Task Force On Appraisal Reform: Kowtowing

By creating his Task Force on Appraisal Reform, Governor Rick Perry is trying to shore-up and kowtow to the anti-tax/CLOUT crowd within his base and the Republican Party while also pay back favors from groups like the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Texans for Taxpayer Relief.
Perry threw a few people on the commission that should let us know that’s his purpose, like Harris County Judge Robert Eckels (also a former member of the Lege, representing HD 133 in the mid-1990s). Harris County and Dan Patrick’s senate district seem to be more opposed to Perry’s tax policies than anyone.

I was a little surprised that former GOP Chairman Tom Pauken was named to chair the commission. Pauken is not one of the regular ‘reactionaries’ within the Republican Party when it comes to issues of taxation. Remember that Pauken was one of those who spoke out in favor of Perry’s tax reforms during the Texas GOP convention earlier this year.

Others on the commission include:

Gerald “Buddy” Winn of Bryan is the Brazos County tax assessor/collector and chief appraiser.

Avis Wukash of Georgetown, who has evidently been an outspoken critic of property appraisals since the mid-1990s. Check out this oldie but goodie from the Austin American-Statesman, May 22, 1994:

“It appears to me that the appraisal district took numbers from who knows where and did blanket appraisals of areas and didn’t look at individual properties,” said Avis Wukasch, vice president of sales for Coldwell Bankers in Georgetown.

Another appointee is Calvin W. Stephens of Dallas, who is also on the board of regents of the University of Houston.

Also:

John E. Nichols of Freeport is the director of U.S., state and local tax for the Dow Chemical Company.

God knows Dow Chemical wants appraisal reform. Nichols is also a member of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, which just so happens to have Ben Barnes on its board of directors, along with Allan Shivers, Jr. and Brint Ryan of Ryan & Company.

Also:

Michael S. Stevens of Houston is the chairman of Michael Stevens Interests, Inc., a real estate development and management company. He serves on the board of directors and executive committee of the Greater Houston Partnership and the Governor’s Business Council.

John R. (Bob) Garrett of Tyler is the president of Fair Management, L.C., and Fair Oil Company of Texas, Inc. He serves as a board member and treasurer of the Tyler Economic Development Council, as a board member of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce and is on the steering committee of the Tyler 21 Comprehensive City Plan.

L. Curtis Culwell of Garland is the superintendent of the Garland Independent School District. He formerly served as president and vice president of the Texas School Alliance, and is a former member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Culwell also previously served on the board of directors of the Texas Principals Leadership Initiative and the Texas Academic Decathlon.

Timothy P. Roth of El Paso is a professor of economics at the University of Texas at El Paso. He is also chairman of the Department of Economics and Finance and is a member of various committees at the university.

John David Franz is the mayor of the City of Hidalgo. He is a senior law partner with Franz and O’Hanlon, Inc., a civil trial law firm.

Gary O. Boren of Lubbock is the vice president of G. Boren Services, Inc., where he previously served as a general manager. Boren is a city councilmember of District 3, the City of Lubbock.

Robert E. Garrett of Amarillo is owner and broker of Coldwell Banker First Equity Realtors. He serves on the board of directors of the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce and is chairman of the appraisal district procedures task force of the Texas Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Realtors State and Municipal Government Spending and Taxation Committee.

And this doozie:

Brooke Leslie Rollins of Fort Worth is president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. She serves as director of Texas Lyceum and is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Women’s Alliance and the Dallas A&M Club. Rollins previously served as Gov. Perry’s deputy general counsel and ethics advisor, and later as his policy director.

So, she’s on the payroll of a Leininger-founded foundation. Great!

Rolando B. Pablos of San Antonio is an attorney in private practice. He serves on the board of directors of the Nueces River Authority and the Free Trade Alliance. Pablos serves as a member of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce public affairs steering committee, the board of directors executive committee of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the advisory council to the University of Texas at San Antonio College of Business. He is also president of Texans for Taxpayer Relief.

Texans for Taxpayer Relief, you will recall, spent SIX MILLION DOLLARS for ads supporting Perry’s tax plan, and Chris Bell demanded an investigation to determine if this was an illegal political expenditure. Pablos was also quoted in the Austin American-Statesman in the story about the ads.