Evidently Rick Perry Has No Faith In His Own TP&WD Appointees

During the election campaign, Rick Perry was very late in coming to the game of saving our state parks. But, when he finally got to the game, he decided that yes, indeed, we need to properly fund our state parks.

Now, however, he’s changed his tune in a most amusing way with regard to the reallocation of the Sporting Goods Tax:

“And my question is, if we drop $100 million on Parks and Wildlife and say, ‘Go spend it efficiently and effectively on your parks,’” maybe they can’t, Perry said. “So finding the appropriate amount of money to spend on the parks to get them updated, upgraded and maintained appropriately may not take all that money.”

Does anyone else think there is a problem with that statement?

First of all, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is administrated by a board. Guess what’s so special about that board?

That’s right! Each and every member of the TP&WD Board (save the Chairman Emritus, a holdover from the Clements Administration) was appointed by Governor Perry. This commission appointed by Governor Perry actually appoints the Executive Director and adopts the policies and rules for the department.
In essence, Perry has said that a department administered by his own appointees is incapable of administering large-scale appropriations increases.

Regardless of what you may personally think about the quality of any of Perry’s appointees, it seems odd that the governor would make statements that essentially indicate that they (and the staffs they in turn appoint) aren’t competent enough to handle appropriations.

Further, there is no evidence I’ve seen that shows that TP&WD wouldn’t be able to manage with the increased appropriations. After all, as neglected as the agency has been, tons of money would essentially go toward repairing infrastructure.

I’m sure Perry didn’t intend for his comments to come off sounding like he has no faith in his own agency appointees. However, that he made such a statement shows he’s more concerned about throwing out red meat to his base (tax “rebates”) and making himself look good as a potential Vice Presidential nominee than he is about state parks.