State House candidate Greg Meyers calls for investigation into Rep. Hubert Vo

By Crystal Hubbard | Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

State House candidate Greg Meyers has asked officials to investigate whether his opponent, state Rep. Hubert Vo (in photo), used his position inappropriately to influence the Houston Police Department. Meyers, who’s running for District 149, filed a complaint with the Travis County attorney and Harris County assistant DA. (The Travis County attorney’s office said they will not be pursing an investigation.)

Vo, a Democrat, used his state representative letterhead to complain about the police department’s handling of building code violations issued against apartment complexes he owned, according to a report by The Houston Chronicle earlier this year.

In the letter, Vo describes situations where one property manager was cited for failing to fix parking lot conditions even though the manager had already begun addressing the issue.

“After beginning the work on the parking lot and going through the expense of the crushed concrete, my manager was informed verbally that she needed to redo the entire parking lot in blacktop. The city code does not specify what materials must be used and these officers issued a citation to force my manager to use blacktop.”

Though the department denies any wrongdoing, Vo also says the officers harassed his manager:

“What I am concerned with is the appearance that the (Neighborhood Protection Corps) officers are using their authority to harass and issue tickets of working with the apartment managers to remedy any deficiencies. The word ‘harass’ is a very strong word and I use it very cautiously, but the conduct of the officers involved in this situation leads me to no other conclusion.”

Further on, Vo asks that two of the three citations be reviewed and that the “department officers clearly and in writing, identify problems and resolutions.”

But Meyers, a Republican, has called foul. He asserts in his complaint that:

“the appearance and substance of the letter are suggestive of coercion of a public servant. First, the letter is on Vo’s official state letterhead, which includes a reference on the bottom to his position as a member of the Law Enforcement Committee of the Texas House of Representatives. Second, Vo uses language that specifically asks for special consideration by the recipient HPD officials, impliedly based on his role as a state lawmaker.”

Matt Welch, campaign consultant for Meyers, says Travis County Attorney David Escamilla will not be pursuing an investigation at this time. Welch said that Escamilla, a “very partisan Democrat,” won’t pursue Vo because Escamilla doesn’t know where the letter was written.

“Normally, people would investigate where the letter was written,” Welch said. “When other officials need investigating, [Escamilla] gets right on it.”

But Escamilla has said his office doesn’t hunt for investigations, but reviews complaints like Meyers’ and then decides how to proceed. “At this time, we’re leaving it to see what Harris County [will do].”

The campaign is still waiting to hear whether the Harris County Assistant District Attorney will investigate, but Welch didn’t sound hopeful.

“Harris County has a history of not investigating during election season,” he said.

The Meyers press release reiterates a number of building code violations reported by the Chronicle and adds that Vo lied about his knowledge of his properties’ conditions prior to being fined. Lawsuits against Vo for an 11-year period, from 1996 to 2007, were settled out of court.

We’ve put in a call to Rep. Vo, and we’ll let you know what he says if he calls us back.

UPDATE: As of 11:28 A.M., the Vo campaign has not returned Texas Watchdog calls. If and when they do, we’ll be sure to inform you of their comments.