E-mail, phone campaign targets Arlington councilwoman, husbandE-mail, phone campaign targets Arlington councilwoman, husband

By SUSAN SCHROCK - Fort Worth Star Telegram - Thursday, April 2, 2009
ARLINGTON — City Council member Lana Wolff is being attacked in e-mails and automated phone messages, but not by one of her challengers in the May election.

Ex-council member and political consultant Dick Malec is again trying to convince voters that Wolff’s husband’s financial and legal troubles could impair her ability to represent east Arlington, comparing the couple in one e-mail to Bernie and Ruth Madoff.

Bernie Madoff, accused of bilking investors out of billions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme, pleaded guilty on charges of fraud, money laundering and perjury last month.

"Would you elect Bernie Madoff’s wife to oversee Arlington’s budget?" Malec wrote.

Wolff said Malec has a history of attacking candidates who don’t use his consulting services. She says she is not distracted by Malec’s attacks or by the charges against her husband, Jimmy, which she believes will be dropped.

"I don’t get any of those e-mails, but most people say, 'Eh, consider the source,’ " said Wolff, who is seeking her fourth term. "They are what they are, and that is what he does to everybody. If you don’t pay him money to work on your campaign, he goes against you."

Campaign repeat

Malec began handing out copies of public records outlining criminal allegations against Jimmy Wolff when his wife first ran for office in 2003. This campaign season, Malec has posted those documents online and has been mass-calling and e-mailing residents, urging them to Google "Who is Lana Wolff?"

Malec contends that the Wolff family’s unresolved problems and past bankruptcy could distract her from her duties and embarrass the city.

"If you look into Lana’s background, you will find corruption, greed, moral/financial/ethical decay, and a steady move away from the things that made Arlington great," he wrote in one e-mail.

Malec said he has not been hired to provide campaign consulting advice to attorney Thresa Meza or pilot Michael Driscoll, who are challenging Wolff for the District 5 seat.

Jimmy Wolff is awaiting trial in Oklahoma on 11 felony charges of conspiracy, racketeering and filing a false financial statement. The Oklahoma attorney general’s office alleges that Wolff and his business partner, Rodney Williams, transferred money from another company they controlled and reported grossly inflated or fictitious profits to make their insurance company appear solvent in reports filed with the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

Lana Wolff said she doesn’t understand why her character is being attacked because of her husband’s situation.

"What does that have to do with me?" she said.

'Perfectly content’

Last year, Malec sent out computerized phone messages to more than 16,000 potential voters urging them not to vote for Vera McKissic, who was running for an at-large council seat. McKissic told the Star-Telegram then that she believed Malec was "angry because we did not keep him on board" as a consultant.

The Wolffs are also facing a lawsuit to collect a judgment on a past lawsuit. In 1992, Jimmy Wolff was sued by four companies that said he had misappropriated their investments. The investors won a $2.4 million judgment, plus interest, but Wolff hasn’t paid, according to the new lawsuit. The new suit also says Lana and Jimmy Wolff have hidden their assets from creditors.

The Wolffs filed for bankruptcy in 1992, stating that they had $97 million in unsecured debt, according to public records. Lana Wolff said that she is not involved in her husband’s business matters but that she believes the criminal charges and the lawsuit will be dismissed.

"I’m not going to be distracted. I’m perfectly content and will continue to serve like I have for the last six years," she said.

Malec, who lives in west Arlington, cannot vote for the District 5 council candidate but said he wants those who can to make an informed choice. "To me there are too many danger signs with her past and her husband’s past," Malec said. "She has not exposed any of these things. I think that is pertinent information. I’m trying to let the people know before they make a decision to vote."

Malec, who served on the Arlington City Council from 1986 to 1992, also filed for bankruptcy in 1995.

Staff writer Max B. Baker contributed to this report, which includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
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