Vasquez likely pick to replace Bettencourt

[PDittie]

Leopoldo Vasquez, a corporate finance professional who serves on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice board, appears to be the leading candidate to replace Paul Bettencourt as Harris County tax assessor-collector.

Calling the Yale and Columbia-educated Vasquez "very respected and very intelligent" Commissioner Steve Radack said Friday he planned to nominate Vasquez at Tuesday's (12/23) meeting.

Neither Radack nor County Judge Ed Emmett officially would confirm his selection because court members are barred from polling one another outside of meetings.

But Emmett said Vasquez is definitely on his short list.

"I would call him a very, very great choice," Emmett said.

Vasquez, 42, did not return a telephone call seeking comment today.

He is chief financial officer for Maximus Coffee Group and Cadeco Industries. Prior to serving on the TDCJ board, he was a commissioner for the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6174080.html

More on Vasquez from this Houston Press article from '03:

http://www.houston-press.com/2003-03-20/news/banana-republicans/

[sonias]

1. Houston Press link

Your HP press link has gone bad. I've created a permanent one for it here:

Banana Republicans; A Hispanic GOP confab leaves delegates yelling foul

I read the story and I can't say I got a good feel for what Leo will be like. There is no doubt he's a republican, but is he hyper-partisan like Bettencourt? Really can't say.

(snip)
According to Yale-educated financial consultant Leo Vasquez III, the tactics made a sham of the group's stated mission to foster the principles of the Republican Party. By Vasquez's account, the conduct of the convention more closely resembled the governing principles at work in a Central American military junta.

(snip)
Despite the comic overtones of the convention, Cantu says it will have a chilling effect on recruiting new GOP Hispanics in Texas.

"They claim to represent Hispanic values. In this case, those are not exactly the values I want to transmit to my kids. There are a lot of people who got cooled off, and decided, 'I don't want to associate myself with people like that who do these under-the-table tricks.' "

:shrug:


Sonia

[PDittie]

2. Chronic has added info about Vasquez bankruptcy

It's at the end of HC link in the OP:

Shortly after the Chronicle posted a story about Vasquez on its Web site, a reader sent an e-mail showing Vasquez filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and was listed as the registered agent for several companies that lost their corporate charters for failing to pay their state franchise taxes.

Vasquez said the dealings were "ancient history" and added that he was only tangentially involved in most of them.

Most were formed in 1994, when he was part of a group of entrepreneurs trying to incubate new businesses, he said. Some of the group's ventures flourished while others failed, he said, adding that he was surprised he was listed as the registered agent since he had so little to do with the start-up firms.

He said the Chapter 7 bankruptcy stemmed from the failure of a civil construction company in which he was a minority partner from 1995 to 1997. Although he left the company before it failed, he was unable to remove his name from personal guarantees he signed for construction equipment loans, he said. He filed for personal bankruptcy to clear that debt.

Radack said he was not familiar with Vasquez's finances but stood by his choice.

"I guess you can say, Leo, welcome to the world of politics," Radack said. "That's what you're seeing right now."

And this from Charlie Kuffner, on the matter of Vasquez' immense qualifications ...

===================

Since the subject of qualifications came up, I'm glad to hear that Vasquez is well-qualified for the office. Let's turn the clock back ten years to see how that matter was handled the last time this office came open.

The local Republican Party nominated its own vice chairman for Harris County tax assessor-collector Monday, rejecting the current officeholder - an African-American who promised to widen the party's appeal - and other contenders.

A vote by the party's precinct chairmen gave the nomination to business consultant Paul Bettencourt, who has been the local party vice chairman since May. He promised to modernize the county tax assessor's office and push for tax cuts.

...

A few precinct chairmen said Monday night their vote was not against Alexander and his campaign outreach idea, but against his installation by the county commissioners before the party awarded the nomination.

"This was a vote against (Commissioner) Steve Radack and his Bill Clinton arrogance toward the Republican Party," precinct chairman and Bettencourt supporter Mike Dugas said.

I point this out because a few people have been pushing the patently silly claim that Democratic candidate Diane Trautman was not qualified to be Tax Assessor. The only factors that mattered in Bettencourt's selection as the Republican nominee in 1998 were his broad popularity among Republican precinct chairs plus a disagreement over Commissioners Court's decision to act before the Republican Party did. Whatever qualifications Bettencourt may have had for the job had nothing to do with it, and since 1998 was a GOP sweep year in Harris County, it wasn't a factor in the general election either. Funny how these things work, isn't it?

=================

[Baby Snooks]

3. Business as usual...

I am beginning to believe the only way to clean up Harris County is for the Justice Department to get a big broom.

Maybe it will happen. Maybe it won't. It depends on how much pressure Sheila Jackson-Lee decides to put on the Obama administration. If she can. She isn't in good stead according to some over her "the people voted for Obama but I remain committed to Hillary" position. But then the Clintons have been brought to the table. So maybe Sheila can slip in along with them and put pressure on the Obama administration through them. But I have little faith, to be honest, in the Clintons. And as a result, at this point, I am beginning to have little faith in Obama.

As for Bettencourt, good luck ever running for office again. Good riddance for what turned out to be very bad rubbish.

[sonias]

4. Sort of related story

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6183701.html">Houston Chronicle 12/27/08
Talk of new elections system surfaces in Harris County
Debate centers on a proposal to create voting office

The departure of Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt has opened the door for some discussion of whether his successor should inherit the job of maintaining Harris County's voter rolls, a duty assigned to that office in the days of Jim Crow poll taxes.

State law allows Commissioners Court to assign that responsibility to the county clerk, who already conducts elections and counts the votes, as long as the county clerk and the tax assessor-collector sign off on the plan. The court also can create an independent elections administration office to handle all election-related duties.

Seventy-three of Texas' 254 counties have established separate elections offices, including every large, urban county but Harris and Travis. Nineteen other counties have assigned the voter registration role to the county clerk.

Earlier this month, Republican precinct chairman Jim Harding proposed moving the rolls to the County Clerk's Office, saying that would "streamline all of the voter activity from initial registration to final certification of an election under county clerk leadership."

Republican County Clerk Beverly Kaufman doesn't want any more duties and frankly probably wouldn't be any better than Bettencourt either.

Sonia

[Baby Snooks]

5. I'll disagree....

Through the years Beverly Kaufman has more or less remained "non-partisan" with regard to the election process and her office has always investigated complaints regardless of whether the complaint was filed by a Democrat or a Republican. It is not her place to "charge, convict and execute on the spot" and in the recent SD17 race she in fact stated that there was at least the appearance of impropriety and so at least the possibility of illegality on the part of Joan Huffman holding an event at a polling place which opened the door for the complainant to file a complaint with the Secretary of State. Did the complainant file a complaint? Probably not. Too easy to slam Beverly Kaufman because she didn't "charge, convict and execute on the spot."

Not all Republicans are bad. Just as not all Democrats are good.