Purcell files for bankruptcy

HOUSTON — For Roger Purcell, when it rains it pours.

The embattled Houston mayor is facing a recall election slated for sometime in June on allegations he abused his power using police lights driving a police vehicle to Fairbanks to deliver a grant applications. He denies those allegations.

Second on his list of recent headaches: He was ordered on March 4 to leave his home after the bank foreclosed.

And last, but certainly not least, came March 16 when he filed for bankruptcy in federal court. He said the matter was a personal, but also a business matter. Purcell ran Capitol Mortgage, which he said he tried, but failed, to keep afloat when the national housing market collapsed.

“The business went under two years ago when Vanguard went down,” Purcell said, referring to Vanguard Mortgage and Title, the company he did business through. He said now was the time to finally clean out the books and officially admit it was over. His business is not the only one that’s had to shut his doors, he said.

“I don’t think there’s a mortgage company left that’s not associated with a bank in the Valley,” he said.

News of his bankruptcy spread through Houston’s rumor mill before the Frontiersman called Purcell. He said the same people who want to see him ousted as mayor also seem very interested in his personal finances.

“It’s funny how vindictive and mean-spirited these people are,” Purcell said. “It has nothing to do with the city whatsoever.”

Purcell’s bankruptcy filings show a number of debts, large and small. On the small end are unpaid daycare, phone and medical bills, a number of which have gone to collection agencies. On the large end there’s $40,000 in back taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service, $171,000 owed to a business partner in Auburn, Wash., $20,000 or so in credit card debt and a $65,000 loan from Cash Alaska.

Some notable entries on the list of debtors are Dennis Lords, Charlie Seidl and Aaron Parker, all three of whom were fired from the city under Purcell’s administration.

None of them have dollar amounts next to their names which, in bankruptcy law, generally means they are likely there as placeholders. It’s not uncommon for people filing for bankruptcy to try and anticipate lawsuits that might be coming their way, even if none have been filed or threatened.

As for Purcell, what little he had to say more or less stopped at the point where he was asked about specific entries on the list.

“Everything that’s on there is by recommendations of our corporate attorney,” Purcell said.

But with the filing and with the ammunition it’s given his detractors, Purcell said he’s lately been wondering how much more he’s going to put up with.

In addition to the bad blood around town, after news that Seidl, then a sergeant in the city’s police department, shot animals that had been housed at the city’s shelter for too long, Purcell said he started getting angry calls from animal rights activists. Some of those were death threats. One of them came when his son answered the phone, leading to a lot of trauma for the boy.

To say the least, it’s been rough.

“Why would anybody want to go into politics around here,” he asked. “Enough is enough. I can’t believe how mean these people are.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.