Bay Area Houston

What is it with Galveston County republicans running for office?

I do not know Scott Higginbotham but much like Justin Hicks he is real proud of calling himself a “Conservative” and much like Hicks he needs to learn how to follow the law. It’s not hard to do especially when filing official government documents like campaign finance reports. It really is easy. If you spend money, document the date, amount, who you paid, and what it was for. If someone donates something other than money, like the use of a facility for a fundraiser, also document it as an in-kind donation. If someone gives you anything of value, document it. And if your treasurer and wife loans you $12,000 document it and deposit the money into your campaign account.

The Ethics Commission is investigating Mayor Pro Tem Justin Hicks and Sheriff candidate Jimmy Fullen for not documenting loans to their campaigns. They are now investigating Higginbotham for not reporting an in-kind contribution from Mayor Nick Long’s PAC, the Bay Area Conservatives PAC. As noted before Higginbotham donated $5000 to Nick’s PAC but didn’t report it. In return Long gave $5000 to Parabellum Media LLC in support of Higginbotham. He didn’t report that either. This is a strange way of doing business and it is not legal.

The TEC provides a plethora of instructional videos on how to file a campaign finance report. Galveston County Republicans should take a few minutes and watch them.

You have to wonder if Justin Hicks is politically stupid or if he thinks he is above the law. Neither is a conservative value. From the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC)

Hick’s campaign treasurer and manager needs training on the laws governing campaigns in Texas. His $12,000 campaign loan from his treasurer (his wife) was omitted from his campaign report. He later amended his report after his treasurer (his wife) remembered she had donated $12,000 to his campaign. The Texas Ethics Commission is investigating this.

Now Hicks might be a target for yet more ethics violations. First Hicks used what looks like his official League City photo for his campaign mailers. The TEC wrote an opinion on using government resources for mailers. This includes printing, photos, or anything that public money was used for. You can compare the two pics from League City and his mailers.

And second. Justin is NOT running for Mayor Pro Tem. In fact there is not an elected position called “Mayor Pro Tem”. Materials provided by a campaign cannot use any other position other than the one running for. The TEC provides detailed guidelines for campaign managers and candidates. For instance if you are not the incumbent you must put FOR in specific height and width so voters know you are running FOR the position and you are not an incumbent running for re-election. It might be a nit but both of these complaints will be accepted by the TEC.

The TEC could assess a fine per mailer. It can be pretty pricey. Hicks might need another loan.

Dear Bay Area Houston,

League City council member, Justin Hicks and candidate for Sheriff Jimmy Fullen have a lot in common. Both are being investigated for campaign law violations concerning loans to their campaigns. Both have filed amended reports and both have added more controversy to their filings. 

Hicks failed to identify who loaned his campaign $12,000. His amended report now shows the loan was provided by his treasurer. His treasurer is his wife who forgot to list it on the handwritten report. The source of the loan is still a mystery. Since he has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, he and his wife have 3 suits for unpaid credit card debt, and a suit for HOA fees. 

Fullen correctly reported a personal loan of $100,000 to his campaign but never disclosed when it was paid off. It just disappeared from a subsequent report. In his amended report he stated the reason to amend as “personal loan from self was removed on form e”. In other words he never really loaned his campaign any money. It’s hard to believe his treasurer hand wrote in a $100,000 loan without getting the OK by Fullen. Falsifying a government document is a felony. Ask Hunter Biden. 
If Hicks and Fullen want to be in the Republican law and order club they might want to get their personal finances in order and start following the law. 

This is kinda strange on a number of points.

League City Mayor Nick Long has a newly created political action committee, Bay Area Conservatives Political Action Committee. His wife, Kari Long, is the treasurer. This GPAC is supporting Hank Dugie County for Commissioner and Scott Higginbotham for League City Council. Missing from this list of supported candidates is Justin Hicks, Nick Long’s buddy. Strange.

In the latest report GPAC raised $6500 from 3 individuals. $5000 from Higginbotham, $1000 from Carl Joiner, and $500 from Senator Mayes Middleton. $4500 of this was given to the Hank Dugie campaign. Another $5000 was given to Parabellum Media LLC in support of Higginbotham. Why didn’t Higginbotham just give $5000 to Parabellum Media LLC from his own campaign account and not filter it through a 3rd party? He also didn’t report the $5000 donation on his campaign finance report. That is strange also.

In total the GPAC has raised about $23,000, $7500 coming from Jimmy Fullen, candidate for Sheriff, and $2500 from Hank Dugie which was later returned with an additional $2000 to his campaign. Again strange. Kari and Nick Long donated about $4000.

Strange. Poor Justin. Snubbed again.

Ouch. That must hurt.

Even the Galveston Republicans have had enough of Justin Hick’s “conservative” values. Ever since being elected Justin has been the Corporal Chaos of League City Council. He constantly claims to be a “conservative” which made enough real conservatives cringe during an endorsement meeting. They refused to endorse Hicks. That had to hurt.

Hick’s Bankruptcy
Hicks is some kind of perverted form of conservative . He is fiscally irresponsible filing bankruptcy in December. He and his wife have 3 suits concerning credit card debt. (22-DC01-0796 for $4053.05, 22-DC01-0776 $1878.15, and 23-DC01-0447 $1722.88) His bankruptcy filings shows he owed South Shore Harbour HOA fees of $1749.24. He has claimed, on a number of occasions, his bankruptcy was caused by medical issues yet there are no filings with the court supporting this. His filings make it clear he was unemployed for a long period of time. Yet with all of this going on he somehow found $15,000 to fund his campaign. It doesn’t make conservative cents.

Hick’s Voting Record
Hicks is a veteran. (Thank you for your service) You would think a conservative veteran would have been first in line to vote his conservative values on every election. Voting records in the county show otherwise. He only voted in 2020. As we used to say in the Army: WTF Over? Judges are allowed to hide their voting records but I have never heard these privileges applied to Council Members. Maybe he would like to comment so I can correct this?

Ethics Investigation
Hicks has been playing games hiding his campaign cash prompting an investigation by the Texas Ethics Commission. This isn’t a conservative value. Neither is leading the book banning charge. Or raising nonexistent racist issues with the Chief of Police. Or firing librarians.

Hopefully the real conservatives of League City will also reject Hicks, thrown him out of office, so he can spend more time with his financial advisor.

The 30 day out campaign finance reports are out.

Hicks should fire his treasurer. His treasurer is his wife and she is clearly in need of additional training. Let’s review his report. Hicks raised $14,625. Of this $12,500 came from 3 donors. $5000 from Mike Scully, $4000 from Andy Mann, and $3500 from Hicks himself. After claiming bankruptcy Hicks has been able to put $15,500 of his own money into his campaign. Go figure.

He also spent $9,224.67 including $541.25 to pay off his wife’s loan to his campaign which doesn’t make cents. $541.25 is the very same amount he paid to buy signs. What I believe is that the $12,000 loan was never an actual loan. It wasn’t a check deposited into an account, or an electronic draft. It was nothing more than a promise, an allocation. It looks like he just padded his account with a promise to loan himself. This was probably a virtual loan something the Ethics Commission should be looking at. Lucky for Hicks the Ethics Commission will probably not dig deep enough to realize this deception unless someone files a more detailed complaint.

You can review his campaign report on the League City website.