Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 30th. Election Day is in 6 days on November 5th. Early Voting is ongoing and ends November 1st.

*The Trump campaign says it will withhold federal funds from police departments that don't cooperate with plans for mass deportations. 

From NBC News:

"As Donald Trump promises the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history if re-elected, his team is....considering withholding federal police grants from local law enforcement agencies that decline to take part in the deportations, three sources close to the Trump campaign told NBC News. .....So-called sanctuary cities, like Chicago, and states, like California, currently decline to alert ICE when they encounter or arrest undocumented immigrants.....Trump has vowed that if he returns to office, he will immediately begin rounding up undocumented immigrants across the country, starting with those who have criminal records or final orders of deportation...Before the Supreme Court ruled, Joe Biden won the 2020 election, took office and restarted the grant program for sanctuary cities. Trump campaign officials say they are confident that they can quickly get legal challenges to the Supreme Court and that the high court’s conservative supermajority will back them."

Two weeks ago I spoke at Houston City Council about how mass deportations are on the way and how Republicans on Council should make clear if they support the extremism of Trump's candidacy. It's important that Council knows what is going on so that later on they can't say they were not told. I told them. You can as well by speaking at Council or contacting you council member.   

It's also important to remember that police unions often support Trump and extremists. They know as well as anyone else what the Trump people are saying about so many subjects. There is no reason to be confident we would be in control of our local police with Abbott and Paxton running Texas & a Trump Justice Department in Washington.       

Houston City Council should be talking about what would be on the way if Trump returns to the White House & should be planning for the impact of mass deportations that would tear many Houston families apart. We as Houstonians must insist they have these conversations.   

*Six of the 16 Houston City Councilmembers were absent without explanation from public comment session yesterday. They were Willie Davis, Julian Ramirez, Twila Carter, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, Abbie Kamin and Tiffany Thomas. For Kamin and Evans-Shabazz that is two of the last three weeks missed. For Councilmember Thomas that is three weeks straight.

There are plenty of acceptable reasons for to miss a Council session. But when they take the roll call at the beginning of the public comment session, no reason at all is given for absences. Speaking in-person to Council is a real effort. You have to figure out what you will say, get downtown, find a parking space and pay for that parking, wait your turn to speak and then get home. Brief remarks to Council take multiple hours of time. Houstonians should understand why they are not being heard by all Councilmembers when they make such an effort. This is especially so when so many rank & file volunteers are currently making phone calls and knocking doors to stop authoritarians from taking over  many other citizens of   Houston/Harris County are serving as election officials at the polls.    

Public comment is each Tuesday at 2 PM. The agenda business of Council is conducted each Wednesday at 9 AM. Here are details on how to sign up and about Houston City Council meetings. 

We must create a climate of accountability at Houston City Council. This climate will have to come from us. There is nobody else to do this work. With democracy on the line in Texas and that nation, we must make certain we are well and effectively represented at the levels of government closest to home.  

* I'll be on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show tomorrow, 10/31. I'm on the show with Egberto each Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.
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Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 29th. Election Day is in 7 days on November 5th. Early Voting is ongoing and ends November 1st.

*Elon Musk is contributing large sums of money to Texas Republican candidates in 2024.  

From the Texas Tribune:

"Elon Musk gave $1 million last month to a powerful tort reform group that is one of the main political forces backing Republicans in battleground legislative races this fall, marking the tech mogul’s deepest foray yet into Texas politics."

​From Bloomberg Law: (The bulk of the story is behind a paywall.) 

"Elon Musk has contributed $2 million to a Texas political group backing Republican candidates for intermediary appeals courts, campaign finance reports released this week reveal.​"

Elon Musk is funding Trump, talking to Putin and turning Twitter into a right-wing extremist sewer.    

I don't trust the judgement, ethics or patriotism of anybody taking Musk's money. Anybody taking his money is a public safety threat to our democracy and freedom. Musk's goal in the end is to take as much control of Texas government as he can.

I know it's hard to keep track of all the horrible people in Texas politics. But we'll keep fighting and we will win.    

*At ​around 43 minutes into last week's Houston City Council agenda meeting, there was a brief discussion of Proposition B which was passed by Houston voters in 2023. Prop B directs the City of Houston to leave the regional Houston-Galveston Area Council unless the city is given representation on the council that  proportionally reflects Houston's population.  

What brought the issue to Council is that HGAC dues are due.  

The upshot of the 2 minute mention of the issue is that according to the city attorney, the city's legal obligations to HGAC outweighs the referendum.

And that was that--Despite the fact Prop B passed with 65% of the vote. Not very democratic at all. 

*The Houston Chronicle reports outgoing DA Kim Ogg spent 21 months in a costly investigation looking for election fraud that did not exist in 2022 Harris County elections.

From The Chronicle: 

"For 21 months, Ogg’s office had been investigating claims that local election workers intentionally withheld ballot paper from Republican voters during the November 2022 midterm elections. As the probe continued, a string of lawsuits and state legislation filed over the matter continued to sow doubts about election integrity in the nation’s third-largest county....But according to interviews with election workers and documents related to the investigation, Ogg’s office and the Texas Rangers – who assisted in the probe – had likely known there was no election tampering for at least a year before Ogg informed the public."

None of this is a surprise. It's just something though that entrusted by the public with the position of District Attorney of this giant county, Ms. Ogg used her office to weaken confidence in democracy. Nothing will correct her course.         

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

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Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 28th. Election Day is in 8 days on November 5th & Early Voting is ongoing and ends November 1st.

*Republican Houston City Councilmember Twila Carter attended and spoke at the Mattress Mack Republican rally Thursday morning and then Tweeted out a Martin Luther King quote today.   

Above you see Ms. Carter at the Mattress Mack rally microphone in hand.  

Here is what Councilmember Carter said today:

"The time is always right to do what's right."

-MLK

#MotivationMonday #Early Voting  

It's not worth much time to point out the distance between Donald Trump and Martin Luther King. What could be more obvious? Though it does merit notice Ms. Carter uses the hashtag Early Voting. It seems unlikely someone following the teachings and words of Martin Luther King is heading out to vote for Steve Radack.     

The issue is that Councilmember Carter supports Republican extremism. She's apparently fine with the election denial, promises of mass deportations that would tear apart Houston families, repeal of pre-existing condition protections & the threats to election workers.

​​The five other Houston City Council Republicans have not distanced themselves from Trump. The five other Republicans on Council are Amy Peck, Mary Nan Huffman, Fred Flickinger, Willie Davis and Julian Ramirez.     

The problem is not that these officials are Republicans. It's a big country and people are going to have differing views. It's the acceptance of extremism and then presenting yourself as something else that is the concern.     
 
Call Houston City Hall and ask Council Republicans where they stand. Tell Houston's political press that these are questions they should be asking. Don't accept right wing extremism in Houston, Texas.   

We must be willing to challenge power locally. We are the people closest to local public officials from both major parties & the most able to hold them to account.  

*Here is the current list from the Harris County Democratic Party of elected officials and candidates who have contributed so far to the Coordinated Victory campaign of the party. And here is a list of who has knocked doors. There are different ways in which elected officials and well-financed challengers can help. These lists don't tell all. But with so much at stake, it is important to know who among the people we vote for are showing up for us.    

*The John Cornyn Houston Office Protest will be out for Week 403 at the corner of Memorial & Detering tomorrow Tuesday, October 29, 11:30 AM-1 PM, 5300 Memorial Dr. It's important that people see others like themselves willing to stand openly and confidently for democracy. Please join us.

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

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Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 26th. Election Day is in 10 days on November 5th & Early Voting is ongoing and ends November 1st.

* Above you see an event Houston Mayor John Whitmire is taking part in this week. You see who he is hanging out with just days short of the election. One of the guests here, Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey, voted no on certifying Harris County election results in 2021. Read the story--He had no good reason for that vote. Just part of the election denial lie that has done so much damage to this country.       

Mayor Whitmire campaigned for mayor last year as a friend of labor and a champion of abortion access. But with Project 2025 on the ballot, Mayor Whitmire is----I was going to say missing in action. But he's plenty visible. You just have to be a Republican to see him.

Project 2025 would gut labor rights and enact a national abortion ban.

Mayor Whitmire has $9.8 million in campaign cash on hand. He could be battling for Houston and for democracy. He could hire canvassing teams to help Colin Allred. He could knock doors with rank & file Democratic volunteers. He could do something other than meet up with Dan Crenshaw.  

Instead, Mayor Whitmire goes after City Controller Chris Hollins. The 2024 campaign seems just an afterthought to the mayor. 

It doesn't require many words to tell the story. Mayor Whitmire could help us win. He chose another course. Whatever happens in this election, don't forget. When the stakes were highest, John Whitmire did not fight for the things he told Houston he valued most & did not advocate for Houston against the far right threat.        

* The Houston Chronicle endorsed Kamala Harris for President. Give them credit for doing so other than ducking it as other newspapers have done.   

* While we must be ready for whatever is on the way, it is also that we are going to win. Stay your course.      

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 25th. Election Day is in 11 days on November 5th & Early Voting is ongoing and ends November 1st.

We want to be free, live in a good society and be safe. We want that for ourselves and the people in our lives. Some of us want these things even for people we don't know. 

Here are three things I want to report based on my work on the Houston Democracy Project and being an involved citizen in Houston and this society. This work has involved taking part in street protests, watching public meetings, commenting at public meetings, interacting with many voters, talking to elected officials,  reading a lot, writing this blog and so on.        

1. Many Trump supporters are as nasty and self-satisfied as you would imagine. I know you know that already. But it merits repeating because it is not pleasant to believe. And there are still many people on our side who don't want to accept it in their mind or hearts.

Trump voters are plenty willing to take our rights and freedom, do violence and screw up our lives. We know it. But I'm not certain that even after all these years we've fully grasped it. There are millions of Trump voters who are simply really lousy people. They are capable of terrible things or condoning terrible things done in their name.             

2. Tell people what they are doing in voting for Trump and the politicians who support Trump. Tell elected Republicans who support Trump or who won't speak up against him what they are doing. Tell your Trump voting uncle and your Congressperson. Don't let them tell you later that they did not know.

Life and relationships are complicated. But if you can tell a person in your life what they are potentially causing in voting for Trump--Tell them so they can't deny knowledge of            

3. As you've gathered, institutions and how we've done things before won't save us. I'm writing this the day the Washington Post announced in would not endorse Harris because Jeff Bezos spiked the endorsement. We are 11 days short of possibly returning Donald Trump to the White House even after he led an insurrection. The institutions did not not stop it. We'll have to stop it.        

​Our freedom is up to us. We must demand institutions act and must be ready to take up the slack when they don't    

Here is the thing though--While we need to be ready for whatever is on the way, we are going to win.    

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
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The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

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I've been handing out the Houston LGBTQ Caucus card for a bunch of hours since early voting started this past Monday at the West Gray Multiservice Center.  I tell the voters to vote the Caucus card and that there no election deniers or fans of Hitler's generals on the card. I've interacted with a lot of voters. 

It's important that voters know what they are supporting or not supporting. Once I advise them that election deniers and Hitler apologists are on the ballot, then I know they know. They can't say they were not told. 

Last week I went to Houston City Council and spoke at public comment time to make certain councilmembers knew about the prospect of mass deportations and to ask Council Republicans if they supported fascists. No councilmembers engaged with me. But now I know they know.       

I was the Caucus 2024 Volunteer of the Year. Volunteering is good. It is also good to pay and contribute to  grassroots organizers. Here is what I said at the ceremony when I won the award & also a link to contribute to the Houston Democracy Project.  

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 23rd. Election Day is in 13 days on November 5th & Early Voting is ongoing and ends November 1st.

* The Harris County Deputies Organization hosted a press conference today endorsing Republican candidates for the 1st and 14th Appellate judicial seats. The 1st and 14th Appellate Courts are a big deal covering a 10 county area including Harris County.  Here is an account of what these courts do.  

From The Texan: (The Texan is a right wing news source. Most of the article is behind a paywall.)  

"Several elected law enforcement officials and representatives from area unions gathered at a press conference Tuesday to draw attention to a slew of down-ballot judicial races they say have an outsized impact on public safety and criminal justice. ....“This is an unprecedented endorsement from our organizations for these benches, but we are in unprecedented times,” said Jose Lopez, President of the Harris County Deputies Organization..."

A good way know how to vote is to choose the opposite of what law enforcement "unions" suggest.  (Police unions are not labor unions.) 

Police unions have been fine with supporting candidates promising authoritarianism and mass deportations. With democracy on the line, police unions have been on the wrong side of that line. 

Here are the Democrats running for the 1st and 14th appellate courts. There are ten total.   ​

And don't forget the Houston firefighters union had a role in making sure the international firefighters did not endorse Vice President Harris. ​

Public safety unions are political organizations first of all. So long as they have a conception of public safety that does not include democracy, the last thing you should listen to them on is any matter justice or the law.  
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* The Houston Chronicle reports that Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris Bennett has not swiped her access card to work at the county since 2020.

From The Chronicle:

​"The elected official in charge of Harris County’s voter registration and tax collection appears to have been absent from her office for years, last swiping her ID to enter the county building in late 2020, county records show....First sworn into office in 2017, Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris Bennett is tasked with a wide array of duties that affect nearly every Harris County resident, from collecting billions of dollars in property taxes to processing millions of vehicle registrations and title transfers every year. As the county’s voter registrar, she also oversees voter registration and maintains records for over 2.5 million voters."

It's just difficult to understand why nobody said anything. I hope Ms. Bennett is well. But she signed up to serve as the head of voter registration for this giant county as democracy is under attack. Other Democratic elected officials knew. They should have spoken up.      
 
* I'll be on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show tomorrow, 10/24. I'm on the show with Egberto each Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

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Hearings over City of Houston Houston sidewalk ordinance revisions begin today. There will be four in-person meetings and four virtual. Here is the schedule of these hearings. They take place between October 22 and November 2. They are being held when many people are distracted by the election. I'm going to watch at least two of the virtual hearings and attend one of the in-person sessions.  

This is a matter for the Houston Democracy Project because Mayor Whitmire recently gutted the sidewalk ordinance with a memo rather than by a vote of Council. No democracy involved.

Three Councilmembers--Tiffany Thomas, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz & Ed Pollard--sought to change a provision in the law that requires developers to either build a sidewalk, or pay a fee to a city sidewalk construction fund when building a new house. They didn't have the votes for this bad idea. Instead, Mayor Whitmire worked it out for them by simply writing a memo allowing exemptions from the requirement to either build the sidewalk or pay up. Not very democratic at all.

Beyond the shifty way Mayor Whitmire watered-down the ordinance, this issue is a matter of democracy because sidewalks are an important place where people meet up and connect. Sidewalks are such an important place for protest, that Mayor Whitmire unsuccessfully tried in August to restrict the rights of Houstonians to protest on the sidewalk.      

Here is the schedule from the City Planning Commission about how the ordinance revision process will go:   

October 17: Planning Commission presentation. The public comment period opens.
November 7: Last day to submit advance comments on Let's Talk Houston
November 14: Planning Commission public hearing
December 2: Quality of Life Council Committee meeting
December 11: City Council meeting

As you can gather, the October 17th Planning Commission presentation already happened. Here is the link to watch the hearing. The presentation starts around the nine minute mark. Spoiler alert--The intent of the so-called revision seems to be all about killing the fee. Nothing about making life better for people or adding more sidewalks. Just ditching the fee. That's all it has ever been about.

​Mayor Whitmire has been attacking public space and its best uses since he took office. Pedestrian safety, nice sidewalks and safe streets for daily life and the First Amendment, are a distant second to freeway expansions, catering to neighborhood obstructionists & making up stories that local protestors are paid by Iran.

​It's a shame we are wasting four years of civic life with this guy as Mayor.  It's worse than even that though with Mayor Whitmire looking the other way at the prospect of mass deportations and authoritarians winning upcoming elections. The Mayor has narrow and odd concepts about quality of life and public safety. We can do way better.         

More about the sidewalk ordinance soon right here! I encourage you to comment and take part in the debate yourself.     

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

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​Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 21st. Election Day is in 15 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins today and ends November 1st. (Above is a picture of Harris County Democratic District Attorney nominee Sean Teare.  It's from this morning at the early voting location at the West Gray Multiservice Center.  I liked the picture & made it black and white to be  artsy.)     

* A survey by the Public Religion Research Institute & the Brookings Institution says 1 in 5 Republicans say Trump should seize power if he loses the election. & 3 in 10 say violence may be needed to put America on the right course. We should take it all at face value. We've seen enough to know they mean it.  

* The Houston Democracy Project tries to keep it local. However, the deployment of North Korean troops to fight on behalf of Russia in the Ukrainian War merits comment. Trump is a client and servant of Putin. Also, my father was a Korean War combat medic who offered-up a good portion of his future well-being to bring some measure of democracy to South Korea. That the Republican Party is in league with this is repellent. It mocks the service of those who fought in the Korean War and is indicative of Republican Party disrespect of honorable service.  

At bottom line, this is all part of tyrants and enemies of freedom connecting across the globe to trash our lives.  ​

* The John Cornyn Houston Office Protest will be out for Week 402 at the corner of Memorial & Detering tomorrow Tuesday, October 22, 11:30 AM-1 PM, 5300 Memorial Dr. It's important that people see others like themselves willing to stand openly and confidently for democracy. Please join us.

Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

Here is a fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.