Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 150, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 24, 1999 Page: 3 of 16
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CHEROKEEAN/HERALP of Rusk, Texas—Thursday, June 24,1999—Page 3
Commentary
God Bless Bob Bullock!
A Texas giant is dead.
Former Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock died last Thursday after
a long bout with lung cancer.
He enjoyed a Texas-size reputation as being a student
from the LBJ school of politics, where red tape got cut
and things got done. Per-
Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock
haps Cherokee County
never had such a friend
and supporter.
As a state official, he
helped shape a genera-
tion of political leaders
and proved himselfa true
friend to all in Texas.
Our first contact with
Gov. Bullock was in the
late 60s when he was the
principal speaker for the
Cherokee County Wild-
life Association, and he
was the Secretary of State
■■in Gov. Preston Smith's
administration. His no nonsense approach to prob-
lems, both state and local, came through to all who
attended.
Our next contact with Gov. Bullock was in the early
1970s when he decided to seek the job as State Comp-
troller. Following his visit to our city, the Cherokeean
decided to endorse him for the job. We believe our
newspaper was the first in Texas to do so.
Later, we decided to seek the job as state representa-
tive, and we were fortunate enough to be elected.
Thanks to the help of a number of friends, we were
named to serve on the Appropriations Committee dur-
ing the first term. Our friendship with Comptroller Bob
Bullock grew with the years.
He saved one of the most important legislative bills
this writer was able to pass, the longevity pay bill for
state employees. This was the last piece of legislation
*hat came out of the House of Representatives in 1979.
Jnder the rules, the House could only consider a senate
bill the final two days of the session, and the senate
could only handle house bills in this time period.
Lt. Governor Bill Hobby, who presided over the Texas
Senate, would not allow the longevity bill to be consid-
ered because he was under the impression that all
available monies had been spent.
We called on House Speaker Bill Clayton to go with us
to see Comptroller Bullock. He performed some fast
calculations, and announced that he had found suffi-
cient funds for the bill.
When Jim Lynaugh, Mr. Bullock's right arm man,
assured Mr. Hobby that funds were available, his quick
response was, "This is a good bill. I'll bring it up next."
In a short time, Sen. Roy Blake introduced the bill, it
passed, and the longevity bill became law.
Many in Cherokee County will recall the failed at-
tempts to close Rusk State Hospital, but few know the
"behind the scenes" efforts by Mr. Bullock.
Back in 1993, then MHMR Commissioner Dennis
Jones shook the foundation of this community when he
suggested thát one state hospital needed to be Closed
and Rusk was on the "short list." Former House
Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Presnall
confirmed that Dr. Jones asked him not to include Rusk
State Hospital in a funding package.
The City of Rusk, backed by a host of civic leaders,
mounted an intensive lobbying effort to keep the state
facility open. Lt. Gov. Bullock, along with State Rep.
Elton Bomer and Sen. Bill Haley had a private meeting
with Dr. Jones, and they came to a firm understanding
with the commissioner. Rusk State Hospital was
included in the funding bill.
Later that year in August, a crowd of450 packed into
the Rusk Junior High Cafeteria in August to honor
Bomer and Haley. The shin-dig was literally a who's
who of Texas government, including the honorees, Lt.
Gov. Bullock, House Speaker Pete Laney, and the
aforementioned Dr. Jones.
Bullock didn't mean to, but he stole the show with his
good-natured ribbing of Haley and "ole' Boomer," as he
called Elton Bomer.
Referring to his wife, Jan, who was 20 years his
junior, Bullock assured the audience that they were the
exact same age. "She just didn't smoke and drink like
I did," he said.
Bullock had been standing a full step back from the
podium as he played the audience with his jokes and
puns. And then he stepped forward, and drew himself
up taller, making him seem seven feet tall.
His nostrils flared, his eyes sparked with anger, and
he turned to Dr. Jones at the head table. He told the
MHMR commissioner, "Dr. Jones, I tell you if you
recommend Rusk State Hospital be closed, you will
never be invited back here, and I plan to be back!"
He admonished Dr. Jones not to come up with an-
other asinine idea to close Rusk State Hospital again.
The smile on Dr. Jones' face froze, and he clearly did not
know how to react with the lieutenant governor of
Texas publicly taking him to task. After Bullock
launched the verbal grenade, a concussion of silence
settled over the crowd, followed by unabated applause.
The last big project that Gov. Bullock helped bring to
fruition for Rusk was a new water tower. Rusk had
successfully established two new prison units, but poor
water pressure was creating headaches.
In late 1995, the City of Rusk applied for a $250,000
grant to construct a water tank, with the blessings of
Rep. Todd Staples and Sen. DrewNixon. We remember
so well that on the day before we left for Austin, Gov.
Bullock called us at 6:45 a.m. from his capítol office to
say that he was being called out of town, but that he
would have his assistant present with clear instruc-
tions for all meetings.
A week later, we were notified that the grant applica-
tion was approved on an emergency status.
In his 1993 speech in Rusk, Mr. Bullock said, "I don't
know what you expect the lieutenant governor and the
speaker of the house to look like but here we are. God
bless you, and God bless Texas!"
That phrase became the hallmark of every Bullock
speech, and it was fitting to note the Texas flag draped
his coffin. God bless you, Mr. Bullock. No truer friend
did we ever have'. -Emmétt H. Whitehead
Accomplishments of Rusk State
Hospital noted during 1st half of year
H. Parrish
By Harold Parrish
RSH Superintendent
We appreciate this op
portunity to provide
our community with
a look at the services and ac-
complish-
ments of
Rusk State
Hospital.
At the same
time we can
recognize
the impor-
tance of vol-
unteers,
staff and
students in
providing
exceptional
services
that benefit the patients, our
ultimate customer.
In relation to staff accomplish-
ments, I want to welcome Dr.
Zaki Moin, our newest psychia-
trist, to Rusk State Hospital and
Rusk. Dr. Moin began work at
the hospital on April 26, 1999.
He came to us from the Univer-
sity of Texas Health Science
Center, Houston, where he com-
pleted his residency in psychia-
try.
I also want to again express
my best wishes to the 20 em-
ployees that have retired since
September 1998. Their average
tenure is 23 years. The longev-
ity of their service has been most
beneficial to the stability of the
hospital work force.
On June 3, we recognized the
longevity of service and out-
standing employees and volun-
teers at the annual employee/
volunteer awards luncheon
sponsored by the Volunteer
Council for the Rusk State Hos-
pital, Inc. Commissioner, Karen
Hale, was speaker for the event.
I extend a special thank you
and congratulations to employ-
ees, Martha Coates, Gail Hogue,
and Kay Norton for their 30
years of service. I also express to
all the volunteers who give their
time, talents, and resources to the
Volunteer Council my sincerest ap-
preciation. You help make the
patients' stay at the hospital more
beneficial.
The Volunteer Council remains
an active part of the patients' lives
by providing goods and services
that reach beyond those services
provided by State appropriations.
Four of our Council board mem-
bers attended the Volunteer Ser-
vices State Council Annual Mem-
bership Meeting and Training
Conference in Austin, April 9-11.
Our Council Chairman, Frank
Madden, has been elected to serve
on the VSSC state board of direc-
tors.
During that annual meeting, the
Rusk High School Gerald Chap-
man Chapter of the N ational Honor
Society received the Star of
TXMHMR Award from Commis-
sioner Karen Hale in recognition
for the students adopting two acres
at the hospital and planting 56
trees on the site. Again, congratu-
lations and thank you to that out-
standing organization of young
men and women.
In April, the Rusk Garden Club
recognized three of its former mem-
bers with donations of trees, in
memory of Mauriette Hassell,
Loula Hoover, and Ottie Frank
Hugghins. We are most apprecia-
tive of the club's service to the
hospital and feel the tribute to
these ladies is a wonderful way of
remembering their service to the
community and our hospital.
Also, in April, we received the
Bronze Safety Award from the
State Office of Risk Management.
This was awarded to us for im-
proving our injury rate by more
than 10 percent below the average
of the past five years. We appreci-
ate the efforts of our Risk Man-
ager, Cindy Goff, and Safety Of-
ficer, Jeff Burns, and all of our
hospital staff in helping us to sig-
nificantly reduce our injury rate.
It is also important to recog-
nize the many students in train-
ing to become RNs and LVNs
who are assigned to Rusk State
Hospital by affiliate colleges
and universities in East Texas.
The students are at the hospi-
tal as part of their clinical rota-
tion coordinated through the
hospital's Nursing Service De-
partment.
Upon graduation these stu-
dents have the opportunity to
seek employment with the hos-
pital. These students spend
much of their time observing
our treatment programs and
often have ideas or suggestions
that can be used by our staff in
the treatment of our patients.
This summer we also will of-
fer employment to high school
age students that work prima-
rily in the recreation and main-
tenance departments. Work-
ing at the hospital gives the
students an excellent opportu-
nity to better understand the
role of RSH in serving the needs
of the mentally ill and assist
the student workers in making
career decisions. We are able
to accomplish numerous
projects as the result of extra
staff.
In summary, Rusk State Hos-
pital is continuing to provide
exceptional services to the pa-
tients entrusted to our care.
We continue to recognize the
needs of the customers and ad-
just our treatment programs to
meet the needs of the commu-
nity mental health centers re-
ferring patients to this hospi-
tal. We are very proud of our
role in providing our 28-county
service area with outstanding
inpatient care, treatment and
recovery programs. The suc-
cess of our treatment services
is due to the roles of students,
volunteers, and staff working
together to maximize our re-
sources to best serve our cus-
tomers.
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 150, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 24, 1999, newspaper, June 24, 1999; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152430/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.