PAWS Shelter Litter Disconnect

The City of San Angelo and Concho Valley PAWS frequently cite their close working relationship in serving the needs of shelter animals.  The Animal Shelter experienced bouts of overcrowding due to litters of kittens and puppies.  

The city's website refers citizens with kittens to PAWS Mommy & Me program via a link.

Everything about PAWS Mommy & Me program is dogs and puppies, not cats and kittens.  

This collaboration, if someone is able to navigate the marketing disconnect, has consequences:

I understand that if I at any time change my mind and surrender the puppies to the Shelter, give them away, abandon them or sell them, I have nullified our agreement and will be required to reimburse Concho Valley PAWS for all of the veterinary expense associated with the mother dog and litter but not limited to the cost of the mother dog's spay and vaccinations as well as any vaccines given to the puppies.

One might expect a seven year, close collaboration to not confuse citizens and for there not to be financial penalties for using one partner vs. the other.  That is if the goal really is to serve.

"Energy Storage Company": Peregrine Energy's Zeppelin Energy Storage & Technology Towers

On August 23, 2024 Assistant City Manager Michael Dane sent letters to Tom Green County Judge Lane Carter and SAISD Superintendent Dr. Chris Moran.  The letter stated:

The City of San Angelo City Council intends to hold a Public Hearing regarding a request by Technology Towers, LLC to designate its property located at the easterly 12.9 acres of land, more or less, out of a 32 acre tract of land, more or less, out of Survey 1114, Abstract No. 8036, F. Tankersley, Tom Green County, Texas, and being more particularly described as Parcel 2 in that certain Warranty Deed dated June 1, 2007, of record at Instrument No. 633054, Official Public Records, Tom Green County, Texas (see attached) as a reinvestment zone for purposes of obtaining an abatement of the increase in City of San Angelo ad valorem taxes resulting from a proposed capital investment by Zeppelin Energy Storage LLC of up to 160 Million Dollars in business personal property.

Dane presented this item to City Council on September 3, 2024.  

His slide with "company information" never identified any of the companies involved, Peregrine Energy, Zeppelin Energy Storage, Technology Towers or McGuire Woods Consulting LLC. (on behalf of Peregrine Energy).

Michael Dane did mention a ten year tax abatement Council recently awarded and assured elected officials that this abatement was for a shorter period of time (also for far more money-$ amount not shared).  

Technology Towers received that ten year abatement for improvements planned at the former Sitel Building, another fact not shared in the September 3rd City Council meeting.

Council's public support for Technology Towers projects include three different subsidies.

 The body of the letter sent to Tom Green County and San Angelo Independent School district is below:

The economic development analysis projects virtually no employment from the project over its ten year life.

That's what staff knew that Council and the public did not hear on September 3rd.  Peregrine Energy is private equity funded on both the equity and debt side.  It's rather Grinch like to save private equity investors millions, while foisting new health insurance deductibles on retired city workers.  

The Zeppelin Energy Storage LLC tax abatement agreement must come back before Council.  It would be nice to hear someone ask about wisdom of significant tax abatement when retirees on fixed, low incomes cannot afford their next medicine refill, a hospital test or outpatient surgery.

Animal Services Visited Home of Dog Attack in August & September

 

City records show Animal Control visited the address of the recent dog attack on ACO Floyd Bias in August and September.  Two visits on September 6th resulted in citations for two unaltered dogs and not having a multi-pet owners permit, required for people with more than 7 dogs.  

Social media reports indicate that between the citations on 9-6 and the 11-6 attack the owner tried to surrender dogs to the Animal Shelter, but were refused.  City documents did not address this contention.  

It's not clear the unaltered dogs cited for failure to spay/neuter on 9-6 are the same dogs that perpetrated the attack on 11-6 as their microchip numbers were not included on the citations.  However, it is likely that they were the same dogs as the owner mostly had small dogs.

City records from the day of the attack showed the two dogs had a "bite history."  No additional information addressed this categorization.

The reports indicate the City was aware of unaltered large dogs, the home having more than seven dogs and stray/loose dogs at this location.  SAPD is conducting an investigation into the incident but is yet to share information with the public.

ACO Floyd Bias continues to recover and his family has set up a GoFundMe account for donations toward the cost of his medical care.

In their next meeting City Council may or may not address this situation, where citizens and professionals are being seriously harmed by loose dog(s).  ACO Bias is just the latest and most publicized.

(Click on the image above to make it larger)

City Council Knows

San Angelo's City Council expressed concern in August 2023 about aggressive dogs potentially harming children and fragile residents.  It took seven months for an eleven year old child to be attacked after getting off a school bus.  The next two major attacks communicated to City Council involved a disabled person and elderly man.  Last week a professional city employee was critically injured in a horrific attack.  

The public was only informed of the most recent incident.  A SAPD investigation is underway and hopefully will shed light on the incident.  

Council also knew of a disturbing pattern of increased animal attacks on people.

One elected officials response to this graph?  "Good information." 

It's only "good" if leaders act on it.... 

Animal Control Officer Critically Injured

City officials asked for prayers for an Animal Control Officer after he was attacked by two aggressive dogs and sustained major injuries yesterday.  The Officer was responding to a call regarding multiple loose dogs, a chronic problem in San Angelo.  The owner had ten dogs.  Two "got loose" and attacked the ACO.  SAPD and other Animal Control personnel assisted as best they could until the Fire Department arrived.  The injured ACO was transferred to a Lubbock hospital and according to City Manager Daniel Valenzuela is in critical condition.  

Pray for ACO Floyd Bias.  He needs and deserves our prayers for healing and restoration, as do others in our community.

Other residents attacked and severely injured by dogs this year include:

1. An eleven year old boy who'd gotten off the bus. 
2. A 57 year old man who ran to the aid of the boy being attacked
3. A Lighthouse for the Blind employee was attacked in their outside break area by a dog pack
4. An elderly man was attacked at his neighborhood mailbox and transferred to a San Antonio hospital for surgery and treatment.  He may still be there.

City officials are aware of these incidents and more.  No severe dog attack has made the local media until today's press conference.

City Manager Daniel Valenzuela said citizens should not approach an unattended dog if seen.  This is in direct contrast to Animal Services "community sheltering" for loose dogs.  

City officials are aware of the dramatic rise in animal to human bites the last two fiscal years.  The increase occurred after City Council approved a hard cap on the shelter dog population, which left more dogs on the street.  

 

Animal Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden informed Council in March that residents had reached a breaking point regarding our community's dog crisis.  

It appears the city has reached another breaking point, one that involves serious injury to one of their own.  Add patience to prayer for the investigation needs to be concluded and for City Council and the public to hear the results.  Surely, they will act to reduce the burden of community sheltering and the corresponding public safety risks.

Update:  Fox West Texas ran a story on the dog attack on the ACO.  San Angelo Live did likewise.  Concho Valley Homepage joined in too.  The City ran a press release in addition to the press briefing.

Update 11-8-24:  The Standard Times did a story on the tragic attack.

Update 11-9-24:  ACO Floyd Bias' condition has been upgraded to stable.  Keep the prayers coming.

Update 11-10-24:  Nearly four months ago two pit bulls on Cloud Street got loose and bit a woman.

City to Hold Press Conference on Injured Animal Control Officer

From City of San Angelo Public Information Officer:

SAPD and the City of San Angelo will be holding a press conference today at 2:30 pm about this issue (injured Animal Control Officer, incident happened yesterday). It will be streamed live to the SAPD Facebook page and to Optimum channel 17. The video will be available on our YouTube channel later today once the press conference ends.

City Council Picks Up Tab for Reduced Retiree Health Insurance Benefit

A full house showed up for the November 5th City Council meeting.  Most wanted to speak about the retiree health benefit, a promise made by management during a time San Angelo provided the lowest wages in Texas for staff.  

Council voted to reduce the retiree health benefit by adding a $500 health deductible and a $250 charge for outpatient surgery. Many retirees get less than $500 a month from their public pension while others get between $500 and $1,000. 

The current Police Chief suggested a fund be established to help those retirees who cannot meet the new financial burdens imposed.  

City Council voted to pay the whole tab for the increase to retiree insurance, albeit with the benefit reduction.

Not one person mentioned the 85% tax abatement to a private equity backed battery storage project that Council approved in September.  The 9-17 background packet stated:

The applicant intends to invest approximately $160,000,000 in capital improvements and is requesting a three (3) YEAR, 85% Abatement of ad valorem taxes.

The Inflation Reduction Act provides incentives for battery storage systems.  UtilityDrive reported in 2022:

.....standalone storage systems will be eligible for a 30 percent investment tax credit (ITC) — and up to 70 percent with additional incentives.

Private equity backed Peregrine Energy is behind the Zeppelin Energy Storage LLC project.  As for new job creatiion Zeppelin's presentation to Tom Green County Commissioners stated:

Operated remotely with periodic site maintenance.

Yes, city retirees scraping by on a measly pension, you get to pay more for your care while wealthy investors get huge tax breaks.

Two Items Return to City Council: Concho Christmas & Retiree Healthcare

In October City Council discussed two items it will revisit on November 5th.  The first is the Concho Christmas Celebration, which Council approved authorizing the City Manager to negotiate an agreement with Lee Pfluger. Concho Christmas Celebration and Downtown San Angelo.  That agreement is not on the agenda but a $200,000 budget amendment will be considered.

The 10-1-24 background packet mentioned no dollar amount and no projections were given by City Manager Daniel Valenzuela during his brief presentation.  So how can the budget amendment imply that funding was previously approved?   Shouldn't Council approve the negotiated MOU prior to approving a budget amendment?  I realize time is not on the City's side if Lee Pfluger's Concho Christmas Celebration needs to be taken over this year.  The public may or may not hear more as this is but one of a number of budget amendments.

The second item to return for Council consideration is Retiree Health Insurance.  City retirees turned out in force for public comment, governed by a pre-meeting registration process for the first time.  Former Police Chief Russell Smith has spoken on this item for decades.  As someone impacted by the proposal one might expect Smith to get five minutes of public comment time and be allowed to show his presentation.  That was not the case on October 1st.  

To stem large increases the city reduced retiree health benefits further:

This bid would add a $500 annual deductible for health and a $250 charge for Outpatient Surgery.

HR Director Brian Kendrick's memo is not clear on the amounts paid by retirees vs. the city under proposed plan changes.  Hopefully that will be made clear in the meeting.  It's hard for the public to react to information not shared in the agenda packet.  How many will hear new information during the presentation, which is after public comment registration?

I hope Russell Smith gets to speak all he feels he needs to share with City Council on this topic.  

Pre-meeting public comment registration means citizens in the audience cannot provide public comment on any statements made by City Council members during their deliberations.  Those would need to be given in the next council meeting.  

If "Citizens of San Angelo" are truly at the top of the organization chart, they should at least feel they had the opportunity to speak.  

Dog Attacked Man at His Mailbox

On Tuesday October 15th I sent San Angelo City Councilmembers data on animal to human bites for the last six years.  One person responded, Mayor Brenda Gunter.  

Six days later Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden wrote members of City Council.  Morgan stated:

On Saturday October 19th, 2024, ASO responded to 102 E. Riverside Dr. for a significant bite case – dog to person. SAPD was first on scene. 

• The resident observed a loose dog while checking his mailbox at the curb. 
• The gentleman turned his back to walk into his home.
• The dog bit his lower leg and would not release his hold.
• The gentleman drug the attached dog to his front door and attempted to slam the door on the dog. 
• The dog released his bite and followed the resident into the home. 
• The dog resumed biting the gentleman’s feet knocking him to the ground. 
• The resident’s own dog responded and attacked the stray dog. 
• The resident’s brother responded and struck the stray dog with a cane. 
• The dog retreated and ran from the residence with injuries. 

We patrolled and knocked doors of neighboring properties Saturday attempting to locate the dog and identify the owner. Today, we patrolled and spoke to neighbors again. Seeing no dog, we connected with a willing resident to set a live trap. Another neighbor who feeds the dog reports seeing the dog with injuries this morning 10/21/24. The resident sustained significant injuries and was hospitalized for treatment.

On October 16th a citizen sought help from Councilman Harry Thomas and Mayor Gunter regarding two aggressive Dobermans.  That resident wrote:

I have previously contacted Animal Services via the COSA website, as well as directly emailing to Morgan Chegwidden last week (and l have never received a response from her). My church, and my daughter's private elementary school, is at 1700 N. Chadbourne. Somewhere between there and Reagan Elementary school are two aggressive Dobermans. These dogs have chased our school kids into the building multiple times, to where the school has had to order "dog spray" and the teachers carry a 5 foot long piece of rebar outside for recess and PE to be able to protect the kids if dogs come. Animal Services has been called multiple times. 

Last night my husband and one of our pastors returned from a ministry outreach around 7pm, and the dogs were loose again and bothering others in the neighborhood. They called the police department and were told by the officer who responded that he couldn't really do anything but keep calling, keep reporting to the PD and Animal Services so maybe they'd have to do something. My husband has previously had to take a folding metal chair out with him to the parking lot to just safely get to his car, several months back. These animals are out of control. 

Therefore I am just trying to reach out to additional city officials, as well as reporting any instance when the kids are chased in at school on the COSA website, to see why we aren't seeing anything change when someone is allowing their dogs to be loose and they're being reported over and over as being aggressive towards people. I am definitely not for government intervening constantly with private citizens but we can't have someone getting hurt either.

People are getting hurt by loose, aggressive dogs.  It's happening over and over.  

September 18, 2024: This morning around 8:00 am, an employee of The Lighthouse for the Blind was attacked by three dogs on N. Malone behind the Lighthouse building. It was a brutal attack and the victim is currently at the Emergency Room, blood everywhere, tore up his arm and face. This was disturbing, but the police officer could not get animal control to respond to capture the animals. When asked when the animal control would show up the officer could not give a time of arrival and so he went to the ER to get a statement from the victim. In my opinion, an attack would warrant an immediate response to capture the animals. We are now keeping our employees in the building. 

On March 8th an eleven year old boy was attacked by a 72 pound pit bull after getting off the bus. The child screamed for help and was assisted by two men, one of whom also sustained injuries from dog bites. 

I recently requested information on the number of dog to person bites that resulted in trips to the ER, surgery and hospitalization.  The City did not provide that.  

It's time for elected officials to ask many more questions about dog attacks and get the trajectory moving away from exponentially higher.  That is if public safety is really a priority...

New ASAC Members Motivated

The recent Animal Shelter Advisory Committee had one regular agenda item on it, an orientation for new board members given by an Assistant City Attorney.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden created the agenda, saying she wanted to give Committee members ample time for that discussion.  

Two members expressed concern about the limited agenda, believing their representation mattered for a shelter facing multiple issues.

Morgan became Shelter Chief in summer 2017 and has seven years experience onboarding new ASAC committee members.  This was the second meeting for new appointees.  

The August ASAC meeting saw new members asking questions about items that could not be discussed as they were not on the regular agenda.  Morgan said those would need to be saved for a future agenda.  It's hard to save them for a future meeting if they are not included in the minutes, which they were not.

Items not discussed in last Thursday's meeting include:

1. Recent closure of the shelter for dog intake due to distemper outbreak 10-11-24
2. The rapid increase in animal to human bites over the last two fiscal years
3. Status of preparation of temporary shelter
4. Timeline for seeking bids for shelter renovation (Council originally approved financing in March 2023, funds received in April 2023)
5. Shelter capacity 
6.  Enforcement of ordinances 
7.  Budget 
8.  Barriers for the public to access shelter services

Items 5-8 were the "off topic areas" raised by new ASAC members in the August meeting.  

Morgan stated the committee's sole aim is to ensure compliance with Texas law, making it sound like discussing the arrangements with Concho Valley PAWS off limits.  That ignores the committee's history:

On October 17, 2019 the ASAC met to tackle agenda item "new RFP for an expanded scope of services for shelter adoptions."  One ASAC member turned to PAWS Executive Director Jenie Wilson and said, "You are going to bid on it again." A motion was made to approve the RFP as presented. PAWS Wilson seconded the motion, then said "Oh, I shouldn't do that." Assistant City Manager Michael Dane said the Committee needed to give the appearance of an arm's length handling of the process.

That was two years into Morgan's current job.  

In 2021 Morgan "educated" the ASAC on the history of the Community Cat ordinance, which is not Texas law.  She was not the Shelter Chief when that ordinance was adopted and had virtually no contact with the only area rescue that stepped up to serve as a Community Cat sponsoring organization.  Morgan's storytelling was generally unanchored from reality.

Last week the public heard the real story behind highly attended ASAC meetings that failed to reach a quorum.  "The people that did not show up (Chair and Vice Chair) were very aware of the public comments that were coming."

I imagine new ASAC members may never get a chance to talk about issues important to area citizens, City Council members, veterinarians and people who want to walk their neighborhoods and not be approached by loose dogs (much less physically attacked).  That's a growing but unreported problem in our community.

So much is not being talked about.

ASAC Chair's Stunning Admission

Yesterday's Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC) meeting included a stunning admission by the Chairperson that a prior planned meeting did not reach a quorum because the top two officers wanted to avoid planned public comment and "did not show up."

The closed captioning for that admission is below:

It's likely the Chair referred to the June 2017 meeting where the public turned out to speak to a number of animal related issues.  However, nearly the same thing happened in October 2023.  

The 2017 meeting was not held because ASAC Chair and PAWS Director Jenie Wilson resigned by letter six days before the meeting.  Wilson sat in the audience the day the meeting did not occur.  She later rescinded her resignation, so the practical impact of her action was denying citizens their right to speak.

A February 2018 meeting did not happen because there was no agenda posted, meaning there was not a room full of disappointed people.  However, the intent may have been the same. 

The October 2023 non-meeting occurred with several vacant board positions.  Communications from the Chair and Vice Chair show both "forgot" about the meeting.  The public was turned away despite having a majority, three of the five current ASAC members, in attendance.  City staff conspired not to hold another ASAC meeting in 2023 which meant the city did not meet its own ordinance requirement for three meetings per calendar year.

City boards cannot get public feedback or input if they do not meet.  Gaming a quorum to avoid hearing from the public seems devious, even despicable.  A functional, accountable City Council should be appalled by this prospect, even more so by its historical admission. 

ASAC Agenda Missing Issues Raised by New Members

The October Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC) agenda has been posted.  It includes:

3. Consent Agenda 

a. Consider approving the August 15, 2024 Animal Shelter Advisory Committee regular meeting minutes (Morgan Chegwidden) 

b. Consideration of monthly shelter performance for August 2024 (Morgan Chegwidden) 

c. Consideration of monthly shelter performance for September 2024 (Morgan Chegwidden) 

4. Regular Agenda 

a. Committee member orientation (Presentation made by Assistant City Attorney Kathleen Dabbert) 

In August new ASAC members asked questions/raised issues during the meeting (which the agenda did not accommodate).  Oddly, Director of Neighborhood and Family Services Bob Salas talked about the new temporary shelter during public comment and even mentioned they had identified a location.  When a new member asked about that location they were told they could only talk about items on the agenda.

Shelter Chief, staff liaison and ASAC board member Morgan Chegwidden verbally placed the non-discussion of the following topics into "future agenda items."  They include: 

Shelter capacity 

Enforcement of ordinances 

Budget 

Barriers for the public to access shelter services

The August minutes do not reflect items raised by new committee members and they are missing from the October agenda, which simply has a board orientation by the new Assistant City Attorney Kathleen Dabbert.  Dabbert is new to supporting the ASAC as "City attorney Holly Voth announced her resignation from the City of San Angelo" (August meeting minutes).

The next time these stated concerns can be discussed in the ASAC meeting is January 2025.  That's a full five months after they were initially raised.  

Stonewalling is not "excellence" for citizens donating their time and expertise to City of San Angelo boards.  It makes me wonder if staff even want their input.   When did ignoring board members become a "best management practice?" 

Animal Bites Soar in San Angelo

 

Animal to human bites soared in San Angelo over the last two fiscal years.  The period of rapid increase coincided with City Council's decision to enact a maximum cap on the Animal Shelter population,

City statistics showed animal to human bites had fallen  to 169 in FY ended 2022.  The COVID-19 pandemic changed animal ownership patterns and more responsible pet ownership may have contributed to this decline.  

Animal to human bites rose by 95 or 56% in FY ended 2023 and 80 or 30% more in FY ended 2024.  

Since City leadership and City Council enacted the hard cap on shelter population animal to human bites have more than doubled (up 103%).  That's a telling statistic for a city citing public safety as a top priority.

City Attorney James' Lasting Impact

City Attorney Theresa James finished her last day of employment in San Angelo.  She is headed to Fort Worth to serve as Deputy City Attorney, responsible for legislative affairs.  

The City of San Angelo Facebook page recognized her contributions with:

Together with her staff, she leaves a lasting impact in this community. Theresa was an integral part of undertakings like ADA compliance/accessibility upgrades within the city, the newest trash contract negotiations, executing contracts for the purchase and sale of the Ford Ranch, and so much more.

City Attorney James was instrumental in imposing restrictions on public information requests and the recent move to restrict public comment to those who register prior to meeting.  That effectively prohibits someone sitting in Council Chambers (who did not register) from making public comment based on deliberations by the Mayor and Council members.  Citizens do not know what elected officials will say prior to the meeting.     

James also led the special citation effort for citizens who'd retrieved their pet from the Animal Shelter but had not yet gotten the required spay/neuter surgery.  Council approved a part time position for that project, which was completed by Attorney James daughter.  Getting information on that effort was a significant challenge. 

Council inquired as to "high volume" public information requestors issues.  In my case most PIRs involved Animal Services.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden speaks often about being "data driven," however remarkably little information is provided on the city website or shared with the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee.  Public information requests are often the only tool available to citizens seeking further information on any topic.

I did check out Fort Worth's PIR policies.  That City tries to put information on its website for the public to access.  

Fort Worth is recruiting a full time veterinarian.  Their job posting included:

The City of Fort Worth has a progressive animal welfare program that enjoys broad based support from elected officials, industry, residents, and animal welfare agencies.  On April, 23 - 25, 2021, the city celebrated the grand opening of its new state of the art North Animal Campus paid for by a $13.5M bond program approved by the residents of Fort Worth in 2018.  The new campus boasts a fully equipped veterinary hospital for shelter pets along with five separate dog kennels, each with 10 enrichment yards, a cat ward with windows for every cat and staff and volunteer space overlooking the 7.5 acres campus.  At the Fort Worth Animal Shelter, each day is filled with diverse opportunities. We work closely with veterinary technicians, customer service representatives, kennel technicians, animal control officers, and partner organizations to be at the forefront of animal welfare. Come see why over 120 dedicated animal welfare staff call The City of Fort Worth home. The Fort Worth Animal Campuses are open seven days per week.

James oversaw the legal side of the shelter's "no kill" evolution which choked off shelter intake (starting in 2019) and resulted in third world levels of loose pets on city streets.  Animal to human bites soared as city streets became a dumping ground and irresponsible owners allowed their dogs to breed.

The Augusta Chronicle reported:

When no-kill shelters are full, workers are forced to turn away people surrendering their animal – even in dire circumstances, Sites said. Often it leads to more crowding in the shelter and more stress on the animals and on the staff, she said. And there would be more strays living in the streets creating a dangerous situation for the animals and humans.

San Angelo has been there for quite some time.  

a taxpayer-supported shelter is obligated to take any animal

Not in San Angelo.  Yes, the City Attorney's impact is lasting in the Animal Services arena, but clearly not in a good way.

Update 10-19-24:   The current ASAC Chair stated that a prior quorum did not occur because the Chair and Vice Chair stayed away to avoid providing a forum for public comment.

Animal Shelter's July Request to Council

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden's memo to her boss Michael Dane was shared with City Council members.

Morgan cited the large number of loose dogs but ignored the shelter's role in chocking off shelter intake over the last five years and returning unaltered dogs to irresponsible pet owners.

Council seems unable to do the most basic problem solving in the animal arena.  They approved borrowing $2 million for two projects in early 2023.  One was an urgently needed Animal Shelter renovation.

The traffic light at Knickerbocker and Twin Mountain Road progressed quickly.  By City Council's April 4, 2023 meeting the traffic light had been bid and a vendor recommended.

That same April 2023 Council approved the budget amendment relative to the $2 million short term bond.

The bond has long been repaid.  Shelter renovations are 18 months late relative to staff's original representation.  Morgan's timeline in her July 10, 2024 memo to council makes it sound like it will take nine more months before shelter renovations are complete (July 2025). 

City Council's patience is puzzling to many citizens, especially those concerned about San Angelo's loose dog problem.  It's only grown each year.   

Council Meeting on Oct. 1 Requires Public Comment Registration

San Angelo City Council has a full agenda for its first meeting requiring citizens to register in order to offer public comment.  The agenda has twenty items. seventeen on the Consent agenda, and three on the Regular agenda.  

The agenda makes no mention of the change or procedures someone interested in making public comment must follow.  The City Clerk informed Council at the end of their last meeting that citizens needed to register with her prior to the meeting in order to speak.  The minutes for that instruction state:

City Clerk Heather Stastny reviewed changes to the recently adopted changes to the Public Comment Policy that will go into effect on October 1, 2024.

So someone would needed to have watched the last City Council meeting to know that instruction (117 page views as of today).

To sum up, there is no information on the agenda about the change and no information on the City's website regarding procedures citizens must follow in order to speak on an item.  A search for the mentioned Public Comment Policy produced "no results."

Let's hope Council provides flexibility for citizens during this first meeting under the new rules.  Someone in the room may be struck by the Southern Drag Boat Association wanting the city to waive the $10,000 annual fee for use of Lake Nasworthy for events already conducted in June and September.  

A citizen may have questions about the City taking over Lee Pfluger's nonprofit Concho Christmas Celebration and operating the event through Downtown San Angelo.  An observer may wish to encourage Council not to reduce the Retiree Medical Benefit as implied in the background packet memo.

Citizens in attendance should have the right to offer public comment on the Mayor or City Council members' statements made during the meeting as those are not on the agenda and occur in real time. 

 The City's organizational chart has citizens at the very top.   Let's hope it stays that way.

Update:  The City's Facebook page posted yesterday at 5:00 pm:

People wishing to speak at the City Council meeting must sign in before 8:30 a.m.

The post included the three regular agenda items and has 14 likes.

Update 10-1-24:  Mayor Gunter started off public comment by saying those people in attendance who "filled out a card" will be given the opportunity for public comment but those that did not would not have the chance to share their thoughts with Council during the meeting.  A number of city retirees showed up to speak about proposed changes to retiree health insurance.  Former Police Chief Russell Smith reminded Council of promises made to retirees and the city's history of adjusting them.

Animal Shelter Open Houses Had Poor Attendance, Ended Early

Five months of public meetings produced data from an average of three citizens per meeting.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden's 7-15-24 report to City Council included

To give citizens an avenue to communicate their concerns, animal services held weekly open house hours for five months from February 2024 through June 2024. Visitors were invited to tour, ask the experts, share concerns and ideas for this come-and-go casual gathering of people motivated to solve San Angelo’s animal concerns. 

About two dozen people attended on 2/7/24 but no more than two individuals reported on any subsequent date.

The meetings were to run through August but stopped the end of June due to poor attendance.  

I would suggest veterinarians are included in the list of people motivated to solve the city's animal concerns.  They might be worthy of a special focus group meeting, since the open houses were held at a time that most veterinarians were working.  That is if someone really wants feedback/public input. 

 Morgan's report suggests that is the case:

To encourage greater participation, we moved the meetings to Thursday evenings and hosted events, such as a pet resource fair and microchip clinic. With no additional attendance, we held our last open house 6/27/24 and will research additional ways to stay in touch with citizens’ needs and requests

Data says the weekly series of open houses was for show.  Three months in it was obviously not fulfilling its stated aim, yet there was no course correction.  

Citizens have taken to contacting their City Council representative to get a response from Animal Services.  I hope they keep doing that.  Maybe elected officials will figure out that something is wrong.

Time will tell if Council's lack of response remains firmly in place.

Lighthouse Employee Mauled by Dog Pack

City of San Angelo records indicate the following occurred:

September 18, 2024:  This morning around 8:00 am , an employee of The Lighthouse for the Blind was attacked by three dogs on N. Malone behind the Lighthouse building. 

It was a brutal attack and the victim is currently at the Emergency Room, blood everywhere, tore up his arm and face. This was disturbing, but the police officer could not get animal control to respond to capture the animals. When asked when the animal control would show up the officer could not give a time of arrival and so he went to the ER to get a statement from the victim. In my opinion, an attack would warrant an immediate response to capture the animals. We are now keeping our employees in the building.

Those came records indicate the city's response:

Citation:  Date/Time: 09/18/2024 12:34PM

The owner of the dogs was given 2 spay or neuter citations and 1 dog at large along with a 24 hour quarantine notice for both dogs for the attack they were both involved in sending the victim to ER for his injuries.

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden informed City Councilman Harry Thomas that same day:

ASO’s responded immediately and all three dogs were impounded – the two that bit and a third unrelated.

That's not in line with the report from the police officer responding to the dog pack attack.  "Responded immediately" is not the same as "could not get Animal Control to respond to capture the animals" or "could not give a time" Animal Control would show up.

The attack happened around 8:00 am, the Animal Control Officer report is at 12:34 pm and Morgan's e-mail to Councilman Thomas was around 5:15 pm.

City Council has Public Safety as a top priority.  It's hard to believe that in the dangerous loose pet arena.

City Council's New Public Comment Registration to Start 10-1-24

City Clerk Heather Stasny previewed the new public comment restrictions at City Council today.  She said:

I just want to remind the public that on October 1st is when the new changes to the public comment policy will go into effect....(Mayor Gunter could not hear) ... 

the public comment that Council approved months ago will go into effect October 1st.  Just to remind citizens they will need to sign in for public comment before the meeting.  Speakers will be called in the order that they signed up giving priority to citizens of San Angelo first.  The times to speak remain the same at three minutes.  Comments must be directed to Council.  Questioning of staff is not appropriate at that time, of course Council has no obligation to respond and comments must be relevant to the authority of the city.

They will sign up with City Clerk or the deputy, which will be right here (the staff desk next to the raised City Council seating) before the meeting starts.

The new rules mean citizens will not be able to respond to any comments by the Mayor or Councilmembers during an agenda item.  Their positions on any item are not included in the background packet.  

Council practice is for the Mayor to interject her thoughts first on agenda items.  It takes a brave Councilmember to challenge her position, thus most members avoid comment during the meeting.

Today's City Council had few members of the public in attendance.  One person referenced the permission to speak change and wondered how to do that.  That opened the door for staff to preview the new rules.

Listening to someone (who took the time out of their day to attend) for three minutes is a small gift for an elected official/public servant to grant.  I imagine Council watchers got the hint that citizen feedback is generally unwanted.  

Government should be responsive to the people.  It will be interesting to see what happens when an item compels many people to attend.  Will the rules cause complications, extending the meeting length to deal with the new bureaucracy?

We shall find out how these "reasonable rules" work when many citizens wish to have their voice heard on an agenda item.

ASAC Meets & Welcomes New Members

San Angelo's Animal Shelter Advisory Committee welcomed three new members.  The meeting kicked off with public comment.  Director of Neighborhood and Family Service Bob Salas stated the temporary shelter is being permitted and he expects construction to begin in a month or so.

New board member Penny Roberts asked about the location of the temporary facility.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden said she would get Roberts a presentation as "they want us to be careful and not dialogue in this section."  Sharing a fact with a new board member relative to earlier public comment by a city leader hardly seems like dialogue.

I took the liberty of including information on the temporary shelter's location in the above image.  New board members asked questions during the meeting which the agenda did not accommodate.  So future agenda items include:

1. Shelter capacity
2. Enforcement of ordinances
3. Budget 
4. Barriers for the public to access shelter services

Morgan admitted the ASAC failed to comply with city ordinance by only meeting twice in 2023.  She did not say city leaders had over two months to schedule and hold a committee meeting but chose not to do so.  Bob Salas instructed Morgan not to reschedule, according to an 11-14-23 internal e-mail.

Bob, missed you at 4pm – wanted to clarify this messaging. Brian’s referencing a reschedule of ASAC but you’d previously discussed proceeding with the 2024 calendar with no additions. Will there be a meeting in the near future?

Nope, as Bob instructed there were "no additions."  Salas gave an update on the temporary Animal Shelter but provided no information on renovating the existing facility (City Council approved financing for the project in early 2023).  The last official word was the project would go out for bids in May.  That is yet to happen.

New board members have much to learn.  I hope staff answers as many questions in public as possible.  That is the open and transparent thing to do.

Gov. Abbott Issues New Hospital Regulation

The Hill reported:

Beginning Nov. 1, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is directing hospitals in Texas to gather data on “patients who are not lawfully present in the United States,” as well as the number of inpatient discharges and emergency visits and the costs of care.

The Texas Hospital Association responded with:

Texas Governor Greg Abbott“This would be a new requirement, and we are reviewing it as quickly as possible. Right now, hospitals don’t ask about patient immigration status as a condition of treatment. Hospitals are required by law to provide life-saving treatment to anyone, regardless of ability to pay or status.”

That's less than three months for hospital electronic medical record systems to add this field.  Surely, the Texas Health and Human Service Commission has ways of estimating the financial cost of treating undocumented persons in Texas hospitals.  

Texas has not participated in Medicaid expansion and as a result:

there are about 5 million uninsured Texans

The Governor left federal money to pay for hospital care on the table since he was sworn into office.  He passed over a bonus for recalcitrant states, those yet to participate. 

Hospitals have a difficult job to begin with.  Gov. Abbott just made it harder for those providing and those seeking care. It's a shame.

Update 8-12-24:  Gov. Abbott and the political Red Team have turned hospitals into no treatment zones for women with ectopic pregnancies.  New Mexico is recruiting Texas OB/GYN physicians as a result.

Council Subsidizes Businesses, Cracks Down on People

San Angelo City Council approved the sale of 17 acres in the Industrial Park to LTG Real Estate Group LLC in Grapevine, Texas.  The property was appraised in January at $48,000 per acre.  Council approved selling the property for $25,000 per acre due to site issues.  

The Development Corporation approved the item in their July meeting.

The City approved a tax rate as part of the budget process.  Council stressed that fees should reflect the cost of providing the service during a previous budget meeting.  That seems to conflict with today's discounted land sale.

A citizen spoke during public comment about an upcoming Tom Green County Appraisal District board meeting.  She encouraged people to attend and shared her concerns about the board appointment process as well as the move to appraise properties annually instead of once every three years.  

Tax abatement for significant capital projects that provide some measure of employment also passed 7-0 in today's meeting.  In order to receive tax breaks up to 85% applicants must provide at least one full time job.  

Corporations as a whole did much better than financially stressed citizens as Council restricted the ability for homeless people to be in certain areas from 10 pm to 6 am with a camping ordinance change.  The head of San Angelo's Homeless Coalition thought he had five minutes to offer public comment as an affected party but was cut off at three.

Citizens should take advantage of free and open public comment while it lasts.  Today's meeting, had it occurred in October would've had far fewer public comments.  

Update:  City Council raised the tax rate from 70.42 cents per hundred valuation to 75.57 cents,  That nickel increase is a 7.3 percent increase in the tax rate.  Inflation is not going away for San Angelo homeowners.  Neither the prior rate nor the increase were included in the City Council background packet.  Truth in Taxation and transparency should ensure that information is shared as a bare minimum.

Old rate:  70.42 cents per $100 valuation

New rate: 75.57 cents per $100 valuation 

Increase:  5.15 cents or 7.3%

Tom Green County Appraisal District Uses Valuebase

The City of San Angelo is waiting for final appraisals from the Tom Green County Appraisal District.  Those valuations are needed to finish the city's budget.  Valuations have been an issue for several years as the District first caught up on property valuations, then did likewise with land values.  

Concho Valley Homepage reported on last year's valuations:

Dozens of property owners crowded into the Tom Green County Appraisal District Review Board meeting Thursday, May 11, 2023, and dozens more waited outside. Almost all of them were looking for answers about why their property appraisals had increased so much.

People were angry and looking for answers.  The responsible folks were not in the room.

Ryan Newlin, the owner of ERA Newlin and Company real estate in San Angelo, said that the State Comptroller’s office sets property values.

“The State of Texas mandates what the tax office does,” said Newlin. “It comes out of the Comptroller’s office.”

Appraisals are driven by the State of Texas.  In 2023:

The Tom Green County Appraisal District delivered over 50,000 notices of appraised value this year, according to the press release. While mass appraisals are done by the appraisal district, Johnson shared that protesting values and resolving protests will be done on a case-to-case basis.  

Citizens may not be aware of the vendor currently assisting the Appraisal District with mass appraisals.  It's Austin based Valuebase. Tom Green County is listed as one of four localities on Valuebase's website.

That website states:

An automated valuation model (AVM), or mass appraisal model, is a service that uses mathematical equations to value properties by analyzing relevant data points and making comparisons across a large number of properties. By taking into account features such as size, sale conditions, and quality of construction, as well as statistical measurements of amenities, location, and depreciation, AVMs provide a fast, fair and cost-effective conclusion of a property’s value.

So who is behind Valuebase?  The Texas Comptroller's Taxable Entity Search provided no information.

A search using Geo Land Solutions, Valuebase's prior name, also produced no information.

Pitchbook shows the firm began in 2022 and had two funding rounds.  The latest $6.3 million funding round was led by Narya Capital.  

America's tech dynasty is backing Narya Capital, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen and Eric Schmidt.  Narya founder, J.D. Vance was just named Vice President under former President Donald Trump.  Narya backer Vivek Ramaswamy has been cited as a possible Senate replacement for Vance after the election.

J. D. Vance stepped away from Narya Capital when he was elected to the U.S. Senate.  His latest financial disclosure form show he holds both limited partner and general partner stakes in Narya.  That means he is in a position to profit from Narya's Valuebase holdings.

Valuebase is small peanuts for this group of tech bros, however their work will impact thousands of real people very soon.  Citizens have been angry over the last few appraisal cycles.  If this round comes back bad again, who are the people to blame?  It could be artificial intelligence.

Valuebase CEO Will Jarvis said his company is "delivering cutting-edge solutions that empower governments with world-class AI valuation models."

Artificial intelligence can utilize incorrect or outdated information.  AI brings to mind an impenetrable system.   

It all seems structured to de-power people.  The accountable people aren't in the Appraisal District board room, the software uses "precision tailored" algorithms and those profiting from the process live in a world separate and distinct from the common person.  

J.D. Vance may not forget his upbringing.  Citizens in Tom Green County need Vance to see them as they deal with their latest valuation.  Big changes could cause some to struggle.

Update:  WaPo wrote about tech bros sudden love for Trump and the Red Team.  The Guardian did as well.  

Update 8-8-24:  A citizen spoke in public comment at San Angelo City Council regarding the Appraisal District's shift to appraising properties annually, instead of once every three years.  She encouraged people to attend the upcoming Tom Green County Appraisal District board meeting.