Houston Blogs: Houston Political Blog: Bettencourt Drama continues

We have the letter that Tax man Paul Bettencourt submitted to Judge Ed Emmett to clarify the date of his resignation. Take a look, it basically says he's going to resign effective Dec. 23rd.

That's all well and good, except County Commissioners were a bit perplexed on how to appoint a successor yesterday. Basically, they were informed that if they fail to appoint anyone before Dec. 23, Bettencourt would automatically continue to be the Tax man, unless he dies.

I spoke at length to Bettencourt yesterday. I repeatedly asked him whether his "heart was in it" the last year he was on the job. He more or less dodged the question. Bettencourt also said he couldn't talk about his future plans. However, those in the know say he'll be fighting people's property tax hikes for a fee.

Now, on to the developments today. The Texas Democratic Party is holding a news conference to talk about "new" developments relating to its lawsuit against Bettencourt. For those catching up, Bettencourt was named in a lawsuit relating to voter registrations by the Democrats. The TDP is determined not to let Bettencourt leave without some sort of dust up.

In the mean time, the jockeying to be Bettencourt's successor continues. Judge Ed Emmett said he's heard about a dozen names. Bill King has been mentioned prominently, but he's heading for a City Council election. There is a full roster of Republican judges looking for a job, so plenty to choose from.