Travis County Commissioners Court

July 17, 2012 - Item 3
Agenda

Number 3, consider and take appropriate action on proclamation declaring July 15 through July 21, 2012, as Probation, Parole and Community Supervision Week in Travis County.
Should we read your proclamation?

>> Yes, please.

>> It he reads: whereas community corrections is an essential part of the justice system.
Whereas community corrections professionals uphold the law with dignity while recognizing the right of the public to be safeguarded from criminal activity.
Whereas community corrections professionals are responsible for supervising adult and juvenile offenders in the community.
Whereas community corrections are trained professionals who provide services for offenders.
Whereas community correctional professionals work in partnership with community agencies and groups.
Whereas community corrections professionals promote prevention, intervention and advocacy.
Whereas community corrections provides service and support and protection tore victims. Whereas community corrections professionals advocate community and restorative justice.
And whereas community corrections professionals are a true force for positive change in their communities.
Now therefore be it resolved that the Travis County Commissioners court does hereby proclaim July 15 through 21, 2012, as probation, parole and community supervision week and encourage all Travis County residents to honor these community corrections professionals and to recognize their achievements and contributions to our community.
And I move approval.

>> Second.

>> Good morning.

>> Good morning.

>> Can we get those professionals to come forward?
They can stand two or three minutes, I believe, if you all would like to come forward.

>> Please stand.

>> We estimate that we have about one million people in Travis County watching us today.

>> [laughter] so this may be your golden moment.

>> Can I go ahead?
Who is here today is our managers and supervisors in adult probation, some of these folks.
And, of course, stella has some of her staff here.
But often we focus primarily on the officers that -- and the counselors that do the direct service.
But I have to say the folks standing before you are really the foundation of our department.
Throughout the course of the last five years, we've made a lot of changes.
Each and every one of them went beyond the call of duty and took on special projects and some of them quite long term.
One of the things I wanted to point out is not only does probation help to protect this community but it contributes a great deal to the community.
Somebody mentioned school supplies.
We have a drive in which probationers as part of their community service bring in school supplies.
We also do a coat drive, a fan drive for the elderly, and, of course, we always have contributions to the food bank.
So probation is an important part of this community in many ways and these folks really deserve special recognition today.
So I would like to recognize all of you.
And thank you.

>> [applause]

>> Good morning, judge Biscoe and Commissioners.
I am the chief juvenile probation officer for Travis County.
And I too want to join so many others as well in taking the opportunity to acknowledge the work of our officers and our staff and our departments.
They, all that are here this morning, represent so many others, the day in and day out that do such valiant work in service to our Travis County community so I join again so many more in thanking them for all that they do day in and day out.
On behalf of all of us and all of our teams and all the work that we do in Travis County, we also want to take the opportunity to thank our community for all of the support that we receive that allows us the opportunity to serve and to every day do the work that we do.
We want to thank the court, the court today for this proclamation, for acknowledging the work of the field and throughout the week we'll find many opportunities to say thank you to so many people.
We also want to thank our judicial leadership and all of the many stakeholders that again assist us in the work that we do.
Thank you for all of your support.
It is really our privilege and an opportunity to serve and we remain very committed to the work that we do so thank you, and thank all of you as well.
Thank you.

>> [applause]

>> And I want to say thank you to each of you as well.
Thanks very much for your service to Travis County taxpayers.

>> I just wanted to say thank you for giving us a preferable alternative to incarceration, one that really works.
I know it's labor intensive and more complicated than putting someone behind bars but the different are huge and they are huge because of the work that you do.

>> We appreciate everyone and all of that do.
Mr. Reeferseed, anything relevant?

>> I think so.
I just wanted to thank you for giving us all an opportunity to give thanks for the great service and just a friendly suggestion that from my viewpoint politically we all can, we can take the money out of those people who buy the bullet that actually -- I know it's not -- it's a dangerous job in this world and the people who pay for the bullets that are the organized crime thugs so if we can just unify on that idea of legalizing farming.
Just let the farmers have the money and not the organized crime thugs, less crime, more love.
Thanks, I just wanted to throw that in.

>> Enjoy your week.
Through July 21st.

>> Thank you.
Thank you very much.

>> Thank you.

>> All in favor?
That passes by unanimous vote.

>> Thank you for your service.
Thank you.
We do have several proclamations here, several copies of the same one?

>> Yes, we do.
What should I do?

>> Well, should we come down front and take a picture with you?

>> That would be great.

>> Maybe we should just stand in front of y'all.

The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.

July 3, 2012: Travis County Launches New Video Playback System

Our new streaming video system uses a single video clip for each session and items are linked to specific locations on that clip. Some browsers and mobile devices do not recognize the location information and display the entire clip. If this happens the "start time" will help you find your item's video within the larger clip.

If you encounter playback issues check out our video playback help page. If you still encounter problems let us know.

On July 3rd, 2012, Travis County began leveraging free resources by posting Commissioners Court meetings on Youtube. Previously every video clip was edited separately and hosted on the county's video server. The old system also required RealPlayer to view the video clips.

The new systems save time and resources -- and that saves taxpayer dollars!