On July 31st, the Joint Legislative Hearing was held in Kerrville. Explosive, tense, and revealing revelations came when lawmakers questioned county and city officials about their actions leading up to the flood, as the disaster unfolded, and where and when they finally engaged in managing the crisis. Senator Charles Schwertner asked Judge Kelly point blank if he attended the press conference with Governor Abbott the evening of July 4. For most of us, every moment that day is emblazoned in our memory. We know just where we were when heard the news of one tragedy after another.
Yet Judge Rob Kelly initially said he was at the press conference, but when Schwertner drilled down into it asking him to repeat his testimony, Kelly then had to say he couldn’t recall. It was a ‘Joe Biden’ moment. You have to watch it to see his reaction and hear his voice.
He honestly didn’t know where he was and when on July 4.
Then Lt Gov Dan Patrick felt compelled to set the record straight that Judge Kelly was nowhere to be found most of July 4 and that he in fact did not attend the very important press conference with Gov. Abbott on the evening of July 4.
After the timeline of events becoming clear last Thursday in testimony under oath, it’s abundantly clear to the citizens both inside and outside Kerr County that our county judge, Rob Kelly, acted with gross negligence and malfeasance on July 4. He is our county Emergency Management Director (EMD) and the only public official able to order an evacuation or issue a warning to seek higher ground in the unincorporated parts of the county. He failed to do so. No county personnel took part in the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) calls July 2nd or 3rd in preparation for the anticipated flooding on July 4th weekend. Judge Kelly knew his Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC), William ‘Dub’ Thomas, was out on scheduled time off. He should have designated another person to handle any emergencies in his absence and take part in those critical calls knowing a holiday weekend was coming with lots of out of town campers were expected along the river. Judge Kelly was unreachable as the nightmare unfolded. Once he awoke, multiple attempts to reach him earlier via calls and texts were evident on his phone, but why he didn’t answer them or see them before sometime between 5-6 AM is unfathomable.
Judge Kelly was responsible for managing this disaster and taking whatever actions necessary as soon as the first distress call came in to prevent the loss of life by deploying every resource to protect human life, livestock and animals, and as much property as possible. Every minute counted. It’s clear from last week’s testimony that Kerr County’s emergency plan filed with the state in 2020 wasn’t followed. When the first sign of flooding in Camp Mystic cabins was present at 2 AM (according to statements made by Rep. Ann Johnson at the hearing), Judge Kelly wasn’t even aware of the disaster unfolding until almost 6 AM, and was still not present in the county for hours after that, with no clear chain of command managing the disaster despite knowing his EMC was scheduled for time off and out sick.
Under questioning from State Senator Charles Schwertner, Kelly initially stated he was at the evening press conference with Gov. Greg Abbott on July 4, but when pressed (because Schwertner no doubt already knew Kelly was not there), he admitted he could not recall with certainty where he was or when on July 4 – a day that should be emblazoned in his memory for its sheer magnitude and horror. It was a Joe Biden moment. When Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick felt compelled to ’set the record straight’ to expose the failure of Judge Kelly to properly manage the disaster, he attested that Judge Kelly was ’nowhere to be found’ when everyone else was working their a**es off!”
It’s a dereliction of duty that cannot be overlooked or something we just need to ‘get over’ and ‘move on’ from. Patrick who was the acting Governor at the time, had to chastise Kelly publicly for essentially being ‘checked out’ on the most critical day of the crisis, including when trying to account for the whereabouts of hundreds of children at local camps across the county is so shameful — and yet rather than immediately tender your resignation after admitting “I should have been there,’ shows such wanton disregard for the welfare of those under your care, a total misread of the gravity of the situation, and failure to fulfill your most sacred duty, we must insist you immediately step down.
Commissioners should immediately move forward with a vote of no confidence. Kerr County residents no longer trust Judge Kelly to manage this ongoing disaster and recovery effort, and we cannot wait until he limps off into the sunset once his term in office is up (like we had to with Joe Biden). Too many vital decisions are needing to be made on a daily basis – how funds will be managed, what infrastructure needs to be addressed and how and when and in what order – by which agency – federal or state. Then there’s the budget debacle on top of it — seeking to max rate property taxes on residents who lost so much, who are in crisis, faced with bureaucracy, inspections, assessment of damages, trying to figure out will they or won’t they be able to rebuild or restore their properties, do they qualify for FEMA, insurance coverage, property tax exemptions — the list goes on. Then to ask for yet another across the board pay raise for every county employee, including himself, after three pay raises in a row, in the midst of an unthinkable disaster and the chaos of piecing life and businesses back together is offensive, tone deaf, and completely out of touch.
Resign Judge Kelly.
Kerr County deserves better leadership than this, especially now.