Galveston County Commissioners voted 4-1 on Monday to adopt new Justice of the Peace Precinct maps, reducing the number of county JP precincts from eight to four. The current Precinct 6, which covers Bolivar Peninsula, will be consolidated into the new Precinct 3, which includes parts of Galveston Island and mid-county. The criteria used in the preparation of the new maps was “to look at the case load of the judges and the efficient use of the county tax dollars used in administering those offices.” According to Ryan Dennard, Precinct 1 County Commissioner and strong advocate of the new maps, this balances case load among judges, saves the county over $1M per year, and respects federal requirements for redistricting.
Several Bolivar residents voiced their opposition to the new maps. Bolivar is geographically isolated with a small voting population. Consolidated with other areas of Galveston County, Bolivar would have no influence in electing a Justice of the Peace or Constable from the peninsula. Due to the unique issues with the Bolivar Peninsula, “why can’t you just leave that precinct (on the peninsula) as it is?” questioned Robert Morgan.
“We need a JP and Constable that live (on Bolivar) and know our unique situation,” said Mac McDonald, President of the Bolivar Chamber of Commerce. “If you take away our opportunity for us to elect our own you will be doing both areas a big injustice because both areas have different problems.”
Constable William Comeaux added, “I think it is not very prudent, I think it does the citizens an injustice, it is very close minded and just downright disgusting that the only criteria you would use to draw the maps is based on numbers of case load rather than the availability of the court’s elected officials to see their constituents.”
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The rental season is about over thank goodness, and maybe with a change in precinct from 3 to 6 a constable and JP change could be a good a thing. The politics on Bolivar could change for the best with outsiders not political connected to certain privileged —. Maybe we could even rid our beaches of atv’s, huge rov’s ,rav’s which (mostly renters) bring in. They don’t stop at signs, cut through our propertiess, cause damage to our springler systems. Maybe different constables could enforce the laws. (1)one the above mentioned all must be trailered to the beach as it is against the law to drive them in our subdivisions which are county roads,see any trailers on the beach, see any tickets being written. A CHANGE MAY BE GOOD
It’s a shame we don’t receive the same consideration as other county residents.We need our people in place,that know our areas needs.I know saving money always looks good on paper but not when services become out of reach for many residents.
Commissioner Dennard: Are you selling us out?
Why was this topic (that only you and elites on the Island/Mainland knew about) not brought up in your Town Meeting?
WE would like to hear PUBICLY from you as to why you wanted to close the Bolivar Court.
Where is Precinct 3 located? How far would residents have to travel to do their business? Will Precinct 6 still vote on the peninsula? We are paying higher property taxes because we do not have the business from our sales tax since IKE to pay our way and now they want to take our JP from us? We need attention from the county in simple ways road construction, street lights, street signs that have never been replaced. Galveston County is going to far.
I think this decision should have been giving to the people of the Bolivar Penisula to vote on, not for Commissioners who live on the otherside of the ferry. This is not in anyone’s favor but to yours. We need our judge, constable an any other law enforcement. Your going to remove them from our area.. so what’s next remove the deputies too? You want to save money, but at the cost of leaving residents without protection.
A concerned Galveston County resident
Cheryl Revia
I think it is a shame that at least the commissioner that represents the peninsula had no imput from the residences of Bolivar. As a past president of the Texas Justice of the Peace and Constables Association and vice-president of the Texas Association of Counties, I have seen redistricting, as this, and it never works to the benefit of the people the JP Courts were established to serve. There were, and are, a number of ways the commissioners could have approached this, with just a little imput of the Bolivar citizens.
Neighbors, always remember, the power of the ballot box.
Thank you, Bob, Mac and William for speaking out on our behalf. It is a shame to lose our power and our fine JP Pat Vondra.
Sincerely,
Linda C. Elissalde