I have been researching an issue regarding parking. This is the issue I referred to in the earlier post that Risa and Nancy helped me with. We have had an agreement with a "parking" company for many years to allow jurors to park in certain parking lots that were not owned by the county. The "parking" company allowed us to utilize these spaces at the rate of one dollar per car per day.
One of the parking lots was purchased when we purchased the Courthouse Annex building at 200 E. Ferguson in 2001. Well guess what? We have continued paying this company for parking on our own lot ever since!!! I'm livid! I have a copy of a letter that was mailed to the company on June 19, 2002 giving notice of our intent to terminate that portion of the lease effective July 24, 2002, but they continued to bill us -- and we continued to pay!
I'm not sure how much we've paid over the years, but I'll find out. I do know this: we paid a lot of money in recent months.
December 2007 - $942
November 2007 - $939
October 2007 - $1569
September 2007 - $624
August 2007 - $1359
July 2007 - $1138
This is just insane. Another interesting tidbit - the contract says that the company will maintain the parking lots. Yeah right! Have you seen the main juror parking lot? Until I asked Physical Plant about it, it had not been maintained. The lights didn't work. It had not been resurfaced or swept in years. You could barely see the stripes. Vines covered the chain link fences, and shrubs and trees were growing up through the fence in several locations.
Our Road & Bridge and Physical Plant Departments went the extra mile in December and January to clean up the lot, and it now looks great!
So, this issue is going to be addressed. I plan to have our legal counsel write a demand letter requesting a refund of all money that we've paid them since July 24, 2002 plus interest.
In researching this issue, I've discovered that it is hard to find good historical documentation of contracts and related revisions. This needs to be addressed. In fact, it was difficult to find documentation of our ownership of the parking lot in question.
Anyway, I know it is relatively small, but I feel good about wrapping up the week this way. I want to see them send us a $100,000 check (estimate only).
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Another Week Behind Me
WHEW! What a week!
Monday: Commissioners Court in the morning. Counsel of Judges meeting at noon. Meeting with Commissioner Hampton and constituents regarding nuisance violations and problem subdivisions in Precinct 4. Follow-up meetings in the afternoon. Held hearings on mental commitments, and tried (but failed) to clear my desk.
Tuesday: Early day at the office. Left for Austin - Technology Meeting (TAC).
Wednesday: Early meeting at the Texas Turnpike Authority with NET-RMA officials and local TxDOT representatives regarding continued funding of projects... especially Loop 49. No good answers at this point. It is clear that we will have to find a way to encourage additional funding. We are competing with the metropolitan areas. Returned to Tyler.
Thursday: Worked on several projects related to facilities needs in the morning.
Attended East Texas Crisis Center's Board of Directors meeting.
Went to the lab for blood tests as directed by my doctor... dreading the results.
Then scrambled to make it to the the Tyler MPO Policy meeting.
Back to the office to finish up projects.
Took my oldest son to guitar lessons. When I got home, I was getting ready to play with the kids, and I heard the scream... nothing unusual in my house at all. Griff falls all the time, but I could tell he was really hurt. He was running to chase Coleman and slipped on the hardwood floors. I scooped him up and saw the blood under his chin. I realized it was more than a band-aid would fix so I ran him over to the Emergency Room for a few stitches. He was tough! He impressed all the doctors and nurses. He never cried at all, although he didn't like being wrapped like a mummy while they stitched him up. Just another day in the Baker home.
Friday: Finally received delivery of counsel tables for the courtroom. They look great! Prepared for interview with CBS 19 for their new program, Issues and Answers. Went to the CBS 19 offices for filming the second segment of this show which will air Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 7am.
Met Commissioner Fleming, Doug Nicholson and Charley Miller at Craft's Corner in Flint to look at some problem areas in subdivisions and other Road & Bridge issues. It was nice to get out of the office to see some of the areas we talk about in Commissioners Court.
When I returned to the office, Risa, Nancy and I worked on some research regarding our juror parking lot. I will do a separate entry on this item later. Got home around 6:15, and decided to take the family out to eat. Why does it cost so much? Tucked everyone in around 8:30. Mel went to bed, but I tried to stay up and work.
As usual, I fell asleep on the couch, but I woke up at 1:00 a.m. and slipped into bed. I laid there and thought about our animal shelter problem, parking lots, precinct barns... anyway, I couldn't sleep -- thus the long blog entry you are reading now.
What's on tap for Saturday? I hope to focus on playing with the kids. We need to do some fun stuff together. We have two basketball games scheduled, but the kids missed their practices this week due illness (I forgot to write about that -- again: WHEW!) I brought a ton of stuff home from the office to work on. Hopefully, I can convince all the kids that naps are in order, so I can focus on work for a little while.
Sunday we have church in the morning, and we are going to watch the Superbowl at the Dunbar's place without kids!!! All the kids will be at our place with childcare, while we get to watch the game in peace. We won't know what to do with ourselves!
I forgot to mention the good stuff I listened to while traveling to and from Austin this week. I have just figured out how to use my iPod and iTunes for more than just music. I have subscribed to some free Podcasts of sermons from Rob Bell and Andy Stanley, and I learned some great stuff! Andy Stanley's sermon was about seeking guidance from others when you are making decisions. One of his quotes was this... and I love it: "Great leadership isn't about making decisions on your own. It's about owning the decisions that you make." Isn't that an awesome quote?
It is important to receive "wise counsel" in making important decisions, but you have to choose the right people.
1. Make sure you choose someone who has nothing to lose by telling you the truth.
2. Choose someone who is where you want to be in life, and ask to "borrow their map."
3. Ask more than one person.
4. Choose someone you know and someone you don't know.
5. You need to go into these conversations sensitive to the fact that God may speak to you! (But don't "frontload" it. You don't go to the person and say, "I've asked God to speak to me through you." Say a prayer. Ask God to give you the answers to important decisions. Stanley makes the point that you may not agree with what the person says, but it may become clear to you what steps you need to take after speaking to the person. Say a prayer like this: "God you know I have this decision to make and I need your help. Please just help me hear from you."
Finally, when you're talking to these folks, ask these questions:
1. Are any of the options I'm considering outside the boundaries of scripture?
2. What do you think the wise thing is for me to do?
3. What would you do if you were me?
Great stuff! Don't you think? Lord knows I needed to hear this a long time ago.
Monday: Commissioners Court in the morning. Counsel of Judges meeting at noon. Meeting with Commissioner Hampton and constituents regarding nuisance violations and problem subdivisions in Precinct 4. Follow-up meetings in the afternoon. Held hearings on mental commitments, and tried (but failed) to clear my desk.
Tuesday: Early day at the office. Left for Austin - Technology Meeting (TAC).
Wednesday: Early meeting at the Texas Turnpike Authority with NET-RMA officials and local TxDOT representatives regarding continued funding of projects... especially Loop 49. No good answers at this point. It is clear that we will have to find a way to encourage additional funding. We are competing with the metropolitan areas. Returned to Tyler.
Thursday: Worked on several projects related to facilities needs in the morning.
Attended East Texas Crisis Center's Board of Directors meeting.
Went to the lab for blood tests as directed by my doctor... dreading the results.
Then scrambled to make it to the the Tyler MPO Policy meeting.
Back to the office to finish up projects.
Took my oldest son to guitar lessons. When I got home, I was getting ready to play with the kids, and I heard the scream... nothing unusual in my house at all. Griff falls all the time, but I could tell he was really hurt. He was running to chase Coleman and slipped on the hardwood floors. I scooped him up and saw the blood under his chin. I realized it was more than a band-aid would fix so I ran him over to the Emergency Room for a few stitches. He was tough! He impressed all the doctors and nurses. He never cried at all, although he didn't like being wrapped like a mummy while they stitched him up. Just another day in the Baker home.
Friday: Finally received delivery of counsel tables for the courtroom. They look great! Prepared for interview with CBS 19 for their new program, Issues and Answers. Went to the CBS 19 offices for filming the second segment of this show which will air Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 7am.
Met Commissioner Fleming, Doug Nicholson and Charley Miller at Craft's Corner in Flint to look at some problem areas in subdivisions and other Road & Bridge issues. It was nice to get out of the office to see some of the areas we talk about in Commissioners Court.
When I returned to the office, Risa, Nancy and I worked on some research regarding our juror parking lot. I will do a separate entry on this item later. Got home around 6:15, and decided to take the family out to eat. Why does it cost so much? Tucked everyone in around 8:30. Mel went to bed, but I tried to stay up and work.
As usual, I fell asleep on the couch, but I woke up at 1:00 a.m. and slipped into bed. I laid there and thought about our animal shelter problem, parking lots, precinct barns... anyway, I couldn't sleep -- thus the long blog entry you are reading now.
What's on tap for Saturday? I hope to focus on playing with the kids. We need to do some fun stuff together. We have two basketball games scheduled, but the kids missed their practices this week due illness (I forgot to write about that -- again: WHEW!) I brought a ton of stuff home from the office to work on. Hopefully, I can convince all the kids that naps are in order, so I can focus on work for a little while.
Sunday we have church in the morning, and we are going to watch the Superbowl at the Dunbar's place without kids!!! All the kids will be at our place with childcare, while we get to watch the game in peace. We won't know what to do with ourselves!
I forgot to mention the good stuff I listened to while traveling to and from Austin this week. I have just figured out how to use my iPod and iTunes for more than just music. I have subscribed to some free Podcasts of sermons from Rob Bell and Andy Stanley, and I learned some great stuff! Andy Stanley's sermon was about seeking guidance from others when you are making decisions. One of his quotes was this... and I love it: "Great leadership isn't about making decisions on your own. It's about owning the decisions that you make." Isn't that an awesome quote?
It is important to receive "wise counsel" in making important decisions, but you have to choose the right people.
1. Make sure you choose someone who has nothing to lose by telling you the truth.
2. Choose someone who is where you want to be in life, and ask to "borrow their map."
3. Ask more than one person.
4. Choose someone you know and someone you don't know.
5. You need to go into these conversations sensitive to the fact that God may speak to you! (But don't "frontload" it. You don't go to the person and say, "I've asked God to speak to me through you." Say a prayer. Ask God to give you the answers to important decisions. Stanley makes the point that you may not agree with what the person says, but it may become clear to you what steps you need to take after speaking to the person. Say a prayer like this: "God you know I have this decision to make and I need your help. Please just help me hear from you."
Finally, when you're talking to these folks, ask these questions:
1. Are any of the options I'm considering outside the boundaries of scripture?
2. What do you think the wise thing is for me to do?
3. What would you do if you were me?
Great stuff! Don't you think? Lord knows I needed to hear this a long time ago.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
