Despite what some people say, you certainly can fight City Hall, even if the building burned down (twice!), as what happened in this case.
The City Hall that burned down was in the town of Aurora in Wise County.
Aurora is best known for a legendary crash landing of an alien in 1897. The supposed remains of the Aurora Spaceman are buried in a town cemetery.
This latest story involves a different kind of outsider and illustrates the difficulties some people face when they don’t fit in. In this story, two men, married to each other for more than 15 years, felt disrespected, even discriminated against, because of their lifestyle.
Maybe some would put up with this, but there are others like Gary Garcia and Chad Pritchett who will fight back and, in doing so, change the history of the small town.
Hatch chile
They also pushed successfully for a new state law that bans anonymous complaints made to Child Protective Services about child abuse. More on that later.
The two husbands opened a restaurant in town called Atomic Taco Cafe. Atomic was known for its Hatch chile, which was so good that in a blurb Texas Monthly recommended the bean and cheese burrito, “which is punctuated with Hatch chile inside and out.”
The magazine writer wanted to come back and do a longer story, but while he was there for the first story, he smelled a leaking septic system and methane gas. The smell was a real appetite killer. He put Atomic’s big story on hold.
At first, the cafe owners thought they could get the problem fixed simply by asking the landlord to repair the broken septic system. That didn’t work.
The property involved was owned by Toni Wheeler, Aurora’s town administrator. She was not quick on making repairs.
Frustrated, Garcia called the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which sent an inspector who issued a state citation.
For Wheeler, who ran the little town, this was a step too far. She declared war on the two men. It’s a war she now must regret as she sits in a cell at the Wise County jail, awaiting transfer to a state prison for a 15-year sentence.
She lost the war in the worst way. Every little roadblock she threw at the men, they threw back, only harder.
She tried to raise their rent to an unaffordable level to force them out early before their 2-year lease expired. For this, court records show, she even created a fake owner to get them out.
The pair launched their own investigation into Wheeler. They heard rumors that Wheeler may be embezzling money from town coffers.
At first, law enforcement was reluctant to get involved. But the pair kept pushing.
They wanted the town to hire an auditor. Wheeler created a fake auditor, complete with business cards, a website and an all-is-clear report on town finances.
Garcia filed an open records request at City Hall for the town financials. He never got a response. Months later, City Hall, where the records were kept, suddenly burned down.
Wheeler blamed a bad multi-plug outlet and extension cord, Investigators never found that. All anyone knew was that Wheeler was the last person inside before the fire.
The suspicious fire stirred the interest of Texas Ranger B.J. Hill, who knew that the bank used by the town would store duplicate records. Going through the records at the bank, the Ranger had a holy moly moment.
He discovered, according to records, that Wheeler had stolen $650,000 from the town.
That included $96,000 to Amazon, $10,000 to Apple and another $85,000 for personal credit cards.
She even stole from the cemetery association, Hill charged.
He also learned that back in 2007, a similar fire broke out at City Hall, where Wheeler worked then.
Nobody was ever charged with arson in either fire.
Garcia was on the sidelines urging law enforcement to go after Wheeler. But interest in pursuing the case was muted.
Then came a game-changer: Wheeler did something so heinous that months later the Texas Legislature passed a law to make it illegal.
Anonymous CPS reports
She filed an anonymous report to Child Protective Services about the two husbands who adopted a young boy. In her anonymous complaint, she claimed that the boy was sexually abused and a victim of sex trafficking.
She made it up.
The child could have been hustled out of his house on fake charges, and this family would have been broken for years to come.
Fortunately, the allegations were groundless, and CPS quickly cleared the family.
Using the system as it was meant to be used, the two dads sued the town in federal court, citing civil rights violations and discrimination. The case was settled out of court.
In addition to Wheeler, some of her allies who were involved in sullying the family’s reputation and forcing them to close their cafe were taken to civil court. There, a judge ordered a half-dozen Wheeler cohorts, including her and her husband, to pay the two dads default judgments totaling $7.5 million. As of today, not a penny has been paid. Most of them filed bankruptcy.
On the criminal side, in late August, Wheeler pleaded guilty to embezzlement of more than $300,000 and filing false CPS reports (she filed a fake one against her brother, too).
‘We persisted’
When delivering the victim impact statement before the sentencing judge, Garcia said: “Our work in uncovering and reporting these activities, placed our family in grave danger. Yet we persisted because we believed in justice for our son and the citizens of Aurora, who have suffered from years of theft and embezzlement under her watch.”
Wheeler was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The dads’ lawyer, D. Bradley Kizzia of Dallas, praises his clients’ courage fighting someone who held “the power of public office.”
“Despite the legal hurdles in the way, Gary and Chad never gave up.”
The Wise County Messenger reported that Wheeler must make restitution of $250,000 and likely will lose her Wise County property, valued at $268,000.
The new law — House Bill 63 — makes filing a false child abuse report a felony. In a change, the bill’s language states that CPS “is not authorized to accept an anonymous report of abuse or neglect.”
The dads’ son turns 9. “He got a great birthday gift with Toni going to prison,” Garcia says
Watchdog tips on fighting City Hall
File open records requests to learn the internal workings of governments.
If wrongdoing is found, contact law enforcement, local, county, state and federal. Show your evidence. Be persistent without being rude or annoying.
Learn pertinent laws. Texas has landlord-tenant and anti-discrimination laws.
Complain to appropriate regulators. In this case, the fathers complained to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Consider, as the fathers did, pushing for a new state law. It’s a longshot, but every two years, hundreds of new bills get passed in the Texas Legislature.
Show courage.
