Executive Director JoAnn Fleming: “In 33 years, I have never witnessed such a shocking failure as this year’s budget process in Smith County. County Judge Neal Franklin and the Commissioners have never had one public discussion to set the spending boundaries for the 2026 budget nor have they ever attempted to cast a unified vision for what this budget should achieve for the taxpayers. It is inconceivable that the County does not have a complete and vetted preliminary budget at this late date! Allegedly, taxpayers and the officials who are trying to serve them will not see the “real” budget and tax rates until mid-August, when it is virtually impossible to make changes. The Commissioners should demand better. The taxpayers, department heads, and county employees deserve better. The buck stops with the elected Commissioners Court – not a hired budget officer.
“Road Bond projects approved by voters in 2019 and 2021 remain incomplete, over budget, and unresolved – months after we raised the issue in a February Commissioners Court meeting. Although the county engineer provided two updates, the Commissioners Court has never publicly discussed or VOTED on how they intend to address the failure to make good on promises made to voters about improving their roads. Even worse is the fact that the County desperately needs another independent review of county roads to determine budget allocations necessary to address road repairs and reconstructions. The last study was completed ten years ago! There is a huge cost for this failure – deteriorating roads and deteriorating public trust!”
Government Watchdog Chair Tom Fabry: “The enormous amount of goodwill built by former County Judge Nathaniel Moran (now US Congressman Moran) has been squandered. His legacy of transparency, due diligence, thoroughness, and purposeful community dialogue has been completely abandoned. The higher standards of public integrity set by former County Judge Moran were incredibly valuable and should have continued.
“Repeatedly, Grassroots America’s Board has met with Judge Franklin to first privately discuss the Commissioners Court’s ongoing deficiencies in transparency, lack of due diligence, lack of cohesive planning, and shortcuts that put the best interest of taxpayers at great risk. Our private requests for course corrections have been ignored. Our public requests for course corrections made in Commissioners Court meetings have been ignored.
“Our experienced and reasonable recommendations to Judge Franklin and the Commissioners Court to complete a rigorous review of county operations to discover opportunities to lower operating costs through increased efficiencies have been ignored. Cost savings could free up tax dollars to redirect into areas where increased funding can be justified – without raising taxes. When running for office, Judge Franklin touted his experience with Lean Six Sigma methods learned as City of Tyler Fire Chief and promised he would use that expertise to benefit taxpayers. Unfortunately, this has never materialized. Taxpayers deserve better and Grassroots America is determined to use every lawful means to seek accountability for Smith County taxpayers.”
