Sheriff Garcia Says You Have The Right To Vote In Harris County, Texas And In All Places In Our Nation

Hamburger Wearing An Astros’ Hat, who is part of the Texas Liberal Panel of Experts, is seen above with mail from Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia.

Hamburger regrets that he is not as absurd as a major party nominee  for the U.S. Senate who had to declare that she was not a witch.

Sheriff Garcia says that voters must not be intimidated at the polls by overly-aggressive and possibly racially motivated poll watchers from so-called Tea Party and/or Republican groups.

The Sheriff says—“....if anyone tries to stop you from voting, tell them Sheriff Adrian Garcia sent you.”

The Sheriff has it right. Folks cannot be bullied at the polls.

Here is what the Houston GLBT folks have to say on this concern—

“Lately, we’ve all watched as opponents of equality have gotten more aggressive and more violent.  From tackling and stomping on rival activists, to actual candidates ordering private security forces to arrest reporters, the thug mentality of the far right has gotten out of control.”

(Here are the Houston GLBT endorsements for 2010.)

Perry Dorrell, a great Houston political blogger at Brains & Eggs,  has been writing about these poll watchers.

Jobsanger, a first-rate political blog in Amarillo, has also posted on this important matter.

Leading Houston blogger Charles Kuffner reports that County Attorney Vince Ryan, a Republican, has seen fit to issue guidelines as to what poll watchers may and may not do.

The Houston Chronicle has written about these aggressive Republican poll watchers.

Along the same lines, Democratic Texas Land Commissioner nominee Hector Uribe has cut a 30 second radio spot saying that Tejanos got to Texas first and that they are not going “back to Mexico” or back to anywhere else.

The New York Times has written that Republican-driven efforts to suppress minority turnout, despite the lack of evidence that any fraud is taking place, are going on around the country.

Make sure you vote on Tuesday and make sure you encourage others you know to do the same.

Here are my Texas endorsements for 2010.

I’m Sorry I’m Not Able To Accept Charges On Collect Calls From Harris County Jail—Rules For Inmates Making Collect Calls From County Jail

 

If you are the person who called me earlier this evening from the Harris County, Texas jail asking if I was able to accept the charges on a collect call—I’m sorry that I was not able to accept such charges.

( Above–Video to Kraftwerk’s The Telephone Call.) 

I did give taking the call some thought. The recorded operator said it would cost $3.60 to accept the call. The recording did not say who was calling. All it said was that it was a collect call from the Harris County Jail.

I asked myself who I knew that might be in the county jail. While I can think of people I know that should be in jail, or that I wish were in  jail, I don’t feel I know anyone in jail at the moment.

I was somewhat curious about who was on the other end of the call.  Maybe it was a person who wished to discuss American history with me this evening. Or a person pondering the nature of redemption after the committing of misdeeds.

In the end however, my guess was that I was better off not taking the call. 

Here are rules and procedures regarding inmates in our Harris County Jail.

Here is the link to County Sheriff Adrian Garcia.

Sheriff Garcia is a Democrat elected in 2008 to replace a Republican Sheriff.

Republicans are on the run here in Harris County. Harris County is the nation’s third most populous county.  Over 3.5 million people live in Harris County.   

Republicans think they can run minority-bashing anti-urban campaigns in a majority-minority urban county. 

That plan did not work so well for Republicans in 2008. 

Below are the rules for inmates placing a collect call at the Harris County Jail—

Inmates can place collect calls to phone numbers where collect calling is not restricted. This is the most common method of placing calls from the facility. However, there are some situations where collect calls are restricted… e.g.

• The phone number has reached its credit limit for collect calls
• The owner of the phone has requested no collect calls be permitted to their number
• The phone number is assigned to a cellular phone or pager
• The phone company of the called party has restricted collect calls

Rates – Rate quotes are available to the called party at the start of each call

Process–

• Inmate dials phone number
• System determines if called number is able to receive collect calls and places or rejects the call
• Called party must positively accept the call by following the automated instructions

Houston Councilman James Rodriguez—Should We Trust Him Or Not?

 

Houston District I Councilmember James Rodriguez (Mr. Rodriguez  is the gentleman to the left of the center in the photo above.) has been in the news of late. With the election of Adrian Garcia to serve as Harris County Sheriff, Mr. Rodriguez, who says he is a Democrat, is now the only Hispanic member of Houston City Council. This despite the fact that we have at least 850,000 Hispanic persons here in Houston.

( Here is a most forceful rebuttal to this post from a local Democrat.)

(Here is a reply that is a little more useful.)

 

Here is Mr. Rodriguez’s campaign web home.  

 

Here is a map of Council District I. 

 

Should we trust Councilman Rodriguez? Will he be an effective representative of Houston’s Hispanic population, and for all persons in his district and in our city? 

  

In Houston, it can be hard to pin down just where our political leaders stand.  Party identification is easily obscured in our so-called non-partisan municipal elections. (Voter turnout is always low. And once elected, incumbent councilmembers are nearly unaccountable at the ballot box  until term limits force them out.) Take, for example, the photo above. In the center you see Republican Bill King. On either side of Mr. King are members of his so-called issue study group.

 

Mr. King has been considering a run for citywide office in 2009. So why is a Democrat like Mr. Rodriguez sitting with Mr. King? Seated to the right of Mr. King is Democratic State Representative Senfronia Thompson and, next to Rep. Thompson, one Jessica Colon. Ms. Colon is identified as “national chair of the Young Republicans.”      

 

Now I’m certain the conversation to get Mr. Rodriguez and Ms. Thompson to serve on Mr. King’s issues committee went just like this––

 

Mr. King—Hey James and Senfronia, I’m really concerned for the future of Houston and I need your input. Would you please serve on my issues committee so we can work for a better city?

     

Mr. Rodriguez & Ms. Thompson—Why sure Bill. Let’s get going!

 

Of course, this kind of stuff is just how Houston is politically. So we’ll keep hope alive for Mr. Rodriguez until we see him in action a little longer. 

 

Below you see a picture of Mr. Rodriguez that recently ran in the Houston Chronicle. You see that Mr. Rodriguez is pondering the future. (That or he’s trying to remember if he turned  his stove off at home.)

 

What is Mr. Rodriguez  pondering?

 

Is he wondering when leadership in Houston’s Hispanic community will finally pass from yesterday’s men who wasted years fighting amongst themselves while people in the community needed help and political power? Is he wondering what he can do to help give Houston’s Hispanics the seat at the political table their numbers, energy, and abilities merit?….. Or is he thinking he’s got six years to serve as a councilmember, and he’d better make the right people happy so he can be well-postioned for higher office when term limits knock him off council?

 

I’ll wager Mr. Rodriguez is thinking about both helping people and about his own ambitions. We’ll see which side of that equation comes out the winner. Here’s hoping he is an okay person.      

 

( Below the photo of  Councilman Rodriguez is Gene Kelly in Singing In The Rain.)   

    

Here is a link to the lyrics of Singin’ In The Rain.  

I Early Voted In Harris County—Some Democrats I Enjoyed Voting For And Two That Failed To Impress

Yestrerday I early voted at the Harris County Administration building (above) located at 1001 Preston Avenue in Downtown Houston, Texas. 

The electronic voting gizmo, which I feel is programmed to flip all my votes to the Republican Party, allowed me to vote in Vietnamese—

(Sunset in a Vietnamese fishing village called Mui Ne) 

   

…And in Spanish as well.

( Below is Valparaiso, Chile.)

If English is the official language of the United States, how come I can vote in Vietnamese and Spanish in a right wing place like Texas? We’ve even been at war with Vietnam and Spain in the past.

I’m glad we have the ability to make peace with former enemies. We are all brothers and sisters.

I’m very glad I got the chance to vote for a black man named Barack H. Obama for President of the United States. That is what I call progress.

( Below–Blacks voting in 1867. Here is a history of Reconstruction. )

I voted for each Democrat on the ballot. Though I did not use the straight party ticket button. I enjoy voting and I went down and selected the name of each candidate.   

I’ve written before, and still assert, that the straight ticket voter is possibly the most rational voter of all. Party identification serves as a kind of shorthand for voters to be able to navigate the large number of issues we confront in our complex society.

However, we do retain the right not to support all the candidates of our favored political party. Inevitably, some will be hard to take.

I paused over the names of Michael Skelly for the 7th U.S. House district from Texas and David Mincberg for the office of Harris County Judge Executive.

Mr. Skelly has campaigned in large part on the false issues of earmark reform and a balanced budget. These are irresponsible postions at a time when swift and decisive action from government is needed to bring our economy back to health.

Here is what Nobel Prize winning New York Times columnist recently said about government’s role in our economic recovery—

….there’s a lot the federal government can do for the economy. It can provide extended benefits to the unemployed, which will both help distressed families cope…It can provide emergency aid to state and local governments, so that they aren’t forced into steep spending cuts that both degrade public services and destroy jobs. It can buy up mortgages (but not at face value, as John McCain has proposed) and restructure the terms to help families stay in their homes. And this is also a good time to engage in some serious infrastructure spending, which the country badly needs in any case. The usual argument against public works as economic stimulus is that they take too long: by the time you get around to repairing that bridge and upgrading that rail line, the slump is over and the stimulus isn’t needed. Well, that argument has no force now, since the chances that this slump will be over anytime soon are virtually nil. Will the next administration do what’s needed to deal with the economic slump? Not if Mr. McCain pulls off an upset. What we need right now is more government spending — but when Mr. McCain was asked in one of the debates how he would deal with the economic crisis, he answered: “Well, the first thing we have to do is get spending under control.”

If Mr. Skelly’s opponent has been bringing earmarks to this district, that is one way we would be better served by keeping the incumbent. Regretfully, the incumbent is quite far to the right.   

David Mincberg has been running a tone deaf negative campaign against the Republican incumbent. After so many years of Republican rule in Harris County, there are so many unmet needs and things to to be done. Why don’t we hear about some of that? Instead, what we are getting are attacks against incumbent that are simply not going to resonate with the public after his very visible role during Hurricane Ike.

Also, Mr. Mincberg has a campaign sign—one so big that it needs to be propped up from behind with rods—located on the right of way on a 610 feeder road near the Galleria. I’d like to take that sign and nail it to the side of Mr. Mincberg’s house. (I won’t though. And don’t you either.) 

I did in the end vote for Mr. Skelly and Mr. Mincberg. Though I’m not sure that was the right course. There is little doubt these men would be better than the incumbents. But from my view, as a liberal who has lived in a city all his life and had my vote taken for granted by Democrats who deliver little, both Mr.Skelly and Mr. Mincberg send up warning flags.

It’s not about ideological differences. There are only two main political parties for 300 million people and a big tent is required. It’s about the issues you choose to focus on and how you campaign. There is plenty of room for political creativity and correct behavior in even the most Republican of constituencies. 

In contrast to Mr. Skelly and Mr. Mincberg, there were votes I was glad to cast—

Rick Noriega for the United States Senate—Mr. Noriega will be quite a contrast to the far right incumbent. He has served his country in war and is now ready to serve in Washington.  Also, his wife has been known to visit this blog.

Ellen Cohen for the Texas House District 134—It is good that Ms. Cohen appears to have an easy race after banishing the lousy Martha Wong in 2006.

Loren Jackson for Harris County District Clerk—Mr. Jackson is very honest, never puts a campaign sign in the public space, and once gave me a campaign tee-shirt. Below is a picture of Mr. Jackson. If you see him be certain to shake his hand and to tell him you share his commitment to freedom.  

Adrian Garcia for Harris County Sheriff—Mr. Garcia is going to bring some real justice to our county. Everybody is going to be treated the same and that treatment will be just and decent.   

It was fun to vote. I encourage all who share my views to go out and vote. As for those who do not share my views—I can’t offer as much encouragement. You might want to think about staying at home. I’m sure there is some dusting or laundry you could catch up on. 

( Below—The young women below wanted citizens to vote “no” on the showing of movies on Sunday in the town of La Grange, Illinois. This was in 1929. I don’t know how the vote turned out.)  

 

Adrian Garcia For Harris County Sheriff

 

Who should citizens of Harris County, Texas select for the position of Harris County Sheriff?  

The best choice is former police officer and current Houston City Councilmember Adrian Garcia.

Councilmember Garcia was a police officer for 23 years and has served as Chair of Council’s Public Safety and Homeland Security committee. Mr. Garcia knows law enforcement.   

As a councilmember, Mr. Garcia has had a laser like focus on neighborhood concerns such cleaning up vacant lots and graffti, while at the same time addressing the larger problem of homelessness in Houston.

Mr. Garcia has the endorsement of the Harris County Deputies union.

This strong record of public service, and the confidence placed in Mr. Garcia by rank and file law enforcement professionals, stands in sharp contrast to the poor record of his opponent.

Incumbent Sheriff Tommy Thomas has been involved in many scandals. 

The sheriff’s office attempted to delete internal e-mails that were later shown to contain ethnic slurs. 

Many inmates in the county jail have died while incarcerated. 

Harris County had to pay $1.7 million for a wrongful arrest by the sheriff’s office.

Less ideological blog readers who reach this post will note that I’m a rabble rousing liberal, and may feel that I’m not the right source to offer a view on this important law enforcement position in our county.  

Yet liberals support law and order as a foundation of a decent and just society. You can’t have a decent life and a just society if criminals rule the streets.

Also, Mr. Thomas has been in office for 14 years now. Harris County has changed a great deal in those 14 years. Sheriff’s office employees e-mailing racial slurs in this day and age is just not going to get the job done.

Let’s move ahead for more effective and up-to-date law enforcement by selecting Adrian Garcia as our new Harris County Sheriff. 

Here is the web home of the Garcia campaign.

Here is an overview of the race from the Houston Chronicle. 

Noriega & More—Texas Political Notes And Thoughts

Some political notes and thoughts from Texas and Harris County—

(Above is the harbor at Palacios in Matagorda County. George Bush won 65% of the nearly 12,500 votes cast in Matagorda in 2004. But I’m certain that four years of calm seaside reflection has given the good folks of Matagorda a new view of things for 2008.) 

Noriega Senate Race

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega of Houston is polled by Rasmussen as running only 4 points behind far-right incumbent John Cornyn. In this polling snapshot, the race is seen as 47% for Mr. Cornyn and 43% for Mr. Noriega.  

Mr. Noriega is a Texas State representative.

I recall early numbers from 2002 that had former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk running ahead of then Texas Attorney General Cornyn. At the time, Mr. Kirk’s favorable name recognition in the Dallas metroplex was a source of his strength.  

Mr. Cornyn won that race 55% -43% in a Republican year. 

This time around, it may be that some Texans are reconsidering allegiance to Republican party ( As well they should.) and that demographic changes in this majority-minority state are finally catching up to the ballot box.

Mr. Noriega’s 51% showing in the Texas Democratic primary was not impressive. Yet, Mr. Noriega will no doubt establish himself among Texas Democrats as November approaches. If the broader climate in Texas is moving towards Democrats, than Mr. Noriega may have a shot.  

Here is Mr. Noriega’s campaign web home.   

Harris County Races

Recent reports on racial disparities in application of the death penalty in Harris County, and reports from Dallas county about long-term inmates being set free after being proved innocent show the importance of a new justice team in Harris County.   

The new Democratic District Attorney in Dallas County has made such a positive difference in that part of Texas.   

Electing C.O. Bradford as District Attorney and Adrian Garcia as County Sheriff would be a good start towards the more fair practice of justice in Harris County.   

The Harris County Democratic coordinated campaign will be led by Bill Kelly.

I’ve seen Democratic coordinated campaigns in other parts of the country that involved walking around money for local pastors and others, and mailings into minority communities featuring white politicians linked up with black politicians.

These mailings were meant to aid white politicians by associating them with black candidates in areas where many black voters live. Yet it never seemed to work the other way of mailings into mostly white areas as a way to boost black candidates.    

One of the many reasons I’m glad to hear about the appointment of Mr. Kelly is that I know it portends real change in Harris County.    

Change for the Harris County Democratic Party as it moves to full inclusion of the voters who are the backbone of its local support, and, after success at the ballot box, changes in public policy such as the immediate need for a better justice system.  

In addition to the $500 breakfast listed on the web page of the Harris County Democratic Party, I look forward to a more broad based campaign kick-off event to generate excitement about the November ticket. 

This post is also at my Houston Chronicle blog where I’m one of eight featured political bloggers.

(The Houston Ship Channel is a big deal in Harris County. Harris County voted 54% -46 % for George Bush in 2004. There were just over 1.05 million votes cast. 2008 may be a more successful year for Harris County Democrats. )