The Chron writes about disgruntlement in the DA’s office.
Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos promised to clean house when she was elected in November and promptly fired seven senior prosecutors. Now other experienced prosecutors, including a member of Lykos’ upper echelon, are leaving, citing a lack of communication and a toxic work environment.
With career prosecutors leaving without being asked, some are worried Lykos is driving away those she’d hoped to keep, leaving the office hurting for experience, institutional memory and mentors for newer prosecutors.
Lykos said there is no problem. Employees leave jobs for a number of reasons, and space at the top gives rising stars room to advance.
“Turnover is normal and it gives younger, eager prosecutors upward mobility,” Lykos said.
Murray Newman, who used to be an assistant DA and who has been one of the biggest critics of Pat Lykos and her office around, hails the story and piles on to it. I obviously have no insider knowledge here, but in fairness it must be noted that there’s always some turmoil when there’s a change at the top of an office like the District Attorney. There’s been a certain amount of disgruntlement at the Sheriff’s office as well, with Robert Goerlitz, the Secretary/Treasurer of the Harris County Deputies Organization being a leading critic – see these two documents, which Goerlitz forwarded to Carl Whitmarsh’s listserv awhile ago, for an example. Having said that, there’s not been anything like the exodus from the HCSO’s office that there has been from the DA’s office. Even to an outsider like me, it seems clear that something different is going on there.
Speaking in political terms, I’d say this is mostly inside baseball until such time as a former employee announces an electoral challenge to Lykos, or current and former ADAs publicly back an opponent to Lykos, much as the deputies’ organizations supported Adrian Garcia over Tommy Thomas last year. Until then, it’s interesting but not really predictive of anything. The next election is a long way off, after all.
On a related note, I’d like to thank Murray for pointing me to the Fake Pat Lykos Twitter feed, and for reminding me again just what a goober HCRP Chair Jared Woodfill is. I guess he hasn’t paid much attention in all those doing it in the Facebook with the Twittering classes the local GOP is teaching.
I love Jared Woodfill blaming “the “vile” tweets on “most assuredly, the liberal elite”.” At least the liberals/Democrats still have an elite. The conservative/Republican elite have all changed their names and left the country and applied for citizenship elsewhere. Of course some of the liberal/Democrat elite may be joining them soon.
As for what is or is not going on at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office no doubt the ones departing don’t like the new rules. Which are just rules. That they would have to play by. Which none of them ever have. Pat Lykos of course can’t say that. But others can. And are.
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