Cove council: E-mails not kept

At yesterday's City Council candidate forum held at the VFW Willie Goode received an ovation when he replied to the question concerning a charter amendment that requires the city to hire an assistant city attorney. His reply was "Before we hire an assistant city attorney we need to get a real city attorney".
Atta boy, Willie.

I was also impressed with Seffrood and Danny Palmer, both running for Place 7.
Early voting starts tomorrow.

How can the city afford to hire an assistant attorney when I read that they are paying 140,000 smackers a year for a sometime attorney?

I think city staff and city councilmen/women see the handwriting on the wall and they think they are going to need more legal advise to keep the citizens out of the cities business.

I was surprised that Mayor Pro-Tem Reeves could look anyone in the eye after his violations of the city charter became public knowledge. He shouldn't even be on the city council with all the meetings he has missed.

Ms. Steele has to wait just a little longer before she can snare this big fish who presided over a hearing that has made the City of Copperas Cove to be renamed City of Bafoons.

Has the bad publicity over the flooding in Walker Place got the builders or the city to respond?

Count me in too on giving Councilman wannabe Willie Goode an Attaboy for his responses during the forum.

They can - evey email sent from a PC is assigned an IP address which is assignedto each PC connect to the email server. So those she sent from school will have a dfferent IP compared to the ones sent from the laptop blonging to the city councul

Geddy_Lee wrote:

http://www.temple-telegram.com /story/2008/04/19/48745
Is this the coverup for the conspiracy?

Here is th IP address for Councilwoman Henize's email. IP 24.242.180.186 & Email stored on server (address - city4.cocc.local) Any good IT tech can recover email from server because she can delete all she wants on te city labtop but she can't delete info on he server without access. Hope this will help the Temple paper.

Ya ! I'll bet the current council is really scared to give up their 25.00 a meeting. You guys are the idiots who in their right mind would spend thousands of dollars to keep a 25.00 a meeting job ? Please let the recalls begin !!!

Hey Dumb ass it's the power not the pay but it look like it may be comming to a end but you know that dont you wonder if the could go to jail for trying to cover it up???
That would be funny the fox get it from the hen.

I wont to see the city employee that ran out duering the hearing and ask the chif "Chif what is all this I cant get work done for the noises" If you work for the city and you did not know what was going on then that might be why we have problems.

THEMEANOGRE wrote:

If Miss Heinze is or has been using school resources to help run the city on school time then she would be guilty of more than one felony. Time theft is a low grade felony punishable by up to a year in prison and/ or a healthy fine. Misuse of school district equipment would constitute another offense. I'm sure others could be found, if one cared to look.
I'm of the school of thought that when one is accused of a crime, one should be charged with ALL the various offenses that can be made to apply. That way when a miscreant FINALLY gets out from under, they would be encouraged to rethink a career as a criminal.

Well, we're soon to find out. I have rec'd a copy of a letter from the CCISD to O'Die in which they acknowledge emails to city employees and city councilmen exist and they are in the process of retrieving them (all for a nice cost of $385!!).
It would appear Mrs. Heinze is guilty as everyone thinks. Hopefully the school board will fire her worthless butt.

If she truly is guilty, don't just fire her, prosecute her.

It will be hard to prosecute Councilwoman Heinz. Our home grown district attorney is reluctant to go after the bad guys.

For a good run down on the stinky smell our city has been given by our city government and key city employees which has been taken over by special interest groups. See page A4, Cove Hearld, May 1, 2008, article "Voters must hold council accountable, guest column by Bruce Beals.

It is crazy when I read in this same issue that one previous city councilman who is running again states the city must take responsibility for all the woes caused by developers. After all his reasoning is the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a project like Walker Place and it is their fault. My question is, who is filling their pockets with money from substand development in the City of Copperas Cove? It is the builders. Time to go after them. If they flee the city and later come back, don't turn your head.

Previous City Councilman??
My guess would be John Gallen who votes to stick it to the citizens every chance he gets.
And he's running again. If you haven't early voted yet, do it today. Gallen is running for Place 6 - don't let him get back on the council.

The city needs to look at the long term affects it builders are going to cause. My property has a lot of problems, all due to Atkinson and his shotty planning. He is not a nice man. He threatens the city and the residents.....until he gets what he wants. The builers need to be held accountable. If the city allowed the process, then they need to be held accountable for the problems.

This is first part from Cove Herald

Voters must hold council accountable,
Guest Column
Bruce Beals
-----

Opinion: The Emperor Doesn't Have Any Pants On

Recently, I taught an undergraduate course on American political history since 1945 at a local university.

We examined and discussed the most important political events of the second half of the Twentieth Century.

The most frequently asked question was how did America's political leaders make so many obviously disastrous decisions when those judgments were clearly not in the best interests of themselves, the people, or the nation?

The predictable follow-up question was why did the voters tolerate such irresponsible and egotistical behavior?

I've thought a lot about those questions over the past few months as our citizens, and the rest of Central Texas, were frequently and publicly reminded of the dishonorable and disgraceful actions of a few self-absorbed members of our city government. Their arrogant and selfish behavior reminded me of a quote from the First Century Roman Senator and historian, Tacitus.

He wrote critically about the relationship between the Roman Senate and the Emperor and the rampant corruption in Rome's Imperial government. In addressing these issues he said, "Chief among the forces affecting political folly is lust for power, the most flagrant of all passions."

I find it incredible that a majority of our city council, with the aid and advice of the city attorney and city manager, deliberately made so many bonehead decisions and ultimately brought us to our current state of collective embarrassment, bitterness, and leadership paralysis.

Why do individuals and groups of all sizes and compositions, to include city councils, make senseless decisions that are instinctively contrary to their personal interests or the happiness and welfare of everyone else? Do they make thoughtless choices because they don't anticipate potential consequences? Do they recognize the possibility of damaging fallout but decide to ignore it? Do they fail to foresee possible outcomes because they misread all the signs around them that tell them otherwise? Or, is it possible they believe they can advance
their own interests by behavior that is harmful to others?

Second Part from Cove Hearld

In the case of our city council, it seems the perpetrators believe they will get away with their morally reprehensible actions because they are out of harm's way and immune from the wrath of the majority of citizens.

Apparently, they have convinced themselves that they are safe because they are small in number and motivated by the prospect of gaining power at the expense of a much larger group of citizens.

When you understand that just five council members and the city attorney recently nullified the votes of 714 citizens, or 55% of the voting public in the last mayoral election, you begin to grasp the boldness of these self-serving elected officials.

Another example of their apparent sense of unrestrained privilege is the council member who went so far as to dare the voters to recall him and his fellow council members if they felt gutsy enough to do so. Even Tacitus would be impressed by this man's ego and lust for power.

Today, we find ourselves trapped in the middle of a bare-knuckled power grab by a small group who consider themselves the local decision-making elite. If this wasn't so pathetic and detrimental to the interests of our city and its citizens, it would be laughable.

Despite the negative public attention these adult delinquents have received as a result of their political vandalism, they continue to make selfish and bad decisions that affect all of us.

With an element of insulation provided by a few key city employees, this group continues to act in a way that seeks to bring advantage and power to themselves and their supporters, regardless of whether those actions hurt everyone else. They are either blind or indifferent to the conflicts of interest that surround them and the long-term harm they have done to our city's reputation.

How do we, as voters and concerned citizens end this political death spiral? First, we cannot continue to allow elected or public officials to shield themselves from the consequences of their actions. For better or worse, they must be held accountable for everything they do or fail to do.

Secondly, we must elect and support courageous, insightful, strong leaders who ask tough questions and with whom we share core values of honesty, objectivity, vision, and independence.

Finally, we must not be afraid to publicly express our opinions, despite the real or perceived threat of intimidation or retribution.

It is easy to be pessimistic about what has happened in Copperas Cove. By reflecting on past and recent events, and working together to understand what we need to do to force a change of political course, we still may be able to mend our ways and increase our chances for success and strength as a community.

If Tacitus lived in Cove today and was asked how to turn things around, he would probably suggest that it's time to tell the Emperor he doesn't have any pants on.

In my opinion, the best way to express your views on this sleazy episode is to get out and vote your conscience in the upcoming election.

Remember this - who is on the Planning and Zoning Committee - all former councilmembers.
Watch both Harris and Somera will be selected to that committee by either Heinze or Clayton. Gallen is curretly sitting on this committee - We need to get fresh faces on the committees

So is the former mayor, Bradi Diaz.

pbuzzard57 wrote:

Remember this - who is on the Planning and Zoning Committee - all former councilmembers.
Watch both Harris and Somera will be selected to that committee by either Heinze or Clayton. Gallen is curretly sitting on this committee - We need to get fresh faces on the committees

During one of the recent annexations one person's land on Highway 190 was not annexed. I wonder why?

Why is everyone so quiet on Copperas Cove City Council member Charlotte Heinze who may have been using school resources to help run the city on school time? Is this a common practice at the Copperas Cove Independent School District? Inquiring taxpayers want to know.

This is the information that you requested in your PIA Request.
1. Type of Email system to include hardware, software and backup system for the Email system.
Software: Kerio KMS version 6.3.1 build 2402 Qt library version 3.3.6
Hardware: Dell PowerEdge 2950 server
Backup system: The mail server is not backed up at this time.
2. Whether offline archives are being supported or used.
The Kerio offline archive archives all messages currently on the system on the 1st of each month.
3. Whether handheld devices (Blackberry, MS Mobile, Etc) are being used and if they are how are messages tracked on them.Yes, personal (not district owned) mobile handheld devices are used, and there is currently no way to specifically track messages sent from them.
4. Whether Instant Messaging is in use and if so are the conversations recorded and logged.
Instant messaging is used in some areas, and the conversations are not recorded or logged.
5. What type of tools would be used to search email to include archives, handhelds, Instant Message conversations, and backup tapes for content.
Windows search would be used to to search the archived e-mail for content.
6. Whether logging of incoming and outgoing emails is maintained and if so how these logs could be searched.
A log is not kept of all incoming and outgoing emails.

Director of Student Services
Copperas Cove Independent School District

From: Roger O'Dwyer
To: Tracy Barnes
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 2:39 PM
Subject: Re: Public Information Request

Mr. Barnes,

I have written a reply to the Texas Attorney General in response to Powell and Leon's letter to him.

Request you keep all email copies pending the outcome of the Texas Attorney General's decision,

ODie O'Dwyer

----- Original Message -----
From: Tracy Barnes
To: rodwyer@hot.rr.com
Cc: Rose Cameron
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:21 AM
Subject: Public Information Request

Mr. O'Dwyer,
I have copies of some of the emails that we have recovered in response to your Public Information Act Request. The remainder of the emails that were recovered from the archives will be sent to the Attorney General. The Attorney General will also rule on the rest of the emails that have not been recovered yet.



If you will contact me, we can arrange a time for you to review these emails.

Tracy Barnes
Director of Student Services