Glad to hear her recovery is going well.
Judge Lina Hidalgo
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is extending her leave of absence for treatment of her clinical depression until Oct. 2, her office announced Thursday.
Hidalgo will be discharged Saturday from the out-of-state, inpatient mental health facility she has been at since late July and transition to outpatient care, her office said. Neither Hidalgo nor her office has identified the facility or the state.
In a letter accompanying her office’s statement, Hidalgo said she feels a lot better after a month-and-a-half of treatment, but the process has taken longer than expected.
“My initial treatment plan had me returning to my regular schedule in September, but my discharge date was moved back, which moves back the re-acclimatization period,” Hidalgo wrote. “The way my doctors explained re-acclimatization to me is that you would not go from heart surgery straight to running a marathon, in the same way that they do not want me to go straight back to my usual schedule.”
Hidalgo wrote that she will continue to be in contact with her office and the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management while she continues treatment.
[…]
Hidalgo will not return before the Sept. 19 budget meeting and has no plans to attend it virtually, spokesman Brandon Marshall said Thursday.
Her absence means if Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, a Republican, skips the meeting, the court will be unable to pass its proposed property tax rate because state law requires at least four of the court’s five members to be present to set a tax rate. Any delay presumably would be short-lived because the deadline for setting the tax rate is the end of October, by which time Hidalgo will have returned.
See here for the background. The Court has functioned fine in her absence, and if she returns on the schedule indicated, then there really isn’t any opportunity for quorum shenanigans. I’m glad to hear she’s doing well and wish her all the best.
I’m sure the timing of this announcement had something to do with that absolute piece of shit “op-ed” from whiny loser A**x M****r that for some unfathomable reason the Chron decided they needed to run. You can find it yourself, they’ve been pimping it shamelessly on their homepage and editorial page. I have no idea why the editorial board continues to be enthralled by this loser – does she have pictures of them doing unspeakable things to a Jose Altuve bobblehead or something? I’m going to say something I’ll regret later if I continue so I’ll just end it here.
It is my understanding that, once stabilized, most people with clinical depression can be successfully treated with anti-depression medications and out-patient psychotherapy. Still, the job of Harris County Judge is very stressful and it is well known that chronic stress can contribute to depression. To help prevent a potential relapse, it makes sense for Judge Hidalgo to ease back into her responsibilities. I urge everyone to do the human thing and put politics aside for a couple of months so she can gradually transition back into her job. There will be plenty of time to scrutinize her, if/when appropriate, after she gets better.
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Lina is not mentally prepare for the County Judge role. She has little experience and no legal training. Lina’s demise is not a good look for the county, however her return could be much worse.