Bay Area Houston

I recently posted Raising Campaign Cash: Houston City Elections. Final. Thoughts stating Tony Buzbee has $5.1 Million cash on hand and raised $5.5 Million. That is not true and I have since corrected it.

Tony Buzbee did not raised any money, as in, zero dollars. The $5.5 Million came out of his own pocket.  Buzbee unlike the other candidates running for Mayor or any other office in Houston is wealthy. In his case, filthy wealthy. He has enough money to spare that he does not need to ask people to donate to his campaign because they believe in his stance or his support of Trump. He doesn’t have to spend half a day on the phone asking for donations. He doesn’t have to have fundraisers. He doesn’t have to prove he is a viable candidate for a very important office.

So, he raised $0 because he is filthy rich. I stand corrected.

I reported on Anthony Dolcefino and became interested in the other candidates in District C. Beside poor fundraising numbers, no fundraising, and a loan of $20,000 there is nothing grossly unusual. Abbie Kamin had a very strong showing of $175,490. The others raised so-so money.

Even a Caveman can do it

UPDATE: Mr. Docefino has responded to my request to clarify his spending:

Website is free website builder, domain name I already owned, literature was in-kind after the June 30th deadline, FB ads have been bought in July, etc.
Yesterday I posted about Anthony Dolcefino’s fundraising numbers. Anthony is running for City Council District C. Anthony seems to be picking up where his father left off back in 2005 by attacking Mayor Turner.
 

Wayne Dolcefino was an investigative reporter (sic) for KTRK-TV. He had a boner for Sylvester Turner back in 1995 when Turner first ran for Mayor. Dolcefino was eventually sued and lost for a story about insurance fraud and a jury awarded $5.5 Million. 

Since 2008 I have been interested in what elected officials are spending their money on in my series called Spending Campaign Cash. Here is an entry for Anthony and it is strange. I have reached out to both Anthony and his treasurer for a response.

Anthony filed a paper report because he raised less than $20,000 and does not have access to an computer. He is listed as his own treasurer and he claims to have spent $0 during this period. This is strange because he has a website, a domain name, a facebook page, a twitter account. He has made online ads and he has campaign literature with the required disclaimer “PolAds paid for by Anthony Dolcefino Campaign, Linda Fowler Treasurer”.

According to the Texas Ethics Commission expenditures must be reported including what was purchased, how much was paid, who was paid, when it was paid among other things. Even if the website, domain name, and campaign literature were donated, that must be reported as an in-kind donation.

Look…I’m not an expert on the laws in Texas but I can read and it’s not real hard to understand. If you receive money, report it. If you spend money, report it. It really is that simple.

Even a caveman can do it.

I was looking at campaign finance reports for Houston City Council races that voters in District E would be interested in. You can view that here if you would like. I also became curious about a couple of other candidates, one being Anthony Dolcefino, the son of Wayne Dolcefino. From a previous post;

Wayne Dolcefino was an investigative reporter (sic) for KTRK-TV. He had a boner for Sylvester Turner back in 1995 when Turner first ran for Mayor. Dolcefino was eventually sued and lost for a story about insurance fraud and a jury awarded $5.5 Million. 

But back to campaign reports….I couldn’t find his reports online until today with the help of Shelby. He filed a paper copy. Based upon his totals I would have too. You can find his complete report (all 6 pages worth) here. I can summarize.

He has raised $2836 of which $1086 was in-kind donations provided by his father. He has recorded $0 spent even though he has put out a couple of political ads, printed door hangers, and has a website. all “Political advertising paid for by the Anthony Dolcefino Campaign.” His father only gave him $500. 

His affidavit claims he nor anyone associated with his campaign uses computers to keep track of his donations. 

He also delivered the hand written report by horse and carriage since no one has a car.

Houston City Council Member Dwight Boykins has filed to run for Mayor and has been endorsed by the Houston Fire Fighters Union. He has had a couple of hiccups already, the leaked video addressing young women and his anemic fundraising numbers with only $70K COH. I’ve also noticed he enjoys cigars and has used his donors money to buy them. 

According to his report ending June 30, 2019. He has 14 entries in 4 months for about $3000 worth of “Gift Awards” from Stogies on Westheimer, Heights Cigar Lounge, Cigar Distributors of Houston and Masculino Premium Cigars.

That is a lot of smoke and where there is smoke…..there is a Fire Fighter Union that may want a mulligan on their endorsement of Boykins. $3000 worth of cigars in a 4 month period is a lot of cigars if that is what he is purchasing. It is hard to believe there are that many individuals to give these cigars to as “gifts”.

Over the last ten years I have seen elected officials spend their donors money on fancy custom boots, cattle, vintage cowboy chaps, antique books, and condos. Many have been fined tens of thousands of dollars. Cigar purchases using your donors money is mild to many of the other cases but it is strange.

District E covers Kingwood and Clear Lake. (go figure) There are three candidates running for the office, only one seems viable. Council Member Dave Martin has raised about $50,000 and has a balance of about $151,000. This is a good amount for a competitive race but this race is anything but competitive.

Sam Cleveland  is a “conservative Republican running for Houston City Council District E. I am an active Houston Police Officer”  has not raised any money. He is having some issues filing his reports but he has said no money has been raised to date and his website is down. He is a Trump supporter.

Ryan Lee is a Houston Fire Fighter Union Trustee. He has been running for months but hasn’t filed an Appointment of Treasurer so he cannot legally raise or spend money. Maybe that is why he does not have a website. He is using his twitter feed (free) and Facebook page (also free) to bash the Mayor even though he is not running for Mayor. He is a very angry tweeter. He has sided with Tony Buzbee, even though his Union has endorsed Boykins. He also supports Trump. Ryan is what we call a UFO.

Unfit For Office.

I have said it before.

It’s not a game. Running for office is not a game……Don’t cheapen the office by running just for the sake of running and distracting from those who have a clear understanding of what they are doing and are qualified to run.

The deadline for filing has passed. Some individuals should consider dropping out of the race. If you can’t follow the law, you shouldn’t run to make the laws. Sue Lovell may not have an appointed Treasurer so that may be the reason for not filing. Ryan Lee has been running for months but has not appointed a Treasurer. Sam Cleveland has raised $0 and has had some trouble with filing. Woods has filed but the city has had problems with the report.

Anton Dowls
Naoufal Houjami
Sue Lovell
Dementria Smith
Amparo Gasca
Sam Cleveland
Ryan Lee
Michelle Bonton
Georgia Provost
Goku Sankar
Tiko Hausman
Brad Batteau
Ralph Garcia
Ashton Woods 

I have just a few candidates left who have not filed. Most of them are fringe candidates. This update contains the following.

Council Member Boykins raised 140,174 and has $69,782 COH. A pretty poor showing for the Houston Fire Fighters Union endorsed candidate.

Council Member Dave Martin District E raised 49,450 with 151,184 COH. His opponents have not filed.

Council Member Amanda Edwards raised $73,807 with $192,791 COH.

Leticia Plummer for Position 5 raised $64,519 with$43, 795 COH.

Kendall Baker raised $15,810 from his own pocket with $260 COH.

From Previous Posts:

Marcell McClinton for Position 3 raised $25,823 with $8,675 COH.

Christel Bastida for Postion 4 raised $1,103 with $750 COH and a $200 Loan.

Marvin McNeee for Position 5 raised $23,100 with $7,206 COH with a $30,000 Loan.

Sallie Alcorn raised $204,247 with $252,366 COH.

David Robinson raised $88,616 its $262,221 COH.

Mayor Turner raised $1,698,596 with $3,218,268 COH.

WOW! Raj Salhotra had a very strong showing for Position 1 with $220,377 raised compared to the incumbent Mike Knox with only $40,295. Raj has $178,536 COH compared to Knox at $41,171.

Bill King raised $684,842 including a $100,000 loan. He has $318,320 COH.

Chris Brown raised $66,611 with $234,350 COH.

Some people should not be running for office. This isn’t a game. Derrick Brozerunning for Mayor raised $1,379. Not even enough to by yard signs. Giang Nguyen raised $250 with a $20,000 loan. 

Erica McCrutcheon needs to take some training on how to fill out ethics reports. I believe she raised $5100 and has a $5000 loan from The Dunamis Group LLC which she owns.

City Councilman Mike Knox reports only $41,171 raised. I would have expected much more.

Emily Detoto raised only$2600 with a $500 loan.

Buzbee is self financing putting $5.5 MILLION of his own money into his account.

Michael Kubosh has reported raising only $43,000 with a $276,000 outstanding loan. $10,000 came from the FireFighters PAC.

Marcell McClinton for Position 3 raised $25,823 with $8,675 COH.

Christel Bastida for Postion 4 raised $1,103 with $750 COH and a $200 Loan.

Marvin McNeee for Position 5 raised $23,100 with $7,206 COH with a $30,000 Loan.

Sallie Alcorn raised $204,247 with $252,366 COH.

David Robinson raised $88,616 its $262,221 COH.

Mayor Turner raised $1,698,596 with $3,218,268 COH.

WOW! Raj Salhotra had a very strong showing for Position 1 with $220,377 raised compared to the incumbent Mike Knox with only $40,295. Raj has $178,536 COH compared to Knox at $41,171.

Bill King raised $684,842 including a $100,000 loan. He has $318,320 COH.

Chris Brown raised $66,611 with $234,350 COH.

Some people should not be running for office. This isn’t a game. Derrick Broze running for Mayor raised $1,379. Not even enough to by yard signs. Giang Nguyen raised $250 with a $20,000 loan. 

From Previous Updates:
Erica McCrutcheon needs to take some training on how to fill out ethics reports. I believe she raised $5100 and has a $5000 loan from The Dunamis Group LLC which she owns.

City Councilman Mike Knox reports only $41,171 raised. I would have expected much more.

Emily Detoto raised only$2600 with a $500 loan.

Buzbee is self financing putting $5.5 MILLION of his own money into his account. 

Michael Kubosh has reported raising only $43,000 with a $276,000 outstanding loan. $10,000 came from the FireFighters PAC.