EMCID continues to pay Earthquest expenses
Monday, November 12, 2012
By Cynthia Calvert
The Tribune continues to analyze the expenditures of the East Montgomery County Improvement District. Since The Tribune first reported on EMCID funding disbursements (January 11, 2012) and the controversial management of ECMID funds, the year 2012 seems to show more of the same. A look at EMCID Cash Flow Reports January-September, 2012, shows that legal fees are mounting while public scrutiny of expenses has curtailed those of EMCID President Frank McCrady, EMCID assistants Suzanne Parmer and Sandy Seelye.
In 2012, EMCID inexplicably has continued to fund EarthQuest expenses. EarthQuest is the controversial and long-planned dinosaur theme park in New Caney and the subject of numerous reports in this newspaper. Critics have assailed ECMID for spending millions of tax dollars in complicated funding schemes with nothing to show for it. McCrady has continued to insist that EarthQuest will eventually be built, despite the fact that after eight years, the property developer declared bankruptcy, investigations have been launched by the Montgomery County District Attorney, the Texas Rangers and the FBI, and the voting public tossed out two incumbent board members.
The EarthQuest Institute, a supposed 501(c)(3) entity charged with creating educational components to the theme park, has been a funnel for continued payments to Don Holbrook, the ‘economic developer’ hired by EMCID. The Institute has no board members, no employees, no meetings and no revenue, but EMCID has wired funds or written checks to Holbrook for $42,653.69 in the first five months of 2012 alone. EMCID cash flow statements note payments are attributed to either “EarthQuest Institute” or “Transfer to Don Holbrook EarthQuest Institute.” Board members directed McCrady to stop paying Holbrook at the June board meeting.
EMCID management is apparently concerned with possible law enforcement investigations enough to hire Houston’s pre-eminent civil and criminal defense attorney, Rusty Hardin. Other legal firms have also been hired, in addition to EMCID’s longstanding legal firm of Marks, Richardson, P.C. From January to September of 2012, EMCID has paid more than $309,490 to lawyers. EMCID also paid engineering fees on EarthQuest to Montgomery & Barnes, Inc., of more than $3,000. The Tribune filed a Freedom of Information request with EMCID for itemized invoices for the legal bills. David Marks, EMCID attorney, filed a protest with Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General, asking to withhold the invoices citing that the invoices are excepted to disclosure due to falling under attorney-client privileges. The Tribune asserts that tax dollars are paying for these legal bills and taxpayers have a right to see and know what they are paying for.
McCrady, Parmer and Seelye’s expenses listed on charge accounts have declined significantly since The Tribune’s earlier analysis of hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by the trio in earlier years. The EMCID board, after the series of Tribune stories, canceled the credit cards used by the staff. New cards have been issued, however, and the 2012 report shows expenses to date of $117,334.66. Gone are Rockets tickets, expensive dinners at Chez Nous French Restaurant and first-class airline tickets of previous years.
The Tribune has asked repeatedly for proof of reimbursements for the McCrady family traveling to China in 2007. While EMCID did not provide proof to this newspaper, it did give a document to another media source showing a statement that McCrady reimbursed EMCID using his VISA card of $9,972.64, less $260.65 for “credit card fees.” Curiously, McCrady wrote a check for $2,000 to ECMID on April 11 of this year with “reimbursement” written in the memo line. In a lighter ink, someone wrote the words “EQ” after that. There is no explanation given for what this check may be for, although it should be noted that it came after The Tribune’s series began.
Annual bonuses to the EMCID staff of $32,232.50, $5,445 and $75.12 were doled out in May. The statements do not reflect which EMCID employee was paid but McCrady’s contract calls for two bonuses each year, one in May and the other in December. He is also eligible to receive bonus money based on a percentage of any donations to the EMCID Scholarship Fund.
The Tribune will continue to review expenses of EMCID as figures become available. To view the Cash Flow reports in their entirety, visit
http://www.ourtribune.com/apdf/EMCID%20GOF010512.pdf and
http://www.ourtribune.com/apdf/EMCID%20GOF091112.pdf.
In June of this year, Don Holbrook named The Tribune and owner Cynthia Calvert as one of several “third-parties” in a dispute Holbrook incurred with the city of Huber Heights, Ohio. Holbrook maintained that The Tribune, along with others, caused Huber Heights to renege on a contract to provide economic development to that city. On Oct. 19, 2012, the Ohio court granted a motion to dismiss The Tribune and Calvert from the suit due to a lack of jurisdiction.
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