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RESOLUTION NO. 92,001
<br />WHEREAS, in 1991, State Comptroller John Sharp presented
<br />to the Texas Legislature his Texas Performance Review Plan
<br />designed to save money by reducing inefficiency in state
<br />government; and,
<br />WHEREAS, included in Sharp's plan was a recommendation
<br />that the number of Texas Department of Transportation
<br />district offices be reduced; and,
<br />WHEREAS, Sharp's plan recommended that the rural
<br />interests of Texas be preserved in the consolidation; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the Texas Legislature, on August 26, 1991,
<br />passed House Bill 9, which required that the number of Texas
<br />Department of Transportation district offices be reduced from
<br />twenty -four to not more than eighteen, and that the Texas
<br />Transportation Commission decide where the eighteen district
<br />offices should be located; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the Texas
<br />executive session, closed
<br />to discuss the respective
<br />offices; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the four di
<br />meeting were not and have
<br />public; and,
<br />Transportation Commission met in
<br />to the public, on November 6, 1991,
<br />locations of the eighteen district
<br />fferent proposals considered at the
<br />not yet been made available to the
<br />WHEREAS, discussion of the closure of district offices
<br />is a matter of great interest and importance to the public
<br />and does not qualify for an exemption from the Texas Open
<br />Meetings Act; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the criteria used by the Texas Transportation
<br />Commission in making its decision were not made available to
<br />the public prior to the decision; and,
<br />WHEREAS, no input from the public was solicited by the
<br />Commission prior to the decision; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the criteria used by the Commission were
<br />unrelated to the mission of the Texas Department of
<br />Transportation; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the criteria were biased against rural areas,
<br />in contravention of Sharp's plan and the Legislature's
<br />intent; and,
<br />WHEREAS, six of the seven district offices that were
<br />eliminated are located in rural areas; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the Texas Transportation Commission ordered that
<br />a new district office be established in Laredo, Texas, where
<br />none existed before; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the Laredo location was not required to meet
<br />the same criteria as the existing offices in order to justify
<br />its establishment; and,
<br />WHEREAS, the cost of establishing a new office
<br />contravenes the stated intent of Sharp's plan to increase
<br />efficiency and to cut spending; NOW, THEREFORE,
<br />BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS,
<br />that said Council finds that the decision to realign the
<br />Texas Department of Transportation district offices as
<br />ordered by the Texas Transportation Commission on November 6,
<br />
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