Once again Texas Gov. Rick Perry gets it right by re-appointing former Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Leo Vasquez to the board of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. 

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed three members to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice for terms to expire Feb. 1, 2017. The board oversees the operations of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

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Leopoldo R. Vasquez III of Houston is executive vice president of Maximus Coffee Group LP. He is past chairman of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Commission and a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is also a graduate of Leadership Houston and the Center for Houston's Future programs. Vasquez received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and Master of Business Administration from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is being reappointed.

A very good move by the Governor. You don't have a clue what the TBCJ does, do you? C'mon, admit it. Hey, I didn't either until Mr. Vasquez explained it to me. From the TBCJ website:

The nine member Texas Board of Criminal Justice (TBCJ) is appointed by the governor to oversee the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), which provides confinement, supervision, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the state’s convicted felons. The board members, who are appointed for staggered, six-year terms, are responsible for hiring the executive director of the department and setting rules and policies which guide the agency. TBCJ members also serve as the Board of Trustees for the Windham School District within the Department of Criminal Justice. In this capacity, they are responsible for providing general oversight and the hiring of the school system’s superintendent.

There are TDCJ divisions which report directly to the Board. They are Office of Inspector General with oversight of the Investigations Department, the Internal Audit Division, and the office of State Counsel for Offenders. In addition, the PREA Ombudsman is appointed by and reports directly to the board.

Be sure and click on that Windham School District link - I think you'll be surprised. 

Kudos to Gov. Perry for re-appointing Mr. Vasquez - he is exactly the type of person we need in state government. He could have folded his tent and gone on to make a bazillion in the private sector after being booted out of office by an uninformed electorate in the 2010 Republican primary. Instead, he chose to stay engaged and do his best to help the people of Harris County - think about his destruction of the poorly managed Houston Votes effort. He had no good political reason to do that, he did it because it was the right thing to do. We can only hope that he runs for office in the future.

Kudos to Gov. Perry for recognizing a good public servant and kudos to Mr. Vasquez for his continued involvement in politics.