An idea whose time, frankly, is way overdue.
Several prominent scientists said yesterday that they had formed an organization dedicated to electing politicians "who respect evidence and understand the importance of using scientific and engineering advice in making public policy."Organizers of the group, Scientists and Engineers for America, said it would be nonpartisan, but in interviews several said Bush administration science policies had led them to act. The issues they cited included the administration's position on climate change, its restrictions on stem cell research and delays in authorizing the over-the-counter sale of emergency contraception.
In a statement posted on its Web site (www.sefora.org), the group said scientists and engineers had an obligation "to enter the political debate when the nation's leaders systematically ignore scientific evidence and analysis, put ideological interest ahead of scientific truths, suppress valid scientific evidence and harass and threaten scientists for speaking honestly about their research."
The group's organizers include John H. Gibbons and Neal Lane, who were science advisers in the Clinton administration, the Nobel laureates Peter Agre and Alfred Gilman, and Susan F. Wood, who resigned from the Food and Drug Administration last year to protest the agency's delay in approving over-the-counter sales of the so-called Plan B emergency contraception.
"The issues we are talking about happen to be issues in which the administration's record is quite poor," Dr. Lane said. But he said the goal was to protect "the integrity of science" so that Americans could have confidence in the government's science-based decisions.
[...]
The group is looking at the Senate race in Virginia between George Allen, the incumbent Republican, and James Webb, a Democrat; a stem cell ballot issue in Missouri; the question of intelligent design in Ohio; and Congressional races in Washington State, Mr. Brown said.
Dr. Lane is a big shot at Rice University here in Houston. Someone should tell him there's an election right here in Texas involving a science-friendly candidate that might be worth his group's time to check out. Thanks to my buddy Matt for pointing this story out to me.
Are you one of those people who carries a cellphone but doesn't always have it in a conveniently reachable place when it rings? Have no fear, a Bluetooth wristwatch can help.
Next time someone calls you on your cell phone, you can check your watch to find out who’s calling instead of dishing out the handset from your pocket. Sony Ericsson has designed a Bluetooth watch, the MBW-100, that lets you control your mobile phone and answer calls through a wireless head set.The watch is not as chunky and ugly as other Bluetooth watches available in the market, but features a stainless steel construction with silver facia. A tiny OLED display under the analogue watch face tells you who’s calling you while your mobile is stashed away.
[...]
The invention may sound like a lazy way of operating your mobile, but might be very useful in a crowded, noisy place and where you can’t hear your phone or feel it vibrating.
Too bad they didn't build a speaker right into the watch so you could have the full Dick Tracy experience.
I blogged some of this over at Kuff's World yesterday, and I really don't want to get too bogged down in it because it's impossible for me to keep up with a story like this, but do note what Josh says about now-former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida.
In this story at the ABC site, reporters write that "according to several former congressional pages, the congressman used the Internet to engage in sexually explicit exchanges."There's another point too though. This all started to come out yesterday when ABC reported on a series of suggestive but not explicit emails between Foley and a House page. That appears to be the then-16 year old page who had been sponsored by Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA). Reportedly, that page became concerned about the suggestiveness of the emails, cut off communication and reported the emails to a member of Alexander's staff.
The graphic IM exchanges, which blew the story open this afternoon, are clearly from a minor who actively engaged with the congressman. So it seems clear it's a different page. The clincher is that that the published IM exchange is from 2003, two years earlier. So it's clear there are at least two different pages in question.
So the Republicans had a serial predator in their caucus, one who ironically enough had a leadership role in crafting legislation against child predators. And House Majority Leader John Boehner knew about what Foley was doing but took no action.
Remember when Paul Burka said the following?
The terrorist plot to blow up airplanes will completely change the midterm elections, and the big beneficiaries are the Republicans and George W. Bush.[...]
A major event has occurred that is going to remind the public that the danger of terrorism continues to exist. That is going to change the dynamic of the election. And there is nothing the Democrats can do about it.
I believe the proper response here would be "Often uncertain the future is".
So it turns out that contrary to prior reports, Rep. John Culberson is willing to participate in a debate. He's just not willing to participate in a debate that involves his opponent, Jim Henley. The following is an email from Culberson's office:
The Houston Club presents Congressman John Culberson (District Seven) U.S. House of Representatives and Charles C. Foster, President of Tindall & Foster, P.C. debate immigration issues so important to our city, region, and nation: The Rio Grande Great Wall; Guest Workers; Amnesty; Stiffer Criminal Penalties on Illegals and Employers; Do Nothing.The non-members and the general public are invited to the luncheon and debate on Monday, October 2, 2006 at 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. $37.00 Reservations: 713-229-2215.
[...]
Mr. Foster heads the Immigration Law Section of his firm, has served as a principal advisor to President George W. Bush on U. S. immigration policy and is past National President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The views of the nationally respected attorney differ sharply from those of Congressman Culberson.
Monday, October 2, 2006 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
The Houston Club
811 Rusk St. Tenth Floor - Texas Room
Luncheon Tickets: $37.00Reservations: 713-229-2215
So, to recap: Culberson WILL debate if his opponent in the debate is not his opponent on the ballot, and if it costs money to get in the door. Culberson WILL NOT debate if his opponent in the debate is his opponent on the ballot, and the event is free to attend. Got that?
Sadly, I will not be able to make this event. But I will be glad to purchase an adult beverage of your choosing to anyone who does attend and manages to ask Rep. Culberson why this is an acceptable forum for him to debate but Rice University against Jim Henley is not. Let me know what happens.
The grand jury has handed down nine indictments against the four former staffers of the Mayor Pro Tem office who were fired for taking improper bonuses.
The grand jury issued a total of nine indictments against Rosita Hernandez, Florence Watkins, Christopher Mays and Theresa Orta, all of whom were fired after the investigation began earlier this year.Each is charged with theft by a public servant of more than $200,000 and tampering with a public record. Watkins is named in two tampering indictments.
The indictment alleges that unauthorized bonuses totaled $143,500 and unauthorized raises brought the total to at least $200,000, said Assistant District Attorney Don Smyth.
The grand jury did not indict Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, who was mayor pro tem when the employees got the payments.
[...]
The indictments conclude the investigation in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem, Smyth said, but the investigation now will look into all other city departments to ensure that no more improper payments have been made.
[...]
Alvarado, who has not been implicated in any wrongdoing related to the bonuses, testified voluntarily this week. The four former employees appeared before the grand jury last week in response to subpoenas.
"She testified, answered all the questions that we had," said Smyth. "I think the grand jurors received the information they wanted."
[...]
Employees in Alvarado's council office, as distinct from the separate mayor pro tem operation, did not receive bonuses and are not suspected of wrongdoing.
This should be the end of any major worries for Carol Alvarado. The Fired Four have claimed multiple times that Alvarado knew what they were doing, but the grand jurors didn't buy it. She'll still have to endure a cross-examination some day, and there may be some land mines lurking for her there, but her business with Chuck Rosenthal is over. That's the biggest thing, and it means she can go full steam ahead as before.
Here's Alvarado's statement on the indictments:
"I want to thank the Harris County District Attorney and the members of the Grand Jury for their diligent and thorough review of the facts. I believe the right conclusion has been reached.
In many ways this is a sad day because it is a stark reminder that four employees of the office of the Mayor Pro Tem betrayed my trust and, more importantly the trust of the people of the city of Houston. They are now, appropriately, in the hands of the criminal justice system."
It's still too early to say what kind of political damage Alvarado may suffer and how that may affect any future campaigns she may run, but the worst is definitely behind her.
I'm not going to spend too much time on the new revelations about Ken Mehlman, Karl Rove, and Jack Abramoff, because sites like TPM Muckraker will have this covered nine ways to Sunday by people who blog for a living, but I do want to highlight this.
There's already a lot of evidence out there that Ken Mehlman was Jack Abramoff's prime favor man in the White House -- but this new congressional report provides the most damning example yet.From The Washington Post:
One exchange of e-mails cited in the report suggests that former Abramoff lobbying team member Tony C. Rudy succeeded in getting Mehlman to press reluctant Justice Department appointees to release millions of dollars in congressionally earmarked funds for a new jail for the Mississippi Choctaw tribe, an Abramoff client. Rudy wrote Abramoff in November 2001 e-mails that Mehlman said he would "take care of" the funding holdup at Justice after learning from Rudy that the tribe made large donations to the GOP.
So in exchange for political contributions, Mehlman made sure the Choctaw got their $16 million contract. I believe that's called a quid pro quo.It's by no means the only example of Mehlman's favors.
The point here, once again, is to remind everyone that the Jack Abramoff saga really is a Republican scandal. The presence of one party-switching former DINO doesn't change that. In a way, that reinforces it. Ralph Hall was given the chance to save his political hide by formally joining the party that he'd been a spiritual member of for well over a decade. You weren't a friend of Jack Abramoff unless you were a friend of Tom DeLay. Is anyone surprised that means you had to be a Republican?
UPDATE: Funny, isn't it, how many people who think not putting bad stuff in writing seem to forget that email is forever? Good thing for the forces of truth and justice, but man, is that dumb.
Ready to learn more about that boondoggle known as the Trans Texas Corridor? Pull up a chair, because the state is releasing some documents that will tell you more than you know now. For the most part, the crucial bit is right here:
The report also predicts the initial cost to motorists when the first sections open around 2014. Cars and small trucks will pay about 15.2 cents per mile, or $56.24, to travel the entire route. Truckers initially will pay 58.5 cents per mile for a cost of $216.45 to travel the entire route. Final toll rates will be set when the state negotiates contract terms on each section of the toll road.
Let's do a little math here. The full route is 370 miles. How many miles per gallon does your car get on the freeway? We've got a Saturn coupe that exceeds 30 MPG on the highway, and a Subaru Outback that gets between 25 and 30. But let's say you've got a Hummer, and that 370 mile trip would take you 20 gallons of gas (18.5 MPG). At that crappy level of mileage, the gas tax would have to increase by $2.81 per gallon to match the toll price. Let me say that again: That toll equates to $2.81 per gallon extra in gas tax. If we simply doubled the existing gas tax - from 20 cents per gallon to 40 cents per gallon, which would make ours the highest gas tax in the country - you'd have paid an extra $4 for that 370 mile trip.
Four dollars versus fifty-six and change. What a deal, huh?
I'll say it again: If this were the only proposal on the books, I wouldn't be so worked up about it. But it's not. This is far from a one-off, it's the wave of the future if Rick Perry gets his way. Sooner or later, the plan is that your favorite road will be tolled, too. If you want to start paying two orders of magnitude more per gallon for routine trips, pay no attention to this issue.
Link via Eye on Williamson. Meanwhile, the Statesman says that by releasing these documents and thus dispelling whatever secrets the TTC's opponents may think they contain. I think this is an accurate assessment of that:
Jason Stanford, a spokesman for Chris Bell, Perry's Democratic opponent, said putting out the documents will not change the candidate's opinion about the corridor deal."Even if it's not a secret deal, it's still a really horrible deal," Stanford said. "This is a titanic land grab that benefits a foreign company. I don't know what these documents could show that would make that worse."
What's bad about the TTC is not what we didn't know. It's what we did know. People at those public meetings around the state weren't fired up because of a conspiracy theory. They were mad about losing their land for a benefit that's highly unclear to anyone but Cintra/Zachry. There's no secret about that. Link via South Texas Chisme.
Didn't get to this yesterday, but I'm amused by this KTRK story about Martha Wong and the altered campaign signs.
Drive through District 134 and you can't miss them. Signs are plastered around much of central Houston, including Bellaire and West University, but it's what you're not seeing that has some stirred up.If you noticed the campaign signs, you may have also noticed a lot of red tape; not the usual government type, but the real deal -- red tape over the word "Republican" on Martha Wong's signs. The tape was put on by her own party. Why?
"We use one campaign sign when we're running in the primary, and we use another sign when we're running in the general," said Wong. "It's that simple."
[...]
Gary Polland, former Harris County Republican party chairman, says this strategy is typical in a general election, especially in a swing district, where votes may be tight.
"The voters who will decide this election are independents, not Republicans or Democrats, and that's why they don't put their parties on their signs," said Polland.
Political analyst Peter Roussel agrees. With the eroding of party loyalty, candidates don't want to limit potential votes.
"Nowadays, most political signs don't have a party affiliation on them anyway because the candidates are trying to appeal to the largest possible audience and independent voters," he said.
Wong's party also said those signs were old signs created for a primary election. The newer ones they had made up do not have a party affiliation on them. The election is November 7.
OK, that all sounds logical. Except for one thing: Martha Wong didn't have a primary opponent. She would have known that fact since January 2, when the primary filing deadline passed. Are you saying that she's been sitting on those outdated, only-for-a-primary signs since last year? If so, why deploy them at all for this general election? Surely with her $400K cash on hand, she could have afforded to buy a few new ones. She could have even been forward thinking and planned to save them for 2008, just in case. I mean, she's not going to ask for those signs back after November, right? So why use them if their purpose is for a primary?
I think we know what the answer to that is. She didn't give the matter any thought until she discovered a little too late that being identified as a Republican this year was not a good thing. And for whatever the reason, she decided that editing would be preferable to replacing. So much for that.
BOR has the video of the story if you haven't seen it.
UPDATE: This is what I get for hitting Publish before I check the Chron.
Wong campaign manager Josh Robinson said the taped signs are leftovers from Wong's first legislative race in 2002, when she was running in a newly created district drawn to elect a Republican. She defeated an incumbent Democrat.Wong's 2006 signs read: "Re-elect Martha Wong. State Representative, Dist. 134. Principled. Passionate. Persistent."
"Our signs were depleted quicker than we expected," Robinson said, so the campaign distributed some old signs that were in storage.
I smell baloney here. For one thing, I've done a lot of driving around HD134 these past few weeks, and I see a heck of a lot more Cohen signs than I do Wong signs. (I actually see more Jim Henley signs than anything else, but that's a different story.) Second, it still doesn't explain why taping over the word "Republican" is a better idea than either leaving it be for the relatively small number of affected signs or just telling people to wait a few days till more signs have been received. I mean, c'mon, how can a well-funded campaign like Wong's run out of signs? They've been pretty free and easy about putting them in vacant lots. Why not let those sit signless for a few days while fulfilling the extravagant demand from real voters for signs in their yards?
Admit it, Josh. You goofed and you got caught. End of story.
One often hears of a choice between spending money on schools and spending money on prisons in budgets debates, and the effect that more spending on one can have on the other. In a related vein, Grits looks at the choice between detention beds and crop pickers. Which one do you think deserves a higher priority? I know what my answer is.
Looks like the Houston Press has expanded its Best of Houston awards to cover a wider variety of blogs. That was probably overdue by at least a year, but better late than never. My hearty congratulations to Slampo (who won the new Best Local City Life Blog award), to HoustonSoReal (who ended my two-year run as Best Local Blog; the readers' choice was HouStoned), and to a couple of blogs that are probably not safe to read at work.
And as long as I'm handing out the kudos, props to 'stina's sister Claudia for her award. I think my fave so far this year among the other awards is the Best Use of Taxpayer Dollars, which is sure to get a hot reaction in certain quarters. Enjoy!
A new study by eight scientists at five local universities says Houston's air is more polluted than other major US cities'.
The study is the third to be released this year on toxic air pollution in Houston, a problem distinct from the city's other air-quality woe - smog, a lung-irritating compound also found in concentrations here well above those of other cities.Industrial facilities in Harris County emit more benzene and 1,3-butadiene, two potent carcinogens, than anywhere else in the United States. There is increasing evidence, beginning with a January 2005 Houston Chronicle investigation, that people residing by the region's chemical plants and refineries are being exposed to concentrations of pollutants here that would be illegal in other states.
Where the research breaks new ground, however, is in showing how and why Houston's air is more polluted than that of other cities: namely, the combination of a dense concentration of industrial plants and traffic that presents challenges for state and federal regulators.
As part of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, businesses such as refineries, petrochemical plants and dry cleaners were required to install advanced technology to reduce toxic air pollution.
While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the program successfully reduced hazardous pollutants nationwide by more than a million tons annually, including big reductions in the Houston area, the agency acknowledges it did not reduce risk enough in some heavily industrialized neighborhoods. The goal was to have no one exposed to pollutants at concentrations that could cause 1 additional person in 100,000 to get cancer. Numerous communities in Houston, the study points out, still exceed this threshold, more than 10 years later.
"We took industries one at a time and didn't look at how they might be situated," said John Millett, a spokesman at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. ''It will take federal, state and local efforts, along with industry and communities to make (more) progress."
The study compared the highest measurements of three air pollutants - benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and formaldehyde - in Harris County in 2004 to the highest values recorded that same year in St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles. The air in Houston's most polluted neighborhoods trumped the most contaminated spots in those cities by as much as 75 times.
The researchers also analyzed the level of these three pollutants, and diesel particulate matter, by census tract, and in communities without pollution monitors.
In many areas, concentrations of chemicals exceeded the limit at which one additional person in a population of 100,000 would be expected to get cancer from pollution, a level above state and federal health risk goals.
You can get more background from the Chron's multipart series on Houston's air quality, and from GHASP, which has linkage to the report and some supplemental material. This is a problem that will require political action to solve, so bear that in mind when you vote for Governor and for your state representative.
The majority of Houston-area lawmakers in the Texas House voted against legislation intended to protect the public from toxic air pollution, a Houston Chronicle analysis of 2005 voting records has found.The five rejected amendments would have made the state's health screening levels for pollution more strict, required companies to continuously monitor emissions and set fines for the periodic releases known as "upsets" that plague fence-line neighborhoods.
Yet 20 of 34 representatives in the eight-county region, where toxic pollution problems have been well-documented, particularly along the Houston Ship Channel, voted to table these actions.
All 20 of the dissenters are Republicans, some of them representing industrial districts such as Pasadena, Baytown and Seabrook, where people and industry exist side by side.
Just so you know.
Another round of Zogby Interactive polls, for which BOR has the Governor's race summary. Basically, it's still Perry leading but in the danger zone at 33%, Bell in second but back a bit at 22%, Friedman farther back at 19%, and Strayhorn with her best showing in recent memory at 15%. The main curiosity here is that the sample stretched over six days; usually polls are three-day affairs. The time frame (September 19-25) covers some of the Kiny Friedman dustup and some of the time that Chris Bell had an ad running. (I can't seem to escape Strayhorn ads these days. One of her promos just about took over a page on Chron.com that I was trying to read yesterday. If there's anything I hate more than popups, it's ads that drape across the screen and force you to click a box to close them. Please, please, somebody tell me that Firefox 2.0 can block that crap. The release notes don't say.)
Also of interest is the Senate result, which puts KBH ahead of Barbara Radnofsky by a 53-30 margin. This is a significant variance from last month, where Zogby pegged it as 48-39, and brings it much more in line with Rasmussen's polling - their August data point was 58-32. Makes me wonder if Zogby's sample is a little different this month, and if so which one is the outlier from their perspective. Also makes me wonder if the movement in each poll is related.
Anyway, it's nice to see polling frequency increase as we get closer to the election. I expect we'll see more SUSA and Rasmussen results soon, too. The more data, the better.
Hundreds of contacts between top White House officials and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates "raise serious questions about the legality and actions" of those officials, according to a draft bipartisan report prepared by the House Government Reform Committee.The 95-page report, which White House officials reviewed Wednesday evening but has yet to be formally approved by the panel, singled out two of President Bush’s top lieutenants, Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, as having been offered expensive meals and exclusive tickets to premier sporting events and concerts by Abramoff and his associates.
In total, the committee was able to document 485 contacts between White House officials and Abramoff and his lobbying team at the firm Greenberg Traurig from January 2001 to March 2004, with 82 of those contacts occurring in Rove's office, including 10 with Rove personally. The panel also said that Abramoff billed his clients nearly $25,000 for meals and drinks with White House officials during that period.
Rove, Mehlman, and other White House officials have denied having any close relationship with Abramoff, despite the fact that Abramoff was a "Pioneer" who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Bush’s White House campaigns.
"The documents depict a much closer relationship between Mr. Abramoff and White House officials than the White House has previously acknowledged," committee staff wrote in a three-page summary that accompanied the report. Reps. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman and ranking member of Government Reform, this summer subpoenaed e-mails and billing records from Greenberg Traurig and other firms, including Alexander Strategy Group, which was run by one-time aides to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). They examined more than 14,000 pages of documents from Greenberg Traurig, including 6,600 pages of billing records and 7,700 pages of e-mail.
During the period examined by the committee, Bush administration officials repeatedly intervened on behalf of Abramoff’s clients, including helping a Mississippi Indian tribe obtain $16 million in federal funds for a jail the tribe wanted to build.
Can't imagine why some people continue to express shock at the perception of l'affaire Abramoff as a Republican scandal. Sure seems pretty clear to me. Link via Political Wire.
As a onetime PhD student at Rice (long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away), I enjoyed reading this feature story about its notorious grad student pub Valhalla. It's pretty much like the piece describes, and unless you drink there very frequently, you probably won't truly get its charm. I'll say this - the one good thing about Rice's draconian parking restrictions is that the place can now handle this kind of publicity without fear of getting overrun by riffraff.
Back in the ancient days of Bush 41 when I was doing my indentured servitude in the math department, a cup of Shiner would set you back 35 cents. That went up to 50 cents in the early 90s, just before they switched from Shiner to Lone Star Bock after the Spoetzl Brewery decided its flagship offering was a premium beer and set its price accordingly. I don't know what they serve now - it's been too long since I last visited - but it's good to know that it's still the best bargain in town. Well, modulo Rice's parking fees, anyway.
So here's to you, Valhalla. I was told once that Rice used to be the third largest consumer of keg beer in Houston, after the Astrodome and the venue formerly known as the Summit. Some names may have changed since then, but the spirit of Valhalla remains as ever. Down the hatch, y'all.
Big Time Dick Cheney is coming to town to help Shelley Sekula Gibbs' futile write-in campaign.
The national Republican Party has joined the fight to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, donating more than $100,000 to the Republican candidate's write-in candidacy and sending Vice President Dick Cheney to a Houston fundraiser for her next week.Although the party has yet to deliver anywhere near the $3 million once claimed by state GOP Chairwoman Tina Benkhiser, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee confirmed Wednesday that the group had donated $99,465 to assist the campaign of GOP candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.
Cheney is scheduled to appear in Houston on Oct. 4.
Perhaps he can expand on Shelley's remarks to City Council yesterday. I'm sure he'll have just the healing words for the situation.
It wasn't on the independent expenditures report as of a couple of days ago, but I'm told that the $99K indicated in the story is going to the firm of Feather, Larson & Synhorst DCI. They sound like exactly the right kind of organization for Shelley:
FLS-DCI specializes in creating phony front groups to make it appear as if there's a groundswell of support for its clients' issues.One of its most prominent front groups is Voices for Choices. This fake coalition of conservative groups is runing ads nationwide in support of AT&T's key issues. AT&T, which has donated millions to the Republican Party and the Bush Campaign in 2004 - and whose general counsel served on Bush's transition team, is one of FLS-DCI's largest and most important clients.
Other FLS-DCI phony productions include Responsible Electronic Communications Alliance and Hands Off the Internet.
Hands Off The Internet was an astroturf group that opposed Net Neutrality earlier this year. You can read more about them here. Like I said, this is a perfect fit for Shelley.
Prior to this, back in August, the NRCC spent $21K on a poll in CD22. I'm not sure if that's the infamous Baselice poll or another one whose results did not get released. According to this accounting, that money went to Public Opinion Strategies (search for Sekula to find the entry).
Anyway. Those of you who will be attending this event with Cheney, be sure to remember your face masks and bulletproof vests. The rest of you, read In the Pink for the funny.
Apparently, Shelley Sekula Gibbs has noticed the fact that she hasn't been in the news much lately, not that this should surprise anyone. What surprises even me is the way she went about getting attention for herself.
Several City Council members walked out on Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs Wednesday, saying her rhetoric against a police policy on illegal immigrants exploited for political gain the death of an officer whose funeral they had just attended.The symbolic move was the only time in recent memory that a group of council members left the chambers to protest a colleague's comments.
[...]
Wednesday's walkout occurred near the end of the weekly council meeting, when members get time to talk about issues of their choice.
Dressed in black after attending the morning funeral, most members offered condolences to the family of Rodney Johnson, who police allege was killed by an illegal immigrant he took into custody last week.
Johnson's death has reignited debate about whether police should be able to ask people about their immigration status, an inquiry now prohibited by police policy unless the person has already been arrested on a serious misdemeanor or felony.
Several council members said they were proud that Houstonians had put that debate aside for the day as the city joined Johnson's family in mourning his death.
When it was Sekula-Gibbs' turn to speak, she said Mayor Bill White now had the chance to repeal what she calls the department's "sanctuary" policy.
"I hope that you will use this opportunity to make this change that has been needed for many, many years," she said.
At that, members of varying political stripes rose from their chairs and left the chambers. They returned after Sekula-Gibbs finished speaking.
"I was embarrassed to be in the room with somebody talking like that," said Councilwoman Toni Lawrence, a Republican and one of the first to leave.
"There's a lot of things I disagree with, maybe the way immigration is handled, federally, and this is not the time to make a comparison."
Alvarado, a Democrat who has been on council since 2002, said she couldn't remember another time when council members walked out on a colleague because of a comment. Some members left a meeting with former Mayor Lee Brown, but that move was a parliamentary tactic to keep the panel from voting on a contentious issue, she said.
[...]
White did not join the other council members when they exited the room during Sekula-Gibbs' comments. When asked why, he said he was presiding over the meeting and filling out paperwork at the time.
"I'll let other people judge whether they should make death a political issue," he said.
Councilman Ronald Green, who spoke after Sekula-Gibbs, was applauded by his colleagues for denouncing her comments.
''You wouldn't stoop so low to use this man's memory to advance a political career that may or may not be going anywhere," he said.
For shame. About the only way this could have been more dishonorable would be if she had concluded her remarks by singing her stupid jingle. Council Member Lawrence is correct: This was an embarrassment. If Shelley Sekula Gibbs doesn't recognize that, she's not just an unqualified candidate for Congress, she's an unfit human being.
Well, you got your name in the papers, Shelley. I hope it was worth it for you.
I guess it's good news for Kinky Friedman that after all this time, some people still think of him as a Celebrity Candidate, where the fact that he sometimes says funny things trumps the substance (or, as is often the case with Friedman, the lack thereof) of what he says. How anyone who has spent five minutes paying attention to Friedman and his unsubtle appeals to the Dan Patrick crowd might think that Ann Richards would have fallen for his baloney is beyond me. But just so we're clear:
The Richards children - Cecile, Dan, Clark and Ellen - issued a statement saying Richards did not support Friedman."Ann Richards did not support Kinky Friedman for governor of Texas nor endorse him before she died. She was very concerned about this election. She always voted a straight Democratic ticket," they said.
'Nuff said.
Vince continues his interview series with the other Williamson County Democrat for State Rep, Jim Stauber, who's running in HD20. Stauber has a tougher task than Karen Felthauser does, as HD20 was about eight points more Republican than HD52 in 2004. He still has all the same issues to pound on, and should also benefit from the better climate and Williamson's blue trend.
Speaking of Felthauser, she was a featured candidate on the Democracy for America blog Tuesday. She definitely deserves some attention from the activist class, so hopefully this helped her raise her profile a bit. Eye on Williamson has the details.
Another email of interest:
The Rice College Republicans, Libertarians, Young Democrats, The N.A.A.C.P. and Rice Vote Coalition have invited Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Ms. Barbara Ann Radnofsky and Mr. Scott Jameson to a candidates' debate at Rice University on October 7, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in Keck Hall, room 100.
I feel pretty confident that Barbara Ann will be there, and I'd expect the Libertarian dude to show up as well. Will KBH make like her fellow Republicans and duck out? Her track record so far is not encouraging.
Last January, a Downtown Management District board member proposed rerouting a section of Interstate 45 to run along Houston Avenue. That proposal was not well-received, and was more or less disavowed by TxDOT's Pat Henry in a subsequent neighborhood meeting in the Woodland Heights. Now it seems that the idea may not be well and truly dead. From an email from Jim Weston of the I-45 Coalition:
You may have heard that there was, at one time, a proposal to re-route I-45 along Houston Avenue instead of keeping it along its current route. I had heard numerous times that due to the overwhelming public opposition that the concept had been rejected. The opposition was mainly centered on the total potential devastation of the neighborhoods that a widening and re-routing of I-45 would create.It appears that maybe it has NOT been rejected! According to this upcoming meeting being held by The Urban Land Institute (ULI) next week on 10/3/06 at the Hilton Americas. Pre-registration is over TOMORROW on September 28th - after that the price goes up by $10.
Please attend if you would like to hear first hand what the current proposal for “rerouting and depressing of the I-45” means. It scares me!
Please consider attending this meeting if you can! You can call 1-800-248-4585 to register & pay by phone. If you call and you are not a member of the ULI, tell them you are a member of the I-45 Coalition (a non-profit) and it will save you $10. (Non-member rate for a non-profit or a student is $50; after 9/28 it will be $60).
Here's the details of the event. Mark Cover is the guy who floated the I-45-on-Houston-Avenue idea in the first place, so when he talks about "the rerouting and depressing of the I-45 and I-10 freeways", bear in mind that at least at one time, that's what he meant.
So I was reading Green Eggs and Ham to Olivia this evening, and just as I was getting underway she pointed to the story's protagonist, the guy who does not like green eggs and ham, and said "What's his name?"
Umm. Uhh. Let me get back to you on that.
Tiffany overheard my dilemma and came to my rescue, as Olivia had apparently asked her that same question last night. "We call him the Hat Man," she informed me. The Hat Man it is. When Olivia pointed at him again later in the story and said "Hat Man", I understood.
I figure this is just the first of many, many questions that she will ask me that I will have no idea how to answer. Clearly, I need to work on my improvisation skills for the future.
How would you have answered?
City Council Member Carol Alvarado took her turn before the grand jury today.
City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado testified for three hours today before a Harris County grand jury investigating improper bonuses at City Hall.Alvarado, who supervised four Office of Mayor Pro Tem employees fired over alleged payroll padding, testified voluntarily. She is not implicated in any wrongdoing related to the $143,000 in bonuses city officials say were unauthorized.
"I answered the questions and told the truth," Alvarado said as she left the grand jury room at 12:35 p.m. "That's what I was looking forward to doing."
It's pretty simple at this point. Either the Fired Four say something that convinces the grand jury (and DA Chuck Rosenthal) to go after Alvarado, or they don't. Either the prospect of an indictment goes away for her, or Rusty Hardin gets to do some heavy lifting. Alvarado went into the jury room not a target of the investigation, despite statements from the former employees' attorneys that she knew what they were doing. If she comes out of it the same way, she can really start to put this behind her. If not, her troubles are just beginning. That's about all there is to it.
For what it's worth, I think she's at her journey's end, not its beginning. But you never know, and I'm sure she'll sleep better when it's over. We'll see.
As with my State Rep candidate interviews, I'm just about done with my Q&As with local county candidates. Today i have the last of the Fort Bend Democratic contenders, Farhan Shamsi, who is running for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3.
1. Who are you and what are you running for?My name is Farhan Shamsi. I am running for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 of Fort Bend County.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?The Justice of the Peace court is the "Peoples' Court" as it deals with the most basic community issues. The cases heard in this court are both civil and criminal. These cases include traffic court, juvenile court (including truancy and alcohol/drug issues), small claims up to $5,000, and landlord/tenant issues, such as evictions. The administrative duties include issuing marriage licenses and performing marriages, as well as serving as the coroner by investigating deaths.
3. What are your qualifications for this job?I have lived in the western part of the Greater Houston area for more than thirty years, and I have seen this area grow and change with time. I have been involved in community issues since my youth, and continue to work on these issues as an adult both professionally and personally.
I am the executive director of an outpatient substance abuse clinic. My career has been spent intevening in the lives of those afflicted with drug addiction, mental health ailments, and mental retardation; these experiences have led me to work with various law enforcement and criminal justice systems on issues dealing with these populations.
My professional experience with the issues facing the JP court is extensive, but I also have deep ties the community in general: I have been involved with many organizations in the community including the Parent/Teacher Association, School Board forums, and I have been asked to advise various elected officials and candidates on the community issues. With the growth of population and diversity in Fort Bend County, I feel that my unique experiences dealing with minority issues, at-risk youth, and substance abuse can be used to bring a better understanding in the community.
4. Why do you believe you would do a better job than the incumbent?The current Justice of the Peace has chosen not to run again for this position. I want to build on the achievements she has made in the court by bring a bigger focus on youth. As the youth are the future leaders of our community, I would like to offer juveniles who stay out of trouble an incentive program by rewarding them for good behavior. Our youth need to be recognized for their good behavior and accomplishments. For those juveniles who do end up in trouble, they will get a dose of tough love. The JP court must be a sobering experience for kids, not merely an introduction to a life in and out of the criminal justice system. Along with making sure that the juveniles learn from their mistakes, I want to add a program like the award winning Teen Court that Judge Joel Clouser uses in Precinct 2.
5. Why is this race one we should care about?Although this race is listed at the bottom of the ballot, I feel that it should be the first item to be voted on in the election. Precinct 3 is the fastest growing Precinct in Fort Bend County and it has the largest number of voters in the county. If we can make our community, Precinct 3, a safer, more secure and friendlier place to live, the whole county can benefit.
6. What else do we need to know?The time has come for more people to get involved in the community in which they live. Developing the youth into positive role models by being good citizens is the first step in bringing family values back to our county.
Thank you, Farhan Shamsi. Here are all my previous interviews with Harris and Fort Bend countywide candidates:
Richard Garcia - Interview
Leora T. Kahn - Interview
Chuck Silverman - Interview
Bill Connolly - Interview
James Goodwille Pierre - Interview
Albert Hollan - Interview
Neeta Sane - Interview
Rudy Velasquez - Interview
Veronica Torres - Interview
The Lone Star Project sums up the career of Rep. John Carter, debate ducker par excellence.
Historically, Texas Members with leadership potential begin to distinguish themselves by their second term in office. Both Charlie Stenholm and Martin Frost were already recognized as rising stars in the House by their second terms. The same is true for Jim Turner, Max Sandlin and even "hard right" Republican ideologues like Dick Armey and Tom DeLay himself. Carter entered his second term with some promise as a new member of the Appropriations Committee, but concludes his term as an abandoned DeLay follower who has drawn attention to himself only long enough to make embarrassing public statements on issues ranging from voting rights to child predators.
Eye on Williamson has the rest. Poor John Carter.
The Boondocks comic strip will not return "in the foreseeable future," Universal Press Syndicate, its distributor, announced Monday.Creator Aaron McGruder took a six-month break earlier in the year but was expected to return this fall to his provocative strip about two black kids from Chicago who move to a primarily white suburb to live with their grandfather.
Syndicate president Lee Salem said McGruder could not commit to a date for when his strip would resume. (Salem added he hopes to work with McGruder in the future.)
"Aaron McGruder has been a huge creative force, but it's unrealistic to expect a comic strip artist to commit to 20 or 30 years these days," said Kyrie O'Connor, Houston Chronicle deputy managing editor for features. In April, the Chronicle filled the vacant spot with F Minus.
F Minus is mildly amusing. Boondocks is funny. This stinks.
The countdown clock for State Rep. Gene Seaman is ticking along as a constituent who is a Republican and a former supporter has filed an ethics complaint against him.
The complaints were filed Thursday by Jay Masterson, 63, a Republican who now is supporting Seaman's Democratic challenger, Juan Garcia. She claims Seaman's $1,000-a-month rental payments for the condo since 1999 amounted to using political contributions for personal gain and to purchase real property, in violation of the code. The roughly $500 a month he paid in condo association/homeowner association fees also violates the code, according to one of Masterson's complaints.Seaman's office faxed a copy Friday of a May 4, 1999, letter from the Ethics Commission to the Caller-Times that says it is permissible for Seaman to pay rent to his wife as long as the condominium is his "wife's separate property."
[...]
What Masterson says she wants reviewed is whether Gene and Ellen Seaman have separate property. Masterson and lawyers contacted Friday and Monday say the condo most likely is community property - unless the Seamans can prove otherwise - because they have been married for 50 years.
In a required 2005 personal financial statement, Seaman says he is a real estate developer and owner, financial planner and insurance agent. The statement lists Ellen Seaman as a housewife.
Texas law presumes that everything owned during marriage is community property, said Ann Coover, a local lawyer, board certified in family law.
"Unless the parties involved can show evidence that the funds paying for a particular asset were a gift, inherited or owned at the time of marriage, it is presumed to be community property," she said.
If Gene Seaman provided his wife with the funds to buy the condo, it would constitute a gift and would be viewed as community property, lawyers said.
Property also can be separated contractually after marriage, lawyers said. The contract, called a partition and exchange agreement, must be in writing, signed by both partners and notarized, lawyers said.
Monday, Seaman's spokesman Mac McCall said there is no written property separation agreement between the Seamans. Ellen Seaman paid cash for the condo with her own "personal income and assets," McCall said. He declined to disclose Ellen Seaman's source of the money.
"It's a personal matter of a private citizen," he said.
I'm sorry, but that's a really weak explanation for a case where the facts just don't look too good. Remember, the Seamans also received two homestead exemptions, for which they have since paid $11K in back taxes. If they didn't know what they were doing, their household finances are awfully disorganized. This story isn't going away, and it's not going to do anything for Seaman's image in the meantime. Juan Garcia is already a great alternative, and he'll become more appealing the longer this drags on.
Link via The Red State. Meanwhile, in other ethics news, Muse has a followup on the charges filed against State Rep. John Davis, and Juanita has a story about ARMPAC and the discount it gave itself on its conciliation agreement with the FEC. Check 'em out.
Courtesy of Grits, here's a real public safety agenda for Texas:
What follows is the first installment of a list of proposals, most of which would have to be enacted by the Texas Legislature, that I think would make a real, substantive difference to actually improving public safety, not just symbolic changes designed to "send a message." These ideas are aimed to actually improve the lives of Texans and reduce crime in the short and long term. In some cases, they're designed to expressly counter the criminal justice system's excesses where it has destroyed lives and corrupted civil society.I'll be adding to this as we head toward the 80th Texas Legislature, but here's a start: What would state leaders be doing if they really cared about public safety?
He's got ten suggestions, all of which sound eminently reasonable to me, and all of which together would cost less now and in the future than building three more prisons. Check it out.
I know the name of this project is the Sawyer Heights Lofts, but given its location, I'll be thinking of them as the Target Lofts.
Houston-based Martin Fein Interests Ltd. is building a 326-unit, four-story project known as Sawyer Heights Lofts, two miles west of downtown. The complex at 2424 Spring St. replaces two older industrial buildings that were recently torn down on the five-acre tract.The apartments are going up next to the Sawyer Heights Village Shopping Center under development by Houston-based Property Commerce. The Target-anchored center has become a new landmark on the heavily traveled Katy Freeway.
Sawyer Height Lofts will range in size from 683 square feet to 1,344 square feet. The interiors will feature simulated wood flooring in common areas and carpet in the bedrooms. Kitchens will have granite countertops, custom cabinets and upgraded plumbing fixtures.
The complex will have an exercise room, game room, library, party room, conference room and pool.
Link via Houstonist. Given the proximity of a major interstate, a Target parking lot, and a street that features a lot of eighteen-wheelers, I'd say the most important aspect of the design here will be soundproofing.
(On the plus side, you're only three blocks away from the Giant Presidential Heads. I'm thinking a loft with a view of the Adickes studio should cost a little more. It'd be worth a premium to me, if I were in the market for a quasi-urban domicile.)
Anyway. They're a little concerned about what a couple hundred housing units will do to traffic in the area at the Houston Architecture Info Forum. I don't know that I'm worried about the traffic effect - and I say that as someone who regularly uses the Taylor/Sawyer interchange at I-10 - but I will say that widening Taylor between the Target and Washington Avenue to two full lanes would be a big help. You can take Taylor all the way to Memorial for a pretty nifty back route into downtown when I-10 is a parking lot, but it doesn't take much traffic to back this up, especially at the lights at Center and Washington. I've got to think that this is on the drawing board somewhere. For the sake of the future residents of the Target Lofts, who will surely discover this alternate route, I hope it is.
What do you do when your campaign signs identify you as a Republican in a year where that isn't such a great thing to be? Why, you do a little ad hoc editing, of course. See? Duct tape really is the force that holds the universe together.
Now many campaign signs, including those of Ellen Cohen, don't identify a candidate's party. There is a version of the Wong sign that doesn't include the Republican label at all - driving around the Rice area, I saw more with no mention of the word Republican than I did with it. What amuses me about this is that either those signs were done accidentally and then handed out anyway for whatever the reason, or the Wong campaign made a strategic change after realizing that the R wasn't doing her any good. Whichever is the case, applying tape to the offending signs is funny. Guess Martha didn't want to spend any of her sizeable war chest on replacements. She can always claim she's just being fiscally conservative, I suppose.
UPDATE: At least Wong didn't do this.
City Council took up the question of widening the ban on smoking to include bars yesterday, and bar owners railed against it for the most part.
While various organizations have expressed support for a stronger ban, it was clear at Monday's meeting that some still adamantly oppose the change."Draft an exception to allow bars to continue to operate and make the decision whether they want to be smoke-free or not," Philip Brinson, who owns three bars in Houston, urged council members.
I'm not sure how that's different from the status quo. Surely any bar now can choose to be smoke-free. They'd have to enforce it themselves instead of being able to call the cops, but that's about it.
Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, chairwoman of the committee, said she hopes the council will vote to approve the measure at an Oct. 11 meeting. She plans to hold one last committee meeting on the issue next week to discuss the language of the ordinance, which now is being drafted by the city's legal department."Bar owners, they're just looking at the bottom line," Alvarado said. "We have to stay focused as public officials as to why we're doing this: It's a health issue. It's the dangers of secondhand smoke."
I appreciate Council's rationale, but the bottom line certainly matters. We've got conflicting reports out of Austin as to the effect of the bar-inclusive smoking ban there. We need to understand what this will mean as best we can before we take action.
Alvarado's committee held a meeting last month on those dangers, citing the U.S. surgeon general's recent recommendation that smoking be banned from all workplaces.This time, council members considered a study on the economic impacts of smoking bans. An independent consultant used data from the first several months after Houston's ban was implemented to show that it has had no effect on the sales of restaurants, including those with bars inside.
The study also considered other cities with similar bans and concluded that smoking bans do not hurt the restaurant industry overall, but can have different effects on various sectors of the industry, such as bars.
Some bar owners said a comprehensive ban would devastate their businesses because customers would instead go to bars outside city limits, where smoking is allowed.
That probably affects a relatively small number of bars. How far are you willing to drive for a pint? Unless there's a unique draw - a musical act, a sporting event on satellite TV, etc - I figure most people will opt for convenience. Not everyone, of course, but most.
Since the city's proposal is not yet complete, it's unclear what exceptions might be included, though some say smoking should be allowed on outdoor patios. Michael McCoy, who owns McCoy's Fine Cigars downtown, said he hopes shops like his that permit customers to light up inside also would be exempted."If they end up banning it in cigar shops I'd probably just close," McCoy said. "It's not like business is booming down here. You want to make it harder?"
One of his customers, Vance Burns, agreed as he puffed on a Flor de Oliva in McCoy's lounge. "It's like saying you can't eat in Chipotle," Burns said, gesturing to the burrito restaurant across the street. "That's their business. That's their livelihood."
These are certainly reasonable exceptions, and I hope that if Council goes forward they will include them. You're not going to satisfy everybody, but if this is definitely going forward, then a strong effort should be made to consider all special requests and grant exemptions where appropriate. Allowing smoking in bars that have sufficient ventilation systems, for example. Give the bar owners some options so they don't feel stuck.
Andy Fastow receives his punishment, and it's less than what it could have been.
Andrew Fastow, Enron's former chief financial officer, received a 6-year prison sentence today for his role in the 2001 demise of the energy company.Fastow's sentence had been limited to no more than 10 years in prison as part of his plea agreement to testify in the trial against Enron top executives Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt had the option to shorten that sentence.
Hoyt said he showed mercy for several reasons, including that Fastow had provided help to the shareholders; that Fastow was persecuted and scapegoated after Enron collapsed; and because of the suffering Fastow's family endured, specifically pointing to the fact that his wife went to jail.
"The family had take a particularly acrimonious hit,'' Hoyt said.
Before the sentencing, an emotional Fastow, 44, shed tears as he told the judge today he has publicly and privately taken responsibility for his actions, and he will struggle with the fallout and shame for the rest of his life.
"I wish I could undo what I did at Enron but I can't,'' he said, his voice choking.
He said he was blessed with family and friends, but " have failed them. I have to work every day of my life to keep their trust.''
He also said "I will serve my sentence as part of my repentence that I've already begun.''
I don't know Andrew Fastow, so I don't know how much I believe that his remorse and repentance is real. I've got enough Catholic in me to believe in redemption, so I'm willing to give him a chance. Some former Enron employees also apparently feel the same way. Ultimately, what powers redemption for me is taking action to make up for what you've done. Fastow is saying the right things now, and that second article indicates he's been doing some good things, but the jury will be out on this one for a long time.
Meet Silas Simmons, the oldest living player from the black major leagues near the turn of the century.
Simmons, known as Si, was born on Oct. 14, 1895 - the same year as Babe Ruth and Rudolph Valentino, and before F. Scott Fitzgerald and Amelia Earhart. He played at the highest level of black baseball while a boy named Satchel Paige was still in grade school.That Simmons is still living was unknown to baseball researchers until this summer, when a genealogist near the nursing home where he lives in St. Petersburg alerted a Negro leagues expert.
A member of the Center for Negro League Baseball Research confirmed a baseball historian’s dream: that Simmons was indeed a man who had pitched and played the outfield in the equivalent of the black major leagues on and off from about 1912 through at least 1929, and that he had played against such stars as Pop Lloyd, Judy Johnson and Biz Mackey.
Lloyd was like "the second Honus Wagner," Simmons said. "Judy Johnson, they called him Pie Traynor."
Simmons added: "It was a thrill to watch players like that. After a while they were in the big leagues, playing ball, which you thought would never come. But eventually it did come. And that was the greatest thing of my life when I saw these fellows come up and play big-league baseball." Simmons is not the oldest-known living American - that title belongs to Lizzie Bolden of Memphis, who turned 116 in August. The oldest living person who played Major League Baseball is Rollie Stiles, 99, who pitched for the St. Louis Browns in the early 1930's.
[...]
Wayne Stivers, who spearheaded the fact-finding committee that led to 17 people associated with the Negro leagues being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, said: "We were aware there was a Si Simmons and that he played. But we didn't know he was still alive. We figured, 110, no - this man is not alive. My reaction was, 'We need to talk with him immediately.' "
Simmons' first games were not in the Negro leagues as they are now remembered. The first established circuit, the Negro National League, started in 1920. Before that, local all-black teams would play against one another, against all-white teams or occasionally against groups of big leaguers barnstorming in the off-season.
Having grown up in a central Philadelphia row house on 17th and Bainbridge Streets, Simmons was a left-handed pitcher who was signed by the nearby Germantown Blue Ribbons, a well-regarded team. He said he started pitching for the Blue Ribbons at age 16 or 17, meaning 1912 or 1913. Box scores and articles from The Philadelphia Inquirer describe the 5-foot-10 Simmons as routinely striking out 10 or more batters while getting a hit or two a game.
Simmons had difficulty remembering all the teams he played on. While unable to explain in detail, he indicated that players, particularly pitchers, were often picked up by other teams for brief stretches, so he might have played select games for other teams as well. (Experts confirmed that this practice was commonplace.) Researchers have uncovered box scores and game recaps with his name from many years throughout the 1910's and beyond.
Amazing. And while you marvel at the life of Si Simmons, take a moment to wish a happy 90th birthday to former Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto, the oldest living member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Feel free to ask him about his collaboration with Meat Loaf while you're at it.
In addition to interviewing all of the Democratic candidates for State House in Harris County, I wanted to make sure I also spoke to the incumbent Reps who face Republican opposition. With today's interview of Rep. Ana Hernandez, the incumbent in HD143, I've completed that task. Hernandez won a tough special election against a big field last November to fill the seat of the late Rep. Joe Moreno, for whom Hernandez had once worked. She did a nice job in the special sessions earlier this year, and is one of the growing number of bright spots for the Dems in the House.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here. Rep. Hernandez also did a guest post for me earlier this month.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Bob Smither - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Dot Nelson-Turnier - Interview
Sherrie Matula - Interview
Sammie Miller - Interview
Mark McDavid - Interview
Janette Sexton - Interview
Rep. Ana Hernandez - Interview
I'm sure you know about Shelley Sekula Gibbs's "if wishes were horses" poll from a couple of weeks ago. I've now received word from the Nick Lampson campaign about their own poll, one that is (shall we say) a bit more reality-based. Here's the scoop:
Vote for U.S. CongressIf the GENERAL ELECTION for U.S. Congress were held today and the candidates were: [ROTATE]
o Nick Lampson, the Democrat
o Bob Smither, the Libertarianfor whom would you vote or would you write-in another candidate? (IF WRITE-IN) Who would you write in?
LAMPSON 43%
SMITHER 10%
WRITE-IN (SHELLEY SEKULA GIBBS) 14%
WRITE-IN (OTHER: SPECIFY _______) 7%
(UNDECIDED) 26%
That's a lot of undecideds, which probably suggests there's still a lot of people who don't know any of the candidates. Note, however, that even if you assume Lampson has topped out, he's still going to win. Shelley could get all of those votes, and she'd still lose. Bob Smither's presence on the ballot makes a critical difference, as I've said all along. If the undecideds all represent non-votes for this race (I expect a fair amount of them will), Lampson would wind up with 58% of the actual tally, with Shelley getting 19, Smither 14, and others 9.
Oh, and how's that $3 million of national money thing working out for Shelley? I quote from a CQPolitics interview with NRCC Chair Rep. Tom Reynolds:
On Texas' 22nd District, where Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is waging a Republican write-in campaign against Democratic former Rep. Nick Lampson for the seat that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay vacated in June:Reynolds: "... What I've found - what seems to be the indication of Shelley and others - is that there's a very keen awareness in [Houston-area] Harris County and the surrounding three counties that they know it's a unique circumstance, there's not a Republican on the ballot and that it would require a write-in. If it's true that there is a keen awareness to that, it presents a good opportunity. It is a very good Republican seat. ...
"We are going to watch it very closely. She's developing a good campaign. The state [GOP] chair is involved. We're definitely in consultation with that [campaign] to see how it evolves. ... I have not written off that seat [just] because I don't have a Republican candidate [on the ballot]. ... It is something that is very much on our radar screen."
Mmm hmm. To quote Weird Al Yankovic for a translation of Reynolds' remarks:
The check's in the mail (Hey!)
You're beautiful
Don't ever change
You know what I mean
My girl will call your girl
We'll talk, we'll do lunch
Or leave a message on my machine
So baby, won't you sign
On the dotted line
Gonna make your dreams come true
The check's in the mail
Would I lie to you?
Ahem. The poll memo is here (PDF). It doesn't say, but I've been told the sample size was 400, which means the margin of error is 4.9%.
UPDATE: I stand corrected about Lampson running ads (thanks, Muse!) I still believe he will capture a decent share of those undecided voters, however.
The people of Laredo don't want a fence through their community. Neither do the people of Maverick County.
This isn't as polarizing an issue as it is in other parts of the country because, I think, this district has been dealing with this question for a long, long time," said Andy Hernandez, a political scientist and former executive with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. "It's a hot topic, but it's not hot enough that you have to talk about it."The district's mix of voters - Anglo ranchers in West Texas, heavily Hispanic residents of border towns, Republicans on San Antonio's Northwest Side and Democrats on the South Side - also could make it hard for candidates to offer specifics without losing votes.
U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla's campaign Web site doesn't include a stance on immigration or border security reform. Neither does the site belonging to his best-known challenger, Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, a former four-term congressman and former chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Still, not everyone's quiet online. On his Web site, Lukin Gilliland, an Alamo Heights businessman and the best-funded Democrat in the race, calls for giving Border Patrol agents more resources, and notes, "Here's my bottom line on immigration reform: We need to secure our borders and protect our economy. In Washington, they don't understand the realities on the ground here in Texas."
[...]
Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster thinks recent legislation puts the issue of illegal immigration and what to do about it high on the list - at least in his town.
He contends Bonilla did himself no political favors when he voted Sept. 14 for the bill to build fencing and place cameras and sensors along 732 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Foster said the proposed fence would damage the close ties between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras across the Rio Grande.
Two years ago, Bonilla carried Maverick County, where Eagle Pass is the county seat, for the first time since he defeated Democrat Albert Bustamante in 1992 to win the office. But Foster said he probably lost support for the Nov. 7 special election because of his vote.
"It's kind of hard to support someone who wants to build a fence," said Foster, who's also president of the Texas Border Coalition, a group of city and county officials. "I'd say 95 percent of Maverick County agrees with me."
Maverick is a small county, but a Democratic one. John Kerry won it 5948-4025 (59.27% to 40.11%), but Bonilla beat his no-name Democratic opponent there by a nearly equivalent 5151-3363 (59.46% to 38.82%) margin. If the Democratic squadron is going to take Bonilla out, they will need to carry counties like Maverick.
Democrat Albert Uresti, a South Sider and brother of state Rep. Carlos Uresti, chided Bonilla's vote, saying in a prepared statement "the United States must reduce the flow of illegal immigrants along its borders, but (Uresti is) against building a wall that will not work."Craig T. Stephens, owner of a San Antonio engineering firm and the race's sole independent candidate, sees the proposed fence as ineffective and little more than pork.
"Building a fence isn't going to keep anybody out," Stephens said. "If someone wants to walk across the border, they're going to walk across the border."
[...]
Ciro Rodriguez, who represented neighboring congressional District 28 for eight years, wants to see a guest worker program put together and would explore the idea of some kind of Mexican-U.S. authority to police the border.
Last month's redrawing added a big chunk of his old South Side stronghold to District 23, boosting Bexar County residents to 58 percent of its overall population.
And there, Rodriguez has seen few voters who want to jump into the same kinds of angry debates that are roiling other congressional districts.
In this campaign, Rodriguez is making his first push into West Texas. And he said he's come across a lot of nuanced opinions on the matter.
"People don't want just an influx (of illegal immigrants) over the border because it's illegal," Rodriguez said. "But you talk to the ranchers, and they'll say, 'I need two or three of them to help.' You talk to a restaurant owner, and it's the same thing."
Funny, that. Maybe the answer is to get realistic about how many immigrants we let in legally, instead of trying to shovel sand against the tide. Link via South Texas Chisme.
I kind of like the way the Friedman campaign is responding to all of the negative publicity they've gotten lately. There's just nothing more attractive than whiny victimhood, is there?
So far, though, none of Friedman's opponents have taken credit for unearthing the 26-year-old audiotape on which he can be heard uttering the n-word during a standup comedy routine in Houston. It was published on a liberal Web site by an aide who works for a lawmaker supporting Chris Bell, the Democratic nominee in the governor's race.But Bell said his campaign had nothing to do with the publication of the story. Aides to the other major candidates said they weren't involved, either.
Friedman campaign spokeswoman Laura Stromberg said Friedman used the epithet as a satirical attack on racism, and the campaign has dismissed requests for an apology. Instead, it portrayed the entertainer as the victim of desperate attacks by a "shadowy industry that lives and breathes on political assassination."
"This is why regular citizens don't run for office. If you do, and you start to threaten the system as Kinky has, you're going to be attacked," Stromberg said.
Still, she acknowledged the Friedman campaign itself has volunteers on staff to gather newspaper clips and review the Internet to see what opponents have said and done.
Stromberg said she makes a big distinction between campaigns that get a few interns to look at publicly available records and those that spend thousands on outside firms to dig up years-old dirt.
How about publicly available records being looked at by, um, members of the public? Does that work for you? All I can say is that if the BOR boys have been getting paid thousands of dollars to find this stuff, they owe the rest of us a few beers.
Honestly, it's almost quaint the way these "outsider" campaigns seem to think they're above the fray when it comes to actual politics. If you can't defend your own words, what will you do when the real dirt starts flying?
Jeremy Warren of S&W Capitol Advisors in Austin, which specializes in both offensive and defensive research, disagrees. He says dirt is dirt, records are records, and facing your past is part of life in U.S. politics -- even for outsiders like Friedman."This is a guy who has made his entire career out of being outlandish and making statements that push the envelope," said Warren, a Democrat. "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen."
[...]
How much damage has been inflicted upon Friedman's run for Texas governor won't be known for a while.
But it's not all coming from the broadcast that suddenly appeared on a Web site 26 years after it was recorded. A day before the recording hit the Internet, Friedman was fending off complaints about comments he made a few months ago in a CNBC television interview, excerpts from which were posted on the Internet. In it, he called Negro a charming word and said he would punish sex offenders by throwing them in jail and making them "listen to a Negro talking to himself."
Republican Gov. Rick Perry later criticized the remarks as racist. Perry spokesman Robert Black said any candidate for governor should expect to face scrutiny over what they say in television interviews.
Although the Perry campaign routinely conducts opposition research, Black says it hasn't done any on Friedman.
"We didn't think we'd have to," Black said. "Turns out we were right."
Hard to argue with either of those sentiments if you ask me.
UPDATE: Holy crap. When did Jesse Ventura start channeling Anton LaVey? Norbizness, call your office - I think we may need a special emergency caption contest this week.
If you were arrested for drunk driving and given a choice between probation and jail time, which would you choose? As Grits notes from a story over the weekend, the rational option in Harris County is probably jail. No, on the surface it doesn't make any sense. Yes, it's a clear indication that the probation system is screwed up here. And yes, other counties do probation better than Harris does. Check it out.
Of all the things I've heard about the Jack Abramoff scandal, I think this may well be the sleaziest.
In November of 1997, Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) publicly questioned the credibility of a teenage girl's claims that she'd been the victim of the sex trade in the Northern Mariana Islands. The statement, which Rep. Hall entered into the Congressional Record, was prepared by Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist for the islands."[S]he wanted to do nude dancing," Hall's statement said of the fifteen-year-old girl. She had earlier told federal investigators that she'd been forced to work for a local nightclub in a nightly live sex show. You can read the entirety of Hall's statement here.
Press accounts at the time detailed how the girl had been taken from her parents in the Phillippines, and forced to perform sex acts on stage and before video cameras at a Northern Marianas sex club. A 1998 Department of Labor report confirmed those reports.
Hall's challenger in Texas' 4th District, history professor Glenn Melancon, has made the episode a campaign issue. "When investigators discovered child prostitution and forced abortions on the Mariana Islands, Congressman Ralph Hall was paid for covering it up and publicly attacking one of the raped children," read postcards his campaign distributed to voters.
Ew. Just, ew. The nicest thing I can say, given that Hall never refers to the girl's underage status, is that he had no idea what he was talking about but was merely performing as requested. That makes him a mindless stooge instead of a consciously evil person.
So far, the only news coverage of this is from the Greenville Herald Banner, which is treating it as a he-said she-said instead of providing any guidance as to the accuracy of Melancon's charges. It'd be nice if one of the bigger papers in the area picked this one up and ran with it. Stay tuned.
(Yes, Hall was a Democrat at the time he did this. A Democrat who had a lifetime 80+% rating with the American Conservative Union, who gladly (and at long last) switched parties to save his seat as part of the DeLay re-redistricting of 2003. He's where he belongs now.)
UPDATE: Greg has more.
I don't know who Tom Sullivan is, but based on what he said to our undistinguished junior Senator, I wish we had a hundred more like him. Go read. Link via Atrios.
UPDATE: North Texas Liberal has more.
SciGuy breaks out the red cape, waves it wildly towards the Gulf Coast, and yells loudly "Hey, Fate! You're a big wussy!"
It may seem imprudent to tempt fate, but it's impossible to escape a singular fact: Historically, after this time of year, hurricanes strike the Lone Star State exceedingly rarely.Since reliable records were first kept in 1867, the National Hurricane Center reports just four Texas hurricane landfalls after Sept. 24. Of the four, the most recent was Jerry, a minimal Category 1 hurricane that made landfall on Oct. 16, 1989, near Galveston.
That's one hurricane every 35 years. So, is it safe to signal an all-clear?
"I am not sure, with as strange as the weather patterns have been over the past several years, and the emotions of the public, that that would be a good term to use," said Jill Hasling, president of Houston's nonprofit Weather Research Center.
"The waters in the Gulf are still warm, so I am not sure if I would sound the all-clear yet."
Y'all can do whatever you want. I'm not touching the bottled water till Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror.
With all due respect to a truly great baseball player, are we sure that this was Roger Clemens' last game? The man has had more farewell tours than Cher. I don't blame him for coming back - Lord knows he's still got it, and as long as he and the Stros (or whoever) can reach a mutually acceptable bargain, I say come on down - but maybe this time we ought to wait some time next season to do the swan song thing. I'm just saying.
I'm almost all the way through the Harris County State Rep candidates. Today's interview is with Janette Sexton, who is running for State Rep in HD144 against Crazy Bob Talton. HD144 was one of too many Republican-held seats that went unchallenged or underchallenged in 2004 (Talton had no opponent). There's a lot fewer of those this year, so I'm hopeful that good things will happen, even if they take another cycle or two to fully manifest themselves. There's a lot of progress on the Run Everywhere front, and I think that's a solid beginning.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Bob Smither - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Dot Nelson-Turnier - Interview
Sherrie Matula - Interview
Sammie Miller - Interview
Mark McDavid - Interview
Janette Sexton - Interview
And we're back in the saddle again with Texas Parent PAC, which has tapped Juan Garcia of Corpus Christi as its latest endorsee. From the press release (PDF):
"Juan Garcia is a proven leader who will represent the Coastal Bend at the state capitol with distinction and make us all proud," said Texas Parent PAC board member Bev Barrow of Corpus Christi. "Everyone who meets Juan Garcia is impressed with his intelligence, professional accomplishments, distinguished military career, and commitment to children and families."[...]
"Unlike the incumbent, Juan Garcia will work as a partner with advocates for public education and will have a voting record to substantiate his support for our neighborhood schools," Barrow added.
Texas Parent PAC chair Carolyn Boyle said House District 32 is one of the most watched races in the November 7 general election, and the statewide parent group believes Garcia is clearly the better choice.
"It’s time for a change," Boyle said. "The Coastal Bend deserves to have a state representative with the courage to always represent the needs of local families, not someone who is pushed into voting like the political leaders want him to vote."
I've skipped most of the biographical details this time because you can get them by reading this Texas Observer cover story, which I highly recommend and which I blogged about at Kuff's World. Congratulations to Juan Garcia, who joins Joe Farias, Valinda Bolton, Allen Vaught, Kristi Thibaut, Ellen Cohen, and Joe Heflin on the Parent PAC endorsee list.
I caught a little bit of an Astros game over the weekend, and while I was watching they flashed a graphic that showed Craig Biggio was currently #9 all time in career doubles, and in fact is only three two-baggers behind Hank Aaron for #8 on the list. Assuming he plays one more year, in Houston or elsewhere, in pursuit of his 3000th hit, and he could finish as high as #6, as he needs 21 more to pass Napoleon Lajoie. That's some pretty rarefied air.
So as I was watching that, I was thinking that no matter what else Bidge's eventual case for the Hall of Fame is, I've got to think that Top Ten all time in doubles is a lock cinch qualifier. Which got me to wondering: Who has the most career doubles without being enshrined? What about other counting stats?
A few minutes with Baseball Reference later, I had my answers. I only included players who are eligible for the Hall (no Pete Rose, no active or less-than-five-years-retired guys). Here's my list:
Statistic #1 Non-HOF Player Total Leader Rank
=======================================================
Runs Jimmy Ryan 1642 2295 32
Runs Dwight Evans 1470 2295 65
Hits Harold Baines 2866 4256 38
Hits Andre Dawson 2774 4256 44
Total bases Harold Baines 4604 6856 29
Total bases Dave Parker 4405 6856 41
Doubles Al Oliver 529 792 28
Triples Ed Konetchy 182 309 t15
Home runs Mark McGwire 583 755 7
Home runs Fred McGriff 493 755 t21
Home runs Jose Canseco 462 755 26
Home runs Dave Kingman 442 755 31
RBI Harold Baines 1628 2297 23
RBI Andre Dawson 1591 2297 28
Walks Eddie Yost 1614 2311 9
Stolen bases Vince Coleman 752 1406 6
Stolen bases Arlie Latham 739 1406 8
The Runs list is crowded with pre-1900 players. Dwight Evans, a highly underrated player, was the first all-20th century guy. Harold Baines, who will be a nominee this year, and Andre Dawson are the top two eligible non-Famers or close to it on several lists. I think both fall short of the Hall, Baines more than Dawson, but seeing them where they were over and over makes me a little more sympathetic to Dawson's partisans.
(Another guy, not yet Hall-eligible, with even higher finishes in every non-speed category: Rafael Palmeiro, who was no worse than #29 in runs, hits, homers, doubles, RBIs, total bases, and walks. He's going to give some people severe agida in a few years.)
I thought Triples might be a slightly oddball list, and it did produce some different names, but a high finish there is still a good predictor of Hall-worthiness, though some of the non-inductees are definitely not near misses like Dawson. Take a look at Ed Konetchy's career numbers and you'll see what I mean. Same with stolen bases (Arlie Latham was a 19th century player) and somewhat to my surprise walks. How is it that a guy like Eddie Yost can have a season where he hits .231, slugs .336, yet draws 151 walks? He had only 176 total bases that year. I think if I were a manager back then, I'd fine any hurler who didn't challenge Yost on every pitch. Weird.
And then there's home runs. None of McGwire, McGriff, nor Canseco have been on a ballot yet, but any one of them could eventually supplant Dave Kingman for the highest non-enshrined slugger. Steroids or no, I think McGwire and Raffy should be voted in, but to say the least I expect that debate to be acrimonious. I think Crime Dog and Canseco fall short but expect both of them to have their supporters.
Anyway. More than you wanted to know, I'm sure, but I found it interesting.
I learned to read by phonics. I think it's a perfectly fine pedagogical approach, though it has its limitiations. Some words just don't yield to "sounding it out" - I can still remember getting laughed at the first time I said the word "chauffeur" aloud. English is a weird language, with lots of oddball constructions, and you pretty much have to cover all of the exceptions to make phonics work. Not that this is a bad idea, either - you'll come out of it with a decent vocabulary, if nothing else - but it's by no means the most efficient way to do things.
I had never understood the "see and say" or "whole language" method until Olivia started reading her books along with me. "Reading" may be an overstatement here - she's seen these books so many times, I'm sure she has them at least partially memorized, so I can't say for certain that she's not simply parroting. But while we do have some phonics-related toys for her - in particular, a set of alphabet fridge magnets that sing about what sounds each letter makes - we've never read to her in the "sound it out" style. For all I know, she's simply starting to recognize words and repeat them back as she's heard them spoken to her. Which is fine by me, and is clearly something we can build on.
So, like Kevin, I'm a little perplexed about how phonics vs. whole language has become another battle front in the cultural wars. I can understand that some people feel strongly (and will produce research that backs up their feelings) about one approach over the other. But color me agnostic on this one. I think phonics is necessary but not sufficient, and I also think that a kid who experiences a lot of words being read to her when she's very young will adapt no matter what is ultimately taught to her. Seems to me a mix of both approaches will ultimately be best. Must we draw lines in the sand over this?
UPDATE: Of course, the reason Kevin noted this is because of a typical Bush Administration scandal:
A scorching internal review of the Bush administration’s reading program says the Education Department ignored the law and ethical standards to steer money how it wanted.The government audit is unsparing in its review of how Reading First, a billion-dollar program each year, that it says has been beset by conflicts of interest and willful mismanagement. It suggests the department broke the law by trying to dictate which curriculum schools must use.
It also depicts a program in which review panels were stacked with people who shared the director’s views and in which only favored publishers of reading curricula could get money.
I know you're all as shocked by this as I am. Also noted by TPM Muckraker.
I know a lot of the discussion about Kinky Friedman lately has been about his questionable attitudes on race, and how that bears on a campaign that's based largely on a persona, but it's important to remember that in ways that really ought to matter, Friedman is a really bad candidate who has no business in the Governor's mansion.
In a wide-ranging interview last week, Mr. Friedman acknowledged his tenuous grip on the basic facts of state government. In one sense, it perfectly fits his campaign's theme: He's a man of the people who wouldn't govern anything like a traditional politician.But with the campaign's final weeks on the horizon and questions already raised about his history of racially insensitive comments, Mr. Friedman could have trouble showing voters he's serious about being governor and qualified for the job.
"He needs to come increasingly closer to the facts as the election comes closer," said Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson. "The latitude he gets from voters is declining."
Mr. Friedman conceded in the interview that he had no idea what Texas spends on education ($33 billion over two years) or what the state budget is ($139 billion for two years). And he grew confused over state spending.
Statistics can be manipulated, the candidate said. And he contends he doesn't need to know exactly how government works.
"That's never going to be my bailiwick. Never," he said. "I don't look to the Legislature for guidance. I don't think they're the visionary leaders of Texas."
[...]
When he's confronted with conflicting statements, this is also a candidate who either rolls with it or is incredibly flexible.
For instance, on the state budget, he said, "There's overspending, and that spending is out of control. And this is a Republican. What in the hell is he doing?"
The last budget signed by Gov. Rick Perry is an increase of $22 billion over the previous budget, thanks to increases in health care, education and other areas.
Asked how he would address his key issues, including teacher raises, insurance, health and border security, without ballooning the budget further, Mr. Friedman said he would allow casino gambling, which would provide $8 billion in new tax revenue.
So, he, too, would increase the budget - just like he's panned Mr. Perry for?
"OK," he said. "So add it on."
So, to sum up, he has no clue how the state government operates, and when confronted by his own malarkey, this famously straight-talking tell-it-like-it-is anti-politician says to ignore what he just said because he didn't really mean it. Man, I sure can see what the attraction to this guy is.
And as one more reminder to any self-identified progressive who still haven't figured out that Kinky Friedman Does Not Share Your Values, we have this:
Among his advisers would be musician Willie Nelson on alternative energy and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on border issues.
Putting Pat Buchanan in charge of border policy is like putting Robert Downey in charge of the medicine chest. It's just a disaster waiting to happen.
Link via Dallas Blog.
Molly Ivins, still kicking ass and having fun.
Sitting at the dining room table in her ranch-style home, still wearing the black velvet hat and matching black pants she wore to Richards' service, Ivins is reminded that cancer is not always the chronic-but-manageable disease she herself has battled since 1999.It often kills.
"This disease is so not fair!" Ivins lets loose, one hand clenched in a fist.
Then something happens. The moment passes, the sorrow lifts, and suddenly, Texas' best-known leftist columnist returns to the one-liners that have become her trademark and catapulted her to national recognition.
"I'm sorry to say (cancer) can kill you but it doesn't make you a better person," she says.
There. She may have poor balance, only a few patches of hair on her head and no assurance her breast cancer won't undo her in the end, but Ivins is still the sharp-witted, irreverent, funny provocateur who's been excoriating politicians, even liberal ones, since the day she set down her size-11 foot in the Texas Legislature nearly four decades ago.
Please get well, Molly. Between Ann Richards and Don Walser, Texas doesn't need to be losing any more icons any time soon.
From Friday, the toothless Texas Ethics Commission took a pass on ruling whether or not bags of cash given as gifts to state officials need to be fully disclosed.
Seven of the eight commissioners present at their regular meeting agreed to postpone the decision until December so they can further examine the issue.A groundswell of opposition has emerged in the days since the commission released an advisory opinion indicating state law does not require the disclosure of gift amounts; a suitcase full of cash could be described merely as "cash;" an envelope full of checks could be described merely as "checks."
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle called the opinion "absurd" in a letter to the commission and said "a gift of cash, check or other currency simply cannot be adequately described without giving the amount of the gift."
At least two state lawmakers, Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, and Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, have vowed to file bills requiring precise reporting.
Gov. Rick Perry said this week that he would support such legislation.
When Rick freaking Perry thinks you're interpreting the ethics rules too broadly, you know you've gone too far.
Specific criticism by Texans for Public Justice and Common Cause of the original TEC draft ruling is here (PDF). Note that the TEC does have policymaking responsibilities, and that the word "value" does appear in the disputed statute. The problem here is one of fecklessness, not clarity.
Neil makes an observation about Sen. George Allen and the recent news of his real heritage, and draws more of a parallel than he thinks to the Texas gubernatorial race.
Ever since Mark Schmitt first told me about him, George Allen has always seemed to me like a man with a deep understanding of exactly one thing -- the power of a good-ol-boy image in winning political office. From the football metaphors to the chewing tobacco to the cowboy boots, he's built himself exactly the kind of persona that's been winning elections in America from William Henry Harrison's "Log Cabin" campaign of 1840 to Bush's two recent election victories. Of course, all of these identities were largely fabricated. Harrison was born on a plantation, not in a log cabin. Bush was a president's son and a Senator's grandson who only bought his ranch in 1999 as a backdrop for his presidential campaign. Allen himself was born and raised in California, not in the rural South.Allen's awareness of the importance of his persona, I think, is what explains Allen's furious response to the bizarre question that he was asked in this week's debate with Jim Webb. Confronted with his Jewish ancestry, Allen angrily attacked the questioner for "making aspersions" about his ethnic background.
I don't see this as evidence that Allen was ashamed to be descended from Tunisian Jews. What Allen saw in the question, I think, was a threat to his carefully cultivated good-ol-boy persona. Jewish stereotypes and rural Southern stereotypes are about as far apart as any pair of stereotypes in America, and it's hard to fit them together in any sort of natural-looking way.
Friedman, of course, has successfully pulled off the Jewish Cowboy persona for decades. Unlike the others Neil cites, I don't doubt that this aspect of Friedman - the man and the candidate - is genuine. You'd have to believe that his whole life was gearing up for this campaign to think otherwise, and whatever else I may say about Friedman, I definitely do not think that is the case.
But I do think that all the news about Friedman's questionable attitudes on race and his defiant response to what's been brought up has served to deflate his image as a progressive hero. Certainly, based on comments I'm getting here and seeing at BOR, Friedman still has appeal to many voters, including some who may not have taken him seriously before. What I think is the case, though, is that when all is said and done he'll have lost support among nominal Democrats, who if they haven't been sucked completely into his reality distortion field must by now realize that he really doesn't share their values. Indeed, it's pretty clear he holds a lot of those folks in contempt. I just hope that now there's enough national interest in this race to generate more frequent polling, so we can try to measure some of the effects of all this.
For what it's worth, I saw Friedman perform at the Laff Stop on West Gray maybe 15 years ago or so. Funny show, as much music as stand-up comedy. He told a joke that I still consider to be one of the funnies I've ever heard. To the best of my recollection, there was nothing that I found offensive. Certainly, I don't remember him telling any jokes of the "n***** eggs" variety. I don't recall anything like that from the books of his I've read, either. Make of that what you will. In a way, I'm as surprised by these recent events as anyone.
But again, this isn't about his past. It's about his present, and the past is being held up to shine light on what he's said and done lately. Remember:
Among the more recent Friedman comments was one broadcast on CNBC, as reported by Clay Robison in his column for the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. Friedman said he would put sexual predators in prison and "make them listen to a Negro talking to himself." At the time, Friedman said he used that phrase in a novel to describe a junkie and that he wasn't racist but couldn't be "politically correct" and write a novel.More recently, Friedman sparked anger among groups including the NAACP by saying many of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees who have stayed in Houston are "crackheads and thugs." Most who were evacuated to Texas are black.
And also his statements about the border, some of which are less recent but still a part of this campaign. Once is a mistake. Twice is a habit. Many times stretching over multiple years is an ingrained personality trait. If Friedman is tired of people saying all these bad things about him, he could try understanding why people don't like the bad things he's been saying about them. It's really not that hard, and the fact that he refuses to says a lot more to me than any ambiguously tasteful joke ever will.
UPDATE: And the editorial pages turn against Friedman: in Austin, in Lufkin, in Dallas, and in San Antonio (thanks to BOR for linkage).
One year ago today, at about four o'clock in the morning, Tiffany, Olivia, Harry and I pulled into the driveway of Tiffany's cousin Emilie's house in Murphy, Texas, after an eighteen hour odyssey on I-45. I'd forgotten about the anniversary of Hurricane Rita until I saw a story on the local TV news last night. Seems I'm not alone in the forgetting department, unfortunately. Here's Google news on the topic if you want to refresh your own memory.
It kind of goes without saying that it has been a much quieter hurricane season this year. Considering that in 2005 we were facing Rita, and the named storm right now is Helene, that pretty much says it all. Read more about this year's storm season, recall what we were expecting back in June.
And just for comparison purposes, here's Olivia from the day before we bugged out last year. Click the More link to see a more recent picture, taken in early August in Portland.
Now this is a nicely done story on the County Treasurer's race. Kudos to KPRC for not skimping on the details or cramming it all in to a 15-second sound byte.
One point that needs to be made about the Treasurer's office: The story casts the debate as being between Orlando Sanchez, who wants to streamline the office, and Richard Garcia, who wants to abolish it. It's important to realize there's a distinction between the elected office of Harris County Treasurer, and the employees of that office, who do and will continue to do certain clerical functions whether that elected office exists or not. Garcia has also spoken about improving the efficiency of the office. The difference is that he believes improved processes can be put in place without the continued need for the elected position. Bear in mind that if Garcia is successful in his attempt to abolish the elected office - and he will run into opposition on this - the earliest that it can happen is November of 2007, after the Lege passes a joint resolution and the voters of Texas ratify a constitutional amendment. There will be plenty of time to make the ongoing functions more efficient before that happens.
Bottom line: Richard Garcia says he can make the office work better and eliminate the elected position. Orlando Sanchez says he can make the office work better, but the elected position needs to continue to exist. Which one do you think is going to save more money?
Simon Owens did an interesting survey (to which I contributed responses) on the state of blog diversity. It's a good read, including his discussion of the flaws in his approach and the questions raised by commenters. Check it out.
So am I a big ol' sap for admitting that reading this choked me up, or do I get a pass for being the father of a little girl? Help me out here.
Another find by BOR, another day Kinky Friedman has to spend saying he's not a racist. All in all, a pretty bad news cycle for Friedman. Even Chron cartoonist Nick Anderson has piled on.
Couple points to make here. One, as I've alluded to before, this is basically the flipside of all the gushing, fawning, Celebrity Candidate feature stories Friedman has benefitted from over and over again since he first announced his intention to run in 2003. Friedman has continually pleaded to be treated as a real, serious candidate, and he's getting exactly what he asked for. His candidacy has been all about his personality, and now that personality is being given the thorough examination that any serious candidate who makes a priority issue out of a given topic should expect.
Two, while the BOR boys have had a field day trawling through Friedman's remarks and routines from the past, what really got this ball rolling was his "crackheads and thugs" comment about Katrina evacuees (and to a lesser extent his statements about the border.) What might have been cute and overlookable by a non-serious candidate is now real news. Comedians who say whatever outrageous thing that pops into their heads are considered funny. Governors who do that are considered embarrassments. That's why Friedman is getting this level of scrutiny, and that's why we won't someday eulogize Clayton Williams as a "former Texas governor".
Again, will this matter? Friedman has a pretty powerful reality-distortion field around him, and I expect that many people who were drawn to him as a "why the hell not" candidate will be able to sufficiently bend their minds so as to accept that he's really the victim here. But I've seen enough anecdotal evidence to make me think that this will cost him among nominal Democrats. According to SurveyUSA, Friedman pulled 13% support among blacks and 20% support among Hispanics in their recent poll. I'll be shocked if those numbers don't shrivel up, and for Chris Bell to benefit as a result.
While Bud Kennedy thinks (and to an extent I agree) that Bell has benefitted mostly by being in the background and not having said or done anything stupid, I definitely still think he needs some money to get some positive, name-ID-boosting ads on TV for a couple of weeks. I see from this NYT piece that some traditional Texas Democratic money people are finally coming around on this as well:
In recent days, the cash-starved and long-invisible Mr. Bell has been buoyed by the unexpected opening of checkbooks, as some big donors have reconsidered their judgment that he could not beat Mr. Perry. One new benefactor was Frederick M. Baron of Dallas, a wealthy asbestos lawyer and former president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, who spent several hours recently closeted with Mr. Bell, calling Democrats for donations. “I’m now convinced he could win,” Mr. Baron said.
Hallelujah. I could gripe about what took them so long, but I've beaten that horse to a pulp already. Let's just say "Welcome to the table" and move on.
One last thing. While I do think Friedman's level of support from traditional Democratic groups will drop, that doesn't mean I think he'll pull a Strayhorn and totally fall off the map. However repugnant he may be looking to progressives now, he's got to be looking better to some other voters. Take a look at this find by Texas Kaos and you'll see what I mean. Remember: Friedman got 26% Anglo support in that SUSA poll. Only Rick Perry did better. You do the math.
Yes indeed, it's another Texas Parent PAC endorsement. Today's winner is Joe Farias, who's running for HD118 in San Antonion, which was left open by Rep. Carlos Uresti's victory in the Democratic primary for SD19 this March. This is one of the realtively few seats that the Republicans are targeting for takeover, so an endorsement like this will come in handy. Here's the press release (Word doc):
"Joe Farias has a proven record of leadership and service to his community and country," said Texas Parent PAC chair Carolyn Boyle as she kicked off a San Antonio media tour. "He has the independence, integrity, and can-do attitude needed at the capitol to solve our state's problems."Boyle said this is one of the most important races in the November 7 general election, and the statewide parent group believes Farias is clearly the better choice. "Joe Farias is a man of faith and strength who is known far-and-wide for his compassion and willingness to stand up for what is right," Boyle added.
[...]
"As a lifelong resident of House District 118, Joe Farias reflects the values of his community, and voters can trust him to stand up for their interests and concerns in Austin," said Texas Parent PAC board member Manuel Rodriguez, Jr. "Joe will not be bullied by special interests that try to call the shots in Austin."
Rodriguez also said Farias will not be beholden to big campaign contributors who seek to take money away from neighborhood public schools to pay for private school tuition in Houston and Dallas.
Farias is the only candidate in the race with experience as an elected official. He served on the board of trustees for Harlandale ISD for eight years, where he dealt with a public budget, responded daily to constituents, and cast tough votes in the interest of children, educators, and taxpayers.
After graduating from McCollum High School, Farias volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1968 and served three years in Vietnam and Berlin, Germany. He returned home to San Antonio and went to work for City Public Service, the local electric utility, working his way up from a novice machinist to a position as manager of the technical training division.
Because of years of experience in human resource management, Farias understands the importance of high quality kindergarten-12th grade schooling, affordable and accessible two-and-four year college education, and on-the-job training for achieving prosperity and the American dream.
Farias strongly believes in giving back to his community. He served on the San Antonio Zoning Commission, was McCollum High School All-Sports Booster Club President, volunteered for 20 years as a youth sports coach, and cooks and hosts barbecue plate fundraisers for civic and religious groups and those in need. In addition to his three terms on the Harlandale school board, he also served on the board of St. Leo's Catholic School.
Congratulation to Joe Farias, who joins Valinda Bolton, Allen Vaught, Kristi Thibaut, Ellen Cohen, and Joe Heflin on the Parent PAC endorsee list. You can listen to the MP3 of my interview with Farias here.
In my link dump post from yesterday, I mentioned that Vince at Capitol Annex had begun a series of email interviews with legislative candidates, beginning with Sherrie Matula (HD129) and Kathi Thomas (SD25). He's got a third one up now, Williamson County's Karen Felthauser, running in HD52. You can read it here.
Two points I want to make. One is that if there are any State House races that may come out of nowhere to surprise people, this one would make my short list. The reason for this is simple: It's all about the Trans-Texas Corridor. The TTC is unpopular everywhere, especially in the greater Austin area where there's been a lot of toll road-related activity. Felthauser is running against one of the architects of the TTC, State Rep. Mike Krusee. The district is basically 60-40, so it won't take that big a swing to make it competitive, and Williamson is slowly trending blue. I wouldn't bet money on a Felthauser win (not without getting some odds, anyway), but I will not be at all shocked to wake up on November 8 and see that Krusee had a narrow escape, say in the 53-47 range.
Two, I agree wholeheartedly with what she says here:
Q: During your time on the campaign trail, or in public office, what’s the funniest, craziest, or silliest thing that’s ever happened to you?The craziest thing I have run across is when members of some groups that should be wholeheartedly supporting your candidacy because of shared goals and values, hesitate to jump on board with your campaign. I am flabbergasted when they decide, instead, to support the incumbent, even though they have been abused by that representative and give as their reason that they have a “tenuous” relationship with the incumbent. I would liken these relationships to those of a battered wife and the spouse she is afraid to leave. I would encourage such persons to clear their heads and then stand up for themselves.
This is in a way analogous to the national situation, where groups like the Sierra Club and NARAL have endorsed Republicans who meet a certain issue list threshhold despite the fact that what matters more than anything nowadays, especially for their own legislative priorities, is who's in the majority. The Texas Lege isn't quite the parliamentary system that Congress is now - there's still room for a Hochberg 14 to throw its weight around - but as long as Tom Craddick is wielding the gavel, it's much more like that than not. Now is not the time for anyone who has a stake in the 80th Lege to go wobbly. Play for the win or don't play at all.
Anyway. Good interview, good candidate - go read.
Via Bay Area Houston, the kids at Clear Lake High School have invited all the candidates in HD129 to a debate. Sherrie Matula will be there. Will her opponent, State Rep. John Davis? Or will he wussy out like his namesakes in CDs 31 and 07? Stay tuned and find out.
By the way, this is the same school that hosted the notorious CD22 debate from 2004 where Tom DeLay decided at the last minute to show up and participate after swearing for days that it was beneath him. Read about what happened at the debate here, here, and here.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Geek Phonetic Alphabet. I heartily approve, and plan on adopting its use in everyday life. Link via Fighting Jay Lee (none more surly than he), who inspired its creation.
The following is a press release from Jim Henley:
Rep. John Culberson has refused to debate challenger Jim Henley, a middle school debate teacher at Sidney Lanier middle school. Two weeks Henley invited Culberson to participate in a series six public debates prior to Election Day."I have always said I will debate my opponent anytime, anywhere" Henley said Thursday. "Culberson is afraid to debate a middle school debate teacher in public because his constituents are angry. They are angry about rail, I-10, immigration, and furious about his ties to Tom Delay."
This summer the Rice University College Republicans and College Democrats invited the two congressional candidates to debate, and Culberson agreed on the condition that is was closed to both the public and press. The Henley campaign has always insisted on debates open to the public and media. Henley insists that open debate is essential to the democratic process.
"Closed to the public and the press"? Seriously? That's not a debate, that's a private conversation. Would Culberson prefer to invite Henley over for tea and crumpets? At least then he can be sure no undesireables can listen in on what he has to say.
Man. Between Culberson and John Carter, I have to ask: Why are these guys such scaredy cats?
UPDATE: Since the subject came up elsewhere, let me add the following: I have an email forwarded to me by Ryan Goodland, the president of the Rice Young Democrats, which came from his opposite number in the Rice College Republicans. In it, the CR president says that Culberson "agreed to an educational debate limited to a student audience." He reiterates later an agreement to "a debate that is educational in nature and is limited to students and the student press." Henley had actually not agreed to those terms (he wanted it open to the public; there was some miscommunication on that point), which leads to the present stalemate.
Given that a Rice Thresher reporter could have attended, this isn't completely closed. But since you and I and Kristin Mack and 99.99% of the voters in CD07 couldn't be there, it's still basically a private conversation. Maybe a class lecture, given the "educational" stipulation.
Bottom line: Culberson refused a public debate. That's all there is to it.
The Lone Star Project has the details of the lawsuit filed against Attorney General Greg Abbott over his office's investigations into allegations of voter fraud (see here for background). You can read the full complaint here (PDF). Here's the executive summary:
Plaintiffs assert that the challenged statutes enacted in Texas in 2003 violate both the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act by denying senior citizens and community activists the ability to receive and provide legally protected assistance to participate in elections and, in the case of challenged ballots, the very right to have their vote counted. The suit further asks the Court to block Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's current efforts to prosecute community activists and other individuals who assist senior citizens and the disabled in completing the mail ballot process and then help insure that completed ballots are mailed or delivered properly to election offices. It is a narrowly drawn complaint that seeks to correct a technical flaw in the Texas Election Code that is being exploited by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to selectively prosecute and suppress elderly, minority, disabled, and Democratic voters.
The Texas Democratic Party is one of the plaintiffs in the suit; the defendants are Abbott, Secretary of State Roger Williams, and the state of Texas. This has been a pretty decent year for the TDP lawsuit-wise, so keep an eye on this one. And while you're at it, read PDiddie about what else our illustrious AG has been up to.
Grand jury testimony for the former city employees who were fired for receiving improper bonuses begins today.
As two of the city employees fired for taking unauthorized bonuses appeared before a Harris County grand jury Wednesday, prosecutors said the panel could soon weigh felony charges against them.Harris County Assistant District Attorney Don Smyth, who heads the office's governmental affairs division, said the grand jurors would consider charges of tampering with a government record or theft by a public servant, perhaps as soon as next week.
"We're trying to get this thing before a grand jury, get a fair hearing, before the end of September," he said.
First, though, the panel is expected to hear testimony Friday from two other fired workers in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem who were subpoenaed to explain their shares of $143,000 in bonuses the city contends were unauthorized.
The grand jurors also are scheduled to hear from Councilwoman Carol Alvarado, who formerly supervised the employees. She is testifying without a subpoena and hasn't been implicated in any wrongdoing.
Smyth said the panel would also view evidence prosecutors compiled during a "massive" seven-month investigation before deciding whether there is probable cause for any charges.
As is often the case with this kind of investigation, it's hard to imagine the grand jury failing to hand down any indictments. Like doctoral committees, the formalities don't usually take place unless there's a good reason to believe they will produce the expected result. Getting indictments is not Chuck Rosenthal's problem, it's doing something with them where he tends to stumble. Stay tuned.
Previously, it was reported that while the red light cameras do take pictures of cars that fail to come to a complete stop before making a right on red (or left, for intersections where that's allowed), the drivers are not cited for this. That earlier story made it sound like this was a judgment call, but it seems that it's a legal matter, one that may soon be addressed.
"The way the current city ordinance is written, turns are excluded, even if they are illegal turns," said Houston police Sgt. Michael Muench.Traffic officers reviewed more than 1,000 violations caught on camera during the first two weeks of the program, the police department reported. A third were thrown out, many because the driver was making a right or left turn while running the light, Muench said.
Muench was unable to provide data on exactly how many violations were thrown out because the vehicle turned. Officials said officials would review the statistics before deciding whether to press for a change in the ordinance.
Councilman Adrian Garcia, chairman of the public safety committee that vetted the ordinance before approving it in late 2004, said he and his colleagues did not intend to exempt turning violators from the $75 civil citation.
The sticky part of the ordinance reads: "The owner of a motor vehicle is liable for a civil penalty of $75 if the motor vehicle proceeds into a system location without turning when the traffic control signal for that motor vehicle's direction of travel is emitting a steady red signal."
City Attorney Arturo Michel said the language was included to avoid ticketing vehicles that entered intersections legally but were caught there when the light turned red.
Councilwoman Pam Holm said the panel should consider amending the ordinance, and a spokesman for Mayor Bill White agreed that may be an option. "As with any new ordinance, we would always look for ways to make improvements, particularly if it involves public safety," spokesman Frank Michel said.
If the law is amended, it will come as a rude shock to the people who will get cited for doing something they're sure is legal. Last time I checked, though, ignorance of the law was no excuse, so now would be a good time to contemplate a modification of one's driving habits.
Now then. I'm going to take a moment here to review the things about red light cameras that do and do not concern me.
Things that concern me about red light cameras
1. Privacy - How long will the photos taken by these cameras be kept? Are there backups of the data, and if so how long are they kept? Who has access to these photos as a matter of course, and who can get access to them via an ad hoc request? What safeguards exist to keep people out of the data who don't belong there, and to prevent those who do belong there from sharing it with someone who doesn't? What remedies exist for when those safeguards are breached?
2. Impact on public safety - Do these things actually accomplish their stated goal, which is reducing accidents at the intersections where they are installed? Note that the type of accident matters greatly - even an increase in relatively minor rear-end accidents is acceptible if there is an accompanying dropoff in major T-bone wrecks. We've been promised data. I want to see it, and not just as a one-off. It should be done regularly, and it should be publicly available.
3. Revenue - I do not believe that red light cameras are "all about revenue". I will not be concerned if they turn into a decent revenue stream for the city, because frankly I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the folks who are running the red lights. What does concern me is the city coming to depend on this revenue as a means of funding ongoing, especially unrelated, budget items. In theory, over time these cameras should generate less cash each year, as people adapt to their presence. The fear is that the city will be incentivized to tweak things to maintain the stability of that revenue. Any temptation to muck with the length of the yellow light cycle at these intersections, as a for instance, should be resisted in the strongest possible fashion. Go back and review what this Dallas City Council member says about their cameras.
4. Due process - I don't like the fact that you as the owner of the car can be cited for the action of somebody else who happens to be driving it at the time. I'm not sure if I dislike that more than the idea of cameras that can record the face of the driver, however, since that raises the bar on the privacy concerns. I think this will be a relatively small thing overall, but we'll see. I will say this - if a person to whom I've loaned my car causes me to get a red light citation in the mail, and then does not immediately offer to pay the fine, well, at the very least that person will never be allowed to use my car again.
Things that do not concern me about red light cameras
1. The lack of signage at intersections where the cameras are installed warning of their presence. Sorry, but anyone who needs a sign reminding them that running red lights is against the law and may result in negative consequences gets no sympathy from me.
I think that about covers it.
Today the Senate will debate a bill that would authorize building a 700-mile fence along the US-Mexican border. Will they take into account what the people of Laredo want, which is to not build it there?
"I oppose the wall," said Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas, who spent 27 years as an FBI agent.Salinas said federal officials are failing to recognize the unique relationships between communities on both sides of the border.
"We obviously support the efforts of federal government to enforce the nation's immigration laws, but ... I think we ought to be building bridges of friendship and not fences," said Salinas, who planned to send a letter to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asking him to vote against the bill.
[...]
Cornyn and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, also a Texas Republican, said they oppose Congress stipulating where fencing should be built rather than allowing local officials to help the Department of Homeland Security make those decisions.
"The border states have borne a heavy financial burden from illegal immigration," Hutchison said in a statement. "Their local officials are on the front lines. They should be part of the solution."
Cornyn said today he would vote for the final bill.
Apparently, he doesn't oppose it all that much. Those of you who are surprised can stay after class and clap the erasers.
Backers of the fence bill have said it reflects the demand of the American people for border security."That's not what I'm hearing from my constituents," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who has voted against the fence both times it has come up in the House.
He said his voters want border security, but also want to see a guest worker program and other reforms aimed at illegal immigrants already living here.
"I think there's a more cost-effective way of using taxpayers dollars than putting up a fence," Cuellar said, noting that Homeland Security is awarding an $80 million contract to Boeing to use high-tech ways to guard the border.
The award is supposed to be the first part of a multibillion-dollar Homeland Security plan to help secure the Mexican and Canadian borders.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, said Congress' consideration of a bill that would erect the fence at the same time the agency is awarding such a contract demonstrates how politics is trumping policy on the immigration issue.
"Why we think we can do ... (Homeland Security's) job is beyond me," said Reyes, who spent 26 years in the Border Patrol.
San Antonio Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla, whose district includes Del Rio and Eagle Pass, could not be reached for comment.
Typical. One of Bonilla's opponents, Albert Uresti, had the following to say about the border fence. Click the More link to read his press release.
On September 17, 2006, the San Antonio Express-News reported that republican Henry Bonilla voted with other republicans to authorize the construction of a two-layered fence along the border to separate Mexico from the United States. On Tuesday, September 19th, Uresti traveled to Eagle Pass and Maverick County to get feedback on Bonilla's Mexican Wall. Uresti met with citizens, community leaders, business leaders, and elected officials. "Without exception, everyone in Maverick County was against Bonilla's Wall," said Uresti. "Everyone I talked to said that Bonilla's Mexican Wall would not work, including a retired ICE (INS) special agent and supervisor. Everyone also agreed that a wall would have severe economic consequences for border communities," said Uresti. One prominent business leader who had supported Bonilla said that Bonilla blew it with his vote and that a wall would hurt the economy in Maverick County. Like Mr. Uresti, several citizens also stated that it was not that many years ago that we celebrated the tearing down of the Berlin wall and now Bonilla wants to build another one. Several citizens also stated that Mr. Bonilla had lost touch with border communities. "After my visit yesterday to Maverick County, I am now more convinced than ever that Bonilla's Mexican Wall is a bad idea. His vote on this issue is one that the voters will hold him accountable for," said Uresti. Uresti supports increasing border security to stem the flow of illegal drugs and to protect our country against those who wish us harm. Uresti also agrees that the United States must reduce the flow of illegal immigrants along its borders, but he is against building a wall that will not work. Uresti believes there are other ways to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, including hiring more border patrols, getting more electronic surveillance equipment, barrier construction at certain key locations (far different from a 700 to 2000 mile wall), and providing local law enforcement officials with more funds and resources to police our borders. Uresti also believes that the United States must persuade Mexico that they have a large responsibility to correct this problem and that they must play a major role in preventing illegal immigration into the United States from Mexico and other countries. The cost to build "Bonilla's Mexican Wall" will be in the millions, possibly in the billions. "I would rather use billions of dollars for health care for our senior citizens, education for our children, hospitals for our veterans, and the creation of jobs for our working class then build a wall," said Uresti.
State Rep. Martha Wong says in her first TV ad of the season that she helped expand health care to the poor, but the two-term lawmaker has cast several votes to cut such programs.As the ad shows scenes of children, an announcer says that Wong "helped the truly needy gain access to government health care programs like Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program."
During her first term in 2003, the Houston Republican voted for a state budget that cut almost $1 billion from health programs. She also supported a major restructuring of the popular CHIP program that included new asset tests, increases in co-payments and premiums, and a requirement that families reapply every six months instead of once a year.
CHIP enrollment has dropped from its peak of 500,000 in 2003 to 300,000.
Only in a world where up is down could Wong credibly claim to have "helped the truly needy gain access to government health care programs like Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program." I say if you're going to vote for drastic, heartless budget cuts, the least you can do is stand up and be proud about it. Everyone who voted for those reductions at the time said they were necessary to balance the budget. Now it's time to see if the voters agree with that assessment.
In discussing her health care ads with the Houston Chronicle earlier this week, Wong said the 2003 budget cuts were necessary because of the poor economy at the time. Lawmakers decided to reduce the budget rather than raise taxes, she said, adding that she thinks the stricter enrollment measures eliminated fraud in CHIP.
And since then, we've had record surpluses, but the Republican-held State House has not restored any of those cuts to CHIP. But hey, at least those 200,000 fraudulent children got what was coming to them.
[Ellen] Cohen said that $200 million in CHIP cuts have cost Texas $1 billion in matching federal funds since 2003."The people getting shortchanged are the children, and the people getting hit harder are the taxpayers," said Cohen.
Texas continues to have the highest percentage of people without health insurance in the nation, according to recent U.S. census data.
Take a bow, Martha.
UPDATE: Here's Capitol Inside on the debate yesterday:
Sponsored by the Houston Intown Chamber of Commerce, the debate at the Briar Club sparked a war of words in its wake when Wong contended that Cohen had made a 180-degree turn on taxes with the criticism she leveled during the event at the new business tax that the Legislature adopted earlier this year. Cohen's camp countered by suggesting that Wong had lied when she portrayed herself as a friend of the Children's Health Insurance program during the debate and in a new television commercial.Responding to Wong's assertion that she'd improved CHIP, Cohen's campaign pointed to eight votes that the incumbent cast as a House member on legislation dealing with funding for the state-subsidized health coverage for kids in working families that can't afford private insurance. The Democrat's camp also took issue with Wong for saying in the new TV spot that she'd worked as a lawmaker to help truly needed people gain access to CHIP, Medicaid and Medicare.
Cohen supporters argue that Wong is trying to have the best of both worlds by touting votes she cast in line with Republican House leaders before conservative audiences while advocating conflicting stances at other times that make her appear to have been more independent and moderate like the remaining swing votes that are still up for grabs in HD 134. Wong's camp says Cohen's criticism is coming from a first-time candidate who's attempting to distract from a lack of experience and inferior credentials.
Wong suggested that Cohen had reversed field on the new state business tax, noting that she described it during debate as "not a responsible decision" after telling a liberal blogger in June that it appeared to be the best that the Legislature could do under the gun of a court order on school finance. Wong's campaign said the conflicting positions on the business tax exemplified a Cohen penchant for "political pandering and flip-flops" during the initial debate.
That "liberal blogger" would be me. (Thanks for listening, Martha! Tell all your friends!) Here's the interview in question. Note that considering the new business tax to be not responsible but the best the Lege could have done under the circumstances is not at all contradictory. Voting to cut CHIP, which results in 200,000 children losing access to it, then claiming in a TV ad to have improved people's access to CHIP, now those are conflicting positions.
The HD 134 candidates are planning to face off again at two more debates in Houston in October. While Wong's supporters say the debates are a good opportunity for the incumbent to showcase her command on key issues and experience as a former city councilwoman and civic leader, Democrats speculate that the incumbent agreed to debate because she fears that she's behind in the race. As a general rule of thumb, frontrunners in political races are more apt to dodge debates than to participate in them.Cohen campaign officials and other Democrats have heard that internal polling by Republican Governor Rick Perry shows Wong trailing the challenger by as much as six points. That hasn't been substantiated, however, because Perry's campaign as a matter of policy does not discuss the results of polls that it commissions.
Yeah, well, if polls showed Wong up by six, I'll bet there'd have been some official leakage about it. I'm just saying.
And now for something a little different. Have you seen Waldo around lately? He's been popping up around town in Houston and Austin. Here he is on the abandoned bank building at Shepherd and Alabama:
And here he is at I-10 and Studemont:
Metroblogging Houston has also noticed. Turns out this is one person's personal project. Here's what he says about his first work:
This is my very first Waldo. I had no idea what this was going to turn out like.My girlfriend is the one who inspired me to embark on this Waldo project. Not too sure how it will evolve but I'm really excited and already have lots of ideas on where to take this.
After painting and cutting this out I immediately went to the streets to paste it up because I couldn't wait to get it out to the public. I was out in broad daylight meticulously pasting this up without the fear of a cop driving by because It didn't feel like a crime at all. I can't believe some people consider this an illegal act. It blows my mind!
I really like how it looks as though he's strolling down the sidewalk. I'm hoping it will stay up for a while since it's in front of an elementary school.
So far all of his Houston works have been inside the Loop, mostly in the greater Montrose area. The two I spotted are on streets I drive a lot - I snapped these pics on my way home from work yesterday. Some of these may not be there all that long, so if you drive by one of the locations, stop and take a look. Who knows where Waldo will turn up next.
Lots of stuff I've been meaning to link to lately. Indulge me here for a minute while I link around.
Vince gets in the candidate interview game with Q&As featuring Sherrie Matula and Kathi Thomas.
Speaking of Matula, her opponent John Davis has had ethics charges filed against him for failure to properly report credit card expenses. Muse has the scoop here and here.
Tory gives his thoughts on Midtown urbanism.
Do you think that red light cameras will be a cash cow for Houston? DallasBlog asked a council member there about its expenditures on them. They've got video of his answer.
More video: Juan Garcia and Shane Sklar.
Bob Dunn speaks to the mystery man of the CD22 write-in brigade, Joe Reasbeck (scroll down to see it).
The original tough grandma. Accept no substitutes. More here, including an ironic ad beneath it and to the right.
Scott is leaving his job with the ACLU of Texas. Best of luck in your new pursuit, dude. And thanks for linking to the smartest thing I've read about immigration so far this year.
Three words: Bubble wrap contest. Need I say more?
Mary Beth Harrell attended the Round Rock town hall meeting on Monday. Do I need to tell you who didn't? Read Mary Beth's latest Kos diary, about a soldier from her district that was killed in Iraq, here.
Is YouTube doomed? (Thanks, Dwight!)
Do you hate college football's new clock rules? If so, you're not alone.
The Texas Parent PAC keeps chugging along. The latest endorsed candidate is Austin's Valinda Bolton, running for the open HD47. A win there would give Travis County an all-Democratic delegation, and would represent a swing of three seats since 2002. Here's the press release (Word doc):
"Valinda Bolton is a community leader with a breadth and depth of policy experience that is unmatched in this race," said Texas Parent PAC chair Carolyn Boyle of Austin. "She has the knowledge and collaboration skills that are desperately needed at the Capitol to solve problems and ensure future prosperity for Texas families and businesses."Boyle said this is one of the most important races in the November 7 general election, and the statewide parent group believes Bolton is clearly the better choice. "It's time for a change at the state capitol. Voters must elect highly qualified state lawmakers who are committed to working in a bipartisan way and voting independently on behalf of their constituents," she added.
[...]
"Valinda Bolton will seek common sense solutions for problems related to roads and traffic congestion, water, land development, education, and taxes without letting partisan politics get in the way," said Staley Gray of Austin, the Texas Parent PAC treasurer.
"In addition, parents can trust a knowledgeable PTA leader like Valinda Bolton to protect and improve our neighborhood schools," Gray added. "She is the only candidate in this race who has taken a stand to oppose taking money away from public schools to fund private school tuition vouchers."
For over 20 years, Bolton has worked with a range of nonprofit organizations to make communities safer and stronger. This includes serving as training director of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, staff consultant to the Department of Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence, coordinator of a Texas Department of Human Services project, trainer of police and sheriffs, and as an advocate for affordable housing.Bolton is an active member of First Baptist Church in Austin, including service as a member of the building committee, on the capital campaign steering committee, and chair of the children's committee. She earned a master of science degree from Texas Tech University and a bachelor of arts from Baylor University.
Congratulations to Valinda Bolton for joining Allen Vaught, Kristi Thibaut, Ellen Cohen, and Joe Heflin. I don't have any pre-announcements about tomorrow, but I expect there's still more to come.
The story of the current kerfuffle over yet another racially ignorant remark by Kinky Friedman is, among other things, an interesting peek into how something becomes a story. See, as the article says and as Phillip and Ryan document, this particular remark was made months ago, with video of it being uploaded to YouTube, but at that time it caused nary a peep outside of the blogs. Why is it news now? It's simple. Back then, Kinky was a Celebrity. Now he's a candidate, and what he says is fair game.
It's funny, because back when he was this Colorful Celebrity Novelty Who Says Outrageous Things, and Boy Won't He Make This Dull Campaign More Interesting, Friedman would insist at the end of every fawning feature story about his candidacy that he was really serious about running for Governor. And now he knows that while the media thinks nothing of an Eccentric Gadfly saying weird things, they think it's a bit distasteful coming from a serious candidate. Be careful what you wish for.
Now, will any of this come back to hurt Friedman with the voters? Hard to say. You'd think that sooner or later liberals, who give Friedman a fair bit of support, will eventually get the message that he doesn't share their values. But Friedman's a cult-of-personality candidate, and that can make his supporters fairly impervious to logic, as Bobby notes. You've got to try, though, and I hope that more Democrats raise their voices against him.
We've all been saying this for months, and it's as true today as it ever was: If Chris Bell can get a unified Democratic vote, he can win. It's as simple as that. If you're not voting for Bell, you're voting for Perry.
I rather suspected yesterday upon reading the story of funding for the Bromwich investigation into the HPD Crime Lab that there'd be more support for the probe forthcoming. Sure enough, here it is.
At Tuesday's council meeting, six of the 14 members expressed support for allowing the team of lawyers and scientists, led by former U.S. Justice Department official Michael Bromwich, to finish its work. More than a dozen members of the local criminal defense bar attended the meeting in support of the additional funding."If we had to pay all the people who have been harmed by the lab, it would cost a lot more than what we are paying," said Councilwoman Ada Edwards. "We need to stand firm, and we need to come to the end of the road."
[Mayor Bill] White said he will review the city's contract with Bromwich's team before taking a position.
"This money does come out of policing, and it is precious," the mayor said. "I want to review tapes of my conversations with Mr. Bromwich and our contract, but we will be bringing something up very soon."
I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that Mayor White will support this as well. While what he is saying here strikes me as fairly standard "I want to check and make sure there's nothing lurking here that'll bite me on the butt some day before I jump on the bandwagon" cover language, it'd still be nice to get something a bit more direct than that. As long as he does support it, I'll be satisfied.
For absurdist theater, it's hard to top the Texas Ethics Commission, which is set to approve a draft ruling that says gifts of cash to politicians need not be quantified, but can simply say "currency" and be aceptable.
"If the Texas Ethics Commission adopts this opinion ... public officials can take millions of dollars in cash and legally write 'currency' on their disclosure form," Craig McDonald, director of the Austin-based Texans for Public Justice, which favors tougher campaign-finance laws, said in a statement. "This interpretation of the disclosure law is absurd and dangerous."The vote will come six months after the same commission ruled that a gift of two checks for $100,000 could be listed simply as "checks."
Texas requires all public officials to report cash donations in excess of $250. But the law, according to the Ethics Commission, doesn't define how much description is needed.
"In our opinion ... the legislative intent as discerned from the plain reading of the words in the statute is that the description of a gift is not required to include the value of the gift," stated the draft ruling, put together by agency staff.
Under the draft, a candidate could describe a gift of cash as "currency" and still be within the law, but describing a cash gift as "a piece of paper" or "an envelope" would put one outside the law, it said.
Agency staff said it hoped the Legislature would consider amending the law.
Background on this saga can be found here and here. As the story notes, the full Commission will vote on adopting this rule Friday. Their point is that they need minute, micromanaging direction from the Lege in order to apply common sense to the rules. I fully expect that someone, like State Rep. Lon Burnam, who's been bird dogging them on this, to go ahead and submit a bill to do what they say they need. The question will be who will try to kill it. I don't think anyone will want a vote against this kind of thing on his or her record, so if no such bill makes it out of committee, it'll be because someone tried to take it down in the shadows. I'll be keeping an eye on this in the next legislative session.
Still working my way through the Harris County State Rep candidates. Today's interview is with Mark McDavid, who is running for State Rep in HD138 against two-term incumbent Dwayne Bohac. HD138 was one of three Democratic seats that was targeted for Republican takeover after the 2001 legislative redistricting. The others were HD134, in which Martha Wong ousted Debra Danburg, and HD137, which Rep. Scott Hochberg held on to for the good guys. And like those districts, it's been trending more Democratic since that election.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here. You can join in a blockwalk for McDavid with the Harris County Young Democrats this Sunday from 3 to 6 if you want to help. Contact Travis Sheive (hcyd.events@gmail.com) or Kate Rybka (hcyd.president@gmail.com) for more information.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Bob Smither - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Dot Nelson-Turnier - Interview
Sherrie Matula - Interview
Sammie Miller - Interview
Mark McDavid - Interview
By now you've probably heard about the latest SurveyUSA governor's poll, which is the third one this month to put Rick Perry in the danger zone of 35% support or less. It also continues the positive trend for Chris Bell, as it shows him in a tie for second with 23%. I blogged about this at Kuff's World, where I interpreted the result as bad for Perry and good for Bell.
Paul Burka, on the other hand, thinks this is just another poll that confirms what everybody already knows, which is that while Perry's level of support sucks, it's still enough for him to win. Among other things, he says:
The most important number on any of the charts is that Perry has 33% of the Hispanic vote. (Bell has 26%.) The Hispanic vote is about 1/6 of the electorate, maybe a little more, which means that Perry's share is worth 5 to 6 points overall. Switch half of those votes to Bell and Perry's lead would be down to 7 points. Perry's success among Hispanic voters is no accident. He has earned it, with appointments (Victor Carrillo to the Railroad Commision) and endorsements (eleven Valley mayors) and visits to South Texas. And the Hispanic community continues to diversify, with upwardly mobile voters who are increasingly likely to vote Republican.
It's interesting that Burka is calling 33% support among Hispanics a success for Perry, because back in 2002 he claimed to have gotten thirty-five percent of the vote.
At an Austin news conference, Perry said he had gotten at least a third of the Hispanic vote, thanks to determined outreach in the state's Hispanic, black and Asian communities."There was a very concerted effort on my part," said Perry, saying his success sends a clear message to Republicans.
"If you're right on the issues and reach out to different communities, not only will they embrace you, they will help you and make a difference in a campaign."
Perry's GOP pollster, Mike Baselice, said the campaign's final tracking on Sunday and Monday showed Perry captured 35 percent of the Hispanic vote, 15 percent of the African-American and 72 percent of Anglo.
"We've always said Republicans can squeak by with 25 percent of the state's Hispanic vote," said Baselice.
That claim was disputed by the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, based on an exit poll done by the William C. Velasquez Institute in Los Angeles. They claimed Perry got 12% of the Hispanic vote. More on that is here.
Republican pollster Mike Baselice, who worked for the Perry campaign, said the governor took 35 percent of the Hispanic vote.Texas Hispanics historically have voted Democratic, but Republicans nationwide are working to make political inroads with the rapidly growing Hispanic population.
"If Southwest Voter's claims that Perry only received 12 percent of the Hispanic vote were true, then his statewide margin of victory would have been 10.4 percent rather than the actual 17.8 percent he achieved on election night," Baselice said.
At the time, I thought the SWVREP claim was closer to the truth than the Perry/Baselice claim, but in retrospect I think my math was off. Be that as it may, the point is that if Perry was claiming 35% of the Hispanic vote four year ago, it's not exactly much of an accomplishment for him to have 33% of it now. It's also evidence that Perry has nowhere near the level of support among Hispanics that Bush had two years ago. Thirty-three percent, I gotta tell you, doesn't scare me.
Anyway. One poll, two views. See for yourself which one sounds better.
You know, if I wanted to create a parody of a judge who doesn't grasp the basic concept of "innocence", I don't think I could do better than Judge Sharon Keller. Only problem is that she's so far out there, I'd worry that no one would believe it. Who could possibly be that over the top? Grits has the latest in the "Sharon Keller is a disgrace" files. Check it out.
Another day, another Texas Parent PAC endorsement. Today's lucky winner is Dallasite Allen Vaught, who is running against Bill Keffer in HD107. This race hasn't really been on my radar - for whatever the reason, I just haven't heard that much about it. What I have heard about Vaught is pretty good, and between excitement over his candidacy and the recent trends in Dallas County, some people think this is a good pickup opportunity for Dems, even though the district isn't quite as purple as some other targets.
Here's the press release (Word doc):
"As an Army captain and attorney, Allen Vaught has proven he will effectively fight for families and for freedom," said Texas Parent PAC board member Pam Meyercord of Dallas."He has the leadership skills and collaborative temperament desperately needed in Austin right now to solve our state's important problems."
[...]
"Allen Vaught represents the mainstream views and interests of families in East Dallas," Meyercord said. "Unlike the incumbent, Allen Vaught will be a partner with parents and a true advocate for the needs of our children's neighborhood schools."
Texas Parent PAC board member Ellen Jones of Euless said House District 107 is one of the most important races in the November 7 general election, and the statewide parent group believes Vaught is clearly the better choice.
"Allen Vaught will be part of the solution at the state capitol, not part of the problem," Jones added. "It's time for a change. Dallas families deserve to have a legislator who represents the needs of the community, not someone who votes based on his own extremist ideology."
Vaught grew up on a ranch west of Fort Worth in a family of teachers and ranchers. He received a bachelor's of business administration in accounting from Baylor University, where he also was a member of the Baylor football team. His juris doctorate degree was earned at South Texas College of Law.
As an attorney, Vaught represents patients with cancer and other health problems related to exposure to environmental toxins in industrial settings and oilfields. Vaught is especially empathetic because he was a roughneck on drilling rigs to pay for college, and he comes from a family with a long history of working in the Texas oilfields.
A U.S. Army reserve captain, Vaught served in Iraq for a year fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He commanded one of the first units to enter Fallujah and was assigned to rebuild that city and win the hearts and minds of its citizens. Vaught was responsible for operating the local government, including training the local mayor and council on democracy and parliamentary procedure, rebuilding and supervising nearly 200 schools, and working with local managers to ensure that hospitals and water and sanitation systems were equipped and operating.
After six successful months in Fallujah, Vaught was transferred to focus on rebuilding and pacification of Sadr City in the Shia Muslim part of Baghdad. Vaught established relationships with hundreds of tribal leaders in that area. While transporting two daughters of a local tribal leader to an American hospital, his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device and small arms ambush. Vaught's back was fractured and one of the discs in his lower back was torn in the fight. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his injuries and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army Reserve.
Pretty impressive, I think. Congrats to Allen Vaught, who joins Kristi Thibaut, Ellen Cohen, and Joe Heflin as endorsees. Tune in tomorrow for another episode, as I know there's more coming.
UPDATE: DallasBlog covers the press conference.
That would be Bob Perry, the granddaddy of the Swift Boaters, who was sued by the Republican Attorney General of Indiana for violating the state's law against political robocalls.
Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter filed a lawsuit yesterday against a national political organization, accusing it of making illegal automated phone calls to voters in the 9th Congressional District.Carter also is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the Economic Freedom Fund, a Sacramento, Calif.-based group with ties to Republicans, from making any more of the calls, which attack Democratic nominee Baron Hill.
A hearing on that request is scheduled for Sept. 27 in Brown Circuit Court, where the suit was filed.
Carter, a Republican, said the Economic Freedom Fund has indirectly acknowledged its role in placing the calls but blamed a vendor for advising that they were legal. He said the group agreed to cease placing calls, although Carter still plans to seek the injunction.
He said his office is continuing its investigation and also may take action against any vendors that placed the calls on behalf of the political group.
"We're hopeful if there is anybody out there that is contemplating similar activity that this will send a message that anything they do must comply with Indiana law," Carter said.
Charles Bell, an attorney for the Economic Freedom Fund, told The Associated Press that the group had stopped making the calls by the time its representatives spoke with Carter's office. He said the calls were ended after the group learned from news reports that some Indiana residents were upset.
"We spoke with the attorney general before he filed his lawsuit and told him at that time that the calls had ended and that the Economic Freedom Fund had no plans to make any future calls into Indiana," he told The Associated Press.
Bell added that the group believes that such calls from another state into Indiana are legal and that federal law pre-empts Indiana law.
Oops. TPM Muckraker and the Patriot Project have more on this.
The ongoing investigation into the HPD crime lab has stalled pending the approval of more funding.
While Police Chief Harold Hurtt has expressed support for completing the inquiry, another high-ranking police official has said it is not worth the $1.5 million investigators are seeking. Several City Council members also have raised doubts, and Mayor Bill White has been noncommittal."Somehow, the shock value of (the scandal) has dissipated over time," said Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department official overseeing the probe into problems that were first revealed in 2002.
"It's a troubling thought that there could have been a significant number of defendants in prison based on shoddy, inadequate and flawed serology work and that people are seemingly reluctant to find out the truth about their cases," Bromwich said Monday.
A vote on further funding has not been scheduled, but could take place before the end of September. To date, the probe has cost the city $3.8 million.
I think this is a worthwhile expenditure, and I hope the funds will be approved when it comes to a vote. Curiously, though doubts from Council members and noncommittal-ness from Mayor White were cited, there are no quotes in this story to bolster those viewpoints. Just one quote from a police official, who is then overridden by Chief Hurtt, plus more support for Bromwich.
"My question to Mr. Bromwich is, basically, 'What are you going to provide in that $1.5 million that we haven't already received?' " Executive Assistant Police Chief Martha Montalvo said at a July 25 council committee meeting.Hurtt, however, has said he would like to see Bromwich complete the probe.
"The money would have to be worked out by City Council," he said after Montalvo's comments, "but we ought to let him finish up his job."
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, who last year provided $500,000 to help with the probe, agreed Monday that the team should be allowed to complete its work.
[...]
HPD's crime lab has been accredited by a national crime lab organization. The certification, required by a new state law, ensures only that labs meet minimum standards. Some, however, including Montalvo, suggest that being accredited makes moot any future work Bromwich might do.
Others, including Councilwoman Ada Edwards, disagree.
"Accreditation is a minimum," she said. "We have seen other labs get accredited and still have problems. To say that we don't need (Bromwich) is faulty."
Last week, the Stakeholders Committee, to which Bromwich's team reports, unanimously recommended approving the $1.5 million. One member, Controller Annise Parker, thinks the council has been waiting on Hurtt's approval to continue the investigation.
"We don't think the chief should be in the position of deciding when the investigation is over, because then that's the police department investigating the police department," she said.
Parker also notes that when Bromwich submitted his bid to investigate the lab, no one knew how much it eventually would cost or what new problems might be uncovered.
Even one of Bromwich's competitors for the contract, Lee L. Kaplan, agreed. Kaplan, who submitted a losing bid for between $3 million and $5.3 million, recently sent a letter urging the mayor and council to approve the $1.5 million.
"Given the significant problems uncovered by this investigation," he wrote, "the amount requested is within reason and the importance to the entire community of completing an independent investigation is compelling."
I don't see a whole lot of room for dissent here, and if Comptroller Parker is correct about Council wanting Chief Hurtt to approve of finishing the job, they've got it. Let's get this done.
You can read all of the investigation's reports here. As always, Grits has some comments, in this case from when the most recent report was released in May.
There's been a lot of noise made by Republicans in the past couple of years about ballot fraud. It's what's been driving their efforts to require picture IDs when voting, and now it's driving Attorney General Greg Abbott's investigations into violations of a 2003 state law that makes it a crime to put other voters' absentee ballots in the mail or deliver them to election officials. You hear a lot about how "epidemic" these abuses are.
Problem is, a lot of the allegations being made are crap. Nobody ever cites any actual evidence that anything other than a tiny number of votes are being cast by people who misrepresent themselves at the ballot box. And Abbott's methods are being challenged by a lawsuit that claims he is enforcing the law in an unconstitutional manner.
Democrats complain, and the suit will argue, that Abbott is selectively enforcing the law against Hispanics and blacks to intimidate minority voters and dilute their strength at the polls.Abbott, a Republican, said he's enforcing state law to root out an "epidemic" of fraud and to prevent "cheaters" from abusing or intimidating the elderly or disabled. For too long, he argues, Texas officials have failed to hold accountable those who undermine the electoral process.
"This has to do with breaking state law, falsifying state documents, registering illegal people to vote, casting votes for people who are dead, casting votes for other people," he said.
Abbott announced in August the indictment of a Hispanic Port Lavaca city councilwoman on allegations she falsely registered and encouraged noncitizens to vote and told one voter how to mark a ballot. Last month a Corpus Christi woman pleaded guilty to marking ballots for other voters without their consent, a third-degree felony. And, in July 2005, another woman pleaded guilty to mailing in a ballot for her dead mother.
Yet, of the 13 individuals indicted on charges of voter fraud by Abbott, 10 are accused of simply possessing another's absentee ballot for delivery to election officials or to a mailbox, Democrats say. Such activities had been legal until the 2003 law turned them into crimes.
Note first that Abbott's definition of an "epidemic" is 13 cases, of which 10 involve an activity that used to be legal. According to the Lone Star Project, the total number of ballots in question is 50. Given that the lowest turnout in a statewide election since 1998 is 3.7 million, that's got to be one of the smallest epidemics I've ever seen.
Both Democratic and Republican political activists have traditionally assisted elderly or home-bound voters who need help in voting, said attorney J. Gerald Hebert, executive director of the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center, who plans to file the lawsuit on behalf of Democrats."Now, merely possessing the mail-in ballot of another person is a misdemeanor. If you do it for several voters, it becomes a felony. It is my view that this is unconstitutional," said Hebert, who headed the U.S. Justice Department's voting section of the civil rights division until 1994.
Democrats also complain that of the 13 individuals indicted by Abbott for voter fraud, 12 are minority women while one is a white male. Moreover, Abbott's voter fraud indictments include no Republicans.
"I think it's evident that Abbott's practice of singling out minorities and seniors is a shallow political effort to suppress the votes," said Texas Democratic Party spokeswoman Amber Moon. "It's being done disingenuously. The majority of these cases are well-meaning folks who are simply trying to help their neighbors to vote."
[...]
Abbott's PowerPoint primer on voter fraud, "Investigating Election Code Violations," illustrates the discriminatory nature of his enforcement, Hebert argues, because it cues law enforcement to link voter fraud with black voters.
One slide alerts authorities to look for evidence of fraud on documents, especially specialty stamps. It depicts a sickle cell anemia stamp of a black woman holding a black baby, a stamp often used by blacks.
Another slide shows five black people in line for early voting, noting "all laws apply," while no white or Caucasian people are shown voting in the 71-slide presentation.
Abbot spokesman Tom Kelley said the stamp depicted was among evidence gathered in one investigation, but there was "absolutely no reason whatsoever" that the presentation only portrays blacks voting.
Just one of those coincidences, I'm sure. Look, this whole thing is baloney from top to bottom. It's overblown in a way that would make Andy Taylor blush, it's nakedly political, and it's too focused on minority voters. I'd say Abbott should be ashamed of himself, but based on this report it's not clear to me that he has it in him. PDiddie has more.
Everyone who was at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin yesterday got to say their goodbyes to Ann Richards. There's lots of good quotes in this story from famous people, but I'll highlight what her eldest granddaughter, Lily Adams, said about Ann:
Adams said Richards, known as "Mammy" to her eight grandchildren, was a "nearly perfect grandmother" who delivered the message that "this is your life. It is the only one you get. So no excuses, and no do-overs. Your job is to be the very best person you can be and to never settle for anything less."Mammy was the very best person she could be, every single day," she said.
We should all be able to have someone say that about us at our funerals.
Karl-T was there, and he's got some video links for you. Rest in peace, Ann Richards.
UPDATE: Stace adds his thoughts from the service.
The District Attorney's investigation into improper bonuses received by four former City Hall employees has finally reached the next stage.
Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado and four former city employees fired for taking $143,000 in bonuses that officials say were not authorized are expected to appear this week before a grand jury, prosecutors said Monday.The grand jury subpoenaed the four fired workers in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem, ordering them to appear Wednesday. Their former boss, Alvarado, has agreed to testify voluntarily on Friday, Assistant District Attorney Don Smyth said.
The panel is expected to spend at least two weeks hearing from witnesses and reviewing evidence before deciding whether criminal charges are warranted, he said.
"We're just trying to let a grand jury sort it out and decide who ought to be indicted, if anybody," said Smyth, chief of the office's governmental affairs bureau.
Well, at least we now have some definition of the word soon. Let's get this on and see where we go next.
Democratic State Supreme Court candidate William Moody, the official statewide Democratic candidate of the Dallas Morning News, is running an unusual campaign. More to the point, he's walking an unusual campaign.
Judge Bill Moody of El Paso is running one of the more unconventional races for a seat on the Texas Supreme Court: He's walking 1,017 miles, from the New Mexico border to Orange at the Louisiana border, in an effort to meet people the old-fashioned way."One of the reasons why I'm walking is that I think that the politicians and the people are losing connection," Moody said several days ago as he reached the halfway mark of his epic campaign walk.
[...]
Moody, 56, has been a state district judge for 19 years. He was a career prosecutor before advancing to the court. Moody ran unsuccessfully for the state Supreme Court four years ago when he challenged incumbent Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson in a traditional campaign.
"You fly into the cities and get off the airplane looking for the TV cameras and the $5,000 check and that's about it. Everybody gets left out," Moody said. "There's a lot more to it than this."
For Moody, that means logging between 23 and 27 miles a day. His cell phone allows him to thank supporters from the last town he visited, set up meetings for his next stop or chat on radio talk shows.
One of his favorite lines: "If you think it takes a long time to drive from El Paso to Austin, you ought to try to walk it."
Moody plans to walk up Congress Avenue on Tuesday, with stops in the state Capitol and the Supreme Court building, where he hopes to land after the Nov. 7 election.
[...]
"That's the way our campaigns in Texas used to be done, but that's not the way you do it now, if you have a choice," [SMU poli sci prof Cal] Jillson said. "Gimmicks usually aren't something you pick because you want to. It's what's left to you when you calculate your options."
But Betty Allen of Fredericksburg doesn't think Moody's walk is a gimmick.
"A gimmick to walk in this weather, in this heat? I admire him very much," she said after chatting with the judge.
"That's a long walk. He's got to be a strong believer in his cause to do this," said Pedro Salinas of Fredericksburg.
That's nice of y'all to say, but Jillson is right. This is a gimmick, though I don't mean for that to sound as pejorative as it does. It's hard to get coverage on a downballot race like this, which he has done, and he still managed to get the DMN endorsement. Good for Bill Moody, and long may he walk.
Add another Houston Democrat to the list of Texas Parent PAC endorsees, as Kristi Thibaut joins Ellen Cohen in the club. From the press release (Word doc):
"Kristi Thibaut is the kind of hard-working, independent leader who will stand up for the interests of her community at the state capitol," said Texas Parent PAC board chair Carolyn Boyle. "It's time for a change. Houston voters need to elect leaders, not followers who will fall in line to do the bidding of partisan leaders." Boyle said this is one of the most important races in the November 7 general election, and the statewide parent group believes Thibaut is the better choice.[...]
PAC board member Pam Meyercord said Thibaut is the only candidate in the race who will fight for adequate funding to help all schoolchildren succeed and oppose tax-funded private school vouchers. "Kristi Thibaut understands taxpayers cannot afford to subsidize private academies, and she will stand up to the powerful special interests pushing controversial private school voucher schemes," Meyercord added.
Meyercord said parents and grandparents can trust Thibaut to be an articulate voice in Austin for stronger schools, safer communities, and fair taxation. Parents throughout the legislative district are proud of their neighborhood schools, which are a part of Houston, Spring Branch, and Alief Independent School Districts.Professionally, Thibaut has a wealth of public service, nonprofit, and private sector experience. She served at the state capitol as a legislative aide to former state representative Judy Hawley, where she learned important skills in analyzing and drafting legislation, responding to the needs of constituents, and working collaboratively in a bipartisan manner to achieve results.
As the first-ever executive director of the Texas Youth Hunting Association, a joint project of the Texas Wildlife Association and the state of Texas, Thibaut promoted youth hunting and firearms safety. In addition, for several years she worked in the private sector for Continental Airlines.
Thibaut has extensive experience in public service and non-profit fundraising, having managed numerous events and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Houston chapter of the American Red Cross.
In addition to her professional work, Thibaut has served as a volunteer for the Houston Kiwanis Club and the American Heart Association. She is a founding member of the Houston Democratic Forum, an organization of fiscally conservative and socially moderate young professionals.
Way to go, Kristi! Joe Heflin has also been endorsed, and according to another press release from the PAC, they will be making an announcement about HD107 this morning. I'll post on that later.
UPDATE: For no good reason I can think of, I forgot to link to my interview with Kristi, for which the MP3 file is here.
Greg has gotten the discussion started on this Chron story regarding eSlate security. I'm going to pick one point of disagreement with Greg, and one point of agreement.
First, where we disagree:
Some critics of electronic voting believe the answer is printers that would produce "voter verifiable paper audit trails." If results are called into question, printer proponents say, a paper record exists of each vote and can be used for an official recount. Hart InterCivic's printer, which Harris County does not use, prints a voter's selections on a paper roll that the voter can review before leaving the booth. If a vote is wrong, it can be recast. Local Democrats say the county needs the printers, which would add up to $8 million to the county's $28 million investment in the current system.[Harris County Clerk Beverly] Kaufman says Hart's printers have not been certified by the Texas secretary of state, and that printers are simply another moving part that can break and cause chaos.
A major national panel on which [Rice U. computer science professor Dan] Wallach served said this summer that printers should be used. But one computing professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology agrees with Kaufman. Ted Selker designed a study showing that volunteer subjects almost never caught errors he deliberately inserted in their printouts.
Greg is not a fan of incorporating printouts with the eSlates. I believe strongly that they are necessary as a backup and a sanity check. I'm not impressed by Professor Selker's study, at least not as reported here. I'll have to hunt it down to see if he's addressed this point, but it seems to me that if it were the case that printers were added to eSlates, voters would receive a certain amount of education about how to use them to verify that they cast the votes they thought they did. At the very least, I'd expect both local parties and a slew of candidates to include messages about checking receipts as part of their normal mailers. If you can convince me that no reasonable amount of such messaging will have a noticeable effect on the voters' ability to error-check, then I'll be forced to reconsider this position. For now, though, I don't think Prof. Selker has told me anything I wouldn't have expected.
Where Greg and I agree is that a lot of the rhetoric about voting machine security is counterproductive to progressive and Democratic goals. It is important to keep in mind that eSlates, with or without printers, represent a big step forward from punch cards, and any campaign to make them better needs to incorporate that theme. It's also still the case that ensuring the integrity of an election is at least as much about the people who run them and the processes that they use as it is about the equipment. That's one of the motivations driving the Secretary of State Project, which has gotten some positive press lately. As long as there's a perception that people in charge of elections have put partisan interests ahead of fairness, voting machines will be eyed with suspicion. And I can't say that I blame anyone for feeling that way, whether or not I like how they express that suspicion.
Today the Chron gets started on endorsements for the 2006 general election. It's earlier than I expected, which is good, and has an entry I totally did not expect, which is bad. I'm speaking about their head-scratching endorsement of Orlando Sanchez for County Treasurer, about whom they say the following:
Sanchez promises to streamline this office, which is custodian of county money and issues county checks. Over the years the utility of the office has declined, so any savings to the taxpayers would be welcome. If elected, Sanchez, a Republican, says he will shun involvement in political issues that have little bearing on his office, while providing an additional check against improper expenditure of county funds.
A bit more than three months ago, the Chron editorialized as follows:
UNTIL the unexpected death of 70-year-old County Treasurer Jack Cato last month, it appeared that the political career of former Houston City Councilman Orlando Sanchez had finally been interred with an emphatic "rest in peace." Cato had beaten back Sanchez's primary challenge to the two-term Republican incumbent in his eighth year in office by a decisive 18-point margin.The setback followed Sanchez's two unsuccessful Houston mayoral campaigns that ended in runoff defeats. During an joint appearance before the Chronicle editorial board during the primary campaign, Sanchez criticized Cato's handling of his office. He said that if he won the $96,000-a-year post he would use it as a platform to express his views on immigration and would travel to Washington if necessary.
The county treasurer supervises 15 employees who process payments authorized by county commissioners; it has nothing to do with immigration policy. During his tenure Cato stuck to its mandated duties and avoided embroiling the office in controversy.
[...]
The state of Texas and several other counties have already gone the route of eliminating their treasurer positions. The two Democratic Harris County commissioners, Sylvia Garcia, and El Franco Lee, [along with both Republican commissioners], have indicated they would support such an action.
With Cato's passing, the time is right to consider whether this appendage of county government is worth the cost. Sanchez has made it clear he would use the office for a political agenda having little or nothing to do with its job description. The Democratic candidate, Richard Garcia, is running on a platform of abolishing it.
In a time when public sentiment demands lower taxes and greater economy of public services, why should taxpayers provide $96,000 a year for an extraneous position to be used only to revive flagging political careers? Harris County commissioners and state lawmakers should give voters the opportunity to answer that question in the near future.
So what changed between June 6 and today, fellas? Why do you now believe him when he says he'll "shun involvement in political issues that have little bearing on his office"? Why are you happy to settle for "any savings to the taxpayer" when you once called for the office to be abolished? I don't understand this at all.
Anyway. You can still play the Guess The Chron Endorsement Game, but you'd better enter quickly before they start with the rest of the slate. Whether this particular clunker is a harbinger of things to come or not is unclear, so take your shot and hope for the best.
Next up on my interview list is Sammie Miller, who is running for State Rep in the Woodlands up in Montgomery County. That's a tough job, as you can imagine, but she's giving it a great effort.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Bob Smither - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Dot Nelson-Turnier - Interview
Sherrie Matula - Interview
Sammie Miller - Interview
There's been a debate raging in baseball literature for some time now about the proper approach to talent evaluation. On the one hand you have the traditionalists, who believe that old-fashioned scouting methods are still the best way to tell if a given player will be a productive major leaguer or not. Numbers don't tell you everything, you have to know what the player is made of and see for yourself what he is capable of. On the other hand are the statheads, who argue that you can successfully project with a high degree of confidence how a player will do in the future based on how he has actually performed in the past. Your eyes can deceive you, and the stats can tell you things that may not be apparent on the surface.
A year or so ago, one of the writers for the Baseball Prospectus addressed this dilemma by saying it's like being asked to choose between beer and tacos. The correct answer, when someone asks you which of those things you want, is to say "Both, you fool!" Each one has its own merits, but together they complement each other, making the total package so much better than the individual components.
That's what I thought of as I read this Observer article about data mining and microtargeting versus traditional get-out-the-vote methods in Texas campaigns. Why must we choose? Why can't we do both?
The premise is simple: In modern politics, candidates for public office are products that must be sold to voters. As in any corporate marketing campaign, it helps immensely to know who the consumers are. In data mining, a campaign adopts the techniques of corporate marketing to compile as much personal and demographic information about as many voters as possible. Voter targeting takes into account everything from which primaries you’ve voted in, to your marriage status, to how long you commute to work, to how often you use FedEx. Each bit of information yields a clue about a voter and voting tendencies. The campaign runs this information through a series of complex, computer-driven statistical analyses. The end result is a surprisingly accurate portrait of who lives in the district, which voters the campaign should pitch to, and how to reach them in a media-saturated culture.Republicans have used these techniques in recent election cycles to successfully target and turn out conservative religious voters. Democrats in Texas, however, have been slow to catch on. Yet the Democratic Party’s biggest successes in Statehouse races the past two years - Mark Strama in Austin, Hubert Vo in Houston, David Leibowitz in San Antonio, and Howard - all used data mining to some degree.
Not everyone is enamored with the technique. Some of the top Democratic consultants and campaign contributors in Texas believe the effects of voter targeting are overblown, just hype generated by a handful of self-promoters that distracts from more important elements of campaigning. A debate has begun within the party about the effectiveness of targeting voters in small legislative races. In particular, the influential Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the deepest well for Democratic campaign money, has generally refused to provide major support to campaigns that use data mining. Howard, for instance, received hardly any money from trial lawyers in her race. The result is that voter targeting has been slow to gain traction among Democratic candidates. Only about a dozen around the state are using targeting this election cycle.
It's scouting versus sabermetrics all over again. This isn't, or at least it shouldn't be, an either-or choice. Certainly the Republicans, who have a huge head start on the Dems in using this technique nationally, don't see it as such. Of course candidates and messages matter, and of course every effort need to be made to make sure our voters turn out. But why not look for "our voters" in places where they're a distinct minority? Why not look for people who at first glance might not seem like our voters?
I'm going to come back to this article later, because I think there's a lot of meat there for substantive discussion, but for now just read it and say to yourself "What we want is beer AND tacos."
I suppose I'm not surprised that some enterprising citizen is planning a lawsuit to challenge the legality of the new red light cameras. I am surprised - a bit surprised, anyway - that he thought announcing his intentions ahead of time, including the time and place, was a good idea.
As he announced publicly last week he would do, Harris County bondsman Michael Kubosh carefully ran the red light at the intersection of Milam and Elgin, one of 10 locations around the city where cameras began snapping photos of violators at the beginning of this month. He and his brother Paul Kubosh, a traffic lawyer who will represent him, have been fighting the legality of red-light cameras for years, saying it's not an effective way to enhance public safety.But a police officer who staked him out at the scene - and even asked for his license beforehand - quickly pulled him over for the violation. A ticket issued by an officer overrides any camera-based citation.
"They are afraid of the challenge we're going to give them in court,'' Michael Kubosh said.
He now plans to run a red light at another time - just more discreetly.
Kubosh is the slightly nutty Dem candidate for SD07. (He's also been a financial backer of his opponent, which is why local Dems haven't exactly embraced his candidacy.) This is probably the best publicity he'll get for that campaign, not that it'll make much difference.
Be that as it may, Kubosh is doing this to get red light cameras declared illegal by a court. Given that the Attorney General has issued an opinion saying there's no law preventing cities from doing this, I'm not even sure what grounds he'll sue on, but I guess we'll find out once he fixes the bugs in his civil disobedience strategy.
How does one "carefully" run a red light, by the way?
To avoid causing a crash, the pair planned the violation at 7 a.m., when downtown streets are nearly empty. Family members stood on either side of the intersection and waved large white flags when cars approached. When it was clear, Michael Kubosh ran the light. Soon after a police car flashed its lights behind him.The officer who gave him the ticket, John Nickell, declined to comment, saying only that he was following orders.
Kubosh said police may have turned off the camera system during the incident, but HPD spokesman Sgt. Nate McDuell said that was untrue. It wasn't necessary, he said, because the officer's ticket takes precedence over the camera.
"It's an unfortunate form of protest and we're fortunate that no one was injured or killed as a result of this illegal behavior,'' he said.
Good to know for the future. And what does that future hold for Michael Kubosh?
Critics like the Kubosh brothers say the system instead is designed to raise revenue for the city and the camera vendor, Phoenix-based American Traffic Solutions Inc.Now that Michael Kubosh has been issued a ticket, he could be the one adding cash to the city's coffers.
"The proper way to do this is to have a police officer (catch the violator), as they have here this morning,'' he said. "I'm going to have to face the ticket that everyone should have.''
And we're back to the "it's all about revenue!" criticism. I suppose one way the city could counter this is to argue that they should be given some leeway to find efficient ways to enforce the traffic laws (no one is going to argue that Houston doesn't have a lot of red light runners, right?), especially in times of scarce police resources. Why should they have to post patrol officers at these intersections when a camera will do the job for a fraction of the cost? That doesn't address other concerns (like privacy, which is still my main qualm about the whole thing), and it assumes that the cameras will be effective (we'll know more when the numbers are published about collision frequencies), but it seems like a pretty cogent point to me. What do you think?
As I take I-10 to I-45 South most days to get to work, I've seen a lot of this billboard. My reaction was approximately "Oh, yeah, that'll make a difference". I realize that the purpose of this thing is as much Art as it is Message, but from a pragmatic perspective, I have to wonder if maybe putting the money that was spent on telling us to "imagine peace" towards supporting candidates and/or causes that actively promote peace instead wouldn't have yielded a better return on the investment. At least, that's what I imagine as I drive past it every day.
It's been covered before, but it's still worth your time to read this op-ed by former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby on how Texas came to adopt the law that restricted Republicans from replacing Tom DeLay on the ballot in CD22. Note the reason for the law:
In 1983 the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 122 to stop the parties from ignoring their own primary voters by removing nominees from the November ballot and replacing them with other nominees without the voters' approval.[...]
When SB122 was heard in the Senate State Affairs committee the sponsor (then-Sen. Kent Caperton, D-Bryan) summed up the need for the bill:
"[I]t clears a deficiency ... concerning the replacement of nominees in primaries. The current code allows the possibility that the general public has no say in who is the nominee of particular parties. In fact, we saw that occur last spring where not through ineligibility, not through unavailability to serve, or not through any other reason than political considerations."
The Senate's State Affairs chairman, Sen. Ray Farabee, D-Wichita Falls, was concerned that an unforeseen catastrophic illness would be a legitimate reason for a candidate's withdrawal but pointed out that a court should decide about that. Farabee wanted the illness to be documented by "providing for evidence to substantiate the illness so that it's there and determined, as compared to people who are getting together and deciding that, well, I don't feel too well, but it would be a lot better to run with this [other] candidate at this stage."
SB122 was reported out of committee and passed by the Senate with little opposition.
Hobby's piece refers to an amicus brief filed by numerous legislators involved in the crafting of SB122. Basically, a whole lot of candidates from both parties who won their primaries wound up declining the nominations, which let the party bosses pick a replacement. SB122 put a stop to that. The DeLay situation was exactly the sort of thing this bill was crafted to deal with. Nice to see that it held up after all this time.
You may recall that Ellen Cohen and Martha Wong were invited to participate in a debate at Rice University, which is now scheduled for October 12. Apparently, the debate will now also include Libertarian candidate and current Rice student Mhair Dekmezian. What's interesting to me is that this was done at the insistence of the Wong campaign. Here's the press release that the Rice Dems and Rice Republicans sent out to announce the change:
The Rice Young Democrats and Rice College Republicans have agreed to invite Libertarian candidate Mhair Dekmezian to a debate hosted on October 12 at Rice University, as requested by State Representative Martha Wong."We want to do whatever we can to make this debate a success," said Rice College Republicans Chairman John Stallcup. "Mr. Dekmezian should be a fine addition to the discussion."
"We're flexible, and we want to address Representative Wong's concerns," said Ryan Goodland, Rice Young Democrats President. "I'm looking forward to seeing the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian candidates for HD-134 share a stage on October 12."
The debate between the candidates will be held on October 12 at 8pm in Rice University's McMurtry Auditorium. It is open to the public.
As far as I know, Dekmezian is not going to appear at the Intown Chamber of Commerce debate coming up this Wednesday morning, so maybe this was a courtesy for the hometown boy, I don't know. I do know that Wong is practically cackling with glee about her triumph over the Rice Dems in press release (Word doc), and that I find the whole thing a little weird. Make of this what you will.
UPDATE: I have edited the quote from Rice College Republicans Chairman John Stallcup after being informed that the press released I had quoted from was an earlier version.
If it's football season, it must mean that the Stanford band is in trouble again.
Stanford officials placed the always controversial and provocative group on "indefinite provisional status'' Thursday for its members' apparent involvement in campus vandalism. That means no christening the home turf on Saturday. No performing at any athletic events, at least through September. No travel for a year. No alcohol.No kidding.
[I]n July, campus officials say, some members trashed the band's former campus trailer, causing an estimated $30,000 to $50,000 in damages. A campus investigation determined the vandals used a sledgehammer to destroy walls, windows and equipment.
"It was wrong. Most of them know it was wrong. And we're willing to accept our punishment for the role we played,'' said band president and trombone player Adam Cohen, who estimates that 10 of the band's 150-odd members are being investigated in the incident.
The band will be required to make full restitution for the damages, university officials said. Criminal charges have not been ruled out, said Jay Boyarsky, a supervising deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County.
My understanding is that the band had raised funds to build a new bandhall, which is why some of them decided to (ceremoniously or otherwise) destroy the old one. I can understand the motivation for that - after my sophomore year at Trinity, the old Student Union center was scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt, and just about every student organization that had an office in the doomed building did something like that at the end of the year.
Unfortunately for the Stanford band, their old headquarters was not supposed to be torn down. It was supposed to be repurposed for something else. As such, the destruction wasn't incidental. Oops.
For what it's worth, I think the yearlong ban on top of restitution and potential criminal charges for the 1/15th of the band that actually did the destroying is a little harsh. I suppose it would be hard to argue that this is a first offense for them, however. Link via the Rice fan forum, with additional info from the omniscient Grungy.
District A Council Member Toni Lawrence held her town hall meeting on Thursday to discuss plans to widen Bunker Hill Road north of I-10, and it appears she's pledging to keep an open mind.
Residents who live in Spring Branch neighborhoods bordering a small stretch of Bunker Hill Road north of Interstate 10 told Houston city officials Thursday that they do not want the road widened north of Briar Branch Creek.Two equally vocal groups of residents said they objected to two proposals in the three-pronged project: the widening of two-lane Bunker Hill Road from Briar Branch Creek through residential neighborhoods and next to Spring Branch Independent School District's Woodview Elementary School north to Long Point Road; and the taking of 20 feet of property on the north side of Long Point Road in order to enlarge the Bunker Hill/Long Point Road intersection.
A third component of the project - the widening of two-lane Bunker Hill Road from Interstate 10 to Briar Branch Creek - did not receive a thumbs up or down because, residents said, it runs through a commercial area and was not a primary cause for concern.
District A Houston City Councilwoman Toni Lawrence, who hosted the public hearing along with the Spring Branch West Super Neighborhood and Memorial City Redevelopment Authority/Tax Increment Redevelopment Zone, said no plans were drawn and all options were on the table for consideration.
"This is your neighborhood," said Lawrence. "We are here to listen to you and see what you want."
As long as you're not an SBISD trustee (PDF), anyway. Regardless, the community sentiment seems pretty clear to me.
Residents said a three- or four-lane road through their neighborhood would divide the community and prove unsafe for school children and residents walking across Bunker Hill Road."How about another option - keeping it the way it is?" said Don Hernandez, a Long Point Woods resident. "If you build a four-lane road through this area it will be the biggest waste of taxpayers' money. It will be a road to nowhere."
Spring Branch Woods resident Michelle Loret asked Lawrence and city officials to look at the residential area separately from the commercial area.
"There is a big difference in traffic north and south of Briar Branch Creek," said Loret. "You can put 20 lanes (from I-10) to the bridge and we could give a hoot."
Lawrence said there would be separate traffic counts conducted north and south of the bridge at Briar Branch Creek.
Why the sudden focus on Bunker Hill Road? asked Spring Woods resident Sue Asch.
"On Westview the road narrows to two lanes through the residential sections," said Asch. "Why are not we being respected in the same way?"
For sure, widening the portion of Bunker Hill just north of I-10 makes all kinds of sense. There's nothing there but an exit from the big Costco parking lot, which is a huge hassle now, as it generates too much traffic for that little two-lane road to handle. Widen it to two lanes each way, with a left turn lane from the southbound portion, and put in a traffic light if need be. Beyond that, I'm perfectly happy to leave it as is. If there's anything up there other than residential neighborhoods, I'm not aware of it.
Other perspectives on the meeting come from CTC member Ed Browne (scroll down a bit), and reader Anne Weedman, who sent me the following report via email:
The President of the Spring Branch West Superneighborhood limited area residents who wished to speak at Thursday night's Town Hall meeting to only one minute in which to register their comments. She even suppressed the comments of another Superneighborhood officer who stated that a time limit of two minutes was previously agreed upon.Each attendee was given a copy of the letter from Councilmember Lawrence to the SBISD School Board in which she chastised them for their input regarding the proposed Bunker Hill expansion, but the school board members and attendees refrained from publicly countering Ms. Lawrence on this issue.
In their brief and strictly enforced time limit, residents were overwhelmingly opposed to the widening of Bunker Hill through their residential neighborhood. Councilmember Lawrence actively listened and discussed alternatives she is exploring.
Several weeks ago I attended the Grand Parkway hearing in north Harris County. At that meeting, residents were overwhelmingly opposed to having the Grand Parkway come through their community.
Each of these proposals is worth watching. Will the voices of affected citizens drown out the plans of developers?
Given past history, it's easy to understand why those affected citizens feel that their voices have been drowned out. Maybe this time will be the exception. Stay tuned.
Hostonist has a great interview with Dr. Jeff Masters of Wunderground.com, which is a great resource for all weather and hurricane junkies. Here's a taste to get you started:
Given the current forecasts and model predictions, what do you expect during the remainder of the 2006 season and how do you see it impacting those of us in Texas?The steering pattern is unchanged from early June, and favors recurvature out to sea of the major storms born from tropical waves coming off the coast of Africa. For this reason, plus the fact the atmosphere has been dryer and more stable than usual, I expect that we won't see any major hurricanes affecting the U.S. the remainder of hurricane season. Once we get into the first half of October, we may get one or two tropical storms or perhaps Category 1 hurricanes developing in the Gulf or Mexico or off the Carolina coast from the remnants of old cold fronts that hang out over the warm ocean waters. Developments of this nature usually move north or northeast, so I put the odds of Texas getting a Category 1 or 2 hurricane this season at 30%. The odds of a major hurricane for Texas are perhaps 10%.
[...]
How do you feel about the broadcast media and its impact on storm forecasting, particularly how ad revenues and ratings play into the way storms are reported?
Hurricanes coverage is too sensationalized and over-hyped for my liking. Hurricane have become entertainment. One of these days, a reporter is going to get seriously injured by flying debris. I've championed on my blog the idea of having reporters doing their show from a safe place out of the wind, and sending wind-up toys out into wind to be blown away for dramatic effect. TV stations can make a creative and dramatic demonstration of the wind's power without endangering the lives of reporters. Hurricanes are sensational enough in their own right, and do not need over-dramatization.
Definitely worth your time to read. Check it out.
There's been a lot of fear and loathing over electronic voting machines lately. While I absolutely agree that all such machines need to print a paper ballot to serve as a backup and as a sanity check against fraud, I have found some of the hype over these machines to be over the top. In particular, there's a certain strain of defeatism that you find in some progressive blogs and discussion boards, of the flavor "it doesn't matter what we do, they've got Diebold machines and they'll just fix things so we lose", which I find repulsive and aggravating.
Having said all that, I think this Princeton study of Diebold machines needs to be read by everyone who cares about fair elections, if only so we can have a real discussion about the risks and steps that need to be taken to ensure proper security. I'll quote from the executive summary to get you started:
The main findings of our study are:1. Malicious software running on a single voting machine can steal votes with little if any risk of detection. The malicious software can modify all of the records, audit logs, and counters kept by the voting machine, so that even careful forensic examination of these records will find nothing amiss. We have constructed demonstration software that carries out this vote-stealing attack.
2. Anyone who has physical access to a voting machine, or to a memory card that will later be inserted into a machine, can install said malicious software using a simple method that takes as little as one minute. In practice, poll workers and others often have unsupervised access to the machines.
3. AccuVote-TS machines are susceptible to voting-machine viruses - computer viruses that can spread malicious software automatically and invisibly from machine to machine during normal pre- and post-election activity. We have constructed a demonstration virus that spreads in this way, installing our demonstration vote-stealing program on every machine it infects.
4. While some of these problems can be eliminated by improving Diebold's software, others cannot be remedied without replacing the machines' hardware. Changes to election procedures would also be required to ensure security.
There are many ways to improperly affect an election, from good old fashioned voter suppression techniques to unconstitutional voter ID laws. We cannot take the integrity of voting machines for granted. If they don't pass muster, we need to get better ones. It's as simple as that.
The first time I thought Talmadge Heflin might really lose in 2004 was when the stories about his and his wife's attempt to adopt his former housekeeper's baby hit the news (see here and here for background). What probably started as a good faith effort to do something charitable quickly became a public relations debacle for Heflin, and I'd be willing to say cost him some votes from people who probably wouldn't have given it much thought had it not been for those news stories. Given that his final margin of defeat was 13 votes, you can see what a disaster it was for him.
That's what I'm thinking about as I read all of the news coverage of State Rep. Gene Seaman's housing and tax issues. It's not just that he paid rent on an Austin condo for his wife out of campaign funds. He wasn't alone in this regard, and had that been all there was to it, he probably could have claimed it was a misunderstanding and seen the story go away in a day or two. But when you add in the fact that the checks were made payable to a company whose address is the Seamans' condo, that he blamed his wife for the error, and that there was also the little matter of claiming two homestead exemptions, for which they just paid over $11K in back taxes, well, it's not such a little deal any more. The whole thing looks bad, has been in the news for over a week, and doesn't even have a plausible claim of good intentions at its root.
It also doesn't help Seaman that his opponent is a rock star who gets stories like this written about him and pictures like this taken of him. (Who is also Texroots endorsed and very worthy of your support.) I've thought Seaman was a fat target for a long time, and I really hope I'm right in seeing a parallel to Talmadge Heflin for him. We'll see.
If there's one Democratic-held seat in the State House that people think has a strong chance of flipping to the Republicans, it's the West Texas district HD85, now being vacated by former Speaker Pete Laney. It's a solidly Republican district in all other aspects, giving George Bush over 65% of the vote in 2004, and the same candidate who ran against Laney that year is running again this year against his would-be Democratic successor, Joe Heflin.
For what it's worth, Laney has been saying that he expects Heflin to hold his seat. That may be bravado, but Heflin is racking up a bunch of nice endorsements, with the latest being the Texas ParentPAC, which had previously endorsed Ellen Cohen. I've got their press release right here, which I'll quote in part:
"Joe Heflin has the experience, wisdom, and integrity necessary to follow in Pete Laney’s footsteps and effectively represent West Texans in Austin," said Texas Parent PAC board member Dinah Miller as she kicked off a regional media tour. She said this is one of the most important races in the November 7 general election, and the statewide parent group believes Heflin is clearly the better choice.[...]
Texas Parent PAC board member Charles Olson said Heflin will be a leader in Austin to stop consolidation of rural school districts, whether forced by state legislation or deliberate state under-funding of small schools. “West Texas schools need a strong advocate at the Capitol who can explain why rural school districts need their fair share of state funding so they can serve students well, recruit and retain top-notch educators, and pay for rising electric and gasoline bills.” There are more than 40 independent school districts in House District 85, and public schools are critical to the life and success of each community.
Olson said Heflin is the epitome of an experienced public servant and community leader who is needed as a lawmaker at the state Capitol.Heflin is the only candidate in the race who has held elected office, having served as Crosby County Judge and Crosbyton City Council member. During his tenure as County Judge, Heflin had a range of experiences that prepare him to address complex legislation at the Capitol. He was County Juvenile Board chairperson, emergency management coordinator, county Appraisal Review Board member, South Plains Association of Governments treasurer and board member, Regional Alternative Dispute Resolution Action Committee member, and more.
[...]
The breadth and depth of Heflin's professional and life experience is unmatched in the H.D. 85 race, Olson said. "The icing on the cake for Joe Heflin's West Texas credentials is that he is a true cowboy," he added. Heflin was a member of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association and traveled with the ENMU Rodeo Team. He put himself through college by working on ranches and by shoeing horses. Since 2001, Heflin has been the master of ceremonies each year for the Cowboy Gathering in Crosbyton.
Well, you can't argue with that. Heflin also has the nod from Laney's hometown paper, the Texas Farm Bureau, and the Texas State Teachers' Association. So who knows? Maybe Pete Laney is right and this seat will stay in Democratic hands. I stil think it'll be a tough fight, and I won't be surprised to see it lost, but at least Heflin is going into the fight well armed.
OK, I feel like it's time for something a little lighthearted. I had mentioned this before, and now here it is: the 2006 Guess The Chronicle Endorsements game. The object is to try to predict as many of the Chronicle's eventual endorsements for the 2006 election season. The winner will get a prize - I'm thinking an adult beverage of your choosing, but we can negotiate that later.
Anyway, the rules are as follows:
1. Anyone can play. Make all your guesses in the comments on this post.
2. All guesses must be made before the Chron starts endorsing. Lord only knows when that will be, but you're better off doing it sooner rather than later.
3. Your goal is to predict what the Chron will do. You're not saying who they should endorse, or who you'd endorse if it were up to you, but who they actually will endorse.
4. The offices that are in play for this contest are:
- Senator
- All statewide offices, including Governor, Lt. Gov., Comptroller, Ag/Land/Railroad Commish, Attorney General, and all Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals seats
- All Congressional offices in Harris County - CDs 02, 07, 09, 10, 18, 22, and 29.
- All State House offices in Harris County, which is HDs 126 through 150. No point in bothering with the State Senate; there's only one contested seat, and we know who'll get that recommendation.
- Harris County Treasurer. If enough people complain, I'll add in the Harris County judicial races, but this should be enough for everyone.
5. The scoring is as follows: For correctly guessing that an incumbent would be recommended for re-election, one point. For correctly guessing that a challenger would be recommended over an incumbent, three points. For correctly guessing an open-seat race, two points.
6. In the event of a tie, I'll come up with some hairbrained scheme to sort it out.
Got it? Go into the comments and leave your guesses. Here's mine, to get you started:
1. Senate - Hutchison. Offhand, I can't think of any Dem they'd be likely to pick over her. KBH is just Their Kind Of Candidate.
2. Statewides - All Republicans except for Chris Bell and Bill Moody. The Chron has endorsed Republicans for Governor for every year I've been in Houston (yes, they picked Clayton Williams over Ann Richards, and yes, I'm still mad about that), so I feel like I'm going out on a limb here. I just have this feeling that they're tired of Rick Perry, so I'm going against him. Before the Grandma Ballot Follies, I could've made a case for Strayhorn here, but given the idiocy of her campaign so far, I'm running with the hometown boy.
The case for Moody is essentially the one that the Morning News made for him. I think the Chron will see it the same way.
The one place where I'm not confident about my pick is Ag Commish. I'll be more than happy to be wrong about it.
(Note: Comptroller and Ag Commish are open seats.)
3. Congressionals - Lampson in CD22 (duh!), incumbents otherwise. I just don't think they have the guts to abandon John "I Hate Metro" Culberson. Again, I'll be very happy to be wrong about that.
(Note: CD22 counts as an open seat.)
4. State House - I'll start with the easy ones: All incumbents except for Diane Trautman in HD127, Sherrie Matula in HD129, and Ellen Cohen in HD134. They endorsed Dem challengers in 127 and 134 in 2004, and I don't see any reason why they'd switch back. Matula is the kind of candidate that they like, and I can see her winning them over.
The Chron endorsed Heflin over Vo in 149 last time, but that was when Heflin was the chair of the Appropriations Committee. There's no good reason for them to pick him this time.
The toughies are the two open seats, 126 and 133. I'm going to call it a split and guess Patricia Harless in 126, and Kristi Thibaut in 133. Both Democrat Thibaut and Republican Jim Murphy in 133 are the kind of candidates the Chron tends to like, so I think that one's a coin toss. Given that, I may as well root for the outcome I prefer.
5. Harris County Treasurer - Richard Garcia. Easiest pick of the bunch after Lampson. I think they'll approve of the abolish-the-office message, and will not like Orlando Sanchez's stated desire to turn the office into his personal soapbox for pet causes. I will be genuinely shocked if I'm wrong about this. This counts as an open seat.
There you have it. The floor is open, so guess away.
Lots of wonderful tributes to Ann Richards are out there today. Here are some links you really shouldn't miss.
High school students get a better appreciation of a Governor they were too young to know.
'stina comes out of hiatus to give A Tribute To An Uppity Woman.
Lawrence at In the Pink Texas has an even funnier story about Ann Richards than the Molly Ivins tale I related, and it's one you probably haven't heard before.
BOR has several good ones, including Orange. And Blue by El Jefe, and Ann Richards Saved My Life by Deputy. Definitely check them out.
There's plenty more out there - I'm still catching up on some reading, so I'm sure I've overlooked some gems. Whether you knew Ann Richards or not, whether you were here and politically aware during her time in office or not, she's worth knowing and her life is worth celebrating. Vaya con Dios, Ann.
The first really big domino of the Abramof scandal has fallen.
Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty today to making false statements and conspiracy to commit fraud and violating post-employment restrictions for former congressional aides.The charges are related to his dealings with the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
A guilty plea makes Ney, a six-term congressman, the first member of Congress to confess to criminal charges in the Abramoff investigation, which has focused on the actions of several current and former Republican lawmakers, including former Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land.
Lawyers and others, who would speak only anonymously because of concern they would anger prosecutors, said the agreement with the Justice Department would probably require Ney to serve at least some time in prison.
[...]
Ney has been under scrutiny by the Justice Department for more than a year over gifts he received from Abramoff that included a lavish golf trip to Scotland in 2002.
The congressman has said in the past that the gifts had nothing to do with a series of official actions he took in support of Abramoff and his clients.
Ney announced in August that he would not seek re-election, citing stress on his family because of what he called the "ordeal" of the scrutiny over his ties to Abramoff.
Ney made multiple public denials of any wrongdoing in L'Affaire Abramoff over the past few months. Obviously, none of that is operational any more. No surprises here, right?
The Justice Department is about to hold a press conference on the Ney plea, so we will know a lot more soon. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Swing State Project compares OH-18 to CA-50, the home of the previous Republican Congressional felon, Duke Cunningham.
Didn't this guy's mama ever teach him not to waste food like that?
An audience member hurled an egg at Mayor Bill White during a Houston City Council meeting Wednesday, prompting a debate over whether certain people should be banned from the chambers.The egg smashed against the wall behind the mayor, about 10 feet over his head, splattering several staffers and making a loud noise.
Audience members gasped, but White kept his composure and continued talking about how flexible work hours would help ease city traffic.
"My kids joke that I'm very difficult to get off track once I get rolling," White said later.
The egg tosser was Robert Horton, 44, a regular at public meetings who has caused two previous egg-related ruckuses at City Hall.
Police in attendance took him from the council chambers, and he was charged with disrupting a public meeting, a misdemeanor.
Several months ago, police hauled him out of council chambers during a public session for cracking an egg in his hand at the lectern and singing, "I've got the whole world in my hands."
Are we going to have to install egg detectors at City Hall? What is the world coming to?
As the story notes, this guy is a serial egg tosser - he did the same thing to Carol Alvarado some time ago. This has prompted talk of changes in how Council operates.
The incident led to discussion about whether visitors who repeatedly disrupt council meetings should be banned from City Hall.It's not unusual for visitors who show symptoms of mental illness or smell strongly of alcohol to rant nonsensically or call council members inappropriate names.
White said he has been reluctant to place restrictions on who appears before the council, but he asked city attorneys to look into possible exceptions.
"We do want to make sure that we protect people's rights under the Constitution to have access to the right to petition," the mayor said.
[...]
"I'm all for free speech, but free speech doesn't mean that you get to express yourself by assaulting someone - and today was an assault," Councilwoman Sue Lovell said.
I agree with Council Member Lovell. Your right to free speech does not include hurling eggs at people. Anyone who does this - especially anyone who has done it more than once - forfeits their right to address City Council in person. There's no justification for that, and if Mayor White pursues such a policy, I will have exactly zero sympathy for Mr. Horton.
And via Houstonist, here's some videos of Horton in action (uploaded by Kevin). Yeesh.
So the fight over the Mayor's proposed changes to 2004's Proposition 2 (known this year as Proposition G) has begun with the usual round of radio ads.
The new ad, voiced by Proposition 2 supporter and former Councilman Carroll Robinson, encourages voters to reject White's plan, called Proposition G. The ad links the mayor's proposal with recent high energy prices."Is your electricity bill too high?" Robinson asks in the ad. "If it is, vote against Proposition G." Moments later, he asks, "Are you paying too much for gas at the pump? If you are, vote against Proposition G."
Greg has MP3s of the ads, if you want to hear them. I have to say, after implying that passage of Prop G would cost one's right to vote, this is almost tame. Here's a suggestion for the next ad: "Do you suffer from the heartbreak of psoriasis? If you do, vote against Proposition G. Do you ever get that 'not so fresh feeling'? If you do, vote against Proposition G." Makes about as much sense as anything else that's been aired so far.
The long-awaited and frequently delayed saga of airport shuttles has come to an end, as City Council has finally approved a deal to bring them to Houston.
The shuttle will cost between $18 and $25, depending on the destination, about half as much as a taxi. It will pick up travelers at their homes, businesses or hotels and drive them to the airport, likely stopping to pick up other passengers on the way, with a maximum of three stops.Passengers must call ahead to be picked up at home, but reservations aren't necessary when traveling from the airport to a destination within the city.
Travelling with young'uns means the Kuffner family will not be using this option, but I can see myself (and my wife) using it when we travel by ourselves for business. It's not a concern about price that would tempt me to use this, as airport parking is a business expense that gets reimbursed. It's the frequently awful experience of airport parking, where you have the choice of drving up and down the aisles in search of an available space (and then remembering where that was when you return), or parking in a satellite lot and hoping that it's not raining when you get back. Being dropped off at the front door of the terminal has a lot of appeal. And for sure, I expect to point out this service to people when they fly in to visit us. Anything that cuts down on the number of times I have to circle Terminal C waiting for someone to emerge from baggage claim is okay in my book.
Unfortunately, to get this new shuttle service, the existing limited-destination shuttle service was put out of business.
The project was stalled because several council members were concerned about awarding the contract to only one company, which they said created a monopoly. The contract also will end scheduled ground transportation, which runs between hotels and airports at set times, after a grace period of several months. That effectively will put one company, Texans Shuttle, out of business."It never should be our intention to destroy one particular market or one particular company for another," said Councilman Jarvis Johnson, who voted against the measure along with Ada Edwards, Anne Clutterbuck and Peter Brown. The vote was 11-4.
Mohammed Bedru of Texans Shuttle, which employs about 35 drivers, said his employees likely will lose their jobs.
"The city is really favoring Yellow Cab and closing a minority business," he said. His company, which lost the contract bid, and other taxi drivers say Yellow Cab was chosen for the project because of its clout in the city, where it controls more than half the taxi business.
Johnson offered an amendment to the contract that would have allowed Texans Shuttle to continue to operate, but his colleagues voted it down after White said SuperShuttle likely would refuse to run its service under that condition.
"This absolutely increases competition because now you have taxi services and now you have this service in addition to that. So the traveler has more choices," White said.
Technically, this is correct. Unless you were going to a hotel, shuttles were not an option, and now they are. That is a new choice for me. And as I said before, the real competition for SuperShuttle is taxis and satellite lots. It'd be better to have more than one shuttle service, but not having more than one does not a monopoly make.
Having said that, I don't understand the rationale for shutting down Texans Shuttle. It's possible that they couldn't have survived with SuperShuttle in the market as well, but that's hardly a justification for forcing them out. I can accept that two full service shuttles might be one too many to survive in Houston, but I can't accept the argument that the limited TexansShuttle was a threat to SuperShuttle. Frankly, if it was, then maybe SuperShuttle shouldn't have won the contract. This is just wrong. I'm in full agreement with Kevin in his assessment of the situation.
Today I have a slightly different interview, with Bob Smither, the Libertarian candidate for CD22. Here it is:
Link for the MP3 file is here.
Couple of points to add: One is that I completely spaced on asking him why he filed to run in the special election. Naturally, I thought of this about five seconds after I did my wrapup and stopped recording. Rather than make life more complicated for Greg, who does all the finish work on my recordings, I just asked him about it without the tape rolling. His answer was "I wanted to be consistent, to offer a clear choice in the election, and to show that I'm very serious about this campaign." So there you have it.
Two is that it turns out his sister, at whose house I conducted the interview, is a longtime friend of my mother-in-law. She'd even been to my house once, which I'd forgotten until we started talking afterwards. Houston really is a small town sometimes.
And finally, Smither had done an email interview with Chris Elam, which ran earlier this week.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Dot Nelson-Turnier - Interview
Sherrie Matula - Interview
This is a reminder that Council Member Toni Lawrence's open meeting to discuss the widening of Bunker Hill Road north of I-10 is tonight:
Who: CM Toni Lawrence and Spring Branch West Super Neighborhood
What: Town Hall Meeting on improvements to Long Point and Bunker Hill
Where: Spring Woods High School, 2045 Gessner, Houston, TX 77080
When: September 14, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
As you know from my previous post, this meeting has the potential to be more interesting than average. I've got a prior engagement for the evening, but if any of you do attend, please feel free to tell us how it went in the comments. More on Lawrence versus SBISD can be found here and here.
The Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention has a new blog called the Clear Blue Blog up and running. If you care about environmental issues, especially in the Houston area, this will be a very good resource for you. Check it out.
UPDATE: And check out this feature article on the new executive director of GHASP, my neighbor and fellow Trinity graduate, Sabrina Strawn.
Just wanted to note the latest chapter in the Conroe annexing the Woodlands saga.
In the tug of war over a neighborhood in The Woodlands, Conroe Mayor Tommy Metcalf has offered another annexation proposal to protect Harper's Landing from becoming a part of the city.Metcalf's plan calls for the city to annex only the commercial areas in Municipal Utility District 39 and would guarantee residents in the district that they would not be annexed.
''The main thing is that Harper's Landing can control their own destiny," Metcalf said. "'It's a governance issue. The bottom line is we feel like it's in the best interest of everybody."
The proposal is the latest development in negotiations between the city and The Woodlands regarding the annexation of the utility district. Conroe officials announced plans to annex the area in December to increase its tax base and to keep pace with growth.
It's clear what Conroe gets out of this, not so clear what The Woodlands stands to gain. I just like the image of scrappy little Conroe trying to swallow its much larger neighbor to the south. Longer term, of course, The Woodlands will likely be a part of Houston, at least in some fashion.
Tuesday's Chron had a story about the difficulties of developing pedestrian-friendly properties in Midtown, thanks to city laws that require new and renovated commercial structures to have a certain amount of parking available. I'm not going to go into the details here, as Houstonist and Christof have already covered them, but one thought that stood out to me about this is that it really ought to be a cause for Mayor White to champion. It's consistent with his positions on improving traffic, since the idea here is to allow more Midtowners to live a lifestyle that allows them to leave their cars at home, and with his general philosophy on neighborhood development. Does anyone think that if the Mayor brought an agenda item to a Council meeting that allowed for some flexibility in these parking requirements, especially in a limited, specialized area like Midtown, that he'd have any trouble getting it passed? I don't. I say it's yours to make happen, Mayor White.
UPDATE: More from Sedosi, Blue Bayou, and blogHouston. One point Kevin makes that I want to address:
Actually, only a few pockets of the vast wasteland known as midtown have seen much of a transformation at all. In my part of midtown, there are lots of new townhouses but not much of a sense of community, and not many amenities within walking distance (my gym counts as an amenity within an easy walk, but other than that, there's a wholesale auto parts store); it's easily the worst of the last three neighborhoods I've lived in in terms of walkability and amenities despite being in the geographical "heart" of the city. But closer to downtown, along Bagby/Brazos, there has been some nice mixed-use development, which seems to draw from the neighborhood that has grown over from Montrose/Freedmen's area. That's the exception in Midtown, though, not really the rule.
It's true that the farther away you get from downtown, and for that matter the farther east you get, the less there is. It's still a hell of a lot more than there was even five years ago, and as more housing gets put in, the amenities are sure to follow as they have in the area Kevin describes. It's just a matter of time before the new construction emanating from the Museum District area (near Almeda and Binz) meets up with the Southeastern portion of Midtown (near Elgin and 288). Come back in another five years and you won't recognize the place.
Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards dies.
Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died tonight at her home surrounded by her family after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73.Richards was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in March and underwent chemotherapy treatments.
The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards had said she entered politics to help others - especially women and minorities who were often ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.
"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone,'" Richards told an interviewer shortly before leaving office in January 1995.
[...]
Richards rose to the governorship with her come-from-behind victory over millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a half-century male grip on the Governor's Mansion and celebrated by holding aloft a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome.''
In four years as governor, Richards championed what she called the "New Texas,'' appointing more women and more minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors.
I had the privilege of meeting Governor Richards on the Rice campus back in 1990, during that tumultuous election season. She was as warm and funny in person as she was on TV.
My favorite Ann Richards story is one that Molly Ivins told years ago, and which appears in Ivins' book Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? I found a transcription of it here:
Several years ago there was a big political do at Scholz Beer Garten in Austin and everybody who was anybody in political Texas was there, meetin' and greetin' at a furious pace. About halfway through the evening, a little group of us got the tired feet and went to lean our butts against a table by the back wall of the Garten. Like birds in a row were perched Bob Bullock, the state comptroller; me; Charlie Miles, a black man who was then head of Bullock's personnel department (and the reason Bullock had such a good record on minority hiring); and Ms. Ann Richards.Bullock, having been in Texas politics for thirty some-odd years, consequently knew every living sorry, no-account sumbitch who ever held office. A dreadful old racist judge from East Texas came up to him, "Bob, my boy, how are yew?" The two of them commenced to clap one another on the back and have a big greetin'.
"Judge," said Bullock. "I want you to meet my friends. This is Molly Ivins with the Texas Observer."
The judge peered up at me and said, "How yew, little lady?"
"This is Charles Miles, who heads my personnel department." Charlie stuck out his hand and the judge got an expression on his face as though he had just stepped into a fresh cowpie. It took him a long minute before he reached out, barely touched Charlie's hand and said, "How you, boy?" Then he turned with great relief to pretty, blue-eyed Ann Richards and said, "And who is this lovely lady?"
Ann beamed and said, "I am Mrs. Miles."
Rest in peace, Ann Richards.
UPDATE: Here's the full Chron obit. Vince has links to a bunch of bloggers' reactions here.
Travis County DA Ronnie Earle will get one more crack at having the conspiracy charge against Tom DeLay reinstated as the Court of Criminal Appeals will hear his request.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to hear oral arguments in the case. Had the high court rejected an appeal from prosecutors, DeLay's criminal case would have returned to state district court for trial.DeLay was indicted along with two associates last year on charges of conspiring to violate the election law, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering as a result of a campaign finance investigation run by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
State District Judge Pat Priest threw out the election law charge, agreeing with DeLay's lawyers that the statute was passed after DeLay's alleged activities in the 2002 elections.
The Third Court of Appeals upheld Priest's ruling but said Earle made some compelling arguments in favor of reinstating the charges. But the three-judge panel said reinstating the charges would require the Court of Criminal Appeals to overturn some rulings in other cases.
That prompted Earle to take the case to the all-Republican appellate court.
No date for oral arguments was set.
In particular, the Third Court said:
Were we writing on a clean slate, the State's argument would carry considerable weight because Texas has had a generally applicable conspiracy offense since the nineteenth century. However, we are bound by controlling precedent that limits the applicability of the penal code's conspiracy provision to offenses found within the penal code.
And now the ball is in the CCA's court, so to speak. We'll see what they do with it.
The Dallas Morning News may have endorsed only Republicans in its first go-round of state races, but they've managed to find a suitable Democrat in their State Supreme Court picks.
SUPREME COURT, PLACE 2William Moody
Unlike most of Mr. Perry's other Supreme Court appointments, Republican Don Willett had no judicial background before joining the high court just over a year ago. The 40-year-old served three years as a corporate lawyer, then worked on faith-based initiatives and domestic policies for George W. Bush as governor and president. The Duke Law graduate later had stints in the Justice Department and the Texas attorney general's office.
Sum it up, and he has but single-digit years of real legal experience - none of it judicial.
We recommended the Austin resident in the GOP primary because he was a better alternative to his opponent, but we can't reach that conclusion for the general election.
We instead recommend El Paso Judge William Moody. The 56-year-old has served 19 years on a district court. During that time, Judge Moody has tried more than 400 cases and served as a presiding judge.
Before going on the bench, the Texas Tech Law grad spent 11 years as an El Paso prosecutor. In the district attorney's office, he worked on more than 100 felony trials.
Both Democrats and Republicans in El Paso praise Democrat Moody for being hard-working, honest and well reasoned.
Even corporate lawyers there recommend him as giving all sides a chance to make their case and for "being a brain working all the time," as one told us about Judge Moody, an amateur historian who writes about the presidency.
Justice Willett may be a good man, but Judge Moody has experience - an appropriate background for the state's highest court.
Moody was one of the high scorers among Democratic statewide candidates in 2002, getting 43.23 percent against now-Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson. Only Margaret Mirabal (45.90%), running against GOP pariah Steven Wayne Smith, did better in judicial races.
The DMN also made recommendations in the Court of Criminal Appeals races, and very much sounds like it would've picked another Dem or two if there had been any of substance.
To be honest, we were looking for some new blood in Judge [Sharon] Keller's race for presiding judge. We've believed for a long time that the court needs to adopt a more cautious posture with regard to the death penalty, and it's only recently that it seems to be inching that way. That's progress, and we're pleased to see it, however incremental.We urge Judge Keller, a 53-year-old Dallas native, to help move the court in this direction. She should listen more to the centrists on the court.
Frankly, Democratic challenger J.R. Molina, a Fort Worth attorney, didn't give us much of an alternative. In lieu of learning about him from him (Molina did not appear for an interview or complete a questionnaire), we contacted a raft of other folks for information, trusted legal experts whose judgments seem sound, many of them Democrats. None professed to know much about Mr. Molina, 59, though he's run for various offices several times before, and nobody went strongly to bat for him.
[...]
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is the Place 8 race, which features Judge Holcomb, 72, of Wimberley and Libertarian Dave Howard, 55, of Round Rock. We declined to recommend Judge Holcomb in the March primaries, in part because we view it as unwise for voters to invest in a candidate who will have to resign during his term, as Judge Holcomb will when he hits the mandatory retirement age of 75. Challenger Mr. Howard, however, presented little choice.
Chalk up this set of contests as demonstrating a troubling lack of resolve from Democrats. On many important judicial issues, including the death penalty, the minority party in Texas says it merits a greater role. Fine. It could start earning that role by fielding real challengers for the Court of Criminal Appeals.
I can't argue with any of that. Scott has argued that the Dems' best short-term chances for statewide victory are in judicial races like these. I don't agree with that - I think the farther you get away from the top of the ticket, the more likely that people will vote for a party instead of a candidate, at least for races where personal contact can't have much effect - but for sure there's no percentage in ceding these races, especially given how egregious Keller is and how weakened Holcomb should be. As Ryan says, these were missed opportunities and shining examples of why a Run Everywhere strategy needs to be taken seriously.
Finally, inspired by a comment that Sedosi left in that earlier Endorsement Watch post, I'm working on a Guess The Chron Endorsements contest. Look for an announcement shortly.
Continuing with my series of Q&A's with local county and judicial candidates, today I bring you Veronica Torres, who is running for District Clerk in Fort Bend County.
1. Who are you and what are you running for?I am Veronica Torres and I am running for Fort Bend County District Clerk.
2. What are the responsibilities of the office of District Clerk?The District Clerk performs the constitutional duties of registrar, recorder, and custodian of all records of the District Courts. The District Clerk's office is the nerve center of our court system, the link between the courts and the people.
3. What are your professional qualifications for the job?I bring more than nine years of experience in county government as a lead legal process specialist in the County Clerk's office. I have learned the qualities and procedures of an outstanding Clerk's office.
4. The incumbent, Glory Hopkins, is not on the ballot because she failed to file for the GOP primary in proper fashion. What effect does that have on this race?
The biggest effect is the race is an open seat. Instead of running against someone with twenty years' experience as the District Clerk, my opponent has no experience in a clerk's office and no managerial or leadership experience.
5. What are your priorities for this job if you are elected?My priorities include imaging of all documents, reorganizing the personnel in the office to operate more efficiently, and will make myself accessible to the public and my employees.
6. According to the District Clerk website, "future plans to improve service delivery" include "Remote online access to district court records" and "Posting weekly and daily court schedules on the Internet". These sound like items that should have already been implemented. What are your plans to actually deliver these services and to keep the District Clerk's office on top of current technologies?Remote online access to the district court records has already been implemented, and posting the court schedules to the internet will not be a hard task to accomplish. Using the latest technology, I plan to bring the District Clerk's office into the 21st century.
7. Fort Bend County Commissioners' Court recently approved a new software system for the entire county judicial system. District Clerk Hopkins does not support this new software. (See here
for details.) What is your opinion of this?I am for using the latest and greatest technology to improve efficiency in the District Clerk's office. Ms. Hopkins had concerns about digitizing records and putting them online. I want to find the balance between making the records accessible and protecting people's identities and will consult with legal experts to make this happen.
8. Fort Bend currently has no elected Democrats in countywide offices. Why do you believe you can overcome that?The voters in Fort Bend County are no different than the voters in mainstream America. Right now the approval rating of the President and the Republican Congress are at all time lows. And after Tom DeLay abandoned us and left us without representation, people here have had enough. They want change at every level of government. This year Fort Bend will vote Democratic.
9. What else do we need to know?Por favor de votar por Veronica Torres para Oficinista del Districto de Fort Bend el dia siete de Noviembre. Gracias por su apoyo.
Thank you, Veronica Torres. Here are all my previous interviews with Harris and Fort Bend countywide candidates:
Richard Garcia - Interview
Leora T. Kahn - Interview
Chuck Silverman - Interview
Bill Connolly - Interview
James Goodwille Pierre - Interview
Albert Hollan - Interview
Neeta Sane - Interview
Rudy Velasquez - Interview
Sherrie Matula picked up a couple of nice endorsements recently. One is from the Houston chapter of the 80-20 Initiative, which is called the Houston 80-20 Asian-American PAC. I've got a copy of their endorsement letter here (PDF). The 80-20 is a nonpartisan organization "dedicated to work for equality and justice for all Asian Americans." The name refers to what proportion of votes is the most effective to gain political clout, and it takes a 2/3 majority of the participants to get their endorsement, so this is a nice thing to have.
Also, as noted by Bay Area Houston, Matula was endorsed by the Texas State Teachers Association. She's a longtime TSTA member, so this is not surprising. It's still cool.
Matula's a great candidate running in a district that hasn't had much Democratic presence. HD129 is entirely within CD22, so there will be a lot of attention focused there. Here's my interview with her (MP3 file), and here's her ActBlue page if you like what you see and hear. Go Sherrie!
Those who forget middle school math are doomed to pay more to drive than those who don't.
It would take a local gasoline tax of about 17 cents a gallon to replace the money brought in by a controversial second round of toll roads, the Texas Department of Transportation says in an analysis released Monday.That estimate dwarfs an earlier figure of 2.4 cents a gallon produced by the staff of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. But that 2005 estimate came in answer to a different question: What would it take to replace about $500 million in lost state funding and borrowed money if the five Phase II toll roads were to be built as free roads instead?
[...]
The 2.4-cent-a-gallon estimate, small enough that it might actually pass muster with voters, made the gas tax option particularly tantalizing. The new estimate, to the extent that it is accepted as legitimate by policymakers and the public, may or may not fall withinCAMPO board members' political comfort zone.
They're talking about an additional local tax on gas, since the state tax is 20 cents per gallon. I don't really care about the details of this plan or the politics behind it, I just want to remind everyone of the numbers. I've done this calculation before, but it looks like I'm going to have to keep on doing it since the mainstream media doesn't. So: If you use 40 gallons of gas a week - and remember, that's the equivalent of driving 600 miles per week while averaging 15 miles per gallon - you'd pay an extra $6.80 per week with that 17 cent tax. I don't know what the toll structure would be like on this road, but a full-distance round trip on the Westpark Toll Road would set you back $6.50 per day, or $32.50 per week, assuming no weekend driving. Just getting on and off the Westpark Toll Road as part of your daily commute is $10 per week. Tell me again what's so damn scary about that 17 cent gas tax?
Basically, this is tax theory turned onto its head. Normally, you want as broad a tax base as possible so you can have the lowest possible rates. Here, you've got a tiny base, so your rates have to be relatively exorbitant. Now, if I knew that this would only affect people out in the burbs driving on roads I'd never set wheel on, I'd be more than happy to cheerlead for this. But as I'm not naive enough to think that no one will ever want to start slapping tolls on all the existing major thoroughfares, since at this rate we'll never again raise the gas tax, well, I'll be drawing my line in the sand now, thankyouverymuch. If more people would do the math and come to realize how badly they'd be getting shafted by these deals, maybe we could do what needs to be done and stop the madness before it's too late. No, I'm not the least bit optimistic about this, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Thanks to Eye on Williamson for the link.
Friedman last week attributed a spike in Houston's crime rate to the "crackheads and thugs" who evacuated New Orleans."He has demonstrated a total lack of human sensitivity," said state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. "The people of Katrina have lost everything and are suffering not only from the loss of loved ones, but the trauma of the event itself. What has precipitated from this tragedy is behavior that results from a disastrous event."
A spokesman for the Friedman campaign did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press.
"Kinky Friedman has called himself a 'compassionate redneck,' " said Thompson, chairwoman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. "He would do well henceforth to highlight his compassion while de-emphasizing his redneck tendencies."
Remember when Kinky Friedman was this cute Celebrity Candidate who got fawning press coverage of his every oft-repeated one-liner everywhere he went? Boy, those were the days. Of course, Friedman was saying the same kind of thing back then, but as an official Celebrity Candidate, no one paid any attention, since all that mattered was that an Actual Celebrity was Running For Office. Well, all good things and all that. Sure does suck to be held accountable for what you say, doesn't it?
Mary Beth Harrell will be meeting voters in John Carter's home town of Round Rock next week. Will Carter be there, or will he be too scared to show his face? From Harrell's press release:
I’ve asked my opponent, John Carter, to join me in a Town Hall Meeting on September 18, 2006, in his hometown of Round Rock.My campaign is arranging these public forums at our own expense. It takes money to rent the hall and publicize the event. So please make your contribution today!
You know that my opponent has consistently refused to participate in public candidates forums, including the one arranged by the local PBS station, KNCT-TV. Carter told the Austin-American Statesman that I've not "earned the right" to debate him and he would determine her "credibility." Several newspapers in their congressional district have criticized Carter's refusal and statements.
We are organizing Town Hall meetings around the district and inviting Carter to participate. We need your help so please make your contribution today!
Even his hometown newspaper, the Round Rock Leader Press, told Carter to show up for these forums. "The newspaper's editorial stated that "the citizens of District 31 deserve a debate" a face to face airing of the issues."
So with your help and contribution, we will continue to challenge Carter to show up for the voters.
EVENT
Town Hall Meeting
Monday September 18, 2006
6:30 pm -8:30 pm
McConico Building - Suite 100A
301 W. Bagdad
Round Rock, TexasAdditional Town Hall meetings have already been scheduled for Temple on September 28, and Cedar Park on October 4.
These Town Hall meetings are posted on our website's Events Page for more information. Together we will win this election and move our country forward!
If you see John Carter there, say Hi to him for me. But please make sure he sees you coming. He spooks easily.
Last month, when talk of a wider smoking ban in Houston surfaced, I asked if the controversial no-smoking law that was passed in Austin last year by referendum had had the negative effect on bars that its detractors had predicted. The Statesman addressed that question yesterday (link via BOR).
The smoking ban stirred an avalanche of anger when voters approved it in May 2005. It went into effect in September 2005. A year later, according to interviews at several bars, the furor is dying down, replaced by enthusiasm or a grudging acceptance among bar patrons and employees.Austin bars' alcohol sales have dipped more than liquor sales at bars have on average statewide since the ban began, according to alcohol-tax data from the state comptroller's office. The alcohol sales average for Austin bars has dropped each month since the ban started, compared with the same months in the previous year, before it took effect. Live-music venues seem to have fared better, with some months showing an increase.
"The doom-and-gloom, sky-is-falling scenarios have not happened," said Rodney Ahart, who campaigned for the ban as the government relations director for the Austin chapter of the American Cancer Society. "All you have to do is walk down Sixth Street or Second and Third Street, and you see people out enjoying Austin."
Don't tell that to Mickey Leathers, who runs a small neighborhood bar, Mickey's Thirsty I Lounge, on North Lamar Boulevard. He says the ban has hurt local hangouts like his, which are removed from the bar-hopping scene downtown and are closer to Travis County or Williamson County bars that can siphon away customers because they allow smoking.
The ban "is killing the small places," he said. "My business is going down the tubes."
[...]
George Macias, a friend of [smoker Sandi] Laird's, plays guitar in the band the Regulars at the Saxon Pub. Since the ban began, he has seen more families coming to shows - although he said it is a nuisance to step outside for a smoke.
Bar manager Darryl Hoag said that some musicians have complained about not being able to smoke onstage but that a few bands who would not play there in the past because it was too smoky have since agreed to.
The ban "hasn't really hurt us," Hoag said. "Originally, the new people who said they would come out and support live music really didn't. The good thing is that (our customers) who smoke did not go away."
Most bars and live-music clubs pay a monthly 14 percent mixed-beverage tax to the state, which is one way to assess how they have fared under the ban.
A comparison of tax records from September 2005 through June 2006 (the most recent data available) with the same 10 months in the previous year shows that the average amount of alcohol taxes paid by bars citywide has dropped 4.6 percent. The average taxes paid by bars statewide decreased 3.4 percent during that time. The average amount of alcohol taxes paid by Austin live-music venues has dipped less than 1 percent, and some clubs, including Beerland, Antone's and Emo's, had an increase.
[...]
Leathers said he has had to fire one of his four employees and is now making $100 a day instead of the usual $500 to $700 - not enough to break even. Most of his customers smoke, he said, and he still lets them. "If I didn't have smokers here, I wouldn't have anybody here," he said. "It's just a small neighborhood bar. Nobody bothers nobody. We've got a domino table and a pool table, and they just relax. Twenty or 30 of my customers come here every day."
He has paid $150 in health department fines for violating the smoking ban and is trying to sell the bar, which he has owned for 16 years.
Nick Alexander, owner of the two Clicks Billiards locations, said pool halls and sports bars are suffering the most. "If you're a smoker and you go into a nonsmoking restaurant, you leave an hour later and smoke then. But smokers who come in to watch football or play pool, they want to stay there for several hours."
He installed expensive filtration systems to cut down on secondhand smoke and thinks that should be enough.
So in short, it's not been an apocalypse, many bars have found ways to adapt, but some of those that can't adjust so easily are definitely hurting. Not much new business from previously averse smoke-o-phobes, but not much dropoff from the smoke-o-philes, either.
A less sanguine view of life after a more comprehensive smoking ban comes from the Houston Press' Racket column.
[T]his about-face has Rudyard's owner Lelia Rodgers hopping mad. "I'm furious with the restaurant association," she says. "They pressure bars to join up with them, and then they screw us all the time. This new thing: 'Oh, we're behind the ban, as long as bars are included.' Man, they're such jerks."Mike Bell, the proprietor of both the bar The Next Door and the restaurant Late Nite Pie, agrees with Rodgers about the proposed ban. He believes that bars already have enough crap to deal with, without having to worry about whether customers are lighting up. "So now they want it so people can't smoke?" he asks. "They've already gotta worry about getting a DWI if they have two beers. Would going out be worth it?"
I called Rodgers because no club is more bitched about by nonsmokers than Rudyard's. On a typical night, the performance area combines a few dozen of the most dedicated nicotine fiends the Montrose has to offer with one of the lowest ceilings in town, and the result is a perfect storm you could probably spot on Doppler radar if it were outside. While these toxic clouds add to the visual ambience, the air does get a wee bit close in there. (Full disclosure: Racket is a social smoker, meaning I only light up when I drink. Insert the "Well, he must smoke two packs a day" jokes here.)
But Rodgers is in a bind. She can't raise the roof, and she is forbidden by the city to open the windows upstairs. She's thought about drastically ramping up the air circulation with some attic fans, but she says that her summer electric bills are already running close to $5,000 a month.
A couple of years back, she and Bell, whose bar is adjacent to Rudyard's (hence the name) built sidewalk patios so the abstainers would have somewhere to go, but if present trends continue, that's where all the smokers will be. Rodgers doesn't really relish that prospect. "I hate the idea of Rudz being empty while the patios are flooded with all these smokers hanging off the edge smoking, but I think it's gonna come to that."
More important, Rodgers believes that the proposed ban violates some pretty basic rights of hers. "On the one hand, there's this law that says I have the right to serve whoever I choose," she says. "So why can't I choose to serve smokers? If nonsmokers don't like it, they can go somewhere else, because I choose not to serve them. I don't understand why everyone has to comply with this nonsmoking world, especially when there's lots of nonsmoking options."
Such options aren't perfectly fluid, of course. If all one cared about was a pint of beer, then sure, one bar is as good as the next. But if one's favorite musical act is in town and only playing at Rudz, well, your options are suffer through the smoke or miss out completely. Which is not to say that legislation is the right answer, of course. No one ever said life is fair, after all.
The anti-smoking crowd likes to think of itself as some kind of sleeping giant -- that if the ban is enacted, the bars would be crawling with people like them who shun the places now because they don't like the smell or fear the health risks. They also love to point out that cities like Austin, San Francisco and New York that have bans in place also have much livelier music scenes than Houston, and imply that a ban here is all that it would take to transform H-town into the next Seattle.
That's a misstatement of the anti-smoking position. They're not saying that having a smoking ban will turn Houston into a live music nirvana. They're saying that having a smoking ban will not turn Houston into a live music wasteland. Based on the experience of Austin so far, I'd say it's hard to argue with that contention.
These are nice theories, but in a recent interview with Austin radio station KUT, country guitarist Redd Volkaert and steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar both said it most decidedly wasn't the case in Austin. "All the lyin' nonsmokers said they would come to the clubs if they passed the law," Volkaert said. "None of 'em have ever showed up." Cashdollar added that several Austin venues have started cutting pay to musicians because their booze sales had dropped because of smokers staying home. And bands had responded by downsizing from quintets and quartets to trios and duos.In the same KUT story, reporter David Brown noted that many of the clubs on Sixth Street and the Red River strip in Austin were now shuttered early in the week. For bars everywhere, Sundays through Wednesdays have always been a razor's edge profit-wise, but if you take the smoker out of the mix, the owners say, it's not worth it to open. And without these graveyard shifts at the clubs, I might add, where are beginning bands supposed to learn their live chops and earn their followings?
Obviously, this is not what the Statesman reported. I may have to hunt down that KUT story and see if there's more detail in it, because this isn't enough for a sound basis of comparison.
If the effects have been that bad in the (self-described) Live Music Capital of the World, how bad would it get here? Sure, some clubs could build outdoor smoking areas, but what about those that don't have the option? And what about the joints that are in sketchy 'hoods -- I'm a big guy, but I don't know how comfortable I'd be smoking after midnight outside the Meridian or the Proletariat.
Um, if you're worried about being out on the patio for a smoke at those places after midnight, might you not also be worried about returning to your car later on? At least when you're out smoking you're right outside the place and will have some hope of being heard if you get jumped. Rudz isn't in the world's worst neighborhood, but as often as not I have to park a block or so away because their lot is so tiny. I guarantee you, it's safer right in front of the place than it is farther out where you're by yourself. This is a bogus objection.
[A]s Mike Bell points out, you could help encourage City Hall to enact legislation similar to that in Dallas. "Up there, they have a ban on smoking completely, everywhere, but the liability goes on the customer, not the bar. So if someone is sitting at your bar and they wanna smoke a cigarette, you have to hand them an ashtray and tell them, 'Look, if an officer comes in here, it's a $500 fine.' And the customer goes, 'Okay, do I wanna take that risk or not?' And if he gets caught, the smoker gets a $500 ticket and the bar gets nothing. Leave it up to the customers -- if they want to take the $500 gamble, more power to 'em. Don't threaten the bar on it. We're already threatened enough. We've got to watch our back everywhere we look."
I'd be willing to explore this as a compromise. I'm not sure how well this would work in practice, but I can sympathize with the bar owners on this. Anyone from Dallas want to comment on how well that law works up there? Thanks.
State Rep. Glenda Dawson of Pearland has died at the age of 65.
Dawson, 65, a Republican, served on three House committees: Higher Education, Administration and Public Health.Speaker of the House Tom Craddick also expressed condolences.
"She was a wonderful colleague, a warm friend and a great representative to the people of District 29. She will be sorely missed by all," he said.
In her 2002 campaign, Dawson was one of seven Republican candidates who received money at the center of a scandal that led to criminal charges against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The scheme allegedly funneled $190,000 in restricted corporate donations to a DeLay-founded political action committee to the Republican National Committee to the seven Texas candidates. Texas bans the use of corporate donations for direct campaign spending.
The scheme helped the GOP win a majority in the Texas Legislature.
Dawson received $40,000 of the money, but she was never accused of wrongdoing. She went on to beat veteran Democratic lawmaker Tom Uher, of Bay City, who had served since 1967.
It wasn't immediately clear whether a special election would be held to fill Dawson's seat and what would happen to her place on the ballot. Dr. Anthony A. Dinovo, of Pearland, is running for the seat as a Democrat.
My sincere condolences to the Dawson family. Rest in peace, Rep. Glenda Dawson.
Oh, good grief. Shelley's singing.
At a campaign stop last week, congressional candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs asked a group of women who own businesses to vote for her twice in November: once in a special election to fill the unexpired term of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and again in the general election as the Republican write-in candidate running for the full two-year term.The women, meeting for breakfast in a hotel banquet room, looked up from their scrambled eggs as Sekula-Gibbs launched into a jingle to drive home the point: "Vote twice for Shelley," she sang to the tune of "Roll Out the Barrel." "Special and then write her in."
The candidate motioned for them to join her in song, and most did, a few clapping in time. "It's corny, but corny is good," Sekula-Gibbs said.
My apologies to those of you who now have that tune firmly lodged in your head. I blame the activist judiciary for this.
"Republicans have thrown one seat away out of sheer stupidity with the whole DeLay fiasco," said Larry J. Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.Only four write-in candidates have won House seats in the last 75 years, Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson said. "It's extraordinarily difficult to organize and carry off. People go into a voting booth with very little information and often vote a straight ticket. For someone to go in and figure out how to do a write-in vote, what are the odds?" he said.
Sabato agreed. "Can you imagine entering that long, hyphenated name on a type pad? It's going to be a major hassle and people aren't going to do it," he said. "This is Lampson's seat. It is literally the only Republican seat that we are firmly putting in the Democratic column at this point."
Actually, he's got TX-22 in the Leans Democratic category in his latest chart, along with PA-06. Perhaps moving it into the Likely D category, where the Republican-held governorship of New York is slotted, would make that point more emphatic.
Misspellings won't disqualify a vote if election officials can determine voter intent, said David Beirne, a spokesman for the Harris County clerk's office. Voters who mark a straight Republican ticket will not be voting for Sekula-Gibbs, he said, because her name isn't on the ballot.
Chris Elam has gotten about as good an answer on this from the Harris County Clerk's office as I've seen so far. Basically, it boils down to "it depends" for whether or not any given permutation of "Shelley Sekula Gibbs" (I'm spotting them the hyphen) will ultimately count. One thing we do know is that "SSG" will not.
"This is a very educated district. People will get it," Sekula-Gibbs said. She may be the late-starting write-in candidate, but "people know who I am. We're rapidly making up ground…. We'd better, because it's a short time frame.
I've crunched the numbers on this before, but it's worth reviewing again. Shelley will need the die hard straight ticket Republican voters, the ones who will be most receptive to her message and most likely to follow the instructions to write her in, to be there for her. But she can't win on straight ticket voters alone; indeed, by my projections, the straight-ticket R total would be about 55,000 votes, or a smidge less than what Tim Riley got as a Democrat in 2002 against DeLay. She needs the less hardcore Republicans, too. Just reaching all those people to tell them about the new, special, different thing they need to do this year, let alone convincing them that they need to do it for Shelley, is a tall order. And we still don't know where - or if - she'll get the money to do that.
Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise said he was not assuming the election was over. "This is a tough district any way you look at it. We're not taking any chances. We're going to use our resources and spend everything necessary to win," he said.Since DeLay dropped out of the race, Lampson has won support from business leaders once wary of crossing the powerful congressman, Malaise said. "There have been some people locally that have previously said, 'I really like you, Nick, but DeLay has threatened me or made it clear there would some sort of retribution for supporting you.' Now that he's out of the race, we've picked up their support."
This isn't a surprise, right? This sort of thing happens to just about every challenger who unseats an incumbent. Had DeLay stayed on the ballot and had Lampson defeated him, these business leaders who are embracing him now would have been embracing him then. It's the rational thing to do if your Congressional needs are more practical than ideological.
Thanks to Muse, who has more Shelley filk for those who have sturdier constitutions than I. And hey, I really am sorry about the earworm.
The poll results that I blogged about yesterday are reported in today's Chron, with the usual carping from the Perry and Strayhorn camps about methodologies. The one point to highlight is here:
Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin and a founder of Pollster.com, said the biggest problem with Internet-based polling like Zogby's is that the people who sign up to be surveyed are very interested in politics.Even if Zogby weights the population of the poll sample to reflect the population of the state, Franklin said a political survey of volunteers is likely one of people who already had strong feelings about politics and the candidates.
Franklin said there can be variability in any poll. So Perry's drop may not mean much, especially if nothing happened to cause it, he said.
"Perry's movement right now isn't large enough for me to be convinced that Perry has dropped significantly," Franklin said.
This is true, and though I think that Texans for Insurance Reform poll that had Perry at 41%, which is about as high as he's ever been in the polls, is an outlier, it's still a counterweight to these two results and needs to be factored in when discussing the status quo. As always, the more polls you have the better picture you have because no two samples are identical. I just wish we'd get more of them.
Next on my interview list is Sherrie Matula, one of two former teachers running for State House here in Harris County (the other being Diane Trautman). If there was ever a time to be a teacher running for office in Texas, this is it, and if there was ever a time to have more teachers in the Lege, this would be it, too. Hopefully, we'll be seeing more pictures like this between now and November 7.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here. I've still got some more to go, so again if you've got any feedback on this series, please let me know.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Dot Nelson-Turnier - Interview
Sherrie Matula - Interview
OK, here's the story, as best I understand it from a reader named Roberta and my own trawling through the Chron's archives. A couple of years ago, the city of Houston went forward with a plan to widen a street in Spring Branch called Pech, over the objections to many residents who complained that doing so would endanger schoolchildren and cost them a lot of green space. Here's a piece from 2004 that covers the basics:
A large group turned out at a Spring Branch East Super Neighborhood meeting Feb. 19 to ask the question - Why is the project moving forward when so many property owners are against it?The city plans to widen Pech Road from two to four lanes between Westview and Long Point roads starting in late summer. City officials say Pech Road needs to be reconstructed because it has been overlaid several times and is in rough shape.
"If you'll leave Pech Road two lanes, take care of our sidewalks, and cover our ditches, we will have a safe comfortable community to live in," said Cynthia Tuma, a long-time resident at The Glens Apartment Homes complex, 1502 Pech Road.
"We challenge the city, Mayor White and Councilmember Lawrence to look differently at this project because the neighborhood wants something different."
City of Houston public works officials said the project conforms to city criteria. John Sakolosky, senior assistant director for public works' engineering, construction and right-of-way division, said city criteria mandates a road like Pech be widened from 28 to 42 feet during a street reconstruction project.
[...]
Sakolosky said the $2 million project will improve the road to a 42-foot wide, concrete street with curbs and gutters. There will be sidewalks along both sides with wheelchair ramps, and street lights.
"The final decision has been made. We are here to try to understand constituents' concerns, questions and objections, and go back and answer them as best we can," said Sakolosky.
[...]
Doug Anderson, part-owner of the 68-unit Glens apartment complex, said a wider road will encourage cut-through traffic on the quiet street, which has two school zones, several churches, a small apartment complex and townhome community, a senior center, a rehabilitation center, a Harris County annex building, a residential neighborhood and a few small businesses.
Also, several older trees will have to be removed to make way for more concrete, which could worsen flooding conditions and take away from his property's curb appeal.
"If you destroy my curb appeal, you destroy my ability to rent to good tenants," Anderson said. "If you make it an obstacle course for my residents to get to the property's gate, then I have to take down the gate. We will suffocate. We will become one of those properties other residents want to run out of the neighborhood."
Nine of the 16 property owners in the affected area signed a petition in January asking the city to stop the project. Anderson delivered copies to Mayor Bill White's office and all 15 councilmembers' offices.
Some property owners have posted signs proclaiming "Stop 4 Lanes on Pech Road."
Spring Branch School District officials have not taken a stand against the project, but the school board did delay selling a corner of land at Valley Oaks Elementary School to the city. The school is at the corner of Pech and Westview roads.
Theresa Kosmoski, Spring Branch School District Board of Trustees' secretary, told city officials last week the school district is not against progress, but is concerned about students' safety.
"We have two schools on the street, which children cross daily," Kosmoski said. "We know you have a 42-foot rule, but since there is not a lot of traffic on this road, and people don't want more, can't we reach a compromise?"
You get the idea. More background is here and here, while info on a related hubbub over a right-turn lane onto Pech can be found here and here.
The two main players in this drama are the Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) board of trustees, and City Council member Toni Lawrence, who represents the area. As you can see from the penultimate article linked above, things got a bit testy:
"We asked the city officials repeatedly for any documentation they have to justify the need for this right turn lane," said Trustee Theresa Kosmoski, a former Valley Oaks PTA president. "They still have not shown us anything that shows it's necessary, nor anything to show they have planned for the safety of the children."Adding a turn lane would give students a fifth lane to cross when leaving the school, Kosmoski said.
Several letters from the school district to the city have gone unanswered, she said, directing most of her criticism at City Council Member Toni Lawrence, who represents the area.
Lawrence was out of the office Monday and could not be reached for comment, said her chief assistant, Mike Howard.
"It's really hard to figure out what's going on in their heads," Kosmoski said. "The lack of responsiveness to the school board has been mind boggling."
In the end, Pech Road was widened to 42 feet but striped for three lanes, though it's technically wide enough to support four lanes of traffic. C'est la vie.
Now there's another road-widening project in the works, this time for Bunker Hill. And SBISD is gearing up for another fight.
Spring Branch Independent School District board members adopted a resolution Monday opposing the city of Houston's proposal to widen Bunker Hill Road, but one trustee questioned its effectiveness."I'm having deja vu here," board member Susan Kellner said.
Kellner said board members went down the same path more than a year ago when they objected to the widening of Pech Road and wondered if this resolution would once again fall on deaf ears.
"We fought Pech Road, and the road was widened," Kellner said.
Kellner and other trustees said they supported residents who expressed concerns Monday about expanding Bunker Hill to four lanes from two.
Residents who live around Bunker Hill, north of the Katy Freeway, said they were concerned about the safety of students at nearby Woodview Elementary School, the loss of dozens of trees, increase in traffic and air pollution.
Council Member Lawrence is not amused, as you can see from the following letter (PDF) that she sent to the SBISD board of trustees, which was forwarded to me by Roberta. You really need to read the whole thing to get the full flavor of it, but I'll transcribe the last paragraph:
As an elected member of the Houston City Council, I spend 100% of my time and energy focusing on city related issues and am astounded, given the numerous tasks that your organization has before it, that this board finds enough time to weigh in on City of Houston matters. I promise to never send you a resolution on how to run SBISD.
I'll concede that school boards don't normally make road construction decisions. They're certainly a stakeholder in this process, though, and that's a heck of a way to talk to a group of constituents. Maybe this is one of those times when term limits will do some good for all involved.
Turns out that Council Member Lawrence will be holding a public meeting on Thursday evening at 7 PM at Spring Woods High School to "discuss proposed improvements to Long Point and Bunker Hill roads."
In an e-mail to constituents, Lawrence said it is important "as these projects enter the design phase for your views to be known and for these important improvements to have the support of the entire community."It is my sincerest goal to see Long Point and Bunker Hill reconstructed in a manner that reflects the values of the good neighborhoods and businesses along it. However, I intend to advocate a design which does so in the most cost effective manner on behalf of District A taxpayers. I cannot and will not promote any plan which needlessly drives up the cost and soaks the taxpayers of our district."
Lawrence conducted a public meeting on Bunker Hill Road issues several weeks ago and promised to recommend that Bunker Hill not be widened to more than three lanes in residential areas, a move that was generally applauded by residents.
After their experience with Pech Road, however, you can understand if some of those residents are a bit wary. This ought to be a fun meeting.
One last point to highlight: As noted in this earlier Chron piece, there's another player involved in the Bunker Hill project:
Robert Fiederlein, executive director of the Memorial City Redevelopment Authority/Tax Increment Redevelopment Zone, said the entity would work with the city to widen Bunker Hill from Interstate 10 to Long Point Road in District A.
I'm not an expert on TIRZes, but I do know that the agenda for tomorrow's Council meeting includes an item (# 21) "relating to the fiscal affairs of the MEMORIAL CITY REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY on behalf of REINVESTMENT ZONE NUMBER SEVENTEEN, CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS (MEMORIAL CITY ZONE); approving the FY 2007 Operating Budget for the Authority and the FY 2007-2011 Capital Improvement Budget for the Zone - DISTRICTS A ‑ LAWRENCE and G - HOLM". And I do know that Mayor White wanted to scale back and even wind down several TIRZes, including Memorial City. I'm not sure what's changed here, but I'd say the Memorial City TIRZ is still alive and kicking.
Anyway. It's a fascinating story. Who knew road widening could be this exciting?
This story about how there are three possible routes for the east end of the Universities line, all of which have pros and cons, contains the following fascinating suggestion from State Rep. Garnet Coleman, who represents the area:
Coleman offered the most unusual suggestion, a one-way loop running east from Main on Wheeler to TSU, then north on Ennis, east on Alabama to Scott at UH, north to Elgin, back west to Crawford and south on Chartres and U.S. 59 to the start.The benefit, he said, would be to foster development over the widest possible area while reducing the width of the needed right-of-way.
The drawbacks are that Wheeler and Elgin are 12 blocks apart, and passengers boarding at Dowling, for instance, would have to travel roughly four times as far to reach Main Street as they would on a two-way line.
In other words, instead of a route with two terminals, where the train reverses course and switches lines after it pulls in and passengers embark and disembark, you have a route with one terminal and the other end is a loop where there's only one track. I believe Chicago has something similar to this, though its loops are self-contained and run both ways. The point here is to ensure that the train goes where it needs to go without causing too much disruption on any of the streets it travels.
I've taken a stab at diagramming the Coleman Proposal here. The piece drawn in red is clear based on the description. I'm not quite certain about the last leg, from Elgin back to Wheeler, as the article is a bit confusing. The purple route goes down 59 and Chartres, the blue one takes Crawford all the way (it becomes Almeda south of Alabama), and the brown one is Crawford to 59. Without knowing the area better, I can't say if one of these is preferable to the others.
The main point, of course, is the loop, which I think would work pretty well. Eyeballing a Google map of the area, I'd say it's at most a half-mile from Wheeler to Elgin, so you're never more than about a quarter mile from the track (you may of course be farther from an actual stop). It might take ten minutes or so to traverse the loop if you got on at Wheeler and Almeda or Dowling, with about a half-dozen stops along the way - for sure one at TSU, another at UH (possibly one each at Robertson and Hofheinz), and a couple along Elgin. All things considered, I think this is a pretty darned elegant solution.
"Without all the data, project team members believe that a loop separated by more than one block presents challenges with ridership, construction costs and construction disruption," [Metro spokeswoman Sandra] Salazar said.
Every party has a pooper, I guess. Honestly, I think Metro needs to give this a serious look. From where I sit, it addresses the main concerns raised in the article, and I don't think it would make anyone's ride significantly less convenient. By all means, do your studies, but keep an open mind about it.
I'd love to know what the real transit geeks think about this. Robin? Christof? Tory? What do y'all think?
Of course, none of this will matter if John Culberson wins his pissing contest with Metro. It's an interesting exercise, but of little more than academic interest right now as things stand. Too bad, because this would be a great way to serve a community that wants the line built. Oh, well, not his problem.
Have you heard the one about the five Republican legislators who have been paying their spouses rent money out of their campaign funds? Which is a no-no, though they all claim that it was separate property and thus technically okay under the law.
Most of the action on this took place over the weekend, though the initial shots were fired earlier than that by a group called the Texas Values in Action Coalition, who accused State Rep. Toby Goodman (R, Arlington) of spending over $100K in this fashion since 2000. BOR rounds up some of the action (more here), with a special focus on Rep. Gene Seaman of Corpus Christi, who took the extra steps of claiming two homestead exemptions and then blaming the whole mess on his wife. And of course, nobody can put something like this into perspective the way that PinkDome can. Check 'em out.
UPDATE: Poor Rep. Seaman. Nobody loves him.
You've probably heard about the new Zogby Interactive/Wall Street Journal poll numbers for Texas, but if you haven't, here they are:
GovernorPerry 30.7
Bell 25.3
Friedman 22.4
Strayhorn 11.1
SenateHutchison 47.8
Radnofsky 39.0
Zogby Interactive carries a lot of baggage - Kos certainly doesn't think much of it - but they're not alone in noting a drop for Rick Perry to dangerous levels. Rasmussen, which has been generally friendly to Republicans, now shows Perry at 33%. The main difference between the two is who's on second: Zogby says Bell, while Rasmussen claims it's Strayhorn with 22; Bell at 18 and Friedman at 16 follow behind.
What to make of all this? Well, bear in mind that these were done before the first round of TV ads hit the airwaves. We'll have a better idea of who's where after they've been broadcast for awhile. That said, it's hard to imagine too many people being all that flexible about Rick Perry at this point in time. He's been Governor for six years, he's had a Republican legislature for his entire second term, and just about any issue he wants to raise, such as appraisal creep, is one that he's either tried and failed to address or (like immigration) he's not paid any attention to before now. I believe he can shore up his base by convincing them that they have no place else to go, but I don't think that gets him past forty percent. To be sure, that will be enough to win, but it sure won't be much to brag about. It won't be much to govern with, either, especially with the number of Republican Governor wannabees (KBH, Dewhurst, Combs, Staples, etc etc etc) that will spend the next four years making like Strayhorn in preparation for 2010. Obviously, anyone who beats Perry with a lesser total than 40% will have the same guberatorial warm-up act to contend with, but at least they can dismiss it as partisan griping. Perry won't have that luxury.
Paul Burka is hearing suggestions that Perry's free fall may be real.
That said, I have been hearing from Republican sources for the last week or so that GOP numbers in Texas are "falling through the floor"--their words, not mine. The huge edge in party identification Republicans once enjoyed has all but disappeared, and there is concern that some down-ballot candidates--Elizabeth Ames Jones for Railroad Commissioner and Todd Staples for Agriculture Commissioner, for example--could find themselves in very close races. Ds and Rs alike are saying that Ds could pick up four to six seats in the state House of Representatives, which would be a monumental shift.
Lord knows, in a just universe Hank Gilbert would mop the floor with Todd Staples. Just put the two of them side-by-side and ask yourself which one looks like an Ag Commissioner. It's no contest, Morning News be damned. Gilbert is actually out there campaigning, and he's picking up endorsements from groups that don't ordinarily pay attention to a downballot race like his. All you have to do is hear him speak and you can understand why he's a force to be reckoned with. To put it in Julia's terminology, the man has Elvis in him, by the four-by-four load.
The remaining mystery is the Bell/Strayhorn discrepancy. It's hard to say without seeing full crosstabs, but in cases like this the first suspect is always the poll sample. Strayhorn's been hitting the Trans Texas Corridor circuit pretty hard, so she's probably doing better among rural voters. That could account for the difference right there. It also suggests that Strayhorn is making gains at Perry's expense, so Bell will have to go after Friedman to build his numbers. Maybe Friedman's recent ugliness (which has prompted Marc Campos to dub him The Kinkhole) will remind some of his urban-hipster supporters that he doesn't share their values, which would redound to Bell's benefit.
I should also note that both of these results conflict with a recent poll commissioned by Texans for Insurance Reform that had Perry at 41% and Undecided coming in second, at 20% (Strayhorn had 14, then Bell and Friedman at 13 apiece). That's easily Perry's best showing since March, and I'll say again that there ain't no way Bell finishes that low, so until further notice I say this poll is the outlier, not Zogby or Rasmussen.
Finally, as for the Senate result, Rasmussen has it as 58/32 in favor of Hutchison. I'd dearly love for Zogby to be the more accurate picture here, but it's hard for me to understand what (outside of a general anti-incumbent/anti-Republican feeling) would account for such a steep decline on KBH's part. She's not really in the news much, her favorables remain good, and there aren't a bunch of ads attacking her on the air now. At least Rasmussen doesn't have Hutchison in the 60s any more, which to my mind was always an overstatement of her strength. That's a positive development, though obviously not as positive as Zogby. I'd like to see some more results here.
MyDD has more on the Zogbys. Note that not all of the poll results are good for Dems.
The Dallas Morning News is first out of the gate with a Sunday slate of endorsements for the non-Governor, non-Senator statewide races. (All Republicans, of course, but then what did you expect?) How many days will elapse before the Chronicle remembers that there are elections going on and that they, too, need to contemplate making recommendations? I'll put the over/under at three weeks, which means October 1. Any takers?
Continuing with the State House interviews, today I bring you a conversation with Dot Nelson-Tunier, the first Democrat to run in HD150 since at least 1990. We Democrats could use more of that kind of courage and dedication to making sure every voter has a real choice on the ballot. If you attend tomorrow's Commissioners' Court meeting, Dot will be there to address concerns about early voting locations in her district.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here. I've still got some more to go, so again if you've got any feedback on this series, please let me know.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Dot Nelson-Tunier - Interview
You've probably read this WaPo story about how the NRCC and the RNC are going to spend some $50 million plus on negative advertising this fall, since they really don't have any other option to try to hold down their losses in Congress. I mean, it's not like anyone has a record to run on, or that as a party the Republicans have any new ideas about governing. The name to keep in mind as they start the slime machine is that of the man in charge of it, Terry Nelson. As Josh Marshall reminds us, he has connections to the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal of 2002, which has resulted in criminal convictions, and to Tom DeLay and TRMPAC, also from 2002. Sounds like the perfect man for this kind of job, doesn't he?
I've written before about the proposal by Gonzalo Camacho to rebuild I-45 from Beltway 8 to I-10 as a tunnel (see the PowerPoint presentation here, plus a Houston Press article with some clarifications by me). The project has been dubbed the I-45 Parkway, and there's now an I-45 Parkway website, with everything you need to know about it. I like the idea, I think it's worthy of serious study, and I invite you to see for yourself what it's all about.
The Chron's Lisa Gray has a story about eight simple and not-so-simple ways that You The Ordinary Houstonian can save the Alabama Bookstop and River Oaks Theater. Not all of them are for ordinary folks (#2, Be Like Microsoft Billionaire Paul Allen and Buy The Damn Theater Yourself would be outside of my financial capabilities, and I daresay yours as well), though I will admit that would solve the whole dilemma nicely. The main thing to take away is this:
8. Raise hell.From society superpower Carolyn Farb to the 20-somethings who tote water guns to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, many Houstonians see the threat to the theaters as part of a bigger picture: the relentless destruction of the city's best stuff.
Those people have begun letting the world know how they feel. They're signing petitions, putting bumper stickers on their cars, joining preservation groups, buying T-shirts, making posters, putting up Web sites. Hundreds have written to the City Council, demanding that Houston's heritage not be left in the hands of developers and their shareholders.
Some talk of buying Weingarten shares and making it known that they, as shareholders, don't like what they've been hearing. Some talk of boycotting new construction that destroyed something they loved.
You have to do something, or when the bulldozers come you have no grounds to complain about it. Start by signing the petition to let Barnes and Noble know that they will lose customers if they are responsible for the loss of these two buildings. Follow it up with a letter or a phone call to B&N and reiterate what you said on the petition. I continue to believe that Weingarten can't be effectively persuaded by customers' wishes, but B&N certainly can. Give them a good case of cold feet and see what happens.
And though I disagreed with Sedosi when he suggested buying Weingarten stock so you can complain to them as a shareholder and not just a disgruntled preservationist, it can't hurt to open up another front. If you've got the money and the inclination, go ahead and get some paper so you can at least make them hear you.
That said, I still say the best course of action is going to be prodding City Council to do something. It's not just about these two buildings. Win or lose on this one, sooner or later we're going to be in the same damn place, trying to keep alive some piece of what makes Houston different from everywhere else. It's not that I think development is bad (it's not) or that preservation must come first (it shouldn't), but the bottom line is that right now there's literally nothing that anyone can do to alter the course that a Weingarten chooses to embark on once they've set their path. If you believe as I do that places like the Alabama Bookstop and the River Oaks Theater have inherent value to the community, then there needs to be a way to express that value so that it gets properly factored into developers' decisions. As things stand right now, those places are no different than any other retail outlet housed in prefab boxes. Until that changes, we're going to keep getting more of the same.
Much like the Longhorns' offense, I'm taking the weekend off. Thanks to Greg for filling in, and I'll see you all tomorrow.
(Greg Wythe here, of GregsOpinion.com, filling in for a travelling Charles Kuffner. Dateline -- somewhere in my apartment in full pajama regalia.)
Some days its tough to evaluate how something that makes it to the print edition of a paper warrants newsworthiness. Case in point:
Now in his third and final term on council, Berry risked raising the hackles of a good chunk of the electorate by describing cat owners as "un-American" and proposing an ordinance to allow diners to bring their dogs onto restaurants' outdoor patios.According to Berry, no invitation will be issued to feline owners. "Cats are not cool," Berry told Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman. "They don't belong in restaurants or near people food. Cats aren't even good pets. You don't own a cat; a cat owns you."
Let me open up the analysis on a bipartisan note here. I'm well on record as not being a fan of Boy Wonder's. I give him credit for a few thing, sure. But by and large ... not. But on this issue, Michael Berry and I stand shoulder to shoulder, leading the way for freedom loving dog owners everwhere to advance their cause of ridding the world of the pesky feline influence.
A good place to start, I might add, is the Lone Star Basset Rescue. Sadie (pictured below) is up for grabs to a good home.
UPDATE: KHOU has the video from the frontline in this battle.
Continuing my series of Q&A's with local county and judicial candidates, today I bring you Rudy Velasquez, who is running for for judge in Fort Bend County.
1. Who are you and what are you running for?My name is Rudy Velasquez, the Democratic candidate in the November 7, 2006, General Election for Judge of County Court at Law # 1 in Fort Bend County. I was born and raised in Fort Bend County and reside in Sugar Land. I am a graduate of Lamar Consolidated High School, Wharton County Junior College, University of Houston, and Indiana School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana. I am married to Yingchu Chang Velasquez and have two children, Aileen and Kevin.
2. What kind of cases does this court hear?County Court at Law # 1 is the oldest county court in the county and handles misdemeanor criminal cases, such as individuals charged with driving while intoxicated and assaults; civil cases and a wide array of juvenile cases ranging from runaway, truancy, and criminal mischief to theft, burglary, drugs, robbery, sexual assault, and murder; and probate matters in which a deceased may or may not have a will.
3. What are your qualifications for this job?I have been licensed to practice law for 22 years and handled cases in Federal, State District, County Courts at Law and Justice of the Peace Courts. I started out as a solo practitioner in Fort Bend County for six years. During that time I handled criminal, civil, juvenile, family and probate matters. I regularly appeared in the County Courts at Law and District Courts. I litigated and tried numerous cases before judges and juries. My experience also includes a four-year tenure as a prosecutor in the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office. I am currently employed at the City of Houston Legal Department where I handle complex litigation in the Federal Courts and Harris County Judicial System. I am grateful and proud of the wide range of legal experiences obtained during my career and will use it as a foundation when elected to serve as judge of County Court at Law # 1.
4. Why do you believe you would do a better job than the incumbent?The previous judge of County Court at Law # 1, the Honorable Larry Wagenbach, retired. Fort Bend County Commissioners appointed an interim judge to fill the vacancy until the election in November.
5. Why is this race one we should care about?I believe it is time for a change. The judiciary in Fort Bend County has been dominated by one political party and does not reflect the diversity of the county's population.
6. What else do we need to know?I bring years of experience in the State and Federal Courts to my campaign to serve the people of Fort Bend County. My goal is to provide fair, just, and equal enforcement of the laws of the State of Texas. I am committed to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of County Court at Law # 1. This is a countywide position, all registered voters in Fort Bend County may vote for the Judge of County Court at Law # 1 in the November election.
Thank you, Rudy Velasquez. Here are all my previous interviews with Harris and Fort Bend countywide candidates:
Richard Garcia - Interview
Leora T. Kahn - Interview
Chuck Silverman - Interview
Bill Connolly - Interview
James Goodwille Pierre - Interview
Albert Hollan - Interview
Neeta Sane - Interview
For four years, Austin lobbyist Mike Toomey has tried to stay offstage in the legal melodrama over corporate spending in the 2002 Texas elections.Now, the former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry is at center stage, added Wednesday as a defendant in a lawsuit against the state's largest business organization and its biggest corporate donors. New documents show Toomey was an important fundraiser for the business group's effort and, in some instances, had checks sent to him.
And, for the first time, Toomey has spoken, reluctantly, about his role in the campaign controversy that deposed U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and is testing free-speech limits and the use of secret money in Texas campaigns.
[...]
In a deposition filed in District Court in Travis County as part of a hearing Wednesday, Toomey disputed news reports that he directed the corporate-driven effort that sent 4 million mailers to voters attacking Democrats and praising Republicans. Instead, he painted the effort as a collaboration, with no leader, among the Texas Association of Business, Texans for Lawsuit Reform and DeLay's political committee, Texans for a Republican Majority.
In 2002, with the control of the Legislature up in the air, Toomey and representatives of those groups met frequently to coordinate efforts, including helping the business association create its mailers. The Republicans ultimately took control of the Legislature.
"There were discussions about, you know, what different groups were doing," Toomey said in the July 17 deposition. "I don't know who ultimately determined what would go in the mailers."
Toomey denied making decisions about how the business association spent the $1.7 million in corporate donations. He said he might have been consulted: "It wouldn't surprise me if I was."
Other documents confirmed Toomey as a primary fundraiser among the 30 corporations that spent the money under the business association's name without revealing their identities. Toomey was personally raising hundreds of thousands from both his lobbying clients and nonclients.
In some instances, the checks were made out to the business association but sent to Toomey, who, according to one e-mail, "will in turn bundle with others and forward to the Association."
Five losing Democratic candidates, including former Austin Rep. Ann Kitchen, are suing the Texas Association of Business, association President Bill Hammond and several of its biggest donors.
On Wednesday, Judge Joe Hart agreed to add Toomey as a defendant - over the objections of the corporations' lawyers.
[...]
In many instances in his deposition, however, Toomey was vague or said he could not remember much about his role in the campaign effort.
He said he wasn't aware he was a member of the business association's large board of directors until he read it in the newspaper.
His deposition did reveal, however, that he had appeared before a Travis County grand jury as part of its investigation of the Texas Association of Business. (A judge has thrown out one felony indictment against the association; action is pending on three others.)
He also said he knew the month before the election that he would be leaving his lobbying practice temporarily to become Perry's chief of staff. But he said he didn't attend the association's political meetings representing anyone.
"I was there as Mike Toomey," the lobbyist said. "My job was to handicap for my clients the probable winners."
[...]
The defendants' lawyers are considering filing a quick motion to end the lawsuit by forcing a decision on whether the mailers were political ads or not. They are emboldened by a June decision by District Judge Mike Lynch to dismiss an indictment against the business association.
Lynch ruled, in part, that the association's mailers "severely test, but do not cross the line" into political advertising.
"That exact same rationale," argued Toomey's lawyer John Swartz, "has to protect Mr. Toomey."
Judge Hart left that discussion for later.
The story says that this suit is scheduled to be tried in August, which seems wrong to me. Surely things aren't scheduled that far out on the court calendars, are they? Thanks to In the Pink Texas for the link.
We have an early winner in the most-run-red-light competition. Take a bow, Clear Lake!
Since the city's red-light camera program kicked off almost a week ago, more vehicles have run the red light at the Bay Area Boulevard and El Camino Real intersection than any of the other nine sites that are monitored by camera, police said today.Houston Police Sgt. Michael Muench said more than 600 incidents have been caught on camera since the system began working Friday, but about 70 were dismissed after review by officers.
Except for identifying the Bay Area-El Camino Real intersection as the most active, police did not break down the incidents by intersection.
Well, I hope they do for the future. I want statistics, dammit.
Most of the incidents that were dismissed were triggered when a car turned right on red. The system is not triggered by vehicles that make a full stop before turning right on red, said Jim Tuton, CEO of ATS, but cameras may photograph cars that roll through the turn."In those instances we go ahead and give the benefit of the doubt to the driver," Muench said.
OK, how many of you out there regularly fail to come to a full stop before making your right on red? How many of you had forgotten that a full stop prior to a right on red is required? Yep, pretty much what I thought.
On a more serious note, Houstonist links to this KHOU story that shows how the fine collection system may break down if too many people challenge their citations.
Here's Kinky Friedman's plans for the border.
The number of National Guard troops on the Texas-Mexico border would jump from 1,500 to 10,000 under a plan to combat illegal immigration proposed today by independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman."We've waited 153 years for the feds to help us," Friedman said. "They haven't yet. We have our own army. I want 10,000 Texas National Guard troops on the border and I want them now."
As Ryan points out, just a few days ago Friedman had no plan, though he did have some crazy things to say.
Kinky Friedman has said that if he was elected governor of Texas, he would make the Mexican government pay for the costs of illegal immigration in Texas or face what he called the "Israeli discount.""We should be as ruthless as they are with the southern border," said the independent gubernatorial candidate, author and musician.
[...]
"The situation is not getting better, and it shouldn't, because it's been neglected for political reasons," Friedman said.
He said he supports groups such as the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps because they draw attention to problems on the border.
Asked about his own strategy for securing the border, Friedman said, "I'm not sure. I don't have a plan."
He said he would appoint people who care about the state to develop a plan based on his motto: "Remember the Alamo."
[...]
Responding to Friedman's suggestion that Texas should treat its border as Israel does, [Perry spokesman Robert] Black said: "Wow. That kind of rhetoric is irresponsible. It's not real. It's cartoon rhetoric."
You know, when Rick Perry thinks you're an extremist, you need to recalibrate your moral compass. I think I liked it better when he had no plan.
Note Friedman's approval of the Minutemen, about whom you can read more here and here. Those are some damn fine progressive credentials you've got there, Kinky.
It's funny. Friedman is supposed to be this "straight shooter" and "anti-politician" who "tells it like it is" (don't believe me - the man says so his own self). Yet when he says ugly, racist crap like this, we're told we need to get a sense of humor, because hey, he doesn't really mean it. He's the Kinkster! He's just joking! Don't you get it? Yeah, I think I do. I think I do. And I'll say it again: If you call yourself a progressive, then Kinky Friedman does not share your values. The candidate who does is Chris Bell. It's as simple as that.
On crime, Friedman would give $100 million in state money to Houston to address a spike in violence. The money would pay for more than 1,000 new police officers to fight crime, particularly violent crime blamed on Katrina evacuees. Hurricane refugees who broke the law or refused to find jobs should be sent back to Louisiana, he said.A sharp increase in retirements, a drop in new cadets and a higher crime rate caused partly by hurricane refugees has caused a severe shortage of officers in the Houston Police Department.
Friedman also said he would cap state spending at current levels, with any increases adjusted for inflation, population increases and unforeseen disasters. He'd also cap property tax appraisals at 3 percent annually, down from the current 10 percent.
On taxes, Friedman would abolish the state business tax, which taxes gross business income and was a key element of the school finance reform passed by the legislature in a special session earlier this year. The tax, he said, "amounts to nothing more than a personal income tax in disguise."
Friedman would use an existing state budget surplus of at least $11 billion to make up any shortfall.
Well, at least we wouldn't have to worry about being burdened by surpluses in a Friedman administration. Has anyone explained to him that some of these expenses would be ongoing, and not just one-year items? Just curious.
UPDATE: The Perry campaign accuses Kinky of flip-flopping on the border.
KHOU fills in the blanks that I alluded to regarding the potential contenders for Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' likely-to-be-abandoned City Council seat.
[T]he prospect of a special election for city council has politicos salivating.Among the candidates talked about on the political grapevine are former state reps Melissa Noriega and Diana Davila-Martinez, former council candidate Jay Aiyer, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce head Richard Torres, a councilmember’s wife, Nandy Berry and district councilmember M.J. Khan, who could run for a citywide seat and build a citywide political base.
For the record, all three of the names I had in mind are on this list: Melissa Noriega, Jay Aiyer, and Nandy Berry. MJ Khan is not a surprise, and Diana Davila Martinez (as I recall, she's no hyphenated) made a close but unsuccessful run for the District H race (my Council district) in 2003. Note that this is all grapevine talk at this point. As of today, that list is very likely to have some names missing and some other names that don't belong there. Until Shelley's seat actually becomes available and a filing deadline is set, take it all with an appropriate dose of salt.
The story notes that a special election would probably cost the city $2 million, and would also probably be the only election going on for that day (this would not necessarily be true if the Mayor's Prop 2 alteration fails, as it would give the anti-immigrationists a second shot at the ballot before 2008). Such an election would likely be won with a relatively tiny number of votes. Consider the following turnouts for recent city elections:
November 2003, in which Bill White and Orlando Sanchez advanced to a runoff for Mayor: 293,974 votes cast.
December 2003 runoff, White defeating Sanchez for Mayor: 214,525 votes cast.
November 2005, in which Bill White runs more or less unopposed for re-election: 178,628 votes cast.
May 2004, city referendum on the pension plan: 85,929 votes cast.
December 2005 runoff for At Large City Council #2 between Jay Aiyer and Sue Lovell: 35,922 votes cast.
I'd expect that 50,000 votes would be enough to win this race outright, as I would expect this election to have similar turnout as the May 2004 referendum. Thirty thousand might get you into a runoff, and would likely win a runoff if there were one, which would not be unexpected given the high probability of a crowded field. (If there were an obvious way to get a plain-text version of the precinct data, so that I could import it into Excel, I'd try to analyze where the votes come from. Maybe another time.) Whoever wins and thus gets to call him or herself the incumbent next November will wind up spending a lot of dollars per vote.
Lots to think about, and we don't even know for sure that the seat will be open (though I'd say it's a pretty safe bet), let alone who'll be running for it. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Houtopia thinks that two Berrys on City Council are not better than one, while Greg comments on a name that's not in the KHOU list.
Tory Gattis, in conjunction with Houstonist, brings word of new petition to save the Alabama Bookstop.
The difference vs. the original petition is that instead of focusing on Weingarten, this one directly pressures Barnes & Noble to preserve and expand the existing Bookstop rather than abandoning it - and if they're not willing to do that, we're not willing to patronize their business. If we get anywhere near the 23,000+ signatures the first petition received, that's enough lost customers to really make B&N think twice. Read the details here, and please tell your friends. Time is of the essence: once B&N signs the new River Oaks anchor agreement with Weingarten, they'll have no incentive to preserve and expand the Bookstop.
I'm down with that. I will never again shop at B&N if they ignore the wishes of the community and break out the bulldozers. I've signed and I hope you will, too. Let's let Barnes and Noble know that there's a better way.
I'm in high gear with the State House interviews these days. Next up is another incumbent, State Rep. Hubert Vo, who won one of the more memorable and hotly contested elections in recent memory in 2004, knocking off longtime representative Talmadge Heflin in HD149. Vo will face Heflin again this year, this time as the incumbent and in a district that every day is less like the one Heflin started out representing.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here. There are plenty more to come, including a bit of a surprise next week, so please do let me know what you think about this series.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
Rep. Hubert Vo - Interview
Now that the red light cameras are operational, how much revenue will they generate for the city? Probably more than was budgeted for.
Police estimate about a quarter of violators who are issued tickets will pay the $75 civil fine. But in several other cities that use the same camera system, fine collection is as high as 90 percent.
Click to learn more...While the city's revenue estimate for the program once it's in full swing is about $6.7 million a year, a collection rate of 90 percent would bring in more than triple that amount - about $24 million.
Houston Police Department Budget Director Larry Yium said officials picked a low estimate, which he acknowledged was arbitrary, because they weren't sure what to expect.
"We took a very conservative approach to both the revenue and the expenditures because we did not want any surprises," Yium said. "The potential for the revenue side to grow is a whole lot greater than the expenditure side."
The system is designed to pay for itself; the city has agreed to pay the contractor about $2.5 million annually.
Mayor Bill White and Police Chief Harold Hurtt have touted the system as a way to make streets safer by reducing the number of crashes at intersections as drivers change their behavior in response to the cameras.
Critics say the system has more to do with filling city coffers.
"Of course it's about revenue and not about safety," said Greg Mauz of the Texas chapter of the National Motorists Association, who has written a book about red-light cameras.
I don't doubt that kind of money is very attractive. It's not that big a piece of the city's budget, which was $1.5 billion in 2004, but it would have made a decent-sized dent in the $74 million shortfall that had been projected for that fiscal year. It's basically free money, and the city can go to that well quite a bit with all the heavily-trafficked intersections in this town and the limitless supply of bad drivers that live here. I don't see it being a particularly stable source of revenue, at least not at that level - even here, people will moderate their driving habits over time - so however strong the temptation will be to depend on revenue like this, it needs to be resisted, and this particular flow treated as found money for one-off stuff. That's a tall order for any legislative body, and I'm quite sure we'll see financial shenanigans played with these funds no matter what safeguards are put into place.
Having said that, I disagree that red light cameras are "all about revenue and not about safety". For one thing, we don't know yet what effect these cameras will have on accident and injury rates at the intersections where they've been installed. We're supposed to get a study of such effects, at which time we may be able to judge whether there is a real public safety benefit and if so if it's worth the cost of the cameras and the loss of privacy. I'm reserving judgment until I see what the numbers say. In the meantime, I can accept that public safety is the motivation for the cameras as stated. When and if the evidence says otherwise, then such statements can be dismissed.
I have to ask: Do you think those geniuses at the Secretary of State's office knew about this beforehand, or do you think they found out about it at the same time as the press did?
University of Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido was named pitchman for the Texas voter education program, but he said after a kickoff news conference that he hasn't cast a vote since moving to the state 10 years ago."I am not a very political guy," Garrido said Tuesday after a speech in which he compared the democratic process to a game and called voting "the fundamentals."
Records show Garrido, whose Longhorns have won two national championships, registered to vote when he moved to Texas from California but never has voted.
Link via PinkDome. I guess there's something to be said for a non-voter to lead this effort. As I say, I'm just wondering if that was a deliberate choice.
One more thing:
Secretary of State Roger Williams defended the choice of Garrido to promote VOTEXAS, which began in January to recruit, remind and educate voters."People who might be new to voting or haven't been as participatory in the process need as much education as anyone," said Williams spokesman Scott Haywood.
Williams said he hopes Garrido's clout as "a great Texas icon" will increase the program's success.
Has Garrido been around long enough to be an icon? What does that make Cliff Gustafson if so? Anyone know if Wayne Graham votes?
This fairly routine AP story about the CD22 race has a quote in it that's bothering me.
National Democratic and Republican party officials refused to say how much money they might spend. One Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity said the party is prepared to make a multimillion-dollar investment in the race. Democrats also have reserved two weeks of television time in Houston.
I hope this doesn't mean that the DCCC is planning to spend a wad on this race. I mean, I REALLY REALLY HOPE this doesn't mean that the DCCC is planning to spend a wad on this race. The only bigger waste I can imagine would be for the NRCC to do the same. Isn't Nick Lampson's $2 million plus enough? For a measly five hundred grand, the D-Trip could probably get Shane Sklar elected. Wouldn't that be a better investment? What am I missing here?
You know how Dave Barry used to emphasize that the following silly thing he was writing about was something he was not making up? My dear reader, I assure you, I am not making this up. I've got a copy of the email myself.
Dear Friend,I am writing to you today in an effort to help a good friend of mine, country music singer and GOP supporter Sara Evans. Sara will be competing this year on ABC’s smash hit "Dancing with the Stars" beginning Tuesday, September 12, at 8 pm Eastern/ 7pm Central. Sara has recently launched a new website www.DancingWithSara.com that will connect her fans to exclusive behind the scenes material from the show. Register with this website for free today and then watch Sara compete starting September 12 - and don’t forget that YOUR VOTE HELPS DETERMINE THE WINNER!
Sara Evans has been a strong supporter of the Republican Party and represents good American values in the media. From singing at the 2004 Republican Convention to appearing with candidates in the last several election cycles, we have always been able to count on Sara for her support of the things we all believe in. Let’s show Sara that same support by watching and voting for her each week to help her win this competition. One of her opponents on the show is ultra liberal talk show host Jerry Springer. We need to send a message to Hollywood and the media that smut has no place on television by supporting good people like Sara Evans.
Sara will be a great representative of the values that we want to see in the media and we should all support her to keep her on the show as long as possible. Register today with www.DancingWithSara.com for complete access to Sara on "Dancing with the Stars" and then watch her starting September 12. Remember, your votes will help determine the winner so be sure to tune in and vote each week.
Sincerely,
Tom DeLay
No word on whether or he plans to threaten retribution if the panel of judges isn't comprised exclusively of Republicans. As a commenter said at the above link, there's no point in asking whether DeLay doesn't have anything better to do with his time, because quite clearly he doesn't. I just hope he bases a chapter in his new book on this.
Stace is already on this, but I'd like to echo the following press release from Dot Nelson-Turnier, the Democratic candidate in HD150.
Early voting locations determined by the Harris County Elections' Administrator, Beverly Kaufman and the Harris County Commissioners should provide equal access to all voters.At least that is the point that Dot Nelson-Turnier, candidate for State Representative in District 150 hopes to make in Commissioners' Court September 12.
"In my District there is easy access to two early voting locations in the middle to upper middle class mostly white neighborhoods, while there are none located in the primarily non-white neighborhoods."
Almost 30% of the actual voters in District 150 take advantage of absentee ballot and early voting options in a district where the turnout is approximately 30% in non presidential years.
District 150's area is approximately 150 square miles. Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road bisect the district. The two early voting locations are both located west of the interstate and toll road providing no early voting locations to the east. Ms. Turnier contends that voters who live east of the highways would have to travel west off the highway in order to vote and then backtrack to get home. With the price of gas and the long commute from Houston, she fears this will deter voters from using the convenience of early voting, and bring the total voting numbers down.
"We want everyone be able to participate equally in this and all of our elections, and in no way deter them from voting.
Everyone wants people to vote. I do. I am sure my opponent does. I know that Elections' Administration likes to keep voting locations in the same place to avoid confusion, but when populations shift and move, voting locations need to change with them."
With five weeks left until early voting, there should be ample time to rectify this situation.
Here's a map of early voting locations (PDF) for Harris County. Now compare it to this map of District 150 (PDF). Note how locations 32 and 33 are in HD150, whereas the entire swath of the district that's east of 45 has none. You might live close enough to the Humble location (#19) if you're in the southeast part of the district, but most likely you're several miles away from any early voting site, and for sure you have to cross a highway to get to it. That's the point Dot is making, and it's one that really should be addressed. (There should also be a location farther out on 290, too, but I'll leave that for that district's rep to worry about.)
To quote BOR, "First there was the grassroots. Then there was the netroots. Now we have the TexRoots- Texas activists who have taken to the streets as well as the Internet in support of Democratic candidates that deserve your support."
You know the drill. We need your support for our three initial TexRoots candidates:
Shane Sklar for TX-14
Hank Gilbert for Ag Commissioner
Juan Garcia for HD-32
Labor Day is in the rearview mirror. It's time to step up and help our candidates out. If we don't, then who will? Please donate today. Thanks very much.
The Justice Department is investigating Christine DeLay as part of the Abramoff investigation.
In the last few weeks, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have interviewed several people at the Alexander Strategy Group lobbying firm to determine if Christine DeLay was being paid $3,200 a month -- a total of $115,000 over three years -- but not earning it. In a series of interviews last month, investigators questioned people who used to work at Alexander Strategy as well as people who worked in the same building as the now-defunct firm. "They wanted to know how often she came to the office? What did she do there? How long was she there?" said one person who was interviewed by the FBI.Alexander Strategy was run by a pair of Mr. DeLay's former aides: Tony Rudy, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges in March; and Edwin Buckham, who remains under investigation. The firm also shared clients with Jack Abramoff.
In last month's interviews, investigators also asked about $144,000 that Mrs. DeLay received from one of Mr. DeLay's fund-raising committees, the Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee, which was housed at the lobbying firm's offices. Investigators also inquired about fees paid to Mr. DeLay's daughter, Dani DeLay Ferro, a longtime political consultant to her father.
Richard Cullen, a lawyer for the DeLay family, said Mrs. DeLay was a "key adviser to her husband and her employment at Armpac and Alexander Strategy was real and valuable." Mr. Cullen has said that Mrs. DeLay's job at the firm was to compile a list of lawmakers' favorite charities. Neither Mr. DeLay nor his wife has been interviewed by the Justice Department, Mr. Cullen said.
He also said that prosecutors haven't made the DeLays a "target" of their investigation. The Justice Department generally doesn't consider someone a target until it is close to issuing indictments.
The latest round of FBI questioning signals that the Justice Department doesn't plan on letting up on Mr. DeLay now that he has left Congress. They also show that prosecutors might target his wife in order to force a guilty plea from Mr. DeLay.
Shocking, I know. Josh Marshall has documented quite a few instances of Republican Congressfolk enriching themselves through their wives in similar fashion. Hard to imagine DeLay not being on the cutting edge of this kind of innovation. Link via TPM Muckraker.
UPDATE: Greg in TX-22 summarizes what we knew and what is new in this article.
The video above is an ad produced on behalf of the Fort Bend County Democrats. Richard Morrison tells about it here and here. if you like this and want to see it on the air in Fort Bend, you can help make that happen by making a contribution. There's a lot of good candidates running in Fort Bend that could use a little support (see my Q&As with Neeta Sane and Albert Hollan here and here for two examples), so your help is both necessary and valuable. Check it out.
I kept meaning to get to this last week, and I kept missing: Chris Bell got a nice endorsement from the Texas League of Conservation Voters.
"Chris Bell has demonstrated a real commitment to fixing our air quality problems, making Texas a leader in energy independence and giving us a parks system we can all enjoy and be proud of," said TLCV's executive director, Colin Leyden.Chris Bell was the first candidate to offer a broad, comprehensive plan for protecting our state's natural resources; the first candidate to call for a halt to Rick Perry's disastrous fast-tracking of new coal fired power plants; and the first and only candidate to offer a real plan for funding our state parks.
"Chris Bell deserves the vote of all Texans who care about clean air, clean water, and preserving our state's natural heritage. He's the only candidate who can beat Rick Perry and the big polluters who pull his strings," said Leyden.
Reacting to the recent report in the Star-Telegram that Rick Perry has been aggressively working behind the scenes to sell the 400 acre Eagle Mountain Lake state park to the highest bidder, Leyden said, "Texans are demanding that we fix our woefully under funded park system. You can't on the one hand say that you now support funding our state parks, and on the other push to sell 400 acres of a public state treasure to private developers. We join Chris Bell in calling for a moratorium on the sale of public lands to private entities."
For more on the park selloff scheme, I refer you to Vince here, here, and here.
Towards the end of this Fort Bend Now story on the weekend campaign activities in Fort Bend, we get this tantalizing tidbit from Shelley Sekula-Gibbs:
Sekula-Gibbs said she will reveal "very good polling numbers" next week in comparison with Lampson.
I can't wait to see them, and to see what her definition of "very good polling numbers" will be. More importantly, I'd love to know how her pollster phrased the questions. Remember, you can't simply list the candidates and their party affiliation and hope to get a good result here. Shelley is neither the Republican candidate, nor is she on the ballot. (Except for the Very Special Election, of course, for which it's not in her interest to leave the impression that that's the vote she really needs.) How do you solicit information about whether or not someone even knows there's a write-in choice, let alone that they are willing and able to write her in, without pointing it out to them first? You don't, of course, so I presume that if this poll purports to measure anything, it's that if given full information and sufficient prompting, some respectable number of people will say they'll write in Shelley's name. Which I suppose could be doable if Shelley had, oh, I don't know, three million bucks or so to slosh around. How's that working out for you, Shelley?
Sekula-Gibbs said her campaign could use funding "to help with TV" ads.
Mmm hmmm. I'll bet it could.
But she said she'll rely on an extensive mailing list to generate multiple mailings as part of an educational campaign, to get her name before the Republican voting base and to show them the write-in process.
How many mailings do you think she'll send out, and at what cost? I'm more curious than sarcastic here - I'd genuinely like to know what someone thinks is the minimum number of mailings needed to educate and persuade enough voters to win.
She said she expects Lampson to employ significant television advertising, adding, "if you hear stuff on TV about Shelley that makes your hair stand up," it's not true.
If you hear anything about Shelley on TV at all, it won't be coming from the Lampson campaign. The last thing in the world he needs to do is put her name out there for the voters to hear. Same with the DCCC, assuming they still intend to put money into this race. Only Shelley will be talking about Shelley. We here in Houston are already used to that.
UPDATE: Juanita has more on Shelley's poll.
Catching up from the weekend, this story is a longer version of a ThisWeek piece I blogged about before. It notes that despite an argument over where the Southeast Corridor rail line should go, there's been relatively little rancor during the debate.
The Southeast line, which would run through the Third Ward from downtown to Palm Center, has generated relatively little controversy compared with the ongoing debate over a route for the planned University light rail line.That's surprising, considering that building the Southeast line on Scott, Wheeler, Martin Luther King Boulevard and Griggs - the least intrusive and most popular choice - would require buying or condemning at least 50 entire properties, 29 of them residential, and relocating 19 businesses.
An additional 108 properties, 37 of them residential, would lose part of their land to the project, Metropolitan Transit Authority consultants say.
By comparison, Metro says its proposed University light rail line on Richmond Avenue would require taking just eight whole properties, plus strips 8 feet or less in depth from 82 others.
[...]
Responses gathered during the Southeast line's public comment period, which ends Sept. 11, have leaned toward the MLK alternative. But during a public hearing last week at the Third Ward Multi-Purpose Center, speakers were split about evenly between the two routes.
The crowd agreed on one thing, though, voicing its approval when speaker Kelvin Williams urged Metro officials, "Will you all please build something!"
Pretty much the same attitude as the North Corridor folks.
This bit intrigued me:
When the Metro board heard a presentation on the route last month, chairman David Wolff noted that the Scott alignment has the benefit of passing closer to the Texas Medical Center than the MLK option does.But [State Rep. Garnet] Coleman said Metro can fix that by building a future transit line running from Griggs to the Medical Center via Old Spanish Trail and Holcombe.
Although such a line is not in Metro's plans, Coleman noted that the current version of the Southeast line is "truncated," compared with what was described in the 2003 transit resolution passed by voters, so the addition would be appropriate.
I'm fascinated by the possibilities here. Does this mean running a line down OST west of SH288 where it can connect up to the Main Street line at Greenbriar (and then presumably continue a few stops into the Medical Center)? OST is pretty wide there - three lanes for each direction, with a median, and newly-poured sidewalks on both sides of the street. Taking a lane each way would be doable, though you'd have to watch the traffic light cycles, especially at Almeda, to make sure that things don't back up. The connection at Greenbriar would be dicey, too. But what the heck, look at it and see if it's feasible. And with the new MD Anderson construction at OST and Fannin, the area could use some more transit options. I hope something comes of this.
Continuing with my interview tour of the State House, today I bring you a talk with Kristi Thibaut, who is running for the open seat in HD133. This is considered a prime pickup opportunity for the Democrats, along with HD134 and Ellen Cohen. I did a little precinct analysis of HD133 awhile back, so you can see what the dynamic of the race is about.
Here's the interview:
Link for the MP3 file is here. I've got more of these coming, so let me know what you think about them.
Here are all my previous interviews:
Gary Binderim - Interview
Glenn Melancon - Interview
Jim Henley - Interview
David Harris - Interview
Ted Ankrum - Interview
Shane Sklar - Interview 1, Interview 2
John Courage - Interview
Nick Lampson - Interview, Interview about space
Mary Beth Harrell - Interview
Hank Gilbert - Interview
Joe Farias - Interview
Harriet Miller - Interview
Ellen Cohen - Interview
Diane Trautman - Interview
Rep. Scott Hochberg - Interview
Kristi Thibaut - Interview
David Harris has a response on Texas Kaos to the earlier story about charges levelled against him by Jennifer Vaughan.
On March 1, 2006, I received an email on my personal account from the soldier quoted in your story. She was posing as a reporter and made a variety of threats. In that email, she states: “You will not hear from me again, at least not until closer to the election.” On March 2, 2006 my wife and I filed complaints with Yahoo, Comcast and the Air Force Internet Abuse/IP Abuse Area at Robbins Air Force Base. The complaint included months of emails from the soldier that were received by me, my family members (at home and at work) and other bloggers listed in the article. The e-mails were generated from five different email addresses and two distinct IP addresses, one under her name and four under assumed names. The soldier received punishment/demotion due to her actions related to the harassment of my family and misuse of government property. It was only after my wife and I filed a harassment complaint against her, and her having received a demotion, that she began calling my chain of command at work and lodged a complaint against me, for which I received an administrative reprimand.A letter dated 26 July, 2006 from the Commanding General 9th Regional Readiness Command, confirms that I received a letter of administrative reprimand and would not be subject to a court martial. All parties quoted in the Star Telegram article knew this to be the case and knew that there were no further or pending investigations. They have access to all of the facts and testimony that led to the administrative reprimand being issued. The Army has reached resolution and my family and I are working through this time together with the love of each other and the support of our friends and church. Therefore, I will no longer comment on this issue going forward.
That casts the story in a different light. I'm still not sure how I feel about it all at this point, but at least you now have both sides of the argument. Make of them what you will.
You know how I've said that I'm not wasting too much brainpower on any potential 2008 election matchup because I want to get through this season first? That goes double for any stories about 2009 elections.
Meet Bill King.If the name sounds familiar but you can't quite place it, here are some reminders: He has made dire predictions of hurricane devastation and has become a top advocate of preparedness. And he's weathered political storms as part of the Texas Southern University board that ousted President Priscilla Slade.
He was mayor of Kemah for four years.
Now he wants to be mayor of Houston.
No, he doesn't plan to challenge Mayor Bill White - who can run one more time under city term limits. King is looking past White to the 2009 election.
Is it just me, or is it weird to anyone else that the mayor of one city is considering a campaign to be the mayor of another? Is this like testing a new show in Bridgeport before you take it to Broadway? Are we implying that Kemah is to Houston as Round Rock is to the Astros? Maybe King should aim for a city in between, sizewise, first - Galveston, maybe, or Beaumont. Just a thought.
I'm going to do a lot of agreeing with Greg here. Any discussion of the post-Bill White mayoral field needs to include names like Michael Berry and Adrian Garcia. I'd add Carol Alvarado to that list as well. Sure, we don't know how the current unpleasantness will affect her future prospects. That's kind of the point - 2009 is a long way away, and often uncertain the future is. Ask me again in September of 2008 and maybe I'll have a better answer for you, bearing in mind that at this point in 2002 most people were wondering who the heck this Bill White guy was. And last but not least, I am so not ready to configure an Election 2009 category. 'Nuff said.
You may recall that the Texas Parent PAC gave its first endorsement of the general election season to Ellen Cohen. You may not be aware of how the Wong campaign reacted to this news.
Founder Carolyn Boyle of Austin said Wong "has earned a grade of 'F' for her leadership and voting record on public education," instead favoring initiatives to support private schools.The PAC planned to make its formal announcement in a news conference with Cohen Tuesday morning at West University Elementary School, past the Examiner deadline. Boyle pointed to a bill Wong sponsored in 2003, HB 2101, that would have provided public funding of $175 million a year to private schools established by educators that wouldn’t have been required to have accredited teachers, curriculum standards or be subjected to state performance testing.
"It was an irresponsible bill with a blank check from the taxpayers," Boyle said. The bill died in committee.
Josh Robinson, Wong's campaign manager, called the PAC a "fringe group that's clearly not done their homework."
He said Wong is "a leader in education," and cited her background as a classroom teacher and administrator.
Let's put aside the fact that Josh Robinson called a group that cited a specific bill as a key part of its grievance against his boss ignorant and focus on the fact that he called them "fringe". I daresay ol' Kent Grusendorf would have a different opinion, but never mind that, either. I just love it when an officeholder insults a large portion of her own electorate. That's always a good strategy for winning a close election. We who support Ellen Cohen salute you, Josh. You're doing a heckuva job.
This could be one of the best, or at least one of the best worst, series of blog posts for 2006. As Dave Barry didn't quite say, movie badness is an issue Americans care deeply about. Pete Von Der Haar, call your office.
Since I'll take any excuse to link back to my own personal Worst 10 list, I'll just say that I feel a jolt of pride at seeing Wing Commander in this first group. I've gotten more mileage from slagging that movie than I ever thought possible when I saw it in the theater. Who knew it would be that memorable, at least in some sense?
Olivia and I made the trek out to Sugar Land last night, where we joined about 200 or so good Democrats at the Sugar Land Community Center (in the shadow of the Imperial Sugar building) for a night of barbecue and politicking. She's giving emcee Don Bankston her full attention in the photo above - he took the mike to give a quick welcome and overview of the night's agenda, and upon hearing his voice, Olivia marched up to the podium so she could be sure of hearing every word. We should all have such audiences. That's the estimable Bob Dunn of Fort Bend Now in the back right of the picture, in case you're curious.
Hal and The Muse have reports from the event, so I'll steer you to them for the details. The three-headed blog machine that is McBlogger was there as well, and it was a pleasure to meet them all, as it always is to see PDiddie and Mrs. PDiddie. One correction to make from Hal's report: It was not Neeta Sane's speech that moved Olivia to tears, it was her daddy's rookie mistake of not recognizing the clear signs of an overtired toddler. Neeta, if you're reading this, my apologies for the interruption, and my compliments on your quick-witted recovery.
Anyway. This was a rousing way to kick off the "official" start of the campaign season. My thanks to Juanita for the hospitality, to Olivia's new friend McKenzie and her wonderfully patient mom Rhonda for keeping her entertained, and to the Democratic Women of Fort Bend County for the excellent desserts. Thanks, y'all!
Steve Irwin, the famed Crocodile Hunter, died with his boots on over the weekend.
Irwin died doing what he loved best, getting too close to one of the dangerous animals he dedicated his life to protecting with an irrepressible, effervescent personality that propelled him to global fame.The 44-year-old Irwin's heart was pierced by the serrated, poisonous spine of a stingray as he swam with the creature today while shooting a new TV show on the Great Barrier Reef, his manager and producer John Stainton said.
Marine experts called the death a freak accident. They said rays reflexively deploy a sharp spine in their tails when frightened, but the venom coating the barb usually just causes a very painful sting for humans.
"It was extraordinarily bad luck,'' said Shaun Collin, a University of Queensland marine neuroscientist. "It's not easy to get spined by a stingray, and to be killed by one is very rare.''
Maybe karma finally caught up with him. Anyone who's watched a few episodes of his TV show knows that he's had more than a few close calls in his career. This time he wasn't so lucky.
Conservationists said all the world would feel the loss of Irwin, who turned a childhood love of snakes and lizards and knowledge learned at his parents' side into a message of wildlife preservation that reached a television audience that reportedly exceeded 200 million."He was probably one of the most knowledgeable reptile people in the entire world,'' Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, told ABC's Good Morning America.
[...]
He was a committed conservationist, running a wildlife park for crocodiles and other Australian fauna, including kangaroos, koalas and possums, and using some of his TV wealth to buy tracts of land for use as natural habitat.
Say what you want about Irwin's style, and about some of the choices he may have made. From where I stand, he did a hell of a lot of good for the cause of conservation, and for making all kinds of animals normally considered nuisances or dangerous less threatening to skittish humans. He put his money where his mouth was, and he died the way he lived, doing what he loved. The world could use more people like that. Rest in peace, Steve Irwin.
I happened to drive by the site of the Breens Braeswood Florist shop on Holcombe at Greenbriar on Tuesday morning, the day after it was torn down, so the picture in this West U Examiner blurb was quite familiar to me.
Work crews put the finishing touches on the demolition of the Breens Braeswood Florist building, 2303 W. Holcombe Blvd., Monday morning, making way for a new shopping center. A nearby home and a palm-readers’ place of business were also torn down. A representative for the developer said a town hall meeting concerning the project will be scheduled in the next two or three weeks. Construction on the shopping center is expected to begin by the end of the year.
I have to say, that sounds like an awful place for a shopping center. The Holcombe/Greenbriar intersection is very crowded, and southbound progress on Greenbriar (which happens to be one route I take to work) is frequently held up by people trying to turn into the KFC parking lot on the opposite side of Greenbriar. I'll reserve judgment for now, but I can't say I'm looking forward to this.
Sherrie Matula sent me the following from a Texas Freedom Network email. The Senate Committee on Education will be holding a hearing in Houston on September 6 (PDF agenda here) at the University of Houston Hilton. The topic is "school choice", which is to say vouchers.
The hearing will include invited testimony from more than a half-dozen supporters of voucher schemes. Even Leininger’s Texas Public Policy Foundation has been invited to send a representative to speak! Only two voucher opponents - including TFN President Kathy Miller - will have the opportunity to explain why voucher schemes would devastate public education in Texas.After invited guests have testified, the Education Committee will hear testimony from the general public. Don’t allow the voucher lobby to dominate the hearing. Come to the hearing to support strong neighborhood public schools and oppose schemes - like private school vouchers - that threaten them.
Witness cards at the hearing will be available for all who want to speak during the public testimony period. The committee will hear testimony in the order in which speakers submit the completed witness cards. The hearing begins at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday (Sept. 6) at the University of Houston Hilton (Shamrock Room, Suite 261B). Public testimony will probably begin around mid-afternoon. The UH Hilton is located at 4800 Calhoun Street in Houston (713-741-2447).
That's a work day for me, but if you can be there, let me know what happens.
The Huffington Post prints excerpts from interviews done with people involved with the evacuation of Hurricane Katrina victims to the George R. Brown convention center in Houston. The first subject is Lt. Col. and State Rep. Rick Noriega, who was the site manager. The following is from day one, after he had been named to the position by Mayor White and Harris County Judge Eckels in a morning meeting.
Have you ever kicked over an ant pile? When all the ants start running and scattering? It was a very challenging time. We had tasks that had to be accomplished before buses rolled in. We had to maintain some sense of command and control, and stay focused on those immediate tasks that we had to accomplish. We also had to establish our organizational structure. Those things had to happen in pretty quick order.Marathon Oil, CenterPoint Energy, and Continental and some other organizations came forward with resources. About 6:00pm, approximately two thousand mattresses and cots were laid out. CenterPoint and the staff at the George R. Brown were engineering the bathroom facilities and the showers. They started that night. They figured out how to make the first one, and once they made the first one--all the particular pieces were pre-cut, and so then it was just throwing them together. They worked around the clock all night long. By noon the next day, they constructed 80 showers.
By 6:00pm, we were operational.
By 9:00pm, we received our first buses. The Red Cross wanted to consolidate some of their shelters into the George R. Brown. We said OK, let's go ahead. We were in an enviable position because we had the opportunity to exercise our in-processing procedures. We had the tables set up one way, where they faced the doors. We were able to say no, we don't need it that way. You'll have people wrapped around outside, and we want to bring them all inside the building. Little things like that, to tweak the system. Unlike other facilities where they were just you know, wave after wave, without really having the opportunity to respond, we were able to get it set up pretty much how we wanted. Before the buses started rolling in.
I think I finally got to bed Friday night, very late. I stayed at the Hilton next door. Some rooms were set aside for a couple of us to stay there, so we could just go next door, shower, and come back. Get a few hours sleep, came back in.
The first seventy-two hours was critical to get everything established. I didn't get a lot of sleep those first few nights.
The following day, they diverted buses over to our location.
There's more there, and at The Katrina Experience. Check it out.
Now that Metro has selected Fulton Street for its North Corridor route, the merchants along that street are acclimating to the idea of construction in their future.
After learning Metro had chosen the Fulton street alignment for the Metro Solutions North Corridor route, Linh Nguyen, owner of P&H Food at the corner of Fulton and Kelley streets, said the finished product would bring business for everyone."I think in the long run, this will look like downtown," said Nguyen, who has owned the store for about two years.
But he wondered about the short run, questioning whether the Metropolitan Transit Authority will need to acquire any of the store property, and how customer access and parking would be affected during construction.
"It's going to hurt. You have to wait three and four years," Nguyen said. "I don't think people can wait that long. I'm thinking about going somewhere else."
[...]
Under its current timeline, Metro expects to have the approval by year's end and would begin acquiring rights of way by 2007.
Construction would begin some time next year. The line is expected to be operational by 2010.
According to the North Corridor draft environmental impact statement, which analyzes the impact proposed options would have on the area, 66 properties - a total of 7.9 acres of land - along the street will be affected by the Fulton alignment.
Thirty properties must be fully acquired. Only portions of the other 36 properties will need to be bought.
Juan Galvan, owner of Mirror Image Plus Paint & Body Shop, 5316 Fulton, has owned his business for seven years.
Galvan said he sees the potential for the area once the rail is complete. But now that Fulton has been chosen, he also wonders what will happen to his business.
"You got the dry cleaners, the church, the auto shops," he said. "It's going to be a real inconvenience for a lot of people."
And yet the process has not been stopped. How about that.
Meanwhile, the route for the Southeast Corridor has not yet been determined.
The Southeast corridor is part of Metro's plan to link destinations throughout the city to the existing Main Street rail line.Two options
The draft statement analyzes two proposed routes for the corridor:
- One would turn on Scott Street from downtown before turning on Griggs and ending near the Palm Business Center; and
- Another would turn off Scott onto Wheeler and again onto Martin Luther King Boulevard, before ending somewhere near the Palm Center.
The Scott/Griggs alignment was the route chosen by southeast area voters in 2003, when they approved Metro's plan for light rail line in the area, and some say the transit company ought to stick with that.[...]
Since 2003, the Wheeler/MLK alignment was offered to some in the community as an alternative to keeping the route on Scott all the way to Griggs. Their concern was that too many properties along Scott would be impacted.
"I believe that by making the turn on Wheeler to MLK, there will not be a significant loss in ridership," said Nata Koerber, who said she lives on Southmore Street.
"It will still provide access and economic development, while preserving neighborhoods and not displacing residents."
[...]
Although they said they supported the general plans to expand public transportation routes, some representatives of the East Downtown Management District cited concerns about how residential and business development in its service area would be affected by the corridor.
They chided Metro for not discussing its plans for the route with the organization - especially since it comes through downtown, an area within its purview.
Several people, including state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-147, suggested Metro look closer at connectivity issues and how the Southeast Corridor would interface with the University Corridor, another Metro Solutions route that would serve the Third Ward community.
Metro will accept comments for its final impact statement on the Southeast corridor until Sept. 11. Comments can be made online at www.ridemetro.org/contact/comment.asp, or through letters postmarked no later than Sept. 11 and mailed to Rhonda Boyer at Metro, Harris County, P.O.Box 61429, Houston, TX 77208.
Metro's board could decide on an alignment for the corridor during its September meeting.
Make your voice heard now if you have an opinion on this.
You already know the big news from the Very Special Election filing deadline, so I won't recapitulate that here. I'll just note the following from the Chron story.
Sekula-Gibbs jabbed Lampson for skipping the race."It's surprising a person clamoring to have a special election then refuses to run," Sekula-Gibbs said. "The district deserves representation."
Lampson has said Gov. Rick Perry should have called an emergency special election earlier this year when DeLay vacated the seat.
If Sekula-Gibbs wins the special election she will have to resign from the Houston City Council, even if she doesn't win the term that begins in January.
"To me, that's a risk that I am willing to take," said Sekula-Gibbs, whose council term runs through next year.
"I am not half-hearted in my commitment."
Asked why she is not giving up her council seat now to focus on the congressional race, she replied, "Because being on the City Council gives me a tremendous opportunity to speak out on issues that are important to our region. I cannot give up that position."
Which makes her, what, three-fourths-hearted in her commitment? I'll be generous and say four-fifths.
Let me go on the record now and give my full endorsement to Shelley Sekula-Gibbs for the Very Special Election. Nothing would please me more than to see her live up to that commitment to give up her City Council seat in order to be Congresswoman for her Christmas vacation.
(And boy howdy will there be a scramble for that seat if it opens up. I'm already aware of at least three people who are looking at it. The main question is whether her seat could be filled earlier than May, which would be the official date for a replacement election. The answer may depend in part on whether or not Shelley wins outright in November, or has to go to a runoff, which would take place in December. You think there's a lot of maneuvering going on for a stupid, meaningless Very Special Election that could only be improved by the addition of Mary Carey and Gary Coleman? Just wait till there's an at-large City Council seat to fill on short notice.)
Anyway. Bob Dunn manages to stop his head from spinning long enough to summarize the story so far. Check it out.
Making good on a months-old threat, city lawyers went to court today seeking restitution from four employees fired after allegations that they took $143,000 in improper bonuses while working in the Office of Mayor Pro Tem.The largely identical lawsuits, filed in state district court, raise numerous causes of action that form a collective allegation: that the employees conspired to use their city positions to profit from taxpayer money.
The city wants to recover damages from the employees - Rosita Hernandez, Florence Watkins, Christopher Mays and Theresa Orta - under the Texas Theft Liability Act for the bonus amounts they received in 2004, 2005 and this year.
"It is our responsibility to do what we can within the parameters of the law to make sure that the public trust is protected," said Don Fleming, the senior assistant city attorney handling the cases.
Fleming wrote the employees in May, demanding that they repay the bonuses or face court action.
The attorney for Hernandez, the former pro tem office manager whom city officials allege took $51,000 in bonuses, said his client would be vindicated in court. He also accused the city of unlawfully withholding $18,000 owed Hernandez for accrued vacation and sick time.
"We look forward to the opportunity for the first time to present Rosie's side of the story in a legal forum with appropriate and constitutional rules," said the attorney, Walter A. Boyd III. "I don't believe the city has proved its case."
Well, he'll have his chance to demonstrate that. I wouldn't bet against the house on this one, but you never know.
And of that other part of the saga:
The Harris County District Attorney's office, meanwhile, is conducting a probe of the four employees and possibly other current and former city officials.District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said the lawsuits would not affect his investigation. He said he expects to present his investigators' findings, at least about the former pro tem employees, to a grand jury soon.
"I'm getting anxious for our aspect of it to conclude, or at least get to the grand jury," he said, noting that his office has been busy on another high-profile, public-integrity case involving former Texas Southern University President Priscilla Slade.
"It seems like it's been a long time to me since we've been looking at this without being able to bring something to the grand jury."
You could say that. It's been almost six months by my count. Time to show some results, Chuck.
Here's a little non-political story for you: My neck of the woods is becoming a hot place to eat.
[A]bout three years ago, the pace of development in the Heights and on Washington Avenue picked up. Affluent buyers snapped up Victorian homes in the Heights and restored them. Townhomes, selling for more than $250,000, sprouted along Washington. And the restaurants followed.Patrick Zone's House in the Heights, Claire Smith's Shade and [Lance] Fegen's Glass Wall opened in the Heights, dishing out New American cuisine with a progressive twist. Onion Creek Coffee House started pouring gourmet brew, while its sibling, Dry Creek Cafe, a BYOB eatery, grilled its signature Triple Bypass burgers. Houston Tamales Factory, Berryhill Baja Grill, Collina's Italian Cafe and Thai Spice now also serve the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, restaurateurs and chefs are scouting Washington Avenue and surrounding streets; they believe the historic area will become a major restaurant artery within the next five years.
"I get several calls a week from people looking to open a restaurant," landlord Bob Mize says. "Today, I'm going to meet a guy to talk about a very specialized Vietnamese eatery."
The restaurant buzz hasn't been this loud since the late '90s, during the downtown-Midtown revival.
Azuma Sushi recently leased a space in Barry Pulaski's 18,000-square-foot, Art Deco-fitted building on Washington at Durham.
Max Gonzalez plans to start serving Guatemalan coffee and handcrafted ice cream by mid-October at Quetzal on Washington at Hemphill.
"This area of town is getting a new shot of life," says yoga instructor Kristina Keller, eating tortilla soup at the Daily Grind. "We have choices now. El Tiempo and Candelari's have opened down the street.
"And we don't have to pack our bags and drive to Target on San Felipe anymore. We have our own. It just opened off Washington on Sawyer."
Retail outlets are promising indicators for restaurant developers.
"Once you put in a Target, houses follow," Fegen says. "Give the Washington area and the Heights five years, and it'll be another West University sort of place."
Not quite sure what he means by that - I at least don't really think of West U as a hotspot for dining out. Maybe he means more like the Rice Village?
Whatever. We've eaten at several of the places listed, and there's a few more that I've been meaning to try. One place the article didn't list, in the "on or near Washington Avenue" category is Patrenella's, which has been around forever and should be in great shape to thrive off the gentrification of its surroundings. There's still a lot of room for growth along Washington Ave, more so than the Heights proper I'd say. Check back in another year and see where it is then.
Well, I was wrong in my interpretation of the Libertarian Party press release, for as Chris Elam reports (and I've heard this independently, too), Bob Smither has filed for the CD22 special election. He joins Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, Don Richardson, a fellow named Giannibecego Hoa Tran, as you can see here (PDF), and will be the first non-Republican on the ballot.
But that's not all. I've got a tip that there's a fifth player in this game, and his name is none other than Steve Stockman. Yes, the man who failed to collect 500 valid signatures to be an independent for the regular election has decided to take a shot at the Very Special Election, where he can try his best to be once again a short-term, no-impact Congressman. One hopes he paid the filing fee this time.
So while Shelley Sekula-Gibbs won't get a shot at beating Nick Lampson, which maybe she could have done and maybe she couldn't, but she can at least prove that she's a bigger draw than Steve Stockman. If that doesn't scream "frontrunner" at you, I don't know what would. And as a bigger prize for her success, she'd get to resign her City Council seat. All I can say at this development is that somebody up there must love me.
Comparisons like this are never good.
Democrat Mary Beth Harrell would seem to face an uphill battle to unseat Republican John Carter in the conservative Congressional District 31, which stretches from Williamson Co. north to Erath Co., but one has to wonder if Carter could pull a Clayton Williams simply by continuing to talk.
Good ol' Claytie. Still the gold standard for come-from-ahead losing in a campaign. Who knows what might have happened had his advisors succeeded in replacing him with a cardboard cutout for the last six months of that race.
The piece recapitulates the history of the debate decider saga, then closes with a little twist:
We'd love to ask Carter whether being the official nominee of one of the nation's two dominant political parties constitutes credibility or whether it might come from being a military wife and mother for most of her life (Harrell's son is serving in Iraq), but we can't contact him. The two phone numbers on his campaign Web site aren't working; we called his congressional office, which gave us a different number that was never answered, not even by a machine; a promise from his congressional office that the campaign would call us had not been kept as of press time. Perhaps we lack "credibility."
You have to admit, though, that keeping Carter as far away as possible from anyone who can quote him is a wise move. Too bad for him that even his hometown newspaper is agreeing with Mary Beth Harrell on his need to debate. Better start learning about some issues, John. Thanks to Eye on Williamson for the link.
Here's something that ought to make my college-age colleagues happy: a plan by State Rep. Scott Hochberg to help keep the cost of textbooks down. I've printed the full press release beneath the fold, but I'll quote the main piece here:
Rep. Hochberg and his colleagues propose six specific steps to reduce textbook costs:* Require books to be used for at least three years whenever possible.
* Make it easier to shop around for better prices.
* Don't require students to buy books, CDs, workbooks, etc. that the professor does not expect the class to use.
* Use state purchasing power to lower prices.
* Create a pilot program for rental textbooks.
* Prohibit gifts or payments from publishers that could influence book selection.
We had "rental textbooks" in my day, but back then we called it "selling the used textbook back to the bookstore". You don't usually get a very good price doing that, so I daresay a rental program would be cheaper. I spent up to about $60 on some books when I was a student, and that was 20 years ago. I shudder to think what some of them might cost now. The proposals above seem perfectly reasonable, so we'll see what happens.
Full press release.
Democratic Legislators Announce Plan to Cut College Textbook Costs
As colleges kick off the fall semester, students and their parents are facing sticker shock when they buy their textbooks. State Rep. Scott Hochberg and several Democratic colleagues today outlined a plan to reduce textbook costs by increasing competition and making sure students are not required to buy more materials than they will actually use for each course."College textbook costs are rising much faster than inflation," Hochberg said, "and students have no choice but to pay those prices. Students have told me that they often end up sharing books, copying necessary pages, using older editions, and doing whatever they can to save money. Meanwhile, publishers are changing editions every year and forcing students to buy extra materials like CDs and workbooks that they don't need. Those practices must stop."
"Anything we can save by cutting unnecessary textbook costs makes education more affordable for working families, without giving up quality," added Rep. Hubert Vo. "Texas students spend around $1 billion for textbooks every year, so it's really important that they get the most for their money."
Rep. Hochberg and his colleagues propose six specific steps to reduce textbook costs:
* Require books to be used for at least three years whenever possible.
* Make it easier to shop around for better prices.
* Don't require students to buy books, CDs, workbooks, etc. that the professor does not expect the class to use.
* Use state purchasing power to lower prices.
* Create a pilot program for rental textbooks.
* Prohibit gifts or payments from publishers that could influence book selection.
The Harris County Young Democrats have posted a survey on their web site to gather data about textbook costs at Texas colleges and universities. Students who want to report their textbook costs or make suggestions about how to reduce those costs can do so at www.HarrisCountyYD.org.
Rep. Alma Allen, who served 14 years on the State Board of Education, noted, "The State of Texas worries a lot about the cost of k-12 textbooks, because the state pays for those. But the cost of college textbooks doesn't get any attention." A recent Government Accountability Office report found that prices for new college textbooks have increased at more than twice the rate of inflation. Fulltime students spent an average of just under $900 for textbooks in 2003-2004. For some students, the cost of books can be more than the cost of tuition and fees.
The plan offered today would make more used books available by increasing the length of time books are used. Used textbooks typically sell for at least 25% off the cost of a new book, sometimes much less.
"For some students, being able to buy used books and sell last year's books can make the difference between having a book and having to borrow and share," said Rep. Ana Hernandez. "When books are obsolete after just one year of use, every student has to pay the entire cost of the book and then just let it sit on a shelf when they finish using it."
Public colleges and universities would be required to make their book lists available to students early enough so they could shop around for the best pricing. Any book retailer could compete for students' business. "With the Internet, students can shop online, but only if they know what books they need far enough in advance," said Rep. Jessica Farrar. "Many times, that doesn't happen. And some campus bookstores have exclusive rights to book lists, eliminating any chance for competition."
Under the proposed plan, students could no longer be required to purchase materials that their professor does not expect to use in class. Many students today are required to purchase costly extras that come "bundled" with their textbooks. Much of the time, these CDs, workbooks and other materials are not used in the class, and just add cost. And some professors believe they must specify books for their classes even if they don't intend to teach from them.
Rep. Hochberg said the group will take this proposal to Austin when the Legislature convenes in January. "We've had good discussions with higher education officials in our area, and look forward to working with them to pass meaningful legislation".
It pains me to report that David Harris is in some serious trouble with the military.
Harris, an Iraqi war veteran challenging 11-term Republican Rep. Joe Barton of Arlington, is accused of "conduct unbecoming an officer" for maintaining a "close and continuing relationship" with a female Army sergeant from 2003 though 2005, a military investigator said.Military regulations forbid such relationships.
Maj. Frank Torres, the Army Reserve officer who investigated the allegations, said military officials are still deciding whether to proceed with a court-martial against Harris, who is a major. The complaint that sparked the investigation was filed by Jennifer Vaughan, 33, of Arlington, who was demoted by her commander after she acknowledged that she had an affair.
[...]
Vaughan transferred from the Army Reserve to the Air Force Reserve after returning from Iraq. She said she lodged a complaint because she was demoted in her new assignment from staff sergeant to senior airman while no action was being contemplated against Harris.
Her supervisors in the Air Force Reserve had already been alerted to the affair, but they had no authority over Harris.
"Why do I, as an enlisted person, have to lose a stripe over this while nothing happens to the officer?" Vaughan, who served as Harris' driver in Iraq, told the Star-Telegram. "I'm doing it because I have been treated so bad as an enlisted [person]. And as an officer, he's getting away with it, and now he's running for Congress."
Vaughan said that she and Harris ended their relationship in 2005. She turned over e-mail correspondence between her and Harris to Army investigators. She also provided copies to the Star-Telegram.
Vaughan has also sent a letter to Barton seeking his office's help to transfer to another Air Force Reserve unit. Murphy said Barton's office forwarded the letter to U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to avoid any appearance of partisan politics. Hutchison's spokeswoman said the senator typically does not discuss correspondence with constituents.
Torres, the Army investigator, said he interviewed Harris and "a dozen or so witnesses" during his six-week inquiry and found nothing to contradict Vaughan's assertions about her relationship with Harris. Torres declined to discuss the specifics, saying only that his report has been turned over to his superiors.
"All I can say is that I did a thorough investigation into the allegations," Torres said. "This is something the military takes very seriously. The military has very specific guidelines as it relates to relationships between officers and enlisted personnel."
I am quite fond of the Harris family. After seeing a blog post last year saying that we were preparing to evacuate for Hurricane Rita, Michelle Harris wrote me to offer their house as a refuge for me and my family. Though we had other arrangements in place, I remain very touched by their generosity. I consider David and Michelle to be good people, and I'm very sad to see them go through this.
Having said that, this is a mess that's entirely of David Harris' making. As the story notes, these allegations first came up some months ago. Jennifer Vaughan emailed me (among many other people) back then to draw attention to them. I was told by the Harrises that this was a minor issue and that it had been dealt with. I chose to believe them. Clearly, that was not the case. They're paying the price for that now.
If this were just a matter of infidelity, I wouldn't care very much. Lord knows, there's way more adulterers in Congress - hell, in every level of government - than there are publicly known adulterers. We've managed to survive as a republic somehow. Some well-known adulterers have done and are doing pretty well after their doings became unsecret - Bill Clinton, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, etc etc etc. As is so often the case, it's the coverup that's worse. Add in the possibility of military sanctions for fraternization, and it gets uglier.
Texas Kaos has more. I wish the Harris family well in putting this matter behind them. I wish even more that David Harris' actions had not put himself, his family, and the voters of CD06 who want better representation, in this position.
Well, I asked for Weingarten to think about ways to deal with the River Oaks and Alabama properties that don't involve a wrecking ball, so I'm glad to see that they are doing so, if only in a preliminary manner.
The fate of the buildings "is very much in flux," Drew Alexander said in his first public comment on the matter."We've talked to community leaders, and we're looking for those who express interest in doing something in an organized way. If there's a solution that makes sense, we're all for it."
But he acknowledged that Weingarten might raze the buildings. In the long term, the company is considering high-rise development of the two theater sites, he said.
Step One is recognizing that there is a problem. They've done that. Talking to the people who want to do something about it is another good step. If they can move from thinking that the theater and the BookStop might still get bulldozed to thinking that they should be saved, we'll be most of the way to a happy ending.
The River Oaks Theatre's current occupant, Landmark Theatres, has time left on its lease, Alexander said. He speculated that the art-movie chain would not be able to pay market rates for the location when the lease comes up for renewal. He did not estimate what the rate would be. A residential or office tower on the site, Alexander said, "would do a lot of cool things both for the shopping center and for city life. It would be more of a 24-hour destination. You could have sidewalk dining."A high-rise could incorporate either the theater's facade or its entire auditorium. But those options would be expensive and problematic, he said, because the high-rise would have to include a parking garage.
I can appreciate the notion that the land on which the River Oaks Theater is underutilized for its value. But please, spare me the sales pitch about how much more I might like whatever would be built on its ashes. That's not the point.
Weingarten would consider keeping the theater building intact, Alexander said. "If people want to raise money and continue operating it as an upscale dinner theater, with cocktails, then great," he said. "If people love to go to the Landmark River Oaks and it does well - great. Or if the building can be converted to doing something that performs well, that's great, too."Whatever the new use, he said, it would have to bolster the shopping center's viability as a high-end destination. With several new luxury shopping centers under development, the market is extremely competitive, he said.
Why don't we start by seeing if they think they can afford whatever new rent you plan on charging them? Maybe you underestimate their ability to stay in business more or less as is.
The renovated Alabama Theatre is the home of Bookstop, which is operated by Barnes & Noble.Though Weingarten also is considering a high-rise for that site, the Alabama might be more easily preserved than the River Oaks because there's space behind the bookstore to build a parking garage, Alexander said.
"I have a friend who told me, 'I hope you don't undo the Bookstop,' " he said. "I said, 'Bring me a tenant who can afford the space.' "
Weingarten would also consider selling both theater sites, Alexander said. In deciding the properties' fates, Weingarten - the owner of about 300 shopping centers across the nation - is investigating tax credits for historic preservation.
And here's where it would be in Weingarten's best interests to join in the conversation that preservationists plan to have with City Council. Mayor White has already suggested that tax incentives will be considered as a means of fostering preservation. Why not give a little guidance on this matter?
"We try to be good corporate citizens," he said. "We're a public company. And that means we have fiduciary responsibilities to our shareholders."
I'm glad that you care about being good corporate citizens, and that you've decided to tell us what you're thinking. There's lots more to talk about, so please don't go silent again. This can work for everyone, but only if everyone who cares about the outcome is involved.
(Note: I drafted this last night - after the little power glitch in my neighborhood - and woke up this morning to see a new story that obviates some of what I've written here. That will be in my next post.)
The ever well-dressed Carolyn Farb uses her powers for good to help save the River Oaks Theater.
As security officers on motorcycles redirected traffic, society powerhouse Carolyn Farb led approximately 100 black-clad people across West Gray. In front of the Landmark River Oaks Theatre, they held aloft glowing popcorn bags."Save Our Shrines," as Farb called the secretive, well-behaved protest, boasted two motorcycle security officers, a half-dozen photographers, and several color-coordinated dogs.
Farb's effort is the most colorful of recent attempts to focus attention on Houston's historic buildings.
Nothing wrong with a little theater, but I think this is more likely to have an effect:
On Monday afternoon, a group of architects, theater buffs, neighborhood residents and real-estate professionals christened itself Save Our Landmarks.Organized by former River Oaks theater manager Sarah Gish, the group has scheduled a meeting with members of Houston's City Council, and plans to launch a Web site in coming weeks.
I know that some people are afraid of what a Houston City Council might do to restrict business owners under the rubric of preservationism. If the powers that be at Weingarten are among those people, they can put their heads together and come up with a plan for the River Oaks and Alabama properties that keeps the landmarks in place yet still nets them a decent profit. I don't know offhand what such a solution might be, but I have faith in their ability to think about their self-interest.
Hours before Farb's event, Weingarten issued a statement indicating that the River Oaks theater building is in no immediate danger, but affirming Weingarten's interest in the "redevelopment" of the northeast corner of Shepherd and West Gray.
The statement did not mention the Alabama Theatre.
According to the statement, the new development at River Oaks Shopping Center would be anchored by "a key retail player." (Shopping-center tenants say they've been told that Barnes & Noble would occupy the first two floors of a new three-story building.)
"If we are able to finalize the anchor deal," said the statement, "the additional retail will not be located in the River Oaks Movie Theatre block."
A representative for Weingarten could not clarify the statement late Wednesday.
The statement did not appease preservationists. "It's like sleight of hand," said David Bush, a spokesman for the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance.
"We never said that Barnes & Noble was going into the movie theater's site. But we're pleased that Weingarten is committed - at least for the time being - to the River Oaks theater."
Houstonist has more on that statement. I agree that it says nothing more than what we already know, and is in no way indicative of a desire to leave the River Oaks Theater unbulldozed.
Farb, told of Weingarten's statement a half-hour before her troops were scheduled to gather, was unfazed."Even if the theater is safe," she said, "this is about more than just the River Oaks. This is about saving our shrines. And there's more than one shrine."
Funnily enough, I think if Weingarten bit the bullet on this one now and committed to the long-term health of the River Oaks and the Alabama, they'd likely disable a more broad-based preservationist push like what Farb is describing. Without a rallying point, the public's attention will wander to other things, and lesser known shrines can continue to be threatened by whatever Weingarten wants to do with the land they're on. I don't know if they're capable of that kind of longer-term thinking, however. In any event, the window for such a head fake is closing.
The story has a nice set of links to resources and other reporting on the topic. That same Houstonist link also has more if you want to take action but have not yet done so.
Chad Khan was on the air at KPFT the other day, talking about his campaign and the new business tax, which affects him directly. I've got an MP3 of his interview here if you didn't get a chance to hear him live. And Stace has a report from Khan's fundraising event at Gringo's Restaurant earlier this week. Check them out.