Tidbits!

And here we go!

STFUF – Mayor Becky Ames just needs to STFUF this week. Trying to pawn off that the entire ATT gig was just a ploy to have the private sector bid on the building? No really stop.

Another Candidate – Former firefighter and all around good guy is scheduled to file for mayor later today. We promised we would not say anything.

Jailer Warrant – A Jefferson County Jailer has been arrested for Civil Rights violation. Watch this case closely.

For 16 Years – Do you remember when the Review talked about the Federal Prisoners from the camp were in Nederland cooking up steak, lobster and other wonderful foods? Then they were removed from Nederland. Then they started to do the same at the camp and off campus? Now after 16 years the US Attorney’s office wakes up? Give us a break.

Here We Go – And the ice has been broken. The first murder in Beaumont.

Angel San Juan – Is on fire. Finally a news station steps up and goes after the stories! Love it!

Hospital Closure – Rumors of a Hospital Closure is not exaggerated…looks like a suspension of the operating rooms at Victory Hospital over administrative issues we are told. Media ignores. .

Nederland ISD – We were wrong. It is over 155 million on the bond. Meaning each home will pay $1,000 or more per home in higher taxes. Enjoy that ride. It will never pass. Never.

Uncle Hilty – Still no filing for Mayor in Port Arthur? What happened? More on this next week. We think Hilton Kelley is maybe one of the biggest scam artists to hit East Texas in years.

Okay…so that is it for the week. Next week – we are told will be a big week by the US Attorney’s office sources we have. We will see – as if you held your breath you would be dead. Enjoy your weekend.

We Were Just Kidding?

Chaulk this up to – do what? And frankly, we are very confused and took a day to try and figure it all out.

So, the City of Beaumont did not win the bid to own the ATT building. Okay….but now they say they were just kidding to win the bid – so that the private sector would bid high and get the property on the tax rolls? Are you kidding us?

No really, that is the spin out of the city council chambers and that pissed off Mike Getz who sits on the city council leading him to write this :

First, the good news – the City of Beaumont was unsuccessful in wasting your tax dollars in trying to purchase this building. But I will not sit quietly and allow the Mayor to spin a narrative that is completely false. The Mayor is now saying that she “was hoping by offering a million dollars for this building several months ago it would promote interest in the private sector so it looks like that plan worked”. THAT WAS NOT THE PLAN. The plan, as stated at the City Council meeting, was to use your taxpayer dollars and to DEMOLISH the building. This is a false narrative and I am appalled to see the Mayor try to spin this whole episode in that manner. The truth of the matter is that I personally toured the building last July and realized that I was not getting accurate information about the condition of the building from the City Manager. The building had been portrayed as having a basement full of water and asbestos throughout the building. Upon viewing the building, I realized that was not true and I said so very publicly. Local business people took note of what I was saying and started expressing an interest in buying the building. I have been saying for months that there were local businessmen interested in purchasing the building and the City Manager kept denying that was the case. It was wrong of the City of Beaumont to use taxpayer dollars to participate in this auction and drive up the price of the building when local business people were interested in bidding on it.

Well, now what? What are we dealing with here? It is one of two things. Either the Mayor and Council lied to the public – which is actionable, or, the Mayor and Council’s plan to obtain more property and take it off the tax rolls just died because of public pressure.

We smell rats. We smell problems. We smell issues. We smell a change coming in Beaumont politics. But remember – folks – who was the one that called it all in the beginning – yes us here at the Review. There is no way in hell the city was going to buy the property with the citizens furious. This pipe dream of downtown being the answer or one of the answers to Beaumont, Texas’, problems? Nada.

In other news in Beaumont :

The first homicide of the year happened today – happy VDay.
Raw Sewage is flowing out of the usual places in the Southend of Town. Excuse – it is the homeowner’s fault. No kidding.
Oh….and another candidate for Mayor might be filing in the morning. Big name we are told!

All is okay…on with your day!

Oh No….

We started getting calls to the Review about three days ago. It seems that there is a slide of hand going on in the political world as those that want to run for office are trying to have everyone look away – again – while filing is ongoing.

Two issues – one in Port Arthur and the other in Nederland. And the Attorney General of Texas is watching both – due to complaints.

First, Port Arthur. Where it is the wild west. Now we are not going to use names at this point in either story as some of the investigators watching are setting a trap to file charges we are told.

There are two candidates in Port Arthur that do not qualify. However, the city clerks office has accepted them as candidates. The law is very specific that the city clerk must verify that the candidate lives where they say they live and have not been convicted of criminal activity and on and on as the law goes.

This is a problem, again, for two candidates. The AG’s office wants to confirm if the city will do their jobs.

Now on to Nederland, where some concerned citizens have reported to the AG’s office that one candidate that has either filed – or is filing – has filed for office in a ward where they do not live. This has set an undertone for some in the city that has reported it to the AG’s office. We are told to watch for criminal charges to be filed.

It is close folks. But it seems the citizens are right – and here is that map :

Now if the candidate files for office (we have been told they did) and their residence is clearly out of that said district – and the candidate is certified by Friday – watch for criminal charges to be filed we are told.

Why?

The AG’s office is focused on Jefferson County right now. The outright violations of the law and the good old boy days are over. When you sign up – you swear (or affirm) that you are qualified for the office. If you know, which you should when you run for office, that you are not in the district, then you lied under oath.

We will watch and let you know. We get the strong feeling that all three candidates will not be running for even dog catcher after they find out that they are getting set up.

Stay tuned….

And it Begins

And as we have been telling you – we thought the government would begin to act – and this afternoon that has begun.

According to Federal Court Records – the government has filled to allow Larry Tillery to keep certain assets that were seized by the government regarding an operation that is called “ongoing” in the Southern District of Texas.

The records indicate that Tillery will keep some of his businesses and residents. Which indicates that a possible deal has been cut. According to our sources that once that deal is confirmed by the court – Tillery will have proffered regarding other figures in the area. Up to and including the Sheriff of Jefferson County and the alleged cash money to the sheriff outside of election laws. A source inside the investigations tells the Review that there may possibly be another warrant that has been sealed regarding the Sheriff and more money. This is unconfirmed – however – activity on the case is now at a faster pace.

We have further been advised that the IRS general counsel’s office has been spun up in the investigation which indicates that post-Tillery’s proffer and possible unsealed charges – the government will begin the roundup.

We further learned late this afternoon that a local law firm and a sitting district judge has been possibly implicated in a pay for play that was caught on a FISA warrant. We will see about that too…as they say.

Our take?

Okay…we are waiting but like the movement. It is time to clean the place up.

ATT Building Action – It’s ON!

Well, kids – day one is just about over and guess what? The ATT ~~scam~~ is rolling right along with the minimum bid not met – yet!

Okay, for those of you that live in South Newton County, Texas, the City of Beaumont wants to spend over 1 million dollars of your tax money to buy the old ATT building to knock it down and build a Ferris Wheel!

No, we are not kidding.

So an eruption started (politically) which caused, so far, most of the sitting city council members to go bonkers and high on power, and drawing each of them a candidate. And the ugly has begun in politics with whisper campaigns and most of all – anger towards those sitting on council.

So where is the bid? Here you go :

What is up with that? Right?

We are told the gig is that they will let it go to the last 10 minutes and then pop the other $50k and thus getting the building for a million. Too funny huh?

And yes – that is your city council Beaumont. And yes – you have the chance to make a change – so do it.

100,000,000 Million Dollars!

Yes, you read this right, one hundred million dollars for a school district that has …wait, stand-by for this, have video from inside the Nederland ISD headquarters:

Ya, stupid, and the proposal that is coming to the voters of Nederland? Just as stupid.

The Nederland ISD is getting ready to announce a ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR BOND! They want to tear down schools, they want to improve technology, and they want to build a nice stadium just like Port Neches….hey…wait…this sounds like BISD? Does it not? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

But don’t be scared…let us show you the facts! But before that YELL GO DOGS!

Anyway here are some facts.

In the year 2018 there were 17,284 families in Nederland, Texas. In the year before that there were 17,867 families. Here look :

The population has declined or has stalled over the last five years because it is landlocked. But the school district doesn’t tell you the entire story. Lookey – NISD has taxing roots in Port Neches, WD10, and Port Arthur. Using those numbers….well…not good kids. The Population has declined by over 5%, Household income drops to $32,000, the poverty rate sores to 34% and the property values drop to 65,000. This from our friends in Austin.

Now, the Nederland ISD did a bond in 2013 which just finished this last year. This from their web site :

It passed and guess what? Most schools got new roofs, new classrooms, AV equipment, huge overhauls in AC systems and we could go on – but why? Yes, almost 40 million was spent!

Now less than five years later they want to KNOCK DOWN BUILDINGS from work they just completed!

Oh, hey Port Neches, GO DOGS! We want a new stadium.

So we ran some numbers. Let’s use the government’s numbers. We have 17,284 in the NISD. This means this bond would cost TODAY $5,785 for every man women and child in the district. Meaning per family (at 4.2 per family) you are looking at just over $24,000 per person in Nederland! You one-year-olds get out and get a job! Ya…at the poverty rate?

Okay, the district is GROWING!!!! Ummmm….nope. According to TEA in 2015, there were 5,187 students. In this 2018 year? A whopping growth of 5,185. Two fewer students? There goes that argument.

Okay, the bond per STUDENT would be $19,286. Yes, that is over the state average by almost 50%. Average bond per student is around $8,000.

Lastly, according to the SCHOOL DISTRICT, THEY HAVE ALMOST 50% disadvantaged in Economic Disadvantage status? Get the hell out!

Here is the problem with this school board: THEY ARE OUT OF TOUCH!

The kids are fine, the repair guys all tell they review if something breaks they can handle it, Nederland is still seeing high SAT scores, and most of all there IS NOT GROWTH BECAUSE THERE CANNOT BE! LANDLOCKED!

This is about OPM! For those of you in South Newton County – we will remind you – OTHER PEOPLES MONEY! We are told that your yearly taxes will increase by just over $400 a year before it is over and done with. Here comes the screaming MIMIS saying no no – but you saw what happened to your taxes in the last 10 years. They have increased by just over 53%.

Do you want to get scared – they think they can pass it. No, we are not kidding. These guys think they can pass it up until they did there tour the other night of the schools and around 12 people showed up.

Folks, Nederland, Texas, is getting ready to tax the people out of the area. But what the hell right? Who cares! All of this spending will improve drop out rates and have a safe place for the childrens to go to school.

Uh, they just spent $40 million, and the dropout rates when up 1.4% and school safety has not changed? Using that math – drop out rates should increase to 2.8% and schools should stay just as safe? Gezzzzz.….

When does it stop?

# # #

The Southeast Texas Political Review is a production of Klein and Associates Political Relations. © 1995 – 2019 PRK Enterprises, Inc. Any rebroadcast or reproduction of this site is forbidden without the permission of this Company. Such permission must be in writing and consist of the person’s name – address – and the reason for the reproduction. Under title 17 of the US Code – Subjects that reproduce or reprint any portion of this site without permission of PRK Enterprises, Inc. may be liable under the statute. For comments – questions – or requests for reproduction of quotes or stories as written in this site, please E-Mail us at setreview@gt.twcbc.com.