Student Scourge

Some call him the kingmaker. The puppeteer. Some call him Tarrant County’s Karl Rove. But when an election needs to be won at all costs, nobody is higher in the consulting echelon than Eppstein, although that political stranglehold could be diminishing locally.

He’s spent decades pulling strings and guiding candidates, first in Fort Worth and now statewide. He has strategized campaigns for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, state Rep. Charlie Geren, and state Sen. Chris Harris.

During Mike Moncrief’s early campaigns in the 2000s, Fort Worth’s former mayor spent more than $100,000 for Eppstein’s expertise. Other city council candidates, particularly those with close allegiance to the police and fire unions, relied on Eppstein as well. Current Councilman Jungus Jordan shelled out about $150,000 to Eppstein while running for office in 2005 and 2007, while Councilman Dennis Shingleton spent well over $100,000 for Eppstein’s services in 2011 and 2012. Fort Worth’s police and fire unions have paid Eppstein hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to lobby for the unions’ causes, such as collective bargaining and pension protections.

Eppstein describes himself as a Republican consultant, but he’s helped elect Democratic candidates in nonpartisan races. Jim Lane, a Democrat, hired Eppstein in 2006 to get elected to the Tarrant Regional Water District’s board of directors. Current Fort Worth City Councilman Sal Espino reported about $50,000 in expenses to The Eppstein Group in 2005.

“You have consultants that can appeal to both Republicans and Democrats, even in nonpartisan races,” Espino said. “He’s good at his trade. He knows how to win elections. He is very knowledgeable on the local, state, and federal level.”

At the same time, Eppstein oversees other businesses that sometimes benefit from his many connections. For instance, he heads a public relations firm that was given $1.6 million in no-bid contracts to shore up the Trinity River Vision project’s public image. Recall that Eppstein helped elect Sen. Kay Granger, whose son, J.D. Granger, is executive director of the Trinity River Vision Authority. And Eppstein helped Lane and Marty Leonard get elected to the TRWD board that oversees aspects of the Trinity River Vision.

Even the staunchly pro-development Fort Worth Business Press cringed about that PR contract. Publisher Richard Connor wrote that “Eppstein manages campaigns for political candidates who pay him at least twice — once when they run and again after they get elected. It’s a conflict, but the officeholders are more beholden to Eppstein than they are to you, the voters.”

A 2007 video from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin gives a rare glimpse into the thought process of the camera-shy consultant. Speaking before a class, he casually described his profession. A good political consultant, he said, is someone who “can tell [politicians] whether their jokes are funny, their speech is on point, their body language is appealing or not, whether they have messed up, and, if they have, how to respond.”

Candidates should behave like a racehorse by “staying focused on the objective of winning and [not] going down the rabbit holes of correcting inaccuracies or responding to a negative comment,” he said. “It’s not the smartest person or the most qualified person” who necessarily wins.

In recent years, Eppstein’s power appears to have slipped somewhat, particularly in Fort Worth. He no longer represents a majority of city council members. Current Mayor Betsy Price used Dallas’ Allyn Media to help get elected.

His most public setback occurred in 2008, when upstart Wendy Davis defeated Eppstein’s Republican client. Texas Sen. Kim Brimer of Fort Worth was the only Republican member of the state senate to lose that year.

More recently, the pro-drilling Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars through Eppstein’s firm to convince voters to turn down Denton’s fracking ban. Eppstein was paid to advertise, contact voters, purchase television ads, and send direct mail to convince everyone the ban was a bad way to go. But voters passed the measure, even though the group supporting the ban was dramatically out-funded by the deep-pocketed drillers. Denton became the first to ban the controversial drilling technique inside city limits.

Eppstein doesn’t accept failure easily. In 2012, he guided Republican Rep. Mark Shelton in his race against Wendy Davis for Senate District 10. After Davis won, Eppstein circulated a memo among Austin political leaders explaining how she had “stolen” the election.

After Denton approved the fracking ban, Eppstein blamed college voters.

Some political observers speculate that Eppstein has spread himself thin, taken on too many clients, created too many branch businesses, and/or lost his touch. The rise of Tea Party politics and an anti-establishment sentiment might also be hurting him. Eppstein is still thick with Ed Bass and other downtown players who often need a consultant or lobbyist. They called on Eppstein to work with a local political action committee to win voter approval for the new arena near Will Rogers Coliseum. That measure passed.

The Eppstein group earned a cool $1.7 million. He appears to be taking on more issue-oriented elections these days rather than individual candidates in local races. For instance, the last big mayoral election in Fort Worth pitted Lane against Betsy Price in 2011. Neither candidate used Eppstein during the election.

“He’s still the go-to guy, but he doesn’t have a monopoly on the local races,” a political wag said. “I don’t know if he holds as much sway anymore.”

 *****

Holding sway, both in reality and in perception, is important to someone whose livelihood depends on people thinking he can get done whatever people want getting done. Winning is the end game. It says so right there at the top of the The Eppstein Group’s webpage: “We’re a team that wears many different hats. Some call us smart, reliable, creative –– even heroic (yes, it’s happened). But we prefer the term ‘winners,’ because we’re relentless in helping our clients achieve their communication goals.”

A relentless drive to win is an apt description of Eppstein’s current war on housing rules. He’s clamped down on the Buttram situation like a possessed pit bull. Last Oct. 14, he failed to convince Fort Worth’s zoning commission to create narrow allowances for grandfathering in the TCU overlay district. Then he drafted a zoning change that is still under consideration by the Fort Worth City Council. That plan would boot out the five TCU students on Alton Road but could also make it difficult for rental property owners citywide to stay in business due to certain regulations in the proposal. The zoning commission recommended the changes on July 8 without public input or the normally requisite notices being sent to TCU area residents.

The amendment stalled at an Aug. 4 city council meeting and was sent back to the zoning commission for stakeholder input. City council is expected to make a final decision on the zoning proposal soon.

One rental property owner who did not wish to be identified described Eppstein’s actions as reckless, and he said the proposed changes would put landlords like him out of business.

“I totally understand nuisance issues with college kids in residential neighborhoods,” the man said. “Nobody wants a nuisance, whether it be college kids or a crazy cat lady. So I totally understand it.”

The problem for Eppstein, the landlord continued, began after the overlay was created and approved, and Eppstein realized it didn’t go far enough to solve his personal problem.

“The overlay has barely been in existence just a few months,” he said. “Mr. Eppstein decided it wasn’t going to go far enough to solve his problem, so he began working with planning and zoning to get further restrictions on it.”

According to the zoning draft, property owners would face a daily $2,000 fee if their tenants changed significantly over a one year period, had a different address listed on their driver’s license than the rental property, or installed deadbolt locks on interior doors. Many household renters in Fort Worth (an estimated 100,000 people, based on national averages) would be in violation of one or more of the proposed rules, the landlord said.

A realtor speaking to the Weekly off the record said Eppstein doesn’t know when to stop.

“It seems to me that [Eppstein and the neighbors he’s representing] are trying to take a nuisance issue, something that’s just on their street, and apply it across the city and do it in a sneaky way,” he said. “It would affect a big wide swath of the public, and [Eppstein] is just trying to get some kids kicked out of a rent house on his street.”

As the proposed rental restrictions appeared less likely to be approved, Eppstein concocted another plan. He’d have the Alton Road property in question classified as a boarding house. (He had already tried without success to get it classified as a fraternity house.) Alton Road is not zoned for boarding houses, so such a reclassification could put the rent house in violation of a zoning ordinance.

Neighbors aren’t concerned that redefining housing categories might create unintended and citywide consequences for property owners.

“We’re just concerned with this house,” said Jerry Miller, nodding toward the Buttram home next door to him on Alton. “This doesn’t meet the city’s definition of a single-family home,” he said. “That’s why we’re taking the stand we are, and that’s why it came before the board of adjustments.”

The Millers and other Alton Road property owners agreed that Eppstein was the best guy to lead the fight.

“This is not about Bryan, it’s about everybody on the street,” Miller said. “Bryan is representing us.”

Why Eppstein?

“His background, his understanding of the law,” Miller said. “It’s his knowledge of city hall. That’s what he does for living.”

The expectation is that Eppstein can fix things because he’s smart, connected, and knows how to maneuver around bureaucratic hurdles.

Fort Worth is somewhat unique in allowing five unrelated persons in a residential home. Most cities allow two to four, deputy planning director Burghdoff said.

A student who lives in the Buttram house and requested anonymity said he and the other four tenants have met with neighbors and won over all of them except for Eppstein. The students say they now warn neighbors about parties, promise to respond immediately to complaints, tell their visitors to park on one side of the street, pick up their litter, and act respectfully.

“We came in and resolved things,” he said. “Everybody loves us.”

Still, Eppstein won’t stop pushing.

“This was a private dispute that could have been solved privately,” the student said. “It’s pretty simple to see what’s going on here –– harassment of the property owner.”

Next door, the Millers agreed that the current tenants have been respectful and well behaved. Everyone is getting along better. The Millers even toted a batch of brownies to the students as a goodwill offering. But that doesn’t mean things are solved.

“It’s not the kids,” Miller said. “It’s the parking and other issues that go along with having them here. If they could put their cars in the driveway, it wouldn’t be an issue for us.”

He glanced next door, where two cars sat in the driveway, four cars were parked along the curb, and a scooter was parked in the front yard, and this was in the middle of a weekday.

“This is a single-family neighborhood,” Miller said. “That’s not a single family. These are really nice homes, and that’s not a good situation for any of us. It has nothing to do with the kids. There could be five other people that weren’t TCU students, and it would be the same situation.”

At the board of adjustment meeting, Eppstein’s case was last of a dozen. Three hours into the meeting, after most of the city hall chamber had cleared of speakers, and one board member had left for an appointment, Eppstein made his presentation. He’d determined the city’s definition of a boarding house matched the activity occurring at the “boarding house” on Alton Road.

“In 2014, it was our neighborhood belief that this property was being unlawfully used as a boarding house,” he said. “And as such, this property should have been expressly excluded as a family use in our one family-zoned neighborhood.”

The property should be excluded from grandfather status under the TCU overlay due to its boarding house status, Eppstein said.

Like a prosecutor making his case before a jury, Eppstein methodically dissected the city’s description of a boarding house and described why he thought the rental home should be reclassified.

After he finished, Burghdoff contradicted Eppstein’s stance.

“The five individuals share a single residential lease of the property owner,” she said. “They have chosen to live together as roommates.”

Reclassifying the property would create citywide implications, she added, and could potentially lead to thousands of rental properties being re-designated as boarding houses. Board chairman Darian George was direct in his comments.

“I feel like your intention is to have this [property] designated as a boarding house because you don’t want a bunch of TCU kids living next to you,” he said.

Eppstein denied that claim.

The Buttrums spoke last. Stephen described buying the property in 2004. Ansley grew up near the neighborhood, he said. The Buttrams planned to raise their family there. A job transfer forced them to move to Houston several years ago, and the couple decided to rent out the Fort Worth home rather than sell it. They plan to offer the home to their children if they attend TCU. After that, the Buttrams plan to return and live there after they retire.

Instead, Eppstein is using harassment to coerce the family into selling the home, Stephen said.

Holding back tears, Ansley said she is distraught that people she formerly knew as friends and neighbors have turned against her family.

“Not one time has anybody in [Eppstein’s group] contacted me personally,” she said. “I grew up a block away from the house. Where Mr. Eppstein lives, I used to babysit. I recently walked down [to speak with Eppstein] with my kids because I saw him drive into his driveway. I was just wanting to be a neighbor and ask, ‘What is going on?’ Not one time did he answer his door or contact me personally. This is me. This is my house. I have not failed Fort Worth. Fort Worth has failed me. And it’s because of Mr. Eppstein and the [neighbors] here. Shame on them.”

As the meeting wound down, board of adjustment members didn’t appear to be buying Eppstein’s arguments. However, one board member left the meeting early. Eppstein was given the option of allowing the board to vote on the case right then or to continue the discussion until the board met again in a few weeks. This would mean the Buttrams would have to make another trip from Houston on a weekday to attend.

Ansley’s face made it clear she was upset. Eppstein could continue to hold power over her life.

Eppstein said he’d like to meet again.

“I think based on some false and inaccurate statements made by the landlords that we need to continue on to allow for the correct information” to be brought forward, he said.

Buttram lowered his head and shook it back and forth. Ansley exhaled audibly, stood up, grabbed her purse, and stormed out of the meeting room. The case is expected to reconvene at the Oct. 21 board of adjustment meeting.

Eppstein remained unflappable. He was simply asking legitimate questions in the appropriate venue. This was no attack on renters, TCU students, or the Buttrams, he said.

“We love TCU,” he said. “We love the student body. We love the administration. This is an issue of the zoning ordinance and land use. This is the right venue for that debate to occur at city hall.”

Like Eppstein’s website says, he’s “relentless.”

And winning seems to be getting harder these days.