Bribery or campaigning? Felony charge over pastries roils Fort Worth suburb
A box of pastries has led to a citywide political disruption for a Fort Worth suburb.
Westworth Village City Council member Halden Griffith was charged with felony bribery on May 15 for handing out pastries to potential voters on the May 2 Election Day.
According to Griffith’s arrest affidavit, Mayor Kelly Jones received information from a citizen that Griffith left a box of pastries from The Black Rooster Bakery, owned by former City Council member Imran Khan, with campaign materials on a resident’s doorstep.
Griffith was not up for reelection or campaigning for himself. Instead, the campaign material criticized Jones’ support for rezoning the Kite Farm for apartments. The flyer also showed support for three City Council candidates, Darla Thornton, Brad Turner and Michael Bachand.
Thornton lost to council member Michael Dingman, Turner defeated Justin Harnick and Bachand, lost by two votes to council member Robert Fitzgerald.
A group, including Jones and Dingman, went on a search to find more pastry boxes around the neighborhood, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, Jones saw Griffith distributing the boxes around the neighborhood, and took photos of him. Jones then called City Manager Brandy Barrett for advice on how to handle the situation, and Barrett suggested Jones call Griffith, according to the affidavit.
Jones said that he didn’t remember if he called the police or Griffith first, as everything “ran together.” He said he had to leave a voicemail because Griffith doesn’t usually answer his calls.
“It has come to my attention that you were delivering things of value to people, soliciting votes for city council candidates today. That’s highly illegal. I strongly urge you to stop that immediately and do what you think is right.” Jones said in a voicemail to Griffith, according to the affidavit.
Jones emailed Westworth Village residents informing them of potential election disturbances.
“The city received serious accusations from several citizens that a current elected official, and possibly others acting in concert, on Election Day violated your Constitutional rights to a fair election. These accusations must not be taken lightly; duty requires they be fully investigated. Our response to these accusations is pivotal to the perception of our city’s governmental integrity,” the email read.
Frank Sellers, a Fort Worth attorney representing Griffith, said Griffith did not bribe anyone, since Texas Bribery law requires a quid pro quo. The phrase translates to “this for that” meaning to prosecute a bribery case successfully, the state must prove there was an official agreement to exchange a benefit for an official action.
“Bringing pastries with a campaign flyer is called campaigning, not bribery. No votes were bought, no deals were made, and we are confident this case goes nowhere,” Sellers said in a statement.
Calvin Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said in this case, the quid pro quo is likely broken as Griffith had no way of knowing whether the recipients of the pastries actually went out and voted.
A report from the Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity at Columbia Law School found that the nature of small municipalities makes them susceptible to political corruption due to lack of oversight and enforcement that is prevalent in larger communities.
Whitney Vaughan, a resident of Westworth Village, believes that bribery charges are “blown out of proportion.”
“I think that for a number of years, most of the community has been able to sit back and trust that the council members are doing good things for the community, and they have been, don’t get me wrong,” Vaughan said. “However, because there is not a lot of citizen involvement, there is a perceived lack of oversight by some of our elected officials, and I think that has been taken for granted.”
The case has been handed over to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, where it will review and decide whether to prosecute. In a statement to the Star-Telegram, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said Westworth Village submitted the case on Monday and that it was under review.
