Not that more information would have made much difference. As it turned out, only one councilmember -- Lloyd Kelley -- bothered to seriously question the settlement. Wong says she was not briefed on the facts of the case or Huey's role -- nor did she ask. "I am not an attorney and I did not delve into those things I do not understand .... Regardless if it's the city or an individual, you learn from your mistakes and you move forward."
Huey would probably like nothing better than to leave the Leath case behind her. Though her name was scarcely mentioned in media reports about the settlement, she has remained sensitive to perceptions of her role. At a recent Council meeting she asked that a vote on the settlement be tagged for six days, rather than the usual two weeks. When Kelley asked her why, Huey snapped, "I can't think of anything pressing. I'm not guilty of anything. I don't have any ulterior motives."
On the morning of the vote, Hall and Huey had a lengthy chat via in-house phones in the Council chambers. The topic of that conversation emerged during an exchange Huey had with Alison Dieter, a local activist who criticized the city and Huey before the vote.
"I guess I do have one question for the city attorney," Huey said. "Mr. Hall? When citizens appear before Council and make statements and allegations, are those statements and allegations admissible in any litigation that might ensue ...?"
"Yes," Hall answered.
Hall says that prior to Dieter's appearance he and Huey had discussed whether the activist should be sworn in before speaking. "I think [Huey] wanted a debate," he says, "and if she swore them in, a perjury action could be brought against the person making statements before City Council."
Hall, who says he backs Huey's well-publicized campaign to rid Houston of dangerous buildings, maintains that the councilwoman's role in the Leath case was "innocuous, at best." The real issue, he says, was that the city had issued a building permit, but after allowing the Leaths to spend $260,000 fixing the building, had it torn down. Hall says he won't fault Huey for being too aggressive in her efforts to see the project halted, nor will he quibble with her "absolute right" to apply political pressure to department heads.
"Helen has been most effective against the slumlords of this city," Hall says. "And it's my impression they are mounting a campaign to discredit her. I've found nothing inappropriate as to her conduct. I would hope she could do more legally. I mean legally -- I'm not into this moral thing."
But maybe Hall believes the line between what's legal and what's moral can be too easily blurred in the public's eye. Last week, just days after the settlement vote, he proposed an ordinance that would eliminate Council's authority to approve or reject certain settlements negotiated by his office.
Lanier killed the proposal before councilmembers had a chance to consider it.
