Bay Area Houston

All Personal Finance Reports for League City Council are available.

You can receive an electronic copy of the PFS by submitting an Open Records Request to the City Secretary or you can read them here. You can read them if you want but they are not very interesting except for Mayor Pro Tem Hicks. Hicks reported having been employed with TNM LLC out of Henrietta New York as a Projects Manager. He has a lot, I’m assuming that is his home, but the value is not listed. That’s it. I became interested in this TNM LLC and performed a search but could not find them. Hicks lists himself as a Project Manager. If you are looking for controversy this is all you will find.

The PFS should show more of the fiscal stability of each member including debts, lawsuits, liens, etc. The public should know if the individuals responsible for the fiscal well being of their city and stewards of their taxes are also fiscally responsible. It’s just common sense.

Other than that the PFSs are pretty boring. You can view Mayor Long and Mayor Pro Tem Hicks PFS here. The rest of the Council PFSs are here.

Believe me. They are boring.

But they are not online.

The Republicans in Austin required elected officials in cities with a population of over 100,000 to file a Personal Finance Statement. The PFS for League City officials are now available. The city secretary is responsible for their storage and can be obtained by filing an open records request. If interested you can view Mayor Long’s statement and Mayor Pro Tem Hick’s statement here. Believe me, it’s boring.

After looking at what they are required to disclose I have to wonder why anyone would object to disclosing the information. You are required to identify who you are employed by but not how much you make. You have to identify investment assets such as mutual funds and how much they are worth if sold, up to $47,000. You are NOT required to list your financial stability such as your debts, bankruptcies, or liens against your property. You can see the entire list below.

Hick’s and Long’s PFS can’t be any more different. Hicks reported having been employed with TNM LLC out of Henrietta New York as a Projects Manager. He has a lot, I’m assuming that is his home, but the value is not listed. That’s it.

Long’s PFS is a bit more detailed. He has a job with Allianz Insurance Services, a home, many different investments such as mutual funds and interests in a number of business entities.

The purpose for a PFS is to provide transparency to the voters and residents. Elected officials should recuse themselves if they have a conflict with a proposed expenditure in the city and their investments. You would like to know if an elected official is voting to provide a contract to a company they own or one they have a significant interest in. It isn’t rocket science. It isn’t all that intrusive.

Here is what is required to disclose in a PFS. This list is from Hick’s PFS:

This might be interesting.

I have looked at hundreds of campaign finance reports but I have never reviewed a Personal Finance Statement (PFS). Last year the Republican controlled Legislature passed a bill requiring all elected officials in cities with a population of over 100,000 to file a PFS. This caused a member of the League City Council, John Bowen, to resign. A special election for his replacement is ongoing. For everyone else, including candidates, their reports are due and will be controlled by the City Secretary.

If you are interested in what an official has to disclose you can review the guidance for disclosure at the Texas Municipal League’s website. In short:

If you are interested, the PFS form can be found on the Texas Ethics Commission website. Here is a sample. Happy hunting!

Captain Crybaby is having a fit on social media.

You would think the Mayor Pro Tem would be above the chaos of politics. Most are, but not Captain Chaos, Justin Hicks. He is having a bad day and something has his panties in a wad. It’s probably the upcoming election.

In order to move their agenda of closing or privatizing the League City Library Justin needs his buddy, Courtney Chadwell to win the upcoming special election. Chadwell is being financed by Mayor Nick Long from out of city donors and PACs and would be a yes vote for their christian, conservative, cleansing of League City. You can read about Long’s donations here. Unlike Long, Captain Contributions hasn’t raised any money in a few years. In fact besides a few thousand dollars from Austin, Hicks has raised holy hell and nothing else. More on that in a later post.

But back to Captain Crybaby’s social media posts. You can read them below. Chadwell’s opponent, Ange Mertens has spoken out about the Library situation in a very conservative manner. She makes a great point. The Library has had a review panel for decades yet the City has added yet another layer of big government oversight something real conservatives have historically opposed. Unlike Chadwell it’s clear Mertens will not only add a woman to the all male council but she will not bring the chaos Hicks thrives upon.

Here are his posts if you care to read them. It is so rich that Captain Chaos claims he leads the council in singing Kumbaya when he actually has caused the chaos of the council. This is so beneath the office of Mayor Pro Tem.

You will be surprised. I was.

I wrote about Nick Long’s contributions and his spending in support of Courtney Chadwell running for City Council. I noticed that he raised $28,450 during a period that he was not running for reelection. Of that total only $300 came from a donor in League City. So I decided to look a bit further.

Ever since 2021 Nick Long has raised a total of $45,625. He also has a $31,103 personal loan. His largest haul for a period was in his last report of $28,450. Of his entire total of $45,625 since 2021 only $1405 came from League City residents. Only about 3% of his entire campaign donations came from the very people he is suppose to be representing. Most of his donations came from Houston donors and PACs including a few from out of state.

If you want to peruse his reports you can find them here. Check my math.

At first there is nothing unusual about Nick Long’s latest campaign finance report.

But…there are a couple of issues with his contributions and donations. In the last reporting period ending Dec 31, 2023 Long raised $28,450 of which $300 came from one donor in League City. All the rest came from PACs outside of the city as well as one donation from Kansas. It makes one wonder “Who’s your daddy?”. Who are you representing?

He has spent $13,817 over a 6 month period. Long is not on the ballot. He isn’t running for reelection yet he spent nearly half of his donations on “consulting expense” and “advertising expense” including $2432.10 to Spectrum Marketing Companies under “Advertising Expense”. What Long failed to note was that this expenditure was to support his buddy Courtney Chadwell who is running for City Council. Chadwell reported this expenditure on his report. It was the only donation he received.

One thing is for sure. The Texas Ethics Commission can fine the living hell out of individuals for hiding their contributions to candidates or misrepresenting their expenditures. Case in point, Eric Dick. The TEC had the authority to fine Dick over $400,000 for his mailers he did not report. They eventually fined him $30,000.

You have to wonder what Long is spending his out of city donor’s money on. I would bet he is funding Chadwell’s campaign. At least he isn’t taking money from Defend Texas Liberty.