We just got the following from Councilwoman Lily Bao’s Communications Director.
(Plano’s Political Pit Bull’s analysis is at the bottom.)
“Plano City Council to take up the issue of the conversion of taxable multifamily properties into tax-free lifetime entities through the legal loophole of adopting a tax-free agency as a fractional development partner. Councilwoman Lily Bao places the issue on the council agenda for their March 16th meeting to support House Bill 1604 tightening the loophole, which threatens the tax base of City and School district funding for Plano, Collin County and statewide taxing entities.
Councilwoman Lily Bao attended a meeting of the non-profit Plano Housing Authority on Friday September 4th on an afternoon at the start of  Labor Day weekend, at it she learned that Plano Housing Authority planned to participate in a new state housing initiative that would allow an apartment developer to convert his project to a totally property tax-free asset by drawing in the local affordable housing authority with  a microscopic ownership share and allow it to be free of City, County, School District and College District taxes for its entire useful life. It’s an apparent loophole that “affordable” housing advocates are utilizing to enhance developer’s property values by millions, for for-Profit-majority owners, while escaping property taxes wholly for the entire lifetime of the property.
A giveaway that is built into State law Sec. 303.042(f) penalizing school districts and especially high-value property communities like Plano and PISD. To aggravate matters thoroughly, in high-land value suburbs, the apartments don’t even provide the advantage of affordability.
As an example, in Plano the eligibility for assisted housing would be placed at 80% of the average family income or approximately ($83,000 x.80) $66,400 and the apartment rent would have to fit into 30% of gross income. At a peak this would mean (66,400 x .30= $19,920 annually) or a limit of $1660. per month rent. Hardly “affordable” but very lucrative for the for-profit out-of-town development partners trafficking in this questionable conversion, and leaving millions in added value to be distributed in the form of service fees and maintenance set asides, all because no property taxes are owed.
 
[Councilwoman] Lily Bao views this loophole as a fraud on the taxpayers, the schools, the county and as a councilwoman a fraud on the city treasury. As a person whose name Bao means “protect”, she was rightfully offended, but offended for the people of Plano.
To bring matters home, an aging apartment complex at 7301 Alma Rd. called  “The Alexan” had its sale fall through prior to closing to one developer, only to re-emerge with a new name as a quick sale to another known for affordable housing conversions and it joins three other projects being similarly converted to delete these properties as contributors to the city services and schools they will utilize.”                                
                                                                    
· Link to House Bill 1604….....https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB1604/id/2275850
 
· The following are projects as of December 3rd for Plano Public Facility Corporation resolutions:
         1.Enclave at Legacy
         2.Fountains at Steeplechase
         3.Fairfield Legacy
         4.Alexan at Plano Central(renamed JAIDA)
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Ad16057a9-c8e8-4425-9fd6-8401bc696e68#pageNum=1
· The Following is a study by the University of Texas School of Law
“Public Facilities Corporation and the Sec.303.042(f)Tax break for apartment developments, a boon for affordable housing or windfall for apartment developers?”
2020-ECDC-PFC-Report.pdf (utexas.edu)
From the Executive summary of the study….”To receive the exemption, a private apartment developer transfers land to a public facility corporation (PFC) set up by a local government entity---such as a public housing authority, county, or city ---which then leases the land and any buildings on the land(including those built in the future) back to a limited partnership controlled by the developer. The local government entity gets paid to participate in the venture.
Other local government—such as school districts—have no say over these tax breaks to for-profit apartment developers even though the tax breaks directly impact these other entities property tax base and bottom line.”
Also from the study:

• “Since 2016, at least 30 apartment complexes in Texas have been acquired, developed, or are in active development under this tax-exempt leasehold interest structure, with 17 of these deals approved in 2019. At least six additional deals with this structure have received preliminary approval by a public facility corporation board. Eight of the approved deals involved the acquisition of an existing apartment complex versus new construction. Housing authorities, cities, and counties report an on-going onslaught of proposals by apartments developers to convert existing apartment complexes as well as develop new apartment complexes under this structure in order to obtain the Section 303.042(f) exemption. The 100% property tax exemption on all 30 of these properties, once they are completely developed in a few years, will remove an estimated $1.2 billion in property values from the tax rolls. The fiscal impact is significant, with local taxing jurisdictions, including counties, cities, school districts, as well as the state’s public education fund, seeing a loss of over $32 million in annual tax revenue from these 30 apartment complexes alone once they are completed. With the recent rapid growth in these exemption deals and the deluge of apartment developers seeking to benefit from this exemption, the exemption could remove more than $12 billion in property values off the tax rolls by 2026 with a cumulative property tax exemption of $326 million a year.

 

• At the same time these tax-exempt projects are being approved, Texas faces an on-going affordable rental housing crisis for Texas’s 1.4 million renter households who make less than 50% of the Area Median Income, with a severe shortage of rental units that are affordable to these households. Thirty-three percent of renters who make less than 50% of the Area Median Income are extremely cost burdened. In contrast, only six percent of renters making 65 to 80% of the Area Median Income are extremely cost burdened, and only one percent of renters making over the Area Median Income are extremely cost burdened.
• Texas actually has a surplus of units that are available and affordable to households making up to 80% and 100% of the Area Median Income.”
• Property owned by a public facility corporation is eligible for a 100% tax exemption. Tex. Local Govt Code, § 303.042(c).
• If recent trends continue, the Section 303.042(f) exemption could remove more than $12 billion in property values off the tax rolls by 2026, resulting in a loss of approximately $326 million a year in revenue to local taxing districts and the state public education budget.
• Texas’ middle-income renters do not need deeply subsidized rental housing.
• PFC projects discriminate against tenants with vouchers. Very few properties with a Section 303.042(f) exemption accept tenants with rental vouchers from their local housing authority. For example, none of the PFC-sponsored properties in San Antonio with a Section 303.042(f) exemption accept tenants with vouchers. In contrast, other major affordable housing subsidy programs—such as the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program—prohibit apartment complexes from discriminating against voucher holders. The failure to accept voucher holders is troubling, especially given that housing authorities are sponsoring most of these projects. Housing authorities’ largest group of clients are voucher holders, who are predominantly African-American and Hispanic. Many of these renters face enormous challenges securing a unit with their vouchers, especially in high opportunity neighborhoods with access to strong schools, transit, and jobs.”

 
PPPB’s analysis: Just in case you are confused by what you have read, please allow your lovable Pit Bull to simplify things for you. The owner of an apartment, condo, or townhouse development can sell less then 1% of their property to Plano Housing Authority. After the sale is final, that entire property becomes property tax exempt forever. In other words their property tax bill is now zero, nothing, zilch. However, the people living in these places will still require city resources, which they will not have to pay for. If children live in these developments, those children will get to go to school for free. Now, who do you think gets the wonderful task of paying for all of this free stuff? The property tax paying homeowners, that is who. Who is the big winner in this scheme? Big wealthy developers of course. They make out like bandits while taxpayers get screwed.  The Housing Authority also does well in this gimmick. This is why economic fascism (public-private partnership) is evil. The wealthy and “public entity” succeeds, while the common person suffers the exuberant tax burden.
PPPB does not think this is what the TX Legislature originally intended when it passed this amendment in 2015. However, every new law always has unintended consequences, and those consequences always cause suffering. House Bill 1604 attempts to fix the tax free windfall. Please read it and let your state representative know how you feel about the bill. Also, let the Plano City Council know if you want them to support HB1604 by Tuesday, March 16, 2021. If you would like to speak at the March 16th meeting go to https://plano.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KQGiTb4JRgmLm6oZ82vEUw
Thank you Councilwoman Bao for bringing this issue to our attention.
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off

The election to select Council Members for Places 2, 4, 6 (Mayor), 7 and 8 will be conducted on May 1, 2021.  Early voting starts April 19-17. All places are elected at large. Candidates for Places 2 and 4 must live in the districts they are running for. Place 7 is a special election, because Council member Bao is stepping down to run for Mayor. 
 
The following is a list of all the candidates running in each race. The names are in alphabetical order. City council races are nonpartisan. If the candidate has a primary voting record, we wrote it down under their name.
We strongly recommend everyone to do their homework on all the candidates. Question everything they say, and don’t take anything they tell you at face value. Remember these are politicians, so you must read between the lines. If they have a voting record on a board or council, look it up.
 
PPPB does not and is not endorsing any candidate.
 
City Council, Place 2
 
Steve Lavine
www.Steve4Plano.com
[email protected]
214-466-1199
( Sits on the Library Advisory Board. Has voted in the Democrat Primaries.)
 
Anthony Ricciardelli 
www.AnthonyforPlano.com
[email protected]
(Is the current Place 2 Councilman. Was on the Heritage Commission before being elected to council. Has voted in the GOP Primaries)
 
City Council, Place 4
 
Justin Adcock
www.JustinforPlano.com
[email protected]
972-836-7656
(Voted in the GOP Primaries.)
 
Nassat Parveen
[email protected]
(Has voted in Democrat primaries.)
 
Kayci Prince 
www.PrinceforPlano.com
[email protected]
(Is the current Place 4 Councilwoman. Was on the Planning and Zoning Board before being elected to council. Has voted in the GOP Primaries.)
 
Vidal Quintanilla
www.VidalforPlano.com
[email protected]
(Has not voted in any primary, because he registered to vote in Aug 2020.)
 
 
City Council, Place 6—Mayor
 
Lily Bao
www.lilyforplano.com
[email protected]
214-517-7071
(Current Councilwoman for place 7. Was on the Housing Board before being elected to council. Has voted in the GOP primaries.)
 
John Muns
www.johnmuns.com
[email protected]
972-403-7676
(Was on the Planning and Zoning Board. Has voted in the GOP primaries.)
 
Lydia Ortega
www.lydiaortega4plano.com
[email protected]
214-414-2010
(Has voted in the GOP primaries.)
 
City Council, Place 7
 
Julie Holmer
[email protected]
469-634-2771
(Has voted in Democrat primaries.)
 
Bill Lisle III
[email protected]
214-475-4203
(Has voted in the GOP primaries.)
 
Chris Robertson
[email protected]
757-560-3453
(Has voted in the GOP primaries.)
 
Sandeep Srivastava
[email protected]
972-655-4382
(Has voted in the GOP primaries.)

David M. Smith
www.davidforallplano.com
[email protected]
​972-516-3849
(Former city council member  from 1993 through 1999. Votes in the Democrat primaries.)​
 
City Council, Place 8 
 
Elisa Klein
www.elisaforplano.com
[email protected]
469-585-6444
(Voted in the Democrat primary.)
 
Rick Smith
www.rickforplano.org
[email protected]
214-707-4575
(Current Councilman for Place 8. Has voted in the GOP primaries.)

​
On February 1, 2021, the Plano Planning and Zoning Board passed zoning case 2020-033 to rezone 5.3 acres located on the corner of Park Boulevard and K Avenue from Corridor Commercial to Planned Development-Corridor Commercial. Even though the new zoning says commercial, the only thing that is planned for this site is a five story low income apartment building with 1-3 bedroom units. A five story residential building that will sit right next to train tracks for the Parker Rail Station 100 feet away, diagonally across from a gun range, and next to a Rent A Tire and a pawn shop. The question this commentator has is, is this spot a good place for adults and children to live?
To answer this question I need to talk about this lot and the surrounding properties. This piece of land has been used as a typical commercial site since 1973. In 1998, one building of two on the property was demolished. In 2002, the City of Plano decided to buy the property for $1.7 million for redevelopment to reinforce transit use. In 2003, the second structure on the property was torn down, so now the lot is empty.
Seventeen years later, in 2020, the Plano Housing Authority approached the City Council to buy the property for $900,000, to be paid in $45,000 installments. If you do the math, that would have been a loss of $800,000. Thankfully, at a June 2020, City Council meeting, the PHA offer was rejected by a vote of 4-3. Council members Bao, Williams, Ricciardelli, and Smith were the majority in that vote.
Next, the City Council decided to see how much they could get for the lot on the open market. In the following months, they got four offers. The Plano Housing Authority then made a bid for $2 million with a $20,000 deposit. The full $2 million will also not be paid off for at least 26 months. Why, you may wonder? You see, the PHA has to file for a grant to actually get the money. Of course, that means they may not be approved for the grant, and won’t be able to buy the land.
A request to accept the Housing Authority’s offer was placed on the consent agenda for the October 26, 2020, City Council meeting. Thankfully, Councilman Williams pulled the request from the consent agenda. During the council’s discussion, Councilman Grady said that the City should take the offer, since it was the highest bid. Councilman Smith said, “The problem is we don’t have an able buyer.” Having a buyer who will not have the money for over a year, and may not ever get the money, is a valid concern. Councilwoman Bao agreed with Councilman Smith, and she did not think housing was the best use for the property. Councilwomen Prince and Tu, as well as the Mayor, did not have any concerns about the deal. Councilman Williams agreed with Smith and Bao. Lastly, Councilman Ricciardelli said that he was fine with the sale of the property to PHA, since they were not voting on what the property would be used for. In the end, the request to sell the property to PHA passed 5-3. Council members Bao, Williams, and Smith were the 3 who voted against.
Fast forward four months to the February 1, 2021, P&Z meeting,  the PHA requested to rezone the property to build a five story low income apartment building. 80% of the units would be for low income individuals or families, and 20% would be rented at a fair market value. Board members Samara, Barbara, and Cary were the only ones to have concerns about the area the apartment building would be built, while members Downs, Stone, Horne, Walters, and Gibbons seemed fine with the idea of families living right in front of train tracks. These tracks have trains coming and going from 4:28 A.M. - 1:49 A.M. in 20 minute intervals, and 100 feet from the future apartment building site is the Parker Station where these trains will stop. People will be getting on and off those trains all day and into the wee hours of the morning. The closest train tracks to my home are 1.5 miles away, yet I can hear a moving train from my bedroom every once in a while. Image what a train would sound like right next to your bedroom window every 20 minutes. I can only guess that Downs, Stone, Horne, Walters, and Gibbons have never lived by train tracks, so they did not realize how crazy it is to put an apartment building right in front of them.
The other problem with putting housing on this lot, is it would be the only residential building on K Ave from Park Blvd to Parker Rd. The apartment building will also be the only five story building on the block, so aesthetically it will look out of place.
Now lets talk about what kind of businesses are on this block. Going north from the corner of Park and K Ave, the first thing we see is a Rent A Tire. The PHA will try to get a 99 year lease for this property, so they can take it down and put green space; however, if the owner does not agree to the deal, the Rent A Tire will stay. Directly across the street is a Shell gas station and Chiropractic office. Next to the property in question is a Pawn Shop. Across the street, and next to the Chiropractor, is a run down strip mall with various retail stores. Next to, and slightly behind the Pawn Shop, is a bowling ally, the only business on this street appropriate to have next to homes with children. Across from the bowling ally, and diagonally across from the future apartment building, is a Gun Care Shop and The Bullet Trap Gun Shop and Range. I have shopped and gone shooting at this range, and it is a nice place; however, homes should not be built within walking distance from the Bullet Trap, or any gun range for that matter. Now, I know most Texans love the second amendment and going to the shooting range, but that does not mean they want to live across from one. Continuing north, we have a Tint Windows Shop, an auto sound store, Window Treatment Center, a gym, Auto Electric Services, and a 1st Choice Auto repair shop. Across the street from those business, is an AAMCO. Next to that is a Cash Loans on Car Title place and Public Storage. Across from them are Texaco, U-Haul, and a Convenience Store. Next to those businesses is a large strip mall with retail stores and food pantry. Walk across K Ave, and we have a car wash, convenience store, and fast food restaurant. That is the future neighborhood for the families that will live in this new apartment building. Clearly, this is not a block that was designed for residential housing. This lot and area is obviously not suitable for a residential building. The building will look out of place and the area is unsuitable for adults and/or children to live in. So, to answer my original question, is this spot a place for adults and children to live? The answer is, heck no!
Now, some of you are most likely asking, where is PHA supposed to put low income housing? To answer that question, lets look at where Plano currently has low income housing.
I did a simple internet search and found a list of 13 low income apartment complexes and one house in Plano with availability. All of them on the list are in nice residential neighborhoods. None of them are right next to train tracks or a gun range. In fact, when I did a Google Maps search of all apartments in Plano, all of the complexes that came up are in or near residential neighborhoods. I could not find any apartments in an area like the K Ave block which the PHA wants to build their apartment building on. That is most likely because people don’t want to live in a commercial area next to train tracks, and near a gun range.
If PHA needs to build low income homes, I suggest building small houses next to Plano Center on Jupiter Road and Spring Creek. I suggest this area, because the city owns this land. The city also agreed to lease a part of this area to Radisson Hotels for free in 2018. You can read about this sweet heart deal in the article Corporate Welfare at its Finest at the following link.  
https://planospoliticalpitbull.weebly.com/posts-about-council/july-20th-2018 
If the City truly feels low income housing is so circuital, they should be more then happy to give a portion of empty land near the Plano Center to PHA for the same deal as Radisson. Then the PHA can use the $2 million to build nice homes for poor families.
 Some other reasons I recommend this spot is the neighborhood is nice and the Oat Point Nature Preserve is there. Also, current area residents probably won’t mind having single family homes there. Another plus is the area has two bus stops for people who need public transportation; one on the corner of Spring Creek and Des Moines Drive, and the other on Jupiter by Collin College. Clearly, this location is a much better place for people to live than K Ave and East Park Blvd.
The only thing that is suitable for the K Ave property is a parking lot for the train station and businesses nearby. A parking lot would also fit the reason the city bought the land in the first place; to reinforce transit use.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on this zoning request on February 22, 2021. Please contact the City Council members and tell them K Ave and Park Blvd is not a suitable place for people with children, or without, to live. Tell them to vote ‘no’ on zoning case 2020-033.
This is Plano’s Political Pit bull signing off.

The following link is an article from National Review. The national media has finally caught up to what some Plano residents already know.  People want to get rid of the suburbs and single family houses. Even with COVID 19 hitting urban centers harder then suburban and rural areas because of their density, progressives have not given up on the dream to abolish the suburbs. 

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/biden-and-dems-are-set-to-abolish-the-suburbs/
​

​
 
The city council tabled zoning case 2019-023 on February 24, 2020 at the request of the applicant Sam Ware. It will come back to council on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. A reason for tabling was not given.
As I said in my original article on Feb. 24, 2020,
​https://planospoliticalpitbull.weebly.com/posts-about-council/foreclosure-on-former-jcpenney-headquarters-property, Sam Ware wants to build a mixed use development with over 600 apartments on this property. However, the property is currently in foreclosure. Sam Ware managed to get a court to halt the bank from seizing the property temperately. However, that hold will expire on March 3rd.  
Sam Ware has been looking for new financing. However if he can’t pay the $389 million loan he currently has, how will he pay back a new one? I don’t see anyone risking millions on someone who can’t pay his bills now. We will just have to see what happens. 

​​ 
Beal Bank has flied to foreclose on the JC Penny Headquarters property in West Plano. The bank provided $388 million to Sam Ware for the property around 1,100 days ago.
Sam Ware has big plans for the property. He wants to build more office buildings, a hotel, food truck park, retail, and apartments. One thing this mixed use development does NOT have: a grocery store. So, everyone who will live in this development will have to get in their car and drive down Communications to Kroger.
The city council has already denied this project in 2019. However, Sam Ware will not give up. He brought a revised version of the project back to Planning and Zoning at the beginning of February and it passed. It will be brought to city council tonight, February 24, 2020.
 Sam Ware managed to get a court to halt the bank from seizing the property temperately, but in the meantime, he’s dug up the trees to sell. I am not sure how this project will get off the ground, when the developer can’t even pay the mortgage on the property and has to sell the landscaping.
In my opinion, this project is not right for the area. More importantly the financial instability of the developer makes this project too risky. This property could be tied up in court for years or seized by the bank. Those issues put development at a stand still. Until the fiances of this property are worked out, the city should not approve anything for it.
If you agree, write to the members of city council, or go to the meeting, and tell them to oppose the project.   
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull signing off. 

THE CITY OF PLANO IS FINALLY BEGINNING TO EMBRACE FISCAL POLICY MAKING THAT BETTER RESPECTS THE ECONOMIC LIBERTY OF TAXPAYERS. BUT THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR CITIZENS TO GROW COMPLACENT

(Published by Empower Texans) 
CONNOR BARRON
PPPB is very impressed with Connor Barron. This article by Connor perfectly explains the 2019/2020 tax rate and budget. 
SEPTEMBER 4, 2019
On September 9, Plano City Council will adopt a property tax rate and budget for the next fiscal year beginning on October 1. The process has been mostly the same as it has been for years. The staff presented an overview of the budget, council members asked questions, projections for the short term were discussed, and so forth.
What’s different, however, is the tax rate currently being proposed by city staff.
For the first time in decades, the city’s proposed tax rate is the Effective Tax Rate. The Effective Tax Rate is the rate required to collect the same amount of property taxes (on existing properties) as in the prior fiscal year. In Plano’s case, that rate is $0.4482 per $100 of property valuation.
Residents’ actual tax bills are equal to this rate multiplied by their property’s assessed value. With the Effective Tax Rate, the average Plano homeowner will only pay $3 more in property taxes in the upcoming fiscal year (a 0.22 percent increase). In other words, residents will be paying roughly the same amount in property taxes as in the previous year.
Considering that the average homeowner has seen a 39.73 percent increase in his or her property taxes from 2013-14 to the present fiscal year of 2018-19, this is much-needed property tax relief.
Plano’s online budget portal breaks down the general fund into several functional areas, which are essentially categorizations of individual department budgets. To see what the general fund and other aspects of the operating budget consist of in greater detail, readers can go to the City of Plano website to access the 2019-20 recommended budget.

​

It is very clear that some of the fastest-growing portions of the budget are administrative in nature. Over the last five years, Finance Administration increased 91 percent, Public Works Administration is up 176 percent, and Procurement and Project Management has increased by an astounding 211 percent. There are many reasons why this occurs. Some increases in spending are justified and others are not. As such, the issue of certain spending trends and their causal budgeting decisions still needs to be addressed.
Thus, this is not the time for citizens to grow complacent. If progress is to be made and continually built, the elected representatives serving on Plano City Council need to hear from their constituents about how important it is that they deliver long-term property tax relief. The goal should be to adopt the Effective Tax Rate whenever possible, so long as doing so does not inhibit the City of Plano from adequately performing its core functions.
As repeatedly witnessed in recent years, an engaged and well-informed citizenry can make a great difference in their local community. For now, it appears Plano is on the verge of hopefully one of many victories in the movement to forge a new standard of governance that better serves its people.

​
 In a packed city hall on July 22, 2019, the Panning & Zoning and Plano City Council had a joint session. On the agenda was repealing and replacing the Plano Tomorrow Plan.
The meeting was supposed to start at 6:00 pm and last one hour. At the start of the meeting the City Council and P&Z recessed into executive session. They were there for 1 hour and 30 minutes. This really frustrated some people in the hall. Others could not wait for Council and P&Z to come back from behind closed doors, so they left. What could they possibly have been doing in there, and why couldn’t they do it in public? We will never know.
When the open meeting finally got started, P&Z members spoke first. Board member and former councilman David Downs strongly felt he did not have enough information to make a decision. Member Hilton Kong and the P&Z Chair felt the same way. They also wanted more time to study the issue. Honestly, I can’t blame them. They got a huge packet from city staff the Friday before the meeting. They do not know how repealing the Plano Tomorrow Plan would effect projects that are currently up for approval or under construction.
 In the end, the P&Z unassumingly tabled the repeal and replacement of the Plano Tomorrow Plan until their next meeting on August 19th. The P&Z decision led the City Council to also table the repeal and replacement of the Plano Tomorrow Plan.
 The August P&Z meeting will be after the court date on August 15th between the city and residents. That is where a judge will finally decide if the city secretary must present a citizen petition to city council. The petition asks the city council to put the Plano Tomorrow Plan up for a referendum vote. As one of the plaintiffs said at the joint meeting on July 24th during the public comments section, “The only thing our petition asks for is to put the Plano Tomorrow Plan up for a citizen vote. You can vote yes, or you can vote no.”
If the judge sides with the plaintiffs and orders the City Secretary to present the petition to council, what happens next? According to the Plano City Charter Sec. 7.03, when a petition for referendum is brought to council, “the city council shall immediately reconsider such ordinance or resolution and if it does not entirely repeal the same, shall submit it to popular vote.” So, council could repeal the Plano Tomorrow Plan. With the losing track record the city has had in court, Council and staff better be working on a temporary comprehensive plan to put up for a vote at the August 26th city council meeting. After a repeal, council and residents, can work together on amending the parts of the Plano Tomorrow Plan that 50% of the Plano voting residents have a problem with.
Many council members feel the Plano Tomorrow Plan has divided the city into two camps, those in favor of the plan and those against it. This divide was overwhelming in the last two city elections. Four people sit on council now because more than 50% of the voting residents want to keep Plano’s suburban feel. In this old dogs opinion, the city council should just repeal the Plano Tomorrow Plan. Another election will only lead to more division and cost more taxpayer money. The best thing to do is for the two camps to come together, compromise, and change the parts of the plan that are causing disagreement.
If you would like to watch the three hour joint session for yourself, you can at http://www.plano.gov/210/Plano-TV .
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull signing off. 

​
The saying, “It ain’t over til it’s over” seems fitting for the long three year saga of the Plano Tomorrow Plan lawsuit. On August 15th, 2019 the case will head back to district court.
 In case you don’t know, the Plano Tomorrow Plan is a comprehensive thirty year plan for the city. It lays out what City Council wants Plano to look like in thirty years. When this plan was passed in 2015, residents overwhelmingly disapproved of it. Hundreds of people packed the Planning and Zoning meeting to speak against the plan and to tell the board to vote no on it. The board ignored the residents, though, and the plan passed. The plan went to City Council where residents again packed the chamber, and again they were ignored and the plan passed. Citizens went on to file a petition with the City Secretary for a Referendum vote. That way the residents could vote up or down on the plan. The petition got more then 4,000 signatures. City Attorney Mim refused to let the City Secretary present the petition to council. Mim felt it would be against state law for the residents to vote on a comprehensive plan, and barred the secretary from presenting it to council. Residents filed a lawsuit. Three years, multiple rulings in favor of the plaintiffs, a trip to the TX Supreme Court and $400,000 of taxpayer money later, we thought we were approaching the end to this conflict.
On July 10, 2019 the city and the plaintiffs agreed to attend mediation. The discussions during mediation are confidential, but a statement from Plano Future that was released on their Facebook page said, “We anticipate that the agenda for the City Council meeting on July 22, 2019 will include repealing and replacing the Plano Tomorrow Plan. Depending on the outcome of that meeting, the lawsuit may become moot. Further information will be made available as the process continues.” The original July 19th court date was postponed to August 15th.
Between July 10th and 17th something happened that has caused whatever was agreed upon mediation to fall apart. Plano Future posted the following from the Plaintiff’s Lawyer Jack Ternan. “Over three years ago, I took on the representation of five citizens in a lawsuit regarding a petition--signed by 4,300 citizens--calling for a referendum on the ordinance adopting the Plano Tomorrow Plan. The rule of law and the democratic process are important, and that lawsuit continues.
On July 10, 2019, there was a mediation involving the plaintiffs and city staff. The plaintiffs understood that the City Council would meet to repeal the Plano Tomorrow Plan and replace it with a new comprehensive plan on July 22, 2019. Obviously, such an action would have a legal consequence on the pending lawsuit and, to give the City Council an opportunity to act, the plaintiffs agreed to move a court hearing set for July 19, 2019.
The plaintiffs complied with their end of the bargain and moved the hearing to August 15, 2019. The agenda for the meeting on July 22, 2019 still reflects that a discussion of the repeal and replacement of the Plano Tomorrow Plan will occur. However, city staff has indicated in a press statement that they intend to renege on holding such meeting. We will find out soon enough what actually happens.
Over the last week, it became apparent that the city's attorneys wanted to cast the replacement plan as a “settlement agreement” and needed my clients' consent in order to make that characterization stick. Having failed to obtain that consent, the city staff have taken to the media to contend that an “agreement” fell through. The public should be deeply concerned that the stated intent of the staff was to secretly negotiate a replacement comprehensive plan for the city. I am proud of my clients for not giving in to the temptation to usurp a function that properly belongs to the City Council and the citizens of Plano.
We put an end to the improper negotiations and intend to proceed with the lawsuit to compel compliance with the law.”
 In a statement to Community Impact city spokesperson Steve Stoler said, “the plaintiff ‘changed their minds’ after reaching a deal with city staff last week. When we walked away from the mediation, we believed we had a solid agreement acceptable to the plaintiffs to swap the land use provisions in the current plan for the counterparts in the 1986 plan that was repealed in 2015.”
In a statement to Community Impact plaintiffs lawyer Jack Terman also said, “Where the breakdown happened was they were trying to get my clients to agree to a replacement plan. My clients aren’t elected. The City Council is elected. The City Council should be the ones putting together the replacement plan.”
 
From the above statements, one can only conclude that the city wanted the plaintiffs to change the current comprehensive plan, or create a new one, and the council would vote on it on July 22nd. My response to this is, has the city staff all lost their minds? It is council’s job to change or create a new plan. A new plan could take a year to create. If the council wanted to, they could just replace the Plano Tomorrow Plan with the plan that was in effect in 1986, or the plan that was in effect in 2012 when the 86 plan was amended, then work on creating a new plan.
I have another question; what is the city attorney trying to pull here? The reason the lawsuit was originally brought was to get the city secretary to present the petition to city council. Once the petition is presented, Council can repeal the plan or put it up for a referendum vote. I believe the city does not want the district judge to issue an order to the city secretary to present the petition to council, because it would create a legal precedent the Municipal League does not want. That precedent would be that city comprehensive plans can be voted on by the residents. Giving residents a say on what their city looks like; the elitist politicians and bureaucratic planners cannot have that.
Whether by city council or a judges ruling, hopefully this three year ordeal will come to an end before Labor Day.
 
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing off.

 If you have lived in Plano for more then 40 years you have seen a lot of changes. Plano was originally a rural town, and most residents were in the agricultural business. But, as people began to move away from big urban cities, Plano changed from a rural city to a suburban one. Yet, Plano still managed to keep some land for farming. If liberals have their way, Plano will not have any farms and become the urban city that most of today's residents moved away from.
For many years parts of Plano kept its farms while making room for single family housing developments.  East Plano and some of West Plano still has farm land. The Lavon Dairy Farm has been in East Plano for about 90 years. Next to Legacy West on Communications we still have longhorn cows. They use to occupy all of the Legacy West area, until the Mayor thought they should make room for what is now a mixed use development with restaurants, condos, apartments, and office buildings. Eventually the cows’ small pasture will probably be sold to a developer, and the cows will have to leave Plano.
If you drive down Windhaven you will see a field of, what looks like wheat growing. On Spring Creek in West Plano you will find horses. You can also find a very large farm off of Dallas Pkwy and Spring Creek. That farm used to own most of the land that is now car dealerships.There is also wheat growing on land off Dallas Pkwy; it has a sign on it saying the land one day will have an office development on it. So, no more wheat growing there.   
Ironically, the same liberal mindset that wants to bulldoze the farms in our city for mixed use developments, walk-able neighborhoods, and less people driving, also want fresh locally grown organic food, less CO2 emissions, and want to go to farmers markets where local farmers can sell their crops. There is just one problem with that. In order for us to have locally grown food we need local farms to locally grow that food.
Farms need lots of land. If the city council continues rezoning farm land for mixed use, eventually we won’t have any local farms left in Plano. That means the food will have farther to travel in a truck or a plane which would create more CO2.
We can’t have it both ways. We can’t tear up every bit of farm land to build a concrete jungle without pollution. And we can’t have locally grown food without farms. While we can’t regain the farm land we have lost, we can preserve what little farm land we have left.  
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off. 

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Monday, June 24, 2019, was Plano’s three new council members first full day on the job. The meeting started out smoothly, but by the end two new members made it clear they were there to change the status quo.
The preliminary meeting began with the Mayor announcing his appointments of council members to be a liaison to Boards and Commissions. The Mayor decides which council members get which board or commission.Council members Prince and Smith were assigned to the very important Planning and Zoning.
During the general meeting the almost 400% park fee increase was on the agenda. The park fee is billed to a residential developer when a permit is issued to build housing, and the fee can only be used by the city to buy land and build a park. If a fee is collected, a park must be built.
Councilwoman Maria Tu was the only council member to mention the fact that the developer will just pass the park fee on to the home-buyer, which will raise housing costs. Maybe she read the PPPB article on the park fee. https://planospoliticalpitbull.weebly.com/posts-about-council/new-home-prices-to-rise-if-council-raises-fees
Councilman Williams suggested a different amount billed for different areas, since the cost of land is different depending on where the land is.
Councilman Ricciardelli suggested the fee should be throughout the whole city. The head of the Parks and Recreation Department was hesitant about doing this. Councilman Ricciardelli suggested this because Legacy West was not apart of a park fee zone. At the time the fee was created, the city did not think that area would be zoned residential. When the zoning changed from agricultural to mixed use, the city council did not redo the park fee zones to add Legacy West. So, those folks living there now never paid the park fee. Even though they did not pay the fee Legacy is still getting a park. It will just be paid for by everyone in Plano.
While most council members wanted to add zones to the park fee and study charging different amounts based on the cost of land, most did not want to delay increasing the fee. So, the increase passed 7-1 with Councilman Williams the only no vote. On his Facebook page Williams wrote the following, “On Monday, I had my first Plano City Council meeting and my first lone dissenting vote. Nothing like making a statement right off the bat.
This specific vote was over a 340% increase to the park fee. This is simply a per-house/apartment fee charged to developers of a new residential area for the city to acquire land and develop a small neighborhood park. This is a good way to make sure we have green space as Plano is built out.
However, the park fee has not increased since it was established 26 years ago, in 1993, at $467.47 per house and $323.96 per apartment. Monday's proposal made several key revisions and increased the fee to $2,065.43 per house and $1,442.66 per apartment. Inflation since then has been 73.3%, but I don't have data on how much land values have likewise gone up.
The fee needs to be brought current, though I would have liked to see the numbers behind the numbers. However, I had numerous questions and concerns, centered mainly on two things:
1) The 1993 ordinance divided the city into 14 "service areas" so that park fees collected within a given area could only be used within that same area. That's good, but some areas were not included, and hence exempt from park fees. Legacy West was one of these, and those residents never had to pay the fees. The revised ordinance still excluded those areas, and I feel no part of the city should be exempt.
2) Development costs are the same across Plano, but per-acre land values vary drastically, and the park fee is a flat fee no matter the land value in the area. Thus, new residents in one part of the city are subsidizing parks for new residents in other parts of the city.
I wanted to table the proposal to work through some of these considerations, and bring it back up for a vote at the next council meeting on July 22. Several council members initially expressed agreement, raising additional questions, but after a few minutes of discussion, a motion to approve the revised ordinance was made, and I was the only holdout.
    There are three circumstances in which I will always vote "no":
1) I flat disagree with the proposal (e.g. a big tax increase)
2) I don't fully understand the proposal (I won't cover my own ignorance by going along with something I don't understand)
3) I don't think the proposal is quite developed enough for a vote (this is how I felt about Monday's park fee proposal)
When it comes to legislation, I'm a minimalist. Our purpose is to protect citizens' rights and liberties, and to ensure safe and orderly society. Unless there's a true crisis, I won't pass an ordinance just to get something passed. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be ready, and this wasn't.”
The council did instruct the staff to research adding more zones, and research how a fee based on the value of the land would work by the next council meeting. The Mayor has already said he is against the latter, because we don’t charge people different amounts for police. Their is just one problem with that statement; we do charge people differently. A person in a $500,000 house pays a higher property tax bill than a person in a $300,000 home. Therefore the person in the $500,000 home pays more for services.
Some other things discussed on this first day was adopting Robert Rules of Order for city council meetings and the nominating process for boards and commissions. Both items were put on the preliminary agenda by Council members Bao and Williams. The seasoned council members were hesitant to change. The excuse given was usually, “we have always done it this way”. Councilwoman Bao had the best response to that. She said, “Just because it has been done that way does not mean it has to continue. We are here to improve the system.” Those who elected Bao and Williams definitely did not put them there to keep things the same.
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off.

 
On June 10, 2019, Parks and Recreation director presented an increase for a Park Fee for builders of residential units at the City Council Preliminary meeting. When a fee is collected, a park must be built in the area. The fee can only be used to buy land and build a park.It can’t be used for the up keep of the new park. The balance of the park fee fund is currently $5,381,101.
Right now the park fee is $467.47 per single family unit and $323.96 per multifamily unit. Park and Recreation staff want to raise the single family fee to $2,065 per unit and the multifamily fee to $1,443 per unit. That is about a 441.75% increase for single family and about a 445.43% increase for multifamily. My first reaction when I saw these numbers was, have they lost their minds! Amazingly, the city council members did not have any reaction to these exorbitant increases that would have made loan sharks blush.
Some of you may be asking, what if these future residents don’t want a park? Everyone doesn’t use parks. Some people, like my spouse, have terrible allergies and going to a park would cause an allergy attack. The developers can’t opt out of the fee, even if their buyers don’t want a park.
If these steep increases are passed when they come up for a vote, be ready for new single family housing prices and new apartment rents to go up. Why? Even my young puppy knows when it costs a developer more to build a house or apartment, they will pass that cost right along to the consumers. With housing prices and rents already at an all time high in Plano, we need this fee increase like we need a hole in the head. This leads me to wonder if anyone in the Parks and Recreation Department, or on council, understands basic economics.
I understand that the cost of land and construction has gone up. It is understandable that the bureaucrats in the Parks and Recreation Department would suggest an increase. However, a 400% one is outrageous. Try a 50% increase in one year. That way the price of building new homes won’t be affected that much.
There are currently 63 parks in Plano. According to Plano’s website they are…..

• Arbor Hills Nature Preserve  
• Archgate Park
• Arrowhead Park
• Big Lake Park
• Blue Ridge Park
• Bob Woodruff Park North  
• Bob Woodruff Park South 
• Buckhorn Park
• Caddo Park
• Capstone Park
• Carpenter Park 
•  Skate Park at Carpenter Park
• Cheyenne Park
• Clearview Park
• Copper Creek Playground
• Cottonwood Creek Greenbelt South
• Cottonwood Creek Greenbelt North
• Coyote Creek Park
• Dog Park at Jack Carter Park
• Eldorado Park
• Enfield Park  
• Evans Park
• Frank Beverly Park
• Glen Meadows Park
• Hackberry Park
• Haggard Park 
• Harrington Park 
• Hidden Meadow Park
• Hoblitzelle Park 
• Horseshoe Park
• Indian Creek Park
• Jack Carter Park
• Liberty Park
• Lone Star Park
• Longhorn Park
• Los Rios Park
• Lt. Russell Steindam Park
• Memorial Park
•  Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve 
• Old Shepard Place Park 
• Parkwood Green Park
• Prairie Meadow Park
• Preston Meadow Park 
• Ridgeview Park
• Russell Creek Park 
• Rustic Park
• Schell Park
• Shawnee Park and disc golf course 
• Shoshoni Park
• Steeplechase Park
• Stimpson and Drake Park
• Stoney Hollow Park
• Suncreek Park
• Sunset Park
• Tejas Park
• Timber Brook Park
• WH. "Buzz" Rasor Park
• Wagon Wheel Park
• Westwood Park
• White Rock Trail Park
• Willowcreek Park 
• Windhaven Park
• Windhaven Meadows Park

 
This does not included one park that has not broken ground yet, athletic fields, or trails. With 64 parks do we need anymore? I think the answer is obviously no. Most towns around the nation have one city park and maybe a baseball field. I don’t know of any town or small city that has 64 parks, different athletic fields, and trails. The vote on the increase will be at the June 24th city council meeting, and I have a suggestion for our council members. Lets keep housing costs from going up by retiring the park fee all together, and residents in new developments can use one of the 64 parks we already have.
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off

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On June 8, 2019, Lily Bao and Shelby Williams won their run off elections in one of the most contentious and expensive local elections in recent memory. Lily Bao beat former Democrat precinct chair Ann Bacchus by 2,775 votes, and Shelby Williams won by 1,281 votes over incumbent Ron Kelly.
This local election was very expensive. Almost a quarter of a million dollars was spent by big developers and donors to get Kelly and Bacchus elected. Some of the money was spent on scummy and false mailers attacking Lily and Shelby. The Mayor got in on the despicable behavior calling Lily and Shelby the “hate slate”, so he could maintain a majority on council. Lily and Shelby’s win proves out spending your opponent does not mean victory. It also shows that calling people names and assaulting your opponent’s volunteer, like Ann Bacchus did, will not get you votes.
Shelby and Lily won the election not with money, but with grassroot support. Plano residents volunteered to block walk, call, and poll greet for Shelby and Lily. These volunteers have seen their property taxes go up about 40% in five years, and they can’t afford another tax hike. They are tried of the lack of transparency from city council and staff. Lily and Shelby’s supporters also have had enough of the Mayor’s verbal abuse towards them at council meetings, in the press, and on social media. Some of those instances Plano’s Political Pit Bull has written about.
Some of Shelby William’s volunteers helped to get Ron Kelly elected 4 years ago. Why did they support Shelby this time? They feel that Ron Kelly betrayed them. They thought he was going to fight for lower tax bills and limit more apartments. After council members Rick Smith and Anthony Ricciardelli won their elections two years ago, supporters thought they had a 4 to 4 balance on the council. In the end, Ron Kelly voted with the Mayor on issues Kelly’s supporters were against. Some believe Ron Kelly has been seduced by power. Others believe he has been manipulated by the Mayor. A few simply think Ron Kelly lied to get elected. Whatever the reason for his change, in this election most of Ron Kelly’s original supporters went to help Shelby William and Lilly Bao’s campaigns.
After the election these supporters again have four people they believe will fight for them. Now the question is can Shelby Williams, Lily Bao, Anthony Ricciardelli, and Rick Smith do what they have promised? Can these four not be corrupted by the Mayor and the government swamp? Can they stand up to the Mayor and staff on behalf of the residents? Will they be able to question everything staff says, and not take things at face valve? With the staff’s recommended budget and tax rate for 2020 about to be released, we will soon find out.
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off.

With property tax burdens and outside developer influence taking center stage, turnout in Plano’s heated city council runoffs is outpacing the May general election.
By Erin Anderson 
​June 7, 2019

Plano residents are taking notice of important local elections, turning out to vote early in the city’s hotly contested runoff races in high numbers that actually outpaced early voting totals in the regular May municipal elections.
From May 28 through June 4, 15,373 voters cast early ballots in the Plano City Council runoffs—over 9 percent of the city’s registered voters—with 861 of those ballots cast by mail.
By comparison, early voting in Plano’s May 4 general election drew 13,915 voters (8.57 percent turnout), with 663 casting ballots by mail.
Collin County Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet says it is “very rare” for more voters to participate in a June runoff than the May election.
Fueling the higher-than-normal turnout are contentious runoffs for two city council seats—the only races on the ballot—that have attracted a flood of special interest money. Campaign finance reports filed with the city show outside high-density developers are heavily backing Mayor Harry LaRosiliere’s endorsed candidates: an incumbent criticized for hiking city tax bills and a controversial Democrat.
Campaign rhetoric has heated up during the runoff—in attack mailers, outside the polls, and on social media. Even the mayor chimed in on Facebook, calling the citizen-supported pro-taxpayer candidates he opposes the “Hate Slate.”
Candidate Shelby Williams is challenging Place 5 incumbent Ron Kelley, who voted with the mayor to raise Plano homeowners’ city property tax bills each year he’s been in office. Lily Bao is running against former Democrat precinct chair Ann Bacchus for the open Place 7. Bao challenged LaRosiliere in the 2017 mayoral election.
Williams and Bao say they favor responsible growth that maintains Plano’s current suburban identity and doesn’t overtax residents or give special deals to developers at the expense of residents. Both are endorsed by government accountability group Plano Citizens’ PAC and other community leaders and organizations, as well as the Collin County Republican Party and Gov. Greg Abbott.
Kelley and Bacchus are part of the mayor’s slate of pro-developer candidates who are heavily financed by developer-funded We Love Plano PAC and the Plano Firefighters Association.
Campaign finance reports show Kelley received over $45,000 from We Love Plano PAC and other developers during the general election, and more than $50,000 from the Plano firefighters’ union for his runoff campaign.
Bacchus reports We Love Plano PAC gave her more than $100,000 during the general election and another $32,000 for her runoff campaign; the Plano firefighters’ union gave Bacchus over $19,000. Voters also learned recently that Bacchus spoke at a fundraiser last year for U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who is notorious for her anti-Semitic comments.
The other two council candidates endorsed by the mayor, Maria Tu and Rick Grady, were elected in May.
Plano’s last city council election, in May 2017, also resulted in runoffs, which were won by pro-taxpayer candidates Anthony Ricciardelli (who defeated Bacchus) and Rick Smith. Early voting turnout in the June 2017 runoff was 7.9 percent (12,535 votes), well below that general election’s early voting turnout of 12.1 percent and lower than this year’s runoff participation.
Total turnout in this May’s election was 13.3 percent. Sherbet said it will be very interesting to see if Election Day turnout in the runoffs continues to outpace May turnout.
Election Day is Saturday, June 8. Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Plano voters who live and are registered to vote in Collin County may cast ballots at any polling location within Collin County. Plano voters who live and are registered to vote in Denton County must vote at Denton County’s polling location.

Erin Anderson
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Erin Anderson is the Metroplex Bureau Chief for Texas Scorecard, reporting on state and local issues, events, and government actions that impact people in communities throughout the area. A native Texan, Erin grew up in the Houston area and now lives in Collin County.

Democrat Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, was in Richardson, Texas for a fundraiser in her honor. Ilhan Omar is known for her Anti-Semitic tweets and hate for the Jewish State of Israel. She was almost reprimanded by the House of Representatives for her bad behavior, but the cowardly House leaders backed down. Ann Bacchus, City Council Candidate Place 7, helped with and spoke at this fundraiser.
The Mayor and the PAC We Love Plano support Ann Bacchus. We Love Plano PAC is funded by big developers. At this time, no one from the PAC, the Mayor’s office, or any of those who have endorsed Ann Bacchus have denounced her support for an Anti-Semite. This is disgraceful. It is also hypocritical, since Ann Bacchus and her supporters set out to recall a councilman for controversial posts to his Facebook page. Apparently Ann Bacchus, her supporters, and the Mayor think it is ok to post things against Jewish people.
When Ann Bacchus learned that her support for an Anti-Semite was made public, the only thing she reportedly said was curse words. At the time this article was printed, Ann Bacchus had not put out a formal statement to explain her actions or apologize.
The Democrat party has an Anti-Semitism problem. A few national Democrats have said and done things that are hateful to Jews. Ann Bacchus is following in her party’s ways.
We at Plano’s Political Pit Bull strongly oppose any Anti-Semitism and support the Jewish State of Israel. Anyone who supports an Anti-Semite is Anti-Semitic and should not serve in public office. That goes for Democrat Ann Bacchus and anyone who supports her.
Plano residents must go out and vote against Ann Bacchus. Residents must not let this women win the city council election. If they do, Plano is saying it is ok to have an Anti-Semitic leader.
Voting ends May 4th at 7:00 pm.
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off
link to radio broadcast of story
http://www.wbap.com/chris-salcedo/
News story about fundraiser.
​http://jagotimes.com/dallas-muslim-leaders-hosted-fundraiser-for-ilhan-omar/?fbclid=IwAR3xpKwWzimchFYRX8OMqUKRAL7tTBMRKKTgE8CdX83CMyeNkKE3Icjczg0

The following is a video outlining the possible election laws the Mayor and City Council Candidate Ann Bacchus may have broken. The endorsements made  by the people in the video are theirs alone. PPPB is not endorsing any candidates in the local elections. Early voting starts on April 22, 2019 and Election Day is May 4th. 

The Political Committee, We Love Plano, should really be called We Love Developer’s Cash. The group’s first Texas Ethics Commission report states they got $70,000 in contributions from 10 people/entities. Nine of them are developers, and eight live outside of Plano.
Our first donor is Eric Schmitz, a real estate developer, whose company, Aquatech Saltwater Disposal, in Denton made a $25,000 contribution to We Love Plano. Our next pair of donors is a couple from Dallas. James and Sarah Feagin are also developers who gave $25,000. Then there is Steve Folsom, a developer from Addison. He gave $1,000. Next we have the Harry LaRosilier Campaign. The Mayor took $15,000 from his campaign coffers and gave it to We Love Plano. Our sixth donor is Randy Heady from Dallas. He owns Heady Investments, a development company. He donated $1,000. The second Plano resident and seventh donor on the list is Dave Johnson. He is the CEO of Aimbridge Hospitality, a hotel management and investment firm. Mr. Johnson gave $1,000. The eighth donor is Mark Lewis from Dallas. He is also a developer who gave $1,000 to We Love Plano. Lastly, we have Mehul and Vaishali Patel from Southlake. Guess what they do for a living. If you guessed developers, you were correct. They also gave $1,000.
By now you are probably wondering what We Love Plano is doing with all the money they are getting, and why out of town developers are donating to it? According to the TEC report, the group is supporting four candidates for the City Council election. They are Maria Tu, Ron Kelly, Rick Grady, and Ann Bacchus. Those candidates have also received direct campaign contributions from developers. The report for We Love Plano says they spent $38,977.89 on advertising and consulting expenses from Nasia Murphy in Austin.
Clearly big money has come to the Plano City Council election. Unlike federal campaign contribution law, there is no limit to the amount of money a person or business can give to a local campaign. As far as we can tell, the Plano Citizen Collation PAC, the counter group to We Love Plano, does not collect that much in donations. As of their last TEC report PCC had $136.92. The group does not get money from big out of town developers. PCC PAC is supporting Danial Long, Colleen Aguilar-Epstein, Shelby Williams, and Lily Bao for City Council.
Why would big developers, mainly out of town developers, care about a Plano city council election? The developer wants to make sure the city council is made up of people who will remember they donated to them directly or indirectly when a zoning change is needed.
Of course the Mayor donated to people he knows will rubber stamp his agenda. Lord forbid he should have independent thinkers on city council with him.
The TEC reports show that this election is truly a David and Goliath battle. Big business developers’ money against small grass roots activists. We wonder who the voters will get behind?
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off.

We at Plano’s Political Pit Bull are not endorsing any candidate for City Council. We encourage voters to do their homework on each candidate, attend the forums, and go vote on May 4th. Early voting starts April 22nd.

As of April 8, 2019 PPPB knows of the following city council forums….

• Plano Republican Women Tuesday, April 16, 2019 @ 11:30 am.

For more information and to RSVP go to www.planorepublicanwomen.org

​On March 25, 2019 zoning case 2018-025 was withdrawn by the developer, but not before corporate neighbors had their say. If you don’t know what case 2018-025 means, it is the application to build 800 apartments and a multi-use development where the old JC Penney's headquarters currently stands.
Developer Sam Ware bought the JC Penney property, but instead of just renting out the office building to a business, Sam Ware wants to build apartments, retail, and restaurants. Of course his plan passed the Planning and Zoning Board. When it came to City Council on March 18th it was tabled for March 25th.
At the March 25th meeting we saw some new and surprising faces speak against the multi-use development. The first speaker came all the way from DC. He represents the firm that owns the Federal Express building at the Legacy Office Park which is across the street from the JC Penney complex.
The gentleman first told us how the Legacy Office Park came into existence. The Office Park was the brain child of Ross Perot in the 1980s. According to the speaker, “[Ross Perot] thoughtfully planned the area. He felt strongly back in the 80s that there be no apartments in the development. He laid out strict guidelines for it. As a buyer we took a lot of solace in the way that was put fourth. Had we known that an apartment development was going to be put up across the street from us we would have thought twice about the investment.” Fed Ex wants to expand, and having apartments across the street would impact them. The speaker also said, “Legacy Office Park has brought 25,000 jobs to the area in 10 years. I would really hate to see anything happen that could have a negative impact on the job growth that it brings to this community.” WOW was my reaction. Clearly Fed Ex does not want this project and feels so strongly about it that they would spend money to send a spokesman to a little city council meeting to let the members and city know it. While the speaker did not say it directly, he inferred that Fed Ex would leave if the City Council went ahead with this development.
The next speaker was a women representing the company that developed One Legacy West in the Office Park. Her company wants the Office Park to stay as it was originally planned. She said, “It would be highly detrimental to us if you change [the zoning or] character of the [office park] because its success depends on being what it is today.
The last speaker basically said the same thing. He was happy that the owner is withdrawing the plan; however, he added, “If they ever come back, the [other owners] will come back and [fight it]. Toyota is another company that has said it is against the apartments.
A person representing the developer also spoke. He made it clear that while the company was withdrawing this proposal, they would come back with another plan in the future. It seems like the developer wants to talk with the neighbors before moving forward.  
This fight between companies puts the Mayor and his people on city council in a difficult position. Sam Ware, the owner of the old JC Penney's land and other property in Plano, has donated to the campaigns of the Mayor, Councilman Rick Grady, and Councilman Ron Kelly. Of course they will feel some obligation to him. That is why some residents have called for the Mayor and anyone on council who has taken donations from Sam Ware to recuse themselves from any vote dealing with this case. It is obviously a conflict of interest to be voting on a development owned by a person who has given money to a council member’s election.   
The other problem the Mayor has is companies that have been a part of Legacy Office Park since the beginning now appear to be ready to pick up and leave if Sam Ware’s 800 apartments are approved. With the loss of Dr. Pepper and JC Penney, it would be a tremendous blow to Plano’s Economy and the Mayor’s legacy, if we lost Fed Ex or any of the companies currently in the office park. Imagine being known as the Mayor who drove major corporations out of Plano over apartments. I wonder which big corporation the Mayor will side with?
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing off.
 

BY ERIN ANDERSON From Empower Texans
MARCH 14, 2019 
Special interests are once again bankrolling Plano politics, donating to “pro-developer” council candidates backed by the city’s mayor.
High-density real estate developer Sam Ware donated $1,000 each to a slate of four Plano City Council candidates backed by Mayor Harry LaRosiliere, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Ware’s company Dreien Opportunity Partners is on track to build a 795-unit apartment complex at the former J.C. Penney corporate headquarters site in Legacy West.
Plano’s planning and zoning commission gave Ware’s proposal the green light last month over the objections of current property owners in the corporate business park, and city council is expected to approve the project later this month.
The pro-developer council slate supported by Ware and LaRosiliere includes incumbents Rick Grady (Place 3) and Ron Kelley (Place 5) and open-seat candidates Maria Tu (Place 1) and Ann Bacchus (Place 7). Grady and Kelley both have records of voting for higher city property tax burdens. Bacchus is a former Democrat precinct chair who ran unsuccessfully for council in 2017. Tu is a political newcomer who identifies as Republican but is backed by Democrats.
Dreien partner Jeffrey Blakely also donated $1,000 each to Bacchus and Kelley on the same December 2018 dates as Ware, as did developer Jack Dawson of Centurion American. None of the three donors live in Plano.
Outside special-interest money is nothing new in Plano politics. LaRosiliere raised over $300,000 for his 2017 re-election campaign. More than $175,000 came from individuals and PACs with ties to developers or their financiers, apartment projects, and other special interests from outside Plano.
The investment appears to have paid off. The mayor has continued to push an unpopular density policy that aims to urbanize the suburb at the behest of developers, despite near-unanimous opposition from Plano homeowners, earning him the nickname “High-Density Harry.”
In a campaign fundraising email sent March 1, LaRosiliere urged his supporters to send him money to help elect the candidates he said “will help me over the rest of my term” and defeat his chosen slate’s opponents, who he called “anti-business, anti-developer, anti-growth,” and “anti-new headquarter relocation.”
The political outsiders challenging the mayor’s coalition say they favor responsible growth that maintains Plano’s current suburban identity and doesn’t overtax residents or give special deals to developers at the expense of residents.
Candidates Daniel Long (Place 1), Colleen Epstein (Place 3), Shelby Williams (Place 5), and Lily Bao (Place 7) are endorsed by Plano Citizens’ Coalition, an organization that promotes government accountability, transparency, and fiscal responsibility.
Plano citizens can follow the money to determine which candidates support high-density developers and other special interests, and who prioritizes the interests of city taxpayers.
Early voting in Plano’s May 4 municipal election runs April 22-30. The last day to register to vote in the election is April 4.

 
Have you noticed that lately our local media has been doing articles attacking those who disagree with the Mayor? The Plano Star did an article about the Plano Citizen Coalition a few weeks back. The Plano Profile did glowing multiple articles on the Mayor in their most resent issue. Both media outlets discredited those who happen to disagree with him. While the Star stuck to the issues, The Plano Profile called the Mayor’s opposition racist. The magazine and the Mayor also called his top political opponent, Lily Bao, in the 2017 Mayoral election, a bigot.
This is a common play used by the Democrats. You don’t agree with them they call you racist, bigot, sexist, homophobic, etc. When the left can’t win the debate on the merits, they bully their opponents into submission often dehumanizing them in the public’s eye so no one will listen to them. There is just one problem with using this play on Lily Bao; she is a double minority. Lily is a woman and an Asian American. If someone wanted to they could say the Mayor and Plano Profile is being sexist, misogynist, and racist by attacking Lily.
So, what are the issues Lily disagrees with the Mayor on? Well, according to the Mayor it is apartments, low income housing, and the Plano Tomorrow Plan. It is humorous that the Mayor and Plano Profile claim that Lily is against low income housing because she is a member of the Plano Housing Authority Board. You know, the origination where low income people go to get housing? Clearly if Lily was against low income housing she would not be handing it out. So the Mayor’s attack is just a way for him to belittle and show a sense of superiority over Lily and those who agree with her.
The Plano Profile does not stop at just attacking Lily. It also attacks Plano Future and anyone against the Plano Tomorrow Plan calling all of them bigots. Again, a group of people disagree with the left, so they must attack and discredit them. It can’t simply be that people who are against the Plano Tomorrow Plan have valid reasons for their opinion. No, they must be evil. Of course, this is ridicules.
Are the people who oppose the Plano Tomorrow Plan against all apartments? Well, if the writer from Plano Profile bothered to even ask anyone from Plano Future, he would have learned that they are not opposed to all apartments. Plano had apartments before the Plano Tomorrow Plan, and people from Plano Future did not have a problem with all of them. What Plano Future and others from all races are against is high density. They don’t want to cram lots of people into a small area. Packing folks in like Japanese trains is not good for their quality of life, as studies have shown. It causes traffic and pollution and, according to a Psychology today article, high density causes stress and mental health issues. We see this with the developments at Legacy West and Shops at Legacy. In a recent Community Impact issue the newsletter talked about the traffic problems now caused by the Legacy development. Gee, who would of thought cramming large amounts of people in a one mile radius would cause traffic problems? Oh, the people who opposed the density of the development, that’s who!
Perhaps if the Mayor had listened to the concerns of the residents the problems could have been avoided. However, the Mayor thinks he already listens to the residents. He is quoted in Plano Profile as saying, “I’m always ready to listen and do what’s bests for our city, but I’m going to do it in a manner that’s going to unite the city not divide us.” Clearly the Mayor is in complete denial about his behavior. He may listen, but he only listens to what he wants to hear. Calling people racist due to differences on an issue is not what most would call listening. It also does not unite it divides. Saying they are not smart at city council meetings is disrespectful as well, of which he has done many times.     
In the same article the Mayor said, “Some people simply don’t like the look of giant apartment buildings, [but] Plano has property standards and [it] will make sure certain areas look and feel consistent.” Perhaps the Mayor has not passed the massive five story apartment building on Preston and Plano Pkwy. It is across from a single family housing development, that was against the massive structure, commercial businesses, and next to a car dealership. The builder apparently could not decide on a color, so the building has a range of different colors. It would be an understatement to say the building is completely out of place with the surrounding area.
So why attack those who disagree with the Mayor? Simple, the 2019 local elections. The Mayor does not want people who disagree with him on council. He wants people who will go along with his agenda. In order to make sure people he likes wins, he must discredit those he does not like so people won’t elect them. He must attack their character because that is the only way he can win, even if the character he makes them out to be is untrue. If he could win on the merits of the debate, he would not resort to character assassination. Instead he would stick to the issues. However, it is easier to call groups of people names than engage in an actual debate on ideas. The question for the voter is are you going to give all the candidates a fair chance by listening to their ideas, or are you going to disregard the candidates based on a title given by someone who disagrees with them?
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off
 
Plano’s Political Pit Bull is not endorsing any candidate in this years local elections. You can find a list of the candidates at https://www.plano.gov/312/Elections 
Please do your homework on them. Attend the forums that groups around town will be having. Then you can make an informed decision about who to vote for.
 
Psychology Today article mentioned.
https://www-psychologytoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-wandering/201208/stress-and-the-city?amp=&usqp=mq331AQCCAE%3D&fbclid=IwAR1L8pLNd6L8xTnaQ-xO8qeHyYrLjy9FRp-RZ0FjH7Fw7VGbcTtQOEyj9KM&_js_v=0.1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.psychologytoday.com%2Fus%2Fblog%2Fmind-wandering%2F201208%2Fstress-and-the-city

While the following article is about a city much smaller than Plano, this is a such interesting idea Plano's Political Pit Bull felt it needed to be shared. 

BY CHARLES BLAIN from Empower Texans
As the legislature considers two landmark property tax reform proposals, local officials and taxpayer-funded lobbyists are scurrying around the Capitol, most in opposition to the 2.5 percent limit on property tax increases found within Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 2. One city, however, has done away with property taxes entirely. Instead of opposing reform, local officials should look to Stafford, Texas.
Stafford, a Fort Bend County city of about 20,000, eliminated its property taxes more than 20 years ago under long-serving Mayor Leonard Scarcella. Scarcella wanted to “end Stafford’s reliance on municipal property taxes” and did so with a 100 percent local property tax abatement.
A certificate presented to Scarcella and city officials last year says:
“For the last 22 years, the city has managed all public spending through the municipal sales tax fund and has met the needs of the community without incurring additional debt; the city’s innovative approach to fiscal management has led to a notable increase in cash resources and has saved residents and businesses thousands of dollars in taxes each year.”
Stafford is the largest Texas city to abolish property taxes on commercial and residential property. As a comparison, the neighboring city of Sugar Land levied a 45.7 cent property tax on every $100 of valuation at the time Stafford abolished theirs.
The county, school district, and other local entities still levy property taxes, and the city collects a 2 percent sales tax: 1.5 percent goes to the city and .5 percent goes to the Stafford Economic Development Corporation. Their most recent financial report shows that sales and use taxes make up about 58 percent of their revenue with service charges coming in well behind at 27 percent of revenue.
Contrary to what is often claimed by local officials, the city isn’t losing out on new business, debt hasn’t added up, and public services are fully functioning.
Stafford benefits from being located near a major city and off of a major highway, and sees a significant influx of commuters during the day, so it is uniquely positioned to abolish its property tax and manage with a reasonable sales tax. However, this wouldn’t have been a successful experiment without sound fiscal management, which shows that it can be done.
So while other cities fight to oppose property tax reform in the legislature, Stafford residents need only fight their county and school district to follow suit and put taxpayers first.

by Mark Reid PCC President
We would like to thank Mr. Glasscock for his years of service to the City of Plano as both Chief of Police and City Manager. We wish him the very best in his retirement. We also want to thank him for acknowledging that there are Plano citizens that, like him, care about our city and want to have a say in Plano’s future. That said we would like to respond to some of the statements attributed to Mr. Glasscock in a recent Dallas Morning News Article.
The article calls us the anti-government crowd and insinuates that we oppose Plano’s “top-notch amenities.” But like Mr. Glasscock, we too are proud of Plano. Plano is a very well-run city with top notch employees and programs. From first responders to water, sewer, trash collection, road repairs, libraries, parks and recreation, and all other areas, Plano is truly a city of excellence that we love and support.
However, we know that with proper vision and leadership, excellence can be achieved without increasing city taxes at three times the rate of inflation. We know this because we too are leaders that do this year after year in public, private, and volunteer organizations. We are long time Plano citizens. We are well educated, informed, involved citizens who own and run businesses, serve on public and private boards, and are respected executives and professionals in their fields. We are as knowledgeable and intelligent as any of the council members that sit behind the dais. After all, the council members are elected from among Plano citizens.
The article accuses us of wanting to see “the city government stripped down to little more than police, fire and road repair.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. We simply want our city council to give the same respect to the voters that they give to the city’s seemingly insatiable need for higher taxes. We want our city to prioritize its needs and wants just like we do in our families, our businesses, and our public service organizations. And we want our city to realize that allowing city taxes to increase 46.5% since 2014 while the city’s population has increased only 5.7% in the same period is simply unsustainable.
We are tired of those that are elected to represent us being rude, condescending, and dismissive of our desire to maintain the suburban lifestyle that we drew us to Plano in the first Place. We don’t like seeing Plano being “fundamentally transformed” from a safe and inviting suburb to an overcrowded urban environment with sewers that overflow, foul water, rough roads and congested traffic.
What we want is city council members, a mayor, and a city manager that are representative, transparent, and remember that they work for the citizens of Plano. We want a city government that does not use first responders as pawns in a game to raise taxes and spend money to the benefit of wealthy donors and huge corporations. We want council members and a mayor that take responsibility for city taxes, rather than blaming others entities. What we want is city government that respects and represents its citizens rather than bully us because we dare to disagree with their vision and policies.
While we don’t have an open microphone at City Council meetings and we don’t have the support of publications like the Dallas Morning News, we do have the attention of Plano voters that are looking at what the city is doing and asking “Is this what I want for Plano?”
So Mr. Glasscock, thank you for your service to Plano and know that Plano Citizens will continue to work to keep Plano a City of Excellence. We look forward to working with likeminded city council members and the new City Manager Mr. Israelson when he becomes the new City Manager in May.


https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2019/01/30/angry-crowd-gains-clout-worries-planos-outgoing-city-manager?fbclid=IwAR3Ptxm9_jMdITdMfFTKnBz9K1rkoM9wDxMvthsRTioHMxHdAB1EDgiH28Q

At the January 28, 2019 Preliminary Open Council Meeting the Mayor let it be known that he is against the Governors Property Tax Reform Proposal, and he thinks the whole council should be against it too. The Mayor said, “If we want to address property taxes as it effects us, we need to talk about the 2% or 2 cents cap our governor wants to impose on us. That is the resolution [I want]. I would love to see our council step up…. and say this is not right for our city.” He also said, “I’d like to see [us] focus on what we spent hours and hours discussing during budget time, which is in our purview, [and] be affirmative on what our city needs.” The Mayor also called the Governor’s proposal, “Draconian”.
So, the Mayor basically said he does not want the residents to have the right to vote on property tax increases. Not surprisingly the Mayor also got the facts wrong about the Governor’s Plan. So I, your cute Pit Bull, will give you the real facts about the plan. If you would like to read the plan for yourself here is the link for it. https://www.gregabbott.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PropertyTaxReform.pdf
First, the plan “establishes a property tax revenue growth cap of 2.5 percent per year without voter approval.” Not 2% or 2 cents as the Mayor said. Second, the plan allows for two exemptions.
1) Taxes from new developments are not affected.
2) Any proposed revenue increases over the cap must be for limited purposes. Some examples listed in the plan are, “compensation for emergency services personnel (including law enforcement), compensation for classroom teachers or other instructional personnel in public schools, or critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and school classrooms.” However, “increases above the cap may not, in total, exceed the statewide increase in population growth plus inflation, as calculated by the Comptroller of Public Accounts.” Simply put, if the police department needs more money to hire more cops, the city can get it.
Third, any increases above the cap must be approved by a (2/3rds) super-majority vote of the people and the elected officials.
Fourth, the cap excludes revenue from sales taxes and local fees. Lastly, the revenue cap would start on January 1, 2021.
So, I have a question for the Mayor. What is so Draconian about that plan? Just to make sure we are all talking about the same thing, I looked up the synonyms for Draconian. Some synonyms for the word are harsh, severe, strict, extreme, drastic, tough, cruel, oppressive, and repressive. Apparently the Mayor feels it is oppressive to give the people the right to vote on property tax increases. Sorry Mayor, but letting people vote is the opposite of oppressive. Voting is a core principle of our Constitutional Republic and any free society. Now, having local governments impose property tax increases people can’t afford, that is Draconian.
Clearly the Mayor is worried that if the Governor’s Plan passes the voters will stop the property tax gravy train, and the city will have to slow its spending increases.
Did you really think there would not be consequences for ignoring your residents, Mr. Mayor? Residents have been complaining about the dramatic rise in property taxes for a few years. They have gone in front of council begging for you to not raise their property tax bills. Some people said they simply can’t afford the tax increases anymore. A group of citizens went through the budget and pointed out where you could slow or cut spending. Hundreds of people signed a petition asking you not to raise their tax bills. However, you ignored all of them. You talked down to them and insulted their intelligence. Did you really think they would just give up and continue to take the abuse? Of course they would go to a higher authority. When residents get the cold shoulder from one elected official, they go to the next one up the political food chain. In Plano City Council’s case that would be the state legislature and governor. State House Reps Jeff Leach, Matt Shaheen, and former State Senator, now Congressman, Van Taylor have received calls, letters, and emails from their voters begging for help. Newly elected State House Rep Candy Noble and State Senator Angela Paxton ran on property tax reform. Unlike the Mayor and some on council, they want to help their constituents. The Governor also wants to give Texans property tax relief. One way of doing that is putting the power back in the hands of the people by giving them a vote. That way instead of the people going to the Mayor and council begging them not to raise their taxes, the Mayor and the council would have to go to the people and beg them for more money. That is not Draconian Mr. Mayor, that is well deserved karma.
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull Signing Off.

​In the December 21, 2018 issue of Community Impact Plano edition, the front page article was titled “From teens to mid-30s, Plano sees youth dip.” According to the article Plano’s young adult population (20-29) is about 12%. Allen and McKinney are at 11%. Dallas has the highest at 18%, which Community Impact seems to be envious of. I just have two questions in regards to this article, SO WHAT? What is the problem?
It is very normal for large urban cities like Dallas to have more young adults than its suburban neighbors. Traditionally when kids turn 18 they leave their childhood suburban home for college. They spend most of their early twenties away from home. After graduation one of three things happens. One, they find a job and get their own place. Two, they find a job but can’t afford to live on their own, so they live with mom and dad until they can. Or, three, it’s a parent’s nightmare become reality. Their adult kid can’t find a job, has to live at home, and mooches off of them. In some states like NY, the cost of living is too high for young adults to live on their own, so they are stuck at home with mom and dad. Due to the free market policies of our state government, TX has a great economy and low cost of living. Therefore, most of our young adults can get a job and afford to live on their own.
Where do these young adults who are just starting out typically choose to live? Normally apartments in large urban cities. They might live alone or with a roommate. Since they typically are not married with children, they don’t need a house. They probably can’t afford or want to be bothered with the maintenance of a house either. Most young adults also want to be near action and nightlife. They have the time and energy to stay out all night at clubs and bars. Typically young adults don’t want the quiet life of the suburbs.  
So, who traditionally lives in the suburbs? Simple; married people in their late 30s with children. Folks who move to the suburbs typically want a house to raise children in. They want their kids to go to good schools, play in a backyard, or swim in their pool.  Friday night out for them consists of going to watch their kid play football. These folks want a more quiet life.
There is nothing wrong with young adults choosing to live in large cities while married people with children live in the suburbs; it is natural. Community Impact should not make it seem like something is wrong with this natural phenomenon. The fact they think that something is odd about this makes me suspicious. Are they trying to plant a seed in city staff and council members heads that Plano needs to have things that attract people in their 20s to it? That would mean having builders building cheap small apartments, bars, and night clubs that are open all night.  That means making Plano into Dallas. Most people who currently live here don’t want that. If they did, they would live in Dallas. Plano has been a suburb for decades. That has attracted hundreds of thousands of people to it. Those who move here typically stay here through old age. Therefore, People should stop trying to make Plano into something it is not. If they don’t they will drive away those who came for what it is. Plano is great being a suburb. If it was not, people would not live here.
This is Plano’s Political Pit Bull signing off.