SOMEONE TELL LEE AND MELVIN TO PLEASE QUIT SPENDING MONEY

With all of the local Democrats scandals and all of their illegal activity – some activities already revealed and some yet to come to light – it may be that some of the legal activity of the Commissioners’ Court may be the most harmful of all.

Years ago a small handful of people decided the only way Liberty County could ever live up to its potential was to expose the wrongdoing by the county’s elected officials so they would be voted out of office or hauled to prison. It was decided then the price that would have to be paid to expose the most powerful people in the county would probably include having to hire lawyers and fight to keep the worst of the officials from using their power to ruin reputations and incarcerate innocent challengers to their power.


But it should not have taken that. These Democrats with all of their despicable underhanded secret backroom self-dealing needed no great expose’ or detective work to reveal to voters reasons to vote them all out. They have run the affairs of this county and dealt with the taxpayers’ money like it was their own personal club. The most recent example is the budgets of the last four years.

Despite efforts by County Auditor Harold Seay and County Treasurer to discourage continued pay raises and continued issuance of certificates of obligations, our Commissioners’ Court has doubled the county’s debt in the last four years. It has gone from an over $13 million budget to a proposed budget of over $27 million dollars since 2006! Talk about President Obama and drunken sailor's spending, should include the exorbitant spending of Lee Groce, Melvin Hunt, Todd Fontenot, and Norman Brown.

Amidst all of their bragging at election time that they have not raised the tax rate, every taxpayer is keenly aware of the fact the Commissioners’ Court, famously led all of these many years by Lee Groce and Melvin Hunt have had plenty of increases in their budgets due to the unending increases in appraisals. And anyone who keeps up with the courthouse knows they have given themselves some really generous pay raises while giving the lowest paid workers in the courthouse much smaller raises.

But despite the extra money in most budget years, Lee Groce, Todd Fontenot, Norman Brown, Melvin Hunt, and Phil Fitzgerald have, for the most part, bypassed asking voters for the right to issue bonds. They have used their legal right to issue certificates of obligations. They have used that loophole to not only double our debt in just four years, but to also spend over $3 million dollars out of our reserve fund. According to the Harrelson camp, Harrelson's election put her in the position of a potential whistle-blower and, as such, it was only a matter of time until the 'mafia' at the courthouse had to get rid of her.

There has been plenty of scandalous behavior by Democrats in our local courthouse over the last few years. And there certainly has been plenty of reasons President Obama have given us all to try and stop the Democratic Party. But just their irresponsible liberal tax and spend use of taxpayer money should have been reason enough all of these years to get new leadership.

Voters should look at the numbers. None of our problems are caused by a lack of increased contributions from taxpayers. One year the receipts were less than the previous year, but the four highest years of taxpayer money coming into the county coffers are the same four years we have spent more than we have taken in. These are also the same four years our Commissioners have obligated us to more and more future debt. Our debt service alone has risen from over $1 million to well over $2 million dollars. These men are ruining our county. They are spending us into economic troubles we have never had to face FOR NO REASON.

The climate in this courthouse is toxic. It has been toxic for years. There is a “whatever you can get away with” attitude that has been caused by a lazy and inept and pitiful District Attorney’s office. There is a culture in our courthouse that allows criminal behavior to thrive unless someone with enough clout stops it – i.e. Judge Chap Cain: Dismissed Janet Harrelson, exposed Phil Fitzgerald, and reported the theft and dirty tricks of Liz Beausoliel. We have a culture that tends to cover up crime when it is reported by average folks or even sometimes to go after the whistle-blowers rather than the courthouse criminals.

We can’t expect our children or grandchildren to want to return to their hometown if they have to pay higher taxes because of debts we allowed to be run up when they were young. We can’t expect them to want to return to a county that has a reputation for courts and commissioners that play fast and loose with the law. This election some of the type of scandals we have all heard about could influence many voters, but it’s the gross derelict of duty that should affect all voters – partisan or not.

Liberty Dispatch Contributor