I understand somewhat where they are coming from.  It is always kinda exciting when a person is elected (pardon me,) appointed from your town to a position in the government, even though it be the Red River County Government.  The County Judge is the highest elected official in County Government.  He actually steers the ship, because he is responsible for the budgeting process, the running of the commissioners court, and the County Court at Law.  He is the handy man in our County Government.  All of the problems that cannot be solved elsewhere are laid on his desk for disposition and resolution.  He is also responsible for the image of our County Government when he travels to Austin, etc. 

     The couple of people that I talked to in Bogata about Judge Harville asked me give Judge Harville a chance, and right now for the most part that is what I am going to do until I see how he performs.  I would like to ask a few questions of Judge Harville, and give all of us something to think about.

     Judge Harville seems to have a long career as an educator.  I for one respect educators, because they are the first step in the building of our way of life. (They are not paid enough for what they do, if they are doing it right!)   They teach our young children how to exist, and progress, and most of all learn.  They give them the knowledge that it takes to succeed in life and, and some of them  aspire above the norm to achieve the magnificent accomplishments that makes America stand out above the rest!

     I would like to examine Judge Harville, to talk to other people about him, the ones that grew up with him, and really knew him.  I would like to scrutinize his accomplishments and his career, and listen to the grape vine.  I would like to have had the choice that is afforded in other Counties in the State of Texas to cast my vote for the person I felt was the best for the position of County Judge. We voters are not accustomed or afforded the electoral process in Red River County.  We pay our taxes, and  3 or 4 people to appoint our elected officials, rather than us as voters exercising our right to vote.  Then we voters must discuss the abilities of the appointed one after the fact, without the ability to cast our ballot, or be afforded the representation that elections provide!!

     So, after the fact I would like to talk about the credentials that Judge Harville has, and ask a few questions that have been put to me by my readers that have been left unanswered.

First I would like to look at his career as an educator. 

                                      1963  Bearden High School                         1yr.

                                      1964  Fordyce High School                          1yr.

                                      1965 - 1972  Dierks High School                 7yrs.

                                      1972 - 1983  Daingerfield High School       11yrs.

                                      1983 - 1985  Gilmer High School                  2yrs.

                                      1985 - 1987  Gonzales High School              2yrs.

                                      1987 - 1988  Linden Kildare                          1yr.

                                      1988 - 1989  Clarksville                                 1yr.

                                      1989 - 2003  Henderson                                 4yr.

     If I had been afforded the opportunity as a voter to decide who amongst the candidates I would have voted for, and I looked at this resume, I would have asked Morris, (now Judge) Harville why he moved around so much?  I know that when an employer is presented with a resume, or job application that lists this many employers from a person whose career was in this time frame (1963 - 2003) that I would seriously question the applicant as to "why?".  Teachers usually move for advancement, and I cannot see that much advancement listed in this resume.  I would have to seriously question the underlying situations that caused so much movement between employers.  I can see that there was advancement in the time he was at Henderson, but the rest of the time it seems as if all the moves were lateral moves, with no real advancement involved, and 7 of the 9 moves involve less than 5 years at the schools where he was employed.   I would like for Judge Harville to answer that specific question.  There are a lot of voters in this county who would like this question answered Judge Harville even though you are securely appointed, and even if it is after the fact.  These people are your constituents, whether you were elected by them or not, and they are asking this question!!  If I had been the 4 Commissioners, I would have sent a representative of the County Government to these schools and asked the question, "Why did Morris Harville leave your employment?"  That's too easy though isn't it Commissioners?  Maybe all of you know the reason, and it is a good one.  Then again, maybe all of you know, but just do not care!  The people are waiting for an answer.

     I will say that I have heard a disgusting rumor, but as I have told so many of you that have called me,  "I will not write or question anything that has no solid evidence to back it up, and this rumor so far is just a rumor and has no solid evidence."   I do know that if I were the Judge, that I would respond to the question in the above paragraph to nip this in the bud now!!   I also know that if I were a member of the Commissioner's court and I was told about this rumor before the appointment, which I am told that all of you were, that I would have done whatever was necessary to stop the rumor before I voted to appoint someone to the high office of "County Judge".

     The Honorable Judge needs the support of the people, so that he can get on with the job of running the government.  The rumors need to cease, and they need to cease NOW!  We need to have a County Government that is operating for the people, and it cannot operate efficiently under a cloud! 

     I would like to ask the question as to why the Commissioners think that Judge Harville's resume as a coach, history and government teacher, without judicial or budgeting experience was better than Judge Whitehouse's, who has several years of judicial experience on the bench, or Tommy Vandeaver's who has experience as a CPA, which highly qualifies him with regards to the budgeting process, or T.J. Higgins who was a Clarksville City Judge, and City Manager?  What was it that you as Commissioners saw that makes Judge Harville stand out above the rest?  The people, your constituents want to know!

    If the Commissioner's had done what was right, and held a special election letting the voters decide who our next County Judge was going to be, things would probably be slightly different right now.   Although by Commissioner Joseph Hausler's statement that "We don't want anyone who is going to bring industry and Jobs." and other Commissioners who stated they did not want anyone who was going to bring change to the face of this county, that Judge Harville fits right in because he clearly stated that he was not for change, and that he wanted to make the employees of the County Government's jobs better.

     The old gripe of mine about appointed officials vs. elected officials still rings true, as is so easily demonstrated by the fact that The Honorable Judge Harville very conspicuously said nothing about making Red River County a better place for the people, or the voters, which make up the constituents he is charged to represent.