Somebody Goofed

Brazoria County didn't get its nose in on the Homeland Security money trough because its "officials" didn't finish the application in time.

The Clute-based daily reported that fact today but didn't tell us who dropped the ball.

What gives?

The county's emergency management director said "we" didn't get the application in on time. The use of the "we" pronoun implies many people at the courthouse should share in the blame. The county judge said he was "upset," but at the same time noted that the county will gets its share on the second go-round because, in fact, the application already has been completed.

He also noted, for our edification, that the lengthy, 162-page application was so daunting that some cities just threw up their hands and said to heck with it. Brazoria County, of course, was not daunted by the voluminous paperwork; it just didn't get the application done in time.

OK, but who screwed up? We would like to think the Clute-based daily asked that question.

If they did ask that question and somebody said no comment, or that they'd rather not say, or that it was the fault of a whole bunch of people, that would have been worth reporting. At least we know they asked. Where does the buck stop?

If they didn't ask that question, well, the people who run the Clute-based daily are either snoozing or playing footsie with Brazoria County officaldom.

Somebody didn't complete the application in time. Who's in charge down there? Who was supposed to do it?