Guess who is wasting more charity money?
Share this story:
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo shows Texans everyday why they think they are a Sacred Cow.
Now they are trying to bully a State District Judge in their effort to keep you from seeing how they spend tens of millions of dollars in money given in the name of charity. Really?
State District Judge Steven Kirkland decided the rodeo’s lawsuits against Dolcefino Consulting over requests for charity records should be heard in his court, the same court as the trail ride rape case that led to all the rodeo bullying over records in the first place.
After multiple hearings, Judge Kirkland twice ruled against the rodeo’s legal attacks on Dolcefino Consulting, and their third legal action ended up in Judge Landrum’s court.
“Since Judge Kirkland has heard all the expensive lawyer arguments, we thought it made sense and saved charity money to let the Judge who already knows about the fight to keep ruling on this fight, especially since part of our legal action involves using Texas law to stop the rodeo from trying to silence free speech,” says Dolcefino Consulting President Wayne Dolcefino.
The Court of Appeals has stayed the Judge’s order until they review whether he’s right to keep the case in his court, and until then Judge Kirkland refuses to transfer the case to another court.
Unhappy with waiting for the courts to rule, the rodeo has now filed a new motion to get the Appeals Court to force Judge Kirkland to give up the case, when he was the Judge they first wanted to rule on the case.
“This is flagrant ‘forum shopping,’ and for completely unknown reasons,” says Jeff Diamant, the Houston attorney defending Dolcefino Consulting. “The Rodeo sought relief from the 334th, and now they seem to be running scared from this very court when either judge is perfectly capable of making an informed and reasonable decision. I guess they have just decided they don’t like the court in which they first tried to file their groundless action.”
The Houston Rodeo has a General Counsel Sherry Hibbert, who according to tax returns made more than $300,000 in 2016. Instead of saving money, the rodeo has at least three lawyers from Vinson and Elkins hired to keep the rodeo’s money spending a secret. That’s thousands of dollars an hour in legal fees.
“This is an absurd waste of money and court resources that could have been much better spent on putting a needy youth through school, which is supposed to be the rodeo’s main purpose,” says Jeff Diamant.
Dolcefino Consulting President Wayne Dolcefino went a step further.
“Every rodeo volunteer should say enough is enough, because it is their blood and sweat and tears that has been used to enrich the rodeo’s swollen corporate big wigs, instead of raising money for school scholarships and agriculture,” says Dolcefino. “They should ask why they work for free while the Rodeo now has a quarter of a billion dollars in asset and invests millions of dollars out of the country which could be used to send needy children to college, to our great agriculture schools.”
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s main number is 832-667-1000. Call them.
We will keep you posted.
Keep up with us on social media:
