Published: June 11, 2006 04:01 pm      

Petition probe

Rose ousts campaign manager

State Rep. Patrick M. Rose said this week that he has fired a former campaign manager who is under scrutiny for his role overseeing a petition drive marred by suspected forgeries and irregularities.

Austin-based political consultant Mark Littlefield is a focus of a joint district attorney’s and state attorney general’s investigation into possible voter fraud on the Austin Community College annexation petition.

Sixty-nine people have signed sworn affidavits that their signatures were forged and hundreds more names, apparently taken from old voter lists, do not appear on current registration rolls.

Hired last summer by a group of local boosters to lead the drive, Littlefield is also a long-time member of Rose’s inner circle and served as campaign manager for the Dripping Springs Democrat’s successful re-election campaign in 2004. The two met while working on former Land Commissioner Gary Mauro’s run against then-Gov. George W. Bush in 1998 and Littlefield was a key player in Rose’s improbable upset of incumbent State Rep. Rick Green in 2002.

But Rose, who has for weeks declined to answer questions about the case, said in an interview that he has dismissed Littlefield and accepted the resignation of Littlefield’s wife, Jennifer, who worked in Rose’s state office. Littlefield was working as a campaign database manager when he was fired, Rose said.

“The limited amount I know about the investigation has raised questions that led me to permanently end my professional relationship with Mark Littlefield” about a month ago, Rose said. “This is a very serious situation and there’s a very serious investigation going on.”

Littlefield did not respond to a phone call for comment. Rose provided a copy of Jennifer Littlefield’s one-line resignation letter, which gives no reason for leaving.

Hays District Attorney Mike Wenk, through his chief deputy Wes Mau, said prosecutors have no comment on the investigation except that it is ongoing.

Rose said he had no role in the petition drive and was disturbed by allegations of extensive fraud.

“This has been a traumatic experience for San Marcos,” he said. “I sit on the Higher Education Committee so I heard from the folks coming in who told us how important ACC is to San Marcos. This has been a rough time for a lot of people.”

Littlefield was paid $3,600 to coordinate the drive by the ACC San Marcos Yes! Committee, which was funded almost entirely by developer Randall Morris, who has offered to donate 38 acres for a satellite campus on Texas 123 near the planned location for his Cottonwood Creek subdivision.

Morris said in an April interview that he was not involved in the petition drive.

“I still think it’s a great idea for the community of San Marcos and obviously think its a good idea for the east side of town and my subdivision,” Morris said. “But my involvement and interest in the petition drive was limited to my offer to donate a site for an ACC campus.”

Less than six months before his next election day, Rose will chose a new campaign manager in coming weeks, said his longtime political consultant Randy Thompson. Rose faces former San Marcos school board president Jim Neuhaus.