There was an online forum last night held by Swing Texas Left involving the two Democratic runoff candidates for Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar. Runoff Election Day is May 28.
Above you see the two candidates from the Zoom forum yesterday. On the left is Desiree Broadnax and on the right is Annette Ramirez. Here is the link to the discussion. It runs about 75 minutes. I asked both candidates if they would join the Harris County Democratic Party coordinated campaign for 2024, block walk for the full Harris County Democratic slate & support the two Democrats running the new HCAD positions. (The two Democrats running for the HCAD positions are Melissa Noriega for Place #2 and Pelumi Adeleke for Place #3. Election Day is June 15. Ms. Noriega's opponent is an election denier. ) Ms. Broadnax would not commit to joining the coordinated party campaign. Ms. Ramirez did commit, spoke strongly about the 2024 election being a team effort and committed to holding a fundraiser or taking part in a block walk for the HCAD slate. Ms. Broadnax was clear that she supported the HCAD candidates. I'm voting for Ms. Ramirez and will hold to her to what she asserted last night. As referenced above, I know this all because I asked. All of us have the ability to ask every candidate and elected official we come across how they will support the full Democratic ticket. They are here for us. Not the other way around. The Houston Democracy Project is about protest, rank-and-file citizen empowerment, self-protection, ideas and whatever is needed to prevail and stay safe as Republicans promise violence if they lose and authoritarianism if they win. More will be required than voting. In addition to being part of a team effort to win at the ballot box, elected officials may have to decide what side of a police line to stand on if Republicans refuse to accept electoral defeats, or toss out Harris County ballots to impact an electoral outcome. And then there are the promised mass round-ups of migrants. Elected officials and candidates are always telling us to vote. But so often they are missing in action when it comes to helping get out the vote when it does not directly impact them. Hold the people seeking our support to the standards needed to keep us safe and free. Don't let up--Hold them accountable. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com
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Below is a quick note I sent today to all Houston City Council Members about the big firefighters contract that may cost taxpayers as much as $1.5 billion.
Houston City Controller Chris Hollins has many questions about the contract. It is important that Houstonians be involved in city government. It is easy to watch city council sessions. Here is the home page of Houston City Council. Here is what I e-mailed-- Councilmembers: Regarding the firefighters contract: The firefighters seem to be saying if you don’t give us what we want, we’ll go to court and bust the city budget. How is this the conduct of a good partner that cares about the City of Houston? There was recently an extensive conversation at Council about the need for a proposal regarding speed bumps to go to a committee of Council. If that is the case for speed bumps, shouldn’t this giant firefighters contract be reviewed in open committee session? Mayor Whitmire says issues that are sent to committee are made stronger by the process. Shouldn’t that reasoning apply with such an important issue as this big dollar contract? Is Council-and by extension the public-involved in this process in a genuine way, or is it just that the firefighters union will make a bunch of aggressive statements in the press and the Mayor will reflexively dismiss legitimate questions? This is an important matter that should be considered with as much openness and democracy as possible. Thank you. I've gotten a few replies from council offices of thank you for sending this and all that. I believe some number of Councilmembers saw the note. I'll keep at it. We all should keep at it. The firefighters could say we won't pursue a settlement that bankrupts the city. They could say the contract should be subjected to full review by the appropriate committees of Council and by all of Council. They don't say those things. So we need a Houston City Council willing to stand up to them. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com Steve Norris of Brazoria County has been standing with the sign you see above from noon to one each Saturday near the roundabout with the statue of Sam Houston at Hermann Park. Steve is the one holding the sign on the right & I'm on the left. Steve is a semi-retired microbiology professor. (Steve may not be there on Saturday, 5/11. But will be there each week or nearly every week through Election Day.) I've been with Steve for something like 8 of the 12 or so weeks he's been out at the park. Steve printed those signs on his own dime and often has extra to hand out. In the picture above you see thoughtful park-goers who wished to be identified with Steve's message. We are being told by Trump and Republicans that there will be violence if Trump loses and dictatorship if he wins. It is important that people see others like themselves wiling to stand out in public for democracy. Most weeks I've been with Steve, one or more passers-by have asked us if we are nervous or if we have been confronted by aggressive people. (None of that has happened.) You never know what action or statement will make the difference. All people are capable of making an impact. Don't be afraid to show up and be seen. Voting may well not be enough in the rights ahead. We are going to have to be willing to show up. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com There were elections in Harris County yesterday.
Molly Cook easily defeated State Rep. Jarvis Johnson to win the right to serve out the remainder of former Senator John Whitmire's term. Whitmire is now Mayor of Houston. This is good. Rep. Johnson has served in a variety of offices over a number of years with little concern for voter turnout, or much else beyond business us usual. The election for the full term beginning next January is May 28. Let's keep Senator-elect Cook in the seat & then hold her accountable starting the next day. Ms. Cook has stressed her role as an organizer with issues such as opposition to the expansion of I-45 as a big part of her campaign. There will be plenty of need for organizing in the challenging days ahead. In the voting for the three newly-created Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) seats, Democrat Kathy Blueford-Daniels won outright while the other two spots will go to a runoff. Melissa Noriega will be the Democrat for Place 2 and Pelumi Adeleke is the Democrat in Place 3. Both Ms. Noriega and Ms. Adeleke will be facing Republicans. Ms. Noriega's opponent, Kyle Scott, is an election-denier. These clear Republican against Democrat match-ups are a fine opportunity for elected Democrats in safe seats to campaign or offer resources to the two Democrats. Every elected Republican who does not expressly repudiate election-denial and Donald Trump, is part of the infrastructure of authoritarianism. HCAD runoff Election Day is June 15. (I don't know the specifics, but I'm told by folks who would know that the results for the Katy ISD Board went well. Thanks to everyone who did the work in Katy.) Support Molly Cook on May 28 so she can begin to organize for and support the HCAD slate on May 29. Vote for Ms. Noriega and Ms. Adeleke on June 15, and then insist they show up for democracy as needed all the way to November and beyond. Anybody running for elected office in this political and social climate is signing up for the full deal. Rank & file citizens of Harris County who care about democracy, have a right to ask the people who represent them to be prepared to do whatever needed for the fights in 2024 and beyond. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com I make this brief point every so often because it merits repeating--The police who aggressively break up for pro-Palestine encampment on the college campus, will make no distinction between those protestors and people protesting Trump refusing to accept election results, or protesting Republicans tossing out 10,000 ballots in Harris County to tip an election. You might think that the people being policed are an "other" of some kind, but it'll be you and us next time.
Stand up & speak up as much as you can for the rights of protestors and for First Amendment rights. We are all going to need those rights in the days ahead. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com Houston ISD is cutting and gutting essential services for students living with poverty. From the Houston Landing: Houston ISD will eliminate many of the specialists who work on school campuses to serve students struggling with poverty-related issue...HISD Executive Director of Student Supports Phuong Tieu delivered the news to roughly 170 district staff during a virtual meeting Thursday morning, saying their roles will be cut at the end of June due to budget constraints, according to a video recording of the meeting obtained by the Houston Landing and information from attendees...The decision represents a reversal from Superintendent Mike Miles, who previously told the Landing the wraparound specialists were needed positions in HISD and would not be subject to staffing cuts. “The needs of our kids in the social emotional area, and in the mental health area, and just health area, is not going to diminish over the next several years,” Miles said in December. “I don’t know if it will ever diminish, but it certainly won’t in the next several years. So, it would not be appropriate to decrease services at this time.” HISD serves roughly 150,000 economically disadvantaged students, and roughly 7,000 who are homeless. Does the rubber stamp Board of Managers of our state-occupied school district have any views on these cuts? We rarely hear from them. (Community Voices for Public Education has been leading the fight against the takeover.) John Whitmire ran for Mayor talking about his strong relations with statewide Republicans. Texas has a $33 billion budget surplus. The State of Texas runs HISD. Why can't Mayor Whitmire get the state to give HISD the needed funds to keep these important programs going? (Above is Mayor Whitmire with friends such as Governor Abbott & Senator Bettencourt.) Mayor Whitmire brought far-rightwing Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham to Houston City Council. Commissioner Buckingham said Houston could get the housing money we should be getting anyway, so long as we look the other way at her support for people like Donald Trump who would take our freedoms. Mayor Whitmire teams up with Republican election-denier Alexandra Mealer, as she uses her place on the Metro Board to get political revenge on advocates of safer streets and bike lanes. Mayor Whitmire has been silent as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued to stop the Harris County Basic Income program. In addition to talking about how the city must work with the state, Mayor Whitmire has said the city must also work with HISD Superintendent Mike Miles. Here is an opportunity to put these words into action. Mayor Whitmire should lobby the Republican state elected officials he gets along with so well, to provide the funds to restore wraparound services for Houston school kids. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com This evening I used the one minuted allotted to candidates and political speakers at the start of each month's Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus, to talk about the John Cornyn Houston Office Protest & the Houston Democracy Project. I'm a dues-paying Caucus member, I attend the meetings and I volunteer to hand out the Caucus endorsement card at election time. So I earn my voice rather than just using the platform. Above is me at the meeting. Here is what I covered in my minute: * The John Cornyn Houston Office Protest is each Tuesday, 11;30-1, 5300 Memorial Dr. * It is important for people see others like themselves willing to be out in the open for democracy. * We worked hard to get a misdemeanor conviction of a man who threw eggs at us. Don't let anyone bully you off your task. * The Houston Democracy Project says authoritarianism will require a local infrastructure. * Trump is telling us out loud that there will be violence if he loses and dictatorship if he wins. * Our well-funded incumbents and safe incumbents must be active for the full Democratic ticket in 2024. Judges must join the fight. This past Saturday I was the featured speaker at the quarterly Harris County Democratic Party Clubs & Organizations meeting. I'm making the rounds for freedom! Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com A friend of the Houston Democracy Project, Dr. Audrey Nath, paid for the sign you see above. She placed a few of these signs at the early voting location at the West Gray Multi-Service Center, and at an early voting location at Acres Homes as well. She also contributed to the Harris County Appraisal District election efforts being made by the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation. (Here is information about the HCAD races. Here is a post about the election denier running for one of the HCAD spots. Please vote the slate you see on the sign. Early voting is over. General Election Day is Saturday, May 4.) Audrey called me and asked where some funds could be well-employed to assist the HCAD slate most likely to defeat the Republicans running for the three positions. We talked about it for a few minutes & Audrey proceeded. I appreciate Audrey and I'm glad the Houston Democracy Project had a hand in injecting some money into helping win these races. At the same time, there is a lot of political money floating around for consultants and sitting in the campaign accounts of safe incumbents. Just a fraction of that money could make a big difference in low turnout races such as these HCAD elections. Our elected officials need to step up.(An elected official who has taken leadership in the HCAD races is State Rep. Christina Morales.) Democracy is on the ballot in every election. Rank & file Democrats volunteer and donate because they want a better Harris County & because they see the clearly that the Republican Party is an authoritarian outfit. Democratic Party elected officials must aggressively join the fight. We must demand that they do so. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com Donald Trump says if he loses there may well be violence.
He says that if he wins he'll be a dictator. We are being told out loud. We must discuss self-protection in addition to voting and organizing, and we must demand that elected officials we support act with needed urgency. All of this is for real and we must act while we still can. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com Above are seven folks who were out walking for the Spring Branch ISD races this past weekend. Early voting ends for Spring Branch ISD on April 30 and Election Day is Saturday, May 4. There are two races in Spring Branch. One is unopposed. In the other race the one to vote for is Ben Drews. The folks you see in that picture volunteer all the time in Spring Branch and for other candidates in Harris County. The person who took the picture, Diana Martinez, does a lot for others and has run two strong races for office herself. We can't keep relying on the same people over and over. They are tired. There is so much money floating around for consultants and campaigns that don't leave any meaningful infrastructure of voter turnout or community. Local organizers need money and support. We keep hearing over the years that this is "The most important election in our lifetimes" & how every election matters. But the same people are out there walking. You see them on social media asking for volunteers and help. Business as usual and resources only for a few is not working. We must offer resources and support to the people so consistently doing the everyday work of freedom. Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what. The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County. Please share word of the Houston Democracy Project and support the effort with your contribution. If you have a question about the Project or a suggestion, please send an e-mail to naa61840@gmail.com |
AuthorI'm Neil Aquino Archives
May 2024
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