Temper Tantrum

It looks like City Controller Ron Green is throwing a little temper tantrum because The Mayor won’t show him the bond numbers.  Here is from Chron.com:

 Green, the city’s second-highest elected official, said he has repeatedly asked for and been denied information on the measures.

“If it’s that secretive, it can’t possibly be good for the city,” Green said. ”Until such time as I get more information, I’m not supporting any bond referendum that the city puts forward.”

Oh, brother!  Settle down and wait to see the numbers like everybody else this morning then you can pronounce them good or evil.  Don’t worry – the world won’t come to an end.  And also from Chron.com:

 Green said he has heard that the package of bond measures will total approximately $400 million.

“I still believe we need to go out for more bond authorization. I think $400 million is not adequate to meet the needs of the city,” Green said.  “If you’re going to ask somebody to vote for bond referendums, you need to be realistic about what it’s going to take to meet a major CIP (capital improvement project) initiative.”

The city should take advantage of low interest rates and ask for $600 million to $800 million, even if that requires a tax increase, Green said.

In 2006, then-Mayor Bill White also did not consult with then-Controller Parker before rolling out a series of bond measures, according to Parker’s office.

If you ask me and thanks for asking, the City Controller is looking and sounding a little silly.  BTW:  The Mayor will unveil the bond program this morning at City Council.

 Here is the rest of the story.

 Last night the NL All Stars had 10 base hits and the AL All Stars had 6 base hits.  Name the league division that had the most base hits?

 One of the best lines of the 2012 Campaign comes from Vice-President Joe Biden yesterday before the National Council of La Raza:

 “Mitt Romney wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his,” Biden said. “So many questions…”

Keep hammering! 

 FLASH!!!!!  Chris Moran of the Chron just put this out:

 Mayor Annise Parker is unveiling a $410 million package of proposed bond measures for the November ballot that will not require a tax increase.

She proposes five bond measures. The purposes and amounts:

1. Public safety: $144 million

2. Health, sanitation and general government: $63 million

3. Affordable housing: $15 million

4. Library: $28 million

5. Parks: $160 million

“I realize many Houstonians are still recovering from the economic downturn,” Parker said in a press release. “That is why it was important to me to present a plan that does not require a tax increase. It is also the smallest bond proposal in more than 30 years. It is a fiscally responsible approach that will create jobs and improve public safety, infrastructure and quality of life.”

Let the games begin!

 A couple of days ago I got an Alan Rosen for Precinct 1 Constable mail piece and his campaign went door-to-door in my ‘hood last week.

 In my book, if you shell out a couple of hundred bucks to attend the dinger derby, you are entitled to boo players.  The other night KC fans booed Yankee Robinson Cano because he’s a Yankee and he didn’t let KC All Star Billy Butler participate in the dinger derby.  Cano was the AL derby dinger captain that picked his fellow dinger derby participants.  When Cano came up to bat during the dinger derby he was booed mercilessly and he ended up not getting a single dinger.   A few prominent baseball columnists called out the KC fans for booing Cano.  SHUT UP!!  KC fans have every right to boo.  I’m glad they did because it made the dinger derby slightly less boring.

 Well it looks the NL Pennant Champ will have World Serious home field advantage in October.   I know.  Some so called “purists” don’t like that the league that wins the All Star Game gets home field Serious advantage.  It makes the game a lot more interesting. 

 What is a baseball “purist” anyway?  They don’t like the DH?  They want to go back to day games?  They don’t like the Wild Card?  They don’t like the Kiss Kam?  Oh, well.

 The NL Central of course led all other divisions last night with five base hits (Braun 2, Furcal, Holliday, and McCutchcen.

 My favorite moment of last night was watching Chipper Jones get a base hit in his final All Star at-bat. 

 A few more days off then the roadie begins in San Fran on Friday.

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No Terms of Endearment

Yesterday the H-Town City Council Committee on Ethics, Elections and Council Governance killed the proposal to extend term limits.  The proposal won’t be on the ballot this November.  This is definitely a good thing. I’ve said it before, if folks want to change or do away with term limits, go out and get the signatures and build a grass roots campaign.

Here is from the Chron:

Councilman Andrew Burks, whose budget amendment last month sent the issue to the council’s ethics and governance committee, first tried to build a case for longer terms on its merits. He argued that it would save money in avoided election costs, attract better candidates, encourage more long-term thinking, shift officials’ focus from fundraising to public policy and reduce the use of council positions as stepping stones to other offices.

Virtually every member of the committee told Burks the proposal was the wrong idea at the wrong time and voted 9-1 to put it to rest. Even Burks, who was elected in December on his 13th try for public office, voted with the majority.

 

And:

District I Councilman James Rodriguez said any move to change term limits should come from the citizenry.

“I haven’t seen a groundswell of support for changing term limits, especially in my district, and I think they’d like us to get back to the business of running and managing this city,” he said.

Rice University political science professor Robert Stein warned the committee that putting a term limit-change on a November ballot that already may be crowded with bond issues and a sales tax referendum likely would doom it to failure.

 

Picking up on Stein’s analysis, Councilman Stephen Costello said, “We don’t need to have this particular issue on the ballot. We don’t need to have this issue competing against our future bond issue or a bond issue of the school district or a bond issue of the community college system in addition to a referendum that Metro’s going to have at the same time.” Costello then introduced the motion to kill the proposal.

As the opposition to his plan piled up, Burks snapped back with rambling complaints about the influence of lobbyists, Costello’s involvement in a ballot measure campaign that created a massive public works program that imposed a monthly fee on homeowners, and political cowardice among his colleagues.

 

CM Rodriguez (Commentary’s client) is on point on this.  CM Costello is also correct.  I’ve kind of been saying that myself the past couple of weeks.

I don’t know which lobbyist CM Burks is talking about. Commentary has had the same position on this issue since the days of the Term Limits Review Committee back in 2010. I went to most of the meetings and spoke at some of them.  I’ve been pretty consistent on this.  Oh, well!

Here is the Chron piece.

Three MLB All Star Games have been played in H-Town (1968, 1986, and 2004).  How many of the starting pitchers of those three games are in the Hall of Fame?

The Chron’s Ericka Mellon has a darn good piece today on the HISD bond proposal. You need to check it out because we could be voting on some of this stuff this November.  Here it is.

This past Sunday the Chron introduced their new sports columnist, Randy Harvey and for today’s column he bashed the ‘Stros – wow – he certainly dug deep to find something to write about.  I’m impressed – woo -woo!  Check out his column here.

Hall of Fame great Don Drysdale of course started for the NL All Stars in the Astrodome back in 1968.

Commentary watched last night’s 3 hour long and very boring dinger fest.  I’ll head out to The Yard this evening to check out the MLB All Star Game on El Grande and eat the team’s free grub.  I’m betting that Jose Altuve will see plenty of action since he is the only backup second baseman on the NL All Star team roster.

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Consolation Prize

Lone Star State Dems got a consolation prize of sorts when a Travis County jury convicted DeLay.  I wonder if DeLay thinks it was all worth it.  I wonder if he thinks it is worth jail time. 

 The Chron’s E-Board would like to do away with straight ticket voting.  I don’t know about that.  It is what it is.  If a bunch of voters like to do it, then why do away with it.  Check out what the Chron says:  http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/7311700.html.

 Sen. Rodney Ellis wants a state holiday for Election Day.  Yesterday was a holiday and a whole lot of people still had to work at grocery stores, at some restaurants, at bars, at gas stations, at convenience stores, and even at some malls.   I don’t know if having an Election Day holiday will make voters more aware or more participatory.

 My pal Bill King has his Chron column today on the likelihood of a Voter ID law here in the Lone Star State.  Check it out: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7311705.html.

 On September 28, 2005, DeLay was indicted by a Travis County grand jury and the ‘Stros played their last regular season game ever at old Busch Stadium that evening, beating San Luis 7-6.  What ‘Stro knocked in his 100^th RBI of the season that evening? 

 The only political decisions of interest remaining are the HISD Trustee District VIII run-off and the state legislative race out in the Seguin area.

 Happy Birthday today to My Best Friend!  Happy Birthday to Big Al Luna!

 Happy Birthday tomorrow to Pam-In-Charge who still has the Best View in town from her office.  She also has the best job in town if you ask me.   My Brown Eyed Girl don’t need touching up.

 Earlier this week, H-Town CM James Rodriguez endorsed HISD Trustee District VIII candidate Judith Cruz.   Here is what CM Rodriguez had to say:  “I ask the voters in District VIII to join me in supporting Judith Cruz in the run-off election. Judith will make sure every student is held to high standards, work for strong schools in every community, and fight for an effective teacher in every classroom. Judith will put ALL of our children’s interests above the special interests. Judith is ready to challenge the status quo.”

 Commentary had turducken yesterday for the first time ever. 

 Morgan Ensberg of course knocked in his 100^th RBI on September 28, 2005.

 It looks like lefty reliever Tim Byrdak won’t be with us next year and that’s all I have to report from The Yard.

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The Latino Vote 2010, Part 6

The Lone Star State GOP just wrapped up their state convention this weekend with a platform whack job on Latino voters.  Check out Gary Scharrer’s (from the SA Express News) story:  http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7050170.html.

Here is the headline: Texas GOP gets tougher on immigration/Some say platform adopted at convention could deter Latino voters.

Here is some of the piece:  Texas Republicans adopted another get-tough policy on immigration and bilingual education Saturday that some say will make it hard for the party to attract Hispanic voters at a time when the Texas population is turning increasingly Latino.

The platform encourages state lawmakers to create a Class A misdemeanor criminal offense “for an illegal alien to intentionally or knowingly be within the State of Texas,” and to “oppose amnesty in any form leading to citizenship for illegal immigrants.”

Texas Republicans also want to limit citizenship by birth to those born to a U.S. citizen “with no exceptions.” The platform calls for the end of day-labor work centers and emphasizes border security, encouraging “all means … (to) immediately prevent illegal aliens.”

Of course, this was fully expected and it makes it tougher for Governor Rick Perry to garner Latino votes this November but more on that later.  Democrats can’t just sit on this and think the Latino votes are in their pockets just because they have been dissed in the GOP Platform.  It looks like both Perry and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett will be aggressively going after the Latino vote.

On chron.com this weekend was a take on Harris County Judge Ed Emmett’s appearance before the Lone Star State GOP Platform Committee meeting.  Here’s the piece.

County Judge Ed Emmett told a Republican Party of Texas platform committee this week that rounding up illegal immigrants and sending them back to their home countries is not a realistic or politically astute immigration policy.

"One of the things we have to do as a party is make sure that we don’t drive off Latino voters," Emmett said in a YouTube video recorded by Texas GOP Vote after his testimony and posted on its Web site.

Emmett campaign manager Ryan Walsh said Emmett favors a path to legalization for the millions of people living in the United States illegally, but that path begins with them returning to their home countries and going through legal U.S. immigration procedures.

"We need to have a long-term strategy for solving the immigration issue, and that long-term strategy includes those millions of people who are here and working and some of them have been here for generations, even though they were brought here illegally," Emmett said.

It looks like Judge Emmett wants to put some distance between his reelection campaign and his state party’s position on this issue that could potentially be a passionate factor within the Latino community in Harris County this November.   At some point in the near future, expect Judge Emmett to trot out an impressive list of local Latinos that are endorsing his candidacy.  His immigration reform position will make it easier for Latinos to stand with him.

Gilbert Garcia from the SA Express news penned this piece called “Perry’s Latino Strategy.”  Check it out: http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2010/06/perrys_latino_s.html.

Here it is:

It’s always been hard to resist the obvious parallels between Gov. Rick Perry and the man he succeeded: George W. Bush.

Both of them have cultivated folksy images, stressed simple messages, and found themselves repeatedly underestimated by political pundits.

Another key connection between the two came to the fore Friday morning at the GOP state convention. Perry, like Bush, has committed himself to breaking the Democratic Party’s grip on the state’s Latino voters.

At Friday’s Hispanic Leadership breakfast, Perry campaign manager Rob Johnson trumpeted a Baselice & Associates poll of 411 Texas Hispanics, commissioned by the Perry campaign and conducted May 15-28. Johnson said the poll found that the number-one issue for Texas Hispanics is "strengthening our state’s economy and creating more jobs," two cornerstones of every Perry stump speech.

Johnson noted that Perry drew 35 percent of the Latino vote in 2002 against a Latino opponent, Tony Sanchez. He said 30 percent of the Latino vote signals a likely win for Republicans; 35 percent should yield a comfortable victory; 40 percent, he said, "changes the dynamics of Texas politics for a generation."

Alejandro Garcia, press secretary for the Perry campaign, said Perry’s organization would ramp up its Hispanic outreach efforts this year, using bilingual social media, Hispanic Perry supporters serving as "surrogate speakers" in their communities, and the marketing efforts of Austin-based advertising agency, Latin Works.

Manny Flores, the firm’s CEO, is essentially a new-generation Lionel Sosa, helping corporate giants – and Republican politicians – build a cultural bridge to the Latino community.
Garcia said Perry was not "tailoring his message" to Latinos, but simply trying to make sure they heard his message.

For his part, Perry told the breakfast audience that his party and the Latino community have "shared military backgrounds," and described Latinos as "people who understand the meaning of the church."

In a twist on a famous Ronald Reagan line that Hispanics are Republicans, but they don’t know it yet, Perry concluded: "This is the home of the Hispanic in America: The Republican Party."

Commentary is impressed with the Perry campaign move to bring in Latin Works.  I really don’t know much about their experience working in political campaigns but they certainly have a successful history of marketing and advertising in the state’s Latino community.   This signals that the Perry campaign is going to invest some serious dollars trying to get a significant share of the Latino vote.  This is substantiated by a Perry Latino staffer saying they were going to make sure that their message was heard by the Latino community.  In campaign speak – they have them a Latino budget.

It also means that in all likelihood Latin Works will have a creative and production budget to develop TV and radio ads as well as slick mailers.  It won’t be the same old deal of just translating the English speaking ads and doing a Spanish language voice over.  Perry’s campaign is deadly serious about getting a chunk of the state’s Latino vote.  They are going to take a sophisticated approach and it is going to be interesting to see how the Democrats counter.

You have to figure that when it comes to the Latino vote, Judge Emmett is certainly not going to hunker down.   Knowing Judge Emmett, he’s never been known as an immigrant basher and he’s smart enough to know that he has to have Latino votes if he wants to stick around.

You have to hand it to both Perry and Judge Emmett to being aggressive when it comes to the Latino vote.   Of course, they have to be aggressive to counter their own party’s anti-immigrant incendiary platform language.    

The Lone Star State Democrats better have more in store other than holding press conferences and handing out talking points  on the GOP immigrant bashing….to be continued!

‘Stros players Kevin Cash, Hunter Pence, and Numero 45 had dingers in New Yankee Stadium this past weekend joining three ‘Stros that had dingers in Old Yankee Stadium in 2003.  Who were the three in 2003?

If you tuned in to the World Cup this past weekend you learned about the existence of “vuvuzelas.”  Commentary watched a little of El Tri Friday and the U.S. of A. on Saturday and was wondering what that constant buzzing background noise was.  It turns out the buzz is generated by nonstop blowing by folks into some plastic horn gizmos called “vuvuzelas.”

The Texas House of Representatives’ Higher Education Committee is going to hold a hearing Wednesday to find out what is going on with UT, A&M, and Texas Tech football plans.  I don’t know why they have to have hearings if you ask me.  They just ought to go read the sports page.

B-G-O, Morgan Ensberg, and The Big Puma of course had dingers in Old Yankee Stadium in 2003.

The ‘Stros got overwhelmed at New Yankee Stadium this past weekend as most of our pitching collapsed.  They kicked our arse pretty good.   We looked intimidated.   We didn’t look like we belonged on the same field if you ask me.

###

Technorati Tags: Latino politics,latino vote,GOP,democrats,republicans,baseball,sa express. houston chronicle

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Phantom Opinions And A Vote For Yolanda

Somebody called “Eye on City Hall” sent out a take yesterday on the H-Town City Council District H Special Election and the upcoming Mayoral race. The problem is “Eye” doesn’t let us know who she/he is? They are chicken – cluck, cluck, cluck. If you are going to put out an opinion, have the guts and courage to put your name out there and don’t do it anonymously. If you put your name where your mouth is, then we all get to see if you have an agenda, a conflict – you get the picture. I’m discounting everything “Eye” says until “Eye” eye-dentifies himself/herself.

Of all the takes that have been put out on District H, nobody has really offered an opinion on what to expect – interesting. One thing is for certain about tomorrow, the polls will be open from 7 to 7 and some voters will be a little perturbed when they find out polling locations have been combined. Vote for Yolanda Navarro Flores and stay tuned!

H-Town Mayoral candidate and City Controller didn’t take Bill King’s piece on city finances sitting down. Here is a part of what Annise wrote to the Chron: “Bill King’s attack on Mayor Bill White’s budget is all wet. If King had the foresight on a sunny day to buy an umbrella, would he leave it sitting in his closet when it rains? Thank goodness our current city leaders had the foresight to build up a surplus when times were good.” Take that!

Commentary is going to nominate The Dean to be the official spokesperson of the Lone Star State. Every time we need to fix the perception the rest of the U.S. of A. have about us, we can just stick The Dean in front of a TV camera and let it roll. CNN has been running stories about the law enforcement officials in the East Texas burg of Tenaha ripping off folks of color. It is some sort of red neck rip off scheme with a badge attached. The Dean was on live CNN yesterday afternoon explaining how we are going to hold some folks accountable. As usual, The Dean did a good job and didn’t make us look like a bunch of dumbarse secessionists. Way to go Dean!

ManRoid won’t appeal his 50 game suspension and apollyized to Dodger Blue fans. He also pointed out that in the past few years he had passed 15 drugs tests. I think it was more like he got away 15 times. Supposedly he tested positive for something called HCG which among other things is used to “treat delayed puberty in boys” – makes sense to me. Those two Red Sox World Serious Championships don’t look too pristine to me.

Here is what The Big Pujma said:  "It wouldn’t surprise me if he was on steroids, it’s sad to say, but that’s the way I feel about it.  I think that anybody that makes the game look clownish is under suspicion because it’s just not that easy. It’s unfortunate that here we go again with another round of steroid questions.”

We’re not a good team right now. Cecil Puede is making too many excuses. The Big Puma is hanging around the interstate highway. A few players are dinged up. The Hampton/Ortiz experiment is not producing much. Let’s see what we can muster up against the Padres this weekend.

Technorati Tags: Latino politics,politics,Houston City Council,Texas Latino Politics,2010 Census,Houston Astros,Campos Communications,Houston Area Latino Summit,Marc Campos,Immigration,Houston City Council election,Houston District H City Council Election

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Thoughts From A District H Voter

Commentary snagged this from Woodland Heights resident Cathy Courtney who is a voter in District H. Of course everyone should know by now that Yolanda Navarro Flores is a Commentary client:

“Subject: Important Message From MPH, Cathy Courtney

“Remember to vote in Election this week to replace City Council Rep Adrian Garcia.

“You may share my opinion with your friends in our district & encourage folks to VOTE in this tight, small numbers race.

“As you know, I’m a long time health worker, Christian, educator & frequently involved in electoral & issue campaigns. Since 8/86, I’ve been a voter registrar, precinct delegate, convention secretary, poll worker, & Pct Judge, and active in our community. Some neighbors have asked for my perspective on this election. My research completed on (CoH) Council candidates, I provide you some personal, independent, albeit values laden opinions:). Let me know what you think…

Fortunately we have many qualified candidates to choose from so it’s been a tougher decision….

“1. Yolanda Navarro-Flores is the only candidate previously elected to public office. A former radio & TV broadcaster, she’s a good presenter & as a lawyer, used to dealing with mediation & complicated laws. I worked on her District148 campaign; she won as our House Representative & honed her legislative skills during the 93-95 term. Yolanda’s a smart Hispanic woman, progressive Catholic, Mom, Grandmother, with generations of family in the district. (Lindale resident). The only woman running, Yolanda’s a Cancer survivor who’s a fighter and knows the med care issues of women & children & the health insurance system mess. For the past 7 yrs, her elected service and work (unpaid) on HCC Board of Trustees has benefited even our district (e.g. the NE HCC campus is credited to her persuasive persistence & accounting abilities); helped REDUCE property taxes for the 1st time in HCC history. Better able to interpret Chapter 42 of the Code of Ordinances (all that street paving, concrete & bungalow vs developers stuff) than other candidates. Marc Campos (campaign mngr) and later Yolanda answered all my questions. She knows the ins & outs of budgeting & insurance options.  http://yolanda4citycouncil.com/about/about.htm  Volunteering w/Health Care For All Texas (www.hcfat.org)

local, state & national coalitions, we’re educating at group meetings & individuals to win public org endorsements & constituent support for "Single Payer" health plan. We’re gathering DATA to document how HR676 will significantly lower the cost of health expenditures for the City of Houston (CoH). Council will be asked to make a RESOLUTION supporting HR676, recommending a YES vote to our Congress reps & Yolanda has commited to support the resolution. 

Yolanda is the BEST CHOICE to hit the ground running representing our district, no learning curve and I believe her skills will best help our district at this time.

“2. Maverick Welsh has been a smart, caring 18+ yrs teacher at Reagan up til 07, then working for Peter Brown & rose to Chief of Staff, until January09 when he resigned to run for this office. Maverick’s served in Proctor Plaza neighborhood work projects, Norhill historic district & is good advocate for saving our bungalows (SOB endorsement); http://www.shadyacres.org/index.php?page=74;wap2 No children or other job responsibilities he’d be a hard worker probly full-time. He’s a decent writer (altho somebody on his campaign team missed spelling & grammar errors in his campaign mailouts).  The GLBT door-to-door volunteer was keen & knowledgeable about his candidate. Campaign mngr, John Gorczynski is Judge, JP, Dale’s son. JohnG knew all Maverick’s positions on the issues. Maverick advocates for comprehensive health reform, supports a single payer financing plan and would endorse a Council resolution recommending support of HR 676 to our Congress reps. Karen Derr (real estate diva but 1st time in politics, who forgot to file on time for Council race), will run AT-large next time, so many of her supporters have switched to Maverick and want to see him finish out ex-Council rep Adrian Garcia’s term. 2nd choice if run-off election. http://maverickwelsh.com/

“3.  I have NOT seen Ed Gonzalez at meetings, demonstrations, Dem fundraisers, parties or neighborhood events in over 20 yrs. He may be a good HPD officer (& friends with Adrian Garcia) but crime issues seem the extent of his politics. He’s lived outside the District until a few years ago. It concerns me that Ed voted in Republican primaries well into the Bush years. [My friend in 1st ward said he did participate in business & community mtgs.] It bothers me that his top supporters are developers, insurance companies, big $ contributors & "traditional" politicos. He or staff have NOT responded to my questions at office or phone. I worry about his personal behaviors & political loyalties, and hidden values conflicting with our district. http://www.edforh.com/

“4. Gonzalo Camancho is an engineer, expert/gung ho transportation & traffic issues, has published articles.  Gonzalo is smart but I don’t respect him that as a Bolivian native, getting educated & living in the US for 30 years, he didn’t become a citizen until 2002 & then in 03 jumped into a CityCouncil face & obviously has a big time infrastructure agenda, like pushing a I-45 tunnel/parkway, which of course his company could assist building… http://votecamachotunnel.com/ Too one issue a candidate for me.

“5. Lupe Garcia came from a poor family, great American success story growing up in our District, family roots, HPD stint & Border Patrol stint to small business owner (auto repairs). However his lack of political experience is problematic to me and his big issues are property issues and reducing taxes, he doesn’t know enough about the huge City system, public funding etc. http://www.garciaforcitycouncil.com/

“ 6. Rick Rodriquez, a baseball player turned HPD officer since 1986, seems too one issue focused on CRIME. He at least lives in Lindale & his kids go to Travis Elem, but he’s reeaalll new to politics… & no public service experience, $$, etc Needs to pay his dues in the community & political arena a little more. another race, another time… http://rickrodriguez09.org/bio

“7. Hugo Mojica has been a staff for US rep Gene Green, Council members Gabriel Vasquez & Michael Berry. He works for Brilliant Lectures, a nonprofit org, active in some community org & St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church. It sounds like to me that he’ll continue to make a better STAFFER than leadership for our council www.hugomojica.com/0/1358466/0/34487/

“8. Larry Williams Independence Hts resident, was a teacher & later founded of the New Covenant Baptist Church where he has served as Pastor for 13+ years.  Larry’s was a candidate for Council in 05 & got 22% of the vote compared to Adrian Garcia.  I like it that Larry serves as Pct judge, is a community activist (like me) but not everybody’s who an activist can overcome the learning curve. The grind of council biz is probably not really his thing. http://williams4citycouncil.com/meet_larry.htm

“ 9. I don’t feel like writing about James Partsch-Galvan, the Ron Paul, libertarian perennial candidate. too weird for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1dAkeT7o10&feature=related; or http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-FuIZgeI8er9o1ao_e5ywbDB43A–?cq=1

“According to Charles Kuffner (offthekuff.com blogger/writer)… There was a lot of agreement at the Shady Acres neighborhood forum…partly because the candidates are not too far apart in outlook and ideology. The broad range of backgrounds and experiences among the candidates include cops, lawyers, teachers, civil engineers, and business owners – and it’s clear they have different priorities and approaches. …There wasn’t that much dissonance among them. I assume that will change for the runoff, at least to some extent, but for now things were very civil and pleasant."…

“Reports from the Shady Acres forum with these candidates can be viewed here

http://www.shadyacres.org/index.php?page=75  http://www.shadyacres.org/index.php?page=68

“Too few folks have early voted (n=830). Voting on Saturday 5/9 is deadline. Our Council rep can get things fixed for us and make a difference in the quality of life in our community. I urge you to further assess these District H candidates and GET OUT TO VOTE.

“Sincerely

Cathy C. Courtney, MPH

Woodland Heights”

Thank you Cathy.

Speaking of District H, Commentary has to give the Lupe Garcia his due for a photo of him in a small publication holding up a cardboard sign that says “will work for the city.” I wonder if he was on a street corner.

Speaking of, my good friend Bill King who has done a lot of research and reading on the finances of the City of H-Town has the following piece in today’s Chron. Check it out.

The Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will be holding a discussion this evening on city council redistricting at 5:30 pm, 1801 Main on the Penthouse Floor. My good buddy Edgar will be moderating tonight’s event so check it out.

Commentary snagged foul ball number 4 last night. I actually thought this one would end up in the display case but Michelle from Rolle Alloys, an oil drilling services company, was sitting next to me and asked me for it – drats. She’s in town for the OTC Convention and it was her first time to The Yard. We got run last night after falling behind 4 zip in the first so let’s see if we can at least get a split with the Cubbies this evening.

Technorati Tags: Latino politics,politics,Houston City Council,Texas Latino Politics,2010 Census,Houston Astros,Campos Communications,Houston Area Latino Summit,Marc Campos,Immigration,Houston City Council election,Houston District H City Council Election

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No Vacancy Fellas

Now that The President gets to make a Supreme Appointment, White Males probably need not apply. National Latino leaders and organizations are mobilizing right now trying to get the first Latino/Latina appointed to the Supreme Bench. Women’s organizations will also be making the push for a female appointment. Sorry White Dudes, no se puede this time.

H-Town Council Member Toni Lawrence created a bit of a stir that has the potential to go national when she commented at this week’s Council meeting on the child that died of the H1M1 bug the other day at the Medical Center. She’s probably thinking right now that she should not have said anything. The Chron has two articles on her comments. Check them out:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6402327.html And: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/6402170.html. 

Here’s a statement that H-Town CM James Rodriguez is putting out this morning on the remarks:

“During our City Council meeting this week, my colleague, Council Member Toni Lawrence made reference to the 23 month old child who died of Swine Flu in a local hospital. She emphasized that ‘The child was not a United States citizen’ and added that ‘we need to do things for Houston and not for anybody else.’  Consequently, those comments have negatively alarmed many residents throughout the city.

“Now is not the time for rhetoric that could potentially have a negative impact on public health.  Now is not the time to inject a person’s immigration status in this very critical issue.  If an individual is showing symptoms, we want them to seek immediate medical treatment without fear of being questioned of their status. If we do not alleviate these concerns quickly, people will not seek treatment.  Unfortunately, they will not restrict their contact with neighbors either.  At this time, the treatment of all cases is more imperative than any discussion on immigration status. 

“I want to urge everyone, regardless of their background, to see their physician if they feel ill.  If they do not have a physician, they can visit a Federally Qualified Health Clinic, such as El Centro de Corazon, which has clinics at 412 Telephone and 7037 Capitol.

“My deepest condolences go out to the family of the deceased child.”

Nice job James.

CM Lawrence’s remarks have the potential of driving paperless folks further away from the system.  They may be fearful of going to a local clinic if they feel a little woozy, but they’ll stand there next to you and me at the local Fiesta loading up on milk, bread, hamburger meat, and Corn Flakes.  It also has a decidedly negative impact when trying to get these folks to participate in next year’s Census.

Speaking of, don’t forget to attend tomorrow’s H-Town Census 2010 Meeting at 1 pm at the George R. Brown Convention Center.  This is an important gathering for sure.

After four days of Early Voting in the H-Town City Council District H Election, 29 Downtown voters, 265 at Moody Park, and 52 at Ripley House.

Congrats go the Rockets for advancing.

‘Stros closer Joe Green Valley is still out for a while. The Big Puma is batting a buck sixty-two.  We go with Hampton, Roy O, and Wandy this weekend in the ATL so I feel OK about things.

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