Click here for a copy of the supporting documents obtained from the Texas State Library and Archives

TYLER—When given the opportunity to comment by the Texas Department of Transportation on a major transportation strategic plan that was heavily slanted toward toll roads, then-Senator Todd Staples passed up the opportunity to say anything about them or how strongly they were emphasized in the plan.

The new revelation, found in documents from the Texas State Library and Archives, calls into question Staples’ newfound distaste for toll roads and his disingenuous work as a supposed champion for eminent domain reform.

“The words ‘toll,’ ‘toll road,’ or some variation thereof, are mentioned more than half a dozen times in a three page strategic plan proposal. I can’t believe that escaped his notice,” said Hank Gilbert, the Texas Democratic Party’s nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. “In his response, he had absolutely nothing to say about toll roads or the eminent domain land grab that was the Trans-Texas Corridor,” Gilbert continued.

The Texas Mobility Fund Proposed Strategic Plan on which Staples’ comment was requested by TxDOT in the summer of 2004 included as a guiding principal that “toll roads are the fastest way to accelerate needed projects and stretch limited transportation dollars,” and “when feasible, every effort will be made to leverage the fund with toll projects.”

“Once again, we scratch the surface and expose the truth about Todd Staples’ record. He claims now to be a champion of eminent domain protection, yet as a State Senator, he couldn’t be bothered to comment at all on the fact that a major transportation plan was going to make as its number one priority toll roads—including Trans-Texas Corridor toll road projects which would have eaten up hundreds of thousands of acres of Texas farmland and condemned it using eminent domain,” Gilbert said.

“The most shocking omission is any protection for the taxpayers of this state who stand to lose tens of billions on these projects. This is what Staples missed, as I and many others realized early on. This is an inexcusable lapse in judgment that, unfortunately, is not an isolated event. Even today, rather than address issues, he spends his time slinging mud and lies at me. Voters won’t be fooled by Toll Road Todd this time around,” Gilbert continued.

“Texas has the potential to become a major biofuels producer,” Gilbert said. “There are crops—like cassava—which we can grow in areas of West Texas where nothing else is being grown right now that can produce alternative fuels and not increase the cost of the foods we bring to our family’s dinner table,” Gilbert said.  “Too, land near the Gulf Coast in South East Texas is perfect land on which we can grow sugar cane to use to manufacture fuels,” Gilbert continued.

Under Gilbert’s plan, entitled the Field to Pump Biofuels Initiative, the Texas Department of Agriculture would utilize funding from the Texas Agricultural Infrastructure & Economic Development Fund (proposed by Gilbert under his previously released reform plan for the agency), to provide start-up funding to agricultural producers to help grow new, non-foodstock biofuel crops and to refiners to help develop refining capacity for those products.

“The state would also help assist agricultural producers to help establish new cooperatives which would allow them to seek funding from outside sources to grow, market, transport—and even refine—their biofuel crops,” he continued.

Gilbert also noted that biofuels made from cassava and sugar cane will result in less pollution, cleaner air, and even additional money for farmers—should a market develop for the sale of carbon credits.

TYLER—Hank Gilbert, the Texas Democratic Party’s nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Monday called on incumbent commissioner Todd Staples to focus on issues of importance to the race rather than his attempts to score political points by focusing on issues over which the Department of Agriculture has no control.

Gilbert’s comments were in response to an Athens Daily Review article from this weekend in which Staples addressed the Proposition 8 decision in California.

“I’ve spent the last two weeks on the campaign trail talking about real reform for the Texas Department of Agriculture—from weights and measures to funding to increase agribusiness in Texas to protecting Texans from eminent domain abuses,” Gilbert said.

“My opponent, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be focused much on agriculture at all. He’s kind of like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. If you hold an anchovy over his head, he forgets all about that ball of yarn; it is kind of how Todd Staples is with this issue,” Gilbert continued.

Gilbert pointed out that the Agriculture Commissioner has no authority or power over the Texas Family Code with respect to marriage and that Staples is misleading voters about his role in the law’s passing in order to, presumably, excite ultra-conservatives. “People elect their Agriculture Commissioner to do something about agriculture, not to serve as the state’s de facto bedroom police,” he said.

“Perhaps if Todd Staples put some of the energy he’s put into fighting gay marriage into actually reforming the Texas Department of Agriculture, consumers might not find gas pumps and grocery store scales with expired inspections as frequently as they do,” Gilbert continued. “Maybe if Todd Staples wasn’t so focused on gay marriage, some of the food safety debacles that have happened on his watch wouldn’t have happened,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert also called out Staples for misleading Texans about his role in the passage of HJR 6, the legislation that resulted in the constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage.

“Todd Staples didn’t write HJR 6 in the 2005 session of the Texas Legislature. Warren Chisum and four other House members are listed as ‘author’ of the bill and more than a dozen House members are listed as co-authors,” Gilbert said. “Staples sponsored it, but he didn’t author it,” Gilbert said. “There is a difference, and Todd Staples spent enough time in the Legislature he should know it.

Gilbert also said it was time for Staples to stop beating up on gay and lesbian Texans.

“Isn’t it time for Todd Staples to stop beating up on gay and lesbian Texans whose taxes have paid his salary as a career politician for years? Staples has done more than enough to make miserable the lives of people who’ve never done anything to him, and it’s not protecting marriage, it’s just being mean to the citizens of this state, and their families—who do nothing but work hard everyday. Maybe Staples could learn something from them,” Gilbert said.

RESOURCES: Athens Daily Review Article, Legislative History of HJR 6 (2005)

Food Safety And Consumer Protection, Eminent Domain Reform, Help For Producers Take Center Stage

[You can download a copy of Hank's Reform Plan for the Texas Department of Agriculture  in PDF format here (LINK) or view it online here (LINK).  You can also read Hank's remarks as prepared for delivery on his TDA Reform Tour here (LINK).]

ABILENE—Hank Gilbert, the Texas Democratic Party’s nominee for Agriculture Commissioner, Wednesday morning unveiled a sweeping and historic reform package to reshape and rebuild the Texas Department of Agriculture Wednesday morning in Abilene.

The Abilene stop was the first of a 23-city tour during which Gilbert will address portions of the policy across the state. The campaign had stops planned in Lubbock and Big Spring for Wednesday and Midland, Odessa, San Angelo and Waco for Thursday.

“The Texas Department of Agriculture can and should be doing more for Texans,” Gilbert said. “TDA has the potential to become the state’s strongest consumer protection agency,” he said as he introduced the policy, which was centered around food safety and consumer protection, eminent domain reform, agency restructuring and providing economic incentives to boost Texas’ agricultural economy.

“We must put an end to the patchwork quilt of regulation and inspection that has put our state’s food supply in jeopardy and streamline the regulation and inspection process to keep Texans safe,” Gilbert said.

Under Gilbert’s plan, the Texas Department of Agriculture will institute the TEXAS Food Safety & Security Initiative (standing for “Tested, Examined, Approved, & Secure”) which will require comprehensive food safety inspections for agricultural commodities and grocery stores, food wholesalers and warehouses, food processors, food manufacturers, wholesale bakeries, beverage producers, refrigerated warehouses, slaughterhouses, meat and poultry plants and fish processors centralized under the Texas Department of Agriculture.

“Texas ag producers, Texas businesses, and Texas consumers shouldn’t have to turn to three or more state agencies for permits, regulation, or to determine if the food they are purchasing is safe,” Gilbert said. “The present hodgepodge of regulation only aides in allowing state agencies to point fingers at each other and say, ‘that isn’t our job,’” Gilbert said. “Under this plan, consumers, producers, and businesses won’t have to be shuffled from agency to agency,” Gilbert continued.

In terms of consumer protection, Gilbert called for a roll-back in the four-year inspection period for weights and measures devices such as grocery store scales and fuel pumps. “I propose a two-year inspection period and a three-strikes policy for habitual fuel cheaters,” Gilbert said. Under Gilbert’s reform plan, if a fuel retailer is found to be out of compliance as a result of consumer complaints more than three times in a year, they will face criminal charges.

Additionally, Gilbert said Texas agricultural producers and businesses are overburdened as a result of being forced to turn to a myriad of state agencies for assistance depending on the exact nature of the agricultural problem they need to address.

“Producers, farmers, ranchers, or businesses shouldn’t have to be shuffled between TDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission and the Texas Wildlife Service to have agricultural problems addressed,” he said. Gilbert proposed moving the Texas Forest Service, the Texas Animal Health Commission, and the Texas Wildlife Services—and all feral hog abatement programs—directly under the umbrella of TDA.

Gilbert also proposed several measures to help grow the state’s agricultural economy, including passage of the Limited Agricultural Cooperatives Act, which would allow the creation of agricultural cooperatives to help farmers and ranchers, especially in rural Texas, obtain better prices and expanded market share for their products.

Gilbert also proposed historic eminent domain abuse protections centralized under TDA through the establishment of the Office of Farm and Ranch Land Preservation.

Under Gilbert’s plan, two new programs, the Agricultural Preservation Areas Program and the Agricultural Easements Program—both modeled off Ohio programs—would provide strong new eminent domain abuse protections for Texas landowners.

“It past time for Texas to stop paying lip service to the idea of protecting Texans from eminent domain abuses,” said Gilbert, who co-founded TURF, an organization dedicated to preventing eminent domain abuses and stopping unwanted toll roads. “Event he recent constitutional amendment passed by voters has significant loopholes,” Gilbert said. “Yet politicians have sold this to Texans as the silver bullet for protection from eminent domain abuse. It is far from it,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert also proposed creating a $300 million investment fund, the Texas Agricultural Investment & Development Fund (Texas AID), to attract agricultural business to Texas, help existing agricultural businesses expand, and help fund agricultural innovation. He also proposed significant increases in the Young Farmer Grant Program.

You can download a copy of Hank’s Reform Plan for the Texas Department of Agriculture  in PDF format here (LINK) or view it online here (LINK).  You can also read Hank’s remarks as prepared for delivery on his TDA Reform Tour here (LINK).

To view the PDF copy of the plan,  you will need Acrobat Reader.  Download it from Adobe’s website.

Gilbert Calls on Staples To Release Legislative Records

TYLER–Hank Gilbert, the Texas Democratic Party’s nominee for Agriculture Commissioner, Tuesday questioned what Todd Staples was hiding in the files from his days as a member of the Texas House and Texas Senate–which are sealed in perpetuity at Staples’ request.

Many records from Staples’ days as a State Representative and State Senator housed in the custody of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission–particularly correspondence from lobbyists, constituents, business people, contributors, and even the Texas Legislative Council sent to Staples’ House and Senate offices–are sealed in perpetuity–meaning no Texan will ever be able to gain access to the records for the entire future of recorded human history, Gilbert noted.

Texas law permits legislators to seal these documents partially, for a specified period of time, or forever. Gilbert questioned what was in the files that was so damning that Staples decided no one would ever be able to see it.

“Existing law allows confidential information of his constituents–like their names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, Social Security Numbers, etc. to be redacted from those documents when they are open to viewing by the public, so there seems to have been no need for him to seal them forever unless he was truly trying to hide something,” Gilbert said.

Staples’ legislative records join his tax returns and records concerning a vehicle purchased with campaign funds as the latest in a series of Staples’ records the incumbent Agriculture Commissioner is attempting to hide from public view.

“What could be in the records that is so damning to Staples,” Gilbert asked. “Aside from a letter from Harold Simmons reminding him exactly how much money he contributed to purchase Sleazy Staples’ vote to build a radioactive waste dump in Texas, the guess of the good citizens of Texas is as good as mine,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert also called on Staples to immediately drive the Suburban he claims he did not purchase with campaign funds over to the Texas State Archives, and sign the necessary documentation to release the files to the public in their entirety. “And, while he’s at it, he should swing by Kinkos, copy his tax returns, and drop them off at the Austin American-Statesman,” Gilbert said.

“To put this into perspective, think of two of the most secretive presidents in U.S. history–Richard M. Nixon and George W. Bush; if you go to their presidential libraries or the National Archives and request to see correspondence, with the exception of something relating to national security, you’re going to by and large get to see what you ask for,” Gilbert said. “To think that Staples has more to hide than either of those two guys is downright frightening,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert also said it was sleazy of Staples to ask for taxpayers to foot the bill for the indexing, preservation, archiving, and perpetual storage of Staples’ secret records. “As Texans, we proudly pay our fair share to make sure that the records of our government are archived for the benefit of our children and our children’s children. Texans don’t look kindly on having to pay to keep someone’s records a secret forever,” he concluded.

FACT SHEET
Staples Keeps It A Secret, Others Don’t

FACT: Pursuant to the provisions of the Texas Government Code (Chapters 306 and 323), state legislators may close correspondence with their constituents—which includes, essentially, any and all correspondence to their legislative offices—and correspondence between legislators and the Texas Legislative Council from view for a select period of time or permanently.

FACT: A number of prominent recent state senators elected not to close their records as Staples has:

Texas Land Commissioner and former State Sen. Jerry Patterson placed no restrictions on the viewing of his legislative correspondence. [SOURCE]

Former State Sen. Ken Ambrister did not close his records when he left the senate and went to work for Governor Perry [SOURCE]

FACT: Staples’ predecessor in the Senate, former Sen. Drew Nixon, did not close access to his senatorial records. [SOURCE]

FACT: Among the things Staples may not want constituents to see in his Senate archives are correspondence between him and corporate raider Harold Simmons, who lobbied fiercely to see legislation passed that would allow the construction of a low-level radioactive waste dump in Texas.

FACT: As a State Senator, Todd Staples voted to allow radioactive waste from other states to be dumped in Texas–after taking huge sums of money from the CEO of the company which would benefit from the waste dumps in Texas. In 2003, Staples voted for House Bill 1567, which allowed for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste from Maine and Vermont to be disposed of in Texas. Staples voted for the bill not once, but twice–including to adopt the conference committee report for a Conference Committee on which he sat. [Senate Journal, 78th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 78th Day, Monday, May 26, 2003, p.2442; Senate Journal, 78th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 64th Day, Wednesday, May 7, 2003, p. 1424]

FACT: While in the Legislature, Staples was one of the top recipients of money in the state from billionaire corporate raider Harold Simmons, who controlled Contran and Valhi, and Waste Control Specialists–the company which would have stood to benefit from Texas allowing for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste. Between 1997 and 2000, Staples took more than $12,000 from Simmons, according to the non-partisan watchdog group Texans for Public Justice. While running for Agriculture Commissioner in 2006–and after he voted Simmons’ way in the Senate, Staples scored another $7,000 from Simmons, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.

According to publicly available documents, Todd Staples (listed as “DT Staples”) is the registered owner of a 2005 Chevrolet Suburban/SUV titled on July 22, 2005. The vehicle is presently registered in Staples name, and he renewed its registration as recently as last year. The vehicle’s license plates are State Official Plates bearing the license plate number “SO8A.”

TYLER—Hank Gilbert, the Texas Democratic Party’s nominee for Texas agriculture Commissioner, on Tuesday questioned why Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples bought a suburban with campaign funds, registered it in his own name, and is still driving it around—with State Official license plates.

At issue is a 2005 purchase of a Chevrolet Suburban by Texans for Todd Staples, which is presently registered in Staples name with a State Official License Plate. According to publicly available records of the Texas Ethics Commission, Staples paid Cutshaw Chevrolet in Grapeland, Texas $15,406.25 for a “vehicle” on July 9, 2005. Later that year, Texans for Todd Staples paid the Anderson County Tax Assessor/Collector’s Office $131.27 on November 29, 2005—presumably registration for this vehicle or another of Staples’ personal vehicles.

According to publicly available documents, Todd Staples (listed as “DT Staples”) is the registered owner of a 2005 Chevrolet Suburban/SUV titled on July 22, 2005. The vehicle is presently registered in Staples name, and he renewed its registration as recently as last year. The vehicle’s license plates are State Official Plates bearing the license plate number “SO8A.” According to these documents, the original estimated value of the vehicle was $36,105.67. [LINK to document]

Although the vehicle is personally registered in Staples’ name and was purchased with campaign funds, Texas Ethics Commission records do not indicate that Staples’ reimbursed the campaign for the vehicle or its use.

“The Texas Election Code doesn’t’ allow conversion of assets you purchased with political contributions to personal assets or for personal use unless you reimburse the campaign for those assets,” Gilbert said. “And, if you are simply using the assets, as I read the Election Code, you’ve still got to reimburse the campaign for the value of the use of those assets while they are being used for personal business,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert said this revelation goes along way toward explaining why Staples continues to refuse to release his tax returns.

“If Todd Staples is taking deductions for depreciation on this vehicle, and/or deducting other costs associated with it like maintenance and registration fees, then he has a lot to answer for,” Gilbert said. “And, since it appears he never reimbursed his campaign for the cost of the vehicle, I’m sure there are some additional tax implications. If this is what Staples has done, it looks a lot like he’s committed tax fraud,” Gilbert said. “The only way Texans will know for sure if Todd Staples committed tax fraud is for him to come clean and release his tax returns. Should this turn out to be what we think it is, I wish Todd the best in fighting it out with the IRS. God knows, I have some experience with that but then again I wasn’t trying to defraud the Federal Government. Who knows how they’ll look at this,” Gilbert said.

“This is yet another one of Todd Staples’ sleazy dealings, which you can read about at our new website, SleazySleazyStaples.com,” Gilbert concluded.

FACT SHEET

Texas Campaign Finance Law And Campaign Assets

FACT: The Texas Election code restricts the personal use of political contributions. Political contributions can’t be converted to personal use. [Texas Election Code, Sec. 235.035]

FACT: The prohibitions of the Texas Election Code include prohibiting the personal use of an asset purchased with campaign funds. [Texas Election Code, Sec. 235.035(c)]

FACT: The Texas Election Code defines “personal use” as use that “primary furthers individual or family purposes not connected with the performance of duties or activities as a candidate for or holder of public office.” [Texas Election Code, Sec. 235.035(d)]

FACT: A person who converts a political contribution to the person’s personal use is civilly liable to the state for an amount equal to the amount of the converted contribution plus court costs. [Texas Election Code, Sec. 235.035(f)]

JOEL ANDREWS/The Lufkin Daily News

TYLER-Hank Gilbert, the Texas Democratic Party’s nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Thursday questioned why incumbent Commissioner Todd Staples was using the TDA’s Go Texan marketing program to promote companies who had contributed to his campaign.

Gilbert noted that, on June 23, Staples and TDA scheduled a major “Go Texan” media event at the Brookshire Brothers Fresh Market in Lufkin. According to the Texas Ethics Commission, Brookshire Brothers’ Political Action Committee and its former CEO have contributed thousands to Staples’ campaigns.

“It’s very interesting that Todd Staples led TDA to stage such a large event that garnered so much media and free advertising for a grocery store chain that has been a significant contributor to him in both his senate and statewide races,” Gilbert said.

According to the Texas Ethics Commission, Brookshire Brothers’ PAC and Eugene Brookshire, a retired executive of the company, contributed $3,500 to Staples and his campaigns between 2001 and 2007.

“How much in state money did Todd Staples spend on this publicity stunt for one of his campaign contributors,” Gilbert asked. “It doesn’t look right for an officeholder to take thousands of dollars from a grocery store PAC and its leadership only then to use every resource available to that officeholder’s state agency to stage a massive publicity stunt to promote that grocery store,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert Campaign Director Vince Leibowitz mused about what interest Todd Staples might have in the Lufkin-based grocery store chain. Since Staples has, thus far, refused to release his tax returns (citing the excuse that he won’t until Gilbert releases as tax lien he’s been paying, per a settlement with the IRS, for about ten years), Leibowitz noted that for all Texas voters know, Todd Staples could own interest in a number of companies doing business with the Texas Department of Agriculture. “All we know is what is in the Personal Financial Statement, and, as we’ve seen from other instances, the PSF doesn’t really show everything an officeholder may own or have an interest in,” Leibowitz said. “For all voters know, Todd Staples has his fingers in a lot of pies that TDA is supposed to regulate,” he continued.

“The IRS doesn’t have a problem with Hank, he’s being paying as agreed for around ten years. Staples is just using this as an excuse to hide his actual income from voters. Either he is embarrassed about how much or how little he makes, or he’s simply scared to release the returns because they show something unethical. Once again, he’s using old personal attacks on Hank to hide his own HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:44:12 GMT Server: Apache X-Pingback: http://hankgilbert.com/xmlrpc.php Last-Modified: Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:48:35 GMT ETag: "8cf2abe8a3dba732cdcf4e4276e170ff" Connection: close Transfer-Encoding: chunked Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1

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