Doyal claims accusations politically motivated

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Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal denies accusations that he allowed a former county employee to use county equipment for work on his campaign while on and off the clock in 2012.

Attorney Eric Yollick, of The Woodlands, brought the issue to light during public comment of the Nov. 23 Commissioners Court meeting.

"(The fact) a commissioner would permit such a situation to occur is reprehensible and reflects an attitude that the county property is there not to safeguard, but for the personal and political use of the commissioner," Yollick said during the meeting.

He said the situation is a waste of county dollars.

According to documents provided by the county, the termination occurred in March 13, 2012, when Doyal was Precinct 2 commissioner. He terminated office supervisor Melissa Goetz, whom Doyal hired in 2006, for using the equipment.

Doyal claims this has come to light only for political reasons.

The Montgomery County Employee Policy Manual states that employees are prohibited from ... removing county property without authorization.

"This is a four-year-old incident that was settled by the county attorney and (Human Resources) that I believe is being brought up today for political purposes," said Doyal, adding that since the incident, the county has tightened its policies on the use of county equipment.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, who worked under Doyal at that time, said he saw Goetz bringing a printer back to the office on a Monday morning and later reported the situation to Doyal.

According to the documents obtained by The Courier through an Open Records request, Doyal stated in the termination paperwork, "It just came to my attention that on or about January 9, 2012, you returned a printer to the office which you admitted using to prepare campaign materials. The printer was owned by Montgomery County. You have been repeatedly warned to not use county materials, equipment or time to work on my campaign."

While the termination documents state her offense was so severe that pervious warnings were not needed, Goetz's personnel file indicates she was suspended for 2-1/2 days in November 2011. However, the paperwork, signed by Doyal, does not state a reason for the suspension and shows it was received by Human Resources on April 23, 2012, which was after Goetz's termination. Doyal said he did not recall the reason for the action.

Goetz's response letter to termination

In an April 17, 2012, letter to Human Resources Director Dodi Shaw, Goetz requested numerous documents regarding her termination. Goetz also outlined how Doyal instructed her to use county printers and other equipment to prepare campaign finance reports and campaign fliers.

"Personal direction from Craig Doyal regarding changes that needed to be made on his reports during work hours, request to create political program ads during work hours, requests to prepare and mail political checks during work hours, and requests to work on fundraisers during work hours led me to believe that not only were these activities approved by Craig Doyal, they were required of me as part of my regular duties," Goetz stated. "The time used to complete these activities was under his immediate direction."

Goetz, who claimed she was "wrongfully terminated" in the letter continued, "… other county employees working on campaign activities and fundraisers during work hours, also led me to believe that Craig Doyal approved of these activities." She noted that Precinct 2 crews built platforms used at Doyal's fundraisers in the county shop and that Riley made food purchases at Sam's Club for Doyal's fundraisers during work hours.

"(These) are just further indicators of Craig Doyal's knowledge of and approval of the use of county materials, equipment, or time to work on his campaign," she stated.

Riley denied Goetz's accusations.

"No, never did," Riley said of working on Doyal's campaign.

Shaw did not respond to an email regarding Goetz's personnel file and any further investigation into her accusations.

Goetz, who could not be reached for comment before press time, is the mother of Brian Goetz, 22, who was arrested and charged with two counts of intoxicated manslaughter and one count of intoxicated assault after he crashed his truck in October 2012 killing two of his passengers.

Following a week long trial, Brian Goetz was found guilty Nov. 9 of this year of a lesser charge of DWI and sentenced to six month in jail. He was released from the Montgomery County Jail less than two weeks after the sentencing for time served.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

While the Texas Election Code does not specifically address the use of county equipment for campaigns, the code does address the use of public funds for political advertising.

Section 255.03 states "an officer or employee of a political subdivision may not knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising."

A violation of the section is a Class A misdemeanor.

Additionally, Texas Attorney General Opinion No. H-1165 states the use of public property, labor or service by a public officials or employee for private benefit constitutes the offense of theft.

According to Yollick, the statues of limitation for theft by a public servant of government property over which he exercises control in his official capacity is 10 years.

"Ms. Goetz alleged all of these activities to have occurred in the 2011 and 2012 time frame," Yollick noted.

Cultural atmosphere

While Goetz made the claims that others, including Riley, worked on Doyal's campaign using county equipment on an off the clock, she also claimed employees used other county equipment, such as chain saws and leaf blowers, for personal use.

"Again, conflicting practices regarding the use of county resource have confused the issue at hand," Goetz stated noting Riley's delay in telling Doyal about the incident was an "excuse to have me terminated."

Doyal declined to respond to Goetz's claims he was aware of her using the equipment on and off the clock but said there was no further action or investigation into the claims after she was terminated.

Goetz claims also indicate Riley and Doyal created an "atmosphere of leniency to exist in the commissioner's office."

Riley said was aware of Goetz's letter but had not seen it.

"I have not seen the letter. I hear there are two, and I don't care to see either one," Riley said.

Riley did say while crews do take county equipment home, it is not for personal use.

"They get called out 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Riley said. "Anything can happen at any time. It makes sense to do that."