Bay Area Houston

I just can’t get away from Dick.

Harris County Department of Education Trustee, Eric Dick, is at it again. This time he is meddling in Harris County Democratic Party primaries. Dick is a republican. He is a MAGAt and yet he donated $25,000 to a PAC called Community Justice. The PAC has filed 3 reports raising $136,000 with $125,000 coming from 4 individuals/organizations including ERIC DICK for $25,000.

Dick joined lawyers from the law firms of Lowenberg, Posch & Nguyen, Spagnoletti, and Armstrong Lee & Baker. One of the candidates they supported was Erica Hughes against a very popular and excellent Judge Mike Engelhart. Hughes won. I’m begging to wonder if these law firms had a case in front of Engelhart in the past.

Dick seems to have enough money to meddle in another party’s primary but he doesn’t have enough to pay his $40,000 fine issued by the Texas Ethics Commission.

What a dick.

You will be surprised.

Last month a group called Harris County Democratic Endorsed was sending texts with their endorsements. It looks as if it was coming from the Harris County Democratic Party. Their logo is very similar to HCDP as is their website which is hosted on WordPress. (rookies) Their endorsement is paid for by Community Justice PAC a PAC created late last year.

Here is what I found back in February:

They raised $50,000 from two individuals/entities, spent over $13,000, and has over $36,000 COH. Joshua Lee donated $25,000 and the law firm Push & Nguyen donated $25,000. Of the $13,000 $7626 was paid to Christian Alexander with a PO Box for JC National for consulting expense and $5000 to John Humphries with a PO Box for Loud Inc for a reimbursement for the the JRR Dinner.

Since then they have filed 3 reports raising $136,000 with $125,000 coming from 4 individuals/organizations including ERIC DICK for $25,000. Yes, that Eric Dick, the republican on Harris County Department of Education who has not paid his $40,000 fine by the Texas Ethics Commission. All of these top donors are associated with law firms, Dick, Lowenberg, Push & Nguyen, and Spagnoletti. Lee works for Armstrong Lee & Baker.

Community Justice spent $60,800 with $40,000 spent on “CONSULT”. One of the candidates Community Justice supported is Erica Hughes who defeated long standing Democratic Judge Mike Engelhart. I have to wonder if these law firms had any cases in front of Judge Engelhart. Here are the top donors

We need to have a conversation about this.

Unlike Erica Hughes who ran against an excellent Democratic Judge, Takasha Francis actually has excellent experience for the job but it still make me ask “Why in the hell would anyone recruit and finance someone to challenge a great Democratic Judge who has served the Courts and the County honorably?”.

According to the Texas Ethics Commission Francis raised $24,500 including $5600 for legal services. She spent $18,018 with $5591 for Advertising, $1502 for Poll Workers and $3250 for fees, food, and fundraising.

As with the others I wonder who recruited her and financed her campaign. She won 55/45 against a very successful Democratic Judge. Surely there were other judges that needed to be challenged. Judge Schaffer was not one of those.

There needs to be a conversation about this. We lost a great Judge and we lost.

The Houston Chronicle listed the endorsements of the two leading candidates in the Harris County District Attorneys race.

It’s the who’s who of who’s who and the who’s who of who’s that? Some of these endorsements can be disturbing to some, for instance DA Ogg is endorsed by the C Club. The C stands for Conservative or Confusing. They are proud of their support by Michael “Hit and Run” Berry the local white wing, loud mouth, talk show host who was caught in a gay bar, on camera. The Texas Observer has a great article on what happened:

According to the bouncer at T.C.’s Show Bar in Montrose, Michael Berry left the club, where he was attending as a patron, at 11:00 PM on January 31. The bouncer, Tuderia Bennett, said Berry drove in reverse for 70 feet, hit Bennett’s car, and drove away. 

But I digress…..If the C Club is actually a fiscal conservative club then they have endorsed some pretty good candidates such as Mayor Whitmire. If the C is for Confusing then they are spot on in their support of Council Member Willie Davis who was the least qualified to run for City Council. The Chronicle lists the C Club as endorsing Kim Ogg. I’m not sure how to address this.

Ogg’s other endorsements include the Who’s Who of law enforcement including members of the Houston Police Union who have recently endorsed some pretty good candidates. She has the endorsement of Mayor Annie Parker, and others including:

Ogg has collected several endorsements from members of the law enforcement community, including Harris County Afro-American Sheriff’s Deputies League, Houston Police Officers’ Union Executive Director Ray Hunt, HPOU President Doug Griffith, Pct. 3 Constable Sherman Eagleton, Pct. 2 Constable Jerry Garcia, former Harris County Sheriff’s Office Captain Frank Stilley, former HCSO Major Greg Summerlin and former Houston Police Department Chief C.O. “Brad” Bradford. 

Sean Teare, on the other hand, has the endorsement of the Who’s Who of Who’s That? The list includes various Democratic clubs and little known organizations. Texas Organizing Project, an organization that provides great ground work for candidates, has endorsed Teare but lately they have endorsed extreme left candidates and has been financed by known socialists. I don’t think Teare is an extreme anything. He is well qualified for the job. He has great experience. From the Chronicle:

He’s also been endorsed by Area 5 Democrats, NAKASEC Action Fund Texas, the Women’s Association of Lawyers, Houston Black American Democrats, the Working Families Party and Harris County Tejano Dems.

Working Families Party is a far left, socialist group. Like the C Club I wouldn’t put too much into their endorsement. I had to google NAKASEC. Teare is also endorsed by a number of elected officials including Judge Hidalgo, Commissioner Rodney Ellis, State Representative Gene Wu.

For the record I have been pretty clear about who I would support. DA Ogg has been in office for 7 years. She seems to have an ongoing feud with Judge Hidalgo. She has every right and duty to investigate the situation with the COVID contract but it’s the way she has handled the situation. It’s divisive. It’s troubling. The cooperation between the DAs office and Commissioners Court has to get better.

Bu then again maybe I just need to chill out with a cold Bud Light and Michael Berry.

Is there a connection to the PAC Fort Bend United?

Back in 2022 a PAC created in 2019 created and mailed an “Election Guide”. It did NOT come from the Harris County Democratic Party. This election the Community Justice PAC is promoting a “Harris County Democratic Endorsed Candidates” slate for the Democratic primary election. As with FBU the endorsement includes some interesting selections but is NOT from the HCDP.

As mentioned in my last post HCDE is funded by two individuals/entities from the Pusch & Nguyen law firm. Over the last few years Pusch & Nguyen have contributed to various candidates and organizations including $60,000 to the Harris County Democratic Party. See below.

Since 2019 Anthony Pusch has donated a total of $47,440 to various candidates including $9,440 to Fort Bend United in 2022 and 2023. In the next few weeks we will see if HCDE sends out any mailers.

It’s Dick again.

Well, the  Bankruptcy & Collections Division of the Office of the Texas Attorney General has issued a demand letter from Harris County Dept of Education Trustee Eric Dick. Dick was fined $30,000 for his involvement in a mailer supporting his 2019 run for City Council. He also agreed to a $10,000 settlement for not reporting expenditures. The Texas Ethics Committee (TEC) referred Dick to the AG’s office in December of 2022. A year later the AG’s office took action.

According to the letter Dick had till early January to pay his debt to the State:

 If payment is not received in ten (10) days from the date of this letter, or if arrangements are not made within that time to satisfy the debt, our office will consider filing suit to recover the full amount owed plus any attorney’s fees and court costs that can be recovered. This is the only letter you will receive from us relative to the unpaid fines so it should be considered a final demand. 

You can read the entire letter here.

Dick again.

Over a year ago the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) referred Trustee Eric Dick to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for collections. According to the letter sent on December 28, 2022, the TEC stated “As of the date of this letter, the respondent has not submitted any part of the $30,000 civil penalty.” They also referred Dick to the Texas State Bar.

In May of 2022 Dick was fined by the TEC $30,000, the second largest fine in the history of the Commission, for his role in sending an endorsement mailer during his run for City Council in 2019. You can read a summary of the final order here. The TEC has also sent a letter to the Collections Department of the AG’s office for another fine of $10,000. According to the letter “As of the date of this letter, the respondent has not submitted any part of the $10,000 civil penalty, and no appeal has been filed in this matter.”

Unlike with the $30,000 fine, Dick signed an agreed resolution and accepted the $10,000 fine. So it is strange that he has not paid the fine. It’s been over a year now and so far that is no activity by the AG’s office, or at least none that is public record.

Dick continues to serve the public on the Harris County Department of Education. He is also running for reelection and is unopposed. His wife is also running for a seat on the Board.

District Attorney Kim Ogg is running for re-election.

In January Ogg filed a 131 page report with a fundraising total for the period of $282,274. Her challenger, Sean Teare, raised $278,817 in the same time period.

In his report Ogg raised $147,455 from 19 individuals including an in-kind donation of over $20,000 from Tillman Ferititta for and event. She also received a $30,000 from the Deason family out of Dallas. Unlike Teare, Ogg has not received any donations from out of state PACs. Here are her top donors:

Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Trustee Eric Dick should be removed from office just for wearing those glasses.

But seriously, what does it take to be removed from office in Harris County? That’s the question the Houston Chronicle is asking in their article “Harris County trustee Eric Dick under investigation for alleged illegal activities after Maui fires”. It’s worth a read.

Dick is currently under investigation by Hawaii for soliciting clients after the Maui fires. Dick is not licensed in Hawaii but he sent out mailers telling people “YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO MONEY!”. He has used the same type of mailer here in Houston after various events.

The Chronicle also mentions his $40,000 fine that was assessed by the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC), his reelection to the board and his wife’s campaign for the board against Trustee Cantu. Dick endorsed Cantu for City Council in the 2023 election. Go figure.

The TEC fined Dick $30,000 for sending out deceiving mailers in the 2019 City election. He initially claimed he had nothing to do with it. As the Chronicle quoted me “I never expected a historic fine of $30,000”. Dick at one time was offered to settle the complaint for a $5000 fine. Before he could refuse, the TEC rescinded the offer after emails from the printer showed Dick not only paid for the mailer he was providing instructions on the development and mailing. In short, under oath, he deceived the TEC and for that he received a $30,000 fine.

There is something happening at the HCDE. Calls and emails to the Trustees are ignored except my initial email to the President. No one will discuss this situation or if they will take any action against Dick. Here is the only response I received from the HCDE:

I hear your concerns. I share these same concerns. I am currently in discussions with administration and other board members about what actions can be taken in this matter. 

–Andrea Duhon, President HCDE

The Chronicle quotes Brandon Rottinghaus, political science professor at the University of Houston. He claims “None of these violations are major transgressions.” which is bullshit. Dick is an attorney, an arm of the Court. After the fine he was referred to the Texas Bar for disciplinary action. He deceived the Commission, under oath. He refused to honor a subpoena to attend his hearing. And there are questions about whether he instructed or suggested the owner of the printer and his partner in the mailing scheme to ignore the subpoena to attend the hearing.

These ARE major transgressions and actually should be investigated by the District Attorney. So far no one except the TEC has taken any action to hold Dick accountable. No one, not even the HCDE.

It is frustrating.