Texas Watchdog on parking commissioners and conflicts
TEXAS WATCHDOG reports interesting details on the vague "conflict of interest" aside raised by the KPRC-2 story on the Parking Commission that Anne Linehan posted about yesterday:
Joe Martin and Bruce LaPree were on the appointed parking commission last year when the booting ordinance was created, asking questions and applying their expertise to the proposed ordinance. Records show that even before the Houston City Council approved the panel’s booting suggestions on Sept. 9, 2008, the two men had taken steps to create a company called Equipark....
[Martin and LaPree] said in separate interviews with Texas Watchdog last week that they immediately advised the city of their new business once it was beginning to take shape, but that the city attorney’s office simply advised that they get an attorney and present their case at a later date.
That was in September or October, LaPree said; according to Martin and LaPree, after numerous meetings with city officials and Houston’s ethics committee, the two were asked to step down from the parking commission late last year.
That is certainly an interesting twist! Mayor White's office, which likes to call itself transparent, had no comment for Texas Watchdog about the matter.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/23/09 01:34 PM | Print | Comments (11)
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