It really isn’t too unusual to hold a public hearing and have nobody from the public show up. But last week, Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert said the reason no one likely appeared at the public hearings held on various county projects is quite simple—the item wasn’t posted.

So, how did a public hearing fail to get public notification? Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers says the official county newspaper, quite simply, “dropped the ball and failed to publish it.” Meyers was none too happy because he says not only is redoing a public hearing, after the agenda item is re-published, is time consuming and unnecessary, he also noted that some folks in the community had called thinking commissioners and county staff were just dumber than dirt because they didn’t “post” the item.

Posted it was—published it wasn’t. Meyers says he feels it might behoove the county to go out for bids again in light of the recent snafu.

And, he says, even if no one generally does show up at most of the county’s public hearings, the county is still obligated by law to publish the information on the meetings to allow the public the opportunity to attend if they so desire.

“We sent it over there and it wasn’t run. When people have called me on this incident, I just have to tell them that we went through the bid process to choose an official paper. They were the lowest bidder and maybe it is true that you get what you pay for.”

Remember Monday was Martin Luther King Day and it was an official holiday for most government officials. I say most because this column has only one source, regardless of the topic—Commissioner Meyers. Not that Andy is my secret source of information—on Monday he was my only source of information. He was out going to meetings across the county and answered his cell phone just as if it was business as usual. I thank him for that. Kind of refreshing.

Meyers mentioned that he was leaving the east side of Fort Bend and heading to the Katy area. It was already colder there than Sugar Land, but the winds and predicted icy conditions were making it across the county. Meyers said he had to cancel a breakfast fundraiser he had scheduled for today (Wednesday) because of the weather predictions, which included ice, sleet, freezing temperatures and just generally nasty stuff.

Now I don’t know about most people, but I am a native Texan and I am quite comfortable celebrating Christmas in shorts. I personally believe that ice is for iced tea and snow is for cones. Liking temperatures less than 90 degrees means you are a damn Yankee and not pulling out a heavy coat when the temp drops below, say about 70 means you must be an Alaskan or Canadian tourist.