At a special meeting of the Blanco County Commissioners Court on April 24, commissioners unanimously passed the following proclamation:

Whereas, Bill Swiss has been a member of the Blanco County Child Protection and Family Advocacy Board since 2004; and Whereas, Bill served as Vice-President of the Board in 2005 and 2006 and as President from 2007 through 2010; and

Whereas, Bill’s leadership has been instrumental in the Board’s growth into a robust active and generous partner to Blanco County Children in Child Protective Custody and to underprivileged community children and families in need of services; and

Whereas, Bill applied for and received 501c3 (non-profit) status for the Blanco County Board then began speaking to local churches and civic organizations about child protection, actively raising funds and increasing the size of the Board from 4 to 12 members; and

Whereas, to further advocate for the prevention of child abuse, Bill has worked with legal and law enforcement entities and has helped the Board develop a strong relationship with Blanco County Schools; and

Whereas, due to Bill’s diligent fund raising efforts, each Blanco County child in Protective Services custody receives money for fall and spring clothing, birthday money, Christmas gifts, bi-monthly greeting cards with spending money, funds for summer camp, music lessons and other extracurricular activities based on the children’s interests; and

Whereas, under Bill’s guidance the Board has also provided clothing, school supplies and other basic services to underprivileged community children’s need;

Now therefore be it proclaimed, that the Blanco County Child Protection and Family Advocacy Board and the Blanco County Commissioners Court are extremely grateful to Bill Swiss for his leadership and his dedication to serving these children and their families.”

The above was signed by all the members of the Commissioners Court which consists of Commissioners Paul Granberg, Chris Liesmann, James Sultemeier, John Wood and County Judge Bill Guthrie.

Mr. Swiss has submitted his letter of resignation, “which I have yet to accept,” said Judge Guthrie. “But I guess we’ll have to go ahead and accept it eventually. By the way,” he went on to say, “we have need of additional board members if anyone is interested.” Several members of the Blanco County Child Protection and Family Advocacy Board were present to express their appreciation to Mr. Swiss for his service.

In other business, Commissioners gave their approval to conduct a joint primary election on May 29, 2012, and a joint runoff primary election on July 31, 2012, if applicable. This move makes it possible to hold both Democrat and Republican voting in the same locations on those dates.

Judge Guthrie gave a brief report on the bids received from the County surplus property sale pursuant to Texas Local Government Code 263.151 and asked the commissioners whether they accepted or rejected the bids received. The vote was unanimous to accept the highest bid on each item which included chairs, tables, bookcases, ballot boxes, wall partitions, an antique wood stove, an electric dryer, a camper shell and storage lockers.

The motion to accept the bids included accepting the “best offer” on anything left over from the sale. “I would rather let people buy it than to have to pay to have it hauled to the dump,” said Judge Guthrie. When asked how people might find out about what is left and to make arrangements to see it, Judge Guthrie, much to the chagrin of Secretary Kathryn Strickland, said, “have them call my office.”

After the meeting adjourned, the Commissioner for Precinct One, Paul Granberg, gave a brief report on the success of the County Trash-Off that was held on April 21. He said the event was a great success. “We had 150 to 200 vehicles come through the line,” he said. “We took in eight 40-yard roll-off boxes of construction debris, toys, household clutter, lumber and etc. We took in three 40-yard roll-off boxes of scrap metal including refrigerators, washers, dryers, pipe and etc.

“We filled ten Gaylord boxes with electronic devices including computers, printers and such. We took in 2,486 pounds of lead acid batteries and have already collected $646.36 for their sale. We will collect more on the sale of the scrap metal and other recyclables including 250 gallons of used motor oil which we can sell at 60 cents per gallon. Overall,” he said, “the event was a great success.”