*Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 18th. Election Day is in 18 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 3 days on October 21st.

*Silent about the clear prospect of authoritarianism from the right, about the real chance that just months from now there will mass deportations in Houston & sitting on almost $10 million in campaign cash on hand while doing nothing in the 2024 campaign, Mayor John Whitmire has decided the problem is City Controller Chris Hollins. (Above is Mayor Whitmire at his press conference yesterday off the HTV feed.)

From The Houston Landing:

"Mayor John Whitmire and City Controller Chris Hollins traded barbs in dueling press conferences Thursday, each alleging the other has conflicts of interest by providing special access to private companies looking to do business with the city...Whitmire said this is the first time the specific sponsorships have been offered by the controller’s office, but city events are regularly financially supported by corporations – including the mayor's taste of the city address last month.....Hollins and Whitmire have found themselves on opposite sides of city financial decisions since their elections as recently as last month when discussing a change in the property tax rate....Hollins, in turn, called Whitmire a “walking conflict of interest” as his campaign for mayor accepted donations from the firefighter union before advocating for its contract...“This is a huge nothing burger that is meant to distract from the mayor’s failed leadership on fiscal responsibility at the city,” Hollins said."

​Mayor Whitmire everyday has opportunity to confront the massive threat to Houston from the Trump/Vance/Musk campaign and the right. It's the biggest issue before the city today. Mayor Whitmire has spent his 50 years in politics successfully navigating the systems that brought us to this point. He is much more likely to be an enabler of fascism than an active opponent. 

* The Houston Landing has a useful article on what all the different types of Harris County judgeships are about. I really did not know what the different benches are tasked with doing. The first two courts mentioned, the 1st and 14th Courts of Appeals, are a big deal in this election. They cover a ten county area and are at current controlled by Democrats.  Check here to see the Democrats on the ballot in these races.  

* Here are today's listings from the Harris County Democratic Party of 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 have met the challenge of showing up for us.    

* The Marshall Project did a survey of the presidential voting preferences of inmates. In a Houston Chronicle article about the survey it was reported that Texas inmates strongly prefer Trump. 

From the Chronicle: 

Of the 659 people who responded to the survey in Texas, around 53% said they preferred Trump, compared to 27% for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to the survey by the Marshall Project.  

Maybe criminals are not good people. ​

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.

Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 17th. Election Day is in 19 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 4 days on October 21st.

* The Houston Planning & Development Department is working on a revision of the Houston sidewalk ordinance. This is a matter for the Houston Democracy Project because Mayor Whitmire recently  gutted the ordinance with a memo rather than by a vote of Council.  

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 when constructing a new house. They didn't have the votes. 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.

The sidewalk ordinance is also 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.          

The Planning Department has scheduled eight public hearings between October 22 and November 2 on this issue. Four are in person and four virtual. The timing is awful in the last days before such a high stakes election. The Planning Department says the final Council vote will be on December 11.   

Here are more details.      

I'm going to try to attend one of the in person hearings and at least one of the virtual meetings. I'll keep up on it & use the Houston Democracy Project to keep the public informed. We should understand what is going on with such a basic public and social good as sidewalks.    

* The Houston Police Officers Union has filed a grievance with the city over how the city is making use of data from police officer body cameras.

From the Houston Chronicle:

"The policy allows body camera footage to be extracted, using a "record after the fact" technology, even if an officer doesn't turn it on. But since their implementation, at least two employees, including one assistant chief, have violated the policy and used the technology to retrieve private conversations, argued Ray Hunt, executive director for the union. Neither has yet faced discipline for the violations....Officials with the union initially supported the initiative because the understanding is it would be used in a few specific instances, Hunt said. Policy dictated supervisors could pull video related to criminal activity, an officer-involved shooting or a significant event....Troy Finner, who was police chief at the time it was implemented, said the policy is only meant to review police actions, and is not meant to record idle talk by officers or other private moments. State law prohibits body-worn cameras from recording on a 24/7 basis, he said."

I'm highlighting this because Houstonians should know that HPD does not have a body camera on when they interact with people & that the police union does not want you see what is going on.

This is a democracy issue because we are facing an authoritarian threat now just weeks away, HPD  may well be directed by federal and state forces to take part in mass deportations and police unions are fine with endorsing anti-democractic candidates and officials.         

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 15th. Election Day is in 21 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 6 days on October 21st.

I spoke today at the public comment session of Houston City Council. This session is every Tuesday at 2 PM. The agenda items of Council are addressed each Wednesday morning at 9 AM. I signed up to speak with the City Secretary. Here are details on the process to sign up and more information about Council meetings.  (Above is a picture of Council and the empty seats where some councilmembers should be.) 

I signed up today to make certain Councilmembers were aware of the threat of mass deportations, to say Council Republicans should be held to account and ask Council Democrats to act with urgency given the clear authoritarian threat we face.  I wanted to be certain Council heard these things so they could not say they had not.          

For reasons never explained, there were many absences at Council today. This is disrespectful to the public. It's an undertaking to get Downtown in the middle of the day, find parking, pay for parking & go through City Hall security. Mayor Whitmire was absent today. Councilmembers Abbie Kamin, Ed Pollard, Tiffany Thomas and Carolyn Evans-Shabazz were also absent with no reason provided. Councilmember Twila Carter left after about 90 minutes without explanation. Theoretically staff watches the public sessions. Who knows?                  

Here is what I said: 

Nothing is more important to Houston right now than the results of the upcoming election. The race hatred and anti-semitism, along with credible threats of mass deportations from the Trump/Vance/Musk ticket, strike right to heart of the identity of Houston as the most diverse city in America.        

I’ve heard Mayor Whitmire twice say he doesn't see how mass deportations would be legally or logistically possible. Yet we are told clear as day what federal laws would be cited, that federal, state and local, military and police resources would be employed, and that detention camps would be established.

Harris County Sheriff candidate Knox has said he’ll use his office to deport people. What about the six Republicans here? Mass deportations? Not accepting election results? Threats to federal law enforcement? Project 2025? Any view on that?

Authoritarianism will require a local infrastructure of supportive officials. Migrants won’t round up themselves. Maybe right here we have the local officials ready for the job.   

The local political press was fine with asking Shelia Jackson Lee last year if she supported defunding the police. The press could instead ask real questions of Council Republicans to find actual threats to Houston

This Council did the right thing-so far-ditching the Mayor’s proposed anti-first amendment protest ordinance. Four council members recently had the political courage to propose a needed tax increase to make the city budget whole from storm recovery costs. Maybe just as importantly, those councilmembers used a creative zoom town hall forum to talk to Houstonians about the proposal. You could hold a democracy town hall. 
     
Let’s build on on the insight, political courage and creativity we’ve seen from Council at its best. This leadership will have to come from individual council-members or members working together. It won’t come from the administration. 

Do your constituents know about the tearing apart of Houston families that would result from mass deportations? That Project 2025 would bust their union? That the Supreme Court recently upheld Texas law allowing women to die, rather than get essential reproductive care in an emergency? Mayor Whitmire  campaigned on that last issue. These are all local issues.    
       
You’ve got three weeks to do all you can inform Houston what is at stake. After that, the tasks and decisions get more difficult. 

What side of the police line do I stand on when Harris County votes are tossed out and election results overturned? What do I do when state and federal forces direct HPD to help in migrant round ups? What do I say when-as we’ve seen elsewhere in Texas-my supporters get their doors kicked in by Ken Paxton and DPS?     

I ask you to act with urgency to fight this extremism.  

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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​​Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 14th. Election Day is in 22 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 7 days on October 21st.

* Above is a Facebook post made yesterday by Houston KTRK Channel 13 meteorologist Travis Herzog &  below is a Tweet made yesterday by our elected Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.  

You see what Mr. Herzog is addressing. You can find his Facebook page to for the full deal and all the replies, but you get the idea.

There is a story in today's New York Times about threats to meteorologists since the right has been saying Democrats are conjuring up hurricanes to direct at Republican voters.

From the story--

A meteorologist based in Washington, D.C., was accused of helping the government cover up manipulating a hurricane. In Houston, a forecaster was repeatedly told to “do research” into the weather’s supposed nefarious origins. And a meteorologist for a television station in Lansing, Mich., said she had received death threats.....“Murdering meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes,” wrote the forecaster in Michigan, Katie Nickolaou, in a social media post. “I can’t believe I just had to type that.”..Meteorologists’ role of delivering lifesaving weather forecasts and explaining climate science sometimes makes them targets for harassment, and this kind of abuse has been happening for years, weather experts said. But amid the conspiracy theories and falsehoods that have spiraled online after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, they say the attacks and threats directed at them have reached new heights.

And below you see what Commissioner Buckingham is relating. She says the land is going to vomit people up and you are a demon if you oppose her views.

I take these claims about weather control and demons seriously because they are being used as the justification and structure for violence. When a statewide elected official in the 2nd largest state in the union calls me and people who share my views--millions of fellow Texans--demonic, I take it at face value. I don't view the people making the claims as stupid or ignorant. I see them as malicious and dangerous. They are part of violent movement that intends violent things.  

* The John Cornyn Houston Office Protest will be out for Week 401 at the corner of Memorial & Detering tomorrow Tuesday, October 15, 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.

Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 13th. Election Day is in 23 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 8 days on October 21st. 

I post often about frustrations with elected Democrats in Harris County not doing all they could to help in the 2024 campaign.     

Here are some reasons elected Democrats are often not connected to the concerns and hopes of party rank & file--

1. They want to raise a lot of money and hoard that money. Often this is about scaring off a primary challenge. Sometimes it feels like it is just about haording money.  
2. Raise campaign funds to pay for whatever it is permissive campaign finance laws allow. Some office holders do well off campaign money.    
3. Tamp down voter turnout and political enthusiasm to avoid an active political climate that generates primary challenges.
4. Cater to donors in ways that poorly serve voters.  
5. Do as little as possible and still be an elected official.  
6. Use the power they have to satisfy private whims, agendas or vendettas.
7. Not anger Republicans who in a legislative chamber might control committee assignments or the success of proposed bills. (There might be the value in this. But it's not clear how much longer Democrats will retain a meaningful voice in the organization of the Texas House).  
8. Look for a safe place to land in an entirely possible authoritarian future.  

Active Democrats & Democratic Clubs and Organizations do not need to be in sync or deferential to elected officials. They are elected employees here to make our lives better. Hold them to that standard. Not to standards that serve them rather than us at this dark time.    

Here are some Harris County Democratic state legislators who are showing up for the Harris County Democratic ticket.  
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* The Associated Press has a story today about Trump's intent to use the military at the border and against domestic protest and dissent. This is a matter that impacts Houston/Harris County. I don't think people on our side of the fight fully  grasp even at this point what is on the way if the Trump/Vance/Musk ticket prevails. Why would you want to?  

From the story:      

He has pledged to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the U.S. border with Mexico....He has explored using troops for domestic policy priorities such as deportations and confronting civil unrest. He has talked of weeding out military officers who are ideologically opposed to him...In an interview aired Sunday on Fox News Channel, Trump was asked about the potential of “outside agitators” disrupting Election Day and he then pivoted to what he called “the enemy from within.”...“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

* My friend and colleague Egberto Willies hosted two strong public education advocates on his Politics Done Right show. Sarah Terrell and Jessica Catrett have long been involved in HISD issues. They spoke to Egberto about why Houstonians should oppose the HISD  bond. In addition to policy issues connected to how F. Mike Miles is trashing HISD, it's a democracy issue with the State of Texas removal of the elected HISD Board. The segment runs 20 minutes and will help you talk to voters about the Bond. You can also go the Community Voices for Public Education website to learn more & to join efforts against the bond.     

The Houston Democracy Project is on Politics Done Right each Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

* The Houston League of Women's Voters Houston Voters Guide is online and in print.  I've got a print copy I picked up somewhere. There is an outdated feeling to the effort. The League envisions a bipartisanship that looks past the threat to democracy poised by Republicans. Many candidates-especially Republicans-did not reply. The Democrats who don't reply are disappointing. They can  take a bit of time to sustain the civic spirit represented by the League's Guide.

And it is true that if you spend some time with the Voter's Guide you will get some insights. The hard work of well-intended folks should not be blown off. I wish their view of politics was one I could adhere to.        
​
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 11th. Election Day is in 25 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 10 days on October 21st. 

* The Texas Tribune recently ran an article about which Texas State House races are seen as competitive by Democrats and Republicans. None of the seats discussed are in Harris County. While Harris County House Democrats would like to be in the majority, that does not appear in the cards for 2024. There are also the fights over private school vouchers and who will be elected Speaker for the next legislative session. The number of seats held by each party will have a big impact on how those battles turn out.

But at bottom line, taking part in the 2024 campaign is optional for the Harris County State Legislative  delegation. Nobody will be losing a seat. This is just as true for State Senators as it is for House members. Due to gerrymandering, every state legislator in Harris County is safe. (This does not mean that Democrats running uphill races against Republicans in safe seats are not important. Chuck Crews running against a terrible Republican incumbent is a strong example of this. He is knocking doors, rallying voters and working to hold the incumbent accountable. Chuck's campaign and others like it merit support.)        
               
There are some Harris County legislators who show up on the campaign trail and others who do not. On the showing up list in my view are Senator Molly Cook, State Reps. Christina Morales, Senfronia Thompson, Jon Rosenthal, Gene Wu, and also Lauren Ashley Simmons who won the Democratic Primary in a strongly Democratic seat. This is based on lists of doors knocked and contributions to the coordinated Victory Campaign posted by the Harris County Democratic Party, and on my own conversations and observations.

​Candidates in challenging state legislative races running aggressive campaigns include Brett Robinson, Chase West and Doug Peterson in addition to Chuck Crews.  (If I've left someone off these lists who merits  inclusion, please leave a comment or e-mail me at [email protected] I'd be happy for input that would sharpen my grasp of the matter. )         

I'm not--for the moment--offering a list of legislators not helping. I don't want to include people without being certain I have it right. But there are easy and visible ways for elected officials to make clear to active rank & file Democrats that they are properly meeting the realities of this nightmare we are living.   

It's the responsibility of elected officials to assist on campaigns beyond their own. Campaigns are extractive industries that take money and volunteer hours from the political and social ecosystem & most often leave little structure for the next election. Elected officials are people who have successfully navigated systems that have brought us to the brink of authoritarianism and mass deportations. They can help the full ticket & then they can show up as required after the election no matter no matter how far the the political right is prepared to go after November 5th.        

* The Presidential election has three possible outcomes--

1. Harris wins & we prevail over the court cases and violence/threats.

2. Harris wins & then we lose it to the court cases and violence/threats.

3. Trump wins on Election Day.

We need to be ready for all three outcomes and make certain our elected Democrats are fully present no matter what. Be prepared for whatever is on the way.   

* Regarding the death of Ethel Kennedy--In the summer of 1992, I flew with four others from Cincinnati to Boston to attend a fundraiser at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port for Congressman Joe Kennedy. Kennedy is the son of Ethel and Robert Kennedy.

The trip was organized by Cincinnati Councilmember Tyrone Yates who was my boss at the time. My contribution to Kennedy was $250. I don’t think he had an opponent.

I know the year was 1992 because the theme of the event was the 500th anniversary of Columbus arriving in the New World. Some of the Kennedy family people were wearing Ferdinand and Isabella 15th century type clothes. It was maximum colonizer stuff just a few miles from Plymouth Rock.

We were served hot dogs, beans, soda, beer--That kind of stuff. I remember we were taken into the compound, which was behind a wall, by a bus that picked us up in Downtown Hyannis Port. There was a loud speaker announcement that a car was blocking the driveway of Mrs. Onassis. We were asked to wave in the direction of Rose Kennedy who we were told was in her house. There were like five or six houses in the compound.

Ethel Kennedy came up to me during the event, looked at my name tag, extended her hand and greeted me by name like we were old friends. She thanked me for being there. I appreciated her offering me the respect back then and still do today.

It was just 30 years ago. But it sure seems like a distant world--for better and worse--from today.

​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 10th. Election Day is in 26 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 11 days on October 21st.

* I heard from active rank & file Democrats who would know, that the Colin Allred campaign is asking volunteer canvassers to try to persuade Republicans to vote for him. The volunteers are signing up for a canvassing shift expecting to talk to Democrats at the door, but are sometimes getting hostile Republicans instead. That is a good way to burn out or turnoff volunteers. Volunteers are looking to expand Democratic turnout. Not talk to Republicans. They speak to enough Republicans at family gatherings or at work.     

I went to a Houston Kick Off event for Allred in July. Two of the speakers were State Senator Carol Alvarado and County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. They told us to do all we could to help elect Rep. Allred to the U.S. Senate. Senator Alvarado has $1.2 million campaign cash on hand & I saw on Facebook that she had a fundraiser a few days ago. It looked well-attended. She might have even more money now. Commissioner Ellis has $6.2 million in the campaign bank.   

Senator Alvarado and Commissioner Ellis could meet tomorrow with the Allred campaign, and commission a paid canvassing program with canvassers briefed and trained on the Allred goal of winning some Republican votes. A well-trained crew would do better rustling up Republicans than would volunteers tossed into the mission. Surely the Allred team would be happy for the help.      

Recently the Houston Democracy Project proposed Senator Alvarado, Commissioner Ellis and Mayor John Whitmire get together over a cup of coffee to coordinate on using campaign funds to help the Democratic ticket in Harris County. Mayor Whitmire, who insists he is a Democrat, has $9.9 million on hand. I'm hoping they have met and a big GOTV plan is on the way from these cash on hand heavy hitters.

The stakes could not be higher. Republican plans for mass deportations and Trump's assertion that immigrants have a genetic predisposition to crime, strike right at the core identity of such a diverse city as Houston.   

Senator Alvarado, Commissioner Ellis (and Mayor Whitmire) have successfully navigated systems that have taken us to the brink of authoritarianism & that have messed up the weather. It's not a lot to ask them to use resources they've amassed over many years in failing systems, to help make sure we don't lose our freedom.

* The picture above is from this week's 4ooth Week of the John Cornyn Houston Office Protest. It is essential people see others like themselves willing to openly and confidently stand for democracy no matter the aggression of the right. We can't be pushed out of public space.  

Please join the protest each Tuesday, 11:30-1, 5300 Memorial Dr. Any amount of time you can join is just the right amount of time. There are extra signs for all.    

Alternative structures are very difficult to maintain. The Cornyn Team is proud to have made it to Week 400  with no connection to any campaign or any funding. We'll show up as needed in the weeks ahead whether it be on our normal Tuesday routine, or if Republicans are trying to overturn or not accept election results and we need to be on the streets.    

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 9th. Election Day is in 27 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 12 days on October 21st. (Above is the picture of the day. Today was another great sunny day in Houston. Stay your best course as we navigate this stressful election.)  

* Politico ran an article recently about the decision of the International Association of Firefighters to make no endorsement in the presidential race. The article says the firefighters were close to endorsing Harris but yielded to pressure from local chapters to not endorse.

From the article: 

"But the union president, Edward Kelly, was under intense pressure by key local chapters — including New York, Boston, Philadelphia and some officials in Los Angeles and Houston, along with a swath of rank-and-file members — to withhold endorsing Harris, with some threatening to pull out of the larger union if it did. Some chapters followed through on threats to leave the union after it endorsed John Kerry in 2004, and the IAFF declined to endorse in 2016. The pressure this year was even higher."

Just remember when mass deportations are taking place, women are dying from untreated pregnancy complications and authoritarianism prevails, that it is not of much concern to the Houston Professional Firefighters Association. Also seemingly fine with the union are the attacks on unions that are part of Project 2025.    

The firefighters got the money they wanted from Houston taxpayers. All good.  

* The Houston Chronicle endorsed Texas State Senator Paul Bettencourt for reelection. 

From the Chronicle:

"We disagree with some of his tactics and many of his positions, such as voting for appropriations for a border wall or co-sponsoring the controversial Senate Bill 4 that sought to create a new state crime that would allow police to arrest people they suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border. But even on other issues where we differ, including school vouchers and the administration of county elections, we often find him reasoned and thoughtful."
 
It is not that Senator Bettencourt is a Republican in and of itself that makes this endorsement wrong. It's that he is an aggressive advocate of policies that lead to mass deportations and overturning election results.  Endorsing Senator Bettencourt normalizes brutality and attacks on democracy.    

* Mayor Whitmire secured $50 million from the State of Texas to help pay for damage from our two storms this year.  Because of this money, the four councilmembers who had been pushing a tax increase withdrew their proposal. Councilmembers Alcorn, Martinez, Castillo and Plummer should be commended for putting themselves out there to do the right thing & also for creative use of of a virtual town hall format this past Sunday to help sell the idea.        

From the Houston Landing: 

​"At-Large Councilmember Sallie Alcorn, one of the council members proposing the increase, said they withdrew the measure because of the state announcement. However, the city still faces financial questions from upcoming police, fire and municipal workers union contracts, and Alcorn said the city still may have to consider tax increases in the future.....“I believe that when you find yourself in a hole, it’s best to stop digging,” Alcorn said. “I believe that this rate increase was the right thing to do, absent the information that came today.”
​
This money from the state is not a gift or favor. Houston/Harris County is an economic engine of Texas & the state often operates in an antagonistic way toward the city and county. They are not doing us any favors.

And again--striking the same theme as the two matters discussed above--State of Texas leadership supports the Trump/Vance/Musk ticket that is coming for our freedom. They can direct $50 million or $500 million or $5 billion to the City of Houston--The bottom line democracy issue will still be there.      

* I'll be on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show tomorrow, 10/10. 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.​​

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. 
​
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.

 






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Here are Houston Democracy Project Blog Notes & Observations for October 7th. Election Day is in 29 days on November 5th & Early Voting begins in 14 days on October 21st.

* Above you see a recent Tweet from Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. She was in Arizona for the Vice Presidential debate. That's fine. Arizona is an important state. At the same time, looking at the Harris County Democratic Party list of doors knocked and who has taken part in the Victory coordinated campaign, Judge Hildalgo is not on this list. I've seen many pictures of various local Democratic club blockwalks and I've not seen her included in the pictures. Maybe I've missed them.   

Active Harris County Democrats came out strong for Judge Hidalgo in 2022 as she faced an aggressive  Republican effort to unseat her. Judge Hidalgo has announced plans to run again in 2026 in what will be another tough race. It's important to understand what local efforts Judge Hidalgo is making with so much on the line in 2024. She certainly will be asking much of us in 2026. 

There are elected officials not on the ballot in 2024 who are on the trail in this cycle.  Three who are showing up are Judges Erika Ramirez and Hillary Unger as well as Justice of the Peace Steve Duble.

* The Harris County Clerk's Office will be having an Election Worker Job Fair on Wednesday, October 10 from 6 PM-8 PM. It is a big deal that Harris County have enough people to staff the polls for the upcoming election. County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth is working hard to make sure it goes well. If you can't attend the job fair, here is the link on becoming an election worker.

* The virtual Tax Rate Town Hall held yesterday by Houston Councilmembers Alcorn, Castillo, Martinez & Plummer was well done & a public policy win in and of itself. The tax rate change being proposed by the four councilmembers is to make up for revenue lost dealing with the two big storms this year.  

I tuned in and made a comment in yesterday's meeting. It's important we raise the tax money needed as we face the prospect of Project 2025 & the reality of a State of Texas government that opposes everything we do. 

​The public policy win was the use of the virtual town hall forum. The tax rate change is a proposal introduced to Council by use of Proposition A. Proposition A was approved overwhelmingly by Houston voters last year to allow any three councilmembers to introduce an agenda item to the council calendar.

​Using a virtual town hall to help explain and to take testimony on a Prop A matter, expanded the democratic reach of Prop A in a way consistent with what voters intended. This was a very different approach to a Prop A proposal than the recent use of the initiative to enable Mayor Whitmire to gut the sidewalk ordinance simply by writing a memo.      

Town Halls--virtual or in-person--could be used by elected officials at any point between now and Election Day to advise people of the importance of the upcoming election.   ​          

* The John Cornyn Houston Office Protest will mark Week 400 at the corner of Memorial & Detering tomorrow Tuesday, October 8, 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.  (And thanks to top local political blog Off The Kuff for posting on the Cornyn Protest yesterday.)    

​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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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.