Dicks to run for Harris County Department of Education

December 21, 2023
From Eric Dick’s Facebook page

This just can’t be legal.

Eric Dick was appointed to the Harris County Department of Education in January 2023 after his failed attempt at running for Harris County Treasurer. His wife ran for the seat and lost. Now according to the Secretary of State’s website both Dicks are running for the Department of Education.

Eric Dick is running for his current seat Place 4 and his wife, Danielle Dick is running for Place 3. Neither are challenged in the primary. Danielle will be running against the incumbent Richard Cantu if he wins in the primary. Eric Dick endorsed Cantu in his run for City Council. Eric Dick will be unopposed in the general election so Dick is back. Again. Some of the precinct chairs of the Harris county Democratic Party was too busy voting on a worthless resolution against Kim Ogg instead of finding a candidate for the Board, so we get Dick.

Recently HCDE was made aware of Eric Dick’s run against the Texas Ethics Commission. The TEC fined Dick $30,000 back in 2021 and referred him to the Texas Bar for his conduct. His fine has since been referred to the Texas Attorney General for collection. He has since been fined another $10,000 for yet another campaign finance violation. BTW I filed both complaints but never expected such high fines. The $30,000 fine is the 2nd highest in TEC history 2nd to Harris County Jerry Eversole’s fine of $75,000.

If both advance to the HCDE there will be two family members on the Board.

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League City continues The Purge. Fires librarian.

December 15, 2023

UPDATE AND CORRECTION: city Coucil did NOT vote to terminate the services of the librarian. Her superiors did. More later.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Last week League City Council fired the City Attorney. This week after the Helen Hall Library received the 2022 Achievement of Excellence in Libraries Award they fired the librarian. This award was announced on the League City website. According to City Council:

Of the 552 public libraries in Texas, only 73 received this award in 2022. With this distinction, Helen Hall Library is recognized by the Texas Municipal Library Directors Association as being in the top 15% of all public libraries in Texas.

I can only assume Captain Chaos, City Councilman Justin Hicks, has something to do with this as he did with firing of the City Attorney. Hicks, who is trying to escape the League City Purge has his house up for sale for the last 148 days (according to Zillow) Hicks wasn’t happy with the advice given by the City Attorney concerning Hicks book Purge. I would bet the firing of the City Librarian is for the same reason.

As with the firing of the City Attorney the vote to fire the Librarian was held with a vacant seat. The city has an election coming up in January for a vacated seat. One of the candidates is a MAGAt republican and is probably supported by Mayor Long and Hicks. Winning this seat will give them the majority needed to continue The Purge.

Those who do not bend the knee shall be targeted.

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Small group of Democrats vote to admonish DA Kim Ogg

December 13, 2023

You have to love the Houston Chronicle. Or laugh.

According to the Houston Chronicle “Harris County Democrats vote overwhelmingly to admonish DA Kim Ogg”. That’s not exactly correct. Last night at a poorly attending Executive Committee meeting 129 out of over 500 precinct chairs approved a resolution to admonish District Attorney Kim Ogg. I wouldn’t call that “overwhelmingly”. 61 voted against the resolution. Hundreds voted to stay home and do something more important.

In the end the far lefties got what they wanted after months of debating. And in the end it won’t amount to a hill of beans. Ogg probably won’t win the Democratic primary. She has pissed off too many people but passing a resolution is just going to get you a picture in the paper with a bad haircut. That’s it. Instead of putting the time and effort into important matters such as raising money or helping elect Democrats to office they passed a worthless resolution. And oh by the way 2 of our great candidates for City Council lost.

Besides the embellished title of the article the Chronicle also embellished the challengers fundraising. According to the article:

While the resolution does not limit her legal powers, it does put Ogg at odds with her own party as she heads into next year’s March primary. She is facing a challenge from Sean Teare, a former prosecutor who raised almost $750,000 in the first six months of the year – more than 10 times what Ogg raised during the same period.

$750,000…..well sort of. As I noted before, Sean raised $748,000 but that includes two major donations, one from Laura Turek for $100,000 and $500,000 from Scott Freeman. Without these donations he raised $148,317 still 3 times more than Ogg. Sean is a good candidate for the office. He served as a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for 11 years, including 6 years as the Division Supervisor of the Office’s Vehicular Crimes Division. I like the guy. We should thank Ogg for her 8 years of service and move on.

Now that this issue is over maybe those who put this side show on would now go do their damn jobs. Here is an idea, go work on Sean’s campaign and quit the drama.

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Voter fraud in Houston elections by winning candidate?

December 13, 2023

The voter integrity committee of the Harris County Republican Party is probably jumping on this like Donald Trump on a porn star.

Ok, hear me out. Prior to the election the Houston Chronicle questioned the residency of 7 candidates running in the Houston city elections, including Willie Ray Davis candidate for At-Large 2. Davis won in the runoff. According to the article the City only performs an initial check to verify the candidate put a city of Houston address on the application, they are registered to vote, and have not been convicted of a felony. Maybe someone needs to check a bit deeper.

Davis lists his address on his voter registration as 4734 Arbilla Ln Houston Texas 77021. That property is a single family residence owned by Lott Paul Wesley Sr. But here is where it gets interesting and disturbing. According to the Brazoria County Appraisal District Willie Ray Davis owns a $591,000 home at 3531 BENITO DR IOWA COLONY, TX. He claims a homestead exemption as well as a Disabled Veteran exemption. (Thank you for your service)

So here is the potential issue that the voter integrity committee is chowing down on. If this is the same Willie Ray Davis then he may have voted illegally. According to Texas law a candidate must live in the district for at least 12 months prior to the election and I believe if you take a homestead exemption on your home in Iowa Colony then that address is where you live. (it makes sense) So Willie Ray Davis lived out of the city of Houston.

And….if he registered to vote in Harris County using someone else’s address isn’t that a violation of voter integrity? And….if he voted in the City elections isn’t that voter fraud? And….if he didn’t vote in the City elections isn’t that a confirmation that he knew he would be committing voter fraud? If he claims residency in the City of Houston for the election then he can’t take a homestead exemption. That would be against the law and a lie. Willie Ray Davis is a pastor and I am sure he believes in Thou Shall Not Lie commandment.

There are a lot of IFs here and maybe this is a different Willie Ray Davis. So maybe someone should look a bit deeper on this. I will forward this to the voter integrity committee of the Harris County Republican Party and wait patiently for a response.

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Post election thoughts. SJL. Amanda Edwards.

December 12, 2023

Now what?

After Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee entered the race for Houston Mayor, Amanda Edwards dropped out of the race and endorsed her. Amanda then filed to run for SJL Congressional District knowing that if SJL did not win she might run for re-election in her Congressional seat.

SJL lost by over 30 points and a day later she filed for her Congressional seat. Kind of not cool but that is politics and it was a risk Amanda realized and took. So now what? According to the Houston Chronicle Amanda has outraised SJL 4-1 and SJL won her district in the Mayors race by only 2 points. Amanda has been working the district for months. She is raising money. She is young and very capable of doing the job. She has experience as a former City Council Member.

Sheila is Sheila. She had performed the job for many years. Everyone knows her but that loss in the Mayors race was huge. It was surprising and her performance in her own district has to be concerning.

Personally I wish SJL had ended the race for Mayor by endorsing Amanda and welcoming a new, well qualified, young, woman for the next Congresswoman for Congressional District 18.

But then again. What the hell do I know?

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Houston City Elections Results. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

December 10, 2023

Let’s just jump right in….

The Good. Ding Dong Buzbee’s gone! After spending over $800,000 of his own money for a district race that usually costs at the very most $100,000 Buzbee got his ass handed to him. Again. In 2019 he spent over $13 Million of his own money to lose like a bitch to Turner and he lost like a bitch again. Even the rich white folk of District G knew better than to elect Buzbee.

More Good. Senator John Whitmire is the new Mayor of Houston beating Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee by 31 points. That was not expected. Maybe 10-15 points but 31? I still don’t understand why SJL entered this race. She is a lightning rod for the rabid right and lightning struck last night. To the 34% of voters who supported SJL, give Whitmire a chance. Yes he is a moderate but he is actually a progressive who moves the ball forward. He has a history of making progress. He is going to be good for the city.

More Good. Chris Hollins easily beats Orlando Sanchez. I can’t figure this one out. If those who voted for Hollins had voted for Sheila, Sheila would have been Mayor. Go figure. Well, Hollins was the least qualified of the entire bunch running for Controller and now he is Controller. As with Whitmire, let’s give him the opportunity to succeed.

The Bad. Juan Ramirez and Twila Carter won by just a couple hundred votes. Hopefully they will not be MAGAts on City Council coupled with Fred Flickinger and WIllie Davis to just cause chaos. There are a number of republican voting Council Members but they work well with others providing a good balance where needed. Hopefully Ramirez and Carter will fit in. I have my doubts about Flickinger and Davis.

The Ugly. What the living fuck Houston? Wille Davis over Nick Hellyar? Whether you are a Democrat or Republican Nick Hellyar was by by far the most qualified, most respected, most endorsed, candidate running for city council this cycle. Instead you voted for Willie Davis? I mean, come on man. That is just plain fucking ugly. Davis didn’t raise much money so someone had to finance his campaign. More on that later. With Davis there could be up to 4 MAGAt Republicans on City Council. That is enough to cause chaos.

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A Pale Horse of a different color

December 8, 2023

This doesn’t change anything.

Pale Horse Strategies is a consulting firm associated with Defend Texas Liberty PAC and owned by former State Representative Johnathon Strickland. Strickland was also the lead of Defend Texas Liberty. Was….

The Texas Tribune exposed DTL, specifically Strickland, for meeting with a known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes at Pale Horse Strategies. DTL has since removed Strickland, the Speaker of the House had called on all republicans to denounce DTL and return any donations they received.

Well today The Texas Tribune says that Pale Horse Strategies is changing their name to West Fort Worth Management LLC. From the Tribune:

In a Nov. 13 filing with the Texas Secretary of State, an attorney for Pale Horse Strategies LLC wrote that the firm would also conduct future business under the name “West Fort Worth Management LLC.”

The firm is owned by former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, and is heavily involved in right-wing politics in Texas.

PaleHorseStrategies.com has gone dark. According to the Texas Ethics Commission no political organization has spent money with West Fort Worth Management. You just can’t change who you are by changing what people call you.

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Mexican MAGAt to challenge State Representative “Little Baby” Briscoe Cain

December 8, 2023

It’s like laughing and throwing up at the same time.

“Little Baby” Briscoe Cain, pictured here at the annual Take your Child to Work Day, has a challenger in the Republican Party. Bianca Gracia, founder of Latinos for Trump, claims Briscoe is a pro-Democrat which is laughable. Cain is so far right he is wrong. Maybe the PAC Defend Texas Liberty known for meeting with a white supremacist is funding her campaign. Cain was one of the many Republican House members to vote to impeach Ken Paxton. Even right wing wackos have their limits. The PAC has vowed to primary these members.

Gracia is best known for meeting with Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, and founder of the Oath Keepers Elmer Stewart Rhodes in a garage a day prior to the Jan 6 insurrection. Tarrio and Rhodes were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States and are serving 20 year prison sentences. In 2020 Gracia ran for the Texas Senate and won 7% of the vote in the primary. If fundraising is an indication of future success she should quit while she is behind.

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More Trumped Up Dick.

December 8, 2023

I just can’t.

So two interesting articles have come up about local attorney and Harris County Department of Education Trustee Eric Dick. Yesterday I posted about an investigation into Dick concerning possible illegal solicitation of clients in Maui. Today there is an article about Dick being sanctioned $137,000. According to ClaimsJournal.com:

A Texas judge has ordered a Houston plaintiffs’ attorney to reimburse an insurer $137,000 for the legal fees it expended to defend itself against a “frivolous” and “groundless” lawsuit that was filed “solely for the purpose of harassment.”

The final judgement, which you can read here, is quite interesting and reminds me of his run in with the Texas Ethics Commission. According to the judgement:

During discovery, Dick named four expert witnesses who would testify about the loss: Richard Gadrow, Billy Bray, Matt Morgan and Shiran Perera. The order says Gadrow, Bray and Morgan testified that they were unaware that they had been named as experts. Perera, an engineer, testified that he had never inspected the property but did review photographs that showed wind damage, not the hail damage that had been alleged.

Of course Dick is now using the old Trump defense claiming it is a witch hunt, yada, yada:

Dick told the Claims Journal that the judge’s order is “100% political.” He said Williams has “weaponized” the justice system and using it against him because she is a Democrat and he is an elected Republican. Dick is an elected trustee on the Harris County Board of Education.

“This is how these corrupt judges do it,” Dick said. “This is the same way they are doing it with Donald Trump.”

Not only was he sanctioned the Judge has required him to pay the defendant’s fees for any appeals:

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Local attorney being investigated in Hawaii?

December 7, 2023

I just can’t get rid of Dick.

If you have read this blog at any time you might have noticed I have written about Eric Dick, Harris County Department of Education Trustee, candidate for city council, and candidate for Harris County Treasurer. I filed 2 ethics complaints against Dick which the Texas Ethics Commission accepted, investigated, and fined him $30,000 and $10,000. You can read the results of those investigations here and here. I actually expected a small fine and a promise not to do it again.

Dick is a well know insurance attorney. You might have seen his ads or flyers. He has since been appointed to the Harris County Department of Education. That should have been the end of all of this but he has now come under fire for soliciting clients in Maui after the massive fire. According to Hawaii News Now Dick sent out flyers (see below):

The flyer says “you may be entitled to money” and “We are helping your friends and neighbors protect their legal rights and want to help you,” although Dick has no Hawaii clients.

The back of the flyer included a contract and instructions to sign it and text it to Dick’s law firm.

Dick claims:

Dick said the flyer was approved by the Texas Bar Association and he has used similar flyers thousands of times, but apparently didn’t realize without a Hawaii license or working in partnership with a licensed Hawaii attorney, it is illegal to solicit clients here.

Dick seems to be like the jam of the month club. He just keeps on giving. I doubt if the Texas Bar, the Ethics Committee, or any other Texas organization will take action. It’s up to Hawaii to do so.

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