Bill White and Sylvester Turner have been caught red-handed in an extortion scheme! These two are threatening to make a mockery of Houston politics! This horror of horrors has been EXPOSED by the Houston Chronicle. Do you want this type of crime and corruption in City Hall? NO. After witnessing this devious and sinister scheme, it is clear that these two men simply can not be trusted by the voting public. Scheme to confuse voters in mayor's race is thwarted 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.
Either you did not read the article or you are deliberately trying to implicate White, the victim of this plot. This is why nobody takes you seriously, T_J, even when you post a link or a story, you twist the facts in your commentary until your "facts" do not even remotely resemble the truth. What is clear is that you don't even have the reading comprehension of a four year old if you actually thought that Bill White was one of the conspirators in this plot. Again, you have been DEBUNKED.
Bill White paid HUSH MONEY to Flores in an effort to keep another candidate off the ballot. Are you denying this?! Is this democracy?! This is a true insight into the very weak integrity of Bill White. This raises many many questions. The tenor of your response and your personal insults made it clear that liberals everywhere are not liking this story! EXPOSED
Bill White paid EXTORTION money to a woman involved in a plot to list someone with his name on the ballot. This is a true insight into the very weak grasp that you have on reality. Mostly things like: Does T_J understand what he reads? If T_J does understand, does he think before he posts his bull****? This story doesn't bother me at all, it shows that it is possible that someone from TURNER'S camp might have been trying to use dirty politics to create confusion on the part of voters so that White would have less of a chance. Yes, you are. EXPOSED as someone who will tell any lie, obfuscate any fact, and seize on to even the weakest argument to try to keep White out of office.
Why would Bill White try to suppress this issue by paying Flores thousands of dollars? What did Bill White have to hide? Is he afraid of another challenger on the ballot? Evidently. Can all candidates simply pay money to keep potential challengers off the ballot? This is a true slap in the face to voters everywhere. Bill White should have made this story public, if he wanted to keep another challenger off the ballot. Attempting to suppress the issue, and suppress democracy, by paying thousands of dollars to a middleman is WRONG. Bill White is trying to buy this election through bribes. Bill White is trying to silence the opposition. He is afraid to take this story public, and were it not for the Chronicle's investigative reporting, Bill White could have potentially gotten off scot-free despite his involvement in this scandal. This has slime written all over it -- and Bill White is a central figure in this SCANDAL. He will have quite a bit of explaining to do at Tuesday's debate.
Andymoon, I suggest you read Jeff's sticky thread. If these allegations are too much for you to bear, then so be it. Stooping to the level of personal insults, as you have done in this thread, is not the correct way to refute these very serious allegations. Here are Jeff's thoughts: A number of you who post exclusively or close to it in this forum have only been here a short period of time. So, I'll try to explain. This forum was created to allow posters to speak their minds on controversial issues, not to demean, insult and verbally assault each other. If you cannot follow that as a guideline, you will not last on this board. Andymoon, please try to control your emotions and keep this debate civil. We recognize the dismay in finding out that Bill White was involved in these wrongdoings, but do your best to maintain proper decorum.
Jorge, are you going to tattle on Andy? With the confusion that has been caused in the past by voters voting for unknowns with familiar names, I think White did the voters a service by getting rid of the fraud.
Oh, I was scared for a second, but after reading the article, I see Turner is the one who was playing dirty politics.
Do you agree with the *method* which Bill White used -- BRIBERY and ISSUE SUPPRESSION? Paying thousands of dollars underneath the table is *not* the way to resolve political problems. Bill White has some very difficult questions to answer.
The liberals are dodging the issue for good reason. This story will not go away. There are a lot of questions for both democratic candidates to answer. This issue has the potential to completely reshape the mayoral race. After reading the story in the Chronicle, Bill White's story just doesn't add up. He is clearly hiding details in this case. Why else would he pay someone $5,000 without making it public? Can you imagine this type of leadership as the mayor of Houston? What a nightmare.
I know! White's campaign is truly on life support! (Like Clark's and Dean's and Kerry's and all Democrat puppets of Rev. Jesse.) If I only I were in Houston so I could vote for Sanchez and support all my downtrodden white Spanish speaking brothers... Alas...
Hey TJ, This is off-topic, but only 13 more posts for you before you hit 2,000. Is #2,000 going to be the "Masterpiece" post that you promised us when you got around #1,000? I don't know about others here, but I would like to see the "Masterpiece" post. Please indulge me.
Very serious charges have been levied against your candidate of choice. You have two choices, accept the charges of bribery, suppression of democracy, and double-dealing, or DEFEND YOUR CANDIDATE
No way! I'm not defending a candidate on life support! Plus I don't like puppets of Jesse Jackson either! Didn't you endorse Orlando Sanchez? That's good enough for me. USA! USA!
Bill White paid an EXTORTIONIST in order to make sure the election remained fair. Turner is the only candidate who even potentially did anything wrong. It is even moreso insight into your extremely weak logic and reading comprehension skills. It also shows exactly how weak your skills at spinning are. Do you not understand the difference between extortion and bribery? Go to dictionary.com, dude. As in, T_J has been EXPOSED as the mindless shill he is.
You really need to get a grip on reality. He paid Flores because he did not want a random person whose only reasons for running were his name and the fact that Flores paid him. I am certain that White would welcome any challenger, but this was a dirty trick played by someone that ended up in White's campaign being extorted out of $5000. You mean White didn't want people to know that he was the subject of an extortion scheme? I don't blame him. Turner has explaining to do, White was a victim.
Umm...Andy, you already responded to that post once. You are so engulfed in your own emotions that you mindlessly responded to the wrong post. This story is driving you to the brink! It's not a lot to ask to have to remember what post you have already responded to. It is interesting to see how you changed your response based on the time elapsed between responding to the same post twice. Hilarious. This ranks right up there with the stock option folly by Maynard and the Zogby poll misread by Major.
