Judge Kelly issues apology after Monday’s Commissioners’ Court meeting

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly has issued a formal apology following Monday’s Commissioners’ Court meeting, saying he made some remarks that he now regrets:

“I would like to publicly apologize for a few brash remarks I made during the Dec. 22 Kerr County Commissioners’ Court meeting.

The Ingram Volunteer Fire Dept. came before the court asking the county to serve as a pass-through agent for FEMA funds from a grant that would partially reimburse department expenses incurred during the July 4 flooding disaster.

In a productive discussion with Ingram ESD #1 President Chris Hughes, I learned that the comments I made were based upon old information, from a time when the department was going through turmoil surrounding efforts to establish a West Kerr County ambulance service.

Completely reorganized and under new leadership, the Ingram VFD has performed commendably and maintained reliable service for the past 1.5 years.

The application for the pass-through grant reflects some of the department’s progress.  The chief studied the criteria for a FEMA grant and mastered the application process (which was no small feat.)  The Ingram VFD was actually ahead of the game in figuring out the claim process.  I was unaware of this and, when I learned, I immediately offered a full apology to include a public admission of the success of their new regime and my personal apology for referencing a past problem long since rectified.

I am very sorry for not bringing myself up to speed on their developments.  This was my misunderstanding and mine alone.  I simply didn’t get it, and for that I am profoundly sorry.  I also confess, my PTSD was a contributing factor to my mistake.  I commit to continued counseling and will keep working on it.

The Ingram VFD has done smart work on this federal grant application and is certainly to be commended for it.”

Rob Kelly