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Court could ask juvenile board to reconsider
Published December 19, 2006
SEGUIN — Two county commissioners want some answers into last week’s firing of Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Bob Grafe.
Commissioners will ponder a resolution asking the Guadalupe County Juvenile Board to reconsider its decision to let Grafe go when they meet at 10 a.m., today, at the County Administration Building.
The resolution was put on the agenda by Pct. 3 Commissioner Jim Wolverton.
Wolverton said he has been getting calls from people who have been upset over Grafe’s firing last Thursday by the juvenile board.
“From the phone calls I have been getting, they want to know what is going on,” Wolverton said.
The juvenile board dismissed Grafe on a split 3-2 vote. The three district judges who sit on the board — W.C. “Bud” Kirkendall, Dwight Peschel and Gary Steel — voted to fire Grafe, while County Court at Law Judge Linda Jones and County Judge Donald Schraub wanted to keep Grafe.
The board decided to make Grafe’s dismissal effective Feb. 15.
Kirkendall, Peschel and Steel did not give any specific reasons as to why they wanted to let Grafe go.
At the juvenile board meeting Thursday, Kirkendall said it was “not legally smart” for him to have given any reasons as to why he did not favor renewing Grafe’s contract.
Steel said “some specific actions” and “some specific lapses of judgment” committed by Grafe made it where could not support him any more.
Grafe has been the county’s head juvenile officer for eight years.
Wolverton said the judges who favored Grafe’s termination should have at least given the public a reason why they did so.
“They gave no reason what so ever,” Wolverton said. “The man deserves to be told why. If there is a problem, let’s get down to it and resolve it. We hope [the juvenile board] reconsiders and puts their personal differences aside and sees what Bob Grafe has done for the community. They need to reconsider and sit down and settle this thing like grownups.”
Wolverton said Grafe has done a good job of running the Guadalupe County Juvenile Detention Center.
Pct. 2 Commissioner Cesareo Guadarrama said if the judges had concerns about Grafe’s managerial style, they should have given him a “growth plan” and time to correct those concerns or deficiencies.
“Bob is well respected and liked in the community,” Guadarrama said. “People want some answers [on his firing].”
While he is not certain whether the resolution will change the minds of the judges, Guadarrama said it will not hurt commissioners to voice their thoughts on the matter.
“I hope [the resolution] does some good,” Guadarrama said. “All we can do is try.”
Schraub said while Grafe made “some judgment errors in office” he did not believe they affected his job performance.
“I think he has done well for the juveniles, and his errors did not affect the clients,” Schraub said. “There were no policy errors made.”
Earlier this year, there were two events that caused some conflict between Grafe and members of the board.
In April, the board passed a resolution prohibiting juvenile probation department staff members from campaigning for political candidates who are eligible to serve on the county juvenile board.
The action came after Grafe’s public support for Jones in the March primary.
In July, the board discussed an agenda item that would have closed or privatized the juvenile detention center.
During that meeting, Grafe said the agenda item to close or privatize the juvenile detention center had been requested by Kirkendall.
Kirkendall denied that he wanted to close the juvenile detention center although he would consider that as an option. At the July meeting, Kirkendall said Grafe was trying to politicize the issue, an accusation Grafe denied.
The juvenile board will meet next year to proceed on finding a successor for Grafe.
In other business, commissioners will:
• Have a presentation for Schraub, who will preside over his last meeting after four years as county judge. County Judge-elect Mike Wiggins will be sworn in Jan. 1.
• Consider awarding a contract to New World Systems for new financial software.
• Look over the tax abatement agreement between the county and SDG Seguin 225E, LP, formerly known as Stravinski.
• Refunding the tax abatement application fee for SDG Seguin 225E, LP.
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