The Llano Ledger
Newsletter Text V47
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expenses, but amounts to theft of this writer's labor. T.C.
*************July 3, 2000*************
The following letter from the General Services Commission was received June 28:
General Services Commission
P.O. Box 13047
Austin, Tx. 78711
June 23, 2000
Mr. Tim Chorney
Publisher
The Llano Ledger
Rt.2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, TX 78609
Dear Mr. Chorney:
I apologize for the delay in answering this letter; I have been out of the office and my mail accumulated.
Local Government Code, Chapter 118, establishes that the county
clerk shall charge $1.00 per page for issuing a copy of a page or part
of a page. That was affirmed by the Office of the Attorney General in
Letter Opinion No. 96-082 (copy attached). However, in a letter dated
August 8, 1997, the OAG addressed the charges that could be imposed by
other county agencies (copy attached).
The County Clerk's office, as well as the District Clerk's Office
and the County Treasurer's Office have specific statutes that allow
charges other than those established by the General Services
Commission. I am not aware of any statutes that set specific charges
for copies from the County Judge's Office. However, please note that
the office may be considered part of the judiciary, and as such, would
not be subject to Chapter 552, or the cost rules. The Office of the
Attorney General may be able to help you to determine whether or not
the County Judge is subject to Chapter 552.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel
free to contact me at 512-475-2497, or at
hadassah.schloss@gsc.state.tx.us.
Sincerely,
Hadassah Schloss
Open Records Administrator
Enclosures
In response, the following e-mail was sent June 28:
General Services Commission
Hadassah Schloss, Open Records Administrator
Dear Ms. Schloss:
Thank you for your letter of June 23. Having read it several times,
however, it does not appear responsive to my letter of June 6.
Kindly understand Llano County Judge J.P. Dodgen in his letter of
May 15, 2000 has asserted there is a $1.00/copy charge imposed by ALL
Llano County offices: "It is my understanding that the standard charge
for requested copies is $1.00 per page. Any reduction in this fee, for
any purpose, would set a precedent and require action of Commissioners'
Court."
Clearly, the Judge and his cronies on the Commissioners' Court have
imposed this outrageous fee in an attempt to thwart the Public
Information Act and its "reasonable charge" requirements. Kindly be
advised, however, the Open Records Division has dumped this matter into
your hands since the Attorney General lacks statutory authority to
enforce cost provisions of the Public Information Act. Ch.552.269(a),
Gov't Code, Public Information.
Although I had earlier read the July 31, 1996 ruling enclosed
regarding County Clerks, it would appear the August 8, 1997 Morales
ruling (also provided in your correspondence) prohibits County
Commissioners from gouging citizens with outrageous copying costs as
imposed by the Llano County Commissioners' Court.
Apparently, this publication has become caught between two state
agencies which have not resolved jurisdiction or responsibility for
handling such matters. Simply and respectfully asked, what is your
office willing to do about the outrageous copying charges imposed by
the Llano County Commissioners' Court in ALL County offices?
Sincerely,
Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
Rt 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609
The following letter from the Assistant Attorney General was received June 30:
Office of the Attorney General
State of Texas
P.O. Box 12548
Austin, Tx. 78711
June 29, 2000
Mr. Tim Chorney
The Llano Ledger
Rt. 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609
Re: ID#138046
Dear Mr. Chorney:
This letter is in response to your open records request to the
Office of the Attorney General ("OAG") for information relating to
ID#138046. Specifically, you have requested "a copy of Mr. Brown's June
12, 2000 request for exception." The OAG has reviewed its files and has
located the enclosed document which is responsive to your request.
Although the Public Information Act allows a governmental body to
charge for copying documents, in accordance with section 552.267 of the
Government Code, the enclosed document is being provided to you at no
charge.
If you have any questions or wish to discuss this matter further, you may contact me at (512)936-6736.
Sincerely,
June B. Harden
Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Division
JBH/mdv
Encl.: Requested document
The following e-mail dated June 30 was quickly sent in response:
Ms. June B. Harden
Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Division
Re: ID#138046
Dear Ms. Harden:
Thank you for promptly providing a copy of Mr. Brown's June 12,
2000 request for exception. Kindly be advised, however, LMHS
Administrator/CEO Ernie Parisi did not fully honor the open records
request dated May 25, 2000 germane to ID#138046.
He balked on Item 3 requesting access to "All donor records of
Llano Bay Healthcare, Inc.", i.e. the Marble Falls Community Hospital.
He falsely claims these records do not exist. It is public knowledge,
however, there has been ongoing fundraising efforts for quite some time
and apparently, some $50,000 has already been raised.
Mr. Parisi and legal counsel have apparently been playing a "shell
game" with the requested records. In the Administrator's tardy open
records response of June 14, he disingenuously and falsely asserted
"With regard for your request concerning all donor records of Llano Bay
Healthcare, Inc., please be advised that there are no such donor
records as all funds which have been provided by Llano Bay Healthcare,
Inc. have been provided by Llano Memorial Hospital Foundation".
I immediately sent an additional open records request dated June 15
seeking access to "All donor records of Llano Memorial Hospital
Foundation. On June 21, however, I received a copy of a letter dated
June 20 to Lance Center, Treasurer, Llano Memorial Hospital Foundation
from Mr. Parisi, forwarding the June 15 open records request. I still
have yet to hear from Mr. Center.
Kindly be advised both officials are well beyond the 10-business
day deadline of the original open records request of May 25 and are
apparently stonewalling and obfuscating all open records requests in an
effort to thwart the Public Information Act and required disclosure.
Since the District Attorney and County Attorney are apparently
corrupt, abusive, and highly selective in their prosecutions, I have no
intention of filing a complaint with either. It would be a waste of
time.
Kindly be advised, District Attorney Sam Oatman himself failed to
fully comply with an earlier open records request dated March 12, 2000.
Worse yet, he dishonestly and unethically attempted to charge for
copies never requested in an unsuccessful effort to intimidate this
writer.
As asserted in an earlier letter to you, Ms. Harden, what we have
here is a corrupt and abusive County badly in need of an independent
criminal investigation. ... I won't hold my breath, however. Sadly,
LMHS and School District (ID#138059 still unresolved) open records
stonewalling is the least of it.
Sincerely,
Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
Rt 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609
The withdrawn LMHS request for exception document is quite long and
will be posted as soon as possible on LMHS V2 if there is sufficient
space left on that page. If not, it will be posted in LMHS V3 on the
Llano Ledger 2 website found by clicking on
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger2. Attention will certainly be drawn to
it in the next Newsletter, regardless.
Readers are reminded there has been no resolution of the donor
records issue raised by the Administrator's egregious stonewalling of
the May 25 open records request. Clearly, LMHS counsel's withdrawn
request for exception ruling was cleverly designed to shield LMHS from
inquiry regarding the expenditure of $7300 in Hospital funds for a
Survey and Engineering Study allegedly germane to purchase of the now
defunct site. What makes this even more interesting is the fact the
exception request was quickly and inexplicably withdrawn.
The Administrator, as chief spokesperson for LMHS, has remained
cowardly silent regarding this highly questionable $7400 expenditure.
Either the Administrator and Board are extraordinarily aggressively
stupid in judgement and supremely arrogant, or there has been criminal
activity involved. Since this publication receives no financial support
from the readership, the probe will continue through the aggressive use
of the Public Information Act. Interestingly, the withdrawn LMHS
request for exception contained no mention of the requested donor
records and was apparently filed to block access to what is at the very
least an embarrassing waste of Hospital funds, -- or worse.
Hear about county clerks in Vermont refusing to issue licenses to
same sex civil unions as required by a new law that went into effect
July 1? ... Most pointedly, who the hell are these clerks to force
their jaded moral standards on others not in agreement? If government
lackeys are incapable of doing their jobs as required by statute, they
should do what's minimally honorable and quickly resign in disgrace.
Regardless and equally pointedly, provided a couple is kind,
considerate, and loving, who the hell cares what their sexual
orientation happens to be? The fascist Right apparently does. After
all, they've been forcing their moral, religious, and political views
on others for the last 30 years.
These very same hypocrites have often been married several times
themselves, and have engaged in and enjoyed frequent extramarital sex.
Gay friends have told me repeatedly they don't want special rights.
They just want the same rights enjoyed by the rest of us. They've also
repeatedly asserted they didn't "choose" to be gay. I believe them.
After all, I didn't choose to be straight. I just am.
In an interesting personal aside, this writer's marriage ended some
13 years ago. At the time and like a flash of lightning and the crack
of thunder, it occurred to me, why have one troublesome woman when you
can have a harem full of 'em? ... Being married once was (and is)
indeed twice too many.
Recently and quite inexplicably, however, my heart nearly slipped
away to a breathtakingly beautiful young lass and her exceptionally
bright son. Just as importantly, her family is extremely loving and
stunningly supportive of one another. Most unusual these days, isn't
it? Families just don't come any better than this one.
... Dawn of a brilliant new day with exquisitely limitless
possibilities for a loving new relationship? -- Clearly, not to be. For
a variety of reasons. ... Luckily so, as it turns out. What the hell
could I have possibly been thinking? Apparently suffering from
temporary insanity, a brain fart, early senility, or some other damned
affliction, I finally returned to my senses, -- or whatever is left of
them. ... Thankfully so and before watching my heart part, -- only to
be discarded or trampled.
Continuously raising hell on this website and constantly confronting
game-playing bureaucrats, I certainly don't need any more in my
personal life. More importantly, having pleasantly and happily lived
alone for so many years, this old goat's not quite fit to be around.
Any woman would certainly have her hands full. ... At the very least,
there'd never be a dull moment.
Nearing 50, who needs the additional responsibility and aggravation
anyway? ... Now, a harem, that may be a whole 'nother story... ...
Hmmmmm... A pleasantly intriguing thought... ... Truly, men are dogs,
aren't they? Every damned one of us. Any man claiming not to be is
lying, -- to himself or others. After all, we're men, aren't we?
All joking aside, with a divorce rate of 50% and with new marriages
failing at a staggering 60%, one would think the fascist Right should
be more appropriately concerned with failing heterosexual
relationships. Again, their agenda is to impose their jaded religious
and political views on others. Their intolerance and intense homophobia
are indeed stunning. Equally troubling, the aggressive assault on
abortion rights is extraordinarily Aryan arrogant. After all, who the
hell is a religious zealot to tell a woman what she can and can't do
with her uterus?
The fascist Right quickly points to the Book of Leviticus and its
proscription of homosexuality to justify its self-righteous homophobic
bigotry and hatred of gays. Most pointedly, the same Book sanctions the
killing of adulterers and homosexuals. Should we execute such
"criminals" today? Nearly the entire adult population of this country
would be gone.
Christ, himself, put an end to such nauseatingly sick depravity
when he saved the life of the prostitute admonishing the murderous mob
"He who is without sin cast the first stone." Hate the sin, love the
sinner "thinking" is egregiously disingenuous, arrogant,
oversimplistic, and only reinforces and justifies homophobic bigotry.
Many fascists ludicrously believe gays "choose" to be homosexual.
Why would anyone "choose" to be scorned, harassed, hated, discriminated
against, beaten, and often killed by self-righteous homophobic zealots?
Sadly, the fiercest opponents of homosexuality are the least secure
themselves in their own sexuality and orientation. These gutless
hypocrites, however, proudly profess their "Christianity" and
shamelessly impose their beliefs on others. Yet, Christ NEVER forced
his views on anyone. The level of hypocrisy is stunning.
It's time for the fascist Right to get off its phony high horse.
Equally pointedly, it's time for the political Center to find its voice
and start challenging both the Right and Left. Liberty hangs in the
balance and is seriously threatened by both extremes.
Regarding the Governor and his cowardly handling of the Gary Grahm
execution, when will Mr. Bush finally wake up and acknowledge serious
problems exist with many of these cases? -- Or doesn't he have the
intellectual capacity and where-with-all to do so?
According to _The Chicago Tribune, of over 132 criminals executed
since George W. took office, 43 had defense attorneys publicly
sanctioned for misconduct. The "attorneys" of 40 others neglected to
present evidence or presented just one witness during the sentencing
part of their clients' trials. Dozens of other prisoners were allegedly
convicted on the testimony of non-credible witnesses or unreliable
physical evidence. Criminal defense attorneys have long complained
procedural issues, not guilt or innocence, are examined at the
appellate level. Frightening, isn't it?
Yet, the Governor is sound asleep. The rubber stamp Pardons and
Paroles Board that "reviews" all executions spared only one of over 132
prisoners executed since Mr. Bush took office. Outrageously, this Board
does not meet to deliberate, and polls its members by fax or telephone
prior to rendering a ruling.
Commenting prior to Grahm's execution, however, Governor Bush
proclaimed "May God bless the victim, the family of the victim, and may
God bless Mr. Grahm." While Gary Grahm was indeed a vicious criminal
and certainly no Jesus Christ, our illustrious Governor sounded
remarkably similar to Pontius Pilate before Christ's execution. The
Governor's quoted outrageous remarks as well as his earlier mocking
mimicry of Carla Fae Tucker prior to her execution are further evidence
of his depravity, intellectual vacuousness, and unfitness for office.
Similarly to Mr. Gore and on numerous issues, he has pitifully little
to no substance. With a population of some 300 million in this great
country, is this the best both major political parties have to offer?
The fascist Right deplores the length of time allowed by the
appeals process. Yet, approximately 2/3 of capital cases are overturned
on appeal, -- often taking 20 years or more in some cases to do so.
Fascists, however, could care less. ... As long as it's not a friend or
family member, what the hell's a few innocently killed by the State,
right? It's legalized murder, friends, and it's being done in the name
of the people.
This is clearly not a partisan problem as the vast majority of
Democrats, including their Presidential frontrunner Al Gore, support
capital punishment. What it is, however, is a national disgrace.
While enjoying brisket and beer tomorrow, remember the Flag and
what it proudly stands for. ... Or used to. Already conveniently
forgotten Elian? "Papa Fidel", as addressed by the boy in a Father's
Day card sent to the Cuban dictator, certainly hasn't.
The child is already scheduled for additional indoctrination to
"make him a model boy" prior to entering the second grade this fall.
The U.S. Attorney General, the President, the Supreme Court, and the
vast majority of the American people have recently ruled and affirmed
children are indeed "owned" by their parents, -- chattel. Unlike Cuba,
where the boy is "owned" by the State, i.e. Fidel, not Miguel.
While the fascist Right has fervently called for an amendment
banning the burning of the Flag, they've conveniently ignored its
figurative desecration recently as Elian was stripped of his freedom
and forced to return to a communist state with his "loving" "father".
Sadly, this terrible injustice will long since been forgotten
tomorrow when _The Star Spangled Banner is played and fireworks are
detonated. During rendition of the National Anthem, be sure to
poignantly remember Elian's late mother valiantly died for nothing
courageously struggling to get him to "freedom". The Founders are
turning in their graves. "Papa Fidel" must indeed be laughing his ass
off, -- with good reason.
So must the heavily armed U.S. government thugs who "rescued" the
boy in Miami several months ago with a highly questionable "search
warrant". Hitler would have been proud. Congressional Republicans
gutlessly stood by and did absolutely nothing, -- essentially allowing
mob rule in a constitutional republic. After all, these illustrious
"statesmen" had already squandered all their political capital earlier
in an ill-advised impeachment of the President. Tomorrow, the Fourth of
July, will indeed be a sad day this year for liberty and what this
great country used to stand for.
Clicking on the About button above the Table of Contents, the
visitor count proudly stands in excess of 20,100. Non-profit and
unfunded by the readership it serves due to greed, gut-wrenching fear,
and the continuing intimidation of corrupt and abusive Llano County
officials, this publication remains as always beholden to NO ONE.
Tim Chorney, Publisher
_The Llano Ledger
Tim Chorney, Publisher
P.O. Box 997
Buchanan Dam Tx. 78609
llanoledger@mailcity.com
Page Updated Tue Oct 9, 2001 1:12pm EDT