Jason for Austin

Jason Meeker creates new state law — and clears his good name.

Austin man creates new state law

Former Council candidate amended complaint process

Updated: Wednesday, 08 Jul 2009, 10:47 PM CDT

Published : Wednesday, 08 Jul 2009, 10:40 PM CDT

Jim Swift

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/Austin_man_creates_new_state_law

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Jason Meeker will be the first to tell you he likes the limelight

He first found it when he served as communications director for a neighborhood group that battled plans by Wal-Mart to replace a shopping center with a large store in the middle of a North Austin neighborhood.

That led Meeker to covet a seat on the Austin City Council. He ran against an incumbent council member and lost. What bothered him more than losing, however, was what he perceived as an unfair complaint lodged against his campaign late in the race.

The complaint was lodged with the Texas Ethics Commission and a news release about it attracted the attention of two Austin newspapers. One of the things that bothered Meeker was that he first heard about the ethics filing, not from the Commission itself, but from a reporter from one of those papers.

Under the law at the time, the Commission had five days, extended to seven if a weekend intervened, to notify the subject of a complaint.

His opponent, Council Member Lee Leffingwell, also got the news and mentioned it on the campaign trail. During a League of Women Voters sponsored debate, for example, Leffingwell said, “I want to mention that my opponent has already had an ethics complaint filed against him for his contributions, which may or may not be legal; that’s for the Ethics Commission to sort out right now.”

It turned out, however, as it often does in politics, that the facts were a bit murky. Both sides still disagree about the details, but at the request of Meeker’s attorney, the Commission eventually acknowledged, well after the election was over, “Our records do not indicate that a sworn complaint has been filed…against Mr. Meeker. However, our office received an attempted complaint against Mr. Meeker over which the Ethics Commission did not accept jurisdiction.”

Meeker contends that means there was no complaint.

“You know, that stings because most people running for office need to have integrity and credibility and any accusation of any kind of criminal activity or anything that undermines their ethics tends to hurt.”

He is quick to point out, however, he does not think the incident had anything to do with the outcome of the election.

“It’s not going to change my election,” Meeker said. “I mean, I lost easily. I lost handily in that race.”

That, however, was no longer the point. Meeker thought the law was too vague and needed work. He went to State Representative Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, for help.

Naishtat agreed something had to be done and he filed two bills. One would require a sworn statement to file any complaint with the Ethics Commission. The other would require the Commission to immediately notify anyone with a complaint filed against them.

State Senator Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, carried the bills in that chamber. The legislation sailed through House and Senate committees and won easy victories in both chambers. It was signed by Governor Rick Perry on June 19, becoming effective immediately.

“Members of both the House and Senate had opportunities to say, ‘No, we don’t need this,’ but in every case, they said, ‘I know a similar situation, or that happened to a member who I know,” said Naishtat. “So we fix it; we tweak the law so that it’s fair. “I appreciate Jason Meeker for what he did and I respect him for what he did. And it takes a little bit of gumption, a little bit of courage to come in and say, I think we need to change this law to make it fairer.”

As for Meeker, there is a sense of satisfaction.

“What I’m trying to do with these bills and what I’ve accomplished in making them now law is cleaning up this dirty political weapon that the Texas Ethics Commission became,” he said.

”The benefit is not going to go to me in any shape, way or form. But for future elections, now people will understand that the Ethics Commission is something that should be taken a lot more seriously.”

Beyond that, there is also a gut feeling that he is re-clearing a trail that had become overgrown.

“People complain a lot about how the lobbyists have taken control of the government,” he said. “Well that’s because, you know, normal citizens aren’t showing up to the show. I mean the doors are unlocked at the Capitol. Walk right in, you know, knock on the door, introduce yourself. Get something going if you want it to get going.”

And who knows, it might lead you back into the limelight.