It’s that time of the year again, when local official try to sneak through bond elections when they think taxpayers aren’t paying attention.
The May election in Texas is underway, with polling locations across the state now open to early voters for offices in local political subdivisions.
Early voting in the May 6, 2023 election begins Monday, April 24, and continues through May 2, 2023, with polling locations being open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
According to the Texas Secretary of State, the May election will see a variety of local elected offices on the ballot, including cities, school districts, water boards, and other local special districts.
Here’s a detailed list of those bond elections. Austin-area bond elections include Round Rock (the city, not the ISD), Eanes ISD (three different bond issues), Leander ISD (ditto), Hutto ISD (ditto), Liberty Hill ISD (ditto), Dripping Springs ISD, Coupland ISD and Jarrell ISD.
In Williamson County, you can look to see what you can vote for in your locale here.
Tags: Austin, Dripping Springs ISD, Eanes ISD, Elections, Hutto ISD, Leander ISD, Liberty Hill ISD, Texas, Williamson County
I used to live in WA state, and ever since they snuck funding for the Mariners’ new stadium in as an ’emergency’ off cycle ballot measure (and got an M’s fan judge to sign off), I have reflexively voted NO on all off cycle bond funding on any ballot, unless it can be shown to be a genuine emergency.
Tornado hit town and need a bond measure to rebuild city buildings? Sure, I’ll buy that. The local high school needs two new buildings because the student population is growing? The population has been growing for two decades, you should have planned for it and put it in the regular budget. NO.
Out here in the hinterlands of Lakeway, we don’t have any bonds on the ballot.
But we do have elections for mayor and city council members…
I live in Ann Arbor and they do this all the time, usually in May or August. I have learned just to vote “Hell No!” on every off-cycle bond proposal or tax increase. Unfortunately, the turnout is low and too many recipients of the government largesse vote so these off-cycle ballot proposals sail through.
They keep pulling this sneaky sort of subterfuge because they keep getting away with it, and they’re never, ever called on the BS. Favorite around here is the “technology levy” for the schools… I was talking to the IT guy they fired after he protested the purchases they made under that, and he told me that there was some seriously suspicious stuff going on in relation to it all that looked a lot like kickbacks and outright bribery.
We’re not ever getting control over this until and unless they bring in some really draconian penalties for this sort of political fraud. When you see local school officials dragged away and strung up by their heels to bleed out, then you may see some responsibility taken.
Zero accountability and real punishments? Zero responsibility taken or accepted. We let this happen; as tax paying citizens, we let them nibble away at things until it’s completely out of control. Most of the crookedness takes place away from the sunlight, where the shadows lie.
Here in Georgetown we’ve got a mayoral race. Sort of. The incumbent is popular and he is opposed by a fella who, as I recall, ran as a Republican in the primary against him.
Hmmm. Expected low turn out election. One candidate of fluid party affiliation.
Remind of anything?
https://youtu.be/V-3_FGyhg4k
0:13 mark: The Brains Behind AOC Part II ‘Attack district by district’, ‘where turnout is abysmal’
12:00 (same vid) a ‘hack’ – get Dems to change party to participate in Republican primaries.
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Instead of trying to out conservative each other with Ten Commandments and dedicated Bible reading time in schools, maybe the idiot Texas Republicans could legislate something useful and eliminate the May elections that allow 15% of voters to borrow billions of dollars.