Consistent. Principled. Action.

Friends,

On July 1, Celina offered to contribute up to 120 million dollars in future taxes to help fund the Dallas North Tollway extension main lanes in northern Collin County. The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) may ignore that offer in order to build a more expensive route.

You may have read or seen media coverage on this issue. The issue at hand is whether to build a more expensive route along the county line with no assistance from Celina; or a cheaper route that runs inside Collin County with massive assistance from Celina.

The NTTA Executive Board plans to make a decision on July 21.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (COG) produced a map projecting population density for the North Texas region in 2030. You may view the map at http://laptoplineup.net/art/temp/gis-growth-projections.jpg . Collin County is in the upper right corner of this map and the area that we are discussing is at the top center of the map. Collin County as a whole shows a distinct bubble of population density by 2030 when compared to the entire Metroplex.

Normally, toll roads have to be built where there is (or will be) enough population to cover the financial debt issued to build the road. Note that there is no indication on the map of ANY significant population in northeast Denton County in 2030 until you move several miles west to the city of Pilot Point. This is Denton County horse country. That means that Collin County citizens would be carrying the load to pay for this road, even if it is not in Collin County.

Let’s look at a bit of history.

This situation is a lot like our SH121 experience, when the region gave 600 million dollars from Collin County SH121 funds to Denton County.

After NTTA paid the State more than 3 Billion dollars for the right to build 121/Sam Rayburn Tollway, the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) gave 600 million dollars from the Collin County portion to Denton County. You read that right - six hundred million dollars! 600 million dollars is a lot of money. The reasoning was that Denton County traded a gas tax promise for their 121 funds, but Collin County had no such promise of gas tax funds. Now the gas taxes promised were fantasy funds - they didn't actually exist, they were just promised. But the 600 million dollars taken from Collin County and given to Denton County is NOT fantasy - that is cold, hard cash that sits in an account in Austin; cold, hard cash that was moved from the Collin County allocation to the Denton County allocation.

That is 750 dollars from every citizen; every man, woman, and child in Collin County today. And it represents about 40 percent of the original Collin County 121 funds.

I'm still trying to figure out RTC's authority to take funds from one county government and give them to a different county government. That suggests legislative or regulatory powers, and I don't believe that the RTC is a regional legislature.

It looks like you, the Collin County taxpayer, have contributed your share to regionalism, the buzzword of the day. You may hear that we in Collin County are not good regional players, but it doesn't look that way to me. 600 million dollars is a lot of regionalism. 750 dollars from every man, woman, and child in our county is a lot of regionalism. 40 percent is a lot of regionalism. Name one case like it in the region - ever.

There are those that say that we should not bring up old history, that it is water under the bridge; but an old saying goes, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." If we do not remember the 121/Sam Rayburn experience, we may be condemned to repeat it.

Now, back to the present issue at hand.

On July 1, the Collin County city of Celina offered a minimum of 97 million dollars, up to 120 million dollars in future property taxes to NTTA to help build the main lanes when they are ready in the future to be built. Again, you read that right, Celina offered to fund up to 120 million dollars; 10-15% of the project costs for the Collin County route. That is a novel concept, one never before offered, and one that NTTA should not ignore, especially when they have something like 9 billion dollars in debt today.

Unlike Celina, Denton County has so far offered nothing to help NTTA pay for the main lanes.

Can NTTA ignore both the population density and the offer to help fund this project?

Perhaps they can. NTTA has asked the RTC, the same appointed body that took the 600 million Collin County dollars, to weigh in on this decision with any inputs they care to give. NTTA has never asked the RTC to participate in one of their decisions, so you have to ask yourself, "Why now?"

If the NTTA decides to put the DNT extension on the county line, Collin County citizens will pay the bulk of the tolls because, remember, there is projected to be no significant population in northeast Denton County in 2030. Denton County will reap the economic benefits of development of the toll road, but pay very little toward the tolls because there will be very few Denton citizens in the area to pay tolls.

Denton County has also informally suggested that they do not want a different future highway, the Outer Loop, making an east-to-west crossing of this area because this is their horse country, which means that they want Collin County to pay for the DNT along the eastern edge of their prime horse country, but do not want a different major highway running through it.

NTTA should make a sound fiduciary decision when selecting the DNT extension route. NTTA has already segregated some of their newer roads from the NTTA financial system because of debt issue concerns, so you would think that financial decisions would be paramount in discussions on future roads.

Make no mistake, regional players may expect us to toe the line and fund a toll road on a more expensive alignment through a lightly populated area, and they may not appreciate our defense of a less expensive route in a more populated area with a local financial contribution included.

We will need your help if we are to influence this proposal. We need every commissioners court member to be solidly behind this effort; we need every citizen to express your views in every regional forum that you can write, call, or email. Matt Shaheen, the commissioner who represents Celina is working on generating public support.

Celina has stepped up to the plate with an offer of massive financial assistance. The Collin County Commissioners Court is standing with our city and our citizens.

Join us in this effort. You'll make a difference.

Standing with you,
Keith

I see two fundamental issues in this year's budget:

a. Develop an FY2011 balanced budget in light of significant revenue decreases,

b. Make structural changes to the programs that are generating unfunded future liabilities every year so that we do not leave huge financial burdens for our children and grandchildren.

The budget picture gets a little clearer every day. We now know that our county property tax revenues will be down about $7.5 million. Our investment income will also be down significantly. In all, we may be looking at a decrease of some $15-18 million in total revenues from our normal expectations, and that figure is still developing.

We also have current unfunded liabilities of some $83 Million. These are future expenditures in retiree medical and retiree benefits that will continue to grow if we do not pay more toward them each year. We have started to pay down these future liabilities over the past two budget years, but we need to pay more each and every year.

However, we have a healthy rainy day fund (surplus) that will help cushion the budget cuts this year. I, for one, will never jeopardize our very important AAA rating, which cuts the cost of borrowing money significantly. A healthy reserve is one criterion to retain a AAA bond rating.

The Commissioners Court has hard choices ahead of us in order to meet our budgetary responsibilities to you, the citizens, but I believe that we are all committed to making those hard choices in order to spend your tax dollars wisely.

We had a very interesting briefing and discussion on the county employee/retiree medical insurance program yesterday in the afternoon workshop. You may view the workshop here. Go to May 10 video, drop down the agenda on the left to "Insurance Workshop" and watch the discussion.

Sincerely,
Keith

Transportation IS economic development in Collin County.

Given that core functions of judiciary, jail, and prosecution are provided; given the great advantages in Collin County - safe streets, relatively low taxes, good schools, inexpensive housing, high education level, and lower unemployment; transportation in and around the county IS economic development.

I agree that we cannot build enough traffic lanes to transport our working population to and from Dallas every day, nor should we. Instead, let's build a transportation network of major roads in and around Collin County that relieves congestion and brings more jobs here to our county. We sit astride the DFW growth corridor, let's continue to lay the foundation for that growth. In fact, the main roads that define the DFW north growth corridor, US 75 and Dallas North Tollway, are both in Collin County.

Transportation IS economic development in Collin County.

There are many issues involved with this - starting with a severe lack of State transportation funding. The bottom line is that while we continue to ask the legislature to reprioritize State transportation funding, we must consider ways to take care of ourselves.

Go to http://collin.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=296 and jump to Item #6 to view our discussion on an emerging outline of one idea on a major future road.

Sincerely,
Keith

Friends,

1) The county just received the Gold Leadership Circle Award, the highest award for government transparency from the State Comptroller, Susan Combs. Collin County gained a perfect score on the criteria.

2) I have been quiet during the health care debate, just doing my part as you have. Now that it is law, the eventual outcome depends on the response by citizens to entitlements versus taxes and debt. Will more government handouts trump freedom? Now that the bill is law, you will hear a great deal from politicians who promise "more."

The idea that democracy is fragile, yet strong has been discussed through the centuries.

Thucydides, a Greek historian centuries before Christ, supposedly articulated a general idea of our representative republic form of government somewhat along the lines, "Democracy satisfies best the human thirst for freedom; yet being undisciplined, turbulent, and luxury-seeking, it falls time and again to austere single-minded despotism."

I have been looking at the history of a phrase used by both Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan in reference to the United States, "the last best hope on earth."

In his speech, A Time for Choosing, in 1964, Reagan said, "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done."

Thomas Sowell is a reasoned and calm voice and is a "must read" columnist for me. He is not given to sensationalism. Yet he believes that "the 2010 election may be the last chance to halt the dismantling of America. It can be the point of no return." You can read his entire article at http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/03/23/a_point_of_no_return . Can the point of no return for our country be only seven months away?

The 2010 election may be our rendezvous with history. The animating contest of freedom continues - we are in the vortex of extraordinary times.

Sincerely,
Keith

Friends, as the long and contentious battle against a staggering loss of national freedom known as health care reform reaches the point of decision, I want to remember the first inaugural speech of Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 20, 1953. It is a great speech, set against the backdrop of World War II and the Korean conflict.

General/President Eisenhower opened with a prayer, then spoke of faith and freedom and sacrifice in the new world in which the United States found herself. Toward the end of the speech, he said, "We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."

"You can read the entire speech at http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres54.html .

Although the intervening years show that President Eisenhower was too optimistic about the United Nations, he spoke in soaring terms about our own nation,

"We must be willing, individually and as a Nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. These basic precepts are not lofty abstractions, far removed from matters of daily living. They are laws of spiritual strength that generate and define our material strength. Patriotism means equipped forces and a prepared citizenry. Moral stamina means more energy and more productivity, on the farm and in the factory. Love of liberty means the guarding of every resource that makes freedom possible - from the sanctity of our families and the wealth of our soil to the genius of our scientists."

"For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid." Let us heed the lessons of history.

Sincerely,
Keith

Friends,

Have you already voted? Great! Including the Sunday votes that have not yet been disseminated, over 10,000 votes have probably been cast through the first six days of early voting! The huge number continues to amaze!

Our work is not done.

The large numbers of votes means that many people are concerned about the explosion of government spending at the state and federal levels, they are now awake and energized, and they want to make a difference.

Now is the time to let everyone know that we have reined in government spending in Collin County. Now is the time to influence your networks of friends, colleagues, and neighbors.

I ask that even if you have personally voted, you continue to gather votes for our campaign in this important election. Many elections are won or lost in the last few days, and we will continue to work hard right through Election Day.

If you have some hours available to greet voters as they arrive at polling locations, please let me know. There are many opportunities to simply hold a sign and wave at folks as they pull up. Simple, but effective.

Thank you, each and every one, for your personal efforts on my behalf. You are doing a great job and we are hearing good results. Every vote counts!

Sincerely,
Keith

Friends, Happy President's Day!

You have read campaign mailers and listened to campaign debates. For those who are working in our campaign, thank you for what you have accomplished. You have worked, you called and walked, you have passed out brochures, you have put out signs, you have talked to your friends. I appreciate every effort - you have been wonderful to work with.

Now is the time to encourage your friends to actually vote. Now is the time to make sure that your friends and colleagues actually go to the polls. If they don't go to the polls, your efforts will be in vain. Double back to check with your friends again. Early voting locations are at http://public1.co.collin.tx.us/elections/polling_locations/early_voting/default.aspx .

Continue to campaign with honor, regardless of the tactics used against us. Just like the US Marine TV commercials, we will form a line across the county, standing with the taxpayers with honor.

You have a clear choice between two candidates for County Judge. One raised the Plano ISD tax rate twice in the last two years (including during the economic plunge of 2009). The six cent increase over the past two years is staggering, adding $150 every year to the tax bill on a $250,000 home.

During that same period, Collin County passed both a 5% homestead exemption and a tax rate decrease. The choice is clear.

By Election Day on March 2, I will have completed some 50 events, speaking directly to voters about my record over the past three years. That includes 34 coffees hosted in private homes, speaking to neighbors and friends invited by the hosts. I am grateful for so many friends opening their homes to our campaign.

The next two weeks are crucial to winning this election. Most voters are just now digging into the candidates' records and will make their decisions over the next few days. Now is the time to renew our efforts to personally reach out to voters.

We have received great conservative endorsements:

1) The Collin County Association of Realtors, who are the bellweather of the local economy - they know first what is happening in the housing market. I very much appreciate their confidence in our fiscally conservative policies.

2) Three State Representatives, who together represent every city in Collin County:

State Representative Jodie Laubenberg

State Representative Jerry Madden

State Representative Ken Paxton

3) Kelly Shackelford (for identification only: President/CEO of Free Market Foundation)

4) Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, through their Empower Texans organization.

5) Texas Home School Coalition

6) The Coalition for Better Government, a group of citizens who are working to identify candidates who "best represent the core values, integrity, and responsibilities of the next generation of Republican leaders in Collin County."

7) And I am TeaApproved. As everyone now realizes, the Tea Party is going to make a difference in this election.

This is an important election for Collin County. This election determines whether we return to the past when county government was invisible to you, the taxpayer; or we move forward with open and accessible government, committed to keeping your taxes low and county government focused on core functions.

Now is the time to stand together.

Standing with you,
Keith

Supporters,

We had a good week on the campaign trail.

As previously reported, we received the endorsement of the Collin County Association of Realtors.

Friday, we received the endorsement of the Empower Texans, the political arm of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, led by Michael Quinn Sullivan.

Mr. Sullivan states, "Your leadership in government transparency and accountability makes you an indispensible resource for the people of Collin County and all of Texas. As I have said about you in many places, "Keith Self has put into practice the conservative principles too many people simply talk about. Collin County, and all Texans, are fortunate to have him at the helm of one of the state’s fast growing counties.""

The web site for Texans for Fiscal Responsibility states, "Empower Texans exists to create and sustain a system of strong fiscal stewardship within all levels of Texas government."

I thank Michael Quinn Sullivan and Empower Texans for their support for our re-election campaign.

I am grateful that our transparency and fiscal policy efforts are gaining national and state-wide attention, first by the Governor during his State of the State address to the legislature (available on the lower right side of the web site at www.KeithSelf.com), then by recognition by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), and now by Empower Texans.

We have two great forums coming up on Monday and Tuesday. Monday is at the McKinney campus of Collin College, Tuesday is at the Spring Creek campus of the college. Check out the details at www.KeithSelf.com . See you there!

Sincerely,
Keith

Concerned citizens,

The Collin County Association of Realtors has endorsed me for re-election.

I am very grateful for their support.

Realtors are very sensitive to the economic climate. Uncertainty, unemployment, and job loss translate directly to their bottom line if our citizens struggle with their mortgages. Realtors have every reason to support low tax, business friendly policies. They realize that the best way for us to weather the economic storm is to maintain our low tax policies and reduce the growth of government, exactly as we did over the past three years since I took office.

Collin County maintained a steady unemployment rate in December while the State ticked up slightly. Collin County continues to do well when measured against other places in the State and nation; and our unemployment rate is now 10% better than the State.

The realtors will help us carry our pro-taxpayer message across the county.

Thank you for your support as we continue this experiment in open government.

I said that I would stand with the taxpayer, and I did.

Sincerely,
Keith

Supporters,

Dick Winters is the central officer character in "Band of Brothers", the World War II story of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Winters was a tremendous leader during the parachute assault on D-Day and throughout the drive across Northern Germany. He made a very telling comment to another officer, "Never put yourself in a position to take anything from these men (the men he led)."

I believe that principle applies to all leaders. I draw my salary, which has been frozen throughout my first term in office, and I receive reimbursement for travel and expenses. However, in Fiscal Year 2008, I spent less than 22% of my discretionary budget; in FY2009, I spent less than 36% during a legislative session. I'll explain.

Beyond the recent homestead exemption and tax cuts by the Commissioners Court, I believe there is another measure of how prudently an elected official spends taxpayer dollars, and that is how the public servant spends the tax dollars entrusted to that official to do his or her own job, the tax dollars under the elected official's personal control.

In my case, the primary budget lines over which I exercise personal control are travel, education and conference, and business meals for the office of the county judge. I am the only person covered by the county judge account.

Let's examine the last two years, Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) that did not include a legislative session and FY09 which did include a legislative session. When there is a legislative session, I travel to Austin more to testify and work with our legislators. These are the only two full fiscal years I have been in office.

Business meals include the food for the citizen breakfasts that I hold every two months with citizens randomly selected by county staff.

In FY08, the county judge budget for travel, education and conference, and business meals was $19,611. The general amount of these line items pre-dates my tenure, so I cannot give you the original justification for that amount.

I spent $4,259 in all three lines in FY08, including food for the citizen breakfasts. That works out to less than 22% of the authorized budget.

In FY09, the county judge budget for the same three line items was $19,358.

I spent $6,921 in FY09, which included more travel to Austin to testify before the legislature. That works out to less than 36% of the authorized budget.

I am not going to spend taxpayer dollars just because they are budgeted and available.

With this history, next year's budget for the county judge office can be cut to more accurately reflect what I spend.

I said that I would stand with the taxpayer, and I did. And I continue to do so.

Sincerely,
Keith

Concerned citizens,

Happy New Year! The next 60 days will be an exciting start to a new decade.

Less than 60 days! The Republican primary is less than 60 days from today. I am excited about what Samuel Adams, one of the Founding Fathers, called "the animating contest of freedom."

The rapid plunge of our nation into unthinkable spending and debt and away from liberty has awakened the electorate. Many citizens realize that we must make a stand for liberty and economic sanity in 2010; that we cannot continue down the road of crushing debt and ever-increasing entitlements while yielding our liberty.

I said that I would stand with you, the taxpayer ... and I did. The results are clear; freezing my salary for my 4-year term; our open and transparent county government; the slashing of county government growth rates; tax cuts in county property taxes; and my testimonies in defense of taxpayers before House and Senate committees in Austin over two legislative sessions.

The wisdom and relevance of Ronald Reagan’s words spoken in Dallas in 1984 resonate today, "The people told the liberal leadership in Washington, "Try shrinking the size of government before you shrink the size of our paychecks."" And in that same speech, "Four years ago we raised a banner of bold colors -- no pale pastels." Two great messages that I take to heart.

But there is more to do. The idea of higher taxes to fund every whim of government never dies, and requires constant vigilance. The idea of larger and larger government never dies, and requires constant vigilance. Even our actions over the past year to defend taxpayers have come under liberal criticism. Now is not the time to shirk our responsibilities to you.

I ask that you stand with me for four more years. I ask for your vote on March 2 to re-elect me as your County Judge.

Early voting starts just 43 days from today and Election Day is less than 60 days away. I ask for your help to continue this experiment in open and transparent government.

There are many ways to help out.

If you want to help me reach voters who do not get these emails, read my blog or follow me on Facebook, you can contribute a few dollars to help me reach more people with our transparency and fiscally responsible message. Go to http://www.keithself.com/donate.html to contribute on-line or mail in a check. If everyone contributes a little, together we can reach every voter.

Yard signs are being delivered. Go to http://www.keithself.com/contribute.html to request a yard sign and we will get it to you. If you have a location for a larger road sign, let me know.

There are other ways to introduce me to your friends and family. We are waging a grassroots campaign and I need every supporter to introduce me to other voters, friends and family. Go to the list of opportunities at http://www.keithself.com/contribute.html to tell me how you want to help out.

If you want open and transparent government and fiscal responsibility, please join me in this animating contest of freedom!

Please forward this email to all like-minded voters that you know. And together we will win.

Sincerely,
Keith

Concerned citizens,

1. The Collin County unemployment rate substantially decreased in November, dropping a full half percent from 7.7% in October to 7.2%.

Collin County's decrease is significant and welcome after our unemployment rate peaked in July at 7.9%.

The current 7.2% rate is the lowest since last May and the decrease translates into almost 2,000 fewer unemployed citizens than October's figure.

Collin County continues to do better than the state (8% unemployment) and much better than the nation in jobs and job creation. Jobs, not wealth redistribution, provide the best economic security of our citizens, and our low-tax, job-friendly policies contribute to our improving unemployment rate.

State figures taken from the Texas Workforce Commission web site at http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/1826_pressrelease.pdf.

2. Tracy and I wish each of you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May this season bring you joy with your family as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Sincerely,
Keith