Gov. Rick Perry's land deals smell of Political Favors

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's ethics are questioned in Horseshoe Bay deal that netted him about $500,000 and appears to involve political favors and agency appointments.

Bill White questions Texas Gov. Rick Perry's ethics in lake lot deal

By Steve McGonigle, Dallas Morning News, 7/27/2010
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/state/stories/072510dntexwhiteperry .1f6e209c.html

SUMMARY: Democratic candidate for governor Bill White questioned Monday whether Gov. Rick Perry acted ethically when he bought and sold a Hill Country lake lot that enhanced his investment by almost $500,000.

White says Perry used state fund to help man tied to land deal 

By Jason Embry, Austin American-Statesman, 7/30/2010
http://mo.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/white-says-perry-used-state-fund-to-help-833314.html

SUMMARY: Democratic challenger says grant was not properly vetted.

Murky land deals mark Perry's past 

By James Drew, Steve McGonigle, and Ryan McNeill, Dallas Morning News, 7/25/2010
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/topstories/stories/072510dnproperryland.4474e5d.html

SUMMARY: The investigative journalism behind this 4-page article was extensive and expensive and raises serious questions about Perry's land dealings and agency appointments. The murky dealings also call into question other Perry appointments and dealings. We encourage you to read the whole story and decide for yourself. HOT summarizes key points below.

Three years after Gov. Rick Perry's biggest real estate score, questions persist about whether the governor benefited from favoritism, backroom dealing and influence-buying.

The Dallas Morning News found evidence that Perry's investment was enhanced by a series of "professional courtesies and personal favors" from friends, campaign donors and the head of a Texas family with a rich history of political power-brokering. Together they may have enriched Perry by almost $500,000, according to an independent real estate appraisal commissioned by The News.

The governor's staff insists these were routine, legal deals that were properly handled. But experts hired by The News dismissed that appraisal as "unsupported" and said it did not meet professional standards.

The property is located in Horseshoe Bay Resort, Inc., which is owned by Doug Jaffee and is often described as the Texas equivalent of Pebble Beach. Horseshoe Bay is a place for second homes of celebrity residents such as former astronaut Jim Lovell, oil well firefighter Red Adair, and Dallas Cowboys legend Roger Staubach.

Wealthy State Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) bought two newly subdivided peninsula lots for $1 million in September 2000 and sold the smaller lot to Rick Perry in February 2001 for just over $300,000. An appraiser hired by The News determined that the land was actually worth $450,000 when Perry bought it.

A few months later Perry hired attorney Colleen McHugh to appeal his $414,700 tax appraisal and get it reduced to $310,762. Perry had just appointed McHugh as chairman of the Texas Public Safety Commission. He later appointed her in 2005 to the University of Texas System Board of Regents. McHugh was never compensated for the appeal, so it appears like an undisclosed gift and a political favor to secure another appointment.

Perry turned around and sold the lot to Alan Moffatt for $1.15 million in March 2007. An appraiser hired by The News also evaluated the selling price and concluded that the transaction netted Perry nearly $500,000.

Moffatt, the buyer, is a British national who was questioned, but never prosecuted, for his company's international arms shipments to Africa in the 1990s where about 800,000 people died in the Rwandan genocide. The sale to was brokered by Ron Mitchell, the resort vice chairman, but Mitchell was not paid the customary 6% commission (nearly $69,000). Instead, Perry appointed Mitchell to the Texas State University System Board of Regents. That appears to be another political favor.

Back to Doug Jaffee. He and his late father Morris were known for using their wealth to influence politics in their favor, backing whichever party they thought would win. Jaffee was an investor in Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp., a struggling San Antonio business. Governor Perry approved a $2.5 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund for the company a year before the sale of his property. Sino Swearingen said the money would help create 850 new jobs in Texas, but soon after the grant announcement, the company layed off workers instead. It later rescinded its request for the grant but still benefitted from the publicity.