Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Turner spends $9 million taxpayer dollars to hire millennials, denys firefighters raises

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It’s been a rough week for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. Someone outs him for paying his close friend $95,000 a year as an intern. He denies knowing the guy. Tony Buzbee produces a letter of recommendation that Turner wrote for the intern and says that he has heavily redacted text messages between them. Turner has an oops moment and blames his lie on the fact that he wasn’t expecting the question from the reporter. Today, the Houston Chronicle has to walk back their defense of Turner’s record on violent crime, reporting via Twitter that violent crime has increased 6.1% during the Turner administration. Where to start.

Let’s start with the friend, the guy that Turner talked the airport system into hiring for $95,000 a year to learn on the job. Turner’s (mis)communications team issued two separate statements. The first one says “For reference, there are a total of 94 Senior Staff Analysts positions in the City of Houston, of which 15 are at the Executive Level. The current salary range for Senior Staff Analysts is $74,256 – $131,325.” and that “The City of Houston is proud of our record on recruiting, hiring and retaining qualified individuals. We are especially proud of our intentional outreach to attract millennials who bring innovative ideas and energy to our workforce. As we compete with the private sector for qualified employees willing to learn and excel, we are amazed at our good fortune to attract such talented young men and women committed to a life of public service.”

Think about that for a minute. As Bill King pointed out, Turner’s intern earns more than 95% of city employees, 99% of Houston firefighters. But it is far worse than just this one intern. Turner’s own statement shows that there are 94 of these “Senior Staff Analysts” in total. He doesn’t give us an average salary but the range is so broad that I’ll just use his special intern’s salary of $95,000. That equals $8.93 million taxpayer dollars just so that Turner can hire millennials. How many potholes will that amount fill? How many police officers or firefighters would that amount hire? It’s absurd.

The second statement is even stranger. In that one, Turner says that waiving job postings is normal and routine and that he has done it 122 time during his administration. Goodness. How many special friends does this guy have? A basic HR requirement in any large business is that positions are posted so that everyone has a chance to apply. That should be an even stronger requirement for government positions.

Another absurdity was the insane reaction when Tony Buzbee questioned the relationship between Turner and the intern. People on Twitter went nuts, saying that was off limits. Let me ask you something. In any other corporation, if a 65 year old manager hired a 31 year old intern at an excessive salary, would it be off limits to inquire about the nature of their relationship when you are given heavily redacted text messages between them? And the manager at first lies about even knowing the intern? No, it certainly wouldn’t. You want equality? You got it.

Pointing out that violent crime is up is not fearmongering

When Tony Buzbee and Bill King started focusing on violent crime in Houston, the Houston Chronicle decided that they had to protect Turner. On September 14, they ran an article with this headline: Houston’s mayoral candidates say crime is getting worse. The numbers say otherwise. Then a columnist had this headline on September 29: Buzbee should stop fearmongering about Houston’s crime rates.

Turns out that Buzbee wasn’t fearmongering at all. As Bill King noted at last night’s debate, the 2018 numbers hadn’t been released by the FBI. Well, they were today. And guess what? Buzbee and King were correct. I’ll let King’s email from this morning explain it.

FBI Crime Statistics for 2018 Confirm Violent Crime Up Significantly Under Turner

Yesterday the FBI released the crime statistics for 2018. Those numbers confirm precisely what I have been saying on the campaign trail. Violent crime, after years of decline has gone up dramatically since Sylvester Turner took office.

As opposed to the guesstimate reported in the Houston Chronicle earlier this month, here are the actual numbers from the FBI:

bill king sylvester turner houston crime

Violent crime in Houston had been on long-term decline prior to the Turner administration. But in 2016 and 2017 we saw a dramatic reversal of that trend. In 2017, there were 25,609 violent crimes. That was the highest total since 2009 and the second highest since 2000.

According to the new data, there was about a 6% decrease in violent crime in 2018 compared to the elevated levels in 2017. However, we still had 9.4% more violent crimes in 2018 than in Parker’s last year in office, not 4% as erroneously reported in the Houston Chronicle.

Of course, the number that jumps off the page here is the 68% increase in rapes. That number is somewhat exaggerated because in 2014 the FBI changed to a more expansive definition of rape. That change resulted in a third increase in the number of rapes that year. But even if you compare the number of rapes in the Parker administration after the definition was changed to Turner’s years in office, there is still a 42% increase. It is hard to know what is going on when you see this kind of dramatic increase. There may be some change in reporting behavior. But the fact that four of our fellow citizens are being raped every day in our City is unacceptable.

We certainly don’t need any fearmongering about crime. But neither do we need anyone minimizing crime to support their political agenda. If you want a mayor that will tell you the unvarnished truth, the good and the bad, I’m your man.

But wait, you say! That’s a candidate and he didn’t even use crime rates, he used actual numbers. Okay, I say, then look at the same information that was put on twitter this morning by one of the reporters that tried to convince you on September 14th that violent crime wasn’t a real problem in Houston.

houston crime sylvester turner tony buzbee

This one shows that violent crimes per 100,000 Houstonians is up 6.1% during Turner’s term in office. Astonishingly, rapes per 100,000 Houstonians are up 24.2%.

The bottom line is that Tony Buzbee and Bill King are correct. Violent crime is UP under Sylvester Turner. And they are also correct that a lot of non-violent crime is no longer reported because it is a waste of time in this administration. I was glad to see that most of the candidates at the debate last night will immediately hire a new police chief if they are elected. I liked Dwight Boykins term for HPD Chief Art Acevedo: Hollywood. Acevedo is a blowhard that focuses on getting media attention instead of solid community policing. He has to go.

Texas Parole Division Must Share Responsibility For The Ambush Slaying Of Harris County Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal

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On September 27, Harris County Deputy Sheriff Sandeep Dhaliwal made a routine traffic stop of a driver for running a stop sign.  After a brief and uneventful conversation with the driver, Dhaliwal started to walk back to his patrol car.  Robert Solis, the driver, then exited the car and dashed after the deputy, ambushing him with a shot to the back of the head. Dhaliwal, 42, died in the hospital while Solis was captured at an ice cream parlor within hours of the shooting.

The heroic deputy was described by Sheriff Ed Gonzalez as a “trailblazer” who “represented his community with integrity, respect and pride, and was respected by all.”  Dhaliwal was the first observant Sikh to become a sheriff’s deputy in Harris County.  The 10-year veteran of the sheriff department is survived by his wife and three children.

Solis, 47, has a long criminal record that dates back 25 years.  In 2002, Solis was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aggravated kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.  He was paroled in 2014.  In 2016, Solis was arrested for drunk driving, but the parole board failed to revoke his parole.

In January 2017, his girlfriend at the time accused Solis of assaulting her with a deadly weapon.  She forwarded an affidavit to that effect to his parole officer and a blue warrant was issued for his arrest.  However, Solis managed to elude the authorities until he was stopped by Deputy Dhaliwal.

Yes, Robert Solis ambushed and killed Deputy Dhaliwal, but the Texas Parole Division must share responsibility for his death.

Let’s start out with the 2016 drunk driving arrest.  I suspect his parole officer recommended he be retained on parole, but whether he did or not, the parole board did not revoke his parole.

Now there is nothing wrong with not revoking the parole of a parolee after he has been arrested for DUI if he has had a good record while on parole and provided that he is a non-violent offender.  But Solis was a violent offender on parole for aggravated kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.  His parole should have been revoked forthwith.  Drinking and violence go hand in hand, and that made Solis a danger to society.

Then again, how would his parole officer know that Solis was a sterling parolee?  Probably, his only contact with Solis was during the worthless monthly office visit.  And if Solis was wearing an ankle monitor, that would only tell the parole officer of his whereabouts, not what he may have been up too.

The primary responsibility of a parole system is protection of the public.  TDC should have a shotgun and AR-15 toting fugitive unit to go after parole violators serving time for a crime of violence that are on the loose, like Solis.  TDC has a toothless Warrants Division that does not try to apprehend fugitive parole violators, but only assists the police when they want to arrest a parolee for a new offense. 

So, no one, not the police nor the parole division bothered to look for Solis after that blue warrant was issued in January 2017.  You can’t blame the police because his girlfriend apparently did not file a criminal complaint which would have led to his arrest.

But you can blame the parole division.  Had Solis been revoked after his DUI arrest, Deputy Dhaliwal might still be enjoying time with his wife and three kids.  If the parole division had a fugitive unit that would go after parole violators on the loose, Deputy Dhaliwa might still be serving as a law enforcement officer and, as Sheriff Gonzalez said, “representing his community with integrity, respect and pride.”

The blood of Harris County Sheriff Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal is not only on the hands of Robert Solis, but also on the hands of a detrimental Texas parole system.

UPDATE 7:07 PM

Channel 2 interviewed Melissa Purtee, the former common-law wife of Solis, and his son, Robert Purtee.

Melissa said: “I tried to tell everyone he was dangerous. I started calling his parole officer, HPD, Crime Stoppers and the Ft. Bend County Sheriff’s Office. I was trying to hand this guy to them on a silver platter. I said where he was at. He had guns and drugs, and one of my sons. But it was the parole officer’s fault.”

Robert said: “It was the complete incompetence of the parole officer. These people are supposed to be supervising these violent criminals’ reintegration into society. They’re not.”

Both Melissa and Robert claim they called Solis’ parole officer 10 times, asking for a spot check. But the parole officer never showed up.

TDC responded to Channel 2’s inquiry: “TCDJ is not a law enforcement organization. When an arrest warrant is issued, we depend on local law enforcement. Parole officers don’t have arrest powers.”  Jeremy Desel, TDCJ director of communications, said Monday that tips to parole officers are, as standard practice, forwarded to law enforcement for follow-up since TDCJ has no police powers.

There are two problems with TDC’s pile of horseshit.  To begin with, it is questionable whether or not a parole officer has the power to arrest a parolee.  But he certainly has the power, and the duty, to personally investigate any complaints against one of his parolees and to turn a written report of that investigation over to the police if he found any criminal wrongdoing.  The cops are too busy to go after a parolee just because his parole officer reported that he has been misbehaving.

The other problem can be solved by changing the law to make parole officers peace officers.  Until that happens, the public will not be protected against criminals by the Texas parole system.  And in the meantime, there is nothing to prevent the parole division from having an armed fugitive unit to go after parolees on the loose, like Solis.

Besides all that, a parole officer does not need to be a peace officer to take a parole violator into custody because the parolee remains in the custody of TDC until he finishes serving his sentence.   The parolee is merely serving the remainder of his sentence outside of a prison.  If the parole officer busts one of his parolees, with or without the help of the police, he takes him to the nearest jail facility where he will remain until the parole board decides whether to keep him on parole or to have him returned to prison.

And Robert Purtee made the most noteworthy point when he said the parole officers “are supposed to be supervising these violent criminals’ reintegration into society. They’re not.”

 

Get ready Harris County – your property taxes are going to skyrocket

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As I noted here, the Harris County Commissioners Court is proposing a substantial increase in our property taxes. I also laid out a way for the two Republicans on the court, Commissioner Steve Radack and Commissioner Jack Cagle, to block it if they wish. But I suspected that they would not, preferring to use it as an issue in next year’s election. And certainly in 2022. After receiving an email from HRBC, I’m pretty confident that I’m right.

hrbc harris county tax increase

HRBC launches new website prior to October 8th Harris County Commissioner vote on potential property tax rate increase

Check how this may affect you at yourharriscountytaxes.com

HRBC has launched a website for Harris County residents to check how this property tax rate increase may affect them directly. At yourharriscountytaxes.com, users can look up their current property value then calculate how much more they will pay in Harris County Property Taxes if the new rate of $0.65260 per $100 valuation is adopted.

“HRBC believes in smart, fiscally conservative legislative changes,” said Alan Hassenflu, HRBC Chairman. “We cannot stand behind this property tax rate increase. The County doesn’t require these funds to maintain its core services. This is negligent, and we vehemently oppose this tax rate increase.”

In less than two weeks, the Harris County Commissioners Court will vote to adopt a new property tax rate. After the County was given three options, County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Commissioner Rodney Ellis, and Commissioner Adrian Garcia voted for the option with the largest increase; one that could be as much as a 12% increase including the rise in property values.

“The County has completely failed to communicate any clear reasoning for the first tax increase in twenty years,” said Richard Rothfelder, HRBC PAC Treasurer. “Harris County’s growth and economic expansion has provided billions of dollars annually in tax revenues; this misguided tax increase will hurt future growth and economic expansion.”

About HRBC

The mission of HRBC is to support public policy, elected officials, and candidates for elected office that promote our core values of limited government, capitalism, and private property rights. Known as Houston’s premier business coalition, HRBC is made up of a wide variety of businessmen and women located in the Houston area.

The website they created is not accurate, as it gives everyone a generic 12% increase. Your actual increase will depend upon your appraisal increase. In my case, my Harris County property taxes will increase by 9.6%, a substantial increase but below the 12% listed. As I mentioned in the first post about this, I don’t have a clue as to whether or not the county needs the money because the county budget is so complex it is hard to decipher.

So, I have to trust the TaxMan on this.

It does seem excessive. And it is important to note that Commissioner Cagle offered a compromise raising the tax rate of only the flood control district. It was rejected by the Democrats on the court.

But the fact remains that the two Republicans on the court can block the increase. I know that some people want to use a “Democratic” tax increase to win an election but why not kill it when you can? As they say, the best time to kill a snake is when the hoe is in your hand. Take the heat from the media for missing a meeting, spread the word far and wide that Republicans are against excessive tax increases, and win elections on principles and policy. That’s what I’d do.

Stop the slander against County Judge Lina Hidalgo

Speaking of winning elections, I’d advise Republicans of all stripes to stop the personal insults against Lina Hidalgo. It’s sickening watching the nonsense that the grassroots and some elected officials are saying about her. Calling her ‘tiny’, ‘diminutive’, ‘little child’, ‘not so bright crayon in the box’, ‘Dora the Exploer’, and any other name is not going to win elections.

I was talking to one of the Republican consultants in Harris County and I thought that the percentage of female voters in 2020 would be 52-53%. The consultant thinks it will be as high as 55%. Is it a winning strategy to personally insult Judge Hidalgo with misogynistic comments?

Look, I get it. I was a huge supporter of Ed Emmett. He had a calming presence because of his experience. Judge Hidalgo has no experience and it does show from time to time. And I disagree with the vast majority of her policies. But she is in fact very, very bright. And as she gains experience in the public limelight, she will be better at communicating with us during times of emergencies. I’ll still be on the other side of her policies but I have no doubt about this.

Fight with her on policy. Block the tax increase. Stop the slander.

I’ll leave you with Commissioner Jack Cagle’s comment at the last public hearing:

‘When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.’ -Socrates.

White House Staff Members Have Continually Damaged And Endangered The Trump Presidency

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There can be no doubt the Trump presidency is now endangered.  The whistleblower report has incited the Democrats to go for the President’s jugular.  And the media is only too happy to join them.

The whistleblower, who is thought to be a CIA agent, alleges that Trump and many of his aides engaged in a months-long effort of pressuring the Ukraine government to discredit Joe Biden and then covered up their wrongdoing.  His report states that the Ukraine government was made aware that US military aid was dependent on its compliance with the request to investigate Biden’s son Hunter.  The whistleblower said:

“In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.  This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals.  I am also concerned that these actions pose risks to U.S. national security and undermine the U.S. Government’s efforts to deter and counter foreign interference in U.S. elections.”

At the center of the whistleblower’s report is the phone call Trump made to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky.  That call was not the ‘lovely’ call Trump made it out to be.  It was improper and the dumbest thing Trump has done since he became President.

As usual, when attacked, Trump responds with a furious counterattack.  In a closed-door meeting with U.S. diplomats, the President raged:

“We’re at war.  These people are sick. They’re sick.  I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistle-blower the information? Because that’s close to a spy.  You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”

And, of course, there were the usual barrage of Trump tweets belittling this whole brouhaha.

Even though all of the allegations made by the whistleblower were second-hand, acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire told the House Intelligence Committee: “I believe that the whistleblower and the inspector general have acted in good faith throughout. I have every reason to believe that they have done everything by the book and followed the law.”

Dumb and improper, yes, but was the call to Zelensky an impeachable offense?  Adam Schitt (oops, typo) calls it a “classic mafia like shakedown.”  Jerry Nadler, with Houston’s Sheila Jackson Lee at his side, makes it clear he wants Trump impeached. AOC and Rashida Tlaib are screaming for impeachment and Nancy Pelosi has caved in to their demands.

Pelosi also accused AG William Barr of “The cover up of a cover up,” while Tlaib announced she is selling T-shirts imprinted with the slogan: Impeach the Motherfu**er.

It’s hard to tell how all this will play out.  It’s a foregone conclusion that Trump will be impeached by the Democratic controlled House and then not convicted by the Republican controlled Senate.  That could backfire on the Democrats.  However, when all the House investigations are over and done with, there may be enough evidence to persuade some Republican senators to abandon the leaky ship.  If that happens, there might be 60 votes in the Senate to convict Trump.

Joe Biden does not come out of this mess squeaky clean either.  When he was vice president, Biden threatened to withhold a $1 billion U.S. loan from Ukraine if Viktor Shokin, that country’s chief prosecutor, was not fired.  At the time, Shokin was widely rumored to be investigating Hunter Biden’s appointment to the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma.  And the vice president’s threat was a direct threat, unlike the implied threat in Trump’s phone call. 

The media is playing the Goebbels tune.  Ever since he became President, The New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC and, except for Fox, the other TV networks have taken every opportunity to smear Trump because he defeated their beloved Hillary.

Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels is credited with saying: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”  Let me paraphrase that to show how Trump could lose the 2020 election.  If you smear Trump big enough and keep on smearing him, people will eventually come to believe it.  And that’s what the Democrats and the Trump-hating media are counting on.

Although Trump implies that the leakers in his administration are spies who should be hanged or shot, he has not been able to learn the identity of the numerous White House staffers who have been feeding the media, and now the whistleblower, with damaging information about the President.

It’s mainly the leaks that have enabled the media to mount their blitzkrieg against the president.  If Trump loses in 2020, he can thank members of his own staff for his defeat.

An Analysis of the City Council J Candidates

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Note: This assessment is structured weakest to strongest candidates.

The Sharpstown Civic Association was kind enough to select me to moderate their candidate forum for City Council position J at their August meeting. The forum can be seen by going to Facebook and searching for Sharpstown Civic Association, and then scrolling down to August 22nd. The format was where they provided the first two questions which every candidate answered, and then I provided an individually tailored question as question three for each candidate. The first two questions were supplied to the candidates beforehand, and my question was not provided and more pointed in order to provide a contrast as well as see how the candidates reacted to a more pointed question discussing a perceived weakness in their candidacy. The forum, and this analysis, only had six participants as one candidate only filed the week of the forum and elected not to participate.

After doing background research and listening to the candidate’s answers Edward Pollard is the best choice for position J.

Laster has been a good councilman, and the City needs someone like him in spot J

Mike Laster currently holds position J. He had a difficult path to being elected having unsuccessfully run for state representative once and for city council twice, and that difficult road to office still shapes his tenure on the Council. He has shown himself willing to represent all in district J as well as address any gross in justices that Houstonians have regardless of whether or not they are in his district. The path to office he endured has instilled a servant’s heart in him, and it is that same servant’s heart and willingness to represent all that make him the good councilman that he has been. Regardless of party affiliation, that desire to serve all and propensity to push back against the City to address issues regardless of constituency is needed on the Council, and the next person to occupy the seat needs to have that same characteristic.

Candidate Forum Questions

The first two questions were standard fare softball questions provided to the candidates beforehand. The third question to every candidate was as follows (in no particular order):

Sandra Rodriguez – your campaign’s Facebook presence shows that you are actively courting Democrat and Hispanic voters. There are allegations of residences here in Sharpstown where the occupancy is higher than permitted per the residence’s square footage. This is in violation of municipal ordinance. If presented with credible evidence establishing the allegations to be true, would you direct the neighborhood protection officer to take all steps necessary to enforce the ordinance?

Nelvin Adriatico – your campaign’s Facebook presence has a significant focus on immigration and an open hostility to President Trump. Congressman Castro recently doxed his constituents who donated the maximum to the Trump camping. Are you willing to condemn his actions, and would you support a city ordinance prohibiting city employees and contractors from doxing others?

Barry Curtis – your camping web page offers scant details as to how to achieve your stated goals. By way of contrast, in the Mayor’s race both Tony Buzbee and Bill King released substantial flood control plans earlier this week, and Mayor Turner responded by announcing a green initiative similar to what was proposed the day the plans were released. Why should voters elect you when there’s no evidence of how you will address the city’s problems on your campaign web page?

Edward Pollard – your campaign Facebook presence stresses unity. However, the city has a crime problem, and a district attorney who seems to not want to prosecute criminal activity. One example is HPD was recently involved in a chase where a gun was thrown from a vehicle, but they could only write a citation for littering a gun since the district attorney would not accept charges. How will you be able to address the crime issue in a unifying manner if the district attorney simply will not cooperate?

Andrew Patterson – There is very little information out on the web regarding your campaign. The city has three areas that people can say are significant issues: flooding, crime, and potholes. Which do you think is the most important issue, and what concrete actions would you take to resolve the issue.

Freddie Cuellar – A Sharpstown resident was recently murdered by an illegal alien. Would you direct HPD to honor every ICE detainer, and would you direct HPD to report any out of status individual in HPD custody?

Bottom Tier

Based on the background research and the answers to the questions the candidates break down into different tiers. The bottom tier is Andrew Patterson and Barry Curits. Both gentlemen seem sincere in their desire to help the city. However, both seem not ready to hold the position. Their campaign web presence is scant, and there’s no fleshing out of details for what they want to do if they are elected. A vote for either is a blind vote as to what will happen. Maybe they would end up a great leader. However, the lack of details in their campaign leaves that not just an uncertain outcome, but also an unpredictable outcome. With the City having significant issues that impact everyday life we need someone ready to go from day one; not someone who will learn the job on the job. Hopefully they both stay involved in local politics, but it seems that they are not yet ready for the position.

Middle Tier

The next tier consists of Mr. Adriatico, Mr. Cuellar, and with some separation ahead of the two Ms. Rodriguez. Of the three, Ms. Rodriguez is clearly the best choice.

Before commenting on their campaigns I have to give my respect to Mr. Cuellar. He had a very difficult question to answer – the crowd gasped when it was asked – and he answered it directly and straightforward even though the answer would not be well received by most of the audience. That forthrightness deserves recognition.

This tier of candidates is characterized by a more robust campaign, but is also a campaign that a person can reasonably come to the conclusion that the campaign is focused on winning a block of voters rather than appealing to everyone.   In this tier, the answers to the third question give rise to pause on both Mr. Adriatico and Mr. Cuellar.

Looking at Mr. Adriatico first, it seems he didn’t know what doxxing was. He did a good job of answering what he thought was asked despite not answering what he was asked. Just like Mr. Cuellar, he gave a bluntly honest answer – he wouldn’t accept donations from Trump supporters. However, the district he seeks to represent, especially Sharpstown, has a significant Republican contingent and he will need to represent Trump supporters. If a voter supports, and especially if a voter has donated to, Trump it’s a legitimate concern would he be a City Councilman who would be responsive to their concerns.

Looking at his campaign as a whole it seems like he is running from the wrong office. His campaign and his issues are a great fit for the state legislature. He would be a good candidate in the democratic primary and voters could decide if he were to make the general election. However, this is a city council race that is nonpartisan.   It’s not that he’s a bad fit for office, but he is a bad fit for this office.

Mr. Cuellar is running a race that is more appropriate for city council. However, just like Mr. Adriatico, his answer to the third question gives rise to significant concern regarding how he would act if elected. When presented with the question of an illegal alien murdering a Sharpstown resident and would he require HPD to honor ICE detainers and would he require HPD to report every illegal alien in custody to ICE he gave an answer that he would have required that instance to be reported, but that stands with the immigrants.

What’s troubling about his answer is he didn’t draw a line at what types of crime he would require to be reported, and what type of crime he would tolerate release back into society. We have a set of judges who set very low bail and a district attorney who is hesitant to prosecute crime. This combination of standing with the immigrants and a prosecution system that seems to prioritize keeping people out of the legal system is the groundwork to make Houston a sanctuary city where criminals are let back out on the streets. Mr. Cuellar would act in support such a process, and that places us all in danger.

Ms. Rodriguez is a cut above Mr. Adriatico and Mr. Cuellar. She has a robust campaign and is involved in the Gulfton neighborhood. She also pointed out how she has experience in addressing policy issues. She seems more polished and involved than the other two candidates in this tier. While she did a good job answering the question she was asked her web presence gives rise to question about how she would act if elected. A few things stand out.

First, the campaign is very Gulfton centric. Her campaign web page focuses on Gulfton and doesn’t mention Sharpstown. The district, as well as the City, needs someone who will act in the line of Laster and represent everyone in their district. Her webpage doesn’t suggest that she is concerned with the issues in Sharpstown, or at least Sharpstown is an afterthought compared to Gulfton.

More troubling, is her webpage’s selection of issues. The issues she chooses to address are Public Safety, Mobility, Small Business, and Affordable and Quality Housing. While these issues have an impact on the community, mobility and small business are second tier issues. The inability of the City to timely provide core services such as waste removal needs to be prioritized above these second tier issues. The huge problem of flooding is absent from her campaign web page. Flooding, and how the City responds, not only is an economic issue, but it also has a significant financial impact on the city.

Lastly, her web page tells what she wants to accomplish, but now how she will accomplish her goals in light of the fiscal reality of a spending cap. For example, in the Affordable and Quality Housing section she states her belief that housing is a right for everyone. How will this expensive proposition be accomplished within the constraints of the spending cap? While her goals are laudable there’s a significant question as to how they can be accomplished, and where the priories are. Second tier goals are important, but they are secondary to core services, such as waste disposal, and the first tier issues.

Top Tier

Edward Pollard stood out as a cut above at the forum, and he also is the best candidate for the position.   Just like Mr. Laster he has an established history of seeking office and his path to office, if he prevails, leads him to be more willing to serve all. He had the line of the night when he said that he’s been here (at the SCA meetings) before and was not suddenly appearing to get a vote. His campaign and his actions mesh better than any of the other candidates. While all candidates say they will represent everyone, his actions give a much stronger ring of truth to the claim when compared to the other candidates.

Looking at his campaign web page gives a significant contrast to the other candidates. His campaign gives the most insight as to how he will conduct himself as a city council member, and he demonstrates the broadest knowledge of the issues. His campaign web page gives a philosophy of how he will conduct himself as an office holder as well as addresses the first tier issues in addition to the second tier issues.

His “The Pollard Plan” acknowledges the fiscal reality that the City has a spending cap and directly states prioritizing core services over everything else. His campaign web page also discusses both first tier and second tier problems the city faces. The issues discussed, and the plan for how he will achieve his goals gives the feel of someone who is better versed to fact all the problems we will face as a City. His actions and his broader and deeper knowledge of the problems we face and how he will fix them makes him the best choice for J.

Some final points

While it doesn’t address the issues; there is a persistent rumor that Mr. Adriatico does not actually reside in District J. The Fort Bend Central Appraisal District notes a home with he and his husband listed as owners in Sugarland. The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar gives an apartment address that corresponds with a business address. I’ve been in his campaign headquarters at his campaign kickoff, and it legitimately could be livable. There’s a full kitchen as well as space for bedroom there.

Ms. Rodriguez is a city employee and posted a sign she will be unavailable from Tuesday June 11 returning Monday July 29. She has campaign activities on work days during this time period on her Facebook page, though all conceivably could have occurred outside of working hours on the work days.

In the interest of transparency, after the forum and deliberating on the merits of the candidates I donated to the Pollard campaign.

And You Think Crazy Bernie Is Crazy

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Is Bernie Sanders crazy? Not if you compare Crazy Bernie to nutjob Joe Biden or lunatic Beto O’Rourke.

Commenting on criminal justice reform during Thursday night’s Democratic debate in Houston, Joe Biden said:

“The fact of the matter is that what’s happened is that we’re in a situation now where there are so many people who are in jail and shouldn’t be in jail. The whole means by which this should change is to — the model has to change. Nobody should be in jail for a nonviolent crime.”

Nobody should be in jail for a nonviolent crime? You can’t get any crazier than that!

Nutjob Joe’s proposal is not only downright crazy, but it is also absolutely dangerous because sooner or later, a significant number of nonviolent criminals will become violent.  Some years ago, for example, a man with an arrest history for passing bad checks shot to death a Houston grocery store cashier when she refused to accept his check.

And what do you suppose will happen if you come across a burglar while unarmed and try to stop him from taking off with your valuables? You’ll likely end up in a hospital or in the morgue … and one of Biden’s un-jailable nonviolent violent criminals sent you there.

You can be sure that Biden now has the grateful support of all big-time dope dealers with no history of violence, burglars, thieves, white-collar criminals and the scam artists who wipe out the life savings of the elderly.

You have to wonder why the anti-Trump media has remained absolutely silent about Nutjob Joe’s crazy proposal.  If Trump or any other Republican had proposed that nonviolent criminals should not be locked up, the media would trumpet that story for weeks on end.

Almost as nutty as Biden was Beto O’Rourke when he was asked if he would confiscate AR-15s and AK-47s. O’Rourke answered:

“……… When we see that being used against children and in Odessa I met the mother of a 15-year-old girl who was shot by an AR-15 and that mother watched her bleed to death over the course of an hour because so many other people were shot by that AR-15 in Odessa and Midland there weren’t enough ambulances to get to them in time. Hell yes we are going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”

How crazy is O’Rourke’s plan?  Well, in Texas and other pro-gun states, any attempt to confiscate AR-15s and AK-47s would lead to open warfare between the owners of such guns and the authorities.

Responding to O’Rourke, Texas state representative Briscoe Cain from Houston tweeted, “My AR-15 is ready for you, Robert Francis.”  And you may recall that Charles Heston once declared, “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.”  Cain and Heston were expressing exactly how the owners of AR-15s and AK-47s are going to react when the authorities come to take those guns away.

You don’t have to worry about Lunatic Beto ever becoming president. What is really frightening though is that Biden will very likely be the Democratic nominee and that all the polls show if the election were to be held today, Nutjob Joe would beat Trump by a comfortable margin.