Dallas County has asked Garland to pilot a program that would restrict those that owe fines from being able to register/re-register their vehicles. The ability to do so under law has existed for over 10 years but has not been widely implemented. The proposal was presented to Council at a recent work session (Item 1) and will soon be on a regular meeting agenda for possible adoption.
 
The North Texas Turnpike Authority announced yesterday that they too will be seriously addressing violations by scofflaws. Their method will be to significantly increase the penalties for unpaid invoices. After a period, notice will be sent to a collection agency or to the Department of Public Safety for further action.
 
Simply, there are a large number of habitual violators that don't pay fines or tolls. Chasing down each such violator to serve warrants and hope he will appear in court and pay fines is a futile exercise, often costing more than the fine. Not issuing vehicle registrations to such scofflaws does offer a greater chance of accountability and, hopefully, adherence to the law.
 
Ray Leszcynski recently covered the city and county's efforts in the Dallas Morning News:
 

The Dallas Morning News, Metro Section, June 20, 2009:

Garland to target scofflaw drivers

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, June 20, 2009
By RAY LESZCYNSKI / The Dallas Morning News
rleszcynski@dallasnews.com
 
Dallas County officials have picked Garland to become the first city in the area to block vehicle registration to those who haven't paid traffic court fines.
 
Dallas County early this year became the third county to implement the Scofflaw Program, which was introduced to the Garland City Council this week. A law passed in 1997 allows taxing authorities to refuse vehicle registration.
 
County Commissioner Mike Cantrell said that Dallas is next and that the program could be expanded to include every city in the county.
 
"There is $210 million in outstanding county fines," said Cantrell, who asked Garland to pilot the program. "If you add all 26 cities in, it could reach more than a billion dollars."
 
Garland Court Director Paige Bobbitt said that there are about 3,800 new traffic warrants in Garland this year and that the program will focus on cases at least 60 days past due.
 
"This particular program is going to apply to criminal traffic violations and also red light cameras, which are civil violations," George Kauffman, the city's managing director of finance, told the Garland City Council.
 
The Garland council is expected to approve the program July 7. Bobbitt hopes it can be up and running within a month and says Garland should know how effective the program is within six months.
 
Dallas probably will implement the program by the end of the summer. And judging by the flood of calls, Bobbitt said, several other Dallas County cities won't be far behind.
 
While an effective tool, blocking registration hasn't proven to be the key to closing the floodgates on unpaid fines. The program was implemented in El Paso County in 2003 and has been responsible for clearing about $2.6 million in city and county fines to date.
 
Bobbitt said Garland hopes to collect on about 25 percent of eligible cases.
 
"Some people, when they hear about this program, are going to come in and pay on their own, like when we announce a warrant roundup," she said. "So there will be others that we collect that we can't say were covered by this particular program."
 
Those who clear their fines at the Garland Municipal Court can take the proof of payment to the county offices a half-mile away to get their vehicle registrations. And Garland will update cleared cases daily so that warrants don't keep showing up in county records.
 
The program will cost the city less than 5 percent of the revenue it generates and is focused on bringing people into compliance, rather than arrests.
 
"All we want them to do is take care of their business," Cantrell said.
 

Almost every governmental entity in the area, and the nation, is experiencing budget constrictions. I've written about Garland's challenges. I also watch what other entities are doing, how hard they are being hit, and how they deal with the challenge.
 
Dallas County is in the same boat. Commissioners asked every department to prepare a budget 10% lower than the previous year. Commissioner Mike Cantrell reported that every department had attempted to do so ... except the District Attorney. Some departments cut much more than 10%. The actual cuts will be determined by the commissioners based on where they see the priorities.
 
I posted a couple weeks ago about a "Town Hall" meeting conducted at City Hall by DA Craig Watkins. Owner and editor of the The Garland News, Jay Jones, was there and wrote about his impressions. It was interesting to note that his impressions were similar to mine. He included a lot of details that I skipped. His observations are below. Needless to say, I don't think the DA's efforts constitute an effective method of lobbying the commissioners.
 

The Garland News, June 11:

District Attorney, County Commissioner debate budget cuts

By Jay Jones, Editor
҈
A public meeting was held in the Garland city council chamber on Tuesday, June 2, where District Attorney Craig Watkins and Dallas County Commissioner for District 2, Mike Cantrell, squared-off in a debate over the county’s budget cuts for fiscal year 2009-2010. Due to an anticipated decrease in property tax revenue for 2009 and 2010, the Court asked Watkins and all other county department heads to cut their budgets 10 percent.
 
By 7 p.m., every seat in the council chamber was occupied and those lacking a place to sit were lined up against the walls. It became clear early on that most of the audience consisted of Watkins’s employees when Cantrell asked the DA’s employees to stand.
 
Watkins said crime would increase if his budget was cut because he would have to lay off several staff members. He also said it would cost the county more in the long run because those who had been charged with a crime, but couldn’t make bail or were being held without bail, would spend more time in the county’s jail awaiting trial. Watkins said with his current budget, his office only averaged six trials monthly—three jury trials and three trials where a defendant’s innocence or guilt is decided by the trial judge.
 
At $57 a day to house a prisoner, Watkins said it wouldn’t take long before the increased expense of housing prisoners for longer periods would surpass a 10 percent budget cut.
 
Watkins’s speech was followed by a Power Point presentation by Watkins’s staff member, Lincoln Monroe.
 
Cantrell then presented his case using a Power Point presentation. Cantrell’s presentation included information that the District Attorney controlled discretionary accounts totaling $2,351,000. Cantrell said the DA wouldn’t have to lay off any staff members if he would use this money to pay his staff members.
 
Cantrell’s supporters listened to Watkins’s speech without interruption, but Watkins’s employees and supporters did not extend the same courtesy to Cantrell.
 
Cantrell told Watkins that if he would meet with him and Commissioner John Wiley Price, they could reach a budget agreement in one day. A few seconds before the meeting was adjourned, Cantrell got a “yes” from Watkins when he asked him the third or fourth time if he would meet with him and Price. On June 10 Cantrell told the ’News that they were supposed to meet with the DA on Thursday, June 11.
 
Watkins plans to hold a public budget meeting in the three other County Commissioner Districts. Commissioner Price has said he would not attend such a meeting, while Commissioners Dickey and Mayfield have yet to say yea or nay.
 

Following my last post, Garland has issued the following news release. Residents get advance warning by phone of serious storms that might be approaching. Citizens must "opt-in" to get the notifications but that's easy.
 

City of Garland News Release:

Garland Adds Important Upgrades to CodeRED

Garland, Texas – The City of Garland has added two important upgrades to its CodeRED telephone notification system.
 
First, a new severe weather early warning system has been added, which automatically launches calls specific geographic areas that are in the path of tornados, severe thunderstorms and other hazardous weather developments. These automated warnings can provide critical preparation time when severe weather threatens.
 
"As soon as the National Weather Service issues the warning, the calls begin going to the areas affected," says Dorothy White, Public & Media Affairs Manager for the City of Garland. "Since these notifications are automatic, residents and businesses must opt-in for these specialized notifications."
 
To "opt-in" for the automatic weather warnings, go to the City of Garland website at www.ci.garland.tx.us, click on the CodeRED icon on the left side of the page and follow the prompts. Those who are registering for the first time can follow the same instructions.
 
When a CodeRED weather warning call is received, the number 800-566-9780 will be displayed by caller-ID.
 
The City will continue to use CodeRED in other emergency situations such as a hazardous chemical spill, major utility outage, or an Amber or Silver Alert. But the number displayed by caller-ID will change to 866-419-5000, which a citizen can call back from the phone that received the CodeRED alert and listen to the message again with a time and date stamp.
 
"This is particularly important for citizens who may not have heard the message clearly when they answered their phone or those whose voicemail greetings may have clipped part of the recorded message," says Ms. White.
 
Caller-ID will also display the name "Emergency Communications Network" for most telephone customers.
 
For customers without access to a computer or internet service, registration forms are available at City Hall, all branches of the Nicholson Memorial Library System, City recreation centers and other City government facilities.
 

"Don't know why, There's no sun up in the sky, Stormy weather."
 
The high winds, stormy weather, and tornado warnings last night did not bother my son as much as the interuptions to one of his favorite television shows. I think adults took the storms more seriously.
 
The rains this morning kept our emergency responders extremely busy. Fire Chief Danny Grammer reported that from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. 12 citizens were pulled to safety from flooded areas, mainly in the southwest portion of the city. Drivers were diverted from high-water areas by numerous fire crews and police officers. The Swift-water Rescue Team pulled one person from Duck Creek.
 
There were numerous house fires as the rain fell. At least some were caused by lightening hits. In each case, swift reaction enabled fire fighters to keep the fires relatively well contained, limiting damage to the area where the fires started.
 
Also, there were numerous traffic accidents during this same period.
 
In District 1, we had a house fire off Pleasant Valley Rd.
 
Later today, unrelated to the rain, an explosion occurred off Muirfield Ave inside a house that was being painted. Both of the painters received burns and were transported to the hospital.
 
Some days are sleeping days and others are like the last 24 hours. The city's CodeRED alert system was recently upgraded to also report weather warnings. Those that had previously registered need to register again to get the additional warnings. One of the benefits is being able to give a secondary number for notification. Both will be called. So, even if you're away from your home, you can receive warnings on your mobile phone.
 
I strongly urge everyone to take the 1.23 minutes necessary to go the city's CodeRED webpage and register for the enhanced warnings. The next time we have a day like we did today, you'll wish you had. Really, it only takes a minute or two and you're done.

Concert and Movie Series at Firewheel Town Center Saturday Concert & Events Movie June 20 Elvis and Music of the 50s GREASE June 27 Ken Savage & the Best Kept Secret INDIANA JONES: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK July 4 Radio Disney – 2:00 p.m. Garland Chorale – 4:00 p.m. Rockwall Community Band – 4:30 p.m. Dallas Praise Orchestra – 5:30 p.m. Ken Savage & the Best Kept Secret– 6:30 p.m. INDEPENDENCE DAY July 11 Dallas Metropolitan Winds JURASSIC PARK July 18 Lakeshore Symphonic Winds BACK TO THE FUTURE July 25 Dallas Metropolitan Winds IRON MAN August 1 Lakeshore Symphonic Band SPIDERMAN 3

 
Everyone has probably heard that the city won't be presenting Star Spangled Fourth this July. Budget cuts and all. But the good news is that Firewheel Town Center is presenting free entertainment on Saturdays through much of the summer, June 20 to August 1.
 
Melody Kamp, Firewheel's Marketing Director, has been keeping me up to date on their plans and shared this information:
 

 
"Summer Concert Series & Movies Under the Stars" will be a perfect venue for providing free, family-friendly entertainment for the summer season at Firewheel Town Center. Beginning Saturday, June 20 and running through Saturday, August 1, families can enjoy events each Saturday evening in the Park. We are excited to bring this to Firewheel for families to enjoy.
 
There will be a 30- x 20-foot movie screen in the Park. The Park provides a perfect location for families to bring their blankets and lawn chairs. This location is also surrounded by our children's stores, new teen stores and fast food restaurants. We will be able to include bounce houses, face painting and vendors in displays surrounding the Park to create a fun, festive atmosphere.
 
We are working with AMC Theatres, which will have their grand opening of the new IMAX screen at Firewheel Town Center on Wednesday, June 24, starting with the blockbuster movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. They are excited. The Boy Scouts will be helping with donations of school supplies for the Salvation Army.
 

 
I hope to see you in the park!
 

 
I heard a number of summaries on the latest Legislative session and read many others. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Sine Die, I was very disappointed that North Texans were not given the ability and choice to address the enormous challenges we have coming in the next several years with local transportation. We know our population will continue to grow. We know that our air quality will continue to be a problem. We know that our highways are among the most congested in the country and will get worse.
 
A vast majority of North Texas leaders supported efforts to ask the Legislature to empower us to solve our problems. The proposed solution was to ask the local citizens on a county-by-county basis to approve certain transportation and transit solutions. To pay for those projects, citizens would have to approve certain increased fees and a fuel tax. How much more democratic does it get than that?
 
Yes, it would have involved new taxes. I have never advocated more taxes but there are times when taxes are necessary (police, fire, army, roads).
 
As Garland's representative to the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition, I have, with those other North Texas leaders, been very involved with the issue for almost three years, serving on the Legislative Committee most of that time.
 
For a little more perspective into this last session, DRMC's Executive Director shared some insights with members today. I thought you might also be interested:
 

From John Carpenter, Executive Director, Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition:

 
The 81st Texas Legislative Session was very unusual, and the transportation agenda suffered as a result.
 
Although the Session was disappointing, it was not completely surprising. Considering the slim Republican margin in the House of Representatives and the Speaker's promise not to interfere with the will of the House, little leadership was evident, and transportation interests paid the price.
 
While the Senate acted with relative efficiency and responsibility to move our legislation and to sidetrack some bad bills and amendments, the House, for political and partisan reasons, slowed to a crawl. You all watched as the Democratic caucus slowed the work of the House to the point that many major bills died because of the Democrats' effort to avoid taking up the voter ID legislation; it was a skillful use of the rules and a brilliant strategy. There were also some hard feelings among House members towards the Senate for sending over the bill in the first place.
 
Because many important bills were never considered by the House, key provisions were added to House bills in the Senate. The Senate amendments to HB 300, otherwise known as the TxDOT Sunset Bill, were particularly noteworthy.
 
It became obvious that the House had little, if any, appetite for our TLOTA [Texas Local Option Transportation Act] legislation. SB 855 was drastically changed in the House to eliminate all revenue-generating options, except for a 10-cent motor fuels tax, and the House expanded the bill to cover all 25 MPOs in the state. Perhaps this was to ensure that if the bill were to make it to the floor, it would fail.
 
As further evidence of the House's underwhelming enthusiasm for the bill, it was placed on the House's General State Calendar rather than the Major State Calendar. Once the intentional slowdown began, it became apparent that SB 855 was doomed.
 
The support of our own House delegation was also disappointing. Neither of the House Transportation Committee members from the Metroplex supported us in our efforts to pass the cornerstone of our legislative program.
 
To their credit, Senator John Carona and Rep. Vicki Truitt never gave up. Senator Carona quickly amended a slimmed-down version of the TLOTA legislation onto HB 300. It became clear that our only hope was to prevail in a conference committee. We knew at this point that the House would not concur with the numerous Senate amendments. In addition to the TLOTA amendment, the Senate also deleted the elimination of the use of red light cameras, among many other items. HB 300, as it was sent back to the House, was well over 1,000 pages.
 
The conferees could not and would not agree on the TLOTA provisions. Senator Carona and Rep. Truitt worked feverishly to generate support for HB 300 with the TLOTA provisions included, but it was not to be. Ultimately, the conference committee report for HB 300 did not include TLOTA, but neither chamber voted on the report, and the TxDOT Sunset recommendations died upon adjournment.
 
The rest of the DRMC Legislative Program fared little better. While we made attempts to move the legislation, and we did enjoy some success early on, our bills and the bills of many other constituencies fell victim to the House calendar. Once May 26 came and went, and the House Democrats successfully slowed the pace to avoid consideration of the Voter ID legislation, all bills behind the Voter ID bill suffered the same fate.
 
Note that there is one bright spot. While we were not successful in statutorily or constitutionally ending diversions [diversions of fuel tax revenues from transportation projects], progress was made. SB 1, the General Appropriations Bill, cut diversions by $360 million. It also provided $182 million for rail relocation and improvement, which may help ease gridlock at the Tower 55 rail intersection in Tarrant County.
 

 
I posted notice of a town hall meeting tonight in Downtown Garland. Both District Attorney Craig Watkins and Commissioner Mike Cantrell were expected to be there. I sensed it might be worth attending. Now having done so, I'm not so sure it was worth it but I will say that it was very interesting and it was enlightening.
 
I have updated my previous post. If you are a little curious how this whole episode played, I invite you to check the update.
 

We saw some retreat in the number of reported crimes in District 1 in May. The one murder cited is the murder/suicide that occurred in a city park by a father taking his son's life and then his own. Although neither lived in Garland, it was a tragic event and emotionally affected all of us.
 
Home burglaries rose for the month. Except one, all of these invasions occurred in fairly close proximity and most were within a block or two of either Pleasant Valley Rd or Castle Dr. Several also occurred in the Valley Creek neighborhoods. Residents must remain acutely aware of all activities in their area and to look for strangers. Any suspicious activity merits noting license numbers, number of individuals, ages, and other details that may be of use if incidents continue. Feel free to report suspicious activity to the Police Dept. Such information is often useful later. Also, Police know a number of these may have been committed by teenagers skipping school. Read the update to last month's crime post.
 
Theft in our retail and commercial areas remains high. Again, a high number is this category can be good because it means a lot of shoplifters are being caught. That might be something to spread among our teenagers: shoplifters are regularly caught.
 
If you want to review the areas that have reported incidents over the last month, download the complete report here for address-by-address information that includes your neighborhood.
 

The Council addresses the Operations and Maintenance Budget, and sets the tax rate, in September. Last year was a tough year as the staff and Council struggled with a $5 million deficit. We streamlined city government in a number of areas and cut programs. The Star Spangled Fourth that has been celebrated at Firewheel Town Center was one such program, which recently made the news.
 
I said last year that setting that budget wasn't hard. I didn't mean to imply that it was easy, far from it, but I wanted to convey that this year would be even more difficult. For every excuse we found last year to not make the hard decisions, we would be visited double this year. I think the Council did make the hard decisions and, more importantly, we told the staff that it was okay to be aggressive, that there were no sacred cows. By not sponsoring the Star Spangled Fourth this year, District 1 led by example.
 
This year will be difficult but not nearly as much as it could have been if we had hesitated to start cuts last year.
 
Budget Director Bryan Bradford recently told the Council that we could see $7 million fewer tax dollars this year, based on preliminary figures from the appraisal district. It is a significant hit on top of last year's hit but it is the amount that staff has been working toward almost since last fall. We've had the right target. It is not worse than we have been expecting.
 
Still, it's a lot of money to not have. It will mean impacts to employees and citizens. Probably, compensation for our hard working employees will not be at previous levels and services to our citizens will decrease.
 
Even if the economy starts a strong rebound, the effects of this downturn will be felt for a couple years or more.
 
These are tough times for the city but I don't want to be depressing. This is an opportunity to control our expenses and to restrain debt. There have been many things as a city we have not been able to afford. By tightening our shoe laces for a few years, as the economy turns and values increase, we will be much better positioned than ever before to promote Garland and to tackle many problems that have festered for years but for which there were no resources.
 
George Will recently said, in another context but the principle is the same, "Re-engagement with reality is among the recession's benefits."
 
Planning well for today allows us to plan better for tomorrow.
 

 
District Attorney Craig Watkins wasn't taking a team player approach in his dealings with the County Commissioners Court, who have instructed all departments to cut their budgets 10% in an attempt to compensate for the tax revenue shortfalls being experienced by almost all governmental agencies, when he told department employees, according to the Dallas Morning News, that the effort was "smoke and mirrors" and that "We are special."

Craig Watkins

Mike Cantrell

 
Tuesday's DMN brought word that Watkins had tempered his expectations, but, according to longtime Commissioner John Wiley Price, maybe not enough. In the same article Watkins announced that he would be holding town hall meetings in each of the commissioner's districts.
 
The first such meeting is tonight. Garland citizens and others will have opportunity to judge the tussle for themselves at 7 p.m., Garland City Hall, 200 N Fifth St, where Watkins and County Commissioner Mike Cantrell, a Garland resident, will speak.
 
It is a classic discussion: where do we set the balance between too much taxes and too little security. Obviously that balance is different for each person but where does it settle community wide?
 
Things get boring quite often at City Hall. Maybe we're destined for excitement and enlightenment tonight.
 

 
UPDATE: I have seen the Council Chamber crowded with standing room only numerous times. I did not expect to find that tonight but such was the case. I was able to grab a seat next to Council members Rick Williams and Laura Cox. Four other Council members were also present.
 
The meeting did not start on time but by 7:45, Mr Watkins was still talking or asking his staff to talk. There is much more going on than we learned in this meeting. Mr Watkins does not come off as a professional. He presented some very selected "facts," but spent much of his monologue attacking ghosts that were not present. In a love/hate teeter-totter, he variously took shots at the media, at the Commissioners Court, at Republicans, his predecessor, and even audience members.
 
His claim is basically that his department is being asked to cut their budget. He claims that 96% of his budget is for personnel. If he cuts the 10% the county is asking, then he would be forced to cut personnel. If he cuts personnel, we would all be less safe. He and his staff is asking the Commissioners Court to set priorities and to make his department a priority.
 
Commissioner Cantrell was eventually able to speak where he presented information from the county's perspective. His presence may not have even been welcome. He only learned of the meeting late Tuesday. He reported that Mr Watkins was the only department head that had not met with the commissioners or the budget office. Other departments had made cuts, many at amounts greater than they were being asked.
 
Commissioner Cantrell complemented the District Attorneys Office and asked how many were present from that office. Numerous people stood, spanning the whole room. As many as 20% of the audience could have been just from the District Attorneys Office. Many others were clearly "invited guests," not Garland or area residents.
 
Two camera crews were there from local networks. It will be interesting to see if the dozens of plants in the audience is revealed in the reports.
 
Mr Watkins kept repeating that the budget issue was not about him, "Even though I'm on the news daily," that is was not about politics, even though he kept mentioning politics.
 
The "facts" that were presented by one of his staff members were practically meaningless. They showed that, per capita, Dallas residents pay less toward the District Attorneys Office than other large Texas counties. The point was made that Travis County (Austin) receives twice as much. The other side of the story, that Travis County represents the entire state of Texas in some matters, was not mentioned.
 
The main argument presented as to why not to cut the DA's budget over $3 million was that prisoners sitting in jail because they couldn't get court time would cost more than that. I didn't follow that argument. I've never heard of a judge saying, "We'll have to continue this case and leave the prisoner in jail because the prosecutor is unavailable." There might be an argument that prisoners may sit in jail longer if prosecutors are slow to address their cases. Criminal on street? Criminal in jail? Hmmmm, hard choice.
 
Although there was a moderator, Mr Watkins kept calling on certain people to ask him questions. One woman that was identified as an executive assistant in his office kept calling Commissioner Cantrell a liar. Another office member said Commissioner Cantrell was "disingenuous." None of the actions exhibited by many of those from the District Attorneys Office could be characterized as "professional." Yet at no time did Mr Watkins ask his employees to behave. At one point, he invited one to come attack the Commissioners Court. Certainly the District Attorney did not conduct himself as a professional; he continually tried to make emotion-inducing statements.
 
Commissioners Cantrell and John Wiley Price, who was also there but did not speak, are to be complimented for being the only professionals present. Commissioner Cantrell waded into a hostile, planted, and stacked audience to present the county's perspective. He successfully elicited a promise, begrudgingly given, from the District Attorney to sit down to discuss the budget situation and said that if he would do that, if the District Attorney would spend money from various funds that are sitting in the bank, that they could solve the budget impasse and all would be able to keep their jobs.