A recent Harris County Commissioners Court meeting turned tense and personal, leading to calls for decorum as emotions ran high. In the discussion, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo blasted Commissioner Adrian Garcia for allegedly glaring at her.
“I just don’t like this kind of rude behavior from males. I’m sorry but I don’t,” Hidalgo said.
The meeting, which began at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, dragged on for nearly 12 hours before devolving into a heated exchange just before 9:30 p.m. The confrontation began when Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo expressed frustration with Garcia, after all the commissioners voted unanimously on the details of announcing a new Harris County Flood Control District tax-rate plan, and Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican, expressed he wanted his vote registered.
“Judge, if I could,” Ramsey said.
“Yes, my colleague here (Garcia) silenced it, and when I asked to clarify, I get a glare,” Hidalgo said.
“I am registering my vote,” Ramsey said.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m going to continue asking Commissioner Garcia, so if he glares back, I’m sorry, commissioner.”
“Can we please get back to the people’s work?” Commissioner Lesley Briones asked to establish order.
Hidalgo then blasted Briones asking her, “Why don’t you instead help your colleague when somebody else is attacking her personally?”
“I am done taking your disrespect,” Hidalgo told Garcia.
This public display of discord is not the first time tensions have flared among the commissioners. In June, Hidalgo accused Garcia of being bullied by District Attorney Kim Ogg during a commissioners court session, dropping an f-bomb.
“Because some of us are wrapped around the little finger because I don’t know what the (explicit) she has threatened you with,” she said.
In response to the incident, Hidalgo’s office provided context, explaining that the judge was tired, had not eaten, and it was very late. The office emphasized in a statement, “No matter which side of the aisle it comes from, Judge Hidalgo will not tolerate a pattern of disrespect toward herself or others.”
“This isn’t the halls of high school. This is county government,” Ed Emmett, Hidalgo’s predecessor, told ABC13. “It hurts the relationships, and so much of county government is built on being able to work together.”
