It’s panic time in Harris County. I say “investigate this thoroughly and let the chips fall where they may.”
Ousted Houston Community College District II Trustee Bruce Austin has turned to the Office of the Harris County Attorney and his sycophants at the Houston Chronicle to file a civil lawsuit against HCC District II Trustee-elect Dave Wilson and retaliate against current HCC District IV Trustee Carroll Robinson.
Page B2 of the Friday December 20th, 2013 print edition of the Houston Chronicle leads with First Assistant County Attorney Robert Soard’s quote addressing the three-page civil suit petition filed in the 151st District Court. The Harris County attorney’s office sued Dave Wilson, alleging he was not a resident of District II when he was elected last month (emphasis mine):
“We think there is a reasonable doubt as to whether he lives with the district, and it needs to be clarified,”
Who is “we” and what’s their premise?
“…Wilson was ineligible to run for Precinct 4 Harris County Commissioner (back in 2010) …because he had listed an address on his application that was not his residential address, as required by election code. Wilson’s wife, Connie. still lists a property at 7370 Lake Lane, which is in the Lone Star College System district.”
Yep, no way a wife would live apart from her hubby, right?
Fast forward two days—to the Sunday December 22nd, 2013 print edition of the Chronicle.
Bearing the title “HCC probe: Did trustee steer work to friend?” the Chronicle reports Houston Community College has hired a law firm to investigate an accusation regarding District IV trustee Carroll Robinson:
“Houston Community College has hired a law firm to investigate an accusation that trustee Carroll Robinson tried to steer part of a multi-million dollar construction contract to a company owned by a close friend…”
Conveniently left out of the Chronicle article is what REALLY needs to be investigated—the HCC Contract with Qatar—and is exactly what I reported Bruce Austin told the Chronicle Editorial Board in this post:
“HCC District II trustee incumbent Bruce Austin went before the Houston Chronicle board the other day. According to a source with intimate knowledge of the meeting, Austin admitted HCC is looking into two accounts; one is the account associated with Qatar and the second is related to the 2008 bond money.”
This statement from HCC District IV Carroll Robinson’s website has since been removed–good thing I transcribed it!
“HCC’s Contract with Qatar The Qatar contract was not reviewed by any lawyer before $43 million of local taxpayers money was committed to help a foreign government while tens of thousands of Houston area residents still need financial help to attend HCC to secure an associate degree or workforce retraining. This happened before I was elected last year – November 2011. I support terminating this contract immediately.”
Since First Assistant County Attorney Soard is examining residency requirements of elected officials, perhaps he might look into—oh, I don’t know—the residency of one Texas State Representative Jessica Farrar.
I mean, that would be welcomed and relevant to his suit against Wilson, right?
Especially since a Harris County grand jury has “no-billed” abortion doctor Douglas Karpen—
Ms. Farrar has a residence in Houston—as does her husband attorney Marco Sanchez; oh no WAIT! Mr. Sanchez, according to the State Bar of Texas website, lists his work address in Austin, Texas so he must live in Austin—–live separately from his wife Jessica Farrar.
Everyone over at HCC is scared of the audits into the Qatar account and the 2012 HCC bond issue.
What an interesting 2014 we have on the horizon.
Ross says
What does a grand jury no bill have to do with a civil suit filed by the County Attorney? Don’t conflate the two, they are entirely different and not relevant to each other.
Manuel Barrera says
Jessica Farrar is just the tip of the iceberg, we have Adriana Tamez that stated in a government document that she lived outside the district she now represents. We have Ana Hernandez who is married and whose husband has a house in the Heights, she and him both claim to live in Denver Harbor. Anyone want to buy a bridge if you believe that one would choose Denver Harbor over the Heights? As time allows I think I can come up with at least six Democrats that need to be investigated as to residency.
The Democratic Party came to the defense of the late Mario Gallegos when he claimed to reside with his mother and not his wife who had a homestead outside the district.
I have already found three Democrats, elected officials, that do not believe in paying property taxes.
Ross says
At least Jessica Farrar is registered to vote in the house where she claims a homestead. Dave Wilson is claiming an office as his residence while he has a homestead exemption elsewhere (husband and wife are inseparable for that in Texas). I am getting tired of politicians claiming to live at an obviously bogus address. Of course, Wilson is also a bigot who ought to be run out of town on general principles.
K says
If Dave Wilson is the guy Republicans have decided to rally behind, then y’all are pretty short on heroes. His whole claims about being a watchdog are pretty weak after he supported the two most corrupt members of the board (Yolanda Navarro Flores and Herlinda Garcia) in their losing re-election bids.
Manuel Barrera says
Ross you are wrong, Dave Wilson does not have a homestead, his wife does. If you bother checking you will find that the house is registered in her name only.
Why is he a bigot? Because you say he is. One could argue that you are a bigot for thinking the way you do.
Who ever K says is, you are wrong about Yolanda Navarro Flores and Ms. Garcia. Ms. Garcia was on the board for less than a year, and where was the corruption.
You and the rest of the people that claim that Ms. Flores are corrupt are wrong. I will give you the same challenge that I give everyone else, prove that Ms. Flores is corrupt. If you are relying on the censure that was not based on facts. Why not read the Veselka Report and learn the truth instead of spreading lies about people that you probably do not know.
So far I have found 5 Democrats that do not live where they claim to live. I have three others that have problems paying property taxes. I have just started researching I should find at least another five based on 2014 candidates as Democrats.
As to what Dave Wilson has done, I would suggest you read some history on what he has done.
Dave Wilson is not liked because of his stand on homosexuality. He believes the bible and that it as perversion. I personally think that homosexuality is a choice that people make. Until they find a gene that causes it remains a choice of lifestyle.
Ross says
Wilson’s comments on homosexuals prove he’s a bigot. His hatred for those that are different than him make him a bigot. 50 years ago, he would have been railing against interracial marriage. There was no reason for Wilson to bring up sexual orientation in his campaigns, it’s irrelevant to the issues of the day, but he chose to act like the horrific bigot he is, and railed against homosexuals. Like I said, he’s a bigot.
By definition, if Wilson’s wife has a homestead, he has a homestead. That’s Texas law.
L says
K was correct about Herlinda Garcia. She has been on HCC board since the 90’s and was voted out in 2004. During that time, she was a very corrupted and bigoted public official. Check her history with HISD, she had to pay a huge fine to HISD for abusing her position.
What about Yolanda? She still owes HCC $35,700 of fine, and has not paid a dime. HCC will be going after her for this money before the end of January 31, 2014
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/HCC-trustee-Flores-liable-for-legal-fees-after-2408246.php
Yvonne Larsen says
Hmmm, seems Borris Miles has delinquent taxes from 2012…… Oops, problems paying property taxes.
K says
What does Borris Miles have to do with anything?
Yvonne Larsen says
Ah yes, While preaching tolerance, equality and acceptance the Leftists themselves hurl some of the most vile language which ironically reflects THEIR OWN intolerance and bigotry and exposes their desire not to engage in legitimate debate but to shut it down.
Manuel Barrera says
L Lage, what large fine did Ms. Garcia have to pay. You can’t prove that because it is not true. It is easy to spread lies it is much harder to prove them.
HISD does not levy fines on teachers or principals. In fact Ms. Garcia was promoted to Lead Principal.
Owing a judgment does not make one corrupt. I am well aware of the lawsuit that Ms. Flores filed and know the reasons she failed to pursue it. She is a much better person than most of you. She was battling cancer at the time and failed to pursue the case, that is why she lost. Not because it was a frivolous lawsuit.
If you bother to read the Veselka file you will find that Veselka found that one person, unidentified stated that he heard that Trustee Davila got Ft. Bend Mechanical to give her son contracts. Mr. Davila testified that he did not. Ft. Bend Mechanical testified that Ms. Flores son never received a contract. The owner of the company that did get a contract testified that Ms. Flores son was not part of the contract. But don’t let facts get in the way of spreading lies.
There was and is corruption at HCC but it was being done by the people pointing fingers at Trustee Flores.
Ross, I also think that homosexuality is a perversion and a choice of lifestyle. Until they find a gene that causes homosexuality it will remain my belief. Does that make me a bigot, I don’t think so but you are entitled to your opinion. Homosexuals need to quit referring themselves as in the same category as African Americans in regards to discrimination. I am old enough to remember those days and recall some of the signs and certainly remember the times. I don’t recall signs saying no homosexuals allowed. Have you ever seen one? I don’t recall reading that houses could not be sold to homosexuals. Have you read such?
Contrary to what the homosexual community espouses homosexuality is harmful to humanity. Aids is but the most recent example, it is estimated that almost 70 million people have been infected. Studies, also, show that homosexuals tend to die younger, why is that?
By the way Ross have you ever heard of separate property? There are different ways that can occur, one buys a house before marriage. Or one could receive it as a gift even from the spouse and guess what that property belongs to the one person only. Obviously your knowledge of the law is lacking as is your knowledge as to what is a bigot. Ross you are good at name calling.
Ross says
It’s fine for you to believe that homosexuality is a perversion and a choice. You are wrong, but being wrong is not a crime. Where your belief becomes a problem is when you use that belief to prevent someone from obtaining something that the rest of society is entitled to. You become a bigot when you use an innate characteristic to single out a group of people for unequal treatment.
There is no gene for race either, it’s a trait, like sexual orientation, that you are born with, and have no real control over.
Do you know any homosexuals? Have you ever talked to one? Or is the entire concept just “icky” to you. Can you explain why you think your religion ought to have the force of law? How does same sex marriage or providing benefits to same sex couples harm you?
I have seen overt discrimination against homosexuals in housing, where some colleagues and I were visiting a town where we would be transferred to work for a company being spun off from our employer. My colleagues went to several open houses to get a feel for what the market was like. At several of the open houses, the realtor assumed they were a gay couple, and flat out told them they would not like the neighborhood, and that they should look elsewhere. I’ve seen gay friends of my wife told to leave a bar because their hand holding made the proprietor uncomfortable. No one puts up a sign these days, that’s too obvious. The discrimination takes other, more insidious forms.
If Wilson’s wife is claiming the property as a homestead, Texas law makes that Wilson’s homestead as well, even if it is separate property. If Wilson and his wife are separated, that doesn’t matter, since Texas doesn’t have a provision for legal separation.
Manuel Barrera says
Ross you are wrong in almost all counts but again it easy to spread lies, or untruths if you prefer.
There are six genes that determine the color of one’s skin. Small number of genes from the approximately 30,000 that we have. We are all mostly the same as far genes go, if that is the argument you want to make.
Can a person that has been declared incompetent by a court get married? Research the question and learn a little that not everyone has the same rights. I personally don’t give a hoot whether a man marries a man but it makes a mockery of the institution of marriage as we know it. Progressive is not always better, when we implemented no fault divorces the number of divorces went way up, some people would say that is not progress. Rather than work it out through tough times it is much easier to give up and pretend that the grass is greener on the other side. If there are children they are normally the ones that suffer the hardest.
One does not know if someone is a homosexual unless one wants the other person to know.
I know a lot of homosexual persons, male and female. I have no problems associating with them.
How would the realtor “assume” and how would one know that the “realtor” assumed? I have no problem with their lifestyle. I am just sick and tired of them pushing we are victims. Heck, if one wants to believe in conspiracy one could think that the promotion of homosexuality may be a ploy by the people that run the world to control the population.
I know of one State Supreme Court case that suggests that the homestead of the wife may be considered as the homestead of the husband. By the way the Court found that the husband could have a residence elsewhere. So if the wife passes away and she gives the house to the children or her sister by Will does the husband still have a homestead? If the homestead is his she can’t give it way as it also belongs to him, can she?
75 S.W.2d 989 (Tex.Civ.App. 1934)
STATE EX REL. HUNT
v.
SCANLAN.
No. 9597.
Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, San Antonio.
October 17, 1934
Bye Ross, Dave Wilson is a good man and is not a bigot.