Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Would Sylvester Turner lie about support from religious folk?

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His opponent in the City of Houston mayoral race, Ben Hall, says he would. And is.

From the InBox:

ben-hall-header-2015

TURNER FALSIFIES RELIGIOUS SUPPORT

 Ben Hall says it is outrageous that Sylvester Turner has to lie about his support in the religious community.

Pastor Walter August is among those speaking out after Turner falsely claimed support of his campaign.

“I don’t like my name being used when I have not endorsed Mr. Turner”, says Pastor August of the Bethel Family Baptist Church. “I have a responsibility to educate my congregation on the issues in this race, and Proposition 1 is something I feel strongly about.”

Turner is an advocate of the bathroom ordinance that will let men use women’s restrooms. He has been endorsed by the same Gay Caucus that endorsed Mayor Annise Parker.  Those policies have divided this city and attacked churches.

Turner has also claimed the support of the first ladies of many churches, including First Lady Yolanda Bryant of the Island of Hope Church of God in Christ.  Bishop Phillip Bryant’s family took to Facebook to complain.

“She is in full support of Ben Hall. We pray that this Mayoral race will continue to be clean and honest and focused on the issues.”

Ben Hall has opposed the bathroom ordinance from day one, and has garnered the support of more than 2,000 pastors and churches.

Speaking of Turner’s actions, Hall said, “This is what a career politician does. They exaggerate what they have done for the community and they claim support that doesn’t exist. Houstonians must reject this conduct.  To falsely claim support of pastors is a huge insult that should outrage the faith community.”

Interesting. Why would Turner, or any candidate for that matter, blatantly lie about who is supporting their campaign? Do they think that people don’t pay attention to this stuff? Well, yeah, Turner’s campaign is probably right. Not a whole lotta people pay attention to the truth.

As an aside, some people don’t believe that Turner legitimately received the endorsement of the “same Gay Caucus that endorsed Mayor Annise Parker”. They are wondering if he bought it, after he “evolved” on the issue.

Huh. As the Houston Press headline says, this race gets “Curiouser and Curiouser“.

 

 

Ask Steve Costello, Ben Hall, and Bill King your best question

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Okay City of Houston Republicans, here is your chance. Your chance to ask three of the candidates for mayor of Houston your own, best question to help you decide whom to vote for.

Greater Houston Pachyderm Club logoJoin the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club this Tuesday at noon at Tony’s restaurant in Greenway Plaza as we host several of the leading mayoral candidates in this November’s elections.  This week we have scheduled Steve Costello, Ben Hall and Bill King.

The meeting will be held Tuesday, October 6th, at Tony’s Restaurant at 3755 Richmond Avenue. Tony’s website can be found at www.tonyshouston.com. Reservations are not required.

Lunch will be served from a limited choice menu for $25 at 11:30 am; the meeting begins at noon. You are asked to pay by check or with exact change at the meeting, or pay on-line with a credit card or PayPal. A $1 charge is added to this service to cover the costs.

Please print and bring your e-mail receipt with you to the luncheon.

These three are the only candidates amongst the 17 running that are actively vying for Republican votes. Two of them, Costello and King, identify more or less as Republicans, with Hall being a Democrat.

So, Mr. or Mrs. Republican, how do you decide between them? Why not ask them a question or three about something that you care about?

For instance, here is what I would ask each candidate.

  • Steve Costello – You were Mayor Parker’s point man behind the “rain tax”, also known as Rebuild or Renew Houston and have made support for the tax a pillar of your campaign. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the ballot language used for approval of the tax was misleading and confusing to voters. If elected mayor, would you put the tax back on the ballot with clear, concise language explaining that it is a tax? If not, would you continue the practice of putting misleading and confusing items on the ballot in order to get the vote to go your way?
  • Ben Hall – Your record clearly shows that you are a Democrat, having voted for Democrats and funded Democratic candidates. A two part question – why are you a Democrat and why should a Republican vote for someone that clearly doesn’t identify with the overall philosophy of the Republican Party?
  • Bill King – In your book Unapologetically Moderate, you support the idea of sanctuary cities and mock those voters who think that the rise in so-called “anchor babies” is detrimental to the city, state, and country. Given that Houston has policies in place that proclaim it to be a “sanctuary city”, if you are elected mayor, will you continue those policies as is or will you expand them to encourage more illegal immigrants to settle in the city?

You may have better questions than that or have issues that are more important to you. This is your chance to get them answered.

Backlash against Paul Simpson, Harris County Republican Party

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Can’t say this was unexpected. Via the Ben Hall Campaign:

CONSERVATIVE CHURCH LEADER WANTS GOP APOLOGY

There is a growing backlash to the false attack on Ben Hall by the Chairman of the Harris County Republican party.

Today, Steve Riggle, the founding pastor of Grace Community Church joined other faith leaders in denouncing the blatant lie that Ben Hall ever supported the bathroom ordinance.

“What the Harris County GOP has done to Ben Hall reflects on the integrity of every person in the Republican Party.  That is why I am urging every Republican office holder and party member to publicly condemn this outright lie.”

Riggle is one of five pastors whose sermons were subpoenaed by Mayor Parker, part of the city hall campaign against the religious community that Ben Hall has pledged to end on day one.

“Ben Hall has stood with us in fighting HERO from the very beginning,” says Riggle. “I should know.  As you are aware I have been helping lead the effort to defeat this ordinance from the beginning.”

Ironically, the Chairman of the Republican Party ought to be chastising Bill King and Steve Costello. King doesn’t think it is the voter’s business how he will vote, and Steve Costello supports letting men go into restrooms with teenage girls. Why didn’t he attack Sylvester Turner, the gay caucus candidate who promises to be a fourth term of Mayor Parker?

“I have promised voters that I will not play politics with the truth,” says Hall. I will protect their public safety. I will make sure tax money isn’t wasted. And I will stand up to the backroom deals. That is why I am getting attacked.’

Again, this is easier to understand if you know the background of the Harris County Republican Party. Riggle was a huge supporter of Jared Woodfill, who lost to Paul Simpson in the last primary to be chair of the HCRP.

What is pretty much impossible to understand is why Simpson would throw the defeat of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) under the bus, as well as jeopardizing the very real possibility of a Republican winning the Houston Controller’s race out of petty jealousy. Obviously there is more to it than that, as in kowtowing to the downtown Houston business establishment, but many folks will see it as nothing more than a petty opportunity for Simpson to poke Woodfill and his supporters in the eye.

I was reminded today by a staunch conservative Republican that the most important race this year is the controller’s race. He says that because Republican Bill Frazer is the odds on favorite to win the job, IF Republicans turn out to vote. And IF Frazer wins that job, the truth about the finances of the City of Houston can finally be laid bare. What Simpson has done by attacking Hotze, Woodfill, et al, is to guarantee a REDUCED Republican turnout, which clearly jeopardizes Frazer.

As I said yesterday, it makes no sense. Why blow the opportunity to elect a “more” conservative Mayor, defeat the obnoxious HERO, and elect the most qualified controller candidate in a couple of decades? To placate a few establishment Republicans that do little to nothing for the party?

lance berkmanWoodfill, Hotze and team are not giving up, even in face of opposition from the very party they support. Check this out from former Astros great Lance Berkman:

 

That is strong and using celebrities in this fight is something the left wanted to do. Well done.

Will Woodfill and his team be able to overcome the combination of Mayor Annise Parker and and a vengeful HCRP Chair Paul Simpson in this fight?

I sure hope so. HERO is a prime example of bloated and unnecessary government. Why can’t Simpson see that? And since when did Republicans finance knowingly false attacks?

It’s a new day folks. If you are a City of Houston voter, I encourage you to look at the facts about the mayor’s race, the controller’s race, and the HERO vote. Vote your conscience, not what some vengeful party hack wants you to do.

NOT EXACTLY AN UPDATE UPDATE:

Funny, as soon as I hit publish, I get this from Simpson:

Dear David —

     This week, the Harris County Republican Party began its promised campaign of identifying the liberal Democrats running for Houston Mayor.

     On Monday, we exposed mayoral candidate Ben Hall’s consistent Democratic primary voting record, his contributions totaling over $100,000 to liberal Democrats like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Lloyd Doggett, and Al Green and that he is a current Sustaining Member of the Harris County Democratic Party. 

     We also pointed out that personal injury trial lawyer Ben Hall did, in fact, change his position on the Equal Rights Ordinance.  As shown on the Harris County Democratic Party website, Ben Hall in 2013 answered “Yes” to the following question in his own party’s candidate questionnaire: 

“If elected, would you support a citywide non-discrimination policy protecting LGBT Houstonians from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation?”

Ben Hall:  YES

     But, he later backpedaled on a radio talk show, prompting a letter from Democratic Precinct Chairs asking Hall to explain his contradictory answers. 

     Democrat Ben Hall was for the ordinance before he was against it, and nothing in his record shows him to be a conservative of any stripe.

     Instead of demanding an apology from the Harris County Republican Party for telling the truth, Ben Hall should call his own Harris County Democratic Party and, as a current sustaining member, demand they make his 2013 questionnaire public.

     Let’s be clear! The Harris County Republican Party opposes Mayor Parker’s HERO ordinance. At the first meeting I chaired after taking office, the Party’s Executive Committee in July 2014 adopted a resolution opposing that ordinance.

     The Party has never wavered from that position. Having spent the last year building and fortifying our grassroots army, the Harris County Republican Party will make a real difference where it counts, on the ground and reaching Republican voters in neighborhoods to turn out the vote to soundly defeat Mayor Parker’s HERO ordinance.  You can help by volunteering here. 

     We will continue to identify the liberal Democrats running for Houston Mayor and give Republican voters critical information needed to cast their vote.

Apparently the HCRP doesn’t know how to use the Google. Simpson wants Hall to demand that the HCDP release the questionaire? Seriously? Let me help them out: click here to view the questionnaire where a Hall staffer indicated that Hall would support a NDO. Hall answered for that staffer’s error in 2013 and paid the price for it. As he should have because it was his campaign.

Anyone that paid attention to that race in 2013 or who has paid attention to Ben Hall KNOWS he is against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) and has been from the beginning. Or is Simpson now calling Pastor Steve Riggle a liar?

Sad to see the chair of the HCRP resorting to false attacks.

And wow!!! What about the work they have done to defeat the HERO!!! Whoo hoo! You go HCRP!

Unbelievable.

 

So let's attack Ben Hall and lose the fight for lower taxes

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Harris County Republicans haven’t been known to be the smartest bunch in the room. And this week’s activities by the party highlight the petty infighting that has left the City of Houston in liberal Democratic hands for years. Here are a few links to get you up to speed:

At Monday night’s Harris County Republican Party’s Executive Committee meeting, this flyer was passed out to the attendees:

hcrp attack flyer on ben hall

If you look close, you’ll see that it is paid for by the party. I received a heads up from a party official on Monday afternoon that this was coming down, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise. What is surprising is that HCRP Chair Paul Simpson seems to have “grown a pair” and is pushing back against the slates and social conservatives.

That, my friends, is what this is truly about. I’m impressed that Brainy came so close to figuring it out:

The Republican establishment is pushing back against the rebels. Or as I would prefer, the anti-Hotze, anti-Woodfill caucus going after the conservative front-runner.

…

Simpson beat Woodfill for county chair a year or so ago, and Woodfill hasn’t gotten over it. And Simpson, bullied by Woodfill’s shadow chairmanship of the local Republicans, has to respond with the only thing political parties have that holds them together: loyalty.

Click to read Perry Dorrell’s GOP food fight in Houston at Brains and Eggs.

Well done Brainy. You got it mostly right.

This isn’t about Ben Hall so much as it is about Paul Simpson and the downtown establishment finding a relatively safe way, in their minds, to push back against the kingmaker slates of Hotze and Lowry. And, as Brainy notes, it lets Simpson poke Woodfill in the eye. Plus, it has the added benefit of allowing Simpson to push social conservatives as a whole to the side, as I told you he would.

Republicans are so stupid. By attacking Hall, Simpson gets his jollies (heh) but loses the strategical war for a more conservative Houston mayor. There is ZERO chance that either Bill King or Stephen Costello will be in the runoff. ZERO. Ben Hall at least has a path to get there, IF Republicans vote strategically and do not engage in the silliness that Simpson has decided to engage in.

Think about it. What makes King a Republican? Certainly not his primary voting record. Certainly not his “Unapologetically Moderate” stances on issues important to Republicans. The guy seriously can’t decide whether or not HERO is a good law? Seriously? No wonder Hall called him the Waffle King.

And Costello? While I personally think he would make a very good mayor, he can’t get there from here. Too many Republicans detest him for trying to do something about the city’s crumbling infrastructure by pushing the “rain tax”. Hey, at least he tried to address the problem. But sometimes, those that try are the ones left looking in from the outside.

So those of us that are both fiscal and social conservatives are left with one and only one choice: Democrat Ben Hall. Hall has never claimed to be a Republican. He has claimed to be a conservative Democrat and he is the ONLY candidate in the race pushing both social and fiscal conservatism. If Republicans would use their heads instead of their partisan biases, they would see that the best thing for them to do is to vote for Ben Hall and try to get him into the runoff.

Why do you think Brainy and Kuffner are so happy with Simpson’s attack? Because if it is successful and people buy into it, not only will we have yet another free spending liberal mayor, it will also drive down turnout on the HERO issue, which is exactly what Democrats are hoping for. The Campaign for Houston is doing a great job at highlighting that issue and increasing interest in voting. If we lose and HERO becomes law, Simpson will be hailed as a hero for his work by the left.

My goodness. Simpson, his executive team that approved this, and the downtown establishment need to suck it up and forget about Woodfill, Hotze, and Lowry for this election. Poke them during primary season all you want.

Sometimes “growing a pair” means you have the courage to do the right thing for the whole group and forgetting about that chip on your shoulder.

Houston conservatives, be they Republican or Democrat, need to vote strategically in this election.

 

 

 

Ben Hall targets Bill King

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Two entertaining and substantive press releases issued by Houston Mayoral candidate Ben Hall this week put the spotlight on one of his opponents, Bill King.

First was this one about neighborhood slush funds:

THIS IS HOUSTON….NOT CHICAGO

Bill King says he wants to give some neighborhoods tax money to do whatever they want with it. That is a misguided idea.

The Chicago style neighborhood bosses we already have would just love such a fund to manage. That is the kind of logic that is letting a couple of unelected bureaucrats in Uptown try to spend $200 million dollars on a bus boondoggle.

The last thing we need to do is line the pockets of a select few. That’s not back to basics. That’s like throwing salt in the open fiscal wound at Houston City Hall.

We have allowed more than 500 million dollars to sit in the bank accounts of a couple of politically protected neighborhoods.  That is money that could fix our streets, provide more police, and address flooding.

“We don’t need neighborhood slush funds. We don’t need higher taxes. And we don’t need to adopt Chicago-style neighborhood bosses,” says Ben Hall. “Everyone benefits if we move the entire city forward together, not financially divide the city as suggested by Mr. King.  We can do better!”

Always smart to get a Chicago reference in.

This morning’s hit was about the HERO and King’s reluctance to take a stand on it.

A QUESTION FOR BILL KING

All of a sudden Bill King says he has questions about the HERO bathroom ordinance. He told a GOP blog he doesn’t understand why the Houston ordinance is longer than other cities. What a bold question!

Since we know Mr. King is a lawyer from his work as a tax collector and lawyer for HISD, we have a question too!

Have you read the ordinance? If you had you would have known how to vote a long time ago!

Even two weeks ago Bill King said he would abstain on the HERO vote. There is no confusion. Ben Hall was against HERO from the beginning, calling it a sloppily written law that was a danger to women. He is the only mayoral candidate who took a stance regardless of the politics.

We don’t know what Bill King’s position is today, but the week isn’t over.  We don’t know if Mr. King was this wishy-washy when he was Mayor of Kemah, but Houston deserves bold decisive leadership, not a guy who makes decisions based on which way the political winds are blowing.

I was also amused by the Kingwood Tea Party’s promotion of King garnering the endorsement of the “C” Club of Houston. The amusing part was the picture used – the cover of King’s latest book:

bill-king-unapologetically-moderate

Nothing particularly wrong with being a moderate but it does explain a lot about Bill King.

 

Ben Hall's most excellent summer

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Ben Hall announces Law Enforcement Accountability Policy
Ben Hall announces Law Enforcement Accountability Policy August 11, 2015

Houston Mayoral candidate Ben Hall is having a most excellent summer, primarily thanks to Houston Mayor Annise Parker. Parker’s oversteps and missteps on the Houston UNequal Rights Ordinance has propelled Hall into the thick of the race.

As I noted here, conventional wisdom from conventional Houston political pundits said that Hall didn’t have a chance in this years race. But like most conventional wisdom, it only takes one unconventional act to undermine it. And that is exactly what Parker has done by trying to force the HUNERO down the throats of Houstonians.

Hall is the ONLY candidate to come out against the HUNERO. If you don’t believe me, will you believe longtime Houston political commentator Nancy Sims?

Ben Hall remains the only candidate stridently opposing HERO and continues to garner support from the Hotze family and other religious conservatives while Costello remains popular with many centrist voters.

(click here to read “And the “C” Club Speaks” by Nancy Sims)

I don’t know about the Hotze angle but this was a coup for Hall:

Within the walls of Mt. Hebron Missionary Baptist church against the backdrop of a Houston Equal Rights Ordinance many consider morally offensive, mayoral candidate Ben Hall welcomed the wholehearted support of African American ministers representing dozens of congregations.

“An end has come to open warfare between the Mayor’s office and the church. I invite you gladly, to have and assume your right position in the leadership of this great city,” said Hall to members of the Baptist Ministers Association, representing more than 300 congregations.

The pastors say they’re backing Hall because he backed them in the battle to allow the HERO ordinance be decided by the City’s voters.

“When others ridiculed us. When no one thought we would stand for what was right in the eyesight of God, it was this man, this preacher, this candidate who stood with us and did not care if it cost him his candidacy,” said Rev. Max Miller, President of the BMA.

(click here to read “Black Conservative Ministers Give Ben Hall Full Backing in Mayoral Race” by Greg Groogan at MyFoxHouston.)

And if you don’t think that’s a big deal, click on over to see what Brainy has to say:

I’ll revisit my prediction: if the election were held today, you’d have Ben Hall and Adrian Garcia in a December duel for mayor of Houston, a result similar to San Antonio’s earlier this year.

(click here to read “Two adverse developments for HERO” by Perry Dorrell)

Now that is a big deal considering that Brainy is one of the better prognosticators on the “progressive” side of the Houston punditry. And he absolutely HATES Ben Hall and is not happy about this turn of events.

But, but, what about Bill King? Surely the newly minted “conservative” is standing against HUNERO! Right? I mean, heck, he has the Kingwood Tea Party’s support! And KWTP was all in on putting HUNERO on the ballot. But, no, Mr. King is not standing for what is right. From the Houston Chronicle’s Rebecca Elliott recap of a Mayor forum:

1. Will you vote for the equal rights ordinance?

Yes: Bell, Costello, Garcia, McVey, Turner
No: Hall
Abstain: King

(click here to read “Candidates talk criminal justice at mayoral forum” by Rebecca Elliot)

Ms. Elliot tweeted this during the forum:

Asked to take a position on #HERO, @BillKingForHou says he won’t vote for either side #houvote

How’s that for courage and leadership? Boy, with a backbone like that, he’d sure stand up to the unions when it comes to pensions, wouldn’t he! Maybe conservative organizations need to take a second look before jumping on the King bandwagon.

But Hall isn’t resting on that single issue, although it is huge and will probably remain his biggest focus. Last week I attended a press conference where he announced a plan he called L.E.A.P. -Law Enforcement Accountability Policy. This ten point plan is designed to improve trust between the community and police. I doubt the police union will like it but I’m certain that most citizens, particularly those in the inner city minority areas, will. A few highlights:

  • An effective and independent Citizen Police Review Board will be empaneled.
  • Confirmed excessive force complaints against officers will be posted on-line by badge number, along with a summary of the complaints and findings.
  • Any Houston Police Officer who covers up for another officer’s wrongdoing will be held accountable for the same violation as the offending officer for whom he or she covered up.
  • Sworn complaints against any Houston Police Officer may be filed at any public library or public city building. Citizens who file false complaints on law enforcement officers will be investigated and charged with the crime of filing a false report.

That last point is the biggest one to me. One of the primary reasons citizens do not file complaints is that they have to go to a Police station and file it under the watchful eyes of police officers. But also note that Hall balances it by saying, “file a false report, go to jail”. I don’t think this issue should be overlooked.

Is Brainy right and Hall is in the top two right now? I don’t know but I do know that Hall and his wife Saundra would bring class and fresh air to the mayor’s office.