Letter to the Editor

Editor,

I am writing to express my utter frustration and outrage regarding the recent appointment of a replacement for Judge Millie Thompson at the Hays County Court at Law No. 3.

In a vote of 3-2, the court voted in favor of a white male with no judicial experience over an extremely qualified Hispanic female with an immaculate record of 24 years of service on the bench.

Why would a court vote to install someone with no experience over someone with experience? You decide.

What we know is that the candidate that was passed over is Linda Ann Rodriguez, the first Hispanic Prosecutor in Hays County. She served the county admirably, dealing fairly with civil cases such as probation of wills, family guardianship and more. She was the co-founder of the Hays County Veterans Court and she was the recipient of an award by the City of San Marcos as a Civil Rights Trail Blazer.

As a matter of fact, Judge Rodriguez was actually presiding as the fill-in judge for the vacancy and assisted the county at the very moment the commissioners voted to appoint a white male attorney to fill the position. There was no explanation given for why a qualified and experienced woman of color was passed over in favor of an inexperienced white male. In my opinion, the decision is blatantly discriminatory on many levels, and as a Hispanic female, I have seen this type of behavior many, many times. This behavior might have gone unnoticed in the 1950s but 70 years later, this is downright disgusting and shameful.

I am not speaking negatively nor disparaging the attorney that was given the position. I have heard that he is a fine man. I am merely expressing my sincere disappointment and utter outrage at how this transpired. More importantly, I am concerned about why?

The deed is done and it cannot be changed but what can be changed is how we approach the future — especially when it comes to diversity, inclusion and contributions to society.

Local elections matter. Candidates matter and our communities matter. We need to elect fair-minded professionals who work to represent all of us and make decisions based on fairness and equality.

The choices we make at the polls will have long-lasting consequences on equality and fairness for many generations to come.

Sincerely,

Patricia Heredia-Quintana Nilsson Wimberley