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​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 [email protected]​

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 [email protected]

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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 [email protected]

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I spoke today at the quarterly Harris County Democratic Party Clubs & Organizations meeting. 

Above is a picture from the meeting.  

I talked about the Cornyn Houston Office Protest & the Houston Democracy Project.

Among the themes I hit were:

* Elected officials must show up for us. This included Judges.  

* Clubs can ask elected officials how they are helping the full Democratic slate before allowing them to address the club.

* We need more involvement from Houston City Council Democrats.

* To consider that conventional political activity at this point involves prospect of protest

* That repressive police measures directed at protesters someplace else could easily next be directed at us here.

* That we must create our own networks of action, communication, ideas, influence and safety. 

Thanks to John Cotter from Humble Area Democrats for inviting me & to Diana Martinez from Spring Branch Democrats for the picture. I very much appreciated the opportunity.

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 [email protected]

What is going on? When can I vote? Where can I vote? 

Early voting for three new elected Harris County Appraisal District positions ends May 1. General Election Day is Saturday, May 4. There are three seats on the ballot. The seats are at-large. All Harris County votes for all three seats. Here is where you can vote from Harris Votes. 

Who should I vote for? 

Position One: Kathy Blueford Daniels
Position Two: Melissa Noriega
Postion Three: Pelumi Adeleke 

​These are three good, fully competent to do the job and trustworthy candidates who are best-positioned to defeat Republican challengers in this election. This is the slate endorsed by local organized labor. The Houston LGBTQ Political Caucus did not endorse for procedural reasons that had nothing to do with the candidates. Each of these candidates is a Democrat.    
  
Why should I vote? 

Every elected Republican contributes to the local infrastructure of authoritarianism. Republicans at every level of government are serious when they talk about the suspension of civil liberties and mass round-ups of migrants. These attacks on our freedoms and on our communities will require many local partners and boosters. The Harris County Republican Party has endorsed a slate of one candidate in each of the three HCAD spots. Republicans are focused on winning elections at all levels of government. We could learn from that focus.     

The Houston Democracy Project is all about democracy. Democracy is on the ballot in every election.   

With these high stakes and with democracy on the ballot in every election, have local elected Democrats that  I support helped get the word out about the HCAD vote?  

As is so often the case when their own names are not on the ballot, most have sat on the sidelines. Here is what Houston-area Democratic State Rep. Christina Morales said in the Houston Chronicle:

"Even some members of the Texas Legislature aren't aware of the appraisal district board elections, State Rep. Christina Morales, a Houston Democrat, said last week. “In one of the group texts, I said, 'You realize there’s an election on May 4? ' And two in the group said 'I had no clue,'” Morales said. “These are my colleagues who voted on this piece of legislation.” 

We must demand more from the people we support.   

​What exactly are these new positions?  

Here is a story about the new positions from the Texas Tribune.

From the Tribune:

"....This May, voters in those most populous counties will be asked to elect three members of their respective appraisal district boards. When Texas voters approved constitutional amendments to lower property taxes....they also approved new political positions within their appraisal districts that are now up for election in May.....Appraisal districts determine annual property valuations based on market value, which helps local taxing entities calculate how much tax revenue they can receive in a given year, and set their tax rates and budgets. Since 1980, these districts have included a property tax appraiser and an appointed board...Beginning in May, there will be four-year terms for members of the boards for appraisal districts with populations over 75,000 and each will have eight members. Three of this those will be elected."     

Here is the website of the Harris County Appraisal District. 

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 [email protected]

The Houston Chronicle recently endorsed three candidates for the new elected Harris County Appraisal District positions. (HCAD)

(Here is a Houston Democracy Project post about the HCAD elections.) 

One of the endorsed candidates is Republican Kyle Scott.  

Here is some of what the Chronicle said about Mr. Scott in the endorsement:

"In 2022, when he ran for Harris County treasurer as a Republican, we endorsed his opponents because Scott suggested that he'd effectively veto county commissioners by refusing to sign checks as a final safeguard against wasteful spending. Such a protest would seem to go far beyond the largely ceremonial duties of a relatively minor county position." 

Also, Mr. Scott was one of the 21 defeated Harris County Republicans to sue to overturn 2022 General Election results. The suits were tossed out by a Republican Judge.

Even before Election Day 2022, the Chronicle editorial board knew Mr. Scott was willing to exceed his responsibilities. Then, in our political climate of election denial, he sues, in a case of dubious merit, to overturn the people's vote. Chronicle political reporter Jen Rice was clear that the suits had little merit. And STILL the Chronicle endorsed him. They did so while writing in the same editorial that Democrat Melissa Noriega, who is in the HCAD Position 2 race with Mr. Scott and others, is a perfectly good choice. (Please vote for Ms. Noriega.)   

The Chronicle editorial board should not interview any candidate who will not make a firm commitment to accepting election results.    

It is difficult to know to do with this lack of judgement from institutions and local civic structures we should be able to trust. It is not surprising, but it is still difficult to know what to do with it. Candidates can make it clear as day that they don't respect the office they are seeking & don't respect ballot box outcomes, and still the hometown paper tells readers to vote for the guy.

Sometimes it feels we are very much on our own. The folks who run institutions and sources of information we want to be able to rely on, often seem most concerned with process, seeming fair-minded even when interacting with people attacking freedom & self-preservation. 

The premise of the Houston Democracy Project is that rank & file Houstonians and residents of Harris County most form their own networks of action, ideas, communication and safety for the authoritarian challenges ahead. We must insist that our elected officials show up for us. And we must demand that our institutions meet the challenges of a worsening political and social climate.          

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 [email protected]    

​There was a large and aggressive response of Texas Department of Public Safety troops and other police agencies directed at pro-Palestinian protesters at the U. of Texas in Austin today.

We ask young people to get involved in politics and affairs, and then when they do we suspend them and arrest them.  

(Above is a picture from today in Austin by Ryan Chandler at Austin TV station KXAN.)    

The willingness of DPS to plunge into this situation is in sharp contrast to their lack of action when school children were massacred in Uvalde.  

From the Texas Tribune:

A student walkout protest in support of Palestine at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday turned increasingly chaotic as the day went by, resulting in at least 30 people being handcuffed and removed from the school, including two members of the media....About 500 students demanded that UT-Austin divest from manufacturers supplying Israel weapons in its strikes on Gaza. They gathered outside the university’s Gregory Gym before moving to the South Lawn, where they had planned to stay into the evening....Officers at the scene donned riot gear and in some cases wielded mace or mounted horses while trying to drive back the protesters. Some officers could be seen pushing protesters with their batons. Several students were pushed to the ground and handcuffed with white plastic ties. Students acting as legal observers frantically shouted to get their names....The demonstration showed no signs of violence before authorities intervened, though police did order the attendees to disperse and warned many that they would be arrested for trespassing.

It was good to see the Texas Democratic Party make a statement: 

“Today, Greg Abbott’s DPS has more courage to arrest peaceful student protesters than when an active shooter entered an elementary school in Uvalde. This is yet another gross misuse of state-funds for campaign ads at the expense of UT students’ safety. It is beyond clear that Greg Abbott does not care about first amendment rights, Texans’ freedoms, the loss of Palestinian life, or Israeli hostages – he only cares about himself. Once again, Texas Republicans are hellbent on placing our basic rights on the chopping block for political gain.”

This is the same Department of Public Safety Houston Mayor John Whitmire has said should be invited to Houston to police our streets. They would be right here in town when we protest a stolen or overturned election, or to help carry out the mass round-up of migrants promised by Donald Trump.      

(Here is DPS proudly showing the Texas Flag and come and take it flag, but not the American Flag. Here is DPS showing up for Greg Abbott and Donald Trump. ) 

​The wild Department of Public Safety and police attack on non-violent protestors today in Austin, is exactly what you'll see in Houston in response to protests or vigils regarding Republican election theft & mass migrant round-ups. It is all connected and headed our way to Houston. 

Let's work together-even when we don't always trust each other-to form networks of action, communication, support, ideas and safety. That is the work of the Houston Democracy Project and that is the task in front of each of us. 
    
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 [email protected]

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​​The Houston Police Officers Union never stops complaining. 

From a report on Fox News:

"We're in a perfect storm right now," (Houston Police Officer's Union) President Douglas Griffith said. "We had the George Floyd effect come down. We can't hire. We can't retain our officers. The people are leaving left and right."

"Who in the heck wants to be a police officer in 2024?" (HPOU Executive Director) Hunt asked, "when every single thing that they're doing is going to be second-guessed by their body-worn camera that someone can watch three or four times to determine whether or not that officer made the right split-second decision.

Get it? George Floyd went and got himself killed by a cop & now police are subject to additional review.   

​Griffith also called out the court system for "not doing their job." 

"Their contention is that we can't hold somebody. We have to give everybody a bond, yes, the first time. Once they violate that bond, they can be held in jail until they go to court again. And we get people on six, seven, eight, nine bonds at one time. And that's a problem that we have to fix in the courts.

Fix the courts. What does that mean? The people of Houston/Harris County have elected the judges they want no matter the endless and relentless attacks on Harris County judges. Fix the courts? You mean remove elected judges or restrict in some manner the election of judges? We don't want judges from an authoritarian anti-democratic Republican Party. Why would we?  

Above is a mailing I got from the local public safety unions during the 2023 municipal election season. (I've added some coffee stains.) The logos of the police and fire unions are on the mailing and they got the result they wanted. John Whitmire was elected Mayor.  And still they complain and complain and complain.

Sorry if being supervised and living in a democracy is a hassle.   

John Whitmire outsourced his negative campaigning to the public safety unions. They were more than happy to help.  Our public safety unions back election deniers who try to take our freedom. We give these  safety unions so much of our city budget, while we have so many unmet needs in the city.      

We live in a great and hopeful city. It's not the terrible place the right keeps saying it is. Our voters are not bad people. Police do well by Houston taxpayers. How about they seek solutions and be a full part of our community rather than bash us on Fox News?   

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 [email protected]

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Above you see a picture of some nice wildflowers I saw in Houston a few days ago.

I'm making an extra point in this stressful political year to look around at all the good things around us & do things I enjoy.

Don't let lousy folks and frustrating events get you down.  

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Above you see a picture I took at Hermann Park in Houston today.

On the left is a man who had a big gun and was wearing some militaristic outfit. I was keeping a good distance so I can't give better detail. A Hermann Park ranger said the gun guy was there to make sure we all know that he has the 2nd Amendment to walk around with a giant gun.

On the right is a Houston cop talking to him. I think there are in fact two officers in the picture. There were-correctly-a number of cops that showed up. 

Then you see the kid's train that circles around the park. The kids, parents, grandparents on the train got a good view of the whole thing.  It's important kids learn early that they live in a heavily-armed freak show. 

We've got a State of Texas that hassles school librarians who want to give kids some good books to read, but allows lousy people to walk around busy parks with crazy guns.      

These folks are out there further normalizing intimidation and violence. We can't yield 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 [email protected]