Houston City Races. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

November 8, 2023
(This isn’t Willie Davis)

“When You Have To Shoot, Shoot. Don’t Talk.” Tuco

The Ugly. Who in the f*ck is Willie Davis? Davis is a right wing Pastor who tends to run for something, anything, and loses. He received 33% of the vote for At Large 2 and will head into a runoff with Nick Hellyar. Davis is endorsed by Aubrey Taylor the right wing blogger who was indicted for assaulting Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s campaign staff. Hellyar was endorsed by the Houston Chronicle. Hellyar knows what he is going. Davis does not. Go fuckin figure.

Leticia Plummer will go to a runoff with Roy Morales, another “run for anything” candidate who has lost many times over. That wasn’t expected.

Tony Buzbee goes to a runoff with the incumbent. For fuck sakes voters in District G. WTF? Are you that stupid to want Buzbee in office?

The race for Controller will go to a runoff. The lefties of the party want a progressive, young, candidate even if he is the least qualified for the job. The republicans want a MAGAt even though there is a great republican candidate on the ballot with excellent experience for the job. Hollins and Sanchez will go to a runoff in December.

The Bad. Clear Lake and Kingwood selected a MAGAt republican to represent them on Council. Fred Flickinger is a MAGAt republican. A full blown MAGAt. Let’s give him a chance like we gave Trump a chance in 2016. LOL. Look to the voters in Clear Lake and Kingwood to vote for Trump in 2024 even if he is in jail.

Conchita Reyes did not make the runoff. She was by far the best candidate for At Large 1. Miles, the Democrat/Republican will face Julian Ramirez in the runoff.

The Good. Lots of good in this election. Whitmire and Lee, as expected, will enter a runoff for Mayor. Both are capable of doing the job. One will win in December. As I have said in the past:

Unfortunately, like it or not, deserving or not, the Congresswoman is a lightning rod for the right much like Ted Cruz is for the left. But unlike Ted Cruz I doubt she would get boo-ed at a parade. 

She might not get boo-ed that won’t help her win in December. Whitmire has a positive message and broad support in a non partisan race. Lee has the lefties who will stick with her but that probably won’t overcome the lightning rod affect.

Richard Cantu will be in a runoff with Twila Carter. He is the best for that position. Sallie Alcorn stomped her opponents.

All CCISD propositions won. Thanks to the voters in the district!


MAGAt Republicans running for City Council

November 6, 2023

It’s pretty clear who the MAGAts are running for Houston City Council. There aren’t many. There are some true conservatives running such as City Councilman Dave Martin, Twila Carter, Martina Lemond Dixon and others. And then there are the MAGAt republicans. Two of them.

Tony Buzbee. What can you say about a guy who spent $13 Million in a losing effort for Mayor? Now he is spending $500,000 to run for a city council race. He is endorsed by former City Council Member Greg Travis who many called for him to resign because of racist comments he made. In his race for Mayor he attempted to court both sides of the aisle and failing miserably. He was boo-ed out of a Democratic Party meeting. He even lost an endorsement from Steven Hotze. And he had a fundraiser for Donald Trump. That is a MAGAt Republican. The Houston Chronicle has endorsed his opponent.

Fred Flickinger. Running for Houston City Council District E covering Kingwood and Clear Lake. Like Buzbee Flickinger is financing his campaign with over $100,000 of his own money. He is endorsed by the MAGAts of the party including CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen and State Representative Little Baby Briscoe Cain. The Houston Chronicle has endorsed his opponent.

There are two real conservatives running against the MAGAts. Vote for the conservatives.


When right wing bloggers attack. Literally

November 4, 2023
Democrats, steer clear of Taylor!

What is with all the violence in the Republican Party?

A right wing blogger, Aubrey Taylor, who publishes an online publication called Houston Business Connections, (It’s a blog) was indicted yesterday for assaulting the chair of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee campaign. He has ties to Steven Hotze an extreme far right influencer of the Harris County Republican Party who also has been charged with a felony, although much more serious. From The Texas Tribune:

Conservative activist Steven Hotze on Wednesday was indicted on two felony charges related to his alleged involvement in an air conditioning repairman being held at gunpoint in 2020 during a bizarre search for fraudulent mail ballots that did not exist, according to his attorney, Gary Polland.

A former Houston Policeman held an AC repairman at gun point because he thought the truck had thousands of illegal mail in ballots. He was also indicted. The AC repairman has filed a civil suit. This is some strange shit involving the US Marshalls, Texas Lt Governor Dan Patricks brother, and a recorded phone call. Do yourself a favor and read The Washington Post article.

Back to Aubrey Taylor. Taylor is accused of harassing and assaulting a 66 year old volunteer with the Lee campaign at the campaign office. Taylor is a relatively young buck. He has been charged with a felony assault of an elderly person. Taylor has retained Jared Woodfill as his attorney for a civil suit claiming he knocked the shit out of the old man in self defense. Jared is also representing Hotze. Jared was once the Chair of the Harris County Republican Party. Jared himself has had a run in with the law resulting in a raid by the FBI.

How fucked up is this? I mean seriously. As a blogger I’ve been known to be a bit extreme. I might have cussed the living shit out of State Representative Dennis Paul in the greenbelt behind my house after the Uvalde shooting but I would never resort to knocking the shit out of him. I mean, come on! Who does that?

This ought to be interesting. In the meantime Democrats should steer clear of this dude.


Who is hosting Trump’s fundraiser in Houston?

November 1, 2023

Trendsetter Engineering 10430 Rodgers Rd, Houston, TX 77070.

Mario Lugo is the CEO of Trendsetter Engineering in Houston. Trendsetter is an offshore engineering company with about 80 employees. He will be hosting the twice impeached, 4 time indicted, presidential candidate for a fundraiser on Thursday. You have to wonder if all the employees will be required to listen to Trump whining for 2 hours about losing the election. Maybe they will have a day off.

Who else can we expect to be at the fundraiser? Tony Buzbee, Fred Flickinger, MAGAt Mattress Mac? I wonder if any elected officials will show. Tickets can be found on line on trump’s campaign site. You can find that link your fuckin self.

It says a lot about someone hosting such a rotten human being.


Defend Texas Liberty recruiting more donors

November 1, 2023

The president of Defend Texas Liberty met with Nick Fuentes a known white supremacist. Go ahead. Google Nick Fuentes.

Fuentes often praises Adolf Hitler and has publicly fantasized about marrying a 16-year-old. Last week, he visited the office of a Texas operative who runs a deep-pocketed political group.

That deep-pocketed political group was Defend Texas Liberty the same guys who meddled in our CCISD elections. Over the last year Defend Texas Liberty has raised over $4.6 Million. $2.8 Million came from Texas billionaire Timothy Dunn and/or Hexagon Partners (Dunn is the registered agent) $1.5 Million came from another billionaire Timothy Dunn. New comers to the PAC include Alex Fairly the registered agent for DealOn LLC out of Amarillo. He donated over $222,000. New comer Carol Adams of Princeton Texas donated $50,000. Wind Grimes and her husband has donated over $500,000 since 2022. In 2023 she donated $25,000.

Here are the top donors that made up 99.4% of the total donations.

Dunn ,Timothy1,500,000.00
Wilks ,Farris & Jo Ann1,500,000.00
Dunn ,Timothy316,000.00
Hexagon Partners250,000.00
Dunn ,Timothy200,000.00
Hexagon Partners200,000.00
Dunn ,Timothy175,000.00
Fairly ,Alex145,850.00
Dunn ,Timothy140,000.00
Adams ,Carol50,000.00
Grimes ,Windi25,000.00
Dealon LLC20,000.00
DEALON LLC19,500.00
Dealon LLC15,000.00
Fairly ,Alex12,000.00
Morrison ,Peter10,000.00
DEALON LLC10,000.00

Raising Campaign Cash: Buzbee vs Huffman

October 31, 2023

Buzbee is doing it again.

According to his latest campaign finance report Buzbee has raised just over $550,000, with $550,000 coming from his own pocket. When he unsuccessfully ran for Mayor in 2019 he spent $13 Million of his own money. He got his ass kicked.

In her latest report City Council Member Mary Nan Huffman raised $77,895, a pretty good amount for an 8 day out report and for a district race.

District G is a high rent district which includes River Oaks. Hopefully the voters are wealthy, not stupid.


Raising Campaign Cash 8 days out Houston City Council Races

October 30, 2023

Notes: Gilbert Garcia, running for Mayor, is self financing his campaign as is Fred Flickinger running for City Council District E. Lee Kaplan’s majority of his donations are from a personal loan. Other notables that are funding their campaigns with their own money include Melanie Miles, Julian Ramirez, Obioha “Obes” Nwabara, Ericka McCrutcheon, Roy Morales, Shannan Nobles, and Orlando Sanchez.

CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Gilbert Garcia*$348,640$1,930,037$458$72,588$0
Sheila Jackson Lee$333,226$1,128,102$0$208,285$0
Lee Kaplan$57,551$948,870$0$124,034$400,000
John Whitmire$520,040$3,328,772$39,653$4,266,473$0
Robert Gallegos$1,000$14,544$0$131,833$0
At Large 1
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Melanie Miles$9,490$87,756$0$66,377$50,000
Conchita Shelly Reyes$13,254$20,147$0$8,509$0
Leah Wolfthal$17,626$22,564$81$9,221$0
Julian Ramirez$13,091$27,888$2,091$8,383$20,000
At Large 2
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Nick Hellyar$9,736$107,544$0$40,886$0
Danielle Bess$9,675$25,387$0$50,283$0
Holly Flynn Vilaseca$23,138$62,689$0$0
Marina Coryat$10,019$13,656$0$5,863$0
Willie Davis$4,850$5,620$0$1,986$0
Obioha “Obes” Nwabara$5,825$10,494$5,000$11,636$20,000
At Large 3
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Twila Carter$3,515$147,659$56,402$4,000
Richard Cantu$5,794$12,961$0$30,081$0
Casey Curry$3,938$2,704$0$1,957$0
James Joseph*$99,700$62,206$58,200$37,493$0
Donnell Cooper$4,899$15,238$0$7,954$0
Ericka McCrutcheon$3,000$17,647$0$7,352$25,000
At Large 4
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Letitia Plummer$31,087$63,822$0$49,798$0
John Branch$1,400$232$0$1,167$0
Roy Morales$6,400$37,820$0$5,839$21,979
At Large 5
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Sallie Alcorn$62,571$292,472$1,728$191,153$0
District E
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Martina Lemond Dixon$14,350$53,704$0$0
Fred Flickinger$5,490$38,137$0$26,141$103,000
Controller
CandidateRaisedExpendituresIn-KindCOHLoans
Chris Hollins$180,704$249,936$0$135,571$0
Shannan Nobles$15,375$29,852$0$37,016$112,000
Dave Martin$16,650$215,871$0$64,785$0
Orlando Sanchez$82,690$42,717$0$89,968$198,128

The Battle of Bay Oaks and Exploration Green

October 29, 2023

This is sort of interesting.

Bay Oaks is the elite community association in the Clear Lake area. It has it’s own golf course and country club. Homes can range in the millions of dollars. It’s a nice place to live. I know a number of really nice folks who live there. But Bay Oaks has a brewing flood control controversy much like the Clear Lake area had with the development of Exploration Green. Let’s explore the background in this post. More on the Bay Oaks situation will follow.

Background
In a nutshell. Many years ago the Clear Lake Golf Course, created in the 60’s, was sold to a new owner. Over the next year or so the Course was run down, the club house burnt down, and the owner then wanted to sell it to developers. This would have been prime property for apartments and/or condos. Many in the community petitioned the Clear Lake Water Authority to purchase the land and convert it to water detention facility to address the flooding problems in the area. Eventually they did after a lawsuit that went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. The owner wanted to sell the property to the CLCWA for $25 Million, the value as if sold to a developer. CLCWA successfully argued that the property is under deed restrictions and must remain undeveloped property therefore valued at $5 Million. The Supreme Court agreed and the property was sold to CLCWA.

CLCWA began developing the property for flood control. It required digging huge lakes, cutting down trees, and running trucks through the neighborhood to remove the dirt. That’s what happens when you create lakes. The voters in the CLCWA area approved bonds to take advantage of low interest rates and speed up the development. Within 5 years the entire property, all 5 phases, have been completed.

Exploration Green Conservancy
The CLCWA was only responsible for the flood mitigation aspect of the project. The Conservancy was responsible for raising money, replanting hundreds of trees, creating a 6 mile hike/bike trail around the entire facility, and maintaining the property. In the end it is a great facility providing much needed flood control and a beautiful place for the community. It has received a number of awards. It’s been an incredible success story for the area.

The Opposition
The organization Friends of the Old Golf Course resisted the project. They made many unsubstantiated claims including human waste water flowing through the property from the sewer treatment plant, hundreds of trees being removed, and infestation by mosquitos and other critters. Although some trees, some big ones, were cut down, many were not native trees. The big trees were a loss and unavoidable. It happens as a price of progress but they were replaced with hundreds of new trees by volunteers in the community. The property is now a place for wildlife, joggers, bikers, and others. The many issues brought forward by the opposition were stuck down by the judge and never materialized.

So back to Bay Oaks.
That’s for later. Stay tuned. Until then here is a story by KHOU on Exploration Green.


Martina Lemond Dixon for Houston City Council

October 28, 2023

Great endorsement!!!


MAGA Republicans Endorse in Clear Lake City Council Race

October 27, 2023
Fred Flickinger and CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen

The choice is pretty clear.

Fred Flickinger is running for Houston City Council District E (Clear Lake and Kingwood) against Martina Lemond Dixon. Both are Republicans. One is a MAGAt.

Flickinger has been endorsed by the extremists of the party including CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen who has ties to Defend Texas Liberty, State Representative “Little Baby” Briscoe Cain, an election denier, State Representative Dennis Paul, the coward of the Party, and True Texas Project the organization identified as “anti-government” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Bowen has spent his time on the CCISD board being a disruption. He has embraced chaos. His connections to Defend Texas Liberty and white supremacists is extremely troubling. He is endorsing Flickinger and has endorsed Tony Buzbee in the past. Dennis Paul is considered “Furniture” in the Texas Legislature. He just sits there and does nothing while young members of the Executive Committee are shot to death. His greatest contribution are thoughts and prayers. Little Baby Briscoe Cain is an election denier who traveled to Pennsylvania to help Trump overturn the election.

Flickinger is a MAGA Republican and is self financing his campaign just like Buzbee. Flickinger would be another disruption on City Council. He would bring Scott Bowen’s chaos to the City. We don’t need chaos. We need common sense. We need someone who will work on a non-partisan basis to improve the services provided by the city.

Do yourself a favor, do your neighbors a favor, and don’t put Flickinger in office. His opponent is a very well qualified, experienced, conservative, candidate.