Power Grab

If you read the paper today or watched the news yesterday, then you’ve heard the latest hub-bub about County Judge Escobar now sitting on the Purchasing Board. She was trying to replace Commissioner Willie Gandara, Jr who sits on the Board with Commissioner Haggerty and three district court judges.

The Times then had a blub to an online poll asking if readers think it’s appropriate for the County Judge to sit on the Purchasing Board.

I think the Times missed the real important question they should be asking. The real question they should be asking is whether it’s appropriate for Commissioner Gandara to be sitting on the Board.

Commissioner Gandara was the swing vote on the Farah Project and then his company’s trucks were working on the project. How the hell does he end up on the purchasing board? I’m not alleging he’s corrupt, I’m alleging he used questionable judgment when having his company work on a project that was only made possible because he was the deciding vote.

To me, that’s the question that should be asked. That is the question of greater community importance.

Seriously, what is the problem with Escobar being on the Board other than it hurts a few people’s little feelings. We have a County Judge that wants to take an active part in fixing problems at the County level, and who knows, maybe save Joe Taxpayer a little feria? 

How is that a problem?

Drama queens run around town talking about a “power grab”. What power is she grabbing? It’s not like she’s annexing Poland.

If anything, it shows a little guts. I was gonna say balls but that comes off as sexist and saying she’s got ovaries just sounds stupid. But if I did, I’d say she has brass ovaries.

It’s a bit of a gamble on her part because if she gets on the Board and screws things up, it’s her ass, not the rest of the Board. If she fixes stuff, most people will never know because who the hell pays close enough attention to the Purchasing Board?

I seem to remember people bitching about accountability from elected officials. You people can’t have it both ways.

But the more I learn, the more I realize that I have been letting judicial candidates off the hook. Now that I know judges make up the majority on the Purchasing Board, I realize that there are plenty of things they can answer that would be helpful to voters making a decision.

It’s time we started holding them accountable for a broken system. They are the majority on the board and therefore, they are best positioned to fix it. They are either part of the problem, or part of the solution.