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09/01/2024
The quest for transparency and accountability in the Bastrop Central Appraisal District.
If you're interested in this topic, please join the Facebook Group, "Texas Open-space Appraisals." That's where I have been posting everything about my dealings with BCAD, and I will continue to post all of my messages to that site, even if I don't get time to cross-post them to a bunch of other groups.
Quick background: BCAD created a land classification of beekeeping. For every land classification they have, they are required to calculate a productivity value. They are required to set the productivity value by using lease rates. There are no lease rates for beekeeping. I was recently elected to the board of directors at BCAD. I asked our lawyer, Kirk Swinney, if the way we calculated our beekeeping productivity value was legal since the law says we must use lease rates. I posted my letter to Mr. Swinney. He refused to answer my question. I posted his refusal to say if the BCAD's policy is legal. The chairman of the board, David Redd, responded to Mr. Swinney's refusal to answer. I posted Mr. Redd's response. I responded to both of them, and that is the email that I will be posting now.
Dear Kirk Swinney, and copied to David Redd,
Thank you for your response and for clarifying the Board's current practice regarding communication with legal counsel. I appreciate the emphasis on ensuring that all board actions are conducted in an open and transparent manner, consistent with our collective responsibilities.
I would like to clarify that the current policy, as it has been practiced, allows individual board members and even appraisal district employees to seek legal opinions regarding the legality of actions. Here are a few specific examples that demonstrate this:
• Agenda and Board Packet Review: The Chairman, David Redd, and the Board of Directors Attorney, Kirk Swinney, typically review the agenda and related documents ahead of time to ensure compliance with legal standards.
• Forwarding Requests to Counsel: I have seen instances where requests were forwarded directly to legal counsel for a response, such as when Ms. Cullens recommended reviewing the manual with counsel before bringing the matter back to the Board for action.
• Legal Review of Disputes: There have been situations where disputes were reviewed by the Board's legal counsel, with the conclusion communicated as the official stance of the Board, such as when a dispute was closed based on counsel's opinion that no violation had occurred.
• Legal Advice on Agenda Items: The agenda items are often posted as advised by the ARB’s attorney, showing that individual inquiries about legality are addressed by legal counsel regularly.
These examples illustrate that obtaining legal opinions from counsel for specific issues has been the common practice, supporting the operational integrity of the Board.
If there is a belief that this policy should be changed, then I agree that it would be appropriate to bring it before the Board for discussion and potential revision. However, I do not believe that delaying the response to my current inquiry based on a non-existent technicality is justified, especially when the issue at hand concerns the possible illegal activity of the Board. Such matters demand immediate attention and cannot be postponed.
Given the seriousness of the concerns I’ve raised, I respectfully request an immediate legal opinion response to address the potential illegal activity by the Board. This matter cannot be delayed for discussion at a later date, as it requires prompt attention to ensure we are operating within the bounds of the law. I believe it is in the best interest of the Board and our community to resolve this issue now, so that we have the legal opinion when we consider further debate.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to receiving the legal opinion at the earliest opportunity.
Sincerely,
Here's a link to the actual email if anyone is interested in seeing it:
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