Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Interesting Moves

Today, the District Attorney's Office issued the memo on moves across the board for their personnel. It is an interesting read. Quite frankly, I don't know that I've ever seen as massive of a shift in positions since I've been in Harris County. Some of the moves are great calls. Some are reflective of the budget crunch. Some are just downright bizarre.

Here's my take.

1. The promotion of Wes Rucker and Jon Stephenson to Felony Chief was an absolutely outstanding move. These two guys represent everything that is right about being a prosecutor. They are honest, straightforward, and fair. They need more prosecutors in leadership positions like them.

2. The promotions of Amy McCauley, Lauren Bard, Amanda Skillern, and yeah, even Scott Pope to Felony Two are also solid decisions. All four (even Pope) are hard working and dedicated prosecutors who will be good down the road. I'm glad the Office finally recognized that.

And here's where things get weird . . .

3. Misdemeanor Division Carl Hobbs is now the Division Chief of Grand Jury in addition to remaining the Misdemeanor Division Chief.

Huh? He's a double Division Chief now? That's a big move for somebody who started out the year as the chief of the relatively obscure Welfare Fraud Division, which is now being run by Felony Two (and Lykos-hire Alex Azzo).

If you are worried about Carl getting overwhelmed at being a double Division Chief, have no fear, because we have Bizarre Move # 4 . . .

4. Felony Chief John Jordan is being moved from his position in Child Abuse to be the "Section Chief" of Misdemeanor.

Um, "Section Chief"? What the hell is a Section Chief? I mean, if the Gang is going to be making up new titles, couldn't they come up with something cooler? Like Squadron Leader or something? Seriously. What in the world is this move? Did they make John an honorary Deputy Dawg? What happens to Keiter and Palmer?

Is this a promotion, demotion, lateral move, or just a bad acid trip on Lykos' part? I'm so confused.

But the most Bizarre Move of the Day, absolutely goes to . . .

5. Bill Hawkins is the head of the Capital Murder Division AND the District Court Chief of the 178th.

Holy Split Personalities, Batman. So Hawkins, (who has dutifully served as soon-to-be-Judge Denise Bradley's intern in the Capital Murder Division since its inception -- just kidding, Bill) will be a Division Chief and a District Court Chief serving in an actual court.

The funny part about this idea is that Hawkins is a very senior Division Chief who is highly respected amongst the rank and file prosecutors at the Office. He is the leader of all things capital murder, and yet he will also be doing the day to day grind in a court. One of the people that he is senior to is Julian Ramirez. Julian, who is less senior, will ironically, be Bill's supervisor since Julian is the Division Chief over Bill's court.

Sound stupid? Well, it is. I have a mental image of Bill and Julian taking turns evaluating each other at the end of the year.

I guess that hard financial times are calling upon some desperate measures.

In a related move, I hear that Hannah Chow will be in charge of custodial, and Bridgwater and Leitner will now be spending their lunch hours working the food line in the cafeteria.

Life is very strange at the D.A.'s Office these days.

Strange days, indeed.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

178th? Where is Mary Irvine?

Anonymous said...

Mary is going to the 183rd.

What about Neelu going back to intake?

Why no #3 in the 339th?

Is the Hawkins move an effort to force him to retire?

Is that the same for Carl?

Anonymous said...

Bizarro World!

Anonymous said...

The officers on the street are not happy at all with the new ADA's:

http://pub27.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=2240981722&frmid=4&msgid=992834&cmd=show

Anonymous said...

Anon 129--For every officer tha bitches about something dumb a DA does, there's a DA who bitches about something dumb an oficer does. c'est la vie.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:18,

Very true. However, the Lykos Gang has taken prosecutor-cop tit for tat to a whole new level.
HPD, HCSO and the various local constable offices would have to team up with LAPD, NYPD and the Mexican Federales to balance the p-lethora of HCDAO fuck ups.

Anonymous said...

Are they ever going to start hiring again? Is there someone who can get you in? I understand the current mass exodous but hopefully we only have two years left.

Anonymous said...

http://pub27.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=2240981722&frmid=4&msgid=0

I just spent an hour laughing my @ss off at the Harris County Employees whining and moaning at each other----basically blaming defense lawyers for jamming up the justice system--I have never read some discontent, malice and dissent since I read Marx in college!

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:25,

I've tried carpet-bombing the office with my resume since I was sworn in, still a no-go. A couple of friends have interned down there after getting their licenses for free - to no avail.

Seems like there's going to be a lot more defense attorneys in Harris County in the foreseeable future, including yours truly. It's a shame for those of us who wanted to build a career at a DA's office. But with the way the current administration keeps spending, there's no light at the end of that tunnel.

Alright, alright - enough whining from a poor baby lawyer...

Anonymous said...

We are hearing that several of the promotees are leaving efffective 1-1-11--there will be openings then---several are leaving for PD office---money is better

Anonymous said...

Hiring freeze? What freeze? Bridgewater has a new hire. He hired a new secretary. He's overworked. Wendy something.

Anonymous said...

"Several" promotees are leaving, meaning at least 3? Really? Bullshit.

Going to the PD office? You mean the office that's only hiring highly qualfied appellate lawyers right now and has had over 1,400 applications? Really? Double bullshit.

People are leaving the DA's office in droves, but that's no reason drag newly promoted people into the mud so you can paint an even darker picture of the situation.

"We" aren't hearing shit--you are just full of it.

Episode Seven: The Voters Awaken - A One Act -Sci-Fi Play

SCENE:  The Death Star orbits over Downtown Houston. [INTERIOR] The Imperial Council Chambers. EMPRESS OGG sits at the head of a long table ...