Texas Ethics Commission vs. Derek Avery: A Case Study

October 14, 2024

It can be costly. Sort of.

Case in point Derek Avery of Dallas County. Avery was a candidate for Dallas County Commissioner. He lost. By a lot. He filed an Appointment of Treasurer in March of 2023. At least he got that right. Then he failed to file any other required campaign finance reports. Someone filed a complaint against him. The Texas Ethics Commission found evidence of violations, accepted the complaint and began an investigation.

It went down hill from then on. Avery refused to respond to the complaint. Usually the respondent (Avery) would write a response to the complaint, the TEC would access a fine and settlement, and that would be the end of it. Not so with Avery. He notified the TEC that he would be at the hearing. He no showed. He never filed any amended reports. No one knows who financed his campaign or how much money he spent.

For this the TEC accessed a fine of $10,000 plus another $2500 if he didn’t pay it. The TEC will then send it to the Texas Attorney General for collections. Lucky for Avery the AG’s collection department will send a collection letter threatening a lawsuit if the fine is not paid in 10 days. Then they will do nothing. At all. He will get away with it.

The Texas Ethics Commission is up for Sunset Review this next legislation session. Hopefully they will be given the authority to file suit for payment. Until then Avery is free to file for another office.

No Place but Texas.

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Posted by johncoby

Raising Campaign Cash: League City Mayor Nick Long’s PAC

October 11, 2024

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.

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Galveston Republicans rejects Justin Hick’s “conservative” values.

October 9, 2024

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.

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Raising Campaign Cash: Jimmy Fullen

October 8, 2024

Jimmy Fullen has a lot in common with Justin Hicks. Both are being investigated by the Texas Ethics Commission. Both have amended their campaign reports. And both have added more controversy to their campaigns. You can read the details here and here.

As noted previously Fullen has removed his $100,000 loan from this campaign reports as if it never happened, probably because it really never happened. He padded his account making it look like he raised a shit load of money. He actually didn’t. In his latest report he has a loan balance of only $24,052 which came from Mark Henry. The $100,000 loan he claimed to have given himself magically disappeared.

He raised $47,400 with $10,000 coming from someone in College Station. He received from free advertising from Michael Barrow The Blues for $15,400. He spent $14,658 and has a Cash on Hand balance of $35,832.

Fullen’s ethics complaint is pending. Like the investigation with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement it will not be resolved prior to the election. Fullen knows the law and he broke it.

Again.

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Raising Campaign Cash: Justin Hicks

October 8, 2024

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.

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Breaking: Galveston County to investigate Jimmy Fullen campaign

October 6, 2024

Who would have thunk it?

Jimmy Fullen is on the left at a fundraiser.

Galveston County will begin an investigation of the Jimmy Fullen for Sheriff campaign. This was announced in a press release issued during the middle of the night to limit media exposure. “There are serious allegations against Mr. Fullen the county can no longer ignore. We are a nation of law and order. We must hold candidates to the highest standards of the office, no matter the party affiliation. Because of this we have initiated an investigation of Jimmy Fullen’s campaign.”

The county was recently approached by the State Republican Party with information concerning the Fullen campaign. The Party issued the following statement: “We are a party of law and order and of the highest moral and ethical standards. Last weekend Mr. Fullen crossed the line of decency therefore we have asked the County to investigate one of our own. Mr. Fullen’s actions have soiled the great name of the Republican Party. We will not stand idle.”

“We are also a party of moral values, values that are enshrined in our Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump. Dressing up like a drag queen goes against our values and principals. Our party might tolerate falsifying government documents, unless it involves Hunter Biden. However, dressing in drag and prancing around on stage with other republicans officials cannot be tolerated.”

“We pray the County will take immediate action.” Let us prey and welcome to Satire Sunday.

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Biden to bail out Abbott to fix the electrical grid

October 5, 2024

Texas Strong my ass.

The Federal Government is bailing out Texas, again, this time to help connect Texas to the Southeast grids. So much for “Texas Strong” but in the end we will get a more fortified grid when we need it. According to Electrek:

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announces $1.5B for four transmission projects – including connecting the Texas grid to the Southeast grids for the first time ever.

The projects, spanning multiple states, will add nearly 1,000 miles of new transmission lines and increase grid capacity by 7,100 megawatts (MW). They’ll boost grid reliability, lower energy costs, and support the clean energy transition.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott was seen at the border with his hand out begging for help. Of this $1.5 B about $350 Million will be allocated to Texas. Texas grid was wrecked back in 2021 leaving millions without power during a heavy freeze for 4 days. Hundreds died. Insurance claims for ruptured pipes and damage to the homes skyrocketed. Yet Abbott did nothing. He passed the cost of these repairs to the grid on to the consumers.

With a $350 M donation to Texas will fund the Southern Spirit:

Southern Spirit (Texas to Mississippi): This is a REALLY. BIG. DEAL. Spanning 320 miles, this HVDC line will link Texas’ isolated ERCOT grid with the Southeast grids for the first time, adding 3,000 MW of bidirectional capacity across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It’s designed to prevent outages like the ones during Winter Storm Uri that hit Texas hard in 2021. It’s expected to create 850 construction jobs and 305 permanent jobs.

Stupid Texas.

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Posted by johncoby

Are you a racist if you sponsor a fundraiser for a racist?

September 21, 2024

In my book, yes.

It’s time we call a spade a spade. Enough being nice about this. If anyone is sponsoring a fundraiser for a fucked up human being like Trump then they are also fucked up human beings no matter how much money they have or how much they give to charities.

What does it say about your rich white ass when you support someone who says racist things about Haitians, Blacks, Latinos, Asians? Who attacks the gay community, Muslims, teachers, police officers, Palestinians, and Jews?

It says you are a fucked up human being. A truly fucked up, rotten, human being

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Jimmy Fullen Under Investigation: Loan Controversy Deepens

September 16, 2024

Jimmy Fullen, candidate for Galveston County Sheriff, is under investigation by the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) concerning a personal $100,000 loan he reported in his July 2023 campaign finance report. In February of 2024 that loan vanished. You can view all of his reports here.

Recently Fullen filed 4 amended reports concerning his multiple loans. His reports can be reviewed at the Galveston County campaign finance website. The amended reports list a loan from Mark Henry for $24,059.46, a personal loan for $32,000, and then a “personal loan from self was removed on form e”. That last one is bothering. It doesn’t list an amount.

But that was the $100,000 personal loan he reported on his July 2023 report. He claimed to have loaned his campaign the $100,000 on February 9, 2023. His amended report filed 20 months later simply removes this loan from the books exactly like the TEC complaint alleges.

The original issue was that he padded his campaign report making it look like he was rolling in cash when he actually wasn’t. His Cash on Hand should have been reduced from $204,000 to $104,000. During this reporting period he was running against an opponent in the primary. It has been my experience that the Texas Ethics Commission frowns upon padding a campaign report especially when the candidate has an opponent. Fullen’s treasurer hand writes all his reports. This wasn’t a technical error.

It seems clear that by filing this amended report he has admitted to padding his report and breaking the laws of the Texas Ethics Commission. If you can’t follow the law how can you enforce the law?

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Posted by johncoby

League City Children Center sues City Council Member

September 15, 2024

It’s hard to make this stuff up so early in the morning! From a press release:

(League City, Texas) September 15, 2024. On Friday, the League City Children Center filed suit against League City Major Pro Tem Justin Hicks for defamation of character. According to the LCCC attorney, Anne Takeitt, “Over the last few weeks Justin Hicks has been playing some kind of election campaign game against a newly formed Political Action Committee, Kick Hicks. This game concerns the placing of campaign signs throughout our great city. Our organization, the League City Children Center, has nothing to do with this activity or the placement of the signs yet it has been described by many as being childish. We find this description of this activity to be demeaning to the children of League City and demand an immediate apology from Hicks and his campaign staff”.

Anne Takeitt of Benjamin Dover, Anne Takeitt, and C. Howitt Hertz law firm has demanded an apology from Hicks and for him to cease and desist from perpetuating this childish game of sign wars. According to the lead plaintiff, Shelley Smith, age 3, “Justin Hicks is a poopie head.”

Benjamin Dover, Anne Takeitt, C. Howitt Hertz
Attorneys at Law
Galveston Texas

Hicks was unavailable for comment. Welcome to Satire Sunday.

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