Bay Area Houston

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.

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.

In a nutshell. I’m working on why I would vote this way for each listed below. I have posted my reasoning for City Races.

Houston City Council
Mayor: John Whitmire
Controller: Dave Martin
District E: Martina Lemond Dixon
At Large 1: Conchita Reyes
At Large 2: Nick Hellyar
At Large 3: Richard Cantu
At Large 4: Leticia Plummer
At Large 5: Sallie Alcorn

Houston Propositions
Prop A: Yes
Prop B: No

CCISD Propositions:
1 Yes
2 Yes
3 Yes

Texas Constitutional Amendments:
1 No
2 Yes
3 No
4 Yes
5 Yes
6 Yes
7 No
8 Yes
9 Yes
10 No
11 Yes
12 Neutral
13 Yes
14 Yes

Let’s just jump in. Early voting starts tomorrow, Oct 23.

Mayor: Senator John Whitmire. I’m not happy that Whitmire received support from MAGAt Mattress Mac but we are at a time where the constant bickering needs to stop between various parts of the city. I believe Whitmire can make progress on that issue. He has the experience to do the job. He has a record of successfully reaching across the aisle to make progress, something many “Progressives” forget to do. Whitmire has championed progressive causes and has delivered throughout his career again something “Progressives” seem to have forgotten. I’m hoping his experience will result in a stronger police force while providing protection for all the citizens of Houston. I’m hoping for fair pay for our Firefighters. I’m also hoping that my recycling bin is picked up on time!

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has the experience to run the city. 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. Lee comes from a Congressional district that she can and has won by simply putting her name on the ballot. Houston is different, diverse, and unfortunately she will drive out the crazies to vote against her and will work against her if elected. If she doesn’t win I have to wonder if she would put her name on the ballot for re-election in her Congressional district. She would win.

Controller. Council Member Dave Martin. I’ve said my peace about the candidates. I initially thought the Deputy Controller, Shannon Nobles, was the best candidate and on paper she still is but she had an opportunity to screen with the Houston Chronicle but declined. It’s bothering enough for me to tip to Dave Martin. Martin has what it takes to be Controller. He has the formal education in accounting, the accounting background in the corporate world, and 8 years serving as Chair of the Budget Committee for the city of Houston. As I have said before, if you need someone to represent you in court hire a lawyer. If you need someone to manage your $6 Billion budget hire an accountant. Martin is an accountant. Chris Hollins is a lawyer. QED

District E (Clear Lake): Martina Lemond Dixon. She has the experience. She is well qualified to be a Council Member. She is a Republican but one that I believe everyone could work with in a non partisan way. She is by far the most qualified of the two running. Endorsed by the Houston Chronicle.

At Large 1: Conchita Shelly Reyes. An excellent candidate. Endorsed by the Houston Chronicle. Young, energetic, experienced. She is a great candidate running against other great candidates like Leah Wolfthal.

At Large 2: Nick Hellyar. There are some great candidates in this race including Holly Vilaseca, Marina Coryat and Danielle Bass but Nick, not only has a slew of endorsements, he has the applicable experience to be productive on day one. He is endorsed by the Chronicle.

At Large 3: Richard Cantu. Cantu has an excellent list of endorsements including Sheriff Gonzalez, Commissioners Garcia and Briones, Congresswoman Garcia, and many, many more. He has excellent experience with the City of Houston and is currently an elected official with the Harris County Department of Education. Endorsed by the Houston Chronicle.

At Large 4: Council Member Letitia Plummer. She is the incumbent. The Houston Chronicle has recommended another term. As do I.

At Large 5: Council Member Sallie Alcorn. The best candidate of the entire bunch of candidates running for At Large Positions. Endorsed by the Houston Chronicle because she is just an awesome City Council Member. By far one of the best!

So, to my 5 readers, go vote.

The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Richard Cantu for At-Large 3. From the Chronicle:

Perhaps it was coincidence that Richard Cantu, 54, sat in the center of the table at our screening with candidates for this race, but we found him to have the right mix of personal and professional experience while also seeming to speak to the largest groups of Houstonians.

Cantu is my favorite also. He has elected official experience as a Trustee with the Harris County Department of Education as well as applicable experience working with and in the City of Houston.