People attending the monthly Sulphur River Basin Authority (SRBA) board meeting on Sept. 16 in Mount Pleasant were quick to notice a missing president, Mike Huddleston, and vice-president, Charles Lowry, which would be explained later in the meeting. With six members on the SRBA board, four members had to be present in order to make a quorum. As the minutes went by, only three members were present.
"We are waiting for Robert (Parker, board member). He will be here," SRBA Administrator Mike Burke stated.
Finally, Parker arrived and the meeting began, conducted by Burke.
[COMMENT: Frail Mr. Parker, who resigned two years ago but "changed his mind" earlier this summer, got lost looking for the courthouse where he thought the meeting was being held. His confusion resulted in a 25-minute delay for the start of the meeting. R]
After a call to order, approval of minutes, updates on the Clean Rivers Program, adopting a 2004 annual budget, Burke read letters of resignation from Huddleston and Lowry, effective immediately. Huddleston's and Lowry's terms on the board had expired in February of 2003, but appointments to the positions have not been made by Gov. Rick Perry.
In Huddleston's letter, he said he was honored to have served the board for 12 years, and pointed out the importance of appointing someone to the board who would be able to make tough decisions. "It is time to put politics aside and appoint a board that can carry out the responsibilities mandated by state statute. My sincere hope is that the individuals you appoint will be given the opportunity to serve with the full backing of your office. The decisions they will face in securing the future water resources for our state will no doubt be controversial; however, those tough decisions must be made if we are to provide the natural resources needed to ensure a strong economy for present and future generations," Huddleston's letter to the governor stated.
Lowry's resignation letter urged the governor to make the new appointments to this board at once. "It is urgent that a full board be in place now."
After the letters were read, and the resignations accepted by the board, Judy Lee of Mount Pleasant was elected president and Dick Goodman of Clarksville was elected vice-president.
The election of Lee to the presidency was not a surprise to many audience members, especially those who attended last month's North East Texas Regional Water Planning Group (NETRWPG) meeting. Huddleston, who was a NETRWPG board member, was not re-elected to his position on that board. It was during the nomination process that Huddleston, who was nominating Lee, said she was the SRBA president -- a comment which caused more than a few raised eyebrows.
Fast forward a month to the Sept. 16 SRBA meeting, and Lee is now the SRBA president. Her first duty was to have David Tuckfield, outside counsel for the group, explain a letter from Attorney General Greg Abbott concerning an informational meeting held on March 13 in New Boston. The meeting, a presentation about the economic impact of the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir (which now is a "potential" reservoir) was open only to persons who received an invitation. Many citizens opposed the way the invitation-only meeting was handled, stating the SRBA was in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
Tuckfield read the summary of the letter to the audience which read: "An informational meeting of the Sulphur River Basin Authority (the 'Authority') that is open only to the Authority's invitees, including members of the press and community leaders, contravenes the Open Meetings Act if a quorum of members of the Authority is present or otherwise participates in the deliberations. If a quorum is not present and does not otherwise participate in the deliberations, the informational meeting is not subject to the Act."
Once the summary was read, George Frost of Maud [now a member of Region D -- R] stood in the audience section and asked if he could address the board. "I am not trying to be disrespectful, but I believe I was told I could address this board once a decision was made."
The response by Lee was she felt she would not be able to answer any questions at the time.
Frost then asked if he could be on the next meeting's agenda. "I'll even give you the questions now."
The board agreed and the questions were written down; then the board adjourned.
At the meeting's conclusion, Frost, still standing, said he would like to address the audience, telling them he also had received a copy of the letter from the AG's office. Frost read a paragraph in the letter which stated a governmental body commits an offense if the member, or group of members, knowingly conspire to meet in numbers of less than a quorum for the purpose of secret deliberations. An offense under the provision is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500; confinement in the county jail for not less than one month or more than six months; or both the fine and confinement.
"There was a reason why this paragraph was put in," Frost concluded.
Other audience members also voiced concern about the turn of events.
"Huddleston and Lowry did the right thing and resigned when their 'illegality' came into play," stated Robert Russell of Mount Pleasant. "Both Patsy McClain and Robert Parker (whose terms expired in February of 2001) are 'impersonating' public officials. McClain and Parker are obviously clueless."
[COMMENT: When Lynn asked me about this, I was standing next to John McConnell. It was he who said that these two are "impersonating public officials"; however, I must state that I agree wholeheartedly. Their membership on this board is completely illegal, as their terms officially expired at midnight, 2 June 2003, at the end of the regular legislative session, if not technically before that. R]
According to the governor's office, board members are to remain on the board until either they are reappointed or another appointment is made.
SRBA's next meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center.
An occasionally contentious audience learned Tuesday that the Sulphur River Basin Authority (SRBA) did not violate the Texas Open Meetings Act when it held an "invitation only" meeting earlier this year.
Audience members expressed dismay at the result, with one attendee [Yours Truly, Robert Russell -- R] asking, "What are we supposed to do? Bust the door down and go into the meeting that way?"
On March 13, 2003, [see 2003 Archive -- R] the SRBA held an informational meeting by invitation only in New Boston for community leaders and members of the media. Attendees heard a presentation on the economic impact of the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir. Members of the public had attempted to attend but were turned away because they lacked an invitation.
In April, Rep. Robert Puente (D-San Antonio), chair of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, asked the state's attorney general to consider whether a river authority, under the Open Meetings Act, may hold an informational meeting that is open only to invited guests.
[COMMENT: Of course, as we all know, the reason that Rep. Puente asked for this opinion was that Congressman Max Sandlin's assistants were among those who were refused admittance to this so-called "informational meeting"! Huddleston and Burke just, well, screwed up when that happened. R]
Attorney General Greg Abbott released his opinion Sept. 8, noting that an informational meeting open only to the Authority's invitees, "contravenes the Open Meetings Act if a quorum of members of the Authority is present or otherwise participates in the deliberations." However, the Authority had informed the attorney general's office that "a quorum of the governmental body was not present" at the informational meeting. Therefore, "the informational meeting is not subject to the Act."
David Tuckfield, the SRBA's outside legal counsel from Austin, presented the attorney general's opinion at Tuesday's meeting. The opinion cautioned that "a member or group of members of a governmental body commits an offense if the member or group of members knowingly conspires to circumvent this chapter by meeting in numbers less than a quorum for the purpose of secret deliberations in violation of this chapter."
Violations under the provision can result in fines and/or jail time for members. The SRBA consists of six board members appointed by the governor. Terms are two years in length, made in odd numbered years. Members represent Bowie, Red River, Cass, Franklin, Hunt, Morris, Titus, Delta, Hopkins and Lamar counties.
Immediately following Tuckfield's reading of the opinion, audience member George Frost of Maud asked the board to consider placing three questions on its next agenda. "First, how and when did SRBA determine the time, date and location of the meetings on March 13th?" Frost asked. "Second, how did the SRBA determine who would be invited? Third, how can those who did not get an invitation be invited?" Frost's comments were met with resounding support from audience members, and other questions were aimed at the board members. However, the meeting was quickly adjourned.
In earlier business, the board accepted the resignations of President Mike Huddleston of Texarkana and Vice-President Charles Lowry of Mount Vernon. Lowry asked the governor to fill the vacancies "at once. It's urgent that a full board be in place now."
Huddleston was more direct, stating that "it's time to put politics aside and find a board that can carry out the mandates required by state statute." He noted that "the decisions they will face in securing future water resources for our state will no doubt be controversial, but these tough decisions must be made if we are to provide the natural resources needed to ensure a strong economy for present and future generations."
Huddleston is a proponent of the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
Following the acceptance of the resignations, the board elected Mount Pleasant resident Judy Lee as president and Clarksville resident Dick Goodman as vice-president.
Gov. Rick Perry has yet to announce his appointments to the SRBA, which normally are announced in March. perry must name four appointments, two to fill the resignations, and two to fill the expired terms of Patsy McClain and Robert Parker. As per the bylaws of the SRBA, members with expired terms must continue to serve until new appointments are made.
[COMMENT: Technically this "tradition" or "custom" may be acceptable. Usually when a new Governor is elected, many new appointments are made to all state boards. However, in the case of pretty-boy Bush-puppet Rick Perry, he is just lazy about this. If Bush made these appointments, why should he bother to appoint new people if all the old ones can continue to serve, business as usual, by "tradition"? Y'all should have voted for Tony Sanchez. Then we wouldn't have this "Republican problem" right now! R]
In other business, the board also approved the 2004 budget. Anticipated revenue from the Partnership Fund, interest income, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Clean Rivers Program fund is projected to total $989,139. With a $520,000 fund balance, total revenue is $1.5 million.
Clean Rivers Program expenses total $113,400, while Partnership Fund expenses are $963,600, for total expenditures of $1 million. The Clean Rivers Program monies are used for water monitoring of the basin. Partnership Fund money is used for work on the Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
[COMMENT: It is astonishing to many of us, considering that Region D downgraded Marvin Nichols Reservoir last December, that such large sums of money continue to be squandered by the SeRBiA, mainly to their engineering cronies in Texarkana, for "continued study" of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir -- especially in these times of state budget deficits when all sorts of people, including the elderly and the young children, have had their state benefits drastically reduced or even eliminated altogether. R]
The Authority also has five certificates of deposit, currently totaling $412,157.
The board heard an update on the status of the Clean Rivers Program. Administrator Michael Burke reported, "We filed our quarterly report to the state, which completes our two-year contract with the program. All monitoring activities are complete with the Quality Assurance Project plan." He also explained the new two-year contract with the state is for $196,000. Texarkana College will continue the monitoring duties, while Paul Price and Associates of Texarkana will handle the reports.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas -- The Sulphur River Basin Authority accepted the resignation of two of its members in a meeting Tuesday morning. Mike Huddleston, president, and Charles Lowry, vice-president, both submitted their letters of resignation, effective immediately. Neither gave reasons for their resignations in their letters and neither could be reached for comment.
SRBA administrator Michael Burke said both of their terms had expired in February. He was not able to comment on their reasons for stepping down.
In his resignation letter, Lowry said, " ... let me urge you to make the new appointments to this board at once. It is urgent that a full board be in place now."
Huddleston, in his letter, said he was honored to have served on the board for 12 years. He pointed out the importance of appointing someone to the board who would be able to make tough decisions. "It is time to put politics aside and appoint a board that can carry out the responsibilities mandated by state statute. My sincere hope is that the individuals you appoint will be given the opportunity to serve with the full backing of your office," Huddleston's letter stated. "The future water resources for our state will no doubt be controversial; however, those tough decisions must be made if we are to provide the natural resources needed to ensure a strong economy for present and future generations."
After accepting the resignations, the SRBA voted to elect Judy Lee of Mount Pleasant as president and Dick Goodman of Clarksville as vice-president.
In other business, the SRBA voted to approve the fiscal year 2004 budget. For the Clean Rivers Program, $113,400 was budgeted for 2004. Last year, $133,597 was budgeted and $134,912.76 was spent. Burke said the reason the budgeted amount has decreased is that there was an additional amount of money set aside last year for a Lake Wright Patman project, but that money was not set aside this year.
Money for work done on the Marvin Nichols Reservoir and administration costs was proposed at $963,600 for 2004. Last year, $1,190,675 was budgeted and they only spent $640,288.85. Burke said the reason for that difference was that money expended in certain categories had changed over the year.
The next meeting of the SRBA will be at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 21 [at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center].