Feb 28, 2007 6:55 pm US/Central
Texas Youth Commission Chairman Replaced
AUSTIN (AP) ―
Gov. Rick Perry replaced the chairman of the board for the troubled Texas Youth Commission on Wednesday, the same day Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst angrily demanded that the entire board be fired.
Perry also has asked the board to replace the acting executive director with a top official from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Texas Senate, over which Dewhurst presides, was unexpectedly scheduled to reconvene late Wednesday to address the concerns.
The moves come a day after an emotional hearing about investigations that found high-ranking officials at the West Texas State School in Pyote had repeated sexual contact with inmates.
Perry cannot kick a board member off the panel, spokesman Ted Royer said. But his decision to remove Pete C. Alfaro as chairman sends a strong signal of his displeasure with the agency's actions.
"This agency has not been headed in the right direction, and that needs to change," Royer said.
Commission spokesman Tim Savoy did not return a telephone call seeking comment. The Associated Press also left a message at a telephone number belonging to a Pete C. Alfaro in Baytown, where the former chairman used to be mayor.
Board vice chairman Donald R. Bethel will replace Alfaro as chairman, Royer said. And Perry wants TDCJ Deputy Director Ed Owens to serve as acting executive director.
Those job duties have been handled by the agency's general counsel since former executive director Dwight Harris resigned last week as the abuse allegations surfaced in the media.
An internal investigation found that many prison staffers had complained about the abuse to their immediate bosses and to officials in Austin, but for more than a year, no one in charge did anything to stop it.
A Texas Rangers investigation in early 2005 found that the prison's assistant superintendent and the school's principal had repeated sexual contact with inmates.
Neither of the investigations has resulted in criminal charges, although state Sen. John Whitmire said a special prosecutor is on the case. The officials allegedly involved in the sexual activity resigned in 2005.
Earlier Wednesday, Dewhurst passionately called on Perry to appoint a conservator to purge the agency of people who covered up the sexual abuse of inmates. Doing so would result in the firing of all board members.
"I want the problem solved," he told reporters, pounding his fist on a podium set up on the press table on the Senate floor. "This is not right."
Dewhurst spokesman Rich Parsons said he could not immediately comment on Perry's actions.
The lieutenant governor suggested he and House Speaker Tom Craddick may convene a meeting of the legislative audit committee, which can recommend that the governor appoint of a conservator in cases of gross financial mismanagement.
Royer was cool to the prospects of Perry appointing a conservator but said the governor wants the board to hire an inspector general to independently investigate every aspect of the agency.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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