Contractor Gets City Employee Raise

  Rafael Castillo has a Professional Service Contract, signed in 2013 which details in 6 pages said contract/agreement.  It spells out his compensation to take effect each July.  The contract expires June 30, 2016.
  Last month Council changed the contract, changing the 4 months severance pay to 6 months pay plus other changes which are not included in the included contract.

  According to many sources this is Illegal.  You can not hire a Contractor by Contract, then proceed to give that person pay raises as if a City Employee.  IRS says the individual is either a Contractor or an Employee.  Not both!

 

Outrageous Fleecing in Windcrest?

Nov 5, 2015 Windcrest City Council hired a Municipal Finance Director (MFO) at $4261.89 per month for working 24 hours per week.  The sum includes $586 for City Employee Health Insurance plan so said Jim Shelton, but he did not mention the additional $4,400.  Why?

Now Windcrest citizens should be outraged because the MFO also qualifies to receive additional benefits from the City funded Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) to the tune of over $4,000, ($4,400 I think) but that little fact was not addressed by the motion as approved by council on Nov 5, 2015.  The two 'Lame Duck Poster Guys' helped ram this thru over the objections of many, which should also infuriate Windcrest Citizens.  The HSA is taxpayer money used to reimburse employees for medical costs, not Contractors!

 For years Windcrest has had a full time Finance Director or Municipal Finance Officer working 40 hrs a week as most cities have.  But Sarah has convinced council she can perform all the Finance dept duties in only 24 hours.  

  Sarah Mangham, until now was a Contractor (ETR Government Services) @ 30 hours per week.  Then she agreed to work some additional hours each month in exchange for City Employee Health benefits.  Windcrest hired ETR Government Services to perform financial duties, then treats owner Sarah Mangham as an employee and gives her health benefits and over $4,000 in reimbursable medical costs thru the HSA. Something about this does not pass the smell test.

  Back in 2012 when the City initially funded the Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) for Windcrest employees, it is a well deserved Perk for Windcrest full time employees.

  Sarah Mangham then briefed a  resolution indicating employees receiving City Employee Health Benefits would be included on the HRA. ( Note, no reference to full time employees.) Initially it was $2100 per employee, now $4,400, which was a well deserved perk for Windcrest full time employees.  Contractors should NOT be receiving this perk at all!

   Nov 5, 2015, Council reduced her hours to 24 hours per week.  But she still received City Employee Health Benefits AND the $4,000 plus HRA.  All of this and Sarah is paid $4261.89 per month.  Or will the city pay ETR Government Services, who knows.  

$261,000 for Sidewalks!! YIKES!

  Windcrest council voted to approve the expenditure of $250,000 for sidewalks on Thursday Nov 5 council meeting.  Why do we have a Public Works dept?   Council person Pam Dodson suggested our Public Works dept could construct the new sidewalks for much less.  Lets face it, the Public Works dept should be renamed to Grass and Landscaping dept, which more accurately describes their actual duties.  Public Works during the past administrations performed Crack Filling on the streets of Windcrest.  The engineering firm hired years when this administration began, stated during a council presentation that the #1 preventive maintenance program was Crack Filling!  He commented that Windcrest had been doing an excellent job with Crack Filling which preserves the road base and make future repairs less costly.  Then this administration scrapped Crack Filling Program by Public Works entirely.  It seems higher priorities, like flowers planting and landscaping were suggested.    You have to remember, the Mayor hired the golf course manager (they know grasses) as the Public Works Director.  He immediately had the crack filling machine declared unfit and the Crack Filling Program was halted completely.  There had been NO crack filling for the past several years then last month a Contractor was hired to start crack filling.  Have you noticed the condition of the streets in Windcrest?  Too little too late.  Just wait until the road repair estimates come in, they will be horrendous because much of the road base has been destroyed by the lack of a Crack Filling program.

  Now your tax dollars, all $260,000 is being used to replace the sidewalks around two ponds.  Again, not by Public Works, but a Contract which was not released to a bid.

Brook Falls Pond Sidewalks        $123,533.16
Autumn Sunset Pond Sidewalks  $137,866.08

   Total                                          $261,399.24

To be fair, this cost also includes some lighting and benches along the sidewalks.

Note:  This expenditure was shoved thru by the current council before the newly elected council persons take office.  Maybe the new council can stop the bleeding and rescind these two resolutions and let Public Works Dept, Work!

Committee Report- Not

 After the Water District elections last year one of the first things Ms. Alexander motioned to create was a Committee of two board members to meet with two City Council members to foster an improved working relationship.
  The Water District Board of Directors selected their two members: Ms Alexander and board pres Dan Reese.  To date, which is nearly one year since she made the motion, there has not been one meeting between the two committees.  Tomy knowledge, the City has never named two council members to meet with the Water District Committee, but you can be sure the Mayor would be one.
 Why have these two committees met?  Ms Alexander professed a lack of cooperation when running election to the Water Board, then she followed up by getting a committee formed.  It appears that was a complete waste of time and effort, the committees have never met.

  These committees need to make a full report to their respective boards as to the progress, or lack of progress made during the past year!

  Another recent blogger reported the City council approved amendments to a contract which had not been agreed to by the two managers.  The Mayor is already building a platform for next years elections.

 Windcrest purchased 10+ acre feet of water rights for the ponds.  Mayor Baxter said during a council meeting those 10+ acre feet cost the city some $70,000 and when the purchase was complete those water rights would be turned over to the Water District.  That has not happened folks.  Council has been silent on the subject since the purchase was completed several months ago.  Why?

Mayoral Candidates on Ken5 Tonight

  Kens 5 interviewed both candidates running for Mayor of Windcrest.

  Frank Archuleta was interviewed speaking with a several Windcrest residents at the elections poll site.

 The Alan E. Baxter stated during the interview that he had apologized for his use of bad language.

  He DID NOT apologize for threatening the Fire Chief with his job, just the language he used.  Kens5 mentioned the Mayor survived the attempt to remove him from office.  Kens5 did not mention that two council persons that voted NOT Guilty during the mayors hearing are both running for re-election.

  James McFall and John Gretz, both voted Not Guilty.  They totally approved of the mayor making threats toward the fire chief and the use of foul language.  What does that tell you about the character of these two candidates?

 It's time for a change folks,
Vote, Kim Wright place 4 and
Matt Vandenberg place 5.
These two have integrity and would never tolerate behavior such as the Mayor displayed toward an employee.

Get out and Vote.

James McFall, Poster Guy?

James McFall is running for re-election on the Windcrest City Council.  This week a sharp senior citizen wrote a Letter to the Editor suggesting people Vote for Honesty in Windcrest.  In her article she says the current city council and mayor have difficulty following the City Charter.  She indicated that Four members (McFall included) do not contribute opinions or new ideas to the agenda or during meetings.  She says Life-Sized Posters would be just as effective.

 I have to agree.  James McFall and John Gretz, are both running for re-election.  They contribute very little if anything to public council meetings.  However, without discussion they always vote affirmative to any motion made by the "Team."  Most anything the lone woman, Pam Dodson. suggests gets shot down immediately, tabled or just plan dismissed.  The ladies idea of Life-Sized Poster being just as effective is very accurate.

 This suggests they have other meetings before the public meeting to form their game plan.  The mayor often refers to "Team Windcrest," as if he is the quarterback calling the plays.  This writer believes he does ALL the play calling.  And if you don't fall inline, well, you only need to listen to him cuss out the ex Fire Chief.

  You can hear the uncut version which has been on uTube for some time.  Click Here   Some say this is old news, but it's the mayor's character that reflects how he runs Team Windcrest.

Get out and Vote:
  Kim Wright for Place 4
  Matt Vandenberg Place 5
 Frank Archuleta, Mayor  the NEW- GM- Manager to promote Team Windcrest.

McFall need to Fall

 James McFall is running for re-election to Place 4 on the Windcrest City Council.  As a recent article in the NE Herald said, he has contributed very little since being appointed to a vacant seat on council.  The article mentions you may as well have Life size Cardboard Cuts up there, at least your expectation would be realized.
  John Gretz is his silent partner.  They both contribute almost nothing to the discussions.  That tells me they have already had their discussions before arriving at council.  Of course they will deny ever having a quorum, and the walking quorum is difficult to pin down.  Actions speak louder than words, so have a look at the recorded council videos. Some times they fidget in the chair, but otherwise could pass for the life size Posters mentioned in the NE Herald.
  Vote to remove these two.  Do Not vote for the three on the Black Signs.

  Vote for Kim Wright, not Mcfall and Vote for Matt Vandenberg, not Gretz.  Get some live individuals up there in stead of Posters.

  The Spokesperson for this group (when he is not cussing out employees) does ALL the talking and cuts off anyone trying to discuss a possible Con to any issue.

Vote Frank Archuleta for Mayor, not Baxter.  

It's time for Change, Please get out and Vote.

"Liar", "dishonest", and "Untrustworthy"

    A Quinnipiac University poll, in which 61% of respondents indicated they did not believe Hillary was honest and trustworthy.  Worse, when voters were asked the first word that came to mind about Clinton, the top three replies were (in order of popularity) "liar," "dishonest," and "untrustworthy."

 Now fast forward to Oct 21, 2015, a Windcrest senior citizen wrote a "letter to the editor," which was published in The Northeast Herald.

• She writes, "I have been a resident of Windcrest for 45 years and never in all those years have I received such twisting of facts that border on manufactured lies." 
• She goes on to say "The current mayor and council seem to have a major problem following the City Charter.  Four of the members do not contribute opinions or new ideas to the agenda or during any meeting; life-sized posters would be just as effective."
• She says "... is not happy with recent mail-outs and knows the difference between truth and actual falsehoods. 

 In my opinoin if Quinnipiac University conducted a poll the results would be much the same.

Please get out and Vote.  Do NOT vote for those three on the Black Signs.

Vote for Archuleta, Vandenberg and Wright, these three will follow the Charter and bring Honesty and Truth back to the City Council!

Privileged Status

  City Council members again playing the "Privileged Status" once again. Windcrest city parks are closed from 9pm to 6am.
  The Windcrest Police informed a candidate that "NO one is allowed into the Parks until 6am.  The first day of early voting there were tents, chairs, vehicles etc set up well before 5:30am.  When the candidate inquired to the Police, the answer from the Chief of Police was, "let them do whatever they want."
  OK, so the City Council running for Re-Election come in early and select their choice of spots to set up camp.  Next, the City Council members running for re-election park their cars in the other choice spot normally used for the opposing candidates.  Very childish behavior for sitting council members.

  The prime vehicle blocking access to area normally used by candidates belongs to none other than this fella:

  This is a look alike of the cardboad cut out mentioned in The Herald this week.

Fleecing of Windcrest

James McFall and John Gretz have voted to "Fleece" the residents of Windcrest by voting yes on all the issues below.  They don't think for themselves, they just vote as the mayor directs.  He hold short meetings with three council members at a time.  I have seen the video.

Purchased 10 acre of water rights @ $70,000, said they would transfer to Water District.  Did Not happen

Contractor paid some $20,000+ then hid the payments in Special Legal Fees.

Another Contractor paid $1500 without a contract and hid the payments in Special Legal Fees.

Contractors work additional hours in exchange for City Health benefits.  Those hours cover the cost of the medical,but NOT the $4,000+ HSA each employee gets.  Oops, that was changed from employee to anyone receiving city health benefits.

Contractors given a Stipend along with all city employees.  Stipends were originally for city employees, then changed to say those receiving city health benefits.

McFall and Gretz both voted FOR each of the above examples.  

It's time for a change at City Hall.  Get the two McFall and Gretz off council.  They hardly ever contribute any dialog to motions.  I believe Jake mentioned once, "We know how we are going to vote before we start the meeting."  Need more be said.

Get out and Vote.. Stop the Fleecing of Windcrest.

Listen to this, then Vote NO - Not in Windcrest!

 I was surprised recently to learn that some residents don't follow the local news all that closely.  I read where a resident was informed that council meetings were on video that she could watch.  The reply was, "you mean the meetings are online?"
  So some may think this is old news, but being it's election time and early voting has began I figured this might reach those that missed it the first time around.  Mayor Baxter apologized for the language, but never mentions the threats being made and the half truths he stated in the audio.
  Besides, the first time around the audio was so full of "Bleeps" it was hard to follow the conversation.  Well, this is a link to the uncut, unedited recording.  I must warn you, the language is foul.
   This the Mayor of Windcrest speaking to an employee.  Mayor Baxter curses and threatens the Fire Chief if his wished are not followed.

 One sentence laced with *@#*1 would be bad enough, but Mayor Baxter carries on for 10 full minutes.  His vocabulary is evidently somewhat limited.

  Listen to this Uncut, Unedited recording  Click Here for Audio   then go Vote-

Note, those two council members running for re-election saw absolutely NOTHING wrong with the tone, message, or language in the audio.  Even their 3 candidate black/white sign reflects a dark side to many.

Vote NO WAY on this Character

This is the fella running for re-election as Mayor of Windcrest, Tx.  His true character is revealed in the links below.  From cursing out an employee, Fire Chief Erick Vargas to the Ethics Commission violations to questionable hiring practices.  Baxter won the election last year and immediately after winning filed for County Commissioner.  That was a slap in the face for Windcrest citizens.  What next?  

  He even appears on a TV interview with Rick Casey and told several half truths, which Mr. Casey uncovered during a later article.  

Dave Statter Statter 911

http://www.statter911.com/2015/06/23/must-listen-texas-mayors-10-minute-tirade-against-fire-chief-is-recorded/

Jerome Burgess Blog @ Stocktonguys234

http://stocktonguy234.blogspot.com/2015/06/must-listen-texas-mayors-10-minute.html

Dillon Collier – Twiter https://twitter.com/dilloncollier/status/611655072838209536

Hoa Reform Cioalition of Texas  Pittman Windcrest

http://hoareformcoalition.org/2014/03/20/texas-windcrest-economic-director-contractor-accused-of-swindling-stone-oak-hoa/

Champion Springs at Stone Oak,, Colunga manatger.

http://championsprings.blogspot.com/

Rick Casey  1:38 into video

https://youtu.be/R0Xc7jXb-mc

Baxter Can’t get  the hand of Campaign finance reports, by Gilbert Garcia

http://www.expressnews.com/news/news_columnists/gilbert_garcia/article/Baxter-can-t-get-the-hang-of-campaign-finance-5481904.php

I Team Windcre Mayor defends his ties to city’s public works director

http://headlinersfoundation.org/showcase/i-team-windcrest-mayor-defends-his-ties-to-citys-public-works-director

Windcrest Mayor Alan Baxter discussing Fire Chief Dan Rees Salary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmI2y8vwxQg

Mayor Baxter hit with ethics vi9olations, heft fine.

https://www.facebook.com/kens5/posts/10155847122350045

Windcrest mayor hit with ethics violations, hefty fine. Kens 5

http://www.kens5.com/story/news/politics/2015/06/17/windcrest-mayor-hit-with-ethics-violations/28861947/

S Newsi.. has lots of Windcrest related infor. 

http://snewsi.com/s/ALL/tag/Windcrest

Vote4windcrest.com.. blog/web set up in 2014

http://www.vote4windcrest.com/updates.html

Robert Colunga Linked In page

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/robert-colunga/5/b74/7b4

Lind to all Neighborhood news Windcrest Magazines  GOOD!!

http://issuu.com/digitalpublish/docs/18620_nn_windcrest_sr

Windcrest Econiomic director, contractor accused of stealing money March 2014

http://www.kens5.com/story/news/local/2014/06/27/10672952/  

Incumbents Do Not Obey Ordinances!

  Our sign ordinance allows signs on city right of way beginning 20 days prior to the start of Early Voting.  Signs posted outside the 20 days must be at least 10 feet from the curb, otherwise the signs are on the city right of way, although on private property.  Now and 20 days before early voting starts permission is still required from the property owner.

  Call code enforcement.