TxDOT Commissioner Violates Texas Law

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Six term Representative Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) has served on the House Transportation Committee and is currently the Chairman of the Regional Transportation Policy Board in El Paso. The following letter illustrates TxDOT commissioner Ted Houghton’s retaliation, abuse and blackmail threat tactics. This letter appeared in the Austin American-Statesman on 7/15/06.

Ted Houghton, from El Paso, is a commissioner of the Texas Transportation Commission.

Ted Houghton’s abuse of his Official Capacity, of threatening contractors and other states, violates state laws 36.06 and 39.02

"TxDOT TRAMPLED ON US"
by Rep. Joe Pickett

On June 29, a group of elected officials from the El Paso area appeared before the Texas Transportation Commission to oppose the creation of a Regional Mobility Authority. Our regional Metropolitan Planning Organization voted against creating a toll authority.

The Congress member in our area opposes creating a mobility authority, as does the county judge-elect. Do you think the Texas Department of Transportation honored the decision of the local planning organization? No way. It is the state's way or the highway, I mean tollway.

It gets worse, 30 minutes after the vote was taken in El Paso against a mobility authority, a TxDOT commissioner called a road contractor and threatened to kill a pending project if they didn't get the mobility authority in line. Then TxDOT threatened the state of New Mexico by saying it would kill a joint railroad relocation study because some of our planning organization members who voted against the mobility authority are from New Mexico.

STATE REP. JOE C. PICKETT
Chairman El Paso area
Metropolitan Planning Organization
El Paso

VIOLATIONS

§ 36.06. Obstruction or Retaliation

(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly harms or threatens to harm another by an unlawful act:
(1) in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of another as a:
(A) public servant, witness, prospective witness, or informant; or

(2) to prevent or delay the service of another as a:
(A) public servant, witness, prospective witness, or informant; or

§ 39.02. Abuse of Official Capacity

(a) A public servant commits an offense if, with intent to obtain a benefit or with intent to harm or defraud another, he intentionally or knowingly:
(2) misuses government property, services, personnel, or any other thing of value belonging to the government that has come into the public servant’s custody or possession by virtue of the public servant’s office or employment.

Ted Houghton and other commission members are further abusing their official capacity by preventing our political process to take place. The very process that allows for self-governance that allows the citizens and their representatives to debate public policy and reach informed decisions through consensus.

"TxDOT's understanding of the new CDA approach to road building is that local branches of government and the Legislature are no longer part of the process. According to the TxDOT view, once an agreement is made with a private partner, TxDOT and the provider alone are empowered to makes decisions concerning road alignments. This is a staggering change from the way we have historically made these decisions. These projects are too important to not allow the citizens to participate through their various voices in government. This is a fundamental issue of the separation of powers and checks and balances in the system. I have had the unique honor of serving the citizens of Fort Worth and Tarrant County as county judge, state senator and now mayor of Fort Worth. What I have learned through serving in these various capacities is that this fundamental issue of separation of powers should not so casually be cast aside. Every level of government has a unique perspective, which serves to express the complex voice of our citizenry."

- Ft. Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief,
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, June 18, 2006

"The Governor did ask us to move quickly and as I have a personal relationship with the Governor, I can speak with [for] him in this regard. Once the Governor decided that this is where we needed to head, he wanted to remove it from the political flow of the state, he wanted it to become policy as opposed to politics, and that was one of the reasons he asked us to move so fast, and we've done an admirable job"

- Chairman Ric Williamson,
Texas Transportation Commission meeting, June 27, 2002