Council Nixes COSADC Bylaws Changes

San Angelo Mayor Gunter scuttled a number of proposed bylaw changes that would have given the Development Corporation Board more power in COSADC leadership/officer selection and the ability to contract with other entities than the city for business support services.  

Councilman Harry Thomas said he was surprised the City Attorney allowed the document to be brought forward.  City Attorney Theresa James stated she did not have the ability to screen items between the COSADC board and City Council as that is a direct reporting relationship.

This is the second item from COSADC that Council rejected since former Economic Development Director Guy Andrews spoke out against City Manager Daniel Valenzuela and Assistant City Manager Michael Dane and Economic Development Board First Vice President John Bariou raised concerns about the independence of the Development Corporation Board as stated in Texas law.  The first was the two year contract with the Chamber of Commerce for direct marketing services.  Council required it be a one year agreement.

Council planned to slap down Bariou in their November meeting but backed down when he asked the item be moved to Open Session.  It did so indirectly today by denying the proposed bylaws changes.  Bariou was in attendance but not offered the opportunity to speak.  I'm sure he took good notes as he sat in the front row.

Update:  Michael Dane's "presentation" on the COSADC bylaws felt like a setup.  Dane's series of "I don't knows" must have been a disappointment to the majority of COSADC board members who voted for the changes.  Councilman Tommy Hiebert's sitting there silently must have been a great disappointment to Bariou.  Hiebert and Bariou are two names I associate with the Development Corporation since it began. 

PAWS Stopped Spay/Neuter Vouchers for Two Months

The City of San Angelo's adoption and veterinary service provider ceased issuing spay/neuter vouchers for the last two months, December 2022 and January 2023.  

Our low-cost spay and neuter voucher program will change in response to increases in veterinary costs and grant funding. We are in the processes of finalizing funding and contract agreements and should launch an updated program in February! We apologize for any inconvenience. WE WANT TO HELP YOU GET YOUR PET FIXED. But we have to secure the best possible ways to ensure we can offer the most help to the most people. Thank you for understanding. Please reach out to other rescues to learn about their available spay and neuter programs.

PAWS last solicited their spay/neuter vouchers in November, the same month City Council approved completely cutting off dog intake.  

The City increased enforcement of the spay/neuter ordinance in September.  It did so after public outcry over horrific shelter conditions amidst a serious roach infestation.  PAWS went on the offensive with a "Be the Change" campaign which encouraged citizens to spay/neuter their pet(s). The City Attorney's office hired part time staff to assist in the research and citation issuing process.  The city is going back two years to cite shelter adopters who failed to fix their new pet.

Last year the shelter released far more unaltered dogs (760) than PAWS likely issued in dog spay/neuter vouchers (30 per month = 360).  I asked PAWS for their numbers but they did not reply.

There is and has been a need for more low cost spay/neuter services for San Angelo residents.  Area rescues have asked the city to devote more resources in this area.

PAWS and the City shelter reducing services while upping enforcement is poorly timed, given our community's widespread need.  Area rescues have been overwhelmed by the city's repeated reductions in shelter intake and San Angelo's street animal crisis.  Both the City and PAWS repeatedly refer the public to "area rescues" despite being asked over and over to cease and desist.

One has to wonder if all this is intended to be punitive.  Raise an issue and the city does less.  Raise that they've done less and city leaders find an indirect way to deliver payback. It's happened in Animal Services and Public Information.

Update 1-17-23:  It appears the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee will not meet as scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023 given city staff are yet to post an agenda.  The Texas Open Meetings Act requires the agenda to be posted 72 hours in advance.  That deadline has passed with no agenda posted for the scheduled meeting.

Update 1-18-23:  The new date for the ASAC meeting is 2-16-23.  There will no meeting in January. 

Update 7-10-23:  PAWS posted on Facebook that it will not offer spay/neuter vouchers for July.

PIRs on Public Information Restrictions Show

A Texas Public Information Handbook stated:

Texans have the right to see how their government is spending their tax dollars and exercising the powers they have granted it. That knowledge is essential to preserving the rule of law, protecting the democratic process, and defending the liberty we all cherish. The Public Information Act is a critical protection for that right

The December 13th background packet stated "San Angelo City Council wishes to establish a policy" restricting citizen access to public information requests.  The packet was released on December 8th which left insufficient time for a citizen to research the issue before Council made its decision.

I had not heard Council discuss this topic in any strategic planning session or at any City Council meeting.  In what deliberative public forum did Council express this wish?  They hadn't expressed such a desire prior to the release of the meeting background packet on December 8th. 

Public information requests revealed two people drove the effort to limit citizen access to public information to 36 staff hours in any fiscal year.  City Councilman Tommy Hiebert began lobbying in 2018 for a change in state law to allow a hard stop at the 36 hour limit.  City Clerk Julia Antilley supported Hiebert's lobbying efforts.

City Council-member Tommy Hiebert wrote staff on August 21, 2018

Just to be certain I understand the request is to strengthen HB3107 as written and to add to that existing statute ... if they use 36+ hours of staff time in a fiscal year they then can be labeled vexatious and no further requests made for that fiscal year, correct?

Should the city council simply pass an ordinance stipulating the 36 hours rather than codifying it into state law? Or is there a matter for the greater good that if the state would simply state any municipality receiving requests totaling more the 36 hours that person is finished for the remainder of that fiscal year?

Deputy City Clerk Julia Antilley replied that day:

As currently written in Texas, once a requestor is labelled vexatious they can be charged for additional requests. For our office, charging an additional fee does not help. We would propose that once a requestor is labeled vexatious (after using 36+ hours of staff time within a fiscal year) they are unable to make future requests until the next fiscal year.

One week later Hiebert contacted Rep. Drew Darby's office with a request:

...was wanting to see if Drew would be open to strengthening HB 3107 that deals with vexatious open records requests. Vexatious open record requests are consuming more and more staff time. What is currently allowed is to charge for requests. While it is helpful to be able to charge, the real issue is the staff time consumed by vexatious requests. 

In order to deal with the growing time component, it would be most helpful to have the law state after 30-35 hours of staff time which has been consumed by the vexatious requests of one individual, that specific individual could no longer make any open records requests for the remainder of the year. 

If you might need further info or have questions, please feel free to call me.

Darby's office shared their phone number with Councilman Hiebert.  The state of Texas is yet to pass the hard 36 hour limit requested by Hiebert and Antilley. 

The rationale for approving the restriction on public information came down to staff time.  City Council heard from staff last month:

“If these numbers continue going up and we don’t do anything about it, at some point we’ll need more staffing to assist with this ...” -- City Manager Daniel Valenzuela 

“The amount it would save in staff time would far exceed the $5,000.” -- Julia Antilley

“This has been on our radar since 2017 but until recently we were unable to track each individual request and so we were unable to declare anyone vexatious.” -- Julia Antilley 

City Clerk Julia Antilley worked with public information vendor GovQA and her counterpart in Pharr to craft this restriction:

I’m going to try to get calendar year adopted by Council before year end since we have missed this fiscal year! -- Julia Antilley e-mail on 10-21-22 

… it’s good to see you adopted the ordinance mid-year…hoping we can do the same. -- Julia Antilley e-mail on 10-21-22 

“As soon as I get the proposal, I will send to SHI so they can provide you with the quote for the subrequests cost.” – Senior Customer Success Consultant GOVQA e-mail on 10-21-22

…GovQA is saying it’s not possible even though you are using the very feature (I even asked them to use your letters as an example!). They state the system only counts time spent on all PIRs from whenever the system was implemented, not FY only. -- Julia Antilley e-mail on 10-26-22 

 I’m hoping to take a policy December 13th that adopts 552.275 to charge for ALL requests someone submits in excess of 36 hours/fiscal year and/or 15 hours/month. I discussed briefly with Chief Howard and Christine at PD. -- Julia Antilley e-mail on 11-10-22

One member of City Council actively worked to limit citizen access to public information, not the whole Council.  

Mayor Brenda Gunter said the financial numbers did not add up for instituting the limit to get at a small number of requestors for only $5,000 in revenue.  Councilman Larry Miller voted with the Mayor against instituting public information limits.  

Five Council members voted for the change, in part to prevent the need to hire additional staff.  The city posted a temporary/seasonal job in the City Clerk's office.  The first task listed is helping with public information requests.  

Assists with request for public information citywide.

Providing customer service and responding to public inquiries and requests for information. 

Knowledge of Public Information Act, Open Meetings Act, City Charter, Code of Ordinances, Election Code, and Local Government Code.

That was a fast change, one that City Council could expect not to happen so quickly after their vote. 

Update 1-19-23:  Councilman Tommy Hiebert filed for reelection.  Voters may wish to consider his efforts to limit citizen access to public information. 

Update 2-20-23:  City Clerk Julia Antilley is no longer in that role.  Interim City Clerk Heather Stastny may be permanently appointed to that role in tomorrow's City Council meeting during Closed Session.

Update 4-25-25:  Former City Clerk Julia Antilley is Treasurer for City Councilman Tom Thompson's Mayoral candidacy.

Temp Staff Needed to Assist with PIRs

San Angelo's City Council voted to restrict citizen access to public information requests in its lone December 2022 meeting.  City leaders suggested additional staff would be required if Council did not approve limiting public information requests to 36 hours in the city's fiscal year.  Council voted 5-2 to implement the policy suggested by staff.

One month later the City is searching for temporary staff to assist with Public Information Requests.  The pay is $18 per hour.  Are any of the five "yes" voters on Council surprised by the timing of this temporary staff hire?  Nevertheless, it's not a good look. 

DISH-KSAN Feud Returns

It seemed like yesterday DISH and KSAN pointed fingers at one another for their failure to reach agreement on a contract.  Friday evening I turned the channel to KSAN and saw a DISH "executive" lobbying viewers to call KSAN and complain.  

Concho Valley Homepage did likewise, running news pieces asking readers to call DISH and complain.  

KLST is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting while KSAN is owned by Mission Broadcasting.  The two local TV stations share staff, facilities and an internet presence.  DISH and KLST last battled in December 2020.

San Angelo Live offered a different assessment over the weekend than they did three years ago when the story was almost non-news.  Both pieces mention NFL games.  

Let the playoffs begin.  How many points should I give DISH in its battle with Mission?

Update 1-22-24:  It took over a year for DISH and Mission to settle their feud.  I imagine political ads fueled the incentive to reach an agreement. 

As for the Superbowl the 2024 version is on CBS.

Animal Related Calls to SAPD up 46% Over 2020 Levels

Animal related calls to San Angelo Police Department (SAPD) rose significantly after the City began reducing citizen access to Animal Shelter services.  The shelter began managed intake in 2019.  SAPD calls involving animals rose to 1,728 in 2022, up 46% in the last two calendar years. 

City Council person Lucy Gonzales and City Manager Daniel Valenzuela have remarked in City Council meetings about the large number of street pets in San Angelo.

The Animal Shelter remains chronically full with large, long stay, difficult to adopt dogs.  Shelter leadership and City Council decided years ago to prioritize its shelter pets over tax paying citizens needing assistance.  That decision drove down owner surrenders significantly.  Owner surrenders are down 90% from 2014, dropping from 1,964 to 184 in FY 2021-22.

The shelter released 1,500 unaltered pets since 2020 while issuing a scant 74 citations for failure to comply with the city's mandatory spay/neuter ordinance over the same period.  Council approved a part time position in the City Attorney's office to issue citations for spay/neuter noncompliance over the last two years.

The shelter took in 1,492 puppies and kittens in FY 2021-22 but only issued 4 breeders permits for the same period.  Some pets gave birth while in the shelter.  The City's veterinary service provider had two months to spay a pregnant Husky but did not.  That resulted in seven puppies which contributed to shelter overcrowding in early summer.

The statistics cited above is city data and came from public information requests.  Last month Council chose to limit citizen access to public information once it reaches 36 hours in a calendar year. 

The total number of hours worked on this SAPD Animal Related Calls request was: 0.50 

The total number of hours worked on all requests submitted by you since October 1st is: 25.92

Elected officials have the ability to ask questions and submit an unlimited number of public information requests.  The City has a website and Communications Office with many avenues of making information available to the public.

Five members of City Council voted to restrict access to public information in order to avoid having to hire part time staff.  Two voted against it.  How do those members feel about SAPD's increased workload due to San Angelo's loose pet problem?   

Update 1-17-23:  It appears the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee will not meet as scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023 given city staff are yet to post an agenda.  The Texas Open Meetings Act requires the agenda to be posted 72 hours in advance.  That deadline has passed with no agenda posted for the scheduled meeting.

City Council Enters 2023

San Angelo's City Council met for the first time in 2023 with one item on the regular agenda.  Council got an earful from citizens during public comment.  One gentleman offered predictions that some form of justice awaited those seated in their high chairs.  

A number of citizens asked for the city to do more for the community's homeless population.  One request was for city leaders and elected officials to simply show up one day later this month.

Another resident asked City Council once again to prioritize the Animal Shelter and do more to serve the countless stray animals in city limits.  During public comment she said:

"My friends are sick of getting up here to ask for help. They feel anything they say falls on deaf ears.  On Tuesday mornings... many of them are at a spay/neuter clinic on Council meeting days.  They have at least one clinic a week where they spay/neuter with pain meds and vaccinate at least 35 animals.  They are volunteers and they seem to be doing more to solve our pet overpopulation problem than our city.  Why is our city not hearing any feedback?  We are not hearing from anybody."

She asked Council to steer more funding to spay/neuter services and ordinance enforcement.  Council did not respond.  

The City used the same "no response" strategy after receiving urgent letters from PETA and two local animal rescues regarding the Animal Shelter's shutting off dog intake for the month of November.  Refusing lost dogs stretched into December due to high shelter occupancy.  The current state of shelter availability was not shared with Council or the public in today's meeting.

Council decided last month not to serve citizens requests for public information once staff time reaches 36 hours in any fiscal year.  They passed the restriction two and a half months into the fiscal year, making it retroactive.

Council's public information vote included an exemption for elected officials, i.e, they retained a privilege they took away from interested citizens.  Generally, that goes over poorly with the public.

The public likes rule changes to be forecast, well communicated and citizens be given time to change behavior.  That's not the City of San Angelo in the areas of public information or pet spay/neuter ordinance enforcement.  The "go back" period for the city to issue citations went from two months to two years with no explanation.  

2023 is off to an expensive start, thanks to the one item Council approved.  Sewage upgrades at Lake Nasworthy will have big economic development impacts.   If only stray animals and homeless people fit into an economic development framework.  I imagine employers don't want to relocate to a community with third world treatment of pets and people.