Public commenters press county on contracting transparency, election review and reentry partnerships

Several members of the public used the meeting's public-comment period on June 17 to raise concerns about procurement transparency, request county attention on election procedures and offer a reentry training partnership.

Bill Kelberlaw, who identified himself as a Williamson County taxpayer and self-described sixth-generation Texan, spoke about changes to county procurement materials and alleged redactions in contract attachments. "The bid number was redacted from the contract, but, the rest of it was pretty interesting reading on the attachment," Kelberlaw said, and warned of a pattern he described as avoiding competitive bidding through exemption clauses. He also referenced ongoing litigation in which a company named Sambria has sued Williamson County over an allegedly exempted-from-bids contract.

Laurie Gallagher said she is a registered voter, taxpayer and a member of the Williamson County Republican Party Election Integrity Committee and asked the court to review an audit she described as an extensive public-information request and review. "We identified numerous defects and deficiencies with the current county wide electronic voting system polling place program that this County Commissioner's Court adopts to conduct our elections," Gallagher said. She said the committee passed a resolution in support of a "U.S. citizens election bill of rights" and offered to provide additional records and experts for a workshop.

Delbert Crawford, owner of Changing Lane CDL School, offered a private-sector partnership to expand reentry services for formerly incarcerated residents and said his program has helped more than 1,200 graduates find careers. "I'm here today to offer support in developing a Williamson County reentry program, 1 that equips, people to return to their communities with purpose, job training, and structure," Crawford said.

What the court did: Commissioners did not take formal action on the public requests during the meeting. A staff member (Kathy) was asked to collect Crawford's contact information. Gallagher said she would follow up by email with records; the court did not schedule a workshop or direct staff during open session on the matters she raised.

Ending Public comments were recorded in the meeting minutes. No open-session votes or formal directions were reported that would immediately change county procurement, election procedures or reentry programming based on the comments made on June 17.