On Fundamentalists Taking Over City Hall

Jerry Falwell Jr. has recently been in the news for his underhanded ways of making waves at city hall in Lynchburg, Va. He may well be taking pages out of Rick Scarborough’s playbook in Pearland, Texas.

Scarborough was successful in taking over City Hall while he was a pastor in Pearland and he left a legacy that casts an ugly shadow over Christ and his church. Sam Davis, a member of the Pearland community, has posted a blog entitled I remember Rick at the Pearland Progressive weblog.

Here's a short excerpt from Davis's blog that summarizes Rick's underhanded dealings with Pearland City Manger Paul Grohman who was a member of Scarborough's church:

The most damning and potentially costly allegation is the sweetheart deal Grohman got for his church on their parcel of land on Pearland Parkway. City official Ed Hirsch was present when Grohman told Rick Scarborough that if his church bought the land where their current church stands, the city would buy back right of way for the new Pearland Parkway extension. According to Hirsch, the extension was not publicly known at that time. The church bought the land and promptly sold the right of way back to the city for $121,787. "It is our understanding that after the Church acquired the property, plans for the roadway were changed specifically so that the Church would have frontage on both sides of Pearland Parkway."

Could the Church have afforded the 48 acres of prime commercial property without the sweetheart deal? I doubt it. Just remember that every year you pay more taxes because this land is essentially out of the city and county tax base.