The Llano Ledger


Newsletter Text V55

This Website Is Full. Starting With The December 25, 2000 Newsletter, All Future Editions Will Be Posted In The Llano Ledger 2, Found By Clicking http://maxpages.com/llanoledger2.

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Publisher's Note: Since the Monday, August 28, 2000 Newsletter will be long and involved, posting has begun extremely early. Be sure, however, to read the current August 21, 2000 Newsletter found on Newsletter Text V54. This website is over 80% full. To conserve space, the Lawson Deposition is continued in the Llano Ledger 2 and can be found by clicking http://maxpages.com/llanoledger2. T.C. August 22, 2000.

*************August 28, 2000**************

As promised in the August 21, 2000 Newsletter, the following letter from County Attorney Cheryll Mabray was provided by the General Services Commission:

Cheryll Mabray
County Attorney
Llano County, Texas
P.O. Box 821
Llano, Tx. 78643

July 25, 2000

Ms. Hadassah Schlouss [Schloss]
General Services Commission
PO Box 13047
Austin, Texas 78711-3047

Dear Ms. Schlouss [Schloss]:

Pursuant to your letter to the Honorable J.P. Dodgen, County Judge, and the Honorable W.L. "Bill" Kinney, Keith Faulkner, Duane Stueven and Leon Tucker, County Commissioners, dated July 11, 2000, received by the Llano County Judge's Office, as County Attorney, I am replying to the best of my ability that your letter allows.

Apparently, the General Services Commission received a complaint against Llano County for overcharging for copies of public information. Pursuant to United States and Texas laws, the accused, being the County, has a right to know the allegations brought against it. This is necessary to properly confront witnesses and respond to the particular problem. Your letter does not give any type of information as to which county office Tim Chorney complained of, therefore, I am extremely limited in my response. As you are aware, there are many offices within the County and I am unsure of how many Mr. Chorney complains of. It is my understanding that the requester (Chorney) must lodge a written complaint about the overcharge of publication information with your office. As with any type of grievance process, I feel that the County should receive copy of this complaint in order to properly mount a defense. According to Texas Administrative Code Rule 111.68, a requestor who believes he has been overcharged for public information, may complain to the Commission. The complaint must be in writing and must set forth the reasons the person believes the charges are excessive. This must be received by the General Services Commission within 10 working days after the person knows of the alleged overcharge. I have not seen any type of complaint in writing setting forth the reasons for alleged excessive charges nor have I seen any type of evidence that this complaint was received by your office within 10 working days after the requester learned of the occurrence of the alleged overcharge.

According to the Llano County Judge's Office, which I presume is the office Mr. Chorney is complaining of, the last time that office had any communication with Mr. Chorney regarding documents was on May 4, 2000, which is more than two months before your letter to Llano County officials dated July 11, 2000. Please refer to Mr. Chorney's publication "Llano Ledger" at www.maxpages.com/llanoledger dated May 22, 2000, where he complains of overcharges. This is a little less than two months before your letter, so when does Mr. Chorney's complaint period end? Should his deadline not be May 15, 2000? Requestors have basic rights and responsibilities under the Public Information Act, so does the County. I feel that the county's rights have been violated. If your letter was before a Court, due to the lack of information, it would be subject to a Motion to Quash which I feel would be granted due to the lack of notice in order to properly prepare a defense. Section 552.269 of the Public Information section of the Government Code states that once your Commission receives a complaint about overcharges, you are to review the complaint and make a determination in writing as to the appropriate charge for providing a copy of the requested information. A vague determination was set forth in your letter dated July 11, 2000, but it is hard to advise when I do not know which office Mr. Chorney is complaining about. If it is determined that a specific county office was overcharging for copies we will happily adjust whatever charges are in accordance with the General Services Commission rules and regulations.

The second problem in your letter, and I quote your first question, "Are County personnel that the General Services Commission rules apply to all county offices, except the County Clerk and the County Treasurer?" This question does not make any sense. Possibly, some words were left out. I do not know what this question means, but below is my investigation to any alleged overcharges that could be involved in this dispute. Regarding your second question, it is my understanding that the County Clerk and District Clerk charge one dollar per page for records. I do not know what other offices charge, but they have been told to follow the rules of your Commission.

I have enclosed for your reference two letters that I received from the Llano County Judge's Office regarding Tim Chorney. On approximately, April 22, 2000, Mr. Chorney wrote the enclosed letter which the County Judge's office received on April 25, 2000. Judge Dodgen responded to Mr. Chorney, also by letter dated April 25, 2000. If you will note in Mr. Chorney's letter he requested just access to documents. On Tuesday, May 2, 2000, Mr. Chorney appeared in the County Judge's Office totally ignoring the Judge's letter of April 25, 2000 which stated that he was to call to set up a time agreeable for him to review the documents contained in the Judge's office. The Judge's administrative assistant is Barbara Cavanaugh and while making Mr. Chorney's appointment, she reminded him of the Judge's letter. Mrs. Cavanaugh set Mr. Chorney's appointment for Thursday, May 4, 2000 at 11:00 A.M.. Mr. Chorney inquired about copies and Mrs. Cavanaugh explained that copies of the actual Commissioners' Court documents were available through the County Clerk's Office. He inquired as to what the cost of the copies would be and he was told the copies would be one dollar per page. Mr. Chorney became vocally and visibly upset and then left the courthouse. Again, please note that this was on May 2, 2000, probably long before his complaint was written to your office. Mr. Chorney arrived at the County Judge's Office on May 4, 2000 at 11:00 A.M.. Mrs Cavanaugh had the files pulled pursuant to his request. He was escorted into the County Courtroom and the files were placed on one of the tables and Mr. Chorney began perusing them and making handwritten notes. At noon Mrs. Cavanaugh entered the room and informed Mr. Chorney that she was leaving for lunch and she would return in an hour. She told him he could continue with his project and he concurred. Between 2:00 and 2:30, Mr. Chorney returned the files to Mrs. Cavanaugh and said that he had completed his project and left the courthouse. As of July 19, 2000, Mr. Chorney had requested no other appointments or further information. The information Mr. Chorney requested was available to him for inspection pursuant to Texas Administrative Code, Rule 111.65 and Section 552.271 of the Public Information Act of the Government Code.

The County Judge's Office obviously received your letter and all the information contained therein. I appreciate all the information provided with your letter, it was very interesting and helpful. Please contact me if you need further information.

Sincerely,
Cheryll Mabray
Llano County Attorney
CM/dh
Enclosures-3 exhibits
cc: Llano County Judge County Commissioners: W.L. "Bill" Kinney, Keith Faulkner, Duane Stueven, Leon Tucker
***********************************

Sadly, Ms. Mabray's statements are disingenuous, self-serving, and false as painstakingly pointed out to the General Services Commission in an e-mail sent August 21, 2000 to the Open Records Administrator. A copy of that message to Hadassah Schloss was posted in the August 21, 2000 Newsletter and can be found on Newsletter Text V54.

The substance of Ms. Mabray's letter is precisely why no open records complaints will be filed with her office. Sadly, she is highly selective in her "prosecutions" and clearly "takes care of her own." Furthermore and as previously asserted, the County Attorney is certainly a serious part of the problem in this County.

Numerous complaints have been brought to my attention regarding her activities as both a public official as well as in her private law practice. Sadly, many have strongly accused her of an egregious conflict of interest, but are unwilling to publicly stand up for fear of reprisal. The following letter from the General Services Commission was sent in response to the County Attorney's July 25, 2000 letter:

General Services Commission
P.O. Box 13047
Austin, Tx. 78711-3047

August 15, 2000

Ms. Cheryll Mabray
County Attorney
Llano County
801 Ford Street
Llano, TX 78643

RE: OVERCHARGES COMPLAINT-TIM CHORNEY

Dear Ms. Mabray:

I am in receipt of your letter dated July 25.

I regret that this seems to have caused so much trouble. I first had a complaint from Mr. Chorney on June 6. The complaint came by e-mail. Unfortunately, due to a massive crash of my system, I lost several e-mails, including Mr. Chorney's. For your convenience, I have enclosed a copy of the rest of my correspondence with Mr. Chorney.

I would like to clarify that county agencies are subject to the rules of the General Services Commission, unless there is a separate statute that sets prices for specific types of information. (Government Code, Chapter 552, Section 552.262(a)). This matter was reaffirmed by the Office of the Attorney General in a letter sent to Mr. Robert P. McGuill, a copy of which is attached. By definition of Section 552.201(b), the County Judge and each of the Commissioners are the officers for public information and the custodians of the information created or received by that county officer's office. However, I have found no statute that establishes specific charges for copies of records from the office of the County Judge or from the offices of the County Commissioners.

You also state in your letter that Mr. Chorney should have sent a complain[t] no later than May 15, 2000, to comply [with] General Services Commission Rule 111.68(b)(2). While it is best that this office be notified as soon as possible, I have always advised requestors to first try to resolve complaints personally. Mr. Chorney tried that route, and it was only after he failed to reach an agreement with County officials, that he sent me his complaint. Even your own letter did not abide by deadlines, since it was dated 12 calendar days after the County received my letter.

My office has no authority to impose penalties for your failure to release the records at the charges established by the General Services Commission; and not being a court of law, I also have no jurisdiction to determine whether the charges were set using good faith. I ask, once again, that the charges be adjusted to comply with the rules, and that you notify me by return mail that it has been done. If the charges are not adjusted, I will give Mr. Chorney a copy of my entire files on this matter, which he can then use to decide whether or not he will pursue other avenues, including judicial ones.

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
cc: Tim Chorney
Publisher
The Llano Ledger
Rt. 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, TX 78609
****************************

As stated in the August 21, 2000 e-mail to the General Services Commission, the overcharges complaint dated June 6, 2000 was sent via snail-mail, not e-mail. Upon receiving a follow-up message from the Open Records Administrator yesterday, this writer earlier today (August 22, 2000) mailed a copy of that complaint to her office. For the convenience of readers and our illustrious County Attorney it will also be posted here:

General Services Commission
Open Records Section
P.O. Box 13047
Austin, Tx. 78711

Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
Rt 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609

Re: Overcharge Complaint

June 6, 2000

Dear Sir or Madam:

Since the Office of the Attorney General lacks statutory authority to enforce the cost provisions of the Public Information Act, I have been referred to you by the Open Records Division. Ch.552.269(a), Gov't Code, Public Information.

In an apparent attempt to thwart the Public Information Act, Llano County Judge J.P. Dodgen asserts there is a $1.00/copy charge in all County offices. This seems to violate Ch.552, Gov't Code, Public Information statutes regarding "reasonable" photocopying charges. At the very least, it runs counter to the spirit of the Act.

Although not an attorney, my reading of the recently updated Handbook indicates there is an exception for the County Clerk. My question to you is does that apply only to the Clerk, or does it also apply to all County offices? Simply put, can they legally charge whatever they want in an effort to discourage open records requests?

Be advised I own no copier and have been transcribing County records longhand to avoid paying these outrageous charges. Other entities subject to the Public Information Act such as LMHS and the School District charge a more reasonable $.10/copy. Thank you for consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,
Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
cc: File
***********************************

The following message was e-mailed to the County Judge, August 21, 2000:

J.P. Dodgen
County Judge
Llano County Courthouse

Dear J.P.:

The enclosed e-mail was sent to the General Services Commission August 21, 2000. Regarding copying charges in all County offices, will Llano County officials abide by General Services Commission guidelines, or will you continue to charge $1/copy? If the policy has indeed changed, would you kindly inform this writer as to the changes, please?

Sincerely,

Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
Rt 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609

attachment
cc: Llano Ledger website
cc by e-mail: Hadassah Schloss, Open Records Administrator, General Services Commission
*********************************

One-hour access was granted August 23, 2000 to released LMHS documents as sought in the August 4, 2000 Open Records Request. Upon leaving LMHS Administrative Offices, the following Open Records Request dated August 23, 2000 was handed to Executive Secretary Karen Kinard:

Ernie Parisi, Administrator
LMHS
103 West Lampasas
Llano, Tx. 78643

Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
Rt 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609

Re: Open Records Request

August 23, 2000

Dear Mr. Parisi:

This is a request for information under the Public Information Act, Ch.552, Gov't Code, Public Information. Access to following documents is respectfully requested:

1. Signed lease between Llano County Hospital Authority and Llano Bay Health Care Inc. for Marble Falls Community Hospital.

2. March, April, and May 2000 Financial Statements.

3. Comprehensive Financial Statement for 1999-2000 fiscal year just ended.

4. All documents regarding purchase and/or leasing of Imaging Center building.

5. All documents regarding Hospital-Imaging Center negotiations with the radiologists.

6. All documents regarding "due diligence" done by Bond Rating Representatives on August 2, 2000.

7. Survey and engineering study for alternate Marble Falls Community Hospital site, -- specifically, the second proposed site owned by Michael Joseph.

Sincerely,

Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger

cc: Llano Ledger website
********************************

Further evidence of LMHS Administrator/CEO Ernie Parisi's false assertion in his June 14, 2000 open records response (regarding the existence of Llano Bay Health Care Inc., i.e. the Marble Falls Community Hospital donor records) has been provided in Hospital documents released August 23, 2000. The following is information contained on the first page of a booklet issued to the fundraising Advisory Committee:

Marble Falls Community Hospital

Fund Raising

May, 2000

This booklet contains fund raising & friend raising ideas, project giving goals and general facts on charitable giving.

It is intended to be a working document that the Advisory Committee continually refines and revises to accomplish our goals.

This information is solely for the use of the Advisory Committee of the Marble Falls Community Hospital. Some of the information regarding event ideas, etc., should not be shared with others or made public until the committee [h]as given permission.

*******************************

A list of members of the Llano Bay Health Care Inc. fundraising Advisory Committee has also been released and provides further evidence of the existence of germane Hospital donor records. -- Records which LMHS Foundation Treasurer Lance Center has already admitted existed in his letter of July 15, 2000 posted in an earlier edition. To date, however, the Open Records Division has nonetheless failed to force release of records not subject to exception. Since the fundraising Advisory Committee members list contains personal information, no decision has yet been made as whether or not to publish it, -- either in its entirety or only in part.

What is of even greater concern and quite disturbing is the 8-page Texas Association of Realtors Commercial Unimproved Property Earnest Money Contract and attached "Exhibit A" signed by Llano Bay Health Care Inc. Board President Wade Hutto and Michael Joseph for the second proposed Marble Falls Community Hospital site. Time and space considerations, however, do not allow adequate treatment of the subject in this edition. Since the September 4, 2000 Newsletter falls during the Labor Day weekend, posting will begin shortly. Look for it under Newsletter Text V56 at the bottom of the Table of Contents.

Interestingly, there were 264 Hospital employee injuries for the year according to the June 29, 2000 LMHS Board minutes. It is not clear whether this figure refers to the fiscal year just ended or calendar year 2000 to date. Regardless, it is a stunning number considering the size of LMHS. The nature or severity of the injuries, however, was not stipulated in the minutes.

Public thanks to Llano County Deputy Duane Nobles for graciously offering a ride from Llano to my Buchanan Dam residence Saturday, August 26. Readers will recall Mr. Nobles has been repeatedly skewered on this website, -- and will continue to be if necessary in the future. Regardless of his motives for providing the ride, officers who go out of their way in service to the Community should be publicly recognized for their efforts. I am indeed grateful to him and the Sheriff's Department.

The visitor count proudly stands in excess of 26,200. Non-profit and outrageously unfunded by the readership it serves due to greed, gut-wrenching fear, and the continuing relentless 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 1:03pm EDT