This is a link to Mayor's interview

Simply Unbelivable

from what I heard it is not on the market they think it is a great investment no telling how much a study is costing all the while the mold is growing and it cost 10K a month to watch it grow

Mr mayor is this how you handle your money or just other people's money.

What can the citizens do?

happyinBCS said:

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What can the citizens do?

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Recall election.

If it works, vote in someone more fiscally responsible.

If it doesn't, it at least makes everyone else think a little harder before they make their next decision.

I appreciate the points toward recall but we are in a weak mayor/weak council system here in CS. He is simply a mouth piece for the City Manager at this point. There are conversations, to be sure, but his voice is repeating talking points and not much more.

Look at the evidence here, Mayor Nichols is parroting the points unearthed in the emails, Councilman Yancy can't get straight answers he can share, where else can we point this but the city staff leadership?

Answers will only come when there is actual pressure on the city staff to produce them. FOI requests are probably our only path forward. There's no recall election for staff hired by consultants and recommended to the council.

Can I just say….

WWWHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPP!!!!!

At least some local media have the guts to confront them.

Now, the mayor is crawfishing, and he knows his hand is in the cookie jar.

I disagree (somewhat). I think if we put tremendous pressure on Nichols by floating a recall, that Woods will get the message and move on down the road. Make the removal of Woods a key point in the recall.

Continuing to pressure through Open Records Requests is great though. Someone needs to get Woods' emails.

He may have a second email like a former Secretary of State, but that will be apparent if you do an ORR on other folks around him. Which, makes him look extremely bad if that's the case.

Good points all around. The pressure should continue down any avenue we can find.

In the end, I think what we're asking for is transparency in commercial actions whether real estate or economic incentives. We may agree with the vision if it was transparently presented.

This is a huge mistake that cost everyone a lot of money and ultimately there is no accountability.

MsDoubleD81 said:

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how do we do that?

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https://library.municode.com/tx/college_station/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTICICH_ARTXINRERE_RECALL_GENERAL

These are the codes for the City of College Station regarding recall elections.

Boozer92 said:

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This is a link to Mayor's interview

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What a mess. I sure hope someone good runs against him but the incumbents almost always win in town races.

To fact check him a bit:

College Station does not appear to have a low ratio of city employees per capita. The city had 865 government employees as of May 20084. Given the population of 120,451 in 20221, this translates to approximately 71.8 city employees per 10,000 residents. While we don't have more recent employment figures, this ratio is higher than those of larger cities like New York (60.0), Los Angeles (31.7), and Chicago (48.2)9. It's important to note that direct comparisons may not be entirely accurate due to differences in city sizes, structures, and the age of the data. However, the available information suggests that College Station's ratio of city employees to population is not particularly low.
Citations:
[ol]

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/college-station-tx

https://www.bls.gov/regions/southwest/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_collegestation.htm

https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=cus_pubs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Station,_Texas

https://brazosvalleyedc.org/data/economic-indicators

https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/economic-data/regions/2024/central.php

https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes_17780.htm

https://president.tamu.edu/messages/new-minimum-rates-for-hourly-and-salaried-full-time-staff.html

https://www.governing.com/archive/police-officers-per-capita-rates-employment-for-city-departments.html

[/ol]
Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share


College Station does not have a lower than average tax rate compared to other cities in Texas. The combined sales tax rate for College Station is 8.25%, which consists of the Texas state tax (6.25%), Brazos County sales tax (0.50%), and College Station city sales tax (1.50%)12. This rate is higher than the lowest sales tax rate in Texas, which is 6.25% in cities like Kirvin1.
When comparing College Station's sales tax rate to other Texas cities:
[ol]

It matches the rate of similarly sized cities like Grand Prairie and Round Rock, both at 8.25%1.

It is lower than the highest rate in Texas, which is 10.25% in cities like Paducah1.

However, it is higher than some other cities, such as Little River-Academy at 7.75%1.

[/ol]Regarding property taxes, College Station's adopted tax rate for 2024 is $0.513086 per $100 valuation4. Without comprehensive data on all Texas cities' property tax rates, it's difficult to determine if this is lower than average. However, this rate is lower than some nearby jurisdictions, such as Bryan ISD ($0.946900) and College Station ISD ($0.972900)5.
In summary, while College Station's tax rates are not the highest in Texas, they are also not significantly lower than average when considering both sales and property taxes.
Citations:
[ol]

https://zamp.com/resources/college-station-texas-sales-tax/

https://taxhero.net/sales-tax/city/tx-college-station/

https://www.avalara.com/taxrates/en/state-rates/zip/77845.html

https://www.cstx.gov/departments___city_hall/fiscal/tax_rate

https://brazoscad.org/tax-information/adopted-tax-rates/

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/docs/city-rates.pdf

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/quarterly-updates/jan-2025.php

[/ol]
Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

I wonder where he gets the $7 million appraisal value? BrazosCad gives the current appraisal of the building and land at $4,410,244 and it was $3,850,147 at the time of the city purchasing it.

I do understand that the tax appraisal of a property can be way off of actual market value that a ready, willing, and able would pay but he said the offer was based on an appraisal. I would like to see it,

"for New York boy this isn't bad" so much makes sense now.

Loved the look on his face when Delucia mentioned Texags and his eyes rolled...

Blue Star for Delucia for directly and plainly asking "why did you pay 4 million more for this property" and he had no good answer

How do you "save 7 million in construction costs" when you spent 7+ million on the existing structure?

"When we talk in the abstract" lol GTFO here with that

GSS said:

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Currenty on WTAW....The CS Mayor is trying to defend the Macy's purchase, and the $$$ over valuation.

This TexAgs thread is part of the discussion!

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Congrats! You made a difference. We all did.

Back pats all around. The message has reached the intended recipients.

Comments on WTAW interview -
Delucia did a really good job.
Interesting that Nichols referenced "Genesis". Just how old is he ?
The comments Nichols made makes it clear there is a cabal of some sort and composition among both elected and appointed city leaders. Not all of them I'm sure - but a significant group.

Thank you! YouTube is a coy mistress sometimes!

"Somebody has to do something to re-energize the mall."

THIS IS NOT THE JOB OF GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!!!

Mayor said the company that was going to buy Macy's went bankrupt, and the city had to step in, correct?

Emails in this thread - Jim Lewis telling Natalie Ruiz "you screwed me" say otherwise.

Quote:

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O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!

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~~~Walter Scott~~~

Delucia performed more journalism in that interview than every other "journalist" in town combined on this subject.

EliteElectric said:

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"for New York boy this isn't bad" so much makes sense now.

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My first thought as well. I will add, that was a bad look for the mayor when he was pressed on why they paid over 4 million more for it. He had no clue how to answer that.