Bay Area Houston

Scott Bowen’s Petty Sign Wars

September 29, 2025

Political sign wars are petty. Signs don’t win elections. Don’t engage in sign wars. It is a waste of time, but….. FFS Scott, it’s 5 months out!

Off of his embarrassing defeat for CCISD Trustee, Scott Bowen has filed to run for State Representative. The republican primary is March 3, 2026. Five months out Bowen has decided to litter the district with his 4×8 signs, most if not all, are in violation of city ordinances.

A google search for “political yard signs rules texas” states signs cannot be place prior to 90 days before an election or on the right of way. Unfortunately Texas has no way to enforce this. The Texas Ethics Commission will not accept complaints about signs and they lack any enforcement of the law. Many cities have adopted ordinances concerning political signs. They do have enforcement abilities but again they have better things to do with their time. The City of Houston has an ordinance with a 90 day limit as well as right of way restrictions. City of Webster has an ordinance with a 45 day limit. I am sure Friendswood, El Lago, Nassau Bay, Taylor Lake Village, and Seabrook have similar ordinances.

If you want to report a sign in violation of the Houston Sign Ordinance, call 311 and provide the location, who the sign belongs to and why it violates the ordinance. In Webster call (281) 332-1826 with the same information.

This isn’t rocket science folks. We don’t want to look at political signs on the right of way for a full 5 months before the election. Not only is it against city and state ordinances it is just disrespectful. Bowen is the only candidate violating these rules. It’s as if he is above the law.

Maybe voters in the republican primary should tell Bowen “If you can’t follow the laws, you shouldn’t be making the laws.” BTW Bowen is being challenged in the primary by an excellent candidate, Bob Mitchell.

1 Comment | Political | Tagged: Ethics, Houston Politics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Felony Conviction of La Marque City Councilman for Possession of Meth

September 29, 2025

Give me liberty or give me meth! — Frank Gallagher, Shameless

There’s a lot of opinions and questions about the felony conviction of La Marque City Councilman Joseph Lowry for possession of methamphetamine and whether he was eligible to run for office. I dug into the court records which was not easy. Here is what I found. The legal documentation can be found at the Superior Court of Washington for King County website, case # 05-1-06568-7.

The Arrest.
On 9/29/2004 Lowry, age 25, was stopped for a traffic violation in Auburn Washington. After determining his identity the police found he had an outstanding warrant. He was arrested and his car searched. The search found a baggy of methamphetamine (meth), a scale, cold medications used for the production of meth, and a glass pipe with residue. You can read the entire document filed in the Superior Court of Washington for King County case 05-C-06568-7 KNT here.

Bail.
The State requested a bail of $10,000 based upon his criminal history of theft in 1997, 1998 drugs possession, 1998 Harassment, 2004 Assault and resisting arrest, a pending telephone harassment, and an outstanding warrant for a racing charge.

Guilty Plea.
On 9/6/2005 Lowry plead guilty to one count of possession of methamphetamine. You can read the entire plea here. Lowry stated in his own words “On September 24, 2004, I did unlawfully and feloniously possess the residue of methamphetamine, a controlled substance, located on the scales found in my car in King County Washington.”

Sentencing. Lowry was sentenced to 97 days in jail with time served. (I assume that means he was in jail for 97 days) He had to complete 12 months of community custody. You can view the sentencing document here.

Vacating the conviction. 16 years later the Washington State Supreme Court in State v. Blake, found the state’s felony drug possession statute unconstitutional. Based upon this ruling Lowry petitioned the court to vacate his conviction. According to google:

Vacating a conviction is a legal process where a court withdraws or annuls a past guilty plea or judgment, effectively making the conviction void. This is achieved by filing a motion with the court, arguing reasons such as newly discovered evidence of innocence or constitutional violations during the original trial. If successful, you are released from the penalties of the offense and can legally state you were not convicted of the crime, though this does not erase the fact you were initially charged. The specific legal grounds and procedures vary significantly by jurisdiction, so consulting with a qualified attorney is crucial for pursuing this type of post-conviction relief in Texas.

Applying for City Council.
A few years later Lowry ran for La Marque city council. On his application he checked the box “I have not been finally convicted for a felony”. Whether checking that box instead of the box that states he was convicted but the conviction was vacated, makes him ineligible to run is for someone with legal experience and not a two bit blogger or an Undercover Investigative Journalist.

In Conclusion.
So there you have it. Arrested. Charged. Convicted. Served time. Vacated. I hope this clears up this situation.

3 Comments | Political | Tagged: La Marque | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

What They are Saying about Scott Bowen

September 26, 2025

OUCH!

I am not a reddit user. I’ve heard about it but nothing more. But I was forward an interesting post titled “Scott Bowen-unflushable turd“. Needless to say it piqued my interest and I visited the site. OH MY GAUD! The original posting has been removed by the moderators but the comments about Scott are still there and they are NOT good. Some are comical, most are not flattering and they are coming from people who know him! But don’t believe me, you can read them yourself here.

Prior to the CCISD election I wrote “Bowen: A Thread to CCISD Education” documenting his troubling associations with extremist organizations, his support for school vouchers, his billionaire buddies donations, and the chaos he brought to CCISD. Thanks to the voters Bowen was defeated and CCISD is much better for it. Bowen is now running for State Representative against a great conservative, Bob Mitchell, former President of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership. Hopefully conservatives throughout the district will vote for the conservative in the primary and put Bowen to rest.

But, back to the Reddit post. Again, don’t believe me, go read the comments. These are coming from inside Bowen’s house, people who know him. Here are some examples:

And here are more:

Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: CCISD | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

The Mega Political Donors of Houston who Control Texas (and you)

September 25, 2025

Who’s your daddy?

The Houston Chronicle wrote an excellent article “Who are Houston’s power brokers?” identifying the millionaires who donated more than $350M over the last 25 years. It is worth a read. The article has a number of interactive charts showing who donated, how much, and where the money went to but they failed to mentioned what party they belong to. So here is is.

The Chronicle identified 25 millionaires who gave a total of over $337 Million. Of that amount $36 Million was donated by Democrats, just over 10%. Republicans gave about 90% for a total of $301 Million. So no, both sides don’t do it. In Houston Democrats have been capable of being competitive in local races even though being grossly outspent over and over again. (Case in point Mealer vs Hidalgo for Harris County Judge)

Missing in this group is Mattress MAGAt Mac who gave just under $500,000 in state donations, not including any county or federal donations. Here are the totals:

Name	Party	Amount
Steve Mostyn	Democrat	$12,000,000.00
John Arnold	Democrat	$10,000,000.00
Amber Mostyn	Democrat	$7,000,000.00
John Williams	Democrat	$7,000,000.00
Democrat Total		$36,000,000.00
Bob Perry	Republican	$64,000,000.00
John Nau	Republican	$35,000,000.00
Bob McNair	Republican	$31,000,000.00
Dick Weekley	Republican	$29,000,000.00
Jan Duncan	Republican	$20,000,000.00
Jeffery Hildebrand	Republican	$18,000,000.00
Doug Pitcock	Republican	$12,000,000.00
Hushang Ansary	Republican	$11,000,000.00
JC Walter	Republican	$9,000,000.00
Stephen Chazen	Republican	$9,000,000.00
Dan Friedkin	Republican	$9,000,000.00
Nancy Kinder	Republican	$8,000,000.00
Tilman Fertitta	Republican	$8,000,000.00
Melinda Hindebrand	Republican	$7,000,000.00
John Addison	Republican	$6,000,000.00
Ed Bosarge	Republican	$5,000,000.00
Kathaleen Wall	Republican	$5,000,000.00
Holly Frost	Republican	$5,000,000.00
Stuart Stedman	Republican	$5,000,000.00
K. Alan Hassenflu	Republican	$5,000,000.00
Republican Total		$301,000,000.00
Total Donations		$337,000,000.00

Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: Ethics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Free Film Screening at UHCL this Sunday

September 24, 2025

For background visit https://chasingthetideseries.com RSVP to the event here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084FA8A729AA8-58252281-chasing

Please join us for a screening of one episode of Chasing the Tide at UHCL Bayou Theater at 2700 Bay Area Blvd, Bayou Building. This episode features the Galveston coastline, right in our back yard.

After the film we will have a panel discussion moderated by Sandra Metoyer, the executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston. Panelists are as follows:

Jay Kleberg: Founding executive director of The Gulf Trust, Conservationist & filmmaker
Adrian Garcia: Harris County Commissioner of Precinct 2, with a major focus on parks and wildlife
Suzanne Simpson: Ecologist, wildlife biologist, author, and natural resource manager
Michael J. Turco: General Manager of the Harris-Galveston and Fort Bend Subsidence Districts

After the film and discussion there will be a reception with snacks and an opportunity to meet the panelists.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Environment | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Unhinged: La Marque City Council Meeting

September 23, 2025

Leave it to City Council Member Joseph Lowry. Again.

If you haven’t been keeping up to date with the fiscal situation in La Marque you are missing an unhinged side show orchestrated by Lowry. Last night the Mayor had enough of Lowry’s baseless claims of illegal activity by the Mayor and other Council Members and called him out for his continued spreading of lies. Instead of finding solutions to a very serious problem, Lowry continued his baseless allegations including accusing the Mayor of accepting bribes by developers, a relatively new allegation. As the Mayor said, the only one who is claiming this illegal activity is Lowry, not the police, not the DA, not the Texas Rangers. It is all baseless, made up, allegations.

According to the rules of the Council the Mayor can issue 3 warnings to a Council Member and then have them removed to a nearby room to participate electronically. You can watch as a police officer looms over Lowry as the Mayor verifies the process after giving 2 warnings. Lowry eventually shut his pie hole and the meeting continued.

You can watch the exchange below. It is about 2 minutes long. Kudos to the Council for keeping their cool.

Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: La Marque | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Campaign Sign Placement 101.

September 22, 2025

It’s not rocket science.

Leave it to the awkward dude in the suits 2 sizes too small to violate simple rules on sign placement. I’m talking about Scott Bowen who is running for State Representative after getting his ass kicked off the CCISD school board. Bowen’s buddies have put up signs around the district, 5 months before the election. There are rules governing the placement of signs. According to Click2Houston:

Texas law prohibits political signs from going up earlier than 90 days before an election and the signs must be removed within 10 days after the election.

Trying to find that specific law is difficult. The Texas Ethics Commission has a number of articles and pamphlets on the subject. Title 15 Election code is on the TEC website. It’s pretty easy to understand and simple to follow. There are restrictions on where to place signs for instance you can’t put signs on Government property including the fences surrounding the school, county property, or NASA.

There are restrictions for placing signs for good reasons. We don’t want to look at political signs 5 months before the election or 5 months after the candidate loses. There are also specific laws concerning the wording on signs. For instance a candidate must have the word FOR, as in Mr Smith FOR city council if they are a candidate for the office. The sign must have “Paid for by…” and the “”NOTICE: IT IS A VIOLATION OF STATE LAW (CHAPTERS 392 AND 393, TRANSPORTATION CODE), TO PLACE THIS SIGN IN THE RIGHT-OF-WAY OF A HIGHWAY.” notices.

Harris County also has rules against putting up signs prior to the 90 days before the election. Bowen will be on the ballot in early March, 5 months from now. He has a conservative challenger, Bob Mitchell, who is currently following the laws concerning sign placement. Unfortunately There are no sign police and no organization to report violations. Houston used to have a sign patrol assigned to pick up signs in the medians but I have not seen those in years.

So Scott if you can’t follow the law, you shouldn’t be elected to make the law.

4 Comments | Political | Tagged: HD129 | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Democrats Rally Against Candidate for HCDP Chair

September 18, 2025

Why are you running? Is a question Democrats are asking and getting no answers.

I mentioned earlier that a relatively newcomer to the Harris County Democratic Party has thrown her name into the hat for Chair. “Newcomer” is a bit generous. Traci Gibson is a young, educated, attorney but her lack of any other qualifications for the job is troubling. Troubling enough for a couple of precinct chairs to send out emails warning others about signing her petition to get on the ballot.

Gibson was recently appointed to be a precinct chair. She has no on the ground experience working her precinct except for getting the title. She has no experience working with the party or advocating for the party or candidates. She has a very troubling voting record, that is, she has none. She hasn’t voted in the last 3 Democratic primaries. She also has a tendency to snap at individuals who ask a very simple question “Why are you running?”. I should know. I was one she snapped at.

But don’t take it from me. Here are some comments from emails sent by various precinct chairs:

Gibson says she has the “strategies and skills” to make Democrats dominate the next HC election. Seriously, from someone who has zero documented experience in politics, recently changed her voter registration to Harris County and just became a precinct chair at the last CEC?

Ms. Gibson did not vote in the 2024 Democratic primary, OR the 2022 primary OR the 2020 primary. Please stop and think about that for a moment — while we Precinct Chairs were out there sweating and block-walking, making phone calls, handing out literature, holding candidate rallies and manning the polls, during three of the most important and stressful primaries in recent history, Ms. Gibson made a conscious decision not to vote as a Democrat.

We should also ask ourselves: Why is she running? {But please don’t ask her why she’s running. She’s blown up on a few people for simply asking this simple question} [told you!] And more importantly — who is behind her? The speed and style of her campaign suggest that she has powerful backers. Some have speculated about outside influences. Regardless of who’s funding or guiding her, it’s clear that her run is highly coordinated. Her lack of disclosure about her true intentions during meetings with Precinct Chairs — many of whom were invited under the impression that the meetings were not campaign-related — is especially troubling.

2 Comments | Political | Tagged: Harris County | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Vegas Review: Canelo vs Crawford Fight

September 14, 2025

Well that sucked only because I am a Canelo fan and he lost in a 12 decision.

The Fight
If you want to watch a fight watch it at home. If you want to experience a fight see it live. Unless you are within 100 feet of the ring you will probably be focusing on the big screens which have a crystal clear picture. That’s what I did as did most in my area. I had a front row seat on the 3rd level. It was great view.

Besides the fight being uneventful (I’ve been to better fights) the event itself was fun. I was disappointed in the fight as well as the lack of playing the National Anthems. The stadium was full of Mexican Nationals and if you have ever heard them sing their anthem you know they sing with pride and LOUD! I was looking forward to it but no anthems were played. That was strange.

Vegas
If you want an inexpensive, fun, vacation go to Cancun. Vegas is expensive. Period. $10 beer (12 oz). $20 burgers (no fries). A traditional eggs, bacon, hash browns and coffee will run you $36 which includes a $5 tip. Gambling is way out of my league. I like playing Craps but $25 minimum bet table means I would be betting about $100 for every roll of the dice. I did find a $10 minimum bet table but the thrill was gone and I passed. I joined others at the sports book and watched football prior to the fight. That was fun.

Tonight I am going to see another mind reading show, Ghost Stories, at the Mandalay Bay Casino. I’ve seen David Copperfield and The Mentalist. Both were excellent.