It is on! I am talking about tonight’s Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture at the Asia Society Texas Center, 1370 Southmore. I hear it may be a packed crowd. I don’t think the following will be brought up though. From the Chron:
Harris County officials settled a legal claim Tuesday morning with a mentally ill inmate who was left for weeks in a jail cell in squalid, unsanitary conditions. The five members of Commissioners Court unanimously voted to pay a sum of $400,000 to Terry Goodwin for physical and emotional suffering he endured in the 2013 incident, which in April prompted terminations, suspensions and demotions for a number of jail staff and led to criminal charges against two other jailers.
And from Channel 13 News:
Adrian Garcia, who was Harris County sheriff at the time of the incident, has long said he knew nothing about how Goodwin was kept. He said he found out only when ABC-13 began asking questions about the inmate in August 2014, a year after Goodwin was found in the squalid conditions by an inspection team. Garcia recently resigned to run for mayor.
“I have always said that no inmate should have to experience a single day in the conditions that Goodwin endured,” Garcia said in a statement to ABC-13. “I hope this settlement will ease some of the anguish both Mr. Goodwin and his mother Ms. Lambert have felt.”
This doesn’t fall under the arts category so it won’t get a mention tonight. It also probably doesn’t fall under tomorrow evening’s forum on economic development.
Of course you can’t stop others from having something to say including the new Sheriff who tweeted the following after the settlement:
My admin is dedicated to rectifying wrongs done to Mr. Goodwin, & changing culture of @HCSOTexas to ensure these instances don’t occur again
Breakdowns in leadership in previous administration led to an atmosphere of non-confrontational deference. #hounews
From the top down, failures to accept a leadership responsibility resulted in the appalling & unacceptable treatment of Mr. Goodwin #hounews
Grateful that our County’s leadership recognized this failure. I’m especially appreciative @HarrisCountyAO for their work on this agreement
I do find it curious that this is probably one of the quickest settlements in the history of local government here in the H-Town area. Usually it takes a decade or so to get a settlement. I am sure it has nothing to do with Mayoral politics.
Name the MLB pitcher who has pitched the most innings this season.
Where does the buck stop? I am talking about the folks who forgot to close the floodgates and as a result H-Town City vehicles and equipment were damaged or destroyed. Here is from the Chron:
“That was a big ‘F’ on the part of the person who made that decision for our parking garage,” Mayor Annise Parker said. “They actually came out and inspected and made a judgment call, and they made the wrong judgment call.”
Parker pointed the finger at Houston First Corp., the quasi-city agency that manages Houston’s convention facilities and the downtown parking garages that serve them.
And:
Councilmember Michael Kubosh, who said he is awaiting more information, said it’s nonetheless hard to see how someone could not be fired over the incident.
“It’s ridiculous. I mean, we have a gate. You always err on the side of caution,” he said. “Somebody is responsible for all this, a person. Look at the loss. It’s just not acceptable.”
Parker last week said, “I’m not going to create a firing squad today. We’re still getting all the information.” Parker spokeswoman Janice Evans reiterated that tone Tuesday, saying placing blame is “premature.”
Here is the entire Chron piece that is behind the paywall: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Failure-to-close-garage-door-an-expensive-mistake-6303016.php.
Not my yob!
Our own Dallas Keuchel of course leads MLB baseball with 81 2/3 innings pitched.
I prefer that the ‘Stros not fall behind 4 zip in the second inning. But you know what? I don’t get all bummed out like I used to the last few seasons. They came back last night from a four run deficit and won 6-4 on a double dinger evening. Our lead is now 5 games. Not bad at all!
Camposcommunications' Blog 