Tag Archives: Jolanda Jones

Adjusting to the new Council

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is kind of a fluff story about the new Council – apparently, having two more seats at the table could cause some problems – but I couldn’t pass this up: “This infusion, effectively of new blood – of a … Continue reading →

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Don’t draw broad conclusions from muddled evidence

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I have a number of issues with the analysis presented in this Chron story about what happened in the runoffs and What It All Means. The results illustrate a continuation of a national trend of anger and frustration toward government … Continue reading →

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Christie, Burks, Davis, Brown

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Those are your runoff winners. Jack Christie’s victory was the most dramatic, coming in his fifth attempt to defeat Jolanda Jones, an opponent he had forced into multiple runoff elections. Helena Brown was the other candidate who beat an incumbent, … Continue reading →

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November was like 2007, December is more like 2005

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the daily report for the first six days of Early Voting in the runoff. There have been 17,568 votes cast so far, with today still to go. That means there have been more early votes cast in Harris County … Continue reading →

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Eight day runoff finance reports

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Seven of the eight campaign finance reports for the runoff have been posted; all but Jack Christie’s were available online as of last night. Let’s have a look at them. First up, District A: Candidate Raised Spent Loans Cash on … Continue reading →

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Runoff overview: At Large #5

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The fifth time is for all the marbles. Again. For the fifth time since 2007, counting general elections and runoffs, Jolanda Jones and Jack Christie are running against each other for the At-Large Position 5 seat on Houston City Council. … Continue reading →

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Early voting for city runoffs begins today

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You remember that we have runoff elections for four Houston City Council positions, right? Well, early voting starts today and runs through next Tuesday, December 6. Here are the early voting locations that will be open for the runoff. Early … Continue reading →

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Back and forth in At Large #5

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Did you think this would be a slow holiday week? Not when there’s a runoff looming. So far this week, the Jack Christie campaign has released a letter from the former public policy director for CM Jolanda Jones that ripped … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead to the runoffs

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The runoff election for the city of Houston will be Saturday, December 10. It’s going to be an extremely low turnout affair – as was the case with the general election, I expect the runoff to have about the same … Continue reading →

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Early voting for city runoffs begins today

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You remember that we have runoff elections for four Houston City Council positions, right? Well, early voting starts today and runs through next Tuesday, December 6. Here are the early voting locations that will be open for the runoff. Early … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2011 At Large #5

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Last but certainly not least, the race everyone is wondering about, At Large #5: Dist Robinson Jones Christie Ryan ======================================= A 17.10% 23.61% 48.91% 10.38% B 18.80% 73.00% 5.09% 3.11% C 25.07% 30.02% 35.57% 9.35% D 14.96% 73.56% 7.86% 3.62% … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: 2011 At Large races, part 1

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a look at the election returns in each Council district for the three “normal” At Large races, in At Large #1, #3, and #4. First up is #1, where first term incumbent CM Stephen Costello won a narrow majority … Continue reading →

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More thoughts on the Council elections

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One district at a time… – I confess that I did not see the District A result coming. Helena Brown did raise a decent amount of money since entering the race at the filing deadline, about $22K through the end … Continue reading →

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2011 Houston results

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s go through the races… – Mayor Parker won with a shade under 51%, with none of her opponents cracking 15% on their own. Obviously, this is not a position a Mayor with no serious opposition wants to be in, … Continue reading →

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Your annual reminder that every vote matters

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

HISD Trustee, District III results, with 38 of 38 precincts reporting: Manuel Rodriguez 2,401 50.25% Ramiro Fonseca 2,377 49.75% There were 653 undervotes in this race, and turnout in the district was 11.61%. Fonseca carried Election Day by 78 votes, … Continue reading →

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The 8 day non-filers

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Eight day campaign finance reports were posted on the city website on Monday and Tuesday. As of today, the following candidates do not have an 8 Day report available: Amanda Ullman, Mayor James Partsch-Galvan (*), At Large #1 Elizabeth Perez, … Continue reading →

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Eight day finance reports, part II

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Finishing what I started… – Fernando Herrera‘s report appeared on Tuesday. He raised $15,835, spent $27,185, and has $242.87 on hand. There were several expenditures on signs and a couple for “Advertising” that didn’t give me much of a clue … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of At Large #5

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to their belated endorsement in the At Large #5 race, the Chron now has its overview story of the race up as well. At-Large Position 5 Councilwoman Jolanda Jones arguably finds herself running as the upstart in her … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Bell for Jones

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Former Council Member and Mayoral candidate Chris Bell has endorsed Jolanda Jones for re-election, writing his own letter of support for her, which you can see here. Normally, I’m not that interested in this sort of personal endorsement, but since … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: The Chron proves me wrong

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I had thought that the Chron was going to endorse challenger Laurie Robinson in the At Large #5 race. I was wrong. Of the current 15 members of Houston City Council, including Mayor Annise Parker, none arouses the intense passions … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: White for Christie

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This came as a surprise to me. Former Mayor Bill White has endorsed Jack Christie for the At-Large 5 City Council seat. It is the only endorsement the ex-mayor has made in this year’s city elections. White sent out a … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Noriega and Bradford

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Another twofer, and another easy and obvious choice in At Large #3. For the past four years Houston has been well served in At-Large City Council Position 3 by Melissa Noriega. We recommend Noriega for a third and final term … Continue reading →

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Another complaint filed against CM Jones

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On and on it goes. A former staffer of Councilwoman Jolanda Jones has filed a complaint with the city’s Office of Inspector General, accusing her of employee misconduct in cutting his salary by more than 18 percent after he cooperated … Continue reading →

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More 30 day finance reports for City of Houston races

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Following up on yesterday’s report, here are the interesting, odd, and questionable things I’ve seen in the rest of the 30 day campaign finance reports. Mayor Parker raised $469K, spent $526K, and maintained $2.3 million on hand. She appears to … Continue reading →

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More troubles for CM Jones

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There have not been many dull moments this year for CM Jolanda Jones. That seems unlikely to change in the near future. [O]n Wednesday, revelations surfaced that one of her staffers photographed a citizen picking up public records from her … Continue reading →

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Jones saga comes to a close

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

At long last. A three-member panel led by Mayor Annise Parker has found insufficient cause to believe Councilwoman Jolanda Jones breached council ethics violations documented in a city investigation. In a four-page report, the panel also criticized the Office of … Continue reading →

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Interview with CM Jolanda Jones

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Our last look at a Council race is the most interesting race involving an incumbent, as once again CM Jolanda Jones faces some tough competition in At Large #5. If you follow Houston politics at all you are surely familiar … Continue reading →

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DA won’t bring charges against CM Jones

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Politics: Harris County prosecutors who reviewed ethics complaints against City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones have concluded that criminal prosecution is not warranted. In a letter to the City Attorney David Feldman the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said it had … Continue reading →

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Lineup update

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron story that ran in yesterday’s news is now updated online to reflect the fact that CM Melissa Noriega does have two opponents, Brad Batteau and Chris Carmona. I emailed reporter Chris Moran yesterday to ask about that discrepancy, … Continue reading →

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A closer look at finance reports: Elected officials

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to contributions from PACs, there was another class of donor that I thought was worth highlighting: Elected officials and candidates for public office. Basically, the idea is to see who “the establishment” is supporting, to see what we … Continue reading →

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State Bar to investigate Jones’ complaint against Feldman

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On we go. The Texas State Bar will investigate allegations by Councilwoman Jolanda Jones that City Attorney David Feldman committed professional misconduct through his involvement in a city ethics investigation that targets Jones. Jones filed a grievance with the bar … Continue reading →

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A closer look at finance reports: PACs

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Having taken the time to download all of those campaign finance reports for the city of Houston elections, which you can view on my 2011 Election page, I wanted to see what I could learn from all this data. So … Continue reading →

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DA gets Jones case

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

What sound does a hot potato make when it gets passed to someone else? The Harris County District Attorney has been asked to review for possible criminal prosecution allegations that Councilwoman Jolanda Jones used city resources to support her private … Continue reading →

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Some early fundraising numbers

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the day that campaign finance reports are due for candidates in this November’s city of Houston elections. Some early filer’s reports are already up on the city’s Campaign Finance webpage. I’ve uploaded copies of these reports to my … Continue reading →

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