There is no question about it: Ron Hickman is the best choice in the race for Harris County Sheriff. His experience, philosophy and achievments make him far more qualified than his Democratic opponent, Ed Gonzalez.
The Houston Chronicle editorial board, in their infinite lack of wisdom, gets this race completely wrong.
In a tough call, voters should go with Gonzalez to clean up Harris County Jail
Being sheriff of Harris County is a bit like being a rancher. No matter what, at the end of the day you’re going to end up smelling like cow pies.
The Harris County jail is a stinking, overcrowded hive of around 10,000 souls, about 75 percent of whom haven’t been convicted of a crime. Even the best manager is going to end up with stink on his sheriff’s uniform. Voters have the difficult job of determining whether negative headlines coming out of the department reflect decades’ worth of structural failures or poor direction from the top office.
…
Most important, Gonzalez has called for a jail administrator to run the facility. It is time to put a professional in charge.
The cow pies – and the stink – are piling up at the sheriff’s office. Voters should give Gonzalez a chance to clean up the mess.
(click here to read the endorsement on HoustonChronicle.com)
Not a tough call
Where to start with that nonsense? First off, it isn’t a tough call. Hickman ran the Precinct 4 Constable’s office for 15 years and designed and implemented many modern day policing methods. Gonzalez rose to the rank of sergeant as a Houston Police Officer and never ran anything, much less one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the nation. That alone should be enough to convince voters to go with Hickman. If it isn’t, voters need to listen to Maria Gutierrez, who failed to receive justice because Gonzalez didn’t investigate her husband’s murder:
McClelland has said Gonzalez, a sergeant when he left HPD, would have been among those punished if he still was with the department.
“It was a mistake that happened in my service back then, and I want to get it corrected and do what’s right,” Gonzalez said Wednesday. “I do feel bad for the situation. Clearly it was a mistake. I think the chief was very firm in indicating that there’s now rules and policies and protocols and procedures to make sure these things never happen again.”
New procedures are little comfort to Maria Gutierrez, 47, who saw her husband’s killer – a man her husband knew and whom she recognized – the night he was murdered eight years ago.
Shortly after 1 a.m. on Oct. 24, 2005, her common-law husband, Elfego Zenon Mena, stepped outside to speak with the man. The two argued, and the man shot Mena in the back of the head as he walked back to the house, she said. Officers found the 48-year-old, a maintenance worker at a golf course, dead in the street in the 5600 block of Ambern.Gutierrez was stunned when Houston homicide detectives showed up several months ago and explained there had been a lapse in the investigation, and they were reopening the inquiry.
“Well, I thought that since we were Hispanics, and because we are poor also, they aren’t concerned about us,” said Gutierrez, an immigrant from Mexico who speaks little English. “If it had been an American, they would have quickly picked him up and investigated, and they never would have forgotten about it.”
Ed Gonzales is Adrian Garcia parte dos
Second, it looks like the members of the Chron editorial board are as fixated with cow pies as they are with diversity. Gonzalez is nothing more than the second coming of Adrian Garcia, who was a blight on the department and is responsible for the deplorable conditions in the jail that is full of cow pies. Garcia thought that having a diverse staff was more important than having a competent staff. He seemed to not realize that you can have both, as Hickman is already demonstrating after 17 months on the job. But Garcia didn’t just ruin the jail, he brought down the morale of the entire department by reducing the number of deputies on the street and bringing in more desk jockeys. Gonzales will do the same if elected.
Hickman has advocated for a jail administrator
The last thing about that endorsement is bizarre.
Most important, Gonzalez has called for a jail administrator to run the facility. It is time to put a professional in charge.
I agree it is important. And I’d suggest that if the Chron ed board had taken the time to ask or to look in their own publication, they would know that Hickman has been proposing that since he was appointed 17 months ago.
From the first day I walked in through the doors of the Sheriff’s Office after my appointment, members of my command staff and I began researching the potential for developing a jail administration approach to the county detention center.
This endorsement is yet another example of why anyone other than a hard core partisan, progressive liberal cannot take the Houston Chronicle editorial board endorsements at face value. The chasm between these two candidates couldn’t be wider.
Ron Hickman is clearly the best choice for Harris County Sheriff.
Sheriff Ron Hickman is one finest law enforcement officers ever to serve Harris County. He has my vote!
If there is one that with which the Chronicle Editorial Board should be well acquainted, it is cow pies. They shovel whole loads of them every day.
Hickman ran the Precinct 4 Constable’s office for 15 years and designed and implemented the wanton destruction of evidence that will destroy countless criminal cases and cost the County millions. Hickman wants to ship 17-year-olds WHO ARE AWAITING TRIAL AND HAVE NOT BEEN CONVICTED OF A CRIME to a private prison 3 hours away run by an “acquaintance” of his. Hickman has undone every improvement that Adrian Garcia implemented in the Sheriff’s office. Hickman’s comments on the Goforth murder prove him to be a knee-jerk racist.
Hickman is a far better choice to retire, thereby improving the quality of public service in Harris County.
Pat Bryan, good luck in defeating Ted Poe.