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Thomas Taschinger, editorial page editor (409) 838-2887, ttaschinger@hearstnp.com
FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 17, 2006
OPINIONS 18A
◆ EDITORIALS
Roebuck leads
strong field to Christopher Clausen
replace Carver Math matters
to entertainers
J
efferson County voters face an abun-
dance of riches in the contest to replace
Charles Carver, who is retiring as judge of
the Criminal District Court. Six candi-
and local voters
dates have filed for this post, and all are high-
ly qualified. This is one of the greatest arrays How willing are you to pay taxes
of talent competing for one office that South- for mismanagement? Better still,
east Texans have seen. We think Tom Roebuck how’d you like to be told you’re
stands at the top of this pyramid. stupid for worrying about it?
Many fine lawyers never become board This isn’t about FEMA and Hur-
certified in any legal specialty. Many others ricane Katrina. This is about Ford
work hard to become board certified in one Park, the gift that keeps giving pain
area. Roebuck, like few lawyers in the state, to Jefferson County taxpayers.
can claim that distinction in three fields — A pamphlet from County Judge
personal injury trial law, criminal law and res- Carl Griffith’s re-election commit-
idential real estate law. He has served as a spe- tee declares less than 1 cent of
cial prosecutor and a defense lawyer, corpo- every property tax dollar supports
rate lawyer and personal injury lawyer. In his Ford Park. The leaflet further
33-year career, he has handled almost every ◆ READERS WRITE implied the concerns of taxpayers,
type of case. The depth and breadth of his opinion articles and news reports
experience clearly make him the best choice. that raised questions all have been
With six candidates, a runoff election is Our record defense proposal is busting our budget, wallets much ado about nothing.
likely. If voters woke up on March 8 to read “It’s Time You Know the Plain
that Doug Barlow or Marsha Normand made President Bush’s 2007 budget proposal trillion dollars a year to retire the national Truth!” it reads in large, headline-
that runoff, they shouldn’t be disappointed. contains $513 billion for defense. That’s more style type.
debt.Think how much taxes could be cut if we
Barlow is board certified in criminal law. than all the other nations in the world, com- “The fact is, Ford Park is an
were not paying all that interest and we
He has extensive trial experience in major bined, spend on military items. Considering asset to our community! It was a
reduced defense spending to an amount critical element in our Hurricane
felony cases, including many involving the how one-sided it is, maybe “defense” is the more in line with what other countries are
death penalty, as a prosecutor and defense wrong word for that huge expenditure. Rita relief and rescue efforts and
allocating. generated over $27 million for our
attorney. He was the only lawyer from this That same budget would allocate $247 bil-
region selected to serve on a special state GENE TUCK economy in 2004 alone,” it asserts
lion for interest. Just imagine if we cut our mil-
committee to establish qualifications for in smaller, regular type.
itary spending in half, giving us a quarter of a Sour Lake
defense lawyers in death penalty cases. “And That’s The Plain Truth!” it
finishes with that large, headline
Normand also has solid experience on
type and exclamation point that
both sides of the courtroom. She was an assis-
tant district attorney in Jefferson County at Gov. Kaine, like all Democrats, has criticisms, no answers seems requisite in political ads.
Griffith challenger Ron Walker
the start of her legal career and lately has been
a defense lawyer. In addition, she has the kind responded with ads denouncing
The response to President Bush’s State of problem by advocating buying cheap drugs the math.
of experience in law enforcement that few the Union Speech by Timothy M. Kaine, gov- from foreign nations. This is promoting for-
lawyers can match. She was a police officer for “One penny of each of those tax
ernor of Virginia, is further proof that he, like eign jobs to produce them, which will reduce dollars equals approximately $1.4
Lamar University and the Texas Alcoholic all other Democratic leaders and their follow- drug manufacturing jobs in this country like
Beverage Commission. She has pulled a gun million. This will not even pay Ford
ers, have no solutions to our problems — only that which happened to jobs in the clothing Park’s current operating cost of
on suspects and had guns drawn on her. For fallacious criticisms of Bush’s solutions. industries in this country.
her, the law is not an abstract concept but $1.5 million annually, not to men-
For example, Kaine gave no solutions to Furthermore, it is the leading Democrats tion the more than $3.8 million in
something that affects real people. who picked Kaine to make this response and
eliminate terrorism, to improve the economy, debt service per year.
The other three candidates, in alphabetical he blew it with the same malarkey like all of
order, also have much to offer. to improve Social Security, to improve “That’s a lot of pennies!”
Medicare and Medicade, to improve medical them who have no solutions to our problems. After that exchange, taxpayers
Bruce Hoffer is the only candidate who has Therefore I cannot see how a reasonable
insurance to the millions without it, to might feel befuddled by the
prosecuted and defended death penalty cases. person, within the bounds of common sense,
improve medication to the elderly, to improve opposing methods of math.
He is board certified in criminal law and has cannot see through this.
education, to reduce the trade imbalance, to Three facts erase confusion.
lectured on the law at Lamar University. Hoffer
has worked as a solo practitioner since 1994, reduce deficit and to reduce jobs going over- ROBERT C. KINNEAR ◆ The annual operating cost
specializing in family and criminal law. seas. To the contrary, he is adding to this latter Beaumont has been $1.4 million to $1.5 mil-
lion.
Ramon Rodriguez has worked criminal law
◆ The debt cost is $3.8 million.
day in and day out for the last 21 years as a
That’s a lot more than a single
felony prosecutor for Jefferson County. He is
board certified in criminal law. He is a gradu-
It’s no accident that gas is cheaper further from refineries penny per dollar of tax paid. Grif-
fith knows this, so his ads should
ate of the career prosecutor course at the
Everyone has been affected by the increas- that the further away from the refineries you reflect that he’s aware of it.
National College of District Attorney and the
National Law Institute at the FBI academy. ing cost of gasoline. But has anyone noticed go, the less you pay. Obviously the increased ◆ A penny of a dollar wasted is
how prices in Jefferson County surpass that of cost to Beaumont motorist cannot be blamed still wasted, especially when it’s a
John Stevens recently left the U.S. Attor- penny not given by choice, but by
ney’s Office after 20 years of handling the its neighboring and distant counties? on transportation issues. So who is responsi-
ble for the fleecing of Jefferson County force.
toughest cases. He helped Jasper County How is it that motorist can travel away
motorists? Is it the refineries or is it the local A short, incomplete history of
prosecute the defendants in the death of from Beaumont to remote places like Center
stores? 5-year-old Ford Park, the Edsel of
James Byrd Jr. He received the Justice Depart- and Marshall, and even further, Texarkana, Entertainment, includes commis-
ment’s highest honor, the U.S. Attorney Gen- and find gas to be as much as 10 to 20 cents JOSEPH WHITE sioners court choosing not to have
eral’s Award for exceptional service. Early in cheaper? Maybe it’s just me, but it seems odd Beaumont taxpayers vote on it; construction
his career, he worked with the Provost-
costs jumping $7 million; county
Umphrey law firm and was an assistant dis-
workers finishing some construc-
trict attorney for Jefferson County.
tion after money ran out; and sev-
Your vote here is especially important eral years of other numerous
because of the possibility of a runoff. Please county and contractor miscues; a
be part of this decision.
Lost world is our last chance mangled contract face-off with a
poorly playing hockey franchise
that sidelined county lawyers; and
a partial hulk of an adjacent visi-
By MARIA ANGLIN huge trees draped with gigantic ferns; four tors center the county was build-
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS new butterfly species ; five new palm species.
◆ PAUSE TO PRAY One doesn’t have to be ultra-green to see
ing with now squandered private
capital.
SAN ANTONIO — Last December, our the coolness of this tropical find. It’s an excit- A unifying theme is one of fail-
Lord, when everything seems bleak, let us Earth grew. Not literally, but most of us would- ing milestone for naturalists and a very special
cling to your glimmering light of hope to lead ure by the county, led by Griffith, to
n’t have noticed if our big blue planet really gift to the rest of us, since there are few aggressively manage a project they
us out of the darkness. Amen. had expanded millions of acres — we’re pretty unblemished places like this left in the world alone approved and oversaw.
caught up in racing each other to the natural — this might be the very last one. Despite this, some Ford Park
resources or trying to stretch the ones we’ve Last one or not, sooner or later the demand promoters harbor a view that the
already got dibs on. for the area’s timber, or a more lucrative best times are yet to come. They
How were our wasteful ancestors supposed resource yet undiscovered, might be worth see less competition in the City of
to know we were going to need air and water more to whoever owns the rights to this place Beaumont’s plan to close its Civic
and oil later on down the line? Besides, they than the future of a bird with a wiry head or a Center next month in part because
were much too busy laying our groundwork to critter without the sense to run from us. After of damage from Hurricane Rita, in
THE ADVOCATE FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS SINCE 1880 waste time on personal virtues. all, another precious resource — the world’s part to refurbish the riverfront.
Aubrey L. Webb Some might say we haven’t been very good biggest gold mine — is nearby. This isn’t going to happen sim-
Publisher stewards of the planet. Still, Mother Nature It seems that knowing what we know about ply on a local decision. National
threw us a bone. Conservation International nature’s disappearing act, we would want to entertainers and regional conven-
Timothy M. Kelly Thomas Taschinger recently told the world that at the end of last do whatever we can to preserve the find, but
Editor Opinions editor tions have had several years to opt
year, a group of researchers entered a large we humans have a track record of being a little for Ford Park. Instead, they’ve
The editorial is the opinion of The Beaumont Enterprise as area of jungle in the Foja Mountains of Papua, greedy and shortsighted. We can’t always think favored more affordable local
determined by its editorial board. Columns, cartoons, letters and New Guinea. They described the area as a “lost ahead — we’re very busy here on Earth. And venues such as the Civic Center
other items in the Opinions Section are the views of the writers or world” unmarred by human hands — or their it’s hard enough impressing upon folks the
artists credited, and not necessarily the views of this newspaper. and Lamar University’s Montagne
Letters must include the writer’s address and daytime tele- trail-making feet. Even the area’s closest neigh- need for conservation of the resources nations Center.
phone number so letters can be verified. Letters must not exceed bors were surprised, since they never had a fight over, much less the need to take care of a Eliminating the Civic Center
250 words and must be the original words of the writer. need to wander over to this jungle. bunch of new plants and critters. won’t force Ford Park to become
Letters may be edited for length, libel, grammar, clarity and In this 2 million or so acres of undisturbed
newspaper style, without changing the meaning and intent of the
The best thing each one of us can do is entertainers’ choice. They perform
letter. Readers are limited to one letter every 30 days to ensure a rain forest, scientists found dozens of new ani- understand the importance and wonder of where they do for the money, and
diversity and variety of viewpoints. mal and plant species, as well as little creatures finds such as this and pass that along to the lit- in that respect, they’re like taxpay-
The Enterprise will not publish poetry, anonymous letters, feared to have been hunted to extinction in tle ones, who might not see the forest through ers:
"open" or "third-party" letters written to someone else, letters that other parts of the world. Some of the animals the trees of technology and television.
constitute advertisements, letters about political candidates during Pretending it doesn’t make a
election campaigns, letters concerning private legal disputes or con- were so fearless of human encounters they let Think of it as planning ahead: If they grow difference how the pennies add up
flicts between individuals, letters that are part of organized writing themselves be picked up and studied by the up respecting nature, they’ll work to keep it won’t make Ford Park a music
campaigns and letters that include previously published material. interlopers. There were never-before-seen around. They might even want to get off the mecca, nor a candidate a taxpay-
Opinions, The Beaumont Enterprise rhododendrons with blooms bigger than a couch and see it firsthand. Not a bad pastime er’s top pick.
.O.
P Box 3071 softball; teeny tiny little frogs smaller than a for those of us on this shrinking planet.
Beaumont, Texas 77704 nickel; a bird with what looks like wires com- cclausen@hearstnp.com
e-mail The Enterprise at: ttaschinger@hearstnp.com ing out of its head that had never been filmed; Reach this columnist at manglin@express-news.net (409) 833-3311, ext. 451
◆ Pages designed and copy-edited by Christopher Clausen, (409) 833-3311, ext. 451 ◆ ●
