Our Own Backyard

I saw a post on a discussion group I follow about a church group raising money for a mission trip. Local church youth groups have been doing these for years. The usual program in recent years has been for these trips were to Mexico,  just across the border, to do repairs or construction work. Well this fund raiser is to build a house in Uganda. UGANDA? Seems like a long trip to build a house.

The reason I bring this up is not to criticize the youth group. It follows the theme of an earlier post where I talked about focusing charitable activities and donations to local charities. While there is no comparison between living standards in Lockhart and Uganda one just needs to hang around the local food bank to realize there are a multitude of opportunities to impact lives right here in the BBQ Capital of Texas. A trip across US 183 will expose you to living conditions that would apall you.

So why not do your good works here? We are developing a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity and they have many opportunities for volunteering. Our local Kiwanis clubs build wheelchair ramps for disabled folks. Meals on wheels, the food bank, and just about every church will put you to work if you let them.

So why go to Mexico or Uganda? Travel costs alone will gobble up a significant amount of resources.  Appalachia has some pretty grim situations if you feel like Texas isn't bleak enough for you.

Okay I'll quit whining!  It is great that these young people want to make life a little better for the less fortunate.  It's just that there a lot "less fortunates" that you have to pass by to get to Uganda.

Why Bother?

Some of remember when the movies were not rated. People in movies kept their clothes on, graphic violence was not portrayed,  and profanity was rare. Then sometime in the 60's all of that went the way of the Edsel. The MPAA developed its rating system to warn viewers what they would encounter. I believe they started with 4 ratings, G,PG,R,and X. They later added PG-13 and NC17. As a consumer I like this information as it helps me decide whether I want to chunk down my money.

Apparently not everyone got the memo. Yesterday we went to see The Hunger Games at the local theater.  For those not familiar with it the story is based on a trilogy by Suzanne Collins set in post-appocalyptic America. The story revolves around a national "game" that is held each year in which two teens from each of 12 districts are pitted against one another in a fight to the death. The violence is pretty graphic and the movie is rated PG-13. Since Emma and I qualify we paid our money and found a seat. We discovered that the overwhelming majority of the audience was in the age range of the combatants on screen but there were about half a dozen clearly younger than the suggested 13 years old. Two 20 something moms lugged in 3 toddlers under 5 years old. Several 9 or 10 year olds were there with older siblings.

What were these parents thinking? The obvious answer is that they weren't!  What about teenagers killing each other makes it appropriate for these young skulls full of mush? It's fairly unsettling for this old man but I can distinguish between reality and fiction.

What it all comes down to is parental responsibility. You can't legislate intelligence or judgment.  In the case above the parents were either too lazy, stupid,  or really didn't care what their kid was exposed to. On the larger scale are we just wasting our time trying to inform the public about entertainment content?

All Politics Are Local?

Have you ever heard that? I have and, the older I get, the more I believe it. And for the last 6 months my involvement with local politics solidifies this belief.

As many of you know I took the position of County Auditor for Caldwell County on August 1st last year. This is a position I held many years ago and, apparently, did not learn my lesson. Our wonderful state legislature, knowing that politicians needed someone to keep an eye on them, created the position of County Auditor. Statute requires an Auditor to be appointed by the district judges with jurisdiction over a county with a population of 25,000 or more. The auditor reports to the district judges, not the elected officials he works with. So the legislature set the table so let's all dig in.

Before I get into this let me state that I am somewhat a political junkie. This blog has had some significant rants on national and state politics but, in my opinion, local politics is where it's at. I follow happenings and issues with the school board, city council, and county government. I know the many of the elected officials and know how they stand on particular issues. I vote in every election and make sure I know who I am voting for. If I find that the candidate I have supported in the past "goes off the reservation" you can bet I will find another candidate to support.

This blog is going to focus on county government because that is what I am closest to. All of the laws and powers of county government are granted by the legislature. Unlike cities the counties of Texas have very limited ordinance making power and must get a bill through the state legislature to get something done locally. Considering that the state legislature has a hard time passing a state budget you can see why the operations of county government haven't changed much over the past 140 years. The reason I say 140 years is because the structure of county government goes back to the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War. You see, after Lee surrendered there began a period of occupation of the South and a swarm of Carpetbaggers descended upon our fair state and sought to take advantage of the situation. In response to that the legislature created this structure of county offices, all elected, to run the county government. These elected jobs were full time jobs doing the day to day business of the county. And like I said, not much has changed in 140 years. People make careers of elective office in county government and, because nobody cares about what the County Clerk does, we return them to office time and again.

County officials must stand for election every four years and this is an election year. Without a doubt the job of County Commissioner is the "bird nest on the ground" of elective office, at least in rural counties. Back in the day they were considered "Road Commissioners" and were responsible for the county roads in their precincts. However since the formation of a Unified Road System with a hired administrator overseeing road maintenance, the Commissioner's primary duty is to attend the 3 or so meetings each month of the Commissioners' Court, the governing body of the county. This Court consists of the County Judge and the commissioners from each of the 4 precincts. These meetings usually last 2 to 4 hours each so most of our commissioners have full time jobs. They decide how much and what work they do for the county and have only their constituents to answer to.For this the get paid $34,000 per year. Is there any wonder why there is never a shortage of people seeking to be a County Commissioner? Not bad for a part-time job! We have one commissioner that has been in office over 20 years, another is coming on 8 years and running for reelection.

There are many things inherently wrong with the way county government runs but as stated above changing it is difficult at best. So you work with what you have. And being the guy responsible for safeguarding county assets I have a big job. Oh and by the way I have to do it in 20 hours per week. So far it has been averaging over 30 per week and my CPA practice has suffered greatly. But I signed up for it and I see some progress happening, albeit not without some pain. I am working much harder than I thought I would be at this stage in my life but to tell the truth am having a great deal of fun. I am in it for the long haul so they might as well get used to me!

On a side note in an unrelated matter, I attended a birthday party yesterday at the nursing home I ran for 5 years. I was there ostensibly to help Emma's senior group that was sponsoring the party but my main goal was to visit the residents and families. That was the best hour of my life in recent months! I still miss it!