Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 1, 2001 Page: 3 of 14
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CHEROKEBAN/HiWALP of Rusk, Tim • Thursday, March 1, 2001 • Paga 3
Railroad commissioner addresses House committee on rising gas prices
TVjkm Railroad Commit• but also atipa they can take to
hñ*r 7\>ny Oarta rtctnifytub- help lowar thair monthly billa
mitttd th* fallowing testimony and rúlea tha Commiaaion haa
put into place to help aaae the
burden on tha aldarly and tha
tothtffouMof/htpnnntativti
Sntrgy Ruourett CbmmittM.
Dear Chairman Ron Lawia:
Aa you're no doubt awtre, aky •
rocketing conaumer gat billa
have raiaed ooncerna from
many Texena about the high
coata of natural gaa. Like you,
my office haa received a conaid-
erable number of emaila. faxea
and lettera on the aubject.
I wanted to provide you aome
background and information
from the Rafilroad Commiaaion
that might aaaiat in anawering
concerna you receive from your
conatituenta regarding natural
gaa coata. I alao want to thank
you for the opportunity to aub-
mit taatimony today.
The market price for natural
gaa • well over $8.00 per mcf • ia
reaulting in record high gaa billa
forconaumera. Since the trend
ia expected to peraiat for at leaat
an additional 12 to 24 montha,
it'a critical that consumers bet-
ter understand not only the how
and the why of high coat gaa
moat needy Taxana.To thia end,
I've included aome materiala to
addreaa queatiopa you receive
from your conatituenta 'and
other elected official*. I en-
courage you to paaa theae itema
along to othera or to direct them
to my webaite • where the infor-
mation ia poated, aa well aa- at
http://www.rrc.atate.tx.ua/com-
miaaionera/garaa/garaa.html.
The Texaa Railroad Com mis-
aion ia concerned about rising
natural gaa pricea and • to the
extent that we can - are com-
mitted to offering information
and aolutiona to Texana.
While the Commiaaion has
no regulatory authority or con-
trol over the price of natural
gaa, I want to atreaa what we
can and are doing to help Tex-
ana deal with high natural gas
billa.
The increased coat of natural
gaa that ia being reflected in
conaumer's gas bills are the
result of many thinga but are
all aaaooiated with aupply and
demand. With the aupply for
natural gaa being down, inven-
tories low and the winter
weather being the worat na-
tionwide for the montha of No-
vember and December in a
number of yeara, consumera
across the country are aeeing
an increaae in their monthly
bill. In aome caaea, thia in-
creaae haa been reported as
high aa 400 percent.
An additional concern • and
one that unfortunately has not
received the attention it de-
serves • is how the rising cost of
natural gas impacts Texas
farmers. Natural gas is a pri-
mary feed stock in the produc-
tion of anhydrous ammonia,
one of the more common nitro-
gen fertilisers. The increased
costs in natural gas have al-
ready reduced the supply of
this chemical by approximately
2 million metric tons.
With the supply.of anhydrous
ammonia dramatically re-
duced, Texas farmers are pay-
ing the price of this decline in
supply. According to a Senior
Economist with the American
Farm Bureau, the price per ton
of this nitrogen fertiliser hits
risen from $225 a ton it year
ago to over $400 per ton today.
While the Commission can-
not change the price of natural
gas, it has recogniieed t he hard-
ships that many customers will
face as a result of higher gas
bills. Consequently, the Com-
mission recently adopted a rule
that will protect customers th is
winter. The new rule applies to
gaa utilities and to owners, op-
erators, and managers of mas-
ter meter systems within the
original jurisdiction of the Rail-
road Commission with regards
to disconnection of service. Its
our hope that local municipali-
ties will adopt similar policies
or rules.
The agency will also move
ahead on a proposal • passed
during Tuesday's Railroad
Commission meeting • to spon-
sor a natural gas conference
and a related study on the im-
pact of high natural gas prices
on Texas consumers. It's my
hope that this effort moves be-
yond rhetoric toward action •
both in dealing with the short
and long-term issues surround-
ing natural gas production in
our state and nation.
If you should have any ques-
tions regarding our effort s or if
you would like additional cop-
ies of any of t he enclosed mate-
rials, please don't hesitate to
call me directly at fS 12/4HM-7131
or drop me an email at
tony.gar/.auinv,stute.tx.ua.
Knox Ray Men's Wear
has your i nvorito Brands
Now Open
Monday - Friday 9:30 am - 5 pm
Saturday 9 am - 3 pm
South Side ot Square in Rusk
Come In And Save!"
Letters
Constable Does More Than Credited
We Make Nursing Home &
Homebound Visits
Mr. Jerry Rix writes that the
readers should call their Chero-
kee County commissioner and
request support for two pro-
posed constitutional amend-
ments; first, (HJR 30) which
will allow the commissioner's
court of Lubbock County to
abolish the office of Constable
and second, (HJR 29) which
would allow the commission-
ers court of any county to hold
an election on whether the of-
fice of constable should be abol-
ished.
In this article, Mr. Rix seems
to be compelled to inform the
readers of the history of Con-
stables in Texas. Mr. Rix's ver-
sion compared to factual Texas
History is like comparing the
Wright Brothers airplane to a
Stealth Fighter. Constables
have been an integral part of
Texas History since 1823. 1
have attached to this letter a
brief overview that gives a more
accurate account of the History
of Constables in Texas. It's also
in various history books if any-
one is interested in checking it
out.
Mr. Rix states that the "Times
have changed. The Constable
is now squeezed out and use-
less. They have nothing to do
except to get in the way ." Mr.
Rix's world must be very lim-
ited if that is his true perspec-
tive. I feel compelled to respond
and the most appropriate re-
sponse is with facts, 80, class is
in session. In Harris County
alone for the year 2000, the
eight Constables received a to-
tal of 577,717 Civil Papers and
Warrants of Arrest. They dis-
posed of 508,732 of those pa-
pers for a collective clearance
rate of88.06 percent. This was
only one of 254 Counties in
Texas. Constable Bill Bailey's
Precinct 8 in Pasadena/Clear
Lake area generated
$6,713,848.44 in fees of office
for serving civil papers, fines
from warrants and traffic of-
fenses. Constable Bailey's bud-
Florida Student
Needs Aid with '
Project
My name is Charlee (I'm a
girl) Racine, and I attend
Callahan Middle School in
Callahan, FL.
My seventh grade team "The
Mavericks" is having a State
Fair and I have been lucky
enough to do my project on the
wonderful state of Taxes.
I ask the readers of your news-
paper to send me different items
that would be of assistance to
me with my project Anything
they could send would be ex-
tremely helpful. If anyone
should eend me any items, I
will be sure and send them a
thank you note.
Pleaee send to:
Charlee Racine
Mavericks Team
1645 Old Dixie Hwy.
Callahan, FL. 32011 . \
CHARLEE RACINE\
Callahan, FL
get for the year was $4,212,717.
His precinct generated
$2,501,131.44 more than it's
yearly budget. Add the
$2,144,955.00 restitution re-
turned to the community from
judgments collected and this
one precinct generated poten-
tial total revenue of
$8,858,803.44.1 fail to see that
the constable's office is
squeezed out and useless.
I must advise that I also take
strong exception to Mr. Jerry
Rix's description of the modern
Texas Constable. Mr. Rix
states, 'The Constable's job is
now nothing more than part-
time income for broke-down,
worn-out, retired policemen."
To put this in proper perspec-
tive, Horse Manure! I believe
Mr. Rix is very misinformed or
outright ignorant of what he
speaks. Constable Bill Bailey
has a staff of 53 Deputies in-
cluding himself. His staff in-
cludes 8 officers with Master
Peace Officer Certificates, 16
Officers with Advanced Peace
Officer Certificates, 8 Officers
with Intermediate Peace Of-
ficer Certificates and 21 Offic-
ers with Basic Peace Officer
Certificates. Eleven (11) of
these officers also have college
degrees.
State statutes require that
all elected Constables be li-
censed Peace Officers and pro-
vides that their deputies must
receive 40 hours of continued
training, 20 of which must be
in civil laws, every 24 months.
The Texas Justice of the Peace
and Constables Association
provide this 20 hours of civil
training through the Texas
Justice Court Training Center
four times each year. They also
provide a 40-hour class for
newly elected Constables,
which define their role as Con-
stables including their legal
responsibilities and liabilities.
The two proposed constitu-
tional amendments described
by Mr. Rix are not necessary as
there is and has been in place
several methods to remove Con-
stables, as well as any elected
county office holder that does
not perform his official duties.
Chapter 87 of the Local Gov-
ernment Code and particularly
§ 87.013 General Grounds for
Removal provides that an of-
ficer may be removed for in-
competence; which is defined
in § 87.011 (2) as (A) gross igno-
rance of official duties; (B) gross
carelessness in the discharge
of those duties; or (C) unfitness
or inability to promptly and
properly discharge official du-
ties because of serious physical
or mental defect that did not
exist at the time of the officers'
election. If this method does
not appeal toTexans. then they
still have the original term limi-
tation. Vote the incompetent
office holder out of office! A
rancher will cujl a bad steer
rather than sell the whole herd,
it would be just as wrong to
eliminate all Constable offices
because one elected official is
not performing his duties. 1
believe that the Constables in
Mr. Rix's county, if given the
proper support, would seek to
fulfill their official duties as
our forefathers desired when
composing the Texas Constitu-
tion and as specified in Chap-
ter 86 of the Local Government
Code.
I ask all Texans to call their
state representatives and sena-
tors and urge them to not sup-
port these two unnecessary
amendments.
n
INA
I Ntodlein*
AM66IATÜ
11U W. Frank St.. Suite 100. Lufkin, TX
Sean Moran, M.D.
Will Be Accepting New Medicare Patients
For A Limited Time
Call For Appointment at 936-639-2244
Anhe rson Co. Livestock Exchange
stocks* cow & replacement heifer sale
Saturday, March 10th -12:00 noon
vOnilynilvVVKv VTVICOVnt
For mora Information call
ANDERSON COUNTY LIVESTOCK
ELKHART. TX
Freck Foreeter 903-764-1919 Prank ZMIera
903-794-1904 or 903-952-5287
903-724-2099 903-991-1335
RUSK SELF STORAGE
683-4040 or 683-2525
Loop 343 Naar Prison
All Sizes For Lease
Store Cars, Boats, Camp Trailers, Etc.
Security Fénce, Cement Drive
If you have not figured it out
yet, 1 am a Deputy Constable
and I work for Constable Hill
Bailey. I am proud of the 178-
year history of Constable's in
Texas. I am also a native Texan
and resent this assault on Texas
history and tradition. 1 say this
to Mr. Rix and all Texans,
"Don't Mess With Texas!"
ALFRED L. TAYLOR.
CAPTAIN
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help in this complex area, call uh.
Anita L. Woodlee
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 1, 2001, newspaper, March 1, 2001; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth168684/m1/3/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.