A Jeffersonian In East Texas

A lot has been made of county commissioners Fleming’s statements about the commissioners being responsible for building a jail, not, she pointed out, the elected judges. The criticisms are justified. If the people responsible for sending people to the facility to begin with tell the people in charge of building the facility that the facility is not needed, it might make sense to listen to them!

The attitude seems to be, that whether anyone wants the jail or not, they will have it! Whether the jail is needed or not, it will be built. The real question is: Why? Why is the commissioners court so dead set on building a jail with all the evidence against it? What is to be gained by such arrogance and obstinacy? Is it economic, political, or personal? It would seem to be one of these options, but which?

My tendency is to believe that in most matters of this type money is the motivation, but I do not see that in this case. At least no evidence of this has come to our attention.

The idea of political motivation is a possibility, but lacks sanity. The political atmosphere would seem to be against building the jail, and against higher taxes. The Incarcerex political motive doesn’t seem to hold water in a county so justifiably opposed to tax increases. Furthermore, running the jail in the same race as the school bond would seem to be political suicide with those who favor education over incarceration, as, for instance, educators.

What personal reasons could exist? I will have to pass on this one, other than to say that if it is some sort of supremacy issue, a political urinating contest, it should cease!

If there is any truth coming out of the commissioners court, it is becoming more difficult to discover. County Judge Baker, and Commissioner Fleming seem to have been more deceptive than we initially thought! When asked if the Judges in the Smith Court were aware of the plan for the new jail bond, the answer was affirmative.

That was apparently not the case, in information revealed Thursday the elected judges seem to have been left out of almost all of the decision making process. That is truly a sad state of affairs, when we consider that it effects both where and how cases are handled.

Now that the judges have made their displeasure known, perhaps they will become more vocal in their opposition!

We would love to hear from anyone, in any position of authority concerning this issue. You have a forum available, pro or con.

This is an open invitation to anyone who has anything to say about the newest jail bond proposal. We want to offer the opportunity for opposing opinions as well as agreement. We will be happy to publish your comment, without editing, as long as it is kept civil, and no foul language! If you want to comment in the comment section, it is at the top of each article, right under the title. If you have something to say that might need a little more space, or prominence if you think it deserves it, then just send it in an email to administrator@ajeffersonian.com with your reasons why you feel it deserves a page of it’s own.

We would be very interested in getting comments from those on the cutting edge of this important discussion. If you are in a leadership role, on either side, don’t be afraid to be transparent! The public wants that in it’s leaders, and avoiding it, causes distrust. Please feel free to comment, just be prepared for the the inevitable critiques to follow, but if you are already in the public eye, you should already be thick skinned enough to handle that.

I applaud Judge Carole Clark, who posted a comment on the child support issue to this blogs parent blog. She placed herself in a position to have her comments dissected by some. That took incredible courage. Her stock went up a million fold in my estimation! Her transparency stands in stark contrast to the apparent clandestine, back room dealings of some in our county. It is an inspiration. Judge Kent has done the same with the media. May their tribe increase!