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KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT
Workshop
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
3:30 p.m.
Commissioners' Courtroom
Kerr County Courthouse
Kerrville, Texas
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Listening Tour
PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge
H.A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1
WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2
DAVE NICHOLSON, Commissioner Pct. 4
ABSENT: JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3
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On Tuesday, April 19, 2005, at 3:30 p.m., a workshop of
the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in the
Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, Kerrville,
Texas, and the following proceedings were had in open court:
P R O C E E D I N G S
JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't we come to order, if
we might, please. We had a workshop scheduled, or kind of a
little training session for Help America Vote Act scheduled
for 3:30 today. It's a little past that now. We're
privileged to have with us today our Secretary of State, the
State of Texas, Mr. Roger Williams, and let me give you a
little info about him. This -- this guy comes from every
direction imaginable. Probably more recently, he's -- I'll
tell you, he's been in the automobile business, been
involved in one of the strongest auto dealerships in the
country; that's the Roger Williams Auto Mall in Weatherford,
and he's also affiliated with Vestry Financial in Fort
Worth. He also is a rancher, so we can relate to that.
Operates ranches under the name of Roger Williams Ranches.
But probably of more lesser known note, he was a pretty
doggone good baseball player -- and I'm a little
disappointed our Brother Letz could not be with us here, but
he played for T.C.U., and even played professional ball with
the Atlanta Braves. And after completing that, why, he
returned to the state of Texas and was a coach at the -- of
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the Horned Frogs baseball team before going into all these
other various ventures, as well as into public service. And
we're tickled to death to have him here today with us, and
it's our pleasure and honor for you to be here.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Thank you, Judge. It's
my honor to be here. I must tell you, you were kind with
that introduction, but my wife does all the work; I get all
the credit. You know how that goes, Buster, right?
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Buster told me he's
fourth generation, and his wife's fifth generation, so
that's great. Congratulations.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you, sir.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: It's good to be here.
And I want to tell you that we didn't just pick your county
to come to. We -- we're coming to this county because you
all do things right, and as we go across with this listening
tour that I'm on, we want to be able to say you all are on
board as we go across Texas. I appreciate you having us.
We are on a statewide listening tour in reference to the
Help America Vote Act, and this thing's a big deal, and it's
expensive. And I'm here to visit with you today about some
questions you may have, give you some answers, maybe ask you
all some questions. By the end of the day, making sure that
my -- and I have told the governor and I have told the
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federal government they can count on Texas; that
January lst, we will be totally completed in the Help
America Vote Act program. They will not have to worry about
us.
I feel that probably other states might have
some problems, but I think I've come up with a program,
Judge, that's going to eliminate problems from Texas and let
Texas do what they do best, and that's being Texans. And,
so, I want to talk to you about that. All of you know it's
a federal mandate. I don't know -- I don't know how you all
feel about it, but I'm not that big on federal mandates, but
it is what it is. So, that being said, we've got to --
we've got to proceed. I also want you to know that, as you
mentioned briefly, I do come from a retail background. I'm
a small businessman, and I understand services, and I know
who my customers are, and my customers are you all. And
this office, as Secretary of State, is going to take care of
you. We're going to give you service. We're going to hold
your hand when you need it, and I want you to hold my hand
when I need it done, but at the end of the day, we'll make
it all work.
As I have been going across Texas and talking
to your peers and people that are going to be implementing
HAVA, I've come across two issues that I think are the
biggest issues that need to be addressed, that I want to
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address, that I've heard from -- from your peers, and that
is an issue of what I call standards. I have a real concern
that the federal government's asking you all to spend a l.ot
of money on equipment, yet nobody has told you what kind of
standards it needs to meet. They haven't set the standards
out, but we want you to, Judge, buy this equipment. That's
a problem here. The other issue is cash flow, which we all
understand cash flow. There's a lot of counties in the
state of Texas very, very concerned about cash flow;
they're, frankly, not going to be able to have the money to
implement HAVA.
Again, as a small businessman, I understand
cash flow as good as anybody. I can tell you every banking
holiday there is, Buster, 'cause that means I don't have to
make a deposit that day, and I think you all are about the
same way. So, that being said, about 30 days ago, Judge --
I'm not sure if you've got it yet, but I asked my office to
send you a best practice contract, a model contract that
outlines some issues I think you need to address when you go
to begin your -- your journey to buy your equipment. And I
talked to the vendors, and in this best practice model,
there's a lot of legalese, but there's two issues you need
to look at when you go to make your deal. It addresses
standards and it addresses cash flow. The standards issue
is addressed in this best practice model or best practice
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contract with the vendors, which I have asked them -- I have
told them that they must guarantee your equipment when you
buy it today; that when they come out with standards
tomorrow or the next day, that your equipment will meet
federal standards. They must guarantee that. They have
agreed to do that. So, that being said, that handles your
issue on standards.
The other issue is the cash flow issue, and
I've addressed that by asking them -- telling them, and
they've agreed, that when you do make your purchases, that
you are to invoice my office. We then will -- within 30
days or earlier, we will -- we will send you what money we
can, and I'll talk about that today -- what money we can to
offset any deficiencies you have, and then you will pay the
vendor. So, you're not going to have to pay them until I
pay you. They've agreed to that, too. So, again, standards
will be guaranteed by the vendor. Cash flow, you invoice
me, I pay you, you pay them, and we'll get the money to you
within 30 days or less. So, as you embark upon this, you
won't have to -- you're not going to have to remind them.
They've agreed to do it.
It's a big deal. Time is of the essence.
The law says that every precinct in America must have at
least one of these disabled-friendly machines. I have also
told them that sometimes Texans forget that there's other
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states in the union, and I sometimes forget that. And I
expect them to take care of Texas first, and they've agreed
to do that. So, it's a huge ramp-out, but we've got the
vendors that understand the rules of the game we're going to
play in Texas. It's in the model contract. And, so, with
that being said, I'm here to bring you some money, Judge.
And I don't know how much money you're expecting. I know
you've drawn down on a little bit. But let me tell you my
goal before I tell you what I've brought you. My goal is to
have all 254 counties in the state of Texas have to worry
about two things, purchasing equipment and getting their
people trained. I don't want -- I don't want you to have to
worry about money. And I've come up with what I think is
the best plan in America, and it's working. And I don't
know; when I get to the 254th county, I may be out of money.
I may call you. But until then, I think you're going to
like this plan.
So, with that being said, I've brought to you
today, Judge, $294,755, and I believe that's going to cover
all your needs, and I hope that also you will have money
left over. If you have money left over, that is your money
to be used in anything that's HAVA-related, with no statute
of limitations to use it. So, the only thing I'm telling
you is -- I'm going to tell you what I told the judge in
another county the other day. He said, "Can we buy a
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tractor with this?" You cannot buy a tractor with this,
Judge, okay? But -- but the $294,000, I think, is probably
more than you thought you were going to get, and it should
cover the expenses that you probably perceive as the
shortfall that you're going to have. So, best program in
America. You can thank your Secretary for it; I went to bat
for you. You can thank your governor for it; he went to bat
for you. And we'll -- we will be the model, I think, that
the rest of the country follows. So, with that in mind, do
you have any questions I might be able to answer?
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: When do we get the
money?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: I've got it today for
you.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Good.
JUDGE TINLEY: That's plenty quick.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: And --
JUDGE TINLEY: Another question. Recently we
were at a conference, and they indicated that the approved
vendors for this equipment -- there was a hope that by the
end of April, that we would have the approved state
contracts for each of those vendors. Where are we?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, we've got the four
-- okay, go ahead.
MS. SUTTON: We have four certified vendors,
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Judge, one of which has a contract with S.B.P.C., which is
the contract that you're talking about, as far as purchasing
agreement. The other three are negotiating directly with
them. We still expect that. As far as we know and what
we've been told, we're still on track with -- at the end of
this month, we expect all four vendors to -- to be on board
with that.
JUDGE TINLEY: So, each of the approved
vendors, hopefully by the end of the month, we'll be able to
-- to look at them, and we won't be in a position where
we'll have to go through an entire bid process. We'll be
able --
MS. SUTTON: Right.
JUDGE TINLEY: -- to go straight on state
contract?
MS. SUTTON: Yes, sir, that is our hope.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: We're going to keep it
simple. But my only -- I do want to reemphasize the fact
that time is of the essence. And as you start your beauty
contest or whatever with these vendors, I'd get going on
that, with the idea that -- well, you'll see from the
contracts we sent you that standards are guaranteed. Cash
flow is not going to be a problem.
JUDGE TINLEY: Another question. Recently we
heard about a supplemental funding allowance. The funds
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that you're bringing us today, that includes the basic and
the supplemental? Or just the basic?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, go ahead.
MS. SUTTON: I'm sorry. That includes both,
Judge.
JUDGE TINLEY: Okay.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Yeah, you've got the
basic. Now you've got the supplemental.
JUDGE TINLEY: Okay.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: It's a good program.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: 294 what?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: 294,755. That 755 is
your profit.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The --
JUDGE TINLEY: You'll finally make out, won't
you?
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I choked on the 294
and couldn't hear the rest of it.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: 755, yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Any other questions?
Well, with that being said, I've got the money for you. And
let me tell you how we're going to treat this, Judge,
Commissioners. I've got -- you've got an account with us
down in Austin of this amount of money, and we're going to
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treat it as a drawing account. And as you get your
invoices, you send them to us, and we're going to draw it
right down until it's zero. And, like I say, I believe and
I hope that you have some money left over that you can spend
on other HAVA-related things. But there's no statute, so
we'll carry that money in your drawing account until you --
until you use it up.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How would you define
"HAVA-related"?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, okay.
HAVA-related -- and I'm not going to hit on all of it, but
it could be -- it's training, it's more equipment. Really,
that's what it's about, is training and more equipment. I
had some people ask me, "Can we buy a van to take people to
and from?" You can't buy a van. Someone asked me, too,
"Can we put ramps in?" Can't put ramps in. But anything
that's going to be HAVA-related to this federal mandate will
be -- you know, we will pay, or this money can be used for.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Eligible expense.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. And no
tractors. Any other questions?
MR. TOMLINSON: I have a question.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Yes, sir?
MR. TOMLINSON: Originally, we talked about
submitting a budget --
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SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm.
MR. TOMLINSON: -- for the HAVA funds. Is --
is that still required?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, you've got this
amount of money on deposit, and you can use it as you see
fit. And as far as -- as far as a budget, I mean, this is
your money we're giving you. That's your budget. And you
can -- like I say, you can use it any way you want to that's
related to HAVA.
MS. SUTTON: And the way -- with the
additional funds -- excuse me, Mr. Secretary. With the
additional funds, what will happen is we will send out to
you -- the second pot of money is new for you all, and it's
new for everybody. And so what we will do is send out an
amended contract. Have -- you all have already filed your
HAVA agreement with us?
MR. TOMLINSON: Yes.
MS. SUTTON: Okay. You will be getting an
additional -- a supplemental one so you can start drawing
down your funds.
MR. TOMLINSON: Well, the way I -- in the
original conversation with -- with your office, our -- I
recall that -- that there's an online budget process.
MS. SUTTON: Right.
MR. TOMLINSON: That when -- when you request
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a draw-down, you submit that budget online. Now that that's
finalized, that's the reason for my question.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: I got you.
MR. TOMLINSON: If you just -- if we need to
actually send you a budget or we just need to send you an
invoice.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS; Right now, the way I
think we've got it structured, send us the invoice.
MS. SUTTON: Well, you'll -- we will send out
very specific information with the exact amount that you're
getting, which is what the Secretary is talking about, and
then you will go online again and amend your version of it.
But you can start submitting invoices now. Have you all
already bought equipment?
MR. TOMLINSON: No.
MS. SUTTON: Okay. You can start submitting
invoices now. Not only will it pay for a D.R.E. per polling
place -- or per precinct, excuse me, but it will also pay
for, like, education, going to various conferences, you
know, being educated about HAVA, as well as educating your
election judges and clerks and -- and community about
D.R.E.'s.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: And the money is flowing
now. We've already had some counties that are starting to
draw on it. And I say 30 days, but we've had some -- we've
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been able to respond in about 16 or 17 days, haven't we,
Kim?
MS. SUTTON: Yes, sir.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: But they understand that
-- that they're not going to be paid anything till you get
the money from us .
MR. TOMLINSON: Okay.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The minimum standards
that we have to -- have to accommodate now is at least one
of these --
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: One per precinct.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- per voting
precinct?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's the minimum?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: That's it. That meets
the standards.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Are there any -- is
this amount of funding that you've provided us, is it
possible that we could obtain more than one per precinct?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, if -- you
know, there are some counties that are -- that are going to
use whatever excess funds they may have to buy another
machine or whatever, whatever works. So, you're free to do
whatever you want. But this is what we -- we -- you have a
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drawing account that will pay -- that will pay to meet the
mandate. Now, anything that you do over that would be an
expense, but you all, of course, will decide on how you --
how you handle that. But the mandate is one per voting
precinct.
JUDGE TINLEY: We really appreciate your
efforts in trying to boil this thing down and -- and get it
to its simplest, most compact form where it's, in essence,
pretty much a no-brainer for us. You've got it set up, and
all we've got to do is get into the -- into the pipeline and
get moving.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, as you said, I
need to remind you I went to T.C.U., so it needs to be
simple. And, so -- but it is -- it is a good program. All
you have to do now is select your vendor, train your people,
send your invoices in, we'll pay you, and we're done with
it, and Texas has led the way and we can get on with other
things. But I do believe that, even though it is a federal
mandate, this is the right thing for Texas to do. This is
the compassionate thing for Texas to do, and it will -- it
will work fine. It will work fine.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge?
JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, sir?
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Couple of things.
First of all, you remember what mother said about the
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government bringing you free money. But more importantly, I
think, is we have some good friends from Atascosa County
here, and I wanted to -- certainly, they can feel free to
get in part of the question and answers as well.
JUDGE TINLEY: Judge Bautista, did you or
your people have any questions of the Secretary? I --
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: We're going to have a
little meeting with them, too.
JUDGE TINLEY: I think he's got some money
for you, though, it sounds like.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Well, I hope so. Well, you
know, my -- let's just start off -- this may not be in the
form of a question, necessarily, but we have -- each time
I've gone online -- and this is before you came in, sir. My
understanding is we had to have had a vendor selected. The
only thing we've sent in to Austin is our resolution from
the Commissioners Court. We have not actually drawn down
any moneys because we have not selected a vendor, and we do
not know which direction we're going. So, am I
understanding this correctly? Just a ballpark figure.
Y'all got --
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: See, I've got to tell
you, I gave them all the money I had today. (Laughter.)
JUDGE BAUTISTA: I know better than that.
That was a good try, sir.
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SECRETARY WILLIAMS: But I think I understand
your question. I don't want to jump ahead, but what's
imperative now with the program we've put together is you
all need to contact these vendors. They need to come see
you. They need to present their -- their program to you,
and you begin to need to make a decision and get your
equipment ordered.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: All right. But at this
point, once we make our decision, are you saying that we can
go online and start drawing down the money without any
budget, anything of that sort, because we need to do this?
We can start drawing down what we need?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Go ahead, Kim.
MS. SUTTON: In your packet, there is a --
the guideline about how to use the HAVA funds, and it will,
you know, take you through the entire process. You'll need
to submit your resolution, submit to us from the certified
list of -- of approved vendors, of which there are four
right now, and a couple of them are still undergoing federal
approval -- the federal approval process. But once you
submit that, once you communicate that with us, saying we're
going to go with "X" vendor, you've done all of your -- the
Secretary refers to it as the beauty pageant. You've looked
at all the different vendor systems that are certified in
the state, and then you make a selection from that. Before
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you do that -- that's part of the contract resolution with
-- with our office that you'll do online, okay? And then
you'll say "X" vendor. Then you'll start drawing down from
those funds.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: And what vendors have been
approved to this date?
MS. SUTTON: That is also, for those of you
that -- yes, it's in the packet. And if anybody else needs
one -- Commissioners?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Does everybody have one
of --
MS. SUTTON: Did I give you one? Okay, it's
here on this list. It's also listed on our web site. These
are all of the approved vendors. And then the second page
of this are the various models within those vendors that
have been approved. Not to say that this is, you know, not
going to grow, because it will. Since our office certifies
voting systems, that -- that will. But, as of right now, to
this very day, those are the certified voting systems.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Now, we're -- needless
to say, we're not recommending one over the other, but I
will tell you, just working off memory, I think Tarrant
County's up and running, Dallas County, Bexar County, just
to name three right now that I can think of offhand. And
sometime -- if you have friends there or whatever, you might
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want to call them and see what machines they have and how
they like it, whatever. But they've gone ahead and they
actually have been using this equipment for about the last
year, two years, some of them. So --
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Now, as time progresses and
the money that is left over -- because, obviously, it's not
all going to be spent, for instance, in Kerr County or in
Atascosa County. You said there is no time limit on drawing
down the additional moneys that are left for each respective
county; is that correct?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Right. That's exactly
right.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: So, as time progresses, if
we see that we want to purchase another machine for another
precinct that -- for instance, maybe one of our local --
largest voting boxes in the county, we can do that?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Yes. You send us an
invoice, and we'll send you the money.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: And then, for instance, as
time progresses, say two, three years has gone by; we're
having a problem with one of the machines. We can use that
money for maintenance purposes?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, hopefully you're
going to have -- on maintenance, now, you need to talk -- on
maintenance, you'll want to talk to your vendor.
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JUDGE BAUTISTA: Okay.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: About warranties, et
cetera. That's, again, something y'all work out with them.
But I would think if you were out of warranty and you had a
problem with your machine and you needed to get it fixed, we
could probably, you know, cover that with whatever you had
left.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Okay.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: But I do think it's
important -- I want to remind you, you need to talk about --
you need to remind them that the Secretary has sent you a
document that says they guarantee it, and that they
understand they won't get paid till you get paid.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Now, since there's not a
requirement in reference to the machines, for instance, is
there going to have to be a paper trail?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Okay. Paper trail --
right now, paper trail is not in the mandate, okay?
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Right.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: So, paper trail's not an
issue. We're not promoting -- or we're not out there
promoting or not promoting paper trial-; it's not part of the
mandate. Now, if it gets to where it becomes part of the
mandate and you have to do it, this money will allow you
to -- excuse me -- upgrade to the paper trail.
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JUDGE BAUTISTA: And any of these vendors
would be able to do that if they do not have a paper trail
with their machines at this time?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: I think there's one --
it's my understanding there's one vendor that can go paper
trail.
MS. SUTTON: I was going to say, actually,
there are -- they're in development right now. The
developers that are out there that are certified are
thinking -- I mean, because this is a national issue. So
they're thinking, if, you know, the state or the federal
government start requiring paper trail, then they're getting
ready for it. There is one that has gone through this
certification process in Texas. They are not federally
certified yet, so -- but right now, it's not required.
So -- but if it becomes a requirement, there are two
companies that are back-to-back that are ready for that, to
roll that out, that they will have to go through the
certification process.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Now, last year, early in the
year, I'm going to say it was around February or March,
60 Minutes, 48 Hours, one of those particular news shows had
a segment in reference to being able to tap into a computer
system. Somebody was able to hack into the system, get in
and out within five minutes. Is that going to happen with
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any of these machines, where somebody's going to get in
there and start changing votes?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, that's
something -- again, let me tell about these vendors. It's
kind of like shopping for a car, Judge. I mean, there's all
different equipment.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Correct.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: And they all have
different options. You kind of need to ask them all these
questions. They're going to meet the standards that the
feds require and the state requires, okay?
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Well, I don't mean to throw
it at you, but back in -- was it August of last year? -- in
Austin, you had the different vendors that the --
MS. SUTTON: The vendors showcase, yes.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: We had a -- and that was a
question for the vendors. And I had one that informed me
that if anyone in here tells you that that system cannot be
hacked into, he is not telling you the truth. So, I'm
trying to find out what is the truth here. What can
actually happen?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: I can not answer that.
I can't answer that, but that is something that you really
need to talk to the vendors about. And if that -- you know,
if that is perceived to be a problem or an issue you're
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really concerned about, we can look into it and talk to
them. But I think all that gets back to standards and
options and so forth, you know. You -- that you may have to
make a decision on one over the other because they have what
you perceive or what they say is more security than the
other.
JUDGE BAUTISTA:
MS. SUTTON: And
really get into discussion with
codes and how are they programm
somebody, you know, to come and
you, or is that something that,
own or whatever? Those are the
would certainly ask the vendor.
All right.
I think that that's when you
them about, you know, source
~d. Do you need to depend on
program your election for
you know, you can do on your
type of questions that I
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: But -- and it gets back
to what I said earlier. We're going to help you. We're a
retail operation; our door is open. Any question you've
got, you ask us, and we're a team. We're a team in this
thing, because we're going to make sure we're ready to go by
January lst, so we're going to help you. We're not -- we've
got an investment in you guys.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Yes, sir. Now, there is --
should be no qualms with any of these companies coming
before Commissioners Court to do a presentation?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Right.
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MS. SUTTON: Right.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Is that right? There should
be no qualms with them doing that?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Not with us, or with
them. They want the business.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Right. Okay, that's it for
now, but I believe Ms. Reyes has some questions.
MS. REYES: I do have a question. We had a
memo about two to three weeks ago saying that if the funds
were not used by August 1st, 2006, they would be exhausted.
Is that still -- is that still --
MS. SUTTON: That was -- you all -- that was
a state interpretation. That's not a federal
interpretation. And, again, with the -- all the counties,
all 254 counties will be receiving, you know, this news
about the additional funding. We didn't want to send
anything until the money was in the bank, so to speak, which
will happen at the end of this week or next week. So, you
will be receiving that information, and that part will be
amended as well. I think that the thought process on that
was to get the counties moving ahead with this. You know,
let's not wait on legislation. Let's -- you know, the
mandate is here. By January 1, 2006, we need to be up and
running.
MS. REYES: Another question I have is that
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we have a central count scanner, and the scanner that we
have, the company's no longer going to be making parts for
it. So, therefore, we're looking at not just buying one
D.R.E. per polling place to meet the HAVA mandate, but also
having to maybe buy another scanner. Now, my question is,
we also have a memo saying, well, HAVA funds can't be used
for that.
MS. SUTTON: For central count?
MS. REYES: Has anything different come down
on that?
MS. SUTTON: No. And that is the rule of
thumb that I would go by. Central count does not meet HAVA
standards. So, you know, that -- that's another thing that
is a vendor situation, where they're not -- no longer going
to support or manufacture that particular voting system.
Their interpretation is right, sorry. I know that's --
bearer of bad news, but yeah.
MS. REYES: Okay.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Okay? Any other
questions? Do we have any other guests here?
MS. KAHANT: I have a question. Is this
294,000 from the federal government, or from the State of
Texas?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, 95 percent of it
is from the federal government; 5 percent is from the State
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of Texas.
MS. KAHANT: Thank you.
MR. EVANS: On the $294,000 for Kerr County,
for instance, who determines that's what Kerr County got,
and how did they determine it?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Well, we determined it.
We got in a room and kind of put our blinders on and said,
"What's the best way to do this?" And we looked at
eligible-age voters.
MR. EVANS: Okay. And you're confident that
will be sufficient?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: I think, if you ask your
Commissioners, that worked out pretty good.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Should be.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Yeah. And we base it
off 2000 numbers.
MS. REYES: Those that were registered?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: No, eligible. Eligible
age.
MR. EVANS: From the 2000 census?
MS. SUTTON: From the 2000 census, yes.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: 2000. Yes, from 2000.
So, anything else?
JUDGE TINLEY: Any more questions?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Do we have any other
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guests here from other counties?
MR. TOMLINSON: I wear two hats. I
represent --
JUDGE TINLEY: He's Bandera County also.
MR. TOMLINSON: I'm also the Auditor for
Bandera County.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: If I might, real quick,
let me -- Bandera?
MR. TOMLINSON: The County Judge could not
come today; he had court.
JUDGE TINLEY: We appreciate our colleagues
from Atascosa County being here. Are your numbers a
surprise to you at this point?
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: She doesn't know her
numbers.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: I don't know yet. I'm
surprised at your numbers, to be quite honest.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Do you want me to tell
you how much you got? What the Secretary brought to you
today?
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Yes, sir.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: $103. (Laughter.) Let
me tell you what I've done. Here we go.
JUDGE TINLEY: You can tell by her question,
Mr. Secretary --
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SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Come on up here. Come
on.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: I knew there was metal
detectors in this building.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: You all do a great job.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Thank you, sir.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: And the Secretary today
has brought you $337,000.
COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Oh, wait a minute.
JUDGE BAUTISTA: We have a higher population,
sir. I'll go ahead and give you that quick answer right
there.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Now, will that help you?
Will that help you?
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Yes, sir, that sure will.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Are you feeling
better, Judge?
JUDGE BAUTISTA: I'm feeling better now,
trust me, 'cause I have been worried about this.
JUDGE TINLEY: Those questions are not really
as sharp as they once seemed, are they?
JUDGE BAUTISTA: No, sir.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: And Bandera County, we
have $168,000 for you.
MR. TOMLINSON: Good. Thanks.
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SECRETARY WILLIAMS: And, again, I believe
these numbers will work. We put up a good formula. We're
happy to do it. Texas is going to lead the way. And you
all did a great job. I want to tell you again, thank you
from everybody. Any questions you have, you can count on my
office to go through the process with you, so we make it as
easy as we can. Get the machines ordered, get everybody
trained. And, as they say, onward and upward, Buster.
Okay?
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Very good.
JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, sir.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: I've got a check for you
guys. I want to get a picture taken, and I'm going to give
you all something that makes it official, okay?
JUDGE BAUTISTA: Thank you, sir.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Here we go. We got
somebody that can take this photograph, and then we'll --
JUDGE TINLEY: All right.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Come on up here.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Come up there?
(Discussion off the record.)
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: Okay, here we go. I got
to shake somebody's hand.
JUDGE TINLEY: Man, this is a great picture.
Thank you, sir.
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SECRETARY WILLIAMS: All right. Now, what we
do, too, is I'm going to leave this with you, of course.
And, Kim, do you have our pen so we all can sign this?
We've got a special pen. Now, let me tell y'all a quick
story; you'll love this, Judge. I was in a very, very small
county. We went to that county by design, 'cause we wanted
the smallest counties, and the Secretary had never been to
their county. And they didn't like HAVA. Everything was
going great, and they were loaded for bear when I got there.
And we went through our program, and when it was over with,
they were so excited they ordered cookies in, and we sat
there and had cookies for a while. Then we got on the road,
and about an hour outside of the town, Kim Sutton's phone
rang. It was the County Clerk, and this is the
conversation: "Kim, I just cannot believe that you all were
here. What a great thing, and the Secretary was just
fabulous, what you did for us. But, Kim, I know the
Secretary is a busy, busy man, but when the Secretary left,
he took my pen. Can I have my pen back?" So, I'm telling
everybody, I'm leaving you all with some money today, and I
don't want your pen, okay? I'll just leave you that money.
JUDGE TINLEY: They run a tight ship them,
obviously.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: That's right. And there
you go, Judge.
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JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, sir.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Very good.
JUDGE TINLEY: We appreciate your efforts.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Come again any time
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: And I've got the book of
courthouses also which we're taking around with us. I'm
going to ask you all to sign it, and we're going to give it
to the Capitol for perpetuity, for the history books, so a
hundred years from now, when they want to know what the heck
you all made this deal for, they can blame you, see?
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay, that works.
SECRETARY WILLIAMS: So, if you all would
just sign this real quick on your right page. We went into
Walker County the other day, and they signed on the Waller
County page, so now I can't go to Waller County.
(Laughter.)
(Discussion off the record.)
JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, where'd Kim go? She's
the keeper of all things historical, I'm sure.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, are we
adjourned, or what are we doing here?
JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, we might ought to --
we've got our reporter down here, and she's probably
wondering what kind of madness is going on. Is there any --
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any other question or information that needs to be passed
along? That will conclude the meeting.
(Workshop adjourned at 4:06 p.m.)
STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF KERR I
The above and foregoing is a true and complete
transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as
County Clerk of the Commissioners Court of Kerr County,
Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth.
DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 20th day of April,
2005.
JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk
B Y : ~~~ /
--- -- - -~~"P'ry~ ~ ------ -
Kathy Ban k, Deputy County Clerk
Certified Shorthand Reporter
4-19-05