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A portion of the agenda. Within an hour after its regular meeting on April 17, the Board purportedly posted a meeting to meet again 72 hours later solely to have a "Personnel Discussion" in executive session. The Board did not hold an executive session during its April 17 meeting. I had previously raised in this post the possibility that the board had not properly posted its executive session because it did not state why it was meeting with its attorney. This new posting corrects that issue by mentioning it is for a personnel issue. Again, the underlying issue is whether Supt. DeSpain is being or has been terminated. Interestingly enough, a City Council member raised this very issue in this audio I posted today, which also raised the possibility that the Board President Flores was stepping down. The Board did not mention during its April 17 meeting that it would be meeting again in 72 hours. They also did not post the agenda online until after the 72 hours, and possibly until after the date of the meeting. (I am a hawk about watching their posting page, and I checked online before the time of this meeting and nothing was posted.) I am in the process of seeking an audio of the meeting through the Public Information Act, as their board policies require that they record and post meetings online. At least an executive administrative assistant and the Board President, Mr. Flores, also record their meetings. Getting that audio will take weeks if they provide it at all (a prior years request for their audio was ignored), so if you have information about this meeting, please contact me. Chances are the public portion of this meeting was totally sanitized so that everything is in the dark. But, one can't tell because of the "ACTION ITEMS FROM CLOSED SESSION" language at agenda item 5. They could have run a Mack truck through that and taken any action they wanted, though it arguably would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act. A guiding principle of Government in the Sun is that sunlight is the best disinfectant. There is only darkness and a chronic infection when a school board acts this way, especially when the board knows only one person from the public attends their meetings. Below is the complete agenda. I will update this page when I have more information.

More impervious paving being added to the ICISD campus on April 17, 2023, against my advice back on November 28, 2022 that paving this location would increase the flooding of our streets, my home, my neighbors' homes and the football stadium. Here is the audio of the April 17 2023 Irion County ISD school board meeting. Here is the agenda for this meeting. Commentary: April 19 update: What's to dislike about saying pledges to the State of Texas and United States flags? In the first 15 seconds of this audio what jumps out at me is the Board's failure to honor our flags. I'm not one who drives around town with flags flying from the back of my truck, don't get me wrong. But government leadership is about honoring our state and country. Recognizing our flags at the beginning of board meetings is symbolism for the board's appreciation and acknowledgement of what our democracy stands for. It also symbolizes our leaders' willingness to follow our laws. Texas law requires students to say the pledges (Texas Education Code 25.082), so why would a school board not lead by example? The Irion County ISD school board is the only board I have ever known that does not say our pledges. There is no law that mandates it, but the absence of the pledges speaks volumes. Solution: the Board should begin inviting student group leaders, as well as Boy and Girl Scout members, to the meetings and lead the pledges. This might be a good reminder of what Abe Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." Related: can students protest saying the pledge? Here's an article about a recent settlement in which TASB paid $90,000 in a settlement. (If behind a paywall, search for Mari Oliver v. Klein Oak ISD.)

Irion County ISD's new paving project along Juanita. This photo also shows the crocodile cracking on 4th Street where ICISD wants more speed bumps. Our city streets cannot hold up to the flooding, and speed bumps won't help. Here is the agenda for this meeting, with my annotations in red. "Sun flares" are matters that I consider important and worthy of special attention. "Sun Bursts" are matters that I consider to be of extreme importance. This page may be updated until meeting time.

Above is the agenda for the April 17, 2023 Irion County ISD Board meeting, with my annotations in red. Some of my annotations are provided to give you an idea of what I look for in an agenda. "Sun flares" are matters that I consider important and worthy of special attention. "Sun Bursts" are matters that I consider to be of extreme importance. This page may be updated up until meeting time.

Ripening Agarita berries in the sun, Mertzon See my update to these comments here. George Noelke Comments to Mertzon City Council, April 3, 2023 One year ago at this meeting I passed along some wisdom to this council that my father, Monte Noelke, handed down to me when I was in high school. He said, “George, remember this: It sure is easy to start a fight, but it is damned hard to get out of one.” I’m thinking about this advice again as I put up my new website, Government In The Sun .com, to publicly blog about my dispute with Irion County ISD and the City of Mertzon over the flooding of my property and our community. Mark Twain famously said, “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel”. What he meant was that it isn’t wise to pick a fight with newspaper folks because they have endless supplies of ink to write their side of the story. In today’s world it sounds a bit dated. I remember, though, the days in Mertzon when it would have made perfect sense. Those were the days that Brent Evans (son of superintendent and rancher Stew Evans and best ever teacher Janet Evans) had the paper route in Mertzon. Brent delivered both the morning and evening editions of the San Angelo Standard Times on his Schwinn Sting-Ray bike. No one would have imagined back then we would have the digital news of today or that kids delivering paper copies of newsprint would be gone forever. In today’s world of the internet, though, Twain’s comment still rings true. I think it is important to remember that we all have an unlimited supply of “ink”. Digital ink. And, it’s inexpensive, and in some places on the web it is completely free. So, it still isn’t wise to pick a fight. Any one of us can write our side of the story endlessly. And, you know by now how much I like to write. So, when I mix some Monte Noelke wisdom with some Mark Twain wisdom, I get Government In The Sun .com. It is going to be hard for Irion County ISD and the City of Mertzon to get out of this fight (essentially an inverse condemnation fight but with so much more) with me while I have an unlimited supply of digital ink. Please know, Mr. Mayor (Bill Taylor), that even though you are leaving your post as mayor soon, your past actions as mayor are not going to escape my review on the site. Same goes for Vicente Flores, who I understand will soon be leaving his post as president of the school board. Both of you will remain leaders in this community. Part of my blogging will be about explaining to my readers how the flooding got so bad, and each of you are part of that history. And, I will be publicly asking you both to help us out with our flooding problems. Be good to your neighbors. Thank you. Note: These comments, as all of my comments, have been copied to Irion County ISD Board President Vicente Flores, Superintendent Ray DeSpain and the school's lawyers. This has been my practice from the beginning, and I have never received a reply; their deafening silence has been a stimulus for the creation of this site. You can find the audio of this City Council meeting here. You can find my related April 4, 2022 comments here.

Catclaw in bloom, Mertzon Here is the YouTube link to the audio of the City of Mertzon City Council meeting on April 3, 2023. The audio of my public comments have been excluded, but the written comments are available here. The agenda for this meeting can be found on the City's website here.

The picture above is a photo of the still running stormwater runoff at 4th and Fleming after the March 27, 2023 half inch rain. The photo below shows the proximity to the 2019 bond improvements contributing to the runoff. Driver caution: the storm water depth in the street is approximately 8 inches. It goes even deeper during more severe storms. The Irion County ISD and City of Mertzon need a coordinated emergency response to close the street during flooding. I have repeatedly advised both about how dangerous the situation is, to no avail. Friday Night Flood Light: stormwater at this location eventually reaches and floods City Park and the football stadium. Such flooding usually requires an inch or more of rain. Stormwater runoff, therefore, is a community wide problem only made worse by a municipality that will not regulate stormwater runoff from new construction.

After last night's .60 inch of rain, this morning the sun shines brightly on the street flooding left behind by the 2019 $18 million school bond, the largest in the school's history, that built no classrooms. Neither the School Board or the City Council are doing anything to remedy this problem. If you are considering buying in Mertzon, be careful not to purchase in a low lying area. If you are already here and live in a low lying area, I recommend FEMA's flood insurance.

For my inaugural Sun Blog post see below for the link to my YouTube audio for the March 20, 2023 special called meeting of the Irion County ISD school board. Irion County ISD March 20, 2023 Here is a link to the meeting agenda. Setting aside all of the legalese, the agenda was written to specifically include the possibility of firing Superintendent Ray DeSpain. Analysis I will be providing more detailed analysis of this meeting in due time. If after listening to the audio you are clamoring to know what really happened, then you are experiencing how this board has twisted open government laws and why you need to be front and center at their next board meetings asking them what in the heck is going on. And, if you want more school board audios, please let me know. I have compressed a roughly 2 hour and 45 minute meeting into less than 2 minutes.

Here is the YouTube audio of the Mertzon City Council discussion on February 27, 2023 regarding why Allsup's has abandoned their truck stop project in Mertzon. Mertzon City Council Discusses Allsup’s Rejection Advocacy tip: Citizens miss these types of discussions of the Council if they use flash in the pan advocacy and show up at meetings only when angry. The Council has repeatedly rejected my views on unregulated development in Mertzon, yet I still attend and voice my opinions. (Flooding of City Park and the Irion County ISD football field is one day going to prove my point.) I encourage you to attend all City Council meetings and stay from beginning to end.