Talk of Lufkin

By Jackie

October 20, 2009 3:33 AM | Link to this

I can see by the article and in reading it, so many smiling faces are present at this meeting to present this “Proposition 11” to the public in this fete held at the hotel.

Although this “proposition” is important to concerned taxpayers of Angelina…and most likely elsewhere, this issue of properties and taxes, whether they run higher or lower (do not expect any lowering, though) strike at the heart of all property owners.

I want to see not bits and pieces, and bites off the total proposition here; in fact, it would be wonderful for a change if a summary in-total of this proposition would be outlaid for the entire population who are affected by this one presentation. Gathering small and programmed information on something is inadequate for understanding the whole package.

When are we going to see it?

By Randy

October 20, 2009 5:19 AM | Link to this

Why is K. Bailey not in Washington doing her present job? If she really wants (dreams) to be my governor, she needs to show me she can do the job she has. The proposition is a state issue and we, as a state will handle it.

By concernedtaxpayer

October 20, 2009 8:56 AM | Link to this

So now our local news is running PR for team KBH? Very status quo, a real show shocker on that one to publicate the names associated with the proposition and limited at best knowledge about the proposition.

Randy, she is doing her job in Washington. Right now the only Republican in Washington that gets even a modest say in anything is Ms. Snowe. The Democrats are unwilling to listen or compromise on their spending habits or core political issues so the “job” at this point is to vote in line with what her constituents want which in Texas means voting “no”. She is doing just that and has no real power to change any sort of legislation going on right now (though has managed to filter a little of that pork our way, we will have to pay it back regardless so might as well enjoy a little feed from the trough).

With all the things Mr. Perry has done in his tenure of late she has pretty good reason to be concerned about the goings on in this state. Selling personal property to foreigners for a toll road where the state (which was estimated to cost the taxpayers 50 billion) sees little to no profit from the tolls is a disgusting use of time and resources. Requiring injections of any sort (much less one that is only needed in a specific young adult population and certainly not worth the risk of mandate to everyone over the age of 12) because he and his cohorts own stock in the pharmaceutical that produces it. He turned away stimulus money allright (and I applaud him for that) but what he turned away was peanuts compared with what he was willing to spend of our money on that corridor.

Really as far as elections go I find her less atrocious than him. Seems that is all we have to vote for these days just which one is less vile.

As far as the proposition goes, I am not equipped from this article to even weigh in on that one. Will definitely take a look at it and see what I think. It sounds like it will have its pros and cons while it may protect property owners from massive land grabs like the TTC, it could very well hurt greater good expansions like the hwy 59 project or others.

By bob

October 20, 2009 9:26 AM | Link to this

Contax, you are not thinking about the whole of the now dead TTC. No American company bid on the project, and the project or something similar is vital to future growth, as the Texas FM system now is, as well as the Interstate system. There were howls of doomsday when those systems were built, too. We prefer that these transportation projects be built by Americans, but if they don’t have the capital, nor the patience to take 50 years to recoup their investment, then we should be glad some foreigners are willing to help us out. They build it with their nickel, which saves us Texans from having to spend our tax $, of which there will be much spent. It may not be TTC, but we need something just like it, except it should be in existing corridors in order to minimize the amount of land that has to be taken.

By concernedtaxpayer

October 20, 2009 10:30 AM | Link to this

Well having read it, now seems like a real time waster. Prohibits governments from taking private property for private economic development to increase a tax base.

It doesn’t prevent government from taking private property. Would even allow them to do so to eliminate “urban blights”? Under that premise half of north Lufkin could be seized for no other reason than it is just unsightly.

Election years are always so ripe with entertainment and this one is sure not to disappoint. Very humorous how a similar bill came before Perry in 2007 and he vetoed it, but now is a supporter of the measure? There definitely should be a song to go along with that dance.

Seeing the overwhelming political support for this within the state legislature and the Battle of the Govs, my first inclination is to not walk but run and vote in the opposite direction. If they are for it, there is no way it benefits the taxpayers of this state. The truth is in the details. There are no details with this, and therefore no truth.

It doesn’t address a lot more than it addresses, in my opinion the public should demand something better with regards to personal property rights.

This is the last proposition on the ballot. There are 10 more before it, why is this the only one with coverage? Proposition 4 seems to think we should donate taxpayer money to the universities for research. Is anyone on board, in a recession and record job loss, with doing that right now?

Prop 1 and 2 okay in my book. Prop 3 quite vague in addressing what “uniform standard” means. Considering that will be used in appraisal of property for taxation I would definitely like a better definition of that.

Prop 5, now there is a concept. Allowing adjoining appraisal boards to consolidate. So instead of one board elected from this county to hate, now we can have a bigger one with neighboring counties to hate? For some reason that just seems like it would create more of a mess than we already have.

6-10 I am pretty much on board with voting yes to, but still think it would have been a ground breaking idea to see the local news give each one appropriate space (perhaps minus the political fanfare and blatant campaign press).

Kudos politicians you’ve really outdone yourselves this year. So nice to see our tax dollars at work.

By concernedtaxpayer

October 20, 2009 11:22 AM | Link to this

You may accuse me of not thinking about the whole of the TTC project, but you will have to do much better with giving me the Why of the need for it than you have. Is the need for transportation greater than the need of the town that would be wiped off the map by this overgrown highway? Since transportation is its main goal then I ask you transportation of what? Our manufacturing jobs are not exactly reproducing by the truckload within our borders.

No American Company bid on the project? So by default we should just be allright with outsourcing it then.

Some of my family lives in one of those towns you think are not as important as this highway. They have lived and worked that land for a dozen generations. Our ancestors have fought in every major war for over hundred years to keep their land and protect their home. You will have to pardon me if my ability to grasp the totality of this project cannot be reduced to a monetary value.

For me it is really not a matter of I prefer these projects to be built by Americans. I demand it. If we do not have company’s willing or with the means to raise capital for such a necessary endeavor then we wait, or we compromise and find a solution maybe on a smaller scale that does not involve selling out our land and future generations of profit to foreign investors. As part of the youthful generation myself I look around and it seems to me that is what has already been done. A lot of being glad that foreign investors were willing to relieve us of our burdensome job opportunities.

I condensed my opinion of the TTC for my prior statements as it was really not relevant other than to point out the press of this article is more for campaigning than any actual attempt at bringing to light the effects (or lack thereof) of this proposition. So stated my opinion on the two likely candidates and some of the reasons (though not even close to an entire account) why I believed KBH to be the least repulsive to run our state. My opinion is just one and will have very little influence other than a solitary vote in the final outcome of that election. My grasp of the whole of one project wouldn’t exactly be necessary to grasp the whole of a candidate or some of the policies he likes to dictate that I find personally offensive.

By Tommy Jefferson

October 20, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this

“Government should never be allowed to take private property from one person to give to another,” Hutchison said.

You mean like they do with the income tax, property tax, sales tax?

Funny thing is, KBH knows Americans are so retarded they can look at a blatant lie such as this and net even be fazed by the utter silliness of it.

By bob

October 20, 2009 4:03 PM | Link to this

Contax, just a clarification on your synopsis of Prop 5: appraisal district board members are not elected to the appdist board. I know TTC is just one issue for you among many. Same here. I’m just saying the concept is good, it was just a bad idea to take a broad swath across the TX countryside taking property. Interstate ROW is already (what?) 1200 ft wide or something like that. Put the lanes closer together separated by physical dividers like you see so much of now days and there will almost be room to add 2 more lanes each way, plus an elevated RR track, and pipelines, or whatever. It should involve only a minor land grab in most areas. Caveat is that loops would have to go around the bigger cities, as now being constructed around Austin. Pay for those with tolls and let the public decide whether to use the toll or the existing IH (such as 35 through Austin). My point is that Perry was correct with the concept, just not the means, but I’m supporting him not for that, as he killed it, but because he’s much more conservative than what KBH has shown to be in Washington.

By concernedtaxpayer

October 20, 2009 6:15 PM | Link to this

Yes I used the wrong terminology with regards to prop 5, though my main point is to bring up all of them and specifically with that one question the integrity of money spent to legislate such a thing as combining boards from neighboring counties and what on earth the purpose might be in that? Seems to me it will certainly make the blame game a lot easier and when you line up to protest exactly which county’s board will be there hearing it?

Your reason for supporting him is exactly my reason for opposing him. He is much more conservative than I care for. I don’t like Obama’s liberal socialism and I do not like Perry’s conservative socialism. His concepts whether it be for the TTC, secession or the Guardasil are designed with one purpose in mind, his own personal gain.

You still have not convinced me of the necessity for anything like the TTC now or 50 years from now. Highways are supposed to benefit the public, not to make it easier for company’s to outsource manufacturing jobs to a cheaper labor market. If they want that or see a need for that now or in the future then let them use their own money to pay what the people want for their property instead of hiding behind the state seal to condemn or seize it regardless of the owners consent.

By Jackie

October 20, 2009 10:10 PM | Link to this

“I turned 21 in prison, doing life without parole….

…and mama cried!

By Front Page News

October 21, 2009 9:05 AM | Link to this

Lufkin company unfair to black workers, court says

By Danny Robbins ASSOCIATED PRESS Wednesday, October 21, 2009

LUFKIN — State historical markers outside the headquarters of Lufkin Industries Inc. tell how the company started repairing sawmill equipment at the turn of the 20th century and grew to make many of the pumps dotting the world’s oil fields.

But a different history has been written in a class action lawsuit winding to a close. That story describes how the 107-year-old company for years discriminated against its black employees, assigning them to the worst jobs and repeatedly denying them promotions.

More than a thousand of the company’s current and former black employees stand to divvy up $5.5 million in back pay and interest as compensation for what a federal judge in June called the company’s unlawful discrimination in awarding promotions.

Though each worker will get a relatively modest sum, those who brought the lawsuit see the award as validation of their struggle for equality in a region often associated with racial turmoil — most famously the 1998 murder in nearby Jasper of James Byrd Jr. by three white men who dragged him behind a pickup.

“It’s not about the money,” said Sylvester McClain, 62, the former employee who initiated the suit. “It’s about equal pay, equal treatment, equal justice.”

Lufkin Industries employs about 1,200 in Lufkin, making it one of the largest employers in the city of 33,000, about 120 miles northeast of Houston. Publicly traded since 1990, the company makes gearboxes for industrial use as well as oil field equipment.

McClain, a longtime local civil rights activist who worked for the company for 36 years, said discrimination was a tradition there.

“It had been practiced by the granddaddy, the daddy, the son and the son’s son,” he said.

Buford Thomas, who spent 17 years with the company and filed the original complaint with McClain, said signs designating “black” and “white” showers remained in one plant into the 1990s. Although such segregation was no longer enforced, blacks and whites gravitated to the different showers, Thomas said.

“You can’t deny the truth of something when you see it every day,” he said of the discrimination.

Jay Glick, who has served as the company’s president since 2007 and its CEO since 2008, declined to be interviewed.

“Since the case is still before the courts for final resolution of several issues, it would be inappropriate for us to comment,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Along with the $5.5 million in damages, U.S. District Judge Ron Clark has ordered Lufkin to pay the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, estimated at nearly $5.6 million after 12 years of litigation.

The ruling hasn’t hurt the company’s standing in Lufkin, where its red and white logo is ubiquitous and the library and an elementary school bear the names of former executives.

Local officials point to the company’s community involvement, particularly its role in raising money for the United Way.

“What’s the old saying? So goes General Motors, so goes the country? Well, there’s a lot of truth in that when you talk about (Lufkin Industries) in this community,” said Jack Gorden, a Lufkin banker who is in his second term as the city’s mayor.

Gorden, who worked summers at the company while in college in the 1960s, said he hasn’t heard anything that convinces him that it engaged in widespread discrimination.

But rulings, testimony and statistical analyses generated by the lawsuit show the company channeled black workers into its foundry, where conditions were harshest, and unfairly denied promotions to black employees more than 100 times.

U.S. District Judge Howell Cobb found the company liable for its handling of promotions and its placement of black workers in the foundry. But the foundry ruling was struck down on appeal because the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hadn’t investigated the matter.

Cobb died in 2005, shortly after ruling on the case. The appellate court sent it to Clark, Cobb’s successor, for more specific orders.

The rulings have been particularly gratifying for McClain, who began working in Lufkin’s now-defunct trailer division after earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star as a medical corpsman in Vietnam.

“I mean, here I am,” he said. “I’ve finished high school, fought for my country, kept my nose clean, and I can’t get anywhere.”

Retired since 2008, McClain still wears the watch with the company logo he received for 20-plus years of service.

“It’s something that represents a lot of years of my life,” he said. “It also represents everything we’ve gone through in this fight.”

By john

October 21, 2009 2:09 PM | Link to this

i beleive president obama is doing a terriffic job. but republicams are just mad that a smooth talking african american democrat took the stage of president of the united states of american. enough is enough no one party is superior than the other just like no one race is superior than the other. so instead of arguing about socialism this and socialism that just shut up and be glad we live in a country where we can do whatever we please. democrats4life!!

By A Real American

October 21, 2009 6:18 PM | Link to this

john.. your so brainwashed it makes me sick, go somewhere else where your communist ideas are accepted, NOT HERE

By rupture rudy

October 26, 2009 1:17 PM | Link to this

One of the biggest lies purpetuated by the capitalist system is that of the rugged individualist. The fact is that forces (corporations) outside of the control of the individual determine our destinies - and they do it for the immoral motive of greed.

Jesus was a socialist.

By claude e welch

November 10, 2009 6:18 PM | Link to this

Hi Real American: Just how great does it make you feel to be a “real american” and for others to be less so. Pretty good, I would imagine. While your “brainwashed” ideas make people of all persuasions sick, please do not go anywhere. We need you here so badly.