Anna’s Message

Finally! A very bad person is no longer on TV – for now. Finally, it caught up to him. Bye, bye Bill O’Reilly. You are very bad person. Your sorry arse will not be missed!

Commentary tries to stay out of the debate on bike riding in H-Town. I will say this. The other day I was pulling out of the Kroger parking lot and some bicyclist nearly plowed into my ride. I didn’t see him because he was riding on the sidewalk and he had the nerve to yell at me.   He was a full-fledged adult riding on the sidewalk! What is he doing zooming down the sidewalk?

In the Chron’s community supplement yesterday, there is an article on the Critical Mass folks. Here is the article: http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/heights/article/As-tensions-rise-with-drivers-cyclists-ask-for-11081412.php.

These fellas just plow through red lights and stop signs by the hundreds. What is up with that? What is the point? That isn’t right if you ask Commentary.

And in our 15^th game last night, Josh Reddick racked up the team’s first triple. How many three baggers did we have last season?

Hey HISD voters! We can start voting early in person next Monday on the HISD Proposition 1. My good friend HISD Trustee Anna Eastman is working hard for passage of the proposition. Here is the note she sent to her friends yesterday:

Dear friends,

I am writing a personal note regarding HISD’s upcoming May 6 special election on Proposition 1. I am personally urging you to vote FOR Proposition 1. Simply, HISD is required by state law to pay into the Robin Hood system because of our property wealth. We can either write a check through “purchasing attendance credits” – FOR or have our most valuable commercial properties detached. “Purchasing Credits” is achieved by writing the state a check. “Detachment” is achieved by attaching commercial properties (for taxing purposes) to another district. With “Detachment” we not only lose the money we would have written a check for, but also the revenue we use to pay our bond debts. When commercial property owners aren’t contributing to those debt payments, they fall on the homeowners left in the district. “Detachment” means more money out of our pockets for the same stuff, or less for the kids in our schools. Period. 

Please feel free to email me with questions or if you’d like a yard sign. You can read and forward the articles below for more detail. There is also a sample letter attached for you to send out to your networks. 

As always, thank you for your support,

Anna

Here is fact sheet Anna sent out:

RE: HISD Emergency Election

On May 6, HISD will hold an emergency election on Proposition 1 and we need everyone to vote ”YES”!

Why Are We Here

Under the statewide school funding law, commonly known as Robin Hood, HISD has been classified as a property-rich school district. Therefore, we as HISD voters must choose between recapture or detachment. Voting for Prop 1, recapture – will allow the school district to write a check to the Texas Education Agency to be used to equalize funding across the state. Voting against Prop 1 would put HISD into detachment, forcing the TEA to remove commercial property from HISD’s tax rolls and give the tax revenues from valuable business properties to another school district. Either way, under current law, HISD owes the obligation to the state. Voting “NO” does NOT mean that HISD gets to keep the money.

Because detachment is so severe and permanent, every school district faced with this decision has chosen to make recapture payments. 

We Cannot Afford to Lose

In November, voters angry over the $162 million due in recapture fees, voted overwhelmingly against Prop. 1. Since then, the HISD Board of Trustees has worked with state officials to reduce the recapture payment owed to $77 million and called for an emergency election on May 6^th.  

The simple-truth.   Supporting Prop 1 keeps Houston ISD in control of our public schools and more importantly will give us the leverage needed to fix the broken school funding laws that have put us in this position.

Opposing Prop 1 takes control away from Houston voters and worse, gives billions of our business property to another school district. Detachment also costs HISD more, leaving our kids at severely underfunded schools while we pay higher property taxes.

Because the cost of detachment is so high and the damage done is so permanent, community and business leaders have joined a bipartisan group of our elected representatives to come together to support Prop 1.

We Need Your Help to Pass Prop 1

This fight is critical to our future and we need you on our team today!

You can do the following to help spread the word:

1. Forward this email to your networks.
2. Visit the website and sign up as a supporter.
3. Use email and social media to get the word out with the videos provided.  
4. Tell your family and friends to vote for Prop 1 on May 6th, or during Early Voting, which runs from April 24th through May 2nd.

Just do what Anna says and vote YES!

Commentary received a response yesterday on the Georgia Sixth Congressional District Special:

Spending over $10 million for a congressional race, in a district he didn’t live in, to come up short is hardly a victory. Are Anti-Trumpers going to spend an additional $5-$10 million for the run-off? What if he loses big? Are the Democrats going to spend $10+ million for every congressional race they think they might flip from Republicans? What if the Republicans focus on Dems who are in states Hillary abandoned, to poach a few from your side?—-R

Bring it on!

Last season, the ‘Stros had 29 three baggers of course.

We are 10-5 and have a three game lead. Not bad at all!