Laura and John Arnold weren't on my radar until I began to investigate crime in my Houston. During my investigation I found that the Arnolds, of Arnold Ventures, are connected to many of the failed policies, which have resulted in 100s of innocent people being murdered. I tied the Arnolds to much of the chaos regarding bail reform around our country, including the Waukesha massacre. (link: Waukesha Bail Calculator) Even worse, the Arnolds funded an integral part of the draconian COVID restrictions, which Judge Lina Hidalgo unleashed on Harris County. These vile policies resulted in the shuttering of hundreds of businesses, the unscientific masking mandate of children in schools, the rise in poverty rates along with the skyrocketing violent crime, which now gives Houston the dubious distinction of Murder Capital of the United States. When you begin to look into how the timeline of events, it makes you think, was this all planned?
Harris County has been on a steep decline since the Democrats took control in 2018 due to straight-ticket voting, courtesy of Robert "Beto" O'Rourke. The Commissioner Court flipped to a Democrat majority and, as I like to call it, "The Unholy Trinity" came to power (Adrian Garcia, Rodney Ellis, and Lina Hidalgo). I believe this was when the Arnolds saw their opportunity to seize power and wield their influence in our local government, in lockstep with what the progressive Democrats here wanted. Policies like bail reform came from the O'Donnell Consent Decree, which formed the $97 million Justice Administration Department [JAD]. JAD has been awarded millions of our hard-earned tax-paying dollars for criminal defense, social justice reform, and criminal justice "studies." Pretty atrocious to think we are funding the policies with our taxes which are terrorizing our county and resulting in hundreds of murders of innocent people, including unborn children. Link to article of Slain Pregnant women by criminal out on bond
“The Unholy Trinity”- Lina Hidalgo, Adrian Garcia and Rodney Ellis.
How are the Arnolds tied to the County’s COVID policies and bail reform? I followed the money and was able to find how Arnold Ventures’ influence and money were connected. The Texas Policy Lab was funded by Arnold Ventures back in 2018 (the same time that the Democrats flipped the commissioner’s court) for $6.6 million. Link
The Texas Policy Lab was instrumental in all of the draconian COVID policies in which Lina Hidalgo aka “El Commandante” unleashed upon our county by using her emergency powers. She locked us down, closed down the restaurants and bars, attempted to release 1000s of prisoners, enforced fines for those who were caught unmasked, and mandated masking children in public schools.
As we have come to learn, every single order that Lina Hidalgo enforced has gone against the “science” and appears to be an example of her attempt to control her constituents’ lives. As of right now, Lina Hidalgo still has emergency powers and uses them shamelessly. She’s shut down Commissioners Court when constituents are angry, kept the County in threat level red, and shamed the unvaccinated even though we have come to learn the vaccine doesn’t seem to be stopping the spread. Below is a list of all the emergency orders Hidalgo has implemented since 2020; I would suggest clicking on the link to see what unconstitutional orders Hidalgo unleashed on the county. Covid Judge Orders Link
The most alarming of the Judges orders was her attempt to release thousands of prisoners, citing COVID-19 as the reason. Interestingly, the lawyer involved was none other than Alec Karakastanis, who has participated in many projects with Arnold Ventures, and has known Laura Arnold since Yale Law School. Mr. Karakastanis was also the lawyer who won the bail reform lawsuit here in Houston. The Democrats even involved their progressive sheriff Ed Gonzales, who is currently nominated by Biden to become the head of ICE. The irony of this is that Hidalgo signed the order on none other than April Fools day. Release of Prison inmate link
There is no telling the ramifications the emergency orders will have on our County, but it will be worse than the 1980’s oil bust. One wonders what will be the long-term effects on the children? By February 2022 , our county now has surpassed Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles and has become the murder capital of the United States.. The Democrats here keep claiming that the pandemic and bondsmen are to blame for the high murder rate, but they aren't fooling anyone, except for the Houston Chronicle reader (a partisan left-wing newspaper). We all know that their radical policies, social justice agenda, corrupt criminal court judges, and bail reform are the reason why so many innocent people are murdered. Unfortunately, these Democrats have a hidden agenda and refuse to fix their broken policies for the constituents. Murdered victims' family members have gone to Court and pleaded for the Democrat commissioners and Judge to fix the bail reform policy, and they have repeatedly refused to do so, laying the blame on the bondsmen. Their behavior towards the victims' family members is insensitive and unnerving. I have witnessed the Democrats on their phones and typing away on their laptops while family members cry and plead for change. Link to video
To date, the County has awarded PFM Group Consulting nearly $7 million and counting to “conduct studies for criminal justice reform”. I have spoken with one of the Republican Commissioner’s staff members, and they have stated that these consultants are a waste of money, and the County would have been better off just funding the police instead. I was able to tie a grant to PFM group Consulting from Arnold Ventures. Seems like the County Commissioners and Judge are in cahoots with them, no?
What I found problematic with the contracts the county awarded to PFM, were the clauses in them which provided for “renewal options” (pictured and linked below is the most recent contract which was awarded to PFM Group Consulting; the contract was awarded by a 3-2 party line vote to the tune of $3.23 million for an assessment of the County Constables “use of technology” from the scope of work for the review of the Harris county Criminal Justice system over the course of a 10 month period.
Below is another contract awarded to PFM Group Consulting for $3.74 million to include the current organizational structure review of various departments and provide recommendations on Precinct 1's (Rodney Ellis) organizational structure for the period of October 29, 2020 - October 28, 2021.
The Commissioners slapped the Constables in the face on one occasion when they refused to reimburse them for the time they wasted working with PFM Group Consulting.
PFM has been instrumental in restructuring the County’s government and has been rewarded quite generously with our taxpayer dollars. David Eichenthal, a progressive Brookings Institute lackey, has played an integral part in doing so. David Eichenthal brought on our unelected bureaucrat County Administrator David Berry (3-2 party line vote). David Berry is now in control of our County’s budget, and appears to be a sock puppet of the Democrats and the Arnolds. You can read further about PFM Group Consulting from an article written by Holly Hansen of the Texan. PFM article
The creation of the County Administrator position, in my opinion, was solely to lobby for more Democrat control.
A quote from Commissioner Jack Cagle (R) during the discussion in Commissioners Court of bringing on David Berry follows:
“This is not a D or an R issue; I think whether or not we have a County Administrator is more about control of power, not about whether it's a Republican or Democrat at that time; it's a power-to-the-people issue," Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said. "We most likely will vote 3-2 on who's going to be the new County Aministrator—that means that three of us will control the County Administrator and the power will actually be increased in [the Democrat's] column, rather than diffused."
Just getting started on this dig, but can you plz elaborate on 1. How Beto instigated straight ticket voting in 2018, and 2. How demos argue that bondsmen are to blame for crime and loose bail? If/when you get the time. Thx
I would like to be interviewed by you on how in the early 2000's I was incarcerated in the Harris County jail and why I agree with you that Ellis is scum!!!!
Just getting started on this dig, but can you plz elaborate on 1. How Beto instigated straight ticket voting in 2018, and 2. How demos argue that bondsmen are to blame for crime and loose bail? If/when you get the time. Thx
I would like to be interviewed by you on how in the early 2000's I was incarcerated in the Harris County jail and why I agree with you that Ellis is scum!!!!