Category: City of Bastrop

In Memory of Charlie Kirk

If nationwide reporting happens, it’s good to have it be positive reporting. That’s not what happened to Bastrop County TX. After the Bastrop County Commissioners’ caved in the face of opposition on the Charlie Kirk Memorial Corridor resolution, articles appeared in “The Hill“, “The Western Journal” and it was a subject on the Charlie Kirk Show.

Something similar happened when I was mayor of Denville NJ. My office got a call from a gentleman in Denneville France. Denneville is in Normandie, a small farming town with a beautiful beach area. Interestingly enough, the Ile of Jersey is just off the coast. Pierre Oheix had hoped we could establish a connection between our small towns. Both of us wondered if there was an historical connection.

I was a French major in college so was pretty excited about this possibility. I had the opportunity to travel to Denneville while mayor. An American flag was flown at the entrance to town when I arrived. There was a ceremony in town hall, a dinner with their state officials. What memories. Upon my return, though, the town council refused any connection. Why? Politics pure and simple. The press was quite negative toward the Council’s decision. Leadership in another town even wrote a letter to our paper stating that if Denville didn’t want to be sister cities, they gladly would do so.

Political foolishness. Just like the Bastrop County Commissioners back-peddling from an opportunity to honor a man whose life was savagely taken through political violence.

Postings on social media made it obvious people had not read the resolution and didn’t understand it. For days I had been posting on various forums that this was not a renaming of the highway but rather a request to the legislature for the designation of a memorial corridor.  Additionally, people kept claiming Charlie had no connection to the County.

That’s flat out wrong.  In 2019, I personally invited Charlie to speak in Bastrop County.  I was president of the Lost Pines Republican Women and we contracted for 8/29/2020.  Due to Covid, that event had to be cancelled and we rescheduled for May 1, 2021. 

Charlie Kirk at the Convention CenterWe were so lucky to host Charlie in Bastrop County.  Having had the privilege of meeting him and talking with him, I’m very disappointed and saddened at how fast our all-Republican Commissioner’s Court caved on this issue.  Elected officials need to have solid core beliefs that guide them.  They cannot back down from that which is right just because some people don’t agree with them or for purely political reasons. Imagine if Charlie had lived his life that way…. TPUSA wouldn’t exist. 

Charlie was a very religious man who gave everyone a chance to express their opinions, to ask questions, to discuss. He was not argumentative. What came through was his strong core values, deep faith and love of family. I was privileged to have met him and hope the day comes when our County Commissioners change their minds.

Tax Dollars Up In Smoke

Below is a portion of a post behind a parent-only section of the Bastrop ISD website. It was shared on a public FB group. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this post because I don’t have children in the district. But the portion I’ve read says to me the response of the district is completely inadequate.

UPDATE: I sent a copy of this blog post to the BISD Board of Trustees. I was assured by Superintendent Dr. Kristi Lee that “students who skip school for a protest or for any other reason are disciplined according to the Student Code of Conduct.” I thank Dr. Lee for her prompt response. I hope parents and students who support this walkout understand that there are consequences.

Bastrop ISD has nothing to crow about. Four schools with F ratings. Three schools with D ratings. Seven schools with C ratings, including 2 high schools. Only one school each with an A or B rating… both high schools. (2024-25 TEA ratings)

TEA 2024-25 BISD School Ratings
Type of school graphic key

I do not pay taxes so children can leave school for a protest. I do pay a boatload of taxes to educate Bastrop children.

I attended high school in the late ’60s and college in the early ’70s. Think Vietnam. We did not walk out during school hours. Political protests? I’ve always taken a vacation day from work to do so on my time. And I’ve attended a lot of them.

Students: want to protest? Do so on your own dime, on your own time. Saturday? Sunday? Be my guest. But on my dime you should be in school, learning.

“It’s important to note that this walkout is not sanctioned or organized by our school or the District.” Great, but now that you know about it, stopping students from leaving school for this purpose is your job.

If you do nothing but tell parents they need to speak to their kids, but allow students to leave, you are abdicating your authority over taxpayer-funded assets and the trust parents put in you for the safety of their children. You are supporting mob behavior and peer pressure. You are risking students being injured off school grounds while they are supposed to be in school, opening BISD to lawsuits. You aren’t doing your job(s), pure and simple.

You need to make it clear to students that you are in charge, that taxpayers don’t give their hard-earned money to pay for protests, and that actions have consequences.

I hope the portion of this Parent Square post that is not included states that any student leaving regularly scheduled classes and/or district property for this purpose will be considered truant and the consequences for that behavior will be applied. Anything less is unacceptable.

No Hotels in Bastrop?

UPDATE: June 24 Council meeting at 1:35:46. City Manager and Mayor referenced my comments. Mayor stated that “she is in opposition of the retreat, agenda item…. it’s not an item. She is just in opposition of the retreat.”

NOT TRUE. I expressed my opposition to my estimated cost of $7,473 by doing this retreat in Rockport. My estimate was low. See the City Manager’s slide showing the actual estimated cost to be $11,730. There is NO REASON to spend that much money and hold this event outside of Bastrop County. Why Rockport? Why on a Friday? This is a taxpayer-funded boondoggle clear and simple.

If you plan meetings for any organization, you are well aware that there are plenty of locations to do so both in the County and the City of Bastrop. So, why is the Bastrop City Council meeting in Rockport?

My guess? So you can’t attend or comment. And, quite cynically, perhaps some of them want a weekend at the beach with transportation paid by you.

So much for transparency.

[Will it be broadcast live? We don’t know yet. And, when meetings are broadcast live, live public comment isn’t available so you must comment ahead of time using the Council’s online form.]

It’s very disingenuous to hold a meeting more than 3 hours, 175+ miles, each way, for an all day meeting that is allegedly open to the public.

Tell the City Council if you like (or not) spending $7,473 of your tax dollars on a Friday public meeting in Rockport.

If you don’t agree with the City Council spending this much money and holding a Friday off-site meeting 175 miles away, email them today.

Mayor Ishmael Harris
Councilman Perry Lowe
Councilwoman Cynthia Meyer
Councilman Kevin Plunkett
Councilwoman Kerry Fossler
Councilman John Kirkland

Calculating the Cost of this Offsite Meeting: $7,473

Gas cost: At 22mpg and $3/gallon, the cost each way is $24.27. Will they car pool? Perhaps a couple will but we have to assume not. If just the 5 council people, mayor, city manager, city secretary drive, that is $388.32. OR, if they use the IRS mileage rate for reimbursement, that’s 70¢ / mile or $245 per person. For 9 people, that’s $2,205 in mileage reimbursements.

Hotel cost: What’s the hotel cost for the City Council, City Manager, City Secretary, select staff, and consultant? Hotel prices according to Hotels.com run from $151 to $269 per room no including taxes and fees. Taxes? 8.25% sales tax and 7% hotel occupancy tax.

If just the 5 council people, mayor, city manager, city secretary, and consultant go, and they stay in the cheapest hotel, the room cost would be $1,208 plus 8.25% sales tax and 7% HOT tax. The meeting starts at 8:30AM so they have to stay over the night before. Drive home 3 hours afterwards? Not likely. So, for just the 9 people, taxpayers are paying $3,133 at a minimum for hotel.

[I had a summer cottage exactly 150.3 miles from my primary home, 3 hour drive. While not preferable, I periodically drove up one day and back the next, a one night stay. Preferable was driving up on Friday night and back on Sunday evening, a two night stay.]

Meal cost: Using GSA rates for meals, the allowable per-day expense is $63. Using lunch and dinner for Thursday, all 3 meals on Friday, and breakfast and lunch on Saturday, the estimated cost per person for meals is $145/person for meals. That, times 9 people, is $1,305 taxpayer dollars.

Consultant cost: Leadwell is from Austin. So, gas, hotel, meals and their fee will be paid by taxpayers. According to https://consultants.promatcher.com/cost/texas.aspx, the cost of business consulting in TX is $158.13/hour. My guess is that this contract is likely $2,000+-. When I was a business consultant, I charged half rate for travel time, client paid hotel and meals, and a flat overnight fee.

Total taxpayer estimate:
$2,205+$3,133+$1,305+$2,000=$7,473 taxpayer dollars.

Your cost if you want to comment in person?
Gas, one night hotel, 3 meals costs: $285 minimum.

But your City of Bastrop City Council plans on holding a meeting 175+ miles, each way, and calls it an open meeting with public comment.

Will it be broadcast live? We don’t know yet. And, when meetings are broadcast live, live public comment isn’t available so you must comment ahead of time using the Council’s online form.

Let them know TODAY what you think about this!

If you don’t agree with the City Council spending this much money and holding a Friday off-site meeting 175 miles away, email them.

Mayor Ishmael Harris
Councilman Perry Lowe
Councilwoman Cynthia Meyer
Councilman Kevin Plunkett
Councilwoman Kerry Fossler
Councilman John Kirkland

It’s baaaack… Gateway Zoning Returns

There was a long discussion on Nextdoor a while back about development in the City of Bastrop and this election. NO, some shouted. It isn’t about the Gateway development. That’s over. Some of that land is up for sale, they said, so it won’t come back.

Caution, I said. Rezoning is afoot and zoning goes with the land, not the owner. The last application was a request for a zone change. I warned the City was moving too fast with zone changes and the public really didn’t understand them. I also warned about the City Council appointing developer and ethically-challenged former City Council member Jimmy Crouch to Planning & Zoning. I warned about stacking that Commission with developer friendly, Council buddies.

Now this article, from Thursday night’s P&Z meeting, by the Independent Texans PAC.
NOTE: I’ve refrained from suggesting who you should vote for since I don’t live in the City and I continue to do so. The title on this post is that of Independent Texans PAC, not mine. Article reprinted with permission to reprint in full from Independent Texans PAC.

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Follow the Money

City of Bastrop Edition

Candidates are legally required to file financial disclosure forms. Why? Primarily so you know where a candidate is getting their money.

May 3 contested candidates were required to file 30-day and 8-day prior reports by April 3 and April 25 respectively. Let’s take a look at who filed or failed to file and what the reports tell us.

If you’ve not spent a lot of time looking at these reports or reading on Texas Ethics what candidates must report, they may be confusing. So, I’ll break them down with what I see that should concern City of Bastrop voters: who is getting money from developers.

First, it’s the law that candidates with opponents file reports on time (Sec. 254.037. FILING DEADLINE). While local election reports aren’t filed with Texas Ethics, Texas Ethics rules apply to all filings. Texas Ethics provides a synopsis of what local candidates must file and when. Even after an election, win or lose, candidates with money in their accounts must file reports by Jan 15 and July 15 annually.

Let’s look at issues revealed by these reports.

city council place 5

  • Cheryl Lee donations reported in her 30-day report are short $300. Whether she failed to list a donation or added wrong is impossible to tell.
  • John Kirkland accepted a $250 donation from the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin-HOMEPAC.
  • John Kirkland accepted $500 from a relative of the developer that just received $600,000 of City taxpayer money in the form of a grant1. The address listed for that person is the business address of the developer.
  • At a City Council meeting, when asked to acknowledge if any Council members had received donations from this developer, Kirkland and Plunkett sat silent even though they had.
  • Kevin Plunkett accepted four $500 contributions from this same developer under four different names: Duhrman Bassett Realty Group LLC, BCSC LLC, BRP East LP, Bastrop Retail Partners LP.
  • Texas law prohibits corporations and labor organizations from making political contributions to candidates. The prohibition also applies to other organizations, such as partnerships and limited liability companies (LLC), if they are owned by a corporation or include an incorporated member or partner.4
  • Plunkett has not filed the legally required reports since 20232 violating Texas Ethics rules.
  • John Kirkland recently accepted $3916.37 from Councilman Plunkett’s campaign account1.
  • Plunkett originally accepted those developer contributions. He then donated the funds to Kirkland, who also accepted a contribution from this developer. Contribution movement

city council place 1

  • Perry Lowe’s donations of note: Robert Trevino (City Manager’s husband $65); Joe Grady Tuck ($250); Home Builders Assoc-HOMEPAC ($250); Texas Realtor’s PAC-TREPAC ($2,000 pledged)
  • Cecilia Serna: Serna chose modified reporting, meaning she would not raise or expend over $1100.

mayoral candidates

  • Ward Northcutt identified all donors and expenses properly in both his 30-day and 8-day reports.
  • Willie DeLaRosa did not file an 8-day report. That’s a violation of Texas Ethics.
  • Ishmael Harris (30-day report) claims $1640 in itemized contributions, but the reported amounts don’t add up. The reported donor amounts add up to $1510. Included in that $1510 is a $200 contribution from “anonymous”. Anonymous donations are illegal5. Also listed are several names with no donation amounts.
  • Ishmael Harris also took money from the City Manager’s husband, Robert Trevino ($65).
  • Ishmael Harris has signs all over town, yet none of his reports show an expense for signs. Who paid for them? Each of the other mayoral candidates spent close to $1,000 for signs, just to put this in perspective.

april 30 updates

  • Perry Lowe missing donation: According to their 8-day prior Texas Ethics filing, Mel Cooper’s BCC GPAC donated $500 to Perry Lowe’s campaign. It does not show in Lowe’s 30-day prior or 8-day prior campaign finance reports.
  • Cecilia Serna 8-day report: Once a candidate exceeds the $1100 of modified reporting, that candidate is required to file reports. Cecilia Serna filed an 8-day prior report on time after having exceeded the $1100 modified reporting limit.

summary

Question Mark ManAsk yourself how a candidate will manage taxpayer money if they can’t properly manage campaign funding. Ask yourself who will get their ear and vote if they’ve taken money from developers and development-related PACs (Political Action Committees).

Candidates John Kirkland and Perry Lowe have taken significant funds from the development community. Willie DeLaRosa hasn’t filed the legally required reports. Ishmael Harris hasn’t reported all his campaign income and expenses as legally required.

The only candidates to properly fill out these reports were Ward Northcutt who is running for mayor and Cecilia Serna running for City Council, Place 1. Cheryl Lee had a minor error in one report, but shows no donations from developers.

These public documents are for your benefit. They are required so you know where a candidate is getting their money and how they are spending it. Know before you go.

1 https://www.cityofbastrop.org/upload/page/0601/Election_2025/John%20Kirkland/Kirkland_30th%20Day%20Finance_Redacted.pdf
2 https://www.cityofbastrop.org/page/cs.candidate_officeholder_documents
3 https://www.cityofbastrop.org/page/cs.election_may2025_SPECIAL
4 https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/data/resources/guides/Gpolfund.pdf
5 https://www.ethics.state.tx.us/data/resources/guides/Gpolfund.pdf

So Wrong on So Many Levels

I’ve been to many, many governing body meetings. Ten years of Council meetings as an elected official myself. Then there were the many years before and after my term of office. As a public information official, I attended county governing body meetings. I’d say I’ve easily attended over 700 governmental body meetings.

But not once, until April 22 at the Bastrop City Council meeting, have I ever seen the presiding official prohibit a member of the public from speaking. We didn’t have time limits on our speakers and some came to every meeting calling us out on our lack of action on this issue or that. Some were relentless, but we listened to them each time. We, after all, were their representatives, those they hoped could fix what they saw as problems in our town.

John Kirkland’s blatantly politically motivated actions last night were shocking. He was way out of line. His use of his position on the dais to silence a political opponent was a clear abuse of power. He should have allowed the former mayor to speak, thanked him for his comments, and moved on. But he didn’t. He rambled on about some illegality, about the former mayor not being able to speak because the vacancy hadn’t been filled. Ridiculous and wrong.

John Kirkland is blinded by his vendetta against Lyle Nelson. Kirkland, not some errant member of the public, circulated the petition to get rid of the mayor. Whether the former mayor was right or wrong in his actions isn’t the issue. He was never charged with a crime and was completely exonerated by the Council’s own investigator. Kirkland couldn’t wait to get him off the Council. Now, it seems, he is hell-bent on keeping him on.

Once the mayor resigned, Kirkland needed to move on. But he hasn’t. The former mayor, whether Kirkland likes it or not, is a citizen of the City. He has the legal right to speak at meetings, to call out actions of the City Council where he sees they need calling out.

What better person to raise issues than one who has been in the system? He has far more knowledge than most citizens. But that’s what makes him dangerous to Kirkland and his ilk. That’s why he’s a threat. He knows the game. He knows the players.

Kirkland’s actions last night were offensive to a free people living in a representative republic with a constitutional right of redress of grievances. They were a vicious attack on government of the people, by the people and for the people. If Kirkland can’t handle the heat, which he apparently cannot, he should get out of the kitchen.

Your Comments Count

Did you know you can comment on bills that are being considered in Texas House Committees? At comments.house.texas.gov, you can register your comments. Can’t make it to Austin and the Capitol for hearings? Take advantage of this. Voice your opinions!

This morning, I commented on two bills: the huge film industry give-away (HB 4568 ) and a bill to prevent Austin from injecting treated water and then later drawing it out from aquifer(s) in Bastrop County (HB 1523). FYI, there is a Senate companion bill to HB4568 that has already passed the Senate, SB22.

HB 4568 (Bill Text)

“It really doesn’t matter how much money the film industry is bringing to Texas. That, as a rationale for giving them Texas taxpayer money, is not appropriate. If I wanted to support this industry, I would do so with my money by going to movies. I rarely do. What I want is that you don’t take my hard earned tax money for a use that is NOT an appropriate government use. This bill picks winners and losers.

And, just the other day, CA Governor Gavin Newsom was bemoaning the fact that high taxes and regulation were causing the film industry to leave CA (https://www.lifezette.com/2025/04/hollywoods-film-industry-collapses-as-jobs-studios-flee-gavin-newsoms-ca-watch/ and https://www.siliconvalley.com/2025/04/21/can-tax-credits-save-californias-film-and-tv-industry-heres-what-legislators-have-proposed/ and https://deadline.com/2025/04/ca-film-credit-expansion-hollywood-workers-support-1236372913/). That’s right and we all know it. They’re leaving CA and coming to Texas, even without your massive subsidies rewarding them for doing so.

This bill regulates the industry: how much of the movie must be filmed in TX, how many Texans they must employ, and on and on. I’ve written two blog posts about how Texas seems to be turning into NJ with all the housing mandates y’all are considering. Now, you want to turn Texas into CA through incentivizing and regulating the film industry. Have y’all forgotten why people and businesses move here? FREEDOM. Every time you pass a bill like this, you take another step toward turning Texas into those states that many of us fled. I really didn’t think I’d see it in my lifetime, let alone this legislative session. I am ADAMANTLY opposed to this bill, this “incentive”, this tax dollar giveaway to the industry of your choice. They’re coming anyway… y’all just seem to have forgotten why.”

HB 1523 (Bill text)

“Forty-one years ago, five months pregnant, I returned to my home and found the notice in my door. We were notified we could not drink our water nor shower in it longer than one minute. Five months pregnant. On my little dead-end street of under 60 houses, there were 11 special ed students, five of us who had placenta previa at birth, one child with cerebral palsy, one who died from leukemia at the age of 5, one born significantly premature, one with tourette’s syndrome, and several miscarriages. All of those birthed children are around the age of 40+. All of us drank that groundwater water while pregnant.

Our wells were placed on the EPA Superfund list in September 1983. Once a water source is polluted, cleaning it up takes years and millions of dollars. My street didn’t pollute the water we drank. Others did but water travels underground. Containing pollution when it happens is extremely difficult.

This bill is critical to protect the water supply in Bastrop County: ranchers’ wells, agricultural well water, city well drinking water. Water moves underground. If Austin injects 1,000 gallons, what’s to say that 1,000 gallons will still be there when they choose to retrieve it? Will they draw Bastrop water, then, leaving Bastrop without the necessary water for its own purposes? If Austin wants to store its water underground, do so in Travis County which is home, according to its own website, to 3 aquifers: Barton Springs and Northern Segments of the Edwards Aquifer, Trinity Group Aquifers, Colorado River Alluvial Aquifer. And, perhaps Austin should concentrate of repairing old infrastructure so it doesn’t lose significant amounts of water via leaking pipes.

Hmmmm…. just musing…. Why is it that urban areas always want to “outsource” their problems to the surrounding counties?”