Activities of Chuck Eisemann bring into question his influence

by Nathan Morgan of of Richardson City News

The recent political activity of Chuck Eisemann, one of the founders of the Richardson Residents for Responsive Government, a Texas General Political Action Committee, has members of the community again questioning the philanthropy that landed his surname on the side of the city's performance hall. The legend behind how that happened has included tales of a sizable financial contribution promised, but never really delivered. To our knowledge, there is no evidence to the contrary.

Thus, the use of the facility's tombstone name and image in what some see as a shameless promotion of the personal political goals of a PAC of friends appears a bit unseemly. Members of the community have become so outraged by a recent letter soliciting PAC membership and participation in a survey that some are saying we should chuck "Eisemann" from the facade of the building and sell the naming rights in a bold effort to pay its mortgage that consumes a hefty amount of the city's public financial resources. Now, that would be true philanthropy -- anonymous gifts.

Since before its dedication on 9/12/2002, the facility has become recognized as the elite clubhouse in town. This, the people's municipal performance hall, donned the name "The Eisemann Center" early in its inception. Originally proposed as a venue for local performing groups at a cost of around $12M, upon completion the cost overruns from numerous engineering change orders, and an unqualified city staff acting as general contractor, would push the debt burden to a figure closer to $40M. Less than two years later, when the hotel cashed out on the public/private bond deal that financed the ballrooms and parking garage, the city scrambled to "refund" the debt that became the true purpose behind a hastily executed 2005 bond election. Now estimated at a cost near $55M (in 2005 dollars), the facility probably could not be sold for half of what residents are on the hook to pay for it. Reunion Arena only cost around $10M.

While the majority of Richardson residents could probably count on one hand the number of times they've actually been close enough to read the name on the side of the building, City Councilmembers, along with select members of our city staff, and friends of the community routinely enjoy free rides to every Eisemann Presents and other ticketed events. That practice certainly boosts those reported and touted attendance figures, but does little in the way of encouraging the general public to pay for a ticket to sit amongst the City Hall gang whilst trying to enjoy a special night out on the town. The scent of the same old stale perfume is surely beginning to permeate from the seating. It's a bust for the average tax payer and a boon for the party hounds at City Hall.

There's also a curious situation that came to light about the recent $500K gift from the TI Foundation. It seems the State House District 112 candidate favored and financially supported by the building's namesake reported a sizable campaign contribution by both the building's namesake and the TI Foundation board member who reported the half-million dollar gift to the Eisemann last week. That candidate, who is on the board of the TI PAC, recently won the party nomination in a nasty run-off against a recognized party loyalist who is highly regarded among the GOP grass roots for solid conservative principles. Could this be some kind of TI PAC/Foundation arrangement? Inquiring people want to know.

Interesting to note is what some have seen as a slight delivered upon the Mayor of Richardson in the press release announcing the gift. Rumors of favoring the idea of putting the ousted Gary Slagel back in the Mayor's chair by pulling the same election tricks could be read into the reasoning for Charles "Chuck" Eisemann to be the first comment in the article, followed by now-Councilman Slagel, and, lastly, Steve Mitchell, the Mayor of the City of Richardson. This is a gift to benefit the city, right? So, why was the chief spokesperson for the city not first in line to comment? And, did the other two not insist upon it being so? Hmm.

Also interesting to note is the seed of doubt that appears to have been planted in regard to the new Mayor. It's hard to say who the Johnny Appleseed is in this case, but residents are asking what we should think of the Mayor's performance, while being lead to compare this pitiful situation the last one left him, and pointing to the high-times carefree party of yesteryears (that delivered the dot-com and sub-prime predictable bubble circumstances with enormous financial consequences). Really, Angelo, the TI plant will not produce soylent green wafers. Promise.

Enter the survey.

The Texas Elections Code prohibits use of voter records for commercial purpose. That surely includes the activities of a Political Action Committee. Granted, a PAC has a special consideration in the Tax Code. However, we've found nothing that suggests a PAC is not some sort of commercial entitiy, especially when the definition and meaning of commerce includes building an organization through solicitation of financial support, membership and information exchange. Did the R3G gang violate the Texas Election Code by using County voter records to target recipients of the survey/membership invitation letter? The registered voters in Richardson who were targeted for the R3G petition will be the judge on that one.

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