Combined Primary Voting Locations

June 22, 2019

I had the opportunity to meet with the Harris County Clerk, Diana Trautman, and her staff to discuss combined primary voting locations. Her staff provided a demonstration of the proposed process which included a complete voting location setup with voting machines, check in tables, and the staff needed to conduct the demonstration. The demo was conducted very professionally. Great job to the entire office!

Current process
A voter enters a voting location, selects the line for their party, declares their intentions to vote in that primary, checks in, and votes. Each different process is operated by the members of that particular party.

Combined Primary Locations
The new process is operated by both parties, sitting side by side. There are no different lines for different parties. Everyone, just like in general voting, stands in the same line. Once they check in they will be asked to select which party they intend to vote in. (see pic below) This choice is presented to the voter on the iPad. The ballot is presented to the voter at the voting booth based upon the party choice.

Advantages of the new process

  1. It saves the county an estimated $285,000. Who can possibly be against that?
  2. The Voter’s party preference is protected from disclosure to others in line. 
  3. Voters of the minority party in the voting location would not be intimidated by the longer lines of the majority party.
  4. In the current process the dominant party of a voting location may use the entire voting location sending the minority party somewhere else. Case in point here in Clear Lake a minority party location was established 5 miles away from their usual voting location. 
  5. It makes it easier to vote and to participate in the process

Disadvantages of the new process?
I asked this question of the Clerk and staff. They could not identify any disadvantages. I have heard the Republican Party is concerned about solving a problem that doesn’t exist. This coming from the party that gave us Voter ID laws to address a problem that doesn’t existed. The Chair of the Republican Party had to dig deep to find something to complain about and it was based on incorrect information:

“The Democrat County Clerk’s proposed joint primary elections would empower the bureaucrats and, worse, let one party’s workers run the other party’s primary election that to selects its candidates, running the risk of disenfranchising, inconveniencing, and confusing voters.”

Whats next?
The primaries are the responsibility of each party. The Clerk’s office provides the equipment and support for the voting process. This new process must be approved by each party. Currently one party, the Democratic Party, is on board. The Republican Party is not. Hopefully that will change.

The bottom line
This process saves tax payers money. It’s more secure. It makes it easier for people to participate in the process. Who can possibly against that?

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Posted by johncoby

HCDE Trustee Michael Wolfe censured over sexual allegations

May 6, 2019

Leave it to a dick. From an email from Harris County Department of Education Trustee Eric Dick:

Harris County Department of Education’s board voted to censure Trustee Michael Wolfe over sexual harassment allegations hours after a state district judge denied his request for a temporary restraining order.

Dick has been a dick about this issue for months. He and Wolfe have had a fallout with a lot of finger pointing and allegations. The investigation recommended that Wolfe and Dick should not be involved in screening applicants for employment and should not be on a committee together. Both are like children in an adult Department working for children. In a previous email Dick said:

The investigation clearly shows that Mike Wolfe is a pervert. He should resign immediately. If he refuses, I beg the County Attorney to file a law suit to remove him. It is unacceptable to serve as an elected official when you sexually harassed someone.” – Eric Dick

The investigation he is referring to was filed by Dick against Wolfe and the recommendations included comments against Dick:

The process of hiring the Executive Assistant was tainted by Messrs. Dick and Wolfe. Transparency was sacrificed in the cause of political cronyism. The testing/ranking process was turned into a sham. The way Messrs. Dick and Wolfe, in particular, pushed their less-qualified friends and allies into running for the job of Board Secretary opened HCDE up to charges of favoritism and bias, caused employees to lose faith, and rendered the process arbitrary.

These allegations are serious and should be investigated by the Harris County Public Integrity Office. Wolfe and Dick do not deserve to be on the board.






									


				

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Ed Emmett: She should have said "hunker down"

				April 4, 2019



				

					


Former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett hasn’t recovered from the loss in 2018 to County Judge Lina Hildago providing a sour grapes interview to Joe Eisenbaum of Click2Houston



Eisenbaum: “What’s your best advice moving forward?”


Emmett: “The most important thing now is to say, ‘Hunker Down’. Saying ‘Hunker Down’ makes you look like everything is under control, you have whatever is coming under control, like when I said ‘hunker down’ when hit by Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Harvey although hunkering down didn’t work out for many.


Actually, that isn’t what he said but for many just mouthing a stupid saying like ‘Hunker down’ is enough for them to declare someone is fit for office. It’s as if that is actually a strategy. If only it was that easy. For Ed it was. Instead of reaching out to Judge Lina Hidalgo, to provide his wisdom from his years of service, he  hunker down with the media. 


Eisenbaum: “What’s your best advice moving forward?”
Emmett: “The most important thing now is to say, ‘OK, what can we do better?’ That’s always a learning experience, and the professionals in the county will do that.”


That is what he really said. Here is my advise. Shut up.

									


				

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 Posted by johncoby				

			

			

		
			

				
The Larry, Curly, and Moe of Harris County Department of Education

				March 25, 2019



				

					


Oh. My. Gosh. Sexual harassment has hit the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) with Larry, Curly, and Moe of the Republican Party leading the way. After reading the investigation report concerning the issue both Trustees Eric Dick and Mike Wolfe should be removed from the HCDE immediately.

Who is Larry, Curly, and Moe?
Mike Wolfe is a board member of HCDE. He was accused of sexual harassment and retaliation. The board voted to start an investigation concerning the allegations and has since completed and provided this report to the Board.

Eric Dick is also a board member. He ratted out Wolfe. The title of the investigation is “Investigation of Allegations Made by Trustee Eric Dick Against Trustee Mike Wolfe Harris County Department of Education”. In a recent email he has called Wolfe a  pervert and has called for his resignation. After reading the entire report I could not find any language that suggested he is a pervert.


The investigation clearly shows that Mike Wolfe is a pervert. He should resign immediately. If he refuses, I beg the County Attorney to file a law suit to remove him. It is unacceptable to serve as an elected official when you sexually harassed someone.” – Eric Dick


Jared Woodfill was the Chair of the Harris County Republican Party. He is representing Mike Wolfe. Woodfill’s offices were raided due to allegations of money laundering and theft. According to the Houston Chronicle:


Former Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill is being investigated on theft and money laundering allegations, accused of misappropriating funds of at least two of his law firm’s clients, according to an affidavit by the Harris County District Attorney’s office.


And what did they do?


According to the investigation report Eric Dick introduced Jane Doe to Wolfe who later applied for a job at HCDE. Eric later made allegations that Wolfe sexually harassed Jone Doe then retaliated against her when she refused to go out on a date with him. The investigation stated “while Mr. Dick is pleasant and chatty, he is prone to irony and drama.” (LOL) which is an understatement. Dick was also implicated in this report with recommendations to never be on a hiring committee or a committee with Wolfe in the future. Dick was also one of three members who selected possible employees that had much less experience than others who were qualified. From the report:


All the Board members confirm this: Messrs. Dick and Wolfe “got two” of their friends or “hand-picked” committee favorites and they all made the final seven, despite not having being the top seven in the objective criteria. One of Mr. Dick’s “picks” was Jane Doe. One of Mr. Wolfe’s picks was Melissa Smith, the eventual hire. Both Ms. Doe and  Ms. Smith would not have even made the group of 17 if judged initially on their scores.


This in itself should disqualify Messrs [sp?] Wolfe, and Dick from serving on the HCDE Board. As the report summarized:


The process of hiring the Executive Assistant was tainted by Messrs. Dick and Wolfe. Transparency was sacrificed in the cause of political cronyism. The testing/ranking process was turned into a sham. The way Messrs. Dick and Wolfe, in particular, pushed their less-qualified friends and allies into running for the job of Board Secretary opened HCDE up to charges of favoritism and bias, caused employees to lose faith, and rendered the process arbitrary.


Dick and Wolfe had a falling out after a number of votes did not go Dick’s way. They have since been at odds. The investigator goes as far as to recommend Dick and Wolfe never serve on a committee together adding to the disfunction of the entire Board. The report has disturbing allegations against Wolfe concerning Jane Doe, enough that he should be removed from office.


And Jared Woodfill? He is defending Wolfe and in-between the petty feud between Dick and Wolfe and threatening a lawsuit if the Board votes to censure Wolfe. 


Mr. Wolfe made a baseless claim that Ms. Doe sleeps around to pay her rent, during this investigation. When challenged to give a basis for this disparagement, he was unable to do so. He also makes non-credible claims of Ms. Doe “stalking” him.












									


				

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"Little Baby" Briscoe Cain shelter in place

				March 18, 2019



				

					
Oh My Gosh. How did this 12 year old get elected? The Republican Party ought to take his little ass out in the 2020 primaries.


Little Baby Briscoe is the State Representative representing the City of Deer Park. He is known for saying and doing pretty childish things like flashing a gun at the Texas Democratic Convention. Today while Deer Park first responders were battling a huge fire at a chemical storage facility in his district, the city was in a shelter-in-place, and the community was on high alert, Cain thought it would be cute to post the following on Twitter:








But just a few hours later, after the fire had dangerously spread from 1 to 6 chemical tanks, Baby Briscoe added fuel to the fire by putting out incorrect information and being called out for it. From his Facebook page:












Thanks Rob for the screen shot!

									


				

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Harris County GOP doubles down on being dicks.

				January 30, 2019



				

					


When your mouth has dug yourself a hole, do yourself a favor and shut the hell up.

The Chair of the Harris County Republican Party (HCRaP), Paul Simpson, hasn’t learned that lesson. After posting an offensive Facebook comment concerning the Holocaust Remembrance Day, being widely criticized by the media, editing the comment, then just deleting it all together, Simpson just could refrain from issuing another ill advised statement:




“A few accused the post of being anti-Semitic. It was nothing of the sort. All Americans should be on guard against the dangers of ideologies that demean  the value of individual human lives to the collective. That includes socialism in all forms, whether 20th-century German National Socialism or today’s glossed-over socialism that is condoned and even promoted by those who should know better. The human suffering in today’s Cuba and Venezuela are vivid reminders that Socialism does indeed kill. Americans should not tread on the slippery slope of socialism that has always led to misery.”




Simpson’s original comment put him in the “Why do you have to be a dick about everything?” Club. It doesn’t take a moron to understand how offensive it is to take a day of remembrance where 6+million human beings were killed and use it to further your white wing cause. Even members of his own party had a comment:



Paul shut up. Just shut up! We are being painted as a bunch of white wing anti-Semites! We are already considered a bunch of white wing racists!



OK. That was just made up. but local resident, Art Pronin responded with a Letter to the Editor in the Houston Chronicle:







I can’t imagine what they are going to post come Memorial Day.

									


				

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 Posted by johncoby				

			

			

		
			

				
Why do you have to be a dick about everything? Harris County GOP

				January 28, 2019



				

					
The Chair of the Harris County Republican Party (HCRaP), Paul Simpson, has joined the “Why do you have to be a dick about everything” club standing with Congressman Louie Gohmert, Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller, former County Clerk Stan Stanart, and Trump. Simpson used the Holocaust Remembrance Day to make an offensive political statement with a post on the official  county Facebook page.






Within an hour of posting this, Simpson has edited out the “Leftists kills” comment and will soon deleted the entire post, as he should. Update: the post has now been deleted.




Last November Simpson guided his party to an epic loss, losing every County election except for one. Instead of using the time to understand why his party lost, Simpson takes the time to write offensive Facebook posts.


I just do not understand why he has to be a dick about everything.

									


				

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Rebooting the Harris County Republican Party

				November 13, 2018



				

					


The out going Harris County Judge, Ed Emmett, says the Harris County Republican Party needs a reboot after getting a boot shoved so far up their butt their breath will smell like Desenex for the next two years. Emmett waited a bit too long to finally speak up.

I’m sure the HCRP is not interested in very pointed ideas coming from a former Republican but here are some ideas they might want to consider:



    

  1. Dump Trump. You made a mistake in 2016. Trump has turned your party into a group of racist, lying, cheating, conspiracy theory, rotten assholes. That stench might be hard to wash off but wash you must.
    2. 

  2. Don’t be racist. It’s sad someone has to tell you not to be a racist. Racism is bad. Really, really, baaaaad. Not only should you not be a racist you should speak out against those who are., immediately and forcefully. Your party tolerates and condones racism. That must stop.
    3. 

  3. Stop acting like a bag of dicks. Seriously. Why do you have to praise people like Sid Miller the mini trump of the Texas Republican Party. Can’t you at least act as if you have the title “The Honorable” in front of your name?
    4. 

  4. Don’t call women the C word. Again. Why do we have to tell you this? You are not in Jr. High. Grow up and treat women with respect and call out those who don’t. If you are a republican woman who is condoning this type of behavior maybe a course on self esteem is warranted.
    5. 

  5. Stop suppressing the vote. Everyone citizen has the right to vote and should have the right to exercise that right. You act like you want to restrict voting by making it harder to register and harder to vote. Stop it.
    6. 

  6. Dump the NRA. They have become a boat anchor. Americans are tired of being shot. High school kids are rising up for this issue alone. You are on a long term losing path. Even the NRA was silent during this election. They are hurting you. No one is coming for your guns. Start acting like it.
    7. 

  7. Stop lying. No one is coming for our guns. There isn’t an invasion coming from the south. There is no voter fraud. There is no need for a voter ID. There were no WMDs. Stop lying to your party members.
    8. 

  8. Stop spending money. What the hell happened to the “Fiscally Conservative” party? Our country under republican rule now has a $1Trillion deficit just so your party could give your donors a huge tax cut.
    9. 

  9. Embrace health care. No one wants to mortgage their house to pay for treatment for their kids. Your health care plan has failed. 
    10. 

  10. Stop saying “Conservative”.  And finally, you are not conservative. Stop saying your are. You no longer have conservative or family values. As I have said before:
    11. 



Conservatives do not mock the disabled.
They don’t create massive out of control deficits.
They don’t make jokes about those dying of cancer.
They don’t violate or ignore the laws of our country.
They don’t tolerate sexual abuse.
They don’t tolerate family violence.
 They don’t interrupt people while talking.
They don’t call people names.
They don’t say racist things.
They don’t refer to Native Americans as “Pocahontas”
They don’t make fun of other peoples language.
They don’t call people of color “rapists”.
They don’t call Muslims “terrorists”.
They don’t endorse hate groups, the KKK, or white supremacy.
They don’t disrespect elected officials even those they disagree with.
They don’t lie. Every. Single. Day.
They don’t walk around with loaded assault weapons in public.







									


				

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 Posted by johncoby				

			

			

		
			

				
Where's the County Judge? (Ed Emmett)

				November 4, 2018



				

					


I just can’t believe Emmitt would ask this question in a mailer. In a previous post I have said No on Ed:


Emmett had the opportunity to restore his party to what it once was, a party that campaigned on “Family values” instead of family separation. A party that embraced facts and figures instead of deception, dishonesty and lies. A party that respected the rule of law instead of ignoring the law based upon who rules. He had the opportunity to stop his party from further moral erosion when their leader mocked a disabled American or a woman debate moderator. He had the opportunity to use his leadership to stop his party from unleashing angry, hateful attacks on Hispanics, Muslims, teachers, women, civil servants, the disabled, the gay community, and other constituents. Instead he sat quietly in the corner. This is a failure by Judge Emmett of moral leadership.


So Emmett has asked a good question. Where was Ed Emmett


Where was Emmett when his County Clerk, Stan Stanart, was posting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on his re-election website?


Where was Emmett when his County Clerk was not following the law at the polling locations?


Where was Emmett when his party went off on a racist tangent?


Where was Emmett when his party dismantled the Affordable Care Act leaving us to pay the County’s bills for those who cannot afford health care?


Where was Emmett when his president mocked a disabled American?


Where was Emmett when the leader of his party called for massive tariffs?


Where was Emmett when his party passed the right to walk around with an AR-15 in public agains the wishes of law enforcement?


Where was Emmett when his party wasted money on a bathroom bill targeting the transgender community?


I’ll tell you where Ed was. He was hunkered down in a dark corner waiting for the racist storm of his party to pass by before he sticks his head out and act like he cares. I cant give Ed a pass on this. I can’t give anyone with an (R) behind their name a pass. As far as I am concerned the (R) does not stand for Republican anymore.

									


				

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Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart removes anti-Semitic website

				November 2, 2018



				

					


Why do we have to tell elected officials to not be anti-Semitic?


According to the Houston Chronicle:


After the Houston Chronicle posted an article Tuesday in which observers described the Soros attack as a “dog whistle” to anti-Semites, references to Soros disappeared from the site.


Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart was  the subject of a previous post “Why do you have to be a dick about everything?” because of his dog whistle re-election website. This is the second time Stanart has had to be called out. Earlier this week Stanart wasn’t going to enforce the law at an early voting location in Clear Lake by demanding a poll worker to remove his nra hat….until Fox 26 called him out on it. He quickly threw his workers under the bus and required him to either remove the hat or leave.


This behavior has become a habit for republicans. Why do we have to tell republican elected officials not to be racist, not to mock the disabled, not to send dick pics, not to call a woman the C word, not to use the N word, and not to post anti-Semitic material on their re-election website?


It’s as if they don’t want to be an elected official anymore. We can help them on November 6.

									


				

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Why do you have to be a dick about everything: Stan Stanart

				October 29, 2018



				

					

Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart has joined Louie Gohmert, Sid Miller, and Donald trump in the “Why do you have to be a dick about everything?” club. 

Stan Stanart was elected back in 2010 during the tea bagger take over. He has only one job, that is to run the elections in Harris County and he has pretty much sucked at it. (actually he has more than one job but the one he sucks at is the most notable) He is all in for trump. He fully supports a racist, a liar, a rotten human being as the leader of his party and the country. And he just can’t get away from the republican tactic of fear mongering. From the Houston Chronicle:



Stanart’s use of George Soros-related fear-mongering on his campaign website also brings an unnecessary tinge of partisanship to his office and panders to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. His site says that the Jewish Hungarian billionaire “wants to control Harris County Elections” — a bizarre and inaccurate claim. Stanart told us it was based on a rumor that later turned out to be untrue, but he never changed the website. 



Even after the shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue which killed 11 people and wounded 4 police officers, Stanart has refused to change the content on his website. This goes beyond fear mongering. It goes beyond running a hard campaign. This is just another republican, Stan Stanart, being a racist, rotten, dick about everything.




									


				

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 Posted by johncoby				

			

			

		
			

				
No on Ed.

				October 21, 2018



				

					


Ed Emmett meets most of the qualifications required for the office of County Judge. Most.




Emmett is the type of politician the Republican Party sorely needs in this country,  from City Council to the Presidency. You won’t find Emmett inviting a camera crew to his office to have a discussion with a country western singer. He won’t be having a fit of knee jerk reactions on every social issue facing the county. He won’t be saying anything racist or commenting about the good people in the White Supremacist organizations carrying Tiki torches. He won’t resort to calling his political opponents awful names names unfit for discussion at the dinner table. 




Instead, Emmett “hunkers down”, performs the job he was elected to do, keeps his divisive opinions to himself (if he has any) and actually acts like an elected official who respects the fact he has the title of “The Honorable” in front of his name. Voters should demand this from every elected official and candidate. It serves the voters well. It helps bring the community together and creates the opportunity for voters and constituents to actually listen to and trust our elected officials during times of need such as a hurricane or massive flooding. 




Emmett has performed his official duties and his responsibilities well but has failed on moral leadership. Americans across all levels of government are begging elected officials to stand up and act like human beings when it comes to “family values”. On this Emmett has failed. As the leader of the Republican party in Harris County he has failed to lead his party away from this awful, angry, racist, mentality brought to a head by Dan Patrick, Sid Miller, Ted Cruz  and Donald Trump. He has failed to speak out forcefully about racist comments made by the leaders of his party. He has failed to speak out against separating children from mothers looking for asylum in the United States. He has failed to tell the members of his party and the leadership of his party to simply “knock it off”. Instead he hunkered down, in the corner, out of sight of the cameras, out of sight of the daily controversies, and out of sight of the angry, racist, mob that now dominates the Republican Party. 




Emmett had the opportunity to restore his party to what it once was, a party that campaigned on “Family values” instead of family separation. A party that embraced facts and figures instead of deception, dishonesty and lies. A party that respected the rule of law instead of ignoring the law based upon who rules. He had the opportunity to stop his party from further moral erosion when their leader mocked a disabled American or a woman debate moderator. He had the opportunity to use his leadership to stop his party from unleashing angry, hateful attacks on Hispanics, Muslims, teachers, women, civil servants, the disabled, the gay community, and other constituents. Instead he sat quietly in the corner. This is a failure by Judge Emmett of moral leadership.




Judge Emmett should be commended for performing his job without unnecessary fanfare and yelling into the cameras when opportunity arises, but when it comes to moral leadership of his party he has been hunkered down in a corner quiet as a mouse. 

									


				

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Spending Campaign Cash: Former Commissioner Jerry Eversole

				May 9, 2018



				

					









From the Houston Chronicle






NOTE: If you steal from a bank wouldn’t it be nice if you could use that money you stole to pay your legal bills for the crime of stealing money from a bank? Here is a quick update on former Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole. Lions, and tigers, and bear with me.

Back in 2009 an ethics complaint was filed with the Texas Ethics Commission against Jerry Eversole for converting campaign donations to personal use including purchases for antique books, antique western wear, golf, and a steady stream of coffee from Starbucks for a total of about $250,000. The complaint was reviewed, accepted, and an order was issued fining Eversole $75,000 and ordering him to repay his account over $40,000 from personal funds. From the Texas Ethics Commission, complaints SC-2712236 AND SC-2712237  :








After considering the seriousness of the violations described under Sections III and IV, including the nature, circumstances, and consequences of the violations, and after considering the sanction necessary to deter future violations, the commission imposes a $75,000 civil penalty, contingent upon the respondent reimbursing $41,357.10 to his political funds by July 9, 2009. Any reimbursements to political funds made pursuant to this order and agreed resolution shall be made from the respondent’s personal funds and shall be reported on Schedule G (used for reporting political expenditures from personal funds) of the respondent’s campaign finance reports and indicate that no reimbursement is intended. The respondent must provide sufficient evidence that the reimbursements have been made in accordance with this order.



Besides using his donor’s money for personal use, Eversole was under investigation by the FBI and plead guilty to lying. After his probation period was over he became a lobbyist. From the Houston Chronicle:,


Accused of taking $100,000 in cash and gifts from friend and real estate developer Mike Surface in exchange for steering county contracts and appointments to Surface and his companies, Eversole resigned his office in October 2011 and pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents, a felony.



He is now a paid lobbyist for the Harris County Department of Education. Go figure. From the ABC13:



HOUSTON — Did you know your tax dollars will help pay the salary of a convicted felon? And it’s not just any convicted felon. Just one year after a federal plea deal forced long-time Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole to resign, we have news that he will again serve the Harris County Department of Education as a paid lobbyist.



Go figure. But…back to the bank. In July of 2009 Eversole had about $1.6 Million in his campaign account. Elected officials who leave office cannot convert their remaining balance to personal funds. Instead they can donate to other campaigns, charities, pay off campaign debt, or pay legal bills. This is what Eversole did.

Eversole paid $75,000 to the Ethics Commission (using his donors money. He paid his legal counsel, Rusty Hardin & Associates, over $1.2 Million for his legal bills stemming from the FBI investigation. He also paid Haynes and Boone over $92,000.

On top of pleading guilty to lying to the FBI, paying his legal bills with his donors money, using your tax money for his lobbying effort, and probably retaining his County pension and health care benefits, Eversole is seeking a presidential pardon.

#NoPlaceButTexas and Harris County.








									


				

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No Jail. No Bail. No Permanent Record.

				July 25, 2014



				

					









From the Houston Chronicle






Democratic nominee for Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg, will have a press conference today (copied below) to outline her vision for the District Attorney’s office including the future of misdemeanor marijuana prosecution.


If you have ever been a member of a grand jury in Harris County this one issue might be of interest. Marijuana possession is illegal. No one disputes that, but many question taking six police officers off the street to book an individual with a joint. Or putting an extra burden on our jail system. Or flooding a grand jury with cases of possession of trace amounts of weed, reefer, MJ. There has to be a better way.

No Jail. No Bail. No Permanent Record. This sounds promising. If someone is not endangering others, but are in possession of a small amount of weed, they should be held accountable, but we shouldn’t be punished for it also. A heavy fine and enough probation to make someone want to wait till marijuana is legal sounds like a better way to handle these issues, although I do not know the specifics of her proposal. It should be discussed at her press conference.


For Immediate Release


Press Conference — Kim Ogg for Harris County District Attorney
Contact: @kimoggforda & @harriscountyyd
Date:  Today, Friday, July 25, 2014
Time:  10:00 am
Place: Jury Assembly Plaza (public area directly across from the Harris County Criminal Justice Center – 1201 Franklin)


What:  Kim Ogg will detail her vision  and plan to begin changing the direction of criminal justice in Harris  County by introducing the  G.R.A.C.E. (Government Resource Allocation/Criminal Exemption) Program  –the future of misdemeanor marijuana prosecution in Harris County:  “No  Jail.  No Bail.  No Permanent Record.”

									


				

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A recap of the Astrodome junk sale

				November 3, 2013



				

					
If you were looking for memorabilia at the Astrodome “yard” sale, there wasn’t much available except for leftovers. It was as if the items that have been available since the building was closed (ten years?) were picked clean with some pieces left to look like someone actually cared about a public auction. I wasn’t impressed.


The best of the day was the Astrodome seats. By 6:30 there were thousands in line for 500 pairs of seats for $200. That was a deal if you enjoyed standing in line for 6 hours just to find out they had sold out. Why it took 6 hours to sell 500 pairs is beyond me. The line was incredibly slow.


The concession items went for near nothing, but what did they expect to get for hotdog warmers that collected dust for 10 years? The faded on-deck circles for various teams were auctioned for $2300 each. Again these were leftovers. The circles for the New York Mets or any other major team were not available.Stained glass panels with a traditional pattern in dark glass, some broken, went for $400 each.




The items that I thought were interesting went for an outrageous amount of $1300 each. These were the “astronaut” helmets used by the groundskeepers who raked the fields during the 7th inning stretch back in the 60’s. The buyer took all 9 that were available. There were sideline benches, some autographed posters, and some Astrotuff with the word “Astrodome” available. And some idiot paid $1500 for an ugly autographed locker made out of press board. It wasn’t much to brag about. Turnstiles went for $4200.




Besides the seats I wasn’t impressed with the auction.

									


				

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 Posted by johncoby				

			

			

		
			

				
There's no place for Dome

				October 23, 2013



				

					
I believe most of Harris County Commissioners are not interested in saving the Astrodome, but are interested in saving face by acting like they are interested in saving the Astrodome. As a perfect example take the horrible ad they created to encourage voters to vote for the $217 Million referendum to save the Astrodome from being demolished:


Insert Ad Here


Well shit! I can’t even find the damn commercial that some ill funded PAC, endorsed by Judge Ed Emmitt, produced. Hell if a blogger can’t find a video to make fun of, then it probably can’t be found by anyone wanting to make fun of it. It’s not that I haven’t seen it. I have, and it sucks. It relies on people’s sentimental value of the Dome and not much else especially what we will get for $217 Million!


Living in Clear Lake I have not seen commercials advocating for the Astrodome. I haven’t seen the Facebook ads. I haven’t seen a tweet calling to SAVE THE DOME! I haven’t seen the multi-colored door hanger. If the County Commissioners were really that interested in saving the Astrodome they would have done something substantial to do so. They didn’t.


And there is now no place for Dome. Mission accomplished. Face saved. Dome gone.






									


				

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