Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, November 23, 2010,
Item 19 A-C
19, review and approve requests regarding grant proposals, applications, contracts and permissions to continue.
a, annual contract with office of the governor, mr. Pena, you have a question?
>> I’m sorry, I wasn't here.
I was looking at my backup.
>> [inaudible].
>> okay.
move approval of 19 a.
>> second.
>> discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
b, annual contract with the office of the governor, criminal justice division to continue Travis County veterans court program in the criminal courts.
any issues with that one or questions?
>> yes.
>> okay.
>> judge, Commissioners, gus pena.
united states marine corps veteran.
I’m in support of everything that has been done for the Travis County veterans court program.
my question to you is this.
I know the budgetary constraints and restraints.
is there a possibility it could expand more?
I think a lot of veterans in Travis County, we have meetings out there with the different veterans groups and there is a request to see if it could be expanded.
merely a request and question, not really an aggressive question regarding this, but is there any plans to expand it?
there's some veterans that need the support services and help and they have not been assisted in this.
>> this is currently in misdemeanor court, it's a pilot, state funded and there's a $26 billion hole in the state.
>> I know that.
I found that out already.
but I mean as far as I know we have support from you all on this, but currently I know the issues at the capitol, Commissioner Eckhardt.
this year especially I am fully educated on these issues, but what can we do other than go out and speak to elected officials?
anything else coming down the pipeline?
more funding?
>> this is partially county funded and partially state funded.
the match, I don't know what the percentage of county versus state.
>> zero county.
>> zero county at this point.
>> what happened is that the county added a docket just for the veterans court.
they hired the coordinator over the summer with a small amount of -- the first grant fund and this is the second year of grant fund so they are ramping up the program right now.
it departments how it goes.
how many people they get who are interested, referred, where services are deemed appropriate.
so they are still working out the kinks on this.
>> and again, gus, it is a pilot situation and I know you are very aware of it, but I want to thank you for your continued interest in these veteran issues because there are critical needs that still need to be filled.
the question is how can we accommodate in filling these kind of needs, and that's the question.
>> yes, sir.
>> and, of course, the state is providing money in this particular grant situation, but I think it's still a lot more that needs to be done.
>> and thank you for your comments, Commissioner Davis, because you are one of the proponents and one of the leaders along with you, judge, because I’ve spoken to you -- you all know, sarah Eckhardt, I’ve spoken to you regarding veterans issues but you hit it on the target, how do we get more funding because there are a lot of needs unmet up there.
I visited the camps.
it looks nice, but this one I bought at good will for six, this one at k-mart for four.
those are some of the things the veterans, homeless out there in the camps are in need of and drug treatment.
I mean we wholeheartedly support this and you are looking at a nationwide effort to look at this and look at it as -- how do we say, as something to, you know, spin off to other counties in the country.
this is great, but the concern out there is the veterans, they are begging for help.
drug treatment, alcohol treatment, and you are right on target and judge you are right on target, but thank you for that comment.
it's very appropriate comments.
>> mr. Pena, I fully expect that this pilot is going to be a wild success.
judge denton is heading up the pilot.
he also is a combat veteran.
and I think that as a specialized court that there are specialized needs but there are also specialized services available to veterans and if we can help link them up because as you know it's pretty byzantine.
with the devastate at the state level, we will be a wild success, our criminal justice and planning division as mr. Valdez pointed out does a great job of doing performance measures of our specialized courts to assure that they hit the mark, that they really are having a lower return rate, that people don't return to court because of these specialized efforts and I fully expect we'll see success.
the difficulty is that the likelihood if we're successful that means the county picks it up and that's all on property taxes.
>> judge denton, used to be the bay live, I love the man very much.
but the issue is that I love anybody that will help out veterans.
I will tell you this much, my go to guy in washington is senator james webb, lieutenant, vietnam veteran and this gentleman has been a leader in the forefront to go to bat for veterans.
but you are right, one of the things I would also ask the Commissioners court to look at is remember a lot of these initiatives don't have the wrap-around services.
we have counselors offer here, social workers over here.
let's think about that.
I know judge denton has listened to my comments because he knows I am one of his admirers.
I thank you all for that and I thank you for your comments.
>> move approval of 19 b.
>> second.
>> discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
c, annual contract with the office of the governor to continue the drug diversion court program in the criminal courts.
>> I’m sorry, judge, I apologize.
respectfully I said to be put on consent.
I didn't have any other comments.
I apologize.
>> move approval.
>> second.
>> discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
Commissioner Davis temporarily off the dais.
>> thank you all very much for that.
>> thank you.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 2:020 PM
