Unfair Park from p4 theft worth less than $150,000, The Guard- ian reported. He also faces a count of engag- ing in organized criminal activity. The county judge could spend up to 20 years behind bars if convicted on the latter charge, plus up to 10 years per each count of theft. Jones’ office did not return the Observer’s request for comment. Loving County is rich in oil and gas but is otherwise pretty desolate, earning the dis- tinction of being the least-populous county in the continental U.S. It’s a roughly 7-hour drive west of Dallas. Jones earns roughly $133,000 annually and has worked as county judge for around 15 years. He was arrested along with three other men following an investigation by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers As- sociation. The Guardian reported that Jones and his alleged accomplices have been accused of selling stray cattle. They purportedly flouted procedures in Texas’ agricultural code, which mandate people tell sheriffs about wandering cattle so that they can be re- united with their rightful owners. Jones has apparently made some ac- quaintances hot under the collar, such as election lawyer Susan Hays. “You can’t make this shit up,” she said, speaking with NBC. “It’s a pain in the ass to round up cattle and take them to market. And then to risk real trouble for it? It’s just asinine to me.” Jones’ nephew, Loving County constable Brandon Jones, told NBC that his uncle was on an extended power trip. “He’s had free rein for the entire time since he’s been the judge,” the nephew said. “That’s given him a sense of power and im- punity that he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants. Even the feeling of self- righteousness. That he can do no wrong.” ▼ HOUSING I LEAD EXPOSURE CAN CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS, BUT PROBLEMS PERSIST AS REPAIRS GO UNDONE. BY JACOB VAUGHN LINGERING LEAD n 2019, the Department of Housing and Urban Development gave Dallas $2.3 mil- lion to remove lead-based paint, as well as other health and safety hazards, from homes across the city. Dallas threw in its own money too, $735,000, to implement the program, which aimed to service 121 homes. “This funding is incredibly important be- cause childhood lead poisoning is the most universal yet preventable environmental health issue in the United States,” Brandon Ayala, the city’s grant manager, said in a press release at the time. “Our goal is to tar- get families living in homes they suspect may have lead-based paint, and reduce the risk of exposure.” Today, all of the grant money meant to 66 administer the Healthy Homes Lead Reduc- tion Program – $200,000 – has been spent and zero homes have been worked on. It’s also uncertain whether the program will reach anywhere near its initial goal of serv- ing more than 100 homes. Unsplash Children exposed to lead can suffer from nervous system and kidney damage, learn- ing disabilities, as well as speech, language and behavioral problems. Lead exposure can also cause high blood pressure and preg- nancy complications. The issue was raised in the last few min- utes of a recent Housing and Homelessness Solutions committee meeting. As the meet- ing was wrapping up, committee member and council person Cara Mendelsohn asked if they could go over the performance met- rics for the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization. “There seem to be a lot of programs and not a lot of homes being repaired, and I wanted to know specifically on the lead- based paint program, how many homes have been remediated since we got the grant and how much we spent on administration,” Mendelsohn said at the meeting. The number of homes remediated was zero and all of the administration money had been spent, according to the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization. The program was meant to serve households making 80% or less of the area median income and with children age 6 or younger. The home also had to be built before 1978, had to have been structurally sound and have a clear title. “To date we have remediated zero homes with the lead-based grant program,” Thor Erickson, one of the city’s area redevelop- ment managers, said. “We do have our first homes that have received bid walks last week. We’re preparing service requests for agreements last week, so our first homes will start here very soon.” Ten homes have been chosen for bid walks. Mendelsohn estimated that of the 10, only a fraction would actually get picked for service. “I’m concerned that you have done zero homes,” Mendelsohn said. “You’re going to in- spect 10, which my experience is, for every 10 you inspect, you’re probably doing two.” Erickson assured her that all 10 houses had already been inspected for lead, they’re eligible for the program and are expected to move forward with lead abatement. So, maybe there are 10 homes in the pipe- line that will actually receive the service the grant money was meant to provide. But Mendelsohn asked Erickson how the de- A 71-year old judge was arrested for rustling cattle in Loving County. partment will reach its initial goal of servic- ing 121 homes. The answer: more marketing. “The marketing plan is we’ve worked with the communications department to re- fresh some advertising, [and] do another round of mailers,” Erickson explained. “We’ll also do some targeted outreach with door hangers, and every time we do con- struction we plan to do neighborhood walks. So, when we’ve identified homes that do have lead and test positive and we know there’s young kids, we plan to go door to door on those streets.” According to the city, more than half of all privately owned occupied homes built before 1978 likely contain lead-based paint. An application for the program can be found on the city’s website. Dallas is also missing its marks on several other home repair efforts, according to a May 23 memo detailing the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization’s progress. Work on 80 homes was expected to be completed this year though the Home Im- provement and Preservation Program. To date, 15 homes have been completed, with 45 under construction and 42 others in prede- velopment processes. Staff also thought that 100 homes could re- ceive service through the West Dallas Tar- geted Repair Program this year. Only 12 homes have been completed in the program, and now the department says it’s “unlikely staff will meet this goal due to the lack of applicants.” Another 14 homes were supposed to be worked on through the Tenth Street Tar- geted Repair Program. So far, that program has repaired zero homes. ▼ CITY HALL A SOBERING EXPERIENCE RESIDENTS SAY THEY’VE BEEN LEFT OUT OF THE CITY’S PLANS FOR NEW PROJECTS TO HELP THE HOMELESS. BY JACOB VAUGHN D allas County and the city want to transform three properties into places that can serve “our most vul- nerable population,” Christine Crossley said, meaning homeless residents. But some residents living near the properties aren’t so pleased with the plan. Last week, Crossley, the director of the Office of Homeless Solutions, shared possi- ble plans for the three properties with the Dallas Housing and Homelessness Solutions committee. Some of the proposed plans for three properties — 2929 S. Hampton Road, 4150 Independence Drive and 12000 Green- ville Avenue — have become hot-button is- sues to surrounding residents, and subsequently, their council members. One of the potential uses for the Hamp- ton Road property has stirred up contro- versy among some residents in District 3 and 4. The plan, as detailed by Crossley, included room for a “sobering center.” Casey Thomas, District 3’s City Council member, said to Crossley and Deputy City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, “I want to emphasize, these are potential or suggested uses at each of these locations, correct? Noth- ing has been determined?” That was correct. Thomas said he and others on the com- mittee received emails from residents con- cerned about what each site was going to be used for. Many of those emails were likely about the proposed sobering center, which seemingly no one in the community asked for or knew about. The plan for 12000 Greenville Avenue, a property in the north- ern part of the city, seemed to be less exten- sive, helping “our most vulnerable” in a more abstract way. Some residents and committee members took issue with it all. Crossley said an annual census of the homeless population found that on any given night there are 4,410 people living on the street in Dallas and Collin counties, “representing the lowest count since 2019.” “While the disruption of homeless ser- vices resulting from the pandemic and win- ter weather impacted the count this year, these trends are a direct result of the com- munity’s commitment to scaling proven housing interventions,” Crossley said. “The rate at which people exit to permanent housing is at an all time high, and we have three times more capacity to rapidly rehouse people than we did in 2019. That said, we know that there is a dramatic need for more supportive services, including that of afford- able and supportive housing.” The city partnered with the county to help fill those needs at the three properties; 2929 S. Hampton Road, the site of a former hospital, and 4150 Independence Drive, a former hotel, were approved for purchase by the City Council earlier this year. On March 29, there was a town hall re- garding the Hampton Road property. Now, a group is being put together to work on the project and determine its best use. Crossley said they want to start looking for potential bidders in September, hoping the council will approve the project in early 2023. The Independence Drive property will move for- ward on roughly the same timeline, while the scope of the 12000 Greenville Avenue property will be determined in September. Dallas County is also throwing in funds it got from the American Rescue Plan Act to help pay for the projects. The Hampton Road property is 12 acres MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 JUNE 2–8, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com
