Houston Latino Mayoral Debate Recap

I liveposted on Facebook during the Houston Latino Mayoral Debate. A couple of overall impressions: First, kudos to Marc Campos for putting on another very professionally run event. The Latino Summit this spring was also well run and informative. He is providing a great service to the community with these events (thanks to Council Member James Rodriguez for his role in these, as well.) I was surprised there wasn't a bigger crowd and that it was not a more diverse audience. I'm not saying it wasn't well attended and it wasn't diverse, but I thought Latino issues would be a draw for a bigger swath of the community. Speaking of issues, it felt at times more like an accountability session, not a debate . . . and not a debate, but a forum. If there were rebuttals, they didn't register with me. My liveposting:

(I missed the beginning where Gene Locke promised to build a Hispanic Museum . . .)

Questions about who on your campaign staff is Hispanic, will you promise to hire Hispanics for key positions at City Hall, which Hispanics will advise you at City Hall, will you consider hiring Hispanic police chief. Gene Locke making very specific promises about hiring Hispanics at City Hall. Others being more general about considering qualified individuals which will include Hispanics. A question was just asked if the candidates think the high school drop out rate can be solved at the Council table. Really??? Arne Duncan alert: none of these mayoral candidates want to run our public schools. Parker reminds us there are 17 school districts and that she will have an education advisor on her staff. Good answer! She has a child in an HISD school. Annise is answering the second question about public education. I'm impressed with her knowledge about schools. She's identified the specific problems accurately. We need real solutions, partnerships and committment to our children. A gotcha question: name 3 Latino non-profits in Houston. Peter Brown does a good job in these forums. He clearly has been deeply involved in the community for a long time. He and Annise benefit from having served the City in elected office. Locke seems to have a lot of support in this room. Lots of experience with affirmative action both as the former City Attorney and in the private sector. CO Bradford is here listening closely to the question about 287g.

(I left when the questions from supporters started. I found the 287(g) discussion interesting. The candidates seemed to give the "right" answer that if you commit a crime and are booked into jail, cooperating with the feds is appropriate. Campos had to explain to them that not everyone who is booked into jail is a "bad guy". They get checked against the database before they have the benefit of a trial. Also, racial profiling is an issue.) My friends Stace and John both liveblogged . . . interesting perspectives from both of them. John has an additional recap. The Chron has a write up, also. Gene Locke supposedly "won" the "debate", with Parker, Brown and Morales behind him in that order. But like I said, it seemed to me Locke had the most support in the room, if the sporadic applause was any indication. I thought that Parker and Locke did equally well. Brown did a fine job, and had his usual strong points about planning, but the crowd just did not seem to be with him. Certainly Morales coming in last did not surprise me. At all.