Editor’s Note: This is the third installment of “Our Stories,” a new WOW Dems series dedicated to telling personal stories related to the critical issues of our time – beginning with the COVID-19 crisis. This story comes from a WOW Dems board member who’s holding the Collin County Commissioners Court to account. Share your personal story at communications@wowdems.org.

The Collin County Commissioners Court has recently made some pretty unsettling headlines. First, the court (specifically Judge Chris Hill) issued ambiguous preventative COVID-19 guidelines. Then, Hill – who’s criticized precautionary COVID-19 measures as “bad for the economy” – clashed with a local mayor who wanted to put the health of his citizens first. This sparked outrage among citizens literally fearful for their lives. Finally, Hill was the only county judge absent on a recent 10-county COVID-19 call for which the nine other county judges managed to make time. (Spurring Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins to publicly beseech Hill to do more to protect Collin County citizens from the very real COVID-19 threat.)

With an ignorant president setting a terrible precedent for every conservative elected official to follow, we’re not surprised the likes of Hill are using this crisis as an opportunity to appeal to businesses and fellow conservatives who view COVID-19 precautions as a liberal conspiracy. However, we’re not going to sit back and let them get away with their dangerous actions as our nation’s number of confirmed cases rises every single day. WOW Dems Candidates Committee Co-Chair Sarah Mitchell, who’s also active in the Moms Demand Action movement, has gone head-to-head with Collin County’s Commissioners Court on several occasions. Here, she tells us why this court can’t be trusted, why its members and its judge need to be unseated, and info on what we can do NOW to stop the Hill contingent from further endangering people’s lives.

Sarah’s Story

For decades, the Collin County Commissioners Court has been operating without transparency or much oversight, including having public hearings at 1:30 p.m. on weekdays – when most people can’t attend. They refuse to raise taxes (which may sound great in theory, but spells doom for social services – which the Collin County Commissioners Court leaves up to the cities). They have dangerously underfunded and understaffed our Health Department; we have a staff of only 60, while neighboring counties have hundreds of Health Department staffers.

What does a Commissioners Court do?

The Commissioners Court is the most important court you’ve never heard of. They control practically everything Texas counties, and all our 254 counties are overseen by a Commissioners Court. Four commissioners, elected from a quarter of the county’s population, serve on the court alongside the county judge.

The Collin County Commissioners Court was bad enough before their COVID-19 response. Before the pandemic, our concerns regarding the court centered primarily around the origin of its agenda items and whether the court was following Texas Open Meetings Act laws regarding public deliberation and advance posting of the court’s agendas. Over the years, many concerned Collin County citizens have been subjected to confusing schedules, conflicting or overlapping meeting times, lengthy meetings in which the public wasn’t heard at all, and multiple instances of executive sessions (private sessions not open to the public).

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic and Hill’s time to really shine as an inept judge. Here’s how.

  • Part of the Court’s job is to appoint experts to advise the court. The people Hill picked for his Health Care Advisory Board aren’t physicians; in fact, one’s public Facebook page proudly proclaims, “COVID 19 INFECTS FREEDOM”. Lifepath, the county healthcare agency, was completely overwhelmed even before the pandemic began. Still, he’s directing concerned citizens to the already-overwhelmed Lifepath.
  • On March 12, Hill posted on NextDoor that he was holding a Faith Community Coronavirus COVID-19 Briefing that was not open to the general public or members of the media, but instead reserved for clergy and ministry leaders.
  • Though hundreds, if not thousands, of people have asked Hill keep us informed regarding COVID-19 testing and whether we have enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and hospital beds, he’s opted to instead remove multiple comments and block certain commenters on his official Facebook page. We DESERVE to know these facts! If we’re working our frontline healthcare professionals to death, some of them will get sick. What are we doing to prepare for that? What are we doing to prepare for any of it?
  • The Professional Firefighters of McKinney sent Hill a letter stating they “strongly support the city of McKinney… in their decision to establish the shelter-in-place order.  Collin County Judge Chris Hill’s ‘stay at home, all businesses are essential’ order is not only confusing, but it is reckless and dangerous to the health and well-being of first responders, the city of McKinney, Collin County, and the DFW Metroplex.”

Hill and his Court are serious dangers to our community, friends, and we need to do something about it.

What can you do to help?

According to the CovidActNow.org model, shelter-in-place must be implemented in Texas between April 2 and April 7 to prevent hospital overload. With no action, Texas is looking at a more than 70% infection rate, hospitals overloaded by April 16, and 583,000 deaths. 

We really need to buckle down and keep a close watch on our governmental entities. We absolutely MUST contact Hill (chill@collincountytx.gov, 972-424-1460 ext. 4631, or fax 972-548-4699) about the unacceptable job he’s doing, especially regarding the COVID-19 crisis.

For those of you who don’t live in Collin County, check out your own county Commissioners Court. A simple internet search should lead you directly to their official pages, where you can learn about their members, their meetings, and more. Attend your county’s Commissioners Court meetings to make your voice heard and ensure they’re following the latest Open Meetings laws.

Circling back to Collin County – though Hill won’t be up for re-election until 2022, we can work like demons NOW to elect new commissioners in November. The good news:? Two exciting, Democratic women candidates are running for the Collin County Commissioners Court this year: Courtney Leigh Brooks for Place 1 and Dianne C. Mayo for Place 3. They’re going to need our help, so fire up those checkbooks and get ready to knock on doors.

If you want to truly impact the Commissioners Court, please join the Liberal Women’s Action Network (LWAN), which has a Collin County Commissioners Court Meeting Watch Sign Up. Our mission is to monitor local governmental entities (like the Court) and activate whenever necessary to ensure our democracy remains solid. Both women and men can join LWAN. Please also check the Court’s agendas when they’re released (the Friday before each Monday meeting).

Democracies die in darkness. Let’s spread some light.