tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post2461865005800638843..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: County Commissioners key to jail decisionsGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-67924196677680842912008-11-01T14:22:00.000-05:002008-11-01T14:22:00.000-05:00Totally agree with thjird "anonymous" on JWP.Almos...Totally agree with thjird "anonymous" on JWP.<BR/><BR/>Almost everything associated with the inland port, from feuding with Hutchins' mayor over bridge money through having a regional master plan or not, has JWP's sticky fingers on it, usually with either the appearance or the actuality of money, a power play, or both being involved.Gadflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13075757287807731373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-39841391948387493732008-11-01T08:31:00.000-05:002008-11-01T08:31:00.000-05:00This would probably send JWP around the bend, but ...This would probably send JWP around the bend, but he long ago ceased to be District 3's "Our Man Downtown." Now he's just "the Man." <BR/><BR/>But on a more responsive note, although the firings and the driving other lawyers of conscience to resign resulted in an unprecedented spike in turnover, it wasn't exactly a "gutting." But I think I'm really arguing a trivial point here. It certainly throw the office into disarray for a period probably impacting jail population. The real point is that the commissioners and the budget department micro-manage the office without a clue as to what they're doing. It's obvious Price had his own agenda in getting rid of Brad Lollar and the other commissioners let him have his way--either because they have no stones (generally a given) or they were sold a bill of goods.<BR/><BR/>And the truth is the commissioners never have paid any regard to national standards regarding public defender offices, funding it like they fund everything else--penny wise and pound foolish. And this philosophy has played out in the funding of the jail as well--resulting in the huge expenditures that needed to be made to bring it into compliance. <BR/><BR/>And, yes, this idea of filling up the jail with Class C violators is yet another example of Price's and the rest of the court's short-sightedness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-7755668100798541952008-10-31T07:34:00.000-05:002008-10-31T07:34:00.000-05:00JWP certainly deserves some of the blame for insis...JWP certainly deserves some of the blame for insisting the jail be used as a debtors' prison to extract money from traffic violators, not to mention his ideas for mulcting inmate families (typically among the poorest of the poor) to subsidize property owners' low tax rates. Ditto for gutting the public defender office which worsened overcrowding problems.<BR/><BR/>If the Commissioners Court had simply paid for needed improvements four years ago, JWP's weekly "sanitation" meetings would probably not be necessary.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-2376299403552557482008-10-31T06:34:00.000-05:002008-10-31T06:34:00.000-05:00Then the commissioners should have litigated the i...Then the commissioners should have litigated the issue. Though Price may be able to take credit for bringing the jail closer to compliance with jail standards, he also bears part of the responsibility for it becoming a problem in the first place given his long tenure on the commissioners' court.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-30982368751493991732008-10-30T08:18:00.000-05:002008-10-30T08:18:00.000-05:00It was refreshing to see commissioner Price involv...It was refreshing to see commissioner Price involved in the jail. I believe he takes his jail responsibilities and statutory mandate as a county commissioner to provide safe and suitable jails for Dallas county.<BR/><BR/>I thought it was interesting that former Dallas County Sheriff Bowles denied Price access to the jail for inspection purposes. I believe the commissioner's authority to inspect the jail comes from Texas LGC 351.001.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com