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 County
Judge Robert Eckels is changing the mindset of Harris County
government and the region by leading more than 60 police agencies in
the County to coordinate a war on crime. Judge Eckels' first priority
has always been public safety, so he has added 243 new patrol deputies
a 63% increase to street patrols in Harris County. Through coordinated
dispatching of police cars and a Smart Zone regional-radio system,
Judge Eckels plans to speed contact between squad cars, fire trucks
and headquarters. He has also placed all emergency management
locations in Harris County under one roof at TransStar-a model for the
nation.
Harris County schools are
safer because Judge Eckels created two education programs for troubled
youth. Neighborhood
schools are more secure because expelled students who otherwise would
roam our streets are working in controlled environments on the four
R's-reading writing arithmetic and responsibility.
Since 1995, Judge Eckels has conducted several
performance reviews which have cut the number of County departments in
half and produced $14 million in savings. By restructuring , Harris
County's debt payments, he has saved $60 million. In 1995, Judge
Eckels sought and
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obtained a tax decrease; in 1996, he fought a tax
increase he
believed to be unnecessary for the county's $1.2 billion budget and
this year he opposed a tax increase for the Hospital District.
Judge Eckels serves as
Chairman of the Juvenile Board and as a member of the Houston City
Planning Commission the Houston Galveston Area Council and is director
of Emergency Management for Harris County.
He works on the Regional Water Board which will assess the
water needs for the entire region as it moves into the 21st century.
From the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce to the Coalition for the
Homeless, Judge Eckels' work has been recognized by a diverse cross
section of the community. A former state representative, Judge Eckels
was named an Outstanding legislator by Texas Monthly in 1991.
As the presiding officer
of Commissioners Court, the five member governing body of Harris
County, Judge Eckels is the only member of the Court elected by and
representing all the citizens of the third most populous county in the
United States. Harris County's three million residents make it
larger
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