Laura Maczka

Maczka was initially elected to the Richardson City Council, Place 4 in May 2011 as a Republican, defeating Democrat Karl Voigtsberger by 74.97% to 25.03%.

[5] Maczka is currently the executive director of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Greater Dallas, a non-profit whose mission is to provide programs that inspire young people from low-income communities to stay in school, to recognize business opportunities and to plan for successful futures.

[8] According to the Local Government Officer Conflicts Disclosure Statement [9] filed March 19, 2015 by her, Ms. Maczka is now employed by JP Realty Partners/Sooner Management in Leasing, Marketing and Communications.

In 2011, Gary Slagel, a 24-year veteran of the Richardson City Council, decided not to run for re-election, leaving his seat (Place 4) open.

[11] Despite mudslinging and numerous false charges launched by the RCA against the Coalition's slate of candidates,[12] Maczka's and Voigtsberger's race was free of such controversy.

[16] The vote was canvassed (officially accepted) at the May 20, 2013 Council meeting, which marked the beginning of Maczka's term as mayor.

After much prayer and conversations with my family, I have made the decision that I will not serve as mayor for the 2015–2017 term and intend to submit a declination of such office at the city council meeting at which the election canvass will be conducted.

Moreover, it became public knowledge that she had taken a job with the development company that was in charge of the controversial project which she helped get approved through the city council.

The purpose of the meeting was to hear the report of the independent investigator into allegations that the mayor and/or members of the council violated either state law or the Richardson Code of Ethics or the city charter in terms of the Palisades rezoning development.

Staples' report goes on to say: However, the overriding interest of the Code of Ethics as stated in Section 2-I is to ensure, "that such officers of the City shall at all times strive to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."

Nevertheless, a failure to avoid the appearance of impropriety does not constitute a violation of the Code of Ethics, City Charter, or state law.

He therefore stated: It is my opinion that the complaints are insufficient in detail and fail to allege a prima facie violation of the Code of Ethics.

In essence, she divorced in December 2014, but that she and her ex-husband had worked out an agreement by which she and the children would be able to stay in the house, by having her parents cosign the loan.

This support would also have allowed Ms. Maczka to continue to serve as mayor, so, urged by her family, she decided to file to run for re-election.

These two factors convinced her that she needed to give up the mayor's spot (hence, not take the oath of office, because it was too late to get off the ballot), and get a job with health benefits immediately.

On May 10, 2018, Maczka and husband Mark Jordan were indicted for various federal charges including bribery and honest services wire fraud.

[21] On March 7, 2019, Maczka and Mark Jordan were found guilty in federal court of four counts of bribery and honest services wire fraud.

Maczka remained free on bond pending sentencing while Jordan was taken into custody due to fears he may flee.

[22] In 2020, a court of appeal threw out Maczka's conviction after it emerged that a bailiff had a conversation with the jury that may have affected the outcome.