This looks bad on its face -- but isn't upon closer examination.

Charles Bacarisse, a candidate for the top Harris County government job, offered to use his contacts as district clerk to promote a process-serving company in return for a private consulting fee, according to the company's owner.

Bacarisse would not comment about the allegation Friday, but a spokesman denied any wrongdoing saying the company owner has misinterpreted the meeting she had with Bacarisse on Nov. 30, 2006, at a Starbucks.

The Chronicle reported this month that while serving as the elected district clerk, a job that pays $135,000 a year plus a car allowance, Republican Bacarisse ran a private consulting business that netted him $78,000 a year. Bacarisse said his private clients, a building management company and a process-serving and courier company, had no direct dealings with the county and hired him as a business strategist.

But Angela Clark of Houston, owner of Court Record Research Inc. and a former fundraiser for Bacarisse's district clerk campaigns, said Bacarisse offered in 2006 to use his government connections to help her process-serving operation — the type of private/public arrangement that Bacarisse has said he has never offered.

Could be ugly for a candidate (who I've endorsed) running on a platform of ethics reform.

Except that it appears to be missing any evidence of a quid pro quo that would make this a problem.

Clark said she was afraid to reject Bacarisse's consulting offer because that might lead to the loss of her free work space and afraid to accept because she viewed such an arrangement as a conflict of interest.

So she did nothing -- and neither lost her free work space nor clients.

Makes it seem much more likely that Bacarisse is correct -- Clark misunderstood the conversation and what he was suggesting.

I wonder if the reason for this story is that Ed Emmett is behind in the polls, and the Chronicle would much rather see "good ol' boy politics-as-usual" prevail over the grassroots movement within the GOP to clean up Harris County government that is backing Charles Bacarisse.

Posted by: Greg at 11:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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