Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Houston's Prop 1 (HERO) after election analysis

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guest-column

Note: this is a guest post submitted by Greg Degeyter.

Proposition 1’s (HERO) only hope for passage was low voter turnout and Mayor Parker ended any chance of passage with the subpoenas for preachers’ sermon notes since that energized the natural opponents of the proposition.Although it’s tempting to argue Houston is a solid democrat city therefore the proposition should carry such an analysis ignores the conservative bent to minorities beliefs when it comes to religion in a vacuum and lgbt issues in a vacuum.

Older and also first generation immigrants from Mexico and Central America are largely conservative on social religious issues. When the proposition was essentially turned into a referendum on the lgbt aspects of the proposition this segment of the voting population which normally votes democrat was going to switch alignment on this particular issue.While solidly democrat blacks are also significantly opposed to lgbt issues being given special privileges. Once again a solid democrat constituency was switching alliance for this particular issue.

Although minorities would benefit from the proposition the lgbt focus was enough to change a substantial amount of the minority vote. Rather than focusing on how minorities benefit from other aspects of the proposition the mayor’s office took the minority vote for granted and engaged in a lgbt campaign rather than promoting the proposition as a whole.

With most conservatives opposed to proposition 1 and two solidly democrat constituencies opposed to the proposition all it takes is a reason to come out and vote. The mayor ensured the vote with the sermon notes seizure. Not only did it ensure voting energy against the proposition; it also ensured that the minority vote would be active since some of those churches were targeted.

The take away is that on social conservative religious issues even deep blue Houston will vote their beliefs over party lines. Simply being statesmen and reaching out and working together when beliefs overlap will begin to build goodwill overall and make future cooperation easier.

Greg Degeyter
Pearland, Texas

 

Guest Post: The problem with Steve Costello

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Clyde Bryan
Clyde Bryan

Fellow Conservatives,

I am a  third generation Houstonian and I worked hard, as part of the Coalition for a Greater Houston, to defeat the Drainage Fee. (Rain Tax)

While engaged in the battle, I discovered Steve Costello had ongoing contracts for City infrastructure projects while he was pushing this initiative.

I asked Mayor Parker, at City Council, if she knew that Steve Costello had these contracts when she appointed him as the Chair of the Drainage Committee.

And did she know that had had conducted the first meeting of the Drainage Committee before he turned in his Conflict of Interest Questionnaire?

Now the Texas Supreme Court, by an 8-0 margin, has confirmed what we all knew. Defective ballot language and broken promises are at the core of this ordinance.

There is a good chance that the whole ordinance will be thrown out by a lower court.

Costello ran as a Conservative but engineered the largest tax increase in the City’s history.

The program has been massive failure and the funds have been spent on City salaries and bike trails.

Are your streets any better today and is flooding problem any better? Go ask the good folks in Meyerland.

Conservatives don’t go to work for the City to benefit themselves or special interest. They go to work to improve the quality of life for everyone in the City.

The Mayor tweeted her preferences for her successor just the other day. (see below)

Screenshot of Annise Parker tweet

 

Want to continue with her same failed policies and watch our City go bankrupt? Or vote for a Conservative?

See you at the polls,

Clyde Bryan
President, The Executive Council

www.TEChouston.com

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.

 

Mayor Parker is violating voters’ constitutional rights to petition for elections

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michael-kubosh
Michael Kubosh

By Houston City Council Member Michael Kubosh, At-Large 3

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the birth of Magna Carta, the Great Charter of liberties that holds that no one is above the Rule of Law – neither a king nor a parliament, or a group of self-serving politicians. But instead of celebrating Magna Carta’s principle that no one is above the law, Houston Mayor Annise Parker is doing her best to violate it.

During a July 28, 2015 City Council meeting, Mayor Parker announced that the City of Houston would implement a “new policy”. Mayor Parker said she would ask her hand-picked City Attorney to review all petitions for “accuracy and relevance” before she permits the City Secretary to begin counting the signatures on a voters’ ballot-petition. Mayor Parker’s “new policy” violates the constitutional right of Houston voters to place a charter-amendment or referendum election on the ballot and vote in such an election.

The Mayor announced her “new policy” just three weeks after the Texas Supreme Court, on July 7, overruled her denial of Houstonians’ right to call an election about the Mayor’s equal rights ordinance. “With all due respect to the Texas Supreme Court,” Mayor Parker stated in an August 19, 2015 press release, “it is clear that politics is driving the law in this case … I strongly disagree with this decision and find it to be contrary to the court’s established law regarding previous ballot initiatives.”

Mayor Parker does not respect the court’s decision to enforce the Rule of Law that she and her City Attorney violated. The court acted to stop Mayor Parker and her associates from running roughshod over voters’ century-old constitutional right to challenge the City’s political elites at the ballot box. In 1912, a supermajority of Texas voters amended the Texas Constitution to grant voters a right to call issue-elections, whether mayors, city councils, or any other political bodies want to conduct such and election or not. A century later, Article XI, Section 5, of the Texas Constitution still proclaims a citizen’s constitutional right to amend a city charter (its constitution) or call a referendum vote:

“Cities having more than five thousand (5000) inhabitants may, by a majority vote of the qualified voters of said city, at an election held for that purpose, adopt or amend their charters…”

Voters’ constitutional right to call and conduct an election is inalienable. Neither the Mayor nor her supporters can deprive voters of that right by adopting a “new policy.”

In its July 7, 2015 Woodfill decision, a unanimous Texas Supreme Court responded to Mayor Parker’s disregard for voters’ constitutional rights. The Court ruled that “The legislative power reserved to the people of Houston is not being honored.”

Rather than learning the lesson of the Magna Carta – that no one is above the law – the Mayor seeks to strip voters of their constitutional right to govern their own city. She seeks to permit the City Attorney to say that an election is not “relevant” to the Mayor’s agenda and that it does not “accurately” portray the world the way the Mayor sees it. Whether or not voters agree with the Mayor’s efforts to enact her equal rights ordinance, the voters, Houston City Council, and this state’s courts have a duty to preserve and protect the citizens’ right to call an election. The only “new policy” that the Mayor and the City Attorney should adopt is that of respecting, rather than violating, voters’ constitutional rights.

 

Ben Hall calls on City of Houston to refund Rain Tax revenue

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Candidate for Houston mayor Ben Hall is the first to fire a shot at Mayor Annise Parker on today’s Texas Supreme Court ruling about the Rain Tax.

ben-hall-header-2015

ben-hall-rain-tax-2015

Dear Friends:

The Supreme Court of Texas ruled in favor of the citizens of our great city. Justices ruled that Mayor Parker and City Hall Insiders misled voters on the drainage tax known as ReBuild Houston. The City has been on a slow downward spiral under this Mayor advancing her personal agenda, squandering tax dollars on boondoggles and raiding the city coffers at the expense of our future. 

I have been the only candidate running for Mayor to OPPOSE the drainage tax from its onset. I supported repealing the tax.  I need your help to send City Hall Insiders a message that a Ben Hall administration will be transparent and independent. 

Houstonians deserve a refund. A refund for 6 years of failed leadership from this current Mayor. 

Help me today by visiting our website www.benhallforhouston.com and signing up to volunteer on my campaign. We can Move Houston Forward together!

We can end the culture of corruption at City Hall where insiders cut backroom deals at the expense of average citizens.

I have been a fighter all my life and I want to be your fighter and advocate at City Hall as Mayor. Please consider making a donation to my campaign of $25, $50, $100 or more.

Sincerely,

Ben Hall

Well played, Mr. Hall! Well played.

For more on the flooding, see Don Hooper’s latest, Renew Houston-Prop1, and the Politics of Flooding. For more on the Rain Tax, see the Facebook page The Problem with Prop 1.

To read the Supreme Court decision, click here.

Not total victory yet but a big step on the road to getting there.

 

Mayor Parker Decries Fairness of Bills Applying Only to Houston; Forgets Public Employee Union Bill Passed in 2005 Was Only For Houston

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In the context of the debate over exempting churches, schools and non profits from payment of drainage fees after passage of Prop 1, Mayor Parker decried Texas Senator Dan Patrick’s Senate Bill 714 as “targeting” Houston. In this Houston Chronicle blog, Mayor Parker said “he’s (Patrick) putting special rules on a drainage fee that only apply to Houston. Well, that’s just not fair.”

Oh really?

Mayor Parker has forgotten another “special rule” that only applied to Houston.

During the 79th Regular Session, Senator John Whitmire sponsored HB 2866 authorizing any municipality with a population of over 1.5 million to meet and confer with its employees over wages, policies and other benefits. According to the House Research Organization, the bill, at that time, applied only to the City of Houston. (emphasis mine).

The bill was signed into law by Governor Perry on June 18th, 2005. In 2008 under Mayor Bill White and then City Controller Annise Parker, the meet and confer agreement between the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE) and the City of Houston was signed.

The agreement is up for renewal June 30, 2011.

HOPE helped Jolanda Jones, Wanda Adams, Melissa Noriega, Sue Lovell, Ed Gonzalez and, of course Mayor Parker get elected.

How does Mayor Parker feel about THAT rule?

Go ahead, read the entire agreement. I did. Surely you can too, right?

HOPE Meet and Confer Agmt (FINAL)