BC Day Hits Austin With Fire Trucks, Bikers

By John Tompkins
The Facts

Published March 11, 2009

AUSTIN — Legislators, state officials and Brazoria County residents poured into Fiesta Gardens off Town Lake on Tuesday for fistfuls of the 1,800 pounds of chilled, Gulf shrimp that capped the biannual Brazoria County Day in the state capital.

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson joined the festivities after meeting with Brazoria County residents Monday about Hurricane Ike recovery efforts.

Legislative and state agency staff always remember Brazoria County Day during the session because of the “world’s biggest shrimp cocktail,” Patterson said.

“There’s probably three or four that you have to go to,” Patterson said of the different events during the legislative session. “I can’t remember the others.”

Representatives of different Brazoria County cities arrived in Austin on Monday and Tuesday to meet with different state agencies and legislators to talk about their concerns, said Debbie Pennington, a Brazoria County Day organizer.

Those representatives met informally with their legislators and officials with state agencies, including the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Insurance, General Land Office, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Education Agency.

Brazoria County Airport Director Jeff Bilyeu met Tuesday with state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, to discuss transferring 332 acres from the Texas Depart-ment of Criminal Justice to the county.

“We want to use that land for future development” of the airport, Brazoria County Commissioner Mary Ruth Rhodenbaugh said.

Bonnen said the land must be transferred by law, and he filed HB 3202 on Tuesday, which if passed would transfer the land to the county in 2010.

Bilyeu also met with transportation department officials about the plan to rebuild the airport runway.

“We’re in preliminary engineering now,” Bilyeu said.

The county received a $9.5 million grant from the transportation department’s Aviation Division and the Federal Aviation Administration to replace the airport’s 7,000-foot runway.

While pacing around during the shrimp cocktail Tuesday afternoon, Brazosport ISD Superintendent Joe Ripple said he met with Texas Education Agency officials about several policies, including the possible abolishment of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Ripple also spoke with the agency about what the district will be able to do with the $4 million it is projected to receive as part of a federal stimulus package.

“A lot of that is still up in the air,” he said. “We want to use it to replace some old buildings and air conditioning units.”

What organizers call the world’s largest shrimp cocktail Tuesday night concluded a day that began at 7:30 a.m. with a legislative breakfast and was followed by a House resolution being passed recognizing Brazoria County Day.

A similar resolution usually passed in the Senate did not happen this year because senators were debating a controversial voter identification bill Tuesday.

Three of Brazoria County’s legislators talked about their support of the bill during the breakfast meeting Tuesday.

Sen. Mike Jackson, R-Shoreacres, said the debate would take a while.

“We’re going to win this vote,” he said. But, “we may not be able to make it out there tonight.”

Even though senators debated into the night about the bill, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst ordered 130 pounds of Brazoria County shrimp to the Capitol, Pennington said.

During the legislative breakfast, Bonnen updated the Brazoria County Day delegation about bills he supports, including a possible franchise tax exemption for small businesses that have annual revenues of less than $5 million. The state should find a way to use stimulus funds to offset the loss of revenue from the exemption, Bonnen said.

“Recovery of economics will start in small businesses,” he said.

State Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, sits on the House Public Education Committee and said he hopes to pass a bill regarding the TAKS.

“I’m on a quest to try and eliminate the TAKS test as we know it,” he said.

Whether it was at a meeting, the shrimp cocktail or the Capitol grounds, Brazoria County officials made their concerns and presence known Tuesday.

When Gov. Rick Perry’s security detail rolled up to the Capitol, they found a Lake Jackson fire truck painted like the Texas flag parked in front of the building.

Speaking into their wrists, the security crew looked confused, Lake Jackson Fire Chief Mike Harper said.

“His detail pulled up and said, ‘That’s where we usually drop off the governor,’” Harper said. “We asked if they wanted us to move it. They said it was OK.”

The detail decided to let Perry off at another location before parking a black Suburban and Crown Victoria in front of the fire engine.

Harper and Lake Jackson Fire Marshal Randy Crim were in town Tuesday to show off the fire engine the department recently purchased. The engine also was featured in an episode of the “Dallas” television show.

“This is a one of a kind,” Harper said.

John Tompkins is senior reporter for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.

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