Thursday, November 21, 2013

Morales Issues Statement Regarding Judgement on Kubosh Residency

Republicans believe in the rule of law. 

Recently the City of Houston elections were held.  Candidates for city offices are required to be residents of the City of Houston - not Harris County, the City of Houston.  In the race for Houston City Council At Large District 3, a run-off election between Roy Morales and Michael Kubosh is in full swing.  Though city elections are non-partisan, both men call themselves Republicans.  I have heard both at various meetings and events speak of their Republican credentials.  As a Republican Woman, I have noticed a decidedly unsavory turn in this particular race.  Heeding my own clarion call to others - that voters stand up and speak out - I am wading into this race with hopes of fairness and ethics and decency being restored.

I have no dog in this hunt.  I am not a member of either man's campaign.  I have not voiced an endorsement for either candidate.  None of that has changed.  I am walking the walk as I talk the talk to voters. 

I am bothered by some criticism of Roy Morales by those who wish to cast doubt on his Republican credentials.  This is not his first run for office and he has never run as anything but a Republican.  The same cannot be said of Mr. Kubosh.  That is truth.

I am disturbed that Lt Col Morales is taking guff from Kubosh supporters - especially the paid surrogates - for using his military designation in his campaign materials.  This seems to be a level of pettiness that is unfortunate, especially from one Republican candidate's camp against another Republican candidate. Morales is entitled to use his rank, as a retired member of the military.  It's his personal choice and I respect that.  That is truth.

This week brought a new level of drama to the race.  Mr. Kubosh's residency was in question and that topic played out in the local court system.  The judge ruled in favor of Mr. Kubosh.  Today Roy Morales responded to local reporting on the subject:




Shedding Light On Michael Kubosh's Residency
For Immediate Release                                         Contact: info@roymorales.com  
November 20, 2013                                                              713.320.8167
   
                                                  
Houston, TX - This evening District Court Judge Randy Wilson denied Roy Morales' Temporary Injunction to request that the Defendant Michael Kubosh be declared ineligible to be on the runoff ballot in accordance with section 232.045(a) of the Texas Election Code. Retired Lt Col Morales stated, " I am very disappointed in the court's  decision and in my heart and I believe in the hearts of many voters, we believe that Mr. Kubosh was not a resident of Houston on November 6, 2012 as required by the City of Houston." 
Roy Morales began researching Mr. Kubosh's residency back in August when there were six candidates on the ballot. He did so at the urging of many concerned citizens that had questioned Kubosh's residency in Houston.  He did not receive his open records request from the Harris County Appraisal District until October 25, 2013. Mr. Morales was told by the City Attorney he could do nothing about it until after the Election, when Mr. Morales could take it to District Court after the City had canvassed the results.  That occurred this past Monday at 3 pm.
The law requires candidates for public office to be residents of the City of Houston.  In seeking and obtaining his homestead exemption, Michael Kubosh swore that his principal residence is not in the City of Houston, but, in fact, is in Cypress, Texas and has been since 2008.  As a result, Kubosh, a bail bondsman, has claimed a homestead exemption on his principal residence for the last six years. By claiming his principal residence to be outside of the City of Houston, he has also avoided paying taxes to the City.  However, today Mr. Kubosh removed his homestead exemption from his Cypress address and paid the back taxes.
In addition, Kubosh registered two cars using his Cypress address within the one year period.
Roy Morales stated, "If a candidate is unable to follow the basic requirements to run for public office, how can we expect him to be a good servant for the citizens of Houston?  I shed light on the very important issue of residency and the need for transparency." 
Morales is entitled to his response and I believe his question was fair.  He did what a candidate should do - he pursued an answer.  He took action after obtaining evidence and let it move through the legal system.  Kubosh paid the back taxes.  I have to ask - if everything was ok, why did he do that?




6 comments:

Unknown said...

You are taking everything he says to be the truth. There were no back taxes. Also get on the ethics website and see who has given what to Republican Candidates. The Republican Judge ruled in favor of my brother. All of his critics could have come and heard the evidence if they wanted to. It was clearly a frivolous lawsuit. As a Republican you have a chance to elect the former Chair of the Harris County Republican Party Finance Committee or you can elect Roy and believe all of his lies. Think about it Mike Kubosh's biggest supporter Quanell X? Please.

Karen Townsend said...

I never mentioned Mr X in my blog post, Paul Kubosh. If you wish to defend your brother, that is understandable. However, I will not allow you to smear me in the process. I wrote the truth. Your opinion clearly speaks for itself.

Philip Owens said...

Karen,
No one, not me and certainly not Mr. Kubosh would argue that Mr. Morales is not entitled to an opinion, we all are. However Mr Morales is not entitled to his own facts.
Allow me to clarify.
Mr Kubosh did not at any time owe back taxes, Mr. Morales should know this because he has the paperwork. I'ts a part of what he introduced as "evidence" in his claim.
In your blog you asked the rhetorical question "If everything was OK why did he do that" ? referring to the "back taxes". But that never happened because there were no back taxes owed. I think that's a critical point that needs to be made clear.
You start the blog saying that Republicans believe in the rule of law, I hope that Mr. Morales and his campaign will respect the ruling of the court. And that is that Mr. Kubosh is a legal resident of the City of Houston

Karen Townsend said...

I have no reason to believe that Mr Morales will not respect the ruling of the judge, Mr. Owens. This has been a very interesting story. I am not now nor have I ever been a part of Mr Morales' campaign. The reactions from the Kubosh camp are quite telling. Believe me when I say that I am not the only one to have noticed.
I find it interesting for surrogates of Mr Kubosh to question the Republican cred of Mr Morales. Mr Kubosh last ran as a Democrat. Claims of donations to Republican candidates and the party are fine but also could imply that monetary donations are more important. Spreading money around for political favor is not so palatable to many voters.
The voters can make up their own minds. Republicans do believe in the rule of law. Therefore, residency in a city election is a reasonable inquiry to have. I do not fault Mr Morales for pursuing the question.

Philip Owens,aka Kubosh surrogate. said...

Ms Townsend. You still are not addressing the point of my post which was to clarify there were no "back taxes". That was the ONLY subject matter of my post, yet you respond to me about "surrogates questioning Mr. Morales Republican cred"
Point 1 that was never a part of my response to your blog. Point 2 you still fail to acknowledge the fact that there were no back taxes. I find that interesting.

Unknown said...

Karen,

How did I smear you? I assumed that since you are pushing Roy's Press Release that you were up to date on all of his campaign literature. He sent pieces that were not misleading but out right lies. His Quannel X quotes in other mailers were just as misleading as his residency response. I brought Quannel up to make my point clear. Support Roy all you want but you are jumping to conclusions about Mike without a full knowledge. Furthermore, your quote of Mike as a Democrat shows your complete lack of knowledge of his relationship with Dan Patrick or it is your intent to mislead. If you want to know why he ran against Dan call Mike or just continue to believe Roy's lies.

As for financial support I believe Monetary donations are important because where your treasure is so is your heart. He has contriubted nothing to further the Republican cause.

Rule of Law -- Mike is a resident of the City of Houston.