Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Judging Judges

by

The 85th Legislature passed Senate Bill 1893, which was signed by Governor Abbott on June 15, 2017. This legislation creates the tenth and eleventh administrative judicial regions. The eleventh administrative judicial region is now composed of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Matagorda, and Wharton counties. Prior to this legislation, these counties were represented by Olen Underwood, presiding judge of the second administrative judicial region.

The Governor appoints a presiding judge to each of the now eleven judicial regions. These judges serve a four-year term. The presiding judge:

  • promulgates and implements regional rules of administration;
  • advises local judges on judicial management;
  • recommends changes to the Supreme Court for the improvement of judicial administration; and
  • acts for local administrative judges in their absence.

Very importantly, presiding judges have the authority to assign visiting judges. In August 2017, 29 separate visiting judge assignments were permitted in Harris County. This list includes Belinda Hill and Brock Thomas. Hill served as the First Assistant District Attorney for Mike and Devon Anderson and supported the decision to jail a sexual assault victim. After nine years at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Thomas, son of former Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas, was appointed to serve as judge of the 338th District Court. Thomas lost reelection in 2008 and started a law firm with Devon Anderson. Thomas won election to the 338th in 2012 and again lost reelection in 2016.

Hill and Thomas Summer Assignments

Hill
228th District Court (for Marc Carter) August 21
Criminal District Courts August 7
232nd District Court (vacant) July 31
180th District Court (for Catherine Evans) July 24
185th District Court (for Susan Brown) July 10
Criminal District Courts June 26
262nd District Court (for Denise Bradley) June 12
Criminal District Courts June 5
Thomas
185th District Court (for Susan Brown) August 2
185th District Court (for Susan Brown) July 5
185th District Court (for Susan Brown) June 7

Also, alarmingly, Marc Brown, aka Mr. Susan Brown, served as a visiting judge in the 180th District Court on July 31, 2017 and September 6, 2016. Why is a current, sitting appellate justice serving as a visiting judge in a trial court?

As you can see, the powers of the presiding judge are significant. Guess who has applied to serve as presiding judge of the newly created eleventh administrative judicial region? None other than Susan Brown – the judge who allowed her grand jury to be used for an unlawful purpose. If Governor Abbott choses to appoint Susan Brown to this position, he would send a terrible message to Texans.

Brown does not have the temperament for this position. Remember when she held a woman in contempt after the woman said, “Thank you, Jesus!” after her husband was acquitted?

Abbott must remember the 185th Grand Jury and the fact that this grand jury was misused for a political purpose. Some folks may have forgotten that Marc Brown actually appeared before this grand jury. A group of folks worked together to get rid of District Attorney Pat Lykos. They couldn’t do it legitimately, so they created a fake controversy and used Susan Brown’s grand jury to generate deceitful headlines.

Brown, et al. has led the justice system in Harris County down the wrong path. After the 185th runaway grand jury episode, the criminal district court judges got together and elected Susan Brown to serve as the administrative judge of the criminal division. Think about that a minute. Brown’s grand jury is used for an unlawful purpose and then her fellow judges nominate her to serve as their representative. Under Brown’s leadership, the judges decided to hide the identities of their grand jurors. More importantly, in her leadership role Brown supported not releasing the Planned Parenthood grand jurors.

They plan to use United States District Judge Lee Rosenthal’s bond ruling to put the democrats on trial during the gubernatorial election season. The truth is that Brown and friends are on the wrong side of this decision. Instead of taking action to repair the broken bail system, Brown, et al. allowed this decision to be made. If they had made appropriate decisions, the issue would not have been ripe.

For many years, the Browns and friends have gotten by with these misdeeds, but the line must be drawn right now. Contact Governor Abbott right now to let him know that Susan Brown and any character from the old guard.

Governor Abbott’s Appointments Office

512.463.1828

Gaby Fuentes, Governor Abbott’s Appointments Director

512.463.1828

[email protected]

Let the Investigations Begin

by

Link to the Council Meeting-Looking for the Press Conference that followed:

The Sylvester Turner back slapping, self-congratulatory tour continued yesterday at the special meeting of the Houston city council. Before the meeting began, I noticed the presence of Turner’s crooked contractor friends in the audience. And, and of course, Stephen Costello, father of the rain tax, was present. I did not see Karun Sreerama, Sylvester’s former public works director, who was forced out in disgrace after it was revealed that he bribed Houston Community College Trustee Chris Oliver. After snitching on Oliver, Karun is probably persona non grata at these events. This group isn’t really fond of snitches.

In the midst of evacuations and rescues, the meeting began after 9 a.m. Councilmembers Travis and Martin were not present as they tried to help their districts in this tragedy. The true purpose of this meeting was for councilmembers to praise Turner’s handling of Harvey relief efforts. Turner allowed each councilmember to tell stories of Turner’s good works. Turner’s audience was Senator Ted Cruz and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee because Turner wants them to bring home the bacon for the crooked contractors.

Turner called on Police Chief Acevedo and Fire Chief Pena to tell Cruz and Lee about their good works. Both men represent unions who have put in a lot of overtime and the mayor wants federal reimbursement for services rendered.

When I entered the GRB yesterday, I was patted down by some nice officers. I left my knife and .40 at home because I knew that my second amendment rights would be infringed upon entry into this special meeting. I have actually been carrying my 10 mm through most of the storm – for varmints and such.

Turner, et al. treated Senator Cruz like a king (even though they usually think of him as a pariah). The CongressWOMAAAAAAN sat next to Cruz and served as a character witness for Turner and his friends. Then, SheJack hugged Cruz. Hopefully, Cruz sees through this bologna.

Throughout the meeting, there was a lot of lip service about bipartisanship. Cruz, facing reelection next year, is being pressured by SheJack and Turner to deliver on billions in federal funding, which Turner will make certain is doled out to his friends. Very nauseating.

I did not have the opportunity speak with Senator Cruz because Turner whisked him away and out the back very quickly, but I did tell Cruz’s aide, Jessica Hart, that Turner’s charade was a smoke and mirror show.

Stephen Costello entered the room and visited with Tommy Moss, chief of staff for Greg Travis (and previously employed by former councilmember Oliver Pennington, a big Renew Houston aka rain tax supporter). This is the same Costello who went on a road show with Annise Parker to pitch Renew Houston to Houstonians as a project to prevent flooding. Clearly, this is one of the largest frauds perpetrated on any community.

Link to the Mayor’s Press Conference-fast forward to 29:30 and listen to his answer about where “Rain Tax” went. 

Big Jolly Politics readers know that I spent many years asking for Costello’s city contracts. Costello’s engineering company, Costello Engineering and Surveying, has sought city and county contracts for many years. Costello was elected to city council in 2009 and ran for mayor in 2015. Turner subsequently appointed Costello as the city’s “chief resilience officer.” An appropriate BS title. During the meeting, Turner called on Costello to recite his talking points and praise the public works department (sans Karun) for saving the North Houston water plant.

After the city council meeting, Turner held a lengthy press conference. Meanwhile, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office was recovering the Saldivar family from their van that plunged into Greens Bayou. And active rescues were ongoing throughout the county. But, Turner thought that his pomp and circumstance was more important.

As a valued member of the local press corps (ask David Jennings), I had the opportunity to ask a question about Renew Houston. I asked the mayor what had happened to the $800 million collected under the rain tax. Even though the courts have invalidated the rain tax vote, the city continues to collect this tax. Turner responded that this money was being used for road improvements. Really? If you drive our city streets, you know that can’t be true.

The truth is that rain tax funds were used to pay the salaries of public works employees instead of flood project improvements. The city has never accounted for the rain tax funds. Judson Bryant, president of the Downtown Pachyderm, has been asking for these records for many years.

Federal public corruption investigators should move to Houston for the duration because Turner, et al. will need to be watched very closely. Just a few months ago, Turner’s (former) public works director was wearing a wire and the offices of Dannenbaum Engineering were raided by the FBI.

The answer to all of these concerns is to have the federal government serve as the general contractor. Turner and friends cannot be trusted with the public largesse based on past history.

The Republican congressional delegation needs to form a panel or commission to oversee the implementation of all federal funds. The Democrats will try every way they can to distribute funds to their friends and contributors. Houstonians deserve better.

Ray Nagin, the former mayor of New Orleans, can explain this to everyone. In February 2014, Nagin was convicted on 20 of 21 counts of bribery, fraud, and money laundering in connection with a kickback scheme involving city contractors. Contact Nagin, now federal inmate number 32751-034, at the federal prison in Texarkana.

Houston City Council to Meet in the GRB

by

The regularly scheduled Wednesday 9:00 a.m. Houston City Council meeting will be held in the George R. Brown Convention Center. Today, I drove past city hall and city workers appear to be pumping water out of the building. I can only imagine what the basement, parking garage, and ground floor look like post Harvey. I will attend tomorrow morning’s meeting at the GRB with several friends.

Houston has suffered a horrible blow. I am heartbroken as I look at the city where I was born and raised. I started the day delivering supplies to the GRB and helped secure food for some in the law enforcement community working really long hours. Many officers are staying in downtown hotels because they could not make it home to their families. Please hold Sergeant Perez’s family in your thoughts and prayers. He died as he attempted to report for duty while traveling from his home.

Big Jolly has written at length on the flooding issues over the years. This includes Stephen Costello’s rain tax, which has been much discussed here on this blog. I never supported this tax and often criticized the campaign as disingenuous and misleading.  The courts have agreed with me and have ruled the language misleading.

We have had lots of floods since the rain tax was implemented. Memorial Day, Tax Day, and now Harvey. The good folks of Meyerland have suffered greatly. They are not alone. There has never been an accounting of the hundreds of millions of dollars collected by Costello and Annise Parker’s rain tax and I intend to get one. We have asked many times with no answers.

Remember this guy . . .

Costello, rain tax author, is now Sylvester Turner’s spokesperson and expert on flooding issues in the city. Sylvester may want to rethink this appointment.

Further reading on flooding

Renew Houston-Prop1, and the Politics of Flooding

Downtown Houston Pachyderm Rebuild Houston guest tries to sell ice to Eskimos

Stephen Costello, the Flood Czar

Catherine Engelbrecht, the Downtown Pachyderm

by

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

Mark Twain

Catherine Engelbrecht visited the Downtown Pachyderm last week to give the hometown crowd an update on what was going on in her world. Let me just start by saying that Catherine looked and sounded great. I say this because her trials and tribulations have been well documented. Catherine’s story is important and I wanted to share her update with Big Jolly Politics readers.

Catherine spoke about the humble beginnings of True the Vote and the King Street Patriots. True the Vote was formed to ensure election integrity and filed for 501(c)(3) status in July 2010. True the Vote began as one of many projects for the King Street Patriots. King Street Patriots was created as an umbrella organization to support and defend American exceptionalism, constitutional governance, and civic duty and filed for 501(c)(4) status in July 2010.

King Street’s original location, in the parking lot of the old Northwest Mall, was always full of like-minded folks who wanted nothing more than functioning, effective, honest, and limited government. If you were running for office in 2010 and did not show up here, you likely lost in Harris County. It was the place to be. This was the hallmark of the Tea Party movement that swept over Houston and the United States.

The Tea Party movement is still very misunderstood. The progressive left always mischaracterized the movement for political purposes. Today, the movement is alive and well and Donald Trump certainly tapped into the movement’s core message. Many Tea Party leaders have become targets of the political establishment, democrats, and the progressive left. Catherine certainly was one of their biggest targets.

It is a horror story how Catherine, her family, her business, King Street Patriots, and True the Vote was attacked by the IRS, ATF, OSHA, and the FBI. Do not think for a second that democrats do not weaponize all federal agencies to use against their opponents because they do. The power of the federal government is massive and, when used for unlawful purposes, can be devastating. It helps if you have money and skill to fight back.  There are so many federal laws, rules, and regulations, that any one of us can become a target (e.g., Dinesh D’Souza).

The Obama administration used every branch of the government to attack its enemies and Catherine is the prime example. Catherine has withstood a full on assault by the federal government: her family’s business was raided by the FBI and ATF; her taxes were audited repeatedly; OSHA compliance officers were inspecting every aspect of her family’s machine shop; and the list of King Street Patriot attendees were demanded by IRS officials. Catherine never wanted to believe that any of these federal agencies could be used in such a way and thought this was coincidental at first. Now she knows better. The government’s request for membership lists and social media contacts taught her otherwise.

The litigation has been relentless and expensive. Catherine is in court to this day with the IRS. It is always a David and Goliath story with this type of litigation. Catherine has sought the records of the government agencies colluding against her. Transparency is something government agencies always fight against and there is a lot to hide.

The integrity of our electoral process was the focus of True the Vote long before it was fashionable. The narrative pushed by the democrats is that the Russians stole our elections, but any Bernie Sanders supporter can explain in great detail how democrats steal elections. The 2016 democratic primary between Hillary and Bernie was the definition of election fraud.

It was great to see an old friend fighting the good fight. I have been worried because I have seen bits and pieces of her fight and know there have been ups and downs for her in the process. Catherine is a strong person and I would take her to any fight. Catherine can use your support and here is a link if you would like to help with her expenses. I am going to send her some money and encourage you to do the same. Any amount will help! Litigating with the Federal Government is costly. Catherine spoke about Senator Cornyn and his support and help with the IRS. Thank you Senator Cornyn for helping my friend!

Catherine is an honest woman who has been treated badly, very badly, by our government. Her fight is our fight and for all those patriots who seek to fill the gap against tyranny. Catherine honors all freedom loving patriots through her deeds and action. I wanted her to know that her suffering is not unrecognized by her friends and neighbors in Houston and what she went through strengthened all of our resolve to win the day for justice, righteousness, and freedom.

HCC Board Member Chris Oliver Indicted

by

Oliver Indictment

Houston Community College Board Trustee Christopher W. Oliver was indicted in the Southern District of Texas on March 9, 2017. In May, Oliver pleaded guilty to count 2 of the indictment. This is arguably the most important public corruption case in the Houston area since Commissioner Jerry Eversole admitted to lying to FBI agents in 2011. One interesting connection – both cases involve the ESPA Corporation.

Count 1 of the Oliver indictment contains a weird reference to K.S. – a “victim” who paid Oliver over $77,000. People paying bribes are typically not referred to as victims; so, this is rather curious. Another interesting tidbit is the ESPA Corporation, formerly owned by Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee, was sold to a man by the name of Karun Sreerama a.k.a. K.S. Former Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole was also a paid employee of ESPA Corporation.

Sreerama serves on the boards of the Houston Downtown Management District, Houston Community College Foundation, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Houston, and the Indo American Political Action Committee of Greater Houston. All of these affiliations denote lots of money being handed out to politicians, probably for very little work. Think pay to play. In 2011, Mr. Sreerama’s company, ESPA, did a two million dollar facility study for HCC. Basically, he was paid two million dollars to determine whether another HCC campus should be built. The answer is clearly no because HCC cannot fill up the classrooms they have now.

Getting back to Mr. Oliver, realize that he pleaded guilty on May 15 in Judge Vanessa Gilmore’s court. This means that Mr. Oliver has been walking the free earth after pleading guilty to a federal felony bribery charge. Mr. Oliver has been attending HCC board meetings and voting on board items after pleading guilty to bribery. HCC had a board meeting on May 25 and June 15. There was also a board retreat he presumably attended. You can bet your bottom dollar that he was wearing a wire. Looking at the board minutes, Vice Chairman Christopher Oliver voted on a number of issues.

Reading the minutes Oliver noted that he attended the HCC graduation and various community activities in his district. He left out a few important activities such as his arrest and his appearance before federal Judge Vanessa Gilmore where he pleaded guilty to federal felony bribery charges involving HCC. This will no doubt win him the adoration of his fellow board members. Were they aware of his arrest? Were they aware of his plea? Did Oliver tell Jarvis Hollingsworth, the board’s lawyer, about his arrest and plea? What board votes were taken following Oliver’s guilty plea?

Big Jolly politics knows of at least one high profile attorney representing a witness or target of this investigation – not Oliver. It should be noted that on March 17, Karun Sreerama was appointed to be the director of public works and engineering for the City of Houston. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, of course, found the best public works director in his orbit. It always depends on what you are looking for in a public works director.

Special Session and the Governorship

by

Competition is a good thing and when you have two conservatives vying to be governor, it could be really good. Abbott is described by one Texas lawmaker as scheduling a “conservative home run derby” with the announced special session. The winner will be conservatives all over Texas who have waited for years for such an opportunity. Governor Abbott is playing catch up with Republican primary voters and Abbott’s 20 item special session is his way of getting ahead of Dan Patrick. Two questions remain: (1) will it succeed and (2) will the mainstream media recognize the subtlety.

Democrats have wrongly accused Governor Abbott of becoming unhinged based on the content of his special session call. Democrats see Abbott’s conservative call as a liberal disaster. What they do not see is that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is planning to run against Abbott. Lt. Dan has been planning this since at least November 2016 when he and his political consultant Allen Blakemore openly discussed the opportunity at the Harris County Republican Party election night watch party. When all countywide republicans were defeated in one fell swoop in Harris County, Patrick saw opportunity.

Planning and success in politics requires opportunities, not unlike the business world. Darrell Royal once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Sports metaphors work in politics too.

When Dan Patrick wakes up in the morning, he sees the President of the United States in the mirror, not the Lieutenant Governor of Texas. Lt. Dan sees the Governor’s Mansion as his next step to the presidency. The governorship of Texas provides a very important fundraising platform. While only thirteen presidents served as governors, four of the six latest presidents were governors: Jimmy Carter (Georgia), Ronald Reagan (California), Bill Clinton (Arkansas), and George W. Bush (Texas).

Lt. Dan’s plan requires getting rid of Governor Abbott. Patrick’s team has already begun to portray Governor Abbott as a nice enough guy, but someone who is not moving the conservative agenda forward. If you are active in Republican circles you have heard Patrick’s “Abbott has failed to show leadership” narrative. Governor Abbott is behind because he actually believed Patrick when he said that he would not run against Abbott.

This plan is being executed on a number of fronts. The bathroom bill was nothing more than a ruse to put Lt. Dan to the right of the Governor, and to get back into the good graces of Steve Hotze. The quest is to win over Republican primary voters. This will confound the Texas media. Most of the media that covers statewide politics covers it from the prism of Austin. This is the last place this fight will occur. Conservative enclaves in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio are about to be wined and dined in a way we haven’t seen in quite some time. Lt. Dan has been on a statewide tour explaining his great leadership skills.

The orchestration of the death of the sunset bill was by design. This was done to bait Abbott into calling a special session and the Texas Freedom Caucus was used by Patrick to further his agenda. Don’t get me wrong, the Texas Freedom Caucus is a group of  liberty and freedom loving patriots who are all about smaller government, but they need to be careful of Lt. Dan as well. Watching Lt. Dan throw every Houston taxpayer under the bus on the pension bill should be a cautionary tale to all.

Before he killed the sunset bill, Lt. Dan had to wait until the pension bill (SB 2190) passed the house so his law enforcement union friends (e.g., HPOU) would continue to support him and line his pockets. Patrick has always closely aligned himself with this union, which handed out more money to legislators this session than Donald J. Trump trying to get a building built in Manhattan. I hope that Governor Abbott was smart enough to cut a deal of his own before he signed this horrific legislation. Once the pension bill passed, Abbott and Straus played into Patrick’s hands – now it will be a fight.

One winner in this fight: Texas conservatives. Strong conservative legislation makes folks choose sides. This will not be good for Straus and his Republican henchman. Republican primary voters are about to learn a lot about their state representatives. Speaker Straus and his liberal house leadership, including his democratic committee chairman, are about to be whipsawed in a way not seen in these parts in a long time. Straus is unlikely to survive and the heat of the July Texas special session summer will burn through until the Republican primary.

Governor Abbott finally woke up to realize that Patrick was putting him in a corner and Abbott is fighting back with his special session call. Folks forget that your opponent gets to throw punches too. It is great to see the governor fighting back and doing his best to prove his conservative bona fides. Again, conservatives for the win.

This game is probably over for now and (unfortunately) Lt. Dan will have an advantage in a 2018 Republican primary against Abbott. Remember, the goal is for Lt. Dan to be in position to primary Donald Trump in 2020 or step into his shoes if something should happen. I was reminded of Dan Patrick’s press conference to announce that he was not running for governor. I was also reminded that Kay Bailey Hutchison denied 18 times (six times on television) that she was running against Rick Perry before she did.

Competition is a good and the real winners here will be conservatives. We need more conservative competition for ideas in Texas and nationally, it is healthy for our Republic.