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!

Any reluctance on the part of our public officials to be completely transparent and forthright causes the public to question. After all these are “public” officials! How any secrecy on the part of the commissioners court, or other public officials could be seen as advancing the causes they espouse is beyond comprehension. Surely they must know this.

With that in mind, what other reasons could be set forth for such questionable activities? (Yes, they are questionable, and the participants knew this at the time, or they would not have sought counsel on the question of open meetings. It comes across  like “How far can we go, and what can we get away with and still be beyond prosecution?”) The issue seems to be a reasonably simple one, with a very easy and simple face saving mechanism like: “Yes, we did this in secret, but we thought that we were within the boundaries of the law at the time. We now see that we were wrong, and would like to make it straight and avoid this in the future.” That would be the simple, humble, easy, and dare I say(?), endearing solution. The fact that it has not been done leads people to believe that something else is going on.

Either the participants don’t understand the law, and the lack of trust and the level of opposition to such opaque proceedings, or there is another skeleton or two in the closet. Those are about the only options. One is based on ignorance of the law, and arrogance toward it and of the peoples opposition to being kept in the dark. The other is based arrogance toward the law and the people, and fear of having those skeletons jump out.

In case you didn’t notice, the common factor is arrogance!

On Thursday August 15th, Smith county commissioners announced that they were putting a new jail bond proposal on the November 2008 ballot.

On Friday, August 15th, the Tyler Morning Telegraph published a story by Roy Maynard which quoted Judge Baker as saying of the new proposal: “I haven’t heard one negative comment,” he said. “On the contrary, I heard positive comments in the community and at church.”

Word travels fast in Smith county, but this is truly amazing speed. The proposal was made public on Thursday, and one day afterward, a newspaper story is able to quote the Judge as finding only positive comments. Given the fact that the paper comes out in the morning, the quote must have been taken on Thursday. How did the judge know how those in his community and Church felt about it, given such a time frame? Were parts of the community aware of this plan before other parts?

Either way, Judge Bakers limited sampling of opinions, in the limited time span, was apparently not accurate. All indicators point to the opposite opinion in the community. I suppose, however, that if you take your samples from a group of like minded individuals, with a limited amount of information available, it would be possible to come to such false conclusions.

Such errors could have been avoided had the community at large been made privy to the plan, and allowed to participate in community wide forums. Secret meetings, held behind closed doors, only serve to make an already reluctant and suspicious public even more reluctant and suspicious!

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!