Hamilton Takes Top Cop Slot
Democrat becomes Travis Co.'s first black sheriff
By Jordan Smith, Fri., Nov. 5, 2004
With election-night festivities still in full swing, Hamilton was already preparing for his first day on the job and his hope to get the TCSO's two employee unions working together again. "First of all," he said, "I think we need to bring together both sides of the house." Friction over pay and, ultimately, respect fractured the Travis Co. Sheriff's Officers Association back in 2002, leading to the creation of two separate employee unions the TCSOA, which represents corrections deputies (the majority of the office's employees), and the newly-formed Travis Co. Sheriff's Law Enforcement Association, which represents the office's law enforcement deputies. (Both unions endorsed Hamilton.) "I want to talk to their boards first, and then the general membership," Hamilton said. "I think we'll find that we're all closer together than we are apart." He said he'd like to see the two groups find a way to work together. "And we'll sit and talk and talk and talk and talk until we get it done."
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