Houston braces for recall election, lawsuit

HOUSTON — The heat is rising again in Houston as the mayor braces for a recall election this month and a former police captain announces he’s filing a lawsuit against the city and its top officials.

Even recent news of Gov. Sean Parnell’s approval of a $450,000 fire tanker and the arrival of a loaner tanker Friday from Mat-Su Borough wasn’t enough to douse the smoldering embers of a months-long fight between the current mayor and a former Houston police captain.

“It’s been a pretty pleasant work environment since he’s been gone,” Houston Mayor Virgie Thompson said Friday of former Houston police officer Charles McAnally.

City council fired McAnally this past spring after he spent months publicly challenging and alleging financial wrongdoing by Thompson and Treasurer Carolyn Grabowski.

McAnally said Friday he stands by his claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into alleged financial malfeasance at Houston City Hall. He said he has talked to FBI agents twice and supplied them with documents and tape recordings as evidence.

The Frontiersman cannot confirm that an FBI investigation is ongoing because of its policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations unless charges are brought.

“I will take a lie detector test to prove I am not making that up,” McAnally has said repeatedly.

Thompson and Grabowski have denied wrongdoing and say the FBI has never contacted them asking for information or documents.

Monday also marks the start of absentee and early voting in the July 26 recall election of Thompson.

Monday also is the day McAnally said he will release details of a lawsuit he’s filing against Thompson, Grabowski and Deputy Mayor Jim Johansen for alleged defamation of character and wrongful termination.

“They violated every city code you can think of,” McAnally said Friday. “They lied, slandered me in the newspaper, they did everything you can think of that’s dirty. It’s not going to go unchecked.”

McAnally, Houston Planning Commissioner Ralph Buzard, along with council members Ruth Blanchard and Lance Wilson, are leading the effort to oust Thompson from the council and her position as mayor.

The recall ballot language alleges Thompson has committed misconduct in office by “offering a false instrument for recording in the first degree in violation of AS 11.46.550 and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received or held in violation of AS 11.46.210.”

Critics allege Thompson accepted $1,500 in monthly compensation for November 2010, but did not work the 100 hours required by municipal code because she was gone part of that month.

A special education teacher, Thompson said she works a lot more hours as mayor than people realize and she is not going down without a fight.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong,” she said Friday. “We’ve gotten the city’s finances straightened out. It was the police department that cost the city almost $500,000 in the past four years. When you have a department that’s solely responsible for generating their own revenue, that takes away from the other departments. The numbers don’t lie. It’s not fiscally responsible.”

In her rebuttal statement appearing on the recall ballot, Thompson argues that the timesheet error was due to having to go back and fill in three month’s worth of work after the fact.

“I attempted to comply and inadvertently listed some hours over Thanksgiving when I was out of town, though I was in constant contact via telephone on days the city was open,” the rebuttal reads. “I am proud to be your mayor and have worked diligently for the community. We continue to improve the tarnished image of our city and put our financial affairs in order.”

Thompson’s rebuttal also says the city’s financial problems in the last fiscal year originated when the previous administration removed $100,000 from the general fund in October to cover overspending.

“My administration continues to work hard to uncover the overspending, corruption and bring financial stability and accountability to the city,” she wrote, adding she and her staff are working hard to restore respect from Mat-Su Borough and other government entities, especially where emergency services are involved. “We have overcome many obstacles in a short time. Please support my mission to restore honesty, integrity and dignity to our city and vote no on July 26.”

On Friday, Councilman Wilson called Thompson’s statement about the $100,000 “an absolute lie.”

Wilson said the funds were never taken out of the operating budget, but instead the property tax funds were simply rolled over into a new certificate of deposit after the pervious CD had matured.

“I challenged the treasurer on that a week ago and she backed up my recollection that the money was reinvested in another CD,” Wilson said. “The money was never part of the operating budget, so never could have been taken out of it by the previous administration.”

Grabowski could not be reached for comment Friday to confirm Wilson’s statement.

Thompson said that while she’s a little nervous about the recall election, she hopes letters she’s sending voters this week will help convince them she doesn’t deserve to be kicked off the council.

“Part of me is worried, but another part of me knows that if people ask for the truth and truly are involved and concerned about the city, they would come to the conclusion that they were misinformed when they signed the recall petition application,” Thompson said. “We’ve received phone calls at city hall from people who tell us they made a mistake signing the petition, so I’m hoping more people will see how silly it all is.”

Thompson said if residents do vote to recall her, she’s prepared to challenge the petition in court and also plans to run for office again in October. She said she believes the recall petition should be thrown out because it cites specific state statutes that should have been removed before the petition was circulated.

“Legal counsel recommended they remove the statutes first, but they chose not to, which leaves it open to be challenged in court.” Thompson said. “So they can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.McKee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.