Travis County sees second highest constitutional election "turnout" in recent history....

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

Obviously, yesterday's election results for the Austin ISD bond seem...off.

We think we've found the "culprit":

According to Travis County, over 97,000 people voted countywide.  This would be the second highest "turnout" in Travis County for a constitutional amendment election since 1997 (Travis county doesn't have records past that on their website; going back further would require open records requests).  The only time turnout for a constitutional amendment election was higher was 2005, when the Texas Marriage Amendment was on the ballot.

In 2015, by contrast, the turnout was a smidge over 75k.  In 2013, WITH a special legislative election on the ballot, turnout was around 85k. In general, over the past decade, constitutional amendment elections have seen turnout in the mid-70k's (Note: It would be too time consuming to post the individual links, but you can see the information for yourself here).

So, we're expected to believe that this year's constitutional amendment election saw higher public participation than any other constitutional amendment election that didn't include the massively controversial marriage question...ever.  This despite the fact that previous elections (most notably 2013) have also seen issues on the ballot that were equally controversial as last night's bond.  We suppose that's not impossible, but neither does it seem entirely likely.

Moving onto the Austin ISD bond specifically, some interesting tidbits:

Travis county is claiming that over 40,000 people voted in Austin ISD yesterday.  That seems inconsistent with our personal observations.  We worked one of the consistently busiest polling places in the county all afternoon yesterday and we doubt more than 3 or 400 people voted during that entire time (and even the 400 figure is us bending over backwards to give them the benefit of the doubt).

[Note: What we know for a fact is that we started with 200 flyers and didn't go through them.]

But, for the sake of discussion, let's give them the 400 figure.  Furthermore, let's assume that 1500 total people voted at that location yesterday (to account for the hours we weren't at the polling location).  Even granting them those very generous assumptions, that still means over 38,000 people voted at historically less busy locations yesterday.

Again, that might not be impossible, but neither does it seem exactly likely.

So, what could have happened?!?

Travis county saw a massive surge in voter registrations for the 2016 presidential elections.  We suppose it's possible that 10 to 20,000 of those first time presidential general election voters discovered a new love for civic activism and showed up to vote for the constitutional amendments.  That being said, first time Presidential voters don't historically tend to be the type of person who participates in obscure state/local questions.

If that's the case, it shouldn't be too difficult to find the voter files of the folks who registered last year who subsequently voted yesterday.

Of course, if these unlikely events didn't happen, there's another possibility.

Bottom Line: Sometimes, unlikely events happen.  But the reason that they're unlikely is that they don't happen often.  More investigation is needed.

7 Reasons for YOU to VOTE AGAINST the Austin ISD tax increase!!!

"The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But deliverance is of the Lord."
Proverbs 21:31

• From TPPF:
  
  In the bond summary, AISD indicates urgently needed repairs in schools across the district. Such repairs include roofing system replacement, HVAC improvements, plumbing and drainage improvements, and electrical system improvements. These are all items that could justify a bond asking for taxpayer money.
  
  However, funding to correct these “Critical Facility Deficiencies” makes up only 19% of the entire bond package. The district is not simply asking for the $196,116,000 needed to make these critical improvements.
  
  The bond also includes items such as $6 million to improve the press box, concessions, and restrooms at House Park; $23 million for new athletic spaces (and some academic renovation) at a single school (Austin High—the new elementary schools in the bond cost $31-36 million each); and $5 million for “undesignated furniture improvements.” While such upgrades may be desirable, the wisdom of going into hundreds of millions of additional debt to finance these kinds of improvement is debatable.
  
  ....
  
  There are schools that are overcrowded, such as Maplewood Elementary, operating at 141% capacity. Inversely, only one mile away is Campbell Elementary, which is severely under-enrolled, operating at only 37% capacity. This is a trend found at elementary, middle, and high school levels across the district. The issue facing the district is not a lack of seats. In fact, there are 1,456 elementary, 910 middle, and 2,479 high school seats currently vacant. If the school board were to redraw attendance boundaries in an effort to distribute students more equitably, it could potentially save taxpayers up to $600 million by avoiding the construction of new facilities.
  
  ....
  
  AISD claims that the “$1.05 billion bond would not raise property tax rates.” Their carefully selected wording is correct, but it attempts to obscure the truth. Former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire recently noted, “No one in their right mind should believe AISD can borrow $1 billion plus interest and not have a property tax increase as a result." In Austin’s current property market, stable property tax rates mean steady increases in property tax bills year over year. In fact, the AISD website confirms that they are assuming “anticipated increases in taxable assessed values,” in their bond planning and taxpayers should not expect their bills to remain the same.
  
  ....
  
  As these kinds of tax increases occur not only within the school district but also in city, county, and special district taxes, it is no wonder that Austinites can no longer afford their homes.
  
  In sum, the number that most impacts taxpayer’s pocketbooks is not the tax rate, but the tax bill. Rising tax bills, however, are a poor slogan; they do not soothe taxpayers into voting for a bond trying to appear revenue-neutral.
  
  Furthermore, AISD cannot guarantee that tax rates will not be raised. This bond is a proposal, not a contract. The ballot language states that “the board [shall] be authorized to levy, pledge, assess and collect, annual ad valorem taxes on all taxable property in the district sufficient, without limit as to rate or amount, to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds, and the costs of any credit agreements.” Even if the bond passes, Austin ISD still has the option to raise tax rates in the future. AISD does not have to keep any of its campaign promises, but taxpayers are beholden to the $1.05 billion in debt.

• From Forbes Magazine:
  
  "The Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Central Texas serves a city that has consistently been one of America's fastest growing large metropolitan areas for a decade. Yet, in spite of being in the heart of this thriving city that has grown by more than 100,000 people in the past five years, AISD has lost 5 percent of its student enrollment since 2012, shrinking by some 4,200 children.
  
  AISD has taken steps recently to reverse declining student enrollment. One would hope the effort would focus on improving academic excellence, increasing educational options and opportunity, and stretching taxpayer dollars to make the budget leaner and more efficient.
  
  Sadly, no. Instead, officials felt they just needed better PR.
  
  So to stem the loss of students, AISD spent $850,000 on advertising and public relations consultants, in addition to the $1.5 million on in-house communications staff.

• From Texas Monitor:
  
  Poor planning and a hurried decision by Austin Independent School District Superintendent Paul Cruz has potentially saddled taxpayers with an additional $30 million in bond payments, records obtained by The Texas Monitor show.
  
  District emails show that school officials had options of rehabbing Austin’s T.A. Brown Elementary, which Cruz shuttered in November 2016.
  
  Those options for fixing Brown, which opened in 1957, were not explored until after the superintendent declared the building closed forever.
  
  And now it’s too late for any fixes. Demolition of the building has already begun.
  
  The trouble centered on cracks in a crawl space at Brown, indicating wear and tear had given way to a serious weakening of floors throughout the building.
  
  In the days after the building was declared closed forever, a team of consultants hammered out possible fixes for the defects and came forward with possibly cheaper remedies at Brown.
  
  Officials now say Brown Elementary was a neighborhood school rife with engineering problems. Decrepit flooring showed structural defects that endangered anyone in the school, they said.

• From this website:
  
  2015, 2016, and 2017.

• From Save East Austin Schools:
  
  A group of district volunteers, parents and Latino community leaders fighting against possible closures of East Austin schools are creating a political action committee and threatening to oppose the Austin school district’s $1.1 billion bond package that will go before voters in November.
  
  About 30 plan to rally at 6:30 p.m. tonight outside of the Austin school board meeting at district headquarters, 1111 W. 6th St. and announce the formation of Save East Austin Schools political action committee.
  
  Group members have called on the school board to make changes to a 25-year comprehensive facilities master plan, as well as the bond projects. The concerns also include displacing Eastside Memorial High School from its current facility to a $70 million facility and moving the nationally-ranked Liberal Arts and Science Academy to the current Eastside campus.
  
  ....
  
  Group organizers said current Eastside students won’t benefit from the move and new facility, which is years away, and want LASA students to co-locate with Eastside students on the current campus. They also said more resources in the facilities master plan and the bond need to be allocated to the district’s east side campuses, which historically have been underserved.

• Austin ISD is the largest landowner in Central Texas.  Late last year, Austin ISD formally proposed selling a number of their properties, including multiple prime lots downtown.  This would be both a win for taxpayers AND it would help with housing supply.
  
  Passing this bond can only slow that process down.
  
  Also, in the event this bond does fail, reviving this proposal should be the next step.

• From KXAN last April:
  
  The Austin Independent School District chief of police says his department mishandled a possible sexual assault case of a Boone Elementary School Pre-K student.
  
  The case was first opened on Feb. 7 when attorney Paul Guinn says the parents of the 4-year-old girl noticed traumatic injuries on her body after she came home from school.
  
  “Something very bad seems to have happened to this young girl and we are without answers,” said Guinn.
  
  According to Guinn, the child’s mother dressed her daughter and took her to school that morning at 8 a.m. and then picked her up from school three hours later.
  
  Once they got home, the mother says she heard the child screaming while using the bathroom, and found blood and horrible bruising on her body.
  
  “The daughter’s father came home from work and took a look and said ‘we need to go to the hospital with this — this looks very serious,'” said Guinn.
  
  He says a trauma surgeon at Dell Children’s Medical Center had to operate on the lacerations, and diagnosed the injuries as sexual assault by bodily force.
  
  The attorney says AISD police were at the hospital and met with her parents, the doctors and interviewed the student. The girl’s teacher was placed on administrative leave. Two weeks later, on Feb. 22, AISD police decided to close the case and said the allegations were unfounded.
  
  It turns out, the detective never got a copy of the child’s medical records. “Frankly, I am mystified at how this diagnosis of a sexual assault was missed by the AISD PD,” said Guinn.

Bottom Line: If we had unlimited time, we could list 25 reasons why this monstrosity deserves to go down in flames; whatever your reason, get out and VOTE AGAINST the Austin ISD bond proposal.

TONE DEAF Austin ISD gives Superintendent RAISE (while pushing bond)....

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

This actually happened last week, but got lost in the shuffle with the Straus announcement; still:

The Austin school board Monday night approved a 1.5 percent raise and one-year contract extension for Superintendent Paul Cruz as part of the school leader’s annual evaluation.

The changes bring Cruz’s base salary to $310,958 and his contract through Dec. 31, 2020.

Keep in mind: Record Setting budgets amidst declining enrollment.

Also, keep in mind: The $310k figure only measures 'base salary.'  'Benefits' are on top of that.  We'd send an open records request for Cruz's whole compensation package, but we doubt they'd respond before election day.

Superintendent salaries tend to be a big issue statewide.  But, historically, Austin ISD has been middle of the pack on that front (especially for a large urban district).  This latest move, however, puts them among the worse offenders statewide.

Bottom Line: If this bond ultimately fails, it won't have been the opposition that gave the superintendent a raise on the first day of early voting....

Is Austin ISD engaging in taxpayer funded pro-Bond Electioneering?!?

"and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
2 Thessalonians 2:10

We attempted to attend this press conference yesterday, but arrived after it had concluded; kudos to this morning's Statesman for the write up:

The Travis County Taxpayers Union on Friday asked for a criminal investigation of Austin school district employees, alleging they have violated the Election Code by using public resources to lobby voters to support a $1.1 billion bond package.

The group is asking County Attorney David Escamilla to investigate communications the district sent to parents of students. Early voting is underway; Election Day is Nov. 7.

Members of the taxpayer group, including its attorney, Roger Borgelt, held a press conference on Friday morning, then filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission.

The group says flyers, stickers, letters and emails sent to parents did not contain a disclaimer required by Texas election law, and that the materials amount to illegal lobbying by the district. Borgelt also alleged that the district has used public funds and resources to advocate for the bond.

Click here to view the documents at issue

“We believe it’s criminally unethical, and we believe the law supports us on this,” Borgelt said, standing outside the Texas Ethics Commission’s offices in Austin. “To use teachers and students to basically disperse pro-bond materials and electioneering in favor of the bond … employees of the Austin Independent School District are not supposed to be doing this. We have at least four different instances of where we believe there has been violation of the election code related to the lack of disclosure, related to the use of public funds and resources, including the AISD internal email system to distribute pro-bond materials.”

....

One of the flyers in question was sent home with Davis Elementary students last month. The flyer included a sentence that inaccurately stated the bond would lead to “no additional taxes.” It had been prepared by a couple of parents and did not go through the approval process, as it should have, before it was sent home with students, according to a school email.

Read the whole thing here.

District FLOPS in Austin ISD Bond Debate

Austin ISD Board President Kendall Pace

"The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender."
Proverbs 22:7

Tuesday night, we attended KXAN's debate over the Austin ISD bond/tax hike.  Participants were Roger Falk of the Travis County Taxpayers Union and Bertha Delgado of Save East Austin Schools in opposition and Drew Scheberle of the Austin Chamber and Kendall Pace from Austin ISD in support.  You can view for yourself how badly this went for the District:



Highlights:

• Chamber guy spouts cliches about "talent availability."
• "21st century learning spaces."

• Roger Falk: Use finite resources wisely.
• Status quo is taxing people out of their homes.

• Chamber guy scaremongers re: bond failing.
• Calls Austin ISD's facilities plan "very thoughtful."

• Austin ISD is the largest land owner in central Texas.

• Roger: It doesn't take $1 BILLION to solve overcrowding.
• Austin ISD spends over $100k per month per school on maintenance.
• Austin ISD spends more per student than any urban ISD in the state.
• "Bloated, Contractor Bond."

• Pace: Something, something "belt tightening."
• Note: LOL, see here, here, and here.

• Roger: Robin Hood's impact is exaggerated.
• The only difference between the bond and Robin Hood is that you're giving the money to Wall St (via the interest payment) instead of giving it to the State of Texas.

• Pace makes a pretty racist statement re: El Paso.

• Pace acts super flustered and defensive.

• Chamber guy deflects when asked about bond being primarily for contractors.

• "Buildings don't teach children, people do."

• Chamber guy makes snotty, condescending, comment.

• Roger: "Right size the borrowing in this bond."

• Chamber guy deflects question about debt's impact on local economy by complaining about Robin Hood.
• Something something, tax hike not a big deal compared to "talent."

• Pace: Something, something "equality of outcomes."

• More cliches from Chamber guy.

• Austin ISD's superintendent just got a raise to over $300k!!!

• Roger: You could buy every student in Austin ISD an iPAD for $24 million, district is asking for $1 BILLION!!!

Austin ISD bond: Polling locations tipping scales AGAINST East Side?!?

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

From the Travis County Taxpayers Union:

East Austin Voter Suppression in AISD Bond Election

23 October 2017

Austin, TX -- The Travis County Taxpayers Union (TCTU) has analyzed the Austin ISD polling locations for the AISD bond election and discovered some startling disparity regarding poll accessibility and hours of operation in comparing East and West Austin. 

In total, West Austin has 2551 hours of available in-district polls, whereas East Austin has only 794 hours of available in-district polls, making West Austin at least three times more accessible than East Austin. 

West of I-35: 

2551 poll hours (76% of total)

East of I-35: 

794 poll hours (24% of total)

"This is just another example of troubling behavior by the school district to mislead the public, and now they're engaging in voter suppression of East Austin residents," says Roger Falk of TCTU. "East Austin voters ought to be outraged."

The trend holds true when analyzing Early Voting polls, mobile polls, Election Day polls, or an aggregate of all three types. 

Mobile polling locations are the most unfair of the three types, with nearly eight times more hours available in West Austin than East Austin (199 hours and 26 hours, respectively). Most East Austin mobile polling locations are only open for a mere two hours per day, whereas West Austin mobile polling locations are open for a much longer daily average timeframe. 

"It's already more difficult for middle and working class voters in East Austin to access polls and cast their votes. We should be giving more time for democratic participation in East Austin - not less."

Construction Interests Bankrolling the Austin ISD Bond....

"Like a roaring lion and a charging bear
Is a wicked ruler over poor people."
Proverbs 28:15

From Travis County Taxpayers Union:

Corporate Cronies, Special Interest Unions Contribute $81,500 to Sell AISD $Billion Tax Increase

16-Oct-2017

Austin, TX -- The Travis County Taxpayer’s Union (TCTU) has analyzed and released their findings regarding the 30-day financial disclosures of the Austin ISD pro-bond campaign, and the results are alarming.

Among the biggest campaign contributors is a host of corporations, architects, contractors, lawyers, and service providers to AISD, further evidence as to who is the true beneficiary of the bond: not the students, nor the teachers, but the bureaucrats and crony capitalists who directly and monetarily benefit from the extravagant spending in the taxpayer-funded bond tax increase.  Some of the corporate donors:

ABC Home & Commercial Services - $10,000.00

Greater Austin Economic Development Corp. - $10,000.00

Education Austin PAC - $10,000.00

Heritage Title Company of Austin, Inc. - $5,000.00

Pfluger Associates, L.P. - $5,000.00

Walsh Gallegos Trevino Russo & Kyle, P.C - $5,000.00

American Constructors - $5,000.00

Bartlett Cocke General Contractors - $3,500.00

DLR Group - $3,500.00

O'Connell Robertson - $3,500.00

PBK, Inc. - $3,000.00

Encotech Engineering - $2,500.00

Ranger Excavating, L.P - $2,500.00

BLGY Architecture, Inc. - $2,500.00

Flintco, LLC - $2,500.00

Joeris General Contractors - $2,500.00

D'Amato Conversano, Inc. DBA DCI Engineers - $2,500.00

Husch Blackwell LLP - $2,500.00

JE Dunn Construction - $2,500.00

Ranger Excavating, L.P - $2,500.00

Square One Consultants - $2,000.00

Journeyman Construction, Inc. - $1,000.00

Studio 8 Architects, Inc. - $1,000.00

MWM Design Group, Inc. - $500.00

“Don’t be deceived, Austin ISD taxpayers - this is a corporate contractor’s bond,” says Don Zimmerman of TCTU. “The school district is shrinking, and no bond money is going towards our teachers. Our kids - and our educators - deserve better.”

“What this amounts to is that Austin ISD has severely mismanaged their maintenance budget - a whopping $54,000.00 per month, and is now being bankrolled by opportunistic contractors and construction companies to try and trick taxpayers into bellying up. Austin voters should not stand for this.”

Meanwhile, the district continues to claim the bond will not increase tax “rates” - a rhetorical device being used to deceive voters that borders on a lie, and perhaps even an ethics violation according to the rules set by the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC). The ballot language itself reads that, if the bond passes, Austin ISD will be authorized to increase taxes “without limit.”

Ballot Language:

The issuance of $1,050,984,000 school building bonds for the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, renovation, expansion, improvement, modernization and equipment of school buildings in the district, including (i) technology systems and equipment, (ii) safety and security systems and equipment, (iii) improvements to address overcrowding and safety concerns, (iv) improvements for students with special needs, and (v) reinvention programs for twenty-first century learning;  the purchase of the necessary sites for school buildings;  and the purchase of new school buses, and the levy, pledge, assessment and collection of ad valorem taxes on all taxable property in the district, sufficient, without limit as to rate or amount, to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds and the costs of credit agreements executed in connection with the bonds.

Astonishingly inept Austin ISD bond draws remarkably diverse opposition coalition

"You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning."
Leviticus 19:13

[Note: There was a lot of ambient noise in the background and the sound wasn't amplified on site, so the audio quality on the videos we shot turned out terribly.  Unfortunately, because we were filming, we didn't take notes during the press conference.  We've included the videos below, but hope readers will cut us some slack over the fact that we're writing up today's events from memory without the aid of notes or good video.]

It takes a special act of chutzpah to push a tax hike so big that you piss off every Republican in town, while structuring said tax increase so that the burden falls disproportionately on the Black and Hispanic communities in East Austin to subsidize affluent white people on the west side of town, which pisses off half the Democrats; with this current bond, somehow Austin ISD somehow accomplishes that feat.

This afternoon, a broad trans-partisan coalition of grassroots Austinites held a press conference in East Austin to highlight a number of flaws with the current Austin ISD bond proposal.  Objections ranged from the sheer size of the package, to the deceptive marketing of a tax increase that could easily surpass $600/year for median Austinites, to the fact that the district is holding East Austin schools hostage to the bond while structuring the bond so most of it's 'benefits' are seen elsewhere.

Obviously, this website has been opposed to the bond ever since we learned of it's magnitude (combined with the fact that they've never completed the process of selling off other real estate holdings they assured us they would complete before attempting another bond).  It's just a gigantic ask when their recent record of financial stewardship doesn't inspire confidence.  What have they done with the maintenance budget they already have?!?

Taxpayer advocate John Goldstone explained how the district is using deceptive language to minimize the tax impact.  The district is claiming the bond won't change the tax rate.  But you don't pay a tax rate, you pay a tax bill.  And more debt service means higher taxes.  In this case, Goldstone estimates the tax hike at over $600 per year (we will deflect all questions over how he came up with that number to Goldstone himself).

A number of other community advocates, including former #atxcouncil candidate Pete Salazar (ran against Greg Casar in 2014), LULAC head Gavino Fernandez, and Grey Panthers head Richard Franklin, discussed how the bond places a disproportionately large tax burden on the black and Hispanic communities on the East side to disproportionately benefit affluent white folks in the West side.  To be honest, we hadn't thought about that aspect prior to hearing it today.  But it's completely true.

And that's what's interesting: We've been fighting poorly conceived bonds for several years in Austin.  And it seems like there's more opposition on "the left" this time than we've seen previously (or that they're at least more engaged).  And the district has no one to blame but itself and its own arrogance.

Bottom Line: Early voting begins in two weeks; Election day is November 7.

-------

As district launches bond campaign, Austin ISD's Enrollment Declines further....

And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Revelation 14:8

But they TOTALLY need another billion dollars:

Preliminary enrollment numbers show more than a 1,600-student drop in the Austin district, which would be the biggest loss of students in a single year since the district’s attendance peaked in 2012.

There is time for a rebound. Unofficial student enrollment numbers taken from the third week of school show enrollment at 81,427, down 1,640 students from last year. But enrollment from the same day last year shows a smaller decline of 1,176 students.

....

The 2017-18 school year losses would mark the fifth consecutive drop and the district’s lowest point in more than a decade. Two years ago, Austin lost its position among the top five largest districts in the state.

Read the whole thing here.

Is Austin ISD Bullying Engineers to invent support for bond?!?

"They are deeply corrupted,
As in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their iniquity;
He will punish their sins."
Hosea 9:9

Don Zimmerman asks some fantastic questions:



Highlights:

• Austin ISD exaggerating problems 

• Decision to close T.A. Brown was "a political move designed to build support for a bond campaign."

• "I think it was political theater and I don't appreciate it."

• "The district was putting pressure on engineers to exaggerate their interpretation of the studies."

• Contractor issues denial.

• Parents of students at the school agree with Zimmerman.

• Austin ISD declines to comment.