Bobby Francis?!? Shady Real Estate Deal?!? NEVER!!!

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

It's not a secret that Bobby Francis is nothing more than your typical Texas politician; but this 2006 piece from the Texas Observer (of all places) is mint:

Sanders happens to be the father-in-law of first-term Councilman O’Rourke. To avoid creating a conflict of interest for his son-in-law, Sanders announced he intended to donate any profits he made from the redevelopment to charity. Plan opponents like Blaugrund remain skeptical, saying they haven’t seen the pledge in writing. O’Rourke, meanwhile, has participated in several key council votes, including the critical decision last fall to incorporate the redevelopment project into the city’s comprehensive plan. O’Rourke, who is running for reelection, adamantly denies any conflict of interest despite the fact that his wife, his mother, his father-in-law, and even O’Rourke himself were at one time all members of the PDNG. “My relationship with Bill does not present a conflict, as he cannot profit from this plan, nor can I, nor can any member of my family,” O’Rourke wrote in an e-mail.

The article details a redevelopment effort in El Paso that was based upon using eminent domain to take land from a thriving, if not glamorous, working class Latino community.  Bobby Francis' daddy and daddy-in-law were key players in the effort (which Bobby Francis voted to advance while on the El Paso City Council).  Various other noxious figures (eg. former UT Regent Woody Hunt) make cameos.

That being said, it's fun to see that this article was written by the Observer.  It's not a secret that, sometimes, the Texas Observer does good work on corporate welfare.  It's also not a secret that the Observer has been in the tank for Bobby Francis since he got into this race.  Thus, it's fun to see anti-Corporate Welfare Observer undermine the "in-the tank for Bobby Francis" Observer.

Regardless: Never, ever, ever forget that one of the primary political activities in this state is for good ol' Boys to put together shady real estate deals; Bobby Francis is no different.

The full Observer article is a long.  But it's worth a read if you want to understand the environment where Bobby Francis cut his political teeth.  Read the whole thing here.

Bottom Line: Must be nice to have a daddy who's a prominent local official working hand-in-glove with a daddy-in-law who's a prominent local real estate developer....