April 21, 2005
A statement from Sylvester Turner

I received the following email from two different people last night:


Sylvester Turner
St. Representative, District 139
Speaker Pro Tem


April 21, 2005


"There has been some confusion surrounding my vote on Representative Talton's amendment to SB 6. The vote was cast mistakenly while I was at the appropriation conference committee working group. I am NOT in favor of the amendment, and my previous record and actions reflect that. Foster children need loving comfortable homes and I would never let prejudice or discrimination stand in the way of these children finding those homes. I am hopeful that the conference committee on SB 6 will remove discrimination from this piece of legislation."

Sylvester Turner

I'm at a loss to understand this. Does this mean Turner asked someone to vote for him, and that person got it wrong, or does it mean someone cast a vote for Turner without his knowledge (if the latter, that would be two important votes for which he was conveniently absent). This is why English teachers tell us to eschew the passive voice, Sylvester.

Byron and Greg aren't impressed, either. I'm sorry, but we deserve a more thorough explanation than this.

(Yes, I'm back. The conference was good, the cold I picked up while at the conference, not so good. Regardless, it's good to be back.)

UPDATE: More from Save Texas Reps.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on April 21, 2005 to That's our Lege | TrackBack
Comments

If it's not a crime to cast a vote for an elected representative without his consent, then it should be.

Maybe we can get Mary Denny to require Reps to have to show Photo IDs in order to vote on bills.

Posted by: Michael on April 22, 2005 8:46 AM

"The vote was cast mistakenly while I was at the appropriation conference committee working group."

What I would want to know is who did Rep. Turner appoint as his proxy in this situation. In New York, the Legislature actually allows the Assembly Speaker to act as proxy on all votes in that chamber, and the President of the Senate to act as proxy on all votes there.

As for your cold, I think there's something about Florida that does that to people. I know I had one for two weeks after I got back from Tampa last month.

Posted by: William Hughes on April 22, 2005 9:19 AM

Is anyone else really glad that Sly isn't running the city with that kind of "Opps, I did it again" political philosophy?

Dude has had more excuses than issues in this session. What's next "I cannot be responsible for my vote as I was busy standing up for my values." Last time I check, standing up for your values meant VOTING FOR THEM.

Can Craddick have him any more under his thumb?

Posted by: Red Dog on April 22, 2005 9:36 AM

He needs to take a tip from Shelia Jackson-Lee. Don't vote, and then say you'd have voted one way or the other.

Posted by: Laurence Simon on April 22, 2005 9:52 AM

Maybe Sylvester's mother voted for him?

Posted by: Oh, Sarah! on April 22, 2005 1:16 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn;t this the second time in as many weeks that Rep. Turner has missed an important vote, then gone back to assert how he would have voted had he been there?

Trying to have it both ways smacks more of Republican political tactics than a principled Democratic stance, doesn' it?

Posted by: Gus Rinaldini on April 22, 2005 1:19 PM

Maybe Sylvester's mother voted for him?
We could make a movie of this. Stop! Or My Mom Will Vote!

Posted by: Michael on April 22, 2005 2:36 PM

Members of the SB1 conference committee rarely vote. They are writing the state budget and have received permission to meet while the House is in session.

Posted by: James on April 23, 2005 1:25 AM

It's always been common to vote for other members, but this session it seems an epidemic. They're not really supposed to do it, but you see folks running up and down empty aisles punching buttons on multiple desks nearly every vote some days. Ah, democracy.

Posted by: Scott on April 23, 2005 6:57 PM