Lubbock Buys Xcel Energy in Lubbock

Good bye Xcel Energy (at least in Lubbock) and good bye competition! Today Lubbock announced it was spending $87 million dollars to buy out the Lubbock customer base of Xcel Energy. According to the city, this is great for downtown redevelopment. OK, great.

Mayor Tom Martin was quick to say at the presser that your rates won’t change because of this. Really? Does anyone buy this? LP&L has no competition in Lubbock (for the most part) and we shouldn’t expect rates to change? We shouldn’t expect customer service to change?

I’m sorry but the only people who will benefit from this buy out are the people in charge at City Hall. And how about the timing? The city keeps this whole thing quiet until after the bond election.

So, what do you think?

More on Thursday’s LFN.

ANDY WILSON TO RUN FOR CONGRESS

We now have a Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer. Andy Wilson, from Lubbock will announce to today that he is running for Congress. Wilson is a Democrat, who according to an article in the reporternews.com, is a “moderate Democrat that truly believes in fiscal responsibility.” If you are a Democrat running for election in west Texas, you better be at least be fiscally responsible. Otherwise, you are just blowing money.

Mr. Wilson will join us in studio Tuesday morning at 8:05am on Lubbock’s First News to discuss the issues and his candidacy.

Below is a copy of his press release. Find out more info on his website: www.istandwithandy.com

Andy Wilson will be announcing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the US House of Representatives in the 19th district of Texas on Monday November 2, 2009 at the Mahon Library in the community room in Lubbock, TX at 3:00pm.

A little about Andy, from Andy, follows:

I was born in the great state of Texas and raised in the small Texas town of Bellville by two phenomenal parents. Most of my memories from my youth revolve around fishing and hunting with my Dad, Miles Wilson. He was, and remains to this day, an avid sportsman. My mother, Carolyn Wilson, is a life long educator and both she and my father remain involved in mentoring young people even as they enter their retirement years.

My first trip to West Texas was to register for classes at Texas Tech University and I graduated in 1990 from with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. In ’91 a beautiful young woman named Heidi started to attend the same church where I was a member. A year later we were married and remain committed members of this same body of believers.

Together Heidi and I have raised our 2 sons, Davis, 15, and Keller, 13. For the past 2 years we have also had the wonderful opportunity of helping raise another fine young man, Gene Williams,14. While our life has been good, we have certainly faced some challenges. Primary among these challenges is the fact that our youngest son, Keller, is severely autistic. But together we have faced these challenges with the resolve and optimism that I feel typifies West Texas.

Since graduating Texas Tech, I have spent my entire career in the private sector. For the past 9 years I have been employed by X-FAB Texas, an international semiconductor manufacturer. Heidi, also a graduate of Texas Tech, is a teacher and choir director in the Slaton Independent School District.

Together we call West Texas home and cherish the qualities of the good people of this part of the country — qualities like independence, integrity, hard work and a desire to leave a legacy for the next generations. I believe that our country can benefit from these qualities that are still alive in West Texas. I believe that we need a Representative from this area that can represent and promote the values that have served us so well.

On Monday, Andy will announce his candidacy and outline the platform on which he is running.  The campaign website, www.istandwithandy.com, will also launch Monday with the announcement.

 

LUBBOCK’S DEBT RISING

Lubbock’s debt is on the rise and the SPARTAN (South Plains Area Taxpayer Network) watchdog group is concerned. According to Mikel Ward, the city’s debt has nearly doubled in 3 years.

Lubbock’s current bond indebtedness in principle is $697,635,000. The interest that we owe on that is $310,567,870. Put that together and it adds up to over 1 BILLION DOLLARS. The City is also looking at adding $178,368,437 in new debt after the bond election for water. Oh and that doesn’t have to be voted on. Here is a breakdown from prattontexas.com:

Funding Source                                  Principal              Interest
Property Tax                                  $ 106,303,936         39,168,727
Hotel Tax                                                 1,144,548               606,656
LP&L Revenues                                   81,588,473          33,015,027
TIF Property Tax                                35,092,784         18,435,227
Franchise Fees                                     89,243,719         49,459,810
Enterprise Fund Revenues              384,261,540       169,882,423
TOTAL                                              $ 697,635,000       310,567,870

Mikel Ward also says that, “If Council approves this $178,368,437 & voters pass the $61 million Tuesday, our principal debt alone will be $937 million.  We’re estimating that would increase our annual debt service to around $95 million or about $450 per person every year. I’m concerned we can’t sustain this load.”

So how does Lubbock compare to other cities? I recieved this email from the people at SPARTAN this morning:

I compiled a spreadsheet that shows the bonded debt of all the cities in the South Plains, Panhandle, and Permian Basin.   There were a total of 57 cities that had total bonded debt of $1,914,381,388.00.  Lubbock had $992,316,719.00 of this debt which is $69,933,331.00 more debt than the other 56 cities combined.  The average debt per person of Lubbock residents is $4,566.35 while the average debt for the other 56 cities was $1,235.79 which means Lubbock has almost four times as much debt as the other 56 cities.

Amarillo has $588.95 of debt per person, Odessa has $1,997.90 per person, Abilene has $1,555.61 per person, and Midland has $2020.24 of debt person all of which are less than half of the Lubbock debt load per person.

I was told by a city official that the debt service for Lubbock was approximately $73,600,000.00 per year which amounts to about $339.00 for every man, woman, and child that lives in Lubbock.  This would amount to $1356.00 for a family of four.  This seems like a lot of money to pay for simply paying debt and interest each year.  If debt is so great how come all the other cities have about one-fourth the debt load per person that Lubbock has?

Should we be concerned? Should these figures play a part in your decision making at the polls? I think they should. I think we should be concerned. This is why I’ve been telling you that this isn’t the time to vote for luxury items like soccer fields and splash pads. At some point we will have to pay for all of us this.

More on this on Thursdays LFN.

MORE ON THE BOND ELECTION

Early voting continues in Lubbock for the local bond election(and TX Constitutional admendments) and I hope you are all getting out there to vote. I’m pretty sure that it be a smaller turn out than the alcohol vote, and that speaks volumes about our society.

Over the past couple of days we’ve had the backers of all 4 bond issues on LFN and I’m glad we did. I’m glad they didn’t shy away from the show. I still don’t think the time is right to vote for tax increases for luxury items. I know quality of life issues are important, but so is timing. I think youth sports are important and I wish more kids got involved. I wonder though, is there another way? Right now hotel/motel tax money can’t be used for soccer fields. However, why not try to lobby the legislature to change the rule to say that tax money can be used for anything that could generate revenue and put “heads in beds”? It doesn’t cost us anything and the kids get new soccer fields.

They say the splash pads would benefit the less fortunate in Lubbock. Maybe. I wonder though, would a tax increase hurt them more though?

Just a few thoughts.

VOTE YES THEN NO

This morning on LFN Mayor Tom Martin made the statement that, “everything we do is a necessity”. The Mayor was talking about the City of Lubbock at that point and also said that splash pads and soccer fields are necessities.

Sorry, but he is wrong and so are the people telling you to vote for all 4 bond issues. A short list of necessities that local government should take care of (but often isn’t good at taking care of them): Roads, Police, Fire, Water. The basics is what government should spend money on, especially during times of recession. Soccer fields and splash pads are luxury items.

Everyone is telling you to tighten your belts and spend your money wisely. This is good advice and advice that you the voter should also listen to. If Lubbock votes for these luxury items your taxes will go up. Do you really want that to happen right now?

Think about it. Your Federal taxes will probably be going up soon. Your State taxes could go up soon too. Lubbock has already upped your taxes… ahem “fees” for the stormwater fee. Props 1&2 will pass easy(as they should) so your taxes are going up there too. Oh not to mention that people are still losing their jobs here in Lubbock, and if your not losing your job then your paycheck might be a little lighter.

Take all that in for a second and think. Do we really need these luxury items right now? We have 4 city pools for the “disadvantaged”. Why do we need splash pads now? I had a slip-n-slide and a water hose and I turned out just fine. If 3500 kids already play soccer why do we need extra ones right now? If more soccer fields means more tournaments and lots of money, why hasn’t a private company come in and built them?

Let’s not even get into the discussion on how well the city takes care of existing buildings and fields they own. You know how well they are being taken care of and you really want to trust them with more? Let the city prove they can take care of what they have first. What about water usage for the soccer fields? Aren’t we supposed to be conserving water?

Right now is just not the time to spend money on luxury items. So with all that said…

Vote YES on Props 1 & 2. Vote NO on 3 & 4.

More on Tuesday’s edition of LFN.

RUSH LIMBAUGH TAKES ON THE NFL AND THE RACE CARD

A great piece by Rush Limbaugh was put online last night by the Wall Street Journal. I encourage you to read it. On today’s Chad Hasty Show we will discuss this topic. Read the story and let me know what you think.

Rush Limbaugh: The Race Card, Football, and Me

Part of the article:

The NFL players union boss, DeMaurice Smith, jumped in. A Washington criminal defense lawyer, Democratic Party supporter and Barack Obama donor, he sent a much publicized email to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saying that it was important for the league to reject discrimination and hatred.

When Mr. Goodell was asked about me, he suggested that my 2003 comment criticizing the media’s coverage of Donovan McNabb—in which I said the media was cheerleading Mr. McNabb because they wanted a successful black quarterback—fell short of the NFL’s “high standard.” High standard? Half a decade later, the media would behave the same way about the presidential candidacy of Mr. Obama.

BACK IN LUBBOCK AND AN UPDATE

Well it’s good to be back in the Hub City. I spent the weekend celebrating my birthday and my Mom’s birthday in Dallas and of course good times were had by all, but after a few days it’s nice to get back home and yell at people on the radio.

By the way, the next time you are in Dallas and want to try a nice place for dinner, check out Nick and Sam’s in Dallas. It’s a bit pricey, but you are getting some good food and you will be taken care of. If you enjoy wine they have over 500 selections for you to choose from. The website is www.nick-sams.com.

Many of you have noticed that those of us in radio do much more than just radio these days. People want info all day long and well, we like to comment on stuff throughout the day as well. That’s why I’m happy to announce that chadhasty.com isn’t the only place where you can read my thoughts on things. So where else can you find me?

KFYO.COM

That’s right our radio home on the dial now features my blog on kfyo.com. On KFYO.com I will be writing about local issues and posting interesting links and videos that won’t be found on chadhasty.com. It’s another way to connect to the listeners who visit kfyo.com. You can also check out my mailbag there as well.

THEWILLIAMSANDHYATTSHOW.COM

The show that gave my start in radio (don’t send them any hate mail) has given me a corner on their brand new website. This will be exclusive stuff that I write for thewilliamsandhyattshow.com. The cool thing about this is that Ryan Hyatt is letting me write food reviews, drinks reviews, local stuff, and more. Yes, you do have to pay to access the site, but that just means the really crazy stuff will be going over there. Plus you will get access to the Williams and Hyatt Show podcasts, Tech news/articles that aren’t written by the Texas Tech Athletic Department, and more. It’s real opinions, reviews, and more. For pennies a day you can help starving children in some remote village of the world. Then after you do that, for pennies a day you can access great sports and life commentary.

So join me today as the Chad Hasty media empire grows. OK that sounded a bit douchey, but whatever.

OBAMA FAILS

OBAMA: THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER AND PRESIDENT

President Obama has obviously forgotten what being  President of the United States is all about. Obama’s job is to protect the people of the United States. To look out for our well being. To be the man in the office who is confronted with many problems, but can make a decision on how to better this country. The President should also listen to the people.

President Obama isn’t doing any of that.

Instead the President of the United States has decided he wants to become the Supreme Community Organizer of the United States. President Obama is actually taking time to fly to Europe, not to discuss Afghanistan or the global economy, but to try and woo the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and get the 2016 games in Chicago. Why? It’s not his job to do this! Let the Mayor of Chicago do that or maybe Michael Jordan or Mike Ditka. NOT the President. I would be saying the same thing if George W. Bush had taken time off to go and lobby for the games in Texas.

Not only is it not Obama’s job, but what happens if he’s told no? It will make him look even weaker to people here in the U.S. and around the world.

Robert Gibbs also told us yesterday that President Obama has been discussing gang violence in Chicago with top advisors and will have some type of policy (speech) soon.

Again, it’s not Obama’s job to create some new policy about gangs. We all know they are bad. It’s not going to be this huge revelation to us. I don’t want my President or his top advisers concentrating on gang violence. They have much bigger problems to tackle. Let local people take care of the gangs. Let States take care of violence. Yes, the President should care about the youth and their future, but if he would help fix the economy and bring jobs back to this country it might cut down on some violence.

President Obama needs to figure out what his priorities are. He has 2 wars, the economy, jobs, terror, health care, immigration, and more on his plate. Why take the time to mess with the Olympics and gangs?

If Obama wants to worry about gangs, Olympics, youth violence, and people participating in community service, then it’s time for Obama to resign and run for Mayor of Chicago. He could even run for Governor if he wants. Right now, the President is in over his head and he might not know what he’s doing. He’s proven to be an ineffective President when it comes to big national issues, so now it’s time to get back to concentrating on being a community organizer.

Neugebauer Announces He Is Being Treated for Prostate Cancer

From KFYO News:

Congressman Neugebauer Announces He Is Being Treated for Prostate Cancer

Washington, DC –Congressman Randy Neugebauer released the following statement before undergoing surgery today to treat an early stage of prostate cancer.

“During a routine annual physical, doctors determined that my PSA levels were slightly elevated.  A subsequent biopsy in August showed that I have an early and very treatable stage of prostate cancer.  After carefully weighing treatment options with doctors and family, I decided on surgery to remove my prostate.

“Following today’s surgery, I am expected to make a complete recovery.   I will remain in the hospital for a couple of days and then will recuperate at and work from my residence in Washington D.C until I return to the office.  Because I am being treated in the Washington D.C. area, the impact on my work in Congress will be minimal.

“I am grateful to live in a country where the very best health care and treatment options are available, including early detection and screening.

“Dana and I truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers.”