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A Friend of Unfair Park now living in NYC directs our attention to The Daily Beast’s compendium of The Most Corrupt States (which several TDB readers are taking issue with, since Illinois comes in way down at No. 47). And, after factoring in such things as the number of corrupt public officials convicted by the feds during the past decade, Tina Brown’s Web site concluded — spoiler alert — that Texas ranks a healthy 13. As evidenced by the Lone Star Blurb, I think we can all say, “Thanks, Don Hill.”
In February Jibreel A. Rashad of Dallas became one of the final defendants to be convicted in a corruption probe, including a former Mayor Pro Tem and 12 other public officials, that blurred the boundaries of public and private enterprises. Rashad formed a phony construction company in 2004 and partnered with the elected officials to shake down a low-income housing developer, James R. “Bill” Fisher, into accepting contracts from Rashad’s unqualified company. When Fisher refused, city bigwigs delayed Fisher’s rezoning bid application. Rashad was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion.
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