In this post found on the Legendary (Service Pins), the case is made that the office of the County Judge engaged in illegal conduct.
In a slightly more lively version, Shane Warner takes on the subject.
Shane Warner on Service Pin Purchase
McLennan County Commissioner’s were also delivered copies of the e-mails from the Judges office.
So the question is..
Will McLennan County Commissioners reward the illegal conduct of the Judges business manager?
Many years ago I worked for the Sheriff’s office. One afternoon I was stopped by a Waco Police Officer for exceeding the speed limit. Then administrative lieutenant Larry Lynch insisted on my dismissal. In retrospect I am glad he took that position because the result was a thorough investigation of my actions. The result of that investigation was the criminal charge was determined to be unsupported as I was en route to a call of sufficient importance to justify my actions. A policy violation turned up in the investigation and for that violation, I was suspended for three or five days. It was a long time ago. I did not file a grievance or appeal the decision of then Sheriff Bob Mitchell. I was just thankful for the exoneration on traffic charge.
Back to the Office of the County Judge:
Here is the preamble to the Texas Public Information Act:
Sec. 552.001. POLICY; CONSTRUCTION. (a) Under the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government that adheres to the principle that government is the servant and not the master of the people, it is the policy of this state that each person is entitled, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, at all times to complete information about the affairs of government and the official acts of public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to implement this policy.
(b) This chapter shall be liberally construed in favor of granting a request for information.
If the County Judge imposed a sanction similar to the one I experienced, I’m OK with that. To paraphrase William Wayne Justice, “If you clean up your own house, no one else has to do it for you.” If he did not and the Commissioner’s not only endorse the conduct by funding the position but go further and award an increase in salary to a person who clearly engaged in criminal conduct….
As I explained to the Court on several occasions, “You control the purse strings. If you fund it, you own it.”
Court meets on Tuesday morning and one of the items on the agenda is approval of the budget.