Before we dive into to Wednesday’s meeting, I want to rant for a sec: Hays County under scrutiny for nearly $2.5 million loss of funds. Originally, the county got $7 million for rental assistance, back in January 2021. And we just…didn’t spend it. And eventually the federal government starts re-claiming unspent money for redistribution.
The details are even grosser: by September, the county had spent exactly $0. This made us ineligible for future funds. The federal government then announces then that you have to clear at least 30% of your grant by October. We made it to 2.65%, and so we lost $770K, and then it happened again this past February, and we lost another $1.7 million.
All I can figure is that someone was supposed to care about people struggling to make their rent, and just …didn’t. The rental assistance just wasn’t considered urgent, or a problem to solve, or to dedicate time and resources towards, or to collaborate with community partners on. (You can read the link – there are excuses given, but they’re all very flimsy.) I don’t know who to aim my anger at, but this is super grotesque.
On to Wednesday’s meeting!
Meek and mild. Renters will now get a CONA rep, which is a win. (CONA is the Council of Neighborhood Associations.)
Kind of a referendum on Max Baker himself. Pretty problematic.
Should the entire performance evaluation of the city manager be made easily accessible to the public?
Agendas, packets, and videos here.
The San Marxist 