Schutze and Clay Jenkins Agree: Whatever Dallas County's Homeland Security Advisory Committee Is, It Isn't Anymore

By Robert Wilonsky Tue., Jan. 24 2012 at 5:00 PM

Categories: County Government

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This morning Schutze wrote about John Wiley Price's stalled re-appointment of New Black Panther Aaron Michaels to Dallas County's Homeland Security Advisory Committee -- "whatever the hell that's supposed to be," as Jim put it. Now comes word that Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is about to indefinitely retire that committee altogether. At next week's meeting of the commissioners court, Jenkins and Scott Greeson -- interim Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, following Jenkins's controversial dismissal of Lisa Chambers in October -- will put forward an agenda item that sidelines the HSAC for ... well, for the time being.

Says Jenkins in a statement dispatched by county spokesperson Maria Arita moments ago:

"Based on this memo and other information, I will place a briefing item on next week's agenda seeking to suspend appointments to and meetings of the HSAC committee until further notice. The briefing will not inhibit continued meetings of any of the working groups of county staff and other government professionals. "

Writes Greeson, well, he's with Schutze, which is to say: Dallas County has a number of committees that handle emergency management, and, well, he too isn't sure what the HSAC does ... or how it does whatever it is it's supposed to do whenever it does it.

After meeting with the committee in November to discuss their past role and the direction they see the committee moving towards it became apparent to me that we have multiple challenges. The first is that in the past two years the committee did meet but did not follow the protocol arranged by the by-laws. There has been little structure in regards to the committee and how they are supposed to operate. The committee also was confused on what its intent was and what it was that they were being asked to do. Committee members advised that past meetings were no more than presentations with little value to the department or to the committee itself. The committee was unsure of how to proceed. The members themselves advised that they could not remember making any recommendations or providing input to the Court in the 6 years that it has been established.

So on ice it goes. For now. Scott.greeson.suspension of HSAC

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