League City Council voted to disband their Ethics Review Board. They should soon update their website to reflect this. Last month they were considering gutting their Code of Ethics including removing “Conducting themselves with integrity”. You can see the red lines here but here are a few tidbits:
Removes section titled “Rules of ethical conduct”.
Removes limitation on gifts to city officials
Removes the entire complaint process against city officials.
Removes the ethics review panel
League City will now resort to using the services of the Texas Ethics Commission which only addresses violations of campaign finance law like padding your campaign finance reports with fake loans. Other violations could be addressed by the County District Attorney but they only pursue criminal offenses.
I’m sure they justified this as a way to save money.
There is a serious ethical issue with the republican nominee for Galveston County Sheriff, Jimmy Fullen, but lucky for Fullen he is a Republican.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) has recommended to revoke the law enforcement license of Galveston County Constable Jimmy Fullen for omitting his multiple records of misconduct on an official document. (His record of misconduct is available at https://www.therealtruejimmyfullen.com) If the full board agrees, Fullen will not be able to hold the office of Sheriff. The republican controlled TCOLE has agreed to a hearing with Fullen after the election leaving voters in the dark. All of this sounds so familiar.
Jimmy isn’t the only republican candidate or office holder with ethical, illegal, and immoral challenges. The top law enforcement officer, Ken Paxton, was impeached by the Texas House with overwhelming evidence of breaking the law. (Go read the official allegations and watch the hearings) Luckily his republican buddies in the Senate acquitted him, including local Senator Money Mayes Middleton. The civil suit against Paxton, which prompted this impeachment, will now continue guarantying another embarrassing display of evidence for all to ignore and a massive settlement which the taxpayers will pay.
Fullen has a long list of elected officials who are willing to ignore his lies and omissions on an official document just like they ignored Hunter Biden who was convicted on providing false information on official documents. (LOL. They actually cheered Biden’s conviction) They also have given a pass to those who beat up cops, incite a riot, steal classified documents, conspire to disrupt a government proceeding, and falsify documents.
This is the new Republican Party. The party that talks a great game about “law and order” and looks the other way when their buddies break the law but demand order from others.
WTF? If you can’t follow the law you shouldn’t be trusted with upholding the law.
Justin Hicks, the League City Mayor Pro Tem, has received a letter from the Texas Ethics Commission regarding his disclosure of a $12,000 loan to his campaign. (you can read it here) Regrettably, there’s no evidence of such a loan appearing in any of his campaign finance documents since his candidacy for Council. However, he does acknowledge two loans totaling $900 and $600, which he accurately reported, indicating he’s aware of his actions. Additionally, his wife serves as the campaign treasurer.
The reason behind this action remains unclear. It seems illogical. In his most recent report, he managed to raise no funds and has a balance of $0 Cash On Hand. Yet, he has recorded a $12,000 outstanding loan. Should he have used campaign funds for this loan, he could have settled it by reporting the transaction promptly. The Ethics Commission is typically harsh on candidates or officials caught inflating their accounts with fictitious loans or donations, taking such matters very seriously.
This issue is not unique to Hicks. Candidate for Galveston County Sheriff, Jimmy Fullen, reported a personal loan of $100,000 in his February report, just before the primary elections. Subsequently, this loan vanished from his records without any repayment. Such actions are illegal under the Texas Ethics Commission’s regulations.
If one is unable to comply with the law, it raises questions about their ability to uphold it. It’s a matter of common cents.
Jimmy Fullen, candidate for Galveston County Sheriff has raised $66,125 as reported in his July campaign finance report. He has spent a huge amount of $100,871 leaving him a balance of $23,521. His total haul of $66,125 includes $42,250 of his own money, a $10,000 donation from Joel Caldwell leaving only $13,875 from other donors.
In his previous report, filed in February, he listed over $71,000 in loans from two individuals. His latest report does not account for these loans. His personal loan of $100,000 reported prior to February was removed without noting if it was paid off. His loan disclosures need to be addressed by the Ethics Commission.
Large contributions have all dried up. Nothing from Tillman Fertitta or Senator Mayes Middleton and others. Of the $181,570 raised in his Feb report $159,059 came from just 9 donors. Maybe they are concerned about the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement revoking his law enforcement license. The TCOLE unanimously voted to recommend revocation. His hearing is set after the election. If the TCOLE revokes his license he will not be able to serve as Sheriff.
Every six years, on a staggered schedule, every Commission in Texas is subjected to a “Sunset Review”. This review includes a self evaluation of the Commission and public comments, resulting in a bill that addresses the needed improvements to guarantee the Commission is performing per law. Here is the catch. If that bill fails to pass, the Commission fails to continue.
The Texas Ethics Commission is under Sunset Review and will be addressed in the 2025 legislation session. As per The Texas Tribune the Commission has no authority to collect fines and late fees. Instead they can only refer the individual/PAC to the Texas Attorney Generals office of Collections. This office has done little besides sending threatening letters to those who refuse to pay. Case in point, Harris County Department of Education Trustee Eric Dick who owes $40,000 and has refused to pay.
Since Paxton took office in 2015, the ethics commission has referred 2,500 unpaid fines to the attorney general for enforcement, the Tribune found. During that time, Paxton’s office has filed just 175 enforcement lawsuits, or 7% of the cases referred to it. Most occurred early in his tenure. After filing none in 2020 and 2021, the attorney general’s office brought 18 cases in 2022, 25 last year and just one so far in the first six months of 2024.
Because of this inaction elected officials just ignore the Commission and refuse to pay. In all the Commission is owed $3.6 Million. I’ve seen this before. The Republicans will now blame the Commission and will fail to pass the bill preserving the Commission instead of giving them the power to collect the debt.
Public comments are due by August 15, 2024. You can provide comments here.
It’s just amazing how much hypocrisy the Republican Party can tolerate. Mayor Pro Tem Justin Hicks said absolutely nothing about the violence on Jan 6 which had no place in our country but he had to weigh in on his lord and savior Donald Trump. After Jan 6 he didn’t ask if the families of those who died defending the Capitol were ok. League City residents should be so proud.
Campaign finance reports for League City have been filed. You can view them on League City’s website. Here is a summary:
Mayor Nick Long reported no fundraising but donated $10,000 to Galveston County candidate for Sheriff Jimmy Fullen. He also donated $5000 to Hank Dugie. He has about $13,000 cash on hand (COH).
Mayor Pro Tem Justin Hicks has reported no fundraising or spending. He has $0 COH.
Council Member Andy Mann reported no fundraising or spending. He has $0 COH.
Council Member Tommy Cones reported no fundraising or spending. He has $17.00 COH.
Council Member Chad Dressler reported no fundraising or spending. He has $0 COH.
Council Member Sean Saunders reported no fundraising or spending. He has $0 COH.
The Texas Ethics Commission fined Texas Attorney General $11,000 for failure to file a legally required campaign finance report. He has refused to pay the fine so the TEC referred it to the Texas Attorney Generals Office for collection. His office has refused to collect the fine.
But he is not the only one. According to the Houston Chronicle the TEC has over $750,000 in fines the AG’s office has refused to demand payment for. Case in point, my favorite ethical elected official, Eric Dick. Dick was fined a total of $40,000, $10,000 of that he agreed to pay in lieu of an investigation. He hasn’t paid. Last December the AGs sent him a demand letter and claimed they would file suit against him if he did not pay the fine within 10 days. It’s been 6 months. I’ve requested a status on whether the AG’s office is going to take action. They have refused to respond.
The TEC has a list of delinquent filers on their website. Paxton is on that list. They do not have a list of those who have been fined or who have agreed to a settlement yet have not paid, such as Eric Dick. The only way to find this information is to submit a public information request. I have. It is available to view here.
Don’t expect the AG’s office to take action against the AG. They won’t do Dick. Literally.
Last month I was sanctioned by the Judge in League City Mayor Pro Tem Justin Hicks’ bankruptcy hearing. Read on.
Background. In September of 2023 Mayor Pro Tem Justin Hicks filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District Court, Case #23-80179. If you are interested in the details, the case documents are public record via a free PACER account. Filing bankruptcy is a burden on a family and we should hope for a good result for the sake of his family.
But, this is Justin Hicks. Someone who ran as a fiscal conservative, sits on League City Council, is responsible for the city’s $300M budget, voted as Mayor Pro Tem by most of his colleagues, and has managed to piss off a large segment of the community with his extreme, partisan, rhetoric. He has worked hard to push his extreme agenda by purging books, librarians, and true conservatives from running in non partisan city elections. He has meddled in school board elections endorsing unqualified extremist candidates and supporting litigation against CCISD after his candidate lost. He has posted divisive memes and posts on his social media page. He is not a conservative. He’s a jack ass.
But, back to his bankruptcy. As I mentioned the bankruptcy records are all public. The hearings are open to the public also. I attended one of the hearings with my friend, Heidi. We walked into the hearing and sat quietly in the back row. Hicks was sitting up front. Hicks turned around, looked as us, and left. Moments later the Judge called the case, noticed Hicks had left, and said “Oh. He left”. After realizing he was not returning, we left too.
The photo Unfortunately, not knowing the rules of the court prohibiting photos, my friend took a pic from outside of the courtroom of the back of Justin’s head and posted it to a social media page. Justin discovered the pic the next day. I have to admit I was unaware of the rules of the court. There are no signs on the door or any warnings posted, but ignorance isn’t an excuse.
Hicks drags us into his case Hicks, representing himself with the skills set of Jackie Chiles, filed a motion for sanctions against us. The motion claimed he had a right to a peaceful hearing without people, like myself, in attendance and that a picture was taken against court rules. He claimed we were dressed incognito and were there to disrupt the hearing. (It was cold and rainy so appropriate attire was necessary) The motion was denied due to technical errors, but the judge gave him instructions on how to refile his motion, and he did. The judge was also very clear that the United States Constitution allows citizens to attend public hearings, so only the violation of the court rules was included in the new motion for sanctions.
The sanctions We attended a second hearing to address the sanctions and spoke under oath to the Judge. We were given the opportunity to address Hicks. The entire transcript is available if interested. Hicks submitted a proposed sanction order for the Judge. It included a $2000 daily fine, incarceration, and factory resets of our phones. In the end the Judge sanctioned us a total of $350 split evenly and required us to write a letter of apology. I have complied with the letter noting that I never took any pictures. Hicks stated under oath that he had no evidence showing otherwise and I offered my phone to the court for review, again under oath. Nevertheless I got hit with a $175 fine payable to Hicks for his time and effort to file the motion.
The time and effort We never saw a breakdown of his time and effort and his expenses. In his motion he wanted to be reimbursed for his time and mileage driving to and from the court even for the times he filed the erroneous motion. That part was denied. He could have sent everything via the mail like I did. Hicks also wanted time off of work for himself and his wife, mileage, and pain and suffering. Most was denied. He also asked for sanctions of thousands of dollars. Again denied. So in the end we had to pay Hicks $175 each to help him pay his bills.
But there is Good news for Hicks. At his last hearing Hicks said his career is back on track and he finally got a job and was able to buy a new car for his wife! That’s good for his family. His bankruptcy case is now closed.
Hicks re-election The above quote could be a good attack ad against Hicks like the one attacking a candidate for city council and supporting Hicks’ endorsed candidate, Courtney Chadwell. Months prior to this hit piece going out Hicks had filed his own bankruptcy. I’ve asked Chadwell what he thinks about Hicks “own record of being irresponsible with money and the fact that [he] will be a liability to the city” when managing the $300M+ annual budget. He has not responded.
The Risk. Hicks shouldn’t file for reelection. Instead he should spend more time concentrating on his fiscal stability and block walking for the Trump reelection campaign. Conservatives probably think the same but Republicans will give him a pass and reelect him. Veterans know you can’t get a security clearance with a looming bankruptcy over your head. Anyone who is responsible for contract negotiations especially for government entities could be a risk while being in financial trouble. We will see in November if voters are concerned with security or hypocrisy. My bet is on hypocrisy.
CCISD Trustee was the guest speaker of True Texas Project.
TTP was thrown out of another venue due to their support of white nationalist figures and rhetoric. Back in 2022 Buzz Aldrin’s church in Webster banned the far right group from having their meetings in the facility after learning about the group. According to The Texas Tribune another group, the Dallas Botanical Gardens, has cancelled TTP’s event stating they “rejects all forms of hate speech, discrimination, or bigotry.”
And they have a point. A big one. Even some of the most white wing of the party, including Don Huffines, has joined 12 other speakers and have cancelled their appearance at the event. From the Tribune:
Billed as the 15th anniversary celebration for True Texas Project, the conference agenda claims that there is a “war on white America,” and urges attendees to embrace once-fringe ideologies such as Christian nationalism or the Great Replacement Theory, which claims that there is an intentional, often Jewish-driven, effort to destroy white people through immigration, interracial marriage or the LGBTQ+ community.
Other speakers include “figures with ties to antisemites and extremists, including Paul Gottfried, a far-right author who mentored neo-Nazi Richard Spencer”. TTP is supported by the two republican billionaires out of the Dallas area, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. They also created Defend Texas Liberty PAC. The leadership was caught meeting with known white supremacist Nick Fuentes. The backlash was so bad the PAC folded but they created another under a new name.
This is who CCISD Scott Bowen associates with. Do yourself a favor and read the two articles from the Tribune. The first outs the group and their agenda for the birthday bash. The second is about the speakers cancelling their appearance. Here are a few comments from the speakers:
“I know that the True Texas Project gets things done and I need each and every one of you to continue to fight for the conservative principles we all stand for,” –Ted Cruz
“Every good and [decent] and honorable person associated with this event should back out,” Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak
It’s a “dumb and inaccurate way to promote the Republican agenda” and that he “was never given a lineup of speakers or topics.” Senator Don Huffines
“I categorically reject white replacement theory and never write or speak about it. I’m not interested in any of that stuff.” Todd Bensman, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies
“What kind of stupid son of a bitch would associate with these racist assholes?” Me.
Posted by johncoby 
Bay Area Houston 