Bay Area Houston

Eric Dick. Again. Prior to the meeting I ran into Dick in the bathroom. Gross.

The Harris County Department of Education voted unanimously to sanction Trustee Dick after a grievance hearing yesterday. I filed the grievance. From the Houston Chronicle:

“Trustees are elected officials. Taxpayers should expect them to do some basic things, tell the truth, follow the laws of the state, honor subpoenas issued by judges, pay your fines assessed by the state,” Cobarruvias said at Wednesday’s hearing. “What happens if you and I don’t pay our parking tickets? You know, it’s pretty clear. But the worst part about all this is that he’s thumbing his nose at the law.”

Eric Dick has owned the Texas Ethics Commission $30,000 since March of 2022. He owes $10,000 for another ethics complaint that he settled back in 2023. He agreed to pay this fine but has yet to pay it. The Texas AG’s office has demanded payment and yet he has refused. In the article he claims he is challenging the TEC’s fines but I haven’t seen any indication that this is nothing more than bullshit.

In 2022 the TEC had 387 complaints filed. Only 3 went to a formal hearing. One was for Dick and another was for his buddy Philip Bryant who was also involved in the original complaint filed against Dick. Like the formal hearing Dick failed to show up at the HCDE hearing to defend himself.

This new Republic Party doesn’t give a crap about honor, dignity, truth, or abiding by the laws of our State. At least the HCDE did what they could legally do and sanctioned Dick. You can read the long, but interesting, final disposition by the TEC here.

This should make every fiscal conservative in Harris County pretty pissed off.

$700,000 down the drain. After almost 2 years of investigating the problems with ballots during the 2022 elections Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg held a press conference to announce an indictment of one individual for something that had nothing to do with the ballot issue. The press conference just needed a Womp Womp played in the background. But according to the Houston Chronicle this wasn’t the big story:

But according to interviews with election workers and documents related to the investigation, Ogg’s office and the Texas Rangers – who assisted in the probe – had likely known there was no election tampering for at least a year before Ogg informed the public.

There were over 20 lawsuits filed against Democratic Judges who beat their republican challengers instigated in part by Mattress MAGAt Mac. These Judges had to raise money for their defense. By law could not receive pro bono help from attorneys. They could not be represented by the County Attorney. They had to take time to address the allegations, something they had nothing to do with. In the end all the suits were dismissed. The Secretary of State issued a very detailed report after their investigation stating there was no evidence of voter suppression. None. Zero. Zip. In face the word “Fraud” doesn’t even show up int he 147 page report. The republicans just flat out lost. You can read the Cliff Notes about the report here. Here is a summary:

Texas Secretary of State, Jane Nelson, a Republican issued a 147 page report on the audit of the 2022 election in Harris County. In short the Republican said “The allegations of election fraud in the 2022 Harris County election are total bullshit.”.

Ok. That was not the exact comment but you get the idea. Kim Ogg sat on this information for a year while the County was needlessly spending resources and money. This entire situation should have consequences. The republicans who brought the baseless suits should pay for all the legal fees. Their attorneys should be sanctioned. Mattress MAGAt Mac should be fined.

And Kim Ogg should be investigated as she is being ushered out of the office.

I’ve said it before. Whomp Whomp.

It’s over. Finally. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg held a press conference (video here) detailing the election fraud charges concerning the 2022 elections. The two year investigation found no evidence of election fraud. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. Just like the Secretary of State stated in their 147 page report:

Texas Secretary of State, Jane Nelson, a Republican issued a 147 page report on the audit of the 2022 election in Harris County. In short the Republican said “The allegations of election fraud in the 2022 Harris County election are total bullshit.”.

Ogg said the same thing. So Ogg, Mattress MAGAt Mac, Senator Paul Bettencourt, and all the whiny little bitches of the Harris County Republican Party were left with egg on their faces. The 22 frivolous lawsuits have been dismissed or withdrawn. In the end it was a complete waste of time, resources, and press conferences.

Ogg did file charges against a worker assigned to providing supplies, including the paper ballots, claiming he was working two jobs possibly at the same time and he neglected his duties. This led to a paper shortage in a couple of voting locations. The SOS could not find a single voter that was affected by this. Not one. If this employee was double dipping then that is something that needs to be addressed by the court but again there was no fraud. None.

It is time to get over it. Quit whining. You lost. Again.

Hopefully this puts an end to the bickering between the two.

Yet it will most certainly get worse. Yesterday Ogg posted a press release claiming to have major developments in the on going investigation into a COVID contract. Instead she later just said she was handing the investigation to the pillar of law and order, Ken Paxton. That was her explosive new development. What a load of crap.

Don’t get me wrong. The $11 Million COVID contract award to a questionable company should have been investigated. It didn’t pass the smell test and the fact that 3 individuals were indicted is disturbing. I’ve served on 3 grand juries. To get 9 out of 12 jurors to agree a possible crime was committed in 3 separate cases is tough, but then again I’ve seen Assistant DA’s present very biased presentations before. It has been my experience that jurors see through these biased presentations and would ask detailed, follow up questions.

But personally, I’ve had enough of Ogg’s theatrical bickering. Unfortunately that is what she will be remembered for. I expect an elected official to do their job and leave the theatrics at home. Ogg’s use of the media didn’t help. If she had just come out and said “We’ve had a complaint, we will look into it.” and leave it at that I wouldn’t have had such a problem with it. Let the experts investigate and let the process work.

For Ogg to hand this off to Ken Paxton at this time also doesn’t pass the smell test. It stinks. A lot. It’s almost as if she is enjoying this last opportunity to wave her middle finger to Judge Hidalgo.

I’ll be glad when she is out of office.