Search
Close this search box.

Three Harris County Republicans who are betraying our community, denying justice, and failing the character test

Harris County Sheriff Hickman betrayed the family of a law enforcement officer killed by a drunk driver

In 2004, Harris County Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Frank Scott Claborn was struck and killed by a drunk driver. Deputy Claborn’s death devastated his family and saddened the entire community.  His tragic death reminds us all of the daily threats facing public servants and the grave need for justice when those lives are taken.

Sheriff Ron Hickman, who was then Constable of Precinct 4, betrayed Deputy Claborn, his family, and public servants across Texas by writing a letter to the Parole Board asking for the early release from prison for the drunk driver who struck and killed his own deputy.

Personal friendship over duty and justice

Why did Ron Hickman step in to deny justice to his deputy and a grieving family?  Hickman was a personal friend of the drunk driver.  In fact, in his letter to the parole board Hickman admitted that he opposes “in general terms, the release of anyone who had killed an officer of the law”, yet Hickman put a personal friendship and his own selfish personal interests ahead of the life of a slain public servant and a devastated family.   

Breaking a solemn pledge to a widow and her family

Ron Hickman’s betrayal is more than irresponsibility and selfishness, he broke a solemn pledge made to Deputy Claborn’s family and to his own department members.  The Houston Chronicle reported that “After her husband’s death, Henderson [Claborn’s wife], who has known Hickman nearly 20 years, recalls that the constable gathered all his officers and told them the department would take care of her and her son, Tanner, now 14, as if they were family. “I didn’t realize a family friend would be more important than someone he proclaimed as family,” she said.”

Harris County DA Devon Anderson jailed a rape victim seeking justice

District Attorneys are elected to serve our communities, seek justice for those harmed by crime and take violent criminals who prey on our families off the streets.  Somehow, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson got it backwards.

News roports detail how prosecutors working for Devon Anderson jailed a Harris County woman who was the victim of violent rape and suffering emotionally following her attack.  The woman had committed no crime and was simply seeking justice against her attacker.   Channel 2 News in Houston reported: “After a rape victim named Jenny had an obvious mental breakdown while testifying against her attacker, Harris County prosecutors decided the best way to make sure she’d return to complete her testimony was to lock her up in the Harris County Jail.” After spending a month in Harris County Jail—even sitting in a cell over the Christmas holiday– the rape victim, Jenny, was released after her rapist was finally sentenced to prison.

Instead of apologizing, Anderson doubled down

After refusing to apologize or take responsibility for the further abuse of a victim of violent sexual assault, Devon Anderson doubled down and said she would do it again. Experts on sexual assault, including a counselor at the Houston Area Women’s Center, said that Anderson’s decision to lock up a victim of sexual assault may discourage women from coming forward in the future to testify against their rapists in order to ensure they are brought to justice. 

Tax Assessor Collector Mike Sullivan collecting your taxes but failing to live up to his own obligations

Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Mike Sullivan took on the job of collecting taxes and is paid by Harris County citizens to do it.  And, Sullivan has no problem collecting taxes from families in Harris County.  Over the past three years alone, Harris County property taxes have gone up 43%.

Apparently, however, Mike Sullivan has a problem filing his own tax paperwork. 

According to state records, Sullivan has been issued three tax forfeitures, at least two of them for failing to “file a franchise tax return and/or pay state franchise tax.”

No one likes taxes.  But, when we do pay them, we should have confidence that those determining our rates and collecting taxes are fair and responsible.  Mike Sullivan fails this simple character test.  Why should Harris County citizens believe they are being taxed fairly when the Tax Assessor Collector himself has a history of failing to meet an obligation to make good on his own tax paperwork?

The Latest

Video

Brandi Croffie: Eviction Specialist

Video

Vote Roderick Miles for County Commissioner

News

Another Sham Campaign from Convicted Felon Carlos Quintanilla

News

Ginsberg’s Sneaky Moves and Misleading Claims