AUBREY R. TAYLOR: “That guy you see above on the far left is Tom McCasland. Now, in case you haven't heard, Tom has been fired from his position as the City of Houston Housing Director – but I have never been more proud of anyone than I am of Tom for stepping forward and telling his truth. I am also very proud of Bill King, for his work, City of Houston Controller Chris Brown calling out Mayor Sylvester Turner. And I can’t say enough about At-Large #3 City Council Member Michael Kubosh for his courage and willingness to always step forward and push back against what appears to be blatant corruption at Houston City Hall under Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration. Now, according to an email I received from Bill King, "What McCasland did not tell Council was that the project Turner ordered him to fund was partially owned by Turner’s long-time, former law partner, Barry Barnes. He later told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that he did not know Barnes was a partial owner until that was reported by the Chronicle. That is a little hard to swallow because Barnes’ name appears multiple times on the project’s State application."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "The document you see above is (77) seventy-seven pages and related to the project Mayor Sylvester Turner ordered Tom McCasland to fund, according to published reports. Now, for all of you who don't know, this particular project was partially owned by Mayor Sylvester Turner’s long-time, former law partner, Barry Barnes. Now, Mayor Sylvester Turner told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that he didn't even know that his former law partner Barry Barnes was even a partial owner until it that fact was revealed by the Houston Chronicle. Anyways, you can (CLICK HERE) and review this document for yourself. And by doing so, you will clearly see that the name Barry Barnes appears in the "STATE APPLICATION" several times."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "I've had my eye on this cat right here for nearly 30 years. Mayor Sylvester Turner is very good at articulating his position. He's also very good and convincing people that he's telling them the truth. He becomes even more believable when he starts to get all 'teary-eyed' when he's making a passionate plea to the people. However, I agree with Bill King's assessment of the reporting by Mike and Dylan. In the email I received from Bill King, he stated, "According to the excellent reporting by Mike Morris and Dylan McGuinness at the Houston Chronicle, Turner overruled the recommendation of McCasland’s department and ordered him to direct $15 million to a subsidized housing project in Clear Lake. They reported that the project ranked eighth of the twelve projects McCasland’s staff evaluated. The $15 million dollars will result in 88 affordable units at an average cost of $170,500 per unit. The Housing Department had recommended four other projects that would have provided 362 affordable units at cost of $44,800 per unit."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "I've always respected and admired Tom McCasland, the former City of Houston Housing Director who was fired by Mayor Sylvester Turner earlier this week after he exposed Mayor Turner by accusing Mayor Turner of rigging what was supposed to be competition for Hurricane Harvey relief funds that were supposed to be earmarked to support affordable housing projects."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: “I ran across this quote from City of Houston Controller Chris Brown on the Channel 13 News website the other day, "In the past several months alone, our office has been denied procurement documents required to conduct an audit of the Strategic Procurement Department and were told to stop all work on a financial transparency project that would bring much-needed insight into the city's spending practices. Taxpayers deserve a city government that is transparent and above reproach. Unfortunately, recent events suggest that the city is falling short of that goal."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: “Councilman Michael Kubosh sent me this statement via text the other day, “When a Director is willing to step forward and blow the whistle, council should at least stop and take notice by calling for an independent outside investigation. The Director was not a disgruntled employee as the mayor tried to paint him. He should be protected by the Whistle Blowers Act.” Councilman Michael Kubosh went on to say, “…the least I will do is go public for an independent investigation.”
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: “I have always admired the work of Bill King, a former city of Houston Mayoral contender, and columnist for the Houston Chronicle. I received the “PUBLIC POLICIY DISCUSSION” you see published below from Bill King via email. I am sharing it in its entirety because, I believe it will help you to better understand what’s going on at Houston City Hall.”
The Cost of Nationalizing Local Elections
BY BILL KING
Another day, another bid rigging scandal in Houston. This one was so bad that even the City of Houston Housing Director, Tom McCasland, who has largely turned a blind eye to Turner’s blatant patronage regime, could not stomach it.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the City Council’s Housing and Community Affairs Committee, McCasland dropped the political equivalent of an atomic bomb by directly accusing Turner of rigging a competition for Harvey relief funds earmarked to support affordable housing. You can listen to his presentation at the meeting here, beginning at about 36:00.
According to the excellent reporting by Mike Morris and Dylan McGuinness at the Houston Chronicle, Turner overruled the recommendation of McCasland’s department and ordered him to direct $15 million to a subsidized housing project in Clear Lake. They reported that the project ranked eighth of the twelve projects McCasland’s staff evaluated. The $15 million dollars will result in 88 affordable units at an average cost of $170,500 per unit. The Housing Department had recommended four other projects that would have provided 362 affordable units at cost of $44,800 per unit.
At a press conference, Turner claimed that McCasland had not expressed concerns about the bid process to him before Tuesday’s meeting. But McCasland delivered a stack of emails and memos to the committee that showed Turner was blatantly lying and, in fact, McCasland had detailed the problems with the proposed project to Turner for months.1
What McCasland did not tell Council was that the project Turner ordered him to fund was partially owned by Turner’s long-time, former law partner, Barry Barnes. He later told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that he did not know Barnes was a partial owner until that was reported by the Chronicle. That is a little hard to swallow because Barnes’ name appears multiple times on the project’s State application.
BARNES & TURNER IN 2018
That application also clearly discloses that Barnes’ company will be paid a $400,000 up-front development fee, even though on the application Barnes admits that he nor his company have any previous development experience (p. 270). Secretary of State records obtained by Morris and McGuinness show Barnes’ company was only formed a couple of weeks before the application for funding was submitted.
Many of you will recall that in 2018 Turner attempted to direct $6.7 million of Harvey relief money to Barnes for title work on homes to be repaired. However, that scheme largely fell apart because the City was so incompetent at distributing the funds, only a handful of deals were closed before the State took that program over.
Turner’s scheme bares an eerie resemblance to County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s recent vaccine bid rigging scheme where her political staff overruled the recommendations of the medical experts to direct an $11 million contract to Democratic political operatives.
In both cases, these “progressives” had no qualms about taking funds earmarked to help ordinary citizens – in one case to get vaccines to underserved communities and in the other to provide affordable housing – and callously redirecting them for political and patronage purposes. The losers are ordinary Houstonians, many of whom put their trust in these two elected officials by voting for them.
For years Republicans and Democrats have voted for local candidates, claiming to share their "conservative" or "progressive" values. Frequently, their support is based on the candidates’ positions on issues like abortion, climate change, gun laws or some other issues over which local elected officials have little power.
But as the old adage goes, “there are no Democratic or Republican potholes.” By voting for candidates that share their “values” or because of their party affiliation, partisans have enabled the corrupt and incompetent administration which has increasingly come to dominate our local governments that is undermining Houston’s quality of life.
Perhaps the Houston Chronicle editorial board’s scathing condemnation of Turner for this smelly deal marks a turning point. It certainly stands in stark contrast to their glowing endorsement of Turner in 2019, which compared charges of corruption in his administration to urban myths and lauded him for his “progressive heart.”
Perhaps in the future we can stop nationalizing local elections and instead judge local candidates on the basis of whether they are prepared to take on the mundane work of fixing roads, protecting us from dangerous criminals, keeping people’s homes from flooding, and responsibly managing local tax dollars.
Note 1 – Hat tip to my good friend and Kingwood flood watchdog, Bob Rehak, for obtaining the copy of McCasland’s document from the State. Bob also wrote about the controversy on this blog.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "We've arrived at a crucial moment in the history of our great nation. And believe it or not, our generation will one day be remembered for what we do during this pivotal moment in American history. So, it's incumbent upon "EVERY WARM-BLOODED AMERICAN" to display courage, and intestinal fortitude right now! We're all in this fight together!!! So, we need for "GOOD AMERICANS" to get off the sidelines and into the fight for the "SOUL OF OUR GREAT NATION" right now! We must stand up and beat back the forces that are threatening to divide us along racial, and political lines in the upcoming 2021 HISD School Board Election, The 2022 Midterm Election, The 2023 City of Houston Election, and The 2024 Presidential Election."
JANETTE GARZA LINDNER is endorsed over Matias Kopinski and Elizabeth Santos in the race for HISD District I, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in the upcoming 2021 HISD School Board Election. Janette loves every child without exception. And she's also a "PROUD AMERICAN" who loves "OUR COUNTRY" and the freedoms we enjoy as a free nation. So, a vote for Jeanette Garza Lindner is a vote for America on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in Houston, Texas.
CAROLINE WALTER is endorsed over Maria Benzon, and Sue Deigaard in the race for HISD District V, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in the upcoming 2021 HISD School Board Election. Caroline loves every child without exception. And she's also a "PROUD AMERICAN" who loves "OUR COUNTRY" and the freedoms we enjoy as a free nation. So, a vote for Caroline Walter is a vote for America on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in Houston, Texas.
DR. KENDALL BAKER is endorsed over Gregory Allen Degeyter and Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca in the race for HISD District VI, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in the upcoming 2021 HISD School Board Election. Kendall loves every child without exception. And he's also a "PROUD AMERICAN" who loves "OUR COUNTRY" and the freedoms we enjoy as a free nation. So, a vote for Dr. Kendall Baker is a vote for America on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in Houston, Texas.
BRIDGET WADE is endorsed over Dwight Jefferson, Anne Sung, and Lee Macerlean Walker in the race for HISD District VII, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in the upcoming 2021 HISD School Board Election. Bridget loves every child without exception. And she's also a "PROUD AMERICAN" who loves "OUR COUNTRY" and the freedoms we enjoy as a free nation. So, a vote for Bridget Wade is a vote for America on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in Houston, Texas.
GERRY MONROE, better known as the "5 STAR GENERAL" is endorsed over Joshua Ryan Rosales and Myrna Guidry in the race for HISD District IX, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in the upcoming 2021 HISD School Board Election. Gerry loves every child without exception. And he's also a "PROUD AMERICAN" who loves "OUR COUNTRY" and the freedoms we enjoy as a free nation. So, a vote for Gerry Monroe is a vote for America on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, in Houston, Texas.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
EMAIL: aubreyrtaylor@gmail.com
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "Now is the time when our love for America must prevail. It is incumbent upon us to elected "PUBLIC SERVANTS" who understand that they work for the people. We need "ELECTED OFFICIALS" in office who love "OUR CONSTITUTION" and the ideals that our nation was founded upon by our forefathers. We must endeavor to "PUT PEOPLE OVER POLITICS" and do what's best for America during this crucial moment during the history of our great nation."
We Must Make it Our Business to Nominate the Right Democratic and Republican Candidates in the Upcoming 2022 Primary Elections
AUBREY R. TAYLOR REPORTS©
Make no mistake about it, who the people of Harris County, Texas choose to give another term to in 2022 must be about substance, job performance, judicial temperament, competence, and whether or not our members of the judiciary are following the law with their rulings. And that being said, in 2022, it is incumbent upon the voters of Harris County to evaluate the job performance of each and every sitting "ELECTED OFFICIAL" on a case-by-case basis and not as a group based on their political party affiliation, ethnicity, or gender.
ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT RUNNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE IN THE UPCOMING 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS IN TEXAS?
If you are a candidate planning to run for office in 2022, you have to select the right candidate to run against. And the second most important thing to understand is that you have to select your race early, to avoid ending up in a crowded field of candidates on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas. So, if you need assistance trying to determine which race to enter, please call (281)788-3033, and I will do my very best to answer any questions you may have.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
EMAIL: aubreyrtaylor@gmail.com
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
269TH CIVIL DISTRICT COURT: "The Honorable Judge Cory Sepolio is our endorsed candidate in the race for the 269th Civil District Court for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
270TH CIVIL DISTRICT COURT: "The Honorable Judge Dedra Davis is our endorsed candidate in the race for the 270th Civil District Court for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
257TH FAMILY DISTRICT COURT: "The Honorable Judge Sandra J. Peake is our endorsed candidate in the race for the 257th Family District Court for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
295TH CIVIL DISTRICT COURT: "The Honorable Judge Donna Roth is our endorsed candidate in the race for the 295th Civil District Court for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
310TH FAMILY DISTRICT COURT: "The Honorable Judge Sonya Heath is our endorsed candidate in the race for the 310th Family District Court for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
314TH JUVENILE DISTRICT COURT: "The Honorable Judge Michelle Moore is our endorsed candidate in the race for the 314th Juvenile District Court for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
HARRIS COUNTY CIVIL COURT AT LAW NO.1: "The Honorable Judge Audrie Lawton Evans is our endorsed candidate in the race for Harris County Civil Court at Law #1 for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
HARRIS COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT AT LAW NO.3: "The Honorable Judge Erica Hughes is our endorsed candidate in the race for Harris County Criminal Court at Law #3 for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, PRECINCT 3, PLACE 2: "The Honorable Judge Lucia G. Bates is our endorsed candidate in the race for Harris County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 3, Place 2 for the upcoming 2022 Democratic Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
55TH CIVIL DISTRICT COURT: "The Honorable Former Judge Nile Copeland is our endorsed candidate in the race for the 55th Civil District Court for the upcoming 2022 Republican Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
HARRIS COUNTY PROBATE COURT NO.1: "The Honorable Former Judge Loyd Wright is our endorsed candidate in the race for Harris County Probate Court #1 for the upcoming 2022 Republican Party Primary Election on "SUPER TUESDAY" in Harris County, Texas."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
EMAIL: aubreyrtaylor@gmail.com
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
EMAIL: aubreyrtaylor@gmail.com
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
No comments:
Post a Comment