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Posted on 10/04/2003 5:54:40 AM PDT by Jalapeno
Oct. 4, 2003, 1:34AM
By JOHN WILLIAMS
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Political Writer
An aborted scheme to dilute support for a major candidate by putting another man with the same name on the Nov. 4 ballot has touched two campaigns and is roiling the rhetoric in Houston's mayoral race.
It is a bizarre tale that includes a Democratic U.S. congressman, a secret tape recording, a $5,000 campaign check and a floppy straw hat sold for $1,200.
And it is a tale that raises as many questions as it answers.
At the heart of the story is a $5,000 campaign check that mayoral candidate Bill White cut to political gadfly Brenda Flores after thwarting plans she said she devised to put another Bill White on the Nov. 4 ballot.
During the week before the Sept. 22 filing deadline, Flores claims, she gave an Acres Homes man named William White $1,200 in cash after he signed candidacy papers to run for mayor.
Flores backed out of her plans to file the papers the day before the filing deadline, after meeting at her Spring Branch home with candidate Bill White and Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, a friend of Flores' since his days on City Council.
Flores told White and Bell that she had originally received cash to carry out the ballot chicanery from a consultant associated with the mayoral campaign of state Rep. Sylvester Turner.
Turner vehemently denied that his campaign had any involvement in the scheme, calling the claim "outlandish."
"There is no basis in fact to that," Turner said.
Flores said she has no knowledge that Turner was personally aware of the plan.
Flores claims she used $2,600 of the money White gave her to repay the Turner consultant after Flores backed out of the plan. A friend of Flores', Dennis Keim, said he delivered the cash to Turner campaign headquarters and secretly tape-recorded the encounter.
Turner said he is worried that his campaign may have been set up. He questioned why White would give Flores money.
"I think I am entitled, and so is the public, entitled to know -- did he (White) write this check because he was extorted? Did he write this check in order to concoct this story?" Turner said. "I think I am entitled to know this."
White said he was not extorted. He said he did not concoct the story to hurt the Turner campaign.
Instead, White said, he gave the money to Flores two days after the filing deadline because she said she had spent most of the money she received from the Turner consultant and feared retaliation if she did not repay it.
White said there was no discussion about paying Flores during the meeting at her home and that the idea was presented to him after the filing deadline.
"She called Chris Bell several times to say that she had been threatened, and I relied on his judgment that she felt threatened," White said. "So, I relied on the judgment of an experienced and credible person."
Flores, a longtime community activist, runs a Web site (www.Housnitch.com) that reports City Hall news and gossip and has been at least partially responsible for sparking investigations that led to the firings of two high-ranking city officials.
She told the Houston Chronicle she hit upon the idea of duplicating names to create ballot confusion two years ago as a way to undermine the candidacy of Orlando Sanchez, who lost in a runoff to Mayor Lee Brown after the two had eliminated Bell in the general election.
Nothing came of that, but this year, Flores discussed with a friend the idea of running a second Bill White. She claimed that led to a meeting with a Turner campaign consultant, with whom she negotiated a $5,000 deal -- Flores would receive $2,600 in cash to find another White to run and $2,400 more after that candidate filed.
This week, another Turner consultant, Marc Campos, dismissed Flores' claims. He said that the consultant Flores has identified gave money to Flores to help with early-voting efforts, not to find another Bill White. After Flores backed out of the job, Campos said, the consultant wanted the campaign's money back.
Flores denied that she was hired to help with early voting.
She said she located a man named William White, who signed an application to run for mayor during the week before the Sept. 22 filing deadline. Afterward, Flores said, she paid $1,200 to William White, under the guise of buying a straw hat from him.
William White could not be reached for comment, but his common-law wife, Willie Mae Lincoln, confirmed that he agreed to sign the filing papers because he wanted to help Turner. Lincoln also confirmed that her husband received $1,200 from Flores in exchange for his straw hat.
Candidate Bill White said he got wind of the plan from a tipster and eventually learned that Flores had worked the deal.
Chris Bell helped arrange the meeting at Flores' home on the eve of the filing deadline. There, with Bell and Metro board member Janie Reyes in attendance, White said he talked Flores out of going through with her plan.
Flores told the Chronicle that she explained to White and the others that she wanted to help Turner because he was the only mayoral candidate who responded to an issues survey she wanted to post on her Web site.
She said she decided not to pull the ballot trick after candidate White told her he would support a whistle-blower protection plan for city workers, as Turner had pledged. Many city workers provide Housnitch with information.
Flores also said Bell's pleadings made an impression.
"She reached the point where she realized it probably wasn't the right thing to do," Bell told the Chronicle.
On Sept. 24, White's campaign gave Flores the $5,000 check, which she said she used to repay the $2,600 to the Turner consultant.
White said his campaign "selectively could offer rewards for information on dirty tricks" and said the payment will be disclosed as a campaign expense in financial statements due next week.
"The campaign gave her money to allow her to repay those who had hired her to try and confuse voters," White said.
Flores said she and a friend drove to the Turner headquarters on Sept. 25. The friend, Keim, said he was wearing a tape recorder when he returned the $2,600, and recorded the conversation.
Turner campaign manager Don Jones said tapes are easy to fake.
"It looks like Brenda Flores got $5,000 out of Bill White," he said.
The consultant Flores identified as her contact in the Turner campaign has refused to discuss the matter except to deny Flores' account.
Don Smyth, chief of the government affairs bureau for Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, said recruiting someone to run for office to create confusion on the ballot might not rise to the level of a criminal offense.
"That is probably something we would want to look at," Smyth said. "Off the top of my head, I don't know if it is illegal.
"There are a lot of things that are immoral and unethical, but not illegal."
Former City Councilman Orlando Sanchez, the third major candidate for mayor, said no one approached him with such an idea. No one approached the campaign of former candidate Michael Berry, said Berry consultant Allen Blakemore.
Flores said she regrets what she has done and worries she may have ruined people's lives.
"When I got into it, it was a thrill," Flores said of her elation at persuading the second Bill White to sign filing papers. "When I got the signature, you know, then I thought, 'If I can do this, people with a lot more access and money than me can do so much more.' "
Chronicle reporter Alan Bernstein contributed to this story.
I think she was going to "frame' another candidate...not her "friend". Who would that victom be?
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As always, a FReep mail will get you on or off this Houston topics ping list.
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She's a Rat con artist.
"When I got into it, it was a thrill," Flores said of her elation at persuading the second Bill White to sign filing papers. "When I got the signature, you know, then I thought, 'If I can do this, people with a lot more access and money than me can do so much more.' "
BULL**** !!! The only thing she regrets is getting caught (if this is true). I find it sickening for her to state the reason for backing out was that others could do this more effectively than her (and maybe even against her candidate). Hey lady, ever hear of the word ETHICS ???
And will another person named Bill White get into the Mayor's race. Wait and see the Gossips hear that there is a rumor that someone named Bill White but not the real Bill White might try and get into the race just to confuse voters. A ploy being blamed on the Sanchez campaign if that in deed happens.
Going to Ziggy's for a kangaroo burger.... Maybe bring some coupons to the meeting later.
Eeeeeewwwwwww!!! Boooooooo....hissssssss!!!
She invited me.
Remind your buddies in Dallas about the Texans beating them 19-10 in their very first NFL game ever. They really hate that.
I've been a Cowboy fan since I was a little kid growing up in 49er territory. I'm not going to switch allegiance just because we suck pond water.
To All Concerned parties:
As of this date, October 4th, 2003, I Brenda Flynn Flores do resign my pct chair seat.
I do so because of my belief that I will injure the party and cause them needless embarrassment by continuing to remain in this seat.
I willingly and without urging from any one vacate this seat because I believe it shouldn’t be filled by someone who engages in "dirty politics".
Having engaged in them, in the matter concerning the 2003 General election for the City of Houston, I do not feel I have the credentials necessary to represent my party.
My actions were irresponsible.
While I do apologize for MY personal actions in this matter, I do not apologize for being a Democrat.
Sincerely,
Brenda Flynn Flores
Brenda Flynn Flores
Dem pct. chair #332
To All Concerned parties:
As of this date, October 4th, 2003, I Brenda Flynn Flores do resign my pct chair seat.
I do so because of my belief that I will injure the party and cause them needless embarrassment by continuing to remain in this seat.
I willingly and without urging from any one vacate this seat because I believe it shouldn’t be filled by someone who engages in "dirty politics".
Having engaged in them, in the matter concerning the 2003 General election for the City of Houston, I do not feel I have the credentials necessary to represent my party.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
-George Washington
My actions were irresponsible.
I am NOT going over to the other side, and will remain active in my city, county, state, and federal elections as a private citizen.
I am and always have been a Democrat, and whether or not I will leave this world from Texas is yet to be seen….but I will leave it as a Democrat.
But the Party deserves better representation than I have so recently given it.
I have had a wonderful 50 years on this earth…not merely a life…but an adventure, and I still hold with the edict that "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." –Plato
And sometimes, the WRONG involvement can create the same thing.
While I do apologize for MY personal actions in this matter, I do not apologize for being a Democrat.
Sincerely,
Brenda Flynn Flores
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