Posted on 11/04/2005 3:36:59 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
State Rep. Terri Hodge Accepted Thousands In Unreported Free Rent From Developer She Helped to Win Federal Subsidies
Lawmaker Stopped Accepting Hidden Rent, Utility Supplements After CBS 11 Raised Questions
For the past three and a half years, Texas State Rep. Terri Hodge accepted rent breaks worth at least $700 a month from a low-income housing developer for whom she helped gain state approval to build at least a half dozen lucrative apartment projects, CBS 11 has learned from interviews and internal company records.
Since April 2002, the four-term Dallas Democrat has been living in the Rosemont at Arlington Park Apartments, a taxpayer-subsidized project built by developer Brian Potashnik’s Southwest Housing. CBS 11 News first reported in August that Hodge moved into the complex near Parkland Memorial Hospital after using her elected position to help Potashnik gain millions in federal tax credit subsidies between 2000 and 2005, including for the project in which she now lives.
But now, CBS 11 has learned through interviews with three former Southwest leasing personnel and internal company records that Hodge had been living for three years in her apartment under a special corporate subsidy authorized by Potashnik, in a unit he personally helped her pick out.
Public records show Hodge lent crucial political support, both in official correspondence under her State Representative letterhead and in public testimony to a half dozen Potashnik projects before and after she began accepting $700 monthly rent and an estimated $100 monthly utilities payments. The records show in some cases she lent Potashnik this support despite strong opposition from her own constituents and for Potashnik projects that were not in her Dallas District 100.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs11tv.com ...
He said authorities should be particularly interested in Hodge’s rent arrangement if she failed to report any of the benefits she received from Potashnik on her income tax reports or state personal finance reports - and for ending the arrangement after CBS 11’s initial reports.
Kendall also pointed to what he considered as another red flag for investigators: Hodge’s televised reaction when CBS-11 asked her directly September whether she paid all of her own rent. Hodge, who is almost never at a loss for words, stared blankly for 21 seconds without speaking, then declined to answer.
“The deer-in-the-headlight look was not good. It would indicate that the person does not have a legitimate answer,” Kendall said. “I saw that as another thing that the FBI is going to be interested in because they all have TV sets as well.”
She's a Democrat? Who'd a thunk it? Where's Ronnie Earle on this one?
"Where's Ronnie Earle on this one?"
In the apartment two doors down.
Her Democrat affiliation is mentioned just once in paragraph 4. If it had been a Pubbie, it would have been stated in the headline.
Uh, they did mention her affiliation...
What do you bet she got the free rent in return for sex?
we need a pic!
http://www.housedemocrats.com/Photos/state/TX/house/5636.jpg
Yeah, but it took them until the 4th paragraph to acknowledge she was a democrat.
When it's a republican, it's in the headline of the story.
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