THUMB AWARD BETTER NEVER THAN LATE?

Thumbs Down to District Judge Frank Douthitt for letting a year-not to mention a controversial election-pass before ruling that a 1983 election won by Fort Worth City Councilman Jim Bagsby was conducted in such a “reprehensible fashion” that Bagsby’s 1983 win over Alexander Davis should have been voided. Although Douthitt apologized for his tardiness, his excuse is far from acceptable. When asked why he waited so long to make the ruling, he said, “Frankly, I didn’t realize until a few weeks ago that the (1985) election was coming up. I had just forgotten it was election time.” The decision, which cites a variety of Texas Elec-tion Code violations that occurred during the 1983 election, comes after Bagsby’s 1984 opponent, Virginia Nell Webber, hired Fort Worth attorneys Jim Lane and Huey Mitchell to file suit seeking to overturn her loss in this year’s race. The attorneys representing Webber and Davis have cited widespread election irregularities similar to those found by Douthitt.