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2021
Volume 34, Issue 7
www.LHIndependent.com
News@LHIndependent.com
January 7, 2021 | 50 Cents
Chody files lawsuit against Gleason, claims election fraud CHARLES SCHWERTNER State Senator, R-Georgetown
Schwertner weighs in on new legislative session
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor State Sen. Charles Schwertner has seen a number of Texas legislative sessions come and go, and he never hesitates to mention going into a session that the primary responsibility of the body that meets every two years is to craft and pass a budget. “That sometimes is easier than other times,” said the Senator who has been a member of the legislature for five sessions and is about to begin his sixth. “There are a lot of unknowns heading into this session. One is what our outlays are going to be, the costs associated with COVID, the costs associated with unemployment, increased people on Medicaid?” Seeing that likely increased strain on the expense side because of all the impacts COVID has had on the state, the Republican from Georgetown who represents the 10 counties in Senate District 5 –
See SCHWERTNER, Page A6
JOHN CARTER US Rep., R-Georgetown
Chaos at Capitol as Congress attempts to certify votes
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor On Tuesday, District 31 U.S. Rep. John Carter announced he would support the objection planned by an estimated 60 Republicans in the House and Senate during the Electoral
See CARTER, Page A5 ©2021 The Liberty Hill Independent
ALEX RUBIO PHOTO
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After pulling out a win in a shootout with Pioneer, Panther head coach Kent Walker congratulates his team and honors his brother – Panther head coach Jeff Walker – who passed away earlier this season. The Panthers have dedicated their playoff run to their former coach, and have reached the UIL State Semifinal, where they will play Crosby in Bryan Friday for a berth in the 5A Division 2 State Championship game Jan. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. See more Sports in Section B.
Powell brings new perspective to EDC
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor When Matt Powell settles in behind his desk in the Liberty Hill Economic Development Corporation (EDC) office each day, he is reminded of the great opportunity in front of him. “There’s no denying the incredible opportunity that is laid out for Liberty Hill,” said the newly hired Executive Director. “I couldn’t be more pleased to serve in this role. It’s a real honor.” While he may be new to the full-time scene at Liberty Hill City Hall, Powell is no stranger to business ownership or municipal government. It is experience in both that makes his perspective unique. “I’m going to do my best with my experience to make suggestions and recommendations, and to carry out the day-to-day operations, but ultimately it will be the EDC Board – and in some cases the City Council – that will provide that policy and direc-
tion,” he said. Most recently, Powell was the owner of Powell Municipal, a consulting firm for Texas cities. He had contracted for work with the City of Liberty Hill, and was later named interim Executive Director of the EDC. In addition to that private sector experience, Powell brings with him 13 years of elected service, both as a member of the Cedar Park City Council and later as that city’s Mayor. He recognizes the growth arriving in Liberty Hill today as similar to what he saw in Cedar Park nearly 15 years ago. “If you look at the projections that the school district is making with their demographics reports the growth is definitely here,” Powell said. He was able to play a key role in Cedar Park development as business growth moved out from Austin, and he sees similar growth currently in Leander, with Liberty Hill up next in that path. “There are things we need to
do as that wave approaches Liberty Hill,” Powell said. “I did find myself in a leadership position in Cedar Park when that wave hit and there were a lot of things we did in terms of making sure the infrastructure was in place.” The to-do list is long and constantly evolving for an EDC in a fast-growth area, but Powell wants to take a methodical approach as he begins his journey here. “The EDC Board has stated an interest in doing a true strategic plan that has short, medium and long-term goals,” he said. “I have already begun putting together a structure for that.” That work is likely to include defining the EDC mission and vision, and making sure EDC and City goals are aligned. The first priority for Powell is information gathering. “I would like to get as good a snapshot of the current state of business in Liberty Hill as we can because that will help us determine how we can
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor As Liberty Hill enters the second quarter of its fiscal year, questions remain about the previous year’s budget that could have an impact on the current budget. To date, there are still no public documents available that show the fiscal year-end revenues and expenses for the 2019-2020 budget that ended in September, despite written requests for information by The Independent, and a request by new Mayor Liz Branigan to review the current budget. A review of the current budget could show updated information on the year-end totals from last year. On Dec. 8, City Administrator Lacie Hale sent copies of the City revenue and expense reports for the first two months of the current fiscal year – October and November. These are the same reports the City told The Independent in May 2020 did not exist in its response to an open re-
cords request. At that time, the City responded that there were no records responsive to the request, adding in an e-mailed response, “This report does not exist, and the City has not been creating this report since the current Finance Director started with the City. Currently the City Council receives a monthly financial form and not the revenue and expense report that was previously presented by the former Finance Director.” Former Mayor Rick Hall routinely asserted that those reports were not available, and in Council member Kathy Canady’s response to recent questions from The Independent regarding the reports, she only said those reports were not currently used by the City. “I have not asked to see any financial reports other than those currently utilized by the city in accordance with the accepted reports that our finance director, auditors and general guidelines require. The former Finance Director took it
upon herself to prepare and provide those reports. They are optional and not required as part of any monthly reporting requirement.” There is no current report, provided to Council members as part of their meeting agenda packet, that shows monthly revenue and expense information. When asked why the City has not made those former reports available as requested, Canady wrote, “If you are not asking for reports that the city currently generates then they can not provide what is not generated. These reports have not been generated since September of 2018. Required reports are submitted to Council on a monthly and quarterly basis.” Not only has the information not been available through any monthly reports, the current budget – voted on and approved by Council in September – does not provide any accurate insight into the revenue or expenses for the previous fiscal year.
MATT POWELL EDC Executive Director
better diversify,” Powell said. “The first step is going to be identification, and one of the things I am really looking forward to doing is better understanding what businesses are in and around Liberty Hill right now.” As that community business picture comes into focus, there will be a review of EDC programs in place as well. “The Board has let me know that everything is on the
See POWELL, Page A5
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody, who lost his reelection bid in November, has filed a lawsuit against new Sheriff Mike Gleason, claiming there was election fraud. In the lawsuit obtained by The Independent, Chody claims that “because of so many material mistakes, illegalities, and/or fraud which occurred in the administrating and tabulation of the election results for Early Voting and Election Day Voting for the Williamson County Sheriff Election on November 3, 2020, that the true outcome of the election cannot be ascertained.” The lawsuit, supported by affidavits from poll watcher Cathy Jaster and Marcia Strickler, a field tech, points to a glitch that caused voters to receive the wrong ballots on Election Day. Jaster also claimed that she saw boxes containing duplicate ballots, but was told they were not processed. Along with the glitch Strickler claims she witnessed Gleason and his wife Alison at the Leander Public Library location, within range of the Wi-Fi hotspot. “I was able to see inside his vehicle; that’s how close I was. It appeared he had a laptop in the passenger side of his vehicle,” said Strickler in her affidavit. “I spoke to him and asked him a few questions and continued. I was curious if he was close enough to hit the hotspot inside the library. So I checked my settings and was still able to access the hotspot from where his vehicle was parked. I’m not saying he or anyone else was accessing that hotspot, but he was
See CHODY, Page A6
City budget questions persist
“Any questions should have been asked during the budget process and subsequent public hearing. Just because we are now utilizing a different approach does not mean it is wrong – just a different methodology from former administrations.”
~ Kathy Canady City Council Member
The draft budget provided to Council in August for consideration – which is the same budget posted to the City’s website after approval in September – is incomplete in terms of revenues and expenses for the previous year. For example, under tax revenues, the approved budget shows $124,719.91 in revenues on a previous budgeted tax revenue estimate of $1.88 million. Under franchise fees, 2019-2020 revenues show only $4,144.32 against an estimated revenue of $303,050. In all, the revenue summary shows only $447,575 coming in against $4.2 million budgeted. It is impossible for
these numbers to be accurate, but it means the Council approved a budget without even considering actual revenues to date in August 2020, much less projected year-end numbers. These numbers are typically used to help project revenue numbers for the upcoming year. The same issues are evident in the budget on the expense side. The report shows personnel expenses of only $63,629.18 – a number that should have covered a minimum of nine months of administrative personnel costs. The budget for administrative
See BUDGET, Page A6