 |
|
|
|
| 1/21/2010 8:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Judge lifts temporary order during candidate's hearing
Score round one for Alyssa Eacono, but John Gordon says the House District 52 residency fight isn't over yet.
On Tuesday visiting District Court Judge James Clawson from Bell County lifted the temporary order he'd set in place last Thursday. The judge's order had barred Williamson County Republican Party Chair-man Bill Fairbrother from ordering primary election ballots until the question of Eacono's residency had been addressed in court.
The judge's ruling allows Fairbrother - and his Democratic Party counterpart, Richard Torres - to work with Williamson County Elections Administrator Rick Barron in preparing ballots.
On Tuesday, Barron testified that contrary to popular opinion, the lawsuit Gordon filed earlier this month affects the Democratic primary as well as the Republican primary.
"We are waiting on this ruling right now. We can't lock down the ballots for either party until this is resolved," Barron testified, noting the early voting period is Feb. 16-26 and Jan. 15 would have been the first day he could have begun sending absentee ballots to military personnel overseas in advance of the March 2 primaries.
"Both [Republican and Democratic] data bases are together," he later explained, outside the courtroom. "We put everything into one data base. It's the only way to do it, really."
Gordon and his attorney, Mary Dale, said Clawson's ruling moves the ballot-preparation process forward, but does not resolve the residency issue that's in dispute.
After hearing about one hour of testimony Tuesday, Clawson made his ruling without additional comment.
"I think the judge is just more worried about getting the ballots out to the voters," Gordon said after the hearing, stating more evidence about where Eacono lives will be presented at a later hearing.
Dale said that hearing might take place Feb. 4 in front of Clausen or - as she and Gordon said they would prefer - another visiting judge.
"We're going to bring in all the witnesses," Gordon said. "The neighbors who have never seen her at 1045 Kenney's Way."
'Address and intent'
Gordon and Eacono are two of four candidates seeking to represent the Republican Party in the race for District 52 state Representative.
When Eacono filed her ballot application with Fairbrother on Jan. 4 - the last day to do so - she listed her address as 1045 Kenney's Way, Round Rock.
Gordon, in his lawsuit, claims Eacono really lives at 3104 Cutaway Cove, which is located in Brushy Creek MUD and is in House District 20, not District 52.
"To be on the ballot you have to reside in the district," Gordon testified. "I have sued the Republican Party and Ms. Eacono because she does not live in the district and does not meet the constitutional requirement."
But lawyer Ed Shack - who joined attorney Roy Minton in representing Eacono - told the judge that legally speaking, all that's not as cut and dried as it might sound.
"Residence is ... basically a combination of address and intent," Shack said in his closing argument.
Gordon and Eacono each offered testimony to support their claims.
Barron said the county's voter registration records list Eacono's address as being 1045 Kenney's Way.
Eacono testified she has lived at the Kenney's Way address since June 2009, moving there from Austin where she had maintained a residence while the Texas State Legislature was in session. Eacono works as chief of staff for District 114 state Rep. Will Hartnett, who represents the Dallas area.
"I moved there [to 1045 Kenney's Way] with the intent of representing my family and friends," Eacono testified, adding that she lives with a cousin, Larry Hill.
Hill also testified, confirming Eacono's version of the events.
"She asked me if she could move in and I said yes," he stated.
Both sides agree that Eacono bought the Cutaway Cove property - the one outside District 52 - last November.
"I'm fixing it up to rent it out to another cousin," Eacono testified.
"Have you ever lived there?" Minton asked her.
"No, sir," she said.
But later, under questioning from Dale, Eacono said: "I stay there."
Dale produced deed records as evidence, stating: "She (Eacono) signed a document in front of a notary stating she was going to occupy 3104 Cutaway Cove within 60 days of Nov. 13 and for at least a year [after that]."
Dale went on to say: "The utility records are in her name for the 3104 Cutaway Cove address. The appraisal records [are] in her name."
After Tuesday's hearing attorney Felix Rippy - who represented Fairbrother and the Williamson County GOP - said the burden of proof is on Gordon, not Eacono, to prove where Eacono lives.
But Gordon said he and Dale did exactly that, referencing the deed records.
"I don't know how much more plain we can do," Gordon said, throwing up his hands in frustration. "Does residency mean anything?"
More to come
"We still have outstanding subpoenas for documents coming in," Dale told the judge, stating she wants "a full trial on the merits of this case."
When asked if any future trial - possibly one on Feb. 4 - would be in front of the same judge, Gordon said, "I hope not."
Dale agreed, stating they would look for an "alternative judge."
If Eacono is declared ineligible after ballots have been printed and votes cast, her votes would be invalidated but that would not invalidate the entire election, sources said.
In addition to Gordon and Eacono, the other two GOP candidates in the race are Stephen Casey and Larry Gonzales, both of Round Rock.
Each of the four Republican candidates seeks to take on freshman incumbent Diana Maldonado (D-Round Rock) in the Nov. 2 general election.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
|
|
|
NEWS
