Gilbert announces Dem bid for governor

By R.G. RATCLIFFE - Houston Chronicle AUSTIN BUREAU - Aug. 26, 2009
AUSTIN – The top vote-getting Democrat from the 2006 elections — agriculture commissioner nominee Hank Gilbert — said today he plans to join the fight for his party's gubernatorial nomination.

Gilbert, 49, a Tyler-area rancher, received 42 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Todd Staples for agriculture commissioner.

In the current governor's race, Gilbert said he can bridge the gap between Democrats and moderate Republicans who are “disgusted” with incumbent Rick Perry's service. Gilbert said he does not believe U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison can defeat Perry in the GOP primary.

Gilbert's entry into the race became another potential stumbling block for Fort Worth businessman Tom Schieffer, who received endorsements Wednesday from some of the top state House Democratic leaders.

They included Reps. Garnet Coleman and Jessica Farrar of Houston, Jim Dunnam of Waco and Pete Gallego of Alpine. The group said Schieffer will be able to govern the state by bringing Democrats and Republicans together.

Schieffer has been struggling to win over hard-core Democrats because he was business partners with former President George W. Bush and served him as ambassador to Japan and Australia, where he had to defend the administration policy of indefinite detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.

Former party railroad commission nominee Mark Thompson also is in the race, and humorist Kinky Friedman is expected to join the fray.

Schieffer said he had hoped that Gilbert would run for agriculture commissioner again on a ticket with him.

“Ten days ago, Hank Gilbert talked to me about being part of the team and running the ag race. His exact words to me were: ‘You need to cover me in the urban areas and I'll cover your back in the rural areas,'” Schieffer said.

Gilbert said he had told Schieffer that at a Democratic summit in Tyler, but he said he changed his mind and decided to run for governor after listening to Schieffer speak.

“The man is very intelligent,” Gilbert said. “But he just didn't inspire me. I was looking for that spark.”

Read more in the Houston Chronicle

Perry's rent on new digs runs $9,900 a month

By Peggy Fikac - San Antonio Express Austin Bureau - Sept. 26, 2007
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's new home in a gated community west of the capital city's downtown comes with a pool, a guesthouse and a monthly rent of $9,900 that Texans will pay for at least a year while the official Governor's Mansion undergoes repairs.
In disclosing lease details, the Republican governor's staff cited the need for Perry and his wife, Anita, to find a home in Austin's high-priced housing market that allows proper security and lets them host official functions without unduly inconveniencing neighbors with on-street parking.


The 1,178-square-foot guesthouse, for example, can serve as headquarters for staff and security, Perry spokesman Robert Black said.

But the state tab for the four-bedroom, 4,602-square-foot main home on more than three acres in the Estates Above Lost Creek — "just minutes from the Barton Creek Country Club," touted one real estate online ad — was deemed by some to be excessive.

"This is an extraordinary amount of money to house the governor and his wife," Tom "Smitty" Smith of Public Citizen said of the home, which is valued at just over $1 million on Travis County tax rolls but has been listed for sale at more than twice that.

"We have lots of fancy reception rooms at the Capitol where the governor could entertain dignitaries," Smith said, "and it would sure make a lot more sense to rent a more modest apartment in keeping with the average Texan's budget than one that costs three times in rent what the Texas family makes in a year — and more than the governor earns in a year."

Perry's salary is some $115,000 annually, and the annual rent is nearly $119,000.

The home at 8113 Hickory Creek Drive is owned by Murrell Campbell, a Perry political donor, but the transaction was handled by Campbell's daughter and son-in-law, Melinda and Guy Grace. Guy Grace donated $1,000 to Perry in 2005 and $2,500 in 2006, Black said.

"It's clear that the Perrys are using state money just to pay back a political donor," said Texas Democratic Party spokesman Hector Nieto. "I'm sure there were several houses available in Austin that weren't associated with a donor."

Black scoffed, "Payback to a contribution (over two years) of $3,500?"

He added, "The governor doesn't know Mr. Grace, and the house is being leased at fair market value."

Nieto noted that besides the rent, the state will pay for any modifications needed to accommodate special requirements of the governor and that those will have to be removed under the lease terms when the Perrys leave.

In addition to rent and such modifications, the state is paying a $1,800 pet deposit for the Perrys' dachshund, Lucy.

The cost of renting the 21/2-story white rock house is factored into the cost of the Governor's Mansion repair project, priced at up to $10 million. The repairs could take about a year and a half. The mansion has problems with plumbing, rotting wood, lead paint and asbestos. It has no fire sprinklers and isn't energy efficient.

The lease is for one year, with a month-to-month option after that.

The Perrys hope to move into the house early next month, Black said.

But there's a question remaining, Public Citizen's Smith said. "When are we going to get invited to the governor's pool party?"
Read more in the San Antonio Express News

Teacher Retirement System investment chief could make $904,500 under proposed pay plan - Board meets this week to debate changes that would raise payc

By Robert Elder - AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF - Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Talk about salary creep.

Under one pay plan the Teacher Retirement System will consider this week, its chief investment officer, Britt Harris, could make $904,500 a year in salary and bonuses next year.

That is about $200,000 more than Harris can make under the system's current plan, and it probably would make him the highest-paid state pension fund manager in the country.

A handful of other high-level investment managers at the teacher system could pull down $500,000 annually.

The retirement system's trustees are scheduled to meet Thursday to consider a new compensation plan for its investment staff. Although the current pay plan is just 14 months old, Harris says a more generous plan is needed to attract the talent he needs to continue reshaping the $111 billion pension fund.

"This is the seventh-largest fund in America," Harris told trustees at their July 27 meeting. "And we have the fiduciary responsibility to provide the best possible staff to the Texas teachers."

Harris told trustees in July that he needs the right staff to implement the ongoing overhaul of the fund's portfolio. It is shifting 29 percent of its assets out of traditional investments and into hedge funds, venture capital, real estate, buyout firms and other private equity investments.

The timing and cost of a new pay plan is drawing static from the two educators on the nine-member board, who say they are uncomfortable with the retirement system edging into private-sector pay territory.

"Even though these are highly successful investment personnel, they are working for the public and for teachers' and educators' money," said Mark Henry, superintendent of the Galena Park Independent School District. "But maybe my biggest concern is I'm not sure we gave the plan we put in place about a year ago time to work."

A draft plan released Tuesday would dramatically increase pay and bonuses for the investment staff. It would would allow the top 27 investment professionals to earn bonuses of between 100 percent and 125 percent of their base pay.

At a current annual salary of $402,000 a year, Harris would be eligible for a $502,500 bonus.

Harris is already the state's highest-paid employee, with potential bonuses that could push his total to $700,000 annually.

(Higher education employees and state university athletic coaches aren't included in state payroll figures.)

The retirement system's senior-level investment managers, some of whom make between $200,000 and $300,000 a year, could make more than $500,000 under the new plan.

Exact pay figures aren't available for the teacher fund or for many public pensions because of a recent court decision that exempts those figures from the state's Public Information Act.

Harris said the total maximum bonuses paid under the draft plan would be $9.4 million — and that's only if the fund meets all its investment benchmarks, which would translate into an extra $1 billion of revenue for the fund.

Under the current compensation plan, the fund will pay about $1.5 million in bonuses over three years — about 40 percent of the possible maximum. The proposed new plan has different benchmarks.

Henry, the school superintendent, said that while the system's focus is on the investment staff, a more expensive pay plan threatens to divide the work force at the agency.

"A quality internal auditor has just as much to do with the success of TRS as its investment division," Henry said. "Or a benefits counselor. Where do you draw the line?"

The system's draft plan is more generous than those of other public pension giants. The $169 billion pension fund for retired California teachers pays its investment chief a base salary of $300,000 and an equal amount in potential bonuses.

The $22 billion Employees Retirement System of Texas instituted a bonus plan in January that pays investment staff a maximum bonus of 25 percent of base salary.

Its top investment official makes $300,000 a year in base pay.
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Attorney claims Rove had role in her firing - Former state worker dismissed for talking to media files lawsuit

By WAYNE SLATER - The Dallas Morning News - Tuesday, August 21, 2007
AUSTIN – An attorney fired from the Texas secretary of state's office for talking publicly about presidential adviser Karl Rove has filed a lawsuit, saying she is the victim of political pressure.

Elizabeth Reyes was dismissed in September 2005 after Mr. Rove called Secretary of State Roger Williams about her quotes in a newspaper story.

In the suit filed in state district court, Ms. Reyes says she was fired "because of the political embarrassment and pressure" after she answered a reporter's questions about Mr. Rove's voting eligibility in Texas.

Mr. Williams, who resigned in June to head the state Republican Party's 2008 campaign effort, said Monday that he had not seen the lawsuit.

"I don't know what it says. So I can't say anything about it," he said.

Mr. Williams has previously said that Ms. Reyes was terminated because she violated agency policy. He said she was not authorized to discuss controversial issues with the media.

In Texas, state employees can be fired at will. Her attorney claims the firing violated her constitutional right of free speech.

A Fort Worth car dealer, Mr. Williams is a major GOP fundraiser and a longtime ally of Mr. Rove and President Bush. He is thought to have political ambitions of his own, perhaps as a Republican candidate for governor in 2010.

The lawsuit seeks lost wages and unspecified punitive damages. In addition, Ms. Reyes asks that references to her termination be eliminated from her state employment file.

At issue are quotes in The Washington Post in which Ms. Reyes questioned whether two small cottages Mr. Rove owns near Kerrville qualified as a residence for purposes of registering to vote. She added that state law is fairly flexible on the issue.

Mr. Rove, who orchestrated Mr. Bush's campaigns for governor and president, sold his home in Austin after moving to Washington and claims the two cottages in Kerr County as his home for voter registration. He also owns homes in Washington and Florida.

Voter eligibility rests largely on whether a displaced Texan intends to return to the claimed residency in the future.

Ms. Reyes said that she was answering a hypothetical question, that she didn't know she was talking with a reporter, and that Mr. Rove's name never specifically came up.

Mr. Rove is known for aggressively taking on opponents and critics. And Mr. Williams has confirmed that Mr. Rove called him after the article appeared, though he has said the White House adviser did not ask that Ms. Reyes be fired.

Read more in the Dallas Morning News

Williams possibly preparing run for office

Perry could tap current or former aides
to replace him as chief elections officer.
COMMENTARY:
by W. GARDNER SELBY - AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF -Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Secretary of State Roger Williams is stepping down as the state's chief
elections officer, most likely to prepare for running for statewide office.

Williams on Monday announced his resignation, effective July 1. He declined to detail his plans except to say, "I don't think I'm going to be a lobbyist."

He had nearly $194,000 in his office's political account as of Dec. 31 and hasn't cloaked his ambitions. He said recently that he'd be interested in a U.S. Senate bid if Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas tries for governor in 2010.
...
Gov. Rick Perry, who appointed Williams to the post in late 2004, said Williams "has been an incredible salesman for the State of Texas, and his leadership will be missed."

Williams, 57, a Weatherford car dealer and businessman, took office Feb. 8, 2005. Before that, he was a high-dollar fundraiser for President Bush's campaigns and a former major-league baseball prospect.

Perry's office said nothing Monday about possible successors. Names circulating at the Capitol include those of Phil Wilson, Perry's deputy chief of staff, and Brian Newby, Perry's general counsel. Other possibilities include lobbyists Robert Howden, a former senior adviser and communications director for Perry, and Luis Saenz, a former assistant secretary of state who directed Perry's 2006 re-election campaign.

Howden said: "If (Perry) asked me to come back, I would be all ears." Saenz had no comment.

...
The secretary of state oversees elections and doubles as liaison for the governor on border and Mexican affairs. The office also serves as the state's repository for official and business records, and it publishes government rules and regulations.
...
The office as a launch pad for politics "isn't the same as having your name on the ballot," Kirk recalled. "But it's better than starting from scratch."

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Opposition to Moratorium Bill cost I-69 Alliance - Harris County pulls out

NAFTA Super Highway proponent lose support. Twenty-four hours after the I-69 Alliance issued a memo calling for Governor Perry to veto the Toll Moratorium Bill, Harris County Commmissioners voted unaniously to pull out of the Alliance.

"The alliance's interests have changed since Harris County joined it," Emmett said. "The original intent was to upgrade U.S. 59 to an interstate."

In December 2005 Governor Perry instructed TxDOT to

Recast I-69 as Trans Texas Corridor-69, using tools of the private marketplace to advance the project.

Perry's instructions said:

This should include: Improvements to U.S. Highways 59, 77 and 281

•Adding truck lanes beside existing lanes

•Adding freight rail capacity•Use a mix of toll lanes and non-tolled lanes

•Immediately begin work to build an interstate-quality highway to connect the Lower Rio Grande Valley to I-37

•Begin soliciting TTC-69 proposals from the private sector and invest state equity as needed•Balance transportation needs with the preservation of open space and the private property rights of Texans. Source

Now I-69 it has become one of the major legs of the proposed TTC/NAFTA Super Highway.
-69 today connects Indianapolis with the Canadian border at Port Huron, Michigan/Sarnia, Ontario. While it only passes through two states now, it is an important link between the lower Midwest and the most populous provinces of Canada. However, current plans will extend Interstate 69 much further.

The proposed I-69 extension will connect three different border crossings in Texas (Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville) to I-465 in Indianapolis; from there, traffic will continue over the existing I-69 and other freeways (such as U.S. 127 [possible future I-73] and U.S. 24) to border crossings in Detroit, Port Huron or Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Approximately 1600 miles of freeway (including the 3 Texas branches) will be added to existing I-69 when it is complete.

In some areas, particularly in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Texas, much of I-69 will probably be built as upgrades of existing four-lane highways to modern freeway standards, while in other areas construction on new alignment is likely. (This is similar to what happened when the original Interstates were built; particularly in the desert Southwest, the Interstates were simply upgrades of preexisting highways.)

Interstate 69 is often characterized as lots of little projects rolled into one big package.

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I-69 in Texas
Current Status
Segments being designed:

EIS for these segments is pending; FR Notice (15 January 2004).
Description
The I-69 corridor starts on the Texas-Mexico border with crossings of the Rio Grande at Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville. The corridors proceed north and east along U.S. 59, U.S. 281, and U.S. 77 to near Victoria, Texas, where they join and follow U.S. 59 northeast to the Houston area.

From the Houston area, Interstate 69 will continue to follow the U.S. 59 corridor north, bypassing Cleveland, Shepherd, Livingston, Lufkin, and Nacogdoches. From the Nacogdoches area, I-69 will continue to the northeast, passing near Carthage and crossing into Louisiana to the east, and then continuing eastward to I-49 around Stonewall.

There are some existing freeway sections, but most of the existing routes along the I-69 corridor through Texas are rural 4-lane expressways. The U.S. 59 bypass of Nacogdoches and Lufkin is being designed to be part of I-69; other local freeway bypasses may be built before the rural segments are upgraded.

Texas' route also includes a freeway spur between I-69 near Nacogdoches and the west side of Texarkana, which presumably would follow U.S. 59's general path. However, it seems unlikely that both this spur and I-49 (between Texarkana and Shreveport) will be built in the forseeable future, and the I-69 spur may eventually be discarded due to this duplication.

During 2002 and 2003, it was decided that Gov. Rick Perry's Trans Texas Corridor proposal would be the basis for developing Interstate 69 in Texas. Accordingly, the original division of the route into 15 SIUs is being treated as preliminary, and the entire corridor in the state (as well as the connection to national SIU 15 near Shreveport, La.) will be studied using a unified, two-tier Environmental Impact Statement process.

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