Texas
Related: About this forumFormer Richardson Mayor Laura Jordan faces a seven-count federal indictment on corruption charges
Former Richardson Mayor Laura Jordan and her real estate developer husband, Mark Jordan, face federal bribery and corruption charges over a controversial project called Palisades, a mix of retail space, restaurants, office space and apartments under construction along Central Expressway.
In 2015, plans for 1,000 apartments in Palisades drew bitter protests from neighbors in the Canyon Creek and Prairie Creek neighborhoods near the site. More than 300 wrote letters opposing it, fearing that so many apartments would lead to more crime, overcrowded schools and lower property values. Nevertheless, Richardson's City Council approved the needed zoning changes requested by Mark Jordan's company, JP-KBS Richardson Holdings. The city also granted the developer a 50-percent tax rebate for infrastructure costs, capped at $47 million.
Laura Jordan, whose last name was Maczka at the time, lived in Canyon Creek and originally opposed zoning changes that would add more apartments to Richardson. She changed her mind on Palisades, however. After news broke that Maczka was not only dating Jordan but had taken a job at his company, what started as a typical NIMBY fight in the burbs took on the air of a soap opera. Maczka was hammered online, prompting an ethics investigation from the city. Ultimately, she decided in April 2015 that she would not seek a second term as mayor.
While the citys three-week ethics investigation found no evidence that Laura Jordan or the City Council had breached state or city ethics rules, a federal grand jury came to a different conclusion. A press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Texas lays out the charges:
Read more: http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/laura-jordan-ex-richardson-mayor-and-husband-indicted-on-federal-corruption-charges-10698053
pbmus
(12,418 posts)TexasTowelie
(111,312 posts)However, Richardson is a fairly well off suburb of Dallas so I would guess Republican.