Readers, please refer to http://www.elliscountyobserver.com for the new Observer site.

The features are being added from this blog to the main site daily, and we welcome your patience during this transition. Keep sending your comments and news tips, though, to elliscountyobserver@hotmail.com!

Joey Dauben
Publisher

A Running Count…

Well, since I’ve designated myself as the news agenda-establishing blogger in this county, I’d like to point to a running count of the stories that no one has covered – the Waxahachie Daily Light, The Ellis County Press – this really isn’t fair to subscribers or longtime, loyal readers, it’s really not. But it is my hope that this short list will spur someone to start covering this…

(or, if people aren’t careful, this blog will launch a print edition** and smoke all of the newspapers anyway)

Story 1: Navarro College officials admitting to breaking open meetings laws in discussions on giving Ellis County taxpayers a property tax. Isn’t this illegal?

Story 2: Navarro College’s efforts at getting the state Legislature – i.e., Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana & Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie – to tweak state law allowing for the passage of a property tax without a referendum (or at least the petitions);

Story 2A: The 92% conservative-ranked Cook and Pitts taking the “hell no” stance at Navarro’s efforts (Cook isn’t even our representative, but he fights for us anyway!)

Story 3: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms arrest of Midlothian “right-wing” activist Leslie Davis; the warrant originally stated the ATF and DEA, as well as Ellis County Sheriff deputies were searching for an inert rocket launcher (possession of this is not illegal, supposedly), but all that was found was a .22-caliber rifle in Davis’ closet that he got when he was 14. To be fair, it’s still illegal for felons to possess guns (which is a stupid law, in the first place, but hey, it’s the law). Reports said that there were about 100 agents in Midlothian the day Davis was arrested;

Story 4: Mid-Way Regional Airport Construction Defects (allegations) + Video. I won’t spend too much time on this, but you can Google Mid-Way Regional Airport Disaster and have a blast.

Story 5: Campaign contributions in the May 12 county facilities bond election. It’s just interesting to know, that’s all. Not a single newspaper has published the list. This blog has though.

Story 6: The stiff-armed lobbying supporters of Judge Gene Knize made to get their friend, Carol Bush, nominated to the open county court-at-law bench (when Bob Carroll retired suddenly), and the ensuing criticism of new-Judge Greg Wilhelm (elected last year as our county treasurer) from the same forces;

Story 7: The county treasurer appointment of Judy Burden over that of GOP county chair Rusty Ballard being a complete (personal opinion of the publisher, no one else) slap in the face; nothing against Burden, but Ballard would have been a great treasurer.

Story 8: Construction defects and ensuing lawsuit over the Midlothian Conference/Senior center;

Story 9: County Attorney Joe Grubbs‘ lawsuit and efforts to keep victims of Dr. Chitale of obtaining documents related to the case, despite the state Attorney General ruling requiring their release;

The BIG ONE: The 50+ aggravated sexual assault cases that have gone before Grubbs and his pedophile-protecting assistant Patrick M. Wilson, only to be plea-bargained for a quick conviction and in turn, probation. Resumes get padded while child molesters run the streets of Ellis County in droves.

Did I miss anything? Just for the sake of honesty and fairness, Wilson wasn’t the prosecutor on all of the cases, but he was on most of them. The signatures of both Wilson and Grubbs, however, appear on the court documents and paperwork filed at the district clerk’s office.

To send questions and comments to this blog, do so at: elliscountyobserver@gmail.com

To send questions and comments as to why our newspapers aren’t covering these issues, use the following:

Editor@WaxahachieDailyLight.com
Editor@EllisCountyPress.com

**What would Ellis County politics look like if an infusion of one payment of $50,000 were to find itself under the management of The Ellis County Observer? Well, for a quick look at what the ideas are in driving such a print edition of this blog, visit www.ThePolitico.com.

Prepare for war, Ellis County. That $50,000 just hit the market. And I’ve got the team in place to make this a very interesting little county…

Prostitution Legal in Midlothian?

It is if you’re the Midlothian Mirror editor.

First, the guy who I should have filed charges against for grabbing me and jolting me at the Rotary Club’s fish fry last year is none other than Floyd Ingram.

He sits on the committee offering plans to the MISD school board on what to pass in the fall as far as bond elections go. I have no problem with reporters sitting on any board or commission, or involved politically. But his bias towards the city and school district about not publishing certain things — is a huge conflict of interest.

So, about the prostitution. Just how big of a prostitute is Ingram? Intellectually-speaking of course, he’s probably earned a pimp status just for the bribes he gets for not printing a single word about anything this blog and the other Observer has reported about…could someone point me to the article and/or date of publication of anything about the lawsuit related to the construction mess at both the Midlothian Conference Center and Senior Citizens Center?

I’m thinking that’s probably pretty useful information for taxpayers in Midlothian to know.

I’m pretty sure that the open records laws that Navarro College officials admitted to breaking when discussing whether or not to lay a property tax on Ellis County would be useful for folks in Midlothian to know as well.

He prides himself on this good ‘ol boy image, but in reality, he’s being bribed with big contributions in the form of ads to shut his mouth.

Chief Carl Smith?

UPDATE: Different Carl Smith.

If this is the same CNB Texas-backed Carl Smith that ran for school board in 2006 (came in second to winner Tom Moore), then he just might become Midlothian’s police chief.

I was digging around the Midlothian minute archives to see if public smoking ban-opponent Ken Chambers – elected in May after knocking off the ordinance-writing Jimmy Beaudoin – has been opposing any thing to come up during the meetings. Haven’t found anything interesting yet…

More Government Construction Projects Going to Waste
There is a lawsuit – if not one already that is – pertaining to the construction of Midlothian’s taxpayer-financed conference and senior center.

There is just absolutely nothing else I or this blog can say other than…someone please …just stop building government buildings in Ellis County period. Something has to change in this county. When will the tax dollar waste stop?

Mid-Way Airport Board Members

Special thanks to the City of Midlothian for providing this information to the public. It is this blog’s hope that the problems and issues raised by pilots over the past two weeks will be addressed honestly, openly, and with a concern towards our taxpayers. Here’s the list:

Mayor
Paula Baucum (Rotating Member)
1738 Creek Bend Drive
972-723-2080

Place 3
Al Castleman
5841 Waterworks Road
972-723-6132

Place 6
Aubrey Price
3640 Oak Tree Lane
972-723-3471

Waxahachie’s Representatives:

Mark Morgan

Jim Odom

Dale Stevenson

Serves as advisory board to both Midlothian and Waxahachie Councils, oversees day-to-day operation of airport. Board is made up of seven members serving three-year terms; three regular members from Midlothian and three regular members from Waxahachie plus a rotating member appointed by each city on an alternating basis.

So apparently there’s a letter circulating from a recent Mid-Way Airport Board meeting discussing what has been posted on this blog (and once we get it, that letter will be posted). Well, for those who are new to this situation and new to this blog, it’s really quite simple:

The first video shows Waxahachie Finance Director Carl Wessels making a presentation to the Midlothian City Council about the need to approve a contract with the Nay Company; this was the same contract that contractor Ken Halverson and I sued Waxahachie over last year. Waxahachie’s attorneys said regardless of the decision in then-Judge Bob Carroll’s court, they were going to appeal. The case was thrown out on a single word (“resident”) not being included near one of the other taxpayers to have brought forth the suit. Back to the video: turn up your speakers real, real loud, but you can faintly make out what Mayor Boyce Whatley and another councilman said about how Midlothian doesn’t normally approve contracts like that, and that this would be the last time one like it would be approved. Thanks go to the Rural Citizens Against Annexation for this video footage.

This video shows the “after” part of the contract being awarded to the Nay Company. A number of pilots allowed The Ellis County Observer access to the hangars that are reportedly in such shoddy condition that it’s hard for planes to navigate in and out of them; problems that have pilots buzzing at our airport include: major flooding, less-than-adequate drainage pipes and systems; the concrete “humps” the planes are having trouble crossing…those are just the major ones. One pilot reportedly swept six inches of water out of his hangar.

And I got word that there are a few “allies” not so happy with me on this. Allow me to explain something: what you people (critics of this blog and of what I do) need to realize is that my role in this county is not to make friends with anyone in public office. My role is not to go along to get along. It’s not to compromise and turn a blind eye to crooked and unethical actions and decisions. No, my role is to do exactly this. And if you don’t like it, that’s just too damn bad.

I’ll admit where I’m wrong, and if I’ve come out too harshly against someone, I’ll admit to it. And if public officials do good, they will be praised.

But I’m done caring about how many “friends” I have politically. Just remember one thing: if you take a dime of taxpayer money, you’re my property. And you become my business. And you become scrutinized. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If the newspapers in this county won’t do their job, I’ll have to do it for them…and yes, that includes all of them.

-Joey Dauben
elliscountyobserver@hotmail.com

13,000 Homes Coming to MISD

Apparently a second high school – and a third, and a fourth – will be needed, part of which will stem from the 13,000 homes that the City of Grand Prairie has platted in the MISD.

(thanks to MISD school board president Duke Burge for this)

As much as I hate, hate, hate, hate having to break up the 100-square-mile-plus MISD into “factions” at the secondary level, it’s pretty much inevitable that there will be numerous high schools.

Hello Mansfield East!

Can Floyd Ingram Be Trusted?

The Midlothian Mirror actually had an informative front page last week — maybe too informative.

The gigantic story was about a “new” Midlothian ISD bond committee – formerly known as the Growth Management Committee but it went through a sex change and became the Bond Steering Committee. Most of the same people from the GMT are now members of the BSC (I don’t think MISD voters are that stupid…), which will serve the purpose of getting a bond package passed. MISD hasn’t had that much of luck in recent years.

What can I say, it’s the taxpayer revolt in Midlothian…

Anyway, Floyd Ingram, the Mirror editor, is on this Bond Steering Committee.

Says so right at the bottom of his article. Question: Does the fact that the Mirror’s editor participating in a committee that will be responsible for persuading the school board in doling out millions in tax dollars to companies that have more or less pitched in money for those bonds passing sit well with you?

Question 2: Is it not safe to assume that if any of those individuals or companies with a direct interest in seeing bond packages pass in Midlothian, the Mirror won’t report it?

It’s the perfect conflict-of-interest type of story. At least when I ran for MISD school board while also writing for The Ellis County Press, I would practice what I preach: transparency, open and honest government, asking really hard questions, etc.

But Floyd seems to think that the Mirror is the only news outlet in Midlothian. Taxpayers are not stupid, Floyd. They will get the truth regardless.