The Choice in Justice of the Peace Precinct 2

To All Republicans in Tarrant County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2:

Justice of the Peace Linda Davis of Precinct 2 has resigned in mid-term.  The Commissioner’s Court will make an appointment to replace her, very likely at their meeting this Tuesday, April 30.

I believe we in the party should have an advisory role in choosing Judge Davis’ replacement.  Ultimately, our formal role will be in the Republican Primary in 2014.  If we are dissatisfied with the appointment, there may be several challengers who are more acceptable.

Please read the analysis and suggested actions to take below and, if you are so moved, let Andy Nguyen know what you think.  I urge only those who live in JP Precinct 2 to contact Andy.  We need to keep this just to those in the district.

Here are some facts:

1. Although it is the whole Commissioners’ Court that makes the decision, the other members, by custom, defer to the Commissioner whose Precinct contains the JP Precinct.  Andy Nguyen will be making this choice.  He has already done phone interviews with all the qualified candidates and will choose finalists to interview in person, likely on Monday.
2. Linda Davis has tried to game the system.  Retiring in mid-term is highly unusual.  Her motive may have been to optimize her retirement income. Maybe she just is ready to go and travel with her husband Fred, as she told the Arlington Citizen-Journal. But, we re-elected her expecting she would serve the full term, but she bailed out thinking only of herself. Then, she added insult to injury by attempting to pick her replacement. When I alleged that this is what happened, neither the person she picked, nor Andy, nor Andy’s political consultant refuted my allegation.
3. More than 30 people applied but less than half are actually qualified. Among those, seven people have been identified by me as actually being Republican activists, either currently or in the past.

My Opinion:

Whoever is appointed should have bona fide Republican credentials. The appointee will have to defend the post in the primary. It should not be someone who has no real connection to the Party.  The grass roots have an interest in ensuring that our nominees share the values, interests and goals of the Party.  We should support our own over those who have not been part of us.

The appointee must also have the qualifications for the office.  There are three: good common sense (this is, after all, the ‘people’s court’ and is much less formal than higher courts); a familiarity with the law; and judicial temperament.  Perfection in these qualities is not required, but a good Justice of the Peace must possess some measure of each.

I am highly offended by Linda Davis attempting to pick her successor. It is an arrogant act and an insult to the grass roots of the Party.  Andy Nguyen will make a mistake if he agrees to go along with this behind-the-scenes game.  If Linda’s choice were qualified for the post and a true Republican activist, it would be different.  To be fair, Andy has told me he is not going to play favorites and will treat all the applicants equally.

But, I have talked to Linda’s pick and reviewed her application and letters of recommendation.  There is nothing in her application or those letters that would indicate she has the qualifications to be a Justice of the Peace.  She appears well qualified to be the CEO of a local charity, but that is all.  When we talked she repeated Linda’s previous campaign theme that this is one of the busiest JP courts and she has the energy to handle the caseload.  She never indicated she understood the qualifications for the office.  Although she is the daughter of a prominent conservative businessman in Arlington, her only past Republican activity is having joined our two local Republican Women’s clubs and volunteered to be an officer in one, but only in 2012.  This is a Johnny-come-lately event that has all the earmarks of being suggested by Linda Davis in an attempt to give the woman some Republican credibility.  I’m sorry, I’m not buying it.

Fortunately, seven applicants have Republican credentials.  Most of them, in my opinion, are qualified.  I’ll give a brief rundown:

Five are or have been very active in the party. Charna Blumberg, Steve Willey, Ward Hansen, Bruce Hammond and Barbara Nash all have been active for twenty years or more and have served as Precinct Chair at some point and participated in our convention process.  Steve and Ward were more active in the 1990s than in recent years but I know them both well and can vouch for their commitment to the party.  Charna, Bruce and Barbara have been very active throughout the years and many of you know them well.  Barbara has served on the Arlington School Board and City Council as well as a term in the State House. All of these have strong primary voting records.

The other two, Melody Paradise and William Nolen have had less length of involvement but I know them both to be strong Republicans.  Melody is currently Mayor of Pantego and she was more active in the Party about a decade ago than in recent years.  William is younger and only recently become very active but he is a lifelong Republican.

In terms of qualifications, I regard Steve Willey, Charna Blumberg and Bruce Hammond to be in the top tier.  Ward Hansen, Melody Paradise and William Nolen are also qualified but in my judgment are a bit less so, but I could be proved wrong.  I would be pleased if Andy picked any one of these six.  In my opinion, my friend Barbara Nash is more suited to a legislative role than the bench.

I have talked with Andy and told him that good qualifications are the first criteria he should look at. He agrees.  I told him it is also important the appointee have strong Republican credentials to ensure they have the best chance of winning the primary.  He understands.  I also strongly objected to the idea of Linda Davis trying to pick her successor.  He heard me.

If you agree with me, I want to suggest three possible actions you could take to influence Andy’s choice. Below I list his email addresses, a link to his facebook page, along with the office phones.  Here are the possibilities and you could choose more than one:

1. Pick your favorite candidate and advocate on their behalf.
2. Let Andy know he should pick an applicant with strong Republican credentials and leave it at that or give him choices among those you like best.
3. If you object to Linda Davis’ attempt to choose her successor, let Andy know and suggest he pick someone else.

Or, you may have a better idea than these.  In any event, let Andy know what you think:

Andy’s campaign email:  andy@andynguyennow.com

Andy’s office email:  commissionerprecinct2@tarrantcounty.com

Andy’s facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/andynguyenpersonal?fref=ts

Andy’s office phones:  817-548-3900 (Arlington)  817-473-5130 (Mansfield)

It is probably best to send an email.  If so, please keep it brief, he may get a lot of emails and he has little time to make a choice. If you don’t mind, please copy me on the email at my Reagan.com email below.  Or you can send me feedback or post a comment below.

Thank you,

Bill Eastland

Precinct Chair, 2168

State Republican Executive Committeeman, Senate District 9

817-265-9563

eastland@reagan.com