Spurs Tim Duncan and Amy Duncan Headed For Divorce

A divorce case filed here two months ago that bears only the initials of the husband and wife has all the hallmarks of being that of Spurs star Tim Duncan and his wife, Amy.

The case is playing out in Bexar County District Court. Court papers filed last week include a request that legal discovery in the case be postponed until after the Spurs’ last playoff game.

Efforts to confirm Thursday that the legal proceedings involve Tim Duncan, 37, and Amy, 35, were unsuccessful.

No Contributions from Corporations or Labor Organizations

Mayor Julian Castro Texas Ethics Commission Alleged Ethics Violations

Texas Ethics Advisory Board
HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS
Mayor, eight City Council members Investigated for Over 1000 Violations of Texas Election Law

In an official response to nine Sworn Complaints, the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) has notified most members of the San Antonio City Council they are being investigated for multiple campaign finance violations.

Mayor Julian Castro, Council members Cris Medina and Diego Bernal had the most alleged violations at over 200 each.

The Sworn Complaints allege 41 instances of accepting donations from corporations. Corporate donations are, if done knowingly, a 3rd degree felony offense. All nine complaints alleged these offenses. Well known names include MacDonalds, Inc., Holiday Inns, Inc. and Texas Associaton of Realtors.

The Texas Ethics Advisory Board (TEAB) reports that more than fifteen more Sworn Complaints will be initiated on the corporations who contributed to the council members campaigns. Pending the results of the TEC investigations, the TEAB will refer any felonies to Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed.

Another frequent complaint was the diversion of campaign funds to personal use. If confirmed, this would make Mayor Castro and Council members Cris Medina and Diego Bernal and others civilly liable to the State of Texas including court costs.

Other frequent alleged violations of State law included failure to report out of state travel, filing late reports and having serious contribution balance discrepancies – unaccounted for money.

Mr. Jim Doyle, Mr. Bill Berntsen, Mr. Alvin Schleiske and Mr. Tom Curry, well-known Woodlands TEA party supporters and community activists, filed the complaints after noticing the alleged campaign finance violations.

The Mayor and the eight council members will have to answer to the allegations with an explanation or corrected reports or both by April 15.

They signed their campaign finance reports under the penalty of perjury, and bear the responsibility for checking their reports accuracy and fully disclosing the information required by state law.

Making a false, material, perjurious statement during or in connection with an official Texas Ethics Commission proceeding constitutes aggravated perjury, a felony of the third degree.

Doyle, Berntsen, Schleiske, Curry and the TEAB are members of a large group of citizen-taxpayers in suburban Houston and surrounding counties who conduct statewide audits of progressive candidates, officeholders and political action committees who have long been contributing to the runaway growth of government and the loss of constitutional authority. In this case, the approval by the San Antonio City Council of spousal benefits for homosexual couples brought scrutiny by the above mentioned complainants.

By Nolan Hicks, Staff Writer

Mayor Julian Castro Failed San Antonio Giving Contract to South Korea

Nexolon Co. Ltd., the parent company of a key supplier for CPS Energy’s massive solar energy project, lost nearly $131 million in 2012, ending the year with a heavy debt load and less than $20 million in cash on hand, according to its most recent financial report.

With the solar industry roiling, the filing — submitted to securities regulators in South Korea — shows the company’s results deteriorated in the second half of the year. And few expect the solar panel market to turn around this year.

Nexolon’s ongoing financial troubles have raised questions about the ability of its U.S. subsidiary, Nexolon America LLC, to build and operate the solar panel manufacturing plant it promised as part of the deal to sell 400 megawatts of solar power to city-owned CPS.

In December and January, the company received significant incentives from the city and the City Council-appointed Brooks Development Authority to build the plant at Brooks City-Base on the Southeast Side.

The earnings report didn’t rattle CPS officials.

“We’re confident that our customers are protected, and we’re pleased with what they’ve delivered so far,” CPS spokeswoman Lisa Lewis said, noting that Nexolon broke ground on its solar plant last month. “The project is proceeding as planned.”

An official with Nexolon America passed along questions from the San Antonio Express-News to Nexolon Co. headquarters in South Korea, which had not responded by deadline.

The company saw revenue drop to $129 million in the last six months of 2012, from $204 million in the first half of the year.

Comparing the last six months of 2011 with the same period in 2012, the company’s revenue fell 41 percent.

Nexolon also had six times as much debt as it did equity at the end of 2012, a sign that it may be overleveraged.

“They’ve clearly crossed the threshold,” said Sheridan Titman, a professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. “Six times as much debt as equity is a lot — this is a risky business.”

Nexolon also reported that it had nearly $20 million in cash and equivalents on hand at year’s end, roughly the same amount that it reported at the end of June 2012.

Nexolon Chairman Woo Jeong Lee said at the company groundbreaking in February that his company had taken steps to boost its liquidity.

Nexolon’s ailing finances are symptomatic of the oversupply problems plaguing the solar industry, said Shyam Mehta, an analyst with GTM Research. Chinese solar panel companies have flooded the market with cheap panels, he said, causing prices to collapse and sending the industry into a tailspin.

“Right now, you’d struggle to find any company that is in the business of solar manufacturing that is in a stable financial position,” he said.

One of the largest solar panel companies in the world, China-based Suntech Power Holdings Ltd., announced Monday that it had defaulted on a $541 million bond payment, which was due Friday, because it had run out of cash. The company attributed its cash shortage to the massive losses it had racked up over the past year.

In a presentation given to the Express-News Editorial Board in January, Nexolon officials said they expect supply and demand to return to equilibrium in 2014. But that prediction was based on the underlying assumption that the supply of solar panels will contract by about 25 percent while demand continues to soar.

“Everybody’s waiting for signs that they’re going to allow or enforce some kind of consolidation for (Chinese solar panel manufacturers), but so far we just have not seen that happening,” Mehta said. Chinese banks and regional Chinese governments, he said, have a habit of bailing out their solar panel manufacturers from certain insolvency.

Fatima Toor, an analyst with Lux Research, offered a less pessimistic view of the industry and Nexolon. But she predicted the market would return to equilibrium in 2015, one year later than the date offered by Nexolon executives.

“Whether Nexolon will survive the industry shakeout remains to be seen — it is likely that it will survive, given that it recently received the green light to build the cell manufacturing facility in San Antonio and cash in on the growing U.S. (solar) industry,” she wrote in an email.

Nexolon America is a key supplier to the OCI Solar Power-led consortium that CPS selected in July to build five solar-power plants capable of generating 400 megawatts of electricity.

As part of the deal between the utility and the consortium, OCI Solar and its partners must create 800 new jobs and make a $100 million capital investment in the area. Nexolon’s manufacturing plant is supposed to account for roughly half the new jobs.

The deal required only that the consortium place the jobs and make the investment in CPS’ service area, which includes all of Bexar County and portions of surrounding counties.

To ensure the jobs are created within city limits, the city assembled a package of incentives, including a property tax abatement and San Antonio Water System fee waivers, to persuade Nexolon to place its plant at Brooks City-Base, a former Air Force base.

Also, the Brooks Development Authority offered Nexolon a 10-year lease on 86 acres of land worth an estimated $17 million for just $5 million. Nexolon has the option to take ownership of the land at no additional cost at the end of the lease.

The city promised that it would make a $12 million investment in the business park’s infrastructure to close the gap between the land’s value and Nexolon’s $5 million lease.

The Express-News broke the news in January that Nexolon lost nearly $60 million in the first six months of 2012, maintained a large debt load and had little cash on hand.

CPS and the city said their analysis of Nexolon’s financials raised no red flags. But the Express-News learned that the city’s analysis missed the $60 million loss.

CPS has refused to release its analysis of Nexolon’s financials, claiming the information is exempt from the Texas Public Information Act.

nhicks@express-news.net

Twitter: @ndhapple

by Steven Ertelt | Colorado Springs, CO | LifeNews.com

A Planned Parenthood abortion patient has filed suit against the abortion business for botching an abortion so badly that it left part of the body of the unborn baby inside her afterwards.

Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life legal group, filed suit on behalf of a Colorado against Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains and one of its doctors. The mother says the abortion facility forced her to undergo an abortion without anesthesia and then left part of her baby’s body inside of her.

The lawsuit alleges that 40-year-old Ayanna Byer changed her mind about the abortion after Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs could not provide her with the agreed-upon intravenous anesthesia for pain, but the abortionist proceeded with the abortion anyway. ADF informed LifeNews that, once the abortion was complete, Byer was sent home but ended up in an emergency room two days later because the abortionist had botched the procedure.

“A woman’s life is more important than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney Doug Romero of Denver. “What Planned Parenthood did to Ayanna is beyond the pale. They clearly put her through extraordinary cruelty and jeopardized her life. Their actions were intolerable.”

According to a statement provided by the on-call emergency room doctor who assisted Byer, she “was septic with a high fever and elevated white count. She required an immediate high-risk surgery to remove the remaining tissue that had been left during the previous procedure done at Planned Parenthood. Because of the continued pain and heavy bleeding, I was concerned that the patient might have had an ectopic pregnancy. I called Planned Parenthood the following day to inquire about pathology results to only learn that no pathology is done on abortion patients. The doctor performing the abortion ‘looks’ at the tissue and makes a diagnosis.”

“These are my concerns,” the doctor’s statement continues. “No practicing physician can maintain privileges to practice and perform surgery if they do not provide specific coverage for their patients in case of a complication. It is considered ‘abandonment’ of your patient. It is not acceptable to refer your patients to the Emergency Department and assume the on-call doctor will take care of any complications and assume all the risk associated with the complications. It is medically inappropriate for a physician to remove products of conception and not confirm the diagnosis with pathology. I know of no physician or hospital that would allow the removal of a specimen of this nature and assume what the diagnosis was by just ‘looking’ at it.”

According to the complaint filed in Byer v. Doe in El Paso County District Court, Byer told the abortionist in the surgical procedure room that she did not want to go forward with the abortion because she had not received the promised anesthetic after staff members had difficulty getting an I.V. into her vein. The abortionist assured her an I.V. would be administered, turned on the vacuum machines, and told Byer it was too late to stop. He proceeded while Byer, fully awake, was forced to feel the full pain of the procedure against her will. The abortionist stopped after seven minutes and sent Byer home with pain pills. According to the suit, she was completely unaware that part of her baby’s dismembered body remained inside her.

“Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Michael J. Norton, a former U.S. attorney for the district of Colorado who helped author an Alliance Defending Freedom report to the U.S. House of Representatives on the fraudulent use of public funding by Planned Parenthood affiliates.

He told LifeNews, “American tax dollars should be used responsibly and for the common good. Planned Parenthood is irresponsible and only promotes its own self-interest. That was clearly seen most vividly in what they did to Ayanna.”

Offices Needing CANDIDATES: Mayor, District 1, District 8, District 9 and District 6

San Antonio City Council Redistricted Map

Mayor

Rhett Smith

Jesus G. Reyes

Michael “Commander” Idrogo

Irma Rosas

Julian Castro

Sergio “The Force” Falcon

District 1

ONLY Diego Bernal

District 2

Norris Tyrone Darden

Ivy R. Taylor

Hector Medina

Antonio Diaz

District 3

Leticia Ozuna

Gabriel Q. Velasquez

Rebecca Viagran

District 4

Rey Saldana

District 5

John Carlos Garcia

Shirley Gonzales

Ricardo Briones

David Medina

District 6

Steve Shamblen

Ray Lopez

John Barfield

Greg Brockhouse

District 7

Gloria G. Rodriguez

Carlos Zaldivar

Cris Medina

District 8

Rolando Briones

Ron Nirenberg

Michael Kueber

District 9

Elisa Chan

District 10

Carlton Soules

Arthur M. Thomas IV

Celeste Montez-Tidwell

For any questions editor@mysapolitics.com

S.A. Democratic stalwart eyed

By Guillermo Contreras, STAFF WRITER / Express News

Democratic Party and Mayor Castro Fundraiser Mikal Watts Raided By Secret Service

Seven months after hosting a private $35,800-a-plate fundraiser for President Barack Obama at his home in The Dominion, nationally recognized plaintiff’s lawyer and Democratic Party stalwart Mikal C. Watts finds himself under federal investigation over the legitimacy of his client list in a case stemming from the 2010 BP oil spill.

Earlier this month, Secret Service agents, who not only protect the president but investigate cases of fraud, counterfeiting and identity theft, served search warrants at Watts’ two law offices on the Northwest Side, the San Antonio Express-News has confirmed with federal officials and Watts’ attorney.

Federal officials confirmed the raids, but won’t discuss the scope or the timetable of the probe, including when it began.

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” said Brian Leary, a Secret Service spokesman in Washington, D.C.

Records reviewed by the Express-News indicate the probe is centered in Jackson, Miss., and is related to claims against BP and a compensation fund stemming from the oil company’s Macondo well and Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We can’t comment because it’s an ongoing criminal investigation,” said John Dowdy, chief of the criminal division for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Mississippi. “No charges have been filed at this time.”

Through his lawyer, Watts denied any wrongdoing.

“Mikal Watts is an honorable man,” said his lawyer, Mike McCrum. “He has been serving and helping victims of tragedies for many years. Everything he has done in the BP litigation has been in good faith and with good intentions. I’m honored to represent him and his family.”

Watts is a plaintiff’s lawyer with a brass-knuckle reputation in the courtroom.

He’s also a Democratic kingmaker, having contributed and raised thousands for candidates for the bench, mayor, City Council, the Legislature, governor, Congress and the White House.

In July 2012, he hosted a fundraiser for Democrats at the Convention Center that drew more than 1,200 people who paid $250 each for a chance to see Obama.

That gala occurred before Watts and 75 guests — including Mayor Julián Castro, U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, former Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and actress Eva Longoria — gathered at Watts’ home in the Dominion for a private fundraiser held in his gymnasium.

It wasn’t clear Tuesday whether the president knew of the investigation during his visit, but a previous newspaper story indicates complaints had been levied with authorities since 2011, at least a year before Obama’s visit, when the president presented Watts with a birthday cake.

A message was left with the White House press secretary Tuesday followed by an email requesting comment. The request has gone unanswered.

As first reported by the New York Times in 2011, Watts previously has been accused of discrepancies in the litigation against BP as he made his way onto the plaintiffs steering committee, an exclusive group of lawyers appointed to manage their side of the litigation.

Lawyers on such committees typically reap a financial bonanza for their efforts.

A large list of clients can help secure a seat on the committee, but his client list came under question, with discrepancies about Vietnamese people in the Gulf region who say they never hired his firm, according to the Times report.

Some maintained they never signed up with any lawyer, but found claims had been filed on their behalf, the Times reported.

Others along the coast said they had handed over financial records to people who promised them quick and free financial assistance, only to discover later that they actually had hired a lawyer. Still others told the Times they were misled into signing up for a lawyer by being told they were applying for medical assistance.

Former Louisiana law student Felix Cao told the Express-News he didn’t have any a claim, yet was targeted by mass mailings from the Watts firm, which claims it obtained a retainer from him.

He also said the house he lived in was bombarded with mailings for people who have not lived there for 20 or 30 years. Letters arrived saying, “Dear Client” — in apparent violation of rules barring lawyers from referring to people that way if they haven’t obtained signed retainers. Investigators are trying to make sense of things.

“I was shown a retainer I supposedly signed, but I never signed it,” said Cao, who now works for a law firm in Louisiana. “I looked at it, and it definitely wasn’t me.”

Supporting affidavits for the San Antonio searches, which were executed Feb. 8 at 4 Dominion Drive and 5250 Prue Road, are filed in federal court here, but are sealed, a check by the Express-News found.

However, sources said agents sought records related to people who Watts’ firm purportedly represented in litigation against BP.

Watts “had no knowledge of the existence of a criminal investigation until he was surprised to find out that his offices were searched,” McCrum said.

“Mikal and his firm have not made any money as a result of this litigation,” McCrum said. “People were injured out there, and he’s been doing his best to see that these injured people are compensated. … Mikal and the law firm have been cooperative. Mikal has no knowledge of anybody committing any crimes with respect to this.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official familiar with the claims process involving the fund set up to compensate victims of the BP oil spill told the Express-News that many of Watts’ claims had discrepancies on whether the purported clients had actually signed a retainer.

Watts first came to the attention of many San Antonio Democrats in 2006 when he largely bankrolled Navy pilot and attorney Juan Garcia’s winning campaign against longtime Republican state Rep. Gene Seaman in Corpus Christi.

Watts had relocated his family from Corpus to San Antonio, where he took up residence in The Dominion and began pouring more money into races here.

He held at least one major fundraiser for Castro in 2009 as the former councilman battled to become mayor.

During that campaign, Castro’s opponents tried to make political hay of his referral of a drunken-driving lawsuit to Watts’ law firm.

Castro and Watts’ law firm successfully settled the case in 2007, and although the terms of the settlement are confidential, it purportedly netted Castro a sizable fee.

Castro did not return a request for comment Tuesday, but at the time, he denied any impropriety.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland

By Guillermo Contreras / EXPRESS NEWS

Zachry Employees Swindled $10 Million

Gordon Thomas Jr., Danny M. Holder, and Eddie Perez were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, according to their indictments, which were made public Thursday. Their ages were not available, and they were summoned to appear in court later to answer to the charges.

Their cases are spinoffs from an investigation in 2010 and 2011 by the FBI and IRS in which eight other people were prosecuted, including the two main targets who took their own lives as they were still being prosecuted.

Those contractors, David J. Reitman, 52, and Gary Schwing, 65, admitted to a scheme to give some ex-Zachry Industrial managers kickbacks so they would inflate invoices and cause the San Antonio company to overpay $10 million.

For seven years until 2010, the then-Zachry employees inflated invoices to pay the company for tools and supplies that were never delivered, that previous case established.

Thomas, Holder and Perez had lesser involvement in the fraud, according to their indictments.

According to their indictments, Thomas got $57,600 in kickbacks from his accomplices, Holder got $47,000 and Perez got $40,000.

Perez had worked for Zachry on and off beginning in 1990, in warehouse areas at various sites. He was fired in July 2010, the indictment said. Thomas was a quality control manager from 2009 until he was fired in fall 2010. Holder was a purchasing agent and had worked for Zachry from 1979 through 2009, but the indictment does not say whether he was fired.

In the prior prosecution, amid plea negotiations, Schwing was found dead in October 2011 at his Sugar Land home. While awaiting sentencing, Reitman took his own life at a Houston hotel a few weeks after that.

Six others, five of them ex-Zachry employees, pleaded guilty for their roles. They received sentences ranging from five years of probation to four years in prison and orders to pay $61,038 to $3.5 million.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland

City approves SAWS rate bump

Express-News staff

After a sometimes heated three-hour discussion Thursday, City Council approved, by an 8-3 vote, a request by the San Antonio Water System for an 8.4-percent rate hike and adjustments to the city’s drought management plan.

North Side council members Carlton Soules and Elisa Chan were joined by West Side Councilman David Medina on the dissenting side.

SAWS leaders argued that the rate increase was essential to reduce sewer-line spills, and get the city’s sewer system in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency mandates.

The council was in agreement that the sewer-line problems needed to be addressed, and would require a rate hike. But Soules made the case that the water utility could be run more efficiently, and said that $5 million in savings — including a salary freeze for SAWS executive — could save utility customers 2 percent on their bills.

Soules proposed an alternative to the SAWS request, a more modest 6.4-percent increase. He and Chan were the only council members to vote for his proposal.

Mayor Julián Castro said “nobody ever likes a rate increase,” but added that he considered SAWS’ request to be reasonable and essential.

The rate hike takes effect on March 1.

Councilman Reed Williams Strikes Again Motioning To Raise CPS Rates

CITY OF SAN ANTONIO
Request for Council Action
Agenda Item # 4
Council Meeting Date: 2/7/2013
RFCA Tracking No: R-10075

DEPARTMENT: Finance

DEPARTMENT HEAD: Troy Elliott

COUNCIL DISTRICT(S) IMPACTED:
City Wide

SUBJECT:
SAWS Proposed Rate Adjustments and Drought Management Updates

SUMMARY:

The proposed ordinances authorize the approval of adjustments to the San Antonio Water System’s (SAWS) water supply and wastewater rates respectively, which collectively equate to an overall system wide increase of 8.4%, and authorize the approval of various adjustments to the Drought Management Ordinance.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) had proposed adjustments to its water supply fee and wastewater rates which are equivalent to an overall 11.3% system-wide increase. Of this overall 11.3% system-wide increase, the majority, or 20.2% was to be applied to the Wastewater Core with the remaining 8.4% applied to the Water Supply Core Business. Briefings on the proposed rate adjustments were held on November 14th, December 6th, and December 12th and covered topics such as revenue requirements, operations and maintenance budget, capital improvements program, wastewater sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) program, customer bill impacts, financial projections and proposed updates to the Drought Management Plan.

The Public Utilities Staff (“Staff”) of the City’s Finance Department and SAWS staff reviewed potential adjustments to the original rate request of 11.3%. Based on these reviews, adjustments are recommended to the original request which are summarized below resulting in lowering the overall system-wide increase from 11.3% to 8.4%:

Original Rate Request

11.3%

Proposed Adjustments:

Updated Revenue Projections

(0.6%)

Inclusion of LCRA Payment

(0.3%)

Debt Program

(1.2%)

Capital Outlay – Fleet

(0.4%)

Reduce Operations & Maintenance

(0.3%)

Reserve Fund Adjustment

(0.1%)

Proposed Revised Request

8.4%

The Public Utilities Staff of the Finance Department conducted a comprehensive review of the proposed rate adjustments. Staff was involved in the process as SAWS was developing its revenue requirements and rate models. The review included areas such as the Economic/Rate Model; Key Financial Targets; Revenue Requirements; Proposed Capital Plan; Operations and Maintenance Budget; Financing Plan; Affordability Programs; and Credit Considerations.

During B-Session on January 16th, City Staff provided their recommendations on its comprehensive review of the proposed rate adjustments and recommended support of the overall 8.4% system wide increase which would become effective March 1, 2013. A detailed report (copy attached) from Staff was distributed on January 17th. The following summarizes other recommendations made in the report:

Þ Concur with the proposed updates to the Drought Management Plan incorporating such changes as the revisions to irrigation times for Stages Two – Four, allowing home car washing on Saturday and Sunday, revising restrictions on fountains and other revisions;

Þ Redirect a position(s) to a formal efficiency function, similar to the City’s Innovation and Reform Group that would focus on identifying efficiencies and making recommendations;

Þ Develop and plan and begin to review level of resources and service delivery in areas such as the following to identify potential efficiencies and improvements; results of reviews undertaken must be presented to the City in conjunction with the submission of a rate request for 2014;

o Public Affairs Department

o Engineering Department

o Customer Service Department

o Fleet Replacement and Maintenance

Þ Continue to comprehensively evaluate pension, health, and other benefits programs: include a potential audit of the eligibility of health plan dependents; provide recommendations with 2014 budget to address long-term strategy for managing these costs;

Þ Implement accountability procedures for the SSO Program to include the following:

o Establish a cost center to track all costs including operations and maintenance expenses and capital improvements

o Provide quarterly written progress reports which outline performance on the program to include operational statistics such as miles of lines cleaned and televised and financial information

Þ Resume briefings to City Council every other month; agenda to be managed by the City and should be focused on financial performance and key policy issues; key policy issues include items such as water supply projects (Request for Competitive Sealed Proposal process), drought management plan, conservation initiatives, and rate structure; these key issues should be aligned from a policy perspective;

Þ As part of rate structure review for future rate proposals, SAWS anticipates to begin a rate review with the Rates Advisory Committee in calendar year 2013; recommend inclusion of a policy discussion with City Council at the beginning of the process to provide input on various options; periodic updates to City Council on the rate structure review

ISSUE:

The proposed ordinances authorize the approval of adjustments to the San Antonio Water System’s (SAWS) water supply and wastewater rates respectively, which collectively result in an overall system wide increase of 8.4% and authorize the approval of various adjustments to the Drought Management Ordinance.

ALTERNATIVES:

The proposed rate adjustments could not be approved, however, financial pressure driven by increased operations, maintenance and capital improvement costs to include costs associated with addressing Sanitary Sewer Overflows would negatively impact the System.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The City receives 2.7% of gross revenues from SAWS. If the new rates become effective March 1, 2013, additional revenue of approximately $447,906 will be generated for the remainder of the City’s FY 2012-2013. On an annual basis, City payment would increase by approximately $767,838 beginning in FY 2013-2014.

The City’s utility expenses would also increase for FY 2012-2013 in the amount of approximately $67,000. On an annual basis, the City’s utility expenses will increase by approximately $115,000 beginning in FY 2013-2014.

RECOMMENDATION:

Based on the analysis outlined above, Staff’s professional recommendation is for approval of the overall 8.4% system wide increase with an effective date of March 1, 2013 and the proposed adjustments to the Drought Management Ordinance. Staff also made additional recommendations outlined above.

ATTACHMENT(S):

File Description File Name
City Staff Recommendation Memo City Staff Recommendation Memo.pdf
Chapter 34 of the City Code Proposed Drought Management Plan Draft Ch 34 Drought.pdf
Draft Ordinance A SAWS – 2013 Rate Ordinance 012813.pdf
Draft Ordinance B 260148.pdf
Voting Results
Voting Results

DEPARTMENT HEAD AUTHORIZATIONS:
Marion Gee Assistant Director Finance

APPROVED FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION:
Ben Gorzell Chief Financial Officer

By Josh Baugh

City Council Candidate Rolando Briones Jr Louisiana Purchase

In the late 2000s, District 8 City Council candidate Rolando Briones and his engineering firm were hard at work helping rebuild Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina devastated portions of the state.

Briones said his firm, Briones Consulting & Engineering Ltd., was there “trying to help cities rebuild,” but the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board wanted to know if he was licensed to do business in the state.

By his own admission, he was not.

In October 2011, that licensing agency that oversees the engineers, hit the Briones firm with a $1,000 fine — plus $549.47 in administrative costs — for doing business in Louisiana without the proper license.

Earlier in the year, it had sent a certified cease-and-desist letter instructing him to immediately stop using “the word engineering in conjunction with your firm’s activity in the state.”

Louisiana law prohibits the use of several words, including “engineering,” in “a person’s name or form of business or activity in the State of Louisiana without proper licensure.”

Briones said he made a mistake in not seeking a license when he began subcontracting work in 2007.

“I was unaware that the state rules required my firm to file for a license because I was not a prime on the contract,” he said.

The firm was doing “project management,” not “engineering” work, he said. And to this day, Briones has never “signed and sealed” engineering documents in Louisiana, he said.

Briones and Ron Nirenberg are seeking to replace outgoing Councilman Reed Williams, who decided not to run for re-election, making the District 8 race the only council election with an open seat. Nirenberg declined to comment for this report.

Briones said the Louisiana incident was a bit of a misunderstanding, and that the licensing board didn’t discover he was out of compliance until after it already had issued him a temporary license.

In February 2011, he received a letter from the board saying he’d been approved for the temporary permit. The year before, he’d applied for the license — twice. The first time, Briones said, his paperwork was lost. The second time, in December 2010, the application made it through and received board approval.

Then in April 2011, he received the cease-and-desist letter notifying that he was violating state law. He since has received a permanent license.

“I applied for a license and got a license and then they put these pieces together. And I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Briones said. “It’s just odd how I was told ‘yes’ and then I was told ‘no.’ It’s like one department wasn’t talking to the other department.”

The board’s investigation showed “that since at least May 2007, (Briones’ firm) has conducted business in Louisiana with the word ‘engineering’ in its name, including providing project management services for FEMA-funded repairs project in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, in 2007 and for the Louisiana Land Trust demolition project in Louisiana in 2009.”

According to the board’s consent order, which assessed the fine, Briones later sought certification as a “disadvantaged business enterprise contractor with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport,” the latter of which listed his firm as available to provide “Engineering-Civil, Structural; Construction Management, Project Management.”

By signing the board’s consent order, dated Oct. 14, 2011, Briones admitted to having worked in Louisiana without the proper license. He said in an interview Wednesday that he made a business decision to pay the fine rather than spend the time and expense of fighting the issue.

“The problem with that is that you are not required to read the rules and the regulations until you’re licensed as an engineer,” Briones said of the board’s sanction. “But I wasn’t doing engineering work. I wasn’t trying to do engineering work. I hadn’t been required to read the rules; so I didn’t read the rules.”

Briones has faced professional troubles before. In 2002, he was fired from his engineering job at the San Antonio Water System for “lack of leadership” and “willful violation of company policy.”

He has said the incident gave him the push to pursue his lifelong dream of business ownership. Briones Consulting & Engineering Ltd., now does work in 14 cities across seven states and employs 40 individuals, Briones said Wednesday.

His business website lists four locations under the “contact us” tab, including office suites in Houston, New Orleans and New York.

The Houston address is for a residential condo from which Briones Consulting & Engineering sometimes works, he said. Property records show the residential unit is owned individually by Briones.

When a reporter called the New Orleans building to confirm the engineering firm was a tenant, a building employee said the “suites” actually were post office boxes inside an on-site UPS store.

Anyone can claim a suite on “prestigious 5th Ave in New York City,” through a business like NYMAIL.com and NYCvirtualoffice.com — which actually appear to be the same company. A search of public records results in countless businesses listing suites at the same address.

“Our mailbox service enables you to send and receive mail globally and supplies you with a company mailbox address on New York’s honored Fifth Avenue,” the NYMAIL website reads.

Briones confirmed the New Orleans and New York addresses are for post office boxes. He said he runs a small business that is “very cost conscious,” and such mail services allow his company to remain nimble. He also said he keeps apartments in New York and New Orleans, though those aren’t the addresses he lists on his company website.

“I’m a small business. I watch every single dollar,” he said. “I like having P.O. Boxes because I can have mail routed. It’s more efficient. They offer other services.”

Though his business site prefers the term “suite,” Briones eschews it on his campaign site, which lists a simple P.O. Box for incoming mail.

jbaugh@express-news.net

Congressman Joaquin Castro Votes Against A Balanced Budget

H RES 48

Democrat Congressman Joaquin Castro Votes Against A Balanced Budget Submitted By President Barack Obama

On Agreeing to the Resolution

Providing for Consideration of the Bill (H.R. 444) to Require That, If the President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Does Not Achieve Balance in a Fiscal Year Covered by Such Budget, the President Shall Submit a Supplemental Unified Budget by April 1, 2013, Which Identifies a Fiscal Year in Which Balance is Achieved

Congressman Joaquin Castro Votes Against A Balanced Budget

 Democrat Joaquin Castro has a history of not voting for balanced budgets

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

1. Jill Deyoung Chief of Staff to San Antonio City Councilman District 8 Reed Williams also being paid by San Antonio City Council Candidate for District 8 Rolando Briones Jr

City Staff Double Dipping Reed Williams, Diego Bernal and Leticia Ozuna

City Staff Double Dipping Reed Williams, Diego Bernal and Leticia Ozuna

2. Kevin Lopez Chief of Staff to Diego Bernal ( Kevin Lopez owner of Politico) Being paid by both Leticia Ozuna and Diego Bernal

City Staff Double Dipping Reed Williams, Diego Bernal and Leticia Ozuna

City Staff Double Dipping Reed Williams, Diego Bernal and Leticia Ozuna

City Staff Double Dipping Reed Williams, Diego Bernal and Leticia Ozuna

Baby crushed by car containing China one-child policy team

Chinese One Child Policy Team Crushes Baby With Car For Parents Not Paying Fine

BEIJING – A 13-month-old child was fatally crushed by a car containing Chinese officials after they went to collect a fine from the parents for breaching the country’s one-child policy, according to Chinese state media.

The incident reportedly occurred Monday in Dongshantou village near Wenzhou city in the eastern province of Zhejiang, after a delegation of 11 officials from the Ruian Town birth control office drove out to get the unspecified fine.

This did not go down well with the father, Chen Liandi, 39, and the conversation got heated.

According to a briefing given by the Ruian Municipal Propaganda Department and reported by state media, the officials convinced Chen’s wife, Li Yuhong, to accompany them back to Ruian to talk over the couple’s options.

The baby was reportedly left in the hands of his father and the group got back into their cars to leave.

What happened next remains unclear – perhaps due to the politically sensitive nature of this story – but the boy was then found crushed underneath a car.      

He was rushed to the Third People’s Hospital in Ruian, but could not be saved.

‘You were too careless’
On China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, users expressed frustration over the vague account given by Ruian officials and demanded more information, but no other Chinese press have printed much beyond the official government account.

For many in China, the story brings back uncomfortable memories of Feng Jiemei, who last June posted gruesome photographs of her lying in a hospital bed next to her 7-month-old aborted fetus.

Feng’s story created a social firestorm for Beijing when word got out that the 22-year-old mother had been forced to have the abortion because she did not have enough money to pay the $6,400 fine for having a second child.

“I told you, $6,400, not even a penny less. I told your dad that and he said he has no money,” a family planning official wrote to Deng in a blunt text message that quickly went viral. “You were too careless, you didn’t think this was a big deal.”

Feng was grabbed from her home and taken to a local hospital in her native Shaanxi province where she was blindfolded, thrown on a bed and forced to a sign a document she couldn’t read. Thirty hours later, her baby girl was aborted.

China has long defended its one-child policy as a way to prevent overpopulation and to help raise living standards across the country.

However, some experts in China and abroad argue that the policy has outlived its usefulness and may instead be a detriment to future growth.

Others in China have pointed out the abuses meted out in cases like Feng Jiemei’s show that it causes more social harm and have called on Beijing to remove it.

However Beijing just last month reaffirmed its support for the policy.

NBC News’ Le Li contributed to this report.

American drone deaths highlight controversy

President Obama Drone Killed 16 Year Old From Denver

Of the scores of people dubbed terrorists and taken out by American military drone strikes, three men — all killed in the fall of 2011 — were U.S. citizens.

And their lives illustrate the complexity of the issue, recently brought to light amid a newly discovered government memo that provides the legal reasoning behind drone strikes on Americans.

Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan were killed by a missile strike in Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011, while al-Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman, was killed in the country just weeks later. 

Since the attacks, family members have called the deaths unjust and sued the U.S. government, calling the killings unconstitutional.

Anwar al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico, became well known for his fiery anti-American sermons posted throughout the Internet.

But the most controversial drone strike took place on Oct. 14, 2011, when 16-year-old Abdulrahman was killed by U.S. forces.

Family of the Denver-born teenager say he had no ties to terrorist organizations and was unjustly targeted because of his father.  

Nassar al-Awlaki, grandfather of Abdulrahman and father to Anwar, said he tried to protect his grandson as Anwar al-Awlaki’s profile grew.

In December, Nassar al-Awlaki told CNN, “In Anwar it was expected because he was under targeted killing, but how in the world they will go and kill Abdulrahman. Small boy, U.S. citizen from Denver, Colorado.”

Nassar al-Awlaki said his grandson snuck out of their Yemen home one night, leaving a note for his mother saying he would return in a few days. The boy never returned, killed instead while eating at an outdoor restaurant.

“Since the issue regarding Anwar came, I tried to insulate the family of Anwar from everything, regarding this matter,” Nassar al-Awlaki told CNN. “I took care of him, and suddenly after 2 year absence from his father, he decided to go to our government in Yemen to seek information from his father. That was the only reason he went, and he did not tell us.”

The Obama administration has remained mostly mum regarding Abdulrahman’s death, and at times has struggled to explain it. 

“I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father if they are truly concerned about the well-being of their children,” former White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said to a gaggle of reporters in October. “I don’t think becoming an al-Qaeda jihadist terrorist is the best way to go about doing your business.”

During his presidential campaign, Republican Rep. Ron Paul criticized the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, saying: “Al-Awlaki was born here, he is an American citizen. He was never tried or charged for any crimes. No one knows if he killed anybody. … But if the American people accept this blindly and casually that we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys, I think it’s sad.”

Anwar al-Awlaki’s ties to the United States go back to his father Nassar, who came to the country to earn a master’s degree. His son was born in New Mexico, and though the family returned to Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki came back to the U.S. for college, eventually becoming an iman.

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, he became a popular spokesman for moderate Islam, and was often used to juxtapose perceptions that Islam is a religion that spreads hate.  But less than a decade later, he was hiding in Yemen as a name on the CIA’s kill list.

“I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other Muslim,” he said in an audio message in March 2010.

Conversely, Khan was never interested in the peaceful side of Islam. The New York Times reports that as a teen, Khan’s attraction grew exponentially to militant sites on the Internet after 9/11. Parental concerns and intervention from community leaders proved unsuccessful. Khan was 25 when he died in Yemen.

In July 2012, Samir Khan’s mother, Sarah, joined Nassar al-Awlaki in a lawsuit against four senior national security officials.

“I don’t really necessarily agree with some of the things Anwar said against the United States, but does that mean they should kill him outside the law?” asked Nassar al-Awlaki.

By Josh Baugh / Express News

The Egg Candidate For District 8 Rolando Briones Refused To Eat

Former Mayor Phil Hardberger has a long-standing policy not to involve himself in other people’s political campaigns. But rules, like eggs, are made to be broken.

Hardberger has decided to enter the fray in the District 8 race with a robust endorsement of Ron Nirenberg. And he’s definitely not walking on eggshells.

Egg references are likely to be a mainstay in the District 8 race, in which frontrunner Rolando Briones, the owner of an engineering firm, claimed in a local magazine article that he’d been fired from the San Antonio Water System for refusing to swallow a raw egg, shell included.

According to federal court documents, Briones lost his job for accepting gifts from SAWS contractors.

On Thursday, San Antonio Express-News Columnist Brian Chasnoff exposed the discrepancy, and Hardberger seized the moment that evening at a fundraiser for Nirenberg.

Holding an unassuming brown egg, Hardberger stood in the banquet hall at La Fonda on Main Avenue and told a fable about Briones’ attempt to use the media to recast the egg incident — which happened more than a year after he’d been fired — to suit his campaign, supporters recounted.

Briones maintains he didn’t lie, that the bizarre egg incident was representative of a tainted management culture at SAWS and that the way it was used in San Antonio Man magazine was “a misunderstanding.”

“I didn’t mean to give the impression that I was there,” he said. “And what the story didn’t say was that it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It gave me the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning my own business.”

Briones said he now contracts with SAWS as well.

But Hardberger sees things differently.

“I think (Chasnoff’s column) shows something. It shows that a person would be willing to not only bend but actually fabricate facts to suit his own ends,” Hardberger said in an interview. “So, I don’t know if Ron would eat a raw egg or not, but if he told me he did, I would believe him, and if he told me he did not, I would also believe him.”

Though the egg makes good political theater, it’s a story that broke long after Hardberger decided that he’d make an exception to his no-endorsement rule.

He recalls only one other exception — for Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, “because I’ve known him since he was president of the student body at UT.”

The former mayor’s Nirenberg endorsement hinges, he said, on the qualities he sees in the 35-year-old associate general manager for Trinity University‘s KRTU radio station.

“It came in my belief in Ron, not from any disbelief in Briones,” Hardberger said. “I never have actually talked to (Briones), but I felt that Ron was the candidate of choice, regardless of who’s going to run against him. It’d just be hard to beat him in terms of what he brings to the table.”

Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University, said that if Hardberger is well respected by voters, then his endorsement will likely signal that they should take a harder look at Nirenberg, considered to be the underdog in the District 8 race.

The endorsement “sort of directs your attention to (Nirenberg) and most voters don’t spend a lot of time doing due diligence, digging into the background of candidates for city office,” Jillson said. “And so any time attention is directed to a candidate, that is a good thing. And if the person directing attention is well respected, on the margin it could help.”

Hardberger also was one of seven living mayors to publicly back the successful Pre-K 4 SA campaign, championed by Mayor Julián Castro in 2012.

Former Hardberger political consultant Christian Archer said the endorsement will help Nirenberg in a number of ways. Hardberger is a prolific fundraiser, a trusted political icon in San Antonio and his support is exclusive, Archer said.

The endorsement “is going to raise a lot of eyebrows,” he said.

Nirenberg said he was humbled by the endorsement and knows that it brings with it a “huge responsibility.” He and Hardberger say they share common values about how the city should be run.

The two aren’t longtime friends. Hardberger recalled Nirenberg asking for meetings, where he introduced himself, told the former mayor he was running for office and asked for ideas.

Hardberger said he knew the meetings were leading to a request for support, but they weren’t like most appeals for help.

“He came to me first for ideas, but most people, when they come to you for ideas, they’re about five minutes of your ideas and about 95 percent of selling themselves,” Hardberger said. “With him, it was the opposite.”

Those conversations were steeped in the minutiae of government.

“We didn’t get into the politics of it — what’s popular, what’s not, and so forth,” Hardberger said. “But we did talk about what’s important to San Antonio.”

Hardberger said he liked Nirenberg’s “nuanced” position on protecting the quality of Edwards Aquifer water and ensuring there’s not too much concrete preventing water from getting into the ground.

“But yet he’s smart enough to know that development is part of the growth of the city. You’ve got to have a certain amount of development, a certain amount of money coming in,” Hardberger said. “Business interests are very important to the running of the government, but a public official’s job is to control that, not to simply hand the keys to one section of the community and say, ‘Do anything you want to do, no matter what.’ That’s bad.”

Hardberger was referencing the source of Briones’ hefty campaign account, rife with contributions from members of the development community.

Briones did not deny that he would represent the development community if he’s elected but continually referenced his would-be constituency.

“All that matters is the voters,” he said. “I’ll always have their best interest at heart. … I’ve talked to voters along the way, and I’ve assured them that I’m there to represent them.”

Hardberger continued to meet with Nirenberg, and eventually with former District 8 Councilwoman Bonnie Conner, Nirenberg’s campaign treasurer, as well.

“But I had this kind of rule, and at some point I told him I don’t endorse candidates,” Hardberger said. “And then I got to thinking about how much good he could do and maybe I should rethink that — when you have an especially qualified candidate.”

Though Hardberger has put all his eggs in Nirenberg’s basket, he’s not signaling a new emergence in political campaigns.

“I’m pretty well going to stick to the rule. I’m never going to do much endorsing,” Hardberger said. “To be honest, sometimes I think it weakens the endorsement if you’ve got this favorite and that favorite and you’re endorsing this one and that one, and I don’t want to do that. I want to be few and far between. And I want to have really good reasons.”

jbaugh@express-news.net

Bexar County Jail inmate dies

By Eva Ruth Moravec

Unknown Death At County Jail Under Sheriff Susan Pamerleau Watch

Antonio Obregon, 32, was pronounced dead at San Antonio Military Medical Center at 7:20 p.m., according to officials. The cause of his death was unknown.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Paul Berry said a guard in a day room saw Obregon lying on the floor and bleeding, apparently from a fall. There was no fight, no weapons or contraband was found, and there was no indication of drug use or self-harm, Berry said.

Just five minutes before Obregon was found unresponsive, he was seen alone and nothing was out of the ordinary. Berry said Obregon was arrested in October for aggravated robbery, and according to records, a judge set bail at $75,000.

“When people are brought to this jail, it is our duty to keep them safe,” Berry said, adding that officials continue to investigate the fatality.

emoravec@express-news.net

Twitter: @EvaRuth

By LAUREN D’AVOLIO and MANNY FERNANDEZ

Texas Prosecutor Mark E Hasse Shot Dead A Block From Courthouse

KAUFMAN, Tex. — A county prosecutor in this small town southeast of Dallas was fatally shot on Thursday morning near the courthouse by one or perhaps two gunmen, whom witnesses described as wearing masks, black clothing and tactical-style vests, the authorities said.

The prosecutor, Mark E. Hasse, worked in the Kaufman County district attorney’s office in Kaufman, a town of 6,800 people about 35 miles from Dallas. He was shot several times shortly before 9 a.m. as he walked in an employee parking lot about a block from the courthouse.

The authorities said the suspect or suspects got out of a Ford Taurus, opened fire on Mr. Hasse and then returned to the car and drove away. Investigators were trying to determine why Mr. Hasse was targeted and if the shooting had anything to do with cases he had prosecuted.

“I’ve been doing this 43 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said David A. Byrnes, the Kaufman County sheriff.

Mr. Hasse, 57, was the county’s lead felony prosecutor and a well-respected assistant district attorney. He received his law degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and in the 1980s served as a prosecutor in the Dallas County district attorney’s office, where he had been the chief of the organized-crime section.

Kaufman County prosecutors have been involved in investigations of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang. In November, federal officials in Houston thanked a number of local agencies for their work — including Kaufman County prosecutors — when more than 30 senior leaders and other members of the gang were indicted on federal racketeering charges.

Officials said they were reviewing Mr. Hasse’s current cases — as many as 400 of them — and previous ones for leads.

Lawyers and prosecutors throughout North Texas were stunned by the attack. The Dallas County district attorney, Craig Watkins, sent an e-mail encouraging his employees to exercise caution.

“There’s a lot of shock,” said David Finn, a criminal defense lawyer in Dallas and former federal prosecutor who knew Mr. Hasse. “Where this happened, it’s not New York City or Dallas or L.A. or Chicago. This is a very, very, very small community, and for this to happen out there, it’s a huge deal. It’s incredibly brazen.”

The Kaufman County district attorney, Mike McLelland, said his office had suffered a devastating loss. “Mark was an excellent friend and a spectacular prosecutor,” he said.

After the shooting, the Kaufman County Courthouse went into lockdown and then was closed as officers and agents from local, state and federal agencies searched the streets nearby.

Area schools, including the campuses of the Kaufman Independent School District, were also placed on lockdown.

By Snejana Farberov

Colorado High School Teacher Grades Papers, Gets High and Tweets About It

A 23-year-old math teacher has been suspended from her job after it was revealed she had been posting half-naked photos of herself on Twitter and joking about using drugs at school.

Carly McKinney, a math teacher at Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado, was placed on paid administrative leave on Tuesday after admitting to a local TV station that she created the Twitter account CarlyCrunkBear (@crunk_bear) with the help of a friend.

The page, which has since been taken down, included explicit photos of the blonde teacher along with multiple posts about smoking marijuana on school grounds.

 

Trouble: Carly McKinney, a math teacher at Overland High School in Aurora, was placed on paid administrative leave on Tuesday after admitting to a local TV station that she created the Twitter account CarlyCrunkBear

Questionable conduct: The 23-year-old math teacher apparently referred to a student who called her Ms McCutie as ‘jail bait’ online

 

Racy: Carla’s Twitter page included provocative photos along with many posts about using drugs

The explosive allegations came to light after 9 News was tipped off about the Twitter account by a viewer Monday. McKinney later admitted to the TV station that she was behind the tweets.

One post read: ‘Naked. Wet. Stoned,’ while another said: ‘Watching a drug bust go down in the parking lot. It’s funny cuz I have weed in my car in the staff parking lot.’

Other messages suggested that the teacher was grading papers while under the influence of drugs and spending time on Twitter ‘instead of being productive’ during the school day.

In a bizarre twist, one of the most revealing photos allegedly depicting McKinney doing a handstand wearing only a paid of lacy panties was retweeted by DJ Diplo to promote his newest single, Express Yourself, iDigital Times reported.

The first-year teacher and a friend told 9News that the Twitter account was intended as a parody.

The 23-year-old woman claimed that she was not aware of some of the provocative posts her unnamed friend was making, adding that she never was in possession of drugs on school property.

Naughty: The 23-year-old teacher claimed that she and a friend created the page as a parody, and that it she never was in possession of drugs during the school day

‘Girl gone wild’: McKinney joked on her Twitter account that she was grading papers while high and kept a stash of marijuana in her car on school property

Cherry Creek School District officials responded by saying that all employees are trained about social media use and are encouraged not to post anything online that they would not want to put on the classroom blackboard.

Officials, however, added that teachers have first amendment right to free speech, especially in so far as personal social media sites are concerned

In a phone interview with MailOnline Tuesday evening, Tustin Amole, director of communications for Cherry Creek School District, said that officials launched an investigation into McKinney’s conduct after learning of the allegations from 9News. 

 

Short career: McKinney has not been named in any other complaints during her tenure at the school

Scene: A Cherry Creek Schools teacher must explain to district officials why a Twitter page contained half-naked photos and a claim of possessing marijuana on school grounds

Amole emphasized that the paid administrative leave is not a disciplinary action, but rather a routine measure.

According to the district spokesperson, the main goal of the probe is to determine whether the 23-year-old educator used or was in possession of drugs on school property, which is illegal under state law.

Amole went on to say that to the best of her knowledge, McKinney has not been named in any other complaints during her tenure at the school. 

• By IAN MOHR

NFL Legend Dan Marino Had Love Child With Pregame Analyst for CBS

Dan Marino is famous for his touchdowns — but the Hall of Famer’s scoring off the field is downright shocking.

The married gridiron great — a pregame analyst for CBS since 2003 who will be doing this Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast — sired a love child with a network underling and then paid her millions to keep quiet, sources have exclusively told The Post.

The ex-Miami Dolphin QB — who has long had an image as one of pro sports’ most squeaky-clean guys — knocked up Donna Savattere, a then-35-year-old production assistant at CBS Sports’ Manhattan studio.

Adriel Reboh/Patrick McMullan.com

CUTIE: Donna Savattere with Chloe, her daughter from an affair with NFL great Dan Marino.

She gave birth to their daughter, Chloe, in June 2005.

“They had an affair, and she had a baby,” said a source. “Everything was on the down-low and secretive.”

News of the affair and child comes as Marino is set to work Sunday’s big “Super Bowl Today” telecast.

He and other former NFL greats, such as Boomer Esiason and Shannon Sharpe, will jaw about the big game for hours before the 6:30 p.m. kickoff between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. The revelation could make for some awkward moments during the long broadcast, which starts at 2 p.m.

CBS said in a statement today, “Dan has said all there is to say on this matter, and will be in his usual role on our broadcast Super Bowl Sunday.”

Marino yesterday admitted to his dalliance.

“This is a personal and private matter. I take full responsibility both personally and financially for my actions now as I did then,” he told The Post in a written statement. “We mutually agreed to keep our arrangement private to protect all parties involved.”

New York Post

Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino had an affair with a CBS employee and later paid the woman millions of dollars to support their daughter, sources say.

At the time of the affair and Chloe’s birth, Marino was married to his wife of 20 years, Claire, with whom he had six kids, including four sons and two adopted daughters.

The birth of baby Chloe came about two months before Marino’s Hall of Fame induction — at which his son Daniel made what danmarino.com called “a moving tribute to his father.”

Marino insisted that his marriage is still intact, despite the affair.

“My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years and have six children together,” he wrote yesterday — which happened to be his 28th wedding anniversary.

“And we continue to be a strong and loving family.”

Marino agreed to pay Savattere millions to care for Chloe, sources say, and she moved to Texas as part of the deal.

It’s not clear exactly how much Marino paid. But after getting the dough, Savattere apparently started living large.

She soon returned to New York from the Lone Star State, splitting her time between the Upper West Side and the Hamptons, where she became a fixture on the social scene.

She was even snapped by society photographers such as Patrick McMullan and New York Social Diary.

The source said that Marino, 51, has been in touch with his now-7-year-old daughter.

“They would have impromptu meetings, which was part of the deal,” a source said.

“Donna was always saying she had to go meet with her lawyers to go over the scheduling and other issues.”

A source said that Savaterre confided to close pals that the father was Marino and showed them photographs of her and the quarterback together at restaurants and clubs.

She later married Nahill Younis, whom she met in the Bahamas in 2009.

She also petitioned to change the name of her and Marino’s daughter from Chloe Alexis Savattere to Chloe Alexis Younis, according to records.

A wedding announcement for the couple on a Hamptons Web site says: “Donna was already a mother when Nahill met her, and Donna’s daughter quickly became an important part of his life.”

She and Younis have since had a child together.

Donna was previously married to a New Jersey state trooper, a source said. But that source added that the marriage ended before the brief fling with Marino began.

Reps for Younis declined to comment.

In addition to his Super Bowl appearance this weekend, Marino will be featured in an ESPN documentary this spring.

imohr@nypost.com

By Vianna Davila / Express News

San Antonio City Council Sides With Towing Companies Not The People

City Council passed a new towing ordinance Thursday morning that more than doubles how much companies can charge to haul away illegally parked vehicles but also imposes greater restrictions and regulations on San Antonio’s towing industry.

The ordinance was passed without discussion. It raises the cost of a nonconsent, light-duty tow from $85 to $177.

The new rules go into effect Feb. 10, said Deputy City Manager Erik Walsh.

The existing fee, in place since 2002, has been a point of contention since last spring, when police started to crack down on some towing companies that charged more than what the city allowed. In particular, law enforcement cited Bexar Towing hundreds of times for charging nearly three times more than the $85 cap, with the total towing bill nearly $300.

Bexar Towing founder John DeLoach argued he was within his rights to charge $250, plus more than $40 in other legally sanctioned fees, because that’s the maximum state law allows. Last week, a Municipal Court judge found him guilty of overcharging in at least one case. He plans to appeal.

But with the higher limit on fees comes more intense scrutiny. The new ordinance adopts some rules already outlined in the state code that regulates towing. The state code was referenced in the previous ordinance but many of the rules weren’t specifically outlined in the city rules. The city policy also needed to be adjusted to match state code, which had changed since the city adopted its ordinance in 2002, said San Antonio Police Det. Glenn Condon, with the department’s auto theft unit.

Among the state rules now addressed in the city code is a requirement that tow drivers release a vehicle to its owner for free if that vehicle is not fully hooked up to the tow truck and ready for transport.

Other aspects of the new ordinance include:

A fuel adjustment schedule, that will lower or raise the cost of a nonconsent tow if the price of diesel fuel drops below $3.83 per gallon or goes above $3.95 per gallon. The city will review fuel prices every December.

An $88.50 “drop fee,” the amount a vehicle owner can pay if the vehicle is fully hooked up to a tow truck but hasn’t left a lot. The previous drop fee was $85.

A requirement that tow truck drivers call police and inform them when they “drop” a vehicle. Under the previous rule, tow trucks only has to call police when they towed a vehicle.

Rules about signs posted at parking lots where towing is enforced will now comply with state law and allow a property owner to request signs from the towing company. Previously, property owners had to obtain the signs themselves.

For the first time, the ordinance explains how local towing companies can request a study to re-examine towing charges. State law allows tow companies to request such a study, but San Antonio had no formal rules in place.

However, the new ordinance also implements a four-year stay between tow fee studies, and would require tow companies to pay $5,000 to offset the study costs.

vdavila@express-news.net

By Amanda Lozano / La Prensa
amanda@laprensasa.com

Councilman Cris Medina Boosts Technology for Some Low Income Residents

A good number of San Antonio residents are living in low-income housing apartment complexes. Unfortunately, many of the complexes are egarded as dangerous and full of crime. This is where the Alamo Area Mutual Housing Association (AAMHA) comes in. AAMHA is a nonprofit developer of multi-family affordable housing. The housing complexes they manage are different from most. A facility called the “Learning Center” is provided at each of their nine communities. The centers provide a comfortable environment for various programs that develop leadership, economic literacy, and community wellness. The programs are for all residents, regardless of age. Earlier this year, District 7 Councilman Cris Medina donated $20,000 to AAMHA. Thanks to his donation, the organization was able to replace the computers in all nine apartment complexes housing centers. Last Friday, Councilman Medina was honored at a ribbon cutting ceremony and renaming of the learning centers. “This property falls in his district, and we thought this would be a great way to say thank you back to him,” Michael Shackelford, special projects manager for AAMHA said. “We are able to provide better services and improve services with faster and better computers. We are excited to provide these services and be able to help people grow. This is such a big event for us.” Cris Medina added, “I want to thank everyone at Alamo Mutual Housing for advocating so hard for their community and all the families here. How can you say no to the kids? It’s a gratifying day that we are able to make an impact for the future.”

By Brian Chasnoff, Express-News columnist

The twin brother of Mayor Julián Castro wasn’t worried about his own political prospects, for good reason: He drew no opponents in the primary and predictably won the 20th Congressional District in November. But using a list of reliable voters that day to target his block-walking, bypassing row upon row of homes, Castro was worried about the future of the Democratic Party in Texas.

Battleground Texas : Texas Democrats Knocking On Ignored Doors To Win Texas

“I was thinking, ‘God, it’s the same thing over and over,’” he said. “And I thought, ‘What about all these other people?’”

That’s a question national Democrats are tackling head-on these days. In an initiative expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, strategists filed this month with the Texas Ethics Commission to create a new organization, dubbed “Battleground Texas,” to identify and mobilize progressive voters in deep-red Texas, according to Politico.

Castro’s idea, conceived that day on the campaign trail, is more modest in scale. But its creative approach might inform the myriad efforts here to revitalize Democrats, who haven’t won a statewide election in two decades.

“My approach was trying to leverage engaged citizens,” Castro said, “consistent voters, to get inconsistent voters to vote.”

He named it the “Victoria Project” after his late grandmother.

The premise is simple: Every reliable voter has a constellation of friends and relatives who don’t vote, and “we can leverage our personal relationships to encourage people to do things,” Castro says, “and one of those things is voting.”

Each voter would cast a personal appeal powerful enough to motivate nonvoters to cast ballots.

Castro offered a fictional example: Maria Fernandez, whose father died from diabetes, emails 10 people “who really cared for her dad” with a message that “combines a personal narrative with a policy imperative.” In other words, Fernandez mourns both her father and GOP policy on health care.

For the recipients, it could prove the sole act of political persuasion they encounter all season.

“These inconsistent voters, they’re not getting any phone-banking, mail or block-walking,” Castro said. “There’s essentially a funnel effect that occurs where you start to ignore more and more people.”

Castro liked the idea enough to use it in his own campaign. About 50 people participated, targeting about 300 inconsistent voters, and data showed it worked with about 100 people, he said.

“It’s very intensive work,” Castro said. “There’s a lot of follow-through and a lot of handholding because you’ve got to help people craft the message.”

In this era of Texas politics, disgruntled Democrats should have little difficulty crafting messages. Gov. Rick Perry‘s threat to fight an expansion of Medicaid, for instance, is a no-brainer.

More than 6 million Texans, or 24 percent of residents, lack health insurance, the highest share in the nation. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government would pay about 90 percent of the cost of coverage for low-income adults over the next 10 years.

That would insure about 2 million people, reducing Texas’s uninsured rate by about 25 percent.

On Monday, Billy Hamilton, a consultant who once served as the state’s chief revenue estimator, issued a report calling the Medicaid expansion a “smart, affordable and fair” choice for Texas. Huge savings, he argues, would offset state spending, and thousands of jobs would be created.

Also, the expansion would save the lives of about 5,700 adults and 2,700 children every year. Democrats looking for a personal appeal could start there.

“If you don’t try to sell an argument in politics, nobody’s going to buy it,” Castro says. Texas Republicans “are getting to the point of being radical.

“I’m not saying it’s the most liberal state in the nation. But it shouldn’t be the craziest.”

bchasnoff@express-news.net

City Council candidate ends up with egg on his face

By Brian Chasnoff / Express News

In the current issue of San Antonio Man Magazine, a fawning profile of District 8 City Council candidate Rolando Briones informs readers he was fired from the San Antonio Water System for refusing to eat a raw egg. Ron Aaron Eisenberg, who wrote the profile, says that’s what Briones told him.

City Council Candidate for District 8 Rolando Briones Caught Lying

There’s just one thing wrong with the story: It’s not true.

Briones was fired from SAWS in 2002 for “lack of leadership” and “willful violation of company policy,” according to SAWS documents. More specifically, he was fired for “acceptance of gifts from SAWS’ contractors,” according to documents filed in a federal lawsuit.

Briones admits he accepted “meals and golf outings” from vendors and defends this as a normal course of doing business. The magazine profile, though, mentions none of this. It paints Briones as a righteous victim of retired Air Force Gen. Eugene Habiger, who was CEO of SAWS at the time.

Its first few paragraphs, while painfully obsequious, bear reprinting:

“How do you go from earning $15,000 (sic) a year in 2002 to grossing over $9 million dollars (sic) in 2012?” Eisenberg writes. “Just ask Rolando Briones, 43. He’s done it and he’s done it on his own.

“It all began with getting fired from (SAWS). Briones loved working for SAWS. … But like many who worked for the San Antonio-owned water company, he did not get along with (Habiger). The fact is, a lot of folks didn’t get along with ‘the General,’ as he was called.

“The end came when Briones refused to swallow raw eggs at a SAWS staff meeting. … No eggs, no job!”

The profile goes on to laud Briones for starting a successful engineering firm.

The egg incident actually occurred. Habiger describes it as a “motivational” exercise at a meeting for SAWS’ Combined Charities Campaign in 2003. About 50 vice presidents, directors and managers were encouraged to eat raw eggs, shell and all.

But Briones no longer was a SAWS employee when they did.

His termination “occurred about a year before the raw egg incident, so Briones wasn’t even around,” Habiger told me. “So that’s totally bogus. He was terminated for cause, for inappropriate professional behavior. He is so far off base.”

Briones’ whitewash of his record doesn’t sit well with Habiger, who once commanded America’s nuclear arsenal as former head of the U.S. Strategic Command.

“His assertions are totally untrue and totally inappropriate for an elected official in San Antonio, Texas,” Habiger said.

To straighten this out, I called Briones on Wednesday, the first day candidates could file to run for the City Council. (Briones filed first in District 8.)

He tried to tap-dance around the raw egg.

“I think (Eisenberg) meant to say that figuratively,” Briones said. “He did not quote me. But that was the environment I felt we were being exposed to. I thought it was a very military-esque environment.”

I asked him how such a literal phrase, “the end came when Briones refused to swallow raw eggs at a SAWS staff meeting,” could be written “figuratively.”

“It may sound literal, but he did not quote me,” Briones said. “I was not at that meeting.”

I called Eisenberg to clarify exactly what Briones had told him.

“I just wrote what (Briones) told me,” Eisenberg said. “I asked him, ‘Did you go to the meeting where allegedly staff were asked to swallow raw eggs?’ And he said, ‘I did, and I refused to do that.’”

(In an email to an editor, Eisenberg wrote, “Rolando did tell me that he refused to eat the eggs!”)

Amid all the runny yolk, here’s my take: In the service of a glowing profile, Briones lied to Eisenberg. He then lied to me about lying to Eisenberg. Ironically, this attempt to erase an ethical blot on his record only resulted in highlighting it.

This would almost be amusing if Briones weren’t actually angling for City Hall.

bchasnoff@express-news.net

By La Prensa Staff

Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti Warns Taxpayers

January 31 is the last day to pay your 2012 property taxes without penalty and interest, Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector, Albert Uresti, has an urgent message for taxpayers: “We want our taxpayers to understand that our goal is keep families in their homes and that my office is here to help. Part of improving customer service is educating our citizens on how they can avoid additional charges on their tax bill by paying their taxes on time,” said Uresti.

Beginning February 1, all unpaid tax accounts will be assessed an additional 7% for penalty and interest, which will continue to increase monthly until the taxes are paid in full. The penalty and interest can go as high as 18% by July, plus, an additional 15-20% attorney collection fee will also be charged on July 1, 2013. These penalties, interest, and fees are required by law (not the Tax Assessor) to be added to property owners’ bills.

“One of our primary goals continues to be helping our Senior Citizens and our Disabled. These persons with Over-65 and Disability exemptions are offered an additional payment option to choose from, allowing them to pay their taxes in four installments instead of one. Additionally, Senior and Disabled Citizens who do not become delinquent under this 4-Quarter payment plan will not incur any penalties or interest,” said Uresti.

These two groups have until January 31 to make the 1st installment of this 4-Quarter payment plan. The bill is broken up into 4 equal installment payments with due dates of January, March, May, and July. Uresti’s goal is to make monthly payment plans available to all taxpayers in future years.

To accommodate taxpayers who still need to pay their tax bill by the January 31 deadline, the Tax Assessor-Collector’s office will extend its hours of operation. All four locations of the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector’s offices will be open from 8 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 30 and Thursday, January 31.

In addition to the extended hours, the main office at 233 N. Pecos and W. Martin will have two convenient curb payment drop-off sites open from the hours of 7:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. The other three Tax Assessor substations will also have payment drop-off sites from 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. All drop-off sites will only take checks. All cash and credit card transactions must be conducted inside the tax offices. Taxpayers who may have misplaced their tax bill or have questions about their 2012 tax amount owed should contact the tax office at (210) 335-2251, or they may verify their bill on the internet by going to the website at www.bexar.org/tax.

The internet site also includes expanded payment methods for those who wish to pay by credit card or e-check. Credit card and E-check payments may be made on-line through the Tax Office website, www.bexar.org/tax, or by calling 1-888-852-3572. Transactions must be completed before midnight on January 31. Credit card and e-Check services have an added processing fee customers must pay to the payment processing companies. Payments mailed to the office must be postmarked by January 31. Taxpayers who mail payments on the due date are encouraged to register, certify, or obtain a certificate of mailing for their envelope to ensure an accurate postmark date and timely receipt.

By N. Paul Berry / La Prensa

Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau Brings Back Legendary Image

Bexar County Sheriff, Susan Pamerleau has reinstated an optional western hat policy for deputies, effective immediately. The move brings back he legendary image of the Texas Sheriff that has been missing almost two decades. Pamerleau sported her new Stetson hat after addressing ommissioners Court today. “I have heard from many deputies that they wanted the western hat to return,” said Pamerleau. “They feel, and I agree, the hat distinguishes them from other police officers and allows citizens to quickly identify them as Sheriff’s Deputies.” The western hat was banned in the 1990’s by a previous Bexar County Sheriff, as part of a new uniform policy. The new policy allows deputies, who are so inclined, to wear specific western headgear with their standard, Class A uniform. During winter months a traditional, felt construction, “silver belly” gray hat can be worn. During summer months, the traditional, natural color straw construction hat may be worn. During inclement eather, form-fitting, clear plastic covers may be worn over the western headgear. The western hats with a flat brim, or hats with decorations, such as feathers, are not authorized as part of the policy. Wearing the western headgear is not mandatory. “I think it’s great and it will do a lot for orale,” said Lt. Tom Roach, who has been with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office since 1985. “We are Texas Sheriff’s Deputies, and the time-honored tradition of the western hat should be part of our uniform.” The new policy comes just before the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo begins. “I expect we’ll see many deputies wearing their hats at the rodeo and from this point forward,” added Pamerleau.