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Reader says last thing needed is change Dear Editor,
I have nothing to do with investigating this “alleged” incident, nor its outcome. I couldn’t comment on the known facts even if I did. However, I will say that Councilman Jerry Wyatt and I have butted heads on different occasions over one issue or another over the years. In all my
dealings with him, I have always felt he has always acted on his true convictions. Acting on what he felt was best for the entire city; whether it was on issues concerning citizens or employees of the city. I don’t know Ms. Pinnock, but I do know Mr. Wyatt. I have no reason not to believe his
version of what he says really occurred.
I have worked for the City of Missouri City for over 20 years and I have lived in the area for a lot longer. I can remember when Missouri City went from boom to bust. For those that don’t know, we did this before Mayor Allen Owen became mayor of the city. I have watched him take
the reins and work with several different councils over the years and we are on the cusp of becoming that premier city we once were.
A lot of people like to compare Missouri City to Sugar Land, especially the man who lives in Richmond and is backing the opponents in this race. When the oil boom went to bust in the 80’s Missouri City was the envy of everyone. It was a great place to live and work. While we had
grown to 30-35 thousand in population while Sugar Land remained stagnant and small. If I remember right, their population was between 10 -12 thousand for years.
What Sugar Land has not had to face is the mass of home and business foreclosures that occurred in Missouri City during the bust. We are finally digging our way out of the ramifications and fall-out associated with the bust. Things are starting to really boom again and I have to
give Mayor Owen, his councils and the city employees the credit for it.
The last thing the citizens or employees of Missouri City needs now is a change in direction. It is for this reason the Missouri City Police and Fire Associations are backing, Councilman Jerry Wyatt, Councilman Buddy Jimerson and Mayor Owen in their re-election bid.
Craig Weathers,
President Missouri City Police Officers’ Association
Publisher responds to writer
Dear Mr. Gabino,
While yours is a well-written, articulate letter and I would love to run it, I turned down a letter from Mr. Tunstall this week because it was too long and was partisan. Mr. Turstall is a good writer so I’m really happy to see the other side has a good writer also.
My words to him were “Mr. Tunstall, I am not going to allow the Star to get into a political discourse through long, long letters to the editor. We simply don’t have the room. Then the room to provide the answers that I’m sure the incumbents will want to make. If you want to buy
an ad, you can say anything that will fit in the ad space, as long as it is not libelous.”
I’m afraid I will have to say the same thing to you.
Sincerely,
Bev Carter
Reader
speaks out about lack of care regarding inmates on
medication
Dear Editor,
After reading
the article “Inmate in critical condition after 20 foot
jump” on the front page of the Star,I decided to write a
letter to the editor that has been long in coming. My
complaints with the medical care of inmates in the Fort Bend
Jail are vast and alarming. The indifference of the medical
staff toward the inmates in their charge is incorrigible.
These inmates are trapped under their supervision with no
recourse and the lack of care was shocking to me when I
first encountered it.
Two years ago
my son was arrested for DWI. He suffers with mental illness
issues and has been under treatment through MHMR for several
years and is on Social Security Disability. He is bipolar
and has psycho-effective disorder. Anyone who has a family
member or a loved one who is dealing with this illness knows
that many times the patient will try to self medicate with
alcohol. It’s a constant battle for these people.
After his
arrest, I immediately took all of his medication to the
jail. I tried repeatedly to get them to understand the
importance of him getting his medication. The officers at
the door were very nice to me and took the medication saying
it would be given to him once it was approved by the doctor.
But, my son never received his medication. After almost a
week of my request falling on deaf years, my 70 year old
mother; who was so stressed over his treatment she could not
longer bear the worry and heart ache, spent her savings to
get him out on bail.
I do not
understand why it took so long to get the medication
approved when it was clearly his medication. It was current,
it had just been filled a few days before and it had his
name on it. My phone calls to the staff to find out WHEN
they were going to give him his medication fell on deaf
years. I was repeatedly told he would get his meds but it
never happened. All the while I am thinking of the repeated
orders by the Doctor to NOT stop this medication suddenly.
My son has a history of suicide and I worried what would
happen to his mental state if he was not given his
medication. Each day he stayed in jail with out his meds, I
watched him slip deeper and deeper into depression and I was
worried he would become psychotic and loose his grip on
reality again.
I think part
of the problem is that the general public has an indifferent
attitude toward this problem and the reasons are three fold.
First they are not aware of the problem because they have
never had a loved one in jail. Secondly, most people feel
that people who are in jail belong there because they are
criminals, and who cares how they are treated. After all, it’s
not supposed to be a country club. Also, the general public
believes there are numerous laws in place to protect the
inmates and therefore this kind of thing should not happen.
But it does happen! Right here in Fort Bend County. And when
it is your child behind bars and you are blocked at every
turn by officers with badges and guns who refuse to
listen.... it is an unbearable helpless feeling.
I started
several times to write this letter, because I believe the
public is just not aware of the problem. Your article this
morning rekindled my frustration with the system to get my
son the help he deserved and I decided to write this letter
to confirm what I read in your article.
Thank you for
shedding some light on this problem.
Name withheld by request
Sending prisoners to another facility
disturbing
Letter to Editor-Sue Ann Lorig
Dear Editor,
The decision to send Fort Bend County
jail inmates to Dickens County Correctional Facility, a
private prison 500 miles away, is troubling in many
respects. (Fort Bend Star – “Inmates being transferred
to Dickens County” and “Jail contractor has negative
history”).
Although some of the Fort Bend County
Commissioners find the location a joking matter,
long-distance separation is not humorous to the families of
inmates. When inmates are hundreds of miles away, few
families can visit. Children especially suffer. Children of
incarcerated parents are at higher risk of incarceration
themselves and they exhibit many problems that accompany
parental separation, especially they can’t even visit. For
the inmates, family connections can mean the difference
between future success and recidivism. Studies have shown
that continued contact with family can reduce prisoner
recidivism.
Other areas of concern are the liability
to Fort Bend County if harm comes to the inmates, additional
transportation and security expenses, and our county’s
lack of power over conditions and treatment. Remember, Texas
counties can be sued when harm comes to county prisoners
held in private jails and prisons under their jurisdiction.
Concerns about inmates’ safety are very
real. Last year, the Idaho Department of Corrections’ head
of health care toured the Dickens’ facility shortly after
an inmate’s suicide there and described the lockup as the
worst he had ever seen and “beyond repair.” HYPERLINK
“http://www.texasprisonbidness.org/scandals/msnbc-reports-squalid-conditions-dickens
Here are examples of reports on the Dickens County Correctional Facility:
Conditions were described as “squalid”
in an expose by the Associated Press after the suicide of
Idaho inmate Scot Noble Payne, including a filthy and cold
solitary confinement cell with a blanket, sheet, and pillow
that were covered with blood and human excrement. When Scot’s
mother testified before Senator Whitmire’s committee last
year, she attributed his suicide to the conditions and the
long distance from home. (2007).
A former guard was convicted of providing contraband to a prisoner and sentenced to five years of probation, $1,000 fine and 120 hours of community service. He was using the prisoner as an intermediary to sell contraband to other inmates and may have been involved in an escape
(2007).
The Dickens facility is now under the management of another private prison company with a disturbing history, CiviGenics.
Last month, 21 year-old Luis Chavez-Chavez took his own life by hanging in the CiviGenics-managed Ector County Correctional Center. The facility was advertising six immediate full-time job openings to staff the 223-bed jail very recently (2008), so understaffing may have played a
role.
In Texarkana, a former CiviGenics jailer was arrested for violating the civil rights of a female inmate and accused of sexual activity with a person in custody (2005). Three prisoners, including a murder suspect, escaped from the same jail and were loose for 28 hours (2004).
At a CiviGenics unit in Waco, a guard was indicted for having sex with a female inmate (2004). Also in Waco, an escaped prisoner was charged with killing a woman while he was a fugitive and a guard was charged with facilitating the escape (2001).
Our Commissioners need to reconsider shipping Fort Bend inmates across the state to a distant facility run by a corporation with a bad reputation on safety, ethics, and security.
I appreciate the Star’s reporting on
this issue and hope that you will continue to keep the
public informed.
By Sue Ann Lorig
Missouri City
Sue Ann Lorig is a wife and mother who has lived in Fort Bend County for 17 years. She volunteers in community and social justice activities.
The IRS needs your help
Dear Editor,
Starting in May, economic stimulus payments of up to $600 for individuals ($1,200 for married couples) will be issued by the IRS based on 2007 tax returns. Parents also get $300 for each eligible child.
People must file a 2007 tax return. That’s it. But here’s where the IRS needs help. Millions of people are eligible but may not know it. These are certain retirees, disabled vets and low-wage workers who normally don’t file a tax return. This year, they must file to receive the
payments.
People can help not just the IRS but perhaps themselves, friends or family. Help us spread the word. People who have at least $3,000 from wages or certain benefits from Social Security, Railroad Retirement and Veterans Affairs may be eligible.
They need to file a return. We’ll do the rest. Please, visit www.irs.gov for details.
Sincerely,
Lea C. Crusberg
IRS Media Relations,
South Texas
Reader identifies with Star article on 2/27
Dear Editor,
The recent article on the front page of the Fort Bend S/W Star about the plight of the Davis family of Mission Bend brought back both fond memories as well as long buried anger.
Like the Davis family I once had a home there. The high point of my life up to then was the afternoon, following hurricane Alicia in 1983, that I brought my wife and new born son home from the hospital to our house close to Bellaire Blvd. and Winkleman. A special bond seems to
form between a person and the place where their children first live. It is something sentimental as if the place as well as the people were special, cherished, worthy of protection.
It was probably this feeling that made it all the more insulting to be forced out of that place by, let us say, forces. To avoid controversy and recrimination I will be prudent and avoid specifics.
I fled Mission Bend in 1986. I walked away from $15,000 of down payment, not paper profits from appreciation, but cash paid at closing. It was the best decision I made in my life. I am glad the Davis family chose to stay and fight. I wish them no harm. I am not gloating. They are
sending us a useful message from an outpost.
I will close by offering a bit of advice to those that feast at the table of ad valorem tax revenues. There is a direct positive correlation between the presence of good people like the Davis family and high sustained property values. Official indolence and dereliction of duty in
matters concerning their well being will come home to roost.
Sincerely,
Mike Jenkins
Reader gives thanks for Prayer List
Dear Editor,
Please take the following off the prayer list of troops: John Vaculik and Jona Cacdac.
These two troops arrived home safely two days before Christmas.
Thanks for all the prayers of everyone and to the Star for printing this list and for their prayers. It meant a lot to us and to our family. Thanks again for all your love and support. We really appreciate it.
Thank you for supporting the people and their needs in this community.
These two troops are my brother, and my niece’s husband, respectively. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.God does answer prayers.
Sincerely,
Jeanette Prince
Reader encourages all citizens to take
pride in Sugar Land’s safety ranking
Dear Editor,
Sugar Land citizens and leaders should be commended for being ranked the 5th safest city in the nation, according a recent study of national crime statistics. As a small business owner, operating an Allstate Insurance Company Exclusive Agency in Sugar Land for the past 12 years, I
am proud of this recognition and encourage all of us to continue making our community one of the safest in America.
Fostering and developing “safe and vital communities” is a focus area of Allstate and The Allstate Foundation; recognitions like this make me proud to be part of the community. Seeing Sugar Land named one of the safest cities in the nation is yet another acknowledgment that we are
an increasingly vital and vibrant place to live and do business.
If business leaders, city leaders and citizens continue to work together on a common goal of making this a safe and vital community, we will continue to grow together as a place where people want to live, work and raise their families.
Sincerely,
Oscar Meza
Sugar Land
Don’t tear down the Sugar Mill says Boy Scout
Dear Editor,
I would like to express my opinion on the future demolition of the Imperial Sugar Mill Factory. I am a Boy Scout in a troop here in Sugar Land, and I am working on my Communications merit badge.
I attended a recent Sugar Land City Council meeting as part of this merit badge. In the December meeting, I remember City Council saying that Sugar Land was going to tear down the Sugar Mill Factory. City Council said they wanted to use the land to build single-family houses. The
Sugar Mill factory has no use now because it has been out of business for several years.
When I was younger, I went on a tour of the Sugar Mill with my family. I learned that the Sugar Mill Factory was the reason Sugar Land came to be. Before buildings were in Sugar Land, there were just sugar cane fields. When people started moving into this area, the fields were
converted into houses and buildings.
As you know, more people are coming to live in Sugar Land and City Council wants more space for the growing population. I would like the property to be turned into restaurants so that people who live in Sugar Land can eat there. I would not like the building to be torn down since
it is a big part of our city’s heritage.
Sincerely,
Cameron |
