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May 1st, 2009:

Juan Garcia takes a job in the Obama administration

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
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Congrats to former State Rep. Juan Garcia on his new gig.

The White House issued a news release announcing Juan Garcia, Obama’s former law school classmate and one-term Texas House member, will be nominated to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs).

Obama said of the slate of administration nominees announced along with Garcia:

“These fine public servants are welcome additions to my team as we work to put America on a path towards prosperity and keep our nation safe. I am honored they will be joining my administration and look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

I’m sure he’ll do a fine job. And I hope in a few years he’ll come back to Texas and run for something again. Garcia had statewide ambitions at one time, back before his successful run for the State House against Gene Seamon. I trust that urge hasn’t fully gone away. If so, there will be plenty of opportunities in another four to six years.
I’m sure he’ll do a fine job. And I hope in a few years he’ll come back to Texas and run for something again. Garcia had statewide ambitions at one time, back before his successful run for the State House against Gene Seamon. I trust that urge hasn’t fully gone away. If so, there will be plenty of opportunities in another four to six years. BOR has more.

Followup on Keller impeachment resolution

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
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I had a brief conversation with Rep. Lon Burnam about HR480, the House resolution to impeach Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, which had a hearing on Monday. He’s working on getting enough support in the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence to get it voted out of committee and brought to the floor of the House for a vote; he’s also talking to Members and answering their questions about this arcane and seldom-used procedure, and securing their support for an eventual vote. If the Jurisprudence committee does not vote HR480 out, Burnam can and will bring it to the floor on a personal privilege motion. So one way or another we will see a House vote on this.

Because of the nature of this kind of resolution, the only deadline Burnam faces is sine die on June 1. Only the House must take action for impeachment to move forward. What HR480 does is authorize the creation of a select committee on impeachment, which would be chosen by Speaker Straus and which would meet in the summer to investigate the charges and potentially refer articles of impeachment back to the full House for another vote. The House would then convene for that vote, and if they accept the articles of impeachment, the matter then passes to the Senate for a trial. A two-thirds vote in the Senate would be required for a conviction, with the penalties including removal from the bench and a ban on holding public office in the future.

Rep. Burnam’s office sent me the 1975 Select Committee on Impeachment report (PDF), which was the last time a resolution was brought forth to impeach an officeholder, in that case a district judge in Duval County, and which makes for some interesting reading. The Committee, whose members included former Speaker Pete Laney, Sarah Weddington, and still serving Rep. Senfronia Thompson, likened the role of the House to that of a grand jury, offering no judgment on the guilt or innocence of the accused or exploration of possible mitigating factors; that was left for the Senate, which was the trial court. They were there to determine if there was cause for further action.

One other point of interest is that the impeachment resolution of 1975 was brought to the floor by a privileged motion. Rep. Burnam is taking the longer way by having this go through the normal committee process, though as noted he can still go the privileged motion route if need be.

Friday random ten: The whole enchilada

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
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Finally, a Random Ten based on a shuffle of every song in the collection, not just a slimmed-down-to-fit-on-a-Mini playlist. What will the new much-bigger-than-a-Mini Touch give us?

1. The Mosstrooper’s Lament – SixMileBridge
2. Jim Malcolm – Losin’ Auld Reekie
3. Steamsville – Trinity University Jazz Band
4. Jim and Jack – Carolyn Wonderland & The Imperial Monkeys
5. Gobbledigook – Sigur Ros
6. The Star Spangled Banner – Eddie from Ohio
7. Split Decision – Steve Winwood
8. Be Bop I Love You – The Bobs
9. Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye – Ceili’s Muse
10. Worlds Apart – Bruce Springsteen

I should add that the song that came on next was “The Will”, by Maggie Drennon, who was the lead singer for both SixMileBridge and Ceili’s Muse. I think the new Touch is trying to tell me something. What’s your iPod telling you this week?

Friday random ten: The whole enchilada

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
1 comment

Finally, a Random Ten based on a shuffle of every song in the collection, not just a slimmed-down-to-fit-on-a-Mini playlist. What will the new much-bigger-than-a-Mini Touch give us?

1. The Mosstrooper’s Lament – SixMileBridge
2. Jim Malcolm – Losin’ Auld Reekie
3. Steamsville – Trinity University Jazz Band
4. Jim and Jack – Carolyn Wonderland & The Imperial Monkeys
5. Gobbledigook – Sigur Ros
6. The Star Spangled Banner – Eddie from Ohio
7. Split Decision – Steve Winwood
8. Be Bop I Love You – The Bobs
9. Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye – Ceili’s Muse
10. Worlds Apart – Bruce Springsteen

I should add that the song that came on next was “The Will”, by Maggie Drennon, who was the lead singer for both SixMileBridge and Ceili’s Muse. I think the new Touch is trying to tell me something. What’s your iPod telling you this week?

Early voting in District H

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
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Not a whole lot of people have voted in the District H special election so far. You can see the daily totals here (PDF). Through Wednesday, a grand total of 832 in-person and mail ballots have been cast. I think it’s safe to say that there are no lines at any of the early voting locations.

There’s an interesting discussion on my Facebook page about turnout projections for this race. My back-of-the-envelope math is as follows: When I did my precinct analysis of City Council districts for the 2008 election, I calculated that approximately 7.75% of the total City of Houston vote came from District H. In the 2007 special election for At Large #3, there were 34,274 votes cast (PDF) citywide. Assuming a similar proportion, you get a final turnout of 2,656. Bert Levine suggested a range of 2,400 to 3,000 in that Facebook discussion, using the 2007 election as a guide, and I think that’s dead on.

Needless to say, that means every vote counts. You have to figure that in a nine-candidate race, a 25% showing gets you to the runoff. Twenty percent is probably enough, but for sure twenty-five will do it. That means something like 600 or 700 votes is all you need. A candidate could conceivably do that just with people they and their volunteers know personally It doesn’t get any more basic than that.

I have been asked numerous times who I am supporting in this race. The answer is that even after all this time, I still haven’t made up my mind. While there are a number of good candidates in this race, it comes down to a choice between Maverick Welsh and Ed Gonzalez for me. They’re the closest to my views on the issues, and I think either of them would do an outstanding job. I’ll say who I’m voting for when I figure it out for myself. In the meantime, if you live in H, I hope you’ll make up your own mind and cast a vote. You may never have such a great effect on a race again. Well, at least not till the runoff.

Endorsement watch: Bring on the funk

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
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This may be the most awesome thing of this election season.

The Houston Politics blog will go to the ends of the mirth to bring you political news from the edge.

This explains why we were in the wings of the stage tonight at the downtown House of Blues to witness the jarring reality of George Clinton endorsing Councilman Peter Brown for mayor of Houston.

George Clinton? Brother of Bill, maybe? Not at all. George Clinton is a longtime international star of a genre of music called funk. He tours year after year after year with two of his bands, Parliament and Funkadelic. His live shows look like an intergalactic Mardi Gras parade; his electrified Afro party music is set to a gutbucket drum-and-bass beat that rattles your duodenum. James Brown was the Godfather of Soul; Clinton (that’s him in the photo with Brown above and below) is known as the Godfather of Funk. Or Uncle Funky.

Kathryn Griffin Townsend, who has gone on tour as a member of Clinton’s ever-changing entourage, is a Brown campaign staffer who introduced Clinton and Brown to each other years ago. With her as the go-between, Brown ended up front and center on stage in front of a sweaty, raucous crowd, high-fiving with Clinton as band members held “Peter Brown For Mayor” signs aloft while they pumped up the funk.

One of Parliament/Funkadelic’s announcers then intoned: “There is no message in this show. I repeat: There is no message in this show. Are you ready for more insanity?”

“Yeessssss,” the crowd answered.

Well, so am I, so here’s a video to brighten your day:

Anyone know who Bootsy Collins is supporting in the race?

Endorsement watch: Bring on the funk

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
2 comments

This may be the most awesome thing of this election season.

The Houston Politics blog will go to the ends of the mirth to bring you political news from the edge.

This explains why we were in the wings of the stage tonight at the downtown House of Blues to witness the jarring reality of George Clinton endorsing Councilman Peter Brown for mayor of Houston.

George Clinton? Brother of Bill, maybe? Not at all. George Clinton is a longtime international star of a genre of music called funk. He tours year after year after year with two of his bands, Parliament and Funkadelic. His live shows look like an intergalactic Mardi Gras parade; his electrified Afro party music is set to a gutbucket drum-and-bass beat that rattles your duodenum. James Brown was the Godfather of Soul; Clinton (that’s him in the photo with Brown above and below) is known as the Godfather of Funk. Or Uncle Funky.

Kathryn Griffin Townsend, who has gone on tour as a member of Clinton’s ever-changing entourage, is a Brown campaign staffer who introduced Clinton and Brown to each other years ago. With her as the go-between, Brown ended up front and center on stage in front of a sweaty, raucous crowd, high-fiving with Clinton as band members held “Peter Brown For Mayor” signs aloft while they pumped up the funk.

One of Parliament/Funkadelic’s announcers then intoned: “There is no message in this show. I repeat: There is no message in this show. Are you ready for more insanity?”

“Yeessssss,” the crowd answered.

Well, so am I, so here’s a video to brighten your day:

Anyone know who Bootsy Collins is supporting in the race?

Big education bills pass

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Well, the SBOE may be doing its best to destroy public education in Texas, but the Lege took a step forward to make it better by passing omnibus school reform bills in each chamber.

Crafted by the education leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, the bills aim to reduce the role of standardized tests, give schools more flexibility to help struggling students and focus education on readying students for college or the workplace.

Gone are many of the school reforms ushered in by then-Gov. George W. Bush, such as a prohibition on promoting a student to the next grade if he or she failed to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

That promotion decision will now be left to the school and parents.

[House Public Education Committee Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands] said the overhaul will end the one-size-fits-all approach of the current system and allow for schools to be judged on more than just performance on a single test.

The bills are HB3 and SB3, which are very similar but not identical and thus will go through a reconciliation. Both passed unanimously, so it ought to be relatively smooth sailing. EoW has more.

Big education bills pass

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Well, the SBOE may be doing its best to destroy public education in Texas, but the Lege took a step forward to make it better by passing omnibus school reform bills in each chamber.

Crafted by the education leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, the bills aim to reduce the role of standardized tests, give schools more flexibility to help struggling students and focus education on readying students for college or the workplace.

Gone are many of the school reforms ushered in by then-Gov. George W. Bush, such as a prohibition on promoting a student to the next grade if he or she failed to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

That promotion decision will now be left to the school and parents.

[House Public Education Committee Chairman Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands] said the overhaul will end the one-size-fits-all approach of the current system and allow for schools to be judged on more than just performance on a single test.

The bills are HB3 and SB3, which are very similar but not identical and thus will go through a reconciliation. Both passed unanimously, so it ought to be relatively smooth sailing. EoW has more.

I hate you! I need disaster relief!

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
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Care to guess who is the biggest requestor of federal disaster relief funds since 2001? Why, none other than Governor Rick “Secession 4 Eva!” Perry, that’s who.

According to FEMA’s website, Texas has been the site of 13 “major disaster declarations” since Perry took office following George W. Bush’s departure in 2001. That includes five instances of severe storms and flooding, two tropical storms, one “extreme wildfire threat,” and Hurricanes Claudette, Rita, Dolly, and Ike. (Texas received significant federal assistance following Hurricane Katrina, but it did not appear on FEMA’s website in the “major disaster declaration” category.)

David Riedman, a public information specialist at FEMA, explained to me that a major disaster declaration is issued when a governor “determines the state’s resources are overrun.” From that point forward, the federal government, under federal law, is required to reimburse the state for at least 75 percent of the cost of recovery. Help is primarily targeted at rebuilding roads and bridges, debris removal, and reparing damage to public buildings. In the relief efforts that are still under way from the damage done by Hurricane Ike, the federal government is reimbursing Texas for 100 percent of all expenses, according to Riedman.

In fact, since FEMA’s record-keeping began, Texas has received federal disaster assistance more times than any other state.

Is it possible to wear out the word “hypocrite”. I mean, actually render it unusable due to too many invocations of it? If such a thing can be done, Rick Perry will be the cause.

By the way, even Sarah Palin is accepting stimulus funds for unemployment insurance. It’s just so hard to remain pure these days, isn’t it?

I hate you! I need disaster relief!

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Care to guess who is the biggest requestor of federal disaster relief funds since 2001? Why, none other than Governor Rick “Secession 4 Eva!” Perry, that’s who.

According to FEMA’s website, Texas has been the site of 13 “major disaster declarations” since Perry took office following George W. Bush’s departure in 2001. That includes five instances of severe storms and flooding, two tropical storms, one “extreme wildfire threat,” and Hurricanes Claudette, Rita, Dolly, and Ike. (Texas received significant federal assistance following Hurricane Katrina, but it did not appear on FEMA’s website in the “major disaster declaration” category.)

David Riedman, a public information specialist at FEMA, explained to me that a major disaster declaration is issued when a governor “determines the state’s resources are overrun.” From that point forward, the federal government, under federal law, is required to reimburse the state for at least 75 percent of the cost of recovery. Help is primarily targeted at rebuilding roads and bridges, debris removal, and reparing damage to public buildings. In the relief efforts that are still under way from the damage done by Hurricane Ike, the federal government is reimbursing Texas for 100 percent of all expenses, according to Riedman.

In fact, since FEMA’s record-keeping began, Texas has received federal disaster assistance more times than any other state.

Is it possible to wear out the word “hypocrite”. I mean, actually render it unusable due to too many invocations of it? If such a thing can be done, Rick Perry will be the cause.

By the way, even Sarah Palin is accepting stimulus funds for unemployment insurance. It’s just so hard to remain pure these days, isn’t it?

Crimes against goats

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Now that the oyster menace has finally been resolved, the Legislature can finally turn its attention to the wave of goat-related crimes now sweeping the state. It’s days like this that make me realize just how much I enjoy blogging about the legislative sessions.

Crimes against goats

May 1st, 2009
by Charles Kuffner.
Comments are off for this post

Now that the oyster menace has finally been resolved, the Legislature can finally turn its attention to the wave of goat-related crimes now sweeping the state. It’s days like this that make me realize just how much I enjoy blogging about the legislative sessions.