Category: news

Stan Gerdes: Take a Stand

Yesterday I posted on Twitter (X) to @GregAbbott_TX

Give them 48 hours to return during which time the Speaker should fine them. If they don’t return, declare their seats vacant. Then vote with the lower quorum.

Empty seats in the TX HouseYou may have seen that.  Just like y’all, these people ran for office and that means doing the job. When the Governor leaves Texas, Dan Patrick assumes that position.  If Trump were in the hospital, JD Vance would assume that position.  When these people leave the state ON PURPOSE TO THWART THE BUSINESS OF THE STATE, there isn’t anyone to assume their positions, so they should be declared VACANT.

Airplane CabinThe key here is intent.  They didn’t leave to attend a relative’s funeral or wedding.  They didn’t leave because they are reservists and were called up to active duty.  They didn’t leave during a called session for a vacation.  They left to prohibit the Texas House from doing its work, the work of the people.

They could vote no.  They could vote present, not voting.  They could abstain.  But what they can’t do is flee to stop business altogether.  Doing so and remaining in-State calls for arrest.  Doing so out-of-State to avoid arrest is grounds for removal.

Stan, you are my representative.  You won a Republican primary.  You won the General election with predominantly Republican votes.  You need to represent Republicans in this matter, supporting fines, arrests if they return in-State after 3PM today, and adding your voice to the calls for the Governor to declare the State-fleeing Democrat seats vacant.

You claim to be endorsed by President Trump.  President Trump has called for, wants and needs this map, which is appropriate for Texas to have proper and reflective representation.  If you accept the endorsement of President Trump and his America First agenda, you must support fines, arrests and the Governor declaring the state-fleeing Democrat seats vacant. 

Don’t confuse friendship with duty.  These people are not your friends.  You’ll know that when you leave office. They’d stab us all in the back in a heartbeat, which is exactly what they’re doing by fleeing the State. Take a stand!

Addendum: Governor Abbott says he’ll declare Dem seats vacant if those Dems aren’t in them at 3PM today.

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Redistricting TX.

[Comments will be taken online at this link https://comments.house.texas.gov/home until the committee meeting is adjourned. The bill number is HB4 and the map is Plan C2308.]

Is it illegal to redistrict now? No. Is Texas growing significantly? Yes. Do the districts as drawn by Plan C2308 comply with applicable law and court decisions? Yes. Other than politics which enters into everything the legislature does no matter the bill number or issue, is there any reason this should not be done? No.

The diatribe coming from those in the opposing political party is no different than the diatribe that comes from any opposition party, unhappy with the fact that they don’t have the majority and can’t stop adoption should the proposing party stick together in their votes. Wipe away the political posturing and there is no reason this bill and map should not be adopted.

Voters ultimately get to choose by casting votes. Adopting this Big Beautiful Map and HB4 does not guarantee any outcome at the polls. That’s clear from the outcome at the polls in many elections. They’re called upsets. They happen in every election.

Texas House Redistricting CommitteeSo, take a vote and pass the map immediately upon the end of public testimony. There will be a quorum and no reason to delay that vote. I doubt any member of the committee is going to change his/her vote, so get the job done. Do not adjourn until the vote is taken and the map is adopted!

Want to watch the August 1 (final) TX House committee hearing? It’s here: https://house.texas.gov/videos/22418

ADDENDUM:
Every member of this committee with the exception of Tom Oliverson and Hillary Gail Hickland voted to impeach Ken Paxton. They voted based on data provided with less than 24 hours notice. Now, the Committee Dems are whining about only having the bill and map 48 hours before today’s hearing. Yet, on Ken Paxton: silence! Disingenuous!

Chair: Rep. Cody Vasut (Y on Paxton, Rep)
Vice Chair: Rep. Jon E. Rosenthal (Y on Paxton, Dem)
Members: Rep. Josey Garcia (Y on Paxton, Dem)
Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (Y on Paxton, Dem)
Rep. R. D. “Bobby” Guerra (Y on Paxton, Dem)
Rep. Ryan Guillen (Y on Paxton, Rep)
Rep. Cole Hefner (Y on Paxton, Rep)
Rep. Hillary Gail Hickland (N/A, Rep)
Rep. Jolanda Jones (Y on Paxton, Dem)
Rep. Christian Manuel (Y on Paxton, Dem)
Rep. Tom Oliverson (absent, Rep)
Rep. David Spiller (Y on Paxton, Rep)
Rep. Carl Tepper (Y on Paxton, Rep)
Rep. Terry M. Wilson (Y on Paxton, Rep)
Rep. Gene Wu (Y on Paxton, Dem)

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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Stand Up Texas!

Great read this morning from JoAnn Fleming of Grassroots America-We The People regarding the utter failure of Texas House Republicans to move GOP priority bills, to protect Texans and our Constitutional rights. Instead, we have Democrat bills moving quickly through the Texas House. Personally I’m hopeful most of them die in the Senate.

There are just 31 days left in this legislative session. More than 3 times that number have passed. And what does the Texas House have to show for it? Nothing except school choice and that was forced on them by the TX Senate and Gov Abbott. They’re going wring their hands and tell you they just ran out of time. HOGWASH!

The most important two words, I told my daughter, to be successful in college are “time management”. TX House leadership are masters at doing just the opposite and squandering time so important legislation fails to see the light of day. STOP electing these do-nothing House members. Next year, we have a chance to again clean House (literally) and elect conservative Republicans who will act like Republicans, govern like Republicans, and pass legislation that Republicans sent them to Austin to pass.

GRWTP-Forecast_-Political-Bull

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

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?”