Pursuit of knowledge

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” James Madison

The thing that cripples many people when it comes to religion or politics is the fear of appearing to have a lack of knowledge on one subject or another. I prefer to look at it as only a fool professes to be all knowing.

I recently asked my county commissioner for clarification on an issue. He denied responsibility and when I offered evidence to support my position, he said “I am wasting my time talking to you. Get out of my office.” I remembered the county judge recently had a similar reaction to the local news media.

I am not foolish enough to believe an honest dialog can take place with a politician. It appears they are of the opinion if you don’t swallow their propaganda hook line and sinker, you are an idiot.

Consider the Favorite Quote on Kelly Snells’ Facebook page.

After visiting with Commissioner Snell, I can picture him longing for the days when Heretics were boiled in oil. Like he believes he is divinely endowed with the office and any question of his actions is heresy.

This is the actual quote, unmolested by the perversion of political delusion:

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly."

--letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, defending the controversial appointment of Bertrand Russell to a teaching position, March 19, 1940.

Snell was asked about a social media forum for the Commissioner Pct. 1 contest. His response “I said a long time ago I’m not going to be concerned by something I can’t control, and I can’t control what’s on a free Facebook page.”

Not surprising that this turned up.

Let there be no doubt, Kelly Snell REALLY likes Kelly Snell.

There were two specific items I was attempting to gain clarity on:
1. The Texas Constitution requires government to hold a public hearing before taking action to increase total tax revenue. That is a constitutional limitation on government. Notice the law does not say increase the tax rate, it covers any increase in revenue. You decide if the error is trivial.

2. On August 17th, 2011, a letter was drafted in the office of the Criminal District Attorney of McLennan County by Alex J. Bell. In the letter, he indicates the jail magistrate is in violation of the Texas Constitution for holding two offices of emolument. This appears to be a constitutional limitation on government. Commissioners voted to continue with the services of the magistrate even though the District Attorney's office said he was in violation of the Texas Constitution. Here is a link to that correspondence.
http://www.pasotx.com/Snell/DA%20Ltr%20081711.pdf

Is incompetence an emergency?

It appears McLennan County Commissioners believe incompetence constitutes an emergency.

Buried in the annual budget is a line item for “contingency”. This has long been a bone of contention by observers who characterize it as an administrative slush fund. To justify the position they point out the money is not allocated for anything. Government officials point to catastrophic events like tornados ripping the roof off the coliseum.

A couple of weeks ago, McLennan County Auditor Stan Chambers called it an emergency fund and said it is up to Commissioners’ Court to determine what constitutes and emergency.

Two weeks ago, the Sheriff’s office submitted a budget amendment to raid the emergency fund for $385,000.00. The big concern was that if you do the math, there is not enough money in the emergency fund to cover the potential liabilities for outside housing of prisoners.

That made me wonder what else Commissioners had determined was an “Emergency”. The more I looked the more shocking it became.

There is a computer purchase which was eliminated from the budget, a $5,000.00 raise for the assistant budget director, a $3,000.00 dryer that was shipped to the privately run jail. The list goes on and on.