Curtis Parrish Talks Emergency Declarations, McMillan Dam, & More
Tuesday on KFYO Mornings with Dave King and Matt Martin, Matt Martin was out, but Matt Crow filled in for him and was joined by Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish. The three talked about several topics including the ongoing pandemic and how it has affected the county, nursing homes, emergency declarations, Governor Abbott, the condition of McMillan Dam, Mac Davis, tonight's presidential debate, and more.
The conversation started with several topics surrounding the ongoing pandemic. Curtis was asked if the virus has halted any of his plans, and also what he does to maintain employee morale, as well as stay positive himself in these times. The judge explained that, as servants of the people, the best thing to do is just to show up every day and serve. He does, however, want his employees to feel safe and secure in their employment, and so he has allowed specific employees to do their jobs from home if they needed to, but overall stated that the court, "will continue to do the reasonable and sensible things." He went on to mention that one of the first things they did was close nursing homes, and that having to do that saddened him because it meant he has not been able to visit his mother, but that he still believes it was the right decision to make.
The Judge also talked about the disparity between the county and city trying to handle the disaster declarations, and the Governor's office. Curtis said that he does not want to defend Governor Abbott, but he believes that he has not done anything illegal, and that Abbott has gone through all the legal channels given to him. But despite this, Curtis enforced that just because Abbott had the legal right to do what he did, it doesn't mean that he should have.
Another topic that the Judge discussed was the condition of the McMillan Dam at Buffalo Springs Lake. Curtis explained that, while the dam is not about to break, that it has still been deemed a high risk dam. He went on to say that a pot of money has been found in the General Land Office in Austin that is meant to be used for disaster mitigation, but that it is difficult to identify how much of the money can be tapped into. Despite this, Curtis thinks that it is necessary to do so in order to make the required repair, and that, while he is not sure exactly how much it will cost, that the grant program would only provide up to $10 million. Additionally, the county has a group going to inspect the dam so that an exact price on repairs can be identified.
Finally, Curtis talked about tonight's presidential debate. When asked if he is planning on watching it, the Judge said that he absolutely will be, and that he thinks it is, "must see TV". He went on to explain that in the past, debates like this were mostly meant for the undecided voter, in order to swing their decision one way or the other, but that nowadays it is more meant to motivate your base to get out and vote. Curtis said that Trump's job is to motivate his base, and that Biden's is to point out foolish things that Trump does.
Watch the full interview with Curtis Parrish in the video above.
More From News/Talk 95.1 & 790 KFYO
