Annise Parker: Texas Progressive Alliance's Texan of the Year

The Texan of the Year Award is voted on annually by the members of the Texas Progressive Alliance, the largest state-level organization of bloggers, blogs, and netroots activists in the United States. This year's winner if Houston Mayor-Elect, Annise Parker:

With the election of Annise Parker as mayor of Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States signaled that they pay more attention to qualifications than to sexual orientation.  This news reverberated around the globe, and brought positive attention to Texas. National Democratic groups took note of a more progressive Houston than they assumed, and the talk and speculation turned to the possibilities of Texas turning blue sooner rather than later.

The Parker win was no accident. She put together a talented campaign team that ran on the strength of the grassroots, rather than City Hall insiders. Key Houston area progressive bloggers aligned themselves with Parker, and were embraced by the campaign. Blogs became an effective messaging strategy, emphasizing Parker’s qualifications, and her opponent’s weaknesses.

In the runoff, several third parties, including one longtime right wing operative who endorsed Parker's opponent, launched a series of homophobic attacks against her, but they failed to do her any serious damage because voters recognized her distinguished service as a member of Council and City Controller, and valued her experience and financial acumen. Voters knew who she was and what she was about because she had always been open and honest about it, and that was more important than anything some agitator could say.

For her historic victory, for making the rest of the world re-evaluate its opinion of Texas, and for running a truly modern grassroots campaign, the Texas Progressive Alliance is proud to name Houston's Mayor-Elect Annise Parker its Texan of the Year for 2009.

Annise Parker is the Alliance's fifth recipient of its "Texan of the Year Award." Parker joins former State Representative Carter Casteel of New Braunfels, who won the award in 2005; Carolyn Boyle of Texas Parent PAC in 2006; State Representatives Garnet Coleman, Jim Dunnam, and Pete Gallego who shared the honor in 2007; and the Harris County Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign in 2008.

Also earning recognition from the Alliance were Ramey Ko, Hank Gilbert, Calvin Tillman, Texas Watchdog, and State Representative Elliott Naishtat, who were each recognized as "Gold Star Texans" for 2009.

For a list of Texas Progressive Alliance member blogs, scroll down on Three Wise Men. At the bottom left, there is a list of the 46 member blogs.

BREAKING: Alberto Gonzales Not Fired At Texas Tech

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was notified by Texas Tech today that he has NOT been fired as a political science professor and minority recruiter. Texas Tech attorneys handed him his non-termination papers as he sat alone on the Double T bench on campus, mumbling to himself, "I am not a crook."

Despite the very serious allegations that Gonzales committed perjury before Congress, participated in illegal wiretapping, mishandled classified documents, and violated the Geneva Conventions, Gonzales was lauded by Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance,

"It's not like he took us to 10 consecutive bowl games in 10 years, but having a scandal plagued former Attorney General on our faculty is something all Red Raiders can be proud of. Our public support of his continuing employment sends a strong signal to high school seniors that we are serious about our enrollment goal of 40,000 by 2020. We expect our newly expanded AT&T Jones football stadium to be packed next fall as we institute a new Red Raider tradition - Tales of Torture and Perjury by Alberto Gonzales. If they are as popular as we expect them to be, we'll disband our football program altogether and just put Alberto in the Jones every Saturday. The rumors that we will require him to dress like a pirate are absolutely false."

When Gonzales was asked about the rumor that he was instated as the Red Raider head football coach immediately upon the firing of Mike Leach, he replied, "I do not recall."

Gordon Quan: "Hunker Down is Not a Solution"

I attended Gordon Quan's announcement event for County Judge today at Post Oak Grille. The place was packed. I got there just as it started, and ended up right behind David Mincberg, the Democratic candidate for County Judge in 2008. He was all smiles, and supportive of Quan, so that was kind of fun. Plus, it was just good to see him. He fought a hard battle, and lost, but we are all thankful he fought it.

A few of the faces in the crowd: State Rep. Kristi Thibaut, State Senator Rodney Ellis, two Democratic candidates for County Treasurer - Billy Briscoe (whom I finally met) and Chad Khan, Justin Gillenwater of the Asian American Action Fund (look for his comprehensive blog post on the event soon), Gerry Birnberg (who actually signed him up to run right there), plus a cast of seemingly thousands, including bloggers John Cobarruvias and Charles Kuffner. OK, a couple of hundred.

I couldn't be more excited about Quan's run. What a great public servant, with the experience, smarts and talent for a county-wide office. He's a former City Council member, an immigration attorney, and an expert on the homeless situation in Harris County. It won't be easy taking on Ed Emmett, but Quan is the ideal person to sign up for the challenge.

Quan said a lot of great things in his remarks (including some good things about Harris County's criminal justice system, which I hope Kuff is going to blog on.) But, he had me at this: "Hunker down is not a solution, it's a slogan." I loved that! How true. Ed Emmet's "hunker down" thing means what? Quan is exactly right, it's a slogan. And Emmett can ignore that and keep using it or explain what that has to do with effective county governance. For example, does it mean hunker down and stay the course and re-elect ethically challenged Jerry Eversole to Commissioner's Court? Emmet's given his blessing on that. I guess that's a hunker down situation, encouraging voters to re-elect a guy who got a $75,000 fine from the Texas Ethics Commission, and could still be indicted. Hunker down with Eversole and Emmett!

Quan's got a terrific campaign team which includes Mike Malaise and Mike Lykes. Mike and Mike made a smart move to hire the very talented Mili Gosar, a veteran of the Nick Lampson, Chris Bell and Lane Lewis campaigns, so she is on board Team Quan, as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing this race play out all year. Quan won't be able to just ride the Democratic wave - he's going to have to build himself up, and tear down Emmett. Let's do it!

Update: Here's Kuff's post, and John's, and Justin's and Stace's.

Mayor Annise Parker and Gov 2.0?

Houston will inaugurate a new mayor on January 4th - one who will be looking for efficiencies in the budget so that basic city services won't be cut. I'm wondering if there will be an increased presence for Gov 2.0 in Annise Parker's administration? I think if the case can be made that the cost will be low and the benefits high, she'll look at it.

CNN has a nice overview of what Gov 2.0 means - it's basically the ability to instantly communicate with city government through technology (think: texting a photo of a non-working red light or a pothole or anything else directly to the city), and getting a quick response. It's also the city providing helpful data, transparently and directly to citizens through technology (think Houston's website with recent crime data). You'll also see Gov 2.0 called Open 311.

CNN gives examples from other large cities:

Texting a photo of an overheated train to San Francisco City Hall, with GPS coordinates, using an app called SeeClickFix.

Washington, DC has a DC311 iPhone app that allows users to snap photos of graffiti, broken parking meters, etc. and send it straight to a city database - again, with GPS coordinates.

Cities are also using Twitter for the same purposes. The City of Houston is making use of Facebook and Twitter accounts, and I've subscribed to many of them, but most of them don't appear to be very active, and my perception is that they are being used for more of a one-way communication to citizens and not so much for getting info about problems to the City. Maybe that's just because there is a low awareness by citizens that these avenues are available. The official City of Houston Twitter page has only 132 followers. BARC has 131 followers. I recommend signing up for the HPD Facebook page. They've got over 10,000 fans and they make frequent updates.

SeeClickFix has a Houston portal and it looks like people are using it, and that the City is responding. I think. Look at this example of a pothole problem on Richmond that got a response from the City. But, this service does not exactly seem to be in wide use, if this activity map is any indication.

The Parker campaign was known for its grassroots efforts, and for their outreach through social media. Once bloggers figured out they were serious about both - grassroots and social media - we started prodding them about transferring those two strengths to City Hall, via Gov 2.0. I'd be thrilled with an overhaul of the city website as a first step. It's nearly impossible to find what you are looking for on the site. I know it's got to be chock full of information, but it comes across as just another example of walls being built between the city and the people.

For now, call 311 with your problems with potholes, non-functioning street lights, trash pickup, etc. And, while you are at it, start asking for Open 311 when you are on the phone with the City, or when you are talking to your City Council member, or when you see Mayor Parker at an event.

Let me know if you have other examples or ideas about Gov 2.0. I'd love to hear them.

Oh, No! Somebody's Picking on Hoang!

The Houston Chronicle's crack team of investigative reporters break a big story that bloggers broke starting in October - District F Council Member Elect Al Hoang does not live in F! And, he improperly filled out his campaign finance reports! BREAKING! BREAKING! On . . .

Greg's Opinion, October 7th: Greg points out a problem in Hoang's reports.
Off the Kuff, November 2nd: Kuff talks about Hoang's reports that are not filled out correctly.
Greg's Opinion December 11th: Greg notes Hoang does not live in District F.

Admittedly, the Chron has some humorous quotes and details, including these (emphasis and comments in parenthesis, mine):

Asked about the homestead exemptions, Hoang replied, “You prove it,” adding, “You're trying to pick on me.” Contacted again Wednesday night, he hung up.

[---]

Hoang, however, insisted that his reports included the required information about the time period covered. He said he did not believe dates of individual donations or donors' occupations were required. (Um, well, he's wrong.)

[---]

Hoang, a Republican, is a Vietnamese immigrant who previously ran for an at-large city council seat and a state district judgeship.

Jared Woodfill, Harris County Republican Party chairman, said the party endorsed Hoang and sponsored mailers for him.

“I think very, very highly of him,” Woodfill said, characterizing questions about Hoang's residency and campaign finance filings as “sour grapes from someone who supported the opposition.”

I don't get the impression voters care if their elected representative lives in the district. Apparently, they rarely care if their rep has a boat load of ethics problems. I've seen both situations many times, and voters keep electing the violators.

So, everybody quit picking on Mr. Hoang and let him go about the business of serving on Council committees, helping solve the City's budget crisis, and serving the good people of a district far, far away from where he really resides.

Addressing High School Drop Outs: Chavez High School, Houston, TX

This is encouraging. The Chron reports that Chavez High School is holding credit recovery classes over the holiday break, and 800 kids showed up. It's exactly what schools need to be doing, in my opinion. Because of my consulting work in schools - because of what I see every day in high schools - I do a lot of thinking around this question: If we had a single minded focus on graduation, what would schools look like? What would we - we meaning the entirety of the community - do to ensure we would accomplish that one thing?

Schooling would look different for teenagers who are used to technology, a 24/7 connected world, and who have a myriad of things preventing them from succeeding in our traditional, paced, scheduled world of high school requirements. It would be startling for most people, including community leaders, to spend some time at a public high school and really dig into what's going on there with pregnancies, family members in jail, kids on probation, economic crises, etc. - the many very serious reasons kids are falling behind and in danger of dropping out of school.

In Texas, we've put a lot of energy behind a college bound culture, which is important. We need to continue to force ourselves to be creative and be single minded about the first step in that path: high school graduation.

If we took the attitude of "we are going to tackle this, and leave everything out on the field in the process," what would that look like? Would grownups be willing to go that for the children in our community?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.

Harris County GOP Hilarity

There are not one, but two, amusing stories about the local Republican Party in the Chron today. First up is this (bolded emphasis mine):

The local Republican Party plans to open a satellite office on the county's east side, in part as a way to reach out to Hispanics.

The party will take over the lease on the eastside headquarters of the Roy Morales for mayor campaign in mid-January, Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill said.

[---]

Woodfill said the party will offer free classes in English-as-a-second-language, as well as seminars on small business and Social Security benefits.

[---]

"For too long, as Republicans we have not taken our values to the community," said Woodfill, a lawyer running for re-election as party chairman against three other lawyers in March. "We've allowed the Democrats to go in and define who we are as a party. Part of the battle is showing up and letting people know what you stand for."

Now see, that's cute. Democrats have defined the local GOP? No, they've done just fine all by themselves beating the anti-choice, anti-gay and anti-immigrant drum in every hysterical way imaginable. City voters certainly got bombarded with their messages of hate and fear in the last month and a half. I think HCRP has tried this before - opening up a HQ in the East End. Anyone remember that? Am I making that up? John Coby has blogged about their bike program to Hispanic kids - and not in a complimentary way.

For an entertaining read on the Harris County Republican Party in disarray, read this Chron story. Mismanagement of funds, finger pointing, lack of attention to detail, circular firing squad - yep, it sounds like the mean Democrats - and most likely Bill Clinton and Barack Obama - are to blame for their troubles.

I attended an interesting talk by Dr. Richard Murray Thursday night. He predicts that by 2020, Harris County will be rock solid blue to the point where a Democrat can just sign up to be on the ballot and win. Until then, it's going to be a fight for small margins. So, game on!

Crews Named Principal at Clements High School

Clements parents have been watching the debacle of our principal - Kevin Moran - going on administrative leave this fall, then resigning in November - without any explanation from Fort Bend ISD. The rumors revolved around the overcrowding at Clements this year - by 600 students - but I never heard anything that really confirms that or suggests another reason. I was immediately concerned that something was going on with grades, teachers, altering test scores, or something else that was affecting the education experience of my child at Clements, but who knows.

Anyway, the good news is that Lee Crews has been named principal of Clements High School. He was the principal at First Colony Middle School when my son went there, and the school ran smoothly and efficiently while he was there, with high test scores and very few behavior problems. Crews is an Aggie, but that has miraculously not gotten in the way of him being an excellent leader . . .

Clements has been named in top schools lists as being one of the top ten high schools in the state, the top five in the Houston area, and a top ranked school nationally. As a homeowner and parent of a high school aged child zoned to Clements, I'm grateful Fort Bend ISD brought in someone of Lee Crews' caliber as principal.

Welcome, Mr. Crews, and Go, Rangers!

Mayor-Elect Parker Roundup

Here are some of my favorite things I've read since Annise Parker's victory Saturday night:

I like this the most -  a quote from my friend Robert Shipman in the New York Times:

Robert Shipman, who is gay and worked long hours for Ms. Parker, said: “The diversity in this room, it’s not just gay people, it’s gay, straight, black, white, Jew, Christian, Muslim, every kind of person. It took all of us to get to this point.”

Obviously, this was from Election Night. Robert is a new friend I made through Parker's campaign. He said so eloquently, what I've had a hard time putting into words. It really did take all of us doing our little piece!


The Chronicle has the video of the entirety of Annise's first press conference as Mayor-Elect. Wow. I couldn't be more impressed. Everything she says is congruent with what she said on the campaign trail, but she's even stronger, more direct and more forceful - with some humor thrown in. For Parker fans, it's definitely worth kicking back and watching the whole thing. If you volunteered to help get her elected, you will be so proud! 


David Ortez has an excellent article in The Houston Press, recapping why Parker won and Locke lost. My favorite part is about the social media strategies of the two campaigns:

Behind the scenes on the Internet, the story was not that much different. Locke failed to create an online presence that rivaled Parker on Twitter and Facebook. Anyone that participated in those social networks would have quickly realized that it was one-sided. The reason it was one-sided was because the Locke campaign lacked a genuine blogger coalition. In mid-July, the Parker began organizing a blogger coalition to spread campaign news after the mainstream media failed to take interest in the election.

This small coalition of bloggers created a lot of buzz and analysis for potential voters to pass around on Twitter and Facebook. Parker was slowly building her base that would live on the Internet.

Locke never took advantage of this new communication tool and by the time the runoff election rolled around, it was bloggers who were digging up the dirt on the candidates. It was a blogger that broke the story that Locke was a lobbyist. It was a blogger that reported on the Hotze-Locke connection. It was bloggers that reported that Dave Wilson had donated money to Locke.

The list goes on and on but at the end of the day, there was no blogger coalition to fight back for Locke. In fact, the Locke campaign made the mistake of creating fake accounts on Twitter to attempt to inflate their online clout.

I gotta agree with Erik. The support and Parker campaign was a huge step forward in campaign-blogger relations. Things got more transparent and open as time went by, after bloggers showed they could be trusted. If something was "internal", "off the record", "confidential" . . . you didn't see it in our blogs. Thank you, Jeri, Justin, Sue, Adam and Ward!


This Politico recap of Parker's win is an excellent read. This is the money quote:

"Houston is your post-racial, post-ethnic future of America," said demographer Joel Kotkin. "It's a leading-edge place."

Scenes from the victory party are here (from David Ortez), here (Hair Balls), and here (TPM).


There is a plethora of media stories on the victory. My daily google alert on "annise parker' is jam packed. Tons of national news outlets - TV, print, online, radio - have stories on the historic win. Some get it right and realize Annise was elected because of her competence and experience. I learned today that international media has come calling, asking Parker for interviews. If she's an international sensation, then that's great news for Houston!


If you have a favorite post-election link, please leave it in the comments. Me, all I can say is I'm still proud, still excited, and even still a bit emotional - winning feels good!

Number Crunching on the Houston Mayoral Runoff

My buddy Greg Wythe crunched numbers from bell weather precincts in Houston neighborhoods for the December 12th mayoral runoff and got these results:

Acres Home: Parker 18%, Locke 82%

UH/TSU: Parker 16%, Locke 84%

Clear Lake: Parker 64%, Locke 36%

East End: Parker 67%, Locke 33%

Fifth Ward: Parker 9%, Locke 92%

Galleria: Parker 63%, Locke 37%

Heights: Parker 83%, Locke 17%

Near Northside: Parker 60%, Locke 40%

Kingwood: Parker 63%, Locke 37%

Meyerland: Parker 77%, Locke 23%

Montrose: Parker 91%, Locke 9%

Alief: Parker 43%, Locke 57%

Garden Oaks: Parker 70%, Locke 30%

Rice: Parker 87%, Locke 13%

River Oaks: 74% Parker, Locke 26%

Hobby: Parker 38%, Locke 62%

Sharpstown: Parker 61%, Locke 39%

Spring Branch: Parker 65%, Locke 35%

Sunnyside: Parker 10%, Locke 90%

Hiram Clarke: Parker 17%, Locke 83%

Memorial: Parker 65%, Locke 35%

It appears Parker stole the Republican pincer from Locke. Republican areas of town voted overwhelmingly for Parker. The Hotze-Welch anti-gay mail effort, netted Locke 35%, at most. The black-brown coalition did not pay off either, with Parker getting a minimum of 60% in Latino neighborhoods. Locke won big in African American neighborhoods, and also won in Hobby and Alief, but that's it. All other neighborhoods went for Parker.

What are you seeing from the numbers? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

(Note: Sadly, Greg is not blogging at Greg's Opinion until after the 2010 November election. The good news he's on staff at Bill White for Texas, doing great things there. Thanks to him, for the numbers!)

Harris County, Bill White and the 2010 General Election

I'm always saying that 20-25% of the statewide vote comes from the Greater Harris County area. Not sure if I read that somewhere awhile back, or if it's because I know that figure holds true for other data points, such as the number of school age kids. Anyway, Jason Embry, with the Statesman, crunched the numbers, and got the same percentage:

But let’s look to the general election for a minute and make a couple of assumptions. If Houston Mayor Bill White wins the Democratic nomination, he will start with much higher name ID in the Houston area than anywhere else. So I added up the total votes for governor in 2006 in the 19 counties that make up the Houston media market, and I found about what I expected.

In that race, 23.3 percent of all the votes for governor came from the Houston television market — 1 million out of 4.3 million votes. That’s a pretty nice launching pad for White, who has been a very popular mayor. What we don’t know is how much his popularity inside the City of Houston extends to the rest of Harris County and the rest of that media market. Consider, for example, that Perry won Harris County in 2006 over a Houston Democrat, Chris Bell, although Bell was far less known than White and didn’t raise nearly the money that White is likely to raise.

I’m going to keep playing around with these numbers because, well, First Reading isn’t going to fill itself. Here’s one other one: In that 2006 general election for governor, 5.2 percent of all votes came from Travis County. How much can the Democratic nominee increase that number?

My subjective opinion is that Bill White is popular with Democrats in Harris County and in those 19 counties Embry refers to. I live in Fort Bend County, but I've always worked in the City of Houston, which is not unusual for folks who live in counties adjacent to Harris. The Hinterlanders are all very familiar with Mayor White. I'd be curious how much of the Democratic vote comes from the Houston media market. I think White will do very well with them, and the good news for him is that in some of those counties - Fort Bend being a prime example - the Democratic vote share is increasing.

In a general election with White vs. Perry, I think White gets some moderate R votes in the geographic area Embry describes, mostly because of Perry's faults - but also because White has gained their respect over the past six years. Make no mistake, though, the Republican machine will tear his mayoral record to shreds and the certainty of an upcoming bleak City of Houston budget situation will be blamed on White, whether it's deserved or not.

To pull together a win number, it's imperative that White does very well with Independents in the Greater Harris County region. I urge White to stomp around a lot in those areas, campaigning hard and not taking those folks for granted. There is still a gut reaction among non-Democrats in red suburban areas to pull that R lever, out of habit, fear, or lack of good messaging from D's (I'm very tempted to bold my messaging comment - that's how strongly I feel about it.) The last thing we need is a popular Houston area candidate running statewide and virtually ignoring the Greater Harris County area. There are too many votes there to take anything for granted.

On another note, be sure and click on that Jason Embry link above and read what Kinky Friedman has to say about better uses for Shami's millions. I don't agree with much that Kinky has to say, but he hits the nail on the head - or hits Shami on the head with a chi iron - on that one.

Kinky Says, Why the Hell Not?

And, jumps into the race for Ag Commissioner, which already has a Democrat in it - Hank Gilbert.

The Texas Tribune has all the details from his announcement today. The Democratic Primary should be interesting. I think Gilbert made a tactical error endorsing Farouk Shami for Governor when he made his switch from the Governor's race to the Ag Commissioner's race. It muddled his message. Hank had a ton of great policy proposals during his run for Governor. Instead of strong messages about what needs to happen in the Ag Commissioner's office, we got that he was supporting a guy in the Democratic Primary for Gov who doesn't even have a Democratic voting record (or even a strong voting history, period.)

In today's announcement, Kinky Friedman makes it clear he is not endorsing anyone for Governor, but he also says it was after his meeting with Bill White that he decided the Governor's race was in good hands. He gave some details about his policy roll out:

"I've got a pretty detailed plan of action that we'll be rolling out later in the week," Friedman said. "From forming a statewide public defenders' office and setting a goal of at least one animal rescue facility in each county, to restoring our depleted woodlands and promoting a greater role for local producers in school cafeterias, we're going to shake things up and show folks what the office can be if you have someone there who actually cares about the job."

But, let me be clear: I'll be voting for Hank Gilbert for Ag Commissioner in the Democratic Primary. Just as I don't for one minute think Shami is a real Democrat, I know Friedman is not, either. As a good Democrat, I'm not forgiving about him taking votes away from Chris Bell in 2006. I just don't take him seriously, except for his ability to distract otherwise reliable Democratic voters into believing he has a chance of winning.

Hank has run for Ag Commissioner once before, and I know his policies and his smarts are needed in a statewide office. My advice to Hank would be to focus on his own race and to take Kinky seriously. Kick Shami off to the side, and run hard and run smart.

Scenes From Mayor-Elect Annise Parker's Victory Party!

I spent a long evening following election results at the blogger table, and finally Parker entered the room and took the stage to deafening cheers! She had some great things to say to all of Houston. From the Chron:

“Tonight the voters of Houston have opened the doors to history,” she said. “I acknowledge that. I embrace that. I know what this win means to many of us who thought we could never achieve high office. I know what it means. I understand, because I feel it, too. But now, from this moment, let us join as one community. We are united in one goal in making this city the city that it can be, should be, might be, will be.”

“Hear me: The city is on your side,” she said. “I learned about the problems and the needs and hopes of our city at the neighborhood level. I understand what needs to be done to move us forward.”

“I promise to give to citizens an administration of honesty, integrity and transparency,” she said. “The only special interest will be the public. We are in this together. We rise or fall together.”

She gave a shout out to bloggers, thanking us for our support of her campaign - big moment for us at the blogger table!

Here's the other side of the room. The place was packed! I've made some great friends through this campaign. I'm grateful to Annise for that. There were lots of hugs last night!

After she left the room, Parker gave interviews to the national media, and the campaign was nice enough to give me a VIP pass to the media room.

And, here's the Mayor-Elect, smiling, wrapping up the interviews. She gave me a big hug before she left the room, which made my night! I'm so proud of Annise. She's a role model for me - a hard worker, smart, focused, positive, a good mom! Yay, Houston!

Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen. There are too many people to name. This was truly an effort by the grassroots and lots of of folks are celebrating today!

I've got a strong cup of coffee in my hand this morning and a huge smile on my face!

Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night

For Annise Parker supporters everywhere, here's our song for today! Find your polling location at harrisvotes.com, go vote, then go to Parker headquarters and volunteer (map here), and come party tonight at the George R. Brown, starting at 7 PM! We'll be cheering on our next Mayor of Houston, Annise Parker! Follow election results here.

I gotta feeling...
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

I gotta feeling...
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

I gotta feeling... (Woohoo)
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

I gotta feeling... (Woohoo)
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

Tonight's the night
Let's live it up
I got my money
Let's spend it up
Go out and smash it
Like Oh My God
Jump off that sofa
Let's kick it OFF

I know that we'll have a ball
If we get down
And go out
And just lose it all
I feel stressed out
I won't let it go
Lets go way out spaced out
And loosing all control

Fill up my cup
Mazel tov
Look at her dancing
Just take it... OFF
Lets paint the town
We'll shut it down
Let's burn the roof
And then we'll do it again

Lets do it
Lets do it
Lets do it
Lets do it
And do it
And do it
Let's live it up
And do it
And do it
And do it
Do it, do it
Lets do it
Lets do it
Lets do it

Cause I gotta feeling... (WoooHooo)
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

I gotta feeling... (WoooHooo)
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

I gotta feeling
Tonight's the night (HEY! )
Let's live it up (lets live it up)
I got my money (I'm paid)
Lets spend it up (Lets spend it up)
Go out and smash it (Smash it)
Like Oh My God (Like Oh My God)
Jump off that sofa (Come On! )
Lets kick it OFF

Fill up my cup (Drank)
Mazel tov (La chaim)
Look at her dancing (Move it Move it)
Just take it... OFF
Lets paint the town (Paint the town)
We'll shut it down (Shut it down)
Lets burn the roof (Woooooo)
And then we'll do it again

Lets do it (x4)
And do it (2x)
Let's live it up
And do it (3x)
Do it, do it
Lets do it(3x)
Do it, do it, do it, do it

Here we come
Here we go
We gotta rock
Easy come
Easy go
Now we on top
Feel the shot
Body rock
Rock it don't stop
Round and round
Up and down
Around the clock

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Friday, Saturday
Saturday to Sunday

Get, get, get, get, get with us
You know what we say (say)
Party everyday (x2)

I gotta feeling (WooHooo)
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

I gotta feeling (WooHooo)
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night

Whooo

Election Eve at Annise Parker HQ

After work, I lit dropped a Museum District precinct for Annise Parker, then headed over to her HQ where I stickered a bunch of door hangers for tomorrow's GOTV field effort. The place was jam packed with volunteers - some who had been there from the beginning, and some who were brand new tonight. Everyone was excited and working hard, when . . .

Annise arrived! She rallied the staff and volunteers, thanked everyone, and told us to look around at everyone in the room - that tonight was a night we'd never forget and we'd want to remember who we spent it with.

Here's Annise, addressing the packed headquarters:

Afterwards, we found a bunch of great treats, delivered by Peter Brown! He and his staff were thanked profusely for all they've done for the Parker campaign since November 3rd.

It really was an experience I'll never forget. There were lots of hugs to go around. I'm so appreciative of all the new friends I've made through Annise's campaign - staff and volunteers - what a special experience this has been!

Go vote! Saturday, 7 PM to 7 PM. This is it!

Election Night Parties

Lillie Schechter put all the info together on Election Night parties, and here it is!

Go vote tomorrow! Find your polling location and follow election night results at harrisvotes.com.

Annise Parker
George R. Brown Convention Center - Room 360 - 1001 Avenida De Las Americas - 77010

Gene Locke
Hyatt Regency, 1200 Louisiana, 3rd Floor Ballroom

Ron Green
Rice Lofts, 909 Texas Street
Room 205

Karen Derr
Home Plate, 1800 Texas Street

Sue Lovell
George R. Brown Convention Center - 1001 Avenida De Las Americas

Andrew Burks
Chateau, 1112 Southmore @ San Jacinto

Jolanda Jones
HQ, 315 West Alabama

Lane Lewis
Cazadores Mexican Restaurant, 11031 Northwest Fwy (290 @ W 34th St)

Mike Laster
Hilton Garden Inn, 6855 W Sam Houston Parkway

Adrian Collins
Escalante's, 4700 Beechnut Street

Alma Lara
Tepatitlan Cafe, 4702 N Main Street

Mayoral Roundup

What a relief. This will soon be over! Election Day is Saturday and we'll know who the next mayor of Houston is by sometime that night after 7 PM. Here's a roundup of some recent voices on the internet about the mayor's race - some familiar, and some maybe not:

Hairballs (Houston Press) has a hilarious take on the latest gay-hating mailer in support of Locke, including how The Traditional Family is important to city priorities - The Traditional Family stops crime, reduces pollution, prevents flooding and improves traffic. Truly funny stuff and a must read!

A former Texas political reporter tells why he is supporting Annise Parker for mayor.

Pondering Penguin is a Republican and she tells why she voted for Annise Parker, including this reason: "Annise Parker is a woman of her word and listens to those with questions or comments. There is not a aura of arrogance nor is there condescension in her attitude as she answers questions."

Egberto Willies of "As I See It," supports Parker and says you should to: "Mostly, just as Mayor Bill White reduced the role of the good-old-boy network, Ms Parker is likely to continue reward competence and performance over personal relationships."

Genevieve Van Cleve asks, "What's the Frequency, Gene?"

A big blog not from Texas - Firedog Lake - comments on the mayor's race.

Nonsequiteuse has a humorous way of writing about the mayor's race, including this post about the diversity comparison between Locke's law firm and Parker's Controller staff, and then this one about when Gene dropped the puck at the hockey game, followed by this mea culpa.

Did you know that Annise Parker stumped for the green collar jobs vote? She did.

This Blog is Full of Crap is clearly not a Metro fan, and supports Parker's intention shake things up at Metro.

Brains and Eggs had this to say about the Locke campaign: "Imploding in a foul-smelling morass of lies, bigotry, and disgraceful conduct is no way to run for political office, people. You highly paid out-of-towners can now be dismissed to pack up and move on, and you locals need to line up to be deloused."

I have a google alert on Parker and Locke. I got all the above from those alerts. There is very, very little in the google alerts that is positive about Gene Locke, except for KPRC blogger Mary Benton who has just about all of the positive spin about Locke straight from his campaign. Other than that, unpaid, independent voices on the internet? Not so much good stuff to say about Gene.

You can find the blogateers - the progressive bloggers who have all publicly endorsed Annise Parker - at the usual places. Here's John, Erik, Stace and Kuff.

Even More Anti-Gay Hate Mail in Support of Locke

This speaks for itself. The only thing I would add is that if the same amount of hate mail came out in support of Annise Parker and against black people, don't you think there would be absolute rioting in Houston? I, for one, would hope so.

If Gene Locke wants to be mayor of Houston, he should have stood up and forcefully denounced the hate mail in the strongest possible terms - completely and totally rejected it. But, he couldn't, could he, since he sought this stuff out?

Locke Lipped With Hotze

I know this gets confusing - and, frankly, tiresome - but the Hotze saga continues, and this time there is a question of campaign coordination between the Locke campaign and Hotze's PAC. That would be illegal. A third party PAC can't, by law, coordinate campaign activities with the campaign.

Locke's finance chair, Ned Holmes, gave Hotze's PAC $20,000, specifically for the purpose of helping pay for Hotze's anti-gay mailer, endorsing Locke. Another person on Locke's finance committee, James Dannenbaum, gave Hotze $20,000 for the same purpose. Here's how it works in real life campaigning: Your campaign finance chair knows everything about the campaign - certainly all the strategy - because she or he is responsible for making it rain dollars on the campaign. It's usually someone very well connected and very saavy, because, well, those are the kinds of people who can make it rain. She or he is in high level meetings with senior level staff - and with the candidate - and sees internal campaign documents. So, the likelihood the campaign didn't know about the Hotze mailer ahead of time and approved of it  - and that finance committee members were paying for most of it - seems remote.

Locke's finance chair is the former chair of the Greater Houston Partnership, the former chair of the Port Commission, a former Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioner, and a current Texas Transportation commissioner. He's a big real estate investor and developer. He's a stellar choice for campaign finance chair because of all of his connections.

I'm not saying there was campaign coordination. As a matter of fact, listening to Locke tell it (see that in Lee McGuire's story below), it sounds like Locke has lost control of his campaign.



Here's what we do know:

Locke sought the endorsement of GLBT groups, promising to be very visible in advocating for gay rights.

Locke sought Hotze's endorsement, knowing full well Hotze is virulently anti-gay.

Locke's finance chair and another campaign finance committee member give $40,000 to Hotze's PAC for the purpose of sending out a mailer endorsing Locke and attacking GLBT endorsed candidates. 

Hotze sent out an anti-gay mailer, endorsing Locke for Mayor.

Locke says he "hates hurts," and that he is hurt when people are hateful. Equal rights advocates roll their eyes.

Locke gets found out. Allen Blakemore says he "absolutely solicited the donations" from Dannenbaum and Holmes.

Locke tries to wave off his involvement in the anti-gay attacks, but it gets harder and harder to believe he's not either directly involved (and possibly illegally with a third party PAC), or he's lost control of his campaign.

Oh, and Nick Anderson provides a moment of humor - Locke and Hotze coming out of the closet:

Whatever is going on, Locke is certainly forecasting the type of mayor's office he will run, and it looks chaotic at best. Worst case? The return of back room deal making.

Big Numbers on the Last Day of Early Voting!

Remember, 51,136 voted early in the mayor's race in Round one, and 8564 voted by mail. Today was the last day of early voting and it was big - click on the image below to make it larger to see how big at all of the voting locations.

The final early vote total was 56,106, and as of today, 10,803 mail ballots have been returned.

Election Day is this Saturday, December 12th, 7 AM to 7 PM. You can find your polling location at harrisvotes.com.

Shami's Sham of a Campaign

Color me unimpressed, and not surprised. The Texas Tribune has "combed over" (pun intended?!) Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas Farouk Shami's voting record, and has found some gaps.

For example, he's never voted in a Democratic Primary (but he wants you to vote for him in the Democratic Primary next March.). He's only voted in one Primary, and that was in 2000 - in the Republican Primary.

He didn't vote at all in the 2006 or 2008 general elections, meaning he did not vote for Obama. His campaign gave this weak excuse:

"He was focusing on his company, and he had a billion dollar company at the time, and his business came first," Gutierrez said. "He's apologizing that he didn't go vote, so that's why he's educating people that they should go vote."

I think Shami has been so busy hiring and firing staff, opening campaign offices and generally throwing money around to whomever will take it, that he hasn't noticed there is a real Democrat in the race now - Bill White. Shami should get back to running his gazillion dollar hair straightening company, and pour a whole bunch of his money into getting White elected.

Early Voting Totals Through Monday, December 7th

Turnout increased today with 7494 people early voting in person, the largest amount for any day of early voting in the runoff so far. 42,572 have voted early through Monday, with tomorrow, Tuesday, being the last day to early vote. 9828 have voted by mail.

If you believe the mayor's race is driving the early vote turnout - and, I do - it's interesting to do a comparison with early voting in the mayor's race in the general election. 51,136 voted early in person for mayor in that round. We'd need 8564 people voting tomorrow to match that. 

Click on the image to make it larger:

Parker Asks Locke to Show Us the Money

It's a little hard to believe that this late in the game, Locke cannot, or will not, give straight answers to how he will fund the major projects he's proposed. In this exchange from last night's KHOU debate, Parker asks Locke how he would fund one slice of his police plan - providing two-person patrols in high crime areas.

Locke states something no one disagrees with - that it makes sense and should be a priority to put two people in a patrol car in dangerous crime areas. But, he admits he couldn't fund it on day one and doesn't tell how he would fund it on day 10 or day 30 or day 100 or day 365.

I have to think that Locke promised the police two-person patrols and that Parker cautioned them there is no money in the budget for that. This is why fiscal conservatives support Parker - she has a no bull approach to what can or cannot be done. She has a deep working knowledge of the city budget, and knows that Santa is not going to be putting a magic wand in the next mayor's stocking so that she or he can cause money to spring up out of the Reflection Pool in front of City Hall, and be showered upon the police and everyone else who has a good, but costly, idea.

Here's the exchange:



I didn't get to watch the whole debate. Did the debacle over the police's latent fingerprint lab come up?  It appears the City will be spending millions cleaning that up instead of putting more officers on the street, two to a car or even one to a car.

Locke Has Hurt Feelings

There was an odd moment in last night's KHOU debate between Locke and Parker when Locke was asked about his involvement in the gay mailers. Here's what he had to say:

"I've said before, when people introduce hate, it hurts. And, it hurts me that people would think that I was a part of that kind of notion. I would hope that we would move past that."

Either he is delusional or he thinks we are dumb, since we all know he sought out hatemonger Hotze's endorsement, received it, then refused to renounce it, even after Hotze sent out a mailer supporting Locke, but opposing every GLBT endorsed candidate (view that here).

Would Locke attend a HGLBT or Harris County Young Stonewall Democrats meeting and say he is hurt when people think he's involved in hate - after he sought the endorsements of the gay community, then threw them under the bus? I think he'd get an earful, plus a whole lotta hurt.



I hope we move past this, too, on December 12th, by electing Annise Parker mayor of Houston.

Locke Rocking the Illegal Vote

Bay Area Houston has a new post up on Locke's illegally placed signs, plus this photo:

He's also got this which is required by law to be printed on every political sign:

"NOTICE: IT IS A VIOLATION OF STATE LAW (CHAPTERS 392 AND 393, TRANSPORTATION CODE), TO PLACE THIS SIGN IN THE RIGHT-OF-WAY OF A HIGHWAY."


@ErikVidor snapped a photo of this illegal Locke sign:

He had this to say: One of the 30 or so illegally placed @genelocke signs along 59 North and South. They are a hazard to public safety


Other Twitter chatter about Locke's illegal signs:


@Jeremiah_G Dear #gene #locke how are you able to put your campaign signs on the side of 59 south and not get in trouble. Everyday I see more and more.


KimPadgett @HoustonPress ton of @genelocke signs on 610 near Galleria.


Texas Liberal has a photo and commentary about Locke's illegal signs. 


And, of course, here's my original post on Locke's sign problem, with these photos:

I'm sure other campaigns have illegally placed signs - in right of ways or on property without the owner's permission or on utility poles - but Locke's are very nearly the only ones I see, and I easily see 50 or more on a typical day driving around Houston. If you see illegally placed campaign signs, call 311 and tell them the location. The City of Houston will pay someone to go take them down. Parker has been very clear: if you see one of her signs in an illegal location, take it down yourself, or call 311. Her volunteers have been told not to place signs illegally anywhere. Period. 

Early Voting Totals Through Sunday, December 6th

Turnout was very low today - just 2600 people. As a matter of fact, if anyone had a "pews to polls" effort going on (which is typical on the one Sunday of early voting), you sure can't tell it by these numbers. There are only two more days of early voting left - Monday, Dec. 7th and Tuesday, Dec. 8th - and the polls will be open from 7 AM to 7 PM. Find all locations at harrisvotes.com.

35,078 have voted early in person so far, and 8911 mail ballots have been returned, for a total of 43,989 votes through day seven of nine of early voting.

As a comparison, in the general election, 51,136 people voted early in person in the mayor's race, and 9989 voted by mail, for a total of 61,125.

Click on the image to make it larger:

Blockwalk the East End for Annise Parker with the Noriegas Today!

Today, Melissa and Rick Noriega are hosting a block walk in the East End for Annise Parker, and the weather looks like it is going to cooperate! It's going to be cold, so bundle up, but there is zero percent chance of rain.

Join the Noriegas anytime between noon and 6 PM at Bohemeos, 708 Telephone Road, where you'll get your walk lists from the campaign. And, don't forget to return to Bohemeo's for a rally with live music from 6 PM to 8 PM!

This is it! Six more days to Election Day and every vote counts!

Another Poll Shows Parker in the Lead

The Houston Chronicle has a new poll out for the mayor's race, and while the article does not give a detailed description of the poll's methodology, my sources tell me Zogby polled people who said they were likely to vote in the runoff, as opposed to polling people with municipal runoff voting history. We'd get a lot better feel for the state of the race if the second methodology had been used.

But, the really great news is that Parker is up in the poll 41.9-36.4 with a margin of error of 4.1%. This good news for Parker comes on top of her advantage over Locke in the 8-day out reports, where she reported 33% more in donations than Locke. She also had 3000 donors in the six weeks covered by the financial reports, as opposed to 900 for Locke. Crosstabs for the poll can be found here. Note that the Controller's race was also polled, with Republican MJ Khan leading Democrat Ron Green.

The election is going to be close and it's time to ratchet up the volunteering and the donations to the Parker campaign! Six more days! Volunteer here. Donate here!

Early vote for Parker today through Tuesday. Election day is Saturday, December 12th. As always, go to harrisvotes.com for polling locations, times the polls are open - and then on Election Night, results!

Early Voting Totals Through Saturday, December 5th

Voting was back up today, but to levels just a little bit above Monday-Thursday. It looks to me like areas of town where Parker has big support, voted big today. What does it look like to you?

We have completed 6 out of 9 days of early voting, and 32,478 people have voted in person. During round one, at the end of 2/3 of the early voting period, 29,697 had voted in person. That's a 9% increase in early voting in person from the general election to the runoff after 2/3 of the early voting was completed.

4788 had returned mail ballots after 2/3 had early voted in round 1. 8911 have returned mail ballots so far in the runoff. For the general election, we had a total of 9148 mail ballots returned. We are almost at that number already for the runoff.

Click on the image to make it bigger.

Locke Asks: What's In It For You?

That was the startling question Locke said we should all ask ourselves, at the end of the ABC13 mayoral debate in his closing remarks (view the video of that short segment here). It's a very different question than I'm used to hearing public servants ask. Something more along the lines of, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" is the servant leader talk that spurs me on to action to make my community a better place for everyone. I couldn't help but wonder if this is what lawyer lobbyist Locke negotiates in his endorsement screenings, "Tell me what's in it for you and I'll promise THAT."

Looking around the internet, I see other people are asking what's in it for Locke, and what's in it for his supporters.

John Coby asks, "What's in it for the homebuilders?" after he perused Locke's 8-day out report where he saw at least $38,000 in donations from homebuilders.

Erik, in Whitless Humorings, asks, "What's in it for the Republican consulting firm, the Eppstein Group" He gives an example of what's been in it for Bryan Eppstein with a candidate he got elected:

He works effectively on behalf of his clients, and in return they pay him handsomely and give him a political handout.For example, two years ago, he helped elect Jim Lane and Marty Leonard to the Tarrant Regional Water District Board. Soon after, the board turned around and gave Eppstein two no-bid contracts for crafting a public relations strategy for its half-billion dollar plan to redirect the Trinity River as it meanders through downtown Fort Worth.

What's in it for Locke? Ted Oberg notes that Locke will make $600,000 less as mayor than he did last year as a lawyer-lobbyist. It makes you wonder what future money deal Locke has made with his law firm, so that he continues to benefit from Andrews Kurth's City contracts. These questions from Parker remain unanswered:

1. Will you release within one week your divestment and payout plan with Andrews Kurth? Will Andrews Kurth’s future income affect the size of your payout? Will you retain any interest in a pension or retirement plan or any other interest tied to the income of Andrews Kurth?

2. Will you permanently resign from Andrews Kurth if elected mayor and enter into a legally-binding agreement never to have a financial interest or association with the firm or any relationship with the firm after you leave the office of mayor?

3. Will you as mayor recuse yourself on all questions involving clients of Andrews Kurth, including all business with Metro, the Sports Authority and the Port Authority and bond transactions and other business done by Andrews Kurth for the City?

4. Will you prohibit Andrews Kurth from representing the city and affiliated public agencies during your tenure as mayor, so as to avoid the inevitable appearance of impropriety involving any city business done with your partners and firm?

And, of course there is the "What's in for Hotze and the Pastors Council?" question. I think we know the answer to that one - no gays, no where, no how, and validation for their hate mongering. Nonsequiteuse calls Locke out on that.

So, readers, what's in it for you in regards to who wins the Mayor's race?

These Ministers Speak for Me

I deplore the anti-gay attacks in the mayoral race and Locke seeking them out and accepting them. It's hypocritical to claim a moral high ground while condoning hate. Hate is wrong. I was wondering yesterday what happens when one of the hateful anti-gay mailers, with a Locke endorsement, arrives at a gay child's home. We are the grownups. We expect elected officials to be grownups. There is an expectation that caring, smart adults will shun hate - rebuke it. I'm glad to see these ministers stand up with me, State Representative Garnet Coleman and many others and denounce the gay attacks:

Ministers denounce anti-gay rhetoric

Updated: 12.03.09

A group of Houston clergy members has signed a letter objecting to recent anti-gay sentiment “espoused by those who co-opt religion as a cover for hatred.”

The letter reads as follows:

We the undersigned religious leaders have gathered our names here to make clear our strong objection to the recent swell in anti-gay sentiment espoused by those who co-opt religion as a cover for hatred. Our diverse traditions are unified in their care and concern for all persons and we firmly believe that our respective religious traditions are weakened by the hate-filled language touted by some as the word of God.

As religious leaders we recognize and respect the dignity and worth of all persons regardless of race, class, gender, or sexual orientation. Therefore, we strongly rebuke those who insist on misusing religious texts and traditions to vilify those whose differences have made them most vulnerable. As a diverse group of religious leaders we are unified in our objection to the slander of any one of God’s creation.

We the undersigned state here our belief that those who manipulate tenets of faith to support secular, political discrimination against those who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or transgender in the name of sacred faith weaken the very faith they claim to bolster. Religion is weakened by the hypocrisy that lies at the core of homophobia.

Our religions champion the dignity of all persons and we are compelled to set the record straight: our houses of worship, schools, and meeting rooms are inhabited by the diversity that is human kind. While our faiths take differing positions on what human sexuality means before God, we are united in our belief that anti-gay rhetoric in the name of the God for secular, political purposes undermines faith and weakens the bonds between people that make communal life and faith meaningful. Fear and hatred of some diminishes the freedom of all. We deplore the assumption played out in public statements that says that to be religious means to be intolerant.

Religiously based bigotry against gays and lesbians does not represent the core beliefs of our respective faiths. Inflammatory and hateful remarks do not reflect the feelings of most individuals who fill our houses of worship and affiliate with our movements. The language of faith is not the language of fear and hatred. The language of faith is love and respect for all people.

The Reverend Douglas Anders, Conference Minister, South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ

Mr. Burton Bagby-Grose, American Baptist Churches, USA Licensed Minister

The Reverend Carissa Baldwin, Assistant Rector, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

The Reverend Ginny Brown, Daniel Plymouth United Church

The Reverend Dr. Becky Edmiston-Lange and The Reverend Mark Edmiston-Lange Emerson, Unitarian Universalist Church, A "Welcoming Congregation"

Mr. Mark Eggleston, Director of Outreach Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

The Reverend Dr. Millard F. Eiland Member, Covenant Baptist Church, an ecumenical liberal Baptist congregation, former board member of Alliance of Baptists

The Reverend Rick Elliott, Presbyterian minister

The Reverend Elder Darlene Garner Regional Elder for Southern Texas Region of Metropolitan Community Churches

The Reverend Lura N. Groen, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Minister Freedom K.D. Gulley, Th.M., Senior Pastor of Progressive Open Door Christian Center-A Fellowship Church

The Reverend Teddy Hardy, St. John United Church of Christ, Campus Minister at Houston Community College Central

The Reverend Lisa Hunt, Rector, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Rev. Lori Keaton, United Church of Christ Houston Association

The Reverend Dr. David Keyes. Senior Minister, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston

The Rev. Kristen Klein-Cechettini, Director of Life Development, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church

The Reverend Ralph Lasher, United Church of Christ, Ordained Minister

Rabbi David A. Lyon, Congregation Beth Israel

The Reverend Timothy Marquez, Clergy-Office Manager, South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ

The Reverend Laura Mayo, Covenant Church: an ecumenical, liberal, Baptist congregation (American Baptist Churches/Alliance of Baptists)

Rabbi Mark J. Miller, Congregation Beth Israel

The Reverend David Pantermuehl, Grace United Church of Christ

The Reverend Adam J. Robinson, Affiliate Minister, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston

The Reverend Jeremy Rutledge, Covenant Church: an ecumenical, liberal, Baptist congregation, (American Baptist Churches/Alliance of Baptists)

The Rev Seido, head priest, St. Nichiren Buddhist Temple

Rabbi Laura Sheinkopf, Houston

Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle, Director of Field Education and Supervised Ministry, Brite Divinity School

The Reverend Les Switzer, Acting Minister for Christian Education, First Congregational Church of Houston

The Reverend Ernie Turney, Senior Pastor, Bering Memorial United Methodist Church

The Reverend Timothy B. Tutt, Senior Pastor, United Christian Church Austin

Rabbi Roy A. Walter, Senior Rabbi, Congregation Emanu El

Rabbi Kenny Weiss, Houston

Locke's Law Firm Has A Diversity Problem

Oh, well. Turns out it's not the Controller's office that has a diversity problem at all - it's Locke's law firm. Instead of the 71% minorities like in Parker's office, Locke's law firm has these dismal figures:

A grade of "D" from the multi-bar Diversity Committee
only 5.2% of the 116 partners are minorities
only 11.9% of the 101 associates are minorities
only 16.1% of 31 law clerks are minorities
only 2.3% of the attorneys are African American
only 1.8% of the attorneys are Hispanic
only 3.7% of the attorneys are Asian

All figures are from a Law Firm Diversity Report Card issued in January 2007.

Any other attacks Locke loyalists are lobbing that we need to bat down? This one was pretty easy.

Early Voting Totals Through Thursday, December 3rd

Still holding steady! Nearly the same total for in person early voting for each day through day 4. Extended voting hours begin Saturday. Early voting ends next Tuesday, with Election Day being Saturday, December 12th. Click on the image to make it larger.

Locke Supporters Make the Race About Race

The Chronicle reported this on Tuesday:

Locke, who met with Hotze and sought his support prior to the Nov. 3 city election, said he was refraining from “divisive campaigning” and asked his supporters to follow his lead.

“I am not going to go into issues of race, issues of sexuality,” Locke said after voting early at the West Gray Multi-Service Center, accompanied by his wife and other family members. Focusing on such topics is a distraction from important issues such as public safety and creating jobs for Houstonians, Locke said.

And one day later - ONE DAY LATER - Wednesday - two Democratic groups who support Locke (by the wide margin of two votes at each of their endorsement meetings) went "into the issues of race", totally ignoring Locke's request. I guess, like me, they don't believe anything Locke says anymore, so they do what they want. Why not? It's a free for all in Lockeland.

The Chronicle has more on that attack, so I don't have to repeat it here, but the gist of it was, "Parker has too many white people on her Controller's staff and she's not doing right by people of color." (That's the sanitized version of the press release.)

I know this won't surprise regular readers of musings, but SURPRISE, here we go again, that's not correct. Below are spreadsheets listing all of the staff in the Controller's office. Note that 71% are Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino or Asian/Pacific Islander. As a side note, I had lunch on Wednesday with Parker supporters who were a black-brown-Asian-white-old-young-male-female coalition. It looked like Houston.  (click on the images below to make them larger - they are from the public record)

In other news, Locke has still not repudiated the Hotze endorsement. The latest person to urge him to do that is State Representative Garnet Coleman. Come clean, Gene, and reject this endorsement based solely on your sexual orientation. While you are at it, repudiate the attack on Parker based on race by your supporters.