Democ-RAT Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds, the disgrace of Sienna Plantation and Missouri City, is in hot water again. He faces disciplinary action by a committee of the State Bar of Texas relating to his solicitation of clients in violation of six Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. Additionally, Reynolds faces a charge of breach of fiduciary duty for failure to segregate client funds from his personal monies (sound like former Democ-RAT Governor Jon Corzine & MF Global?).
Texas Ethics Commission Complaint Filed Against Missouri City Mayor Owen
On September 20, 2013, the Texas Ethics Commission acknowledged acceptance of a sworn complaint against Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen. Errors in expenditure totals, omissions of the purpose of expenditures, and failure to disclose addresses of persons or entities receiving political expenditures are among a multitude of alleged violations of Texas campaign finance law filed against the Missouri City Mayor.
Over the last two years, the notice alleges, Owen failed to fully disclose the address of person (s) or entities receiving a political expenditure in violation of Section 254.031 (a) (3) and in TEN places failed to disclose a description of the activity conducted with an expenditure.
Here’s an example from the C/OH Campaign Finance Report (Jan. 15) – 1/03/2012:
Additionally it is alleged Mr. Owen failed to disclose the total principal amount of all outstanding loans, in violation of Section 254. 031 (a) (2).
As a public official surely Mr. Owen knows the importance of following the law when dealing with taxpayer funds. He must also know the same concerns apply when dealing with campaign funds.
Read the rest of it here.
Bruce Austin retaliates against Dave Wilson, Carroll Robinson
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.
Mayor of 4th Largest City Abandons NYC Mayor Bloomberg's Anti-Gun Group
Regular readers of BJP know we focus our writings on the Texas counties of Harris & Fort Bend. It’s a logical assumption then to, well…assume…the 4th largest city I’ve referenced is the City of Houston, currently the 4th largest city in the United States. You’d be incorrect in that assumption because the city I am referencing is Rockford…the 4th largest city in Illinois.
Rockford, Illinois Mayor Larry Morrissey has dropped out of Nanny Gloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
“An independent Illinois mayor is leaving New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun coalition because he said the group strayed from its original mission and became too focused on pushing for an assault weapons ban”
“The focus should not be against law-abiding citizens. We should be focusing our enforcement on folks who have no right to carry a gun, concealed or otherwise.”
Houston Mayor Annise Parker is a firearms owner and a law-abiding one, I’m guessing. Her motivation for joining Gloomberg’s MAIG always seemed to me to be more linked to the opportunity to win a $1 million dollar Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors’ Challenge prize than a sincere drive to strip law-abiding Houstonians of their firearms.
How much longer will Annise Parker remain a member of Michael Bloomberg’s group?
A Sad Goodbye
I can’t leave you with a bad goodbye. That was my first thought when I learned that Lonestartimes.com was going to shut down. We’ll see if I can live up to the challenge of Clint Black and Wynonna.
As the prodigal son of this eclectic group, let me say first that I’ve missed you guys this past year. I’ve missed the banter, the chatter, the banal comments, and even the criticism. Probably missed the criticism the most, although I still manage to get plenty of that in my current blogging residence.
When I think of Lonestartimes.com, the first thing that comes to mind is family. You guys, commenters, lurckers, and “front pagers” alike, know exactly what I mean by that. I suppose a stranger stumbling upon this place would find that statement surprising, because most of us have never met in person and never will. Heck, I’ve never even met most of the “front pagers” in real life, much less the thousands of commenters and lurckers that have passed by over the years.
And yet, upon reflection, I know more about some of you than I know about some of my family members. Together, we’ve shared children growing, graduating, and marrying. We’ve shared illness and loss. We’ve prayed for each other during times of trouble, shared our burdens in times of stress, lifted each other up with personal accounts of making it through times that seemed insurmountable, and comforted each other during those times when the outcome wasn’t what we wanted. We’ve celebrated births of children and grandchildren. We’ve grieved for each other when loved ones didn’t win their battles. We’ve rejoiced when one of our own, Malcolm, made it through chemotherapy with a joke a day. We’ve suffered together when one of our own, LizBV, lost her battle and passed on.
Those of you looking to find some of these friends should click over to Hamous.org – it looks like that is going to be the landing place.
One of my favorite memories is from the election of 2006, and Gov. Perry was having a tough time of it, in no small part because of people just like the ones that visited LST. I was not a “front pager” at the time and went to a Perry rally on the north side of Houston. It was there that I met “SouthernTragedy” as she stood alone on the sidewalk, bravely letting those in attendance know what she thought.
She lost that battle, as Gov. Perry went on to win the election (and, I certainly hope he wins again this year), but she has won many others and that one picture remains to me the embodiment of LST readers. Her actions and those of people like her were the pre-cursor to what we now call “tea parties”.
There are many, many other memories that I doubt will leave me soon. Lawrence C. taking me on regarding the Top Ten rule. Everyone criticizing me for my “screaming hyenas” characterization of those that wanted to prevent trucks coming in from Mexico. Fellow “front pager” RickG pounding me day after day over my support of Mike Huckabee. My own failure when I joined the Ron Paul criticism circus rather than thinking for myself. The faith based arguments I’ve had with Squawk, Hamous, Texpat, Shannon, Benzion, Matt, well, everyone.
And because of this shutdown, I will forever reign as Hanukah King.
And a special note of thanks to David Benzion. Not for his recognition of my superior skills and bringing me aboard, that should have been obvious to him long before he did. But for his efforts to mentor me, to make me a better writer than I was, to challenge me to look at an issue from more than my narrow universe, pushing me to be all that I could be, calling me incessantly as I ticked off public officials and explaining how to say what I wanted without ticking them off. Obviously, it didn’t take, but not because of a lack of effort on his part.
He also gave me an opportunity to meet a man I admire deeply and love with all my heart and soul, Mike Richards. You may not remember Mike, but he was a voice of reason on KSEV that lived his Christian faith in such a way that it caught my attention and led me back to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His was not the cheap faith of political expediency that we see so much of today: Mike Richards is an example of living as Christ. That I was able to meet him and share my story with him, and that he would accept me as easily as if I were a part of his own family, is a treasure that David Benzion gave me that I can never, ever repay. For that I thank you, David.
David Jennings, aka Big Jolly
Welcome Back!
First off, many thanks to Ed Hubbard for his work while I took a break. Tweren’t for him, not much would have happened here. Besides, his column changed the Texas GOP! I was hoping he’d write up a recap of the festivities in Dallas last week but I fear he has attracted a higher paying opportunity. I hope he remembers me when he hits the big time.
Texas GOP Elects Steve Munisteri Chairman
I gotta admit, I was happily surprised when the delegates to the Texas Republican Convention elected Steve Munisteri as Chairman on Saturday. Not quite shocked but very close. My view of Republican politics in Texas is definitely skewed by the presence of D_n on the radio. That myopia led me to believe that Cathie Adams was a shoo-in for the job. Fortunately, Republican politics in Texas is bigger than KSEV’s listeners.
Although I was quick to give credit to Ed (his endorsement of Mr. Munisteri was read over 17,000 times last week), Ms. Adams and others give credit to Debra Medina. That’s right, she didn’t shrink up and go away. Admit it, you thought she would, didn’t you? Hmm? Certainly, D_n’s listeners thought that, given the way he trashed her so badly before the March primary. But I’ll tell you what, after seeing her carry that big ol’ sack of feed around in her commercial, I knew she wouldn’t back down from anyone. As far as I can tell, she still wants WTC 7 investigated. 😉
So anyways, Mr. Munisteri’s election is excellent news for the Texas GOP. It means we can push forward, keeping our social issues but also talk about our core conservative beliefs of a truly smaller government. Of course, we have to do more than talk about smaller government, we’ll actually have to produce. Which means we’ll have to back off of some of the goals of social conservatives, such as checkpoints, road blocks, trans fat bans, smoking bans, etc. And that will be a tricky minefield for Mr. Munisteri to traverse. Take, for instance, Rep. Kevin Brady, proud Republican from Texas. Please, take him.
Brady Co-sponsors Rail Pork
No matter how many faux Tea Party appearances a 16 year Congressman makes, chances are, when given the chance, he or she will revert to what they know best: spending money that isn’t theirs. Or, in this case, taking on debt that they aren’t responsible for.
Rep. Brady, another lead sponsor, said that the bill consitutes a “targeted and timely incentive” to create private-sector jobs that improve the environment as well.
$800 million of targeted debt. This isn’t a tax break, this is a tax credit. And what do good conservatives say about “targeted” tax credits? What do good conservatives say about the government deciding an industry should be green? Rep. Brady should be the poster child for removal from office for anyone that has had enough of Washington. And yet faux Tea Party groups continue to let him address the troops as if he is one of them. Ridiculous, yes, but you know what they say about strange bedfellows. He does have an opponent, one of those scary Libertarian dudes. Except he isn’t very scary, he’s funny and bright. Check him out: Bruce West for Congress.
Mattress Mac and Intersection Safety Cameras
Speaking of strange bedfellas, I mentioned this in passing earlier but Mac’s group is forging ahead with their plans to insert more “Intersection Safety Cameras”. Seems as though former Mayor White and current Mayor Parker both personally asked him to help. This, of course, would be the same Mattress Mac that funds a faux Tea Party group that has split several times and changes names more often than some Tea Partiers bathe. Oh, and the same one that continues to prop up Rep. Kevin Brady. Interesting, no? Anyways, a group has been formed to counter this, I’ll give you more on that soon.
Management District Expansion
Another interesting development is a group pushing an expansion of management districts. Management districts of course are just another taxing entity. In fact, the only reason I’d heard of them is because….Mattress Mac fought one in his neighborhood! Now a new group is pushing to for management districts to extend to residential areas, which is now possible because Gov. Perry did not veto a bill allowing them. And there is a person on his staff that might have influenced his decision not to veto them after having vetoed them previously. Interesting. And no links because that is a teaser – I’m not sure anyone else is working on this and if they want the story, I’m going to make them work. Or, they can wait until I write about it, which should be soon now. Plus, this will serve as a heads up to the Perry campaign because they never return my emails. There you go.
Harris County Republicans Still in Turmoil
I know, I’ve already mentioned this. But HC Repubs continue to attack County Judge Ed Emmett. Doesn’t make any sense at all to me, given the very weak slate he is going to have to cover. Think about it. Are Stan Stanart, Chris Daniel, and Don Sumners going to be on anyones political dream team? And yet, those three continue to distance themselves from Emmett because Emmett likes to think things through. My advice to the judges on the undercard: do something to get these guys to stop that nonsense and do it quickly. Emmett will win but if these guys manage to pull him down a couple of points or more, you will lose. It is that simple.
Okay, I suppose that is enough for a welcome back party. I have at least one piece of old business to clean up, then we can move forward. It would really be cool if someone that knows how to write wanted to pitch in and help cover the west side of Houston. That would be most cool.
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