Hicks & Mrs. Kirk

08/22/02 That pesky stock option stuff is back.

Here is what the Houston Chronicle is saying, but The Dallas Managed News report that broke the story AFTER the arena sales tax election and AFTER the Trinity Bond-doogle appears below. You know the one where Tommy Hicks explains why he put Matrice Kirk on one of his boards.

HoustonChronicle.com

Aug. 19, 2002, 9:32PM
Wife's lucrative board job issue in Kirk's Senate bid
By CLAY ROBISON Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN -- A lucrative corporate board appointment for Ron Kirk's wife, which raised questions while Kirk was mayor of Dallas, is being resurrected as an issue in Kirk's race for the U.S. Senate.
Matrice Ellis Kirk served only 13 months on the board of Chancellor Broadcasting Co. and resigned in February 1997, after Tom Hicks, the Dallas businessman who appointed her to the board, became involved in negotiations with her husband and other city officials for a new sports arena.
But Matrice Kirk kept her stock options and cashed in more than $275,000 worth through a successor company last year, according to income tax information released by her husband's senatorial campaign last week. . . .
The Kirks have denied any impropriety in Matrice Kirk's part-time service on the board of Chancellor, which later became part of Clear Channel Communications Inc. And Justin Lonon, a spokesman for the Kirk campaign, said on Monday that she was well-qualified for the appointment. . . .
Hicks in 1999 told the Dallas Morning News that he gave Matrice Kirk the board seat because of her gender and race -- the Kirks are black -- and because her family was having "trouble adjusting without her income."

Here's where Tommy Hicks explains why he put Matrice Kirk on Board:

The Dallas Morning News, 7/11/99