Senator’s Bill designed to stop RENT-A-VOTER
Killed off by opposition led by Schwartz. Page & Harding
Back in 2011 legislative session 82(R) District 12 Senator Jane Nelson introduced SB 427 that proposed to make a couple of changes in how new Municipal Utility Districts are formed under Chapter 54 of the Texas Water Code.
The proposed language simply says
| Sec. 54.026. ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE IN CONFIRMATION ELECTION. | ||
| To be eligible to vote in an election to confirm the creation of a | ||
| district, a person must reside in the district for at least one year | ||
| immediately preceding the date of the election. | ||
similarly
| Sec. 54.506. ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE IN CERTAIN BOND ELECTIONS. | ||
| To be eligible to vote in an election authorizing a district’s first | ||
| issuance of bonds payable wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes, a | ||
| person must reside in the district for at least one year immediately | ||
| preceding the date of the election. | ||
Here’s what the Denton Record reported in June of that year –
The Senate Committee for Intergovernmental Relations declined to send along a bill submitted by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, that would have required voters to live in a district for one year before voting in any election that authorizes a special taxing district there.
Nelson testified before the state Senate committee on April 6, saying that her constituents were unhappy about reports of special district elections authorizing nearly $1 billion in public debt in Denton County in the past few years.
The most recent election created the Four Seasons Ranch Municipal Utility District and authorized $292.5 million in debt, with a $1.20 per $100 valuation tax rate to support it. The district was approved with two votes, cast by an 18-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man living in a mobile home moved onto the ranch just prior to the November 2010 election.
The unrest in Denton was replayed here in Montgomery County as the RENT-A-VOTER scam emerged and outraged a few observers.
The ultimate failure of the bill that would have killed RENT-A-VOTER 4 years ago met with stiff resistance from all quarters including an employee sent to do the bidding of Mike Page of Schwartz. Page & Harding, attorney for everything who was recently heralded as the Thomas Jefferson of The Woodlands! Yes, that is the same Mike Page who told Woodlands Development Company President Alex Sutton “I have a low tolerance for voter fraud“.
This reminds us of when Page said there were no voters in the Woodlands RUD on March 9th and then on March 26th “after further inquiry” discovered a couple of misplaced millionaires had slipped into the district without his knowledge.
At least he is consistent.
The committee witness list –
AGAINST:
Allen, Joe, B. Attorney (Allen Boone Humphries Robinson, LLP), Houston, TX
ON:
Grant, Julian (Office of Attorney General), Austin, TX
Holcomb, Doug (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality), Austin, TX
Registering, but not testifying:
For:
Ahmad, Janet (Self), San Antonio, TX
Hentschel, Nancy (Self), Sugar Land, TX
Igo, Shanna (Texas Municipal League), Austin, TX
Against:
Cohen, Howard (Schwartz. Page & Harding, LLD), Houston, TX
Collins, Sharlene Attorney (Armbrust & Brown), Austin, TX
Frederick, Amy (Blake Magee Company), Austin, TX
Hefner, Mary Ann Chair, Legislative Planning Committee (Association of Water Board
Directors), Kingsland, TX
Littlefield, Sue Attorney (Armbrust & Brown PLLC), Austin, TX
Norman, Scott (Texas Association of Builders), Austin, TX
Savoy, Philip (Murfee Engineering Co), Austin, TX
Short, Jim (Houston Real Estate Council), Fulshear, TX
On:
Huff, Melanie (Secretary of State), Austin, TX
crooks all.
Jim Short is also a lobbyist for Fort Bend County