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2021
Volume 34, Issue 20
www.LHIndependent.com
Tension, toxic exchanges mar Council meeting
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor There’s been tension on the dais since the night Mayor Liz Branigan was sworn in last November, but it seemed to reach a boiling point Monday as Branigan and Council member Kathy Canady tested one another’s resolve throughout the brief meeting. Two primary issues raised the ire of Canady, the first being a request by Branigan to move an item from the consent agenda to the regular agenda so that it could be discussed. Items placed on the consent agenda are not open for discussion during the meeting, but are approved together in one vote. If a council member has a question or concern on an item on the consent agenda they can request it be removed and placed on the regular agenda, something Canady has done a number of times.
“Item E is a contract, which as I was reading over it I found it to be out of date and having spoken with some of the people involved it is not current and needs to be revised,” Branigan said before being interrupted by Canady. “It is current, that’s why it is in there,” she said. From that point forward, neither allowed the other to complete a sentence as tensions rose and Canady declared she would oppose any effort to move the item to the regular agenda for discussion. “You’re asking that it be removed, so we need a way to remove it or not remove it and you don’t make motions so I don’t know how we do that,” Canady said. Branigan called for the item to be tabled so the contract could be discussed and Canady
See COUNCIL, Page 10
Technology needs included in LHISD bond package
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Amid the new campuses, renovations and athletic facilities questions included as part of the $491.7 million Liberty Hill ISD bond package on the May 1 ballot is Proposition B, which asks voters to approve $8 million for school technology. More specifically, the ask is for funds to meet the needs of the district’s new one-to-one device initiative that ensures a computer device for every student and teacher. But how many devices does that mean the district needs? The district has roughly 5,700 students currently using devices, along with about 700 staff members needing devices, but it is not a hard number because more students are added regularly, and a straight one-to-one doesn’t function well. “One of the things I tell people all the time is a one-to-one program requires more than that,” said LHISD Chief Technology Officer Jay Olivier. “If you have 5,700 students and
5,700 devices you do not have enough. What happens is the very first day you put them out there something is going to break or something is going to happen and you won’t have a spare device for them to continue working. You have to have enough for those that break or need to be repaired.” The goal is to have five to 10 percent more devices than the total needed. “You also have to have enough devices for the growth we’re constantly seeing,” he said. “We’re seeing new students every single day so we have to make sure we can keep up with those new students as well as keep up with the breakage, the repairs and additional needs that come up.” According to Chief Financial Officer Rosanna R. Guerrero, the district spent about $800,000 on devices this year alone in ramping up the oneto-one program, and that cost was aided with CARES Act funds and other monies from
See TECHNOLOGY, Page 4
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LIBERTY HILL VOTES 2021
Candidates reaching out to voters during political forum
©2021 The Liberty Hill Independent
osition passes, then all of the maximum 8.25 percent in sales tax would be sewn up in the area, with a quarter cent going to the Library District and 6.25 percent to the state. Inside the Liberty Hill City limits, the 1.75 above the library’s share and the state’s portion goes to the City, not the ESD. The three quarters of a cent available outside the City limits is what will be voted on, and in some areas outside the Library District the ESD could gain an entire cent. “By approving this new sales tax rate, Williamson County ESD #4 will be able to increase with the growth of the community by adding firefighters and
ALEX RUBIO PHOTO
Three of the four candidates for Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees Place 3 – (from left) Steve Messana, Michael Ferguson and Antonio Canas – participated in the video recording of The Liberty Hill Independent’s candidate forum Tuesday. The six candidates for Place 6 also answered questions for the public, and candidates for Liberty Hill City Council will participate in a forum April 8. All of the forums can be found on the newspaper’s website and social media channels.
Jones challenges Rundzieher for Liberty Hill City Council, Place 5
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Among the contests for three Liberty Hill City Council seats is the race between nine-term council member Liz Rundzieher and first-time candidate Angela Jones, who has lived in downtown Liberty Hill for six years. Rundzieher did not respond to multiple requests by phone and e-mail, for an interview with The Independent on her candidacy. The choice to challenge Rundzieher in Place 5 was more about Jones’ own campaign rather than the opponent on the ballot, she said. “I don’t have anything negative to say about my opponent,” she said. “I appreciate the years of service she has put in and I understand she has been on the Council more or less since 1999, and I am definitely not interested in having a contentious campaign. I respect her, but at the end of the day there are only a certain amount of seats and if I want one I have to pick one.” For Jones, the decision to run revolves around one primary concern. “I really wanted to see strong leadership on our Council and I know our city limits are small, and that limits the availability of people available to serve, but I really want to see strong leadership,” she
ESD looking for sales-tax assistance on May ballot
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Outside the Liberty Hill City limits, there’s between three quarters of a cent and one cent available in sales tax revenues, and Williamson County Emergency Services District (ESD) #4 is hoping voters will approve a proposition on the May 1 ballot to allocate it for the fire department. The ESD currently receives one cent of sales tax revenues within the district. If the prop-
April 8, 2021 | 50 Cents
fire stations,” said Jeff Foster, President of Liberty Hill Professional Firefighters Association Local 4744. “Adding additional stations and personnel will help property owners in the reduction of your insurance rates and provide a faster response time to emergencies that may occur.” According to Foster, sales tax revenue represents only about 15 percent of the ESD budget, but recent legislative changes to property tax increases has made the sales tax portion more important than ever. “Senate Bill 2 has reduced the amount of tax revenue we can safely receive without election
See SALES TAX, Page 4
said. “I see our city council as a role of service through leadership. I’ve questioned things that have happened, and not being an insider I’ve wondered about why certain things are happening.” Over the last couple of years, some of what Jones has seen and heard about the city has made her question that leadership. “When I see our city painted in a negative light in big newspapers like The Statesman, seeing stuff about our former mayor (Rick Hall), it just makes me question what’s going on, and ultimately that leads me back to why I say we need good leadership,” she said. “I don’t know our former mayor, I don’t know what was happening exactly. I just think that we need a council that can lead our city in the right direction without all of the politics and the negativity.” The chance to step into one of those leadership roles on the Council would mean an opportunity to focus on a handful of core issues. “Ultimately, I just want to serve the citizens of Liberty Hill and make this a special place to live, while still influencing the growth we’re experiencing. I’m passionate about preserving what makes our town unique, which is our downtown area.” The downtown of Liberty
Hill was the first draw for Jones and her family, and she believes without focus that could disappear and take away what’s special here. “When we decided to move here six years ago, I chose this area because of the potential I saw,” she said. “What I’m very passionate about and hope to push for is creating a walkable downtown and creating a safe downtown so that people who live there can walk to businesses and enjoy spending time with their families.” Transportation – all over town – is a growing concern for Jones, starting in her own neighborhood with the intersection of Loop 332 and CR 279 next to Wetzel Park. “We have the splash pad, then across the street the parking lot that just opened up and there is no safe way to cross the street,” she said. “Transportation, safety, and roads are very important to me and I will definitely be pushing to address those if I’m elected.” But traffic concerns need to be addressed all over town. “One thing that concerns me is the safety on SH 29, with the speed limit and the businesses that are developing,” she said. “I’m concerned when people are turning both directions to go into businesses. I feel like we need to work with (Texas Department of Transportation) and the coun-
ANGELA JONES ty to really take a look at that to make it more safe, and also to slow people down through there where there are businesses. I think it would be good for the business owners and improve the overall safety for everyone driving through.” In all things related to the council and city, Jones wants to see increased focus on transparency and communication. “I haven’t quite understood, and I’ve been frustrated myself as a citizen, why more questions aren’t being asked,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with prying and asking more from some council members and trying to get information to the public.
See JONES, Page 9
Library set for May opening
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer The Liberty Hill Public Library closed its doors to the public March 16, 2020 in response to increasing COVID-19 restrictions and the need for safety protocols. As it began slowly offering services again the library adopted a no-contact business model. Today, as more people are vaccinated and case numbers drop, the library is preparing to open its doors again. “I’m leaning towards holding it till May until the staff has as much immunity as possible,” said Library Director Angela Palmer. “Williamson County hasn’t come down off of orange yet. I’m leaning towards early May when the staff has their second shots.
We are going to be opening before summer reading.” Despite opening to the public, Palmer is considering keeping some practices adopted during the shutdown. “We will be keeping curbside service throughout the summer because some people don’t feel safe yet,” said Palmer. “I am considering keeping curbside around permanently. I think about some people who have trouble walking or even a busy mom with little ones. We have a collection of books online that are exclusively available to our patrons. It’s a good collection of books, and people have been using them a lot.” Summer Reading The library’s reopening lines up with its annual Summer Reading Program, and sign
up for the annual summer hit begins May 17. “It’s going to be different this year,” said Palmer. “We usually have a big sign-up thing, but this year people are just going to pick up a reading log and start reading. This year it’s going to be half of what we’d normally do.” One thing that will be the same is a visit from Austin Reptile Shows on July 28, one of the annual favorites. Palmer’s goal for the program is to offer variety to the kids, from different activities to several performers. The program has authors Jeffery Brown and Dori Hillstead Butler set for virtual visits, as well as Singing Zoologist Lucas Miller, Sparkles the
See LIBRARY, Page 8