Waco Tribune Herald 2/9/10
McLennan County Commissioner Ray Meadows received nearly $3,000 from executives of the company building the new Jack Harwell Detention Center on State Highway 6 for his re-election campaign.
“I believe in becoming friends with anybody that does business with (the county) because we can get more out of a friend than we can from an enemy,” Ray Meadows 2010
Back in July, the Bureau of prisons owed the county ~$130,000.00 for housing federal prisoners. There was some mixup and Medicare seized the money to offset a payment made on behalf of a county employees spouse. It's pretty complicated how the county "lost" $130K.
The contract the county has with CEC is interesting in two parts.
1st the contract stipulates payment to CEC is only due if the money is actually received. Way I read it, if the money is not received, it is CEC's problem.
2nd The contract prohibits use of taxpayer money to pay for the prisoners. This fact has repeatedly been touted by the county judge who lauds the clause as a protection for taxpayers.
Seems pretty simple. It is not a county problem. Remember these are not county prisoners.
Now politicians really try to keep campaign contributors happy. Ray Meadows did exactly that by making a motion for an exception to the contract and allow using taxpayer money to cover the loss experienced by his "Friends". If that is not interesting enough, besides the $102, 435.15 bill taxpayers got, did taxpayers also pay to cover the Sheriff's $1,000.00 a month kickback?
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