Tag Archives: petitions

Dallas Mayoral recall effort goes nowhere for now

It could still happen, but the same concerns exist as before. In a press release early Wednesday morning, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson let everyone know that the effort to recall him had failed “miserably.” Dallas activist and business owner Davante … Continue reading

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An effort to recall Dallas’ Mayor

I don’t know how seriously to take this. It seems like a big stretch. But I’ll be rooting for them. Last September, when Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson told the world he had switched political parties from Democrat to Republican, it … Continue reading

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Sarah Stogner to run for RRC again

But not as a Republican. This could be interesting. Sarah Stogner announced Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival that she is mounting her second campaign for the Texas Railroad Commission — this time, leaving the Republican Party to run as … Continue reading

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Endorsement watch: For the proposition allowing Council members to put an item on the agenda

I didn’t think we’d begin Endorsement Season with a charter referendum, but here we are. This is no way to run a representative democracy in the nation’s fourth-biggest city. Thankfully, Houstonians have an opportunity to change that in this year’s … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fair For Houston approved for the ballot

And the questions about what it can accomplish if it passes have begun. Houston voters will decide whether the city should be part of a regional government board that does not give it proportional voting power, after City Council placed … Continue reading

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Fair For Houston gets its item on the ballot

Glad to see it. The city of Houston is one step closer to potentially reshaping its relationship with the influential Houston-Galveston Area Council after officials verified Thursday that a charter amendment campaign had met the threshold for appearing on the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fair for Houston backers submit their signatures

We’ll see if they get their item on the ballot. With the bulk of the population but a fraction of the power, Houston and Harris County long have complained about getting shortchanged when the influential Houston-Galveston Area Council speaks for … Continue reading

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Federal judge rules for third parties in petition access lawsuit

We’ll see how much difference this makes. A federal judge in Austin has blocked Texas from enforcing a more than century-old state law that requires third-party candidates to collect petition signatures on paper to qualify for a place on the … Continue reading

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SCOTx denies pre-election challenge to San Antonio marijuana reform referendum

First the voters will vote, then as needed the lawsuits will happen. The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that any legal challenges to a proposed charter amendment on policing reforms must wait until after voters weigh in on the measure … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Chron story on Fair For Houston

Good stuff. Local advocates have launched a petition drive aimed at increasing the city’s voice on the Houston-Galveston Area Council, a 13-county regional planning council that has been criticized by Houston leaders for what they consider unfair federal fund allocation. Consisting of … Continue reading

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AG argues for separating that San Antonio criminal justice reform proposition into multiple questions

Not a surprise, but an aggressive position to take. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is urging the Texas Supreme Court to side with opponents of a proposed charter amendment that seeks to decriminalize marijuana and abortion, as well as enact … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

San Antonio marijuana decriminalization referendum already facing a legal challenge

Don’t think this one will work, but after that who knows. Opponents of the so-called Justice Charter have filed an emergency petition asking the Texas Supreme Court to require separate votes for each of its provisions, including decriminalizing marijuana and … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Marijuana decriminalization and other police reform proposals get closer to the ballot in San Antonio

This will be the most interesting election on the May ballot. A proposed City Charter amendment that seeks to ban police from using no-knock warrants and chokeholds, as well as expand the city’s cite-and-release policy for low-level, nonviolent crimes, has … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A petition effort to force H-GAC to be more fair to Houston and Harris County

I heard about Fair For Houston over the weekend, and I like where they’re coming from. H-GAC determines the funding and planning for our: Sidewalks & Roads Flooding Prevention & Mitigation Childcare Workforce Development Large-Scale Infrastructure, e.g., Highways But we … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

San Antonio will vote on marijuana decriminalization

We’ll see how it goes. Progressive groups celebrated on the steps of City Hall Tuesday afternoon before delivering the boxes of signed petitions needed to get a measure in front of voters that would decriminalize both cannabis possession and abortion. … Continue reading

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Trying again in Harker Heights

I admire the determination. Cannabis reform advocates are pushing back against the city council of the Central Texas city of Harker Heights, which recently rejected a voter-approved ballot measure decriminalizing low levels of pot possession there. Harker Heights was one … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The independents

Recently I got an email from a gentleman named Ted Wood, who wrote to inform me that he had successfully completed the requirements to be an independent candidate for Chief Justice of the First Court of Appeals on the November … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Is it time to ditch At Large seats on Houston City Council?

Here’s one argument for it. The lack of Latinos on the City Council undermines the legitimacy of Houston’s government, experts say, and is something that a prominent Hispanic organization is pushing to change with a lawsuit and ballot proposition. The … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

The charter referendum will be in 2023

So be it. The organizations and residents who petitioned the city to give City Council members more power will have to wait until 2023 to vote on the measure, after the council declined to put it on this year’s ballot. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2023, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council will decide when charter amendment votes will be

Fine, but they should be this year. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday promised to bring a charter amendment petition to City Council before a key August deadline to order an election for this year. A diverse coalition of groups, including … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Charter amendment referendum likely #2 on its way

Pending signature verification. The Houston firefighters’ union says it has collected enough signatures on a petition to make it easier to bring contract talks with the city to binding arbitration. The city secretary now must verify at least 20,000 signatures, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

We will have that charter election

For that thing I still don’t have a pithy name for. Someone form a PAC and throw me a bone here. A petition filed in April by a group seeking to give City Council members the ability to place items … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

City appeals firefighter collective bargaining case to Supreme Court

Here we go. The city of Houston on Monday asked the Texas Supreme Court to weigh in on a recent appellate court ruling that rejected Mayor Sylvester Turner’s attempt to strike down a key provision of state law governing how … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

What is the point of this Matthew McConaughey poll?

I have questions about this. Matthew McConaughey commands more support to be Texas’ next governor than incumbent Greg Abbott, according to a poll released Sunday by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler. However, the film … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Charter amendment petitions are in

I need a simpler name for this thing, so that Future Me will have an easier time searching for relevant posts. Houston voters likely will get to decide in November whether City Council members should have the power to place … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Here come the petitions for the latest charter amendment effort

I’m still skeptical of this, but we’ll see how it goes. A coalition pushing to give Houston City Council members more input at City Hall says it has gathered the required 20,000 signatures to place a charter amendment on the … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Here comes a charter amendment effort

I’m neutral about this, at least for now. The Houston Professional Firefighters Association and a coalition of other groups are launching a referendum campaign to give city council more power at City Hall. The fire union and other groups announced … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When Republicans fight

Such a sight to see. Gov. Greg Abbott’s most exasperating allies sure chose an awkward time to act up. In the face of a momentous election, with an array of issues that includes the pandemic, the recession, climate change, racial … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022, Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Weekend voting litigation news

I have two news items about voting-related lawsuits. Both of these come via the Daily Kos Voting Rights Roundup, which has been increasingly valuable to me lately, given the sheer number of such lawsuits and the fact that some news … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020, Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We don’t need a vote to expand Medicaid

There’s a fundamental truth that needs to be addressed in this. On Tuesday, Missouri became the 38th state to expand Medicaid, opening healthcare to over 230,000 Missourians. It joins a lengthy list of GOP-led states in expanding healthcare, including Nebraska, … Continue reading

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We have a filing failure

In typical fashion, it’s bizarre. One of the more bizarre things to happen during the recent filing period: Judge George Powell had his filing rejected because of a filing fee mistake. So he sued. Powell filed on the last day, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The clown show is coming for Drag Queen Story Time

The words, they fail me. The group that opposed and defeated Houston’s equal rights ordinance in 2015 announced Tuesday it is launching a petition drive aimed at prohibiting Drag Queen Storytime, the program shuttered earlier this year by city officials … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Two HISD candidates fail to qualify for the ballot

We revisit a periodic issue. Two applicants seeking to replace Houston ISD Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones have failed to qualify for the November ballot, leaving five candidates running for the open seat, according to HISD officials. Michael Maloney, an athletics coach, … Continue reading

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July 2019 campaign finance reports: Mayoral candidates

All right, now that we are past the 15th, most of the campaign finance reports are in, so let’s start reviewing them. Because there are several thousand candidates running for office in Houston, I’m going to split them into several … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments