A QR code posted at Granite Shoals City Hall leads to the Everbridge phone app, which will let residents sign up for the city’s new notification system. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey

Granite Shoals residents now have access to a new mass notification system for citywide alerts. Officials presented information about the Everbridge software during a City Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 10. It will allow the city to send out rapid alerts to signed-up residents about emergencies, other important news, and community events. 

To sign up for the notifications, download the Everbridge phone app and log in using your location. Scannable QR codes are posted across Granite Shoals and on the city’s social media pages. People who need help setting up the app should call 830-598-2424.

Notifications can be sent via text, email, or automated call or through the Everbridge phone app, depending on user preference. Alerts will be for serious weather events such as tornadoes or flash floods, city-specific issues like power outages and waterline breaks, or events such as GraniteFest and Splash Day. Users can set “blackout” windows, during which they will not receive notifications unless they are in reference to an extreme emergency.

“We cannot thank the city enough for finding the funds to make this happen,” Granite Shoals Police Capt. Chris Decker said during the council meeting. 

The city has been looking for ways to communicate mass information more effectively and efficiently for years, according to Decker. A three-year Everbridge software license cost the city $5,400. Funds were pulled from the police, fire, and administration budget lines.

“The program itself is exceedingly deep, and the future uses for this for the city and our citizens boggle my mind,” Decker said.

Anyone can sign up for the Granite Shoals notifications, so out-of-town landowners and family members can keep up with what’s going on in the city, Decker said.

“This is something that even over the last four months we would have liked to have had, so that we could have sent information to our residents,” Interim City Manager Peggy Smith said.

Recent trash bin replacements, water line breaks, and traffic incidents are perfect examples of how the software will benefit the city in the future, said Smith, who predicted it will be used several times a month.

If in use at the time, the alert system would have been critical during the 2018 flooding of the Colorado River and the 2021 winter storm, Decker said. 

dakota@thepicayune.com

The Llano County Library, part of the three-library system in the county. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey

A brief filed Monday, Jan. 9, by the defendants in the Little et. al. vs. Llano County et. al. civil lawsuit claims plaintiffs have no standing in the suit, which accuses the county of violating constitutional rights after controversial books were removed from its library system.

The brief further states that one of the defendants, Amber Milum, the library system director, is the only person who removed the books and that she used standard industry criteria in making her decisions.

“The plaintiffs’ claim that the disputed books were weeded because ‘the defendants’ disapproved of the content or viewpoints in those books is false,” an introduction to the brief reads. “Amber Milum alone made the decisions to weed each of the 17 disputed books from the library shelves. And Ms. Milum has declared and testified under oath that she weeded those 17 books for reasons unrelated to their content or viewpoints.” 

The defendants’ brief is the final one to be filed related to a two-day hearing on the request for an injunction held in October in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division.

The hearing was part of a lawsuit filed in 2022 that charges Llano County officials with banning books based on their own political beliefs, a violation of the first and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. 

Both sides now await a formal ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman on the injunction. Also under consideration by Pitman is a motion to compel discovery filed by the plaintiffs. The motion claims defendants are withholding documents they are required to produce in the process leading up to trial, which is scheduled for Oct. 23.

Documents sought include all emails on county librarians’ Yahoo! accounts as well as emails and all attachments that pertain to the issue from the defendants. 

Plaintiffs are Leila Green Little, Jeanne Puryear, Kathy Kennedy, Rebecca Jones, Richard Day, Cynthia Waring, and Diane Moster. They are represented by law firms BraunHagey & Borden LLP in California and Wittliff Cutter PLLC in Austin.

Defendants are Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham; county commissioners Peter Jones, Linda Raschke, Mike Sandoval, and Jerry Don Moss; library system Director Amber Milum; and Library Advisory Board members Gay Baskin, Bonnie Wallace, Rochelle Wells, and Rhonda Schnieder. They are defended by Jonathan F. Mitchell of Mitchell Law LLC and Llano County Attorney Dwain Rogers and Assistant County Attorney Matthew Rienstra.

The defendants also claim the plaintiffs do not have standing to assert the First Amendment rights of people not a party to the lawsuit.

“The plaintiffs appear to have forgotten that courts exist to resolve disputes between named litigants, not to act as roving commissions empowered to pass judgment on the conduct of the Llano public library system,” the 34-page brief reads.

The 17 books removed from the library system were on a much longer list of titles emailed last year to Milum by County Judge Ron Cunningham. He got the list from Llano resident Bonnie Wallace, who was later appointed to the Library Advisory Board. In testimony in October, Cunningham said he did what he always does with emails from constituents: He forwarded it to the person responsible for dealing with whatever issue the email was about. 

The original list was compiled by state Rep. Matt Krause and sent to schools and libraries across Texas. It targets 850 books that Krause said “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex.” 

Nationally referred to as “the Krause list,” in Llano County and the lawsuit, it list is known as “the Wallace list.” 

Plaintiffs claim Milum pulled the books because she was told to do so by Cunningham, who, as county judge, is her boss. Defendants say Milum temporarily removed the books for review. 

“Milum did pull books from the Wallace List to determine whether they met the criteria for weeding,” reads the Jan. 9 brief. “Milum decided to weed the books because (in her judgment) they met the criteria for weeding, not because Bonnie Wallace wanted the books removed.” 

Books are regularly weeded from libraries based on their age, physical condition, and how often they were checked out over a certain period of time. 

“Ron Cunningham instructed Amber Milum to temporarily pull books from the library shelves for review, but he never instructed Ms. Milum (or anyone else at the library) to permanently weed a book,” the brief reads.

Upcoming in the lawsuit is a ruling by Judge Pitman on the preliminary injunction and the motion to compel discovery. 

BOOKS IN QUESTION

The 17 books removed from library shelves are available at the Llano County Library in Llano if requested by a patron. They are:

• “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent” by Isabel Wilkerson 
• “They Called Themselves the K.K.K: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• “Spinning” by Tillie Walden 
• “In the Night Kitchen” by Maurice Sendak 
• “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health” by Robie Harris
• “My Butt is So Noisy!,” “I Broke My Butt!,” and “I Need a New Butt!” by Dawn McMillan
• “Larry the Farting Leprechaun,” “Gary the Goose and His Gas on the Loose,” “Freddie the Farting Snowman,” and “Harvey the Heart Had Too Many Farts” by Jane Bexley
• “Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen” by Jazz Jennings
• “Shine” by Lauren Myracle
• “Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale” by Selina Kyle
• “Gabi, a Girl in Pieces” by Isabel Quintero
• “Freakboy” by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

suzanne@thepicayune.com

Burnet County VetRide Director Sophie McCoy (center) with WoodmenLife Chapter 283 President Lanette Slatter (left) and chapter Secretary Karen Lock outside of the Burnet County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Jan. 10. WoodmenLife donated $20,000 to VetRide program, accounts for roughly 25 percent of the organization’s annual operating budget. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey

The Bertram chapter of WoodmenLife recently donated $20,000 to the VetRide program. The Burnet County Commissioners Court acknowledged the nonprofit life insurance company’s generous act during a regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 10.

VetRide offers free transportation services to U.S. military veterans and their families in Burnet, Llano, and Lampasas counties. The organization depends on grants, donations, and support from its serviced counties to meet its $80,000 annual budget and continue to operate.

“Every donation means so much to us,” said VetRide Director Sophie McCoy.

VetRide transports veterans and their families an average of 100,000 miles a year, spread across 150 individuals. Services rely upon volunteer drivers willing to make the trip to veterans’ facilities across Central Texas.

“There’s never enough that we can do for our veterans,” Burnet County Judge James Oakley said at the meeting.

The commissioners unanimously acknowledged the efforts of VetRide and the generosity of the Bertram WoodmenLife chapter. 

In December, the Commissioners Court approved American Rescue Plan Act funding for the donation of a 2022 Ford Transit van to VetRide.

dakota@thepicayune.com

Newly elected state Rep. Ellen Troxclair posed for a photo with Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd at a Burnet County Republican Club fundraiser during her successful 2022 campaign for the District 19 seat in the Texas House. Troxclair will be sworn in at noon Tuesday, Jan. 10. Courtesy photo

DailyTrib.com sat down with Burnet County’s two new state-elected officials, Rep. Ellen Troxclair and Sen. Pete Flores, to talk about the upcoming Texas legislative session, which runs from Jan. 10 through May 29. The following story is based on the interview with Troxclair. For Flores’ interview, click here. 

Republican Ellen Troxclair, the newly elected state representative for District 19, which includes Burnet and Blanco counties, filed three bills ahead of being sworn in to the 88th Texas Legislature, which convenes at noon Tuesday, Jan. 10, at the Capitol in Austin. Each bill deals with one of Troxclair’s priorities, she told Dailytrib.com during a recent sit-down interview. 

“I have already filed a bill to use 90 percent of the $27 billion state surplus to buy down the maintenance and operation portion of our property taxes,” she said, referring to House Bill 629, which relates to school financing. “So, basically, shifting the funding of our schools from the local taxing entities to the state.”

She also filed HB 552, which would close what she calls “an obscenity loophole” that was originally intended to protect instructors in anatomy classes. The “defense to prosecution for education” makes it legal to show pictures of certain parts of the anatomy for teaching purposes. That exception has been exploited, Troxclair said.

“(My bill) would make sure kids are protected from sexualization,” she said. “What we are seeing recently are things that would get an adult arrested for showing a coworker in a workplace. That’s not anatomy class.”

HB 553 would prohibit universal basic income programs similar to a pilot program recently approved by the Austin City Council, on which Troxclair served from 2015-19. When elected, she was the youngest woman to ever serve on the council.

“The best way to help people is to help them get jobs, not give them other people’s money,” she said. 

As for her bill to use 90 percent of the state’s hefty budget surplus to fund public schools, she knows it’s a big ask. Gov. Greg Abbott advocates using half of the surplus for school funding, while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to split half the surplus between school funding and infrastructure improvements. 

“I support Abbott’s proposal,” Troxclair said. “Mine is a little more aggressive, but you have to start somewhere. I’m willing to play a leading or supporting roll in getting this passed. Whatever we need to do to get people relief.” 

She also wants to end the state’s current school finance law, known as “Robin Hood.” The plan takes money from richer school districts and gives it to poorer districts to equalize funding.

“By shifting the funding of our schools from local taxing entities to the state, we can equitably fund our schools and cut property taxes in half,” she said. “This will kill a lot of birds with one stone. My hope is we will find the political will within both the House and the Senate.” 

Troxclair, who lives in Lakeway with her husband and three children, plans to stay in close contact with officials in all five of the counties she represents. Her three bills fulfill campaign promises she says she will keep. 

“That’s how you earn and maintain trust and are an effective legislator,” she said. 

Although Troxclair’s district includes only a sliver of Travis County, that portion represents 25 percent of her five-county area of representation. It holds one percent of the entire population of Travis County. The other 75 percent of the district is split among Burnet, Blanco, Kendall, and Gillespie counties. 

“This is a diverse district, and part of my job is to build relationships with local elected officials to best represent the needs of their county,” she said. “Which is my way of saying I’ll follow the lead of county judges and commissioners on how best to proceed on Highland Lakes issues.”

Her 10 years’ experience as a legislative staff member has prepared her to be the boss of her own staff, she continued. 

“My experience has prepared me for the battles I will face,” Troxclair said. “The big picture of my priorities are lowering property taxes, protecting our kids, securing our border, and, on the more local level, there’s water, natural resources, and education funding and reform.”

As of Monday afternoon, about 24 hours before her swearing-in, Troxclair did not have an assigned phone number but does have an office at E1.208 in the Capitol extension. 

“I am honored with the responsibility the voters have invested in me, and I’ll work every day to keep earning that trust,” she said. 

suzanne@thepicayune.com

Newly elected state Sen. Pete Flores with Gov. Greg Abbott on the Texas Senate floor during Flores’ first term of office in 2018. Defeated in 2020, Flores was elected to a newly drawn district in 2022 and will be sworn in to office at noon Tuesday, Jan. 10. District 24 represents 13 counties, including Burnet and Llano counties. Courtesy photo

DailyTrib.com sat down with Burnet County’s two new state-elected officials, Rep. Ellen Troxclair and Sen. Pete Flores, to talk about the upcoming Texas legislative session, which runs from Jan. 10 through May 29. The following story is based on the interview with Flores. For Troxclair’s interview, click here.

Burnet and Llano counties will have a new state senator in the Texas Legislature when the 88th session convenes at noon Tuesday, Jan. 10, in the Capitol in Austin. Republican Pete Flores of Pleasanton will take his oath of office to represent a newly drawn District 24, a 13-county district that also includes Atascosa, Bandera, Bell, Coryell, Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, Lampasas, Medina, Sutton, and Williamson counties.

Although newly elected, Flores is not new to the job. He served as the senator for District 19 in the 86th Legislature from 2018-21. 

He was the first Hispanic Republican state senator in Texas history and the first Republican to be elected in that district since 1879, which was during the Reconstruction period. He was defeated by his Democratic challenger in 2020 but successfully sought the office again in 2022, taking over the position from Dawn Buckingham, who was elected Texas land commissioner in the November mid-term.

“I ran again because of unfinished business, mainly in property tax reform,” Flores told DailyTrib.com over lunch one day in December. “I want to make sure we are setting up Texas for the future.” 

By that he means investing in infrastructure, particularly energy. Like many state officials, he has his eyes on a $27 billion prize that is the current state budget surplus. 

He wants to use some of the money to lower the school property tax burden on Texans but emphatically pointed out it is not recurring funding, so not a long-term solution to supporting public education. 

Also, the state constitution restricts how much of the surplus can be spent without the Legislature voting for an exception to the constitutional restriction. 

“It’s not wise to spend all that money,” Flores said. “There are hurricanes and other disasters we have to be prepared for. In the 86th session, we spent billions making up for the damage by Hurricane Ike.”

Flores supports spending some of the surplus on infrastructure investment, such as strengthening the electrical grid and making sure teacher and employee retirement funds are financially sound. He’s not forgetting about school taxes, though. 

As a state senator in the 86th Legislature, he was part of the team that wrote, supported, and passed House Bill 3, which raised the state’s contribution to the maintenance and operating budgets of public schools. 

“If we continue to raise the state’s contribution to M&O, that’s less that school districts have to tax the homeowners for,” he said, although he added a word of caution. “We cannot just go over there and flip a switch and say no more property taxes. We can only incrementally move the needle. Eventually, we will have to think of something better to fund our schools.”

With 13 counties representing 930,000 people, Flores has more constituents than many U.S. senators and more than most U.S. representatives. That number is up from 630,000 when he was elected in 2018. He still plans a hands-on approach to governing.

“Old habits die hard,” he said, referring to his 30 years as a game warden, many as the state’s chief game warden. “I’m not doing any other job. I will be doing this job full time.” 

He was already scheduled to meet with Burnet County leaders the day after his DailyTrib.com interview and will look to those officials to keep him informed about the county’s needs. 

“I am there to get things done for the people I represent,” Flores said. “You vote the district first, then what’s good for Texas. Usually, what’s good for the district is what’s good for Texas. Burnet County needs to know that they are represented, that they have a voice.”

One major goal is to have people from his district appointed to state boards, committees, and commissions.

“I want people from our district sitting at the table of decision making whenever possible,” he said. 

He suggested interested residents visit the governor’s official website to find out how to apply. The governor makes about 1,500 appointments during a four-year term. 

Flores is already settling into his new digs at the Capitol in advance of Tuesday’s opening gavel to the 88th legislative session. He and returning Chief of Staff Harold Stone, who worked for him in the 86th session, will be in Office E1.808 in the Capitol extension. To reach either Stone or Flores by phone, call 512-463-0124. 

“Its about service. It’s about all of us stepping up and doing our share in our own way but not sitting back and doing nothing,” Flores said. “That’s just not acceptable. It’s better to make dust than eat dust.” 

suzanne@thepicayune.com