Okay, so not ALL of the ladies in Harris County are part of the Texas Conservative View PAC, just six of them plus their advisor. And obviously not all of the ladies that vote in the Harris County Republican Party primary agree with the endorsements of the PAC members. All that said, remember, one of the best ways to reduce the power of the big three pay-to-play slates in Harris County is competition and you gotta admit, an all female PAC is a bit unique. And we here at Big Jolly Politics happen to like unique, so we’re happy to pass on their list. Plus, I happen to like females, so there’s that. The group is also included in the 2014 HARRIS COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY PRIMARY ENDORSEMENT MATRIX.
Here is a bit of information about them:
The Texas Conservative View endorses Texans and issues involving principles of limited government, free-market economics, and a thriving civil society that provides for the common good through voluntary individual participation, private sector initiatives and faith-based eff orts. We believe it is the duty of government to protect the God-given rights of all its citizens, born and unborn, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We are wives, sisters, mothers, homeowners and taxpayers in the Houston area who believe it is time for citizens to step forward and change the direction of government. We have researched and vetted these candidates and are proud to recommend them to you. No candidate is asked to donate for an endorsement.
Here is their slate of endorsements:
Great picks. Hope it gets wide circulation.
This one is easy, they are Mary Jane Smith clients. For those that try to convince me that the nails are firmly affixed to the coffin I give you exhibit A. Mecca Walker, the worst Family Law Judge in the race, complimented by Marc Brown and Susan Brown, without a doubt the most corrupt judges in Harris County, and Mary Jane Smith clients. If there is incompetence and corruption Mary Jane Smith is never far. Judges using this woman puts you on a radar you do not want to be on.
Mr. Hooper, for the record, have you had a bad experience in the courts of any of the three judges that you are smearing……..?
Mr Wilson,
So glad that you asked! I have had direct experience with all three of these Judges and can speak with first hand experience. Let’s start with Meca Walker who was the associate Judge of the 309th before she was in the 247th district court. This was the court where my divorce was heard and finalized in 2001. Post divorce I spent 119 days in this court and can speak of the utter incompetence of Meca Walker. Walker’s rulings in my case were routinely overturned by the elected Judge Frank Rynd. Both Judges Rynd and Walker were unmarried and had no practical life experiences to draw upon to help render decisions. I was represented by some of the best lawyers in the country and the utter devastation these two incompetent judges allowed to happen to my children should be a jailable offense. The best I can do is to make sure neither ever sits behind a bench again. For further reading you may want to see this article I wrote awhile back. https://bigjolly.com/2013/06/22/fathers-for-equal-rights-dont-let-the-name-fool-ya/
By the way, after Meca Walker was defeated for the 309th family law bench, I never sat foot in that court again. Just Saying.
As for Marc and Susan Brown, I speak once again from first hand experience. There is no doubt that these two judges have brought new meaning to the term criminal judge. They are certainly a plague for the party and have been written about extensively here http://lifeattheharriscountycriminaljusticecenter.com/ and here https://bigjolly.com/2013/11/23/rachel-palmer-wins/ and https://bigjolly.com/2013/09/24/rachel-palmer-pat-lykos-exonerated/
You should know that I am married to Rachel Palmer and might be a tad bit bias. However, the level of criminal activity associated with both of these judges is well documented and soon to be resolved. Watch what happens as we move towards the general election you will hear much more about the Browns, Devon Anderson, and other affiliated parties.
Allen Blakemore is not the only problem consultant. Mary Jane Smith is a far greater plague to the party and system.
Thank you so much for asking!
Thank you for letting everyone know that the source of your ire is from judgments that didn’t go your way. People can now decide for themselves how much credibility to give your comments.
Judge Frank Rynd was widely regarded as an excellent judge, and had respect from a broad cross-section of attorneys. I don’t know and do not care to research the details of your personal case.
Mr. Wilson,
So you read what I sent you and that is your reply? You have some proof these are competent Judges and offer evidence to prove your point? I am more that happy to debate facts but you don’t seem to have any. I am guessing you don’t spend much time at any of the courthouses.
There is another Dave Wilson in town and your not him.
Mainstream,
Don’t disagree that lawyers loved him, he sure did generate a lot of fees for them. Unfortunately, the kids got hurt and when you have no perspective about that because of your lifestyle the kids are the ones that suffer. Again, once he was gone I never sat foot in that court again. Worse mistake I ever made was not running someone against him when he first came up for reelection. I was talked out of it by a lawyer, never again. It is cheaper to get rid of a Judge than change a lawyer.
Please realize that I never said anything about the competence of the judges you slammed. All I did was point out to readers that your views maybe biased since you were apparently on the wrong end of several judgments. Whenever I see extreme views expressed, I always want to try to get to the bottom of the issues to find the truth.
As far as I am concerned, you are correct, I am NOT the Dave Wilson that was recently elected to the HCC Board. I believe that his middle initial is “B”. I am the Director of the Cypress Texas Tea Party.
For context, let me note that the two judges being slammed here—Meca Walker, who is a candidate for district judge, and Frank Rynd, who is retired and is now general counsel to the local Catholic archdiocese—are (and were routinely) rated as among the best, if not the best, family judges in Harris County.
– In the HBA’s 2014 qualification poll, Walker’s Well Qualified/Qualified/Not Qualified numbers were 218/74/54. She received more “well qualified” votes than any other non-incumbent candidate for any of the family-court races. I have to qualify that with “non-incumbent” because the only family-court candidate who outpaced her at all was District Judge Lynn Bradshaw-Hull. Similarly, her “not-qualified” numbers are lower than any other candidate save for Charley Prine, who had 53 such votes—only one fewer than Walker.
– The results for the 2013 Evaluation Poll for Walker were similar, as shown by her Outstanding/Acceptable/Poor results in each category. Follows the law? 68/22/10. Rules decisively and timely? 67/24/9. Courteous and attentive in the courtroom? 73/17/10. Impartial? 68/21/10. Efficient use of lawyers’ time? 61/27/12. Works hard and is prepared? 69/22/9. And the overall analysis, by percentages? Excellent – 58, Above Average – 20, Average 12, Below Average – 4, Needs Improvement – 6. That overall “Excellent” rating, by the way, is higher than all but one of the associate judges and higher than all but three of the district judges: Judy Warne, David Farr, and Roy Moore (who is ahead of her by less than a percentage point).
– 2012 had no family-court races on the ballot. Neither Walker nor Rynd were on the 2011 Evaluation Poll because Rynd had just retired and neither new judges nor their associate judges were rated, even if the associate judge was a holdover.
– 2010 was an election year and so had a qualifications poll. Walker’s well/qualified/not split was 238/108/104. That was almost twice the “well” votes of the next-highest candidate and roughly 40 fewer “not” votes than the next-lowest candidate. (For comparison, the candidate who won was at 57/120/242, but received some—ahem—endorsements.) That was a busy year; there were 40 candidates rated across all family-court races. Only 11 of them received more “well” votes (most of them current or former district judges); only three received fewer “not” votes than she did.
– 2009 was Rynd’s last appearance in the evaluation poll before he retired. He received more total votes than any other family-court judge. His overall outstanding/acceptable/poor percentages: 72/22/7 (with similar rankings in individual categories). He had more “outstanding” votes than any other family-court judge, which gave him the second-best percentage; he had both the fewest overall and the lowest percentage of “poor” votes. Walker’s overall ratings as his associate judge: 63/21/16. Those ratings were almost identical to Roy Moore’s (currently a district judge) and behind only two others.
– 2008 had only one special-election family-court race, so back to 2007. Walker took the bench that year and so isn’t rated. Rynd had both the most/fewest and second-highest/lowest percentage of “outstanding”/”poor” votes of the family-court judges: his split was 74/20/6.
– Rynd was on the ballot in 2006. But no one ran against him, so the HBA polls didn’t ask about him.
Use this information as you will in considering the earlier comments.
Leif,
As a practicing appellate lawyer and big buds with Mary Jane we should take that into consideration too. The big law firms are badgered to vote for Mary Jane’s clients and I have not trusted a bar poll in years. The larger firms pay the dues for their lawyers and memo’s are circulated through the firms to vote for certain choices and not others. You know exactly how the process works.
Leif you are not a family law lawyer, why the interest here? Rynd was a burn out and anyone who practiced in his court would have told anyone that if they were honest. His rants and tirades were personally witnessed by me many times, directed at others. I do think Frank has mommy issues as described by many of his friends. Now he did run up big legal bills for the lawyers, psychologists, and Ad Litems who practiced before him, which made him a favorite.
I would be glad to hook you up with some folks who do 1000’s of filings each year in the family law courts. They can talk themes where I just have my personal experience to go by. Boy I wish Frank Rynd could sit down and talk with my oldest son now. I am pretty sure he would set him STRAIGHT. The real Judge of how well a Family Court Judge practices are those children he effected in his decision process.
The toll on those children will live with all of us.
I do, indeed, know how the process works: When I was at a big firm, I never received a memo telling me to do anything with the bar poll. Nor did anyone I know who works at a big firm. The friends I have who have now ascended into partnership at those firms don’t bother anyone about it, either. And even if they did the firms don’t screen the outgoing mail—had I received such a memo, I could have negged every one of the suggestions and sent in the form with no one the wiser.
No judge who runs up big bills for anyone is a favorite of lawyers. The more court-ordered expenses there are to be paid, the less there is in what is the client’s inevitably limited coin purse for the client’s own lawyer. (This applies to expenses in general, of course, but unpaid court-ordered expenses can lead to a contempt jailing). I know of no other legal practice that involves more of what is euphemistically called “involuntary pro bono” than family law.
But assume that weren’t true. Of all the massive bills that Rynd were supposedly running up that so pleased the bar voters, he tweaked the noses of only 7 percent of the lawyers who knew him well enough to evaluate him? And the people who complained weren’t loud enough to their friends to vote him “poor” based just on his reputation? Unlikely, to say the least.
I’m sorry you had an unpleasant divorce, Don, but the plural of “anecdote” is not “data.”
Mr. Wilson,
I make decisions based on peoples actions, not what they say.
Lief,
Thank god, I thought you might deny being buds with Mary Jane or claim to practice family law. Again, if you want to hear the opinion of folks who handle thousands of family law cases let me know.
Why would I deny being friends with Mary Jane? I’m happy to do just the opposite: I affirm that Mary Jane Smith and I have been friends for years.
Among the appeals I handle are appeals from family district courts. As well, not all of my cases are in the appellate courts. I have seen plenty of family law cases both in the trial courts and in the appellate courts—for instance, divorces with and without children, SAPCRs, contempt hearings, habeas corpus petitions from contempt jailings, breached of alleged decrees, dischargeability challenges to marital-agreement and decreed obligations. These cases have been both paid and pro bono. I’ve been lucky that none of them have been the involuntary pro bono cases that so many of my family-lawyer friends experience on a regular basis.
If you’re looking for someone who knows lawyers who handle “thousands of family-law cases,” you’ve already found him. But go ahead and post your list of names, anyway. Certainly you wouldn’t be talking out of school about, or puffing your perception if, others’ opinions of Meca Walker and Frank Rynd.
Just curious as to how the ladies “researched and vetted” the candidates. Checklist? Question and answer forms? Public data? Years spent in a real business providing a product or service that people WILLINGLY pay money for, and getting customers, paying vendors, paying employees, vs. years of government employment? Psychic readings? PersonaI meetings? I didn’t see anything on their website which shows such information.
Let’s take the statewide office of General Land Office Commissioner, for example. David Watts vs. George P. Bush. Don’t you think that office requires someone who can manage complex issues using a great amount of business sense? The difference in the candidates’ backgrounds is striking. Do your own research.
I hope when you go to the polls, you will remember that the list is just six persons’ opinion and not something carved in stone.
Oh, and by the way, lieutenant governor candidate Jerry Patterson has had a 75-page amendment added to the federal lawsuit against him. This involves the falsification of dredging costs in the Intracoastal Waterway near Rollover Pass in Gilchrist. That ought to make his momma real proud!
Poor guy, getting sued by the Gulf Coast Rod, Reel and Gun Club when he tries so hard to make friends with (um, get the votes of) gun owners. Like by desecrating the Alamo. And he’s such a proponent of private property rights, why is he picking on private property owners on the coast? It’s so far away. Maybe he thinks you won’t notice. But Hurricane Ike’s “Last House Standing” serves as a beacon to light up the way and show us the spirit of those survivors.