Texas: Ed Johnson

Harris County Tax Accessor and Collector, Leo Vasquez, has reassigned Ed Johnson, the associate voter registrar, away from Harris County voter data.
The Lone Star Project has learned that Republican Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez has reassigned Associate Voter Registrar Ed Johnson from voter registration duties to a communications role. Johnson was exposed by the Lone Star Project as "the inside man" to Republican elected officials, particularly State Rep. Dwayne Bohac (HD138-Houston).
Johnson was found to be moonlighting and selling the voter registrar data to political clients. Lone Star Project has also found that he accessed drivers license data and if he sold or profited from this activity, he is in violation of Federal laws.

You have to wonder if the Grand Old Partiers (GROPERS) in Harris county are just plain stupid when it comes to ethics reforms. Harris County Commissioners are looking at some simple ethics reforms such as voluntary registration by lobbyists (like voluntary jail time for sex offenders) or posting all financial disclosure forms online, or mandatory ethics training.

Mandatory ethics training might have made Commissioner Jerry Eversole think twice before traveling around the country buying antique books, authentic cowboy chaps or a $25,000 antique pistol with his donors money, or spending a day golfing and working out on county time, but look what Eversole thinks about

Leo Vasquez has an opportunity to put the controversy concerning Ed Johnson, his assistant voter registrar, to rest by releasing his emails, phone records, and internet activity over the last few years. Instead, he whines in an OP-ED.
Recently, last year’s baseless allegations of improprieties within the voter department of the tax office have garnered renewed attention from the local media and various unaccountable bloggers. These attacks are nothing more than partisan “witch hunts” attempting to smear the record of my predecessor and the staff I inherited.
He is talking about a lawsuit filed because the rate of voter registration denial is grossly higher than other large counties, and that his predecessor, Paul Bettencourt quit just 2 weeks after being re-elected, and that there have been numerous complaints about the office concerning voter suppression, and that Leo got the job not because he won, but because he had 3 buddies on the County Commission, and that his assistant voter registrar is moonlighting selling the data that he is in charge of, as well as testifying in favor of a voter ID bill.

Ed Johnson is the associate voter registrar at the Harris County Tax Assessor office as well as a paid director of Computer Data Systems selling voter information to republican candidates. It seems odd that a county official in charge of voter information is actually selling that information to his republican buddies, especially since that information is public records. From the Houston Chronicle:
Ed Johnson is associate voter registrar at the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office, where he’s worked since 1999. He’s also a paid director for Computer Data Systems, a venture started in 2003 with state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston. The company sells the same voter information Johnson is paid by taxpayers to manage in a nonpolitical manner.