Raves, Rants & Roses

RESPONSE: We, the wife and sister of the late Smith County Constable Frank Creath, must respond to the letter in Rants, Raves & Roses Aug. 17 Tyler Paper.

The First Amendment under the Bill of Rights states: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." When did freedom of speech and redress of grievances become "sour grapes?"

We, as well as other supporters of Mr. Thoene and Mr. Potter, have voiced concerns indicating Mr. Andy Dunklin is not and would not be the choice for the Precinct 2 Constable's office. No one in this family has said anything about Mr. Dunklin's character or his law enforcement abilities. He is however the least qualified of the three candidates to hold the office. Constables offices are first and foremost civil process offices, not drug enforcement offices. Constables offices are the "people's police" and as such get involved in all manner of crime fighting along with the civil duties they are required to perform.

Mr. Thoene and Mr. Potter are both qualified for the position and had tremendous support from the community. Mr. Potter was already serving the Precinct 2 office as Chief Deputy Constable and had kept the office operating and accessible to the public during the time of Frank's illness. Handing the office over to Mr. Dunklin seems to be in the best interest of only the Republican Precinct Chairs as stated by the letter writer: "... it is disgraceful to undermine the procedure by which we chose our candidate."

What is "disgraceful" is the way in which this process was conducted. Though the Texas Election Code directs how this procedure should be done, it is not out of the realm of possibility that a special election could have been called and then the voters would have a choice instead of only 11 people making the choice for them. Is it too late now to call for a special election since there seems to be so much controversy over the election?

During all this process, no thought was given to Frank's wishes or those of his family and supporters. Out of decency and just pure respect for Frank's memory, it seems that someone from the Republican Party could have at least contacted his family to gather information about our thoughts and concerns on this matter.

No one has done that and it appears they never will. Be that as it may, Frank was a loyal and faithful service to his constituents and loved his position as constable. He was proud to serve under the Republican banner. We know he would not be pleased with this controversy over his office. The caustic letter regarding the selection process brought no resolution to those of us questioning their choice. It sounds more like a "how dare you question us" response. Maybe the party and the executive committee should remember who serves whom.

Carolyn Creath
Ann Creath Curry
Flint