Just when you thought politics in the City of Houston couldn’t get stranger, along comes Roy Morales. Believe me, if you know Roy Morales, you know there is no end to strange. Yesterday, he filed for a Temporary Restraining Order against Mayor Annise Parker and City Council to keep them from putting Michael Kubosh on the ballot.
Roy Morales Temporary Restraining Order
Roy is claiming that Michael does not live in the City of Houston and his “proof” is that Michael registered a couple of cars at an address in Cypress and that “irreparable” harm will come to Roy if Michael is allowed on the ballot.
Yep, irreparable harm would certainly come because ol’ Roy will lose.
There is also an interesting angle on the lawyer that Roy used to file the suit. I’ll have more on that later this morning.
UPDATE
I have a copy of Mike Kubosh’s response to Roy’s TRO request. It is quite entertaining, as we would expect.
Michael Kubosh response to Roy Morales TRO request.
Some highlights:
Before proceeding with this suit, this Court should ask the preliminary question of whether George M. Bishop of Chappell Hill, Texas, the attorney who drafted these papers and filed suit through his friend Frank Svetlik, is the same George Bishop disbarred from practicing law through State Bar and criminal enforcement proceedings.
See, e.g., Bishop v. State Bar of Tex., 791 F.2d 435 (5th Cir. 1986), a true copy of which is attached as Defendant’s Exhibit 1.
Note that a George M. Bishop was the husband of former Judge Caprice Cosper and served time in prison for tax evasion. Background from the Houston Press: Bishop’s Endgame and Bishop Is Back.
Defendant Mike Kubosh denies that he is currently a resident of Cypress, Harris County, Texas and avers, instead, that he is and has been a resident of the City of Houston at all times relevant to this lawsuit.
…
Plaintiff Morales is not entitled to a Temporary Restraining Order (“T.R.O.”) or other injunctive relief because he waived the right to challenge Defendant Mike Kubosh’s residency before City Council (Mayor Annise Parker and Council Members Helena Brown, Jerry Davis, Ellen Cohen, Wanda Adams, Dave Martin, Al Hoang, Oliver Pennington, Ed Gonzalez, James G. Rodriguez, Mike Laster, Larry Green, Stephen C. Costello, Andrew C. Burks, Jr., Melissa Noriaga, C.O. Bradford and Jack Christie) during the year prior to the November 5, 2013 election.
…
COUNTERCLAIMS
Plaintiff Morales seeks a Temporary Restraining Order (“T.R.O.”) that confronts Defendant Mike Kubosh with irreparable injury, that is, the unreasonable denial of the voter-conferred right to defeat Plaintiff Morales in the City Council runoff election scheduled to occur in December 2013, the deprivation of the right to appear on the ballot at the beginning of the runoff campaign, and the loss of all of the time, money, and energy Defendant Kubosh has already devoted to this case.
Heh, gotta love that last one – the unreasonable denial of the voter-conferred right to defeat Plaintiff Morales in the City Council runoff election. Hey, didn’t I say that already?
UPDATE 2
Yes indeed, that George M. Bishop is the same George M. Bishop that was married to and remains close to former Judge Caprice Cosper based on the address listed on the Morales suit. From the Washington County Appraisal District:
UPDATE 3
After a hearing that lasted less than 30 minutes, Judge Michael Landrum denied Roy’s request for a TRO.