Previous Conferences

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Conference on Paying for Government
March 7, 2003

The fourth annual Jack Brooks Conference concentrated on paying for national, state and local government. Speakers at the conference discussed the topic of paying for government from both an academic and a practical viewpoint.

Dr. James True, Jack Brooks Chair in Government and Public Service, began the conference by introducing Lamar President Jimmy Simmons and Congressman Jack Brooks. Both True and Simmons praised Brooks for his public service and accomplishments, including recent awards. Before introducing Congressman Nick Lampson, Congressman Brooks shared stories from his 46 years of legislative and congressional service to Southeast Texas. Congressman Brooks spoke of his long relationship with Lamar University and of the importance of personalities and personal contact in Congressional politics

Congressman Lampson was well-qualified to speak on the subject of paying for government not only because of his position as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, but also his almost twenty years of service as the Jefferson County Tax Assessor-Collector. He spoke of current national budgetary pressures as well as past and future annual deficits.

Next to speak was Dr. John Mikesell, professor of public finance and policy analysis at Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Mikesell has served on fiscal studies for the states of New York, Minnesota, Indiana, and Hawaii and as fiscal Economist or Director for USAID fiscal reform projects in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. He is also the author of numerous publications including Fiscal Administration, the standard budgeting text in many graduate public administration programs. Several of Lamar's Masters of Public Administration students in attendance were familiar with this text, having used it in their Fiscal Administration course. Dr. Mikesell spoke about state and local government revenue practices with a particular focus on current structural problems in collecting those revenues.

Questions, comment and discussion prompted from the speeches continued over the cajun-style buffet luncheon.

Those attending the event included elected and administrative officials from local city and county governments, members of the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission and several Lamar University scholars, students and administrators.

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Conference on the Clash of Values in the Public Sector
March 15, 2002

The third annual Jack Brooks Conference focused on values and ethics in the public sector. The conference involved stirring speeches and spirited discussions.

Those attending the event included elected and administrative officials from local city and county governments, representatives from local law enforcement agencies, members of the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission and several Lamar University scholars, students and administrators. 

The conference began with introductions from Lamar President Jimmy Simmons and Dr. James True, the Jack Brooks Chair in Government and Public Service. Former Congressman Jack Brooks opened the conference with a speech on “Reflections on 46 Years of Public Service.” His speech highlighted times when issues such as civil rights caused the congressman to take positions that were not widely well received by his constituents. It was followed by questions and comments from the audience. 

Dr. Monty Van Wart, Director of the Center for Public Service at Texas Tech University, discussed national interest values, organizational values, and individual values in his lecture, “The Clash of Values in Public Service.” His speech was followed by a lively discussion from the audience on a wide-ranging set of value and policy issues. Many of the interchanges started in the discussion session continued over lunch. 

Dr. Van Wart is author of Changing Public Sector Values, Handbook of Training and Development for the Public Sector and Human Resource Management in Public Service.  He has over 20 refereed articles and chapters and serves on the advisory boards of seven journals including Public Administration Review. He received his doctorate from Arizona State University, his master’s degree from Lewis and Clark, and his bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall.

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Conference on the Regional Economic Development in Southeast Texas
March 2, 2001

The Brooks Chair of Government and Public Service sponsored a one-day informational conference on the potential for regional economic development in Southeast Texas at the John Gray Center on the Lamar University campus.

State congressional members, county commissioners, mayors, city managers, and senior administrators in Jefferson and Orange Counties, as well as several Lamar scholars and administrators met for two addresses and informal discussions on the topic. The conference started with former Congressman Jack Brooks of Beaumont addressing the participants.

Dr. Ray Perryman, the Founder and President of The Perryman Group, an economic financial analysis firm, headquartered in Waco, Texas addressed the conference on the topic “Regional Economic Development Issues in Texas”. Dr. Perryman is not only an active participant in the state, national, and world economic scenes, but also the author of several books on economics and trade, including Survive & Conquer, an account of the Texas economy during the turbulent 1980s, and The Measurement of Monetary Policy, a treatise on Federal Reserve activity.

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Conference on the Potential Impact of the Federal Budget On Area Governments
March 3, 2000

On March 3, 2000 Lamar University’s Jack Brooks Chair in Government and Public Service sponsored a Conference in conjunction with the Department of Political Science. The goal of the conference was to discuss what local governments need to do to be more competitive in attracting national government funding.

State representatives and state senators, county commissioners, mayors, city managers, and a select group of senior administrators from Jefferson County and Orange County, as well as scholars and administrators from Lamar University were invited to participate.

The conference addressed the issue of federal spending: in particular, whether and what could be done to attract more spending in Southeast Texas. Much of the growth in spending (in 1981, the national budget spent a total of $678 billion, in 2001, it will spend about $1,835 billion) came from mandatory spending for entitlements. A major factor is spending formulas that rely on the decennial census population estimates to determine how much of these funds are sent to state and local governments. Any undercounts of population will result in lost of vital revenue that local governments will have to make up for over the next 10 years, or in other words until another census is held.

Morning Keynote Address was provided by Congressman Nick Lampson, who had represented the 9^th Congressional District of Texas since 1996. Congressman Lampson serves on the House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Science Committees, were he promotes the interests of Southeast Texas. President Jimmy Simmons of Lamar University and former Representative Jack Brooks of Beaumont addressed the conference.

Mr. Stanley Collender, author of The Guide to the Federal Budget, addressed the conference participants on the  "The Potential Impact of the National Budget on State and Local Governments". Mr. Collender is Senior Vice President and the managing director of Fleishman-Hillard’s Federal Budget Consulting Group.