Gotta love Eric Dick. I mean, with the last name Dick, he’s had to live with a lot of jokes. But he’s learned to take them with a sense of humor and even makes his own jokes – remember this one? “Parker afraid of Dick” And if you google “eric dick appropriate signature” you’ll find a very interesting “scribble” of a signature. Or this ad for his law firm?
Well, he’s running for office again, this time for an unpaid position at the Harris County Department of Education. So I went to the Harris County campaign finance page and pulled up his finance report.
Best example of pay to play in Harris County politics ever. I mean ever!
His report consists of exactly one page of expenditures from personal funds. No contributions, no cash on hand, just one page of expenditures. I think once you see it you’ll agree with me about the pay to play angle.
Eric Dick Campaign Finance HCDE
I’m still laughing. It feels like 2008 again when those three guys controlled the Harris County Republican Party. Terry Lowry gets $5,000, Gary Polland $10,000, and Dr. Steve Hotze $2,500. The more things change….
Eric is spending $17,500 for an unpaid position. Well, it will be $750 more when he amends his filing to include the filing fee. Meanwhile, the other three candidates running for the two HCDE positions on the ballot have spent a combined total of $84.48 above the filing fees.
Obviously Eric wants to win this one and is taking no chances. And the old power brokers of the HCRP get to line their pockets a little deeper.
The weird thing is that his questionnaire that is posted on the Conservative Coalition of Harris County website says he wants to shut the place down.
Why would someone spend $18,250 of personal funds to get elected only to eliminate the position you got elected to? Beats me.
And why would any conservative want to shut down the one government organization in the county that is efficient and actually saves taxpayers money? Why wouldn’t they focus on one of the many agencies that take in 100 times the amount of taxpayer money and don’t use it efficiently? Easy to pick on the little guy? Typical rhetoric knowing they’ll never do it?
Do these people that keep hounding the HCDE even know what it does? Have they ever visited the schools they run? Have they ever talked to the superintendents of the ISD’s that the HCDE serves? No, they haven’t. And that’s a shame.
I think Eric will be a good board member. I like him. He’s bright, studious, and passionate about helping the least among us. And my guess is that once he gets elected, he’ll do the hard work necessary of a trustee and learn about the organization. And if he still thinks it should be shut down after that, more power to him. I’ll be ready for that fight.
That was my reason for not endorsing Eric — his goal will save taxpayers not one cent in taxes but will cost school districts more, possibly leading to tax increases.
HCDE is a duplicate of what each ISD is already doing. When you look into their operations and waste of taxpayers money, you will see the savings that can be found in closing it.
That is simply not true. You and others continue to spread false information about HCDE.
The fact is that the local ISD’s that the department serves save money by using the services of the department precisely because they cannot cost effectively provide them. That’s a simple fact.
David, are you aware that ISD’s have been finding alternatives to HCDE and that enrollment is down? If the trend continues the organization will just be a funnel for federal Head Start funds.
I thought those two Republicans elected recently were going to be able straighten out the HCDE or as Mike Wolfe put it….to abolish it. While other organizations may be taking over as ISD service suppliers and vendors, the HCRP I believe still provides and manages the supply of special needs teachers , support, and equipment. Certainly an apolitical assessment of what the HCDE does and its influence on local ISD’s before, during , and after a school is taken over by the State DE for reasons of performance. If there is a credible evaluation, I am not aware of it.
This post was about Pay to Play….. The HCRP has “resolved” to have the Big Three players remove Republican from their publications. I am not sure if how binding or teeth the resolution has but I would suggest the following:
Request that each Pay for Play entity include a disclaimer on their pubilcations stating their endorsements and slates are not those of the HCRP and the RPT.