Sources: FBI Making Inquiries Into Richardson Mayor, Developer
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RICHARDSON(CBS11) - CBS 11 News has learned a popular zoning change that sparked a firestorm of controversy in Richardson is attracting the feds.
Sources tell me the FBI is asking questions and making inquiries involving Richardson's Mayor Laura Maczka and developer Mark Jordan, who won the zoning change for his property so he could build apartments and retail along Central Expressway, north of Campbell.
It's one of the last green spaces in the city, and many opponents live in the Canyon Creek neighborhood off Collins, just west of the land.
The controversy began in December, 2013, when Maczka was part of a five to two majority approving the re-zoning.
Opponents, who live in the same neighborhood as the Mayor, were outraged because they say the Mayor ran on a platform against apartments and told them she would oppose the zoning change.
On March 19th of this year, the Mayor filled out a conflicts disclosure statement, saying she started working for Jordan's firm, JP Partners - Sooners Management, the developer of the apartment project.
On April 2nd, the Mayor announced even though she's the only one on the ballot, she will not accept re-election.
On April 28th, the city of Richardson announced its independent investigation found the Mayor did not violate any city ethics rules or the city's charter.
At that meeting, the mayor admitted she went through a divorce, and had become friends with Jordan.
I called Jordan and he hasn't returned my call. But the Mayor's attorney, Jim Shephard tells me this is the first he's heard of the FBI's inquiry. He insists the Mayor's new job with Jordan had nothing to do with her support for his apartment-retail project.
Shephard says Maczka needed a job to be able to re-finance her house, and because she receives no child support from her ex-husband.
The FBI declined comment about its inquiry.
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