Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

The CongressWOMAAN pulls a fast one on Ted Poe

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Hard to believe that Ted Poe suddenly supports a boondoggle rail line down Richmond:

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, whose district shifted earlier this year to include portions of the area where the planned University Line would run along Richmond Avenue, said door-to-door canvassing by his staffers as well as phone and online responses demonstrate his constituents support the line.

In remarks Tuesday on the House floor, Poe said 604 respondents to a Facebook solicitation supported the rail line, compared to 340 opposed to it.

“We’re not saying it is scientific, but it does help let me know what people are thinking,” Poe said. “I believe the area I represent wants light rail.”

Are you kidding me? Poe supporting a billions in wasted spending because of a freaking Facebook poll? Holy exposure, Batman, there’s a rip in your leotards!

But even funnier is that those are not Poe’s constituents that voted in that poll! From Neal Meyer on Facebook:

Sheila Jackson Lee is urging her followers to hijack Congressman Poe’s Facebook survey to get Poe to cave in and approve federal funding for light rail on Richmond Avenue.

The link below has “the Queen’s” message to her supporters, and includes a link to Congressman’s Poe’s Facebook survey, which I posted in this forum last night.

If this project gets approved, it is highly likely that quite a large chunk of the tax dollars that get spent on the project are going to go towards contracts that employ labor unions – like the local electrician’s union, the pipe fitters, steel workers, and so on. During the 2003 Metro election, those unions contributed a big chunk of money towards the campaign to get these rail lines signed off on and the entire local Democratic Party was all for this. Those unions, in turn, are likely going to circulate some of those tax dollars from those contracts right back into the campaign war chests of the Democratic Party and / or Democrat candidates or office holders.

If you want to stop that from happening, find Congressman Poe’s survey and post “Option A” to prevent federal monies for rail on Richmond Avenue.

( http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/1201205/18ab81abcb/546085199/e17b9da043/ )

You know you’ve lost your mind when the CongressWOMAAN gets you to go up against John Culberson.

Good grief.

Dr. Martha Wong at the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club

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Dr. Martha Wong with candidate for judge of the 247th District Court John Schmude and helper Allie
Dr. Martha Wong with candidate for judge of the 247th District Court John Schmude and helper Allie

The Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club featured former State Rep. Dr. Martha Wong at their weekly meeting yesterday. Wong certainly did her part to keep the club’s reputation of having thought provoking speakers intact. Too bad that the leadership of the Harris County Republican Party wasn’t there, they might have learned something.

Wong’s presentation was in support of the recently formed Texas Asian Republican Assembly. She began with a few statistics to remind Republicans why we need to reach out to minority communities.

[table id=15 /]

[table id=16 /]

We’ve all heard that and seen it in one form or another. Wong emphasized the changing demographics by noting that if every single white person in America voted Republican in 2040, Republicans still could not win the presidency without convincing some minorities to vote with us. And we aren’t even close to having every single white person in America vote Republican.

Taking it specifically to Texas, she had these numbers:

[table id=17 /]

Note the increase in percent of population for Hispanics and Asians, and the decrease in percent of population for Whites and Blacks.

Turning specifically to the Asian vote, she pointed out that the highest percentage of Asians are in urban and college areas: Austin/Round Rock/San Marcos, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston/Sugarland, and Bryan/College Station. That emphasizes the relative youth of the Asian population.

Many people have the idea that Asians are traditional Republican voters. That might have been the case at one time but she gave us these statistics to show the turnaround from Republican to Democratic votes:

[table id=18 /]

Why are Asians moving to the Democratic Party? Wong reminded us of Rush Limbaugh mocking the Obama campaign’s targeted commercials and involvement in specific demographic communities but said that those appeals directly to the communities worked. We many not like the concept of targeting different groups but it appeals to those groups.

She did offer a bit of optimism at the national level, telling us that RNC Chair Reince Priebus has hired two Asians at  the national level and funded the hiring of an Asian working for the Republican Party of Texas. And she also mentioned the support of RPT Chair Steve Munisteri and his help in forming the Texas Asian Republican Assembly.

After explaining the problem, she talked a bit about what the TARA is doing. They are taking advantage of the existing Asian media outlets both with paid advertising and by submitting stories about Republicans and Republican elected officials. They are also reaching out to Asian ministers, advising them on what they can and cannot do in the political arena without losing their tax-exempt status. And lastly, they are providing speakers to Asian organizations, Rotary Clubs, Chambers of Commerce, etc.

And then it was time for the old “what can you do to help?”. Interestingly, Wong didn’t beg for money, focusing instead on personal relationships. Everyone has an Asian friend, neighbor, co-worker, or acquaintance. Send those names to the group and the group will begin compiling a database and contacting them directly. She said it was especially important for elected officials to make their presence known at various Asian events and meetings.

Wong stated flat out that elected officials have been the biggest hurdle she has faced. She told an anecdotal story about Democrat Congressman Al Green attending a meeting and literally taking over the podium and inviting all Democrats in the room join him on stage. Green has two staffers that ensure that his presence is at every meeting of the Asian community even if he cannot attend and they always bring official proclamations from Green.

Wong said that she cannot get cooperation from Republicans to do the same. She specifically called out Rep. John Culberson, saying that she has tried to get him interested hundreds of times but he refuses to engage with the Asian community. Pretty sad if that is true.

If you are an elected official, Wong’s group will even provide people to go and stand in for you, for free, IF you ask. But you have to ask.

All in all, it was a good meeting, even if sobering. I said earlier that no one from the HCRP leadership was in attendance but that isn’t quite true – no one from Jared Woodfill’s staff was there. Bonnie Lugo, State Republican Executive Committee rep for Senate District 13 was there, along with a few precinct chairs. Wong also gave a specific shout out to SREC rep for SD17 Tina Gibson for her help in forming the Texas Asian Republican Assembly. Tina’s husband Mike is chair of the Fort Bend County Republican Party. The Harris County Republican Party doesn’t have to go far to see a growing county party.

Sarah Davis, Jared Woodfill, and the sad state of the Harris County Republican Party

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If you didn’t believe me before when I told you that the Harris County Republican Party was in sad shape, the email that Chairman Jared Woodfill sent out blasting State Rep. Sarah Davis should clue you in.

First off, let’s get this out of the way: Sarah is a pro-choice Republican. She hasn’t shied away from her view as many other pro-choice Republicans have. Jared is anti-abortion, as are most Republicans.

So from the start we have an issue on which two people disagree. But as I keep getting reminded every time I mention abortion or even “social issues”, abortion is not an issue on which people can disagree respectfully inside the Republican Party. Thus sets the playing field.

Rep. Sarah Davis

On July 20th, an op-ed written by Sarah appeared in the Houston Chronicle. I presume that the purpose of the op-ed was to inform people of why she voted the way she did. However, the substance and tone of the op-ed was closer to an attack on all Republicans than it was a defense of her position. And that is a problem. Here is one reader’s description of the op-ed:

 

Well, she should be able to be herself without needing to sanctimoniously affect a superior stance to all others who vote differently. She attacked the entire R delegation of the entire Legislature saying only she votes truly. Silly, pompous , self-important, and rash.

That particular reader happens to be very close to a member of the legislature. So I called a couple of state reps and one state senator to get their views and they took the same position, that being that Sarah was grandstanding for her district at the expense of all other Republicans in the Legislature.

Jared Woodfill
Jared Woodfill

I suspect this view is the reason that Jared Woodfill sent out his email blast denouncing Sarah. Another view is that he was playing to his base because he is going to face a significant challenge of his own next year. Or that one of the powerful consultants in the party has a candidate that is going to challenge Sarah in the primary next year and that Jared was getting the ball rolling against her. Yet another view is that Jared is going to run against Sarah in the primary.

The only legitimate reason for Jared to send such an email would be pressure from other elected officials. And that would be a proper role for the chair of the party. If he had stuck to the issue at hand and not attacked Sarah, that is. Two wrongs don’t make a right and instead they simply amplify the problems that Jared has in running the county party.

Although I disagree with Sarah on the issue of abortion, what Jared said about her is false and slanderous. It is a sad day when people cannot have a sane discussion on any issue without resorting to name calling. Sarah is not “anti-life”. To call her “anti-life” dismisses her volunteer work at “The Rose”, her volunteer work at “The Pink Ribbons Project”, her volunteer work for the American Cancer Society, and her pro-bono work for poor and indigent women and children.

If you get past the attacks and sanctimonious, self-important tone of her op-ed, you’ll find well a well reasoned defense of her position. My guess is that most readers saw the title ascribed to the op-ed by Chronicle editors and were blinded to her substantive arguments. I expect that if Sarah had to do it all over again, she would let a few people on the opposite side of her view read it first – that would probably have removed most of the perceived attacks and perhaps the sanctimonious tone. And further, I’ll bet that the next time she submits an op-ed to the Chronicle or anywhere else, she makes certain that she gets to write the title.

As for Jared, well, like I said, it was perfectly legitimate for him to defend other legislators and the party platform. I hope that was the reason behind his email. I’m sure his base liked it as well. But the rest of us in Harris County have to be concerned with the level and tone of his attack on Sarah. Rather than use his missive to pull the party together, he widened the fissure and alienated a large group of potential Republican voters. 2014 is going to be a rough year for Harris County Republicans if we continue down this path and don’t turn this ship around.

Dirt starts flying in the Harris County District Clerk's race

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I told you earlier that this was going to be a nasty race but even I didn’t expect mailers to go out six months before the filing deadline. A reader contacted me after receiving this attack on Chris Daniel:

Click here if the viewer doesn’t open:

Completely illegal because there is no identification on it as to who paid for it but hey, who cares? And that is the big question: who sent this and who does it benefit?

The easy answer is that Daniel’s announced candidate, Court Koenning, sent it out because it “hurts” Daniel. Well, maybe. I talked to Court about it and he was unaware of it and denied any participation in it. I also spoke with one of his campaign staffers, who also said that he was unaware of it and denied participation in it. And you know what? I believe them. You’ll have to decide for yourself and yes, I admit that I can occasionally be snookered but both Court and his staffer seemed genuinely surprised by it.

Plus, it really doesn’t benefit Court if you think about it for a minute. I mean, an ethics complaint on a technical detail is very common despite the claim of the anonymous sender. And the fine of $500 is routine as well. Add in that the letter was sent to Daniel’s supporters and it just doesn’t make sense because no one that is listed on Daniel’s website as a supporter is going to drop him over a technical error on a campaign finance report.

So who does it benefit? Well, Chris Daniel. How? It gets this out of the way early and gives his consultant an easy out to start attacking Court Koenning. You know how it works – hey, he did it first! We’re just responding! Remember who Daniel’s campaign consultant is? Umm, hmm. Allen Blakemore. Dirt. Slime. No ice machine. And someone that is known to have used this method in the past.

Interesting campaign trick if I’m right.

I also talked to Chris and he explained the complaint. It was filed by the yahoos up in the Conroe/Huntsville area that file the bulk of ethics complaints in Texas. They call themselves the Texas Ethics Advisory Board and use the reports to mine data. Chris explained that the report that the complaint was based on was one filed before he hired the Blakemore firm and that they now do his reports for him and there have been no further complaints filed. One of the errors was leaving a line blank instead of inserting a zero. That is why these technical violations are meaningless. You can view the entire Order and Resolution by clicking here.

If my theory is correct, you can expect a lot of dirt flying Koenning’s way sooner rather than later.

Houston Controller Candidate Frazer gets C-Club, Police endorsements

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This is welcome news for City of Houston residents:


Bill Frazer for Houston City Controller
E-MAIL   WEBSITE   FACEBOOK

BILL FRAZER endorsed by the “C Club”
and the Houston Metro Fraternal Order of Police

I’m excited to report that I have recently earned the endorsement of two prominent political organizations in town:

 – In June, I was honored to learn that the Houston Metro Fraternal Order of Police, a group comprised of certified law enforcement personnel, has endorsed my candidacy for City Controller.

 – Just last week, I received word of my endorsement by the “C Club,” a group of 100 fiscally conservative business and professional members.

Both groups have endorsed my candidacy because they recognize and appreciate the importance of having a qualified CPA as our city’s financial manager.

Here’s what YOU can do to help:

 – Click here to contribute on-line.  If you haven’t done so already, please contribute whatever amount you can to help my efforts.  If you’d rather send a check, make it payable to Bill Frazer Campaign and mail it to 5090 Richmond Avenue, #719, Houston, TX 77056-7402.

 – Click here to endorse Bill Frazer for Houston City Controller. Endorse my campaign and allow me to tell others in printed materials and other promotions.

 – Click here to join our group of volunteers who share my vision for a better Houston. Fill out the comment section and tell us you would like to help with various volunteer assignments, such as block walking, sign assembly, stuffing envelopes, etc.

 – Click here to get email notices. Please subscribe to get future emails from my campaign.

 – Follow my campaign on Facebook. “Like” my Campaign page!

The Houston area continues to experience tremendous growth. Unfortunately, the City itself has incurred annual losses totaling over $2.5 billion since 2002.  Much of Houston’s financial problems result from unsustainable and unaffordable pension plan obligations.  We must do something now to address these and other issues.

I believe the Houston City Controller has an obligation to actively address these challenges and keep the public informed.

To read more about the City of Houston’s financial challenges and what I would do to address them, please read the following:

 – Accounting for the Drainage Fee

 – Detroit Falls Victim to Super Massive Blue Hole

You may be shocked to learn of some of the similarities between Houston and Detroit’s financial conditions. Fortunately, Houston still has the resources and the opportunity to right our financial ship.

I hope you will join me in a campaign to bring clarity, communication, and transparency to Houston’s finances today by getting involved in my campaign.

I am working hard to earn your support.

Bill Frazer,CPA

Finally a serious opponent for incumbent controller Ronald Green. Green is a nice enough fella but he doesn’t have a clue about finance, which is what the job is actually about.

If people actually look at the qualifications of the two men, Frazer will win this election going away. Obviously, people don’t necessarily do that.

What can you do to help? Just tell them about Frazer. Don’t go negative and talk about Green’s shortcomings, they are well known and he still got elected. Just tell them about Frazer’s qualifications and the problems that the City of Houston faces. Then ask them: who do you want to be in the office to help fix the problems?

That should be enough.

Harris County Republican Party influence shrinks under Jared Woodfill's leadership

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Robert Miller had an interesting blog post this morning about the importance of the urban vote in the Texas Republican primary and ultimately picking statewide winners.

The Republican primary vote has come to be dominated by the three corners of the Texas triangle.  In 2010, the Houston area[1] cast 19.34{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of Republican primary votes; DFW[2] cast 25.29{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}; and the Austin/San Antonio corridor[3] cast 14.36{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}.  In 2012, the Houston area cast 21.51{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of Republican primary votes; DFW cast 21.25{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}; and the Austin/San Antonio corridor cast 13.95{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}.

It is very important to read his footnotes to understand what he is talking about because those of us in “Houston” know we have a major problem.

“Houston” for purposes of this analysis means the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consisting of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto and Waller counties.

Jared Woodfill
Jared Woodfill

The problem is that the Harris County Republican Party, which should be the driving force behind all Texas politics, is a mess of inflated egos and exclusion. County Chair Jared Woodfill has actually managed to shrink the party’s influence in the Texas Republican primary even as the county itself has experienced record growth. Here are the facts:

Since Woodfill took office in 2002, the share of Harris County primary voters in the Texas Republican primary has dropped from 13..5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} to 11.1{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}:

harris-county-percent-texas-republican-primary-voters

harris-county-vs-texas-republican-primary-voters

And this happened even as the population of Harris County was booming:

harris-county-population-vs-primary-voters

Unless and until we get new leadership at the top of the Harris County Republican Party, this trend will continue.

You cannot keep minorities, gays, and young people out of your political party and expect it to grow and continue to win elections. Think about that when you choose a party chairman next March.