Hornbeck said:

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So, I was reading through the upcoming City Council Agenda, and I found this. Kind of innocuous title, but a very meaty subject.

While I was going to talk about Baseball at Midtown, I think I have changed my mind, and I think I'm going to talk about NDAs, transparency, and "doing the right thing towards the citizens" or "doing the ethical thing towards us" and not just "doing the LEGAL thing".

I figured this would be of interest to many of you, considering the way it was revealed on TexAgs that the NDA for the datacenter was signed weeks before Council was told, etc.

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Looks like they're doing the right thing, nailing down the policies & procedures.

Got it, techno.

What's their past track record in this regard?

I'm very concerned. That's why I made the post calling this out.

I think that certain city staff members think they can just go back to what they were doing, in secret, because that's what their prior actions lead me to believe. I also think that there is an elitist attitude in CS City Hall, that they think they know way better than the citizens.

Until the "folks who are the bosses" to use Bob Yancy's phrase are actually in control, we will have more debacles, cover-ups, and missteps by the "elite" in City Hall.

Their track record is horrible. We have to demand better, and compel them to do so.

By my reading, staff received a proposal. Are you suggesting they just suppress it from council? They can't control the timing of the proposal, and the proposal aligns with several recent public sentiments.

No NDA, on the agenda as a workshop item, without possible action, in the vein of the current midtown plan, in agreement with the rejection of light industrial for the area, satisfying an unmet need for baseball.

This seems night and day to me. I want to point out that staff and council could have kept this under wraps with the executive session economic development exception for a very long time.

I think this proposal will give a perspective of what would be possible for baseball with private investment, which can now be compared against a public only plan.

I personally think it is too much public investment in a private business, but it certainly fits a community need a thousand times better than a data center.

WTAW has a story about baseball fields at Midtown. City staff want to move it there, instead of near Millican.
Here is a snip of the article:

Quote:

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The proposal asks the council to contribute at least $15 million dollars and either give or lease 80 acres of land.
What is nicknamed Southern Roots baseball would have a 3,800 seat stadium and eight more all turf fields.
The developer also proposes building an integrated baseball academy where 100 students would also take junior college classes on site.
The city's chief development officer (CDO) told the council to consider how this project might impact the previously approved addition of baseball fields at Veterans Park.

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Full article here

The developer of the one In Millican is the same as Southern Roots in Midtown. He made a post on the Greater Midtown Facebook group. He feels like Midtown is a better location.

Hornbeck said:

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91_Aggie said:

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Still nothing about handling our inept City Manager

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One of the interesting points that the mayor outlined is that he said that said City Manager signed the NDA with Priority Power, and he said this was normal, and that he had asked permission from the City Council to enter into said NDA, which seems to run contrary to accounts I have seen about that NDA. I thnk that bears further scrutiny.

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NDA signing "Power" is normal for an organization. It limits the number of individuals who can sign agreements and it also assigns responsibilities.

In this case, "Priority Power" is the company they entered into an NDA with.

Stucco said:

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Full stop. The Mayor said the council approved the NDA.

When? Where are the minutes?

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The NDA itself says that's not true.

Hornbeck said:

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In this case, "Priority Power" is the company they entered into an NDA with.

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Maybe. Nobody can talk about it right now.

Hornbeck said:

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In this case, "Priority Power" is the company they entered into an NDA with.

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Sorry I missed spoke. The City Manager has the "power" to sign an NDA for the city.

That's contradictory to what the mayor said on WTAW.

Hornbeck said:

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That's contradictory to what the mayor said on WTAW.

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Then the mayor "misspoke". It is normal for a city manager, CEO etc to sign NDAs for the entire organization.

Hornbeck said:

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Stucco said:

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Full stop. The Mayor said the council approved the NDA.

When? Where are the minutes?

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The NDA itself says that's not true.

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and in the emails from the ORR, Yancy hadn't even seen the NDA until after he posted on here about it, less than a week before it was on the Agenda.

From what I can find, under the purchasing manual the city manager is able to execute contracts with a monetary value of less than $50,000 without seeking approval from the Council. The NDAs are effectively non-monetary contracts, so have followed this process. The purchasing manual was approved by Council.

Staff is executing according to the will of Council, or at the very least, the will of a prior Council.

Council is the only body that can change this.

So, Council has decided to make some changes in the face of what happened with Priority Power.

What that exactly looks like they will vote on at a future meeting, but thats progress.

You spoke very well and your words carried weight. It is unfortunate the council is not interested in meaningful change on NDAs and transparency, just how projects are introduced after the period of secrecy. There is more work to do!

Waiting for the council to approve every NDA will slow down the process, that is often time dependent.

Having said that some NDAs, on items more than a certain value, should be reviewed and approved by elected officials.

The CoCS council should set clear limits and guidelines on high dollar items.