The Bay Area Republican Women, the Clear Lake Area Republicans, and the San Jacinto Republican Women clubs held a forum for the candidates for Harris County District Attorney in the Republican primary this past Thursday night at Bay Oaks Country Club. They also had forums for the party chair and tax assessor collector races and I will comment on those in a separate posting.
What can I say? This was a fantastic forum if you truly desire to see the differences between candidates. I cannot imagine two candidates whose visions for a specific office differ more than Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos and challenger for the job Mike Anderson. Both candidates are passionate about their vision for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Both candidates have a vast amount of experience in the criminal justice system. Neither candidate will back down under fire.
First, I gotta tell you that blogging is supposed to be fun and sometimes I forget that. Not this night. I had a blast – let me tell you why. I decided to give Murray and his army of anonymous Lykos haters (and now they hate lil ol me) something to crow about by asking Bob Price to take my picture with DA Lykos. Here is the result:
I had envisioned hilarious charges coming from the anonywusses but the joke was on me! I tapped her on the shoulder and asked her if she would be in a picture with me and I’ll be danged if she didn’t recognize me! Some kind of Lykos lackey I am! So much for all those conspiracy theories. Too funny, me with the big head and all, DA Lykos not having a clue who I was. But the fun wasn’t over, not at all. After the forum was over and I was walking out, I said hi to Don Hooper, another target of the anons, and his wife, ADA Rachel Palmer Hooper. Now, you have to understand that I’ve never spoken to Mrs. Hooper other than a cursory hello a couple of times at other meetings. But I was feeling good, so I asked her what it was like to have a suite on the 6th floor and not have to produce any work (you’d have to know the back story to understand that). So she starts laughing and we all walk out the doors laughing together. As we did so, we passed a couple standing outside, a male and female. The female, a redhead, had been staring daggers through me all night long, so I asked the Hoopers if they knew who she was. They started laughing harder, telling me that the couple was Bert Graham, projected to be Anderson’s #2 should he win, and Shirley Cornelius, one of the ADA’s that left the office and then charged wrongdoing and now a grand jury is looking into her charges. I laughed all the way to my car, as I’m sure the Hoopers did. Talk about a conspiracy! Big Jolly was walking and laughing with the Hoopers! Again, you’d have to know the back story and the charges that I’m in cahoots with DA Lykos against Mike Anderson to fully appreciate the humor in this but I think it is hilarious.
Okay, on to the forum itself. I’m not going to comment to much on it but what I have done is give you the ability to make your own decision! Yes, I do the work, you get to do the commenting. I had my trusty recorder there and have broken down the forum into opening and closing statements, questions from the clubs, and questions from the audience. You’ll have to listen to them all to get all of the fireworks and trust me, there were plenty of fireworks. These two people do not like each other. Most of the people supporting Anderson do not like DA Lykos or anyone that even seems friendly towards her – hate is an appropriate word. The majority of people supporting DA Lykos are not like that at all, they are very respectful of Anderson. I doubt I’ll get any disagreement with those two assessments from people familiar with the campaign.
As for the substance of the debate, I thought Mike scored a lot of points with his criticism of the DIVERT program, even though he misrepresented an appeals court’s statement about it. His consultant has obviously helped him sharpen his focus, putting it in terms of a drunk driver killing someone but the judge and jury would never know about a prior drunk driving incident if the guy had gone through the DIVERT program. That message scored big points with a lot of people attending. That was his highlight of the night. His low-light came when he called DA Lykos a liar. You just don’t do that in civil debates, especially when you come back two minutes later and admit that you had no direct knowledge of the alleged lie but someone told you about it. Not good, and a lot of the people picked up on that. Mike was fiery, treating the crowd much as he would a jury, walking back and forth, making eye contact, totally focused on justice for the victim. Several times he stated that prosecutors should be concerned with victims, capturing his vision for the office in a nutshell.
DA Lykos sees the office as one that should seek justice. She talked at length about the programs that she has instituted to reduce crime. Her motto was “no more victims”, focusing on reducing recidivism and violent crime. She also defended the attorney’s in her office several times, telling Mike at one point to stop sliming them. It does seem as though the anti-Lykos forces think that the attorneys that didn’t leave are inferior and incompetent, so it seemed appropriate for her to defend them from Mike’s attacks. She was also effective in using the office’s growing national reputation effectively.
Overall, if I had to declare a “winner” of the debate, I would give the nod to Mike for a couple of reasons. First, that DIVERT argument hit hard. Second, his supporters turned out to lend him a hand. Both Bert Graham and Donna Goode (another prosecutor that left the office) got to ask questions of DA Lykos and obviously used Mike’s themes. That said, I don’t think he made the case to replace an incumbent. His main argument remains that DA Lykos wasn’t a prosecutor and therefore cannot run the office. That was the theme in 2008 also but now that she has been there over three years, he should be able to point to specifics proving that. As best as I can tell, there are no specifics for him to use. The office seems to be running just fine under her leadership. He’s going to have to make that case or drop it because several long time Republicans are now saying, so what?
The hard part is figuring out who will win in a primary between these two. I wrote in my notes that night that Mike has a passion for prosecution and Pat has a passion for justice. In a general election, Pat would crush Mike like a June bug hitting the front end of a Peterbilt. But in a low turnout Republican primary, you might have enough law and order types turnout to give Mike a chance. As I was packing my cameras away, I heard a guy behind me saying he didn’t care about all of those “bullshit” programs, he just wanted people in jail. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw DA Lykos surrounded by several young mothers, admiration in their eyes.
Now it is your turn:
Pat Lykos Opening Statement
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-lykos-opening.mp3]Mike Anderson Opening Statement
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-anderson-opening.mp3]Club question 1
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-question-1.mp3]There are reports that the Harris County Jail is one of, if not the largest mental health facilities in the State of Texas, due to the mental condition of many people incarcerated there. What can and should the District Attorney’s office do in the performance of its work to address this condition?
Club question 2
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-question-2.mp3]What can and should be done by prosecutors to reduce the incarceration rate, and avoid the risks of recidivism, among first time juvenile or adult, non-violent offenders, and how would you address this issue if elected?
Club question 3
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-question-3.mp3]Are there unique challenges to the prosecution of crimes created by the fact that there are 34 different municipalities in this county, in addition to the different precincts within the county government, and how would you address those challenges if elected?
Club question 4
What unique skills and experiences do you bring to this job, and how would you use those skills and experiences in managing the office, if elected?
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-queston-4.mp3]Audience question 1
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-audience-question-1.mp3]Dee Carroll asked about Mike’s DIVERT charge.
Audience question 2
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-audience-question-2.mp3]Donna Goode asks DA Lykos what support she has from law enforcement and why she deserves it. Fireworks.
Audience question 3
[audio:mike-anderson-my-wife-has-never-taken-the-fifth-amendment.mp3]Moderator Ed Hubbard would not allow Don Hooper’s question to Mike about DIVERT. Here is that exchange so that you can get a feel for the animosity between these two:
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-audience-question-3.mp3]After that exchange, candidate for SD11 Daniel McCool asked about treatment of domestic abuse victims.
Audience question 4
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-audience-question-4.mp3]Bert Graham asks DA Lykos how she can run the office since she’s never been a prosecutor.
Mike Anderson closing statement
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-anderson-closing.mp3]Pat Lykos closing statement
[audio:DS300086_CLAR-forum-03012012-district-attorney-lykos-closing.mp3]
A few pictures from the evening:
Dave,
Nobody hates you on my blog, at least I don’t. I remain astounded by how much you’ve been taken in by the Lykos crew and the fact that you seem to take some sort of pride in your friendship with Don Hooper, who makes Terry Lowry look the poster child for civility in American Politics. Quite frankly, the way that Hooper conducts himself on these blogs seems to be much more akin to a feces-flinging chimpanzee than a human interested in discussing politics.
Additionally, you are really misinformed about the rumors of Bert coming back as First Assistant. Bert retired after almost 40 years of service to the District Attorney’s Office, where he had a reputation for fairness, compassion, and a brilliant mind as manager of the logistical and financial matters associated with the Office. It is only natural that he would care about the Office and its reputation after he spent such a significant portion of his life there. Much like a member of the military who retires, Bert has feelings of pride about his service and hopes that the institution he once served would maintain good leadership and a good reputation. The fact that you lumped him into some sort of conspiracy because he believes Mike Anderson would be a better leader is sad to me. The fact that you discredit who he is just for asking questions of Lykos is even sadder.
As for Shirley Cornelius, you are well aware of why should have dislike for the Lykos Administration. They ran her out of a position she had held for decades by asking her to tamper with a government document. They did so with no concern whatsoever for the special needs of her disabled son, also.
Ultimately, if everyone who opposes Lykos is part of a conspiracy, then I hope that conspiracy continues to grow.
Sometimes, “conspiracies” happen for very righteous causes.
Murray Newman was fired from the DA’s office for a reason. He is never specific in hi criticisms of my comments because he knows I am right and speak the truth. Murray, on the other hand leads people on goose chase after goose chase. Murray will be batting 0-3 when next week the contempt is kicked for Carl Hobbs and Steve Morris. Soon all we will have left is the investigation of grand jury leaks, false arrest, and 1983 civil rights violations all involving the Anderson campaign. It is funny how things work out, timing is everything. I am hoping Murray will blog about his friends receiving target letters and pleading the fifth in the 232nd.
Murray, no one hates me on your blog? Now that right there is funny. 😉
As for conspiracies, I typed the word two times, both in reference to me, not the race. I said nothing about a conspiracy with Bert – I noted that Anderson turned out his supporters (that is a positive thing) and that because of that, they were able to frame the questions around Mike’s themes (another positive thing). If one of us is hung up on conspriacies, I’d politely suggest that it isn’t me.
Now, as to Hooper and my being “taken in by the Lykos crew”. Where to start? First, yes, as I’ve said a thousand times, I do consider Don a friend, even if we’ve never had so much as a cup of coffee together. I have lots of people that I consider friends and I’m not going to start judging them by their behavior on blogs and most certainly not what other people think about them. I’ve deleted more of Don’s comments than I have posted because they were either not pertinant to the topic or were personal attacks. He doesn’t seem to begrudge me for that. I’m not a close enough friend of his to tell him that his behavior is “bad” because I have no clue what motivates that behavior. When I see comments like yours above, I suspect that most of his behavior is in response to things like that. The fact that he can be abrasive doesn’t negate the fact that he has put in a ton of volunteer time fighting for the citizens of Houston and Harris County when it comes to taxes. We need more of that, not less. And the comparison to Terry Lowry is beyond ridiculous. Lowry uses his platform to make money and he also does it in the name of Christ – that is despicable. But have you noticed that he (Lowry) is trying to clean up his act? I have and I appreciate that effort.
And as to “taken in by the Lykos crew”, again, that is a baseless and ridiculous charge insomuch as it implies that I am secretly helping her campaign. You can say it as many times as you want. You can blog about it as many times as you want. It still does not and will not make it true. Nor do I hold it against you that you continue to make that baseless charge. I’m a big boy and can take it and will not run around whining about it.
I have little to no knowledge about Shirley Cornelius. My entire body of knowledge comes from a few news reports and your blogs. All I know is that she was shooting daggers through me and I didn’t have a clue who she was. And you gotta admit, that is a good thing – it means that the grand jury investigating her charges is doing things right, unlike the possee from the 185th.
Ruining someone’s name for no reason other than personal dislike is never “righteous”.
Hooper,
I generally try not to respond to what you write, because doing so gives it far more credibility than you are entitled to. However, I find it difficult to refrain when you are misleading people as to the law and the facts. First off, if you actually have any type of knowledge about what the 232nd Grand Jury is going to do, I can only assume that you got that information improperly and illegally, since the proceedings are secret. So unless you are being given information from Rachel (which she also would have had to have obtained improperly), I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you are just making stuff up again.
By the way, I hope that Carl Hobbs IS vindicated when all of this is done. He is a good and honorable man who got caught up in this situation due to extremely poor leadership at that Office. He doesn’t deserve to have his name lumped in with the others.
NEWMAN,
Wow, you wrote and told everyone about the contempt hearing in the 185th on your blog tarnishing the name of Carl Hobbs and Steve Morris, both good and honorable men. You did this to promote your of agenda of attempting to embarrass Judge Lykos. The court reporters were dragged into your scheme too. I couldn’t help noticing you sitting in the court room next to a Chronicle reporter tweeting (twitting the events) trying to create controversy claiming these two prosecutors had done something wrong. You may want to check with Carl and Steve to see how they feel about your behavior.
Additionally, you posted secret grand jury proceedings on your blog. You even once relayed a conversation between Rachel’s counsel and a Special Prosecutor. Each time you did this you committed a criminal act and so did the people relaying you the information. Rachel has never had any knowledge concerning the 232nd grand jury. It is you that have written about the proceedings and all anyone has to do is read your blog to discover more criminal acts by you. Before you call my credibility into question please note that I am 3-0.
Don, the difference here is that I’ve never reported anything that wasn’t on the record in open court when it came to the Grand Jury investigation into your wife. You, on the other hand, have never reported anything accurate.
NEWMAN,
You had me worried, I thought you were going to say you didn’t slam Carl and Steve on your blog. You keep telling yourself that and all comments made by you before any court proceeding concerning the 185th is of record. I always find in interesting you lack specifics on my inaccuracies. I am always real specific to your inaccuracies, there are many.
NEWMAN,
The court just exonerated and dismissed the cases against Carl Hobbs and Steve Morris due to lack of evidence. Let’s see how you spin that on your blog. Both of these fine prosecutors have been maligned by you and your ilk for months! Lack of evidence dirt bag! Sorry Big Jolly, please allow one dirt bag.
Interesting perspective you might want to check out.
http://outraged-commomsense.blogspot.com/2012/03/big-jolly-is-big-deal.html
Some peope just don’t get it.