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City of Fate Mayor Andrew Greenbergs Summer Series Town Hall 1 — Transcript

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0:00All
0:12right. Hello. Okay. Good evening.
0:14Welcome. Welcome to the inaugural
0:17series, the the inaugural summer series
0:20of town halls with the mayor. I'm so
0:23glad you guys are here. Uh we'll go
0:25ahead and get started. Uh, I want to
0:26make sure to first acknowledge and and
0:29if we can all acknowledge uh that Pastor
0:32Amy Walker has graciously allowed us to
0:34do uh this event at her church. So,
0:36yeah, if we could all give her thank you
0:38very much
0:40because otherwise it was going to be
0:41outside at the park in a pavilion. I
0:43don't think anybody would have shown up.
0:46That's not what you do uh in in
0:48summertime in Fate, Texas. Um but before
0:51we begin, I also I saw him back there a
0:53second ago. Where did Pastor James go?
0:55Oh, here you go. Uh, Pastor James, if
0:57you would come up and lead us in a
0:59prayer before we get started. Ask Pastor
1:01James to do this because I want to make
1:03sure that we uh recognize the importance
1:05of opening in prayer and guiding not
1:07just individually but guiding our great
1:09city. So, this is Pastor James. Thank
1:11you very much.
1:15>> And we do have a church service that we
1:17do here youth every Sunday in the
1:21afternoon. And I'm grateful for life to
1:23use
1:25that ministry. Let us bow in prayer.
1:28Heavenly Father, thank you again
1:32for allowing us to come and gather
1:34together in this place that we call the
1:37house of the Lord here at Life Church.
1:39Thank you for our mayor. Thank you for
1:40his family. Thank you for all those that
1:42are here, all the saints and the saints.
1:45Lord God, we thank you for creating all
1:48humans, the good, the bad, the ugly. We
1:50thank you for all of them and help us
1:53Lord to understand that you desire for
1:56us to live in peace, to have
1:58reconciliation, to have unity, to have
2:01understanding. Lord God, you told us
2:03through your word that you would prepare
2:05a table before us. David says in the
2:08presence of our enemies, Lord God, help
2:11us to understand that um no matter who
2:14claims to be our enemy, our enemies are
2:17unseen. They're they're not
2:21Um there there are things that hover
2:23over us. So Lord, put a a sheet of
2:27angels over this building and put a
2:30sheet of covering over Mayor Greenberg
2:32right now so that as we talk together
2:35that we will actually have a a spirit of
2:38collaboration, a spirit of unity, a
2:40spirit of reconciliation, a spirit of
2:42understanding, a spirit of tolerance
2:44with each other to learn and work out
2:46help us to learn from each other. Mayor
2:49Greenberg doesn't know everything. We
2:50don't know everything. And just allow us
2:52to communicate in such a fashion, Lord,
2:55that we will come out of this place
2:56better than when we came in. We thank
2:59you again, Lord, for your son and for
3:00all that you've done for our city. In
3:03the precious name of Jesus, we pray.
3:05Amen.
3:05>> Amen.
3:10>> Thank you.
3:14I would ask Pastor James if he thinks
3:16I'm one of the good, the bad, or the
3:18ugly, but I'm afraid of his answer, so
3:20I'm not going to ask that question
3:22today. Um, okay. Well, welcome again.
3:25This is our first of five summer town
3:27halls. I'm really excited that we're
3:29going to uh be doing these together. I
3:32want to say just kind of how I
3:33envisioned these to work. First and
3:35foremost, kind of the some uh
3:37housekeeping, if you will. We do have
3:39some forms on the back to write
3:41questions. I'm doing that so that we
3:43have a record of them so that those
3:44questions can be answered. If they don't
3:47get answered or if I have to say, you
3:48know, I I don't necessarily know the the
3:50answer to that question, let me find out
3:52some of that information and bring that
3:53to you that we have it. Uh so, please
3:56make sure if you want to ask a question,
3:57you fill that out. That does not mean
3:59that there can't be follow-up questions
4:01and and some dialogue, but I do want to
4:03make sure that we respect anyone and
4:04everyone who would ask a question for
4:06that. Uh you have a form up there. If
4:08you can get that to Mr. Michael Board up
4:10here in the front and he'll he'll make
4:12sure those questions get answered. The
4:14other thing I want to say is that uh
4:16because we are in a house of the Lord, I
4:19would very much appreciate if everybody
4:21would keep this civil at the end of the
4:23day. While we might have vehement and
4:25strong disagreements with one with one
4:27another, uh we are in uh we are in
4:29somebody else's space right now. So,
4:31let's honor and respect that. I promise
4:33you if if I'm not uh answering a
4:35question to your satisfaction, uh you
4:38know, if if you stay respectful with me,
4:40we can continue to have these multiple
4:42times again. I don't want to have to um
4:44I don't want it to be where we can't
4:45figure out where to do these because
4:47people are nervous about what's going to
4:50happen at the different events. So,
4:51let's maintain that respect level. And I
4:54think we're going to have a really good
4:55time tonight and for at least four more
4:58nights throughout the summer. So I I
5:00want to uh I think it would be prudent I
5:02think it would be wise uh to before we
5:04necessarily open up for questions or or
5:07even to talk about our two uh topics
5:10that I had put on the flyer that we
5:12could talk about the comprehensive plan
5:13and then the budget process. Let's
5:16address two big elephants in the room.
5:18Let's start straight out of the gate. I
5:20say transparency all the time. So let's
5:22be transparent. The first one, somebody
5:24has probably asked a question. Mike,
5:25you're to just to be clear, you are
5:27still more than welcome to ask this.
5:29I've instructed Mike, do not do not
5:31remove any questions that he thinks uh
5:33might might be bad or anything. Ask them
5:35all. So, if this is a repeat, still
5:36continue to ask it so that we can see
5:38that. But why now? Why all of a sudden
5:42is Mayor Greenberg doing town halls? And
5:46let me answer it this way. Even before
5:50um I I put this flyer out,
5:54I had multiple people come up to me and
5:57say, "Well, are you going to live stream
5:59it? Are you going to record it?" And and
6:01at first that that was bothering me
6:02because I was thinking, "Well, come see
6:04me in person. That's you you want to
6:05fill a space. Anybody loves to see
6:07people that they get to interact with."
6:10But but the the theme became very clear.
6:12People are very nervous right now to
6:14come show up at city functions and with
6:17city people. There is an air of toxicity
6:20in our city right now, mostly promoted
6:23on social media that make a lot of
6:25people not want to get involved that
6:27scare a lot of people away. Uh I have
6:30people who will ask questions and say I
6:32don't want to come to meetings. I don't
6:33want to come to events because of that.
6:36And and just to be very frank, there are
6:39people who have come to some meetings
6:41and then they find pictures of
6:43themselves online and people addressing
6:46them as what are these characters doing?
6:48Why are they why are they even here?
6:50They're looking weird. And we are just
6:52not going to get good people involved in
6:54our city if we're scaring everybody
6:56away. So I I do have a challenge for us.
6:58So why why now? Why now? Well, for a
7:00long time that element of toxicity said
7:03I I thought, you know what? No, we're
7:05going to stay away from those. But right
7:06now, I think this is a very real
7:08opportunity to also see if we can't
7:11change that that dynamic in the city.
7:14Let's see if we can change the
7:15temperature, if we can dial it down,
7:17have respectful dialogue, and ensure
7:19that the good people that want to get
7:21involved, that want to see how the city
7:23operates, that want to run for our
7:25boards and commissions or apply to our
7:27boards and commissions one day, run for
7:29city council, aren't fearful that
7:32they're going to be the target of of
7:34such online hate. And so, I don't know
7:37how these are going to go. I'm hoping
7:39that these that that we can uh take up
7:41that mantel and and charge forward in a
7:44in a way that that really reflects a
7:47statesmanlike element here. We're about
7:50to celebrate 250 years as a nation. I've
7:52got my county sponsored pin here. Uh and
7:55what an what an awesome opportunity for
7:57all of us to promote that. Awesome
7:59opportunity for all of us to show, hey,
8:02we might have our disagreements, but
8:04look, we can come together with this.
8:06And so one of the reasons why I did
8:07commit to five is to make sure that
8:09people know I'm serious about that. And
8:11so each one of these I'm hoping gets
8:13better than the last. And I hope that
8:15each one has more in attendance than the
8:17last. And if we can start showing that
8:19and if we can use this as an opportunity
8:21to get people to say, "Hey, you know
8:23what? I don't have to necessarily be as
8:25scared anymore to be involved." What an
8:27awesome message that would send to all
8:29the residents in our city. So that's
8:31answer number one as to why. Now the
8:34second thing that I think that we should
8:36address is the uh process of the ethics
8:39complaints because that has certainly
8:41dominated uh I say the news uh we're
8:43we're fake we're not big enough to
8:45really have a you know the nightly news
8:47but has certainly dominated the online
8:50social media space for a while and I
8:52want to and I I tried to to come up with
8:55a kind of a a process way to explain how
8:58the ethics process works. So, if you'll
9:00permit me, I'm going to talk a little
9:02bit about the process and how
9:04specifically it applied to our
9:05situation. And I can say that now
9:07because the council voted to wave
9:09privilege and and we can discuss it.
9:11It's not to relitigate individuals
9:14personal opinions, but to explain how
9:16this process works. So when an ethics
9:20complaint is filed by anybody and I know
9:23that that many of these have come from
9:26uh council members or now now former
9:28council members but when a complaint is
9:29filed it comes to the city and then the
9:32city sends it to a uh outside council.
9:37There were and and to be clear there
9:38were already questions on is that the
9:41appropriate response. Uh, I know that
9:43former Councilman Harper disagreed that
9:45that was that was the way it should go.
9:47And and truth be told, in our in our
9:49ordinance for that process, it doesn't
9:51explain that very well. So, that's a
9:53perfectly legitimate re uh uh response
9:56to look and say, "Well, wait a minute.
9:57Why are we even doing it?" But that's
9:59how the city proceeded forward. We get a
10:02kind of an initial a first look. Here's
10:05what I found. Do I think, and this is
10:07the outside counsel at this point,
10:08outside council says, "This is what I'm
10:10I'm looking at. I'm not doing a deep
10:12dive yet. I'm just looking to see is
10:14there merit to this. And if the council
10:17decides there's merit, then a full
10:20investigation will commence. After that
10:22full investigation, we are told
10:25basically what's in the report. And then
10:27the council has to decide if we're going
10:29to move forward. And at that point that
10:32moving forward from the investigation is
10:34to have a hearing where the the council
10:38member the affected council member can
10:40speak or uh people can can you know
10:42provide some information provide a a
10:44story if you will uh and then the
10:47council can take action via via sanction
10:50some kind of you know we have a list
10:52it's in your I mean it's it's uh it's
10:54online it's in the ordinance you you can
10:56see them I think there are six or seven
10:58different levels that that the council
11:00could do.
11:03So with that said, it's important to
11:05understand what happens during the
11:06investigation process. That
11:09investigation and I'll say specifically
11:11with mine where I found there was a
11:13major deficiency in Mr. Fischer's report
11:17was this was centered on the question of
11:19deliberative process. What is
11:22deliberative process and how is that
11:25different perhaps than confidential
11:28information? because that's what that's
11:30what I was uh uh that's what the person
11:32who filed the ethics complaint against
11:34me said releasing of confidential
11:36information and it's important to note
11:38that legally there are standards by
11:40which a city can withhold information
11:43from the public there's one confidential
11:46by law which would basically mean that
11:48even if the city wanted to shield it the
11:52law says no you can't and and even if I
11:55should say it this way even if the city
11:57said no no let's go ahead and release
11:58it. The law says no, you absolutely
12:01can't. That let me let me make sure I
12:03correct that. We could say, "Yeah, go
12:05ahead and release it." Not like a good a
12:07good example there would be like social
12:08security numbers. I couldn't give out
12:10social security numbers of the city
12:12employees. Even if I said, "Yeah, let's
12:13give it out." The law says, "No, that's
12:15confidential information."
12:17But now this question of deliberative
12:19process, what is that? Well, I did some
12:22research and looked at the attorney
12:24general's office, who's the body that
12:26would make a ruling that would tie a
12:29city to either withhold something or
12:32allow something to be released. And I
12:34said, what what by what process is
12:37something determined unreleasable or
12:39redactable or to be withheld, however
12:42you want to look at it, based on the
12:44law? and the attorney general's office
12:47who issues the ruling, the the staff
12:49attorney I spoke to said that
12:51deliberative process to withhold
12:53something as a city, you have to first
12:56seek a ruling to withhold something. And
12:59that's great. Let me just pause there.
13:01That is phenomenal because if we want to
13:03live in an open society, we would rather
13:06the standard be we have to ask, we have
13:09to present a compelling argument to say
13:12we need to withhold this. Imagine and I
13:14just want to paint a picture. Imagine if
13:16your city council or if your city
13:17attorney could just say, "We don't want
13:19to release this." And somebody said,
13:20"All right, we don't have to release it
13:22unless somebody asks asks us and they
13:24and they beg and we charge them a lot of
13:26money to to send it down to the attorney
13:29general." No, no, no, no. It should be
13:31releasable unless we, and when I say we,
13:34I mean the governing entity, make a
13:37compelling case. And at that point, the
13:39attorney general, we have to wait on
13:41that ruling for him to say or for the
13:43attorney general's office to say, "Yes,
13:45you can withhold it." And keep in mind,
13:47just because we submit a request to
13:49withhold something, doesn't mean that
13:51it's withheld. The attorney general can
13:53and does come up come back and say, "No,
13:57you can't withhold this. You have to
13:58release it." Right? So, that's the
14:00process. It's also the process and hear
14:03me very clearly on this that if you do
14:06not seek a ruling to withhold something
14:09under deliberative process that is
14:12considered a voluntary disclosure.
14:17Our city did not seek even prior to when
14:21the council voted to wave the
14:23deliberative privilege.
14:25Our council did not I mean our city did
14:28not seek a ruling from the attorney
14:30general. So what does all that mean in
14:32relation to um to to what happened with
14:35these ethics complaints? For somebody to
14:38say there was an ethics complaint
14:41against Mayor Greenberg for releasing
14:43deliberative privileged information as
14:46confidential. Not only is it not
14:49confidential by law, but the city did
14:52not ask to withhold it. So the city not
14:55asking means there's nothing that
14:57couldn't have been released. The only
15:00thing that could have come back would
15:02have been here is something confidential
15:04by law that you're still not available
15:06to release and none of that was
15:08released.
15:10So the reason why I said that my ethics
15:14complaint was not I do not think it
15:17should have moved forward was because
15:20nobody was able to provide Mr. Fischer,
15:22the outside council was not able to
15:24provide anything that said I released
15:27that without authorization.
15:30Now, let's talk a little bit about
15:33ethics complaints as they relate to
15:34matters of law versus matters of public
15:37opinion. Anybody is free to think that
15:40somebody acts in an unethical way about
15:43anything, right? Somebody cut you off on
15:45the road, that's an unethical person
15:47right there. we don't like them and we
15:49say some things about them and then if
15:50we say too harsh of things about them,
15:52we repent of that later, right? Or you
15:55hear your three daughters in the back
15:56repeat the words that you say and then
15:58your wife slaps you in the arm and you
16:00realize, hey, I got to be a little bit
16:01more careful on what I say in the car
16:03when somebody cuts me off.
16:05But then there's matters of ethics as it
16:07pertains to our city charter, our code
16:10of ethics, and how you move forward in a
16:13at least a quasi judicial setting. So
16:16again, my I have no idea if there are
16:18some questions on that. I'd be more than
16:20than happy to answer any kind of
16:21specifics there, but I wanted to at
16:23least address those two uh elephants in
16:26the room because I figured somebody was
16:27going to want to know about it. I've
16:29seen some of the chatter online and so I
16:31wanted to make sure that we spoke
16:33freely, openly about that. But again, I
16:36encourage anybody who feels like they
16:37still have a follow-up question with
16:38that to ask.
16:42So now, let's get to some of the fun
16:43stuff. Let's talk about uh the budget
16:46and the comprehensive plan and I'll
16:47first talk about the comprehensive plan.
16:50So the comprehensive plan uh kind of
16:52kickoff meeting was last night and one
16:56of the themes that I think is very
16:57profound that I that I want to make sure
16:59that everybody knows not just the people
17:01in this room people watching online is
17:04that the the comprehensive plan
17:07consultant group that we're going with
17:08repeatedly stated this is not their
17:11plan. It's not the one that they've come
17:14up with. In fact, they did not present
17:16to us a here's where we think fate's at.
17:19Here's where we think fate should go.
17:21This is what we want to see for your
17:22city. If you do this, we'll tell our
17:26friends to come visit fate because then
17:28it will be cool. That's not what the
17:30that's not not what the comprehensive
17:31plan is. The comprehensive plan is our
17:33opportunity to shape what we want the
17:36city to look like. And I'll give you an
17:38example here. And and one thing that I
17:41think that I'm going to bring as a
17:42member of that committee, uh I'm not the
17:45chairman of that committee. Wanted to
17:47make sitting in that center chair uh as
17:48as mayor is enough for me for now. But
17:52one of the things that uh that that we
17:54get to do is we get to decide what we
17:56want the city to look like. Not just in
17:57some of the buildings, not just in some
17:59of the spaces that we put in, but also
18:01in the total population. I was talking
18:04to Mayor McCllum over in Rock Wall a
18:07couple of days ago and one of the things
18:08that because they just did a
18:10comprehensive plan update. One of the
18:12things that they did was they slashed
18:14their uh I guess you you could say their
18:16top what what are they going to be at
18:18build out in terms of once everything is
18:20built once there is no more land to
18:22decide what to do with how many total
18:23people are going to live in Rock Wall.
18:26And they slashed that from their prior
18:28comprehensive plan of 120,000. They got
18:31that down to 85,000.
18:33Now, that's a huge
18:36achievement. And that's the kind of
18:38thing that we get to do. That's the kind
18:40of opportunity that we have in in being
18:42part of a comprehensive plan update like
18:44this. Another thing, and by the way, I'm
18:46not saying we're going to use exact
18:48numbers or or exact percentages, but
18:50something to be thinking about. Another
18:53thing that they did was any new home
18:55that hasn't already been approved and
18:57and uh and and you know started on
18:59construction, one of the things that
19:00they get that they've done is make it so
19:02that any new home that's built is going
19:05to be on a quarter acre or more.
19:08Now, I know we have our Crrenshaw
19:10development up in the in the north side
19:12of Fate and and we can talk about that
19:13too if we want. But but my point with
19:16saying all of this is this is a really
19:18unique opportunity for individual
19:21citizens, both the members of the
19:23committee, but then also the working
19:25group and then anybody who wants to come
19:28to say, "Here's what I want faith to
19:30look like. Here are my concerns with
19:33where faith is going." Of course,
19:35traffic is a concern, but we've also
19:38seen some businesses that have come in
19:41and have already shut down, and that's a
19:44concern. I've heard from people who say,
19:46again, traffic is is kind of the number
19:48one issue, admittedly, and and uh and so
19:50that's why the the rest of the council
19:52was ready to give me a helicopter to
19:54just avoid all that traffic, but I said,
19:55"No, no, if I if everybody doesn't get
19:57one, I don't get one either." Uh that
20:00was a joke. Just making sure everybody
20:02knows. uh for the online people. Uh but
20:04one of the things that one of the things
20:06that outside of the traffic is do we
20:09have the infrastructure to get
20:11businesses the the the foot traffic that
20:14they have. What are we doing about
20:15downtown? Let me tell y'all something. I
20:17will be devastated if the Fate Crearyy
20:20ever goes out of business. Wherever they
20:22move, that's where my family and I are
20:24going to move because that is delicious
20:26ice cream. And if you have not been
20:28there yet as a fate resident, that's a
20:30You know what? don't even I don't I
20:32don't want to know because I I don't
20:33want to I don't want to have to get ugly
20:35up here. But ultimately, uh what are we
20:38what are we doing about that? We want
20:40the businesses that come in to to be
20:42successful. We want them to thrive. We
20:44want them to be a draw for other cities
20:47in our county to come get to see us. And
20:49so the comprehensive plan is is kind of
20:52our blueprint. It tells, and this is
20:54important, it tells developers what we
20:58want to see in Fate. It isn't
21:00necessarily a uh legally binding
21:03document in that it it has to match
21:06every single thing perfectly because we
21:08also don't if if you look at the the
21:10plan. It's not like we have a big map
21:11here and we say all right here we want
21:14the uh uh you know the Jersey Mike and
21:16then over here we want the you know we
21:18don't we don't do that. It just simply
21:21says this is how we'd like to see fate
21:24move forward. Where do we want to see
21:27the pockets of good solid commercial
21:30activity? Where do we want to see more
21:32residential areas? What do we want to do
21:35about the parks? We have a really young
21:37population in fate and that's fantastic.
21:40So, how do we continue to uh attract
21:44young families, attract, again, like I
21:46said, attract people from around the
21:48county. One thing that has been really
21:50fun about being mayor is listening to
21:53everybody talk about Sauce and Vine
21:55because I even though I don't own a
21:57piece of Sauce and Vine. I mean, my wife
21:59and I have gone there several times. I
22:01don't, you know, I wasn't part of the
22:03building process to that. Anytime
22:04somebody says, "Oh, yeah, you guys have
22:06a great restaurant up there. Sauce,
22:08yeah, yeah, we do. Yeah, come out some
22:10more. Come see some other stuff that we
22:11have." And so that's what that
22:13comprehensive plan and what the update
22:15we're doing is is going to be now. It's
22:17not a complete overhaul and I know
22:19there's been kind of some some
22:21speculation or some kind of some
22:22confusion on that. We're not completely
22:24redoing the plan, but we're updating it.
22:28Last time it was last time this was
22:29worked on was during COVID. So, I think
22:32even from a standpoint of what we
22:34thought was going to be the new norm
22:36when it comes to working from home, you
22:37know, some of that has panned out, some
22:39of it hasn't.
22:41Uh but we are we are in a unique
22:43position to I think uh get close to that
22:48finishing of the buildout process. Where
22:51we're at right now is really deciding
22:54hey if if we're at that tail end of of
22:56you know the land available and what we
22:58want to look like. We're there and we
23:01get to be the ones that decide on that.
23:02So I just want to present that charge to
23:04anybody in here. Not only please show up
23:07at these meetings, talk to your council
23:09members. talk to me about what you want
23:12to see, what works, what doesn't work.
23:13And that's another thing I do want to
23:14say, too, because you'll see some
23:16pictures over the next couple of uh
23:18days, I think, or maybe into next week,
23:20of a bunch of a bunch of posters that
23:23were all on the wall in city hall, and
23:25everybody was writing post-it notes on
23:27uh you know, what what works in faith,
23:30what doesn't work. That's equally as
23:32important to know, right? We want to
23:34know we want to know the good, the bad,
23:35and the ugly, right, Pastor James? Uh
23:37who who knew that that prayer would be
23:39so influential even in the even in this
23:42part. Uh but but ultimately what works
23:45what doesn't work uh you know obstacles
23:48that we think we're going to have
23:49challenges
23:50you know there was one uh and and it was
23:53called the the one thing Patty correct
23:55me what wasn't the one thing like the
23:58one thing about fate you love it was it
23:59was something that basically like what
24:01what is the one thing that you love what
24:03is really cool
24:05okay one thing that thank you one thing
24:07that would make it successful
24:09those are some great questions and
24:11here's the beauty of Here's and and let
24:13me say this. Here's the role of the
24:15consultants. They take this information.
24:18They take our information. They don't
24:20add to it. They don't, you know, once
24:23they take all those post-it notes off
24:24and and put that, they don't add another
24:2630 post-it notes on with their own ideas
24:29and what they want to see. You know,
24:31there's no stuff in the ballot box kind
24:33of thing. But they take that all of that
24:35information and they come back and say,
24:37"Okay, this is what we think your
24:39comprehensive plan now needs to look
24:40like." And that's what developers will
24:42see. That's what real estate agents will
24:45see. That's what anybody who's
24:47interested in moving out to this area,
24:49if they go online and look at it, that's
24:50what they will see. And how is that
24:53built? It's built by us. It's built by
24:56the people that live here. That's a
24:57remarkable thing. We do it every five
24:59years, but it really is something that I
25:01encourage. Again, if you're watching
25:02online, please get involved. And if you
25:04don't know how to get involved, please
25:06email me, uh email any of the council
25:08members and uh because we would love to
25:10make sure that you're on the list,
25:11you're you're constantly aware of when
25:13these meetings are happening and you can
25:15come give your input, too. Uh so, and
25:18again, we might ask some questions on
25:19that later, but but the other thing I
25:20want to talk about before we open it up
25:22to any questions that you guys may have,
25:24let's talk about uh the budget, the
25:27budget process. And uh and it's it's
25:29it's confusing. It can be kind of
25:31convoluted. Um, I remember when I was
25:34first elected and I had a lot of people
25:36that would say, uh, you know, it's going
25:38to take you a while to to understand
25:40budgeting as it relates to city finance.
25:44And I remember thinking, it might take
25:45everybody else a long time, but give me
25:47a week and I'll be an expert in it. And
25:49I'm now on year two of doing this job
25:51and I'm going, okay, uh, the city
25:54manager used an acronym, you know, if if
25:56I'm on my phone, I'm I'm making sure I
25:58understand exactly what he's talking
26:00about. But one thing is very clear with
26:04respect to uh individual uh you whether
26:07it's individual accounts or or what
26:09we're spending here on and the amount
26:10that we're spending there. One thing
26:12that's very clear is from a direction of
26:16the council is how we steer your money
26:19because it's your money at the end of
26:21the day. It's your money and what we do
26:24get to decide is the tax rate. And so
26:28I'm going to go a little professorial on
26:30you for a moment. That's my day job in
26:32case you didn't know. But let me explain
26:34a little bit about how those rates work
26:37and then I'll give you at least my
26:38philosophy on how to do city budgeting.
26:41So you heard if you watched the council
26:43meeting on Monday. If you haven't, I
26:44encourage you to go back and watch it.
26:46You'll see where we are as a council,
26:48where we're unified, where there are
26:50some differences. It would give you an
26:52awesome opportunity to see those
26:53differences and then come and make a
26:55public comment at a future council
26:57meeting if you'd like. But there are a
27:00couple of different rates that we could
27:02adopt. Couple of different numbers if
27:05you will. And the first would be
27:08maintaining the same rate we did last
27:10year. This means that the tax rate, the
27:13number doesn't change. your tax amount
27:16will change because that rate is
27:19attached to your housing value. And so
27:22whatever the state does when they
27:24increase exemptions here and there and
27:26then whatever house value you have, the
27:29rate stays the same. So that would mean
27:31that if your housing value went up, you
27:34will likely pay a little bit more. If
27:35your housing values go down, you would
27:38likely pay a little bit less because the
27:40rate is based on your housing value.
27:42Then there's the no new revenue rate and
27:45this allows us to capture all the new
27:47growth. I hate to say capture that
27:48almost sound it allows us to use and
27:51receive. There we go. That sounds
27:53voluntary then. It allows us to receive
27:56all of the new development that came in
27:59and then it adjusts the rate so that you
28:01aren't paying any more or any less than
28:04the year prior. Now, this is great when
28:08housing values shoot through the roof
28:09because we don't necessarily want the
28:12same rate because if you have the same
28:14rate and your housing values just
28:15continue to go like that, you're going
28:16to pay more and more. So, no new revenue
28:18can essentially allow it to adjust. And
28:20it's almost like saying, "Hey, we just
28:22want you to pay the same amount. So,
28:25we'll work on whatever the rate needs to
28:27be after that. Figure out the the amount
28:31that you paid last year. What does the
28:32rate need to do?" And it can fluctuate.
28:35Then there's the voter approval rate.
28:37And this kind of sounds weird. In fact,
28:39I needed to I had to look it up and
28:41figure out what everything was was going
28:42on with this because what it sounds like
28:44is voter approval rate. Oh, this is what
28:46the voters have approved. This is what
28:48the voters want. What the voter approval
28:51rate means or or what it is is it's the
28:53effective rate that we can increase
28:56without having to come to you, the
29:00voter, for approval. So if we wanted to
29:03raise the tax rate three and a half%
29:07we can do that because it's under the
29:09voter approval rate. The state Austin
29:12the our state legislature they're
29:14constantly you might have heard them
29:15talk about this before. They they
29:17typically file a bill or a bill gets
29:19filed and debated every legislative
29:21session where uh they talk about do we
29:24want that to be do we want to lower the
29:26voter approval amount to 1% 2% do we
29:29want to do away with it completely any
29:31tax increase would need to go to the
29:33voters so that's what Austin does that
29:35they have effectively as of right now
29:36that that rate is set so that we could
29:40not advocating it right now I want to be
29:42very clear with that but we could raise
29:44the rate up to a certain amount without
29:47it becoming a an election, without it
29:50going on the November ballot for you,
29:52the people of faith, to decide.
29:54Then there's deminimus, last one, I
29:56promise, and then we'll move on. Then
29:58there's dimminimus. And the dimminimus
30:00effectively says, hey, we know that you
30:02need the voter approval rate plus a
30:04little bit more, but at that point, it's
30:05tied to a dollar amount. So it's often
30:08it has been referred to as the fire
30:10truck rate, which basically was like,
30:13hey, we understand the rate might need
30:15to increase. you've got to run your city
30:16and if you need a new fire truck, the
30:18dimminimous rate will get you there.
30:20That's about the the cost or about the
30:22amount and and it fluctuates and it gets
30:24different. So, I won't go into the weeds
30:26with all that. Uh but it allows you and
30:28and that's kind of the the top amount
30:29that you could that you could then
30:31receive.
30:32And again, any questions on uh on this
30:35that you have, uh ask Councilman Manal
30:38because he'd be more than happy to go
30:39over all this with you. He's the one
30:40that understands all of that. I'll talk
30:42to you more about ice cream if you'd
30:44like.
30:45So now let's talk about the philosophy
30:48behind the budget. What do you want to
30:51see in the philosophy behind the budget?
30:54You'll hear a lot of talk not just from
30:56council members and and not in a not in
30:58a even a political way, but in a genuine
31:00conversational way with the public.
31:02You'll hear a lot of talk about things
31:04like fully funding our police and fire.
31:08You'll hear talk about adequately
31:09providing city services. We don't want
31:11to have to cut any city services. And
31:13these are great things. Of course, of
31:15course we don't. We don't want to cut
31:17anything that we don't have to.
31:20Of course, we want a fully funded uh
31:22fire department, a fully funded police
31:24department.
31:26But it's important to recognize, I
31:28think, a starting point. And that's
31:30essentially what the Monday meeting was
31:33all about. That Monday meeting was our
31:35city manager coming to us and saying,
31:37"Hey, I need to know how to direct my
31:39staff to prepare next year's budget."
31:42And so, how do you want us to proceed
31:43forward? And I'm grateful that the
31:45council really only looked at the uh
31:49keeping the effective tax rate and then
31:51and then the no new revenue because that
31:53means we're not starting from a point of
31:56we're going to we're going to end up
31:58raising your taxes. Uh that had been
32:00done for a long time in fate where that
32:03was kind of the starting point. That was
32:04the well it's it's just understood that
32:06taxes are going to go up. And one of the
32:08things I campaigned on was that's not
32:10how it has to be. We don't have to raise
32:12your taxes. And I use this example with
32:14people all the time. I say, if my boss
32:17came to me, I hope my boss is watching.
32:19If my boss came to me and said, "Hey,
32:22Andrew, um, here's the deal. We we we
32:25might be able to give out some raises
32:27this year, uh, in between 0%, you
32:29wouldn't get a raise, and and up to 5%.
32:32Uh, which one do you need? What what
32:35percentage do you need to maintain your
32:37standard of living?" What am I going to
32:39say?
32:41uh 5%. That's right. Probably gonna ask
32:43for a little bit more because I got
32:44three beautiful daughters at home that
32:46all continuously do well in their dance
32:49uh competitions, which then means they
32:51get invited to do more classes. And so
32:53anyway, that's why I'm losing weight. I
32:55don't get to eat as much because the uh
32:58they're they're taking all of that. Um
32:59but of course of course in the it's easy
33:03to start at that top rate. It's easy.
33:05Well, that just that covers us. But the
33:07question is not what should be the
33:09easiest. The question should be, what
33:11are we doing to be good stewards of your
33:13tax dollars? And so my commitment and
33:16what I would like to see is let's keep
33:19let's start from the standpoint of
33:21keeping the same rate
33:24because that shows a um that shows the
33:28staff, hey, if you need more, justify
33:31it. And sometimes that justification's
33:33perfect. Sometimes that makes total
33:34sense. But I don't think we start there.
33:37I think we start at this is what we had
33:40last year. We're already going to get,
33:41you know, any new growth that comes in,
33:44but we want to start at a place where
33:46anything else that's needed should come
33:49before the council. And not just the
33:51council because it's seven of us, but
33:54because the seven of us represent you.
33:57As much as we might have seen a decrease
33:59with inflation in the last year, year
34:03and a half, energy prices, have you
34:05looked at those lately? Those are still
34:06through the roof.
34:08If you've looked at food prices, I I'm
34:11waiting. I I was told that, you know,
34:13the egg prices would go down again. And
34:16I still am almost shocked every time I
34:18see the price for a carton of eggs. But
34:21well, one thing I think that's important
34:22is when when and I talked to them. I'm
34:25sure you've talked to them as well.
34:26These are kitchen table issues. When
34:27families are looking at it going, man,
34:30costs are going up everywhere.
34:32Can we make it so that the city isn't
34:34adding to that? And I was very
34:36encouraged. I want to say at our last
34:38council meeting, if you notice, and
34:39again, if you haven't watched it, go
34:41back. Our city manager acknowledged that
34:43we're able to do more with less. We've
34:46used different vendors uh for for
34:49different things and have been able to
34:50cut costs there. So, that means we don't
34:52have to raise the tax rate. We don't
34:54have to raise your taxes. We've we've
34:56consolidated departments. We've gotten
34:58more efficient at ways of doing things.
35:01So, there are of course lots of
35:02different ways to protect your tax
35:05dollars, but as I campaigned on and I
35:08continue to believe that you know how to
35:10spend your money better than government.
35:12So, let's provide those essential
35:14services and let you keep the rest.
35:17Again, we can always justify more.
35:19That's not the hard part. Justifying it
35:21is easy. But getting in there and
35:23saying, how can we make sure that we're
35:25not just assuming a higher rate,
35:27assuming more taxes? That's what makes
35:30that that's that's what you want to see
35:32your representatives doing regardless of
35:34the decision. It's I'm not I'm not
35:37justifying anything with the staff. I'm
35:38not justifying anything with the city
35:40manager. I come and I justify that with
35:42you and I want to be able to say this is
35:45what we're doing with you as a city.
35:47This is how I'm protecting your tax
35:49dollars and this is how we're going to
35:51keep your services high and continue to
35:54keep faith the place that you love to
35:56live. So, that's kind of my philosophy
35:59on the budget. Uh, we'll the the budget
36:02meeting that we had is far from over.
36:04That was a budget workshop. So, we've
36:06got several council meetings coming up.
36:09I encourage you to come tell us how you
36:11feel about different services that are
36:13being provided. What What do you want to
36:15see that you're not similar to the
36:18comprehensive plan? Are there things
36:20that that are that we're missing? I I
36:22would love to say that I had the time to
36:25drive through every neighborhood every
36:27three or four days and see what might be
36:30going well and and what might not, but I
36:32don't have that capability. But when the
36:34people are involved, we can say, "Hey,
36:35we're deficient in this area. Let's see.
36:38Let's see if we can pull from some other
36:39part of the budget. We did that last
36:41year. We took money that we had instead
36:43of instead of adding a new uh amount of
36:46revenue that we needed to achieve, we
36:48cut from some places and funded others."
36:51And and truth be told, it's a fun
36:53process once you get into the groove of
36:55it. And so I'm hopeful that more
36:57citizens will be involved in that
36:58because when you really get to see this
37:00is how that budget is operating and this
37:02is what we're doing with it, it creates
37:04a lot of fun opportunity to see where
37:06the city's going, what we can do with
37:07it, and really be proud of the
37:10accomplishments that we make. So my
37:12philosophy on the budget, again, if
37:14there are any questions on that, please
37:15continue to ask them. But at this time,
37:17we've got about 40 minutes left. I think
37:19this is a good time to uh stop for a
37:21moment and then start uh answering some
37:23of those questions that some individuals
37:24may have. So again at the the questions
37:27aren't closed. If you thought of another
37:29question at this time, please fill out
37:31the fill out the form so that we have it
37:33documented. The other thing and let me
37:34explain this too because I was asked I
37:36don't know how many there are. If we
37:38don't get to them all, there is a space
37:40for you to include your number. One of
37:42three things is going to happen. one, I
37:44can call you directly and we can chat if
37:46it's a question that you wanted
37:48answered. Number two, I can save that
37:50question and we can do that at town
37:52also. That way everybody's here and we
37:54can uh have some, you know, have the the
37:56fun with it that we're having. Or three,
37:58I can do a short little blurb uh and and
38:01answer on that. But but I do want to be
38:03clear before I before I go further with
38:04that because um I know that there have
38:07been some questions about my social
38:09media presence and I I do want to I do
38:12want to say that one of the reasons why
38:13you don't see me a lot on social media
38:15is because of the toxicity. I would love
38:18to answer questions but as I'm sure
38:20you've seen because they have gone
38:21around, there have been highly offensive
38:23and degrading images not just of me but
38:25of other people. And I I'll tell you
38:28right now, I'm not going to engage with
38:30that. I don't think it's a requirement
38:31just because I'm the mayor to engage
38:33with that. That level of hate I leave at
38:36the door. Good, genuine conversation.
38:39I'm all about that. So, Mr. Labour, fire
38:42off that first question, please.
38:51>> Oh, good.
38:53All right, mayor. Um, also, some some of
38:56the forms have a place for your phone
38:57number. Some don't. if you would like to
38:59include your phone number in on one of
39:01the forms that please go ahead. Um and
39:04I've got several like you said on the
39:07Thomas has already covered
39:08>> but go ahead and go ahead and ask them
39:10again just Okay.
39:11>> Absolutely. I also have a couple that
39:13are very similar and so we'll share
39:16those ones. Um and and feel free to to
39:20fill out if you have more than one
39:21question fill out forms. You don't have
39:24to put your name on it. Just there's
39:26spot up there. Put your name in case you
39:28wanted to call back or you know want me
39:30to read it. All right.
39:36>> All right. This and if it's got a name,
39:39I'll read your name. This is Cali Beard.
39:41What efforts were taken to ensure the
39:43comprehensive plan committee is truly
39:45representative of fate as a whole?
39:48>> Okay, good question. The the uh of
39:50course that I blank I thought I told you
39:52to ask me what my favorite ice cream
39:53flavor was. I need a few of those first.
39:55Uh so the question was what efforts were
39:58taken to ensure that the comprehensive
40:00plan committee truly reflected fate as a
40:04whole. Uh I would say that the beauty of
40:08the comprehensive plan committee is that
40:11it includes members of the public who
40:15applied, members of each board and
40:18commission that we have in fate and
40:20members of the city council. So, every
40:23single person was either from our two at
40:26large was either uh is either on the
40:29committee that people voted for and
40:32therefore voted for their ideas and and
40:34voted for whatever knocking, door
40:36knockocking they did on the campaign
40:37trail as well as were appointed by those
40:41people who were elected by the citizens.
40:44So, as much as it might be a degree of
40:47separation perhaps, uh, I think that it
40:50it best reflects because as a as as a
40:54city council member, one thing that I
40:56have to do is I have to take a lot of
40:58people's thoughts and and beliefs and
41:00ideas and directions and try to
41:02implement those. And so I think that by
41:05ensuring that that committee was formed
41:07by people who had um you know
41:09essentially essentially gone through the
41:11process of making sure we and and let me
41:14say this. So even on planning and zoning
41:16on uh the MDD on parks and wreck all of
41:20those individuals in order to even be on
41:22that board had to fill out an
41:23application and had to come and talk to
41:25city councilman. Some of the people on
41:27that on the comprehensive plan the CPAC
41:30uh I did not appoint. And so that's I
41:32think the other beauty of it and I
41:33didn't point to their position on
41:35planning and zoning MDD or uh or parks
41:37and red. Some of those individuals were
41:40were chosen by prior councils. So you
41:42have people who have who have given us
41:45an interview, have talked to council
41:47members who have filled out applications
41:48saying this is what they're about. This
41:50is what they want to see look like
41:51moving forward. And and I think it does
41:54a better job that way than necessarily
41:57uh at at the Let me let me say this. If
42:00we only opened it up to individual
42:03members and only the current council was
42:06able to choose individuals to serve,
42:09then there would always be the question.
42:11Did the council only choose people that
42:14they that they liked or got their
42:16friends to apply and choose? That would
42:18be the that would be I think what we
42:20were what I was trying to avoid from
42:22that. uh instead there are people that
42:24were appointed just by virtue of being
42:26the chair of their board or commission
42:29and I didn't have a say in that part and
42:32I didn't have a say in uh in the in the
42:34prior council who appointed them but it
42:36ensures that that a lot of people we
42:39know who what they they are we know what
42:41they're about we know they have a
42:42commitment to fate got to serve on that
42:45committee
42:50>> all right well staying with the comp
42:51plan Do you think the city do you think
42:54the city's comp plan that was updated
42:56and passed in 2021 was compliment
42:58comprised of what citizens wanted or was
43:00it what the city staff and developers
43:02wanted and do you think that plan being
43:05the plan being developed during COVID
43:07when most citizens
43:12>> I when most citizens couldn't or
43:14wouldn't participate affected the
43:16composition of seedback committee and
43:19the outcome of final
43:22Oh, okay. Let's uh let's address that
43:26one part at a time. So, do I think uh
43:28the question was in case you didn't hear
43:30because I know we were getting some
43:31feedback. Do I think that the current um
43:34plan is reflective of the of the
43:37citizens versus the uh Okay, now I'm
43:40getting feedback too. Did you turn that
43:42off? Oh, okay. Uh do I think it's
43:44reflective of the current of the
43:47citizens or of the staff? And then the
43:49second part was uh about COVID and and
43:52kind of like was was there were there
43:54maybe some problems because it was CO
43:55and not everybody was involved. Okay. So
43:57let me let me that's a two-part
43:59question. Let me address it in both
44:00parts. Um, I I will say that that one of
44:04the things that I wish more people knew
44:07about being uh not just mayor but on
44:10council is that
44:13as far as staff goes and and what what
44:16staff is is given direction on uh a lot
44:18of a lot of the staff is on autopilot.
44:20We and and I think everybody in this
44:23room knows but just to make sure being
44:25mayor is not a full-time job. Being a
44:26city council member is not a full-time
44:28job. We don't get a salary. We don't get
44:29a pension. we don't get benefits,
44:31anything like that. Uh, and so a lot of
44:34what a lot of what we do is kind of the
44:36the 30,000 foot view, not necessarily
44:39diving down into the uh into the
44:42nitty-gritty. We kind of give a
44:43direction. We kind of give a um a way we
44:45want to see the city move and then and
44:47then we expect our staff to to carry out
44:50those wishes. And ultimately, it's the
44:52wishes of the people because they're the
44:53ones that elect the council. So, I I
44:57don't know that I would go as far as to
44:59say uh you know, in a in a sense that
45:01the that the city staff were the were
45:04the true beneficiaries of the
45:07comprehensive plan. As much as I would
45:10say that if there were any deficiencies
45:13of a lack of citizen involvement, then
45:16staff would have absolutely kind of
45:17filled in those gaps. These are people
45:19who that's their job. They they went to
45:21school for it. they understand how to
45:23plan a city, how to build roads, all
45:24that kind of stuff. So, they're the ones
45:26that are looking at that. With that
45:28said, I think that now is a very
45:30critical time to and the and the
45:33response from from last night's meeting
45:35was all positive. I think it was great.
45:38In fact, I got an email from a citizen
45:40this morning about it saying that it was
45:42wonderful. It was very nice to have
45:43received that email. Uh somebody that
45:45was that was there last night. I think
45:47now is where we get to go say hey
45:49because during co not a lot of people
45:52were were involved and and anytime you
45:54do kind of zoom meetings or teams
45:55meeting that sort of thing it becomes
45:57very cumbersome to get involved and and
46:00say you know this is the direction I
46:02want to see the city move this is how
46:03I'd like to see the city progress and so
46:06again if I if I had to say um with all
46:10the change that we've had as well you
46:12know when I ran we were uh I think we
46:14were number eight nationally fastest
46:17growing city. And I would tell everybody
46:19that's not a title that we that we
46:21wanted. Uh you know, if you elect me,
46:23I'm going to make sure we're not in the
46:24top 10, which by the way, we are not in
46:26the top 10 this year. So, promises made,
46:30promises kept. But, uh I think that I
46:33think that with the explosive growth
46:35that we saw, you know, from from 2021 to
46:38now, I think it's more of a there there
46:41have there is just a need for some major
46:43changes with that. and we're going to
46:44get in there and we're going to change
46:45it so that it better reflects what the
46:47citizens of FA want. Now,
46:54here
46:57you
46:59ask an answer, but I'm going to ask you.
47:01Why don't you engage much on social
47:02media like Facebook?
47:04>> So, the question was, why don't I engage
47:06much with social media like Facebook?
47:10because I I just don't believe that that
47:12the majority of our conversations on
47:14Facebook are helpful. I think it's
47:16designed to uh it's designed to spread
47:20uh falsehood. It's designed to mock and
47:24and ridicule and scorn and even even
47:28when you you answer something or when
47:30you engage, it's a well, how come you
47:32hadn't engaged on anything before? uh
47:35well because everything else was was
47:37either calling me names or calling
47:39somebody, you know, a city staff member
47:40name or or starting from a place that
47:42wasn't true. And so I think that uh
47:45especially with the rise of anonymous
47:47posting, uh I I and and the fact that I
47:51don't really see a lot of anonymous
47:53posters asking genuine questions without
47:56an obvious agenda. Instead, those are
47:59the ones that post, you know, despicable
48:00images of people. I think that I think
48:03that it's a it's a uh it's a tool that
48:05unfortunately is is not a good tool to
48:08use right now. I think that there to to
48:10make the idea or to to almost sound like
48:13that's the only way somebody could could
48:15be involved or the only way somebody
48:17could engage with the public I think is
48:19wrong. I I think there a multitude of
48:21other ways. I think that it's I think
48:23that it's a distraction to try and say,
48:25"Well, so and so doesn't come onto my
48:27particular page or doesn't ever respond
48:29to me." Yeah. If you were to invite me,
48:32and I'll say too, in in person, there
48:34are some people that if they were to
48:35say, "Okay, well, come over to my house
48:37and have a conversation with me about
48:38it." I would tell them no, too. It's got
48:40to be I think there's a level of respect
48:42that we have to maintain. whether you
48:44agree with me or other council members
48:45or other members of the community or
48:47not. But until we see that decorum come
48:50back, I don't have any plans on I I'll
48:53post on my page and I and I'm I'm going
48:55to try to get better at at being much
48:57more regular with updates there, but I
48:59won't respond to a lot of the negativity
49:01and a lot of the hate going on.
49:05>> Okay, this is Jeff Genius. Are you aware
49:08of any grants or funding opportunities
49:10for programs involving cultural,
49:12heritage, diversity, multicultural, or
49:15community celebration events?
49:18>> Uh, so that's that's a great question
49:20and uh our city manager and I had
49:22recently talked about a bunch of grants.
49:25Uh to to my knowledge, the grant side, I
49:28I would have to say no, I'm not aware. I
49:31do know that we're looking at some
49:32grants for uh public safety, some grants
49:36for some economic development, that sort
49:38of thing. Uh but no, but uh so so for
49:40for any kind of cultural enrichment and
49:42kind of experiences like that, I don't.
49:44But if you will, Mike, put a little star
49:46on that one and I'll follow up with um
49:50Mr. Kovac, that's our city manager. I'll
49:51follow up with him tomorrow to make sure
49:53that we don't and I'll be able to come
49:54out and say either uh you know based on
49:56this conversation uh to my my knowledge
49:59was correct we don't or if it's oh yeah
50:01actually we do then I can then I can put
50:03that in.
50:05>> Okay. How would you how would you
50:06communicate that back to
50:08>> I'll put that on my Facebook page.
50:10>> Thank you.
50:13>> Or if if somebody has the number on
50:14there I can call them directly too.
50:16Okay.
50:17>> It's not on there but he's welcome to
50:19>> Sure. Absolutely. All right, Matt
50:21Dearorn,
50:23what could be done to force single
50:24family home landlords to keep the
50:26outside of their properties clean and in
50:28line with HOA rules?
50:31So, a lot of this comes to a code
50:33enforcement issue as well. We have one
50:35one thing I have learned is that we have
50:37standards,
50:39but sometimes those standards may not be
50:42followed completely and then followed up
50:44on. I've spoken with several
50:46individuals, not necessarily about
50:49maybe yard maintenance. It it kind of
50:51sounds like that was that the majority
50:53of that question. Uh but but there are
50:55certain things that the city can do as
50:57it relates to an HOA and some things the
50:59city cannot do as an HOA. One thing that
51:02I would like to start seeing is uh some
51:06more involvement with the city and the
51:08HOA boards. One thing that I've learned
51:10over the past year is that some of the
51:12other cities in our county have uh
51:15either council committees or they have
51:19uh regular meetings between some of
51:21their elected officials and uh executive
51:25city staff and and their HOA boards,
51:28their their presidents or you know just
51:30some some of the members of those
51:31boards. So I'd like to see some of that
51:33uh happen. That's one of the things I'm
51:34I'm working on kind of how to facilitate
51:36that so that and and for for the for the
51:40number one reason I know it can be
51:42frustrating when a citizen sees that
51:45their their community doesn't look as
51:47clean. If it's at a if it's in a home,
51:50we need to be able to direct them to
51:52what their HOA would say. If it's
51:54something city property or city related,
51:56we need to make sure we're enforcing
51:58that code properly. I know that there
52:00are some forms uh some online forms you
52:02can fill out online that will allow you
52:04to uh show when when something doesn't
52:06look right. I would encourage anybody to
52:08fill that out. It doesn't mean that if
52:10you fill it out and it and it actually
52:12was done wrong. Nobody's going to knock
52:13on that person's house and say uh you
52:15know, hey, it was it was Sam Smith who
52:17reported you to the city, you jerk, get
52:20your yard mode. They're not going to do
52:22that. Uh but it will they they will go
52:24by and see. But but a lot of that is we
52:26have to know about it first. And I think
52:28that's the that's the critical piece
52:30there that's sometimes missing is uh if
52:32if I don't know about I mean I was
52:34talking to a to a member here not
52:36related to HOA stuff but just different
52:37events that go on the city. Sometimes
52:39we're not made aware of those and so we
52:41have to be made aware of an issue and
52:42then we can tackle which best avenue to
52:44to proceed with that.
52:50>> Okay. Recently the fate fire department
52:52has been a topic of discussion. Uh, city
52:54city city manager Kovac has said that
52:55we're fully staffed and others say we
52:57are not. I'm all for more police and
52:59firefighters, but are we safely and
53:01fully staffed?
53:02>> Okay, great question. So, this is where
53:04it's critical to understand what a like
53:09the terms, what does being fully staffed
53:11mean? What does being fully funded mean?
53:14Because you'll hear a lot of that and
53:15not not in a in a negative way. The
53:17people that say that, I don't think they
53:18have any ill intentions. We of course
53:20want to make sure we're fully staffed,
53:22but but what level of staffing is that?
53:25I'll use schools as an example. Many
53:27schools would would love more teachers
53:30and and more administrators, more
53:32paraprofessionals. Um and and if you ask
53:36uh somebody in an education environment,
53:37they might say we're underst staffed. If
53:40you ask uh a different individual or
53:42somebody who worked at a different
53:44school where they were able, you know,
53:45their class sizes were a little bit
53:46larger, whatever, they might look at
53:48that same school and say, "Wow, you have
53:50more staff than we have. We we're fully
53:52staffed, but we'd love to have your
53:53level." So, it's it's a little
53:54subjective. And so, what what's critical
53:57there is to understand who are those in
53:59leadership that are having to uh deliver
54:01that that that answer. And so when when
54:05I hear our Chief Taylor, our our new uh
54:08chief of fire, Chief Taylor, we plan on
54:11uh talking with him about this very
54:13issue and and looking at this as we're
54:14moving into budget season. Now's the
54:16time to ask him. Uh Michael Kovac,
54:19again, as you said, said we're fully
54:20staffed. I know we had some kind of a
54:22back and forth exchange, myself and
54:23Councilman Robbins. always appreciate a
54:25good discussion uh with Allan, but we
54:28talk about what does it mean to be fully
54:30staffed and and there it sometimes there
54:32does seem to be a little bit of
54:34disconnect uh are we are we understaffed
54:37and then a city manager says no no no
54:38we're we're fully staffed but what does
54:40it look like we could talk about what
54:42where do we need to be a year from now 5
54:43years from now those are part of those
54:45conversations as well but I think that
54:47as of as of now I like to see data that
54:51show if if you have x number of people
54:55or you have, you know, this many and I'm
54:57just making this up, but but this many
54:59fire stations, this many fire trucks,
55:01this many calls on average, this is what
55:03it needs to look like. And so I think
55:05you talk to your public safety
55:07leadership team and I think you talk to
55:09your city manager and you look at what
55:11the data show to develop what that
55:14number of being fully staffed or being
55:16fully funded is. As of right now, I
55:19don't have any reason to believe that
55:20our city manager is wrong when he says
55:22we are fully staffed. And so I take that
55:24into account when it comes to how to
55:26look forward uh on that for any budget
55:29requirement that might come from that.
55:34>> What can we do to make sure no mosques
55:36are built in fame?
55:38>> Oh, good question. Uh boy, we're we're
55:41really diving into it now. Flip through
55:42those pages, Mike. See if I have a
55:44softball coming my way. What can we do
55:47to make sure that there are no mosques?
55:50Uh your city, let me say this, your
55:52mayor can't do anything. Uh I am a and
55:56and I I will I will come back to that
55:58question, but let me first address this
56:00because I think this is good to know
56:01too. Another common misconception with
56:04being on city council or being mayor is
56:06that we have either a strong council or
56:09a strong mayor model. in fate and in
56:12many home rule cities in Texas, we have
56:14what's called a weak mayor model. Now,
56:17that does not mean I'm weak up here. So,
56:19if you want to, Miss Joanne, you come up
56:21here and let's arm wrestle and I'll show
56:22you guys just how strong I am. Uh don't
56:26don't though don't though don't though
56:26don't though don't though don't though
56:26don't though don't though don't though
56:26don't though don't cuz I don't want to
56:27happen to lose and I've got to deal with
56:29that. But uh but a weak mayor a weak
56:32mayor model means that I I don't I don't
56:34unilaterally drive an agenda. I don't
56:37unilaterally tell somebody, nor does the
56:39council, what can come here, what can
56:42come there. We're bound by zoning laws.
56:46We're bound by obviously the First
56:49Amendment. And so, I know that that's in
56:52the news a lot lately, especially as as
56:55it uh it was wrapped up with with some
56:57of the primaries that that were going on
56:59in the state, the Republican primaries,
57:01the the uh the Islamification of Texas.
57:05And while I am uh adamantly opposed to
57:09the Islamification of Texas and do
57:11believe that Islam is not compatible
57:14with our western values and while I do
57:17believe that this is absolutely a
57:19Christian nation as mayor specifically
57:22to answer your question or to answer
57:24whoever's question that was uh it is not
57:26up to me if a mosque comes to a
57:29particular area or not. That's that's up
57:31to federal law, federal protections,
57:34state law, and and with that zoning law.
57:38And so if something is zoned properly,
57:40if I might not like it, just just like
57:42individually, we might like this coffee
57:44shop versus that coffee shop. Or, you
57:46know, I don't eat sandwiches, so of
57:48course I don't want a sandwich shop
57:49coming in. That's no different there as
57:52as much as it pertains to what what I as
57:55a mayor have the power to do.
58:00Okay, Patty Stern. Many cities in Texas
58:03are continuing with concern continuing
58:05with concerns about data centers being
58:07built. Will Fake ensure that we do not
58:09have any data centers even if offered
58:11tons of money to build and reszoning
58:13industrial areas to commercial or
58:15residential?
58:17>> Uh, okay. So, as far as data centers go,
58:20so long as I am mayor, I will not I do
58:23not like the idea of data centers coming
58:25to our city, and I will adamantly oppose
58:28them. Uh, we're going to say the second
58:31part of that question, please, Mike. I
58:32just want to make sure I I answer that
58:34part, too.
58:38>> Uh, even if even if all were tons of
58:40money and reszoning reszoning industrial
58:42areas to commercial or
58:44>> Well, and and let me say this, too. We
58:45here's the thing that that we're that
58:47we're slowly starting to realize. Water
58:50is going to become a big deal in the
58:52state of Texas in the next couple of
58:54years. Uh this is why our state
58:56legislature is looking at it. This is
58:58why cities are looking at it, why
59:00agreements are starting to be made now.
59:02And so I think it's absolutely prudent
59:05to say we can have everybody can offer
59:07all the money that they want for these
59:08data centers, but if we're not
59:10addressing the problems that are going
59:11to matter most to we see other cities
59:14and other states
59:16deal with water issues. And so data
59:19centers need incredible amounts of water
59:21and I think that until we figure out
59:23those kinds of of problems, we don't
59:25even need to be discussing that. As well
59:27as even if they offer lots of money,
59:29that was the that was the question
59:31there. I'm more interested in building a
59:34city that the citizens of Fate are proud
59:36of, not how can we how can we just get
59:39some more money in the in the, you know,
59:41in our coffers so that we could add some
59:43more stuff. You know, I I think that
59:46it's it I mean, to me, it's almost the
59:47principle of, you know, if I offered
59:49anybody in this room, if I said, "Hey,
59:50I'll I'll triple your salary, but you're
59:53going to work 75 80 hours a week and not
59:55get to see your family." Why would many
59:57of us in this room turn that down? Well,
59:58because there's more important things
1:00:00than money. And we're not struggling as
1:00:03a city right now. We've got a we've got
1:00:05great we continuously keep a great
1:00:08amount of money in our reserves. I think
1:00:09it's 120 days. Uh we have a good we we
1:00:12get financial awards all the time as a
1:00:15city. We run a really tight ship. Uh and
1:00:18so we're not hurting for cash. So I'm
1:00:20never going to look at that as a uh as
1:00:23an incentive like because of we just got
1:00:25to have some extra money. So absolutely
1:00:26not. you're not going to you're not
1:00:28going to incentivize me with something
1:00:29that we don't need right now. As well as
1:00:31the quality of life, I've heard from
1:00:33multiple citizens even before this
1:00:35question and and the and the uh data
1:00:37center recently coming up and and I've
1:00:39read some articles online about it, but
1:00:42even before that, I don't see a lot of
1:00:44push for citizens to want to bring those
1:00:46to our community and nor do I.
1:00:51What can be done about new roads having
1:00:53standard 12 foot lanes being straight
1:00:57and stopping installation of traffic
1:00:59circles?
1:01:00>> Uh that will come down to uh making uh
1:01:05making decisions on infrastructure. So
1:01:07road the the funding mechanism for many
1:01:10roads is is kind of difficult. I don't
1:01:11know if if you were at the council
1:01:13meeting uh I think two times two council
1:01:16meetings ago uh we did get a special
1:01:18visitor from commissioner Stacy who uh
1:01:21told us that the county was investing
1:01:23$10 million in Benton Payne. We're very
1:01:25grateful for that. But a lot of roads or
1:01:28or roads I should say cost a lot of
1:01:30money. And so the idea of having roads
1:01:34of narrower widths is is to save money.
1:01:38However, the trade-off, and this is
1:01:40where it's important to talk about,
1:01:41where I think a lot of people gloss this
1:01:43over unintentionally, but gloss it over,
1:01:45is what's the safer option for our
1:01:47community? Because as much as I want to
1:01:51uh limit the amount of time I'm I'm in
1:01:53traffic or limit the amount of time it
1:01:55takes me to get somewhere, I would much
1:01:57rather sit in a car for an extra 2
1:01:59minutes and get there safely than be
1:02:01involved in some kind of wreck or or
1:02:02have major problems with that. And so
1:02:04that is that is your council's
1:02:06responsibility to tell city staff this
1:02:09is the direction that we want to go. As
1:02:11well as and I and I mean it when I say
1:02:13it. This isn't just an appeal to get
1:02:14everybody to come to city council
1:02:16meetings. Come to city council meetings
1:02:18and say in a public comment you don't
1:02:20have to use all three minutes. I've
1:02:22developed a reputation for allowing
1:02:24people to go longer than 3 minutes and
1:02:25that's completely okay. But uh but come
1:02:28talk to come talk to us about that. The
1:02:30more we have people that are saying this
1:02:32is what we want fate to look like, the
1:02:34more your council is going to know,
1:02:35okay, we understand it's a and and life
1:02:38is a trade-off, right? I mean, so many
1:02:39things in in uh that the decisions that
1:02:41we have to make. I teach economics and
1:02:43government and in my economic class, we
1:02:45talk about tradeoffs. We are not going
1:02:48to get a budget that's going to make
1:02:49everybody happy, that's going to get
1:02:50every single thing we want at the price
1:02:52we want to pay. We have to make
1:02:54decisions. And so right now I think we
1:02:56have uh many on council that that do
1:02:59support a more um you know kind of the
1:03:03kind of the the standard let's keep the
1:03:05roads safe. Let's let's keep the roads
1:03:07as wide as they need as they need to be
1:03:10versus trimming them down just to safe.
1:03:12But I also want to be very clear with
1:03:14everybody in here. While your council
1:03:16might be able to deliver that to you,
1:03:19understand that if those roads are then
1:03:21more expensive, there's also that
1:03:23understanding that, hey, we're paying
1:03:25for that, which is okay. We rightly pay
1:03:27for the things that we want. We're
1:03:29paying for that, and that's okay. But we
1:03:32understand that that trade-off does
1:03:33exist.
1:03:35All right, back to the budget. I've
1:03:37heard some people say that the cities
1:03:39justify every expense every year instead
1:03:41of just carrying last year's budget
1:03:42forward. Is annual justification
1:03:45something we should be doing in your
1:03:46opinion?
1:03:48>> Well, I think I said this earlier, but
1:03:50I'll say it again. To me, that the
1:03:52justification should be justified if you
1:03:56need something new or or if you need
1:03:58more of something. And and again, to be
1:04:00clear, justification does not mean you
1:04:03got to come to me and and you know, all
1:04:05seven council members are going to have
1:04:06in their mind an inherent no ready to to
1:04:09answer. It's just a way of making sure
1:04:11that people know if you're going to ask
1:04:14for more of our tax dollars, here's why.
1:04:16There are some things that that I think,
1:04:19and not just the people in this room,
1:04:20when I say everyone, but but our city,
1:04:23our county, there are some things that
1:04:24I'm sure if somebody were to come up to
1:04:26you and say, "Hey, we could do this, but
1:04:27it's going to cost a little more." We'd
1:04:28say, "Absolutely. I love that idea." A
1:04:31lot of things say, "Hey, we can do
1:04:32this." And say, "Do we need to do that?"
1:04:33No. Okay. Well, then no. I'd rather keep
1:04:35the money in my pocket. I'd rather you
1:04:37not raise that tax rate. the the fear
1:04:39too and I don't think I said this
1:04:40earlier. Let me say this here. The fear
1:04:42I think we should have that that healthy
1:04:44fear is as if we just continue to adjust
1:04:47that tax rate up and up and up year
1:04:49after year because it's just a little
1:04:50bit more this year. We just need a
1:04:52little bit of a justification this year
1:04:53for that and it's just a little bit.
1:04:55Well, eventually you're going to get to
1:04:56a really high tax rate and I would
1:04:58encourage you to go online and do some
1:05:01research at how many times that tax rate
1:05:03not not I don't mean here per se but
1:05:05just in general how many times that tax
1:05:07rate comes down. So yes, the starting
1:05:09point is you've got the same budget you
1:05:12have last year. If you need more,
1:05:14justify it, but also be prepared for
1:05:16some push back. You know, again, I I and
1:05:18I give credit to uh our city manager,
1:05:20Michael, when he said the other day, um
1:05:22we've saved money just by switching
1:05:24vendors. If we can switch vendors and
1:05:27save money, I will exhaust all of those
1:05:30kinds of options before I come to the
1:05:31taxpayer and say, "Hey, we need more of
1:05:33your hard-earned dollars." because
1:05:35because when that when that happens and
1:05:37when he's successful in that that means
1:05:38hey let's continue that and I don't I
1:05:41don't think it's a problem to to require
1:05:43that our city staff would come say hey
1:05:45we have gone with new vendors we have
1:05:48reorganized the budget as as we are able
1:05:50to but we still are coming up short I'm
1:05:52okay with that but let's let's start
1:05:55from you got your budget last year if
1:05:56you're going to need more you better
1:05:58make sure that that um that those
1:06:00expenses those those new expenses are
1:06:03justified Again,
1:06:06if anybody has another question,
1:06:09followup question, please go ahead and
1:06:11submit it.
1:06:13>> Okay, still on the budget. I pulled this
1:06:15before the budget. Why do city projects
1:06:17always come in over budget and how can
1:06:19it be stopped?
1:06:22>> Why do city projects always come in over
1:06:24budget and how can it be stopped? One of
1:06:27the things that um one of the things
1:06:30that that
1:06:32big projects need are time and money.
1:06:38Obviously, they need money, but they
1:06:39also need a lot of time. And we have
1:06:41seen that as costs have increased just
1:06:44by inflation, budget costs also
1:06:47increased. One of the things I think
1:06:49that and and I talked to, again, I
1:06:51talked to Michael, our city manager,
1:06:52about this a couple of weeks ago. One of
1:06:55the things that I think needs to be
1:06:56better communicated is the contingency
1:06:59amount in our budgets because we do we
1:07:03do allow a certain amount that we say
1:07:06here's the total price and really if if
1:07:09we if we could snap our fingers and pay
1:07:11the cost today for that particular
1:07:13project, we could build it. It wouldn't
1:07:15it wouldn't be that amount because we
1:07:16have anywhere between 10 and 20% of a
1:07:19contingency in the budget. So the
1:07:22question becomes and and I think where
1:07:24where we sometimes get frustrated is we
1:07:27will we will look at the dollar amount
1:07:29of the project and I'm just using these
1:07:30as as numbers here. We see it's $5
1:07:32million and it comes back at $6 million
1:07:35once it's fully built or once the
1:07:37process actually happens. Well, where
1:07:39was that contingency discussion?
1:07:41Sometimes it's discussed and it's made
1:07:43very publicly known and it and it feels
1:07:45more transparent in the sense that you
1:07:48can see okay if it's going to cost 6
1:07:50million we know that there's that little
1:07:52bit of of you know we could call it
1:07:54breathing room there. I I'm not as keen
1:07:56on on having that contingency amount be
1:07:59a large amount. I don't like 20%
1:08:02contingencies because that also I think
1:08:05creates an issue for if we are coming in
1:08:07under budget well now we've got 20% of
1:08:10the project cost what else can we add to
1:08:11it and I don't ever want us to do that
1:08:13but I think that that probably should be
1:08:16better communicated to say hey here's
1:08:18the cost if it was built today we are
1:08:21anticipating an increase and that's
1:08:23where these that's where this
1:08:24contingency process uh that's what this
1:08:27contingency amount is because if it was
1:08:29if it was something that we could build
1:08:31in a month, you would see very little
1:08:33change with that total amount because
1:08:34those prices don't move. But like we
1:08:36talked about earlier with energy costs
1:08:38going up, building materials going up,
1:08:40sometimes even our best, most
1:08:41conservative estimates on a project cost
1:08:44uh are are completely overshadowed by
1:08:46rising costs everywhere else.
1:08:49That's a good question. I like that one.
1:08:53>> Okay, last budget question right now.
1:08:57When we vote for a bond, should citizens
1:08:59expect the city to do what was promised
1:09:00or can the plans change after bond
1:09:02approval?
1:09:05>> Question was, when we pass a bond,
1:09:07should we expect the city to do as
1:09:09promised or can it change? Was that the
1:09:11the gist of that question?
1:09:12>> Yeah. Or can it change?
1:09:13>> Or can it change?
1:09:15I certainly believe that if the citizens
1:09:18voted on a bond for a particular
1:09:20measure, for a particular building, for
1:09:22a particular park, whatever, that it
1:09:24does need to be uh as in line as
1:09:28possible with with the the what the
1:09:30citizens voted on. I I would imagine
1:09:32that the question maybe and I I could
1:09:35see two parts of that. if something
1:09:37needed to change from a cost
1:09:39perspective. So, for example, let's say
1:09:42we we um if if we were going to put the
1:09:44same number of trees in the park that we
1:09:46were going to, the cost of trees went up
1:09:48dramatically. And so, we can actually
1:09:51cut some of the the trees that we would
1:09:52have put to free up some of the budget
1:09:54for elsewhere in the project. Little
1:09:56changes like that, I I think that that
1:09:58as long as we're transparent, I think we
1:10:00should tell the public absolutely, hey,
1:10:02this is going to have to change, but
1:10:03here's why. as far if if that's if I'm
1:10:06if I'm gleaming correctly that part of
1:10:08the question if that's what somebody was
1:10:10asking specifically. But as far as can
1:10:13the project change dramatically to where
1:10:16it's almost like a whoa whoa now you're
1:10:17talking about something completely
1:10:18different something new absolutely not.
1:10:21I think that that needs to go to the
1:10:22voters.
1:10:26You know I I would almost look at it as
1:10:28project costs if you're doing a a home
1:10:29project and you originally had a certain
1:10:31type of marble plan for your kitchen
1:10:33countertops. the guy comes back and
1:10:35says, "Well, actually, those are a
1:10:36little bit more than I thought. We can
1:10:38change to this type and it and you stay
1:10:39within your budget." Yeah, if if that's
1:10:41what we have to do to make that work,
1:10:43but I wouldn't say, "Hey, we we took,
1:10:45you know, hey, sweetheart, we took out
1:10:46this money or we saved up all this money
1:10:48to do a kitchen remodel." Well, why
1:10:50don't we do something cool in the
1:10:51backyard instead? That is that I'm not
1:10:52okay with at all.
1:10:54>> All right. What can the city do about
1:10:57mostly kids on ebikes and similar
1:10:59vehicles riding dangerously on the road
1:11:01and sidewalks? We have been talking
1:11:03about that at the city and I know that
1:11:05our city staff have been working with
1:11:07county people, other other cities and
1:11:09other count uh other cities within our
1:11:11county to talk about that. Uh I know
1:11:14firsthand that we have an amazing police
1:11:16department who does go after that. Uh in
1:11:19fact, I I'll share this this brief
1:11:21story. We were driving home the other
1:11:23night, uh, my wife and I and my three
1:11:25kids were, and we saw several police
1:11:27vehicles, lights on, uh, rush into our
1:11:31neighborhood. And so, of course, I, you
1:11:32know, I was like, well, do we need to go
1:11:34home? What did I do? Why are they, you
1:11:36know, are they coming to the mayor's
1:11:37house? But, uh, but we but we went and
1:11:39they were they were driving uh really
1:11:41fast down the roads. It was night and uh
1:11:44and then it was when Candace and I saw
1:11:47one of these young men on these ebikes
1:11:49and so we just pulled over. I wasn't
1:11:51going to, you know, because I don't know
1:11:52what the kids doing. I didn't want to
1:11:54get in the officer's way. So, we just we
1:11:56pulled over and we saw the um u the the
1:11:59young man on the bike get stopped. The
1:12:01police officers handled it beautifully
1:12:03and and so I was just sitting there and
1:12:05so the officer, one of the officers came
1:12:07up and talked to me and uh and I said,
1:12:09you know, we were talking about said,
1:12:10"This is a youth. This is a this is an
1:12:12underage individual, 14 years old." And
1:12:15I thought, man, and that's when the
1:12:16officer had said, you know, we we have
1:12:18seen, not in fate, thank goodness, but
1:12:20we have seen where this is happening
1:12:21elsewhere. There are serious accidents
1:12:23occurring. I mean, people are people are
1:12:25are losing their lives from this. And
1:12:27so, I think it's something that we're
1:12:28absolutely taking seriously. I know I've
1:12:31spoken with another council member on
1:12:33putting an ordinance in place, making
1:12:35sure, but but again, just the process,
1:12:36it does take some time, making sure
1:12:38we're in the process with what legal's
1:12:40looking at, what we can and can't do,
1:12:41how we're working uh with the with the
1:12:43city staff, and then also from a from an
1:12:45enforcement mechanism. You know, we
1:12:47don't want to throw out an ordinance
1:12:48that just says something like, well, we
1:12:50we strongly disagree with this. We want
1:12:51to make sure that we can follow through
1:12:52with the appropriate
1:12:55follow, you know, sanction, if you will,
1:12:56or you know, I'd say punishment, but uh
1:13:00consequence, that's a better word, a
1:13:01consequence, so that uh we we show the
1:13:04community we're very serious that this
1:13:05won't be tolerated in faith because we
1:13:07want to first and foremost want to keep
1:13:08your kids safe.
1:13:12>> All right. Thank you.
1:13:14What are we doing to keep Fate unique
1:13:16and not just another city like Rock Wall
1:13:18or Royce City on I30?
1:13:21>> What are we doing to keep Fate unique
1:13:24instead of just becoming another uh
1:13:26another Okay. Well, whoever asked that,
1:13:29now you're forcing me in an awkward
1:13:30position because I'm having lunch with
1:13:32all the mayors on Monday and if they see
1:13:33this, I think they're going to take
1:13:35issue with being just another city in
1:13:37Rockall County. So, uh if you're one of
1:13:39the other mayors watching, I think your
1:13:40cities are great. But what are we doing?
1:13:42That's a great question. I do like that
1:13:44question. I think that if you if you go
1:13:46to our downtown,
1:13:48you do see a really cool what I would
1:13:50say starting point for something that
1:13:52could be really really great uh here in
1:13:54in our city. I think that we have a lot
1:13:56of good projects coming up. Uh I think
1:13:59that our because our focus has shifted
1:14:01to a lot more of a commercial
1:14:04development but but and commercial over
1:14:08residential in the sense of let's bring
1:14:10in some tax dollars and stuff to
1:14:12alleviate the burden on the people but
1:14:13not just commercial for the sake of
1:14:15commercial but commercial that's not
1:14:17only going to make it so that we don't
1:14:19have to leave our city. But wouldn't
1:14:22that be wouldn't that be awesome if we
1:14:24had some some of the amenities and some
1:14:25of the other things where we don't have
1:14:27to go outside of our city. We can we can
1:14:28stay right here and also be a draw for
1:14:32other places. I think that I think that
1:14:34um there there are some things I I
1:14:36simply can't say right now. Some
1:14:38projects that that we will be coming
1:14:40forward with at a later date just from a
1:14:42from a legal perspective um and and kind
1:14:45of some of the stuff we talk about in
1:14:46executive session. But I think that the
1:14:48I think that the citizens when we're
1:14:50able to fully announce and fully show
1:14:52what it is we're planning with that uh I
1:14:55think that let me let me say this. This
1:14:56is a good and I like that just it just
1:14:58came to me. A good metric by which we
1:15:02become not just another city in Rockall
1:15:04County is the metric of do people want
1:15:08to come here and stay. Not well we're
1:15:12passing through. Let me you know stop on
1:15:14the on the side get my get my Starbucks
1:15:16and McDonald's and then go. Which by the
1:15:17way I'm thrilled that we have a
1:15:18Starbucks and a McDonald's right there
1:15:20next to each other. It's right on my way
1:15:22home. So, I spent a lot of money there
1:15:24and uh so so you're welcome taxpayers to
1:15:26keeping that money local. Uh so I
1:15:28encourage everybody eat at our shops,
1:15:30you know, not eat at our shops, eat at
1:15:32our restaurants, shop at our shops.
1:15:33That's what keeps the money here. But uh
1:15:35but but are we are we creating something
1:15:37where people want to uh come and stay
1:15:41and if we can develop that, that's the
1:15:43metric that we become not just another
1:15:46city. We have a sense of place, if you
1:15:48will. I think downtown station, while we
1:15:50had some questions at the at a recent
1:15:52council meeting about that, I think that
1:15:54our down downtown station uh park, Fate
1:15:57Station Park, is really going to be
1:15:59something that uh that makes a lot of
1:16:01people look over at Fate and go, "Oh,
1:16:03wait a minute. We may have misjudged
1:16:05Fate and how it was growing." That's a
1:16:07cool place. I want to go there.
1:16:11>> All right, we got two left.
1:16:13>> Okay,
1:16:15our local elections are considered
1:16:16nonpartisan. What's your philos
1:16:18philosophy on the role of local city
1:16:21government and shouldn't it?
1:16:24>> Oh man, these are some great questions.
1:16:26Good for you guys. Do I think that local
1:16:30elections should be partisan?
1:16:33I do. And here's why. Everybody has a
1:16:36set of values. You we can say all day
1:16:39long that potholes aren't red or blue.
1:16:41And that's an accurate statement, but
1:16:44that tells one fraction of the picture.
1:16:46I think that if somebody wanted to focus
1:16:48on everything but the city, I think that
1:16:51would come out in their campaign
1:16:52dialogue when they're running for
1:16:53elections. But I think that recognizing
1:16:56the values that somebody has is just as
1:16:59important for president of the United
1:17:00States as it is for mayor and your city
1:17:02council. Why? Because we're affecting
1:17:04decisions or we're making decisions that
1:17:07are going to affect every day your
1:17:09everyday life. when you know what what
1:17:11happens uh uh in that vacant lot across
1:17:14the street that ends up making you
1:17:16decide do you want to be part of that um
1:17:19do do you want to stay living in the
1:17:21city or are you going to move out all
1:17:22those questions those are values
1:17:24questions the we can't ju just by when I
1:17:27get up to the dis and and open up a new
1:17:30meeting I don't put my values I don't
1:17:32put my worldview away I don't hang it on
1:17:34the coat rack so those are very
1:17:37important issues do I do I think that
1:17:40inherently that might make it a little
1:17:42bit more partisan in the in the in the
1:17:45way that we see partisan elections now
1:17:48nationwide. Well, sure. Sure. But but
1:17:50arguing over the the set of values that
1:17:52you want to lead your city, we should
1:17:54never shy away from just so we can come
1:17:56up with cliche sayings that uh you know
1:17:59you're I mean am I I'm the mayor for the
1:18:02Republicans and the Democrats in fate
1:18:04just like our congressman is the
1:18:06congressman for the Republicans and
1:18:08Democrats. Our senator is senator. Our
1:18:10president is president. I hear a lot of
1:18:11people say, "Well, you got to be mayor
1:18:13for everybody." Well, I am. If people if
1:18:15people vote for me, they vote for my
1:18:17value set. If people don't vote for me,
1:18:19they they vote for somebody else's value
1:18:20set. And that's completely okay. But I
1:18:22think that that value set is something
1:18:24that we should know and we should be
1:18:25able to latch on. These are these are
1:18:27our leaders and I think Yeah,
1:18:29absolutely. Tell us where you stand on
1:18:31all of these issues.
1:18:35>> All right, last question. unless
1:18:36somebody wants to throw one more in.
1:18:39What is one thing about the city that
1:18:41you wish more residents understood?
1:18:44>> Uh I would I would say one thing the
1:18:46well there's a lot but I would say the
1:18:48one thing is that government moves slow
1:18:52and that's okay. That's actually a good
1:18:54thing. You want government to take its
1:18:56time. Uh you know a lot of a lot of the
1:18:58a lot of times by the time something
1:19:00gets to city council it's been in the
1:19:02works for 6 months. And just because we
1:19:04pass it doesn't mean that six months
1:19:06later it isn't going to go through
1:19:08another process. So things take time and
1:19:12the the
1:19:15amount of influence that your that your
1:19:17city council may have is probably not
1:19:21what you think it is. And and again, I
1:19:23say it's not because any of of the of
1:19:26the seven of us uh when we have a full
1:19:28council aren't wanting to be involved or
1:19:31or don't want to have a say or don't
1:19:33want to contribute positively. That's
1:19:36our charter. Uh and and just just like
1:19:39we want our president to abide by the
1:19:42constitution, we want our governor to
1:19:44abide by our state constitution, you
1:19:47should want your mayor to abide by the
1:19:48charter. You should want your council to
1:19:50abide by the charter. And so sometimes
1:19:52that means that there are certain things
1:19:54that I'm hands off on and and that's
1:19:57it's not within my purview to make those
1:19:58decisions. Sometimes I am, but it might
1:20:01take a uh there there are some things
1:20:04throughout our charter that require more
1:20:05than just a simple majority of the
1:20:07council. It might require five votes to
1:20:10make happen. Any anytime we might want
1:20:11to do an investigation or uh raise
1:20:13taxes, that that's a five um five people
1:20:17have to vote on that. And so, so I think
1:20:19what I would what I would probably say I
1:20:21wish that people would understand is
1:20:23that we don't have nearly as much power
1:20:27as as people probably think. But like I
1:20:30said, I think that's a good thing. You
1:20:32you don't want your you don't want your
1:20:34government to have more power. Uh
1:20:36because then in the hands of the wrong
1:20:37people, that's that's tyranny. Tyranny
1:20:40101. That's why uh again, you'll
1:20:42probably can't see it, but it says 250
1:20:44up here. That's uh that's one of the
1:20:46reasons why we have a nation today that
1:20:48we're going to be celebrating. Uh
1:20:50especially at FATE, we at our last city
1:20:52council meeting, we talked about putting
1:20:54together a float uh and and
1:20:55participating in that parade. Uh I think
1:20:58that's awesome. We want to we want to
1:20:59showcase how great our nation is. Uh but
1:21:02it's great because we don't have a lot
1:21:04of power concentrated in the hands of of
1:21:07just a few.
1:21:09Okay, we did get one more turn in Alden
1:21:12Leinsky. Being a destination city, can
1:21:15you discuss some of the things that are
1:21:17in the concept plan for the faint yards?
1:21:19CPAC stressed entertainment last night.
1:21:23>> Okay, great question. Um, and and the
1:21:26only reason I'm punting this is because
1:21:28I want to make sure that I don't say
1:21:30anything from our executive session that
1:21:33I'm not allowed to. But but uh Mike,
1:21:36please put that on the top of that stack
1:21:38and put a big circle on it. I'm going to
1:21:41ask what we are allowed to say. What
1:21:43would be totally in line with that? And
1:21:44I'll put that on my Facebook page
1:21:46tomorrow. No, no, no, no. That's that's
1:21:47a great Look, look, that is Please
1:21:50understand, and as we're kind of
1:21:51wrapping up here, and I know, are we
1:21:52still good on time? I know we're at
1:21:547:36. Well, okay. U
1:21:57the overtime rate's pretty expensive, so
1:21:59we'll we'll pass around the election
1:22:00plate here in a minute. Uh the the one
1:22:03of the hardest things too, you know, let
1:22:05me let me go back to that other
1:22:06question. What some what is something
1:22:07else I wish people knew is that it is
1:22:10hard to see some of the really cool
1:22:13things that we're developing and be told
1:22:16you can't say anything to anybody. I
1:22:18mean, I think I could say this,
1:22:20sweetheart, so I'm just going to say it.
1:22:22My own wife will be like, "So, what did
1:22:23y'all talk about?" I'm like, you know,
1:22:24let let me just let me just wait on this
1:22:26because I don't want anything to get
1:22:28out. And I mean the look she gives me
1:22:31sometimes that is a hard look to have to
1:22:33be firm and say look I'm not doing it.
1:22:35So uh it's I mean it's it's a it's a
1:22:38it's an exciting thing. I I think from a
1:22:41uh from a from the standpoint I think I
1:22:43can say this the the the entertainment
1:22:45aspect of it and the and the good
1:22:47commercial development that's coming.
1:22:49It's going to be awesome. Let me find
1:22:51out specifically. Uh well, actually
1:22:54they're we're No, no, no. Sorry. We're
1:22:55we're off the third or the staff is off
1:22:58the third, but tomorrow's not the third.
1:22:59Uh tomorrow's Friday, but not the third.
1:23:01Let me send uh an email first thing in
1:23:04the morning and uh and I'll respond on
1:23:06my look for my official on my official
1:23:09Facebook page an answer to that question
1:23:11from what I can say. But that's a great
1:23:12question and I hope that we're able to
1:23:14talk a lot about it. Uh so that that
1:23:16could even be the topic of a of a future
1:23:18town hall.
1:23:19>> That's it for the questions.
1:23:21>> Okay. Well, great questions. Uh
1:23:22everyone, I appreciate you you coming
1:23:24out and asking this. Uh like I said, um
1:23:27this is the first of five. My plan is to
1:23:30have at least four more of these. Please
1:23:33know that uh just because and I know
1:23:36these were budget uh and comprehensive
1:23:38plan related. Uh I I will say I meant
1:23:41that on my flyer to be more about these
1:23:43were two things that we just talked
1:23:44about in the council meetings. Any
1:23:46question is welcome. It might be a
1:23:48question that I can't answer right away,
1:23:49but I will find out. But the more uh
1:23:52opportunity we have to converse like
1:23:54this, the better. This is exciting. I
1:23:56love these kinds of things. And so I'm
1:23:58looking forward to the next one. I
1:23:59didn't want to plan it yet just because
1:24:01I know we have the fourth coming up and
1:24:02everybody's going to be gone. But be on
1:24:04the lookout very soon for the next town
1:24:07hall, the next set of topics that I'll
1:24:09that I'll bring up with it. And and
1:24:11please encourage others to come.
1:24:13Hopefully you've you've enjoyed your
1:24:14time here. Encourage others to come and
1:24:16be a part of this. uh it would be it
1:24:18would be great to to fill these rooms
1:24:20and to uh and to bring back some of
1:24:22bring back some of that excitement uh to
1:24:25uh to getting involved in this political
1:24:27process. So, thank you guys for being
1:24:28here. Y'all have a great night. I
1:24:30appreciate you all. Thank you.
1:24:33Thank you once again to our gracious
1:24:34host here at Lifepring for having us. Uh
1:24:37we would we would be honored to do it
1:24:39again. So, we'll be in conversation
1:24:40about that. Thank you very much. Thank
1:24:42you, Phil.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of City of Fate Mayor Andrew Greenbergs Summer Series Town Hall 1 by Andrew Greenberg, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 16,687 words across 2,280 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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