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selection process, which I had never seen or participated in before, was quite extraordinary because they said things and mentioned things that I did or was alleged to have done and attempted to discredit me before they ever put on their case. They said things about telephone abuse and other kinds of things they could never prove and didn’t prove. And that came back to haunt them. I mean, if you’re going to assassinate somebody’s character and demean them as a thief and a liar, you’d better prove that. And so that’s really to their credit, those men and women of the jury. They saw through the state’s effort to discredit me. And they saw through the shenanigans of the DHS and their pretexts for firing me. And once they saw through all that, they came to the final question, which was, “well, why did the state turn against Mr. Green?” And they came , to the conclusion, based on the evidence, that they fired me because I had reported a violation of the law to a sitting member of the Texas House….And I wasn’t very slick about it, because the week before I had told Ron Lindsey, in his new position as commissioner of DHS, that I had some problems that he needed to know about and was ready and willing to talk to him. He never responded. And at the end of that seven-day waiting period, I decided to go to someone else. I called the executive director of the Health and Human Services Committee of the Texas Senate and she in turn referred me to Chairman Vowell, the chairman of the budget and oversight committee. That lady today sits as Pete Laney’s Chief of Staff. So, there were many people aware of my initial reports. [DHS Commissioner] Ron Lindsey lost his job at the agency but went to work as the speaker, am I right? Yes. The speaker then was Gib Lewis, and Lindsey was administrative assistant or something like that. And now he sits at the right hand of the current governor of Texas. I mean it now sends a horrible message to those average citizens and those hardworking state employeesthat if you make a mistake you’re not going to be held accountable in this state. In fact, you’re going to get a promotion to the highest levels in government. The Governor campaigned on accountability in public service. To appoint Ron Lindsey as his chief public policy advisor on health and human services is a slap in the face to every hardworking, decent bureaucrat in Texas and a pat on the back to all the good ol’ boys who in large part are in charge. What was Ron Lindsey’s role? What was his position once you went public, once you litigated. Did the commissioner intervene? . Noin fact Mr. Lindsey is on record saying that he had no role in my firing. And The state tendered a defense, you prevailed in court and you moved on to the Legislature? That’s correct. Because once the verdict was rendered in February \(a final judgeffort on the part of the attorney general to step up and certify the judgment as final, to support a payment. And in fact, quite the opposite. The attorney general of Texas, Dan Morales, and his henchmen, went out of their way to ignore my pleas for certification. They wouldn’t even do their administrative duties of certifying the judgment as final so the comptroller could address the payment of this just and lawful debt out of available funds. And it turns out that these funds to pay me are available and have been available for years. So, it’s clear to me that what was going on was a shakedown of Texas-sized proportions, orchestrated by Dan Morales and his cadre but supported by many other silent members of the power elite in this state. Because the thing that I think most disturbed the management of state government was that a citizen had dared to speak out, challenge their discretionary authority, right in front of them. What I hope happens is that there’s an awareness, an empowerment of people, who know that you just can’t stand on the sidelines and know that your government is going to do the right thing. [San Angelo Representative] Rob Junell was the major point of obstruction in the House, was he not? Well, I think Representative Junell reflects the leadership of the Texas House. His position clearly comes from the appointment of the Speaker [Pete Laney]. And I don’t think that Representative Junell operates out there without the direct guidance and support of the Speaker of the House. So Junell was not operating unilaterally; he was operating as an extension of the Speaker of the House…. Bullock seems to have been a stand-up guy. Bob Bullock has been around government, seems like forever, and his level of service to this state has only recently become visible to me. But I find his support of a simple citizen like myself extraordinary. And I think he deserves all the credit I can give him. Because without his steadfastness and resolve to support the law in the final judgment, Speaker Laney and the other members of the LBB would have looked the other way and continued to deny me any measure of justice. George Green yet we have a letter showing that he signed the authorization to have the five guys follow me around. That infuriated the jury and, I might add, was noted by the Lieutenant Governor in his final comments at the LBB. Now, it’s interesting to note that that letter has a big X through his signature. But obviously you can see Ron Lindsey’s name on his signature line. That, and his deputy in support operations and the inspector general. All three of those partiesthe chain of commandapproved those guys following me around. So Ron Lindsey’s handprints are on my throat. ALAN POGUE THE TEXAS OBSERVER 1 1