Bay Area Houston

It is getting ugly.

The latest is that most of City Council has sided with the League City Chief of Police over Hicks in his account of what took place Feb 22, a day after Hicks was served with divorce papers. Some have called for his resignation. Only CM Tommy Cones and CM Andy Mann haven’t responded. Cones responded to a constituent asking him to call for Hicks to resign with “Get the facts before you pass judgement.” Well the facts are all written in an email from his wife to the Chief and CCed to Sergeant Jason Kifer and it is not good, involving guns, his children, and and confrontation with Hicks. You can read the entire email here. (It is very disturbing) Here is a snippet:

This email and Hick’s attack on the integrity of the Chief of Police should convince anyone, including City Council members, that are holding out on passing judgement to do so. Now. There is not much the Mayor, who supported Hicks as Mayor Pro Tem, or City Council can do to remove him from office. League City has a very hard recall process and would take a considerable amount of time, energy, and money. Council could remove him from his committee assignments and leave him with little if any power. He would be ignored on Council. He would be shunned. All he would be able to do is vote.

Take a moment to read the email sent from his wife. It really is disturbing.

League City Council Member Justin Hicks needs time to address problems in his life.

Look, I have $175 worth of reasons to crap on CM Justin Hicks. He is a Trump wannabe, above the law, pushing his newly found party’s extreme policies including attacks on the gay community, minorities, and the book banning. He has meddled in CCISD elections along side of CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen. He ran on being fiscally conservative yet has recently completed a bankruptcy filing. He is so extreme only 9 of the 64 the Galveston County precinct chairs endorsed his reelection. He also has a pending ethics complaint for not disclosing a $12,000 loan from his wife.

But this latest episode is bad and Council Member Tressler has called for his resignation. Again I have $175 reasons to pile on but I have to agree with the speaker at last months meeting who urged Hicks to resign for the good of himself and his family. Tressler voiced his opinion about Hicks before the election and urged a vote for his opponent:

In summary, Justin Hicks is the worst member of Council I’ve ever witnessed. His out of control ego, his abusive treatment of other folks, and his seeming inability to tell the truth all should be red flags for potential voters. If anyone would like to know more details regarding any of my thoughts on this, please feel free to give me a call or email.

You can read his detailed opinion here. Today he is calling for Hicks to resign and for good reason. According to a number of articles by I45Now the police were called to his home for a domestic disturbance, twice. That was on Jan 5 and 6. Since then his wife has filed for divorce and a restraining order. The day after filing Hicks was back at the house which prompted 2 calls to the League City Police. According to the article Hicks tried to get access to the police reports and body cameras without filing an open request. He attempted to use his position as a Council Member with the Police Chief and again with a staff member. Both denied him.

The Chief sent an email (below) to the entire Council with the following:

I find it deeply troubling that a Councilman would believe his position grants him the authority to demand actions that violate the law…….I will not engage in unethical or illegal behaviors at the request of Councilman Hicks.

This is some serious shit. Hicks is a public figure and his actions will continue to be scrutinized. He should resign and turn this spotlight off of him and his family.

Justin Hicks decided not to attend the City Council meeting at 6:00PM but he did go to the workshop at 5:00PM. In public comments an individual called for a full investigation and another called for his resignation and for good reason, for his personal welfare. He has a point. He asked Hicks to resign and focus on his personal problems while not being distracted by the duties of City Council. He said that eventually everything is going to come out. I agree. The embarrassment to him, his family, and to those who are protecting him will be fodder for the local media. You can watch the public comments here starting at 4:14.

Just a quick reminder of his relationship with the current City Attorney, Michelle Villarreal. I45Now reported that Hicks requested the City Attorney to intervene in releasing the police report concerning his domestic dispute at his home. The City Attorney did his bidding and has requested the Texas Attorney General to block the release of the police reports.

Let’s go back to the December 2023 article by the Houston Chronicle concerning Hicks and the previous City Attorney. Hicks and Mayor Long were hell bent on removing the City Attorney but didn’t have the votes until Councilman Bowen resigned. Then it was brought up to a vote and he was removed. Michelle Villarreal was placed as the acting attorney. She is now the permanent City Attorney.

Maybe Michelle is returning the favor to Hicks for getting her appointed. If that is true then that is even worse than her helping him hide his personal problems. It’s hard to believe her comments on I45Now. Take a few moments to read it. Her claims just don’t make sense:

“Her concern is that to ignore Hicks claims of privacy invasion and the release of information could expose the city legally should the AG determine items not be made public.”

She acknowledged that Hicks called her requesting help. She is an attorney representing the city and council in their official capacity. Her response for help from Hicks should have been “CM Hicks, this is a private matter and I have no authority to intervene in this matter.” Period. If Hicks was concerned about privacy invasion he should have done what everyone else does, call a private attorney.

Or consider representing himself Pro Se.