ustxtxb_obs_1979_03_16_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

Lucille takes the wheel Kika de la Garza, the congressman from South Texas, is having a little car trouble, but he is making no panicky calls to the neighborhood mechanic. The “trouble,” you see, is that his campaign committee has bought onehis administrative assistant describes it as “a little tiny Ford station wagon”for his wife, Lucille. The committee paid for it with $10,000 of the $41,000 it raised at a “Salute to Kika” dinner last year, an action that apparently is legal but violates a House ethics rule that says, in part: “A member of the House of Representatives shall keep his campaign funds separate from his personal funds and he shall convert no campaign funds to personal uses. . . When questioned by Paul West of the Dallas Times Herald, de la Garza’s aide, Cecilia Hare Martin. denied the gift violated House rules and insisted that “he didn’t have to report it, but he decided to because otherwise you characters [reporters] would say he was taking money from widows or depriving poor kids of something.” Then Martin proceeded to place the whole thing in its proper context: South Texas politics. “Historically,” she said, “everyone down there’s been given a car, then-congressman Joe Kilgore, Lyndon Johnson, John Connally, Dolph Briscoe. Nobody gets all excited about it.” Moving on Sherman Fricks, secretary treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO since 1973, resigned his position in January to return to the top job in his old union in Houston, Pipe Fitters Local 211. Fricks began as a pipefitter in 1942 and served as president of Local 211 from 1960 to ’64. In January, Fricks was elected by a two-to-one margin to the post of business agent for 211, the largest pipefitters’ unit in Texas. On January 27, the AFL-CIO executive board chose Joe Gunn to replace Fricks as the number two man in the state labor federation. Gunn, former president of Houston’s Communications Workers of America Local 12222, had been serving on the three-member Texas Employment Commission since 1973 until he resigned to run for state secretary-treasurer. To complete the circle, outgoing Gov. Dolph Briscoe named a United Brotherhood of Carpenters leader, A. C. Shirley, to the TEC slot vacated by Gunn. Bob and Sara Roebuck Anchor National Financial Services 1524 E. Anderson Lane, Austin bonds stocks insurance mutual funds optional retirement program Austin’s Authentic Arredondo Mexican Recipes JORGE’S 2204 Hancock, 454-1980 CASITA JORGE’S 2538 Elmont, 442-9091 JorgeChief Cook & Pearl Diver THORP SPRINGS PRESS Committed to the publishing and promotion of new authors Write for our current catalog: 3414 Robinson Avenue Austin 78722 r Center Stage presents Joseph Heller’s CATCH 22 Opening Feb. 16 thru Mar. 18 / Reservations 477-1012 Thurs, Fri, Sat 8 p.m., Sun Mat 2 p.m. / Gen Adm $4, Student $3 Center Stage 6th and Trinity Streets, next to Old Pecan Street 50 cents off ticket price with this ad b tS t #14b;0;*;0 41#1 In a Hurry? Fast Self Service; New Soup & Salad Bar. …or Sandwiches, Chili, Tacos, Chalupas, and restaurant baked Buttermilk Pie served by our staff. Daily Specials. Sunday Brunch. Omelettes and Eggs Benedict. Haagen Dazs Ice Cream and fresh yogurt. the greenhouse Above the Kangaroo Court. Downtown Riverwalk 314 North Presa, San Antonio, Texas. THE TEXAS OBSERVER 15