Today’s public hearing at the Dallas County Commissioners’ Court sparked another storm of controversy as Sheriff Lupe Valdez lost another battle against County Commissioner John Wiley Price. Valdez made a rare appearance at the Commissioners’ Court to ask for pay raises for law enforcement officials at the sheriff’s department, but she was jilted by Price, who adamantly refused her proposal.

Price said, “It has nothing to do with you … There are no raises in this budget … that includes law enforcement.”

In an interview with the Dallas Blog, Sheriff Valdez responded: “We all know we’re in a crunch … (but people working in an “emergency” crisis [the police and paramedics] are “important.” She added, “Our folks work hard … We’re working every little corner to save our personnel.”

Apparently, Sheriff Valdez is learning a hard lesson that Price has a reputation for carrying a grudge. About a month ago, she wanted the Discovery Channel to film a documentary on the Dallas County Jail. Price opposed the move since the jail had a long history of failing state inspections, and he wanted to avoid the possibility of onerous litigation and lawsuits.

Nevertheless, Valdez ignored Prices concerns, instead, she held a joint press conference with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins to express her support for the filming. But Price got his revenge by taking the matter to court. A judge issued a temporary restraining order on the Discovery Channel, shutting them out of the jail. Eventually, the documentary producers decided to halt production of the project.

Suddenly, Valdez was faced with an even more dangerous predicament against Price. She had to initiate a minimum of 5 percent budget cuts for her department and expected to deliver $7 million in savings for the County. The budget cuts are necessary since the County has a shortfall of $34 million and the budget must be balanced by October as required by law.

Valdez offered some ideas to save $2.3 million for the County today. For instance, she would eliminate food service condiments at the jail cafeteria. The audience at the Commissioners’ Court gasped in unison when they heard that packets of mustard and ketchup cost $150,000 each year, which was paid for by the taxpayers of Dallas County.

The Dallas Blog also learned from Mike Ramirez, a member of the Latino Peace Officers’ Association, that Valdez refuses to personally speak with him. Ramirez was the spokesman at a press conference a week ago that harshly criticized Valdez’s job performance. He was speaking on behalf of four labor unions representing employees at the sheriff’s department. He requested an official meeting. Valdez did hold the summit with the unions, but she would not personally speak to Ramirez.

Ramirez admitted to being “popular” in some circles, but “unpopular” with other circles in the sheriff’s department. He was looking in the direction of Valdez when he made that comment. He said the labor unions will send another official letter of rebuke against Sheriff Valdez later this week, which means Valdez has not yet repaired her relations with many employees at the sheriff’s department.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Comments (5)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment