Remarks by Chad Carpenter
124 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 5
- Play at 16:04
“Can you tell us, can you tell us, we're at $7.7 million on the capital expenditures. What exact number are you wanting to see?”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 16:33
“We need 3.7 billion cuts. That's a that's an whoever's listening. That's a big undertaking. It's not a small a small goal.”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 23:38
“Okay. Which one did we... Can we shave $25,000 off for now as we move through this list and see if we can still get to the 3.7?”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 25:00
“Can we take off 125,000 on the fire blocker truck and put 75,000 in for a used one and it's not support effective?”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 56:13
“I know this isn't capital. But would we delay the hiring of the new employees the six months into the new year?”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 58:45
“What was the increase we gave, you know, county employees?”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 58:57
“The question was how much did we increase our payroll across the board? I don't really want to mess with that, but if we delayed hiring the new people, it would possibly get us below where we're trying to get.”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 1:03:14
“If we just delay three months, four months, where we need to be without making any other adjustments?”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 1:08:13
“So the current budget right now we have, and I know that we don't know exactly where we are, but we're safely in the $17 million fund balance range already before doing any other changes right now. All Kendall County employees have received a 4% increase plus their staff increase. For those that get a staff increase, we've more than taken care of the Kendall County staff. And so this is where it gets tough, you know. But these additional staff members, this goes into next year and the next year's planning as well. Every time we add someone, it's another $84,000 per year minimum added to the…”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 1:12:48
“I think you're right. I mean, we've added How many new employees since this is our fourth time? 35, 40. That's the fastest growing of this county in our history. We've also increased pay by probably 3 million a year more than the number before, which is a lot faster growth than this county has ever seen. We definitely put the brakes on what we're doing overall, but we're not going to be sustainable. Yes, sir. It would be nice to have it. I mean, this guy's been struggling back there for a long time. I mean, I know it's understandable. It's hard because if you don't get it this year, you're…”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 1:15:25
“To the average taxpayer, they're going to ask us, the question is, when is enough enough? And That means people aren't happy. That means departments aren't happy. But that's what you do in the real world. And you get by and you work harder and you. I know I'll get lots of flack for saying this, but that's the real world when you pay people really good pay. There's a point where we are not even compared to the real world with our county government. And so I'm I could go either way on this with putting a hiring freeze on or not right now.”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 1:17:00
“Can we agree to not hire anyone and reassess at six months? Is that something we can possibly do?”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 1:17:20
“Correct. She's saying we could budget it for six months on starting and then reevaluate at six months to see if we want to move forward.”
Commissioners Court · Aug 10, 2026
- Play at 18:17
“Would you recommend us bringing a specific FEMA professional that handles this to get through this process?”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 23:11
“I would rather hire someone specifically to do the FEMA claims for us. There's so much money riding on this, not just our own county damage, but... If y'all go all the way up to the north and south fork of the river right now, there is more damage to roads, bridges, personal property, business property than we have ever seen from any recent flood in the past 30, 40 years. And if this person can come in as a specialist, help us with public assistance and our county, at least making sure that we're not missing out on any it might be the best funds that we've ever spent. But that's why I say…”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 23:53
“But not our new hire. This is someone separate. Are you talking about a different person? Different person, yeah.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 25:13
“I'm talking about just a FEMA specific. Yeah. Like we're not learning how to ride a bike. We need to know how to fly a jet right now.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 25:27
“There's companies out there. I sent a message to one of my friends in North Carolina that went through This whole process, and they hired special outside FEMA specialists to help them. Because then you submit your grant information and they deny it.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 27:33
“If you have a number in there and we can get reimbursed even on that admin, you're saying that's a possibility?”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 27:46
“At the end of this, it may not actually cost us a penny.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 32:28
“A couple years ago, the county went in and removed two bridges. Same situation. And both landowners are wanting assistance.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 35:18
“It all depends on the water level. If that water level drops, the bridge has become a major death trap.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 37:05
“I think we put 30,000 gallons on Ranger Creek Road.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 39:37
“It goes back to the very top of the first sheet, and that's exempt personnel paid. We're taking a county engineer position and dividing it into two different departments with a lot less responsibilities on each side. And so what are we expecting to be faced with as far as financial when that happens? Are we going to replace that person in the development department at your level? How are we handling the pay when we're dividing the responsibility up and having less?”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026
- Play at 40:59
“And would your new position be more road and bridge engineer? I'm sorry, what? Different than county engineer, that would be road and bridge engineer. I think we need to look at designating that and making the change.”
Commissioners Court · Jul 30, 2026