How Much Has C.O. Bradford Cost Taxpayers?

Noel Freeman's new mailer hits homes today. A friend told me that Bradford was overheard telling another candidate at Discovery Green recently that "no one cares about the crime lab." I wonder if voters will start to care once they realize the city is still paying legal bills to defend the George Rodriguez case, Rodriguez spent 17 years in jail after being falsely convicted because of a mistake at the scandal plagued Houston Crime Lab, a scandal in which Bradford was a major player.

Bradford and Freeman are vying for the At-Large 4 council seat, currently held by Controller candidate Ron Green.  There is third candidate, Curtis Garmon, but the race is really between Freeman and Bradford. I've endorsed Freeman in this race and I explained why in this blog post.

The crime lab debacle hounded Bradford during his tenure as Houston police chief, eventually leading to his retirement (bolded emphasis mine):

Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford, dogged by a series of embarrassments for himself and his department over the past year, announced today he would resign in September after 24 years with HPD.
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The decision follows a year in which one major problem after another has plagued the Police Department. 

They include scandal and scientific problems at the crime lab, a mishandled parking lot raid that ended in the arrests of many innocent bystanders, Bradford's trial on perjury charges, which a judge eventually dismissed, and the recent arrests of five veteran officers accused of shaking down cantina owners for protection money and warning them of upcoming raids for prostitution and other illegal activities.

Just last month, Bradford said he would not step down in the face of intense criticism about his supervision of the crime lab and allegations that he knew of problems there four years ago.
Council members and police union officials called for his resignation after the Houston Chronicle reported that crime lab employees had sent him a memo in September 1999 describing the lab as "a total disaster." Bradford deflected criticism, saying he never saw the memo and was unaware of problems at the lab until he ordered it shut down late last year.

The Chronicle makes the point here that needs to be made. Bradford ignored the crime lab problems (read about some of those in this New York Times article)- problems he was made aware of by crime lab employees - causing council members to call for his resignation. Yet, now he wants to be a city council member.

I have it on good authority that this mailer went to more than a respectable number of voters. I wish the Chronicle would do its job and inform voters about this race. The total lack of coverage has me concerned that voters won't be informed and will vote for a name they recognize, not realizing they recognize it for the wrong reasons - and that they have such a great alternative with Noel Freeman, someone who has experience at the City and can step right in and be effective right away. Fortunately, you can go to the Chronicle's search engine and type in "Bradford crime lab" and you'll have access to all the s

I hope this blog coverage of this race helps in some way get the word out about the difference between these two candidates. I strongly urge you to vote for Noel Freeman in At-Large 4 and to recommend him to your friends.