WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT NOT TO HEAR IN HARRIS COUNTY
February 11th, 2010

Ethics Reform Disappears from County Judge Ed Emmett’s Agenda

(Houston, TX) – As Republican County Judge Ed Emmett prepares to give his state of the county address today, Harris County residents can expect one thing to be missing – real ethics reform.  Though Emmett made ethics a centerpiece of his 2008 campaign, promising to push for legislation requiring lobbyists to register with the county and close the revolving door, he has failed to follow through on his promises and deliver meaningful reform, instead passing the blame to the State Legislature.

“Two years ago, Ed Emmett promised Harris County residents that he would clean up a county government that was plagued with scandal and corruption because of numerous Republican officials,” said Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie.  “But it appears all Emmett’s campaign promises were really just lip service. When it came down to it, Ed Emmett wouldn’t go to bat for Harris County in Austin and provided only half-hearted leadership at home.”

A look at the timeline of Ed Emmett’s record on ethics reveals a campaign promise pushed to the backburner, despite the rampant corruption in Harris County – from County Commissioner Jerry Eversole, who predicted his own removal from office in the face of an FBI investigation, to District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, who resigned in disgrace after having an affair with his secretary to Sheriff Tommy Thomas, who cost the county millions in legal fees for his department’s numerous violations of Harris County residents’ civil liberties.

A Look at Two Years of Ed Emmett’s Broken Promises on Ethics Reform

1/16/2008

 2008 State of the County speech, Emmett uses the word “ethics” six times.

2/13/2008

 Shortly before his Republican primary, Emmett announces formation of Citizen’s Advisory Task Force on Ethics to report back with suggested reforms in 90 days.

5/14/08

 91 days after Emmett commissioned the Task Force, he tells the Houston Chronicle he’d forgotten that promise to address ethic reform.

7/14/08

 156 days later, Emmett finally releases the Task Force report to the Harris County Commissioner’s Court that includes requiring lobbyists to register with the county and make former employees wait a year before benefiting financially from a county contract.

9/2/2008

 Three months before the Texas Legislature convened and six months before the deadline to file legislation, Ed Emmett receives a legal opinion from the County Attorney informing him of which ethics reforms would be able to be accomplished locally and which would require legislative approval.

2/19/2009

 Emmett delivers 2009 State of the County speech. The word “ethics” is not mentioned once.

3/13/2009

 On the deadline to introduce bills in the Texas Legislature, the only legislation relating to ethics reform in Harris County is initiated by Democratic County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia and introduced by Democratic State Senator Mario Gallegos.

6/17/2009

 Emmett finally places an ethics report on County Commisioner’s agenda, which the Houston Chronicle describes as “weaker than a series of changes recommended last year and include the voluntary registration of lobbyists and the formation of an ethics advisory board.”Emmett’s response? He “said the other measures were not pushed in the last legislative session because the county chose to focus on other targets.

“I have a limited number of things that can be pursued at one time.”

19/2009

 Governor Perry vetoes the only Harris County ethics reform bill because it would apply only to Harris County, despite signing several bills that only apply to single counties, including an Ethics Reform Bill that only applied to El Paso County. Despite the obvious hypocrisy, Emmett is silent on the issue.

6/23/2009

 Of the ten ethics reforms recommended by the Ethics Advisory Board, Emmett seeks approval for five.

6/23/2009

 The Houston Chronicle reports: “Emmett’s panel recommended the county create a board to investigate ethics complaints, require lobbyists to register. But enacting such reforms would have required approval from the state Legislature. Emmett instead decided to focus on what could be accomplished locally.”

TODAY

 Two years after using his State of the County speech proclaiming ethics reform as a top priority of his administration:

###