SPEARS: ‘MY OPPONENT’S LATEST FALSE ATTACKS HIGHLIGHT HIS SAD, HOLLOW CAMPAIGN OF REPUBLICAN-STYLE PERSONAL SMEARS’
Popular Travis Co. Tax Collector Says Maxey Ads, Stealth Calls Show Profound Disrespect For Voters and Democratic Process
(AUSTIN) — After a long season of negative ads, embarrassing revelations about his lack of knowledge regarding the office he seeks, and disturbing evidence of his willingness to do anything and say anything to get elected, Travis County Tax Collector Nelda Wells Spears today said that her opponent’s latest false attacks show a profound disrespect for voters and the democratic process.
“My opponent should file political bankruptcy,” Spears said. “His latest false attacks highlight his sad, hollow campaign of Republican-style personal smears and show a profound disrespect for the democratic process and the voters he is asking to support him.”
Spears noted that her opponent, political consultant Glen Maxey, has leveled repeated charges that proved false, including his latest — an absurd allegation that the tax collector is failing to block vehicle registrations for those who owe delinquent child support, based on a law Maxey claims to have sponsored a decade ago while a member of the Texas Legislature.
In fact, all vehicle registration records are maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, Spears said, which is required to obtain child support data from the Attorney General. On the three occasions that the state agencies have done so, the Travis County Tax Office has enforced the law.
Spears said that Texas lawmakers last year approved SB 228 to amend state law to allow the Attorney General to provide such information to TxDOT in a streamlined fashion. To date, no such data has been provided by the Attorney General, but county tax collectors across Texas are standing by when and if the state agencies implement the new system.
“Once again, my opponent either has his facts wrong or is willfully misrepresenting them to voters,” Spears said. “Either way, the idea of putting him in charge of collecting taxes or safeguarding personal information in the voter registration rolls should give Travis County citizens pause.”
Maxey has previously been criticized for falsely claiming that the tax collector was responsible for rising property appraisal rates and home foreclosures in East Austin, as well as for lying about Spears’ position on a voter I.D. bill pushed by Republican state lawmakers. Spears did not support the measure.
Spears was re-elected with more votes than any other candidate on the Travis County ballot in 2004 and has compiled both the best tax collection record in Texas — 99 percent — and the best presidential election year voter registration record of any urban county in the state — 94 percent in 2004.
Spears’ opponent has attacked her relentlessly throughout the campaign with allegations that one by one have been proven false, including his latest claim that she endorsed a legislative proposal to require voters to show a photo ID at the polling place. Spears did not endorse the bill and does not support the notion.
Endorsed by a wide range of community leaders, Spears has been Travis County Tax Collector since 1991. She previously served as chief deputy to Tax Assessor-Collector Cecelia Burke and personnel director for State Comptroller Bob Bullock and Land Commissioner Garry Mauro.
Spears this year received the prestigious Best Practices Awards for Exceptional Delivery of Services from her peers in the Texas Association of Counties Leadership Foundation for technological innovations and customer service. She was also awarded the 2007 ComputerWorld Honors Laureate for the application of the latest technology to improve access for taxpayers with visual impairments.
