On Friday, 4/23/2021, journalist-turned-private-investigator Wayne Dolcefino filed criminal complaints against two public officials for failure to comply with the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) in regard to his widening Colony-Ridge probe.
The TPIA requests included communication records between State Representative Ernest Bailes, Colony Ridge developer Trey Harris, and Colony Ridge lawyer Brent Lane. Dolcefino has also been frustrated in his attempts to obtain communication records from Liberty County Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur.
Behind the Criminal Complaints
Dolcefino suspects the records may shed light on the relationship between developers and public officials, and who is behind the failure of Liberty County to produce a complete set of Colony Ridge drainage analyses. The drainage reports were sought earlier under a separate TPIA request and relate to flooding issues that suddenly developed in Plum Grove. After Colony Ridge development began, the town’s main road washed out and homes started flooding repeatedly.
The question now is “Why?” are officials so reluctant to comply with the law?
After 4 months, the County still has not supplied the drainage records. Nor has it fully complied with the request for communication records. The latter triggered Dolcefino’s criminal complaints.
Earnest Bailes and Greg Arthur Target of Complaints
“We do not tolerate public officials who ignore state law. The citizens of Plum Grove deserve to see the records that we have been asking for.”
Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Consulting
Still Seeking Communication Records After 4 Months
Bailes’ Communication Records
Dolcefino formally requested a year of Representative Earnest Bailes communication records relating to state business; Trey Harris, the Colony Ridge Developer; and Brent Lane, Harris’ attorney. Dolcefino made the request in December 2020.
In four months since then, Bailes has provided screenshots for just one unidentified week of phone calls and seven text messages. Bailes’ office maintains there are no additional records. According to Dolcefino, Representative Bailes also refused to say whether he accepted trips from the developer.
“We have spoken with the San Jacinto County District Attorney and the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office,” said Dolcefino. “We are confident they will seek the immediate production of these records. Representative Bailes has had four months to destroy the records of his text messages and this investigation should include efforts to recover what was on his phone when our request was made.”
Arthur’s Communication Records
Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur was supposed to supply more than a year of communications records pertaining to county business. Dolcefino says Arthur produced pictures of phone records on a computer screen taken with a cell phone. “All of the images were hard to read and many were totally illegible,” said Dolcefino. “Commissioner Arthur has ignored repeated requests for the actual, legible phone records.”
Example of records produced by Liberty County Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur – out of focus images of computer screen.
Drainage Records Still Missing, Too
These criminal complaints came months after county officials failed to find and produce missing drainage reports. The engineering firm that worked for Colony Ridge, Landplan Engineering, has also refused requests by Dolcefino Consulting to provide the drainage records.
The records are instrumental in determining if Colony Ridge broke Liberty County development rules.
Wayne Dolcefino
“We have not asked for the Magna Carta,” says Dolcefino. “These are records that were allegedly reviewed by the former county engineer before he put his state stamp on their plans just a few years ago. At least we know where the Magna Carta is.”
Landplan Engineering classified Colony Ridge soils as more permeable than USDA says they are.
If you go by Landplan’s numbers, more rain would soak in and less would run off. That reduces the amount of detention ponds needed, saves the developer money, and lets the developer sell more lots.
But if you go by the USDA numbers, the opposite is true. More rain runs off, more detention ponds are needed, costs go up, and the developer sells fewer lots. And if you don’t build enough detention ponds, people downstream flood.
Who’s right? No one seems to be able to supply soil samples to verify the information. Dolcefino also requested those. But the infiltration rates of the soil types were not the only problem in the Landplan reports.
None of the reports explained HOW Landplan calculated drainage requirements. And none certified, as required by law, that there would be no negative impact to upstream or downstream properties.
Bob Rehak
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/25/2021 based on input provided by Dolcefino Consulting and Liberty County
1335 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 584 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Arthur-Screen-Shot.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=16731200adminadmin2021-04-25 11:03:332021-04-25 21:36:32Officials Slapped With Criminal Complaints for Failure to Produce Records in Colony Ridge Investigation
Lawyers for Perry Homes CEO, Kathy Perry Britton, have filed a motion for a protective order to quash a request for her deposition. The motion involves lawsuits against her company and its subsidiaries for two 2019 floods that affected hundreds of homeowners in Kingwood’s Elm Grove Village and North Kingwood Forest. Ms. Britton’s basic argument: it’s beneath her.
Catch-22: Claims No Unique or Personal Knowledge
Ms. Britton’s attorneys claim she is an “apex-level” official and cannot be deposed without showing that she has “unique or personal knowledge” of discoverable information. This puts hundreds of plaintiffs in a Catch-22 situation – a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations.
In essence, Ms. Britton says defendants can’t depose her because she doesn’t have anything worth knowing. But without deposing her, how could they know that?
Talking Is Too Intrusive
Ironically, her lawyers assert that plaintiffs must learn what she knows through “less intrusive methods” than talking to her. Her lawyers maintain that CEOs live by different rules than the rest of us, and cite seven pages of legal precedents to support their opinion.
Duh!!!!!!!! Making the Case for Negligence?
To reinforce her argument, Ms. Britton personally claims:
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge of any relevant facts…”
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge of the flooding events…”
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge of the construction or engineering practices followed by Perry Homes, Figure Four Partners, Ltd., PSWA, Inc., or any of the subcontractors hired to work on the Woodridge Village Development.”
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge of the selection, hiring, retention, training, or supervision of any of the subcontractors on the Woodridge Village Development.”
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge of any engineering or design requirements for the Woodridge Village Development.”
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge of the engineering design or plans implemented or created for the Woodridge Village Development, including whether and how such plans were approved or followed.”
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge as to whether the work performed at the Woodridge Village Development was properly supervised.”
“I have no first-hand, personal knowledge as to what work was performed (or not performed) at the Woodridge Village Development…”
Perhaps this is why so many people flooded! In my opinion, it seems Ms. Britton just admitted negligence.
What’s Proper Response for CEO?
One might think that after approximately 200 homes flooded in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest on May 7, 2019, that any competent CEO would have been all over this situation to make sure it didn’t happen again. After all, hundreds of lives were disrupted and the damages could involve tens of millions of dollars. It doesn’t seem like a good time to stick your head in the sand.
If I were the CEO, I would at least investigate to see if my companies had any liability.
Bob Rehak
But no! Ms. Britton now lays bare the problem. The CEO kept her distance. It wasn’t her problem. And then it happened again.
Two to three times as many homes flooded during Imelda – only five months later. For the same reasons. And, if we take her at her word, she still kept her distance.
The floods were important enough for the Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo; Dave Martin, the Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Houston; and US Congressman Dan Crenshaw to visit Elm Grove. But not Kathy Perry Britton.
Talk About Intrusiveness!
Sitting for a deposition in a comfortable conference room seems far “less intrusive” than having several feet of muddy floodwater invade your home, destroy your belongings, and ruin your vehicles. (Ms. Britton, if you want to know what “intrusive” is, see below.)
Abel and Nancy Vera live next to Woodridge Village (in the background beyond the trees). They burned out two power washers trying to get several inches muck off their driveway after Imelda. Vehicle destroyed in Imelda flood. Vera neighbor on Village Springs in Elm Grove.
Water in Keith Stewart’s home on Shady Maple after May 7th flood in 2019.
The hopes and dreams of children were dragged to the curb for the second time in five months after the September 19th flood in Elm Grove.US Congressman Dan Crenshaw talking with Elm Grove residents whose homes were destroyed in the September 2019 flood.
It’s curious that a US Congressman took the time to get personal, first-hand knowledge of the floods in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest. But Kathy Perry Britton could not. Perhaps picking wallpaper for her new model homes was more important.
1334 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 583 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Elm-Grove-9.19_68.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=110001500adminadmin2021-04-24 06:59:582021-04-24 08:56:01Kathy Perry Britton Fights Being Deposed on Elm Grove Flooding
But four months later, the documents are still missing. Without explanation.
Either they got lost or were never developed in the first place. And no one will defend or explain the soil sampling in the documents that were produced.
Greg Arthur, Liberty County Precinct 2 Commissioner, won’t talk.
David Douglass, the Liberty County Engineer, won’t talk.
Louis Bergman, the former Liberty County Engineer, won’t talk.
Trey Harris, the developer of Colony Ridge, won’t talk.
Earnest Bailes, Liberty County’s state rep won’t talk.
Phil Struble, CEO of Landplan Engineering, won’t talk.
Enter Wayne Dolcefino, Investigator Extraordinaire
Wayne Dolcefino, formerly one of the country’s foremost investigative journalists and now a private investigator for the Plum Grove City Council, picked up the scent of a coverup. And he’s running it to ground…all the way to the Liberty County Courthouse and the headquarters of Landplan Engineering in Kansas. Landplan served as the engineering company for the Colony Ridge developer.
Simon and Garfunkle’s 1965 hit The Sounds of Silence became the theme song for Dolcefino’s latest exposé. In the 13-minute video, Dolcefino asks officials difficult questions about persistent problems that have driven off half of tiny Plum Grove’s population in the last few years.
I never get tired of watching Dolcefino wave his microphone in front of people who walk away to avoid answering questions.
For those who enjoy hard-hitting investigative journalism that speaks truth to power, this is a must-view video.
When it’s all over, you’ll ask yourself the biggest question of all: “Are these officials protecting the people who elected them or each other?”
We may soon find out. I interviewed Dolcefino this afternoon. He told me that his company, Dolcefino Consulting, is filing criminal complaints against State Representative Earnest Bailes and Commissioner Greg Arthur for failure to produce records requested under the Texas Public Information Act.
Keep your eye on this one. It has the potential to affect cozy relationships between developers and officials throughout the state.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/23/2021 based on a video by Wayne Dolcefino
1333 Days after Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/20210423-Screen-Shot-2021-04-23-at-1.32.20-PM.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=17971200adminadmin2021-04-23 14:40:532021-04-23 16:39:28Silence: Liberty County, Colony Ridge, Landplan Engineering Remain Mute on Missing Documents
Officials Slapped With Criminal Complaints for Failure to Produce Records in Colony Ridge Investigation
On Friday, 4/23/2021, journalist-turned-private-investigator Wayne Dolcefino filed criminal complaints against two public officials for failure to comply with the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) in regard to his widening Colony-Ridge probe.
The TPIA requests included communication records between State Representative Ernest Bailes, Colony Ridge developer Trey Harris, and Colony Ridge lawyer Brent Lane. Dolcefino has also been frustrated in his attempts to obtain communication records from Liberty County Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur.
Behind the Criminal Complaints
Dolcefino suspects the records may shed light on the relationship between developers and public officials, and who is behind the failure of Liberty County to produce a complete set of Colony Ridge drainage analyses. The drainage reports were sought earlier under a separate TPIA request and relate to flooding issues that suddenly developed in Plum Grove. After Colony Ridge development began, the town’s main road washed out and homes started flooding repeatedly.
The question now is “Why?” are officials so reluctant to comply with the law?
After 4 months, the County still has not supplied the drainage records. Nor has it fully complied with the request for communication records. The latter triggered Dolcefino’s criminal complaints.
Earnest Bailes and Greg Arthur Target of Complaints
District 18 State Representative Ernest Bailes and Liberty County Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur are “the first,” according to Dolcefino, to be subjects of criminal complaints regarding the hiding of public records. The complaints filed in Liberty, San Jacinto and Travis Counties are part of a widening Dolcefino Consulting investigation of Liberty County’s controversial Colony Ridge real-estate development.
Still Seeking Communication Records After 4 Months
Bailes’ Communication Records
Dolcefino formally requested a year of Representative Earnest Bailes communication records relating to state business; Trey Harris, the Colony Ridge Developer; and Brent Lane, Harris’ attorney. Dolcefino made the request in December 2020.
In four months since then, Bailes has provided screenshots for just one unidentified week of phone calls and seven text messages. Bailes’ office maintains there are no additional records. According to Dolcefino, Representative Bailes also refused to say whether he accepted trips from the developer.
“We have spoken with the San Jacinto County District Attorney and the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office,” said Dolcefino. “We are confident they will seek the immediate production of these records. Representative Bailes has had four months to destroy the records of his text messages and this investigation should include efforts to recover what was on his phone when our request was made.”
Arthur’s Communication Records
Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur was supposed to supply more than a year of communications records pertaining to county business. Dolcefino says Arthur produced pictures of phone records on a computer screen taken with a cell phone. “All of the images were hard to read and many were totally illegible,” said Dolcefino. “Commissioner Arthur has ignored repeated requests for the actual, legible phone records.”
Drainage Records Still Missing, Too
These criminal complaints came months after county officials failed to find and produce missing drainage reports. The engineering firm that worked for Colony Ridge, Landplan Engineering, has also refused requests by Dolcefino Consulting to provide the drainage records.
“We have not asked for the Magna Carta,” says Dolcefino. “These are records that were allegedly reviewed by the former county engineer before he put his state stamp on their plans just a few years ago. At least we know where the Magna Carta is.”
Why Finding Drainage Docs Is Important
In response to an initial request for drainage analyses and construction plans for all Colony Ridge subdivisions, Liberty County initially produced 39 documents. Most mischaracterized soil types in a way that could have contributed to flooding.
If you go by Landplan’s numbers, more rain would soak in and less would run off. That reduces the amount of detention ponds needed, saves the developer money, and lets the developer sell more lots.
But if you go by the USDA numbers, the opposite is true. More rain runs off, more detention ponds are needed, costs go up, and the developer sells fewer lots. And if you don’t build enough detention ponds, people downstream flood.
Who’s right? No one seems to be able to supply soil samples to verify the information. Dolcefino also requested those. But the infiltration rates of the soil types were not the only problem in the Landplan reports.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/25/2021 based on input provided by Dolcefino Consulting and Liberty County
1335 Days since Hurricane Harvey and 584 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Kathy Perry Britton Fights Being Deposed on Elm Grove Flooding
Lawyers for Perry Homes CEO, Kathy Perry Britton, have filed a motion for a protective order to quash a request for her deposition. The motion involves lawsuits against her company and its subsidiaries for two 2019 floods that affected hundreds of homeowners in Kingwood’s Elm Grove Village and North Kingwood Forest. Ms. Britton’s basic argument: it’s beneath her.
Catch-22: Claims No Unique or Personal Knowledge
Ms. Britton’s attorneys claim she is an “apex-level” official and cannot be deposed without showing that she has “unique or personal knowledge” of discoverable information. This puts hundreds of plaintiffs in a Catch-22 situation – a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations.
Talking Is Too Intrusive
Ironically, her lawyers assert that plaintiffs must learn what she knows through “less intrusive methods” than talking to her. Her lawyers maintain that CEOs live by different rules than the rest of us, and cite seven pages of legal precedents to support their opinion.
Duh!!!!!!!! Making the Case for Negligence?
To reinforce her argument, Ms. Britton personally claims:
Perhaps this is why so many people flooded! In my opinion, it seems Ms. Britton just admitted negligence.
What’s Proper Response for CEO?
One might think that after approximately 200 homes flooded in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest on May 7, 2019, that any competent CEO would have been all over this situation to make sure it didn’t happen again. After all, hundreds of lives were disrupted and the damages could involve tens of millions of dollars. It doesn’t seem like a good time to stick your head in the sand.
But no! Ms. Britton now lays bare the problem. The CEO kept her distance. It wasn’t her problem. And then it happened again.
Two to three times as many homes flooded during Imelda – only five months later. For the same reasons. And, if we take her at her word, she still kept her distance.
The floods were important enough for the Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo; Dave Martin, the Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Houston; and US Congressman Dan Crenshaw to visit Elm Grove. But not Kathy Perry Britton.
Talk About Intrusiveness!
Sitting for a deposition in a comfortable conference room seems far “less intrusive” than having several feet of muddy floodwater invade your home, destroy your belongings, and ruin your vehicles. (Ms. Britton, if you want to know what “intrusive” is, see below.)
It’s curious that a US Congressman took the time to get personal, first-hand knowledge of the floods in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest. But Kathy Perry Britton could not. Perhaps picking wallpaper for her new model homes was more important.
I hope the judge in this case quashes the protective order. Read the full text of Ms. Britton’s Motion for a Protective Order here.
Read Plaintiff’s latest amended petition here.
For more about the history of the Woodridge Village fiasco see:
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/24/2021
1334 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 583 since Imelda
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Silence: Liberty County, Colony Ridge, Landplan Engineering Remain Mute on Missing Documents
Wayne Dolcefino titles his latest video “The Sounds of Silence.” It’s about the Colony Ridge problems in Liberty County and the response of officials.
On December 26, 2020, I reported about missing drainage reports for the Colony Ridge development in Liberty County. The post also discussed the mischaracterization of soil types in the reports that did exist. The mischaracterization let the developer overestimate the infiltration of rain and thus underestimate runoff. That meant he needed fewer detention ponds and smaller ditches. And that, in turn, meant the developer could sell more lots. But then the flooding started. Coincidental?
Sounds of Silence
On January 4, 2021, Liberty County Attorney Matthew Poston launched an investigation.
Either they got lost or were never developed in the first place. And no one will defend or explain the soil sampling in the documents that were produced.
Neither will anyone talk about how large parts of Colony Ridge got approved by the County without the required engineering documents certifying “no negative effect” on drainage upstream or downstream from the development (see page 5). Note: Plum Grove Road has been washed out since Harvey and keeps getting worse. Neither will they talk about whether conditions at Colony Ridge comply with Liberty County regulations.
Enter Wayne Dolcefino, Investigator Extraordinaire
Wayne Dolcefino, formerly one of the country’s foremost investigative journalists and now a private investigator for the Plum Grove City Council, picked up the scent of a coverup. And he’s running it to ground…all the way to the Liberty County Courthouse and the headquarters of Landplan Engineering in Kansas. Landplan served as the engineering company for the Colony Ridge developer.
Simon and Garfunkle’s 1965 hit The Sounds of Silence became the theme song for Dolcefino’s latest exposé. In the 13-minute video, Dolcefino asks officials difficult questions about persistent problems that have driven off half of tiny Plum Grove’s population in the last few years.
I never get tired of watching Dolcefino wave his microphone in front of people who walk away to avoid answering questions.
For those who enjoy hard-hitting investigative journalism that speaks truth to power, this is a must-view video.
When it’s all over, you’ll ask yourself the biggest question of all: “Are these officials protecting the people who elected them or each other?”
We may soon find out. I interviewed Dolcefino this afternoon. He told me that his company, Dolcefino Consulting, is filing criminal complaints against State Representative Earnest Bailes and Commissioner Greg Arthur for failure to produce records requested under the Texas Public Information Act.
Keep your eye on this one. It has the potential to affect cozy relationships between developers and officials throughout the state.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/23/2021 based on a video by Wayne Dolcefino
1333 Days after Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.