Good morning!

We all know the ends don’t justify the means... but what if it’s really convenient? That’s today’s Friday Reflection. 

But first, here’s the last Texas Minute of August!

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, August 30, 2019
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• Texas Scorecard’s Robert Montoya has been looking into the secretive contracts the Tarrant Regional Water District has with two marketing companies. The government agency has been trying hard to stop Montoya’s investigation, refusing to reveal the contracts funded with tax money. It turns out the deal isn’t just secretive, it appears downright shady.
     
• Last month, Montoya reported that the City of Dallas renewed an agreement with the TRWD for a five-year, $3.3 million water conservation marketing campaign funded by taxpayers; the campaign’s objective is simply to tell taxpayers to use less water.
       
• So why all the secrecy? Montoya’s not done digging.
   
• Earlier this week Texas House Republican Caucus Chair Stephanie Klick (R–Fort Worth) denied 30 members their request for an in-person meeting to fill a vacancy in the caucus’ leadership. Brandon Waltens reports State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R–Arlington) sent a letter to Klick yesterday asking her to reconsider that decision.
      
• Tinderholt didn’t sign on to that original request, he explained in his letter, because he “fully expected their request to be granted.” Tinderholt pointed to a similar request made by just 14 members at the end of the 2017 session for a caucus meeting on the contentious question of whether the bylaws should be changed to nominate a unified Republican speaker candidate from within the caucus. That meeting happened and the change was made.
          
• “I am very concerned your first official act as Chairman of the House Republican Caucus was to ignore 40% of your constituency who made a fair and appropriate request under our Bylaws.” – Rep. Tinderholt to Rep. Klick
      
• Meanwhile, the chairman of the Texas House Democrat Caucus took to social media to express his outrage that a Republican-friendly group is registering citizens to vote and talking to them about political issues. Destin Sensky has the details. 
      
• A Tarrant County city is proposing a property tax rate that would see the city’s average property tax bill increase over 70 percent from just six years ago. Bedford Mayor Jim Griffin and the city council will vote on the tax rate at their Sept. 10 meeting.
      
• The Dallas suburb of Coppell is about to get more expensive. The city council is considering a property tax rate resulting in tax bills 30 percent higher than they were just six years ago.
      
• Due to rising property values, Brownsville residents will see higher tax bills despite the city’s claim they are keeping the same tax rate. David Vasquez has the details.
     
• The GOP-controlled Williamson County Commissioners Court unanimously adopted a $393.8 million budget this week, a move Cary Cheshire reports will increase the average homeowner’s property tax bill.
      
• As cities across Central Texas prepare to raise taxes, one town is going against the grain with a different proposal: letting citizens keep more of their own hard-earned cash. Jacob Asmussen and Cary Cheshire report the Leander City Council is taking a substantial step in the right direction to help taxpayers.

Before I forget... the Texas Minute will return on TUESDAY, Sept. 3.

Friday Reflection

As the saying goes, “Context is king.” Nowhere have I seen that so practically displayed as in Israel, where passages from the Bible spring to life in the context of their physical locations. Nagging questions get answered with a glance and a footstep.

Few biblical vignettes puzzled me more over the years than that found in 1 Samuel 24. Let me try to set the stage. King Saul and his men were chasing David - knowing he was ordained by God to be Israel’s ruler. David and his men flee into the wilderness region known as En Gedi, and are hiding in a cave. It was into that very cave which King Saul entered to “relieve himself.”

David and his men conspire about whether to attack him. How easy it would have been! As it happened, David snipped a piece of Saul’s rob (without the king’s knowledge), but regrets it as a cowardly act and forbids his men from taking action.

So it always puzzled me... How were David and his men not be seen? How were they not heard? How could David have moved close enough to cut Saul’s robe without the king knowing it?

Well, it turns out very easily. The cave features a massive waterfall and raging stream that carved the cave from fragile rock. Back then, the cave would have been pitch black, the floor littered with man-sized chunks of rock. Several men could have been standing there yelling and never be heard. One would have to carefully disrobe before, um, going about the task. When you stand there (as an Empower Texans group will be doing this coming spring), it all makes perfect sense.

While Saul was a dishonorable king, David did not want to begin his own kingship in a dishonorable way. While Saul would have thought nothing of killing David with his proverbial pants down, David wanted Saul to keep his dignity. David wanted to honor God, even in the darkness of a cave against a man who wanted him dead.

As my wife and I stood at the mouth of the cave, looking down at the Jordan River below and marveling at the beauty of the place, it was hard not to think of the pressure to “win at all costs.” 

The lesson at En Gedi reminds us that the ends cannot be justification for the means. If we want to be honorable men, we must behave honorably – even when it is inconvenient, even in the darkness, even when there aren’t any witnesses. As a self-governing people, we must first be able to govern ourselves.

That is, perhaps, the most important context for each of us.