Red River County Politics

Nickerson Campaign Exposed

"The Rest of the Story"

2/2/2008

This article was sent to me by another political activist in my circle. You can read the article now, and I posted it now because I thought that it is very important that all of you know the facts about the Nickerson Campaign as soon as possible. There is no documentation attached right now (as there usually is, and you know that I am a stickler for documentation about everything) but the documentation is forthcoming, and will be attached. You will be notified of its attachment in the usual manner on the anonymous posting section. So please read the article and know that the "all documentation proves" everything that is stated, and you will see the documentation for yourselves as soon as it is received.

This is one of the problems of a world that is stored on paper, and then has to be electronically transferred to cyberspace. It takes time to transfer. But as always in the past what is being said here will be proved with "all documentation" as soon as it is brought into the electronic media. Thanks for your trust, and support.

Ernest

I have been following the political races with great interest and have been especially fascinated with the information you have provided regarding the candidates on this site--information I might add, that is unavailable in any of the more traditional media outlets. I have also taken the time to research and verify the allegations and records of all the candidates for sheriff and for 6th District Judge and found the facts to be accurate and totally supportable just as you have presented them.

There is, however, one missing piece of data that I think I can provide. You mentioned in a post last week that you had very little personal knowledge about candidate Jess Nickerson. I think I can help.

Candidate Nickerson has made his "judicial experience" the centerpiece of his campaign. I have heard him twice in public forums proclaim that what distinguishes and qualifies him above all others is the fact that he is the only one who has ever been a judge. That piqued my interest and so I researched his tenure as County Judge of Camp County and found out the following:

1) He was elected with a very small number of votes in 1974.

2) He took office in January of 1975 and 'volunteered' to ‘make’ the budget.

3) He immediately recommended that a secretary be hired for him--due to his tremendous workload--and a new position was created.

4) In the first month of office he recommended the creation of a "Salary Grievance Committee", comprised of 9 people. This committee would have the authority to mandate salary increases for county employees without the consent of the Commissioner's Court--a device which he subsequently tried to use to bypass the Court's authority to make budgetary decisions.

5) Also in the first month, he recommended that all county employees become "salaried”.

6) He immediately entered into an adversarial relationship with the Commissioners regarding budget--specifically related to salaries--with special emphasis on HIS salary and in the second month of office tried to stop the county from being able to pay bills and operational costs until they adopted his recommended budget--a strong-arm tactic designed to bully the court into doing things the way he wanted them done.

7) After months of arguing and stubbornly refusing to compromise, Mr. Nickerson submitted his resignation in August of 1975--just 8 months after making a commitment to the citizens of Camp County. I have a copy of his letter of resignation and all of the aforementioned information is available to the public through the Camp County Courthouse Commissioners' Court minutes for the calendar year 1975.

In the letter Mr. Nickerson stated that the reason he was terminating his relationship was because of his inability to get the salary he proposed and believed he was worth (even though he knew what the position paid when he ran for office and accepted the terms of the agreement only 8 months earlier.) The salary he proposed for himself and attempted to force the Commissioners to accept was TWICE the salary he agreed to work for. In other words, it was all about the money. So much for public service.

The reason I am sharing this information is that Mr. Nickerson in a public forum just this week was asked about why he submitted his resignation only 8 months into a position that he committed to for 4 years, he replied that he quit " to run for Congress."

While it is true that he later became an unsuccessful candidate for congress, no where is that mentioned as a factor in his resignation letter-nor were any of the Commissioners or other people who worked in the courthouse at that time aware of his intention to seek another office. But they were all very aware of his concerted efforts to get his salary increased and his anger over his inability to manipulate or strong-arm the Court into seeing things his way. The consensus of the people who remembered his tenure was that he was arrogant, impatient, often unreasonable and very difficult to work with--in short not traits to recommend him for a district court judgeship. After having deep roots in Camp County, family connections--a father who was County Attorney, he abandoned the position he committed himself to and summarily moved to Paris, Texas where it is alleged he thought he could make more money practicing with George Preston. I also spoke with several people who have had business dealings with Mr. Nickerson in recent years--one client from last year--who says that he still operates in the same high-handed, over-bearing manner and is still difficult to work with. Mr. Nickerson never practiced law prior to assuming his position with Camp County, he never summoned a jury panel and he has broken out and enumerated individually, all the duties of a county judge in his marketing materials for this campaign to expand and amplify his 'judicial' experience. This information is all a matter of public record.

Thanks for allowing me a venue to share "the rest of the story."

See Minutes Camp County Commissioners Court Jesse Nickerson's Resignation