Katy Citizen Watchdog$

We’re Taxpayers. It’s Our Money.

TRUE OR FALSE?

Back To “Home Page”

 

In an effort to try and counter some of the misconceptions and misinformation that is being spread by our opponents, the Watchdog$ have decided to start a new information area on our web site.  This new area is entitled “True Or False?”  We will update this information whenever our opponents spread additional misinformation in our community.

 

·      The Watchdog organization was founded by A.D. Muller – FALSE.  The Katy Citizen Watchdog$ were formed in August of 2005 by Chris Cottrell and Kevin Tatum.  Two (2) individuals that had, up until that point, never been involved in local politics.

 

·      The Watchdog organization was founded by Mary McGarr – FALSE.  See above.

 

·      Chris Cottrell resides on the north side of I-10 and has children that attend a Katy ISD high school – TRUE.  Chris and Kevin did not start this group as a lobby organization for issues relating only to one side of I-10.  The Watchdog$ are about what is best for the entire district.  We are certainly not a one issue organization.

 

·      Seven Lakes High School is the most expensive high school built in the State of Texas – TRUE.  Seven Lakes High School cost taxpayers approximately $76 million as reported by the district.  We have yet to find a single school, high school or otherwise, costing more in this state.  We have asked the district to show us a school that costs more and we are still waiting.  We may be loosing this claim soon since the $800+ million dollar bond initiative passed in Cy-Fair ISD.  The Cy-Fair Citizens are reporting that their district is claiming that their new proposed high schools will cost around $97 million.

 

·      The Katy Watchdog$ are against ALL taxes – FALSE.  The Katy Watchdog$ have no problem paying our share of the “freight” provided that we are being properly represented and that there is full transparency and accountability for all of our hard-earned tax dollars.

 

·      The Katy Watchdog$ are do not believe in any kind of government funding for public education – FALSE.  See above.  We have no idea how this rumor started but it is completely and utterly false.  You should remember that government is not the one supplying the funding for public education; WE ARE!  It's OUR hard-earned tax dollars that are being used to fund public education.  We just want some good old-fashioned real representation to go with our taxation.

 

·      The seven (7) Watchdog$ that make up the leadership portion of the organization are:  Chris Cottrell, Kevin Tatum, Mary McGarr, Fred Hink, A.D. Muller, Jon Lange and Trustee Tom Law – TRUE.  For those of you that think that we have been deliberately trying to keep these names secret, please write the names down for future reference.

 

·      The Austin chapter of Americans For Prosperity received $600,000 from its D.C. headquarters in 2006 which was specifically earmarked for “the destruction of public education in Texas” – COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FALSE.  Americans For Prosperity is a non-profit organization dedicated to making local, state and federal governments accountable to YOU, the taxpayer.  They are dedicated to taking back our Texas schools from those educrats that are leading them down the path to ruin.

 

·      The Katy Watchdog$ are a local chapter of Americans For Prosperity (“AFP”) – COMPLETELY FALSE.  The Katy Citizen Watchdog$ are affiliated with AFP but they do not drive our agenda or give us any orders.  AFP has helped us tremendously with understanding school related issues. 

 

·      Peggy Venable, the Director of the Austin branch of Americans For Prosperity, does not tell the Katy Citizen Watchdog$ what to do – ABSOLUTELY TRUE.  While the Katy Dogs are affiliated with Americans For Prosperity, Ms. Venable does not guide or direct the organization.  The Katy Dogs create and pursue their own agenda.

 

·      The Katy Citizen Watchdog$, along with its leadership members, receive money from Americans For Prosperity – ABSOLUTELY FALSE.  The Katy Watchdog$ do not receive ANY money from anyone.  We do what we do because we believe in the cause; nothing more nothing less.

 

·      C.A.P.S. (“Citizens and Parents For Schools”) is the current political action committee (“PAC”) of the Watchdog organization – TRUE.  C.A.P.S. raises money from its membership during elections.  All of the donation/expenditure information is of public record.  The vast majority of the money donated to C.A.P.S. during the May 2005 and November 2006 elections came from the Watchdog leadership.  All of the money was used during the elections and after the elections the PAC was inactivated.  You should also note that C.A.P.S. was in existence prior to the birth of the Watchdog organization.

 

·      The Katy Watchdog leadership are Libertarians – FALSE.  We describe ourselves as Constitutionalists.  We also describe ourselves as conservatives, some of us are Republicans and some of us are Independents.  None of us are Democrats, Liberals, Communists, or Libertarians.

 

·      If the Katy Watchdog$ criticize a bond initiative or a district budget then they should be required to put together their own plans and share them with the Bond Committee and district – FALSE.  We want to make it absolutely clear that it is NOT the JOB of the Watchdog$ to put together district budgets, bond initiatives, or even be able to solve the school finance problems of this state.  That JOB belongs to those that have been elected by us to oversee the district; that being our elected school board officials.  It is their JOB to oversee the district and the Superintendent.  The Katy Watchdog$ will NEVER again allow itself to be subjected to the meeting that took place in August of 2006; a meeting we like to describe as the "Bond Inquisition". 

 

·      The reason why Morton Ranch High School has the highest student population in the district is because the May 2006 bond was defeated; consequently preventing the district from building the Ninth Grade Center – FALSE.  The reason that Morton Ranch High School has the largest student population at the present time is because the north side of I-10 has experienced tremendous growth in a very short period of time.  Growth that the district has confirmed that they did not expect. 

 

·      The Watchdog organization is a private group that is not incorporated in any shape, form or fashion.  The Watchdog organization does not have tax free status – TRUE.  The Katy Citizen Watchdog$ are not incorporated.  It’s not an LLC, LC, LLP or an L.P.  It doesn’t receive any money, therefore, it is not a taxable or non-taxable entity.  It is a group of concerned parents and taxpayers focused on trying to better the school district we reside in.

 

·      The Watchdog$ are against ALL bonds – COMPLETELY FALSE.  This is yet another misinformed statement being made by our opponents.  We have stated on numerous occasions that we are not an anti-bond or anti-tax group.  How many times are we going to have to repeat this?  We do not mind paying our share of the “freight” provided that we are being properly represented by those that we have elected as the stewards of our hard-earned tax dollars.  What we are against are “blank check” bonds that contain over inflated costs and unnecessary items.  The Watchdog$ believe that you can have quality and safety without breaking the bank.  All we want is a little common sense and frugality when spending our hard-earned tax dollars.

 

·      Itemized bonds are “divisive” in nature – FALSE.  Itemizing bond initiatives is not something that the Watchdog$ came up with.  There are school districts all over this state and nation that itemize their bond proposals.  How do we know?  Because we have spoken to many folks in those districts to see how this idea was working.  This “divisive” argument is used as a scare tactic by opponents of itemized bonds.  We have yet to be provided with any example from any of our opponents that show that itemizing bonds causes communities to be at odds with one another.  Just because something is a new idea for our district doesn’t automatically make it a bad idea.

 

·      The Watchdog$ want to try and replace the incumbent Board members – TRUE.  Wanting to replace one’s elected officials that are not performing as they should be is not a sinister concept.  The last time we checked, our system of government was by, of and for the people.  If you don’t like your representatives then one has every right, as an American, to try and replace those people with individuals that will represent them in the way in which they wish to be represented.

 

·      The Watchdog$ believe that every citizen should have a healthy distrust of government – TRUE.  This concept is what this country was founded on.  Just because government says its true does not mean it is true.  Just because government tells you to give them more money doesn’t mean that you should give them more money.

 

·      The Watchdog$ do not consider themselves to be an “education” group – TRUE.  We have never claimed that we are an “education” group.  The Watchdog$ are certainly concerned about educational issues but we do NOT hold ourselves out as education experts.

 

·      The Watchdog leadership are members of the organization known as “CLOUT” – PARTIALLY TRUE.  While some of the Watchdog leaders are members of CLOUT some of us aren’t.

 

·      The district is projecting a budget deficit of approximately $2.2 million for the 2007/2008 school year – TRUE.  This is down from what was originally reported as a $3.87 million dollar short fall; however, the Watchdog$ are still asking the district to balance its books.  The Watchdog$ do not believe that any school district should be operating with a deficit budget.  In a district that takes in over $400 million dollars annually we do not think that there is any excuse for having a deficit budget.

 

·      The Katy Dogs started the rumor that the tile at Seven Lakes High School was imported from Italy – FALSE.  We do not know who started this rumor but it was not the Dogs.  We do want to point out that the tile was indeed imported.  It was imported from Mexico.

 

·      When the Watchdog$ suggested having a Bond Oversight Committee, the Dogs wanted the Bond Committee to be appointed to that role – FALSE.  The Watchdog$ did not envision a committee of over 100 people.  We did not envision a committee that contains individuals that are members of K.I.D.S. and K.P.P.  We did not envision people serving on this committee that represent local developers and KISD vendors.  It is a clear conflict of interest for individuals that stand to gain financially from the bond’s passage to be sitting on an oversight committee.  What we WANTED to see was a committee made up of ordinary taxpayers from around the district who had no vested interest of any kind in seeing the bond’s passage.  We saw a committee of 20 people who would be chosen by our Board of Trustees (not our Superintendent) after they had submitted a formal application to serve on such a committee.

 

·      Trustee Law is providing the Watchdog$ “inside” information – ABSOLUTELY FALSE.  While we did indeed support Tom in his campaign, and while he remains a Watchdog leader, we have NEVER asked Tom to provide us with any district information.  All of our public information requests are sent through the KISD Communications Department.  We made it very clear to Tom when he was elected to the Board that he did not owe the Watchdog organization anything.  We might add that there have been several occasions where others in the Watchdog leadership have disagreed with a vote that Tom made.  Tom does not take direction from the Watchdog leadership and we don’t take direction from Tom.  We wouldn’t want it any other way.  As a Board member, Tom has never done anything that can be described as unethical or immoral.

 

·      The Watchdog$ are responsible for the adversarial relationship that we have with the Board, the district and our former superintendent – FALSE.  The Watchdog$ have on numerous occasions reached out to the Board, the district and the Superintendent with the hope of opening a dialogue in order to address our concerns.  You can read Chris’ founding statement on the web site which specifically asked for such a dialogue.  The sad reality is that our efforts to open such a dialogue have repeatedly been met with stoic silence and/or outright contempt.  Unfortunately, the word “dissent” has become a four-letter word to many in our community.

 

       We are very pleased to report that our new Superintendent, along with the KISD Communications Department, have already opened a dialogue with the Watchdog$.  As for our Board…..

 

·      What the Watchdog$ say and do is ignored by the district and our opponents – LAUGHABLE AND FALSE.  This may be the case when they are in the public spotlight, but we know who is reading our web site and what we can tell you is that both the district and our opponents spend a great deal of time looking at our web site.  In fact, it could be said that they spend more time looking at our web site than we do.  Make no mistake about it, the Watchdog$ have had an effect in this district and in our community and we are proud of our accomplishments.  We are committed to continue to provide an alternative voice in our community, and we are committed to bringing transparency to our local government.  Our group is committed to the taxpayers/parents, teachers and students in Katy ISD and we will continue to speak out on behalf of those that either have no voice or are afraid to voice their opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katy Citizen Watchdog$