OUTBURSTS LEADS TO CUT MICROPHONES DURING COMMISSIONERS COURT
About a month ago, county commissioners started to debate whether precinct maps approved in 2021 should stay in place. During the May meeting, it led to several outbursts.
On Tuesday, commissioners once again debated maps. This time, Judge KP George warned the packed gallery that he would pause the meeting, and have people escorted out if necessary.
He didn't wait long. George suddenly stopped one of the first speakers when she focused her comments on him.
"Shame on you, Judge George, for betraying all of our trust," the speaker said.
"Excuse me! You're not here to talk about any members," George responded.
George went even further with another speaker. When she mentioned George's pending criminal charges, misdemeanor and felony cases tied to campaign funds and social media posts, the county judge had enough.
"You're not here to attack a sitting member. That's it cut her off," George said. "Sir, she cannot speak."
She locked arms with the deputy, and the two walked out of the room. She later returned.
It wasn't just the gallery that sparked George to take action. He cut off microphones to commissioners during an argument over the map discussion.
"I will recess this," George said. "What are you doing?" Commissioner Dexter McCoy asked. "I'm recessing this meeting," George said.
Less than two minutes later, George restarted the meeting.
DESPITE THE CHAOS, COMMISSIONERS TOOK ACTION THAT COULD CHANGE MAPS
Commissioners are revisiting precinct maps because of the growing population. State leaders said there aren't enough polling locations in certain areas to meet the growing demand.
Some commissioners want to go further and change maps. Normally, that's done every ten years with new U.S. Census data.
At the last meeting, George, who recently changed party affiliations to a Republican, said the approved maps were created based on race, and may be illegal. The county attorney disagrees and said there are no legal challenges.
Despite this, George and the other two Republican members, Commissioners Vincent Morales and Andy Meyers approved creating a precinct map committee. They also approved spending money to hire an outside firm.
"If we had done this in '21, which is what we should've done, we wouldn't be here," Morales said.
Commissioners Grady Prestage and Dexter McCoy voted against the measures. "When you redistrict, there are potentially people who could be disenfranchised," McCoy explained.
NEIGHBORS ALSO LOOK FOR ANSWERS ABOUT THE LIBRARY CYBERATTACK
Last week, 13 Investigates uncovered how massive the cyberattack at the Fort Bend County library was. For more than four months, services have been down, and the library director has only issued two updates saying it was a cyber incident.
13 Investigates requested records. The county asked the Attorney General's Office to block our request.
The AG's office sided with 13 investigates. Recently, we received nearly 3,000 messages.
In them, the IT director called what happened at the library the biggest cyber event in the county's history. She detailed a massive ransomware attack that corrupted everything.
After our reporting, the library director remained silent. On Tuesday, Anastasia Stromgren went to court looking for answers. "The library was my home," Stromgren said. "My daughter loves going there, but with the lack of the network, the lack of repairs and infrastructure, now it's become a very limited resource."
ABC13 took what they discovered to commissioners. George and McCoy told us to ask them about it later. Prestage also told us to check in later, but suggested we reach out to library director Roosevelt Weeks.
However, ABC13 told Prestage, Weeks wouldn't come out of his office last week when 13 investigates tried to talk to him, and he hasn't updated the public for more than two months. "You caught me off guard," Prestage said. "I don't have that information right now."
Only Morales answered all of our questions. He said what happened to the library could happen to anyone.
"I understand," Morales said. "We're not happy with it either, but we're doing the best we can right now to rectify the problem."
THE TIMELINE FOR SERVICES TO COME BACK MAY BE WORSE THAN EMAILS REVEALED
In the documents 13 investigates obtained, it shows Weeks pleading with commissioners to approve an IT contract in early June. If they waited until the end of June, he warned services may not come back until October.
On Tuesday, Morales told us it might even be longer than that. "We don't know," Morales said. "In fact, that's what the library director said yesterday. He doesn't know the timeline just yet."
That upset Stromgren. "That's unacceptable," Stomgren said. "That's like saying we don't know when we're going to pay our property taxes. That would not be acceptable. We have to pay them on time."
13 Investigates is still waiting for more messages. In our records request, we asked for messages tied to the cyberattack from the IT and library director, and George. So far, we haven't received anything from George.
On Tuesday, ABC13 asked county officials when the documents would be delivered. We didn't receive a response.
The AG's office ruled in ABC13's favor on June 10. Legal experts told Eyewitness News that the county has until July 10 to provide us with the documents.
For updates on this story, follow Nick Natario on Facebook, X and Instagram.