New Harris County attorney says he's right for the job

Ryan rides Obama's coattails to victory
By BILL MURPHY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 5, 2008

Many Harris County residents may have been saying "Vince who?" when they learned that voters ousted a Republican incumbent and elected the challenger in the county attorney's race.

Democrat Vince Ryan defeated Mike Stafford 51 percent to 49 percent, benefiting from Barack Obama's long coattails and news reports about several Republican county officials' alleged ethical lapses.

Ryan, a lawyer, said he is the right person to be coming into government now. The County Attorney's Office, he said, can play the role of watchdog and try to insist that county officials and employees take the ethical high road.

"What county government needs is a group of watchdogs, not lapdogs," Ryan said. "The County Attorney's Office is an absolute key to the checks and balances on county government."

Ryan, 61, is not a political unknown. He served on City Council from 1988 to 1993, representing District C in southwest Houston.

The next year, he lost to Republican Robert Eckels in a bid to become county judge.
Republicans held a stranglehold on countywide posts and judicial seats from 1994 until Tuesday.

Ryan comes to the county attorney's post with experience, having served in the office from 1981 to 1987. During the last four years, he was then-County Attorney Mike Driscoll's top aide, known as first assistant county attorney.

Old boss his role model

"It was the best job I ever had," Ryan said.

The office's staff of 95 attorneys serves as the county's legal team, representing Commissioners Court, the hospital, flood control and appraisal districts, the toll road authority and numerous county departments. Stafford viewed the office's job as providing legal representation to county officials and departments and didn't see it as a watchdog agency.

But Ryan said the office works for county residents and owes its allegiance, first, to them and then to the county departments and employees.

His role model, he said, will be Driscoll, an activist county attorney who unsuccessfully sued to remove then-County Judge Jon Lindsay from office in 1994 over what he believed were ethical lapses.

Stafford, 57, said his outlook remains positive despite losing in his bid for a third term. After Commissioners Court appointed him county attorney in 2001, he won election to a two-year term in 2002 and re-election to a four-year term in 2004.

Hit by a 'tsunami'

Stafford's campaign team didn't have unlimited funds to wage a high-profile campaign and run television ads, so it limited itself mostly to putting out signs, he said.

"We knew Obama was going to energize Democrats, and we ran into what (Commissioner Steve) Radack called a tsunami," Stafford said. "It's part of the election process, and the Democrats won fair and square."

Stafford said he is mulling his options and is considering opening his own law practice.

Ryan said he likely will retain many of the lawyers in the County Attorney's Office, but will decide that in the next few months after meeting with them.

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Vince Ryan Elected Harris County Attorney!

Democrat defeats GOP incumbent for county attorney
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 5, 2008

Riding the coattails of President-elect Barack Obama, Democrat Vince Ryan beat Republican incumbent Mike Stafford in the race for Harris County attorney.

Ryan's victory comes in a year in which a number of Democrats won countywide office for the first time in more than a decade, boosted by Obama's nipping Republican John McCain in the presidential race in Harris County.

"I thought from day one that if Obama won Harris County, it would be good for me," said Ryan, 57, a former Houston city council member.

Stafford, 57, was seeking a third term.

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Vince Ryan Calls for Investigation Of County Attorney Mike Stafford

HOUSTON, TEXAS - October 17, 2008 - Recently we have been confronted by outrageous scandal after scandal in our County government, the result of a devastating breakdown of the checks and balances system there.  This dramatic breakdown is characterized by the Houston Chronicle as an “ethics crisis in Harris County government.” 

The County Attorney, as the civil attorney for all the elected and appointed officials and their employees in County Government, is the key to the county’s system of checks and balances.  Unfortunately, our current County Attorney is a part of the problem and is now having his ethics criticized and questioned.  

Our District Attorney, an interim appointment for the disgraced Chuck Rosenthal who resigned, the State Attorney General and possibly the U.S. Attorney should be instigating criminal investigations of County Attorney Mike Stafford, after the shocking revelations by KTRK’s Wayne Dolcefino in his three-part series on the scandalous conduct of the County Attorney regarding the use of a Toll Road slush fund and his own campaign funds.  The slush fund is public money and Mike Stafford very likely has broken the law (Penal Code 39.02) in the misuse of public monies for his girlfriend, among others both in his office and just “friends.” 

His misuse of campaign funds supplied by contractors, architects, engineers and lawyers who do business with the County, business often sanctified by contracts and opinions issued by the County Attorney, is equally outrageous!  Meals and drinks in the thousands of dollars over and over again.  His purchasing of “office supplies” in the hundreds of dollars on numerous occasions at grocery stores is difficult to believe.  Has he never heard of Office Max or Office Depot????

My background gives me the experience and training to be the watchdog the County government needs, not the lapdog and possibly law-breaking County Attorney it now has. 

I am a native of Harris County, graduating from local public schools and universities.  And public service has been my life. 

I served in the Harris County Attorney’s Office for seven years, the last four and half as the First Assistant County Attorney supervising the entire staff for the then County Attorney Mike Driscoll.  After that I was a Houston City Council Member, voluntarily leaving after six years.  Following that I was appointed as one of the last five American Board Members of the Panama Canal Commission, a Presidential Appointment for which I was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

I am also a retired U.S. Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel having served in Vietnam. 

Through these experiences and opportunities I have earned a reputation for honesty, integrity and independence. 

For these reasons, on October 12th, the Houston Chronicle endorsed my candidacy, stating that Vince Ryan was the best person to deliver ethical reform at the county.  The Chronicle’s editorial emphasized that the county badly needs an independent County Attorney who will be a watchdog who can detect and defuse situations before they become legal train wrecks.

Vince Ryan
Democratic Nominee for Harris County Attorney
713-629-9494 or 7`13-661-1941

Paid for by Vince Ryan for County Attorney, Alan Helfman Treasurer, P. O. Box 56386, Houston, Texas 77256-6386

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Houston Chronicle joins a growing list of endorsements of Vince Ryan for Harris County Attorney

HOUSTON, TEXAS -October 17, 2008 – Just as the latest scandal to rock Harris County government was about to break, the Houston Chronicle endorsed the candidacy of Vince Ryan for Harris County Attorney:

“The Chronicle urges voters to support challenger Vince Ryan's bid for top county legal post
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 11, 2008, 9:34AM

In the past year Harris County has suffered through a disturbing series of public ethics scandals that resulted in the resignation of District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal and a civil rights lawsuit against sheriff's deputies in the Ibarra case that is costing the county millions of dollars in legal fees.
The county badly needs an independent county attorney who will do more than be a loyal legal adviser to Commissioners Court and other elected officials. The holder of that office must also be an advocate for the citizenry and a watchdog who can detect and defuse situations before they deteriorate into legal train wrecks.
The Chronicle believes that long-promised but never-delivered ethical reform at the county would best be served by a county attorney committed to rocking the boat as well as representing it. In the current race, the person best positioned by experience and determination to accomplish that goal is former Assistant County Attorney and Houston City Councilman Vince Ryan.
"Your paper has said it, I agree with it, the system of checks and balances at the county has broken down," says Ryan. On ethical issues, he believes "the key official should be the county attorney. When it gets to be the district attorney's business, it's gone way too far. It's time for somebody to be in office whom the contractors, developers, architects and engineers don't want."
Ryan is a Vietnam veteran and a retired lieutenant colonel is the U.S. Army reserve. He served as first assistant under former County Attorney Mike Driscoll and three terms as District C councilman. In that capacity he chaired the city's campaign finance reform committee, experience that will no doubt serve him well in a county structure that has had more than its share of allegations of campaign fund misuse.”

The Chronicle joins a growing list of endorsements for Vince Ryan that includes:
The Jewish Herald Voice                                              
West University Mayor Bob Kelly
Mexican American Bar Association          
Planned Parenthood of Houston & Southeast Texas Action Fund
Houston GLBT Political Caucus                   
Former County Attorney Mike Driscoll
The Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee             
Harris County AFL-CIO Council
Mexican American Sheriffs' Association                
Afro-American Sheriff's Deputy League

Paid for by Vince Ryan for County Attorney, Alan Helfman Treasurer, P. O. Box 56386, Houston, Texas 77256-6386

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