No Early To Rise on the ballot

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Place your bets on the outcome of the litigation.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said Monday he would not place a 1-cent property tax on the November ballot intended to buoy area pre-schools, prompting a lawsuit by a local nonprofit that suppliedtens of thousands of signatures on a petition asking him to do so.

Emmett, a critic of the effort since it launched at the beginning of summer, said the ballot language on the petition does not comply with a certain chapter of the Texas Education Code.

[…]

Citing a seven-page legal opinion by a private lawyer, Emmett conceded that the antiquated law still is applicable, because a section of the education code says it is, but said that the ballot language on the petition is too specific about both the nature of the proposed tax – specifically, that it says the tax would be “additional,” on top of the education department’s current 1-cent taxing authority – and how it would be used.

“Describing the requested tax as ‘additional’ is a significant departure from the statute because there is no authority in Chapter 18 for more than one tax,” Emmett said at a news conference on Monday, the last day items could be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot. “If early childhood expenditures can be controlled by the general public through a tax election, then why not vocational educational, agricultural education, adult education, special education or any other source of educational programs that the public imagination might run to?”

Emmett said he could not change the ballot language because it would be different than the language on the petition that people had signed.

His lawyer, William Bednar, who drafted the opinion, confirmed that if the language had been different – meaning less restrictive – Emmett would have had to order the election.

See here for more on the dispute over the law. Judge Emmett’s decision is not a surprise, though honestly neither direction would have been a surprise. One reason why Judge Emmett received legal advice from a private lawyer is that he did not receive an opinion from the AG’s office prior to the announcement. You can search the Attorney General’s opinions and see for yourself if you want. You can get a little peek at the legal advice Judge Emmett got on Chron reporter Kiah Collier’s Twitter feed. It won’t tell you much, but it’s more than what the AG had to say. This too is not a big surprise, since the opinion process is usually measured in months, but in this case it meant Emmett had to go out on his own. For the third non-surprise of the day, the Early To Rise folks announced immediately afterward that they were filing suit. Here’s their press release.

“Because we believe the law requires the county judge to place this issue before the voters, we will be filing a petition for a writ of mandamus in behalf of the registered voters who signed the petition requesting relief from the Court of Appeals,” said attorneys Richard Mithoff and Russell Post, who are representing Jonathan Day in behalf of registered voters who signed the petition seeking to put the issue on the ballot.

“This is not about Judge Emmett. He is a committed and conscientious public official,” Mithoff said. “This is not about the wisdom of the early childhood initiative: voters may disagree about whether revenue should be raised for this project.”

“This is about the law,” he said.

The Texas Legislature has authorized voters to petition for an election to authorize their government to levy and collect taxes for educational purposes. The requirement to invoke this procedure represents a high hurdle–requiring the support of 10% of voters from the last gubernatorial election. We have now validated more than twice that number.

Under these circumstances, the Texas Legislature has mandated that a county judge has no discretion to second-guess the will of the people. Rather, “the county judge . . . shall immediately order an election.” This command is unambiguous and unequivocal; it must be enforced.

Therefore, this initiative should be put before the voters to decide if early childhood education is something they want to invest in.

Emmett is quoted in that Chron story saying he expected to get sued no matter what he decided. As I’ve been saying that this will ultimately be decided in court, I believe him. I will note that I received an advisory about Mithoff’s press conference an hour before Emmett’s presser was scheduled to begin, so I’d say it’s a fair conclusion that Early To Rise knew which way the wind was blowing.

[The lawsuit] implores Emmett to order the election immediately, and requests the court make a decision by Sept. 16 “assuring sufficient time to satisfy the printing deadline for” the election.

I have no idea which way the courts will go. I’m not sure this will be truly settled in time for the election – I suspect that no matter what happens, there will be more to come afterward. What do you think will happen?

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Texas Supreme Court to hear gay divorce case

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you hear is a big can of worms being opened.

RedEquality

The Texas Supreme Court announced Friday that it will determine whether same-sex couples, legally married in other states, can be granted a divorce in Texas.

The cases, involving couples from Austin and Dallas, will be the first test of Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage since the U.S. Supreme Court determined this summer that marriage laws can be unconstitutional if they relegate legally married same-sex couples to second-class status.

Oral argument will be Nov. 5, and a ruling isn’t expected for months afterward.

Attorney General Greg Abbott argues that Texas law not only limits marriage to opposite-sex couples, it forbids any action — including divorce — that recognizes or validates a same-sex marriage obtained out of state.

Lawyers for the couples, two Austin women and two Dallas men who were married in Massachusetts, say Abbott lacks the authority to intervene in their lives because divorce is a private matter that does not obligate Texas to recognize same-sex marriages performed in another state.

But if Texas can deny same-sex couples the right to divorce, then the state’s ban on gay marriage should be overturned, the couples argue.

Here’s the history, for those of you who tuned in late. In October 2009, a Dallas district court judge ruled that it “has jurisdiction to hear a suit for divorce filed by persons legally married in another jurisdiction”, which in this case includes same-sex couples. AG Greg Abbott subsequently intervened in that case, and in a February 2010 case in which a Travis County district court judge granted a divorce to a same-sex couple. The Fifth District Court of Appeals heard the appeal in the Dallas case in April 2010, and the court overturned the district court ruling in September 2010. The Third Court of Appeals heard the appeal of the Austin case in December 2010, and upheld the district court ruling in January 2011. That was the last update before now, and as Texpatriate correctly notes, when appeals courts issue contradictory rulings, that’s when it’s up to the Supreme Court to step in and sort it all out.

The Dallas Observer and the Dallas Voice have more. The latter contains a reader comment that sums up the possible outcomes:

– Holding that Texas’s laws denies divorce proceedings and are consistent with the Constitution. This will reverse the judgment of the Texas 3rd Coa, and affirm the judgment of the Texas 5th CoA. Naylor, Daly, and J.B. will have the option to seek certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. If they fail to do so, or the Supreme Court denies cert, the divorce petitions will be denied as soon as the family courts resume jurisdiction, and marriage equality claims will be barred in Texas state courts as a matter of precedent.

– Holding that Texas lacked jurisdiction to appeal the divorce cases. The Texas 5th CoA ruling will be vacated, and the Texas 3rd CoA ruling will be affirmed. The divorce decrees will be issued as soon as the family courts resume jurisdiction. This will only set precedent as to the state’s standing to intervene and appeal divorce decrees. It will not settle the issue of whether Texas family courts may entertain divorce petitions from same-sex couples.

– Holding that Texas law allows same-sex divorce. This will affirm the judgment (though not the reasoning) of the Texas 3rd CoA, and reverse the judgment of the Texas 5th CoA. Because no federal question would be answered, there will be no opportunity for United states Supreme Court review. The divorce decrees will be issued as soon as the family courts resume jurisdiction, and, as a matter of binding judicial precedent, Texas family courts will have jurisdiction to hear divorce suits brought by same-sex couples.

– Holding that Texas’s laws that denies divorce proceedings violate the 14th Amendment. This will affirm the judgment (though not the reasoning) of the Texas 3rd CoA, and reverse the judgment of the Texas 5th CoA. It is almost certain the state will seek certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court denies cert, then the divorce decrees will be issued as soon as the family courts resume jurisdiction, and more significantly, marriage equality will exist as binding juidicial precedent upon all Texas state courts and state and local executive officials.

What happens after that is anyone’s guess. And while you’re pondering that, remember that there’s also a transgender divorce case out there waiting for some clarity, too.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Texas cities embracing bicycles

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a good thing.

In Fort Worth, the mayor hosts occasional bicycle rides called “Rolling Town Halls.” The Dallas City Council could may soon require new businesses to set aside space for bicycle parking. Over in El Paso, officials are developing plans for a bike-share system, which is expected to be the fifth such program in the state after Austin’s makes its debuts this year.

In car-clogged communities around Texas, a biking movement is gaining speed. Midsize and large cities are expanding bike trails and putting roads on “lane diets” to accomodate bike lanes.

“Biking has just exploded over the last year in Houston,” said Laura Spanjian, director of Mayor Annise Parker’s office of sustainability.

While curbing traffic and air pollution prompted earlier interest in such initiatives, those concerns are now overshadowed in some cities by other motivating factors, particularly boosts to public health, quality of life and economic development.

“It’s really being embraced for solving a lot of problems. It’s not this sort of fringe, tree-hugger issue anymore,” said Linda DuPriest, a former bicycle-pedestrian program coordinator for Austin who is now a senior planner for Alta Planning + Design, a Portland, Ore.-based design firm that focuses on bike infrastructure. In June, DuPriest opened the agency’s Texas office in Dallas.

“Texas is really ripe” for an expansion in bike infrastructure, said Mia Birk, the firm’s president and a former bicycle program manager with the City of Portland, widely regarded as a national model for biking infrastructure. “There’s so many cities that are growing and thriving, and really looking for ways to create healthier opportunities for residents and businesses.”

[…]

“People who are trying to attract people and businesses to their cities get it,” said Robin Stallings of BikeTexas, an advocacy group. “If they want to get their kids to come back after college, if they want to get any kind of high-tech industry, they need this stuff.”

“Our population is trending younger, and I think younger populations are wanting more density and want to live closer to where they live, play, shop and eat,” Spanjian said.

[…]

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that within two years of each other, we have four Texas cities with bike-share programs,” Spanjian said.

Developing such programs in Texas poses unique challenges, Birk said, because the cities are more spread out and less crowded than in many other states.

“When you have very high density but that smaller footprint, you also have a competition over space and a lot of humans debating how we use that space,” Birk said. Many Texas cities, she said, have almost the opposite problem: so much space that it is more difficult to convince people that biking is a practical way to get around.

Advocates often stress the value of biking for short trips and as a means of connecting with public transportation.

“About two to three miles is the sweet spot where it really can be more efficient and faster to take a bike,” said Annick Beaudet, a City of Austin planner who had previously worked as bicycle program manager for the city.

Here’s more about Austin’s forthcoming bike share program, and about El Paso’s program, which has run into some obstacles. This is a quality of life issue first and foremost, even more than it is a transportation issue. A lot of people want to live in the inner urban core, younger people especially. Driving and especially parking becomes problematic because there isn’t the space to easily accommodate everyone and their cars. Facilitating biking, especially for short trips, alleviates a lot of these problems and makes it more practical for amenities like bars, restaurants, and small retail to exist. That often requires ordinance and code changes as well, but the cities are dealing with those as well. The cities are competing with the suburbs and outlying areas for new residents and businesses. Solving these problems, and making their spaces be the kind of places new residents want to live is the key.

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Interview with CM Helena Brown

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner
CM Helena Brown

CM Helena Brown

We now enter the realm of district Council races, where in addition to two open seats there are two incumbents that face credible challenges. One of those incumbents is first term District A Council Member Helena Brown. If you’ve been a reader here for the last year or so you’re probably familiar with CM Brown, about whom I have written frequently. Obviously, she and I are not on the same page politically, but she represents a conservative district and is philosophically in line with many of its voters. She is a frequent critic of city spending, and often votes against ordinances that she believes are not good priorities for the city, though in the interview you’re about to listen to she points out that she votes Yes a lot more than she votes No. I had not met CM Brown before we sat down for this interview, and all I knew about her was what I had read and heard from others, so I was glad to have this opportunity to talk with her. Here’s the interview:

Helena Brown interview

You can see all of my interviews as well as finance reports and other information on candidates on my 2013 Election page.

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

More redistricting shenanigans on the way

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The city of Galveston prepares to make like Pasadena.

[Gulf Coast Interfaith], which includes representatives of the NAACP and others, sent a letter Thursday to the city of Galveston’s attorney also questioning the wisdom of the city seeking to make a change by having two council seats elected city-wide, rather than coming from individual districts. Similar plans were shot down four different times when submitted to the Justice Department for pre-clearance. In the letter, the ad hoc group said the city is taking the opportunity provided by the court decision “to attack the voting rights of the minority community.”

The letter called the plan part of a “racist onslaught of efforts around America to turn the clock back,” and said that Galveston will be one of the places where there is a “pitched political battle to obtain and maintain equal rights.”

The proposed plan, the group said, would reduce the number of districts in which the majority of the residents were minority from three to two.

But the Galveston council, which has hired an attorney to study the possibility of resurrecting this redistricting plan, believes an at-large councilman will take a broader, rather than parochial, view of the city’s needs.

And if that means eliminating a minority opportunity district or two and making it harder for minorities to get elected in the future, well, that’s just the way it goes. Don’t expect this to be the end, either. There’s a reason why cities like Farmers Branch – and Houston, thirty-some years ago – were ordered to implement single-member districts in place of their all-at-large systems. There’s nothing wrong a priori with a hybrid district/at large approach, but given the previous rejections by the Justice Department and the sneaky way these jurisdictions are going about it now, they don’t get any benefit of the doubt.

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Dems have a Comptroller candidate

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

BOR introduces us to Mike Collier.

Mike Collier

Earlier this month the Burnt Orange Report wrote about a “Mystery Houston-Area Democrat” who was building a statewide team, it turns out that man is Mike Collier, and he wants to be the next Comptroller for the state of Texas. The Houston businessman believes our state government needs an experienced CFO to handle its complex accounting and to hold our current elected officials accountable.

Collier not only wants the job, but believes he is the most qualified. He says Texas needs a Comptroller with a professional financial background and one who is not using the position as a stepping stone for higher office.

“For too long, the people we’ve hired to mind Texas’ tax dollars have been more interested in their political ambition than in holding politicians accountable. Texas needs a Comptroller who has the courage to tell taxpayers the truth and who has the know-how to hold the Texas legislature accountable.”

Collier says his business experience will be attractive to conservatives but that, “the Comptroller shouldn’t be beholden to the Republican party,” instead they should offer an independent view of the state’s finances. He served as executive assistant to the world chairman of Price Waterhouse, the world’s largest professional services firm with over 100,000 employees. He was a partner at Price Waterhouse Coopers for a dozen years and for a time served as a Merger and Acquisition consultant for their major energy clients. He left PWC to become Chief Financial Officer for an energy company. He then met a crossroads after he helped sell the company two years later — take a lucrative job in the private sector or step up and run for public office.

[…]

He is encouraged by the crowded field in the Republican primary which could leave the emerging candidate bloodied and broke. Another reason he cited was the “Wendy Davis factor”. He looks forward to her campaign energizing the donor base and spearheading an effective effort to get out the vote, but says that it’s her polling with anglos that could give Democrats the best opportunity to win that they have had in a very long time.

I am not yet acquainted with Mr. Collier, but I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to meet him soon enough. Collier joins John Cook in the potential Democratic field for 2014, though of course we’re all just waiting for Sen. Wendy Davis’ announcement and to see what follows from there. I have heard about some other candidate recruitment going on, but nothing that I can say out loud just yet. I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about once we know what Sen. Davis’ decision is. In the meantime, welcome to the race and best of luck to you, Mike Collier.

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rape kit backlog eliminated

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

More good news.

For the first time in its history, the Houston Police Department doesn’t have a backlog of rape kits that haven’t been tested.

The backlog, which at one point totalled 6,600 untested rape kits, was eliminated by sending the kits to outside labs, Chief Charles McClelland said.

“There is no backlog regarding DNA (evidence) and sexual assault kits,” said McClelland, adding that lab results are beginning to arrive back at the police department and criminal investigations will be updated if usable evidence is found.

The police department used federal grants and city funding to pay for processing the rape kits, in addition to testing evidence in other pending cases for possible DNA, the chief said. Rape kits are the informal term for biological samples as well as physical evidence gathered from victims of sexual assaults, which are later processed to see if they match the DNA of a suspect.

Police officials say they have the laboratory capacity, both inside HPD and in outside labs, to keep a backlog from developing.

It was back in March that Council unanimously approved a plan by Mayor Parker to allocate funds to clear the backlog by sending all of the kits to two outside labs. I presume what this story really means is that as of now all of the kits have been physically transferred from HPD’s possession to those two labs. The fact that HPD is now able to process all of the DNA evidence it collects in a timely manner so that no new backlogs develop is at least as big a deal as the clearing of the backlog that had existed for so many years.

Past critics of the department’s forensic services, including the city’s largest police union, say they expect the crime lab not to ever lag behind again.

“Under this chief and mayor, it better be sustainable because they made it very clear to the (assistant) chief who took over that position that it is not going to happen again,” said Ray Hunt, president of the Houston Police Officer’s Union. “I’m very confident, under this administration, that there won’t be a backlog. That is something that has to happen – you can’t get behind.”

Assistant Chief Matt Slinkard said that HPD investigators receive about 1,000 new sexual assault cases each year, and these cases are also being sent to a pair of outside laboratories. Other criminal cases needing forensic testing are being processed in the HPD lab.

This is a big deal and an accomplishment of which Mayor Parker should be justifiably proud. It will make the transition to the new crime lab structure much smoother, and it means that the new crime lab can be more aggressive about pursuing and analyzing DNA evidence in property crime cases. All in all, a very good day for the city.

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Weekend link dump for August 25

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

School starts tomorrow, y’all.

Here are some photos of giant sinkholes. You’re welcome.

“So, you know, in keeping with Newton’s Laws, every bit of grandiose idiocy is matched with an equal and opposite bit of grandiose idiocy.”

How Twitter fights spambots. It’s harder than it looks.

This is the sort of thing that happens when you isolate yourself from the culture at large.

It’s tough being a Republican these days. And no, they don’t deserve any sympathy for that.

Want to go to Mars? Sure thing! Want to come back? Um, let me get back to you on that.

Here’s one way to get Facebook’s attention.

“It seems to us that Google’s reasons for blocking [Microsoft’s YouTube app] are manufactured so that we can’t give our users the same experience Android and iPhone users are getting. The roadblocks Google has set up are impossible to overcome, and they know it.”

An oral history (wink wink, nudge nudge) of HBO’s Real Sex. Did you know its production team was basically all women?

From the Some Guys Have All The Luck department.

That Chubby Checker app isn’t what you think it is.

The “paradox of choice” isn’t a paradox, it’s a myth.

Playboy versus Marfa.

So are the business types repelled by the crazy of the modern GOP, or is their singular focus on tax cuts for themselves enough to overcome any lingering distaste?

Good call, NCAA.

Ted and man at Princeton.

“If you go back far enough to recall that what became Medicaid was originally a Republican alternative to universal health coverage, the repudiation of their own ideas in the war on Obamacare becomes pretty much complete.”

RIP, Elmore Leonard. No author had a better track record of movies made from his books.

“Obama is the president; he’s a Democrat; the right doesn’t like him; ergo impeachment is a credible option. QED.”

Peggy Noonan is a dishonest hack. You already knew that, right?

“And if voter-I.D. laws were solely designed to prevent fraudulent voting, rather than to winnow minorities and other Democratic-leaning constituencies from the electorate, why would they be paired with a host of other measures that do not prevent voter fraud but do winnow Democrats from the electorate?”

Don’t mess with Barbie.

“More than 70 percent of the new abortion restrictions enacted in the first half of 2013 don’t include any kind of exemption for pregnancies that result from rape.”

Canadians understand they’re getting the better deal by far in Ted Cruz’s renunciation of his Canadian citizenship.

“Yes, I know this makes me the Ron Jaworski of pool dunks. I’m cool with that.”

“Rather, as reporters, we should all be careful to ask ourselves: ‘Are we exercising our due diligence when it comes to bullshit, click-bait stories about rich naked folks steaming up the bathroom?'”

Are you ready for Google football?

Finally, a scandal we can all agree is truly scandalous.

RIP, Jose Sarria, gay rights pioneer.

Even Disney princesses want equal pay. And why wouldn’t they?

WalMart’s “Buy America” program is mostly hype.

Arnold Schwarzeneggar was Bob Filner ten years ago, except for the whole “resigning in disgrace” part.

Posted in Blog stuff | Tagged | Comments Off on Weekend link dump for August 25

Hall and the firefighters

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Ben Hall has the support of the firefighters’ union. He has also criticized Mayor Parker for not doing enough to deal with the financial stability of the pension funds. How does he reconcile these two seemingly contradictory positions? Not surprisingly, he’s light on the details.

Ben Hall

Ben Hall

The fire union’s endorsement puts Hall in a political pickle. He likely cannot avoid talking about pensions, which some City Council members say is the top financial issue facing the city. Yet, he also cannot discuss the topic in a way that risks upsetting some of his most important supporters.

Hall’s campaign website is silent on pensions, but he has not skirted the issue. Asked to elaborate on what Parker is “hiding” about the city’s finances, a charge Hall made in his first TV ad, his spokesman replied, in part, “Our looming pension liabilities are real. What is Parker doing to address them before it is too late?”

Even as he accepted the fire union’s endorsement, Hall added a note of restraint, twice saying “we may not agree on all things.”

[…]

Todd Clark, chairman of the Houston Firefighters’ Retirement and Relief Fund, said he has not spoken to Hall about pensions and is not aware of any proposal the candidate has made.

Hall has spoken of a more creative approach to pensions, such as dividing the 30-year liability into decades and buying insurance to cover the last decade. His press secretary, Julia Smekalina, said several options are being discussed along the lines of dividing the pool of pensioners into groups based on the projected cost of their benefits. Hall was not available for comment Wednesday.

“Ben Hall is proud to be endorsed by Houston firefighters and is committed to constructive dialogue on a variety of issues, including employee pensions,” Smekalina said. “Ben Hall is committed to finding pension solutions that sensibly maintain city fiscal health, while honoring promises to employees and retirees.”

Representatives of the National Institute for Retirement Security, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and the Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Security at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School said that while Hall’s proposal lacked details, they knew of no examples of the idea being used in public pensions.

Parker campaign spokeswoman Sue Davis said Hall’s solution shows he has not done his homework.

“There is no silver bullet – the math is the math. Several years of poor market conditions and the fact that the workforce is living longer have created this problem,” Davis said. “That’s why Mayor Parker has taken a thoughtful approach, pressing the Legislature for local control and negotiating with stakeholders for a balanced solution that protects both employees and taxpayers.”

It should be noted that the firefighters’ pension fund disputes the assertion that it is insufficiently funded or that the city’s future obligations represent a crisis, so it would have been perfectly consistent for Hall to argue that Mayor Parker has misrepresented and overstated the issue. He has not chosen that path. It should also be noted that this problem has been caused in part by the city underpaying the three pension funds in recent years, for a variety of reasons. It would therefore also be consistent for Hall to say that the city needs to honor its obligations, and if that means raising more revenue here and/or cutting expenditures there to pay for it, then so be it. Again, Hall has not chosen that path. Maybe there’s another path that’s consistent with what the firefighters want, I don’t know. Maybe someday Hall will tell us.

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dallas County to sue state over voter ID

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The shoe is on the other foot.

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

Democratic Dallas County commissioners narrowly agreed [Tuesday] afternoon to join a lawsuit against Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry over state efforts to enforce a controversial voter identification law.

Democratic Commissioner Elba Garcia stepped out of the partisan fray inextricably linked to the national debate on voter ID laws and joined Republican colleague Mike Cantrell in voting against the move. County Judge Clay Jenkins and commissioners Theresa Daniel and John Wiley Price, all Democrats, votes for the measure.

Supporters of suing, including District Attorney Craig Watkins, said the move is an attempt to protect voters’ rights. An estimated 220,000 county voters lack the identification the law would require.

Cantrell, the lone Republican commissioner, accused his colleagues of using county funds to push a partisan agenda. Garcia criticized the lack of detailed information on what joining the suit will cost.

Here’s a fuller story in the DMN that adds a few more details.

Missing from the vote at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting was a clear idea of just how much the county’s direct involvement will cost taxpayers.

That’s largely because commissioners haven’t been told what expenses will need to be covered — or how much of those costs will be paid by the lawsuit’s existing plaintiffs. Before the vote, Cantrell failed to get attorney Chad Dunn to provide ballpark figures of the suit’s total cost or each plaintiff’s likely contribution.

That ambiguity prompted Garcia’s opposition. Garcia said she wanted more time to figure out how much the county could end up paying Dunn’s firm. She said officials were told they had to vote Tuesday so that the state could be served with legal papers in the case before a hearing scheduled for next month.

Garcia said that state leaders still hadn’t been served with the initial complaint from the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in June.

“When I ask for one week and I’m told it’s now or never, you won’t be a part of it, I take that as my questions are not important,” Garcia said.

When asked why attorneys couldn’t request that the September hearing be moved to allow both sides more time to prepare, Jenkins said there is no guarantee such a request would be granted.

As she did on the campaign trail last year, Daniel said managing the county’s budget is the primary job of commissioners. But she added Tuesday that fighting the state is the “right thing to do” because Texas is using taxpayer money to disenfranchise voters.

“That’s wrong, but that’s on somebody else’s plate,” she said.

According to this DMN story from before the vote, the commissioners voted to hire a law firm to join a federal lawsuit. That would be the Veasey lawsuit, which of course is now enmeshed with the Justice Department lawsuit. I’m honestly not sure what the practical effect of this will be, but hey, the more the merrier. The question about how much this will cost is a fair one, and if it turns out to be a bigger number than expected it will be a political issue for County Judge Clay Jenkins and DA Craig Watkins, both of whom are up for re-election next year. As for the complaint about pushing a partisan agenda, well, tell it to Greg Abbott. A statement from the Dallas County Democratic Party is beneath the fold, and BOR, The Trib, and Trail Blazers have more.

Continue reading →

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

Farmers Branch still hasn’t learned

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

There’s stubborn, there’s mulishly stubborn, and then there’s Farmers Branch.

When will they learn?

The City Council is not ready to give up its fight to ban immigrants in the U.S. illegally from renting in the city.

The council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court its rental ordinance’s latest failure in court.

The chamber audience erupted in applause — with some jumping from their seats — following the vote.

Council members Jeff Fuller, Ben Robinson and Harold Froehlich voted to appeal. Ana Reyes and Kirk Connally voted against it.

Before the vote, the city’s outside attorney, Michael Jung, agreed to handle the appeal at no cost, at Fuller’s request. Fuller noted that $4 million had already been paid to Jung and his Strasburger & Price law firm.

“I want to stop spending,” Fuller said.

The fight has cost the city about $6 million in legal fees for court suits, and more than $2 million in bills were expected to be presented to the courts for the city to pay by the law firms that had prevailed against the city. But the decision to appeal puts that on hold, pending the outcome by the nation’s highest court.

William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer Storefront and counsel for some of the plaintiffs, said in a prepared statement that the City Council “seems incapable of reading the handwriting on the wall — this ordinance is unconstitutional.”

“It is unfortunate that the Farmers Branch City Council has decided to continue a pursuit that many view as costly and ill-advised.”

Some lessons just have to be learned the hard way. It was just a month ago that the Fifth Circuit spiked the latest appeal from Farmers Branch, this time with the full court reconsidering the original three-judge panel ruling in light of the SCOTUS decision on Arizona’s “papers, please” law. I have no idea why Farmers Branch City Council think SCOTUS might be willing to take this question up again, but I suppose it at least offers them the opportunity to inconvenience the law firm that’s beaten them like a pinata every step of the way. The good news is that the FB Council is now 40% less stupid with the addition of Ana Reyes and Kirk Connally, but clearly there’s still work to do to bring them into the light.

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Food trucks going un-mobile

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a trend.

Matti Merrell and Rodney Perry first parked their Green Seed food truck on a Third Ward street in 2011. Within a year Food & Wine named it the No. 9 vegan and vegetarian restaurant in the U.S.

Last year, the pair opened on Almeda, just around the corner in the neighborhood south of Midtown. They keep the truck parked outside, but don’t use it. They run a standalone version of Green Seed instead.

Standing over a stove in a truck parked in front of a bar may not sound like a stylish life for a chef. But for some talented young entrepreneurs, a food truck is a stepping stone to having their own restaurant.

Other local food truck chefs who have made, or will soon make, the leap to brick and mortar include Fusion Taco, Good Dog, Bernie’s Burger Bus and Eatsie Boys.

[…]

The city’s myriad ethnic groups make the local food truck culture interesting, [Paul Galvani, an adjunct marketing professor at the University of Houston] said. The hundreds of taco trucks, for example, offer items from many Latin American regions.

“Any vibrant city has a very strong street food culture,” he said. “Houston is not quite there yet,” he said, but he sees a lot of excitement building around food trucks.

Many food truck chefs came out of culinary school during the recession and had trouble finding a job they liked, Galvani said.

I don’t really have a point to make, I just read the story to see if there were any updates on the MFU Houston movement. Judging from the lack of updates on that page, and the brief mention in this related story about Fusion Tacos opening a brick-and-mortar location downtown, I’d say the answer is “not a whole lot”. Still, the idea remains on Mayor Parker’s to do list, and if you’ve been listening to my interviews you know I’ve been asking all the Council candidates about it. But other than that, right now there’s not much to report.

Posted in Food, glorious food | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Food trucks going un-mobile

Saturday video break: Hurt

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Song #5 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Hurt”, originally by Nine Inch Nails and covered by Johnny Cash.

Such a powerful song, and you can really feel what Trent Reznor is singing. Now here’s the Man In Black:

Wow. Now that’s what they had in mind when the idea of music videos was first conceived. The imagery…”haunting” isn’t a strong enough word. Cash sings a cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on the same album as “Hurt”, and I’ve said before that when he voices lines like “And pain is all around/Like a bridge over troubled water/I will lay me down” you really believe him, because you know he’s lived it. That goes double for this song. A truly amazing achievement, a defining achievement for the end of his career as the Popdose writer says.

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The law and the Early To Rise petition process

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Much has been made about the obscurity of the state law that allows for the petition process that the Early To Rise folks have followed to put an item on the ballot that would raise money for pre-K education in Harris County. The Chron takes a closer look at the statutes in question and the requests for clarification on them from the Attorney General.

When the campaign first launched earlier this summer, Emmett said he believed the law was not applicable because it no longer was on the books, saying the state “didn’t recodify these sections and you can’t find these anywhere in state statutes today.”

The state law stipulating the petition process – two sections of the Texas Education Code, specifically – was repealed in 1995 when the Legislature reorganized the education code, according to campaign and county lawyers.

The law, which dates to the 1920s, gave county education departments in the state authority to levy a so-called “equalization tax” to raise revenue for “the support of the public schools of the county.” Unlike school districts, whose governing bodies can raise taxes by a vote, the equalization tax can be authorized only by an election called via citizen petition.

Under the education code, a county education department operating under those repealed sections “may continue to operate under” them, meaning those sections stipulating the petition process still apply.

That fact is conceded in two separate requests for a legal opinion sent to the state attorney general this month on the applicability of the law, one from County Attorney Vince Ryan on behalf of [County Judge Ed] Emmett and another by state Sen. Dan Patrick.

However, Patrick wrote, whether the education department could operate under those repealed laws if its tax rate is increased still is in question.

Emmett’s objections recently have come down to whether the ballot language proposed on the petitions is consistent with the repealed sections.

The petition language says the revenue generated is “to be used solely and exclusively for early childhood education purposes,” which does not appear to fit the definition of an equalization tax “to be distributed equally among all school districts” in the county.

One of the leaders of the petition group, Jonathan Day, a former city of Houston attorney, said the law does not say exactly what the ballot language must be. He also pointed to other sections of the law that stipulate broad uses for equalization tax revenue, including “for the advancement of public free schools in such counties.”

The education department is “already spending money on early childhood,” Day noted.

I’m not even going to try to guess what AG Greg Abbott will write in his opinion. I do know that county education departments used to be common in Texas, but as of today there are only two left, in Harris and Dallas, and this is undoubtedly why those statutes were modified or repealed back in 1995. It’s just a muddle, and I will say again, it will ultimately be settled in court. The story also notes that Emmett will announce his decision about whether or not to put this on the ballot on Monday, which is the deadline for making such a decision in time for the election. I presume we will have AG Abbott’s opinion by then as well, but I’m just guessing.

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

None dare call it Obamacare

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen the Politico story by now.

It's constitutional - deal with it

It’s constitutional – deal with it

Gov. Rick Perry wants to kill Obamacare dead, but Texas health officials are in talks with the Obama administration about accepting an estimated $100 million available through the health law to care for the elderly and disabled, POLITICO has learned.

Perry health aides are negotiating with the Obama administration on the terms of an optional Obamacare program that would allow Texas to claim stepped-up Medicaid funding for the care of people with disabilities.

The so-called Community First Choice program aims to enhance the quality of services available to the disabled and elderly in their homes or communities. Similar approaches have had bipartisan support around the country. About 12,000 Texans are expected to benefit in the first year of the program.

One line of thinking as to why the Texas governor, who has honed his national image in no small measure by denouncing Obamacare, would make such a seemingly inconsistent move goes like this: Treating disabled and elderly people is less politically charged than a sweeping national law forcing people to buy health insurance. Perry recently decided against seeking reelection next year but is mulling a second presidential bid in 2016.

[…]

The Texas Legislature approved the program earlier this year, and Perry signed it into law as part of a larger package of health reforms, as well as in the state budget. Now, his administration is working win approval from the Obama administration to fit the program into the state’s existing Medicaid framework.

“Efforts are under way to develop and submit an application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for participation,” said a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. The goal is to implement the initiative by Sept. 1, 2014.

Supporters of home care contacted by POLITICO worried that even a news story about the connection between the Community First Choice program and Obamacare would spook the Perry administration from participating.

“[I]t would be worse than a shame if Texas’s moving ahead with CFC or BIP policies — both are from the ACA — was hurt as the result of scrutiny from a press inquiry,” said one Texas-based advocate.

Added another local advocate, “I would hate for the CFC to become a political football.”

An official with a prominent national advocacy group noted that Texas isn’t the only resistant state to quietly accept some lower-profile components of the health law. Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Maine and others have already been approved for 2 percentage point increases in their Medicaid fund through a little-known provisions of the health law, the advocate said.

“I think some of those [provisions] are easier because they’re not as high profile and people don’t connect home and community services with Medicaid,” according to the advocate.

There’s been a lot of other reporting on this, plus some snarky commentary. However, I don’t think anyone put it better than Ezra Klein.

Remember Peggy Noonan’s “This is the reason many people don’t like ObamaCare”? The “this” in question was the Community First Choice program, which helps Medicaid cover at-home care for the disabled rather than shunting them into institutions.

The program is so irresistible that even Texas Gov. Rick Perry is asking if his state can be part of it. And you don’t get Obamacare haters more diehard than Perry. But for that exact reason, his office is saying the program, which is literally part of the Affordable Care Act’s statute and which would cease to exist if the entire law was repealed, “has nothing to do with Obamacare.”

To be generous to both sides, Noonan didn’t seem to understand the program she was criticizing, and she relied on other people’s reporting that turned out to be wrong, or at least confused. As for Perry, he can argue that Community First Choice program isn’t related to Obamacare’s core coverage expansion, which is really what people think of when they hear the word “Obamacare”.

But the result is the same: you’ve got Noonan saying that the Community First Choice program is the reason people hate Obamacare even though she seems to want something exactly like the CFC program to exist. You’ve got Perry asking the Obama administration for $100 million from a program created as part of Obamacare even as he swears the program isn’t Obamacare.

It’s almost as if there’s much in the law that Republicans would like if only they felt able to give the legislation a chance.

Yes, well, funny how these things work. As Paul Burka likes to say, we don’t have policy in this state, we have ideology. Rick Perry has to BS about this, he has no choice. It’s hilarious hearing him brag about how he’s been making Medicaid better and didn’t need any stinking Obamacare to do it. Given his pathetic record on health care in Texas, it’s a little like the Astros bragging about having quality middle relief pitching. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would ever believe a word Rick Perry says. But given the state of things in our great state, what’s a few more lies and denials of reality by Rick Perry if that’s what it takes to make things a little better?

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City reaches settlement with developer over Woodland Park damage

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good news.

Mayor Annise Parker, the City of Houston Legal Department and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) announced the City has recovered $300,000 to restore recent damage to Woodland Park by a private developer. Woodland Park, located at 212 Parkview, is a 19.67 acre park near White Oak Bayou in the Woodland Heights neighborhood in City Council District H. It has been a city park since 1914.

“The residents of Woodland Park were justified in their outrage over this tragic act. There is no way to be able to fully restore the vegetation and trees that grew there over so many years, however we were amenable to a settlement in this case,” said Mayor Annise Parker. “The City of Houston fought to ensure the developer would pay for the vegetation to be replanted, and hopefully it can begin to grow again without further incident. We believe this is fair and will compensate the city for the amount of work needed to restore the area.”

During the week of June 3-7, 2013, private developers constructing several townhomes on private property adjacent to the Park caused substantial damage to nearly one acre. The damage included removal of trees, vegetation, and harmful grading of soil. Although the developers promptly offered to pay the costs of restoring the Park to its original condition, there were major disagreements regarding how this should be accomplished, and what the costs would be.

The Houston Parks and Recreation Department moved promptly to determine the best approach to restore the Park. The City Legal Department partnered with HPARD to negotiate a fair settlement amount with the developers. Those joint efforts culminated with the $300,000 payment received last Friday.

“I’m pleased a compromise has been reached that creates a path towards the restoration of Woodland Park,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ed Gonzalez, District H. “The destruction that occurred in early June was devastating and I’m looking forward to joining community members in crafting a plan of action and ensuring that all terms of the settlement are followed. I’m confident that the members of the Parks and Recreation Department are the best folks to perform the work needed at Woodland Park. I’m also very grateful to the Friends of Woodland Park for their hard work over many years and stay committed to the goal of revitalizing this hidden gem of green space in our city.”

HPARD intends to work through the Houston Parks Board to restore the Park, as much as possible, to its original condition. The project will take an estimated 6 months to complete. HPARD will meet with the community representatives, Friends of Woodland Park and Council Member Gonzalez to discuss a plan of action.

See here for the background, here for the Chron story, and here for a copy of the settlement. As part of the agreement, the city will remove the red tags on the development so it can continue. All in all, seems like a reasonable outcome. I look forward to seeing the restoration work completed. Kudos to all for getting this done. Nonsequiteuse has more, including one small suggested modification to the settlement agreement, and Swamplot has more.

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Mind your own business, Dan

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

AG candidate Dan Branch to San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro: Drop the equality ordinance.

RedEquality

State Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas Republican campaigning for attorney general, sent a letter to Mayor Julián Castro on Monday asking that he withdraw the proposed city council ordinance that would ban discrimination of employees based on sexual orientation.

Branch argues that banning discrimination against gay people would in turn unfairly discriminate against people of faith.

“The proposed ordinance itself discriminates — against people of faith,” wrote Branch. “The proposed city ordinance would exclude citizens from being appointed to city office … if they believe — as millions of people of faith do — in the traditional institution of marriage.”

Branch takes issue with part of the ordinance that reads, “No appointed official or member of a board or commission shall engage in discrimination or demonstrate a bias, by word or deed, against any person” on the basis of sexual orientation.

Five other large cities in Texas have similar ordinances prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation including Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, El Paso and Houston. Branch did not mention his district’s ordinance in the letter.

Branch, 55, filed a court brief earlier this month supporting the state’s ban on gay marriage.

“Equating traditional marriage with discrimination is deeply offensive to millions of Texans and Americans of faith,” Branch said.

I don’t speak for Mayor Castro, of course. But if I did, my response would be as follows:

Dear Rep. Branch,

Drop dead.

Hugs,
Julian

I think that about covers it. Feel free to steal this, Mayor Castro. The Trib has a longer story about the proposed ordinance and the opposition some people have to it, but really, that’s all I have to say at this time.

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

Friday random ten: Just a coincidence, I swear

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

No theme this week, just the first ten songs that came up on shuffle. You know, old school random ten-ness.

1. Funny Cigarette – Asylum Street Spankers
2. You Can If You Think You Can – Ball, Barton & Strehli
3. Pressure Drop – Toots and the Maytalls
4. Amish Paradise – Weird Al Yankovic
5. ¿(Mamacita) Donde Esta Santa Claus? – Charo
6. War Pigs – CAKE
7. Take Me (I’m Yours) – etgillies
8. Possum – Phish
9. In A Cave – Tokyo Police Club
10. Luanne – Tufts Beelzebubs

Like I said, this was a basic “hit Shuffle and write down the first ten songs” list. The fact that the first song that came up was “Funny Cigarette” in a week when President Obama is talking about medical marijuana is just one of those crazy things. And yes, that’s the Charo on song #5. I like unconventional Christmas songs, OK? Have a good weekend, y’all.

Posted in Music | Tagged | Comments Off on Friday random ten: Just a coincidence, I swear

DOJ files suit against Texas’ voter ID law and redistricting maps

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent.

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it will again seek to dismantle Texas’ voter ID law, this time with a lawsuit alleging the measure violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The department also said on Thursday that it will seek to have Texas’ redistricting maps declared unconstitutional.

Section 2 of the 1965 act prohibits voting laws that discriminate based on race, color or membership in a minority group. Thursday’s decision by the U.S. Department of Justice comes after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that allowed implementation of the state law that requires voters to furnish a valid photo ID before casting a ballot. Prior to that ruling, the department and, separately, a three-judge panel of federal judges in Washington, had struck down the 2011 state law after denying Texas’ request for preclearance. The high court’s ruling eliminated the preclearance requirement.

“Today’s action marks another step forward in the Justice Department’s continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all eligible Americans,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement about the voter ID provision. “We will not allow the Supreme Court’s recent decision to be interpreted as open season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights.”

The DOJ also said that it will seek “declaration that Texas’s 2011 redistricting plans for the U.S. Congress and the Texas State House of Representatives were adopted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.” That, too, is in violation of Section 2 and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the department alleges.

[…]

The DOJ said it would file suit against the state of Texas, the Texas secretary of state and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Texas DPS is the agency charged with issuing state-issued IDs or driver’s licenses.

The secretary of state’s office has not received a copy of the lawsuit and will review it when it is received, said Alicia Pierce, the agency’s spokeswoman.

[…]

In its statement, the DOJ added that it would ask the court to subject the state to new preclearance requirements under Section 3 of the act.

A copy of the statement is here, a copy of the lawsuit is here, and a roundup of reactions, which go about as you’d expect them to, is here and here. The NAACP is also seeking to join in the DOJ suit over voter ID. Given the recent brouhaha in Edinburg, where city council elections are about to be held, it would be nice if the DOJ could secure an injunction against the voter ID law, to keep things as they were before. We’ll see about that. In the meantime, buckle your seatbelts, it’s going to get bumpy from here. SCOTUSBlog, which has a typically detailed description of the two lawsuits, Daily Kos, Texas Politics, Ari Berman, Molly Redden, Rick Hasen, who wonders about preliminary injunctive relief, BOR, and Trail Blazers have more, while TPM wonders if North Carolina will be next.

UPDATE: Some background information on the case from Texas Redistricting, which summarizes what the DOJ is pursuing. The original lawsuit against the voter ID law has now been amended with extra complaints.

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

What would Ben Hall do for schools?

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Ben Hall made his official filing for Mayor on Wednesday, and had a campaign rally after ward. This story is about that and about a new video his campaign released, and it contains three ways in which Hall says he is different than Mayor Parker. One of them is worth highlighting here:

2. Education: “We need to educate and train our kids with the best possible education that any school district or human history can provide. The present mayor believes that’s not her responsibility because she ‘has no statutory authority.’ It’s not about statute, it’s about leadership.” During this comment, the words “Mayor Parker will ignore education. Mayor Hall will expand education” show on the screen.

[Parker campaign spokesperson Sue] Davis responded: ”While Mr. Hall wants to run the schools, Mayor Parker has made sure that city resources are working to strengthen schools and help schoolchildren. She just distributed 25,000 backpacks full of school supplies to children in need. She’s worked to coordinate infrastructure projects near schools and keep our kids safe when they go to school. She’s building new libraries and funding after-school programs. And she’s working with partner organizations to help children stay in school and gain the necessary skills to find good jobs when they graduate.”

Ben Hall

Ben Hall

As with the other two points Hall noted, having to do with economic opportunity and crime prevention, this is what I find so frustrating about Hall’s candidacy. There’s absolutely no detail in this suggestion – I can hardly call it an “idea” with so little substance to it. There’s nothing to indicate what Hall would do as Mayor to this goal of providing the “best possible education that any school district or human history can provide”. Hall brushes aside the Mayor’s point about lacking any statutory authority, but the fact remains that unlike some cities, the Mayor of Houston doesn’t appoint a school chancellor or superintendent, and we have multiple independent school districts with independently elected school boards that have taxing authority and set their own budgets. Some of these school districts are quite large – HISD, Alief, Spring Branch, Kingwood, Cy-Fair – some are small, they cover turf that includes Houston and not-Houston, and they all have their own identity and governing philosophy. While I’m sure that most of them would be willing to work with the city on certain items, I’m equally sure none of them will cede any of their legal rights and responsibilities without a fight that the city would lose because it has no grounds to assert any authority over them. I truly have no clue what Hall has in mind when he says stuff like this. While it’s possible that he’s such a visionary that I can’t even see the box he thinking outside of, it’s also possible that he’s completely unclear about what office it is he’s running for and what that job entails. In the absence of further information, I have to lean towards the latter interpretation.

With all that said, there are some things that a Mayor can do to abet public education in Houston. Mayor Parker herself discussed some of those things, as well as some of the limitations, back in 2009. If you follow those links, you’ll see a number of those themes echoed in Sue Davis’ comments. It would make for a genuinely interesting conversation if Ben Hall had taken Parker’s words from back then and offered an in depth critique of how she’s done on them. Maybe he can bring it up at one of the candidate-forums-that-aren’t-debates that the two of them will be attending.

Or Hall could take a different path and propose something along the lines of Peter Brown’s “urban school district” idea, which would involve putting statutory authority for education under the Mayor. Needless to say, that conversation would have to begin with the Legislature, and I’d bet a considerable fraction of Hall’s bank account that it would go absolutely nowhere, since every school district, superintendent, and school board trustee in the state would line up to oppose it. But it is an idea that’s consistent with what Hall is saying here, and whatever else it is, it would be bold and visionary. But we’d need for him to say that he has something like this in mind first. And that gets back to my complaint about details.

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Special prosecutor appointed in Perry/Lehmberg veto threat case

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Meet Mike McCrum.

Mike McCrum

District Judge Robert Richardson named Mike McCrum to look into a complaint filed by Texans for Public Justice against the governor. The watchdog group alleges that Perry abused his power by threatening to cut funding to the Public Integrity Unit if Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg didn’t resign. The Democrat pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, served time in jail but pledged to remain in office for the rest of her term, which ends in 2016.

Perry subsequently used his line-item veto power to cut off state funding to the part of her office responsible for investigating state elected officials. Perry said he’d lost faith in Lehmberg’s ability to perform her duties. If Lehmberg had resigned, Perry would have appointed her successor. Perry has denied any wrongdoing

“As he has done following every session he’s been governor, Gov. Perry has exercised his constitutional veto authority through line item vetoes in the budget,” said Josh Havens, a spokesman for Perry.

[…]

McCrum is a criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, who said in that role he has investigated public officials in the past. His role is to act as the acting district attorney in the case, determining if there is evidence of wrongdoing and prosecuting the case if necessary.

“I think the first steps are for me are to go and get a preliminary analysis as to what is really necessary (to complete an investigation),” McCrum said. “This matter requires that no rash judgment be made, that there be some careful consideration of all options.”

As noted before, the legal issue is not the veto itself but the “resign or else” demand that preceded it. Had Perry not shot his mouth off before issuing the veto, there would be no complaint. I look forward to seeing how McCrum proceeds. Trail Blazers and the Trib have more.

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

There will be an app for your auto insurance

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Do you frequently forget to put your proof of insurance in your car and/or your wallet? The Lege has provided a solution for you.

Thanks to a law passed during the 83rd legislative session, motorists will be able to pull up proof of insurance on their phones to show officers.

Lawmakers and insurance industry professionals say that Senate Bill 181 helps Texas keep up with the times.

“This bill just seemed like the common-sense thing to do,” said state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who co-authored the legislation. “It came to us through a recommendation and provided an opportunity to make use of technology to make life a little simpler for many Texas motorists.”

Traffic stops will occur the same as before, but instead of the driver handing the officer a paper copy of the insurance card, the officer can note the pertinent data off of the mobile device.

[…]

The impact of the new law on Texas drivers and law enforcement is convenience and efficiency, said Beaman Floyd, executive director of the Coalition for Affordable Insurance Solutions.

“If you are involved in a traffic stop, then you are going to be able to demonstrate what you are going to need to demonstrate faster,” Floyd said. “And that means that for law enforcement officers, it’s less time standing out there by the side of the road while you are searching through your glove box.”

Concerns were raised about the ease of counterfeiting an electronic insurance card, but it is just as easy to forge a paper copy, Floyd said.

Whether the insurance is presented on paper or electronically, the officer takes the information and runs it through a verification database.

“If somebody actually tried to counterfeit an electronic proof of insurance, they will be subject to that verification and they will still be caught,” Floyd said.

I wrote about this during the session when there were a couple of House bills to accomplish this working their way through the system. I lost track of it from there, thanks in part I’m sure to some of the more distracting issues that came up, so I’m glad to hear that a version of this passed. Speaking as someone who is one of those people that loses track of his proof of insurance card, I’ll be downloading an app for my smartphone as soon as I hear one is available from my insurance company.

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Interview with Roy Morales

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner
Roy Morales

Roy Morales

As of my last At Large #3 interview, I reported that I had not yet been able to make arrangements with either Michael Kubosh or Roy Morales. I’m pleased to say now that both interviews have been completed; I have Morales’ here, and will publish Kubosh’s at a later date. Morales is a familiar candidate in city races, having run for At Large #3 the last time it was open, in 2007, and for Mayor in 2009. He also served on the HCDE Board of Trustees as the trustee for Precinct 1 from 2007 to 2013, and he ran for CD29 in 2010. Morales is a Lt. Colonel (Retired) in the Air Force, and a businessman. Here’s what we talked about:

Roy Morales interview

You can see all of my interviews as well as finance reports and other information on candidates on my 2013 Election page.

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pasadena proceeds with its needless redistricting

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

Pasadena City Council

Except for one agenda item which drew a large crowd, many public speakers, an unusually long time of councilmember’s explanations and a 5-4 vote, Tuesday’s (August 20) Pasadena City Council meeting was “Regular.”

Their next meeting, scheduled for Thursday (August 22) at 8 a.m. is going to be “Special.”

The five to four approval vote (the four: Councilmembers Ornaldo Ybarra, Don Harrison, Pat Van Houte and Cody Wheeler) followed 30 minutes of public speakers almost exclusively commenting why they were against the charter redistricting proposal that, if council approves one more time, will go to voters in November.

Mayor Johnny Isbell is the only person who has taken ownership of the controversial plan to (if voters agree) convert the city from an eight single-member district representation to a six district, two at-large format.

[…]

Pasadena resident Patricia Gonzales called the redistricting plan, “…nothing more than a political power grab,” and focused on Isbell when she said, “All you’re trying to do is dilute the Hispanic and Latino community from sitting here (as councilmembers),” during public comment.

Other speakers on the topic echoed Gonzales’ points and also said the current structure is less expensive for potential candidates.

“Political power grab” sums it up pretty well. I wrote about this on Tuesday, and not surprisingly it went through on a 5-4 vote, with the Mayor casting the tiebreaker. Here’s a press release from Sen. Sylvia Garcia about it.

Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell submitted a mid-decade redistricting change to the Pasadena City Charter that alters the city council from an eight single-member district council to a hybrid system with two at large seats and six-single member district seats. The change will significantly increase the population size of each council seat and depending on the map could drastically harm the ability of Latinos to elect their candidates of choice. The Pasadena City Council approved the city charter amendment on a 5-4 vote despite overwhelming public opposition in a late evening city council hearing on August 20, 2013.

“This decision by the Mayor and the majority of the Council is exactly the type of change the Voting Rights Act was intended to prevent. I am extremely disappointed that the Council approved this charter amendment despite the opposition by the citizen’s commission and the minority community,” stated Senator Sylvia Garcia.

With the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, the City of Pasadena will no longer need to obtain the preclearance of the Department of Justice, despite the fact that a similar election change was denied approval in December of 2012. The measure will likely be added to the November ballot for voter approval.

According to U.S. Department of Justice, since 1982 Texas has had the second highest number of Voting Rights Act Section 5 objections including at least 109 objections since 1982, 12 of which were for statewide voting changes. Texas leads the nation in several categories of voting discrimination, including recent Section 5 violations and Section 2 challenges.

The good news, such as it is, is that this still has to be approved by the voters, so those of you in Pasadena that disapprove of naked power plays can swat it down. It would be very nice if Mayor Isbell were to suffer some backlash from this, in the form of a stinging defeat at the polls. That will likely require a concerted effort to organize and turn out the voters who are negatively affected by this as well as those that just plain don’t like it. I hope such an effort is being put together as we speak.

And remember when I said in that last post that Pasadena was just the beginning of this kind of shenanigans? Well, now Galveston County is joining the fun.

Galveston County commissioners have slashed the number of justice of the peace and constable districts a year after the U.S. Justice Department blocked a similar plan as discriminatory.

The action makes Galveston County the first local government in the Houston region, and possibly in Texas, to make a change that would have been unlawful before a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act.

The Commissioners Court’s Republican majority, in a special meeting Monday, voted 4-1 along party lines to reduce the number of districts for constables and justices of the peace from eight to four, saying the change would increase efficiency and save money. The U.S. Justice Department last year refused to approve a plan to reduce the number of districts to five, saying this would have discriminated against minorities.

[…]

The county established eight justice of the peace and constable districts two decades ago to settle a discrimination lawsuit. By reducing the number, the county opens itself up to a civil lawsuit authorized under another section of the Voting Rights Act. Civil rights attorney Chad Dunn said Tuesday that he had been asked to review the implications of the commissioners’ action.

“It’s deeply disappointing that Galveston County chose to move forward with a redistricting map that the Department of Justice has already told them was discriminatory,” Dunn said. “In fact they went a step further and made it more discriminatory.” Dunn declined to name the residents seeking his consultation.

[…]

Commissioner Ryan Dennard said before the vote that reducing the number of districts would enhance efficiency and save the county $1 million a year. Two justices together handle only 2 percent of the total justice of the peace cases, Dennard said.

The lone minority and the only Democrat on the court, Commissioner Stephen Holmes, said the county has done no detailed study showing how much money would be saved.

Holmes said he was blindsided by the redistricting plan approved Monday, having learned about it when notice of a special meeting was posted Friday.

Other commissioners’ failure to consult with Holmes was one of the reasons cited by the Justice Department for refusing to approve a redistricting plan last year.

Have you noticed how these redistricting efforts – in Pasadena, in Galveston, and in the Legislature – are being done as “emergency” items, with very short timelines and close to zero public engagement? It’s not a coincidence, nor is the fact that Galveston County Commissioners Court acted with the same bad behavior as before when they got slapped by the Justice Department. Here, the potential good news is that if Galveston County gets sued and loses, they could wind up being subject to preclearance again under Section 3. Assuming that they don’t wind up there as a result of the other ongoing litigation. One can only hope, because it should be abundantly clear by now that the state and far too many of its localities cannot be trusted with this stuff. Hair Balls, Stace, Texas Redistricting, and BOR have more.

UPDATE: The Chron is now covering the developments in Pasadena. This tells you all you need to know about the nature of Mayor Isbell’s stunt:

Isbell declined comment Wednesday on his fast-tracked proposal for the November ballot that was made possible after the U.S. Supreme court recently voided the Voting Right Act’s pre-clearance requirement. He noted that his proposal no longer must pass federal review for potential discrimination.

The proposed charter change would replace two of the city’s eight single-member districts with two seats that are elected citywide. But a citizens committee that reviewed the proposed change rejected it, 11 to 1. A diverse group of committee members preferred the accountability of smaller districts to serve them, said Larry Peacock, who served on that panel.

Emphasis mine. This is happening because Mayor Isbell wants it to happen, because it furthers his political aims and because he thinks he can get away with it. That’s all there is to it.

Posted in Legal matters, Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Finally, the Early To Rise plan

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is what we’ve got after their presentation to the HCDE Board of Trustees on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Harris County School Readiness Corp. pitched its plan to expand early education at a five-hour gathering with wary trustees for the Harris County Department of Education. The corporation’s proposal suggests that if voters approve a ballot initiative expanding the education department’s taxing authority by 1 cent per $100 of assessed value, the public agency should contract with the nonprofit to administer the estimated $25 million collected each year.

“Help is not on the way,” said Jonathan Day, a member of the corporation’s board, about the need to improve early childhood education programs in Harris County. “We’re not going to get help from the federal government, or the state government. We believe this needs to start here on a local level.”

Responding to public and trustee concerns about accountability, the proposed 10-year contract would allow the department to appoint half of the agency’s governing board, to approve rules for spending tax dollars and to review 14 areas of performance.

A three-member staff of the corporation would contract with existing education groups to expand training for teachers and buy school supplies for child care centers serving children up to age 5.

See here for the previous update. The bit about allowing HCDE to appoint half of the governing board is a step in the right direction. Even better news is that at long last we have some firm details. Here’s a draft services agreement, and the Harris County School Readiness Corporation policies on accountability and conflicts of interests. Both came in late Wednesday via Houston Politics. I haven’t had the chance to read through them, but there they are.

There’s another wrinkle in all this, as noted by this story from before the presentation.

Before the department’s board can vote on any agreement, it must go through a state-mandated request for proposals, according to education department officials.

“We presume we’ll get at least one,” chuckled Superintendent John Sawyer, who represented the department in initial negotiations.

Jonathan Day, a member of the corporation’s board and a former Houston city attorney, said he is confident the request for proposals will not slow down the group’s reaching an agreement in the narrow window before the November election.

“We think this kind of structure we have proposed is the right one. We hope the board will agree,” he said. “But look, we’d be happy if somebody else could do this better than we can.”

I rather doubt there’s another group out there in position to submit a bid, but you never know. It’s not clear what happens if the measure passes but the Harris County School Readiness Corporation fails to reach an agreement with the HCDE. Does that mean that the HCDE board can choose not to implement the tax increase, thus essentially nullifying the election, or does it mean another round of RFPs?

Of course, first this has to make it to the ballot.

Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Mike Sullivan has until Monday to verify at least 78,000 of the 150,000 petitions submitted by the group, which could trigger the proposal’s appearance on the ballot. The county attorney and state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, have asked the attorney general’s office to clarify what Judge Ed Emmett must do if the minimum level of signatures are verified, arguing the initiative process used may not still be in effect.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that enough petition signatures were collected. The AG opinion is still the big unknown, but as I’ve said all along, I expect this to eventually be settled in court. How long that might take, and whether it affects the ballot this year or not, I have no clue. KUHF has more.

Posted in Election 2013 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Texas blog roundup for the week of August 19

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for Wendy as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Stephen Costello

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner
CM Stephen Costello

CM Stephen Costello

At Large #1 incumbent CM Stephen Costello is running for his third term. While most new Council members spend their first term learning the ropes and staying more in the background, CM Costello made an immediate splash by spearheading the charge for Renew/Rebuild Houston, the charter amendment that created a fee to fund road and drainage repairs and improvements, converting the process from debt service to pay-as-you-go. It was a tight election that had to survive a lawsuit afterward and some controversy surrounding its implementation, but it has transformed the infrastructure process and now offers the city a chance to redo a lot of its roads as Complete Streets. Since then, Costello has been at the forefront of the debate over the city’s long-term finances, as he chaired a task force to study the issue and recommend solutions, and he has worked on diverse issues like food deserts and payday lending regulation. We discussed all that and more in this interview:

Stephen Costello interview

You can see all of my interviews as well as finance reports and other information on candidates on my 2013 Election page.

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Abbott versus Garza on voter ID

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve battled in court, and now they’re battling in the news.

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

Still the only voter ID anyone should need

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday called a lawyer for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus unethical for his suggestion that people in the Rio Grande Valley attempt to vote without a photo ID.

Jose Garza, a lawyer who represents MALC in its fights against the state of Texas on voter ID and redistricting, reportedly encouraged voters in Edinburg to try to cast a ballot in next month’s city council elections without a photo ID. State lawmakers passed the voter ID bill — which requires voters to show one of several state- or federally issued forms of ID to vote — in 2011, but it was kept on hold until a June U.S. Supreme Court decision made its implementation possible.

“I would encourage everybody who wants to test this law to go and attempt to cast their ballot using their voter registration card,” Garza told the Rio Grande Guardian last week. “Let us test the impact of this law. We need to be able to measure how many people this law kept from voting.”

Abbott, whose office sued the Obama administration when the federal government originally blocked the ID requirement, said Monday that Garza is the one guilty of trying to suppress the vote, the common argument for opponents of the photo requirement who call the measure a 21st-century poll tax.

“It is always unethical for a lawyer to advise someone to violate Texas law. Even worse, Garza’s advice does not inform voters to bring one of the acceptable forms of voter ID,” Abbott said in a statement. “Instead, in an attempt to create a false impression that voter ID suppresses votes, the unethical advice is to come to the polls without the needed ID.”

Garza has since released a statement that fired back at Abbott.

Today, the attorney general questioned my integrity and said that I am advising voters to come to the polls without the photo identification that is now required to vote. Let me be very clear and set the record straight, I have never encouraged Texans to violate the law.

Everyone who is legally registered and eligible to vote ought to go vote. For those that are eligible and registered, but cannot obtain a valid photo ID as required by SB 14, I would advise them to also go vote and possibly cast a provisional ballot. Do not stay home and allow a discriminatory law to suppress your vote and voice. That is my message to Edinburg’s voters.

A federal court denied preclearance to Texas’ voter/photo ID law, stating that the undisputed record of evidence demonstrated that the voter identification requirement would have harmed the right to vote for many Texas minorities. Just because Section 5 is not in effect at the moment does not mean that the retrogressive effect of the photo identification requirement does not exist. I would advise the attorney general to do everything in his power to address the concerns of the D.C. Federal District Court and alleviate the undue burden that is being placed on the poor to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

General Abbott’s statement about my personal integrity is yet another ill-advised tactic to evade responsibility and accountability for seeking the implementation of an unjust and, I believe, unconstitutional law. If the citizens of Edinburg cannot vote, it is not because of me, but because of a law designed to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of poor and minority voters.

Emphasis in the original. Speaking of which, let’s go to the original story to see what really was said and meant.

Jose Garza believes a new Texas law requiring voters to bring along a certain type of photo identification is unconstitutional. He wants to bring a lawsuit against Texas and for this he needs practical examples of registered voters being denied the right to vote because they did not show up with an approved photo ID card.

“Anybody who is validly registered to vote and has a registration card or is clearly on the registration rolls should go and attempt to vote anyway, even if they do not have a photo ID,” Garza told the Guardian. “I believe the photo ID law is unconstitutional.”

[…]

“The photo ID legislation may be the law of the land in Texas but I believe it is unconstitutional. The only way you can challenge it is to find people who have been denied the right to vote because they did not comply with this specific term,” Garza said.

“So, I would encourage everybody who wants to test this law to go and attempt to cast their ballot using their voter registration card. Let us test the impact of this law. We need to be able to measure how many people this law kept from voting.”

[…]

“You can be denied the right to vote if you do not have the right type of photo ID. If you have a driver’s license that has been expired for more than 60 days that is not good enough. If you have a photo ID from your university or college, that is not good enough. If you have a photo ID from work, an employee from a school district, a city, the state of Texas or the federal government, that is not good enough. But if you have a photo ID from your concealed hand gun license, you can vote,” Garza explained.

“If you were involved in an accident and you have a DWI and your license has been suspended, even though you are otherwise eligible to vote, if your license has been suspended for more than 60 days, you cannot use that as an ID at the polling place and you will not be allowed to vote.”

Edinburg is a university town. Garza said UT-Pan American students that are registered to vote should take along their student photo ID card to the polls and offer this as a photo ID card. If they and others who are on the voter rolls are denied the right to vote, they should call MALC, the ACLU, MALDEF, LULAC, or the South Texas Civil Rights Project, Garza said.

A reporter put it to Garza that if such voters carry out his advice they may could be denied their legitimate right to vote and that this could influence the outcome of the Edinburg special election. Garza acknowledged this was the case but said the fight to stop voter suppression in Texas was worth it.

“It is better than staying home. If a voter is denied the right, they should call us or LULAC or the Texas Civil Rights Project or the ACLU or MALDEF. All of these groups are interested in the impact of this law. They will want to hear from those who are being denied the right to vote because they did not have the appropriate photo ID,” Garza said.

“If you are a student and all you have is your student ID you should try to vote, show it. They are going to be denied but they are otherwise eligible. A student photo ID is as good a proof of who you say you are as a concealed hand gun license is.”

On the one hand, Garza is clearly saying that anyone who is registered to vote but doesn’t have one of the very few types of legal ID should go and vote anyway. If nothing else, seeing how many provisional votes wind up getting cast and where they are will help clarify things as the next round of litigation moves forward. You know that I agree with Garza about the unconstitutional nature of voter ID, and that I believe Texas’ ridiculous and arbitrary restrictions on what ID is required is strong evidence of the discriminatory intent of this law. Still, Garza does appear to be calling for what is basically civil disobedience here. I admire the sentiment, but it’s not clear what would be gained by it. There’s no capacity for shame among Abbott and his acolytes, and whatever the courts say the way to win on this is by winning elections. Casting needless provisional votes, however strong a statement, won’t help with that. Go vote whether you have the required ID or not, but do bring it if you have it.

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Feds provide money to help sign people up for the exchanges

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Every little bit helps.

It's constitutional - deal with it

It’s constitutional – deal with it

With the rollout of many Affordable Care Act provisions fast approaching, the federal government announced Thursday that eight Texas organizations will receive a combined $10.8 million to hire and train “navigators” to help uninsured Texans find health coverage.

“Navigators will be among the many resources available to help consumers understand their coverage options in the marketplace,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “A network of volunteers on the ground in every state – health care providers, business leaders, faith leaders, community groups, advocates and local elected officials — can help spread the word and encourage their neighbors to get enrolled.”

Along with many other provisions in President Obama’s signature health reform law, the individual mandate to purchase health insurance is set to take effect on Jan. 1. Individuals who land somewhere between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty line will be able to apply for sliding-scale subsidies through state health insurance exchanges that the federal government plans to launch on Oct. 1. The health plans offered in the exchange will become active on Jan. 1.

United Way of Tarrant County — in collaboration with 17 other organizations — will receive $5.8 million, the largest of the federal navigator grants awarded in Texas, to help enroll Texans in health plans offered through the federal health insurance exchange (Texas opted not to devise its own state-run exchange). The East Texas Behavioral Healthcare Network will receive $1.3 million, the second largest grant, and six additional organizations will each receive between $376,800 and $785,000. In total, the federal government awarded $67 million to more than 100 organizations across the country. View the full list here.

This is going on across the country, with big non-Medicaid-expanding states like Texas and Florida getting the bulk of the funds. Apparently, in some parts of the country Planned Parenthood was a grant recipient to help people navigate the exchanges. Can you imagine the caterwauling there would have been here if Planned Parenthood had gotten some of that cash? If only.

Not that there wasn’t some pathetic whining, mind you:

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and 12 other states’ attorney generals have raised concerns that the federal navigator program could pose risks to patients’ privacy. In a letter sent to Sebelius on Wednesday, the state attorney generals assert that the federal government’s screening process does not require uniform background or fingerprint checks, therefore convicted criminals or identity thieves could become navigators. They also expressed concerns that navigators would not undergo sufficient training.

“We take very seriously the privacy of our states’ consumers and believe that your agency’s current guidance regarding these groups suffers numerous deficiencies,” the attorney generals wrote in the letter.

Some medical professionals and advocates have raised objections to the attorney generals’ concerns, suggesting they are politically motivated. They say navigators must comply with state and federal laws governing the privacy of sensitive medical information. If they do not adhere to strict security and privacy standards, including how to handle and safeguard consumers’ social security numbers and identifiable information, they are subject to criminal and civil penalties at both the federal and state level. The federal government imposes up to a $25,000 civil penalty for violating its privacy and security standards.

“Officials from Texas and the other states that are involved keep trying to sow doubt about the Affordable Care Act, but the law is well on its way to helping millions of our nation’s uninsured receive the health care they need,” Katrina Mendiola, executive director of Engage Texas, said in a statement released by the Texas Well and Healthy Campaign. “What Texans need to know is there will be experts — who are screened and authorized to help — ready to help them find out about their health care options and get enrolled on October 1.”

You know what would have been an excellent solution to that concern about privacy? Texas creating and managing its own insurance exchange, instead of petulantly outsourcing it to the feds because our Republican leaders refuse to lift a finger to help anyone who doesn’t have health insurance. Too bad about that, no? Oh, and Greg Abbott really ought to deal with the mote in his own eye before he goes complaining about someone else’s ability to protect personal data. Trail Blazers has more.

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Educating people about invasive species

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Worth a shot.

Zebra mussel

Every two months, Christopher Churchill, a U.S. Geological Survey biologist, scuba dives in Ray Roberts Lake, northwest of Dallas, to monitor the growth rates of zebra mussels, which have wreaked havoc on several Texas lakes and rivers.

“A year ago, it was hard to find just one zebra mussel,” Churchill said. “They’re everywhere now.”

Churchill’s assignment follows the 2009 discovery of the non-native zebra mussels in North Texas’ Lake Texoma. That year, the area lost 28 percent of its water supply when local water officials halted pumping water from the lake for fear of spreading the mussels through a pipeline that pumped water to a second reservoir, which is connected to a water treatment facility.

Officials embarked on a $300 million project to build infrastructure that would pump the water from the infested reservoir directly to the treatment facility, eliminating the possibility of infecting the second reservoir.

One way zebra mussels are introduced to new waterways is via boats that are not cleaned properly. Legislation passed this spring aims to increase awareness among Texas boaters about how to prevent the spread of the mussels and other invasive species.

To be certified to use their boats in Texas, individuals must take a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department boating education course. The department certifies about 12,000 individuals a year. The new legislation adds test questions on preventing the spread of invasive species to existing courses.

“If we can educate boaters, fisherman and those out with water craft then they can be our real front line defense against the spread and introduction of invasive species into new water bodies,” said Ross Melinchuk, deputy executive director of natural resources for the department. In addition to the courses, officials hope signs along lakes and reminders painted on boat docks will help decrease the spread of invasive species through boats.

I think the legislation in question is HB1241, but I can’t swear to it. Eradicating invasive species like the zebra mussel, or just holding them in check, will mostly involve ways to kill them or prevent them from breeding effectively. How to do that is a very difficult question, since you don’t want to introduce new and potentially worse problems into the ecosystem. Steps like this are fairly small-bore, but they can’t hurt and they are necessary to help keep the problem from getting any worse than it already is. I wish the TPWD good luck with this effort.

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Interview with David Robinson

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner
David Robinson

David Robinson

Running against CM Burks in At Large #2 is David Robinson, which makes this a rematch of sorts from 2011, as both men ran in AL2 that year, though Robinson did not make the runoff. I had suggested a long time ago that a challenge to a first-term At Large member might offer a better chance at victory than a multi-candidate open seat race. Perhaps we’ll find out. Robinson is an architect and neighborhood activist, having been President of the Neartown Association and the citywide Super Neighborhood Alliance. He has also served on the City of Houston Planning Commission under Mayors Bill White and Annise Parker. Here’s what we talked about:

David Robinson interview

You can see all of my interviews as well as finance reports and other information on candidates on my 2013 Election page.

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On the matter of money

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This story is about the strong desire among Dems for Sen. Wendy Davis to run for Governor, but it touches on a subject that inevitably comes up whenever the subject is running statewide in Texas.

Sen. Wendy Davis

Sen. Wendy Davis

A campaign for governor would cost $30 million to $40 million, said [Matt] Angle. Davis raised $4 million for her last re-election bid, he said. That was before she gained national prominence with her Senate filibuster against tighter state abortion restrictions.

Since then, she’s had appearances and raised money inside and outside Texas. Her latest campaign finance report showed she had raised $933,000 in the last two weeks in June – including more than 15,000 contributions of $250 or less – and had just over $1 million in cash on hand.

She also got some sizable donations, notably $50,000 from Annie’s List, which is dedicated to electing “progressive Democratic women” and launched WeWantWendyDavis.com this week; and $100,000 from Fort Worth oil man Sid Bass.

But she will need a lot more if she seeks the Democratic nomination for governor. Attorney General Greg Abbott, the top contender for the GOP nod to succeed Gov. Rick Perry, reported cash on hand of nearly $21 million. He’s sure to raise much more.

Political scientist Cal Jillson of Southern Methodist University said a credible race could be run for something over $20 million – “the low 20s” – still a big number for a Texas Democrat.

“Texas Democrats over the last 20 years or so have been famous for their short little arms that are good for clapping, but never reach their wallet,” Jillson said.

Just for grins, I went back and took a look at all of Bill White’s finance reports from 2010, since no one questioned his ability to raise money, to see how much he actually did raise over the course of his gubernatorial campaign. Here are the amounts raised from each of his finance reports:


Filing         Raised
=====================
Jan 2010    6,216,933
Feb 30 day    755,067
Feb 8 day   2,221,666
JUly 2010   7,447,799
Oct 30 day  4,687,096
Oct 8 day   3,698,631
Jan 2011    1,241,875

Note that the January 2011 report includes donations made between the reporting deadline for the 8 day report and Election Day. Add this all up and it comes out to just over $26 million, $26,269,067 to be annoyingly precise. Whatever you thought about the White campaign, they had a full statewide presence and ran plenty of TV ads. I’ve not heard anyone claim they ran on a shoestring. Things are likely a bit more expensive now, but this is a reasonable ballpark. Note that unlike White, Davis has had a huge run of national press leading up to her (presumed) campaign announcement, and would go into this race with much higher name ID than White had; I’ve lost the cite for this, but I could swear I saw a recent poll that suggested she has higher name ID right now than Greg Abbott does. That has a lot of value. Be all that as it may, I am not worried about Davis’ ability to fundraise for this race. If she gets in, she’ll get the resources she’ll need. Jillson has a point, but I don’t believe it will apply in this case.

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Stay classy, Greg Abbott

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From over the weekend.

A Twitter poster who called Wendy Davis an “idiot” and “retard Barbie,” and said Greg Abbott would demolish her in the governor’s election, got a thank-you from Abbott’s campaign also via Twitter.

The exchange prompted a flurry of people on Twitter to suggest that Abbott should have refuted the offensive language instead of giving a shout out to the poster.

The poster, @jefflegal, frequently comments on political events and ridicules liberals. He had little patience for those who criticized his name-calling. He said he was using irony and “loved hearing complaints from liberals.”

Here’s the exchange:

The story has already gone national. Abbott, who according to TrailBlazers writes all his own tweets, later attempted to back away a bit:

Nor, apparently, will he condemn such language – and remember, even Sarah Palin considers the word “retarded” to be offensive. Look, Greg Abbott isn’t responsible for what a troglodyte like that has to say, but once he engages with him like that, it’s fair game. Abbott could have easily ignored him – it’s not like being tweeted at demands a response – but if he does choose to respond, the nature of his response, and what wasn’t said, is open to scrutiny. I will simply note that one of the keys to a Wendy Davis victory next year is a nice, big gender gap. It’s fine by me if Abbott and his Barbie-obsessed Twitter supporters keep on doing their best to make that happen.

One more thing, from this Trib story about the perils of candidates/officeholders doing unsupervised tweeting:

An Abbott source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the attorney general did not read the full message (and in particular, the offensive language) before expressing his gratitude.

What, was the tweet too long for him to make it all the way to the end? Maybe Twitter needs to reconsider that 140 character limit. Texas Politics, BOR, and dKos have more.

UPDATE: Despite giving Abbott more credit than he deserves, the DMN editorial board nails it.

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

From Shelby to Pasadena

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You might have noticed this Chron editorial from last week.

Pasadena City Council

After former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s fall from grace, we thought that Texas politicians would know better than pursue mid-decade redistricting. Not so in Pasadena, where Mayor Johnny Isbell is trying to change Pasadena’s city council districts.

Isbell proposed last month to replace two of Pasadena’s single-member districts with two at-large seats. The Bond/Charter Review Committee recommended against moving forward with the changes, at least for the upcoming election. But the proposal alone is distressing enough. Historically, replacing districts with at-large seats has been used to discriminatory ends, and such moves are often blocked by the Department of Justice. Only a few months ago, that would have been the case here. Not anymore. For decades, the Voting Rights Act has been a useful speed bump in Texas. Due to our history of discrimination, any alteration to voting laws or processes had to be approved by the Department of Justice. When the Supreme Court struck down the part of the VRA that based preclearance requirements on past discrimination, it busted open a hole in that wall, and Texas politicians have wasted no time to climb through.

This newfound lack of federal oversight allows local politicians to implement maps that threaten to discriminate against minority voters. The current individual districts in Pasadena allow large, compact and politically cohesive minority populations to elect the representatives of their choice. Replacing these districts with at-large seats could dilute minority voting power, submerging the voting-bloc in a sea of majority voters.

I’ve been peripherally aware of this, but I can’t claim to have followed it closely. I got an email from Pasadena Council Member Ornaldo Ybarra, whom I interviewed in 2012 when he ran for the Legislature, alerting me to this. Pasadena did a normal redistricting process in 2011 that wound up being quite contentious amid allegations that Pasadena Mayor Isbell was driving it with an eye towards furthering his own political ends by drawing his opponents out of their districts. (Stace noted this last year; there’s more here.) I’m told that there’s a 4-4 partisan split on Council (Mayor Isbell is a Republican), with the Mayor being a tiebreaking vote on some issues. An attempt to reduce the number of district seats from 8 to 6, with two At Large seats, was quashed by the Justice Department, but barring a bail-in to Section 3 preclearance by the courts, that plan is now back in play.

In fact, it’s on the agenda for tonight’s Pasadena City Council meeting (agenda item F, on page 5, in the section beginning “(2) First Readings”). Neither a search of Google or the Chron’s archives found much on the history of this, but here’s a Your Houston news story about what is on tap for tonight.

The short road to a destination that finalizes what will be on the November ballot in Pasadena has had plenty of bends and even u-turns.

In July, a quickly assembled citizen committee considering bonds and charter revisions met publicly and privately. They recommended bonds only, not charter revisions for the November ballot.

At last Tuesday’s (August 13) council meeting, after three councilmembers spoke for a slimmer bond package and lost, and the original proposal passed, Mayor Johnny Isbell said he “…doesn’t understand how anyone can vote against the bonds.”

Then, Thursday (August 15), Isbell wrote a memo with another twist; forget the bonds for now. Instead, we’re going to consider charter amendments.

With two readings needed to get it approved and a Harris County election deadline fast approaching, Isbell has put the charter amendments on the Tuesday (August 20) agenda and also called a Special Council Meeting for Thursday morning (August 22) at 8 a.m. to get it done.

In his Thursday memo from to councilmembers and the citizen committee obtained by The Pasadena Citizen, Isbell states, “As a result of opposition to the bond proposal by three Members of Council, I have elected to withdraw the proposed ordinance,” and, “If the representatives don’t present a united plan, then voters are concerned and many may be unwilling to commit the tax dollars necessary to improve neighborhoods they know nothing about.

“How could we persuade a voter who lives in Village Grove to support spending millions of dollars in the Gardens or Deepwater areas if the representatives of those neighborhoods oppose such expenditures. I find the task of convincing voters, under such circumstances, to be daunting.”

Also in the memo, Isbell praised the work of the Bond/Charter Review Committee, as the rest of council has publicly done, then he added, “However, in view of the Committee’s hard work, I am proposing an election to amend the Charter.”

Isbell wrote that charter changes don’t require as high a standard of unanimity as bonds do.

“The Committee proposed four changes to the Charter and I am adding a proposed fifth change which deals with redistricting,” Isbell wrote.

So if you have any interest in this, you might want to head over to Pasadena City Hall this evening at 6:30 to watch the proceedings. As noted in that story, there are some other things going on as well – see this Easter Lemming Facebook post for more.

Like I said, I’ve not followed this closely, and the details are a bit fuzzy to me, so please forgive the lack of data. But look at it this way: If Mayor Parker – or any Houston mayor – suddenly announced the need to redraw Houston’s Council districts, and produced a map that she herself had drawn without input from Council, wouldn’t you be suspicious? And if that map just happened to draw a couple of her persistent critics out of their seats, wouldn’t that look even more hinky? That’s what appears to be going on in Pasadena. And if it happens there, you can expect it to happen elsewhere, too.

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments