WHO OWNS THE TEXAS MEDIA? Pg. 12 A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES JANUARY 29, 1993 • $1.75 IN THE WAKE OF A HUD MORTGAGE AGENT BY PETER CASSIDY TEVE ZELVIN DROVE like Captain their man, the government would move to set Ahab chasing after his nemesis, white- things straight, Zelvin thought. Zelvin's naive Sknuckling a mini-bus from San Antonio faith in his government has diminished some- to Washington, D.C. in two days. A banner what as he has pursued Puller through HUD, draped under the windows of the van screamed: law enforcement agencies and the federal court "HUD! WHERE'S OUR $3.6 MILLION?" system. Among his lost illusions is the belief The builder wasion a crusade to convince offi- that Puller will be made accountable by the cials at the U.S: Department of Housing and government agency that licensed him to lend Urban Development (HUD) that the agency's money with their guarantees. own mortgage agent, an Indianapolis business- HUD knew about Puller's dealings with devel- man named Ken Puller, had illegally appropri- opers long before Zelvin came along. By the ated millions in construction money and time Zelvin rolled up in his van, even the FBI bankrupted Zelvin's real estate project, a retire- was investigating Puller's company, Puller ment community in San Antonio. Zelvin left, confident that the IG would put a Mortgage Associates. Yet Puller, one of a num- The mini-bus, borrowed by Zelvin from the leash on Puller and return control of the mori- ber of HUD deputy mortgage writers whose grounds of the Independence Hill seniors' com- bund development — which was in loan default negligent lending practices scandalized the munity, was stuffed with Zelvin's proof: four at the time — to him. agency during the 1980s, somehow managed to trunks and four file cabinets filled with finan- After all, Puller made his money working for avoid the disciplining hand of HUD, even after cial documents related to the construction of the the federal government as a so-called "coin- a Denver court found that his company had San Antonio retirement community. Zevlin surance lender"; Puller's business, arranging defrauded a development group. parked in front of HUD's Washington offices construction loans for housing projects using Puller, a former HUD employee whose polit- on March 13, 1990, and he phoned the HUD HUD's loan payment guarantees in return for ical associations included U.S. Senator Richard Inspector General's office. An auditor came commissions, wouldn't exist without the gov- down and inspected the stuff for two days and ernment. Certainly, knowing the facts about Continued on page 6 A2,,kfirgettielfta4t9r,;• '‘,1"4""4,,,-1%Tot'• : i.: .ig. H177* : ;1 ,, 14,...z.4..„, 11 - ,• ■`:11 73.;>'''' .„., DIALOG 'fiii ''1- - ...-.-r 1 ,... 4--- A!- '' ''" I'l THE TEXAS No Doubt on Krueger Tribute to Tedium bserver In our house plenty of debates occur about Bill I would much rather have seen Geoff Rips Clinton and Ann Richards. One side asserts, ("Good John Cage," TO 12/11/92) mark John "Give them a chance! They have to be practi- Cage's passing with a blank page. It would cal. If the kind of people you wanted were have been just as appropriate and a lot less A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES appointed by Clinton and Richards they (the tedious and time-wasting than the article. We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to president-elect and governor) would be lucky On the other hand, since Cage's music, if it the truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all to get any progressive passed. So many legis- can be called that, was uniformly tedious and interests, to the rights of human-kind as the foundation lators and special interests would be upset." The time-wasting, maybe Rips' piece was the ulti- of democracy: we will take orders from none but our own other side asserts, "their appointments are mainly mate tribute. conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent more of the same and they lacked any imagi- Charles Reinken the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. nation for the future." Fayetteville, North Carolina Writers are responsible for their own work, but not So go the debates, but last week the more-of- for anything they have not themselves written, and in pub- the same side picked up some points when Mr. Rips Responds lishing them we do not necessarily imply that we agree Richards appointed Bob Krueger to the Unites with them, because this is a journal of free voices. States Senate. "What a terrible pick!" was SINCE 1954 exclaimed by both sides. There were no benefit-of-the-doubt remarks. Publisher: Ronnie Dugger The sides agreed that Krueger is far more to the Editor: Louis Dubose Associate Editor: James Cullen middle than Richards or Clinton. What's more, Layout and Design: Diana Paciocco, Peter Szymczak he will not excite voters come May, which could Copy Editor: Roxanne Bogucka result in a Republican win (not that such a vic- Mexico City Correspondent: Barbara Belejack tory would be much worse than Krueger.) Editorial Interns: Carmen Garcia, Mary O'Grady. Contributing Writers: Bill Adler, Betty Brink, Warren Finally, the sides said that Richard should Burnett, Brett Campbell, Jo Clifton, Terry FitzPatrick, have picked Jim Mattox, who is able to get Gregg Franzwa, James Harrington, Bill Helmer, Ellen votes from all of Texas, and is someone with Hosmer, Steven Kellman, Michael King, Deborah Lutterbeck, Tom McClellan, Bryce Milligan, Debbie a vision of a different Texas and United States. Nathan, Gary Pomerantz, Lawrence Walsh. E. Novogrodsky, R. Wagner Editorial Advisory Board: David Anderson, Austin; Brownsville Frances Barton, Austin; Elroy Bode, El Paso; Chandler Davidson, Houston; Dave Denison, Cambridge, Mass; Bob Eckhardt, Washington, D.C.; Sissy Farenthold, Keep Digging, Henry B. Houston; Ruperto Garcia, Austin; John Kenneth Galbraith, I have especially enjoyed the reporting and Cambridge, Mass.; Lawrence Goodwyn, Durham, N.C.; George Hendrick, Urbana, Ill.; Molly Ivins, Austin; complete speeches of Rep. [Henry] Gonzalez. Larry L. King, Washington, D.C.; Maury Maverick, I hope this episode does not just "get lost," Jr., San Antonio; Willie Morris, Oxford, Miss.; Kaye because I believe what we know so far about Northcott, Austin; James Presley, Texarkana; Susan Reid, the fiasco is only a small part of the whole dis- Austin; Geoffrey Rips, Austin; A.R. (Babe)' Schwartz, Galveston; Fred Schmidt, Fredericksburg. honest and illegal story. Probably God will take care of Clark Clifford before the U.S. govt. 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Box 17427 Austin, TX 78760.7427 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE TEXAS OBSERVER, 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. FUTUM 389-1500 COMMUNICATIONS. INC 2 • JANUARY 29, 1993 , ,,,■.9446?.. • re:-..wkweeryt.o.O. net EDITORIALS T serverHE TEXAS New Texas Blues JANUARY 29, 1993 //Co how do you like your New Texas included Houston Rep. Mike Andrews, Sulphur VOLUME 85, No. 2 ANnow?" read a note left on my desk the Springs Rep. Jim Chapman, Fort Worth Rep. morning after Gov. Ann Richards appointed and former Bentsen aide Pete Geren and Railroad Commissioner Bob Krueger to the Railroad Commissioner Bob Krueger. The sec- FEATURES U.S. Senate. The appointment, the end of an ond list included Lloyd Doggett, John Bryant almost comic search for a suitable candidate and Martin Frost, and John Hannah. Mattox, In the Wake of a who would accept, gives Krueger an advan- it can be assumed, did not make the second Wayward HUD Agent tage in the May special election for the U.S. list, perhaps because Bentsen could safely By Peter Cassidy 1 Senate seat. assume that Richards would be loath to select It also demonstrates how Texas politics anyone who had so unfairly and unnecessar- Home Schools in Court just makes people crazy.