Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Jim Murphy Anti-Taxpayer of the Year MVP

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State Representative Jim Murphy HD133 has outdone himself and it’s hard to tell which accomplishment garnered him this special award. One of this year’s recipients of the Texas Municipal League (TML) “Legislator of the Year” award is Jim Murphy. Fiscal conservatives call this award the “Anti-Taxpayer MVP Legislator of the Year” award – and rightfully so. Past recipients include Wendy Davis, Joe Straus, Carol Alvarado, John Carona, and many others whose sole existence in the Texas Legislature was to separate you from your money, expand government, and erode your liberty. The Texas Municipal League is the bane of every Texas conservative. Once upon a time, Lt. Dan and Senator Paul Bettencourt complained vociferously about the taxpayer funded TML activities.

TML legislates for higher taxes and bigger government every legislative session in Austin. TML sometimes broadens their horizons and lobbies for annexations, management districts, TIRZs, eminent domain, governmental immunity, and generally big, expansive government wherever you can find it. The worst thing about this organization is that it uses your tax dollars to accomplish these goals. The lobbyists for TML are the best and most highly paid in Austin and they use your tax money to work against you. TML’s number one target this session was SB2, the property tax reform bill. TML has an entire webpage on the talking points against property tax reform. Remember that your taxes fund this organization.

TML gives this money to lobbyists who blow smoke up the butts of legislators like Jim Murphy. Jim is then tasked to promote legislation to raise your taxes and expand government in many ways most just cannot fathom, including the creation of TIRZs, (Tax Incremental Reinvestment Zones). Jim Murphy is paid to manage a TIRZ and distribute tax dollars to special interests. Jim Murphy has a contract through District Management Services to manage the Westchase District – legally questionable, at best. The Westchase District was created by the legislature to siphon off dollars from the City of Houston and business owners.

Most TIRZs come with a management district to augment revenue and operate as another taxing authority designed to take funds from business owners. Management districts tax business owners on a square foot basis. TML magicians, lawyers, and legislators survive by figuring out how to separate you from your money. These districts have been criticized as of late by Governor Abbott and Senator Bettencourt because Mayor Sly Turner refused to take money from the management districts for Hurricane Harvey cleanup. Ole Sly argued that TIRZ funds couldn’t be used for disaster relief services. Sly thinks we forgot when he raided these very funds to augment the City of Houston budget last year. Abbott certainly should have screamed “liar, liar pants on fire!” Instead, Abbott gave Turner a check for $50 million so Turner would say nice things about the Governor. Again, this was your money too. Notice that I didn’t say balance the budget because the City of Houston has not balanced its budget in 20 years. The City of Houston has been borrowing billions from employee pension fund to create the appearance of being balanced.

Giving this award to State Representative Jim Murphy (District 133) this year is fitting and proper. Jim was a sponsor of Mayor Sly’s billion dollar pension bill (SB2190) this session. Representative Murphy could be seen standing next to Dan Flynn, chairman of the house pension committee, on the House floor as the bill was being debated by (generally) Allen Blakemore clients. Jim’s recognition should not be limited to what will amount to Houston’s largest property tax increase, which will follow the passage of this horrendous bond proposal. Murphy, I am sure, got credit for killing property tax reform (SB2) in the House. And, God only knows what else TML deemed meritorious. I am sure that Allen Blakemore received an “attaboy” for the “Anti-Taxpayer MVP Political Consultant of the Year” award,

Congratulations to Jim Murphy for his victory as “Anti-Taxpayer MVP Legislator of the Year!”

Paul Simpson’s Billion Dollar Pension Obligation Bonds

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Mayor Sly Turner, Lt. Dan, and Senator Joan Huffman celebrating their great billion dollar bond victory at the GRB. Picture was taken before Sly Turner sued over SB4

The first thing voters must know about the one billion dollar pension bond on the November ballot is where the money is going. The money is going to fund the DROP accounts of retired police officers and municipal employees for the City of Houston. This is largest bond in City of Houston history and none of it goes for Harvey relief!

The DROP stands for the Deferred Retirement Option Plan. The Texas Legislature created these accounts in 2001, which allow city police and municipal employees to retire after twenty years without really retiring. DROP allowed employees to accrue the retirement pay while being paid their normal salary in a separate account collecting eight percent interest. It was a pretend retirement. There were several bills that morphed into the system we have now. Mayor Sylvester Turner, as a state representative, carried every one of the bills. This irony should not be lost here. Not one dime of this money goes for any Harvey relief

Most police officers who have been in the system since 2001 have over one million dollars in their DROP accounts. Many officers have several million dollars in their DROP. Understand that this DROP account is in addition to their retirement benefits of 95 percent salary and medical benefits for the rest of their lives. This is why the City of Houston has an eight billion dollar unfunded pension liability and why we are compared to Chicago and Detroit. Voters are now being asked to make millionaires out of city employees.

The bond proceeds are divided between police and municipal employees: 750 million for police and 250 million for municipal employees. Obviously, there are a lot of police officers in the program. This billion dollar bond is just for this group of retiring officers and taxpayers can expect skyrocketing property taxes and more bond proposals in the future.

There is a group within the Republican Party, led by Paul Simpson, promoting this nonsense. Make no mistake, Paul Simpson is a big government establishment Republican, which is the reason the party was crushed in the last election cycle. Paul Simpson is not acting alone and his political consultant, Kevin Shuvalov, is being paid to promote Mayor Sylvester Turner’s billion dollar “kick the can down the road” bond deal. Shuvalov just happens to be a consultant to Joe Straus. You can bet that plenty of funds are fixin’ to flow into Paul Simpson’s coffers from both Sylvester Turner and the unions who are desperate for post-Harvey Republican support for this bond.

Lt. Dan and Senator Whitmire showing the love at the Capitol with the new HPOU President

Once again, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a longtime recipient of [police] union support, is carrying the water for the pension bond election. Patrick’s political consultant, Allen Blakemore, worked with Turner in 2001 and was the lobbyist for the HPOU at that time. Blakemore facilitated Mayor Sylvester Turner’s billion dollar bond proposal through the Senate long before education and property tax reform went down in flames in the House. Lt. Dan and his consultant have been delivering for the unions since he was first elected to the Texas Senate and this year is no exception. While good people in our community are flooded out of their homes, Patrick, Turner, et al. are trying to make millionaires out of city workers.

Expect to see Lt. Dan (with a special appearance by Senator Joan Huffman and crew) representing recipients of union largesse at Monday night’s Harris County Republican Party’s Executive Committee Meeting. Maybe Sly can ask Lt. Dan about the rainy day fund when he is in town. Lt. Dan can ask the mayor about all the nasty things Turner and the Houston City Council said about the Republicans when Houston filed suit over SB4.

This is being done for the love of money.

Special Session and the Governorship

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lt. Dan’s Pension Bill

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If you are a fiscal conservative, Monday May 1, 2017 will forever be known as Bloody Monday in the Texas Senate.

Never let it be said that Dan Patrick cannot move legislation. If you have a bill that makes multi-millionaires out of City of Houston employees and is promoted by the most fiscally liberal mayor in our lifetime, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is your guy. All of the campaign contributions from HPOU finally paid off like a slot machine making the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Houston Police Officers’ Union (HPOU) the kings of the Texas Senate. The faux conservative gig is up. Yesterday, Dan cashed in his conservative bona fides for Sylvester Turner and his big union buddies.

Lieutenant Dan was not alone in wrecking the finances of the City of Houston – he had accomplices. There is always Senator Joan Huffman who never fails to demonstrate her liberalism when it counts. Senator Huffman waived to all the Houston police officers in the gallery as she lined their deferred retirement option plan (DROP) accounts with her vote.

It is no secret that Sylvester Turner intends to lift the property tax cap in order to pay for all of this nonsense. When Turner lifts the tax cap, please send a love note to Lieutenant Dan for the pension Napalm bomb. We supposedly have a “conservative” legislature; however, Lieutenant Dan cannot make things happen on conservative issues like education and property tax reform. Lieutenant Dan should not captain a shrimp boat let alone preside over the Texas Senate.

Allen Blakemore, Lieutenant Dan’s political consultant, proudly displays on his website that he has also served as a consultant for HPOU. Finally, HPOU and SEIU’s political contributions to Dan, Joe Straus, and House Pension Committee Chair Dan Flynn have paid off like a million dollar slot machine.

The Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) and C Club joined in on Lieutenant Dan’s corruption of Houston finances. Both GHP and the C Club were somehow allowed to represent Houston taxpayers in the pension bill negotiation. This is like sending Bill Clinton to chaperone Miss USA contestants. I wonder if C Club member and Greater Houston Partnership Infrastructure Chairman Jim Dannenbaum participated in these negotiations. Or was he too busy dealing with the FBI?

Fiscally conservative Houstonians are without a voice in our Texas Legislature. As usual, Houston taxpayers are left holding the bag for the worst piece of legislation to come out of Austin in years. It is a sad day for Houston.

http://www.hpou.org/salary-calculator/ 

Desperate Devon Anderson – bigoted or power hungry? UPDATED

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That’s the question in the race for Harris County District Attorney. Is the current DA, Devon Anderson, bigoted or simply another power hungry politician that will do anything to remain in power?

Prominent Attorney sends a letter to Devon Anderson

Yesterday, a very prominent local attorney sent a letter to Ms. Anderson asking her that question, which a reader sent to me. I reached out to the attorney and asked if I could reprint it. Why did I do that? Because I don’t know if it was meant to be private or not. Sure, I could publish it here but I try to be as fair as possible. As a certain presidential candidate would say, ‘BELIEVE ME’, you would recognize this attorney. If I hear back, I will identify the attorney. For now: devon anderson

Devon Anderson is not bigoted

Although I don’t personally know Ms. Anderson, from what I have observed, she is not bigoted. After all, she has surrounded herself with members of the Houston gay community. I don’t think it is appropriate to mention all of them but certainly one stands out. That would be Ann Johnson, a very open member of that community and a former political candidate. Ms. Johnson is DA Anderson’s Human Trafficking specialist. And by all accounts, she is very good at what she does. So if Ms. Anderson was a bigot, it is hard to fathom that she would keep Ms. Johnson around.

Devon Anderson is just another desperate politician

Let’s face it. When a politician is forced into a corner, they will do anything to remain in power. And Devon Anderson is a politician. She lost her bench, as Judges say, in the Obama wave of 2008. And clearly she learned a lesson or three from her late husband – burn everything down and leave no reputation intact if you want to win. Which is why she retained her husband’s political consultant, Allen Blakemore and firm. Mr. Blakemore had this to say about Ms. Anderson’s comments:

“Her sexual orientation is not new or newsworthy,” said Allen Blakemore, who works for Anderson’s campaign. “She is married to a woman. She has said so publicly many, many times. This is calling you calling me a white male and me feigning outrage.” (click here to read the article on KHOU.com)

The Blakemore Way

Okay, it isn’t new. True enough. And Blakemore looks to be a white male. His understudy has this to say:

Sara Kinney, a spokeswoman for Anderson’s campaign, said the incumbent’s comments about Ogg’s sexual orientation were being taken “completely taken out of context.” “She was talking about a conservative voter, why they would have problems with Kim Ogg as a district attorney,” Kinney said. “If someone is pro-traditional marriage, they’re going to have a problem with her being a lesbian. … It’s just a statement of facts. I appreciate your attempts to make it something more, but it just isn’t.” (click here to read the article on OutSmartMagazine.com)

That’s really sad Sara. I had such high hopes for you. In another era, Sara might say “if someone is pro-slavery, they’re going to have a problem with her being black”.  Or if they don’t like “illegals”, they’re going to have a problem with her being a “Mexican”. Or, dare I say it, if someone doesn’t like women in charge, they’re going to have a problem with her being “female”. Think about it Sara. This is what Blakemore teaches. If you’ve been around Harris County Republican politics, you already know this. Remember when he swooped in at the last minute to try and save Rep. Wayne Smith from certain defeat? Briscoe Cain should have won that race in a landslide but had to sweat out a razor thin victory. He does it because it works. Which is a sad commentary on the Harris County Republican electorate.

Desperate Devon doubles down

So, you’re thinking, by golly, Big Jolly, Devon Anderson said she didn’t mean anything by it and has no problem with the gay community. And I believe her. Which is why I wasn’t surprised when she doubled down on it. Check out the Isiah Factor. This is what Desperate Devon had to say:

What I was saying was that the people, that conservative Republicans are not going to like these things about about them. If you disagree with me about this case, imagine how much you’re gonna disagree with a pro-choice, liberal, lesbian. That’s what I was saying. There was no judgement in what I was saying. It was a fact about her, like, I’m a widow, she’s married to a woman.  That’s it.

Nope, no judgement at all. Conservative Republicans are not going to vote for a lesbian, therefore I have to remind them repeatedly that Kim Ogg is a lesbian. After all, the gayz are taking over the world and conservative Republicans know this! Why, I’m just a wee widow doing the Lord’s work!

Hellish prosecutorial abuse

“Nothing has changed in this case. There’s no new witness. There’s not one shred of new evidence. This decision could have been made five days after he was arrested,” Looney said. “This is just hellish prosecutorial abuse.” (click here to read the article on HoustonChronicle.com)

Look folks, I know more than most that it is not popular for a conservative Republican to vote for a Democrat. I get it. But it is past time to change the atmosphere down at the criminal justice center in Harris County. Stop the cronyism. Stop the corruption. Stop the hellish abuse. Let’s make a change at the head of the Harris County District Attorney’s office. I’m going to cast a vote for Kim Ogg for Harris County District Attorney and say NO MORE to the bigoted consultants that think they control Republicans in Harris County.

UPDATE: Letter to Devon Anderson from Randy Schaffer:

I did get permission. And I did tell you that you would know who he was.

[pdfviewer width=”800px” height=”600px” beta=”true/false”]https://bigjolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/randy-schaffer-letter-devon-anderson_102416.pdf[/pdfviewer]

Click here if you cannot see the letter.

DA Debate

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debate2

Hours before Devon Anderson and Kim Ogg debated last Monday night at Windsor Village United Methodist Church, one of Devon’s lead prosecutors was the subject of prosecutorial misconduct allegations in a Fort Bend County courtroom. Prosecutorial misconduct has become a theme of the Anderson administration.

The DA debate, moderated by Khambrel Marshall from KPRC Local 2, occurred just minutes before 84 million people watched the Trump-Clinton debate. Think about that for a second. The race for Harris County District Attorney is easily the most contested race in the county and the Anderson-Blakemore crew decided to debate Ogg the same night of the most watched political debate in history.

kim_ogg
Kim Ogg

Since the 2014 election, Anderson has been on the defensive for a variety of issues including several prosecutorial misconduct allegations; the [unjust] prosecution of two pro-life activists; a lawsuit that exposed the fact that prosecutors jailed a rape victim; even more jailed witnesses, including another rape victim; misuse of the asset forfeiture process; and a complete lack of diversity in the leadership ranks.

Devon used two defenses to this litany of scandals: personally attacking Kim Ogg and blame shifting.

Anderson attacked Ogg for previously running as a Republican. Anderson also attacked Ogg for voting in the 2008 Harris County Republican Primary. Instead of discussing her own attributes, Anderson tried to point out to the black community that Kim did not vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 primary campaign. Again, an interesting approach for someone defending her own Republican bona fides and one I enjoy sharing with Republican voters.

I do find it interesting that Kim Ogg’s father, former State Senator Jack Ogg, was one of the last pro-life Democrats in Texas. I was wondering if Anderson was going to bring that up; but, she is likely unaware of Houston political history.

Interestingly, Anderson is still defending her office’s decision to jail rape victims. While this does not surprise me, Anderson’s lack of legal responsibility blows me away. Let me explain. Most of you have likely seen Anderson’s video from Arizona defending the actions of her office. Since the news broke, Anderson has provided a detailed description of the trial court prosecutor’s actions. This is a problem because, whether or not they are true, the prosecutor’s actions were likely outside the scope of his employment, which would pierce his governmental immunity. This is why most smart lawyers say, “I cannot comment on pending litigation.” Devon Anderson is not a smart lawyer.

Ogg quoted hard data to demonstrate the lack of racial diversity in leadership positions at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Simply said, the racial diversity in the office in no way reflects the ethnic composition of the county.

In addressing the series of prosecutorial misconduct allegations against the District Attorney’s Office, Anderson claimed that none had been substantiated. In actuality, Judge Stacey Bond found that two prosecutors intentionally caused a mistrial in a highly publicized case. Attorney Stanley Schneider said that “Harris County residents should be troubled by the DA’s office condoning conduct like this.” After Bond’s ruling, attorney Dan Cogdell said, “It says to me there’s a cancer in that office that needs to be cut out.”

The latest problems involve destroyed evidence at Precinct Four and Anderson’s failure to timely notify defense counsel. Anderson’s office is a scandal a week and this will continue. She is in way over her head and has gotten terrible political and legal advice from those that surround her.

At one point during the debate, Anderson described her office’s transparency and a large chuckle erupted from the audience. Let’s just take the Precinct Four situation. Instead of accepting responsibility, Anderson shifted blame to Constable Mark Herman. Anderson claimed that her office could not obtain reliable case information from Constable Herman’s office, which is why Anderson’s office waited six months to notify defendants that the evidence in their case was destroyed. Meanwhile, defendants went to prison and, now, defendants may sue the county over these civil rights violations. Once again, the taxpayers lose with Anderson in office.

Anderson is wasting your tax dollars by permitting her prosecutors to exercise bad judgment and unethical conduct. She is also using the entire budget for salaries and is dependent on asset forfeiture funds for everything else.

There are only two ways to view this debate: via Ogg’s Facebook page and KPRC Local 2.

If you watch the debate, you will witness Anderson’s negative personal attacks against Ogg. Anderson’s defensive posture and blame shifting does not warrant Republican support. Most folks agree that Anderson is weighing down the ticket. It is time for the Anderson administration to end. Otherwise, Anderson’s misbehavior will continue as a stain on Harris County Republicans during every election cycle and lead to more problems for years to come. Most importantly, we are not safer with Anderson in office. Violent crime is prominent throughout the county. Anderson was a product of the slates and as Paul Simpson has waged a war against the three prominent slates, he continues to endorse and support the worst candidate in the Republican field, which drags down all of the candidates. Watch the debate and see for yourself.