Back in 2000, a real estate fund affiliated with the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a meditation guru to The Beatles, claimed it would build the world's tallest high-rise in The Colony. Plans were soon scrapped. (File/1967)
The first investigative story I wrote for The Dallas Morning News was about a vague vision in 2000 to turn a Denton County cow pasture into the site of the world?s tallest skyscraper. I was reminded of that Sunday, when I read Matthew Watkins? piece on the latest plan for the land.
The Nebraska Furniture Mart ? one of billionaire investor Warren Buffett?s businesses ? wants to build North America?s largest furniture store there, as part of a $1.5 billion shopping mecca in The Colony. To bring it to fruition, the city would spend up to $800 million in roads, utilities and construction expenses ? a subsidies package one expert called ?exceptionally big.?
The 2000 deal also involved big hopes and celebrity. The company, Maharishi Global Development Fund, was affiliated with an Indian mystic who served as a transcendental meditation guru for The Beatles. The fund touted a 1,659-foot tower ? twice as high as Dallas? Bank of America building ? with offices for Fortune 500 companies and stores, costing as much as $3 billion.
The Colony?s mayor at the time and his two business partners owned purchase rights to the land fronting State Highway 121. In January 2000, they were privately trying to sell those rights to the Maharishi fund. The mayor, in his public role, was also pitching economic incentives to the fund.
Weeks later in February, the fund bought the rights for more than $3 million and sought changes to the land?s zoning. Another three months passed before the mayor disclosed his private dealings.
Despite the mayor?s courting, the Maharishi fund failed to win key city approvals later in 2000. Fund representatives told me that they had declined solicitations by one of the mayor?s partners to ?secure the City Council votes for a consulting fee.? An FBI agent began asking questions, and the fund started trying to sell the land.
Finally in November 2011, with little fanfare, the Maharishi fund sold the property to a group that shares an office address and executive officers with the Nebraska Furniture Mart, according to the county appraisal district. The group, 121 Acquisition Company LLC, then sold the land last September to taxpayer-funded corporations of The Colony. That was about the same time that the megastore?s construction began.
At the end of this post, I?ve copied some of the stories that that I wrote with Brooks Egerton on the Maharishi fund, mayor?s conflicts and other fallout.
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Colony mayor?s deal poses ethics question
He denies wrongdoing in high-rise venture
Reese Dunklin, Brooks Egerton
Publication Date:?October 29, 2000?
In dealing with a developer who wants to build the world?s tallest
high-rise in a fast-growing southern Denton County city, Bill
Manning has worn two hats.
As mayor of The Colony, he told the Maharishi Global Development
Fund of at least seven possible government incentives early this
year for its proposed billion-dollar building. At the same time, he
and two private business partners were negotiating to sell the fund
the land for the skyscraper; they eventually received more than $3
million for it.
Dr. Manning announced his conflict when city officials first
publicly discussed the Maharishi fund project in May ? months
sooner, he said, than state law?s requirement of disclosure before
any ?vote or decision.?
He has recused himself from all public discussion of the matter
since then, including last month when the City Council rejected the
fund?s first attempt to win a zoning change.
?I?ve followed the letter of the law absolutely and, as far as I?m
concerned, the spirit of the law,? said Dr. Manning, who is also a
dentist in The Colony. ?I don?t feel I?ve done anything wrong.?
But Dr. Manning was meeting with the fund, in both his public and
private capacities, at least four months before the disclosure,
public records show. In a January letter on city stationery to the
fund?s real estate broker, the mayor said he wanted to ?discuss
this extraordinary opportunity,? spoke of the city?s ?aggressive
pro-business council? and outlined potential incentives including
fee waivers, tax abatements and ?fast tracking of the construction
process.?
The Colony?s charter requires city officials to immediately
disclose if they have any business or monetary connections to
anyone ?doing or requesting business with the city.? Anyone who
fails to disclose and to disqualify himself from activity with the
outside entity ?shall forfeit his office,? the charter says.
In an interview Friday, Dr. Manning said he has no reason to
resign.
?There aren?t any laws that prohibit people from earning a living
as they choose to, as long as they follow the law,? he said.
He also said he has no other financial ties to the Maharishi fund?s
plans in The Colony.
Southern Methodist University legal ethics expert Linda Eads, a
former federal prosecutor, said, ?The appearance of impropriety is
massive? by Dr. Manning.
?I think the people deserve an inquiry here,? she said.
Max Wells, former president of the Texas Municipal League, said Dr.
Manning?s actions ?don?t pass the smell test.?
That would remain true, he said, even if The Colony?s incentive
offers were mentioned to all big prospective developers and even if
the mayor broke no rules.
?It?s a killer?
?It?s a killer even if nothing was done wrong,? said Mr. Wells, a
former Dallas City Council member who recently chaired a committee
that drafted that city?s new ethics code. ?It reflects poorly on
him and his partners and all public officials.?
Lanny Lambert, who recently resigned as The Colony city manager to
take the same position in Brownsville, said he ?absolutely did not
know? about the mayor?s private dealings with the Maharishi fund
until the May disclosure. He also signed the mayor?s January letter
to the fund?s broker, along with City Council member John Gordon
and the city?s late economic development director, Gene Ramsey. Mr.
Gordon could not be reached for comment.
Council member David Stanwick said he, too, did not know about Dr.
Manning?s tie to the Maharishi fund land deal until the May
disclosure and was not surprised or bothered by it. The mayor
revealed his business relationship in a timely manner and may not
have needed to recuse himself at all, Mr. Stanwick said, because
the sale was complete before the council began discussing the
Maharishi fund project.
Mr. Stanwick said Dr. Manning?s investment activity predated his
election as mayor last year and was widely known in The Colony.
?He has not tried to hide any of this,? he said.
In public meetings in recent months, some residents have asked Dr.
Manning ? who also served as mayor from 1991 to 1997 ? to disclose
his business involvements and profits from the land transaction.
Two, including Richard Kuether, called for the mayor?s resignation
at a City Council meeting July 17.
?Mayor Manning, your job as mayor is to look out for the interest
of the city,? Mr. Kuether said at the meeting, reading from a
prepared statement. ?With all the financial interest you currently
have within the city, whose interest are you really looking out
for? You are giving the appearance of a corrupt city government,
without any integrity, looking out to financially benefit
yourself.?
Criticism called political
Dr. Manning has dismissed the criticism as politically motivated.
He has not publicly disclosed his profit from the land deal.
?That?s the root of the thing,? he said Friday. ?It?s a fun town
politically. You better have elephant hide to be a part of the
process.?
According to court records, Dr. Manning and his partners acquired
the rights to buy 329 acres at State Highway 121 and Plano Parkway
in late October of last year.
The mayor knew about the Maharishi fund by at least Jan. 21, when
he attended a meeting at The Colony office of Don Blackwood, one of
his partners in Equine Parkway Corp. Also in attendance were Mr.
Blackwood; Randy Church of Dallas-based Wicker & Associates, a
broker for the fund; and Maharishi fund project manager Dan
Wasielewski.
Dr. Manning, wearing his dentist garb, showed up late as ?the
official greeter from The Colony,? Mr. Wasielewski recalled, and
sat in for about 30 minutes. He answered ?official, mayor-type?
questions, appearing supportive of the development and its possible
economic impact, Mr. Wasielewski said.
?He was very interested in that,? the fund official said. ?He
realized from the very beginning it would bring a lot of money into
the city.?
?We had concerns?
Mr. Wasielewski said he learned during the meeting that Dr. Manning
was also a partner in Equine. That fact, he said, ?just came out or
slipped out? and ?struck us as a little unusual.?
?We had concerns, obviously,? he said. ?We kept getting assurances
[from Equine] that everything was proper and fine.?
Later on Jan. 21, Mr. Blackwood sent Mr. Church a nonbinding letter
of intent offering to sell the Maharishi fund the land for $39
million, though the partners had not yet closed their own deal to
buy it. Dr. Manning declined to comment about that letter.
Mr. Blackwood has testified in a deposition that all three Equine
partners ? himself, Dr. Manning and Dallas lawyer Addison Wilson
III ? took part in writing the letter.
Five days later, Dr. Manning and the other city officials sent the
Maharishi fund?s broker their letter offering city incentives.
In an interview Friday, Mr. Blackwood said that he is the general
partner and that Dr. Manning is merely an investor who wants to put
his money in The Colony because ?that?s where his heart lies.?
?He has no say-so, really,? in their dealings, Mr. Blackwood said.
?The man has not done anything unethical. There?s too much at
stake.
?You don?t make those kind of silly mistakes.?
By the end of January, several fund officials toured the site and
met with city officials, including the mayor. Meanwhile, Mr.
Blackwood was negotiating with the broker and Mr. Wasielewski,
records show.
In early February, Equine sold its rights to buy the land to the
Maharishi fund for $3.15 million. On March 6, Wicker & Associates
sued Equine in Denton County state district court, alleging it had
been cheated out of a $1 million commission.
Equine hired the law firm of Denton County GOP chairman Richard
Hayes to defend it. A judge ruled against the plaintiffs, who are
not appealing.
Mr. Hayes? firm, Hayes, Coffey & Berry, also was hired March 6 as
The Colony?s city attorney. Mr. Lambert, the former city manager,
said the firm was hired based on staff recommendations.
Mr. Lambert and Mr. Stanwick, the council member, said they were
not advised that Mr. Hayes? firm also represented Equine.
Potential conflicts
Ms. Eads, the SMU professor, said that to avoid potential
conflicts, Mr. Hayes? firm should not represent both the city and
the partners. Mr. Hayes could not be reached for comment.
By late March, the Maharishi fund bought the 329 acres ? made up of
several parcels owned by different companies.
Dr. Manning publicly announced his business interests in the deal
on May 15, when the fund met publicly at City Hall with the
council, the planning and zoning commission and local residents. He
also signed an affidavit that day saying that funds from ?Equine
Investment Properties Inc./Maharishi? exceeded 10 percent of his
gross income for the previous year.
In his deposition, taken in the broker?s suit, Mr. Blackwood said
that Equine Parkway Corp.?s three partners each own one-third of
the company. He listed other companies that they also owned,
including Equine Investment Properties and others with similar
names, but did not detail their ownership structures.
In August, the planning commission endorsed the Maharishi fund?s
building project, which is billed as having corporate offices,
hotels, shops and some apartments. The grounds would include parks,
ponds and creeks.
The facility would be guided by the principles of the Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi, who pioneered transcendental meditation, fund
officials have said. The spiritual leader is not directly involved
in running the fund, officials said, though his followers?
donations helped start it.
The commission knew it was dealing with a high-rise but was not
told just how tall the building could be. When the City Council
rejected the fund?s request to rezone its land for the project last
month, it did not have that information, either.
Only in recent days has a specific number emerged: 1,659 feet,
according to a Federal Aviation Administration official who met
with fund officials. That?s more than 700 feet higher than Dallas?
tallest building, Bank of America Plaza. The FAA must approve all
construction over 200 feet near airports.
Mr. Wasielewski said the fund is not giving up and thinks the
council vote reflected more a desire for information and not any
negative sentiment toward the project.
?We?re used to this sort of thing,? he said, because many people
are unfamiliar with the maharishi. ?We feel if we follow their
requests, we?ll get their zoning.?
FBI corruption inquiry opens in Denton County
Consultants? role in developer incentives questioned
Reese Dunklin, Brooks Egerton
Publication Date:?March 10, 2001
The FBI is investigating whether extortion and kickbacks have
tainted the award of development incentives in Denton County,
sources close to the case confirm.
A central allegation, they say, is that politically connected
consultants sought payment to secure votes for county development
districts, which have been touted as a way for builders in the
booming area to save millions in infrastructure costs.
The case ?could broaden in scope,? one law-enforcement source said.
Last week, for example, the FBI approached former employees of a
weekly newspaper that was secretly owned by several public
officials and others.
The Colony Times, which promoted the development districts, shut
down in January because of what some owners described as financial
failure. The former employees said federal agents took from them
internal memos alleging financial irregularities at The Times and
its bank, whose manager was among the paper?s startup investors.
Other evidence in the case apparently includes a Sept. 18 memo in
which consultant Jeff Carey told a landowner to pay $10,000 that
day or the county?s five-member Commissioners Court would kill the
man?s development-district proposal.
A federal source not involved in the case said such a statement
could be investigated as potential extortion and, if a financial
connection to a public official is found, as potential public
corruption. No public officials have been named suspects.
Mr. Carey declined to comment Friday. He previously was the
county?s economic development director and was campaign coordinator
for two of his longtime friends: new County Judge Scott Armey and
Mr. Armey?s predecessor, Kirk Wilson. He has also raised money for
Jeff Krueger, who like Mr. Wilson recently left the Commissioners
Court.
Scrutiny welcomed
Mr. Armey, a former commissioner, said Friday that he knew nothing
about Mr. Carey?s memo and that the consultant had never approached
him about a development matter ?on anything other than the merits
of a project.? He said he welcomed scrutiny of the county?s actions
?by the public or any agency.?
Mr. Krueger said he didn?t believe the FBI was investigating but
would support an inquiry because ?we did nothing illegal. I can
absolutely guarantee you that.?
He said he previously referred the landowner, Dallas-based Land
Advisors Inc., to Mr. Carey on another development-district matter
near the town of Little Elm. He did so, he said, because that
project appeared stalled and Mr. Carey had previously helped the
town with an economic development matter.
Mr. Wilson, who is now talking about running for Congress, said Mr.
Carey did not approach him about the development-district proposal.
?I don?t think there?s anything to investigate,? he said.
Mr. Carey addressed his September memo to Denton County Republican
Party chairman Richard Hayes, an attorney who was representing Land
Advisors, and copied it to officials at the company. The firm is
run by the Dan Tomlin family, which controls large tracts of real
estate near the Denton-Collin county line.
?I can?t tell you how upset I am regarding this contract
situation,? Mr. Carey?s memo begins. ?I have used my expertise on
CDDs [county development districts] and my personal and
professional connections to help move a deal that couldn?t exist
without our leadership.
?This deal will save the Tomlin people over $10,000,000. I need to
have a $10,000 retainer check by the end of the day. If I am not
under contract this deal will fail with a 5-0 vote on CDD #9.?
Land Advisors officials declined to comment. They subsequently
withdrew their proposal, which had called for building a hotel, RV
park, golf courses and homes near Texas Motor Speedway.
Mr. Hayes denied getting such a document from Mr. Carey, who he
said was not involved in the deal, and suggested that ?it?s
probably a bogus memo.? The News has reviewed the document, which
was not provided by Land Advisors, and verified its authenticity
with several sources.
?You?d have to have an attitude to write a memo to that effect,?
said Mr. Hayes, the lead partner in a Denton law firm that
represented Mr. Carey at the time in unrelated litigation. ?I would
not expect such a memo from Jeff Carey.?
Mr. Carey quit his county job in 1996 after repeatedly being
accused of, but never charged with, misconduct. One allegation was
that he solicited payment from a developer for help in securing a
development district.
Land Advisors? patriarch, Dan Tomlin Jr., has had trouble of his
own. He completed probation last year for a bank fraud conviction
in the case that sent former Plano Mayor Jack Harvard to prison. He
has been in personal bankruptcy proceedings since 1999 and is
fighting an IRS claim that he failed to pay several million dollars
in taxes.
Mr. Hayes said the reason the Tomlins? proposal was withdrawn last
fall ?had nothing to do with Jeff Carey.? Mr. Armey concurred. What
mattered, they said, was opposition from nearby Fort Worth?s City
Council and the Commissioners Court?s respect for such feelings.
Denton County leads the state in creating the development
districts, which supporters say will bring in billions in new
growth. Critics, including Republican state legislators from the
GOP-controlled county, say the districts needlessly give away tax
revenue.
Under state law, developers petition the county to establish a
development district and submit a list of directors. Once the
district is ratified, the directors can issue bonds and levy sales
taxes to pay for roads and other infrastructure. Most had planned
to tax property, too, but Texas Attorney General John Cornyn nixed
that idea in October, throwing the future of some developments into
question.
In Denton County, commissioners have rejected only one proposed
district ? the one proposed earlier by Land Advisors for a
residential development outside Little Elm. There, too, local
opposition emerged. Mr. Carey tried to overcome it by suggesting
that the developer provide Little Elm financial incentives,
including a new City Hall, according to documents and interviews.
Elsewhere, commissioners have supported districts in the face of
protests, including resolutions passed by the towns of Copper
Canyon and Bartonville. In one case, involving a proposed
development near Sanger that Mr. Hayes represents, a group of
residents has sued commissioners.
Preliminary inquiry
The FBI began making preliminary inquiries in Denton County several
months ago, as The Dallas Morning News reported in one of a series
of stories about controversial business deals in the area. At the
time, another man with real-estate interests in the county said he
had been pressured to pay a powerful political consultant.
The pressure occurred in early 2000, Dan Wasielewski told The News,
as he prepared to seek zoning changes so that the Maharishi Global
Development Fund could build the world?s tallest high-rise along
State Highway 121 in The Colony.
Mr. Wasielewski said consultant Don Blackwood repeatedly offered to
?secure the City Council votes for a consulting fee.? At the time,
Mr. Blackwood was a partner in The Colony Times with four of the
council?s seven members, including Mayor Bill Manning.
Mr. Blackwood and the council members have said they did nothing
wrong.
Mr. Wasielewski has said that at the time he didn?t know of the
men?s connections but was told by Dr. Manning that Mr. Blackwood
?has a lot of influence with the city.?
What the charter says
He said he refused Mr. Blackwood?s repeated ?in-your-face?
solicitations. The council ultimately rejected his zoning request,
and the fund is now trying to sell the land.
The solicitations came shortly after the Maharishi fund bought
rights to purchase the land for the project from Mr. Blackwood, Dr.
Manning and another partner in the weekly paper, Mr. Wasielewski
said. While marketing the land privately, the mayor also promoted
possible city tax incentives to the fund.
Dr. Manning did not disclose this potential conflict of interest
until later, when the zoning case was first facing public
discussion. The city attorney has since concluded that Dr. Manning
did nothing wrong.
The city charter says officials must disclose immediately if they
have ?business or monetary connections? with anyone ?doing or
requesting business with the city.? The city attorney, Gordon
Hikel, called that standard too broad to apply.
The Denton County district attorney?s office is now reviewing
whether any charter violations occurred. ?We?re going to assign an
investigator and a prosecutor,? said Lee Ann Breading, first
assistant district attorney.
Mr. Hikel works for Mr. Hayes, who defended Dr. Manning and Mr.
Blackwood in litigation related to the high-rise deal. Both lawyers
have said this did not constitute a conflict of interest.
Mr. Wasielewski said that after he refused Mr. Blackwood?s offer to
secure city zoning votes, he had to fend off the consultant?s
offers to help him win approval of a county development district
for the skyscraper project.
Mr. Blackwood, he said, cited his political contacts and his
experience, both as president of one district?s board and as a
representative of the developer in another. That developer won
county commissioners? approval for a district last summer. The
Colony Times, without disclosing Mr. Blackwood?s interest in the
district, called it ?Christmas in June? for area residents.
At the time, Mr. Blackwood enjoyed strong support from all members
of the Commissioners Court. They had made him their representative
to the North Texas Tollway Authority and put him on a committee
that decided which road projects would be put into an $85 million
bond package.
Mr. Blackwood, as a founder of the newspaper, was listed as a
recipient on one memo that the FBI took last week. The document,
apparently written in late 1999 by the paper?s editor at the time,
Rick Moran, describes expenses that ?suddenly show up on the books
without notation.?
The unexplained expenses led newspaper staff to inadvertently write
checks with insufficient funds to cover them, Mr. Moran said, and
the bank covered the checks even though the paper didn?t have
overdraft protection. The banker who was a startup investor in The
Colony Times has said he did nothing wrong and called Mr. Moran a
disgruntled ex-employee.
Corporate documents filed with the Texas secretary of state listed
Mr. Moran as the paper?s only official, with titles including
president, organizer and registered agent. Mr. Moran said he never
functioned in those capacities and noted that the address listed as
his actually was that of one owner, a former Colony City Council
member.
Staff writer Todd Bensman contributed to this report.
Working both sides of 121?s construction
Denton County?s adviser also helps group selling land to state
BROOKS EGERTON, REESE DUNKLIN
Publication Date:?November 11, 2001?
Few routes in Dallas? traffic-choked northern suburbs are as
notorious as State Highway 121. John Polster, as much as anyone who
works for government, has been charged with fixing it ? making it a
freeway between one of the nation?s busiest airports and two of its
fastest-growing counties.
Now Mr. Polster is also working on the private side of the equation
- for an eccentric real-estate group that is seeking about $19
million more than the state is offering for a slice of pasture
along the road. That works out to about six times more per acre
than the Maharishi Global Development Fund paid for the field last
year, when it proposed to build on the site what would have been
the world?s tallest skyscraper.
The dispute is headed for a condemnation hearing Tuesday, with a
cast of characters that includes some powerful Denton County
Republicans. Among them are a North Texas Tollway Authority board
member, a county GOP chairman, and a former mayor.
Mr. Polster said he disclosed his affiliation with the Maharishi
fund to Denton County, which uses his consulting firm as its roads
developer. His work for the county includes arranging financing,
lobbying the state, hiring contractors, and storing public records.
The county has paid Mr. Polster about $1.3 million since hiring him
five years ago. He acknowledged that part of his county work has
involved prodding other landowners to quickly complete Highway 121
right-of-way transactions with the state. The county is responsible
for about 10 percent of total right-of-way costs.
Mr. Polster said he has merely counseled the Maharishi group
through the complexities of dealing with the state and tried to
expedite the process.
?I am not involved in setting the value,? Mr. Polster said. ?I am
not playing both sides of the table.?
County Judge Scott Armey declined to comment through a spokeswoman
and referred questions to County Commissioner Sandy Jacobs, who has
been the biggest advocate for improving Highway 121. She did not
return calls seeking comment.
Mr. Armey has close ties to Mr. Polster. Mr. Polster?s wife, Lisa
Polster, has worked in political campaigns for Mr. Armey and his
father, House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Mr. Polster previously
was an aide to the elder Mr. Armey, a Republican from Flower Mound.
Mr. Polster was brought into the deal by Don Blackwood, who is also
working for the Maharishi group. Mr. Blackwood is a close political
ally of Ms. Jacobs, who recently pushed for his reappointment to
the tollway board.
?I think the commissioner knows I?m just taking care of business in
the appropriate manner,? Mr. Blackwood said. As for Mr. Polster, he
said, ?I see absolutely no conflict.?Mr. Blackwood said the two men
are working for the fund via another consulting business, which
neither he nor Maharishi attorney Michael Hesse would discuss. Also
working with the men is lawyer Richard Hayes, who heads the Denton
County Republican Party and defended Mr. Blackwood in litigation
stemming from a previous controversy over the Maharishi fund?s
land.
Neither Mr. Polster nor Mr. Blackwood would say how much they are
being paid.
?It?s nobody?s business,? Mr. Polster said. ?It?s not as much as
I?m worth.?
An ethics expert said Mr. Polster?s disclosure to the county didn?t
remove the potential for conflict.
?If you have a government job, it constrains everything you do,?
said Dr. Robert Solomon, a University of Texas professor who has
written five books on business ethics. Many ethics codes, he said,
stress that what?s important is ?not just avoiding conflict of
interest, it?s avoiding the appearance of conflict of interest.?
Texas Department of Transportation officials would not say whether
they thought Mr. Polster had a conflict. And it?s not unusual, they
say, for property owners to seek much more than the state is
offering.
But the gap in the Maharishi case ?was pretty staggering,? said the
department?s Terry May. For the 38 acres sought by the state, the
Maharishi fund wants about $28 million, according to the
transportation department. The state?s latest offer is more than $9
million, up from a previous amount of about $4.5 million.
Given the wide difference, Mr. May said, ?it was in the best
interest of the taxpayer that we go to the legal process.?
Mr. Polster said the state didn?t appraise enough comparable
property to understand how valuable land has become in the 121
corridor. Citing ongoing negotiations, the Transportation
Department would not disclose what it has generally been paying for
right of way in the area.
?Their offer was far less than what the value was,? Mr. Polster
said. He also maintained that the relationship between the two
sides was ?not adversarial.?
Denton County Probate Judge Don Windle has appointed three men to
hear the matter Tuesday. One of them, former Denton Mayor Tom
Jester, has previously worked closely with Mr. Blackwood and Mr.
Polster.
Mr. Jester was chairman and Mr. Blackwood vice chairman of the
county committee that decided spending priorities for an $85
million road bond package in 1999. Mr. Polster compiled, stored,
and is implementing the plans. Mr. Jester, a Denton lawyer, did not
respond to a request to comment.
A worldwide movement
The fund they represent is part of a global empire led by Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi, who pioneered Transcendental Meditation and was a guru
to The Beatles. He most recently made news two weeks ago by calling
for President Bush to resign, saying that the U.S. leader?s
campaign against terrorism could lead to the world?s destruction.
The Indian mystic lives in Holland, where his movement runs a
24-hour television operation. Followers operate meditation centers,
universities, and hotels around the world.
The Maharishi claims to have several million such devotees, some of
whom started a small city in Iowa this year. Other disciples have
been trying to start their own nation in South America, where
they?ve reportedly offered the government of Suriname more than $1
billion for land.
In recent years, the development fund has proposed what would be
record-breaking skyscrapers in several cities but has never built
one. Last year, the dream led to the southern Denton County town of
The Colony, where Mr. Blackwood and two business partners had
secured purchase rights to a 329-acre tract along Highway 121.
Quietly, the partners began marketing that land to the Maharishi
fund. One partner was Dr. Bill Manning, who at the time was The
Colony?s mayor ? and in that capacity, he met with fund officials
and told them in writing about tax breaks the city could offer.
In February 2000, the partners sold their purchase rights to the
Maharishi fund for $3.15 million, and it went on to buy the land.
Dr. Manning did not disclose his interest until months later, when
city officials first publicly discussed the skyscraper project.
The Colony?s charter requires officials to disclose immediately if
they have business or monetary connections to anyone ?doing or
requesting business with the city.? After investigating, city
attorney Gordon Hikel, who works for Mr. Hayes? law firm, called
the requirement vague and unenforceable.
The FBI later began a corruption inquiry in Denton County and has
named only one public official who figures in it: Dr. Manning. The
dentist has since been voted out of office and has repeatedly said
he did nothing wrong.
Maharishi fund official Dan Wasielewski has said that when he was
preparing to seek the zoning change, Mr. Blackwood repeatedly
offered to ?secure the City Council votes for a consulting fee.?
Mr. Wasielewski has said he rejected the offer. He did not respond
to recent requests for comment.
Mr. Blackwood denied making such an offer, saying that ?at no time
have I ever told people I could deliver votes.? He said he and Mr.
Wasielewski have a good, respectful relationship.
Late last year, after failing to win zoning approval from the city,
the fund dropped its skyscraper plans and said it would sell the
property.
What lies ahead
But the fund?s land has never been sold. A few weeks ago, a sign
appeared ? without a phone number ? saying that a commercial
project called Global Centre was ?coming soon.? City officials say
they?ve received no development plans or other material about it
from the Maharishi fund.
Mr. Blackwood said the group plans to start installing water and
sewer lines early next year for a ?master-planned, high-end,
mixed-use? project.
Mr. Polster, however, said: ?There is no Global Centre.? He said
the fund simply aims to get a fair settlement from the state by
showing that the property?s most profitable use would combine
restaurants, stores, and offices.
In a later interview, Mr. Polster said he hadn?t meant that there
was no development planned, only that ?it?s not relevant to the
right-of-way issue.?
Mr. May, who works in the state transportation department?s Dallas
office, said his agency considers Global Centre a mere idea. Time
and time again, he said, landowners describe grand visions and want
top dollar for right of way.
?I?ve seen a lot of Disneylands being planned, but they don?t get
built,? Mr. May said.
?
Consultant in inquiry is top donor to Denton DA
Prosecutor says funds aren?t influence in review of business
deals
REESE DUNKLIN, BROOKS EGERTON
Publication Date:?February 21, 2002?
The Denton County district attorney?s top political contributor is
a real-estate consultant whose business dealings with a suburban
mayor prompted a federal corruption inquiry.
The consultant, Don Blackwood, gave more than $5,000 last fall to
District Attorney Bruce Isaacks? campaign. The money came months
after the prosecutor said his office also was investigating
allegations of conflicts of interest by some City Council members
in The Colony who had business ties to Mr. Blackwood.
Mr. Isaacks said the Blackwood contributions would not compromise
his office. ?I?ve prosecuted donors in the past. We?ve done it
before, and we can do it in this case if it?s necessary,? he said.
Mr. Isaacks? office said this week that it had put its inquiry on
hold at the request of the FBI, which continues to investigate and
could refer the case back to the district attorney.
Federal authorities are investigating, among other matters, former
Mayor Bill Manning?s dealings with Mr. Blackwood. Dr. Manning had
touted possible city development incentives to a real estate group
while he and Mr. Blackwood were also privately trying to sell it
land.
Mr. Blackwood also has come under scrutiny for misstatements he
made under oath about his background in a lawsuit. After those
discrepancies were revealed late last fall, he resigned under
pressure from two government boards.
Mr. Blackwood, who faces no criminal charges, could not be reached
for comment. His office manager, Matt Dalton, said he was
vacationing out of town.
Mr. Blackwood?s gifts to Mr. Isaacks were more than two times the
amount given by the next largest donor to the campaign during the
second half of 2001, when the district attorney raised nearly
$80,000.
Campaign filings show that Mr. Blackwood sent the Isaacks campaign
a $5,000 donation in late October, responding to a fund-raising
letter. A few weeks later, in mid-November, Mr. Blackwood donated a
$375 round of golf for four that was auctioned off during a
campaign event.
Misstatements
That contribution came a few days after Mr. Blackwood?s claims
about his personal history began to publicly unravel. Mr. Blackwood
soon resigned as Denton County?s appointee to the North Texas
Tollway Authority board and as president of a special taxing
district near Flower Mound.
Afterward, Mr. Isaacks said he was not investigating Mr.
Blackwood?s misstatements about his name, age and education. The
prosecutor said he had seen no indication that the misstatements
had caused any harm to the public and that his office does not
routinely pursue perjury allegations made in civil courts.
This week, Mr. Isaacks said that he was surprised by the size of
Mr. Blackwood?s check and that he could not recall having
previously received campaign donations from the businessman. He
said he had ?not a clue? what prompted the gifts.
Mr. Isaacks, who is unopposed for re-election, said he and Mr.
Blackwood spoke briefly at his fund-raising event last fall and
posed for a photograph.
?I didn?t think there was any reason to think there was anything
wrong with the money,? Mr. Isaacks said. ?There weren?t any strings
attached to it.?
Mr. Blackwood remains politically active on other fronts. He is a
Republican precinct chairman in Denton County. He was one of 12
?patron/sponsors? of a fund-raising event Wednesday in Denton
County for Gov. Rick Perry. People in that group generally donated
several hundred dollars each.
A Perry campaign official said that Mr. Blackwood?s name ?was
brought to us? by county Republicans and that he had not previously
given to governor. ?At no point did our campaign solicit Mr.
Blackwood for a contribution,? said Deirdre Delisi, Mr. Perry?s
campaign manager.
One of the event?s organizers is the law office of Denton County
Republican Party chairman Richard Hayes, who has several ties to
Mr. Blackwood.
He successfully defended Mr. Blackwood and Dr. Manning against a
lawsuit that accused them of cheating a real estate broker out of a
$1 million commission. And the two also are working for the
Maharishi Global Development Fund in a land-condemnation fight with
Texas highway officials.
Maharishi fund
Mr. Blackwood?s ties to the Maharishi fund date to 2000, when it
paid him, Dr. Manning and another partner $3.15 million for the
rights to buy a tract of land along State Highway 121 in The
Colony. At the time, the fund said it wanted to build the world?s
tallest skyscraper on the site.
Mr. Hayes also represents Mr. Blackwood in a lawsuit filed by an
estranged business associate, who accuses him of letting truckers
dump on his land. During a deposition, Mr. Blackwood made the
misstatements about his background.
In subsequent corrections filed in court, he gave a new account of
his age and full name and admitted that he does not have a degree
from Texas A&M University.
?I thought I had graduated from Texas A&M under a program with the
Air Force,? Mr. Blackwood wrote in his explanation. He served 15
months in the Air Force and spent most of that time in Louisiana,
according to records obtained under the federal Freedom of
Information Act.
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