Twila Carter Thanks Pro-ICE Council Speakers For Not Cursing/Evans-Shabazz Suggests Different Course

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​There was more discussion of ICE & HPD at the Wednesday, 2/18, public comment session of Houston City Council. 

Five people came to Council to say they want HPD to work with ICE. All five were unpleasant. The full conversation runs for the hour 29 minute point to 2 hour 33 minutes of the HTV simulcast of the meeting. I would not watch it though. I watched it so you did not have to. You should send me a contribution for having endured it. See the link above to do so. 

The first speaker was a Michelle Bouchard who is a candidate for Harris County Republican Chair. You see her below. She praised how calm and orderly the deportations in Houston are going. She said she was glad we are not having trouble like in Minnesota. That's the same thing Mayor Whitmire says. It's offensive. It places blame on people rather than pushing back against the federal occupiers. You really have to be a lousy person to go with all that. The absence of solidarity with people doing the right thing is bad. 

Responding to the comments, Republican Councilmember Twila Carter praised the ICE-supporters for speaking in a respectful manner without cursing. She was referencing recent public comment sessions where Houstonians spoke emphatically in opposition to city cooperation with ICE. You see Ms. Carter in her comments below. 

Imagine supporting a 34 time felon named thousands of times in the Epstein files for President and having no concerns for Houstonians rounded up by ICE and being sent to terrible detention/concentration camps, and then talking to people about "respect" and cursing. Where do you get a value system like that?

Democratic Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz has been vocal about ICE in recent weeks. You see her above. She made some additional separate comments at the end of the meeting at the 3 hour point. She discussed historical wrongs of slavery and how ICE is treating people today. She said white women working together could be of use in addressing the cruelty of ICE.

You see Ms. Carter is sitting right next to Ms. Evans-Shabazz. She is looking directly at Coucilmember Evans-Shabazz. So you know she heard the comments. I'm hoping Councilmember Carter has over the past week reflected on her course and will step away from wickedness. 

It's important to know that Twila Carter is on the ballot for re-election as an At-Large Councilmember in 2027 and she should be defeated. Tell people you know this fact. 

I don't have much positive to say today about Houston City Council other we have to keep on them. What I believe at core is that the fight ahead is ours. The next action or event is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. Mayor Whitmire and Council are tools to remind us we must organize ourselves.  We will press them and press them because they are our elected employees and we will hold them to account. I don't know what the outcome of that work will be. I do know that we can control our own course & that if we don't stand up for ourselves we will be cooked.  

Here is information about interacting with Houston City Council--

Public comment time at Houston City Council is each Tuesday at 2 PM with the exception once each month when it is at 5:00 PM. Here is how you can speak at Council and here is how to contact your councilmember.  The earlier before the session you sign up, the higher up on the speaker's list you'll be. You must register to speak by 3 PM the day before. 

The agenda session to conduct Council business is each Wednesday at 9 AM. The agenda is posted in advance. Council can be watched live on HTV Houston Television and past sessions are available at any time on the HTV feed on Facebook. Here is the link to past sessions of Council. Here are maps of Council districts so you can see who represents you. 

Here is contact information for Mayor Whitmire & Council--

Mayor Whitmire—832-393-1000 [email protected] 

Democrats: 
At-Large-Alejandra Salinas 832-393-3012  [email protected]
At-Large-Sallie Alcorn 832-393-3017  [email protected]
District B-Tarsha Jackson 832-393-3009  [email protected]
District C-Abbie Kamin 832-393-3004  [email protected]
District D-Carolyn Evans-Shabazz 832-393-3001 [email protected]
District F-Tiffany Thomas 832-393-3002  [email protected]
District H-Mario Castillo 832-393-3002  [email protected]
District I-Joaquin Martinez 832-393-3011 [email protected]
District J-Edward Pollard 832-393-3015  [email protected]
District K-Martha Castex-Tatum 832-393-3016  [email protected]

Republicans: 
At-Large-Julian Ramirez 832-393-3014 [email protected]
At-Large-Willie Davis 832-393-3013 [email protected] 
At-Large-Twila Carter 832-393-3005 [email protected]
District A-Amy Peck 832-393-3010 [email protected]
District E-Fred Flickinger 832-393-3008 [email protected] 
District G-Mary Nan Huffman 832-393-3007 [email protected] ​​

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