Now, if you’re an outsider to HCRP activities like I am, you really don’t know what happens in the minds of the “leaders” that we have. So, when this email blast hit my inbox on March 8th, I was like every other outsider, left scratching my head wondering, WTH?
HCRP Takes Stand on Public Defender System
By: Jared Woodfill
Chairman, Harris County Republican PartyPlease find below a link to a resolution passed by our Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee at our October 2009 meeting.
You will find that this resolution speaks to the issue of the public defender system in a way that is clear, direct and without the slightest hint of ambiguity. In this resolution, the Harris County Republican Executive Committee takes a stand in favor of a privatized, outsourced indigent defense system and opposes conversion to a public defender bureaucracy.
As this is the official Harris County Republican Party position on this issue, we have urged our elected officials to honor the will of the Party and its activists by rejecting any attempts to subvert, weaken or eliminate the privatized, outsourced indigent defense system that has served the cause of justice so efficiently and effectively in Harris County. It is also important to note that a fully independent public defender system will cost taxpayers an estimated $30 million more per year than is currently being spent, which will almost certainly require a tax increase.
We look forward to continuing to work with our elected officials to strengthen Harris County, our great state of Texas and of course, these great United States of America.
Literally, people around the county were clueless. WTH was Jared blasting out a two and a half year old resolution? Mark Bennett, over at his “Defending People” blog, wrote about it:
The current metafight for the Harris County Public Defender’s Office is in the outwardly corrupt-seeming juvenile courts. The PD’s Office wants to do the job in those courts that the Harris County Commissioners’ Court has given it, but some of the juvenile-court judges don’t want to release their profitable control over the appointment of counsel (they can’t expect campaign contributions from the PD). Polland, as a beneficiary of the ad hoc system, is aligned on the judges’ side of that fight. His livelihood is threatened by the PD’s Office.
Randy Kubosh, of the Red Light Camera Campaign and the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club, sent an email to Jared and all of the Precinct Chairs of the HCRP on March 29th (and copied a few other folks like me) asking:
Jared,
Is it true? that you sent out the eblast on the Public Defender on March 8th to get Gary Polland’s Texas Conservative Review’s endorsement?
Randy Kubosh
Which is a plausible scenario because Jared’s firm has had some problems and it is highly unlikely that he had enough funds to buy an endorsement at the time. Remember that Jared borrowed $3.5 MILLION on speculation that he could win a lawsuit or two or three out of Summerville. Sucks to borrow that much when it doesn’t go your way. Guido is on his way.
But, maybe Randy wasn’t correct – although, maybe he was and there are two birds in the bush here. Remember, this belated eblast was sent out on March 8th – turns out that Jared was, ahem, billing the county at that point for his “work” at the Harris County Courthouse. Huh.
Now, I might be a hayseed from Pasa-git-down-dena but this sure does seem like an odd coincidence. Sending out an urgent email to 30 or 40 thousand Harris County Republicans about a 2 and a half year old resolution that no one paid attention to seems…well, like an odd coincidence.
Course, that’s probably just me.
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Tom Zakes says
Like Mark Bennett, I make a living defending people accused of crime. Like Randy Kubosh, I am an officer of the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club and a precinct chair. I got the e-blast from Jared talking about the PD office, and was one of several hundred precinct chairs who got the emails form Randy about it.
The first accusation from Randy was that Jared sent out the e-blast in order to support Pat Lykos for DA. I posted about this on Mark Bennett’s blog, but suffice it to say that the person who sponsored the resolution in question (Deputy Sheriff Larry Bush) is listed on Mike Anderson’s website as endorsing Anderson.
Next, Randy came up with the theory that Jared sent the e-blast in order to get Gary Polland’s endorsement in the Texas Conservative Review. Considering that Gary endorsed Jared in his first race for party chair and every race since, I don’t think anything has happened to change his opinion of the man.
Jared sends out over a dozen e-blasts every month. The executive committee passed new rules, I believe last year, that require that resolutions be publicized after they are passed.
David Jennings says
Tom, how many of Jared’s eblasts were about 2 year old resolutions?
Tom Zakes says
Good question. I delete over half of them without opening them.
David Jennings says
In other words, none. You know it and I know it, so we don’t need to play that game. Like I said in the post, everyone was scratching their heads wondering why. Now we know. Truth is good.