"A Mental Disaster"

One of Fort Bend County's biggest issues is treatment of its citizens that have mental health disorders. The mental health services that are offered to these vulnerable folks are already strained by the current budget restraints. This is a good article that goes into what the Texas Leg is proposing for future cuts.

County Judge Lonnie Hunt from Houston County sums up the problem:

"The patients don't get the help they really need, things just keep getting worse and local taxpayers end up paying the cost to house them in jail."

This wrongheaded solution is a cost escalator for the County. It cost between $10 and $20 per day to treat a person at a community mental health center, but it cost Fort Bend County about $150 per day to treat these folks at the County Jail.

The County has set up a Mental Health Public Defender's Office so that we can identify these patients and stop them from cycling through the jail, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.

Let your legislator know how important it is to fund mental health care, so that the mental health disaster can be averted.

PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND?

Head over to Mamie George Community Center in N. Richmond this weekend. The center is holding a community fair and fun day to get the neighborhood familiar with the programs they offer. The Herald has more.

A FORCED RECESSION

The State of Texas is forcing its recession on Fort Bend County. The "Fort Bend Herald" has more.

Fort Bend County has cut the budget by 18% in the last 2 years. The County is running lean and efficient. We were expecting flat revenues or small growth. In other words, Fort Bend was coming out of the recession and was poised for growth.

Now, Austin will claim that it has balanced the budget. But what it has really done is pass it on to the Cities and Counties. Austin is too cowardly to raise revenues, so it forces its problems to the Counties, and the Counties are forced to raise revenues to pay for the State's mandates.

A shell game indeed.

Write your state rep and state senator and tell them to have courage and face the problem.

I will be posting a series on the cuts and how they could effect our tax rate. Stay tuned.

JANICEK IS NEEDVILLE CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

This is well deserved. Hat tip to the Herald.

THE JUSTICE CENTER

This is the inside dome of the new Justice Center. The building will be complete by April and move-in will be complete by mid June.

PAYBACKS ARE HELL...

Jim Russ, a noted Aggie, had a wager with Commissioner Meyers, a noted Tiger, on the outcome of the Cotton Bowl. Jim lost.

Jobs in Kendleton and West Fort Bend County

The Houston Business Journal covers it here. You can read some background about the intermodal site in Kendleton here. Once this project is complete, I expect that there could be 5,000 jobs on this 750 acres. That is exciting.