A Jeffersonian In East Texas

Whatpartofno.com had a short piece on the Tyler paper poll this morning, I have been wondering how it would come out, and the results show that 65% of the people who took the poll believe that the jail proposal will fail! The poll in the Tyler paper will be wrong for some obvious reasons. My guess is that we will see something more along the line of 75% opposition when the voting is done.

It is my personal belief, that when this happens, our County Judge and commissioners court should withdraw all opposition to the Attorney generals ruling, and save the taxpayers any further cost in supporting this “windmill tilting” exercise,  and then, offer their resignations immediately! They are obviously out of touch with what the public wants and needs, and should clear the way for new officials with more clear headed thinking and transparency!

County and city government in Tyler and Smith county Texas needs to be put back into the hands of the people. It is no place for secret, clandestine meetings designed to prevent the public from having input in the system. We need to remember this, after the last vote is counted. There will still be desperate attempts to resurect this issue, and we should continue to fight it until more reasonable methods have had a chance to work, and until transparency in county government has been sufficiently demonstrated to insure that no further “behind closed door” dealings poison the democratic process!

In a thinly veiled attempt to push the Smith county jail bond, the Tyler paper has once again presented us with a course on how not to be balanced in reporting! If it was an attempt to be balanced, it failed miserably! Just more of the same mainstream media madness, that we have come to expect on this issue.

The title is of interest however: “Smith County Jail Bond: What Are We Paying For?” It is a good question! Well, here is the real answer:

• We are paying for a lawyer to fight against us while representing the interests of a small group of political elitists in our county.

• We are paying the salaries of a small group of political elitists in our county who want to keep information from us on an issue that we are expected to cast ballots on in a few days.
• We paid their salaries while they held secret meetings in violation of the states open meeting act.
• We are paying for jail overcrowding which they themselves could have prevented if they had really wanted to.
• We are paying the costs of the Attorney General spending time fighting them against us.

Something that has puzzled me for a while about Smith county officials in their self destructive quest to get a new jail, and keep the truth from the people, is why?

Once, in a conversation about the old “MAD” agreement, that is, “Mutually Assured Destruction” to those of you who might be too young to remember the cold war, I was arguing in favor of the idea. One of the other participants pointed out to me, that I would be right, except for the fact that I was thinking like a logical person, and proceeded to remind me that perhaps, not everyone who has a finger on a button, engaged in the use of such logic! How does this relate to the building of a new jail in Smith county Texas? Well, to find out, read on.

Most people know the ins and outs of creating a new jail, and frankly, for whatever reason, they don’t want one! Even the commissioners know this, and at least one of the chief proponents of the new jail has more in common with the no vote than the yes vote.

It can not have escaped the commissioners attention that the people do not want a new jail until the new methods for lowering incarceration rates have been given a solid chance to work, or that the methods put in place so far, have achieved more than anyone could have dreamed possible! So, why?

What is the reasoning which prompts commissioners to ride headlong into the windmill with jousting poles raised, in spite of the fact that they know it is a windmill and not a giant, in spite of the fact that they are riding the taxpayers horses into this imaginary battle, and committing political suicide for something that they know is wrong? For an answer to that, I have to resort to what my friend brought up about the MAD agreement. I can see no reason that would make any sense to the average person who will have to foot the bill for this foray into fantasy land, so I have abandoned that pursuit in favor of ones more suited to what I now believe to be the mentality of those in charge of the effort.

• They want a jail to keep up with the Jones’s. That is, “Everyone else has a jail, and we want one too!” theory.

• They want a jail to to prove that they can get one. That is, the “We will show you!” theory.

• They want a jail because they have a cousin in the jail building business. That is the “follow the money” theory.

• They want a jail because they think it is fashionable to look “tuff on crime”, the “Incarcarex” theory.

• They want a jail because they plan on filling it. It goes like this:

“Hey Andy, I caught this guy spitting on the sidewalk!” “Great Barn, lock him up, we have plenty of space in this new jail! When your done, see if you kind find anyone sticking gum under the table…”

In conclusion, I am still unable to determine an exact reason, perhaps it is something that can’t be reached through reason.

I intend no malice toward the Andy Griffith Show, and only use the characters as an example since Gilligan’s Island had no related plots.

After browsing around some forums, and looking at comments on news stories, as well as speaking with a few folks around the area, I have come to conclude that the counties hiring of Smith county lawyer Robert Davis may have been the best thing that they could have possibly done…for the opposition! This move has pushed many people who were on the fence off the fence, and onto the side of the no vote! The most common reason stated, is that if officials consider this man to be the best attorney for doing the job, they must be either incompetent, or desperate! Either way, it is enough to nudge a lot of fence sitters off.

Is this guy for real? He seems to be the very caricature of a District Attorney “wanabe”, with bad manners to boot! He is turning voters against the county jail bond proposal faster than truth and logic have been able to do so far! Thank you Mr. Davis!

If you watch the news, or read the newspapers, especially when Smith county attorney Robert Davis is speaking, you would know that Tyler attorney Ken Good, and Judge Cynthia Kent are the epitome of evil in today’s world! They are the cause of all disasters both natural and otherwise. I know that sounds a little ridiculous, but it is no more ridiculous than other statements such as this one, direct from the mouth of Mr. Davis: “Ken Good would love nothing more than to be able to give bail bond companies and criminals detailed security plans for our correctional institutions.”

No, seriously, he really said that! No, I am serious, stop laughing!

What is the truth? Well, it goes like this: The commissioners, who are by and large, responsible for the past jail overcrowding, developed a plan in secret, violating a number of laws related to open records and open meetings, in an attempt to sneak a jail proposal onto the ballot. They got caught! Mr. Davis was hired at our expense, to defend them against the Attorney General of the State of Texas, and against our right to know. The floor plans to the jail, are just the final bit of evidence showing that they had in fact developed this plan in secret, an admission already made by county Judge Baker.

Why is this important?

It is important, because our right to know what is going on in matters of public trust is the last defense we have against corruption in government, followed by tyranny! If public officials can hide matters of this nature from us, what else are they hiding? This is not a minor infraction, it is not like carving a name in the tree of liberty, it is a direct attack at the very root of constitutional government, and it cannot be tolerated!

I posted this a day or two ago about the taxpayers money being wasted by the county to defend them against your right to know.

In the finest traditions of ancient political fear mongering, the county has hired legal counsel, a Smith county lawyer,  apparently doing double duty as a spokes model as well.

Let’s be frank about this. Voting against this jail proposal, or for that matter opposing this proposal, is not about letting criminals out on the street as it is being portrayed! To say that it is, is pure demagoguery. This is even more poignant to me as we look at the recent statements of the new attorney hired to defend commissioners as they try to keep the truth from us. Demagogues were orators hired to frighten people into agreeing with official policies in the ancient world. That pretty much sums up what’s going on here!

Make no mistake about it, this is demagouery at it’s best, or maybe that is at its worst, and it fits the greek definition perfectly, and it is being done with your money and mine!

The Smith county criminal justice system is constipated! Yes, constipated! The thinking that led to this situation is constipated as well! The fact is, that we have been putting more people into the belly of this antediluvian beast than it can handle, and now it has to regurgitate some of them into other counties until it can swallow them up again, before they come out the other end!

Bad diet has a lot to do with the problem. It swallows too many people who are guilty of nothing, or guilty of only small, non violent, inconsequential “crimes”! It gorges on snacks of individuals who should pass almost immediately through the system. It shovels in long term, hard to digest individuals who should be in prison, or released, but who are stuck in the bowel until the courts can provide a judicial enema, because there are not enough judges to process the cases.

The system needs a better diet. It can’t get one until it starts “thinking outside the john”. The constipated thinking of the past will not alleviate the bloating!

Recent developments in the Smith county jail, “Jailzilla” saga and the “Commissioners Gone Wild” comic drama give rise to numerous questions.

Some of these questions are legal, and I do not know the answers, but I will raise them anyway in the hope that someone will.

• The admission that the plans for the latest Smith county jail proposal were prepared in secret, as I understand, is equivalent to an admission of guilt. This law allows for both civil and criminal penalties for violation. In a county bent on maximum penalties, in a state bent on maximum penalties, can we expect maximum penalties for those involved in this crime and cover up?
• Can we expect resignations to occur soon?
• What will become of this jail proposal, or any jail that might be built as a result of this proposal, now that we know that the plans were formulated in violation of state law?
• Will there be an investigation to see what other open meeting and open records laws were violated?
• What other issues, projects, proposals, contracts, or other matters could have been done under cover of darkness, and behind closed doors, and will there be an investigation including an audit?

This situation is the worst sort of behaviour in public officials, secret meetings and cover ups strike at the very heart of why the open records and open meeting laws are in place.

KETK ran a story tonight, from the Smith county jail. In an effort to convince voters to say yes to the 59.6 million dollar new jail proposal, Sheriff Smith gave his reasons. They centered around the overcrowding and shipment of prisoners to other counties. The fact is that all of those reasons will dissipate if the current trends continue. The same is true of the medical problems, the kitchen problems, and all the other problems mentioned.

Once again the supposed 12 million dollar price tag for 3 years of inmate shipping came up in the skewed manner that we have become used to. Once again, the disturbing failure to mention that we would have spent nearly as much on housing the prisoners in the Smith county facility, and a lot more if we housed them in a new Smith county facility!

The appeal included a warning that the government would force a new jail on the county if one is not built. The only way that this could happen, is if the numbers did not go down, and the fact is, they are, and will continue to do so, if the the commissioners court will allow it to be funded.

With each new retelling of the rationale for the new jail proposal, the arguments for why taxpayers should foot the bill for something they have not even been allowed to see, become more threadbare. With the retelling of every half truths coming from county officials, and the continued reluctance to be open, distrust grows in our community. Officials have reached a point where they are not only losing the argument in favor of a new facility, but losing public confidence as well!

UPDATE: Grits For Breakfast made the point better than I could. Read it here!

The debate, or wait, is it a debate or a…, well, whatever it is called, let’s just say, the un debate debate, between rival committees on the subject of the newest jail proposal will be held tonight, October 13 at 6:00PM at the Tyler Public Library. It should prove to be an interesting evening!