Transparency

A Texas county can borrow millions of dollars on one vote of commissioners court, without an election, without publishing anything beforehand, and without giving residents any way to force the question onto a ballot. The instrument that makes this possible is called a tax note. Most people have never heard of one, which matters, because a tax note is how a county budget can balance on paper while the county spends more than it takes in. ...

On July 27 the Commissioners Court threw out Leon County’s tax abatement rules and adopted new ones. I read the old and the new side by side. Parts of the rewrite are a genuine improvement, and I’ll get to those. But six things came out of our rules that day: The twenty-job minimum The requirement that half the new hires live in Leon County The step-down schedule that shrank the tax break year by year The rule barring projects that create adverse impacts on adjacent properties The rule barring projects that pose a hazard to public safety The requirement that the project wouldn’t have been built here anyway Every number an applicant could actually fail is gone. ...

Michael and Daniel recap the Texas Republican Convention and public forums in Matagorda and Bay City, then take a hard look at Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers — and the privacy and surveillance questions they raise for Texans.

Two Texas counties held their Commissioners Court meetings the same week this June. One of them trusted its residents with the details. The other handed out a list of riddles. Compare the Leon County agenda for June 8, 2026 with the Ector County agenda for June 9, 2026. Read them side by side and the difference is impossible to miss — and impossible to excuse. What Leon County tells you Here are real items, copied word-for-word from Leon County’s posted agenda: ...

Item 11 on the draft agenda for the June 8, 2026 Leon County Commissioners Court meeting proposes adopting new rules of decorum for court meetings and a new public comment form. This item is currently a draft and is subject to change before the meeting. The two documents are being shared here so residents can read them in full and weigh in before any vote. What these documents are Two PDFs are attached to the proposal: ...

Daniel and Michael roll the tape on Wednesday’s Leon County Commissioners Court, going clip by clip through claims made by the County Judge, the Commissioners, and the County Attorney — separating what’s accurate from the misinformation and outright false statements presented to the public as fact.

Michael, Ann, and Daniel catch up on two weeks of news: the 391 Planning Commission launch, Pecan Solar & BESS breaking ground on Hwy 3, a quiet reinvestment zone approval in Robertson County, Van Zandt’s moratorium holding strong, and Grimes County learning about a massive data center with one phone call.

One of the most common frustrations I hear from residents is this: “These projects just show up out of nowhere.” To be clear, the County Judge and Commissioners are following the law. Agendas are posted. Notices are made. Documents are public. The problem isn’t legality — it’s accessibility. Most residents don’t know where to look, when to look, or what matters when they do find it. That gap is what creates distrust, confusion, and anger — even when rules are technically followed. ...

The document linked below is the project plan titled “Project Kahla” that was provided to the Leon County Judge during a meeting with representatives from Belltown Power. This is not a document created by the county. It is a developer-provided project plan and is being shared here for transparency and public awareness. What this document is A project overview provided by Belltown Power Shared directly with the County Judge Intended to describe the proposed Kahla project at a high level What this document is not It is not an approved permit It is not a finalized agreement It does not represent a decision by the county Download the document 👉 Download: Project Kahla – Leon County (PDF) ...