EXCLUSIVE: Commissioner hires son's company to do precinct work, votes on payment
A Wichita County commissioner hired his son's Iowa Park company to do work at the commissioner's precinct facilities, according to information obtained by the Times Record News through an open records request to the county.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jeff Watts hired his son Levi Watts’ business, Texas Superior Service, for $2,325 of backhoe work and shop cleanup at facilities north of Electra, according to a Jan. 29 invoice from the company and the commissioner.
Later, Jeff Watts did not abstain from voting to send the invoice to the Auditor's Office for payment processing during a Commissioners Court meeting, according to the meeting minutes.
He said his son did the county a favor by allowing the use of his business’s backhoe — which Levi Watts left for over 10 days at the precinct yard — and by providing labor when the precinct was shorthanded.
“Had my son not been able to leave me a piece of equipment to utilize, it wouldn’t have been him. It was just convenient,” Jeff Watts, whose precinct includes Electra, said. “No one else would do that.”
What would the commissioner say to any criticism of hiring a family member for precinct work paid for with taxpayer dollars?
“We did everything aboveboard and by the law,” Jeff Watts said about the matter brought to TRN’s attention by readers.
The commissioner said the Precinct 4 backhoe was in the shop over 60 days for an upgrade delayed by a wait for parts.
Levi Watts performed work with his company’s backhoe and allowed county workers to use it at the precinct yard, Jeff Watts said.
In addition, the precinct had no road crew for a time after two employees retired and two were let go in the wake of a Jan. 3 meeting about work ethic, Jeff Watts said.
'Probably didn't realize'
The invoice from Levi Watts’ company was submitted for $1,545 of backhoe work and $780 of general labor for a project titled, "The WCP4 Yard & Shop," the invoice shows.
Wichita County Judge Woody Gossom declined to comment about the invoice after seeing a copy of it, saying it was difficult to do so without more information.
Gossom said that in general, members of the Commissioners Court discuss possible conflicts of interest during meetings and recuse themselves if necessary from votes.
The Commissioners Court unanimously approved submitting the Texas Superior Service invoice for payment processing as part of consent agenda items during a Feb. 18 meeting, according to the meeting’s minutes.
Jeff Watts said he “probably didn’t realize” he was voting on his son’s invoice.
The commissioner has spoken to Wichita County Chief Civil Prosecutor Tracey Jennings about voting and conflicts of interest.
“She said that in this instance, of course, it didn’t make any difference when she looked at that … whether I abstained or didn’t abstain to vote in the past,” he said.
Jennings advised him that the Commissioners Court should put similar items in the general business section of the meeting agenda, and then the commissioner involved should abstain from voting, Jeff Watts said.
“That’s what she felt like would be … the most aesthetic way to do it,” he said.
How the invoice was handled
The commissioner added that he did not do the initial signoff on the invoice and send it on to the Auditor’s Office for review.
He said Precinct 3 Commissioner Barry Mahler did since the bill was from Levi Watts.
Then the bill went on the consent agenda for approval at a Commissioners Court meeting because it was over $1,000, Jeff Watts said.
“I can work my son all day long. I just can’t approve the invoices he would send in,” he said. “I choose not to do that. I use other contractors.”
Jeff Watts added, “The use of subcontractors has just been a practice of Precinct 4 because we feel like they can be far more efficient and less costly, quicker.”
While the invoice was from Texas Superior Service, Levi Watts registered the business June 2 as Texas Superior Services, Limited Liability Co., with the Texas Secretary of State, according to online records.
Questions arose earlier this year around another Precinct 4 issue.
Texas Rangers investigated allegations that he abused his official capacity in connection with the Buffalo Creek drainage project, according to previous TRN reports.
The project touched on Watts family land on Watts Road west of Wichita Falls, but it also benefited other landowners and was, Jeff Watts has said, for the public good, according to previous TRN reports. Ultimately, a grand jury declined to indict him on July 29.
The matter came to light during an Aug. 3 Commissioners Court meeting when county leaders approved paying his $4,400 legal bill for a lawyer to represent him, according to previous TRN reports. Jeff Watts did not abstain from the unanimous vote to approve paying it.
County's policy on hiring
The county has a nepotism policy preventing any official, department head or supervisor from hiring their family members to be on their own staff as county employees, county Human Resources Director Amanda Brumley said.
“However, we do not have a written policy for how the County decides on contractors,” Brumley said.
It is of note that the Commissioners Court only signs contracts involving a project with a price tag over $50,000, according to officials. If the work is below that, county officials submit invoices.
Jennings declined to comment on whether state laws requiring conflict of interest documents to be filed apply to the Wichita County Commissioners Court.
Disclosing conflicts of interest
Speaking strictly in general terms, Jody Seaborn of the Texas Association of Counties confirmed that those statutes apply to county commissioners courts.
A local government officer is required to file a conflicts disclosure statement under certain conditions if he is a member of the governing body of a county, city, school district or other local governmental entity, according to the state’s local government code.
The conditions include the official having a family relationship with a vendor under contract with the local government or under consideration for a contract, according to state statute.
In turn, a vendor under contract or seeking one with a local government is required to file a conflict of interest questionnaire under certain conditions, according to state law.
Those conditions include having a family relationship with a local official from the government entity, according to state law.
In addition, a local government is required to post these documents on its website, according to state law.
Jennings declined to comment when a reporter requested to be directed to the location on the county’s website where conflicts disclosure statements and questionnaires would be posted.
A records administrator is supposed to keep a list of the local government officers for a local government entity and make the list available to the public, according to state law.
Knowingly failing to file the documents within specified time periods ranges from a class A to a class C misdemeanor for local government officials and vendors — depending on the amount of a contract, according to state law.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia. The Times Record News is committed to watchdog reporting and fostering government transparency. Help support our efforts with a subscription at www.timesrecordnews.com.