:55] doubling driving time or up to an hour

[2:38:57] by way of bus. For a minimum wage

[2:39:00] worker, that's up to three hours of pay,

[2:39:02] roughly $30 just to cast a ballot. That

[2:39:05] is not access. It is a deterrent. Clint

[2:39:09] has now apparently had two opportunities

[2:39:11] to present data. And I I commend you,

[2:39:14] Judge O'Hare, for asking those important

[2:39:16] questions. And unfortunately, we have

[2:39:18] yet to see an ounce of scientific method

[2:39:21] or data. Commissioners who demonstrated

[2:39:24] your commitment to factbased decisions

[2:39:26] last year when you voted to preserve

[2:39:28] campus polling locations. I ask the

[2:39:31] fellow commissioners and judge to apply

[2:39:33] that same principle here. This is not

[2:39:36] science. This is politics. Taran County

[2:39:39] has consistently Thank you.

[2:39:41] » Is Mr. Montalvo present. Alexander

[2:39:44] Montalvo.

[2:39:46] All right. Next, we have Kimberly Agoro.

[2:39:54] Following Miss Agoro, we have Candida

[2:39:55] Garcia.

[2:39:59] [Music]

[2:40:02] » I am Reverend Dr. Kimberly.

[2:40:06] I've been greatly disappointed with my

[2:40:08] so-called friends, neighbors, and fellow

[2:40:11] followers of Christ. At least with the

[2:40:14] open races, and groups like the Proud

[2:40:17] Boys and the KKK, you know exactly where

[2:40:19] they stand, and you know what to expect.

[2:40:22] But with today's good people like

[2:40:24] yourselves,

[2:40:26] people who toss rocks and hide their

[2:40:27] hands, who sit silent while allowing the

[2:40:30] balance of power to be shifted unfairly

[2:40:33] and still demanding that folks pull

[2:40:35] themselves up by the bootstraps that you

[2:40:37] are cutting. Jesus is wondering how his

[2:40:40] greatest commandment to love your

[2:40:42] neighbor as you love yourself is

[2:40:43] embodied in this legislation. I'm at a

[2:40:46] loss as to how you expect me to bask in

[2:40:49] what is not love. This is not love. This

[2:40:51] is not justice. This is not right. And

[2:40:54] guys, as the woman who chaired text pack

[2:40:56] and put corn porny and put Greg in

[2:40:59] office, I'm back. You got me back. I'll

[2:41:02] be here. Is Miss Garcia present? Candida

[2:41:06] Garcia.

[2:41:09] Uh Paul David Williams.

[2:41:15] Next we would have Katherine Brennan.

[2:41:22] uh this this uh is supposed to be a

[2:41:25] republic of democracy and you're trying

[2:41:29] to make it authoritarian. That's not

[2:41:31] right. And uh we need people to love

[2:41:34] each other and we put you in place to do

[2:41:37] that and you're not doing it. You're

[2:41:40] denying people the love that they need

[2:41:43] by taking away their voting. We need to

[2:41:46] have the districts be fair and we need

[2:41:49] to have people to be able to vote

[2:41:53] without any uh problems and you're

[2:41:57] making more problems for us.

[2:42:00] What you're doing is wrong. What the

[2:42:02] world needs is love. It's up to you to

[2:42:05] do it.

[2:42:08] » Is Katherine Brennan present?

[2:42:12] Katherine Brennan,

[2:42:15] Claudia Busby, Claudia, I'm sorry,

[2:42:18] excuse me, Claudia Busby,

[2:42:20] and following Mr. Busby, Dixie Davis.

[2:42:26] Good afternoon. Uh, I'm against this.

[2:42:29] Um,

[2:42:31] closing the polling places. Each time we

[2:42:33] go to election, uh, this past time was

[2:42:35] election, we have people come in and

[2:42:37] they want to vote and they not register

[2:42:38] to vote. They have vote registration

[2:42:40] cards. And I thought that was odd this

[2:42:41] past year. And then now we come back and

[2:42:43] we close places. I hear Romero asked

[2:42:46] about all these questions. And I said,

[2:42:48] why he asking questions? He normally

[2:42:50] don't say anything. And they were

[2:42:51] beating questions in order for the other

[2:42:54] guy to speak cross to speak in.

[2:42:56] Basically, what we trying to do is

[2:42:57] railroad people and get rid of these

[2:42:59] voting places. We need these voting

[2:43:00] places. You know it. And you trying to

[2:43:03] play like you're not doing it. These

[2:43:05] people in this room here are against

[2:43:07] this. Not going to listen to us. I

[2:43:09] recommend that the people in this room

[2:43:11] share this information with the young

[2:43:12] people and let them put it on social

[2:43:14] media and see how y'all run our media.

[2:43:16] If you want your child to run a meeting

[2:43:18] the way you run across, let your kids

[2:43:20] see this because you're not you

[2:43:22] disrespect of Miss Sims, disrespectful

[2:43:24] audience here, you don't want to listen

[2:43:26] to us.

[2:43:26] » Thank you.

[2:43:27] » Thank you.

[2:43:28] » Dixie Davis following Miss Davis is

[2:43:31] Carol Raburn.

[2:43:38] My name is Dixie Davis, speaking on

[2:43:39] behalf of the League of Women Voters of

[2:43:41] Tarant County, a nonpartisan civic

[2:43:43] organization whose mission is to empower

[2:43:45] voters and defend democracy. Cutting

[2:43:47] nearly half of polling sites this

[2:43:49] November would continue a persistent

[2:43:50] pattern of voter suppression by this

[2:43:52] court. a pattern that includes the

[2:43:54] defunding of Trinity Metro bus rides on

[2:43:56] election days, last year's attempt to

[2:43:58] eliminate all college campus polling

[2:44:00] sites, and the recent dilution of voters

[2:44:02] voices through blatant racial

[2:44:03] gerrymandering. Fewer polling sites

[2:44:06] means more confusion, longer lines, and

[2:44:08] greater barriers, especially for college

[2:44:10] students, seniors, and voters of color

[2:44:12] who may need to travel farther to vote.

[2:44:14] This court has a duty to voters to make

[2:44:16] every election accessible and well

[2:44:18] funded and ensure our polling places are

[2:44:20] numerous and well staffed regardless of

[2:44:22] voter turnout or what's on the ballot.

[2:44:25] We urge you to prioritize the needs of

[2:44:27] voters and keep all polling sites from

[2:44:29] the 2023 election. Thank you.

[2:44:31] » Thank you. Following Miss Raburn, we

[2:44:33] have Leon Reed Jr.

[2:44:39] So, I've worked the election as a judge

[2:44:41] many times in Arlington at various

[2:44:44] locations. We don't need to lose any of

[2:44:47] those locations. All of them have been

[2:44:49] very busy. Most of the ones, especially

[2:44:51] the subcourthouse and UTA are are

[2:44:56] staffed full-time. There's people there

[2:44:58] voting all day long. We don't need to

[2:45:00] double either one of those locations,

[2:45:02] especially taking away the UTA location.

[2:45:05] that smacks of total voter

[2:45:08] discrimination because you're

[2:45:10] discriminating against young people and

[2:45:12] we're working really hard to get young

[2:45:14] people registered to vote and to

[2:45:16] encourage them to vote at UTA and TCC

[2:45:19] when they graduate from high school.

[2:45:21] You're telling them that doesn't matter

[2:45:23] and they're not going to be able to do

[2:45:24] that anymore. It's very disappointing.

[2:45:28] » Mr. Reed, following Mr. Reed, we have

[2:45:30] Judith Cotton.

[2:45:40] [Music]

[2:45:43] I'm here to remind you that life prefers

[2:45:46] balance. But don't trust me. Trust

[2:45:48] science. Trust Isaac Newton when he

[2:45:51] tells you that for every action there is

[2:45:54] an equal and opposite reaction. Don't

[2:45:56] trust me. Trust God. when he tells you

[2:45:59] in Galatians chapter 6 that you will

[2:46:02] reap what you sow. Trust good old boys

[2:46:06] when they tell you that chickens will

[2:46:08] eventually come home to roost. The

[2:46:11] further you try to stretch Tarant County

[2:46:14] in one direction, the further and more

[2:46:17] vicious the snapback will be. It has

[2:46:20] been noted that Tarant County is one of

[2:46:22] the fastest growing counties in the

[2:46:24] country. Yet we want to cut the polling

[2:46:27] locations. It's

[2:46:30] past time that politicians stopped

[2:46:32] electing voters and allowed the voters

[2:46:35] to elect the politicians. That is the

[2:46:38] American way, not what we're seeing

[2:46:40] right now.

[2:46:42] » Thank you. Is Miss Cotton present?

[2:46:45] Okay. Following Miss Cotton, we have

[2:46:47] Ronald Bendian.

[2:46:50] I do not support this repeated attempt

[2:46:52] of voter suppression from your mission

[2:46:54] statement to work collaboratively with

[2:46:56] our stakeholders to improve the

[2:46:57] satisfaction of the residents and

[2:46:59] businesses of Tarant County through the

[2:47:00] effective and efficient provision of

[2:47:02] services. Removing over 100 voting

[2:47:05] locations is not effective or efficient

[2:47:07] provision of services. Taran County is

[2:47:09] the third most populous county in Texas

[2:47:11] and 15th in the USA. It's contradictory

[2:47:14] that a rapidly growing county with over

[2:47:16] two million citizens should reduce

[2:47:18] voting locations from 349 to 214. This

[2:47:22] attempt will leave citizens of North

[2:47:24] Side, Southside, KOMO, all college

[2:47:27] campuses in the county and the

[2:47:28] hardworking without effective and

[2:47:30] efficient early voting on election day

[2:47:32] locations in the November elections. It

[2:47:34] is your duty to uphold the United States

[2:47:36] Constitution, your mission, goal as

[2:47:39] county commissioners, and do not approve

[2:47:41] this attempt of voter suppression of the

[2:47:44] citizens of Tarant County. Thank you.

[2:47:46] » Thank you. Ronald Bendian. Ronald

[2:47:48] Bendian present.

[2:47:53] Aandra Kulie.

[2:47:56] Following Miss Kulie, we have Roelio

[2:48:00] Mahero.

[2:48:20] Since I only have a minute, I'm hoping

[2:48:22] you are taking note that so far it's

[2:48:26] been one person for this and the rest of

[2:48:29] us in this audience have been against

[2:48:31] it.

[2:48:32] Uh, I'm here to say that I'm against it,

[2:48:35] too. Let the people you sworn to

[2:48:38] represent vote.

[2:48:44] Reducing the number of sites

[2:48:48] will

[2:48:50] disenfranch disenfranchise

[2:48:53] and suppress the vote of the young

[2:48:55] people, the working poor, the middle

[2:48:58] class, and of course the people of

[2:49:00] color.

[2:49:02] I hear that a couple of you are familiar

[2:49:04] with the Old Testament

[2:49:06] and of the Ten Commandments because I

[2:49:09] hear they're posted everywhere now.

[2:49:12] Number eight says don't steal. And isn't

[2:49:16] that what you're trying to do?

[2:49:19] The absence of polling sites on

[2:49:21] campuses.

[2:49:22] » Thank you, Miss

[2:49:24] » Uh Mr. Is it Mo? Can you help me

[2:49:26] pronounce that?

[2:49:28] » Moio.

[2:49:30] You got a judge. Uh, Roelio is the name

[2:49:32] and Muo the last name.

[2:49:33] » Muo like

[2:49:35] Okay. Following Mr. Muo is Dorothy

[2:49:38] Deose. Go ahead, sir.

[2:49:40] » All right. Thank you so much.

[2:49:42] Commissioners, I want you all to think

[2:49:43] back for a second. The first time you

[2:49:45] voted for me, in my case, it was a UT

[2:49:48] Arlington. That feeling of pride, the

[2:49:50] feeling of being part of this great

[2:49:51] country. Do you remember?

[2:49:55] I'm a proud for generation Tehano, a

[2:49:56] student at UT Arlington and the son of

[2:49:58] immigrants who believe that Tehas says

[2:49:59] Latenos because after all we are our

[2:50:03] parents American dream and yet this

[2:50:05] court wants to shut down my campus

[2:50:06] polling site. Don't tell me that this

[2:50:09] about efficiency. This is about cracking

[2:50:10] and packing our communities because this

[2:50:12] is about bringing Jim Crow through the

[2:50:13] back door or in this case through the

[2:50:15] front door today. And transportation is

[2:50:18] already the biggest barrier. Not

[2:50:19] everyone gets to have a car like you.

[2:50:21] I've been riding my bicycle for many

[2:50:23] years now in Taran County. But

[2:50:24] ultimately, I don't have all the time in

[2:50:26] the world to spend and the TR, the TXRE,

[2:50:30] because transportation is already the

[2:50:31] biggest barrier. I ask you to front the

[2:50:33] bill. I ask you to provide free and

[2:50:34] rapid transit for every single person so

[2:50:36] that it's not a barrier for us. I want

[2:50:38] you to help me increase voter turnout.

[2:50:41] » Thank you.

[2:50:42] » Is Mr. Deose present?

[2:50:46] » No. Is Miss Dose present?

[2:50:49] » Yes. Following Mr. Debose is Jane

[2:50:51] Collins.

[2:50:54] » Good evening, judge and commissioners.

[2:50:56] My name is Dorothy Deose and I strongly

[2:50:58] oppose a proposed reduction of the early

[2:51:00] v early voting sites and election day

[2:51:04] sites.

[2:51:06] When polling places move farther away,

[2:51:08] seniors without cars and students

[2:51:10] relying on public transit

[2:51:12] face longer, more borders bordersome

[2:51:15] trips just to cast their vote. You are

[2:51:18] making it harder to vote. That

[2:51:21] discourages participations in silenced

[2:51:23] neighborhoods that rightfully deserve

[2:51:26] strong representation.

[2:51:28] Taran County is growing.

[2:51:30] Our access to democracy must grow with

[2:51:34] it, not shrink. I urge you to preserve

[2:51:38] fair access for every neighborhood by

[2:51:40] keeping their sites open. I have lived

[2:51:43] within five blocks of my vote all my

[2:51:46] life and I find that for all

[2:51:48] neighborhoods for me to have to go 10

[2:51:51] miles to vote is unacceptable. Thank

[2:51:53] you.

[2:51:54] » Thank you. Uh following Miss Collins, we

[2:51:56] have Jimmy Blackwell.

[2:52:01] » Hello, I'm Jane Collins from Arlington.

[2:52:04] And when I first listened to the report,

[2:52:07] it sounded like everything was just

[2:52:09] about finances, how to save money. But

[2:52:13] thanks to M uh Commissioner Miles, we uh

[2:52:17] heard that it's about a lot more than

[2:52:20] just saving money. And I totally

[2:52:23] encourage anybody listening to this uh

[2:52:27] session on on their computers to

[2:52:31] relisten to that. I couldn't have said

[2:52:33] it better. And uh once again, I'm going

[2:52:38] to appeal to to Mr. Ramirez's

[2:52:42] uh at least please vote to table. I'm

[2:52:45] totally against any of this uh cutting

[2:52:48] of polling places because I think it's

[2:52:50] undemocratic, especially as we're

[2:52:53] growing. But I'm going to appeal to you

[2:52:55] at least table this until we get more

[2:52:59] analysis. as Commissioner Simmons has

[2:53:02] asked for.

[2:53:03] » All right. Following Mr. Blackwell, we

[2:53:05] have Andrea West,

[2:53:15] Judge O'Hare.

[2:53:18] Taran County is in a recession.

[2:53:22] It's not a financial recession,

[2:53:25] but a recession with the truth,

[2:53:28] honesty, integrity, and fairness.

[2:53:33] It's an absolute disgrace

[2:53:37] what you are proposing and what you will

[2:53:40] just force down the throat of Taran

[2:53:42] County voters. You know what you're

[2:53:45] doing.

[2:53:47] So, don't look at me like you're

[2:53:48] innocent. You know exactly what you're

[2:53:51] doing. You're trying to suppress

[2:53:54] the vote of precent one and precent two.

[2:54:00] You want to change everything to your

[2:54:02] lacking.

[2:54:03] And we are here to fight back and say

[2:54:05] it's not going to happen. So I stand

[2:54:08] strongly and ask you to reject

[2:54:12] this racist

[2:54:15] MAGA s proposal. It stinks.

[2:54:18] » Thank you, sir. Uh, Miss West.

[2:54:21] Uh, following Miss West, we have Lee

[2:54:23] Henderson.

[2:54:24] [Music]

[2:54:26] » Good afternoon. My name is Andrea West

[2:54:28] and I represent District 6 on behalf of

[2:54:30] the office of Councilwoman Dr. Mia Hall.

[2:54:32] Our district includes historic Lake Ko

[2:54:34] community and the Komo Community Center,

[2:54:36] an accessible polling place now being

[2:54:39] considered for removal along with James

[2:54:41] Avenue Service Center and several north

[2:54:43] side and college campuses

[2:54:46] college campus polling places within the

[2:54:48] city of Fort Worth. These are

[2:54:49] neighborhoods made up of working

[2:54:51] families, seniors, and voters who rely

[2:54:53] on nearby familiar polling sites to make

[2:54:55] their voices heard. Removing these

[2:54:57] locations would create unnecessary

[2:54:59] barriers to voting access, especially

[2:55:02] for communities that already face

[2:55:04] challenges. This is not about politics.

[2:55:06] It's about fairness, equity, and access.

[2:55:10] Voting should be convenient, not harder.

[2:55:13] I respectfully urge this court to

[2:55:15] maintain these polling sites and protect

[2:55:17] access to the ballot for all of Fort

[2:55:19] Worth and Taran County residents. Thank

[2:55:21] you.

[2:55:22] » Thank you. Is Lee Henderson present?

[2:55:26] Lee Henderson,

[2:55:28] Mark Connelly,

[2:55:30] is Mark Connelly present.

[2:55:36] Messia Savis Messia Savis.

[2:55:41] Okay. How many of you signed up to speak

[2:55:44] on this particular item besides Mr.

[2:55:46] Montalvo and came in late?

[2:55:50] Anyone?

[2:55:53] Okay, Mr. Montalo, come on.

[2:56:01] » All right. I didn't know my time was

[2:56:02] appointed to a certain time, so I don't

[2:56:03] know how late applies, but I want

[2:56:07] everyone to understand who is watching

[2:56:09] this, who is in the audience, that this

[2:56:12] is the MAGA movement doing everything it

[2:56:15] can to kill democracy.

[2:56:18] The MAGA movement that O'Hare loves to

[2:56:21] be a part of

[2:56:23] is anti-American,

[2:56:26] is anti-democracy.

[2:56:30] And a lot of folks will think, well,

[2:56:32] dang, America's got a pretty ugly past.

[2:56:35] You know, he may be doing the things

[2:56:37] that

[2:56:39] it was designed to do. But I'm here to

[2:56:41] say that people have died for our

[2:56:44] rights.

[2:56:46] Black and brown community members,

[2:56:48] women, and even white community members

[2:56:51] have sacrificed to get us where we're

[2:56:53] at, and they are here to undo it, and

[2:56:56] it's time for everyone to take action

[2:56:58] and step up.

[2:57:01] All right, those are all the speakers we

[2:57:02] have on this item. We have a motion to

[2:57:05] table. I don't have any form from you or

[2:57:08] you. I read them all.

[2:57:12] » Sure.

[2:57:20] I believe that's Mr. Bell. Can Can you

[2:57:23] check and see if Mr. Bell is on this

[2:57:24] list? I don't recall saying his name at

[2:57:27] any point.

[2:57:34] » We have you signed up under Let me see

[2:57:36] it.

[2:57:37] » I4. No,

[2:57:40] » 104.

[2:57:41] » He probably meant it. probably supposed

[2:57:43] to be I4.

[2:57:45] » So, all right, we have a motion to table

[2:57:49] this item. We have a second motion, I

[2:57:52] mean a second on that motion.

[2:57:56] Any further discussion from the court

[2:57:58] before we vote?

[2:58:02] All right, seeing none, all in favor of

[2:58:04] tableabling the motion, please raise

[2:58:05] your hand.

[2:58:08] Okay, so that fails two to three. Do we

[2:58:11] have another motion? I'm making it

[2:58:14] quiet.

[2:58:16] » Please remove her from the room.

[2:58:19] » Um, please remove her from the room.

[2:58:26] » I'm not going to move him. I'm just

[2:58:27] going to move you. Please remove her.

[2:58:32] » Okay. So, we have Do we have another

[2:58:34] motion? I make a motion to approve all

[2:58:42] » I make a motion that we approve all the

[2:58:44] voting site locations that were put

[2:58:46] forward by uh Mr. Lewig with the uh to

[2:58:50] add on to it KO community center legacy

[2:58:53] learning center the Tarant County uh

[2:58:56] college northwest campus the Charles

[2:58:58] Griffin Building and the Northeast

[2:59:00] Subcourthouse.

[2:59:03] I'll second that.

[2:59:04] » I have

[2:59:06] one moment. We have a motion and a

[2:59:08] second.

[2:59:09] » Further discussion.

[2:59:14] » I wonder why. So, the motion was to

[2:59:17] approve the sites presented with the

[2:59:20] addition of KOMO

[2:59:23] » Legacy Learning Center,

[2:59:24] » Legacy Learning Center,

[2:59:25] » Tarant County College Northwest Campus,

[2:59:28] the Charles Griffin Building, and the

[2:59:29] Northeast Subcourthouse.

[2:59:32] » Okay. So there's a motion and a second

[2:59:34] discussion.

[2:59:36] » I have several sites to add as well. So

[2:59:40] would that require an additional motion

[2:59:42] to amend this motion?

[2:59:45] » You can make a motion to amend the

[2:59:48] motion and then you it does not have to

[2:59:52] be accepted by the original motion

[2:59:54] maker.

[2:59:55] » That's correct, judge. What would happen

[2:59:57] in the case of an amendment here would

[2:59:59] be the amendment would require a second.

[3:00:01] The court would then vote on the

[3:00:02] amendment and then proceed on the main

[3:00:04] motion as amended.

[3:00:05] » Okay. So, state your motion.

[3:00:10] Uh, my motion is to add

[3:00:14] Bob Duncan, University of Texas at

[3:00:17] Arlington,

[3:00:19] uh, TCC Southeast

[3:00:22] campuses or those sites back.

[3:00:27] » All right. So, there's a motion

[3:00:30] to amend Commissioner Krauss's motion to

[3:00:33] add the following sites. Bob Duncan,

[3:00:35] UTA, and TCC

[3:00:36] » Southeast.

[3:00:37] » Southeast. Do we have a second on that?

[3:00:39] » Second.

[3:00:40] » We have a second on that. Any discussion

[3:00:42] on that one?

[3:00:42] » Yeah. No. Uh, Mr. Credville, do I

[3:00:46] indicate whether I will accept or reject

[3:00:48] that amend? Amend.

[3:00:50] » No, Commissioner, at this point, because

[3:00:51] there's been an a motion to amend and

[3:00:54] then a second, the court should vote on

[3:00:56] the motion to amend. And then if it is

[3:00:58] adopted, the court should vote on the

[3:01:01] main motion that you presented as

[3:01:02] amended.

[3:01:03] » And if it's fails, then you vote on the

[3:01:05] original motion.

[3:01:06] » Correct.

[3:01:06] » Okay. Okay. So, the motion. Does anybody

[3:01:09] need me to repeat the motion up here?

[3:01:11] » All right. We have a motion in a second.

[3:01:13] Any discussion on this?

[3:01:14] » Yeah. I don't know which sites exactly.

[3:01:16] Um I didn't write them all down. There

[3:01:18] were three.

[3:01:18] » Bob Duncan, UTA, and TCC Southeast.

[3:01:22] » Clint, did you have any problems with

[3:01:24] any three of those?

[3:01:26] » UTA traditionally isn't an odd year

[3:01:28] early voting location. Um so, that one

[3:01:32] we would have to see if that's something

[3:01:34] that they would even want to do. Uh and

[3:01:37] UTA and TCC Southeast, both those

[3:01:40] locations do not give us a separate

[3:01:43] room. So, that's going to if if they

[3:01:46] will allow it, we're going to have to

[3:01:48] set up and tear down those sites every

[3:01:49] single day uh to to make those ones

[3:01:51] work.

[3:01:53] » All right. So, we have a Hang on. We

[3:01:55] have a motion and a second

[3:01:58] to amend the original motion to add Bob

[3:02:01] Duncan, UTA, and TCC Southeast. Okay.

[3:02:05] Just to Clint, uh, in regards to Taran

[3:02:08] County College Southeast Campus, I would

[3:02:11] recommend reaching out to their

[3:02:12] governmental affairs director, Reginald

[3:02:15] Gates, with the district office,

[3:02:18] about accommodating you. And if you need

[3:02:20] me to provide you with his contact

[3:02:23] information, I can do that or I can make

[3:02:24] the call.

[3:02:25] » I'd appreciate that, Commissioner. And

[3:02:27] my understanding is

[3:02:30] the actual

[3:02:33] due date

[3:02:35] could accommodate.

[3:02:37] So if this motion fails

[3:02:41] and you and the reg the first motion

[3:02:45] passes, there is still time to add these

[3:02:49] if they can accommodate the law. Is that

[3:02:53] accurate?

[3:02:55] » Yes. Like this. Okay.

[3:02:57] » Well, could could you alternatively if

[3:03:00] the if the motion passed but they didn't

[3:03:03] want to since we're publishing a list

[3:03:05] say let's say we approve those sites and

[3:03:07] then you subsequently find out that they

[3:03:09] can't accommodate uh in accordance with

[3:03:11] the law. What happens then? Do we have

[3:03:12] to come back and remove the site by

[3:03:14] court action?

[3:03:17] I I believe we would just have to post

[3:03:19] the notice that that site is not going

[3:03:21] to be available. I don't remember the

[3:03:24] exact posting requirements off the top

[3:03:25] of my head. I don't have the election

[3:03:27] code, but we would just have to notify

[3:03:29] that it is not available um and where

[3:03:31] the nearest locations are at.

[3:03:34] » Okay. So,

[3:03:36] what here's my comment on this.

[3:03:42] Bob Duncan did not say we cannot

[3:03:44] accommodate.

[3:03:46] » No, they didn't.

[3:03:46] » Okay. UTA and TCC South Southeast did.

[3:03:50] » Correct. after you reached out.

[3:03:52] » Correct.

[3:03:52] » Okay. So, um

[3:03:56] the other issue, well, I can I I would

[3:04:01] probably support the Bob Duncan one. Uh

[3:04:03] I'm not going to support those two and

[3:04:05] they've already said no. But if you can

[3:04:08] come back

[3:04:10] and be able to analyze it and explain it

[3:04:13] and why it's good, why it isn't, but the

[3:04:16] idea that UTA is never a constitutional

[3:04:19] amendment election um site, I mean

[3:04:23] weighs with me. So, uh All right.

[3:04:27] Anybody else have anything on this

[3:04:28] before we vote on the amendment? I would

[3:04:30] just say in order of operation, I think

[3:04:33] it would be better if we didn't add

[3:04:35] those polling sites in right now that

[3:04:37] have already told us they couldn't

[3:04:38] comply with state law and then try to

[3:04:40] come back and add them in later than to

[3:04:42] maybe approve them on the front end and

[3:04:43] then have to come back and post a notice

[3:04:45] and go through all that. So, um, but I

[3:04:48] agree if it's just the Bob Duncan

[3:04:50] Center, I'm I'm great with adding that

[3:04:52] into this list of of amended sites.

[3:04:55] » It's not just the Bob Duncan Center.

[3:04:57] It's those sites I named. And I have an

[3:05:00] amendment to my motion to add um I move

[3:05:05] to amend my motion to add the Vernon

[3:05:08] Newsome stadium.

[3:05:12] » Would you be willing to revoke your

[3:05:14] previous amending motion

[3:05:17] and then make one?

[3:05:19] » Sure.

[3:05:20] » For those four?

[3:05:21] » Yes.

[3:05:22] » All right. You you vote?

[3:05:26] » Yes.

[3:05:27] » Okay. I move to resend

[3:05:31] my motion.

[3:05:33] » No, you just withdraw. You withdraw your

[3:05:35] amending motion.

[3:05:36] » I withdraw my

[3:05:37] » Now you're going to make a new motion

[3:05:38] for

[3:05:39] » I'm going to make a new motion.

[3:05:44] Amended motion to add

[3:05:47] Vernon Newsome Stadium, TCC

[3:05:51] Southoutheast Campus,

[3:05:53] Bob Duncan, and the Kennedale site. So

[3:05:57] you're now taking UTA off.

[3:06:00] » Okay. So Bob Duncan, when you say the

[3:06:05] Kennedale site, what is the Kennedale

[3:06:07] site?

[3:06:08] » Kennedale Community Center.

[3:06:10] » Have you

[3:06:11] » Yeah, I don't I don't have the name of

[3:06:13] it because they just they had to move.

[3:06:15] We used to be in the library, but

[3:06:16] they're doing some construction. So it's

[3:06:18] um

[3:06:21] Dober Hall is is the location.

[3:06:22] » Have you talked to them about that about

[3:06:25] being able to do that this time?

[3:06:27] We haven't, but we can just reach out

[3:06:29] and um and ask.

[3:06:32] » So, let me say this. This this my whole

[3:06:33] point of tableing this until we have uh

[3:06:38] time to go through it. So, sitting up

[3:06:41] here on this day is um without the

[3:06:47] information

[3:06:48] um is

[3:06:50] irresponsible.

[3:06:52] It's unprofessional.

[3:06:54] Um, and so the rush, what's what's the

[3:06:58] urgency to do this?

[3:07:01] We can have a special call meeting. We

[3:07:04] can do it on September 3rd. Um, which

[3:07:08] gives him plenty of time

[3:07:10] um, according to the elections calendar

[3:07:13] to get this get this approved. So, what

[3:07:16] what is the rush um to do this?

[3:07:20] Commissioner Miles might have some some

[3:07:22] sites. Commissioner RmIrez might have

[3:07:24] some sights.

[3:07:24] » Is that a rhetorical question or

[3:07:26] » No, no, I need to know.

[3:07:28] » Uh I think two pieces to this is one

[3:07:33] I'm ready to vote and I think we can

[3:07:35] vote. There is an OP. So there is an

[3:07:38] option to bring the other sites when

[3:07:41] they've had the ability to do diligence.

[3:07:44] Um so I don't see a reason at this point

[3:07:48] to postpone it. We can vote if yours

[3:07:52] fails. We can vote on his original

[3:07:54] motion. If yours passes, we can vote on

[3:07:56] the amended motion alto together. Take a

[3:07:58] vote and then if there's something else

[3:08:00] to add, it can come back and be added

[3:08:02] and it gives him a chance to do the

[3:08:04] diligence. So that that's the an answer

[3:08:06] to that question.

[3:08:07] » And anybody else want to weigh in on

[3:08:09] that question?

[3:08:12] » What's the

[3:08:13] » The list of amended sites? There's I

[3:08:15] don't see any of well all of the

[3:08:18] additions. I don't see any sites that

[3:08:21] historically would tell us no don't

[3:08:23] don't show up here. Um so I'm I'm pretty

[3:08:25] confident that the list of ads um we can

[3:08:29] make happen.

[3:08:29] » Which which list are you referring to?

[3:08:31] » KO all all of them. KO T T T T T T T T T

[3:08:33] T T T T T T T T T T T TCC Northwest, the

[3:08:34] Charles Griffin Northeast Sub, Vernon

[3:08:36] Newsome, Bob Duncan, and TCC Southeast,

[3:08:40] and Kennedale.

[3:08:41] » I thought you already said TCC said they

[3:08:43] couldn't accommodate. They can't

[3:08:44] accommodate the individual polling

[3:08:47] location and us having a room, but they

[3:08:49] will let us conduct voting there.

[3:08:53] » Okay. So, at the moment, we have a

[3:08:58] motion to amend Commissioner Krauss's

[3:09:00] motion

[3:09:02] to add Bob Duncan, Kennedale

[3:09:07] Health Center or something to that

[3:09:09] effect, TCC Southeast, and Vernon

[3:09:12] Newsome Stadium as locations. Did I

[3:09:14] repeat your motion correctly?

[3:09:16] » Yes, but I have a question for the

[3:09:18] administrator.

[3:09:20] Um, so are you going to hold this list?

[3:09:24] Because the judge said we can always

[3:09:27] come back and add sites. Are you going

[3:09:29] to hold this until the next meeting

[3:09:31] before submitting it or publishing it or

[3:09:35] whatever you have to do to it? Did you

[3:09:37] hear what he said?

[3:09:39] » The

[3:09:41] what is approved today is what we're

[3:09:43] going to move forward with to to start

[3:09:45] getting the election done. And I don't

[3:09:48] if we get an improved list of of what we

[3:09:50] want then that's what we would.

[3:09:52] » So he's he wasn't quite accurate when he

[3:09:55] said that that we can add if if if

[3:09:59] commissioner Krauss's passes and my

[3:10:03] amendment fails, we can come back and

[3:10:06] try to add some more sites at a future

[3:10:08] meeting. There's there's still time. Um

[3:10:12] if we if the court wanted to agendaize

[3:10:14] an item and and add those on the

[3:10:16] September 3rd meeting, we could add

[3:10:18] those in. It just taking this list and

[3:10:20] moving forward lets us start getting the

[3:10:22] programming done. All the work for the

[3:10:24] election. This will be the majority of

[3:10:26] it. I wouldn't imagine that any ads are

[3:10:28] going to be much significant after uh

[3:10:31] the list that we've we've gained here.

[3:10:33] So, we will be able to continue what

[3:10:35] what we've presented and if there were

[3:10:38] ads, we could add those in.

[3:10:42] » All right. Are we ready to vote on the

[3:10:44] amendment to the motion?

[3:10:46] » I've got a comment.

[3:10:47] » Okay.

[3:10:48] » Um ju just in general, uh I I think this

[3:10:51] process again, communication is key, um

[3:10:54] for our elections administrator, um on

[3:10:56] the next iterations of this. uh but I do

[3:10:59] think you know while I may not share the

[3:11:02] viewpoint uh of some of my colleagues up

[3:11:05] here I I do think that the robust

[3:11:07] discussion uh is healthy and I think

[3:11:11] being able to discuss it and you know

[3:11:14] not everybody it's not a win or loss

[3:11:16] type of thing not everything's

[3:11:17] adversarial um you know it's it's

[3:11:20] viewpoints on what's the most efficient

[3:11:22] way to do something what's the most

[3:11:24] responsible and at the end of the day

[3:11:26] how to best serve all of the citizens in

[3:11:28] Taran County, all of them, uh, in each

[3:11:30] of our individual precincts. So, I do

[3:11:33] think that the conversation's

[3:11:34] productive, uh, just to go through the

[3:11:37] exercise and and again, Clint, I think

[3:11:39] hopefully um, in the future, we have

[3:11:41] this discussion before uh, we have a

[3:11:43] final proposal so that everybody's

[3:11:45] viewpoints are included. Um, but but

[3:11:47] this process again, I think, has gone

[3:11:51] about as well as it could with getting

[3:11:52] the information how we got it. So,

[3:11:55] thanks.

[3:11:55] » Yeah, I don't I don't think anything's

[3:11:57] been adversarial up here. Um, it's what

[3:12:01] I said at the beginning, the process.

[3:12:04] Um, and you know, you're not worth two

[3:12:08] damn cents because I asked you Friday if

[3:12:14] this could be postponed.

[3:12:17] You said yes. All weekend

[3:12:21] you and Chandler said no, it can't. I

[3:12:25] wait. I've spoken with election

[3:12:28] administrators in four other counties.

[3:12:32] So, I know you did not tell me the truth

[3:12:36] this weekend

[3:12:38] as I attempted to pull this item off the

[3:12:42] agenda and move it to the September 3rd

[3:12:46] meeting. You wanted this circus. You

[3:12:49] wanted You ought to be embarrassed. So

[3:12:53] now you just said

[3:12:56] you could put it on the September. I

[3:12:59] I've got emails I will post on social

[3:13:01] media for these people to see.

[3:13:03] » Please do commission. I like I said and

[3:13:05] I told you for the programming side of

[3:13:07] it, yes, we have time. The issue is both

[3:13:10] myself and the assistant elections

[3:13:12] administrator are not going to be here

[3:13:14] on the 3 in order to present it. And

[3:13:17] that is why we wanted to get this in

[3:13:19] here in front of the court so we could

[3:13:20] have this discussion. and so I could get

[3:13:22] my team a list of sites so that they

[3:13:24] could work with

[3:13:25] » And I took that into consideration and

[3:13:27] my motion. All I've talked about is a

[3:13:31] special call meeting because this county

[3:13:34] has to stop because two individuals

[3:13:37] won't be here. He'll be at a conference.

[3:13:40] Hey, go go go to the conference a day

[3:13:42] late. But the business of this county

[3:13:45] has to continue.

[3:13:48] Forget your conference. You got a list

[3:13:50] to do. You got programming to start.

[3:13:53] Skip a day of the conference.

[3:13:56] » All right. We have a motion and a second

[3:13:59] on an amending motion. What?

[3:14:01] » You do not have a second for the

[3:14:02] amendment, judge.

[3:14:03] » Um,

[3:14:04] » Do we have a second?

[3:14:05] » Seconded.

[3:14:06] » Okay.

[3:14:06] » Second.

[3:14:07] » We have a motion and a second on an

[3:14:10] amending motion. Any further discussion

[3:14:12] before we vote on it?

[3:14:14] » Just one more question because TCC

[3:14:16] Southeast is included in this. Correct.

[3:14:18] » Correct. and they have told us that they

[3:14:20] cannot comply with state law

[3:14:23] » With the the separate room. Now there's

[3:14:26] as long as we have a room within there

[3:14:29] that we can tear down and store the

[3:14:31] equipment every night then we can still

[3:14:33] make that happen. They didn't say they

[3:14:34] could not do that. They just said that

[3:14:35] we could not have our own voting room.

[3:14:37] So I can go back and see can they

[3:14:38] accommodate that or they could say no

[3:14:40] they can't and and then it wouldn't be

[3:14:42] compliant with the state law and we

[3:14:44] wouldn't be able to use it. So, you feel

[3:14:45] reasonably confident that we'll be able

[3:14:47] to make that site work?

[3:14:49] » I'll do everything I can to find a way

[3:14:51] to make it happen.

[3:14:54] » So,

[3:14:56] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. The 11th lowest

[3:15:03] turnout from the 2023 constitutional

[3:15:07] amendment election is the one out of

[3:15:11] what now has risen to approximately

[3:15:16] 28

[3:15:18] plus 4 32 locations. We're going to make

[3:15:23] an accommodation for them being the 11th

[3:15:25] lowest that no other early voting site

[3:15:28] has to make. So for an average of

[3:15:30] approximately

[3:15:35] 50 voters a day. All right. Again, if if

[3:15:39] this had if

[3:15:41] if we had this information ahead of

[3:15:43] time, we wouldn't be up here doing this.

[3:15:46] It doesn't make sense either

[3:15:50] to get rid of the northeast courthouse

[3:15:54] and they bring in they're the one, two,

[3:15:57] three, four, five, six, seven, eighth

[3:16:00] highest vote getting site in Taran

[3:16:02] County. Make it make sense, sir. That

[3:16:05] was part of the discussion and that was

[3:16:06] one of the locations that I said likely

[3:16:08] could be added. But when we were looking

[3:16:10] at the fact that there is another higher

[3:16:12] performing location right there next to

[3:16:14] it

[3:16:15] » And what we had done consistently was if

[3:16:17] there was a higher if there were two

[3:16:18] locations together and one was a higher

[3:16:21] location that was the location that was

[3:16:23] chosen to facilitate the voters.

[3:16:26] » And and the administrator was very

[3:16:28] responsive and helpful with me when I

[3:16:29] called and asked that very question. He

[3:16:31] laid all of that out to me and gave me a

[3:16:33] clear reason for why that was not done.

[3:16:36] And so I appreciated that. There was a

[3:16:37] rhyme and reason behind every site that

[3:16:39] we asked him about and that was very

[3:16:41] helpful.

[3:16:42] » Well, what I don't appreciate

[3:16:46] is are the games and the lack of

[3:16:49] transparency from you, Clint, and from

[3:16:52] you, Mr. Merritt. Um,

[3:16:55] and what I don't appreciate

[3:16:58] is these people coming down here

[3:17:01] parking, spending their time, leaving

[3:17:04] their jobs, whatever. To be

[3:17:06] disrespected.

[3:17:08] When over a hundred

[3:17:11] people tell us what to do and one says

[3:17:16] no, we do what they tell us to do. We

[3:17:20] were elected by them. Y'all are

[3:17:23] disrespectful to our constituents.

[3:17:26] and your disrespect for our staff is one

[3:17:29] of the most abhorent things I have ever

[3:17:31] seen. Be quiet now.

[3:17:34] » They don't they don't have to be quiet.

[3:17:36] They can respond.

[3:17:37] » Yes, you do. Remove him.

[3:17:40] » Yeah. And you know what? When I have the

[3:17:42] microphone, I have the ability.

[3:17:46] [Music]

[3:17:48] So you you love you love. Excuse me.

[3:17:56] because

[3:17:59] he's got to throw people out.

[3:18:01] » No.

[3:18:01] » Disrespectful of these people who have

[3:18:04] par, paid to park, come down here, taken

[3:18:06] their time to tell us how to do their

[3:18:11] business. These are taxpayers

[3:18:14] » And you are constantly calling our staff

[3:18:16] members liars, questioning their

[3:18:19] integrity uh over and over and over.

[3:18:22] They lie.

[3:18:23] » Would you do me a favor? I let you

[3:18:25] speak. Would you do the same for me?

[3:18:27] » Okay, I'll speak after you. So,

[3:18:28] » Of course you will. You can never stop.

[3:18:30] So,

[3:18:32] » You repeatedly get up here and call our

[3:18:35] staff members liars when you don't agree

[3:18:38] with what they say. You You confuse

[3:18:41] facts. You say things that are

[3:18:43] inaccurate as though they are fact

[3:18:45] literally every single meeting. And

[3:18:49] Clint has been very clear from the time

[3:18:52] this started that the deadline to turn

[3:18:55] this in is not today.

[3:18:58] But they also don't want to go down to

[3:19:00] the very last minute because voting

[3:19:03] starts in I believe it is uh mid October

[3:19:08] and they have less at this point than

[3:19:10] two months to start going on it. It

[3:19:13] would be nice if you would stop accusing

[3:19:16] the staff members who disagree with you

[3:19:18] and don't do what you think they should

[3:19:20] do every minute. It would be nice if you

[3:19:22] would stop accusing them of being liars

[3:19:24] and deceiving and deceptive. You did it

[3:19:27] to him today. You did it to Helen last

[3:19:30] week. You do it to Chandler multiple

[3:19:31] times a year. Enough's enough.

[3:19:34] » Okay. So,

[3:19:36] » Judge might be right.

[3:19:37] » If this is No, no. I was going after

[3:19:39] him. If this

[3:19:41] is a comprehensive

[3:19:44] report analysis,

[3:19:46] methodology

[3:19:48] on why we should be cutting our polling

[3:19:52] places in half.

[3:19:54] We're sad. This is sad. This is

[3:19:57] ridiculous. I ask him,

[3:20:00] "Where where's your arithmetic? Where's

[3:20:01] your data? Where's your methodology?

[3:20:03] It's all over my office, ma'am. I I I

[3:20:06] would I would have to put it together."

[3:20:08] And this is what I got on Saturday. So

[3:20:11] if you don't want to be critiqued

[3:20:13] and criticized, you've got to do better.

[3:20:17] You've got This is This is pathetic. And

[3:20:20] I don't miss I don't mince facts. I've

[3:20:22] got facts. My data is always accurate.

[3:20:26] It comes if it's ever inaccurate. It

[3:20:29] comes from the staff, this staff. Um, so

[3:20:34] you can allege that all you want. Um,

[3:20:38] but you are wrong. You can you can

[3:20:42] praise these people. Let me tell you

[3:20:44] guys why he can praise these people.

[3:20:46] They are terrified of him. He couldn't

[3:20:49] dare they couldn't dare tell him, you

[3:20:52] know, judge, that's not a good idea.

[3:20:55] They'd be gone. He has whitewashed

[3:20:58] this administrative staff. When we got

[3:21:00] here, it was very diverse. We've got

[3:21:03] three minorities left on this

[3:21:06] administrative staff. So, they're

[3:21:09] terrified of him. He's got the power.

[3:21:12] You see? One, two, three. Those guys,

[3:21:14] you're going to one, two, three. Lock

[3:21:16] step. They're not going to consider you.

[3:21:20] I am,

[3:21:24] » Sir.

[3:21:24] » And don't you ever say anything about

[3:21:26] being a Marine again. My son is Marine

[3:21:28] Captain about to be a major. and you're

[3:21:31] embarrassing.

[3:21:33] » Sir,

[3:21:36] » If we're done, I was going to call the

[3:21:37] question, but sounds like we're there.

[3:21:40] » I I'll say one more thing. Um, the fact

[3:21:43] that nobody listens on this DAS, it it's

[3:21:47] just not true. In fact, you're seeing

[3:21:49] this amendment play out. Thank you to my

[3:21:51] friend Loretta, uh, who wish me a happy

[3:21:53] birthday, who made a strong case for CO

[3:21:56] as a lot of other people did after

[3:21:58] conversations. That's why this is on

[3:22:00] here. We talked about the Charles

[3:22:01] Griffin Center uh that was really

[3:22:04] important to uh Commissioner Miles

[3:22:06] that's on here. So when you say nobody's

[3:22:09] listening to you, that's just not true.

[3:22:10] Taking a lot of feedback today. That's

[3:22:12] what this amendment is all about. You're

[3:22:14] being heard even if you don't always

[3:22:15] agree, but those changes are being

[3:22:17] incorporated.

[3:22:19] » All right, question.

[3:22:21] » Is the amendment for early voting or

[3:22:24] election day sites or both?

[3:22:28] » Great question. I believe the amendment

[3:22:29] was for early voting sites is how I

[3:22:33] interpreted it. Is that accurate?

[3:22:36] » Yes.

[3:22:36] » Okay.

[3:22:39] » All right. We have

[3:22:40] » So, we're not even addressing election

[3:22:42] day.

[3:22:44] At the moment, we have a motion to amend

[3:22:49] the motion on the floor to add Bob

[3:22:52] Duncan, Kennedale,

[3:22:55] Tarant County College Southeast, and

[3:22:57] Vernon Newsome Stadium to the list of

[3:22:59] early voting sites.

[3:23:01] Um, all those in favor, please raise

[3:23:04] your hand.

[3:23:08] All right, so it passes four to one.

[3:23:11] Uh so now we have an amended motion on

[3:23:15] the floor which is to approve the list

[3:23:19] provided by Clint

[3:23:21] and also to include Bob Duncan Kennedale

[3:23:26] Tarant County College Southeast Vernon

[3:23:28] Newsome Stadium the Northeast

[3:23:30] Subcourthouse

[3:23:32] KO

[3:23:34] » Legacy Learning Center

[3:23:35] » Legacy Learning Center and

[3:23:37] » TCC Northwest

[3:23:39] » TCC Northwest gest that I get them all.

[3:23:42] All right. Uh all those in favor of

[3:23:45] this, please raise your hand.

[3:23:48] All right. This passes 3 to two. All

[3:23:52] right. That is it for that item. We will

[3:23:55] now take a 10-minute recess and be back

[3:23:57] in here at 1:30. We are in recess.

[3:34:28] All right, we are back from recess

[3:34:32] and

[3:34:34] the next item on the agenda

[3:34:38] is item I4

[3:34:41] from consent.

[3:34:45] I make a motion to approve.

[3:34:48] » All right, we have a motion and a second

[3:34:49] to approve item I4. Let me go find I4

[3:34:54] so I can read it.

[3:34:59] » This is the uh consideration to approve

[3:35:01] the changes to the EFG

[3:35:04] » Elections Administration consideration

[3:35:06] to approve changes to certain voting

[3:35:07] precinct boundaries and authorized

[3:35:09] publication of required notices. All

[3:35:12] right, we have a motion and a second.

[3:35:14] Discussion before we bring up the

[3:35:16] speakers

[3:35:30] » Have a comment, but I can wait until I

[3:35:32] speak. Okay. Uh,

[3:35:34] » So we have uh Dr. Valencia Edner is

[3:35:37] first up. Following Dr. Edner, we have

[3:35:40] Amy Super.

[3:35:55] I guess I should thank you for the small

[3:35:57] win.

[3:35:59] Yet, it does not change the motive

[3:36:03] behind the way things get done. It takes

[3:36:07] a weak body,

[3:36:09] executive or judicial, to continue to

[3:36:11] keep rigging the system in its favor.

[3:36:15] This is not politics. This is fear.

[3:36:18] Without your schemes, the people would

[3:36:20] speak and your power would shrink.

[3:36:23] This boundary change is not math. It's

[3:36:26] malice.

[3:36:28] It's not efficiency. It's voter

[3:36:30] suppression. steel.

[3:36:33] If you continue to vote for these

[3:36:35] tactics, you are not serving the people.

[3:36:37] You are silencing them.

[3:36:40] Your fear of a county

[3:36:43] where white or perceived white supremacy

[3:36:46] no longer rules has led you down a path

[3:36:49] of exclusion.

[3:36:50] But hear me. When you change boundaries

[3:36:54] that you could make the adjustment to,

[3:36:56] don't give me the lie about the law.

[3:37:00] When you cut places for people to vote,

[3:37:04] you cut away democracy.

[3:37:07] When you suppress votes, you suppress

[3:37:09] justice.

[3:37:11] Reckoning will come not from men, but

[3:37:15] from God.

[3:37:17] You should have tabled the vote.

[3:37:20] Do not enshrine voter suppression into

[3:37:23] the history of this county. And you

[3:37:26] cannot look at me if you don't choose

[3:37:28] to, but you need to because I speak for

[3:37:32] the people of Tarant County, not for the

[3:37:36] agenda of misguided

[3:37:40] politicians, of which unfortunately

[3:37:43] many of you are. Fix your heart and

[3:37:47] maybe it'll fix your mind and your

[3:37:51] motive.

[3:37:54] » Amy Super is next. Following Miss Super,

[3:37:56] we have Geraldine Jackie Cox.

[3:38:04] » Hey, just a a quick request. Won't even

[3:38:06] use up my three minutes. Um, under the

[3:38:10] court actions requested, I'm going to

[3:38:13] ask that you please request Tarant

[3:38:15] County elections to also provide

[3:38:17] notification to both parties, current

[3:38:19] precinct chairs. Um, so we start filing

[3:38:23] as early as next month, September, at EC

[3:38:27] meetings for both parties. And for me,

[3:38:29] my precinct is changing from one that

[3:38:31] starts with a four, the one that starts

[3:38:33] with a two.

[3:38:34] » What what is the request? uh that the

[3:38:36] notification about these changes, these

[3:38:38] are changing our precinct numbers

[3:38:40] » And that they res they they uh provide

[3:38:42] that notification not only to the what

[3:38:44] they have listed here but also to the

[3:38:46] currently seated precinct chairs for

[3:38:48] both political parties so they know what

[3:38:50] precinct number to file to be on the

[3:38:52] ballot for.

[3:38:53] » All right,

[3:38:53] » That's all I'm asking.

[3:38:55] » Thanks.

[3:38:56] » Is that the whole thing? Yeah.

[3:38:57] » Okay. So, uh, can we even do what she

[3:39:01] just asked today sitting here the way

[3:39:03] this is noticed or is this something

[3:39:06] Clint's going to do anyway?

[3:39:07] » Judge, let me check the notice and I I

[3:39:08] will I will let you know uh with

[3:39:10] precision.

[3:39:11] » Okay.

[3:39:13] So the in the process

[3:39:17] we sent the notice that this hearing was

[3:39:19] going to happen to the precinct chairs

[3:39:22] that did go out the the approval then

[3:39:24] that the notice posting here requires

[3:39:26] the website and in the newspaper of the

[3:39:28] changes that you that are approved but

[3:39:30] there's we can send this out to all the

[3:39:32] precinct chairs as well. It's it's not

[3:39:34] hard.

[3:39:35] » Okay. All right. Uh next is Gerald and

[3:39:37] Jackie Cox.

[3:39:40] Following Miss Cox we have Dr. Michael

[3:39:42] Bell.

[3:39:45] » Miss Cox, are you coming?

[3:39:57] » Thank you, commissioners. Uh my name is

[3:39:59] Geraldine Jackie CS

[3:40:02] precinct and I want to bring to your

[3:40:05] attention today the fact that the

[3:40:07] memorandum prepared uh by the

[3:40:10] administration's uh elections division

[3:40:14] cites some but fewer than all of the

[3:40:17] statutes that really govern what may

[3:40:20] happen when a countywide a pre a county

[3:40:24] which does countywide voting

[3:40:27] may alter the way in which it assigns

[3:40:30] voting precincts.

[3:40:32] Uh and the first of the things which we

[3:40:34] need to look at or that I ask you to

[3:40:36] look at is the text of uh our election

[3:40:41] code section 42.06

[3:40:45] that mandates that countings with voting

[3:40:48] age populations of more than 100,000

[3:40:50] persons

[3:40:52] must produce precincts that have at

[3:40:56] least 100

[3:40:57] but no fewer than 5,000

[3:41:00] registered voters.

[3:41:02] Attached to Mr. Ludig's memorandum for

[3:41:06] you is a chart that shows the number of

[3:41:11] voters who will be in the new precincts

[3:41:15] that he wants sent to the elections

[3:41:18] board.

[3:41:19] Uh and precinct 2656 has two voters

[3:41:24] quite a few many fewer than 100.

[3:41:28] Precincts 46 4620

[3:41:32] has 62 voters again less than 100.

[3:41:37] Uh but the big place where you see

[3:41:39] deviations from what is permitted under

[3:41:42] another section of the election code

[3:41:45] which is 42.0051. 0051

[3:41:50] has to do not just with counts but also

[3:41:53] with how you make up the new precincts.

[3:41:56] What you do and section 42%.

[3:42:01] 51

[3:42:03] provides that you uh can only change

[3:42:07] voter precincts if you're in a county

[3:42:10] with a population of less than 1.2

[3:42:13] million voters.

[3:42:15] So right now as of today you don't have

[3:42:19] authority to make the changes that are

[3:42:22] in part of what you propose.

[3:42:24] You do however you won't you'll have

[3:42:26] that authority when uh a bill passed by

[3:42:33] uh the Senate the legislature this

[3:42:36] session becomes law if you meet a whole

[3:42:39] bunch of fact

[3:42:41] requirements.

[3:42:43] Uh, and I'm not sure you do, but one of

[3:42:45] the requirements is that you may not

[3:42:49] violate the Voting Rights Act.

[3:42:52] And we've had a lot of evidence today

[3:42:57] that the manner in which this was done

[3:42:59] does violate the Voting Rights Act.

[3:43:01] » Dr. Bell,

[3:43:03] you're passing. Next, we have Jimmy

[3:43:06] Blackwell.

[3:43:23] [Music]

[3:43:25] Judge your hair

[3:43:29] again. I smell a rat

[3:43:32] because some somehow the truth is not

[3:43:35] coming through here.

[3:43:38] You have too many people who have spoken

[3:43:40] against this proposal to just go ahead

[3:43:44] and force a vote and

[3:43:47] get things done the way you want them

[3:43:49] done.

[3:43:52] That's not leadership.

[3:43:55] Leadership is when you listen to every

[3:43:58] person on the court

[3:44:01] and then you either discuss it, have a

[3:44:04] lengthy discussion, a vibrant discussion

[3:44:07] to see where people stand because you

[3:44:10] have commissioners here who represent

[3:44:13] certain precepts

[3:44:15] and they have to go along with what

[3:44:17] their constituents say.

[3:44:20] But you judge, you are over the whole

[3:44:23] county. you don't have a precent.

[3:44:26] So, we would think that a person who is

[3:44:28] over the whole county have a level head

[3:44:32] can make sound decisions.

[3:44:34] But apparently that's not the case.

[3:44:38] So my message to the voters out there is

[3:44:41] first to replace you

[3:44:44] and to get people with integrity

[3:44:48] and honesty

[3:44:50] to listen to those who elected them

[3:44:53] like Commissioner Simmons and

[3:44:57] Commissioner

[3:44:59] uh Rodri so eloquently

[3:45:02] explain every time we come to comm uh to

[3:45:05] Commissioner's

[3:45:07] Now, judge, I know it's against your ego

[3:45:11] to have an African of the diaspora woman

[3:45:17] challenge your authority. And I think

[3:45:19] I've made that point before.

[3:45:22] But here's the case. You should want

[3:45:25] feedback from strong opposition so that

[3:45:28] you don't get a big head thinking that

[3:45:30] you know everything when we know that

[3:45:33] you don't.

[3:45:35] You made decision to destroy this

[3:45:38] county.

[3:45:41] I guess that's what you come to work to

[3:45:43] do because you do not listen to

[3:45:47] opposition voices.

[3:45:50] You only listen to those voices who

[3:45:53] agree with you even when you're wrong.

[3:45:57] They don't present any opposition, any

[3:46:00] feedback that may be detrimental to your

[3:46:03] thinking.

[3:46:04] That's not leadership.

[3:46:06] That's dictatorship.

[3:46:09] And we don't need another Putin in

[3:46:12] America.

[3:46:13] We already had one in Alaska.

[3:46:16] That's dictatorship. That's not good. I

[3:46:20] smell a rat, but apparently they missed

[3:46:22] the three blind mice.

[3:46:26] All right, that's all the speakers we

[3:46:28] have for I4.

[3:46:30] Uh we have a motion and a second to

[3:46:32] approve the item. further discussion.

[3:46:34] » Yes. Uh while this seems simple on its

[3:46:36] face, uh like just a routine

[3:46:40] authorization to publish new boundaries,

[3:46:43] it it represents the culmination of a

[3:46:46] process that I have been vocally and

[3:46:50] fundamentally opposed to from the very

[3:46:52] beginning.

[3:46:54] The mid decade racial germander was

[3:46:58] unnecessary and unw warranted. The 2020

[3:47:03] census data showed our precincts were in

[3:47:06] compliance and there was no need to

[3:47:08] spend taxpayer

[3:47:11] money on consultants to redraw maps.

[3:47:15] This entire process has been

[3:47:17] irresponsible

[3:47:18] and this map cleanup is just a drop in

[3:47:21] the bucket compared to the consequences

[3:47:23] both intended and

[3:47:26] that are having to be corrected for no

[3:47:29] real reason. Furthermore, these new

[3:47:31] boundaries are a political and legal

[3:47:33] travesty.

[3:47:35] As I have said before, this is not about

[3:47:37] fixing a problem. This is about creating

[3:47:39] one. It is a calculated attempt to

[3:47:42] dilute the voting power uh voting

[3:47:44] strength of minority communities to

[3:47:48] silence the voices of my constituents

[3:47:50] and to strip representation from people

[3:47:53] of color. the UCLA Voting Rights

[3:47:56] Project.

[3:47:58] That analysis confirmed that these maps

[3:48:01] are a textbook example of racial

[3:48:05] gerrymandering. We've got two lawsuits

[3:48:08] uh on the books. So this this action

[3:48:12] today

[3:48:14] uh is just another necessary cleanup in

[3:48:17] an unnecessary process that has lacked

[3:48:21] transparency,

[3:48:23] public input, and moral justification.

[3:48:26] So, I just want to be on the record to I

[3:48:29] want the record to reflect my continued

[3:48:31] and unequivocal opposition to this map,

[3:48:35] » Which I believe um is legally

[3:48:38] questionable, morally wrong, and a

[3:48:41] disservice to the voters of Taran

[3:48:43] County.

[3:48:46] » All right, we have a motion, a second on

[3:48:47] this item. Any other discussion?

[3:48:50] All right. Seeing none, all in favor of

[3:48:53] approving I4, please raise your hand.

[3:48:58] All right. Oppose, please raise your

[3:48:59] hand.

[3:49:01] All right. It passes 3 to two. Takes us

[3:49:03] to item I5 removed from consent. Item I5

[3:49:08] is consideration to approve supplemental

[3:49:10] appointments of county election judges

[3:49:12] and alternate election judges.

[3:49:14] » Move for approval.

[3:49:15] » Second.

[3:49:15] » We have a motion and a second to approve

[3:49:17] that item. Uh, any further discussion

[3:49:20] there before I bring the speakers?

[3:49:24] All right, first speaker is Amy Super.

[3:49:27] Following Miss Super is Jennifer Blunt.

[3:49:36] [Music]

[3:49:39] I'm asking the court to get

[3:49:41] clarification on what it is you're

[3:49:43] voting on today. So the subject is

[3:49:47] titled consideration to approve

[3:49:49] supplemental appointments of county

[3:49:51] election judges and alternate election

[3:49:53] judges. You voted on a list to do that

[3:49:57] on July 1st and that list had was not

[3:50:00] the list that the parties submitted in

[3:50:03] its entirety. There were names on that

[3:50:05] list that they didn't submit. There were

[3:50:07] names on that list that they did submit

[3:50:08] that weren't on that list that you

[3:50:10] approved. So what I'm asking is this the

[3:50:12] list now? Because if it's the list, it's

[3:50:14] not a supplemental list. It's the list.

[3:50:17] Um, a supplemental list is as indicated

[3:50:20] in the background covered in tech uh,

[3:50:22] Texas Selection Code 32. I don't know

[3:50:25] what. Um, it tells you in great detail

[3:50:28] how this should be done. Um, I just

[3:50:31] would like for you guys to get some

[3:50:32] clarification. Is this an actual

[3:50:34] supplemental appointments, which you are

[3:50:36] free to make, the law specifies that, or

[3:50:38] is this the two-year list corrected?

[3:50:42] Um, that would be my only question I

[3:50:45] think with regards to that. Just change

[3:50:47] that so we all know what we're doing.

[3:50:49] There are people that you approved that

[3:50:50] are no longer on this list. So, do you

[3:50:53] have to vote to take them off or are

[3:50:55] they just off? Good questions to ask.

[3:50:58] Just want some clarity on that. Um, and

[3:51:01] then, um, since I have time left, I did

[3:51:04] not address when you were talking about

[3:51:06] the approval of the, uh, precinct

[3:51:07] boundaries. Um, make sure because the

[3:51:11] code is very specific about how

[3:51:14] » Okay. Are you are you talking about item

[3:51:17] I5 at the moment?

[3:51:18] » They're they're combined because it has

[3:51:20] to do with the election judges. The way

[3:51:22] they're aortioned has to do with the way

[3:51:24] people voted within different precincts.

[3:51:26] So, you've moved precincts within county

[3:51:28] precincts. So, the aortionment of which

[3:51:31] party gets to have the presiding judge

[3:51:32] in each poll site has to be completely

[3:51:35] redone. and I want to just make sure

[3:51:37] that that's done in time for us to

[3:51:40] adjust and get make sure our

[3:51:41] appointments are done within alignment

[3:51:43] with Texas election code. Thank you.

[3:51:45] » Thank you. Is Jennifer Blunt present?

[3:51:51] » No. Okay. Uh Clint, can you address some

[3:51:54] of those things there?

[3:51:58] when we were wording the list um we did

[3:52:02] uh consult legal on how to exactly word

[3:52:05] the item because there are additions

[3:52:07] from both the parties to add to this

[3:52:09] list. Additionally, when we were going

[3:52:11] through this um looking at the code, we

[3:52:14] noticed that the how historically this

[3:52:18] list had been done had been assigning

[3:52:20] judges to precincts and as a countywide

[3:52:22] polling location, that's not the correct

[3:52:24] way to do it. So we went through and

[3:52:26] changed that to make it reflect the the

[3:52:29] proper way the list should have been

[3:52:30] formatted and not the way that it had

[3:52:33] been submitted prior.

[3:52:34] » So the list that we voted on in July

[3:52:38] was not the list submitted by the two

[3:52:41] parties.

[3:52:42] » It contained names of the list submitted

[3:52:44] by the two parties. The it didn't have

[3:52:46] all the names on the list. the

[3:52:49] commissioner's court. Uh we had to move

[3:52:52] up our deadline and to submit that um

[3:52:55] because there was only going to be the

[3:52:56] one court. I believe it was July and the

[3:52:58] requirement is this gets approved in

[3:53:00] July. And

[3:53:01] » Okay, so hang on just a second. Just so

[3:53:03] I'm clear about what we're talking

[3:53:05] about. The list that the parties

[3:53:08] submitted, it's a list. It's got names.

[3:53:12] Whatever it is, 10, 20, five, seven, it

[3:53:15] has names.

[3:53:16] The list that that both Well, let's

[3:53:19] start with the Republican party. The

[3:53:20] list the Republican party submitted. Was

[3:53:23] that the list that showed up on the July

[3:53:25] meeting?

[3:53:26] » Not all of it. No, judge.

[3:53:27] » Well, it's either the list or it isn't.

[3:53:30] It's one or the other.

[3:53:31] » This is the entire party list now. We've

[3:53:34] we've worked with them to get all of

[3:53:35] their names, all the changes.

[3:53:37] » That's not what I'm The list that we

[3:53:39] approved in July was not they had a list

[3:53:42] of names, 10 names, 10 whatever we did.

[3:53:45] That wasn't the list we voted on. There

[3:53:47] were some people on that list that we

[3:53:49] voted for. There were some people not on

[3:53:50] that list that we voted for. Is that

[3:53:52] accurate?

[3:53:53] » Yes, judge.

[3:53:54] » Okay. The Democrat one, was that list

[3:53:57] correct that we voted on?

[3:53:58] » Not all of it. No, it was missing some

[3:54:00] names, Judge.

[3:54:00] » All right. How did that happen?

[3:54:02] » The when the deadline moved to submit

[3:54:04] everything, um, we jumped through to try

[3:54:07] to get everything onto the court. The

[3:54:09] parties technically had till the end of

[3:54:11] the 30th to submit, so they still had

[3:54:13] time to give us names. They hadn't given

[3:54:14] us all their names and then we hadn't

[3:54:16] completed a working list and so in the

[3:54:18] scramble to get a list to get on that

[3:54:20] July 1st court when they compiled the

[3:54:22] staff compiled the list they didn't get

[3:54:24] everything and there were some names

[3:54:26] that were missed.

[3:54:27] » Okay. So now what we're voting on today

[3:54:31] is the list that Republicans asked for

[3:54:35] and the list that Democrats asked for.

[3:54:38] » Yes, Jeff. What happens to the people

[3:54:40] that were not on the list

[3:54:44] that these parties submitted or either

[3:54:46] party don't care? What happens to those

[3:54:49] folks who were approved in July? Are

[3:54:53] they now removed by this?

[3:54:56] » No, this is the supplemental list. So

[3:54:58] the the ones the parties want to have

[3:55:00] are all on the list. This is correcting

[3:55:04] the the previous list and making sure we

[3:55:07] worked with both parties to ensure that

[3:55:08] we had every single person that they

[3:55:10] wanted included and we had removed every

[3:55:13] single person that they wanted removed.

[3:55:14] » Okay. So I think the answer to the

[3:55:16] question this list is the entire list

[3:55:20] that each party wants and by voting for

[3:55:23] this today does that remove anyone who

[3:55:26] was previously voted for in July?

[3:55:29] Mr. Proud of bill.

[3:55:30] » Uh I'm checking the statute right now,

[3:55:32] judge. And um

[3:55:34] » I mean, basically, are we now voting on

[3:55:35] two lists and then now the people we

[3:55:37] voted on in July and these people are

[3:55:39] now all on this together?

[3:55:41] » What's the deal?

[3:55:42] » What the what the statute contemplates

[3:55:43] here is is the ability of the party

[3:55:45] chairs to supplement the original list

[3:55:47] of names that was okay.

[3:55:49] » Submitted. So there

[3:55:49] » The original list of names is not what

[3:55:51] we voted on.

[3:56:02] Let me ask you this. Would y'all We can

[3:56:05] move on if there's no objection from the

[3:56:07] court. We can move to some other items.

[3:56:09] Come back to this when y'all have had

[3:56:10] time to when you've had time to research

[3:56:13] it and understand it.

[3:56:14] » That would be helpful, Judge. Yes.

[3:56:16] » Okay.

[3:56:16] » Can we

[3:56:16] » Come back during this court?

[3:56:18] » That's what I meant. Yeah.

[3:56:20] » Can we just move to table this?

[3:56:23] » Yes.

[3:56:23] » Was there not a deadline?

[3:56:26] uh

[3:56:28] the the first list of names which I

[3:56:30] understand is kind of in flux here uh

[3:56:32] was due to be acted upon in July and uh

[3:56:37] there is a deadline of

[3:56:40] 15 days before a special election or 20

[3:56:42] days before a general election. So just

[3:56:45] from my cursory reading of the statute I

[3:56:46] believe we have some some time to still

[3:56:49] approve any additional supplemental

[3:56:51] list.

[3:56:53] So, I go back to my question,

[3:56:57] which

[3:56:58] mistakes happen, wrong list, submitted,

[3:57:02] whatever.

[3:57:04] The the idea here was we're cleaning up

[3:57:06] those lists, but I don't believe I've

[3:57:08] got an answer to the question of

[3:57:10] somebody that was voted for in July that

[3:57:14] was not supposed to be on the list. Do

[3:57:17] they remain

[3:57:19] a an election and an alternate judge if

[3:57:22] they were previously approved or is this

[3:57:25] action taking them off?

[3:57:28] » Judge, if we table this, I will get you

[3:57:29] an answer to that question.

[3:57:30] » Is there any reason we can't table this?

[3:57:33] No, judge.

[3:57:34] » Okay,

[3:57:36] » Move the table.

[3:57:37] » Well, we already Hang on. We already

[3:57:38] have We already have a motion to

[3:57:40] approve. Um,

[3:57:43] » You want me to resend my motion to

[3:57:44] approve?

[3:57:45] » Well, if you want to resend your motion,

[3:57:46] you can resend your motion.

[3:57:48] » Well, I I I guess

[3:57:49] » But any anybody can ask questions away.

[3:57:52] » I I don't feel like we have to table it.

[3:57:54] If we get the answers from Mr.

[3:57:56] Crowdville and others by the end of this

[3:57:58] session that satisfies everybody, but

[3:58:01] then we can table at that point. Um, I

[3:58:04] guess that's the way I would I would

[3:58:06] recommend going about it. Just seeing if

[3:58:08] we can answer the questions by the end

[3:58:09] of the court and if not then we move to

[3:58:11] table.

[3:58:12] » I don't see any reason wrong with this.

[3:58:14] Nobody the dem neither the Democrats or

[3:58:16] the Republicans are bothered by it.

[3:58:19] Let's just get the right answer. Um,

[3:58:23] so

[3:58:25] how about we

[3:58:28] um

[3:58:30] well, so Commissioner Miles, did you

[3:58:33] just vote to table? Did you just make a

[3:58:34] motion to table it?

[3:58:35] » Yes, sir.

[3:58:36] » How are you about Let's move on from

[3:58:39] this item. We have a motion sitting on

[3:58:42] the floor. Let's go to the next set of

[3:58:44] items. Do all the stuff we're doing.

[3:58:45] Come back before we close. See if we

[3:58:47] have an answer.

[3:58:50] I think it would be better just to table

[3:58:52] this so that they can get the accurate

[3:58:54] information to us and clear up the

[3:58:57] confusion because there is confusion

[3:58:59] instead of just waiting till the end of

[3:59:01] the court and hoping that they can

[3:59:03] provide the accurate information to

[3:59:05] bring clarification and clarity. I think

[3:59:08] we should just table it until a later

[3:59:10] date.

[3:59:12] » Okay. So, all right. Thank you. You have

[3:59:15] a motion and a second on the floor. Can

[3:59:17] I can I just move to postpone?

[3:59:20] » Yes. Either and and to be clear, the

[3:59:23] terms table and postpone are used

[3:59:25] synonymously in a lot of cases. Um but

[3:59:27] in either case, what I would advise is

[3:59:29] that does take precedent over the main

[3:59:31] motion on the floor right now. And so it

[3:59:34] can either be tabled or postponed until

[3:59:35] later in the meeting or a future

[3:59:37] meeting, whatever the court prefers.

[3:59:40] » Okay. I don't Does anyone care up here

[3:59:42] which one we do?

[3:59:44] » I'd say we hold it until after closed.

[3:59:47] and give them time to sort it out. Come

[3:59:49] back after close. If they don't have

[3:59:50] time at that point, we can table it for

[3:59:52] a future meeting if they don't have

[3:59:53] their

[3:59:54] » Okay. So, in terms of the order of this,

[3:59:57] he has a motion that's still sitting

[3:59:59] there. He has made a motion to to table

[4:00:03] the item. Doesn't seem like we have a

[4:00:06] consensus on tableing the item. So, do I

[4:00:09] now have to hear that motion before

[4:00:12] going to his motion?

[4:00:14] » That would be correct. save for. There

[4:00:16] needs to be a second on the motion to

[4:00:17] table and I would I would just ask that

[4:00:19] it be to uh a particular time whether it

[4:00:21] be after close.

[4:00:22] » Clarify your motion.

[4:00:25] » I move to table this to a later date.

[4:00:27] » Okay. Do we have a second on that?

[4:00:30] » Second.

[4:00:30] » So we have a motion and a second to

[4:00:32] table this item until a later date

[4:00:36] which now has removed his motion

[4:00:39] essentially. Or this has to be addressed

[4:00:41] first.

[4:00:41] » This has to be addressed first and then

[4:00:42] you can proceed on the made motion. Does

[4:00:43] anybody want to say something about

[4:00:45] this?

[4:00:47] » All right.

[4:00:47] » Um, I I I do I want to say what I've

[4:00:50] been saying all day. This is

[4:00:53] unprofessional.

[4:00:54] You're not prepared.

[4:00:57] This is a bad look on this county and

[4:01:00] this staff.

[4:01:03] I'm not going to throw you a parade

[4:01:04] because you're a nice guy. You have a

[4:01:07] job. We should not have all these

[4:01:09] questions. We shouldn't be confused.

[4:01:13] Um,

[4:01:16] it's ridiculous.

[4:01:19] Now, y'all can pat him on the back if

[4:01:20] you want, but this is crazy.

[4:01:23] » We have a motion and a second to

[4:01:24] postpone this until a later date.

[4:01:28] Anybody else wish to weigh in?

[4:01:31] All right. All in favor of postponing

[4:01:34] until a later date, please raise your

[4:01:36] hand.

[4:01:38] All right. All those against postponing

[4:01:40] to a later date, please raise your hand.

[4:01:43] All right. So, the motion to postpone to

[4:01:46] a later date

[4:01:48] fails. So, now we have a motion to

[4:01:51] approve sitting before us.

[4:01:53] » And I will make a motion to postpone

[4:01:54] till after closed. Second,

[4:01:57] » But we had a motion.

[4:01:59] » And now we have another.

[4:02:00] » But he needs to rescend his other one.

[4:02:02] » He didn't have to rescend it for him to

[4:02:04] do it. So, I don't know why he would.

[4:02:05] » Well, he made me resend motions earlier.

[4:02:08] Does he Don't we have a motion on the

[4:02:10] floor? Yes, that is correct,

[4:02:12] Commissioner. Except for the fact that a

[4:02:13] motion to table or a motion to postpone

[4:02:15] takes precedent over the main motion on

[4:02:16] the floor.

[4:02:16] » Voted on that one.

[4:02:17] » It's a different motion.

[4:02:19] » I'm talking to the

[4:02:20] » And I'm and I'm and I run the court and

[4:02:22] it's a different motion and so we're

[4:02:24] going to hear the motion.

[4:02:24] » So, we heard that motion. There was a

[4:02:26] there was an uh there was a motion on

[4:02:28] the floor. Correct.

[4:02:30] » The the motion to table uh was heard and

[4:02:33] now you're on to the main motion, but

[4:02:35] there has now been another motion to

[4:02:36] table or a motion to postpone which

[4:02:38] takes precedent over the underlying

[4:02:40] motion.

[4:02:41] » Correct.

[4:02:42] » So, we have a motion to postpone until

[4:02:45] after closed to see if we have an

[4:02:48] answer. Is that your motion?

[4:02:49] » That's it.

[4:02:49] » Do we have a second?

[4:02:51] » Second.

[4:02:51] » We have a second. Any further

[4:02:53] discussion?

[4:02:55] All right. All in favor of this motion

[4:02:58] to postpone until after close, please

[4:03:01] raise your hand.

[4:03:03] Okay. All those opposed?

[4:03:06] So the motion to postpone until after

[4:03:09] close passes 3 to two.

[4:03:12] Uh now

[4:03:14] we move to

[4:03:24] I believe in this order it is J1

[4:03:29] um

[4:03:31] which is consideration of a community

[4:03:33] facilities facilities agreement with the

[4:03:35] city of Fort Worth related to utility

[4:03:37] improvements for the Plaza garage

[4:03:39] expansion expansion project including

[4:03:41] the 2025 5 capital improvement program.

[4:03:45] So, this was the same thing we addressed

[4:03:50] two meetings or two weeks ago, I should

[4:03:52] say,

[4:03:53] » Where Fort Worth wanted to charge us

[4:03:55] $76,000 or so to inspect our parking

[4:03:58] garage

[4:04:00] and we failed this item and now there's

[4:04:05] a reason you have brought it back. Would

[4:04:07] you please tell everyone what that is?

[4:04:10] » Yes, sir. to the unenviable task of

[4:04:12] returning something to the court. My

[4:04:13] apologies. Um the the community

[4:04:16] facilities agreement is, as you know, an

[4:04:19] agreement between the county and the

[4:04:21] city for modifications to their public

[4:04:23] improvements. They have public

[4:04:25] improvements within the foundation lines

[4:04:27] of our current ongoing plaza garage

[4:04:30] project.

[4:04:32] And the approval of this would allow us

[4:04:35] to continue um the expedited

[4:04:39] construction of that garage. A

[4:04:42] disapproval will cause us as a county to

[4:04:46] have to put a stop work notice to the

[4:04:48] work or a portion of the work at which

[4:04:51] place puts the county at risk for

[4:04:53] additional costs to the contractor.

[4:04:55] » And when does when is that and how is

[4:04:58] that additional cost triggered? uh it's

[4:05:02] triggered by a stop work notice. In

[4:05:03] other words, if we as the county or the

[4:05:06] owner cause something or do not

[4:05:08] facilitate something that allows

[4:05:10] progression of the work and it impacts

[4:05:12] the extending duration of the

[4:05:14] construction contract.

[4:05:15] » Okay. Has anyone had a discussion with

[4:05:18] our contractor as to how they would play

[4:05:20] this while we work this out with Fort

[4:05:23] Worth or try to?

[4:05:25] » Yes, actually. It's been a hot topic

[4:05:27] with the contractor for about two

[4:05:29] months.

[4:05:30] » Okay. Okay. Um between the previous

[4:05:33] court and this court, we've been able to

[4:05:35] facilitate the work without causing any

[4:05:37] further hindrance. Uh at this point,

[4:05:39] delay is pretty close to impending. The

[4:05:42] existing sanitary sewer line that needs

[4:05:44] to be modified runs immediately adjacent

[4:05:46] to the tower crane foundations which are

[4:05:48] going in now. The tower crane

[4:05:50] mobilization is scheduled for this

[4:05:52] coming weekend.

[4:05:53] » Okay. Uh Mr. Merritt, tell us where we

[4:05:58] are with the city of Fort Worth and any

[4:06:00] discussions. Tell us what where we

[4:06:03] stand.

[4:06:03] » Sure. So, uh, the facility staff has

[4:06:06] been trying to work with Fort Worth on

[4:06:08] seeing what we could do with regards to

[4:06:10] any reduction or waiver of fees from the

[4:06:13] city. Um, most of what my feedback has

[4:06:16] been, most of those folks at that level

[4:06:17] aren't really authorized to make that

[4:06:19] level of a decision with regards to

[4:06:20] reducing those fees. Uh I've reached out

[4:06:23] directly to the city manager for Fort

[4:06:25] Worth uh to see if uh he at his level uh

[4:06:29] or the council's level would be willing

[4:06:30] to reduce or wave the fees on our

[4:06:33] behalf. And I'm currently waiting to

[4:06:35] hear back from him on on that. So when

[4:06:38] we

[4:06:40] when three of us here took office in

[4:06:42] January of 23,

[4:06:46] we had multiple meetings with Fort Worth

[4:06:49] asking them to

[4:06:52] allow us to do video magistration

[4:06:55] to alleviate jail population problems.

[4:06:59] Uh, in one particular meeting I was in

[4:07:02] with the sheriff, the chief of police. I

[4:07:06] say that I think the chief was there. If

[4:07:08] not, there there were multiple assistant

[4:07:09] chiefs whether Chief Nos was there or

[4:07:11] not. Uh, the mayor, the then city

[4:07:14] manager, and probably five, six other

[4:07:17] people. And they were all, "Yes, we want

[4:07:19] to help." We're on board. That was

[4:07:22] approximately February of 23.

[4:07:25] I don't believe we actually got approval

[4:07:29] to do the video magistration

[4:07:32] at Fort Worth holding facility or what

[4:07:34] at their police station until August

[4:07:38] of 24.

[4:07:40] Um is any part of that I said not

[4:07:43] accurate?

[4:07:44] » I can't speak specifically to the

[4:07:46] timeline, but um but that sounds about

[4:07:49] correct.

[4:07:50] » Okay. And so where I'm going with this

[4:07:52] is um

[4:07:55] Fort Worth

[4:07:57] wants

[4:07:59] a good partner in Tarant County and I

[4:08:02] think it's beneficial for the residents

[4:08:04] of Fort Worth and the residents of

[4:08:07] Tarant County to have a good partnership

[4:08:09] with Fort Worth. Um,

[4:08:13] but the idea that we're going to pay

[4:08:16] $76,000 to improve our parking garage

[4:08:20] and traffic and street parking, which

[4:08:23] will allow, I believe, more revenue for

[4:08:26] the city of Fort Worth with all the

[4:08:28] parking meters that I think goes to them

[4:08:29] anyway. And then we can't even get them

[4:08:32] to return a call and get with us on how

[4:08:34] we can deal with this. Uh, I I it

[4:08:38] doesn't sit well with me. I it shouldn't

[4:08:40] sit well with with any of us. I would

[4:08:42] hope. But may maybe this is one where we

[4:08:44] can have some bipartisanship. I don't

[4:08:46] know. But here here's what I would my

[4:08:50] opinion. We need to pass it to avoid

[4:08:52] penalties.

[4:08:53] Um, what I would d ask the staff to do

[4:08:59] is to

[4:09:01] uh, and by the way, I have set up a

[4:09:03] meeting with the mayor tomorrow on this

[4:09:05] very topic. And uh I would ask our staff

[4:09:11] to go research, assuming today passes,

[4:09:14] which I don't know that it will, but

[4:09:15] assuming it does, um to go research what

[4:09:20] we could do to revoke

[4:09:25] andor reconsider the tiffs we passed at

[4:09:28] the end of last year to recoup this kind

[4:09:31] of money.

[4:09:33] Um, I would like the staff to go do

[4:09:36] research on how we could use that tiff

[4:09:38] money for any remaining costs on the

[4:09:41] parking garage, including the inspection

[4:09:44] cost that they are charging. Um, I would

[4:09:49] also include in that JPS.

[4:09:52] I know there are fees that they want to

[4:09:55] charge JPS

[4:09:57] for how they build the tower.

[4:10:01] Um, and so I think in a nutshell, it's

[4:10:05] please present us options on what

[4:10:07] amendments,

[4:10:10] revocations, and approvals

[4:10:12] we have with the downtown TIFF to ensure

[4:10:16] a fair and balanced partnership with the

[4:10:18] city. And by that what I mean there is

[4:10:24] if you can't

[4:10:27] amend it

[4:10:29] then one option is you could revoke it

[4:10:34] and pass it again

[4:10:37] and take dollar for dollar that charge

[4:10:39] out of by percentage what we allow them

[4:10:42] to have. So I believe it's 35% over 20

[4:10:45] years is what you told me last time.

[4:10:48] Whatever it may be, calculate the number

[4:10:50] 32%,

[4:10:52] 30%, whatever it is, I'm asking you to

[4:10:55] bring back those options. This is not

[4:10:57] part of a motion or a vote. I want to

[4:10:59] explore those options in the whole court

[4:11:00] to be able to look at it.

[4:11:04] » Okay.

[4:11:04] » So,

[4:11:05] » Questions, comments?

[4:11:07] » Yes.

[4:11:09] So

[4:11:11] having uh city of Fort Worth not eagerly

[4:11:17] embrace video magistration was was

[4:11:20] problematic.

[4:11:21] Um I'm not sure I I got tired of asking.

[4:11:25] I'm not sure how many people they're

[4:11:26] even

[4:11:28] um magistrating now.

[4:11:32] Um but another

[4:11:35] um

[4:11:37] uh source

[4:11:39] of revenue or partnership we should be

[4:11:42] getting from city of Fort Worth. I've

[4:11:44] said this before

[4:11:47] several times is to stop taking their

[4:11:51] inmates

[4:11:53] um without them paying for them. City of

[4:11:58] Austin and Travis County have an

[4:12:00] agreement.

[4:12:01] City of Austin pays Travis County to

[4:12:05] take their inmates

[4:12:07] till a case is filed. City of Dallas,

[4:12:11] Dallas County, same contract. We just

[4:12:14] take the city uh Fort Worth PD's

[4:12:17] inmates.

[4:12:19] um if you want to look at recouping cost

[4:12:24] um

[4:12:25] and this

[4:12:28] revoking of TIFFs is not the answer. I

[4:12:34] mean this is an attack on economic

[4:12:36] development. Pulling out of the TUR or

[4:12:39] TIFF will throw the developers funding

[4:12:41] plans out of whack for just $75,000.

[4:12:46] uh potentially delaying development and

[4:12:49] possibly

[4:12:51] cancellation due to funding gaps. So

[4:12:53] that that's not the answer. Um you know,

[4:12:57] it's it's as as much as we give and do

[4:13:01] uh for Fort Worth at a detriment to to

[4:13:06] the county. Um I'm not jumping up about

[4:13:09] down about paying this 7576,000,

[4:13:12] whatever it is. Um but we've got we've

[4:13:15] got to do it. But there are other ways

[4:13:18] um

[4:13:20] you know to charge

[4:13:24] uh city of Fort Worth.

[4:13:27] » Move for approval of item J1.

[4:13:30] » We have a motion to approve item J1.

[4:13:34] » Second.

[4:13:35] » We have a second.

[4:13:37] Uh further discussion before vote.

[4:13:42] So, um I have one point I would like to

[4:13:44] make and that is there is no money from

[4:13:49] Tarant County in this tiff

[4:13:52] guaranteed to go towards anything.

[4:13:56] There is no development project that

[4:13:59] will be interrupted or stopped because

[4:14:02] Tarant County when we pass the TIF

[4:14:07] maintain the right to approve any and

[4:14:09] all projects

[4:14:11] that Tarant County tax money in the TIF

[4:14:14] would go towards. So if a developer,

[4:14:18] which I highly doubt, is currently

[4:14:20] banking on our portion to go towards any

[4:14:25] project, we haven't taken a single vote

[4:14:28] for it.

[4:14:29] And uh I doubt very seriously there is

[4:14:32] some project moving forward at the

[4:14:35] moment that is counting on our specific

[4:14:39] percentage

[4:14:41] but also revising the tiff or re

[4:14:45] renegotiating voting it down adding a

[4:14:48] new one. Um

[4:14:50] we are part of downtown. We have lots of

[4:14:53] costs that we have to incur

[4:14:56] and

[4:14:58] bringing them to the table can benefit

[4:15:01] everyone in Tarant County. Uh and that's

[4:15:05] what a healthy partnership is. My

[4:15:07] intention here is not to create a war

[4:15:09] with the city of Fort Worth. In fact,

[4:15:10] it's the opposite. It's to ensure basic

[4:15:13] fairness between the two entities. And

[4:15:15] right now, it certainly doesn't seem

[4:15:17] like it's a two-way street. It seems

[4:15:21] like it's a one-way street. I'd like to

[4:15:23] make sure it's a two-way street. So, any

[4:15:26] other comments

[4:15:28] or questions before we vote.

[4:15:32] All right, seeing none, we have a motion

[4:15:34] and a second to approve this item. All

[4:15:36] in favor, raise your hand.

[4:15:39] All right, passes five to zero.

[4:15:45] Uh, next we go, if I have my thing down

[4:15:49] correctly, to 01, public health

[4:15:52] consideration of changes to the Tarant

[4:15:54] County public health fee schedule.

[4:15:59] Dr. Bird.

[4:16:01] Thank you, Judge and Commissioner Brian

[4:16:03] Bird, public health. I have with me

[4:16:05] Sabrina Vidari, who is our associate

[4:16:08] director over environmental health. she

[4:16:10] handles uh restaurant inspections and

[4:16:13] that's what we're talking about today.

[4:16:15] Uh we are responding to Senate Bill

[4:16:18] 10008

[4:16:20] which requires as of September 1 uh that

[4:16:24] we comply with the Department of State

[4:16:26] Health Services fees uh for all of our

[4:16:29] inspections on fixed food service and

[4:16:31] mobile food service.

[4:16:33] Uh since I am not an expert on

[4:16:37] restaurant inspection and I like to hear

[4:16:39] from experts, uh I've asked Miss Bedari

[4:16:43] uh to present this uh this series of

[4:16:45] slides, this slide deck, and walk us

[4:16:47] through uh our approach to this as we

[4:16:50] attempted to uh to present a proposed

[4:16:54] fee schedule that balances uh we want to

[4:16:56] keep everybody healthy and we don't want

[4:16:58] to be ownorous on our local businesses

[4:17:00] and trying to walk that line. So without

[4:17:02] further ado, I'll turn it over to

[4:17:03] Sabrina. Sabrina,

[4:17:07] » Good afternoon.

[4:17:09] Can y'all hear me? Okay. Okay.

[4:17:10] » Yes, ma'am.

[4:17:11] » So before I start the presentation, I

[4:17:13] would like to let you know that the fee

[4:17:15] schedule methodology has changed based

[4:17:18] on the state law. Our current fee

[4:17:21] schedule methodology was on square

[4:17:22] footage and the state law puts us that

[4:17:26] we would need to use the Texas

[4:17:29] Department of State Health Services fee

[4:17:31] schedule and theirs is off of gross

[4:17:33] annual food sales volume sales. So um

[4:17:37] the first slide so we have separated it

[4:17:39] out amongst the different categories of

[4:17:41] inspections due to that to try to make

[4:17:43] it more clear for you. So fixed food are

[4:17:47] just like that. They're establishments

[4:17:48] that don't move. their brickandmortar

[4:17:50] type of establishments.

[4:17:53] They um you can see all of the fees. Our

[4:17:57] current fee schedule is on the left. The

[4:17:59] proposed fee schedule is on the right

[4:18:01] with the current Texas Department of

[4:18:03] State Health Services fee schedule in

[4:18:05] the middle.

[4:18:07] We have aligned our fee schedule um with

[4:18:10] the Texas Department of State Health

[4:18:12] Services with the exception of the

[4:18:14] highest fee schedule which is for

[4:18:16] $150,000 or more of gross annual food

[4:18:19] sales. That cap is $773

[4:18:23] and we have dropped it to 700.

[4:18:27] The reason why we have dropped it to 700

[4:18:29] is because we do believe that there may

[4:18:32] be a majority of establishments that

[4:18:34] fall into this category. So some of the

[4:18:37] establishments may see a fee increase

[4:18:40] and others may see a fee decrease. I do

[4:18:43] not have any information on our

[4:18:45] establishments as to where they would

[4:18:47] fall in this. It is not information that

[4:18:49] we had previously collected from any of

[4:18:51] our permit holders.

[4:18:57] Okay.

[4:18:58] Do you want me to move on or is there a

[4:19:00] question?

[4:19:00] » So, are we the the proposed free SK fee

[4:19:03] schedule on the right

[4:19:06] 150,000 or more is in sales, right?

[4:19:10] » It is gross annual volume of food sales.

[4:19:13] Yes. It is not revenue. It's gross

[4:19:16] annual volume of food sales.

[4:19:19] » I'm sorry. It sounded like you just said

[4:19:20] it is something and then repeated the

[4:19:22] exact same thing and said it isn't. It

[4:19:23] is not revenue. A lot of people, a lot

[4:19:25] of people get them confused. It's not

[4:19:26] based off of revenue of the

[4:19:28] establishment. It's based off of gross

[4:19:30] annual food sales, which is before

[4:19:32] taxes, before any deductions that would

[4:19:34] come out from revenue.

[4:19:35] » Is revenue different than that?

[4:19:37] » Revenue comes after tax deductions and

[4:19:40] exemptions.

[4:19:41] » Okay. So, on the 150,000 or more, pick

[4:19:45] one, doesn't matter. How how do we now

[4:19:47] plan to go determine that?

[4:19:49] So the that process

[4:19:51] » Fill out a form.

[4:19:53] » Well, they will have to submit. So it's

[4:19:54] proprietary information. So they'll have

[4:19:56] to give us this information which would

[4:19:58] the best way is to give us their last

[4:20:00] tax returns so they can prove if they do

[4:20:03] not meet this category. We have asked

[4:20:05] the state department of state health

[4:20:07] services. They use the comprollers's

[4:20:10] office and we have asked the

[4:20:11] comprollers's office, the state

[4:20:12] comproller if they would assist us with

[4:20:14] this and they told us no, that it was

[4:20:16] proprietary information.

[4:20:18] So, we had talked about it with other

[4:20:21] jurisdictions and that's what other

[4:20:22] jurisdictions are doing as well. They're

[4:20:24] setting it at the top and then we're

[4:20:26] messaging out to all of these

[4:20:28] establishments that if you feel you're

[4:20:29] in the wrong category, please get with

[4:20:31] us to provide the proper documentation

[4:20:33] so that way we can lower that category.

[4:20:36] » Do we have a different way of doing this

[4:20:39] besides so if you take 150,000 in gross

[4:20:42] sales?

[4:20:44] I mean, the possibility exists that the

[4:20:46] profit out of that is like 15 or 20

[4:20:49] grand. Like, that wouldn't be unusual in

[4:20:51] the food industry, whatever it may be.

[4:20:54] Let's call it call it 50,000. Call it

[4:20:57] 100,000. Do we have a way to determine

[4:20:59] if they're 150,000 or more other than

[4:21:02] asking for their tax returns?

[4:21:05] » No, it is.

[4:21:06] » I'm just not real comfortable with us

[4:21:08] requesting people's tax returns. So the

[4:21:09] the way this would come up is if

[4:21:12] somebody's claiming they have less than

[4:21:14] 50,000 in sales

[4:21:17] and what we don't believe them or we're

[4:21:19] just asking everyone to give us their

[4:21:21] tax returns.

[4:21:22] » I was just trying to use the same

[4:21:23] methodology that the state of Texas has

[4:21:25] set with all of the establishments. Um

[4:21:27] we can most certainly change that. This

[4:21:30] program does pay for all of the

[4:21:32] personnel and supplies. Um the county

[4:21:35] does not put in additional information

[4:21:37] with that funding for that. And we do

[4:21:39] have 30 ILAS with incorporated cities

[4:21:42] and DFW airport. So we have about what

[4:21:46] was it 3500

[4:21:48] 6,000 permits total

[4:21:51] » And we have about 1,500 to 2,000 that

[4:21:53] are pool permits. So the rest are some

[4:21:56] sort of food permit.

[4:21:57] » So if somebody says on their form, yeah,

[4:22:00] we have more than 150,000 in gross

[4:22:02] sales, we're not asking for their tax

[4:22:03] return.

[4:22:04] » Correct. We were going to set everybody

[4:22:05] at the high one and ask them to come and

[4:22:08] prove it to us if they need to lower it.

[4:22:10] » Okay.

[4:22:12] » If the if the state of Texas is already

[4:22:14] doing this, does that mean the comp

[4:22:16] controller has those numbers somewhere

[4:22:18] that we could pull from and not have the

[4:22:21] business owners send it to us as well or

[4:22:24] is there not enough communication

[4:22:26] between those two entities to get that

[4:22:27] info? So, in asking the controllers's

[4:22:30] office, they notified us that that was

[4:22:31] proprietary information and they would

[4:22:33] not give it to us.

[4:22:36] » Are any of the proposed fees an increase

[4:22:40] over the current fees?

[4:22:43] » So, for some of the establishments, it

[4:22:45] may be an increase. So, if I could just

[4:22:48] explain like the less than 500 square f

[4:22:50] feet of our current fee schedule, that

[4:22:52] is $400. That would generally be like a

[4:22:57] small subway or a drive-thru

[4:22:59] establishment just to give you an idea

[4:23:00] of what they would be. They may increase

[4:23:03] to that 700

[4:23:08] » And that is required by the state.

[4:23:12] » So the law states that we have to use

[4:23:14] the same methodology that this Texas

[4:23:17] Department of State Health Services is

[4:23:19] using.

[4:23:21] They do not use unfortunately square

[4:23:23] footage.

[4:23:25] » Okay. Is there anything else that's an

[4:23:27] increase in fees

[4:23:29] » On this slide? No sir. I would like to

[4:23:32] point out temporary foods. So the state

[4:23:34] has a temporary food permit for 1 to 14

[4:23:36] days and they charge everybody $52. Most

[4:23:39] of our temporary food permits come to 1

[4:23:42] to five days and our current schedule is

[4:23:44] 35 and we did not feel any need to

[4:23:46] increase that. Um it is decreasing for

[4:23:50] the 6 to 14 days down $10 because we are

[4:23:54] allowed to take 120% of the fee

[4:23:57] schedule. So from 70 it went down to 60.

[4:24:00] That is a very small amount over 90% of

[4:24:03] our temporary permits are 1 to 5 days.

[4:24:07] Those are date and location specific

[4:24:09] permits. They do not allow them to roam

[4:24:11] around. So they may be festivals or

[4:24:15] organizations doing um some kind of food

[4:24:18] sales for fundraising for them is

[4:24:19] usually who's pulling.

[4:24:20] » So like if somebody does a bake sale for

[4:24:23] their neighborhood PTA, are they

[4:24:24] supposed to come get a one-day permit?

[4:24:27] » Well, if they're selling hot dogs,

[4:24:29] cookies are not bake sales are exempt

[4:24:31] from that. But in that scenario, yes,

[4:24:33] they would have to get that permit.

[4:24:34] » Okay. So, so I think you said it

[4:24:36] earlier, but just to clarify, the the

[4:24:39] fee structure that we have and the fees

[4:24:40] that we impose are to subsidize the cost

[4:24:44] of our employees going out there and

[4:24:45] doing these inspections to make sure

[4:24:46] that there's healthy food being served

[4:24:48] by these establishments and temporary

[4:24:50] places. It's not a profit center for the

[4:24:54] county. Is that correct?

[4:24:55] » Correct. And by state law, it cannot be

[4:24:57] profitable and it does have to go into

[4:24:58] its own fund. And that's why it's more

[4:25:00] special fund F223.

[4:25:03] » Thanks. Would

[4:25:07] you like me to move on to the next

[4:25:08] slide? Okay, sure.

[4:25:09] » So the next one is mobile food units. So

[4:25:10] this one gets a little bit more

[4:25:12] complicated. So in 2023, the

[4:25:14] jurisdiction for all mobile food units

[4:25:16] did move to Tarant County. So we were

[4:25:19] permitting all of them. This past year

[4:25:22] in the 2025 legislative session, the

[4:25:25] state has moved the mobile food

[4:25:27] jurisdiction to the state of Texas.

[4:25:29] However, that is not coming into effect

[4:25:33] until June of 2026 because they do not

[4:25:36] they need to set up their program for

[4:25:38] that first. So, we need to lower our

[4:25:41] fees in order to come in line with

[4:25:43] Senate Bill 10008.

[4:25:45] But we will not be taking any of these

[4:25:47] fees beyond June of 2026. People will

[4:25:51] have to get their mobile vending permit

[4:25:53] from the state of Texas. Currently, the

[4:25:55] state of Texas is indicating that they

[4:25:57] will give reciprocity to anybody who has

[4:26:00] a current permit from a local

[4:26:02] jurisdiction when that occurs.

[4:26:08] » I bet you're happy.

[4:26:10] » Will this will this necessitate a

[4:26:11] reduction in workforce? Do we have

[4:26:13] people that specifically do mobile or do

[4:26:14] we or they they do all of it?

[4:26:17] » So, in consumer health, they do all of

[4:26:19] it. We do have a few that are dedicated.

[4:26:21] I happen to have four positions that

[4:26:23] recently became vacated that we are

[4:26:26] going to hold to see what the revenue

[4:26:28] comes in to see if we can fill those

[4:26:30] positions or not.

[4:26:30] » Got it. Thanks.

[4:26:38] » ISDS is another change. So, independent

[4:26:41] school districts,

[4:26:44] currently the state of Texas does

[4:26:45] require them to apply by September of

[4:26:50] every year in order to receive their

[4:26:52] inspections. So, ISDs are a nonprofit

[4:26:55] and they're their own governmental

[4:26:57] agency. They're not required to get a

[4:26:58] permit. However, they do have to have

[4:27:01] one inspection in the spring and one

[4:27:03] inspection in the fall for their USDA

[4:27:05] funding, which covers free and reduced

[4:27:07] lunch.

[4:27:09] So, the methodology that we chose to go

[4:27:12] is that and they charge I know I wrote

[4:27:14] it a little weird on their fee schedule.

[4:27:16] It looks like it's $150, but they

[4:27:18] actually charge $150 each inspection for

[4:27:21] the spring and for the fall. And I am

[4:27:23] proposing that we give both of those

[4:27:25] inspections for $150 and not for 300.

[4:27:28] There are some ISDs who have a

[4:27:30] third-party contractor that runs their

[4:27:33] kitchens for them. that must be approved

[4:27:36] by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

[4:27:38] We do have a public information request

[4:27:40] in in order to get the proper amount in

[4:27:43] Tarant County ISDs of who would fall

[4:27:45] under this. And then we will have to

[4:27:47] notify the ISDs of who may not have a

[4:27:50] permit currently and who does. We also

[4:27:52] have an interlocal agreement with Fort

[4:27:54] Worth ISD which would need to be updated

[4:27:57] in order to comply with this fee

[4:27:59] schedule

[4:28:01] » On the ISD required cafeteria

[4:28:04] inspection. Then the ISD school

[4:28:05] cafeteria operated by profit profit

[4:28:08] private contractor.

[4:28:10] » Yes sir.

[4:28:10] » Uh for-profit private contractor. Why

[4:28:13] the difference between the fees?

[4:28:15] » Because that is the way the state of

[4:28:16] Texas does it. The for-profit contractor

[4:28:18] is not a nonprofit and so they're

[4:28:21] required to have a permit. State law

[4:28:23] exempts any nonprofit from permitting.

[4:28:25] » Okay. This we're not just following here

[4:28:27] what the state does. We're following

[4:28:29] state law.

[4:28:30] » Correct.

[4:28:30] » Okay.

[4:28:35] » And now on to nonprofits. So currently

[4:28:38] nonprofits, you know, they're not

[4:28:39] required to have any permits and they

[4:28:41] don't require to have any fees. Texas

[4:28:43] Department of State Health Services will

[4:28:45] not inspect a nonprofit unless they

[4:28:47] apply for an inspection. Here in Tarant

[4:28:50] County, we have some nonprofits. We have

[4:28:53] roughly 600 of them that do have permits

[4:28:56] and we conduct inspections with them.

[4:28:59] Um, most of them happen to be ISV

[4:29:01] concession type stands. Some of them are

[4:29:05] like lounges uh not loun not bars like

[4:29:11] veterans lounges you know that are

[4:29:13] nonprofits and meals on wheels is one of

[4:29:16] them. So what are we suggesting because

[4:29:18] we do have those four vacant positions

[4:29:20] is that we continue to give one free

[4:29:22] inspection a year and if they feel they

[4:29:24] need another inspection then they can

[4:29:26] pay for that inspection but we did lower

[4:29:30] it to 100 from 150

[4:29:38] child care centers. So, as the note

[4:29:41] says, back in 2010, the actual

[4:29:44] regulation of child care centers moved

[4:29:46] to a different agency within Texas HHSC.

[4:29:51] And when that happened, the Department

[4:29:54] of State Health Services Food Inspectors

[4:29:56] did not permit or inspect child care

[4:29:59] centers.

[4:30:02] We So, with that, this bill says that we

[4:30:04] cannot charge anybody a permit that is

[4:30:07] higher than what the state is. So they

[4:30:09] have taken child care centers out of our

[4:30:11] jurisdiction.

[4:30:13] So since they are a highly susceptible

[4:30:15] population, we still want to work with

[4:30:17] the child care centers and allow them to

[4:30:21] request an inspection of their child

[4:30:23] care center and to charge them the same

[4:30:25] that we would charge a nonprofit that

[4:30:27] $100.

[4:30:35] So this is the full fee schedule. As I

[4:30:38] noted before, pools are also conducted

[4:30:40] by this group. Pool inspections. Um

[4:30:44] these fees are not changing. What is new

[4:30:46] here is a late fee. In the past year,

[4:30:49] we've had 30% of our pools be delinquent

[4:30:52] by more than 90 days in paying for their

[4:30:55] pool permits. And we are hoping that by

[4:30:58] instituting the late fee that they will

[4:31:00] come into compliance and to keep that

[4:31:03] permit maintained. By law, if you have

[4:31:06] water in that pool, you're required to

[4:31:08] keep it maintained, which requires a

[4:31:10] permit. And it does take a lot of leg

[4:31:12] work from our inspectors to go out and

[4:31:14] constantly remind them that they are

[4:31:15] delinquent on their permit and they need

[4:31:17] to pay. Previously, we did not have any

[4:31:19] late fees for pools.

[4:31:21] » A permit is annual.

[4:31:23] » Yes, sir.

[4:31:24] » So, if they are 30 64 days late,

[4:31:29] they're they get a $100 fee. If they're

[4:31:32] three days late, they get a $100 fee or

[4:31:34] fine.

[4:31:34] » Yes. Yes, sir. It's $100 the day. So,

[4:31:37] all of our permits expire on the 10th of

[4:31:39] a month. So, by the 11th of a month,

[4:31:41] those late fees would come into play.

[4:31:44] » And these pools, tell me what just give

[4:31:47] me.

[4:31:48] » So, they're all public and semi-public

[4:31:50] pools. So, they could be operated by

[4:31:52] municipalities,

[4:31:54] homeowners associations,

[4:31:57] um, other public pools like the YMCA or

[4:32:00] apartments

[4:32:03] » When when they're late.

[4:32:06] I mean, obviously, we're trying to keep

[4:32:08] the public safe,

[4:32:10] » Correct?

[4:32:10] » You're testing.

[4:32:12] When they request the permit, what do we

[4:32:15] do?

[4:32:16] So, whenever you're a new establishment,

[4:32:18] you request a permit for pools

[4:32:20] specifically, they're before they put it

[4:32:21] into the ground, we have them go through

[4:32:22] a plan review process. We used to have

[4:32:25] plan review fees, but the state of Texas

[4:32:26] does not. So, we have taken all of those

[4:32:28] away. And um pools are pretty

[4:32:31] complicated. There's usually four or

[4:32:33] five inspections before they are

[4:32:35] finished making that pool because if

[4:32:37] they put the gunnite down, which is what

[4:32:39] you would walk on in a pool and the

[4:32:40] plumbing is incorrect, it is

[4:32:42] astronomical for them to tear that up in

[4:32:45] order to fix it. So, we go do a lot of

[4:32:47] inspections that way. Once it's

[4:32:49] permitted, you get inspected one to two

[4:32:52] times a year. We try to do one at least

[4:32:54] in the summer months when it's being

[4:32:56] used and one outside because there are a

[4:32:58] lot of violations, say for fencing or

[4:33:00] for things coming into the poolard that

[4:33:02] shouldn't be there that allows things to

[4:33:04] climb over that needs to be addressed.

[4:33:08] If they're in not in compliance, then

[4:33:10] they will be closed. If they're in with

[4:33:12] a municipality with an ILA, we'll notify

[4:33:15] them. We're very good at getting people

[4:33:17] to come into compliance and the

[4:33:18] municipalities don't really need to

[4:33:21] assist us with people coming into

[4:33:22] compliance, but sometimes they do. Um,

[4:33:25] and we don't charge any kind of

[4:33:27] reinspection fee for that at all. We

[4:33:30] just work with them to come into

[4:33:31] compliance and then reopen those

[4:33:33] » When they're late on their permit.

[4:33:38] » They should technically

[4:33:39] » How often have you closed them down?

[4:33:41] » They do. That is a procedure in order to

[4:33:43] go and close the pool. uh

[4:33:45] » Whether they close it or not. Sometimes,

[4:33:47] you know, when you're talking about

[4:33:48] HOAs, it's hard to get people on site.

[4:33:51] And so, a lot of times this notification

[4:33:53] is going outside of that. We don't chain

[4:33:55] any pools, you know, or anything like

[4:33:57] that. It's up to the pool establishment

[4:33:59] to ensure that no one is using that pool

[4:34:01] until they come back into

[4:34:02] » Last year. How many pools did we close

[4:34:04] now?

[4:34:05] » I do not have that number for you, sir,

[4:34:06] but I can get that for you.

[4:34:08] » Do you know if it was 10, five, hundred

[4:34:11] of them? Any idea?

[4:34:12] » It's less than a hundred. No.

[4:34:13] » Okay. I just I'm not sure. I mean, I I

[4:34:16] understand the need to test it and make

[4:34:18] sure it's safe for the public. I'm not

[4:34:21] sure a $100 fine to the HOA is going to

[4:34:26] make them jump up and go get their thing

[4:34:28] filed, but I'd be willing to bet a close

[4:34:30] down would do that. Not that I'm

[4:34:31] advocating for hurry up, close them

[4:34:32] down.

[4:34:33] » We do close down now. Um it just takes,

[4:34:35] we go back numerous times, like I said,

[4:34:37] it's over 90 days that 30% that were

[4:34:40] delinquent in their permits. Usually a

[4:34:43] lot of people think that the pool is not

[4:34:45] being used in the winter months, so they

[4:34:46] don't need to keep up with it even

[4:34:47] though their permit may expire in the

[4:34:49] winter months.

[4:34:50] » This is going to be an incredibly

[4:34:51] ignorant question.

[4:34:53] Um the

[4:34:57] the brain eating amieba as it's

[4:34:59] described.

[4:35:00] » Yes, sir.

[4:35:01] » How often does that come from a public

[4:35:05] pool or or home pool? I

[4:35:07] » So that is normally I can even

[4:35:09] » Haven't we had like some splash pads

[4:35:11] where we think some splash pads that can

[4:35:13] happen with. So what happens is that

[4:35:15] type of

[4:35:16] » Parasite it can form a bofilm and so it

[4:35:19] kind of protects itself and in splash

[4:35:21] pads they don't have continuously

[4:35:23] running water so it can allow them to do

[4:35:25] that. A pool is supposed to be operating

[4:35:28] and have a higher amount of chlorine in

[4:35:30] it on a regular basis. Typically you

[4:35:32] will see in splash pads or in natural

[4:35:34] bodies of water that concern. Not that

[4:35:37] it can't happen at a pool if they don't

[4:35:39] keep their chemicals straight and it

[4:35:40] maintained properly, but we have not

[4:35:42] seen that here in Tarant County since

[4:35:44] I've been here, but we have seen it at a

[4:35:46] splash pad in the last few years.

[4:35:49] » In Taran County?

[4:35:50] » Yes, sir.

[4:35:50] » Yeah. Is there anything we can do

[4:35:53] different to stop that from happening

[4:35:55] than what we're doing now?

[4:35:57] » No. Um, the last one was a maintenance

[4:36:00] issue. They didn't maintain properly

[4:36:02] what they were doing. So I can't tell

[4:36:04] you if that bofilm would have been

[4:36:06] allowed to occur if that maintenance was

[4:36:09] proper.

[4:36:10] » How does a pool prohibit this from

[4:36:13] developing?

[4:36:13] » So

[4:36:14] » But is it simply just running water or

[4:36:16] is it chlorine?

[4:36:17] » It's sanitizer that is approved

[4:36:18] sanitizers in the pools. Splash pads

[4:36:20] actually have two methods in which they

[4:36:23] need to have sanitizers. Um, it's either

[4:36:25] two sanitizers or one sanitizer and you

[4:36:27] can use UV light, some other type of way

[4:36:30] in order to try to filter that out

[4:36:31] because the water's not constantly

[4:36:33] moving through.

[4:36:35] They're usually push button and

[4:36:36] activated that way when somebody is

[4:36:38] wanting to utilize it.

[4:36:39] » I bet a $250,000 fine for any pool that

[4:36:43] uh has a child catch that. I bet I bet

[4:36:45] that would deter them more than $100.

[4:36:49] Okay.

[4:36:50] I would just encourage you to look at

[4:36:52] that. I know it's not a big big

[4:36:55] it's not a

[4:36:57] epidemic here, but is there something we

[4:37:00] can do to protect the kids? That one for

[4:37:02] whatever reason probably because I have

[4:37:03] kids just makes me really nervous.

[4:37:04] » Yeah. Yes, sir. I agree.

[4:37:06] » Yeah. Okay. What else? Anything else?

[4:37:09] » That is it.

[4:37:13] » Anything, Dr. Bird?

[4:37:16] I I I just want to point out that I

[4:37:18] learned a little bit this morning.

[4:37:19] Thanks for asking the good questions and

[4:37:21] uh but that is all we have sir.

[4:37:24] » Okay.

[4:37:24] » All right. Do we have a motion on this?

[4:37:26] » Move approval.

[4:37:28] » Second.

[4:37:28] » All right. We have a motion, a second to

[4:37:30] approve the changes to the Tarant County

[4:37:32] public health fee schedule. Any further

[4:37:34] discussion?

[4:37:36] All right. Seeing none, raise your hand

[4:37:38] if you're in favor.

[4:37:41] All right. Passes five to zero.

[4:37:44] brings us to

[4:37:47] purchasing

[4:37:49] item P1.

[4:37:51] Not even looked at this amount of

[4:37:53] numbers

[4:37:56] this morning.

[4:37:59] All right. P35 has been

[4:38:03] removed from consent, so it'll be added

[4:38:05] at the end.

[4:38:07] Uh I would make a motion to approve

[4:38:11] P1 through 13. Second.

[4:38:15] All right, we have a motion, a second to

[4:38:17] approve P1 through 13. Any discussion,

[4:38:22] comments, or questions?

[4:38:27] Uh, all right. Seeing none, all in favor

[4:38:30] of approval of purchasing items P1

[4:38:32] through 13, raise your hand.

[4:38:35] All right, passes five to zero.

[4:38:41] Brings us to then the next number which

[4:38:43] is at 14

[4:38:45] P14 permission take bids and RFPs.

[4:38:49] Move approval. Second. All right. We

[4:38:51] have a motion to second to approve that

[4:38:53] item. Any discussion there.

[4:38:57] All right. Seeing none. All in favor of

[4:39:00] uh granting permission to take bids on

[4:39:02] RFP RFPs, please raise your hand.

[4:39:06] All right. Passes five to zero. Next we

[4:39:09] do P35

[4:39:11] which was removed from consent.

[4:39:17] P35 is consideration of ID application

[4:39:20] and subscriber agreement annual contract

[4:39:22] for skip tracing software and

[4:39:24] maintenance and elections

[4:39:25] administration.

[4:39:27] » Move for approval.

[4:39:28] » Second. All right. We have a motion and

[4:39:30] second to approve that item. Any

[4:39:32] discussion?

[4:39:35] Is there a speaker? No. Anyone

[4:39:40] have any questions on this?

[4:39:42] All right. Uh, all in favor of approval

[4:39:45] of P35, please raise your hand.

[4:39:50] All opposed. All right. So, it passes 4

[4:39:52] to one.

[4:39:55] Um, T2A was removed from consent, but

[4:39:58] now it has been removed in its entirety.

[4:40:01] So, we will not address T2A,

[4:40:03] which brings us to T3G.

[4:40:08] from consent.

[4:40:10] » All right. Motion to approve. I'll

[4:40:12] second it. Uh, any discussion on this

[4:40:15] item?

[4:40:19] » I don't know.

[4:40:21] Any discussion on T3G?

[4:40:24] All right. Seeing none, all in favor,

[4:40:26] please raise your hand.

[4:40:28] All right. Passes five to zero. T3H was

[4:40:32] also removed from consent.

[4:40:34] » Move for approval.

[4:40:35] » Second. We have a motion to second to

[4:40:36] approve that item. Any discussion there?

[4:40:40] All right, seeing none, all in favor,

[4:40:42] raise your hand.

[4:40:44] » All opposed, raise your hand.

[4:40:47] All right, passes four to one.

[4:40:49] » I'm actually opposed to G as well. Oops.

[4:40:54] » Can you go back and revote or change

[4:40:56] your vote? How do you do that?

[4:40:58] » Um,

[4:41:00] I would suggest

[4:41:01] » Can you correct the record or do we have

[4:41:03] to undo it? We we can simply make a

[4:41:06] amendment to the minutes when they are

[4:41:08] adopted at the next meeting to reflect

[4:41:09] that that was your intent, commissioner.

[4:41:11] » All right.

[4:41:11] » All right. Um next we have appointments

[4:41:14] to various boards and commissions. Do we

[4:41:16] have any board appointments? Commission

[4:41:18] appointments.

[4:41:19] » I have two. Okay.

[4:41:21] » Um so for the

[4:41:25] I don't know what it's called, Megan. Is

[4:41:27] it called the Green Brick Freshwater

[4:41:29] Supply District?

[4:41:33] Okay. I thought that was today. Never

[4:41:35] mind.

[4:41:35] » I have none. All right. Anybody else?

[4:41:37] » But I'll take his

[4:41:40] um uh I need to make uh Katherine Roder

[4:41:43] who's done some great work for precinct

[4:41:44] 3 for a very long time. She submitted

[4:41:46] her resignation um for the Keller Tur

[4:41:49] board number two um effective yesterday.

[4:41:52] And I'd like to appoint Mike Garcia to

[4:41:54] fill her unexpired term.

[4:41:55] » Second.

[4:41:56] » All right. A motion and a second to

[4:41:58] appoint Mike Garcia to that TUR board.

[4:42:01] Any discussion? All right, seeing none,

[4:42:04] all in favor raise your hand.

[4:42:07] Passes unanimously. Any other board or

[4:42:09] commission appointments? All right, next

[4:42:12] up, briefing item, operational impact of

[4:42:14] Tarant County redistricting.

[4:42:21] [Music]

[4:42:27] Good afternoon, court members. Just a

[4:42:29] couple of updates uh since our last

[4:42:31] briefing on this. Uh we're really down

[4:42:34] to kind of two items. Uh budget and

[4:42:37] elections. So during our uh budget

[4:42:41] workshop, we had some discussion with

[4:42:43] regards to uh road and bridge uh assets,

[4:42:46] personnel, and things like that. We did

[4:42:48] not make any final determinations at

[4:42:50] those meetings. Uh but certainly those

[4:42:52] items are still in conversation uh with

[4:42:54] the budget office to make those final

[4:42:56] recommendations uh as part of the the

[4:42:58] final approval of the budget coming

[4:43:00] soon. Uh as far as election goes, uh

[4:43:02] certainly we had a couple of action

[4:43:04] items today with regards to uh voting

[4:43:07] precincts and and the such. And that's

[4:43:10] that's really the update I have for this

[4:43:12] meeting with regards to redistricting.

[4:43:15] » All right. Any questions or comments on

[4:43:17] this item before we bring up a speaker?

[4:43:20] So on the voter registration system, has

[4:43:23] the updated voter registration system

[4:43:26] now been fully implemented, Clint?

[4:43:29] » And have there been any errors or

[4:43:31] issues?

[4:43:43] » Good afternoon, Commissioner. the the

[4:43:46] maps and the precincts themselves, the

[4:43:47] updates are made, but because these

[4:43:48] don't go into effect until January 1,

[4:43:50] they haven't been moved into the voter

[4:43:53] registration system to reflect. So,

[4:43:55] anybody that were to go to our website

[4:43:59] and and put in their information, it's

[4:44:01] still going to um show that they would

[4:44:04] be voting in the other commissioner's

[4:44:06] precinct because those or their not the

[4:44:08] other commissioners precinct, but the

[4:44:10] voting precinct because those voting

[4:44:12] precinct numbers haven't changed and

[4:44:14] won't change until January 1. So, we're

[4:44:17] those changes will be made effective.

[4:44:20] What we are doing is creating a separate

[4:44:23] database to then

[4:44:26] transition it to the post January 1

[4:44:30] precincts prior to that so we can do the

[4:44:32] mass mailouts to ensure that when we

[4:44:35] mail everybody their voter registration

[4:44:37] card they get the information that will

[4:44:39] be effective January 1 even though we

[4:44:42] have to have those mailed out prior to

[4:44:43] the end of December.

[4:44:46] » So it's not effective now. the voting

[4:44:50] precincts. No.

[4:44:53] » Why not again?

[4:44:55] » So, the the voting precincts by law

[4:44:58] don't go into effect till January 1.

[4:45:00] » Okay.

[4:45:04] » All right. Any other questions or

[4:45:05] comments?

[4:45:06] » Just stay stay up there. Um,

[4:45:11] so have the new voter precinct maps been

[4:45:14] published to the public yet? the new

[4:45:17] voter precincts. They haven't yet

[4:45:18] because we just um approved those today.

[4:45:21] » Okay. And what's the what's the ETA?

[4:45:24] » We're working on them right now,

[4:45:25] Commissioner.

[4:45:27] » Okay. So, a week, a five day, what?

[4:45:32] Two weeks, a month.

[4:45:33] » It won't It should be by the end of the

[4:45:34] week.

[4:45:35] » Okay.

[4:45:36] Um,

[4:45:39] so have

[4:45:42] so you have or have not sent official

[4:45:45] notices out for voting changes?

[4:45:50] » We have sent official notices as were

[4:45:53] required by the statutes to get to this

[4:45:56] point and then we will have to do post

[4:45:58] the notice of the approval today.

[4:46:04] » Okay.

[4:46:05] And have voters received any direct

[4:46:09] notification about potential changes to

[4:46:12] their precinct polling place that won't

[4:46:13] happen till January?

[4:46:19] » I'm trying to understand you quite so

[4:46:21] voters

[4:46:22] » Have we communicated to the voters in

[4:46:25] any way about

[4:46:27] you've been moved into this precinct.

[4:46:29] This is your new commissioner.

[4:46:32] Um this is

[4:46:35] No, we have not. We We didn't have

[4:46:37] anything approved. What we're working

[4:46:39] with um it right now is creating a site

[4:46:42] where a voter will be able to go in and

[4:46:44] put in their address and it will tell

[4:46:47] them um the the new precinct that

[4:46:49] they're in. Um but we're working with it

[4:46:51] to get that finish out that development.

[4:46:53] » Okay. So, that kind of goes to my next

[4:46:55] question uh about the communication

[4:46:58] plan. Um,

[4:47:03] so we're just going to say you can go to

[4:47:06] our website and check this out. I saw

[4:47:09] the little video last time.

[4:47:12] Um,

[4:47:14] but is that going to be it? I mean, this

[4:47:16] is a a big change.

[4:47:20] » So, communications department is

[4:47:22] certainly aware. Uh, as I stated last

[4:47:24] time, the video just gives you a taste

[4:47:25] of what we've been working on in order

[4:47:26] to push out the information with regards

[4:47:28] to this. However, until the site was up

[4:47:30] and we had confirmation that the site

[4:47:32] was up in Oregon correctly, we didn't

[4:47:33] want to push anything out yet because we

[4:47:34] will be directing people to the site if

[4:47:36] they want to look up uh where their new

[4:47:38] voting precinct is.

[4:47:39] » So, it's just going to be our website.

[4:47:41] It's just going to be our

[4:47:42] » Our website, social media channels, all

[4:47:44] of our our normal uh channels that we

[4:47:45] have available to us to push out

[4:47:47] information,

[4:47:47] » Right? But have we thought about doing

[4:47:50] paid communications or

[4:47:53] » Additionally, Commissioner, when we do

[4:47:55] the mass mail out, every registered

[4:47:56] voter that we have in the voter

[4:47:58] registration system will get a new voter

[4:48:00] registration certificate and that will

[4:48:02] reflect that new precinct number. So

[4:48:04] they will

[4:48:05] » Okay.

[4:48:09] Have any of our cities or school

[4:48:11] districts or community partners

[4:48:13] responded to notifications sent through

[4:48:17] the mayor's council or delegation

[4:48:19] briefings?

[4:48:20] » I have not heard any response, ma'am.

[4:48:22] » Okay. So, we don't have any feedback or

[4:48:25] concerns or

[4:48:26] » No, ma'am. I haven't heard of any

[4:48:27] feedback from uh the federal, state

[4:48:29] delegations, uh cities or ISDs.

[4:48:34] » Okay.

[4:48:36] Were those uh FY26 budget

[4:48:38] recommendations to each precinct uh

[4:48:41] finalized before the August 19th budget

[4:48:43] hearings?

[4:48:45] » I'm sorry, which FY26 budget

[4:48:47] recommendations?

[4:48:48] » Bud uh let's see to each precinct.

[4:48:52] I think it was from your last

[4:48:54] presentation.

[4:48:57] » So I referenced the finalized

[4:48:59] recommendations to each commissioner

[4:49:00] precinct related to the FY26 budget

[4:49:02] submission. And uh what we again at the

[4:49:05] budget retreat we did have some

[4:49:07] conversation with regards to those uh

[4:49:09] but we were based on the fact that we

[4:49:11] did not have an entire court here we

[4:49:13] decided to kind of table some of those

[4:49:14] conversations work with the budget

[4:49:15] officer with regards to that to bring

[4:49:17] back final recommendations.

[4:49:19] » Okay. Thank you sir

[4:49:21] » Sers.

[4:49:23] » All right. Anybody have anything else on

[4:49:25] this item?

[4:49:27] All right. We have one speaker. Dr.

[4:49:29] Valencia Edner.

[4:49:34] [Music]

[4:49:36] What an embarrassing day this has been.

[4:49:40] Such a good old boy backs slapping got

[4:49:42] him nights. The lights went out in

[4:49:43] Georgia process.

[4:49:45] That's the prevailing mindset in this

[4:49:47] court. But let me get to my point.

[4:49:50] Critical thinking requires more than

[4:49:52] chasing an agenda. It means asking what

[4:49:56] are the ripple effects.

[4:49:59] Doing your homework before pushing it

[4:50:01] would have avoided this Keystone Cop

[4:50:04] atmosphere we keep enduring.

[4:50:06] Yet your collective piler choices prove

[4:50:09] that you either cannot or will not see

[4:50:13] them

[4:50:14] by re redrawing precinct lines, slashing

[4:50:18] polling places. You have forced citizens

[4:50:20] already packed and cracked by you to

[4:50:24] struggle for what should be their

[4:50:26] birthright. Free, fair, and equitable

[4:50:29] elections.

[4:50:31] But your politics won't let you care.

[4:50:34] This is not leadership. It's ambition

[4:50:36] gone mad. An ambition so blindly that

[4:50:39] you trample the very people you were

[4:50:41] elected to serve. But your politics

[4:50:44] won't let you care. And tell me, how do

[4:50:47] you rest? How do you look in the mirror

[4:50:49] and not see the darkness of what you've

[4:50:52] become?

[4:50:53] You can close a polling place, but you

[4:50:55] cannot close people's will. You can

[4:50:57] withdraw a line, but you cannot withdraw

[4:51:01] redraw our determination. You may try to

[4:51:04] dim democracy, but we the people are the

[4:51:07] light. And the light always finds a way

[4:51:10] to shine on, shine in, and shine

[4:51:14] through. And no one is blinded by good

[4:51:18] light cuz truth will march on.

[4:51:25] All right. Next item is

[4:51:28] Tarant County Sheriff's Office update

[4:51:30] regarding incidents in the county jail.

[4:51:33] U

[4:51:35] we had reached out to the sheriff to

[4:51:37] request uh either the off his office be

[4:51:40] available for briefing today. Uh we

[4:51:42] heard back that the sheriff's office was

[4:51:44] unavailable to to brief today. Uh

[4:51:47] yesterday I received four specific names

[4:51:50] as far as information uh that had been

[4:51:53] requested to be briefed on today. I have

[4:51:55] the four press releases that were sent

[4:51:57] out by the sheriff's office related to

[4:51:58] those four names. If it pleases the

[4:52:00] court, I'd be happy to read those into

[4:52:02] the record or I'd also be happy to just

[4:52:04] file them with the clerk as a matter of

[4:52:05] record. you can read them into the

[4:52:07] record and u we'll just schedule them

[4:52:09] for a briefing at the September 3rd

[4:52:12] meeting.

[4:52:13] » Okay.

[4:52:14] » All right. So, the first one was on a

[4:52:15] gentleman named Charles Johnson,

[4:52:17] February 8th, 2025. On Saturday,

[4:52:20] February 2025, a 36-year-old inmate in

[4:52:23] the Tarant County Jail passed away at

[4:52:24] John Peter Smith Hospital following

[4:52:26] complications from an attempted suicide.

[4:52:29] The inmate was booked into the Tarant

[4:52:31] County Jail on February 4th, 2025 on a

[4:52:33] parole violation out of Palipinto County

[4:52:36] of multiple sexual assault convictions

[4:52:38] as well as failing to register as a

[4:52:40] violent sex offender. During the booking

[4:52:42] intake process, the inmate was

[4:52:44] administered a screening form for

[4:52:46] suicide and medical, mental,

[4:52:48] developmental impairments as required by

[4:52:50] the Texas Commission on Jail Standards

[4:52:51] and the Sandra Bland Act. TCSO detention

[4:52:54] officers identified behavioral concerns

[4:52:56] and the inmate was referred to Tarant

[4:52:58] County MHMR for further assessment. The

[4:53:01] inmate was screened and cleared by MHMR

[4:53:03] and assigned housing per minimum jail

[4:53:05] standards for protocol. On February 6th,

[4:53:08] 2025, the inmate was once again screened

[4:53:10] by a mental health provider. It was

[4:53:12] noted that the inmate did not display

[4:53:14] any suicidal ideiations and was cleared

[4:53:16] to remain in general population housing.

[4:53:19] Subsequently, on February 6th, 2025,

[4:53:22] after being cleared by MHMR, the inmate

[4:53:24] was found unresponsive in his cell by

[4:53:26] his cellmate. Within seconds, detention

[4:53:28] officers and JPS medical staff

[4:53:30] immediately began administering

[4:53:32] life-saving treatment. The inmate was

[4:53:34] taken to JPS hospital where despite

[4:53:37] their efforts, the inmate passed away a

[4:53:39] couple of days later. The Tarant County

[4:53:41] Medical Examiner will release the

[4:53:42] inmate's name and cause of death. In

[4:53:45] 2024, TCSO detention officers intervened

[4:53:47] and prevented 390 suicide attempts. So

[4:53:50] far in 2025, TCSO detention officers

[4:53:53] have intervened in 24 suicide attempts

[4:53:55] in the Tarant County Jail. All in

[4:53:58] custody deaths are reviewed and

[4:53:59] investigated by Tarant County Sheriff's

[4:54:01] Office Jail Staff, the TCSO Criminal

[4:54:03] Investigations Division, an outside law

[4:54:05] enforcement agency. In this case, the

[4:54:07] Texas Rangers, JPS medical staff, the

[4:54:10] Texas Commission on Jail Standards, the

[4:54:11] Tarant County Medical Examiner's Office,

[4:54:13] and the Texas Attorney General's Office.

[4:54:15] All media request on this case should be

[4:54:17] directed to the Texas Rangers as they

[4:54:18] are the lead investigating agency.

[4:54:22] » That was Mr. Charles Steven Johnson.

[4:54:25] » Yes, ma'am. Charles Johnson.

[4:54:26] » Okay. Do we have Do you know if the

[4:54:29] autopsy um report is back? Do you do not

[4:54:33] know that latest? Okay.

[4:54:34] » All right. We'll just

[4:54:36] » Have him come back.

[4:54:37] » Yes, ma'am.

[4:54:38] » Next.

[4:54:44] » Next up is Kimberly Phillips.

[4:54:48] February 20th, 2025.

[4:54:51] On Tuesday, February 28th, 2025, a

[4:54:53] 56-year-old inmate passed away while

[4:54:55] under medical care at John Peter Smith

[4:54:57] Hospital. The inmate was arrested by

[4:54:59] Grand Prairie PD on January 24th, 2025

[4:55:03] for outstanding felony warrants for

[4:55:04] injury to child, elderly, disabled,

[4:55:07] bodily injury and obstruction

[4:55:09] retaliation. They were transported to

[4:55:11] the Tarant County Jail the following

[4:55:13] day. The inmate was placed in medical

[4:55:15] housing under medical observation where

[4:55:17] there is access to 247 medical care. On

[4:55:20] February 15, 2025, the inmate was

[4:55:22] transported to JPS and passed away on

[4:55:24] February 18th under the direct care of

[4:55:27] medical staff. The Tarant County Medical

[4:55:29] Examiner will release the inmate's name

[4:55:31] and cause of death. All in custody

[4:55:33] deaths are reviewed and investigated by

[4:55:35] Tarant County Sheriff's Office, Jail

[4:55:36] Staff, the TCSO Criminal Investigation

[4:55:38] Division and Outside Law Enforcement

[4:55:40] Agency, JPS Medical Staff, the Texas

[4:55:43] Commission on Jail Standards, the Tarant

[4:55:44] County Medical Examiner's Office, and

[4:55:46] the Texas Attorney's General's Office.

[4:55:51] The third individual is Liza Gadlin.

[4:55:56] This release is dated April 21st, 2025.

[4:56:00] On Saturday, April 19th, 2025, a

[4:56:02] 57year-old female inmate passed away at

[4:56:05] John Peter Smith Hospital. As per jail

[4:56:07] protocol, she was evaluated by MHMR and

[4:56:10] medical staff when she was booked last

[4:56:12] week. The inmate's history indicates a

[4:56:14] longtime drug use and chronic health

[4:56:16] conditions. She was receiving care from

[4:56:18] John Peter Smith Hospital medical staff

[4:56:20] during the time she was in custody. She

[4:56:23] was arrested by the DFW airport police

[4:56:25] department on April 15th, 2025 for theft

[4:56:28] of property between $100 and $750.

[4:56:32] The Tarant County Medical Examiner's

[4:56:33] Office will determine her cause of death

[4:56:35] and release her identity. All in custody

[4:56:38] deaths are investigated and reviewed by

[4:56:39] Tarant County Sheriff's Office Jail

[4:56:41] Staff, the TCSO Criminal Investigations

[4:56:43] Division, the Tarant County Medical

[4:56:44] Examiner's Office, and Outside Law

[4:56:46] Enforcement Agency, JPS Medical Staff,

[4:56:49] the Texas Attorney General's Office, and

[4:56:50] the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

[4:56:55] » We don't have her cause of death.

[4:56:57] » No, ma'am, I don't.

[4:57:04] But on all these, I'll if they've been

[4:57:06] publicly released, I'll make sure that

[4:57:08] we have the medical examiner's office

[4:57:10] send that information to the court.

[4:57:12] » Okay.

[4:57:12] » Uh and inclusive of this last one. The

[4:57:15] last individual is Richard Gowski.

[4:57:19] This release is dated August 6th, 2025.

[4:57:22] On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, jail

[4:57:25] medical personnel from John Peter Smith

[4:57:27] Hospital responded to medical emergency

[4:57:29] inside the Tarant County Jail involving

[4:57:31] a 61-year-old inmate. The inmate was

[4:57:33] transported to JPS hospital where he

[4:57:35] passed away. He was arrested by the

[4:57:37] White Settlement Police Department for

[4:57:39] criminal trespass. He arrived at the

[4:57:40] Tarant County Jail on July 29th, 2025.

[4:57:44] The Tarant County Medical Examiner's

[4:57:45] Office will determine his cause of death

[4:57:47] and release his identity. All in custody

[4:57:49] deaths are investigated and reviewed by

[4:57:51] the Tarant County Sheriff's Office, Jail

[4:57:53] Staff, the TCSO Criminal Investigations

[4:57:55] Division, the Tarant County Medical

[4:57:57] Examiner's Office, and Outside Law

[4:57:59] Enforcement Agency, JPS Medical Staff,

[4:58:01] the Texas Attorney General's Office, and

[4:58:03] the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

[4:58:06] » Thank you.

[4:58:07] » Yes, ma'am.

[4:58:08] » As scheduled, the sheriff to be here

[4:58:11] next time to give an update on all these

[4:58:14] cases.

[4:58:15] » I'll make the request, ma'am. Anybody

[4:58:19] else have anything before we bring up

[4:58:20] our speakers?

[4:58:22] Uh, Nan Terry

[4:58:28] and Joe Palmer.

[4:58:36] Good afternoon.

[4:58:39] Chandler mentioned it, but I'm going to

[4:58:41] say my piece, too. Since the

[4:58:43] commissioner's court last met, uh, Mr.

[4:58:46] Richard Gowski uh died in the Tarant

[4:58:49] County Jail. The Texas Attorney

[4:58:50] General's death in custody reports his

[4:58:53] death is August 6, 2025 at 1047.

[4:58:57] He had been in jail about a week. He was

[4:58:59] charged with a class B misdemeanor

[4:59:01] offense with a a criminal trespassing

[4:59:04] and had a bond of $500. He was 61.

[4:59:08] As you know, the National Institute of

[4:59:09] Corrections critical site visit report

[4:59:11] made recommendations to the Tarant

[4:59:13] County Jail to improve the jail. One

[4:59:16] recommendation is on page 11 of the

[4:59:18] mortality review process. What currently

[4:59:21] happens is MHMR and JPS have a critical

[4:59:26] incident review committee and they meet

[4:59:28] weekly to discuss this. The Texas

[4:59:30] Commission on Jail Standards requires

[4:59:33] the custody staff to review what

[4:59:35] happened with the death in custody,

[4:59:38] but near the two should meet. And the

[4:59:41] recommendation from the NIC is that the

[4:59:43] custodial death the custodial staff be

[4:59:46] allowed to attend the MHMR JPS uh their

[4:59:51] critical incident review meeting and so

[4:59:53] that information can be shared against

[4:59:55] both all three groups. and you guys are

[5:00:00] the leaders of Taran County and

[5:00:03] you fund or have some role and

[5:00:06] responsibilities and perhaps you could

[5:00:09] encourage JPS MHMR to implement that

[5:00:12] mortality review process on page 11 of

[5:00:15] the NIC report. I can't imagine it would

[5:00:17] cost any have any significant budget

[5:00:20] impact. Uh the other point uh Kimberly

[5:00:23] Phillips her death in custody report was

[5:00:27] uh malnutrition and dehydration

[5:00:30] uh starvation and dehydration. And

[5:00:34] another of the recommendations from the

[5:00:37] NIC report was for a huddle to be done

[5:00:39] weekly from JPS MHMR to discuss

[5:00:45] incidents of concern for individuals

[5:00:48] including reduced food intake. And since

[5:00:51] Miss Phelps passed away due to reduced

[5:00:54] starvation and dehydration, perhaps you

[5:00:57] could encourage people to implement that

[5:00:59] recommendation also. Um, I can't imagine

[5:01:03] that would cost much. I think they do a

[5:01:05] weekly now. Huddle. Uh, not daily. Thank

[5:01:09] you.

[5:01:10] » Thank you. Uh, I did not see Mr. Palmer.

[5:01:12] Mr. Palmer's not present, is he?

[5:01:16] Uh, now we come to public comments.

[5:01:22] Okay, I don't have it. So, we have

[5:01:24] public comments now.

[5:01:27] First person to speak on public comments

[5:01:29] is Darlene Doss.

[5:01:33] Miss Doss present.

[5:01:36] Oh, we have Rose Abraham.

[5:01:45] » Are you Miss Abraham or Miss Doss?

[5:01:49] What's your name?

[5:01:50] » Rose Abraham.

[5:01:51] » Gotcha. Okay. No. Darling Doss. Okay. Go

[5:01:53] ahead, Miss Abraham.

[5:01:59] » Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. My name

[5:02:00] is Rose Abraham. I'm 73 years old and I

[5:02:04] am here to

[5:02:06] uh share with you guys something that is

[5:02:09] really important for me that you know

[5:02:12] and that it's going on and it involve um

[5:02:15] a tow truck company right here in

[5:02:18] forward located on 6754 Randle New Hope

[5:02:22] Road.

[5:02:24] Uh these people are seriously conducting

[5:02:28] uh illegal activity and I was a victim

[5:02:30] of them. I had a Nissan truck which it

[5:02:34] was parked properly. They stole it. I

[5:02:37] sued them. I won the case. They didn't

[5:02:40] release my my truck claiming that they

[5:02:42] were going to appeal it. They never did.

[5:02:44] I sue them again

[5:02:47] and they went on a rampage. Every time I

[5:02:50] had to go to court, I was mysteriously

[5:02:54] um hijacked and all my court paper were

[5:02:57] taken. So I had no evidence and I had to

[5:03:01] start all over again. That happened

[5:03:03] three times and also one of the time

[5:03:07] mysteriously

[5:03:09] uh and I say mysteriously because I

[5:03:11] cannot say specific that they did it but

[5:03:14] the connection is very strong. I was

[5:03:17] hijacked. I would spray with something.

[5:03:20] All of the sudden, I found myself dumped

[5:03:24] on the freeway.

[5:03:26] Uh, luckily a a good Samaritan was

[5:03:29] passing by and they noticed that there

[5:03:32] was a human being. It was not a a a toy

[5:03:35] or a a doll. An ambulance came. They

[5:03:39] picked me up. They took me to the

[5:03:40] emergency room. And little by little, I

[5:03:44] started remember things. Bottom line,

[5:03:48] they have seriously been terrorizing me.

[5:03:52] But I am not going to stop. I'm going to

[5:03:54] seek justice because I found out that my

[5:03:58] truck

[5:04:00] was sold to my next door neighbor, an

[5:04:03] illegal drug dealer that have also been

[5:04:06] terrorizing me.

[5:04:09] I cannot be quiet. I need to speak up

[5:04:12] and you all need to know what's going

[5:04:14] on. I need prayer and I need help and

[5:04:17] guidance. Anything that you can do to

[5:04:20] guide me and help me, it will be

[5:04:21] awesome. I can't find an attorney. I

[5:04:24] don't have money. I'm suing them again

[5:04:27] and we supposed to go to court. And I'm

[5:04:29] appealing the decision of the judge

[5:04:31] because they have uh an attorney that

[5:04:35] have never show up to any other meeting

[5:04:38] and they getting away with it.

[5:04:41] They don't they don't I'm prosay but

[5:04:44] they don't communicate with me and every

[5:04:46] time we have a a a a hearing they don't

[5:04:49] show up and it's okay. So I need an

[5:04:53] attorney and I need prayer.

[5:04:56] » That's all I can say. Thank you so much.

[5:04:58] » Thank you. Next we have Bob Willoughby.

[5:05:07] Let me start off with first here that uh

[5:05:09] the school board the public comment

[5:05:11] comes first. Canidel white settlement

[5:05:14] forest hill city council comment comes

[5:05:16] first. We're on the bottom here. It

[5:05:18] doesn't take a minute to move the people

[5:05:19] to the top. Republicans move people to

[5:05:22] the top. Remember Reagan? We the people

[5:05:25] first. Okay. Okay. Got that back.

[5:05:28] Secondly, I really don't have much

[5:05:30] respect for any across the board because

[5:05:32] you don't answer questions. City council

[5:05:34] don't, school board don't, and you don't

[5:05:36] until you start answering legitimate

[5:05:38] questions. I don't care about

[5:05:39] redistricing. I don't care about those

[5:05:40] machines or the voting locations.

[5:05:42] They're irrelevant until you start

[5:05:44] answering questions and you don't answer

[5:05:46] questions. None of you. Not one of you.

[5:05:49] Okay. Now, I got I our election in

[5:05:52] District 5 was rigged. Democrats rigged

[5:05:55] the election in Dem five 100%. Nothing

[5:05:58] short of Jesus Christ walking that door

[5:06:00] saying it's not rigged. It was rigged.

[5:06:02] Do you care? Not one of you reached out

[5:06:04] to ask about it. I went to court. It was

[5:06:06] dismissed on 91A, which said, "Okay, I'm

[5:06:09] going to file a however you do it, I'm

[5:06:12] going to try to uh appeal it to go up to

[5:06:14] a different court because the judge said

[5:06:16] there's nothing there." Well, I'll tell

[5:06:18] you what. When the votes go up four

[5:06:20] elections in a row and it drop by 50%,

[5:06:24] something's wrong. A doctor takes your

[5:06:27] temperature, it drops by 50%.

[5:06:29] Something's wrong. He can't tell you

[5:06:31] what, but he say something's wrong. My

[5:06:33] votes dropped by over 90%. 67 votes they

[5:06:37] gave me. That's the lowest out of five

[5:06:39] elections I ever got. I spent $20,000.

[5:06:42] More money I ever spent. 67 boats was a

[5:06:45] joke. This thing's rigged. And don't

[5:06:47] tell me you care. You speak up about it.

[5:06:50] You don't care. Or you speak up about

[5:06:52] it. Our elections are the fabric of this

[5:06:54] city. Our system. And if you don't care

[5:06:57] about being rigged, the redistritis,

[5:07:00] the locations don't mean crap. You got

[5:07:03] to fix the riggedness. It is rigged by

[5:07:05] Democrats. Cat in the voting deal should

[5:07:08] not be in there. She's got mental

[5:07:09] problems. She said it publicly. She said

[5:07:11] she's a radical left Democrat and she's

[5:07:14] in charge of the voting. Give me a

[5:07:16] break. God. Anyway, you people start

[5:07:18] answering questions, that's one. And I

[5:07:20] mean the school board, council, city

[5:07:23] council, across the board, when y'all

[5:07:25] start answering. This is a partnership I

[5:07:27] would never want to be in in the private

[5:07:29] market with any of y'all. Never would I

[5:07:31] enter into a partnership. But I am in a

[5:07:32] partnership whether I like it or not.

[5:07:34] And I don't like it. But I've got to

[5:07:36] start answering legitimate questions.

[5:07:38] One is Phil Sword. He's got documents on

[5:07:41] his desk right now showing corruption

[5:07:43] 100%. He says, "I'm not going to act on

[5:07:45] it. I'm not going to do anything. I'm

[5:07:47] not going to answer. What do y'all do?

[5:07:49] Same thing. You don't act on it. So,

[5:07:51] don't talk like you're really doing

[5:07:52] something for the people. Don't act like

[5:07:54] you're something. District two, you're

[5:07:56] not you don't answer either. You're no

[5:07:58] better than the rest.

[5:08:00] » So, as far as my concern about all of

[5:08:01] you, you're not worth a hill of beans

[5:08:04] until you start answering people and

[5:08:06] respecting the public and moving to

[5:08:08] number one. Thank you.

[5:08:09] » Uh, next is Paul David Williams.

[5:08:14] Mr. Williams here.

[5:08:18] Next is Amy Super.

[5:08:24] Miss Super, are you going?

[5:08:37] Most of my comments are going to be

[5:08:39] directed to my new commissioner. Um, I I

[5:08:43] I get it. you got a bunch of new

[5:08:45] constituents that you know, you know, we

[5:08:48] didn't even have the option to vote for

[5:08:49] you because you wouldn't have been on

[5:08:50] our ballot the last time you were

[5:08:52] running. And you know, you're going to

[5:08:54] have to work hard uh to try to maintain

[5:08:56] your seat. Um, however, you do still

[5:09:00] represent us and when I go on to your

[5:09:03] social media site and I am being

[5:09:05] directed on videos how and what to say

[5:09:09] when I call your office based on your

[5:09:13] opinion on an issue.

[5:09:16] I'm not comfortable with that. I think

[5:09:18] that's that's not representation. Now,

[5:09:21] to be fair, you've done a really good

[5:09:24] job of showing us who you are and who

[5:09:26] you believe you are best capable of

[5:09:27] representing and it's not me and it's

[5:09:29] not a whole lot of people who are now

[5:09:32] part of precinct 2. Um, that doesn't

[5:09:35] change the fact again that you're still

[5:09:36] a representative. I specifically

[5:09:39] suggested the last time I was here that

[5:09:41] you consider maybe toning down some of

[5:09:44] the hostile ways in which you addressed

[5:09:46] Tarant County employees. It's

[5:09:48] embarrassing. Those are the sorts of

[5:09:49] things you do in private. Um, I'm not

[5:09:53] asking you to give them free reign and

[5:09:55] not hold them accountable when you think

[5:09:56] that they're not doing something they

[5:09:58] should be doing or have done something

[5:10:00] incorrectly. Just not in front of this

[5:10:02] entire group of people. Had I known

[5:10:04] you'd come after our elections

[5:10:06] administrator the way you did today, I

[5:10:08] would never have brought up some of the

[5:10:10] subject matters that I did. I have a

[5:10:12] great working relation working

[5:10:14] relationship with him as a voter. very

[5:10:17] approachable

[5:10:19] uh very problem-solving oriented

[5:10:22] that I was ashamed and I apologize to

[5:10:25] him for having done so. I should have

[5:10:27] known that he wouldn't listen to my

[5:10:28] suggestion. Um

[5:10:31] I would like to also just quickly

[5:10:33] address this thing with Tarant County um

[5:10:36] college campus adding them. So they

[5:10:39] explained to you that they don't have a

[5:10:41] room where they can secure it, which is

[5:10:43] now going to be part of the law. And he

[5:10:46] also explained that that means that if

[5:10:48] they can't secure it, that site is going

[5:10:50] to have to break down, tear up, and set

[5:10:52] up every day, 12 days in a row, 14-hour

[5:10:55] days, these folks are working. They're

[5:10:57] getting paid less than people who are

[5:10:59] working at Taco Bell. You and I are very

[5:11:01] close to the same age. It is physically

[5:11:04] demanding to do that. Good luck at

[5:11:06] finding a crew who is willing to do

[5:11:08] that. EV sites do not have to set up

[5:11:11] their own pull sites. Those are done for

[5:11:13] them. They're take they're set up and

[5:11:15] taken down by the staff at Tarant County

[5:11:17] elections unlike election day sites

[5:11:19] where we set up and tear down all of our

[5:11:21] equipment. You're asking people to do

[5:11:23] that every day for 12 days in a row. So

[5:11:26] before you proceed with that, I would I

[5:11:28] would ask for consideration for that for

[5:11:30] the poor people who are going to be

[5:11:31] stled with doing that work. Thank you.

[5:11:34] » Thank you. Next is Carla Palaris.

[5:11:37] She present.

[5:11:40] Next is Jimmy Blackwell.

[5:11:53] [Music]

[5:11:55] Judge O'Hare,

[5:11:57] it's a shame that the sheriff's office

[5:11:59] is never available to face the people.

[5:12:06] George O'Hara, I know you uh are

[5:12:08] familiar with Joe Lewis, heavyweight

[5:12:12] boxing champion.

[5:12:14] He coined this phrase,

[5:12:17] you can run,

[5:12:20] but you cannot hide.

[5:12:23] He made that comment when he was getting

[5:12:25] ready to to challenge Billy Khan.

[5:12:29] Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. coined this

[5:12:32] quote,

[5:12:33] "No lie can live forever."

[5:12:38] So, Judge O'Hara, what are you mega

[5:12:42] people running from?

[5:12:46] You all are running from the truth and

[5:12:49] attempting to hide behind lie after lie

[5:12:54] after lie.

[5:12:57] How can the people of this county have

[5:13:00] any confidence

[5:13:02] in the decision brought before the

[5:13:04] people by this court when it's apparent

[5:13:08] that you, Judge O'Hara, makes the first

[5:13:10] and final decision

[5:13:13] based on your ideology.

[5:13:16] You refuse to include other

[5:13:18] commissioners in your dis, excuse me, in

[5:13:22] your discussions prior to your decision.

[5:13:26] Now, how can we be confident

[5:13:31] that the other commissioners will vote

[5:13:34] with you other than you have already

[5:13:38] threatened them or whatever the case may

[5:13:40] be if they go against you?

[5:13:44] I want to personally thank uh

[5:13:48] Commissioner Simmons and Commissioner

[5:13:51] Rodri Miles

[5:13:54] for their stance against some of the

[5:13:56] stuff that you bring to this court and

[5:13:59] before the people.

[5:14:02] You know, it's not based on your

[5:14:05] discussion with these individuals

[5:14:06] because you refuse to even include them

[5:14:10] in your discussions.

[5:14:13] How can that be sound leadership

[5:14:18] when you exclude

[5:14:20] two of your major opposition voices?

[5:14:25] That's what democracy is all about.

[5:14:28] Listening to other people, discussing

[5:14:31] issues with other people, and then

[5:14:33] making a decision based on that

[5:14:35] information that you get from those

[5:14:37] people. You just don't arbitrarily make

[5:14:40] a decision on your own and then shove it

[5:14:43] down the throat of the people. And

[5:14:45] that's what's going on with this

[5:14:46] commission. That's what's going on with

[5:14:49] you, Judge O'Hara. This has to stop. I

[5:14:53] smell a rat.

[5:14:55] » Thank you, sir.

[5:14:55] » Miss you three blind.

[5:14:57] » Thank you, sir. Next, we have Nan Terry.

[5:15:02] Is Nan Terry present? She leave. And

[5:15:05] then Joe Palmer.

[5:15:08] I do not see Mr. Palmer.

[5:15:13] » Okay. Well, I don't have your form.

[5:15:15] » Well, you skipped earlier from the uh

[5:15:19] section that was on uh

[5:15:22] agenda announcements. Why is it on the

[5:15:25] list of of agenda items that you can

[5:15:28] participate in? If

[5:15:29] » He on whatever he's describing,

[5:15:31] » We do have a form, sir, for

[5:15:34] » Go ahead. Thank you very kindly.

[5:15:38] Give me just a moment to queue it up.

[5:15:40] » What's your name?

[5:15:41] » Stanley Johnson for precinct 1165.

[5:15:45] So I direct your attention to the uh

[5:15:49] uh rules of decorum that the court has

[5:15:51] established.

[5:15:52] Uh I would request that you all uh

[5:15:55] periodically

[5:15:57] perhaps before each meeting refresh

[5:15:59] yourself on them just so that you're uh

[5:16:02] confident that they say what you think

[5:16:03] they say and that you're you know

[5:16:05] they're right in your head and in your

[5:16:06] heart. One of the things that it states

[5:16:08] in them is that you uh

[5:16:13] uh that your intent is to maximize

[5:16:18] uh citizen participation

[5:16:20] and uh I would suggest that perhaps

[5:16:23] reducing the number of uh polling places

[5:16:26] would be the opposite of maximizing

[5:16:28] participation. It would be reducing it.

[5:16:32] Um

[5:16:34] the uh I don't have a lot more today

[5:16:38] other than to say um

[5:16:42] the

[5:16:45] the the court seems somewhat fractured.

[5:16:50] um if not actually physically

[5:16:53] uh perhaps

[5:16:55] um uh symbolically

[5:16:58] uh in particular the two of you in the

[5:17:00] center and to your right I guess uh seem

[5:17:05] to be very much at odds and again if not

[5:17:08] physically if y'all could possibly

[5:17:10] symbolically

[5:17:12] shake hands uh tone down the rhetoric a

[5:17:16] little bit in the sense that um maybe

[5:17:19] have dinner on occasion. Uh humanize one

[5:17:23] another. Uh I think that would serve the

[5:17:26] entire court better. Um and I think

[5:17:28] that's all I have to say.

[5:17:29] » Okay. Thank you, sir.

[5:17:31] » All right. Do we have any announcements

[5:17:32] or comments from the court members?

[5:17:36] Uh, seeing none, the court will now

[5:17:38] recess the open session and proceed to

[5:17:40] close session to discuss items exempt

[5:17:42] under sections 551071,

[5:17:45] 072,

[5:17:47] 074, 076, 087, and 0725 of the Texas

[5:17:52] Government Code. Executive session will

[5:17:54] begin promptly at 3:30 p.m. We are now

[5:17:57] in recess.

[6:02:09] We are back. We are back from executive

[6:02:12] session. There are two items. One I

[6:02:16] think we will take action on. One we may

[6:02:18] or may not. The first item is H1. Do we

[6:02:22] have a motion there?

[6:02:23] » Motion to approve.

[6:02:25] » All right, we have a motion to approve

[6:02:26] H1. I'll second. Any discussion on that?

[6:02:31] All right, seeing none, all in favor,

[6:02:32] raise your hand.

[6:02:35] All opposed, raise your hand. That's the

[6:02:38] lawyer one. Opposed, raise your hand.

[6:02:41] All right, passes four to one. Then the

[6:02:44] next item that was tabled until after

[6:02:46] closed was item I believe it would be 10

[6:02:50] I5

[6:02:51] and we did receive a legal briefing

[6:02:56] legal advice on that issue. Does anyone

[6:02:58] wish to make a motion or do we deal with

[6:03:00] this in a couple of weeks?

[6:03:05] All right. So seeing nothing we will

[6:03:07] take no action on this item today. We

[6:03:10] will um likely take this up on

[6:03:14] » September 3rd.

[6:03:15] » September 3rd. And that is all the items

[6:03:20] we have to address. So we are now

[6:03:21] » May make one announcement. Judge just my

[6:03:23] neglected to say this at the beginning.

[6:03:25] Next commissioner's court meeting we are

[6:03:27] scheduled to be back in our normal

[6:03:28] courtroom on September 3rd. So AV

[6:03:30] installation is going very well. We

[6:03:31] don't anticipate any issue why we would

[6:03:33] not be in that uh courtroom September

[6:03:35] 3rd.

[6:03:36] » Okay. Thank you sir. We are now

[6:03:37] officially adjourned.

Tarrant County Commissioners Court

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