to Promote Personal Business Interests
The Greg Meyers campaign released a copy of a letter sent by State Representative Hubert Vo (D-Alief) to the Mayor and Houston City Council Members in late 2006. The letter, obtained under an Open Records request, reveals Rep. Vo's request of Houston officials to defeat of the proposed city crime ordinance designed to improve public safety. The City Council overwhelmingly passed the measure in response to the dramatic increase in violent crime as a result of the influx of Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
Vo's letter, written on official state letterhead, opens with the following line, "As an apartment owner and as a representative of constituents who are also apartment owners, I contact you today... and respectfully urge you to consider using existing laws to solve any crime problems in apartment complexes." The letter closes with the following sentence, "New ordinances hastily put into effect will undoubtedly have numerous unintended consequences."
Vo is the owner of numerous multi-family apartment complexes across Houston that have been the subject of an investigation by the City of Houston's Neighborhood Protection Corps for dangerous and unhealthy living conditions. In addition, a special report by the Houston Chronicle revealed numerous building code violations including faulty and exposed electrical wiring, rotted wood on balconies, stagnant water in swimming pools, mold-invested and damaged dry-wall, broken windows and unsecured vacant units.
Greg Meyers, the Republican nominee in HD 149, expressed outrage at Vo's actions. "Hubert Vo's efforts to defeat the crime ordinance are appalling. He claims to be for public safety and reducing crime, but his own letter proves he is putting his business profits ahead of his constituent's safety and security. He owes the voters an explanation."
Vo's use of official government resources to benefit his personal business appears to be a common practice by Representative Vo. The Houston Chronicle reported earlier this year that Vo wrote a letter using his official state letterhead to intervene in an ongoing Houston Police Department investigation into conditions at Vo's apartment complexes, which are miles away from his legislative district.
The Meyers campaign also released statistics from police incident reports compiled by the Houston Police Department from 2005 to the present. The statistics show over 900 police incident reports at only three of Vo’s apartment complexes since January of 2005.
Greg Meyers said, "It is obvious that Hubert Vo lobbied against the crime ordinance because he didn't want to pay for additional safety and security measures. Meanwhile, he sends out taxpayer-funded newsletters and campaign mailers claiming to be for 'reducing crime'. The only crime is if Hubert Vo gets away with his charade of being concerned about public safety and reduced crime."
- Vo Letter Against Crime Ordinance sent to Mayor and Houston City Council