Fort Worth ethics panel questions fairness of having industry representatives on air quality committee

BY MIKE LEE - Fort Wortht Star Telegram - June 25, 2010

FORT WORTH -- It may be an inherent conflict of interest to allow gas company employees to serve on committees that oversee their industry, the city's Ethics Review Committee ruled Thursday.
The panel made the ruling in a case about the makeup of the city's Air Quality Study Committee, which was formed to examine potentially toxic emissions at natural gas sites.
If upheld, the ruling could have far-reaching ramifications because most of the city's regulations on gas drilling were written by committees that included representatives from the gas industry. At least one of the companies plans to appeal the ruling to the full Fort Worth City Council.
The council appointed the air quality committee in March to find a way to determine the level of toxic emissions around gas sites, and its findings could lead to new gas drilling regulations in the city.
The 10-member committee includes three representatives from major drilling companies: Devon Energy, XTO Energy and Chesapeake Energy.
Chesapeake Vice President Julie Wilson said the company will vigorously appeal.
"Chesapeake finds it ludicrous that three individuals employed by energy companies have been cited for an 'ethics conflict' due to their service on a city-appointed task force," Wilson said. "It is an affront to every citizen who serves at the request of the City Council and brings into question the conflict other members on the same task force may have, not to mention numerous other citizens on other task forces."
Jim Ashford, an east Fort Worth resident who is suing Chesapeake over noise and air pollution from a compressor station near his house, filed the ethics complaint in the spring. He said it was improper for the gas companies to have representatives on a committee that is studying pollution potentially caused by their industry.
Albon Head, an attorney who represented all three gas company employees, said Ashford should have complained to the City Council, which appointed the air quality committee. He pointed out that Ashford didn't complain about other members of the committee who have a vested interest in its work, including an environmental lawyer and a scientist who works for a nonprofit environmental group.
Head said conflict-of-interest rules are meant to keep people from representing their own companies before city boards or profiting from city contracts. Neither of those situations exist in this instance, he said.

"They are not representing their companies before the [air quality] board," Head said. "There is no evidence that these members received any benefit."

Ashford stressed the importance of barring the gas industry from having control over the city's regulations. "We have one attorney representing all three individuals -- this would indicate the three members are speaking as one voice," he said.
The gas company employees didn't testify. Head said outside the committee room that he didn't know why the three companies had hired one attorney.

'Wearing two hats'
The ethics committee sided with Ashford after a three-hour hearing. Rebecca Lucas, a lawyer on the ethics committee, said that the gas employees have a "total absence of malice" but that "the level of their loyalty to their employers has put them in a position of wearing two hats."

It's unclear whether the three employees can stay on the committee, because the Ethics Review Committee does not have the authority to remove them.
The three members can appeal the decision to the City Council, which appointed the air quality committee.

"We'll have to look at those issues and advise the committee and the council," City Attorney David Yett said.

Susan Alanis, the city's planning and development director, noted that it's not unusual for industry representatives to get such appointments, and that the committee's decisions have not been unduly swayed by votes from the three gas company representatives. "We have committees all the time that include professionals" who are affected by the city's ordinances, Alanis said.
Royalty issues
The ethics committee ruled against Ashford on another complaint. He argued that Councilmen Jungus Jordan and Danny Scarth shouldn't vote on issues related to gas drilling because they receive gas royalties.
Jordan's wife inherited an interest in the mineral rights to a Johnson County farm and gets royalties from Chesapeake. Scarth said his parents gave him and his siblings a share of gas royalties from XTO earned from acreage they own in Burleson. Jordan routinely recuses himself from votes involving Chesapeake and Scarth recuses himself from issues involving XTO.
Ashford said the two should not vote on any gas industry issue, including the city's drilling ordinance and the air quality committee.
But Ashford didn't cite those votes as evidence. Instead, he showed a videotape of a Feb. 2 work session in which the council discussed appointing the air quality committee. Some council members wanted to appoint a task force to revisit the entire gas drilling ordinance, including the setbacks between gas wells and houses. Scarth and Jordan argued against it.

"We need to be very careful about the idea of opening up a gas drilling task force," Scarth said.

No vote was taken, although the council decided informally not to revise the ordinance.

"I think Mr. Ashford confuses general discussion [in a work session] with the council voting on an issue," said Don Herrmann, who represented Jordan and Scarth.
Jordan and Scarth said they relied on a legal opinion that allows them to continue to vote on general issues related to gas drilling.

"I've fully disclosed my financial position and followed the directions of the city attorney," Jordan said

.
Scarth said, "Just because someone doesn't like what we do from a policy standpoint doesn't mean it's an ethics violation."

The committee sided with the council members, although they said Ashford can revise his complaint to include specific votes. "At the present, I think we have no choice but to say it's insufficient," Chairwoman Hortencia Laguna said.
MIKE LEE, 817-390-7539


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Critics see excess in Gov. Perry's foreign travel - Aides defend frequent trips in name of trade

By CHRISTY HOPPE - The Dallas Morning News - Saturday, July 28, 2007

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry has crossed the deserts bare, man; breathed the mountain air, man; he's been everywhere – visiting at least 11 foreign countries in the past three years as an emissary for Texas.

Thus far this year, he has spent 18 days in five countries – Qatar, Israel, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The plane fare for him and an aide to Istanbul cost $13,586, a tab picked up by political donors. But taxpayers pay the bills for his Department of Public Safety security detail, which always travels with him. DPS declined to say what that costs, citing security concerns.

Mr. Perry's aides argue that with so many foreign companies doing business in Texas, the governor needs to promote the state for it to stay competitive in a global economy. But his penchant for international travel is unique among Texas governors, and Democrats have criticized the practice as special interest-financed vacations.

And whether on a trade mission or policy retreat or delivering speeches in foreign lands, Mr. Perry has traveled well, generally staying in five-star hotels, flying in private jets or being pampered in business class seats.

For instance, for a 2004 trip to the Bahamas to discuss public education funding with staff, supporters and conservative thinkers such as anti-tax guru Grover Norquist, three of Mr. Perry's political supporters donated the $40,400 in travel costs.

Mr. Perry's 12 international visits have included two to Mexico. A trip to Iraq and Afghanistan was financed largely through the Department of Defense. The rest have been paid for with political contributions and the Texas Economic Development Corp. – a nonprofit organization spearheaded by the governor that solicits and uses corporate donations to promote business in Texas.

International travel is new for Texas governors – Ann Richards went to Mexico for a presidential inauguration, as did George W. Bush. Late in his state term, Mr. Bush traveled to Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but many saw it as a political gambit to improve the governor's foreign relations résumé before his first presidential campaign. Last month, in his trip to Israel, Mr. Perry met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

When the opportunities arose for Ms. Richards to take official trips out of the country, she turned them down, said former press secretary Bill Cryer.

"It came up once or twice for her to go to one or two exotic places, but she decided to turn it down as too politically unsavory and she knew that people would criticize her for it," Mr. Cryer said.

Former LBJ School of Public Affairs dean Max Sherman, who also served as a state senator and gubernatorial adviser, said international travel could be a pitfall for many politicians.

"My guess is that it is a new day, and you'll probably see governors and mayors doing more things from an international perspective, mainly because of business," he said.

"But politically, many people will not look favorably on it," he added. "They probably feel that there are enough problems here in the state that need to be dealt with, and the governor needs to be here."

Mr. Sherman also said it is often difficult to connect an international trip to real results in-state. And many voters will see it as a steppingstone to either another political office or a lucrative job afterward. Mr. Perry, who has not ruled out running for another term for governor in 2010, has been mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential candidate or Cabinet secretary or ambassador in a GOP administration.

"Maybe it would lay a foundation for something on a national or global scale, either publicly or privately," Mr. Sherman said. "Showing you've been to hot spots around the world that are going to be major players with the U.S. and Texas would enhance the résumé."

Krista Moody, a spokeswoman for Mr. Perry, said the trips have brought real results for Texas. She pointed to the Toyota plant in San Antonio, a Samsung plant in Austin and the Nokia Corp. headquarters in Irving that are creating high-paying jobs.

"Governor Perry has been unabashedly pursuing economic opportunities throughout the state, throughout the country and over oceans," Ms. Moody said.

"By personally going, he puts a shine on deals by showing that the state's leaders would make a trip to meet with business leaders in different countries to personally make the case for why Texas is one of the best places in the world for them to do business," she said.

Mr. Perry has not been to South Korea, headquarters for Samsung, nor Finland, home to Nokia. He had planned an August 2005 trade trip to Japan, where Toyota is based, but he had to cancel because of a special session on school finance that he called. He instead sent his wife, Anita.

Mr. Perry has touted a weeklong trip to Italy in March 2004 to bring jobs to Texas by meeting with officials from Alenia Aeronautica, which is Vought Aircraft Industries' partner in the development of a new Boeing jet. He also met with oil and gas executives on the trip.

On the Italy trip, the Perrys stayed at the Grand Hotel Parco Dei Principi in Rome and at the Westin Excelsior in Florence, where currently, rooms cost no less than about $500 a night.

Ms. Moody said the governor has been conscientious and saved taxpayers "a tremendous amount of money" by paying for the trips either with political donations from his campaign account or through the Texas Economic Development Corp.A check of other states showed that Mr. Perry has set an aggressive pace for foreign travel. For instance, former New York Gov. George Pataki, over his 12 years in office, went to about 15 countries. And Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who has been in office five years, made his first trade mission last month, visiting Spain and England.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has recently been taking heat for allowing a similar foundation to pay for his international forays.

"Our guy gets criticized," said Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear.

Over the past three years, Mr. Schwarzenegger has been on 14 international trips – including four to Mexico and one in July 2004 to his home country of Austria, when he was part of the official U.S. delegation to attend the funeral of the Austrian president.

Mr. McLear said the California governor pays for most of his travel out of his personal bank account, while the rest comes from the California State Protocol Foundation, which is closely associated with the California Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Schwarzenegger has donated $8 million of his own money to the foundation.

And one country among the 14 that the former movie star has visited was not on Mr. Schwarzenegger's original itinerary. The governor was in Israel and the king of Jordan, having arranged transportation, asked him to pay a quick visit.

Said Mr. McLear: "His celebrity certainly helps him sell California."
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