Judge Keith Self addresses state of Collin County at town hall meeting

At a town hall meeting in Frisco on Monday, Collin County Judge Keith Self addressed a variety of issues, including Zebra mussels, West Nile virus and upcoming elections.

Despite these well-known issues, however, Self said the biggest issue facing all county governments in Texas is unfunded mandates placed upon the counties by the state.

"We've got a complete legislative agenda [in Collin County] that probably has 18 or 19 subjects on it," Self said. "One is county jails must be air conditioned, yet prisons are not. Why is that an unfunded mandate on the county when state prisons [don't have the same requirements]?"

Unfunded mandates are a big issue for Self, who believes county governments should be looking for ways to cut back on costs in the difficult economic environment. The mandates, he told the audience, make cutting costs more difficult.

Despite these mandates, however, Collin County has cut back its costs this year by approximately $6.5 million. Self said the county is listening to voters who are asking the county government to not increase spending.

"The combined funds [for Collin County], which is the largest measure of budget from last year to this year [will go down]," he said. "The adopted budget last year was almost $265 million. This year the recommended budget is $258.6. It's not a big percentage, but it is $6.5 million less in the combined budget. And we're still growing as a county. We've asked our staff, our elected officials to do more with less this year."

Another issue facing many Collin County cities is the spread of zebra mussels to local lakes. The invasive species has found its way in many North Texas lakes, and Self said Collin County is actively discussing the issue with the entities responsible for lakes and other bodies of water.

Technically the issue is outside of Collin County's jurisdiction, but Self and the county government are making sure to stay abreast of the matter.

"The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers owns the water, and the municipal water district takes the water and distributes it," Self said. "The Corp is responsible for the zebra mussels, not the water district. ... They're considering a number of solutions, such as [finding] a natural predator of the zebra mussel to put in lakes."

Self added that the county believes zebra mussels have spread to Lake Lavon and Lake Ray Hubbard. Zebra mussels have already been found in Sister Grove Creek, which is located southeast of Van Alstyne near the Collin County border with Grayson County.

As with zebra mussels, the Collin County government also has little control over the response to West Nile virus. At the time of the town hall meeting, Collin County had 36 confirmed cases of the virus.

"We're not considering aerial spraying," Self said. "I asked our epidemiologists to do an analysis as to why we don't have the amount of cases Dallas County does. We don't know for sure, but it looks like we don't have the cases because we don't use the water Dallas does. We're not creating the conditions for the mosquitoes to breed."

Self said he has the authority to declare a public emergency to issue aerial spraying but that Collin County cities are doing well without any help.

"The cities can unilaterally spray anytime they want, they have that authority - we as a county don't have that authority," Self explained. "Issuing a public emergency is entirely subjective, and we'd discuss the matter with our epidemiologist."

An area self and the Collin County government do have some control over, however, is the upcoming election season and where voters go to vote.

In an effort to make the voting process easier, Self said the county is attempting to increase the amount of voting centers - places where voters can go to vote regardless of where they registered - and limit the amount of schools used for voting locations.

"We're trying to standardize the vote centers, where you can go and vote anywhere in the county," he said. "There are early voter locations that go by different rules - we have to open and close [voting locations] during early voting. When you get to Election Day we're trying to standardize the vote centers, but we're also trying to find the best places."

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