Thursday, September 17, 2009

Judge calls it quits
David Holstein will not seek re-election in 2010
By Michael Hannigan
Monitor Staff Writer
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–There aren’t just a whole lot of people who can get me scrambling out of my Friday afternoon pre-football nap to scribble notes on the back of a check stub.
The current county judge calling to tell me that he has decided he will not run for re-election is certainly one of them, however. 
That’s exactly what happened Friday when Henderson County Judge David Holstein announced he will be stepping down at the end of his term.
His reason for moving on is simple – family.
Holstein has two sons who are quickly approaching high school graduation, and the judge would like to spend that time with them.
In his official statement, also released Friday afternoon, Holstein said: “After much thought and discussion with my family, my supporters and my constituents, I have decided not to seek re-election for the office of county judge in 2010. The time is right to take a sabbatical from public life. It is time for me to step aside, spend more time with my family, and begin another chapter in my life.”
Holstein also said he never intended on trying to make a career out of being in office.
I was able to get all that posted on our website before I left for Tyler and the Malakoff-Grace Community battle Friday. What I didn’t get posted is that I knew Holstein before he became “Judge” and was still “David.”
As a pair of transplanted Yankees (he’s originally from the Chicago area; I’m from Philly), we hit it off with a similar sense of humor.
When Holstein first ran for county judge about eight years ago, he was a Gun Barrel City businessman, and I was the editor of the Cedar Creek Pilot. His election was heralded – at least in the western part of the county – as the lake area flexing its political muscle for the first time.
But some forget how hard Holstein worked for that first election; how it wasn’t just a lake thing. He had an RV that he drove all over the county, campaigning from Seven Points to Chandler.
From the start, he campaigned on improving public safety.
As he said Friday, “Who cares about fixing potholes in the road if you’re afraid to drive down the road?”
Looking back, Holstein said that is where he sees his biggest successes. One of the first things that happened after he took office is the county successfully petitioned the state for another County Court-at-Law. That helped ease a staggering backlog of cases.
Then the county passed a bond to expand the jail. As Holstein often said, if you are sentencing more criminals, you have to have someplace to put them.
The plan also called for the jail to take in prisoners from other counties, a practice that began this year, and that Holstein said should generate a positive cash flow. That money can then be used to put more law enforcement on the street.
He calls it the “crime-fighting master plan.”
Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. There have also been lawsuits from former county employees, a faulty elevator, and the fight against East Texas Medical Center that no one will ever forget.
I won’t go into who won or who lost that ETMC fight – the answer to that depends on who’s doing the talking.
But now, Holstein’s ready to be done. This county judge thing was never supposed to be permanent, anyway.
As he said in his official statement Friday: “When I first ran for county judge in 2002, I felt, if I was fortunate enough to be elected, it would be a two-term commitment. My goal then is the same as it is now, to be a public servant, not a lifelong politician.
“I have been truly blessed to be able to serve the people of this county, and want to thank you for every vote you cast for me throughout the primaries and two general elections. Also, I especially want to thank all those who worked so hard during my two election campaigns.
“While at this time, I am closing a chapter in my career as Henderson County Judge, I will continue to be active in the life, growth and development of the community that my family and I call home.”
With the announcement, it seems the 2010 election season has come, and we now know for sure we will have a new county judge.
Let the campaigning begin.

Former COP arrested for having child porn
Monitor Staff Reports
DALLAS–Former Caney City police chief Michael Meissner has been arrested in Arlington, according to published reports.
Meissner, 39, has been charged with seven felony counts, including possession or promotion of child pornography, promotion of prostitution and engaging in organized crime, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Officials said the current investigation started as a probe into misuse of official information, but evidence of other crimes was found as a result of search warrants.
The initiating investigator is detective John A. Hoskins of the Combine Police Department (Combine straddles the Dallas-Kaufman county line).
Bond was set at $1.5 million, and officials said more charges could be added.
Meissner fired Hoskins when he worked under him in Caney City, Meissner told The Monitor in 2007.
Subsequently, a website, aiming to discredit Meissner, was reportedly set up by Hoskins, who also contacted news reporters to look into Meissner’s employment record and education.
Meissner resigned as Caney City police chief in January, 2007, following televised reports saying he graduated from a police training program at an institution which was later discredited. Those reports dubbed Meissner a “gypsy cop.”
The televised reports said Meissner traveled from town to town taking law enforcement jobs.
According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE), Meissner has had 15 different postings in the past 18 years.
Hoskins has served in law enforcement for less than five years and has had at least 13 different postings, according to TCLEOSE records.
A recent news report from WFAA.com said investigators found evidence that Meissner had e-mailed information about a person who had wronged him to a blogger in New Hampshire, who then wrote inflammatory remarks about that man (Hoskins).
In 2007, Meissner resigned from the Caney City Police Department after TCLEOSE began investigating him.
At that time, TCLEOSE issued two reprimands for Meissner for not reporting that he had been arrested in the past.
According to the TCLEOSE reprimand letters, Meissner was arrested on “April 7, 2005, for the offense of tampering with a witness, a state jail felony.” That case was dismissed.
TCLEOSE also reprimanded Meissner for not reporting an April 17, 2005, arrest “for the offense of impersonating a peace officer, a felony, and operation of security company without a license, a Class A misdemeanor.”
Both of those charges were no-billed by a grand jury and dismissed.