We have another Council member under the looking glass.
Councilman Al Hoang is the subject of a city Office of Inspector General investigation over allegations that he submitted fraudulent signatures to the city in a petition to change the name of a street.
“I have determined that there is enough of a problem with the situation and enough potential that some of those signatures were forged that I have initiated the OIG investigation on my own authority,” Mayor Annise Parker said.
[…]
“I welcome the Office of Inspector General investigation and will fully cooperate with it,” Hoang said in a statement released by his office. “I have already volunteered information to their office for a full and thorough investigation. I am completely confident that when all the facts are reviewed, I will be cleared of any wrongdoing.”
Hoang told the Chronicle on Wednesday that he did not know whether any of the signatures were forged and if so who forged them. He said his nanny was the last person to have the petition before he delivered it to the city.
“Let me also clarify that I have never placed blame on my former personal assistant, as some stories have portrayed,” Hoang’s statement today said. “I have clearly said that the homeowners association tendered the petition to my assistant at home, not that she maliciously forged that petition.”
See here for some background. The whole nanny thing is by far the weirdest aspect of this. We’ll see how the OIG investigation goes – it won’t surprise me if the report doesn’t come out till after the election – and if it comes to that we’ll see who might file the complaint against Hoang.
UPDATE: A correction from the Chron.
A story about a lawsuit accusing City Councilman Al Hoang of forging signatures on a petition that appeared on page B1 of the June 16 Houston Chronicle incorrectly attributed a statement to Hoang. It was the plaintiff’s lawsuit that claimed Hoang had said he did not know the name of his former nanny.
So noted.
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