This Week

Hopes for raises in the Donley County Sheriff’s Department were realized last Wednesday when the Commissioners’ Court passed its budget for 2002-2003.

The $1.8 million budget was approved by a unanimous vote in a special session of the court and includes significant raises for all personnel within the sheriff’s department.

Deputies’ salaries will be increasing from $18,680 to $24,000, and dispatcher/jailers hourly wage will increase from less than $7 per hour to $8 per hour. The budget also includes more money to pay for overtime hours. The sheriff’s salary will increase from $20,834.88 to $28,500.

“I’m really happy,” said Sheriff Butch Blackburn. “I want to thank the commissioners, the city aldermen, and all the citizens who supported us.”

Previously, Donley County law officers were among the lowest paid in the state, and Blackburn had been ranked as the fourth lowest paid sheriff among Texas’ 254 counties.

“We will still be on the low end, but at least this will get us off the bottom,” Blackburn said.

“We can now compete with counties around us that are the same size, and we’ll be able keep good help.”

The sheriff said he has only had one person voice opposition to the raises, although he knows there are more people than that who are not happy with the increases.

Still, the department has received a great deal of support from other citizens, including two who spoke before the commissioners’ court last month and asked for their taxes to be raised in order to pay the deputies more.

The news of the pay raises has already had a positive impact as Blackburn says morale in his department has improved 100 percent.

Chief Deputy Randy Bond said he’s pleased with the raise and knows other deputies are also.

“It’s nice to know that people care,” said Bond, who will also be getting an extra $1,000 per year for the extra duties he performs as Blackburn’s top lieutenant. “It’s nice to have the support that we had.”

Bond said the higher salary makes it more likely that he will stay in Donley County. He’s particularly grateful that he no longer has to work two jobs to make ends meet. Previously, Bond had done part time work as investigator for the district attorney’s office.

Blackburn said his employees deserved the raise for the good job they do for the county.

“People tell me what a good job I’m doing,” he said. “Well, 90 percent of that is because of my employees. I’m very fortunate to have them.”

County Judge Jack Hall said the key to being able to raise the officers’ salaries was cooperation with the City of Clarendon.

“I think it’s really good that the city worked with the county, and we all worked together to make those raises possible,” Hall said.

Commissioners also approved slight increases in the county ad valorem rate from 0.288297 to 0.293224 and in the county special (or road and bridge) rate from 0.084637 to 0.085873. A special debt component tax rate of 0.09745 was also passed to generate revenue to pay the courthouse restoration notes and the lease of patrol cars.

The total county tax rate increased from 0.372934 to 0.476549. The levy on the average Donley County homestead will increase by $26.35.

Oral arguments before the Court of Appeals in Amarillo have been slated for September 30, 2002, in the ongoing legal battle between former constable Jimmy Swinney and Donley County.

Swinney is appealing a January summary judgment by District Judge David McCoy, who ruled in the county’s favor and said county commissioners had not abused their discretion when they set Swinney’s salary at $3,170 in December 2000.

“Mr. Swinney’s argument is that the commissioners did abuse their discretion and that Judge McCoy erred in agreeing with them,” said County Attorney Pro Tem Kaye Messer.

Messer said she continues to believe the county will prevail in the case.

“I’m still comfortable with the county’s position,” she said. “The law is clearly on our side.”

In related news, the filing deadline for citizens seeking a position as a write-in candidate on the November ballot passed on September 6, and there are no candidates for the office of Constable of Precinct 1&2. That leaves the door open for the county to abolish the office if a proposed constitutional amendment is approved, Messer said.

The proposal, HJR 2 would amend the Texas Constitution to allow the commissioners’ court of a county to declare the office of constable dormant if that office has been vacant for at least seven consecutive years, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The office could later be reactivated in the future upon a majority vote of the commissioners or by a vote of the people.

Messer said Donley County could take advantage of this because Swinney was never qualified to hold the constable’s office and Gerald Mullanax, who was appointed after Swinney’s resignation, resigned without qualifying. As such, the office has technically been vacant since 1971.

Swinney won a write-in campaign in November 2000 to fill the position of constable in Donley County’s Precincts 1&2, which had been vacant for more than three decades. He took office in January 2000 and sued six months later. In September of last year, Swinney resigned after he failed the test to become a certified Texas peace officer.

Tickets are on sale now for the seventh annual Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff to be held next Saturday, September 28, at the Saints’ Roost Museum.

Museum officials say 14 wagons are signed up to compete for top prizes, and the day will provide great family entertainment for all ages.

The gate opens at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast and lunch concessions provided by the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce. The tradeshow starts at 10 a.m., and museum tours will be available throughout the day.

Patrick Robertson and KEFH-FM will provide music beginning at 11 a.m. Live entertainment begins at 2 p.m., and performances are scheduled all day and include Dan Hall of Clarendon, Thut Creek and Cozy Parsons of the Red River Steakhouse in McLean, Oscar Auker of Clarendon, the Saints’ Roost Band, Christine Walls of Quitaque, Gary Alan Bruce of Pampa, and Buddy Payne of McLean.

The Chuckwagon meal will be served at 5 p.m. with a menu of chicken fried steak, potatoes, beans, and cobbler.

At 6:30, the museum will raffle off a pair of James Owens Handmade Boots, and the cookoff awards will be presented at 6:45.

The Clarendon College Theatre Department will present, “The Rat Catcher’s Daughter or Death Valley Daze,” at 7 p.m.

Admission to the all-day event is free. Tickets for the authentic Chuckwagon supper are $10 each and can be purchased in advance at Henson’s in Clarendon by calling 806/874-3517. Boot tickets are also available at Henson’s or from any museum board member.

On Sunday morning, cowboy church will be held under the tent at the museum with preaching by Shannon Hall of Loco, Okla.

All proceeds will benefit the Saints’ Roost Museum’s continuing efforts to preserve the history of Donley County for future generations. The museum is housed in the former Adair Hospital just off State Hwy. 70 South.

More than 240 citizens filled the Bairfield Activity Center last Wednesday, September 11, to honor the men and women who protect and serve Donley County.

The ceremony was opened by local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, who presented the colors and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Dan and Brittany Hall sang the National Anthem, and Charla Crump gave the invocation.

Chamber of Commerce President Jim Blackerby welcomed the crowd.

“We’re celebrating those who protect and serve us locally,” he said. “They show us on a daily basis that they are our heroes.”

Lacey Austin, a Clarendon College student from Lockney, recited a brief poem.

Clarendon Mayor Tex Selvidge and County Judge Jack Hall recognized the individuals and organizations which serve the citizens of the county. Those included the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, the Greenbelt Lake Patrol, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, the Hedley Volunteer Fire Department, the Howardwick Volunteer Fire Department, the Associated Ambulance Authority, and the Clarendon Firebelles.

David Galassi, general manger of Burlington Northern-Santa Fe’s Texas Division, offered his company’s appreciation to all the men and women who helped this spring when two BNSF trains collided outside of Clarendon.

“Thank all of you for the kindness and generosity during the collision,” Galassi said. “We witnessed many acts of heroism toward helping us and in saving our man’s life.”

Later in the evening, District Judge David McCoy delivered a patriotic address which touched on the September 11 attack of last year but focused on the extraordinary efforts of ordinary Americans and the American veteran.

“America is made what it is by American heroes,” McCoy said. “Not by the Lincolns or the Washingtons; they have their place. I’m talking about ordinary Americans like you and me.”

The judge gave several examples of ordinary people who made a difference in the lives of others and paid tribute to a high school friend who gave his life in Vietnam.

McCoy’s speech was followed by a Power Point presentation of patriotic images and a special arrangement of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” as prepared by Childress County Judge Gene Currie.

General hosts for the evening were BNSF Railroad, Clarendon College, and the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce. The event was organized by Genella Eads and Greg Henry.

Country Bloomers Flowers & Gifts and Always & Forever Harlan’s donated arrangements for the evening, and Alan Graham provided the refreshments.

Some criminals don’t take their sentences seriously, according to County Attorney Pro Tem Kaye Messer.

Such was the case of 52-year-old José Estrada who pled guilty September 10 to Driving While Intoxicated charges and was given a $1,000 fine and one year probation. Five days later, Estrada was arrested for DWI again with a 0.165 blood alcohol level – more than twice the legal limit.

Officials aren’t sure what the man’s blood alcohol level was at the time of his first arrest. Messer said the arresting officer reported he was too drunk to blow the Breathalyzer.

Estrada, who claims Clarendon as his place of residence, pled guilty to the second charge on September 16, had his probation revoked, and is now serving a nine-month jail sentence.