Ethics complaint filed against Seaman

The countdown clock for State Rep. Gene Seaman is ticking along as a constituent who is a Republican and a former supporter has filed an ethics complaint against him.

The complaints were filed Thursday by Jay Masterson, 63, a Republican who now is supporting Seaman's Democratic challenger, Juan Garcia. She claims Seaman's $1,000-a-month rental payments for the condo since 1999 amounted to using political contributions for personal gain and to purchase real property, in violation of the code. The roughly $500 a month he paid in condo association/homeowner association fees also violates the code, according to one of Masterson's complaints.

Seaman's office faxed a copy Friday of a May 4, 1999, letter from the Ethics Commission to the Caller-Times that says it is permissible for Seaman to pay rent to his wife as long as the condominium is his "wife's separate property."

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What Masterson says she wants reviewed is whether Gene and Ellen Seaman have separate property. Masterson and lawyers contacted Friday and Monday say the condo most likely is community property - unless the Seamans can prove otherwise - because they have been married for 50 years.

In a required 2005 personal financial statement, Seaman says he is a real estate developer and owner, financial planner and insurance agent. The statement lists Ellen Seaman as a housewife.

Texas law presumes that everything owned during marriage is community property, said Ann Coover, a local lawyer, board certified in family law.

"Unless the parties involved can show evidence that the funds paying for a particular asset were a gift, inherited or owned at the time of marriage, it is presumed to be community property," she said.

If Gene Seaman provided his wife with the funds to buy the condo, it would constitute a gift and would be viewed as community property, lawyers said.

Property also can be separated contractually after marriage, lawyers said. The contract, called a partition and exchange agreement, must be in writing, signed by both partners and notarized, lawyers said.

Monday, Seaman's spokesman Mac McCall said there is no written property separation agreement between the Seamans. Ellen Seaman paid cash for the condo with her own "personal income and assets," McCall said. He declined to disclose Ellen Seaman's source of the money.

"It's a personal matter of a private citizen," he said.

I'm sorry, but that's a really weak explanation for a case where the facts just don't look too good. Remember, the Seamans also received two homestead exemptions, for which they have since paid $11K in back taxes. If they didn't know what they were doing, their household finances are awfully disorganized. This story isn't going away, and it's not going to do anything for Seaman's image in the meantime. Juan Garcia is already a great alternative, and he'll become more appealing the longer this drags on.

Link via The Red State. Meanwhile, in other ethics news, Muse has a followup on the charges filed against State Rep. John Davis, and Juanita has a story about ARMPAC and the discount it gave itself on its conciliation agreement with the FEC. Check 'em out.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 27, 2006 to Election 2006 | TrackBack