2019
Volume 32, Issue 49
www.LHIndependent.com
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November 7, 2019 | 50 Cents
Gleason announces he An honorable journey will challenge Chody Honor Flights reinforce nation’s gratitude
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Mike Gleason spent 24 years working in the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, ending his more than two decades of service at the same time Sheriff Robert Chody started to work in 2016. For Gleason, all that has transpired since has become fuel for the fire he has to challenge Chody, and he doesn’t mince words on why he is running. “I’m hoping to see Robert (Chody) in November,” Gleason said. “I started seriously thinking about it the day I retired, and probably some beforehand as well, due to the fact that he lied to so many people and he lied to get in office and basically sold the entire sheriff’s department, all 500 people, a giant bill of goods and then he reneged on the whole thing once he won.” Watching from the sidelines, the 54-year-old Gleason has been running his own Security Consulting Company, FOCUS Security Consultants LLC, with one eye always on the happenings of the department. “It left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths, and systematically, one by one, everybody started losing their jobs,” Gleason said. “These are people with 15, 20, 25 or even 30 year careers with pensions and benefits, mortgages and sick kids, kids in college and he has just
Mike Gleason, a former Williamson County Sheriff’s Department employee with 24 years in the department, has announced he seeking the Democratic Party nomination to challenge incumbent Robert Chody. (Courtesy Photo) discarded them like they were trash. It didn’t really sit well with me and I feel a lot of responsibility for it because I helped get him elected.” Gleason found himself complaining with others about the situation and remembered his parents always telling him not to complain unless he planned to get involved. “So I stopped complaining and started organizing,” he said. Filing for the March Primary begins Saturday for all candidates and Gleason plans to be among the first, wanting to get
See GLEASON, Page A4
2019 a year of changes for WilCo veterans services
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer Throughout the year, the Williamson County Veterans Services Office has gone through several major changes—all as a way to better serve the veterans of Williamson County. The county’s veterans services program has been in place for 17 years, but after a move to a new building in February and the appointment of a new director in June, the program had what it needed to make some improvements. The newly appointed director, Sherry Golden, has worked for the county’s veterans service office for six years, where she started at the front desk. She worked to become a veterans service officer, and after applying for the open director position earlier this year, she got the job in June. Around that same time, the county’s former judge, Dan Gattis, was retiring. With new leadership at the helm, Golden said it was a good time to make some changes to the system. Six years ago, when Golden first started at the veterans service office, walk-ins were accepted. That quickly changed ©2019 The Liberty Hill Independent
to by appointment only, except for Fridays, when walk-ins were still allowed. Now, every day is by appointment only. Golden said this change was implemented because veterans would start lining up outside the office on Fridays at 5 a.m., and then dozens were being turned away when there wasn’t enough time in the day to help them all. At the same time, Golden’s staff was struggling to keep up. “There were times we weren’t able to eat lunch until 3 or 4 p.m.,” she said. “Folks were sitting out there [in the waiting area] for hours, and it was very upsetting to them and to us. We would have several claims filed in one day and then we’d try to process them all, and the quality was terrible and we were feeling terrible. It was just too much to handle.” Golden said right now the waiting period for an appointment is about eight weeks, but changes to staffing should shorten that wait time to about four weeks in the future. “We have gained a service officer that should be fully accredited within a couple of weeks in addition to the two we already have,” Golden said. “We have another one in the process of getting accreditation. We’re not there yet, but that should be
See VETERANS, Page A4
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Eight times each year a special flight departs Austin bound for Washington DC, a flight often jammed with stories and countless unknown heroic deeds held in the hearts of the many American veterans on board. Honor Flight Austin is part of a nationwide network of organizations with the sole purpose of bringing veterans up close and personal with the memorials and monuments to their service that dot the landscape of the nation’s capital. “Most of these veterans haven’t ever had the opportunity to go to Washington DC and see the memorials built in their honor,” said Matt Mathias, the Chair of Honor Flight Austin. “The Word War II Memorial was not dedicated until 2004 by President George W. Bush, so it was 65 years after World War II ended that the memorial was dedicated.” Among a handful of Liberty Hill area veterans to experience all the excitement and
Waiting with 50 fellow veterans, James Hanley of Liberty Hill (front row, second from right) enjoys the fanfare and appreciation of onlookers and travelers who gave the Honor Flight participants a warm sendoff. (Courtesy Photo) emotion of Honor Flight was James Hanley, who flew to DC in April for his first look at the memorial to the war he participated in. “Saturday morning we went to the WWII memorial first and I have never seen anything like it,” Hanley said, adding he
was most moved by the Golden Stars on the memorial. “There were 4,048 stars, each representing 100 of the 448,000 service men killed during that war. That’s a whole lot of loss of life, but through those guys giving their lives they turned this world around.”
Thanks to the efforts of his family, especially his daughter, to encourage Hanley to consider the trip and worked to get him signed up, he boarded the flight in Austin with 29 other WWII vets among the 50 total.
See FLIGHT, Page A5
Voters approve Williamson road, park bonds
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor For the third time since 2000, Williamson County voters have approved a bond package for road and parks projects across the county. The $412 million road bond package passed with 62 percent of the vote and the $35 million parks proposal passed with 59 percent. “I am thankful to the voters in Williamson County for confirming that building and improving roads and parks
in our county is important to them,” said Pct. 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long. “I take that confirmation seriously and am getting to work today on the approved projects. Better roads and parks means a better quality of life for our citizens.” Voter turnout was just over 14 percent of eligible voters with 49,422 going to the polls in the county. Of those, 30,587 supported the road bonds and 28,954 supported the parks proposal.
The road bond package includes a list of must-do projects, which are published in the proposition wording, then the County has put together a list of other projects planned for the bond funds, which includes projects in Liberty Hill – the Long Run extension, an extension of CR 214 and the SH 29 bypass. While these items may not appear in the ballot language, they are projects the County has pledged to complete assuming funds remain available. The total in
the bond is intended to cover all projects listed. Work is expected to begin soon on the long list of projects. “The next step is to prioritize which projects we will tackle first and select contractors for those and start the engineering portion,” Long said. “Obviously the engineering doesn’t look like anything is happening because dirt is not turning but we have to get the
See RESULTS, Page A4
BUSINESS
Two Brand It proud to be Panther headquarters By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer There are a lot of places in Liberty Hill where Panther fans, parents and students can buy their purple and gold gear, but one local store goes above and beyond to cater to that specific crowd. Two Brand It, owned by Jennifer Smith and her son Caleb Slye, has been a part of Liberty Hill since 2013, but when Smith and Slye purchased the business in 2016, they decided to turn it from a boutique into the town’s Panther headquarters. “My friend Jennifer Ferrell used to own Two Brand It,” Smith said. “She wanted to sell the business and I want-
Jennifer Smith stands in front of the Panther wall at Two Brand It. ed to buy it, so it worked out perfectly. Her store was more of a boutique, and when my son and I bought the business, we wanted a place for people to go to get spirit wear and be able to wear it that same
day. Our main goal when we bought the store was to turn into Panther headquarters.” Smith said the idea behind making Two Brand It Liberty Hill’s Panther headquarters was because she herself has
RACHEL MADISON PHOTO
seven children—five who have graduated from Liberty Hill High School and two who are still students there—so the Panther spirit runs deep.
See BRAND, Page A5