Raising Campaign Cash: CCISD Elections 8 day out

April 27, 2024

The 8 day out campaign finance reports are out.

Jeff Larson. Raised $2858 with $2549 coming from two donors. $1549 was donated by CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen and $1000 came from Neal Meyer in Houston (outside of the district). Neal has a history of donating to republican candidates. His total for this race is $2858. So far there is no indication that the two organizations that have endorsed him or the Republican Party have donated any money or support.

Albert Wittliff. Raised $1380 with a total of $3100 for this race. He received $723 in in-kind donations for printing and $662 in donations (including my $50). He also spent $1144 using a credit card.

Watch for last minute texting expenditures and mailers coming from a 3rd party in support of Larson. These expenditures won’t be reported until after the election. Early voting is on going with the Election Day next Saturday May 4.


Harris County DA Kim Ogg’s parting shot at Judge Hidalgo

April 26, 2024

Hopefully this puts an end to the bickering between the two.

Yet it will most certainly get worse. Yesterday Ogg posted a press release claiming to have major developments in the on going investigation into a COVID contract. Instead she later just said she was handing the investigation to the pillar of law and order, Ken Paxton. That was her explosive new development. What a load of crap.

Don’t get me wrong. The $11 Million COVID contract award to a questionable company should have been investigated. It didn’t pass the smell test and the fact that 3 individuals were indicted is disturbing. I’ve served on 3 grand juries. To get 9 out of 12 jurors to agree a possible crime was committed in 3 separate cases is tough, but then again I’ve seen Assistant DA’s present very biased presentations before. It has been my experience that jurors see through these biased presentations and would ask detailed, follow up questions.

But personally, I’ve had enough of Ogg’s theatrical bickering. Unfortunately that is what she will be remembered for. I expect an elected official to do their job and leave the theatrics at home. Ogg’s use of the media didn’t help. If she had just come out and said “We’ve had a complaint, we will look into it.” and leave it at that I wouldn’t have had such a problem with it. Let the experts investigate and let the process work.

For Ogg to hand this off to Ken Paxton at this time also doesn’t pass the smell test. It stinks. A lot. It’s almost as if she is enjoying this last opportunity to wave her middle finger to Judge Hidalgo.

I’ll be glad when she is out of office.


State now requires School Districts to post campaign finance reports

April 25, 2024

So how did CCISD do? Great!

The Texas Tribune had a great article about a new law requiring all school districts to post campaign finance reports. CCISD has posted the reports for years on their website. You can find them here. According to the Tribune “The Texas Tribune and ProPublica analyzed 35 Texas school districts that held trustee elections last fall and found none that posted all of the required campaign finance records.” That is 35 districts out of over 1000.

I have to highlight one of the responses from a school district. The State has put so much legislation pressure on school districts throughout the state including putting guns into school, posting religious statements, allowing Chaplins to replace professional counselors, and more. It’s amazing any district can keep up.

A spokesperson for Lago Vista Independent School District, outside Austin, said simply, “Unfortunately, with the multitude of legislative mandates following the 88th session, this one got by us.”

Even with posting these reports there are ways to hide campaign donations and support for candidates. Political Actions Committees (PACs) can spend unlimited money in support of a candidate and the expenditure can be very difficult to find. As an example a PAC spent $150,000 on three candidates in Keller ISD. $50,000 each in a race that typically should cost $2-$5 at most! BTW, all three won, one has resigned, and another is probably going to be sued.

I am surprised the State has required school districts to post this information but they should also require PACs to post to the Texas Ethics Commission in a way that a search can be easily performed. At this point it is very difficult to find a PACs participation.


Tough questions (with answers) for CCISD candidates

April 17, 2024

Thanks to Albert Wittliff for answering these questions. I have not heard back from Trustee Jeff Larson but will update if I do.

Vouchers
How will the passing of a voucher bill affect CCISD? Do you support vouchers? Why/why not?
A: I oppose vouchers because they take already limited taxpayer funds out of the public school system and provide it to private organizations.  Those private schools can pick and choose their students and are not held to the standards of public schools.  As funds are reduced in public schools the only choice to address the shortfalls will be additional taxes or bonds.  So it will cost more to provide less.  Vouchers don’t work.  

Chaplans
Do you support allowing religious leaders to replace counselors in CCISD school? 
A: Religious choice is important for families and should be kept at home or in houses of worship.  School counselors need to be professionals focused on the skills needed to support students. 

Guns in school
Do you support arming CCISD employees? 
A: No.  As a career law enforcement professional I know that more guns create a more dangerous situation.  Accidents happen and when they involve guns it can be devastating.  Additionally it could provide access to a gun that wasn’t there before.  I don’t think the additional burden should be put on teachers and staff.  Having professional law enforcement officers in for form of SRO or SLO is the right way to address this need.  

Fundraising
School districts candidates across the state are being funded by out of district PACs including CCISD. Would you accept out of district PAC, partisan political donations, or help from out of district organizations?
A:  Out of district PAC money has no place in the non-partisan school board.    

Partisan politics
Partisan politics fueled by out of district PAC money has caused divisions within the community. Do you believe partisan politics has a place in CCISD?
A: The board should be moderate and cooperative, not partisan. 

Book bans. 
What are your thoughts about our public school libraries and the push to ban books?
A: Libraries are a cornerstone of any learning environment and should be staffed with professional librarians.  These librarians can make sure to curate the collections so that appropriate books are available at an appropriate age.  This should be done in collaboration with teachers and parents.  Further, there is a committee in place to address specific titles for review.  As a general rule, book banners (or burners) are on the wrong side of history.  

LGBTQ Issues
Our gay community has been under attack by anti-gay organizations some right here in the CCISD area. What are your thoughts about our gay community within CCISD including our teachers, parents, and students? 
A: I believe everyone has the right to live and love as they choose and everyone should be safe and respectful. 


Raising Campaign Cash: CCISD May 4th Election

April 15, 2024

The first campaign finance reports are in for the CCISD elections between Albert Wittliff and Jeff Larson. Jeff Larson raised $0 which makes me wonder what organization will be campaigning for him and whether they will be reporting the donations. Larson hasn’t filed a Code of Fair Campaign Practices.

Wittliff raised $1640 and spent $928. Both reports can be found at the Elections Website.


Extreme Special Interest PAC enters CCISD School Board election.

April 15, 2024

Yeow! Just when we need less partisan influence in our school boards, CCISD Trustee Jeff Larson has been endorsed by an extreme national organization.

FFS Jeff! The 1776 Project PAC is a national organization whose mission is to “Change education one school board at a time”. CCISD is one out of 8 school boards under attack in Texas. Look at their website. This is an extreme far right organization supported by Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro. CCISD Trustee Jeff Larson is on their list of endorsements. I have asked Jeff if he applied for this endorsement. As in the past, I probably will not receive a response.

FOR THE RECORD: I have donated to Jeff’s opponent and for good reason. Over the last few years special interest groups such as Defend Texas Liberty, an extreme far right PAC funded solely by two Texas billionaires with ties to white supremacists, have spent millions to influence elections. Across Texas school boards have been taken over by extreme right-wing candidates some spending $50,000 to win a school board seat. They are constantly in the news such as Keller ISD Trustees inviting a Dutch Evangelist film crew to film kids without parent or school board permission. In Katy a Trustee sent out a Happy Easter photo from her KISD Instagram account posing with her husband, both carrying AR15s. 1776 Project have endorsed candidates in both school districts.

CCISD has had its share of partisan participation starting with the election of Trustee Scott Bowen. I’ve written about Bowen many times. He has been nothing but Corporal Chaos on the board and has recruited candidates to run to take over the board. Luckily, he failed, but he tried. Each time voters turned down his candidates. Christine Parizo lost by 25 percentage points. Misty Dawson lost by 42 points and sued the winning candidate attempting to get a new election called. She eventually dropped her suit. She was, by far, one of the worse candidates to ever run for school board. Peter Lauzon, recruited by Bowen, funded exclusively by Defend Texas Project was defeated in the last election.

Larson, unfortunately was right behind Scott seconding a motion to elect him as president, vice president, and secretary of the board. All three motions failed. During the recent forum Larson defended his partisan participation claiming everyone has a political preference (video of his comment here starting at 45:54) but that is NOT the issue. Everyone on the board probably has a political persuasion but most do not bring that into the school board or into the district. As Larson’s opponent has said “partisan politics has no business in our school boards”. Period. End of story. 

This endorsement is concerning coupled with the fact that Larson has reported $0 in donations. Who is funding Larson behind the scenes? Who is going to actually report their donations? The outside influence in CCISD has to stop. CCISD voters understand the importance of keeping partisan politics out of our school district but will have a very hard time defending the parents, teachers, and kids when outside PACs are spending $50,000 on a school board election.

Let’s thank Trustee Jeff Larson for his service to the community. Then vote him out.


League City: MAGAt Republicans vs Conservatives

April 9, 2024

The Purge continues.

League City Council must have time on their hands after beating up on librarians, restricting access to libraries, and failing to replace the League City flag, a flag that most don’t even know it exists. So now they want citizens of League City to choose between real conservatives and MAGAt republicans in city races.

The Charter Review Advisory Committee meeting was postponed until later to discuss and decide on making League City elections partisan, that is, making candidates file as a Democrat, Republican, or Independent. As one individual said “Which ones of you came up with is dumb idea?  Don’t we have enough division in this country?” I’ve got to agree. What idiot came up with this idea? It’s probably Long and Hicks. Both have their lips so attached to trump’s ass they will need the jaws of life to speak on the idea.

In republican primaries the choice between MAGAt republicans like Long and Hicks and Conservatives, like those who actually believe in conservative values like duty, honor, country. MAGAt republicans don’t have a problem with lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, fiscal mismanagement, or massive hypocrisy. Conservatives are the minority in the republican party and making city elections partisan would eliminate them from City Council. League City is a “red” area. Trump won this area easily and is expected to do so again no matter how many times he breaks the law, or how many lies he tells, or how many porn stars he fucks. MAGAt republicans would take over City Council if they elections are partisan.

CCISD has had its experience with MAGAt republicans bringing in their partisan bullshit. Hicks even opened his piehole in support of a frivolous lawsuit challenging the election in 2021. (He lost) In the end the MAGAt republicans led by Hick’s buddy, Trustee Scott Bowen, failed but it caused divisions in the community and on the board when they needed to focus on issues affecting us all like school safety, school funding, and parents, teachers, and students. Candidates Parizo, Dawson, Lauzon all failed in their attempts to put more MAGAt republicans on the board.

City Council should go back to picking on librarians.


Update: Katy ISD Trustee Morgan Calhoun and her AR-15

April 3, 2024
Katy ISD Trustee Morgan Calhoun

Nothing like celebrating Easter by posting a pic of your family on your Katy ISD Instagram account coddling the same type of weapon that killed 19 children in Uvalde, 27 christians in Sutherland Springs, 8 kids in Santa Fe, 5 police in Dallas, and 21 first graders in Sandy Hooks. PRAISE JESUS!

It make me want to yell WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? Seriously. What kind of a sick person does something like this? It’s bad enough KISD Trustee Morgan Calhoun has so little respect for a firearm. It’s bad enough she posted it on your KISD “Official Public” Instagram account. It’s bad enough that she used the holy day of Easter to do it. What the living hell is wrong with you?

Morgan has since removed the post, modified the pic and posted it to her personal Facebook page, which is still not appropriate, but at least it has nothing to do with KISD. Emails to the entire board asking if this is an appropriate post have been ignored. Emails to Morgan have been ignored. The only thing worse about posting such filth is being silent about it. The entire Board has been silent. At this point they are not only tolerating what she did, they are supporting what she did. KISD is also deleting comments on their Facebook page concerning School Safety Week and the posting of the AR15 pic.

Katy ISD made a quick response claiming her instagram account is her personal account but it clearly says “Official Public” and it is nothing but KISD information. If this is truly her personal account she needs to so state and keep KISD business off her page.

If a teacher had posted this they would have been fired. If a student had done this they would have been arrested for terrorist threats. If you would like to contact Trustee Calhoun and voice your opinion: morgancalhoun@katyisd.org. If you would like to address the Board the next meeting is April 22. You can sign up here: https://www.katyisd.org/Page/8011 And you can email the entire board at: victorperez@katyisd.org, amythieme@katyisd.org, dawnchampagne@katyisd.org, lanceredmon@kayisd.org, rebeccafox@katyisd.org, morgancalhoun@katyisd.org

Happy Easter.


Happy Easter from Katy ISD!

April 2, 2024

This is what happens when you allow billionaires to meddle in public education. This is a post by a so called “christian”, a Mexican MAGAt, Morgan Calhoun, who was elected to the Katy ISD in 2023 with help from the oligarchs of Texas including local State Senator Money Mayes Middleton. According to the Katy Times a PAC called Texans for Educational Freedom financed the election of three members of the board. They all won. Morgan was one of those. The PAC raised $1.7 Million, with $1.5 Million coming from donors giving $10,000 or more. Middleton gave $50,000.

Morgan and I am assuming her husband are pretty proud of their pose with their guns, the type of guns used to slaughter 19 children in Uvalde. You would think they would be more sensitive to the situation. You would think they would be more “christian” especially on Easter Sunday. The pic has since been removed from her Katy ISD Instagram account.

Here are the major donors to the PAC:

Contributor NameAmount
Bennett ,Montgomery J.200,000.00
Cranberg ,Alexis M.200,000.00
Saunders ,Frederick M.200,000.00
Coalition por/for Texas PAC150,000.00
Saunders ,Stuart52,500.00
Weekley ,Richard W.52,500.00
Leininger ,James50,000.00
Middleton ,D. Mayes50,000.00
Weekley ,Richard W.50,000.00
Zook ,Christopher50,000.00
Saunders ,Fredric M.45,000.00
Weekley ,Richard W.45,000.00
Charter Schools Now PAC43,185.81
Bennett ,Montgomery J.35,000.00
Toth ,Steven35,000.00
Charter Schools Now PAC30,000.00
JH Lamb Properties LP27,500.00
Hock ,Stacy A.25,000.00
Valach ,Kenneth J.25,000.00
Zook ,Christopher25,000.00
American Policy Coalition, Inc.20,000.00
LJ Francis for Texas15,000.00
Robert & Marion Mayfield, LP15,000.00
Brown ,Richard10,000.00
Brown ,Richard10,000.00
Cyfair 4 Liberty PAC10,000.00
Greenberg ,Joseph G.10,000.00
Gregg ,Mark Endacott10,000.00
Leininger ,James10,000.00
Leininger ,James10,000.00
McBride ,Ralph D.10,000.00
Misty for CISD10,000.00
Texans Unite for The Future10,000.00
Zook ,Christopher10,000.00

I’m done. I’m switching parties.

April 1, 2024

It’s just to damn hard being a Democrat.

I’m done with the Democratic Party. I joined the party back in the early 90’s after learning the hard way that the Republican Party didn’t care about average Texans. At the time I had a serious defect in my new home and looked to the party for help. LOL. That turned me into a consumer advocate fighting for others who were in the same situation.

But I’m tired of fighting for everyone who won’t fight for themselves. I’m tired of fighting for our teachers when they won’t even bother to vote and when they do they vote against their own interests. I’m tired of fighting for the immigrants legally seeking asylum while many in the Hispanic community have become Mexican MAGAts. I’m tired of fighting for homeowners who have seen their home insurance and electricity bills skyrocket and yet they vote for the very people who are responsible for it.

I’m tired of supporting families who have been devastated by gun violence then watching as they vote for Greg Abbott, the very person who has flooded our streets with guns.

It’s time to switch parties. I want to sit back, live my life, carefree, without having to worry about immigrants, teachers, survivors of gun violence, the gay community, our police, consumers, the rule of law, democracy, and the Constitution. I want to sit back and just vote for trump like a brain dead fucking moron. It’s just so easy to do. I don’t need to “do my own research”. I just need to mind my own fucking business, go with the flow, and be the best fuckin moron I can be. Fuck everyone else. I’m done with you.

Welcome to April fools.