GP Newsletter Sept Oct

8/4/2019 GP Newsletter Sept Oct

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Join the fight tooverturn those whowould deny us our

rights!maggie kuhn, founder

On Hottest Day Ever in Austin, Gray Panthers of Austin Had Very Cool Meeting!On Hottest Day Ever in Austin, Gray Panthers of Austin Had Very Cool Meeting!On Hottest Day Ever in Austin, Gray Panthers of Austin Had Very Cool Meeting!On Hottest Day Ever in Austin, Gray Panthers of Austin Had Very Cool Meeting!

Texas Gray Panthers of Austin , Gary Dugger, Convener 512-225-4789; Ofc: 512-458-3738 www.graypanthersaustin.org3710 Cedar St, Box 15, Austin, TX 78705 National Gray Panthers www.graypanthers.orgSharron Aisenman, Gray Panther Newsletter Editor [email protected]

JOIN THE TEXAS GRAYJOIN THE TEXAS GRAYJOIN THE TEXAS GRAYJOIN THE TEXAS GRAYPANTHERS OF AUSTINPANTHERS OF AUSTINPANTHERS OF AUSTINPANTHERS OF AUSTIN

Call 512Call 512Call 512Call 512----225225225225----4789478947894789

Push-Up Foundations, Inc.Meeting with HUD.

The title of our presentation is:"Review of the City of Austin'sCommunity Development BlockGrant Administration or Process."Push-Up hereby invites communityleaders and members of the com-munity to come and observe ourpresentation to HUD regarding

CDBG grant awarded to usin 1999. Thanks.James Wallace, Wallace Develop-ment, LLCWhen: Thursday, September 8,2011, 10:30 AM-11:30 AMWhere: 1000 East 11th St., Room400B

Please come!

A major issueof Importanceto SeniorsProsecution ofcorrupt officialpractices key

to DeficitReduction!

Calling all Gray Panthers/Coalitions &others!

Hon. Charlie Baird, former State DistrictJudge, announced at the Gray Panther

Annual Meeting onAugust 28, his decision to run for Travis

County District Attorney.

The kick-off of his campaign for Travis

County District Attorney is to be held onTuesday, September 6, 11:00 a.m.(This is the Tuesday after Labor Day.)

The kick-off will be at the Millennium YouthEntertainment Complex, 1156 Hargrave

Street, Austin, TX 78702, (512) 472-6932.

Its located east of Interstate 35.Refreshments will be served after theannouncement. Everyone is invited!

Pictured below L to R Gray Panthers,James Wallace, J McCart , Alissa Cham-

bers discuss HUD issues/problems 8/28.

Candidates & GPs

David Wahlberg(Lf), running for

Judge 167 District& (Rt) Hon. CharlieBaird, running for

Travis CountyDistrict

Attorney.

Comment/Questions by Clint Smith:Regarding 9/1/11 Austin City Council FY12 budgethearings and for those concerned about Official

Accountability for PRUDENT decisions,a Question:'What was the final outcome of the following2009 HUD Audit of Austin Housing Authority?'cited in www.austinaccountabilityproject.com.Have City of Austin (Travis County) officials

inquired regarding ANY of these Referrals?%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Article submitted by James Wallace:

This Is Why We Are Requesting a FederalInvestigation!WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONEY?HUD Audit 8/17/2009Date Issued August 25, 2009 Audit MemorandumNo.: 2009-FW-1801

Title: Travis County Housing Authority, Austin,Texas, Lacks Capacity to Administer AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 PublicHousing Capital Funds.

The memorandum reports that the Authority lackscapacity to administer ARRA public housing capitalfunds. The OIG recommended that HUD increasemonitoring and oversight of the Authority's financialand program activities, and either recover ARRAfunding from the Authority or place the Authority's

ARRA funding on a cost reimbursement basis.

Date Issued: August 17, 2009 Audit Report No.:2009-FW-1015

Title: The Housing Authority of Travis County,Austin, Texas, Could Not Adequately AccountFor or Support Its Use of Federal ProgramFunds.

We audited the Housing Authority of Travis County(Authority) due to several problem indicators in-cluding the U. S. Department of Housing and Ur-ban Development's (HUD) rejecting the Authority's2005 and 2006 audited financial statements andnoting that the Authority's 2007 financial state-

Continued page 6 What Happened to the Money?

More Articles & Pictures from 8/28/11 Annual Mtg, pg 11


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Since last week, I have received several responses to a column I wrote about the City of Austin's lack of due diligence in vetting the Formula Oneagreement between the city and the Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee. It was clear that city attorneys were outmaneuvered by the well-connected, skilled lawyers representing Formula One.I questioned why City Manager Marc Ott or City Attorney Karen Kennard did not hire outside legal experts to ensure that the city's interests were

protected. The blunders by city attorneys were big and obvious. They were on board with demands that greatly favored F1 but weakened the city'sposition.

That was evident in their nod to the way in which environmental measures were handled. That approach required City Council members to ap-prove a contract with F1's handpicked local organizing committee the Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee before environmental provi-sions were negotiated. That surely would have weakened the city's bargaining position had it been done that way. I t was not, thanks to City Coun-cil members who delayed voting on the contract until environmental negotiations were done.There also was that glaring stumble by city attorneys in missing a key clause in the contract that would have permitted the events organizing com-mittee working with F1 to change its contractual obligations simply by notifying the city and the state comptroller.

It was the diligence of a regular citizen that brought that to light. Susan Moffat deserves our thanks. The final contract stipulates that the eventscommittee must get approval of the city and comptroller to make changes.Since that column ran, I've heard from readers also concerned about the city's flawed methods in negotiating the F1 contract as well as other

deals. They cited the Holly Power Plant decommissioning deal as another example in which the city needed outside help from experts.

That was evident after city staff initially recommended hiring TRC Environmental Corp. to dismantle the Holly plant in an East Austin neighborhood even though its $24.9 million bid was $6.1 million higher than its nearest competitor.I'm not saying that the city should have gone for the lowest bidder on an environmentally sensitive project such as Holly. But it certainly appearedas if the city was being taken for a ride on that deal.

After months of delay and public fallout, the company ultimately sliced its bid to $11.5 million, which the council approved in May. The change inprice prompted some council members to question the credibility of the bid and led the chairman of the city's Electric Utility Commission to declareat its April meeting, "This one stinks."In explaining the price cut, the city and TRC company officials blamed in part a $5 million accounting quirk by the city. That is some quirk. Ameri-can-Statesman City Hall reporters will be watching to see whether that project stays within budget. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for anymore money on that deal.

Ed Wendler Jr., a local developer, recommended that the city tap its wealth of experts in the community by creating an advisory board to help vet(for free) future ventures and transactions. He said most of those experts could come from local professional groups, such as the Austin Bar Asso-ciation, Real Estate Council of Austin, Austin Association of Architects and University of Texas' McCombs School of Business.

That's worth thinking about. I think the city should take a page from the Travis County Commissioners Court, which is soliciting outside help toassist with evaluating proposals for the private-public partnership that will finance and build the county's new downtown courthouse. With such abig investment, it just makes sense to hire experts. You get what you pay for.

Still waiting on Ott, City Council Members Laura Morrison and Sheryl Cole have yet to receive a credible explanation from Ott and Kennard re-garding their decision not to hire outside legal help on the F1 deal when it became apparent that the city legal staff wasn't up to the job.Those council members rightly requested that the city to hire experts to assist with the complicated F1 deal. They deserve an answer and the pub-lic deserves one, too. Ott's silence on the issue won't make it disappear; it is making matters worse by continuing to fuel the fallout over the F1deal.

It's not wise to ignore that fallout not in Austin, where it has a way of coming back to bite you.

City Shouldn't Shy Away From Outside Help in Big DealsAlberta Phillips, Commentary Published: July 11, 2011

Not pursued by Ms Phillips, a Question* WE may usefully raise: Why does CoA and CapMetro use taxpayer moneyto hire outside lawyers todefend themselves against challenges from the Public regardingviolation of the Texas' Open Meetings Act?CoA's own lawyers, obviously lacking the Council's confidence, do not defend CoA nor CapMetro. Could it be a reason to allow Council to cloudthe issues as in the past? -

An even more direct/pertinent issue: Why does CoA employincompetent staff Attorneys? AND that'll open really big bag o' worms includingpastdecisions re housing, and many other issues that have yet to be answered or settled.*Maybe its time for a G/Pantherwritten request to Morrison/Cole/Tovo for their Report to the Public with answers to their questions, which Ott &City Attorney Escamilla seem to be stonewalling our City Council. Questions from National Gray Panther, Clint Smith

Page 2 September/October 2011


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Back in June, Austin City Council looked more like a convention for F1 with the many hats and checkered flags being waved by supportersand employees of local F1 sponsors and supporters. It was apparent to those of us present in the Council Chambers that the orchestrated

packing and demonstration by local F1 sponsors and supporters were intended to pressure City Council to cave to their demands. Were staffattorneys also part of the plan to push through a yet unfinished contract agreement? Mayor Leffingwell led the charge to vote to agree to theyet unfinished contract as presented by F1 sponsors. Reasonable and insightful cautions bySusan Moffet to postpone vote until City Coun-cil could obtain specialized Legal Council to review the contract (between the City of Austin and the local F1 sponsors) were ignored as wellas urging by the many people opposed in attendance.

Thursday, June 23, the Council postponed voting on whether to approve the F1 race, which would begin in 2012 and run for at least 10 years.The Council vote, according to Richard Suttle (Council for the local F1 organizers) was crucial for race promoters to get a projected $25 mil-lion per year subsidy from the state. He argued that any delay on the part of City Council to signing their contract as presented without delaycould jeopardize the entire F1 project in Austin.

In a statement to John Maher,Austin American Statesman, investor Bobby Epstein warned, In good faith, our investors have continued tospend millions of dollars each week creating more than 1,000 construction jobs...If things get delayed any more, job lay-offs are a cer-tainty and construction spending will stop.

Spokesman Jeff Hahn noted that F1 construction workers were some of the workers who were being paid to attend the Council meeting toshow support for the project. Now that Austins City Council has been coerced to agree to a still unfinished contract with F1 under the guiseof time is running out, so what was the big rush?

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Key F1 Meeting Canceled; Committee Must Vote To Make Project Eligible For $25 Million State Subsidy

ByMarty Toohey AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Monday, July 11, 2011

Call it the case of the disappearing Formula One meeting. As part of a complicated set of arrangements with Austin and the State of Texas,local F1 sponsors established a quasi-governmental "local organizing committee" to act on the city's behalf and the committee was sup-posed to hold a key meeting Monday, July 11, 2011...it was canceled by the F1 committee, comprised mainly of local F1 backers.

The committee is required to cast a few votes to make the project eligible for as much as $25 million in annual state subsidies. As recently aslate June, the local lawyer representing the F1 efforts told the City Council the project's finances could be imperiled if the committee met later

than the July Fourth weekend. The meeting was scheduled to be at the 13-story downtown office of the Armbrust and Brown law firm. Butseveral members of the public were told by a receptionist at the law firm that the meeting was canceled and that no additional information wasavailable.

City Council Member Laura Morrison's office said a posting error resulted in the cancellation after the F1 committee tried to post meeting no-tice at City Hall. The city's public information office referred additional questions to F1 organizers. The firm handling F1's public relations couldnot immediately say what happened or when the committee will attempt to meet again.

It's not clear what effect a delay could have. In late June, Richard Suttle, the local attorney representing F1, told the City Council that if theorganizing committee did not meet before July 4, the $25 million annual subsidy could be at risk. Critics in turn accused Suttle of manufactur-ing that deadline to push a hesitant council into granting a hasty approval for a complicated deal. The council decided to delay a vote at thatmeeting and then voted the next week to endorse the event.

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UPDATE! The first F1 race is now scheduled to take place in November 2012. As was said at the time, there was no rushto authorize because the F1 race was going to be rescheduled. No one is in their right mind would run it in Austins summerheat. November is far more logical, if equally questionable.

We had all the time necessary to take a good, deep look at these agreements. I doubt the full ramifications have yet beenparsed. Is anyone working over the contracts on behalf of CofA? I wonder if it has already been violated by this resched-ule? Probably not, since theirlawyers drew up the contracts and no one in the city's offices fine-combed it, or seemingly hasadequate training and/or background to understand such if the noxious exhibition at the council meeting was any example oftheir capacity. They may be nice people, but I never heard so many legal non-answers and self-protective responses in mylife. Leslie Aisenman

Was CoA Hoodwinked Into Granting Hasty Approval for Complicated F1 Deal?Was CoA Hoodwinked Into Granting Hasty Approval for Complicated F1 Deal?Was CoA Hoodwinked Into Granting Hasty Approval for Complicated F1 Deal?Was CoA Hoodwinked Into Granting Hasty Approval for Complicated F1 Deal?

Page 3September/October 2011

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Leslie Aisenman tells it like it is. Social Security isnt Broke! Its a Lie, and if you tell a big enough lie often enough, people will believe it!

The Corporatists have been trying to destroy Social Security since it was created. They want that money to go to WallStreet so they can easily, as in the housing scam and the Wall Street over inflation, steal it from the people. They Lie,Lie, Lie and Lie again. If nothing at all is done to the program it will be fully funded for the next 27 years. Just lift thearbitrary cap and let the wealthy pay their fair share and it will be funded into the distant future. They have convinced themajority of the young people today that the program will not be there for them when they need it. Lie. With no change itwill cover 70-80% of the benefits required, but with a lifted cap it can assure the retirements of the generations to fol-low. But, they LIE; we must cut benefits, because people are living longer. The simple truth is that people in retirementare living just about as long as retirees lived 70 years ago! Longer life spans are the result of fewer deaths in infancy andchildhood. With their Lies the Corporatists look for every Lying excuse to injure and reduce Social Security, even thepatently false insistence that it is adding to our National Deficit. Social Security more than pays for itself, with a currentsurplus of $2.6 trillion that is loaned to the Treasury in the form of Treasury Bonds, a positive for the trust fund and apositive for our Nation. Next time they try and give you the shaft, give them the bird.

Leslie Aisenman,Gray PantherBoard of Directors

Clint Smith, National Gray Panther, asked in the Gray PantherNewsletter April/May issue, Is the City of Austin Employee Retire-ment Fund Broke?- On the August 29, 2011, as reported in the Austin American States-man, we found out that Texas could be gearing up for its own Wiscon-sin-style grudge match over public employee benefits.-A group of high-powered Houston business leaders is starting a state-wide campaign to overhaul retirement for future teachers, firefighters,police officers, judges and other state and local government workers. "Ithink the state needs to get the hell out of this (pension) business com-pletely," said lawyer Bill King, who is forming Texans for Public PensionReform with others from the Greater Houston Partnership, an ber-chamber of commerce with business members representing $1.5 trillionin assets.- Taxpayers bear too much risk on behalf of public employees by pro-viding them a guaranteed retirement that most private sector workersdon't get, King said. But advocates of the public pension system say

there are ways to eliminate or reduce risk without doing away with theprogram. "They don't have to destroy a system that works," said KeithBrainard, research director of the National Association of State Retire-ment Administrators. He said government pensions provide retirementsecurity for millions of Texans in a cost-effective manner for taxpayers.Research by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston Collegeshows that professionally managed pension funds produce better in-vestment returns than 401(k)s and cost less to administer.- King said the campaign is in its infancy, and its specific goals are stillbeing developed. It's not clear how the campaign will get involved innext year's elections or the 2013 legislative session, but King said he isconfident the campaign will soon make pensions an issue for lawmak-ers. He would support a constitutional amendment eliminating public

pensions in the state and moving all government employees to retire-ment accounts akin to 401(k)s. Legislators would have to approve suchan amendment on the ballot when they convene in 2013.- Pension fund leaders from across the state see no good intentions inthe Houston initiative, and earlier this month they created Texans forSecure Retirement to protect the guaranteed retirement benefit forpublic workers."When there are rumblings, you sit up and take no-tice," said Bill Miller a prominent Austin political consultant and lobbyistrepresenting the employee pension groups. Miller said he doubts that

Social Security Isnt Broke! Les Aisenman

pension reformers will be able to make it a major issue in nextyear'slegislative elections. But if they do, he said there are 2 million publicpension members in Texas who will stand up and take notice. "I'm notpicking a fight, but I'm not backing off f rom one, either," Miller said.- Texans for Public Pension Reform developed from King's interest inthe City of Houston's pension liabilities. He said he was shocked whenhe started looking at the city's books to prepare for a possible run formayor in 2009. Houston's three pension plans "are gobbling up an everlarger share of the city's budget but continue to be under funded bybillions of dollars," King wrote. "One of the fundamental questions in theimpending debate will be whether it is appropriate for the taxpayers tocontinue to assume these risks for public employees," King wrote in aJanuary column.- "If it's a local issue in Houston, they ought to keep it a local issue inHouston," said Andy Homer, director of government relations for theTexas Public Employees Association, which has not been approachedabout joining the counter-effort. The state pension funds should not be

dragged into this fight because they're in good financial shape, Homersaid. Both the Employee Retirement System of Texas and the TeacherRetirement System of Texas have more than 80 cents for every dollarneeded to pay their long-term obligations, a level considered to be abenchmark of a strong fund. The state funds also have tight restrictionson contributions and benefits.- There are about 1,800 public retirement systems in Texas, the vastmajority of which are small cities and counties that pool their resourcesfor investment purposes. The big cities, however, have mostly set upshop on their own and have separate plans for police, firefighters andother municipal workers. The sentiment that pensions are unsustain-able gained traction across the country after the 2008 financial marketcollapse sank the value of funds everywhere.

- The problem is that states can't save money anytime soon by doingaway with pensions. In fact, it costs more in the midterm because tax-payers must contribute more to cover the benefits accrued by retireesand current workers because new workers would no longer be chippingin to the pension, Fehr said. King argues that finally wiping clean thepublic pension liabilities is worth the higher costs now. "It will requiresacrifices in city services and higher taxes than would otherwise benecessary," King wrote. "But at least the number will be finite, unlike inour current predicament." To see entire article see AAS/8/28/11.

Battle Brewing Over Texas Public Pensions by K. Alexander, Austin American Statesman(edited for this publication by Sharron Aisenman)


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City Program Has Spent Millions to Improve East Austin Neighborhood, But Has It Helped?City Program Has Spent Millions to Improve East Austin Neighborhood, But Has It Helped?City Program Has Spent Millions to Improve East Austin Neighborhood, But Has It Helped?City Program Has Spent Millions to Improve East Austin Neighborhood, But Has It Helped?

BySarah Coppola AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF, AUGUST 29,

-The City of Austin has spent more than $16 million over20 years on a program meant to benefit residents who livenear the Holly Power Plant in East Austin. But there arefew tangible signs of that investment. With the plant now

closed and soon to be dismantled and the Holly GoodNeighbor Program slated to end next year, many homes inthe largely Hispanic, working-class area remain dilapi-dated. And public spaces that could benefit from publicdollars, such as parks and sidewalks, are far from first-rate.-A recent American-Statesman review of records and in-terviews with officials and residents found lackluster over-sight, a less-than-rigorous application process shepherdedby one City Council office and an unclear mandate abouthow the money should be spent. "We have been tellingthe City Council for years, 'We need to have more ac-countability for this money," said Gavino Fernandez Jr., aHolly resident since 1965 and a coordinator for El Con-cilio , a coalition of Mexican American neighborhoodgroups. "There should be more of a process. They should-n't just give it away."-The Holly Power Plant for decades ran noisily day andnight and spewed fumes into the streets, neighborhoodsand homes.-Activists who had long decried the plant's noise and

emissions threatened to sue Austin Energy. But the utility said it couldn't shutter theplant quickly because it would first have to upgrade the electrical grid downtown,which would take years and millions of dollars. So the City Council and Austin En-ergy, which had already begun soundproofing Holly homes to muffle the noise,vowed in a 1995 decree to shut off two of the plant's four units by 1998 and two by2005.-In that decree, which formally began the Good Neighbor initiative, the council alsoagreed to "continue programs designed to mitigate the impacts of the (plant) on theadjacent neighborhood \u2026 such as the direct home weatherization program andinvestments in neighborhood and recreational facilities. A five-year (mitigationbudget) shall be prepared and annually updated for City Council approval until re-tirement of the plant." The plant closed four years ago, but the program has contin-ued. The money comes from Austin Energy, which runs on the fees that all

Austinites pay for electricity. The city never wrote a five-year budget for the GoodNeighbor program, nor a long-term plan or guidelines for spending the money, be-cause it expected to shut down the plant within a few years, said Roger Duncan,who in the early 1990s was an assistant director of environmental conservation at

the city and later joined Austin Energy, retiring as general manager in 2010. In-stead, spending decisions were made year by year, with the 1995 decree in mindand one main aim: that the money benefit areas adjacent to the plant. Even thatbenchmark wasn't always met.- The city also doesn't track whether nonprofits that receive Good Neighbor moneyto offer after-school programs enroll kids from the Holly area, though many of theclasses take place in East Austin schools.- The 1995 decree "was not specific. People felt the funds should be used in a vari-ety of ways," said Susana Almanza of People Organized in Defense of Earth andher Resources, an East Austin advocacy group that has received $12,000 from theprogram, "There was never a process to say how much should be put into housing,how much into cultural arts. There was never a planning entity, so it became apatchwork along the way." In recent years, the suggestions about how to spend the

$1 million set aside for the program each year have been compiled by the council'sone Hispanic member formerly Raul Alvarez and now Mike Martinez who isseen as the de facto leader of East Austin because the council has no district-basedrepresentatives.-Austin Energy accepts applications for the grants and asks for a description of andbudget for the project and how it will benefit Holly residents. But the utility doesn'treview the substance of the requests; it simply forwards a list of applicants to Marti-nez's office.- Unlike other grant programs run by the city, those materials and other requests forGood Neighbor money are not reviewed or evaluated by city staffers or a city board,and applicants aren't required to show they have secured other sources of fundingsuch as state or federal grants.-Many of the same groups apply for and receive Good Neighbor money year afteryear, but the application materials vary widely. Some groups include detailed infor-mation about their finances, mission and successes. Others submit a page or two.There is also very little follow-up.Only in the past three years has the city re-quired groups that receive Good Neighbor grants to submit one-page summa-ries with receipts verifying how they've spent the money. This year, somewere turned in late; some lacked receipts. (Itallics & bold added).-The part of the Good Neighbor program that has the clearest guidelines but hascaused the most discord is money set aside to repair Holly homes. In 2003, the citybegan offering Holly homeowners up to $10,000 each to have city contractors repairplumbing, electrical items, roofing or foundations and didn't require them to pay backthe money. Owners could apply for bigger sums up to $100,000 to rebuildhomes in the roughest shape. But the housing department later scrapped theContinued East Austin on page 6.


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Thanks James, this is another VERY important pro-gram - featured in '08 Gray Panther Video -'Rehabilitation, not Incarceration' along with JudgeBaird.

To View Video go to www.graypanthersaustin.org- Austin Highlights

Continued from page 1 What Happened to the Money?

ments contained $4.1 million in interprogram transfers and a nega-tive $579,783 administrative fee reserve. Our objectives were todetermine(1) whether the Authority and/or its related entities followed HUD

procurement regulations for nonprofit development or procure-ment activities, if required, and

(2) whether the Authority used federal funds only for eligible pro-gram activities.

In violation of its annual contributions contract and federal regula-tions, the Authority could not adequately account for its use of fed-eral program funds or support that it used program funds only foreligible program activities.

Specifically, the Authority haphazardly transferred more than $2.5million between its federal and nonfederal programs and activitieswithout proper support or justification.

Further, its books and records were not auditable, and it did notproperly allocate costs. Limited testing also showed that it could not

support more than $600,000 in costs charged to federal programs,spent more than $3,000 on ineligible costs, and did not always fol-low procurement requirements. These violations occurred becausethe Authority disregarded HUD requirements in order to keep itsprograms functioning and lacked financial controls.

We recommended that the Authority(1) correct its books and records(2) hire an outside accounting firm to perform a comprehensive

review of the $2.5 million in transfers(3) provide support for expenditures or repay $600,000(4) repay $3,084 in ineligible costs; and(5) develop policies, procedures, and controls to ensure that fed-

eral funds are only used for eligible program activities and that

interprogram balances are reconciled and paid in a timely man-ner. We also recommend that the Acting Director, DepartmentalEnforcement Center, take appropriate administrative actionsagainst Authority officials, as applicable.

East Austin Continued from page 5

reconstruction option because it wanted to serve a greater number ofapplicants, said assistant director Rebecca Giello. And over time, it hasrevised the application rules.-Today, Holly homeowners can receive up to $50,000 in repair money.But they must be low-income and must have lived in the neighborhoodsince 2000 to ensure that the money is helping those who have sufferedmost from the plant, Giello said. Recipients don't have to pay backamounts up to $15,000. But for bigger amounts, the city places a lienon the home for 10 years, and if the owner sells it before then, all or partof the money must be paid back. Otherwise, the cost is forgiven.-Holly neighborhood activists fiercely object to the lien, saying it couldresult in the city taking away their homes, which the city denies. Theyalso say that after living in the shadow of the loud, noxious plant fordecades, they deserve larger sums of home reconstruction money withno strings attached. The city "gives money to things like Pachanga andthe MACC without liens or restrictions," said Elisa Rendon Montoya ,who has lived in the Holly area since 1959 and in March received a$10,000 grant for electrical work, painting and plumbing work at her

home. "Those things have nothing to do with what we have suffered.We have been the victims of the plant," Montoya said.-Martinez said the money is a public investment that the city should beable to recoup if the owner flips the house. About 150 homes havebeen repaired with $1.8 million in Good Neighbor money, an average ofabout $12,000 per home. The small-scale repairs have done little toimprove the impression of tired, older housing stock in the area. Seven-teen applications have been refused. A quarter of the nearly 500 homesin the Holly area are still eligible to receive repair money.-So many homeowners have refused to agree to the lien that in 2010,the city put $550,000 in home repair money toward creating a masterplan for Fiesta Gardens, Festival Beach and a new park that will replacethe power plant. There is currently $1.7 million in unspent repair money,

and city leaders are discussing whether to expand the geographicboundaries of who is eligible. Martinez and others say the city shouldextend all facets of the Good Neighbor program until the plant is clearedaway, work that is scheduled to start next month and is expected to takea year and a half.-Mike Martinez said, I guarantee that the ($16 million) put into GoodNeighbor program is more than the profit that Austin Energy made onelectricity from the plant. We made a commitment to the neighborhood.We should continue funding this (program) until that land is turned intoopen space."

Real Stories of Waste, Fraud, & Abuse by CC & County & Officials Failure to Investigateor Prosecute. Go towww. austinaccountabilityproject.com for more information.

Page 6 September/October

"It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your prac-tice of every vice. Ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell yourcountry for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money. Is there a single virtue now remaining among you? Is thereone vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God. Which of you have not bartered your conscience for bribes?Is there a man among you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not defiled this sacred place and turned the Lords temple into a den of thieves by your immoral principles and wicked

practices. Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. You who were deputed by the people to get grievances redressed, are yourselves be-come the greatest grievance. Your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable, by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceed-ings in this House; and which by God`s help, and the strength he has given me, I am now come to do.

I command ye therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place; go, get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves, be gone!So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go! "

Oliver Cromwell's dismissal of the Long Parliament, April 20, 1653 Thank you Bonnie Gardner - Still Relevant!


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Judges Charlie Baird & Nancy Hohengarten (Video) addressed this in 2008(see www.graypanthersaustin.org - 'Austin: Network Highlights; "Rehabilitation, not Incarceration" ')

- resulting in both increased attention, as well as - for a time - a bit more funding!

ByChuck Lindell AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFSunday, Aug. 28, 2011

An Austin judge ordered five Travis County prisoners into treatmentat the Austin State Hospital last Tuesday an act of frustration that, if

repeated, could provoke a confrontation over the state's under-funded and strained mental health system.- The three men and two women had been ruled incompetent tostand trial because mental health problems left them unable to un-derstand the legal issues involved or assist in their defense.Charged only with misdemeanors related to family violence or tres-passing, the five had been waiting up to 71 days for a bed to open atthe Austin State Hospital, where they would receive treatment typically drugs and therapy designed to restore mental compe-tence so a trial could be held.- County Court-at-Law Judge Nancy Hohengarten worried that thelong wait could jeopardize the prisoners' due process rights, theconstitutional guarantee of fair treatment in the justice system. So

she ordered them to be immediately taken to the Austin State Hospi-tal, and within 24 hours, all were admitted. Problem solved? No. Thehospital, which serves 38 counties, still had 34 felony and misde-meanor defendants on a waiting list for competency treatment as ofFriday, including 21 from Travis County, the state health departmentsaid.- Another 21 prisoners who have been ruled mentally incompetentwere awaiting beds in other state-run facilities that offer specializedcare, such as maximum-security settings including one who'sbeen waiting 257 days and four still waiting after 109 to 180 days.- But as Travis County acted to lessen the pressure on its jails andcorrect a potential constitutional violation, last week's order raisedthe pressure on the Austin State Hospital, where the demand forbeds has long exceeded the supply.- The order to take five prisoners at once limited bed space availablefor emergency commitments, said Christine Mann of the Departmentof State Health Services, which runs the state system of mentalhealth facilities. "Emergency room patients next on the list to get abed will now have to wait longer or f ind psychiatric services else-where," she said.- People committed to the Austin hospital for emergency care typi-cally stabilize and are released in seven to 10 days, Mann said.Restoring a defendant to competency averages 35 days.- Hohengarten, who oversees Travis County's mental health docketfor misdemeanor cases, is well aware that ordering treatment fromthe bench could have unintended consequences for a strained sys-tem. Limiting emergency bed space "weighs heavily upon me," she

said. But many of the defendants awaiting treatment have schizo-phrenia, bipolar disorder or extreme forms of mental illness, Hohen-garten said.- "It is not appropriate to treat them in jail. It's a liability for localcounties, and it can be inhumane. It certainly is not a proper way todeal with mental illness," she said.


Judge: Mentally ill defendants wait too long for treatmentJudge: Mentally ill defendants wait too long for treatmentJudge: Mentally ill defendants wait too long for treatmentJudge: Mentally ill defendants wait too long for treatment

- Hohengarten will have to weigh the consequences again Tuesday,when she will hear a request to transfer three more misdemeanor defen-dants to the Austin State Hospital spurred by an Austin lawyer who isspoiling for a fight with state health officials.

- Keith Hampton, a 22-year criminal defense lawyer who recently ran as Democrat for a seat on the Court of Criminal Appeals, hopes to keeppressing the hospital to accept more and more patients who have beenwaiting "unreasonable" lengths of time for a bed. If the state healthagency makes room, Hampton is happy to have served his clients. But ifthe agency refuses to accept prisoners because of a lack of beds, heplans to push for a contempt hearing, forcing state officials to explain whthey did not comply with a judicial order at the risk of fines and possible

jail time.- "To be incompetent to stand trial, your mental disability has to be realsevere. But when I saw people in jail over 100 days, I just went, 'This is ienough is enough,'" Hampton said. "Maybe this will make leaving dis-abled people in jail a very rare occurrence instead of a common one." Bu

his actions might not precipitate a courtroom confrontation.- "If we receive another court order, we'll comply with it," said Mann, withthe state health department. "If we are told to provide a bed for someonewaiting in Travis County Jail, that would be one fewer bed for someonewaiting for acute, crisis psychiatric treatment." Mentally incompetent de-fendants wait an average of 54 days for treatment at the Austin StateHospital, but the shortage of beds is a statewide problem. The wait timeis 60 days at the state's eight other hospital campuses that offer compe-tency treatment.- Hampton is ready to take his fight statewide, promising to make hislegal briefs available to any lawyer whose client is subject to a long waitfor mental health treatment. He also is pushing Travis County judges toput time limits on their orders that declare a defendant mentally incompe-tent to stand trial. The strategy works well for Williamson County, whereincompetency rulings frequently include a 14-day time limit for defendantto receive mental health treatment, District Judge Billy Ray Stubblefieldsaid.- Hohengarten said she is contemplating a time limit as well somethingbetween a week and 21 days. Some misdemeanor cases, she noted,have been dismissed because a defendant's time in jail and the statehospital equaled the maximum possible sentence. "It is not out of theordinary to have people waiting for unreasonable amounts of time,"Hohengarten said. "This has been going on for years." Hohengartenblames the Legislature and state officials for shortchanging the mentalhealth system, forcing many patients from hospitals into homelessnessand, eventually, jail. State health officials, however, say help is on theway. To help restore mental competency to defendants, the Legislature

last session allocated $10 million for 20 beds in Harris County and $30million for 100 beds in Montgomery County, Mann said. Five new outpa-tient programs were added as well, she said.- Hampton hopes the added beds relieve some pressure on the system,because he's not about to stop pressing the state. "I will not be leavingmy clients just languishing in jail," he said.


8/12

By Dahleen Glanton, Chicago Tribune reporter 9:37 p.m. CDT, August 3, 2011 BD by Sharron Aisenman

-- Tavis Smiley, the syndicated talk show host who has been a vocal critic of President Barack

Obama's policies on behalf ofAfrican-Americans, will bring his national "poverty tour" to Chicago this

weekend, putting the spotlight on economic hardships in the president's hometown.

The tour, organized by Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West, is the latest effort by the two

to highlight what they see as deficiencies in the Obama's administration and to force the president and

Congress to pay more attention to poor people who have been hit hardest by the recession.

-- The events, scheduled for Sunday in Joliet and Chicago, come on the heels of the deal approved

Tuesday by Congress to raise the country's debt ceiling while allowing for at least $2.1 trillion in spend-

ing cuts over 10 years. Smiley called the legislation, signed by the president, "a declaration of war on

the poor."

-- "I don't understand how the president could agree to a deal that does not extend unemployment

benefits, does not close a single corporate loophole and doesn't raise the taxes on the rich," said Smiley. "The poor are being ren-

dered more and more invisible in this country. Nobody, not the president, not the Republicans in Congress, is speaking to the

truth of the suffering of everyday people."

-- After signing the legislation, the president said he would now return his attention to job creation and called for Congress to con-

sider several measures including the extension of middle-class tax cuts. The president also has called for higher taxes on the

wealthy. "We can't balance the budget on the backs of people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession," the president

said. "Everyone is going to have to chip in. It's only fair."

-- Smiley and West have planned town hall meetings in 16 cities, from Washington to Memphis, where families will have the op-

portunity to talk about their difficulties making ends meet. When the tour ends Aug. 12, the men will cont inue to use their nationalpublic radio program, "Smiley & West," as a platform to keep the conversation going through the November elections, they said.

-- A couple of hundred people, mostly black and Latino warehouse workers, are expected to attend a private forum Sunday after-

noon in Joliet, followed by a public town hall meeting at 7 p.m. at St. Sabina Church, 1210 W. 78th Place in Chicago.

-- "The conversation in the nation has shifted dramatically to nutrition, especially with the first lady on this campaign about eating

healthy," said Juan Andrade Jr., president of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, which is participating in the Joliet

event. "But it's kind of difficult for that message to resonate among people who barely have enough to eat. When you are hungry,

you eat what you can."

-- Smiley said Chicago was chosen as one of the tour cities because of its high rate of poverty. Across the country, Smiley said,

families that were once middle class have fallen into poverty.-- The recession has pushed the national poverty rate to the highest point in 15 years, to 14.3 percent, according to the U.S. Cen-

sus Bureau. In Chicago, 21.6 percent of residents have incomes below the poverty level. In Illinois, the poverty rate is 13.3 per-

cent.

-- Some local supporters said the events should not be seen as an attack on Obama, but as a means to provide a forum for poor

people who have no political voice. "My agenda is one thing, poverty," said St. Sabina's pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who

has been a supporter of Obama's. "I don't think this is a political statement. That was a big concern for me. This is not about De-

mocrats or Republicans or the president, but a country that I believe has abandoned the poor."

National 'Poverty Tour' Will Highlight Hardships in Obama's BackyardTalk Show Host, Professor Teaming Up to Advocate For 'More And More Invisible' Poor



9/12

THEMartin Luther King Jr. Memorial was to be dedicated on the National Mall on Sunday exactly 56 years after the murder of Emmett Till inMississippi and 48 years after the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Because of Hurricane Irene, the ceremony has been

postponed.)These events constitute major milestones in the turbulent history of race and democracy in America,and the undeniable success of the civil rights movement culminating in the election of BarackObama in 2008 warrants our attention and elation. Yet the prophetic words of Rabbi AbrahamJoshua Heschel still haunt us: The whole future of America depends on the impact and influence ofDr. King.

Rabbi Heschel spoke those words during the last years of Kings life, when 72 percent of whites and55 percent of blacks disapproved of Kings opposition to the Vietnam War and his efforts to eradicatepoverty in America. Kings dream of a more democratic America had become, in his words, a night-mare, owing to the persistence of racism, poverty, militarism and materialism. He called America asick society. On the Sunday after his assassination, in 1968, he was to have preached a sermontitled Why America May Go to Hell.

King did not think that America ought to go to hell, but rather that it might go to hell owing to its economic injustice, cultural decay and politicalparalysis. He was not an American Gibbon, chronicling the decline and fall of the American empire, but a courageous and visionary Christianblues man, fighting with style and love in the face of the four catastrophes he identified.

Militarism is an imperial catastrophe that has produced a military-industrial complex and national security state and warped the countrys priori-ties and stature (as with the immoral drones, dropping bombs on innocent civilians). Materialism is a spiritual catastrophe, promoted by a cor-porate media multiplex and a culture industry that have hardened the hearts of hard-core consumers and coarsened the consciences of would-be citizens. Clever gimmicks of mass distraction yield a cheap soulcraft of addicted and self-medicated narcissists.

Racism is a moral catastrophe, most graphically seen in the prison industrial complex and targeted police surveillance in black and brown ghet-tos rendered invisible in public discourse. Arbitrary uses of the law in the name of the war on drugs have produced, in the legal scholarMichelle Alexanders apt phrase, a new Jim Crow of mass incarceration. And poverty is an economic catastrophe, inseparable from the powerof greedy oligarchs and avaricious plutocrats indifferent to the misery of poor children, elderly citizens and working people.

The age of Obama has fallen tragically short of fulfilling Kings prophetic legacy. Instead of articulating a radical democratic vision and fighting

for homeowners, workers and poor people in the form of mortgage relief, jobs and investment in education, infrastructure and housing, theadministration gave us bailouts for banks, record profits for Wall Street and giant budget cuts on the backs of the vulnerable.

As the talk show host Tavis Smiley and I have said in our national tour against poverty, the recent budget deal is only the latest phase of a 30-year, top-down, one-sided war against the poor and working people in the name of a morally bankrupt policy of deregulating markets, loweringtaxes and cutting spending for those already socially neglected and economically abandoned. Our two main political parties, each beholden tobig money, offer merely alternative versions of oligarchic rule.

The absence of a King-worthy narrative to reinvigorate poor and working people has enabled right-wing populists to seize the moment withcredible claims about government corruption and ridiculous claims about tax cuts stimulating growth. This right-wing threat is a catastrophicresponse to Kings four catastrophes; its agenda would lead to hellish conditions for most Americans.

King weeps from his grave. He never confused substance with symbolism. He never conflated a flesh and blood sacrifice with a stone andmortar edifice. We rightly celebrate his substance and sacrifice because he loved us all so deeply. Let us not remain satisfied with symbolismbecause we too often fear the challenge he embraced. Our greatest writer, Herman Melville, who spent his life in love with America even as hewas our most fierce critic of the myth of American exceptionalism, noted, Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges;hence the conclusion of such a narration is apt to be less finished than an architectural finial.

Kings response to our crisis can be put in one word: revolution. A revolution in our priorities, a re-evaluation of our values, a reinvigoration ofour public life and a fundamental transformation of our way of thinking and living that promotes a transfer of power from oligarchs and pluto-crats to everyday people and ordinary citizens.

In concrete terms, this means support for progressive politicians like Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Mark Ridley-Thomas, a LosAngeles County supervisor; extensive community and media organizing; civil disobedience; and life and death confrontations with the powersthat be. Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.

Cornel West, a philosopher, is a professor at Princeton.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/opinion/martin-luther-king-jr-would-want-a-revolution-not-a-memorial.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share

. . .owing to the persistence of racism, poverty, militarism and materialism.

Dr. King Weeps From His Grave By CORNEL WEST,Princeton, N.J., August 25, 2011



10/12

AUSTIN (KXAN)August 26, 2009

- The director of the Housing Authority of Travis County has re-

signed in the wake of an audit that cited $4.1 million in prohibited

transfers between federal and non-federal projects.- The Housing Authority of Travis County is the sister organiza-

tion to the largerHousing Authority of the City of Austin, both of

which are accountable to the US Department Housing and Urban

Development. According to the audit dated August 17, 2009, HUD

found both the illegal interprogram transfers and a negative

$579,783 administrative fee reserve. Further, HUD wanted to know

if federal funds had been used to underwrite three market-rate

complexes the agency financed with tax-free bonds.

- "Specifically, the Authority haphazardly transferred more than

$2.5 million between its federal and nonfederal programs and ac-

tivities without proper support or justification," according to the

audit. "Further, its books and records were not auditable, and it didnot properly allocate costs."

- HATC and its auditor did not follow federal guidelines, according

to the audit. Limited testing of accounting records by HUD also

showed that HATC could not provide documentation to support

more than more than $600,000 in federal spending. Another

$3,000 in spending was ineligible. And HATC did not always follow

the proper procurement procedures. "Consequently, HUD did not

have a true understanding of the Authority's financial position,

which was deteriorating," according to the audit.

- Wiley Hopkins, who had served as executive director of HATC

since 1999, resigned at the end of July. Interim Director is Craig

Alter, who was chief executive of Strategic Housing Finance Corp,the company that partnered with HATC on three apartment com-

plexes. In exchange for access to HATC's tax-free bonds, Strategic

Housing offered to share its revenue stream with HATC. That

revenue stream, from Strategic Housing's three apartment com-

plexes, made up about 12 percent of HATC's total budget. While

HATC has had some financial challenges since 2002, those prob-

lems accelerated in recent years when developer fees did not ma-

terialize on schedule.

- The transfer between funds was a way to reduce that financial

strain, Alter said. And past accountants raised no issues with the

practice. As to the future, Alter is unequivocable. "There will be no

more transfers," Alter said.- HATC has agreed to repay the $3,000. And, in the coming

months, the agency will be unraveling the transfers, transaction by

transaction. If a shortall exists in the federal funding account, reve-

nue from the three apartment complexes' non-federal funding

stream will be diverted to restore a balance to the federal account.

September/October 2011Page 10

Audit Cites $4.1 Million In Prohibited TransfersWaste, Fraud & Abuse!

The People want to know...What has the City of Austin and Travis County Officials Doneto Prevent MORE WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE?

[email protected] A.L.M.A. is a community coalitionconcerned about Housing Programs & Land GrabsA.L.M.A. insists on Government Accountability & Mopping Up Misuse OfPower.grams:I. A.L.M.A. launched The Accountability Project for Affordable Hous-ing Programs, after a number of citizens complaints were made that cen-tered on a common issue. That common issue is the alleged mismanage-ment of certain housing programsand howthe citizens who participate inthose programs are/were affected.II. Questions are raised with regard to the management of certain affordable hous-ing programs:

1) general practices enacted by program managers & other public official i.e.:a. are contractual & H.U.D. guidelines consistently followed?b. have program participants rights been violated?c. have fiduciary duties been fulfilled or misused?d. are contractor violations and poor workmanship consistently report-

ed & penalties enforced?e. Verity of Recordkeeping and Evaluation Reports:

loan repayments, application of funds and other financial reports; contractor evaluations and contractor re-qualification applications; project status & completion reports; project delays &/or abandoned projects;

2) Does management follow through with what it represented it would do?3) Accountability of: Program Managers; Program Contractors; Public Officials4) How effectively are our tax dollars being applied? and WHO is benefiting?5) What is the end result for certain program participants and their homes?6) Does the City maintain its obligatory stance of neutrality; OR is preferential

& protective treatment given to certain contractors?III. A.L.M.A. aims to keep homes & families safe from misuse of power by holdingits public officials accountable.IV. A.L.M.A.s goal with The Accountability Project is:

1) To hold Public Officials and programs Accountable;2) Maintain &/or restore ethical & exemplary management practices of these

housing programs3) Develop and implement a plan that will:

a. safeguard from potential mismanagement in the future.b. provide realistic, effective and responsive avenues for participants to

enforce accountability & restore equitable treatment.c. protect participants rights via writing and implementing more equitable con-

tractor acts on behalf of the participant.--4) Acquire a thorough investigation by a neutral & objective party. As part of

the Investigation, A.L.M.A. requests that:a. ALL program participants dating at least as far back as 1990, be notified of

the pending investigation, & that they all be given the opportunity to pro-vide comments, free from the fear of retaliation.

b. ALL program participants are allowed to formally question the manner inwhich the status of their projects were reported.

c. The application of funds for each project be thoroughly traced; determinewhether its legitimacy is disputed by the participant.

d. If participants no longer own the property that was the subject of the pro-gram, determine why.

e. Review the number of foreclosures & vacant lots; how many are owned bythe city; how manyh were sold; and what circumstances prompted the fore-closures, sales, vacant lots, or municipal ownershipcontact the previousprogram participants to get their side of the story.

A.L.M.A. welcomes your support. We hope that The Accountability Project willprovide relief for previous housing program participants; and assurance and pro-tection for future housing programs in the future. A.L.M.A. thanks the Gray Pan-thers of Austin, Travis County Green Party, Austin Housing Pinch, ANC & KOOP

radio & P.A.C.T.V. Allissa Chambers, Chair A.L.M.A.

Austinites Lobbying for Municipal AccountabilityKeeping the Power in the Hands of The People www.austinaccountabilityproject.com


11/12


Texas Gray Panthers of Austin Annual Meeting held at Lyons Gardens, Sunday, August 28, 2011Texas Gray Panthers of Austin Annual Meeting held at Lyons Gardens, Sunday, August 28, 2011Texas Gray Panthers of Austin Annual Meeting held at Lyons Gardens, Sunday, August 28, 2011Texas Gray Panthers of Austin Annual Meeting held at Lyons Gardens, Sunday, August 28, 2011

'Education's critical role in Economic Development; Jobs in TXRichard Franklin presented an enthusiastic overview of his unique teaching program that motivates childrento learn. By taking peer groups and making them a positive force in a childs life he achieves real, long last-ing hope and self-confidence in his student. Richard has proven that his critical thinking techniques, pre

pare his student to be successful and to believe they can be successful, an idea that is new to his studentsin far too many cases..

Imagination is more important than knowledge, according to Albert Einstein, really seems to epitomizeRichards philosophy that if he can get his students to imagine, open their minds to possibilities, they will besuccessful , responsible adults. We need letters of support to get back into LBJ School and financial sup-port & donations. We need everyone to talk with people in the public schools and get facilitators in schools.

In explaining how his system works Richard used the lesson , Recognize the Hole Youre In, what do youhave at your disposal to get out of the hold, and you need to work together to analyze the situation youre into get out of the hole. This is a one hour lesson and gets students to think about their life and how they workwithin their community and peers to critical think a better life.

Who was John Hanson? He explained that he was a "Black" Man, A Moor, John Hanson was the FirstPresident of the United States! 1781-1782 A.D.George Washington was really the 8th President of the

United States.Gray Panthers concensus that CITY COUNCIL members should be asked WHY they're not actively supporting funding for a program with provenresults, especially as it targets youth they've most t rouble reaching -AND adding to public safety costs!For more information on Youth Unlimited go to: http://youtu.be/bikPbjg4jms, http://youtu.be/Udz0hzr319s, http://youtu.be/JQ_mWgUHPfM.

Allen Weeks has been traveling the State of Texas holding Save Texas Schools meetings and rallies. Inearly March more than 12,000 people showed up at the Texas Capitol to demand better schools and protestcuts to education and teachers.

Something has gone wrong in Texas.nobody feels clean in either party, he said. In the last session of the Texas Lege made huge cuts to public schools, and we should expectthose cuts to continue every Legislative session, unless we elect representatives who will be dedicated torestoring fund to Texas schools. Texas ranks 50th in the amount of money we spend per student..after

Mississippi. Next year we need 20,000 people to show up at the Capitol..Save Texas Schools is holding training seminars around Texas to prepare our citizens to fight back. A keystrategy is organizing house parties. The goal is to hold 500 meetings on Texas School Funding 101.

House Meeting In A Box is a 90 minute guide with scripts, signs, questions for discussion, everything oneneeds to organize a successful house party. You may download the entire program...go to Save TexasSchools.org.

SPECIAL NOTE! All Precinct Chairs take particular note! House Meeting in a Box is a perfect tool youPrecinct chairs can use to organize your precincts with 2012 elections in sight. Contact your 2Ds and 3Dsto help organize block house parties and get out the vote.Save Texas Schools works with Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Greens, Libertarians.

Texas Gray Panthers of Austin support Allen Weeks and Save Texas Schools.

Chris Nielsen, GrayPanther Board of Directors

(L) Gary Dugger, Convener & (R) ThorArmbruster, Board of Directors Candidate Mrs. Richard Franklin

Gray Panthersarent justGray anylonger!

BeautifulExample of Age

& YouthIn Action!

Call:Gary Dugger

512-225-4789

Office:512-458-3738

www.graypanthersaustin.org

Richard Franklin, President ofYouth Unlimited, Member of DelValle SchoolBoard , candidatefor Gray Panther Board of Direc-tors.

Allen Weeks, Save TexasSchools shows key strategy fororganizing called House Meet-ing In A Box.


12/12

Age and Youth in ActionAge and Youth in ActionAge and Youth in ActionAge and Youth in Action1612 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, (202) 7371612 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, (202) 7371612 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, (202) 7371612 K Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006, (202) 737----6637663766376637 www.graypanthers.org

FOR IMMEDIATEIMMEDIATEIMMEDIATEIMMEDIATE RELEASERELEASERELEASERELEASE..Sunday, August 14, 2011, Gray PanthersContacts: Judy Lear, National Chair, 202-737-6637, Ext. [email protected] Henson, 202-737-6637, Ext. 21 [email protected]

Gray Panthers Launches Media Watch on Social Security Fight Truth Decay

National Gray Panthers, an intergenerational social and economic justice group, celebrates the 76thAnniversary ofSocialSecurity on August 14, 2011 by launching a campaign to challenge lies and errors of fact currently being floated in print and

electronic media about the soundness and effectiveness of the Social Security program.

The appointment of a 12 member Super Committee to reduce the national debt is considered by the Gray Panthers to be aclear and present danger to preserving the benefits of Social Security for its beneficiaries. A team of Gray Pantherwatchdogs, armed with a Fact Sheet called the Truth About Social Security, has launched a national campaign calling on itsmembership to watch out for lies, challenge the media to issue corrections, and report their findings to the National Gray Pan-

thers which will post this information on its website and Facebook pages. Gray Panthers throughout the country have made thecommitment to be Social Security media watchdogs.

Here is a common example of a lie about Social Security: Social Security is going broke -- Gray Panthers response: SocialSecurity is solvent. Social Security today has a $2.6 trillion surplus and can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible Ameri-can for the next 27 years. From that point forward, it will still be able to provide 75-80 percent of all benefits. If we lift the cap oncontributions so that rich people pay their fair share, we can fund it indefinitely.

For more information, see Gray Panthers website: www.graypanthers.org or contactJudy Lear, NationalChair, Gray Panthers 202-737-6637, ext. 28.


FightCorporatistGreedandCorruptio

JOINTHEGRAYPANTHERSTODA

You are not required to complete the work, but neither are you free to abstain from it. Rabbi Tarfon,, Pirkei Avot

Texas Gray Panthers of Austin , Gary Dugger, Convener 512-225-4789; Ofc: 512-458-3738 www.graypanthersaustin.org3710 Cedar St, Box 15, Austin, TX 78705 National Gray Panthers www.graypanthers.orgSharron Aisenman, Editor Gray Panther Newsletter [email protected]

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Documents

GP Newsletter Sept Oct