Pasadena, Again

How many games are we ahead for home field advantage in the American League playoffs?

Folks know how Commentary feels about the City of Pasadena continuing to appeal the voting rights case against them. Here is part of Mike Snyder’s article today on the matter:

It’s a question every Vegas roulette player and weekend poker-game enthusiast eventually faces: Should I cut my losses or go for broke?

A legal dispute over civil rights and fair elections, of course, shouldn’t be regarded as a game of chance. But as Pasadena’s mayor and city council consider whether to continue appealing a judge’s decision in a voting rights lawsuit, they’re struggling to calculate the best way to contain their legal fees. Either option available to them is a gamble.

In an executive session during a recent meeting, newly installed Mayor Jeff Wagner and council members discussed Patino v. Pasadena, the 2014 lawsuit that challenged a new council structure created in a charter change election. Last January, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal found that the creation of two at-large, or citywide, positions intentionally diluted Latino voting strength. She ordered the city to use the old system of eight single-member district seats in this year’s election.

The city appealed. Wagner, a councilman and retired Houston police officer who won the election to succeed term-limited Mayor Johnny Isbell, said during the campaign that he would consult with the council before deciding whether to continue the appeal. Almost two weeks after Wagner took office, the question remains unanswered.

Aside from considering which council system serves the city better, the mayor and council must take into account the mounting costs of the litigation. Pasadena has already paid more than $2.5 million to its outside attorneys.

But there’s a complication: Under federal law, if the plaintiffs prevail, the city would be on the hook for their legal fees in addition to its own. The five Latino Pasadena residents who filed the lawsuit have been represented without charge by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Here is the entire article: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/greater-houston/article/Legal-fees-figure-in-decision-on-Pasadena-voting-11287433.php.

Pasadena just went through an election without the at-large positions in play and the city government survived. Things are going to be ok in Pasadena. The all single member district system didn’t seem to overturn the cart. Just move on and leave this chapter of your history behind. It will be worth it in the long run.

The HCC Trustees did all they could do yesterday by voting to formally censure their colleague who pleaded guilty to bribery. There is nothing to report from H-Town City Hall on this matter. Like I said, I have not been enlightened.

Commentary hasn’t been saying much about Don Jr. and the Russians. What’s the point? We all know they are liars.

Don’t believe me? See this from today’s Statesman:

U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, has some advice for President Donald Trump: throw your adult kids out of the White House.

“I’m going out on a limb here, but I would say I think it would be in the president’s best interest if he removed all of his children from the White House. Not only Donald Trump (Jr.), but Ivanka and Jared Kushner,” he told Bryan TV station KBTX. “I wish that he would get them out of the way so that we could have professional staff at the White House handle policy issues.”

Yeah, good luck!

The ‘Stros have a 10 game lead over the Red Sox for AL home field advantage of course.

Commentary is thinking good crowds will show up at The Yard this weekend.