In an upcoming series, local government watchdog and investigative writer Charles O'Dell exposes in excruciating detail what he describes as the "long-standing symbiotic relationship" between special interests and office holders that has led to "a culture of corruption in Hays County"
Mr. O'Dell is not one to play loose with the facts. His work is well documented and carefully edited to avoid unwarranted allegations. Having observed this culture of corruption and its supporting cast for many years, the RoundUp fully expects loud and angry protestations from some of the players involved. That is the way it works. The larger question here is, as always, when will the local authorities shed their good old boy cloaks and begin to represent the public trust?
Stay tuned.
Here's an excerpt from O'Dell's first installment:
Left unchecked, government becomes dominated by special interests, and a culture of corruption becomes established. Special interests finance the elected officials who in turn reward the special interests.
The three most lucrative official avenues for rewarding well connected special interests are through development permitting, influencing where public infrastructure is built, and awarding public project contracts.
Our elected officials oversee public employees, control the public purse string and make decisions on how public money is spent.
This authority is not lost on special interests, and what better way for special interests to make a connection to public officials than to make significant election campaign contributions.
2 comments:
And who investigates the investigator? Charles is prejudiced and jaundiced against those whom he disagrees with politically, and abuses his "public watchdog" position when it suits him to state things that are only true from his warped perspective. If he spent as much time scrutinizing those with whom he agrees and was truly objective, he would find that they are just as guilty of the "good ole boy" politics that he accuses others of. It would be good for Charles to open his records to public scrutiny (HAYSCAN) so that it could also be exposed to the same light of day that he likes and thinks he exposes everyone else to. Though his argument will be that he is a non-profit and therefore not subject to the same level of scrutiny as those he wishes to pillory and subject to his slanted "justice". A truly "open" government and "open" watchdog would allow their finances and internal operations be viewed by those whom are being subjected to scrutiny. Only at the time groups like HaysCAN are subjected to the same scrutiny as Charles wishes to pursue against his (and those who he supports) enemies, then there will be no "clean" and "open" politics in Hays County, only the endless cycle of one group against the other accusing the other of corruption.
My first observation is that you posted anonymously. You don’t want readers to know who you are.
The second observation is that you are trying to preempt our report on government corruption by discrediting the messenger. One BIG problem for you…we fully document our reports with official documents.
The Karl Rove tactic of trying to equate “open government” to “open investigation” just doesn’t work. Do you expect news media to reveal their sources?
You want HaysCAN to reveal its supporters and to learn about our finances. What would that do for you? It would give you a hit list to dry up our sources and financial support with intimidation.
Let me reveal this about our finances…other than grants, we have received no individual contribution greater than $100 in the past twelve months, and over 85% of our funding comes from individual contributions. There are few, if any, Hays County elected officials who can make that claim. I report this NOT to discourage generous contributions to HaysCAN, but to assure you that our work is supported by rank and file citizens.
Here’s another revelation for you: While HaysCAN does conduct a lot of solid research, most government employees believe in open honest government and wish it existed in Hays County. HaysCAN receives a lot of guidance from honest citizens.
Elected officials need to be held accountable to the voters. The job of HaysCAN is to provide as much public information about our government officials as is available. Our track record transcends political party and has dealt with the “Good Ole Boys and Girls.” If the shoe fits…wear it.
And if any of our public reports contain error, please document them so corrections can be made.
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