I gave my wife a ride to the City Annex to vote today (Saturday). She was the only voter in the room until a lady came in as she was leaving. My wife asked a poll worker how things were going, the reply was "Awful, turnout is very poor". I always worry when turnout is low because it usually means only the hard core will vote. Since I'm a moderate, as most folks are, this can make for a bad outcome.

We will get what we deserve.

Lewisville Texan Journal is always interested to know what our readers think about local elections. Here are our polls for the 2012 Municipal Elections in Lewisville, Lewisville ISD, and Flower Mound.

If these polls don't work in your browser, try these links: Lewisville Mayor, Lewisville Place 2, Lewisville ISD Place 1, Lewisville ISD Place 2, Flower Mound Mayor, Flower Mound Place 2, Flower Mound Place 4

(Please see notes at the bottom of this post)

Fitch Ratings announced today that they were again rating the City of Lewisville's general obligation (GO) and revenue COs as AAA, the highest credit rating offered.

Among the reasons cited by the analysts:
- Solid financial performance, such as operating surpluses, managed costs, limited capital needs, and high liquidity

- Financial flexibility due to strong fund balances, moderate tax rates, and ability to fund capital projects from the general fund.

- Manageable debt, with a rapid principal amortization rate - meaning that the city pays off its debts quickly

- Healthy tax base, which is growing after two years of decline

- A strong socioeconomic profile with low unemployment, and above-average income and wealth.

Lewisville is floating $26.4 million in GO refunding and improvement bonds, which will be priced the week of May 7th. The proceeds will be used in part to retire debt with higher interest rates, and complete some remaining capital projects approved by voters in 2003.

This video contains the discussion that took place in February at the City Council Retreat regarding the bond program, and Council's direction:

Well, here it is Sunday night, and I'm winding down - just about to put another perfectly good weekend to bed. I've been in a bit of a stupor this weekend due to hayfever. That Zyrtec does a fine job of dealing with the eyes, nose, and throat aspect of allergies, but I can still tell that the pollen has made me stupid. I have a hard time stringing together sentences when I'm in a stupor like that.

Today I did something really dumb.
I was looking to buy a new pair of sneakers. Yes, I just wrote "sneakers" even though I don't normally call them that. What I used to say is "running shoes" but it's been so long since I've run, that it seems ridiculous. Sneaking on the other hand... Well, anyhow, thinking I could avoid the mall, I wanted to go to a small local merchant that I've bought shoes from before, and that caters to runners. It's been a few years I guess, since I've been in there, but I remember getting personalized service, so I headed out there. When I got there, I stepped about one foot into the store, and realized that apparently things had changed. It looked like a pink bomb had gone off in there, because everywhere I looked, it was women's shoes and running clothes. If they had any men's shoes, I don't know. I didn't stick around.

That's when I did the dumb thing, and went to the mall instead. I hate the mall, but dammit, that seems to be the place for shoe stores doesn't it? Well, I guess we can call the recession over, because the mall was packed with shoppers like I haven't seen in awhile. And every one of them seemed determined to get between me and my mission of finding new shoes. I thought about this song, and even though I'm not a Ludacris fan, I could relate.

The stupidest thing I saw today - I shit you not - was a middle-aged guy with his child - I'd say 4 to 5 years old - on a leash. Yes, the child was on a leash, but that's not all because the child was riding a bicycle - in the mall - on a leash. I guess if you're going to let your kid ride a bike through the mall, you might as well have them on a leash so they can't cause as much damage. I just never would have thought that you could do that. Then again, I've seen some real idiotic stroller-pushers who could rival any mall-cyclist for who can cause the most damage to toes and kneecaps.

Anyhow, with the shoes, I eventually was able to find some that didn't seem too fluorescent or goofy-looking, and seemed to feel okay.

I did not choose to join this particular store's customer loyalty club to earn discounts, and I did not purchase an extended shoe warranty, custom inserts, fabric protection or undercoating. And I will not call the number on the receipt for a quick survey and a chance to win $500. I was ready to get out of there.

Yuppie coffee
So, a few years back I worked at an office where all the coffee machines were those Keurig K-cup brewers. They had endless supplies of the good stuff and all the best creamers and fixins, so I pretty much stayed wired all the time when I was there. Come to think of it, I had the highest billable hours in the company for one of those years and I remember my boss saying "nice - thanks for making all that money, but knock it off before you burn yourself out". Anyhow, it really is good coffee, compared to the regular drip-brewed coffee. So for years I've been eyeing them and sort of wanting one, but also knowing they're a bit ridiculous in price.

Well, tonight thanks to the combination of a tax return, Fluffy's urging, the encouragement from my youngest son, and probably allergy stupor, I sprung for a nice middle-of-the-line Keurig machine. Fluffy and I are sitting here drinking decaf. It's pretty good stuff, and seems to brew really hot. You know how you go to a restaurant or hotel, and they seem to have coffee that's just so much better than what you seem to be able to get out of your drip machine? Well, I think this comes close.

Sore
So in addition to being a little lighter in the wallet, and feeling like my head has been placed in a hyperbaric chamber, I think every muscle in my body hurts right now. Saturday, the whole family volunteered for Keep Lewisville Beautiful, and today I worked out in the front yard a bit. I think I've overdone it. My hamstrings feel like piano strings. It shouldn't be like this. I'm so out of shape.

Changing the look at LTJ
As you probably have noticed, I've rearranged some navigation here on the Lewisville Texan Journal site. That new menu bar on the top is something I've been meaning to add since late December. That's just how far behind I am. I've got even more cleanup I want to do with it, so expect to see some of the crap to the right to disappear and be subsumed into the menu bar up top. I like having that because I plan to add more reference-style articles with links to various resources.

By Michael Stafford

April 22 marks the 42nd anniversary of the first observance of Earth Day, and there is much to celebrate. We've made remarkable progress in protecting the environment since 1970; today the Cuyahoga River no longer burns. And we've also mustered the political will to address major threats to the environment such as acid rain and the impact of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on the ozone layer.

However, there are dark clouds on the horizon. The Tea Party has essentially declared war on the environment. Sadly, renewable energy is a favorite, and a frequent, target.

With respect to renewable energy, the Tea Party's vocal opposition spans the entire gamut from tax incentives in Florida, to continued participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (REGGI) in the Northeast. Of course, as Florida Governor Rick Scott's recent refusal to veto new renewable energy tax breaks demonstrates, such pressure is not always successful. It is, however, relentlessly applied.

The opposition to renewable energy programs is particularly unfortunate. Globally, the United States already lags behind other nations, such as Germany, in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

By David Van Os

The people have been on an accelerating downward slide under the class war waged by the robber barons and their political stooges especially for the last 31 years since the false idol Reagan took office. Many millions of honest, hard-working Americans have been tricked by three decades of lies into voting for the purveyors of the false free-market cult, voting for the very same predators who steal their jobs, their homes, and their standards of living.

Too many people who had positions of influence through which they could have combated the lies failed to do so. When false messages are not vigorously contested it is easy for the lies to fill a vacuum. Far too many people get elected on populist-sounding platforms, and then it turns out that either their platforms were fraudulent or they don’t have the guts to live up to them. And far too many journalists and academics take the easy and convenient path of acquiescence to the power of money.

By Jim Collier

The Denton County Appraisal District (Denton CAD), will be mailing the 2012 real estate property tax appraisals around the first week in May. If the past few years’ trend toward erroneously inflated home values continues, Denton County homeowners will be billed for excessive taxes.

This over-valuation is our county government’s way to generate more tax revenue without using the dreaded words “tax increase”. Our homes are given values well above the actual market values.
According to the nationally accredited authorities, S&P/Case-Schiller, property values have actually declined every year since 2007. Yet our county property appraisals have consistently increased.

During an Arbitration Review Board held last summer the question was asked, “How, with the entire country suffering from declining home prices, can Denton County be so different?” After some hemming and hawing (and even a couple of blushes) one of them mumbled “We’re in a bubble of prosperity.” During interviews with more than 20 homeowners attempting to have their appraisals corrected, that response was often repeated.

Fortunately our Legislature has put processes into law to protect homeowners from this chronic victimization. Unfortunately though, only about 3% of homeowners use those processes. That 3% has had consistent success in having their appraisals lowered. The amounts vary, from as little as 1% to as much as 15%. This amounts to lowering your tax bill by anywhere from $50 to $2000 dollars.

By Michael Stafford

Conservative political advertisements are becoming increasingly unhinged.

Herman Cain was already known for his odd political ads during his brief presidential candidacy. Since leaving the campaign trail, Cain's explored new artistic ground in a series of anti-stimulus advertisements that feature fish being tortured and bunnies being shot.

Yes, Herman Cain is apparently now producing the political equivalent of conservative crush porn. Perhaps his next ad will feature Sarah Palin in stilettos stomping on bugs? Take that, stimulus-beetle!

Meanwhile, Rick Santorum, who is still a legitimate presidential contender, is running advertisements that could serve as the basis for a clinical case study in Obama Derangement Syndrome. Consider one of his latest ads, "Obamaville," which is as dark as any commercial produced by a serious candidate in recent memory. As Paul Waldman has observed, Santorum seems to be suggesting in the ad that Obama's re-election would transform America "into some combination of 'The Day After' and 'Saw.'"

One day, historians will look back on these advertisements and conclude that conservatism had reached an intellectual and moral nadir, and had only two political cards left to play: fear and anger. Lacking a positive program of its own, it has opted to push paranoid delusions instead. That's what these advertisements are really all about. What's significant is the window they provide into the anxiety-plagued psyche of segments of the GOP base. They say far more about those that made them, and about their intended audience, than they do about Obama.

As David Frum observed shortly after President Obama's election, "to listen to Fox News and other conservative media, you'd think we were living in Czechoslovakia in the final hours before the 1948 communist coup." If anything, the feverish rhetoric has only grown worse since then. In this apocalyptic vision of the world, liberty hangs perilously by a thread. And President Obama, who is alternately conceived of as a Marxist, a Muslim, or a Mau Mau- and sometimes, as all three simultaneously- is out tear up the Constitution, destroy Christianity, impoverish us, and steal our unhealthy sugary desserts right out of our kitchen cupboards.

Of course, all of this is irrational. It is an emotional rant, not a reasoned argument. There is no objective basis for such views. But it is a vision of the world pushed relentlessly by the radical right and the conservative entertainment complex, who play on our fears and anxieties by conjuring up endless bogeymen- illegal immigrants, Socialists, Communists, Muslims, climate scientists, the media, even public employees- on whom to pin blame. This is a delirium; a delusion. But it's also something a bit more- it's an intentional lie.

Flower Mound Realtor Kris Wise (who is afraid of heights) announced that she will be conducting a raffle benefiting the Children's Advocacy Center of Denton County.

One lucky winner will join Kris on May 4th for a sunset balloon ride in southern Denton County (actual location TBD based on wind patterns that day) around the Flower Mound area for about an hour. There will be champagne and festivities as well and of course the entertainment will be Kris screaming upon lift off.

Raffle tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20 and all proceeds will go to the Children's Advocacy Center of Denton County. (http://www.cacdc.org) The raffle tickets can be purchased at the Keller Williams office at 2611 Cross Timbers Rd Ste 100, Flower Mound 75028 or you can send an email to Andy at andy@kriswise.com and make arrangements.

As I look back on the last six years, there are too many people to thank and too many issues in the city to list them all. My tenure on the Highland Village city council is coming to a close. There are many aspects of my service that I will certainly miss. But I can look back and say that I served for six years which was the term limit for my position when I was first elected in 2006. I want to take this time for reflection on six years of service to the people of Highland Village. This journey started when the place six seat on the council was open because Dianne Costa was running for mayor. I had always been interested in the workings of local government and had a long history of volunteer service to this community. On this basis, I decided to throw my hat in the ring for elected office. This election season was on the tail end of some fairly hotly contested races for city council in Highland Village. There was a good hard fought race with lots of walking door to door and after the victory I began my service on council in May of 2006. Thanks to all the folks who supported me in 2006 and have continued to support me the last six years.

Learning all the ins and outs of being a member of the council takes up most of the first year of service. I immersed myself in activities and learned about the regional representatives and regional issues in North Texas and Denton County. Transportation was one of the issues at the forefront of my entire time on council. DCTA services and road projects were two things that required constant vigilance by our council. The training I had during my surgical residency helped me tremendously on the council. The team concept is essential not only on the dais, but in relationships with city staff. I learned early on that a hands off style without micromanaging city departments fit me well. The city is blessed to have a great management team in place. They were always available and more than willing to discuss issues in their individual departments. In addition the city has a great group of volunteers on our boards and commissions who help the wheels of the city turn efficiently. I appreciate their willingness to serve.