Judge Sumter was supported in her campaign by a political action group called HaysCAN, the president of which is Dr. Charles O’Dell. O’Dell is also working on Neighbor’s behalf and has been assisting her in her efforts to block our septic permit. On January 6, 2007, shortly after the Judge took office, Neighbor wrote an email entitled “background on ramus,” which O’Dell then forwarded at her request to Judge Sumter. This email made a series of unsupported accusations against Nick. (See Racially Motivated? for details on the contents of that email.) On January 24, 2007, O’Dell, with Commissioner Ingalsbe, presented three pages of formal allegations to the District Attorney. The District Attorney found his allegations to be without merit. They were simply an attempted smear campaign against Nick and anyone else working for Hays County that supported our right to a septic permit.
Neighbor and O’Dell have accused Nick and various county employees of conspiracy, stolen property, creation of false documents, payoffs to officials, and drugs, just to name a few. Amazingly, at no time did Judge Sumter ever notify Nick that he was under investigation by the Commissioners Court, nor seek his side of the story. Nor is there any record that Judge Sumter ever asked O’Dell and Neighbor to substantiate their claims. As noted above, the D.A. did not find sufficient cause to investigate any of O’Dell’s accusations.
It appears that Judge Sumter has been willing to assist O’Dell in any way that he suggests if it might help him in his smear campaign.
On February 1, 2007, O’Dell sent an e-mail to Judge Sumter advising her to hire an “independent” engineer of his choosing to review our septic system. In this email he cautioned her, “…I suspect other members of the court will recommend someone they feel will be more suitable…” Right from the beginning, O’Dell knew that this engineer would provide the results that he wants, and the “more suitable” choice that other Court members might prefer would be someone who is actually independent. So O’Dell and Neighbor were in direct communications with Judge Sumter, made a series of wild accusations to discredit Nick, and then hand-picked an engineer to “prove” their position on the safety and legality of our septic system. At no time were we ever consulted about the hiring of an engineer or notified that this charade of an “independent” review was in process.
Why did the Judge agree to hire an engineer at all, much less one recommended by one of the parties involved in the dispute over our septic permit? After all, at this time this permit had already been extensively reviewed by EHD, affirmed twice by the previous Commissioners Court, and twice by TCEQ. Why another review is necessary is never asked by the Judge. She must know that O’Dell, Neighbor, and Commissioner Ingalsbe are fishing for reasons to deny our permit. Otherwise, why would she not use the staff at EHD, who are experts in this area and completely familiar with all aspects of our project. The reason is that she knew she was undertaking a plan to discredit the staff of EHD, who were doing their jobs impartially. Why do that? Because she, too, had already decided on a course of action, based solely on O’Dell’s and Neighbor’s wishes, to deny our permit, and she was seeking a justification for doing so. We were never notified that an “independent” engineer was being hired, nor provided an opportunity to participate in the selection process. It appears that the engineer’s main qualifications were his political view being aligned with that of Judge Sumter and O’Dell.
On March 2, 2007, Judge Sumter sent an email to Tom Pope of EHD, asking for specific information concerning our system.
“Tom, Could you provide me with the serial numbers of the alleged stolen compressors off of Ramus properties. The name and number of the manufacturer. The name and number of the person in Comal County you said you spoke with (he had one of the compressors taken off of his site) and I know you were working on tracking down the other compressor. Did you get that info? If you did, would you please forward that to me. Thanks, Liz”
O’Dell had been making unsubstantiated claims of theft against Nick, so the Judge is using the power of the Commissioners Court to go on a fishing expedition to see if there is any way she can help him, even though it is clear that there has been no theft.
Pope responded on March 7, 2007. His email provided all the details she requested, but his opening lines say it all:
“Dear Judge Sumter
Regarding the illegal compressors that Shane Clutter allegedly stole and installed on the Ramus OSSF.
They were not stolen.”
This email also puts into perspective how closely coordinated the campaign against Nick actually was and how nefarious. On January 23rd, O’Dell sent an email to Mr. Strouse of TCEQ and stated, “This is to advise you that Tom Pope has acknowledged to Pct. 1 County Commissioner [Ingalsbe] that at least two of the components on the Ramus OSSF have been stolen…” Pope denies ever making such a statement, and his subsequent email is proof that he investigated the allegations made by O’Dell, Neighbor and members of the Court with an open mind and determined their allegations were without merit.
Since the stolen parts gambit did not pan out, the Judge returned to O’Dell’s previously proposed strategy of hiring an “independent” engineer. On March 13, 2007, the Commissioners Court passed a motion (made by Commissioner Ingalsbe) to “…amend list of pre-qualified civil engineering firms to include…David Venhuizen.” Venhuizen is the engineer hand-picked by O’Dell and recommended to Judge Sumter. Then on March 27, 2007, the motion passed to authorize EHD to spend $5000.00 of your tax dollars “…for a review and update of the rules regarding on-site sewage facilities, and the application of those rules to specific sites in Hays County.” Given the behind-the-scenes lobbying by O’Dell and Neighbor, this is a pretty thinly veiled authorization by the Commissioners Court to use your tax dollars for their friends’ fishing expedition.
So the Judge’s and O’Dell’s engineer contacted the maintenance provider for our septic system, Doug Wheatley, to gain access to our property. Upon arriving at our property, the engineer told Wheatley and Phil, Nick’s friend and partner in THK, that his visit had nothing to do with our permit. He said he was hired to inspect our system for a future review of the OSSF rules by the Commissioners Court, so we cooperated and allowed him access. He also said that he was contacted by O’Dell and encouraged to be on the “right side of the issue.” He did state that he would try to be impartial. If you look at the draft proposal under which the engineer was hired, it is obvious that the reason he was hired had everything to do with our permit, and that future regulatory concerns were secondary. He lied to gain access to our property. At no time did the Commissioners Court notify us that they were conducting a review. Three days after being hired, the head of Hays County EHD sent the engineer an email terminating his services. We believe, based upon the e-mail trail, that he was terminated due to the overly political nature of his actions, which made it impossible for there to be a true and impartial review. Fortunately for us, the EHD is fair and honest, even when our elected officials are not.
On April 10, 2007, and April 17, 2007, Judge Sumter presided over the Executive (closed) Sessions in which our permit was discussed. Following the April 17 closed session, she voted with Commissioners Ingalsbe and Ford to illegally revoke our permit. This was a violation of our rights on many levels, not the least of which is the violation of our right to attend meetings where our business is being discussed. (See No Open Government for more details.) The agenda item was listed as “pending and/or contemplated litigation,” but that was a subterfuge. We had not taken legal action against Hays County at that time. It was only AFTER they illegally revoked our permit that we filed suit. That agenda item allowed the Judge to accomplish two goals—keep the real agenda a secret so we wouldn’t show up and keep the contents of the session from being in the public record. This is not the sort of behavior we expect from a County Judge!
We understand that citizens have the right to share their opinions with their elected officials. But when the officials act upon those opinions as though they are facts, to benefit their friends’ and supporters’ interests at considerable cost to the county, without the opportunity for other parties to have input and to protect their rights, this is the worst form of cronyism and corruption. Isn’t this the Judge who campaigned against corruption? We aren’t friends of the Judge and didn’t contribute to her campaign, so perhaps we will never enjoy her favor, but we have the right to expect justice. If you want her to stop using your money to fund her cronyism, email her at lizsumter@co.hays.tx.us and put her on notice that you will not tolerate such behavior from your County Judge.
