Fort Bend County GOP Chairman Gary Gillen said in a legal filing on Friday that the party’s Executive Committee acted illegally in voting recently to hire attorneys – who sued Gillen over control of the annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner and fund-raiser.
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Gillen’s filing also includes a countersuit against county GOP Vice Chairman Linda Howell and precinct chairmen Dean Hrbacek, David Stone, Jim Hammack and William Benton, accusing the five of defamation and tortious interference.
And among other things, Gillen and his Fort Bend Republican PAC seek a declaratory judgment that they “are not precluded from hosting an event called the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner…”
“In the dictionary under the term ‘frivolous lawsuit,’ you will see a copy of Gary’s filing,” said Hrbacek, an attorney and former mayor of Sugar Land. “For a precinct chair to exercise a responsibility, and for Gary to take this action against a precinct chair for doing his duty is really sad.”
Stone said Wednesday night he hadn’t seen a copy of Gillen’s filing, but added that Gillen’s accusations are “enough to at least pique this Irishman’s interest… I certainly don’t look kindly on someone accusing me of defamation and interference, and I certainly hope there are at least allegations.”
“I guess I am being sued for volunteering, and for advocating for better oversight of party finances,” Benton said. “I have never had a hidden agenda or benefitted financially from any of my efforts as a precinct chair. I am not beholden to any subgroup within the party. I have only questioned what I did not feel was right, and I have only tried to help the party and our community.”
Howell and Hammack couldn’t be reached late Friday night for comment.
The legal battle in which Gillen and county GOP Executive Committee members find themselves stems from the revelation in late November that Gillen and Fort Bend GOP precinct chairman A.D. Muller had formed a PAC through which Gillen said the Lincoln Day Dinner would be operated.
The dinner – an annual fund-raiser that has generated revenue of as much as $200,000 and attracted close to 1,000 participants – was put on by the local Republican Party for the past several years.
Gillen’s move appeared to anger some party executive committee members, who successfully petitioned for a special meeting on Dec. 14 in which the executive committee voted to adopt a resolution telling Gillen and Muller to “cease and desist” in attempting to operate the 2007 Lincoln-Reagan Dinner at the Sugar Land Marriott Hotel, and directed Howell to hire a lawyer to protect the party’s interests in maintaining control of the event.
New Territory attorney Brent Carpenter and Houston attorney Michael Stanley filed a suit earlier this week on behalf of the party, accusing Gillen of breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conversion, interference with a contractual relationship and “tortious interference with prospective relations.”
In an answer to that suit, Gillen attorneys Michael Cash, Justin Presnal and Jamie Mitchell say “a small minority of county precinct chairmen” attempted to discuss hiring lawyers… and voted on a resolution, over Chairman Gillen’s objection…”
Introduction of resolutions voted on that night was done in violation of Fort Bend GOP bylaws, Gillen’s filing states, because the bylaws require, among other things, that specific items to be voted on by the executive committee must be included in the meeting agenda. Four resolutions brought to a vote that night were not on the agenda, but were introduced under action items during the meeting.
Because the resolutions didn’t appear on the agenda, actions taken to introduce and vote on them “were illegal, improper and in violation of the party’s bylaws and Robert’s Rules of Order,” Gillen’s filing states.
In the response, Gillen objects to the county party’s request for a temporary restraining order preventing Gillen and his PAC from acting to operate the Lincoln Day Dinner on Feb. 17 at the Sugar Land Marriott.
The county GOP isn’t entitled to a restraining order or an injunction “because it is guilty of inequitable conduct,” Gillen’s response states. “Specifically, the instant lawsuit is the effort by a fringe minority of the precinct chairmen to impugn and defame the duly elected Fort Bend Republican Party Chairman, Gary Gillen, and gain control over funds they themselves cannot raise because they lack popular support.”
Gillen’s response says the countersuit against Howell and the four precinct chairs is necessary because of their actions “to promote their personal political views and agendas, which have been rejected by the voters of Fort Bend County.”
Gillen’s attorneys note in the response that Howell ran unsuccessfully against Gillen for the office of party chair last spring, and noted Hrbacek was defeated by current Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace in his re-election bid in 2002.
“When Howell and Hrbacek were informed by the citizens of Fort Bend County that they were not suitable candidates for their respective sought-after political offices, they resolved to attempt to ‘hijack’ control of the party through other means – this lawsuit being one such example,” Gillen’s response states.
“The simple reality is that Howell, Hrbacek and the other third party defendants would rather criticize than lead. While they certainly have every right to voice their political views, when their actions rise to the level of defamation and tortious interference, they become actionable.”
Howell (who could not immediately be reached Friday night) and Hrbacek spoke out vigorously against Gillen during the Dec. 14 executive committee meeting. But Stone did not.
In fact, Stone said, “I literally had to be helped out of the room. I wasn’t feeling well at all that night.”
Gillen’s response said Howell, Hrbacek, Stone, Hammack and Benton have interfered with the Fort Bend Republican P.A.C.’s contracts for the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. And, contrary to assertions in the GOP lawsuit, Gillen’s response states, “the only contracts that exist” involve the PAC or Gillen individually.
Gillen said Friday night his attorneys had advised him not to discuss specifics of the case, so he could not answer a question about why Howell and the four specific precinct chairs were named in the countersuit.
“I can tell you that I regret very much it has come to this,” Gillen said. “I didn’t start us down this road, they did.”
“I guess the more people you sue, the greater the risks are for the party that loses,” Stone said.
In
Gillen’s filing also includes a countersuit against county GOP Vice Chairman Linda Howell and precinct chairmen Dean Hrbacek, David Stone, Jim Hammack and William Benton, accusing the five of defamation and tortious interference.
And among other things, Gillen and his Fort Bend Republican PAC seek a declaratory judgment that they “are not precluded from hosting an event called the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner…”
“In the dictionary under the term ‘frivolous lawsuit,’ you will see a copy of Gary’s filing,” said Hrbacek, an attorney and former mayor of Sugar Land. “For a precinct chair to exercise a responsibility, and for Gary to take this action against a precinct chair for doing his duty is really sad.”
Stone said Wednesday night he hadn’t seen a copy of Gillen’s filing, but added that Gillen’s accusations are “enough to at least pique this Irishman’s interest… I certainly don’t look kindly on someone accusing me of defamation and interference, and I certainly hope there are at least allegations.”
“I guess I am being sued for volunteering, and for advocating for better oversight of party finances,” Benton said. “I have never had a hidden agenda or benefitted financially from any of my efforts as a precinct chair. I am not beholden to any subgroup within the party. I have only questioned what I did not feel was right, and I have only tried to help the party and our community.”
