Extortion Convictions in Dallas -- A Fascinating Story

Yesterday, according to <a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/10/now_that_don_hills_b…; target="”_blank”"><b>an
article</b></a> in the Dallas <i>Observer</i>, Don Hill, a former Dallas council
member, and four of his associates were found guilty of participating
in an incredible extortion plot relating to affordable housing in South
Dallas. The story, as produced by the prosecution with the help of a
major participant who pled guilty and a developer who was an FBI
informant, is told at length in another <a href="http://www.dallasobserver.com/2009-08-20/news/it-may-be-time-for-some-d…; target="”_blank”"><b><i>Observer</i>
article</b></a>. It's a must read.<br>
<br>

The cynicism behind the scheme is astounding. Two of the participants
set up an organization called the Black State Employees Association of
Texas (BSEAT). The organization had no members, not to mention state
employees of any race. Its primary reason for existing (besides some
supposed scholarships) was apparently to let developers know that the
only way they could get the district council member's support for an
affordable housing project was to work with BSEAT and its recommended
minority subcontractors. BSEAT also played developers off against each
other, and upped the ante every stage of the way, while the council
turned down applications, keeping the screws on a developer until the
developer paid enormous sums of money and/or the project became,
effectively, BSEAT's. The participants would profit from payment for services,
through a percentage of the developer's fees, through subcontractor
kickbacks, and through out-and-out payoffs.<br>
<br>
As I wrote in a recent <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/content/council-fiefdoms-and-unethical-behavi…; target="”_blank”"><b>blog
post</b></a>, as in Chicago, Dallas's district council members have power
over development and other matters in their districts, allowing them,
if they so choose, to create fiefdoms. BSEAT was simply an especially
creative way to extort developers without the council member's direct
involvement. No one should be given this sort of power. In this and
many other instances, the opportunity to profit personally is the mother of invention.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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