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Because of the historical significance in Dallas County government, I chose the Old Red Court House in downtown Dallas for my swearing-in on January 1, 2005.  My family members and a few close friends were on hand to wish me well during the coming four years.  However, it only took four days for things to heat up!

A great deal of controversy arose over whether Mike Pappas (recently retired as a Dallas County Constable) had the necessary qualifications to be my Chief of Staff and my Head of Road and Bridge District.  As some of the headlines suggest, one of the Commissioners was quite unhappy with the selection of Mr. Pappas.  We found ourselves in a swarm of media attention on both January 4th and 5th.  Despite the TV coverage of those days, I stood by my guns and insisted that Constable Pappas was extremely qualified for this position and would do a good job, which he has.

I received scores of e-mails and phone calls commending me for bringing Mike into the position as my Chief of Staff.   In fact, the comments were 27 to 1 in favor of Mike Pappas becoming Head of the Road and Bridge District.  I am joined at the Road and Bridge District not only by Mike Pappas but also by Harold Denney, Stacey Hatley-Ingram, Carol McCarty and Joyce Horner.  Additionally, the Road and Bridge District has 22 folks doing the actual road and bridge district repairs all over District 1.