Back to Contents

July / August 2010
Volume 22, Number 4

News you can use

Coffee with TAC Discussions Planned
over next Few Months
First One Already Held in Cameron County in June

From left to right, Cameron County commissioner-elects Ernie Hernandez and Dan Sanchez and commissioners David Garza, Sofia Benavides and Edna Tamayo all attended a Coffee with TAC held last month.

TAC’s team of legislative liaisons has started traveling the state to talk with elected officials about ongoing local concerns and interim topics going into the 2011 legislative
session.

On June 3, Cameron County hosted local elected officials from Willacy and Cameron
counties, as well as Representative René Oliveira, chair of the House Ways & Means
Committee. TAC Legislative Liaisons Aurora Flores Ortiz and Laura Garcia were on
hand to facilitate the open discussion.

Oliveira began by informing the group about several issues he predicts will define
the upcoming legislative session, including the redistricting of congressional, legislative, judicial and state board of education districts for 2012 elections. He also addressed the growing state budget deficit and its affect on counties.

“This session will be a purely defensive one. There are no new monies, all frills have
to go. Some of your county funds may be cut,” warned Oliveira.

More talk revolved around the need to have local authority regarding subdivision
zoning and guidelines, noise ordinances and garbage collection in rural areas. Officials also discussed the need for the Department of Transportation to follow through on local projects and to protect overweight corridors, and rural officials raised concerns about the flooding of certain precincts and colonia subdivision issues.

Officials who attended the Coffee with TAC said it was a rare opportunity to have an
open dialogue among their peers.

“TAC provided an opportunity to convey various concerns and issues that can be
introduced by our local legislative members and hopefully enacted into law,” Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos said.

More Coffees with TAC around the state have already been scheduled. Hidalgo and
Johnson counties will both host a meeting in September, and Jefferson County will host a meeting in October. Counties in other areas of the state interested in hosting a Coffee with TAC or officials who have questions about how to attend a meeting can contact Aurora Flores Ortiz at aurorafo@county.org or (800) 456-5974.