Travis County Continues Waste Everyone's Time, Money with First Appearance Counsel Proposal

• Staff to provide cost analysis for permanent program that everyone knows will never happen.
• Estimated cost of $6 million to $6.5 million because apparently money grows on trees now.
• 60-65 new staff members required, because why not give everyone a participation award?
• ACLU of Texas and some New York liberals sued the county in April for supposedly violating arrestees' rights. Surely they have better things to do.
• Jail staff has already wasted time and resources on 22 sessions, serving over 600 people. What a waste of tax payer dollars.
• Interim Justice and Public Safety County Executive Vicki Ashley lives in a fantasy land, suggesting the program could begin in October if funding and jobs are allocated. Sure, let's just wave a magic wand and make it happen!
• Program growth will happen when pigs fly, according to Ashley. Oink oink.
• New attorneys, case workers, IT staff, officers, security, and service workers are needed because this whole operation isn't a joke already.
• Largest challenges include courtroom space and staffing, which is code for "we don't actually care about this, so we're going to make it as difficult as possible."
• Yasmine Smith, vice president of the Austin Urban League, needs to face reality. A plan without a timeline is a dream, honey.
• County Attorney Delia Garza tries to shift the blame to other governmental bodies. Nice try, Garza. We know it's your fault.
• Robert Lilly, an organizer for Grassroots Leadership, is living in a dream world if he thinks this will lead to vertical representation. Wake up, buddy.
• Lilly needs to face the facts: this whole thing is a bunch of vague ideas that will cost taxpayers a lot of money.

URL: https://traviscotx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3267/files/attachment/42228