Bay Area Houston

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.

Another great (and easy) endorsement from the Chronicle.

The Chronicle gives way too much credit to Plummer’s challengers. All three shouldn’t be running unless they intend to be serious about running. As I have said before: There are four candidates for At-Large 4. Only one is serious. Let’s weed out the non-contenders. Roy Morales. He runs for anything.
Andrew “Drew” Patterson. Can’t find anything about him. John Branch. Has raised little money or interest. The Chronicle highlighted their strong points even though they are not serious politicians. Bless their hearts.

From the Chronicle:

Plummer’s willingness to keep an open mind in a political climate where many elected leaders are content to operate in silos and echo chambers is a refreshing trait. She is both an independent advocate for the city and willing to be a check on the mayor. Plummer deserves a second term.    

I’ve had my doubts about the Houston Police Officers Union (HPOU) ever since their former President, Joey Gamaldi, made a fool out of himself after a botched raid. That raid resulted in criminal charges filed against the involved police, but their endorsements this year seems to be pretty good.

They have released their endorsements for the 2023 Houston City races. On top of the list are Senator Whitmire for Mayor and Dave Martin for Controller. I’m glad they are supporting Martina Lemond for District E, the Clear Lake area. The other guy in that race is just a right wing nut job.

Unlike other organizations that endorse, the HPOU will support their candidates with mailers and manpower. Personally I would have endorsed Cantu over Carter. Melanie Miles is a good candidate, although I would have endorsed Conchita Reyes. They also endorsed Mary Nan Huffman over Tony Buzbee. That in itself is a good sign! Here are their endorsements:

Mayor: John Whitmire

Controller: Dave Martin

At-Large 1: Melanie Miles

At-Large 2: Nick Hellyar

At-Large 3: Twila Carter

At-Large 4: Letitia Plummer

At-Large 5: Sallie Alcorn

District A: Amy Peck

District B: Tarsha Jackson

District C: Abbie Kamin

District D: Carolyn Evans-Shabazz

District E: Martina Lemond Dixon

District F: Tiffany Thomas

District G: Mary Nan Huffman

District H: Mario Castillo

District I: Joaquin Martinez

District J: Edward Pollard

District K: Martha Castex-Tatum

I couldn’t have said it better, although I tried. From the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board:

Flickinger, 60, who helps lead his family’s hydraulic equipment company, seems to view problems (and solutions) through more of a partisan lens than Dixon, and we worry he’d function more as an obstructionist rather than a constructive coalition builder. 

A vote for Dixon is a vote for a government where Democrats and Republicans can work together to improve citizens’ lives. Houston needs that. And so does the rest of America.

Seriously. I said it this way: “Unfortunately one candidate is an extreme right wing republican. He is self financing his campaign and endorsed by some of the most right wing of the area including CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen, the Texas GOP, Harris County Republican Party, and State Representative “Little Baby” Briscoe Cain. Much like Bowen, he will bring his extreme politics into city council.”

Personally I am just tired of the white wing lies, disruption, and stupidity of the far right candidates. We need someone who will put their political background in the background. Flickinger will not do that.

So far I am 1-0 with the Chronicles endorsements.

Council Member Sallie Alcorn is running.

The other two candidates have no idea what they are doing. Sallie does. She is one of the best Council Members on city council if not the best. Take a few minutes to review her website. She has served the City very well and should get another 4 years.

This is an easy one.

There are four candidates for At-Large 4. Only one is serious. Let’s weed out the non-contenders.
Roy Morales. He runs for anything.
Andrew “Drew” Patterson. Can’t find anything about him.
John Branch. Has raised little money or interest.

Letiticia Plummer. She is the incumbent in the race. I expected a decent challenger in the race, one with money or associated with the white wing of the Republican Party. They never showed up. This is easy. Plummer deserves another term.

There are a bunch of candidates. Let’s weed out the non-contenders without comment. The following individuals are not running serious campaigns.
Bernard “Bernardo” Amadi
Ethan Michelle Ganz
Richard Nguyen

Again I have my favorite but it’s a close one. I do not vote on a candidate because they will be the youngest candidate ever to win, or the first Mexican American, Black, Gay, Catholic, etc etc to win the office. If by chance there are two evenly qualified candidates I personally would choose the Mexican American, if one is running. One is running but it’s not close. Richard is by far the most qualified for the job.

Richard Cantu. Is my favorite. Cantu has 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 as an elected official with the Harris County Department of Education. His website says it well: “Richard is a 30 year public servant, having held management and executive level positions at the City of Houston (Parks and Recreation Department & Mayor’s Office), and Baker-Ripley (formerly Neighborhood Centers Inc.). In May of 2000, Richard was appointed Director of the Mayor’s Citizens’ Assistance Office (MCAO), where he served for six years under Mayor Lee P. Brown and Mayor Bill White. Joining the East Aldine Management District in 2008, and in his current role of Executive Director, Richard oversees one of the largest management district’s in Harris County.”

Donnell Cooper. My second choice is Donnell. Donnell received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award given to those with over 4000 hours of volunteer services. He serves as president for The Greater Houston Frontiers Club, a national nonprofit organization that has provided more than $2 million in local scholarships to students in Harris County. What separates Donnell from Cantu is Cantu’s experience in City government and as an elected official.

Twila Carter. Twila has served as Senior Vice President of Community Relations of the Houston Astros and Executive Director of the Astros Foundation. She has served as Vice Chair for the Texas Council on Family Violence and Family Time Crisis and Counseling Center. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the Houston Area Women’s Center and is a former Board Member of Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA).

Casey Curry. You might remember Casey as the meteorologist for a TV station in Houston. This is her first try running for office. She is up against some very talented and experienced candidates. She is just not ready for prime time, yet.

James Joseph. James has run for office a number of times. I’ve had doubts about his campaigns due to irregularities in his campaign finance reports. He has a great personal story but lacks in applicable experience for the office he is seeking especially running against other well qualified candidates. His campaign structure could also use some improvement.

Ericka McCrutcheon. Ericka is a business owner and is the President of a Kingwood civics club (HOA). Again, she lacks the experience with the City of Houston especially compared to others in the race.

Richard Cantu for Houston City Council At-Large 3.

Once again I have my favorite but Nick Hellyar has some great competition.

As with At-Large 1, there are some great candidates running for Houston City Council At-Large 2. Let’s weed out the non contenders.

Willie Davis. He tends to run for something, anything and loses. He hasn’t raised much money. He is endorsed by the Tea Party which tends to endorse far right wing candidates.

And the contenders:

Nick Hellyar. Nick is my personal favorite but he has some really talented people running against him. Nick has served as the District Director for a City Council Member and a State Representative. He has a great understanding of the budget and the issue affecting the city. He not only is a young candidate, he is a young candidate with applicable experience for the office he is seeking. It is a great combination.

Marina Angelica Coryat. As I have said, Nick has great competition. Marina served in the Solid Waste Management Department for the City of Houston. She is also very knowledgable about the budget and the issues affecting the city. She is trilingual. She has worked as Communications Director for Texas State Representative Senfronia Thompson. Like Nick she has excellent applicable experience.

Danielle Keys Bess. Bess has a great resume for the job. She doesn’t have experience working with the city like Hellyar and Coryat but could be a good Council Member nevertheless. She is well educated, a business owner and has ties (I believe in her role as a communications expert) with major political campaigns.

Holly Flynn Vilaseca. I like Holly but she is up against a couple of heavyweights with respect to experience in City Council. She is endorsed by some really great elected officials like Congresswoman Garcia, Commissioner Garcia, and Commissioner Briones to name just a few. (And they are heavyweights in the political arena) Holly’s expertise is in education and has served on the City of Houston Mayor’s Hispanic Advisory Board for Annise Parker and Sylvester Turner and has been featured in Latino Leaders Magazine. Would she be effective on Council? I have no doubts at all.

Obes Nwabara. Obes has run for the Harris County Department of Education and is now running for City Council. I think Obes is just not ready for prime time especially when he is up against some incredibly talented individuals. Obes has served as treasurer for a 2019 city council campaign, and being the campaign manager for a Harris County Judge. He might be one to watch in the future.

And that is At-Large 2.

I have a favorite but there is good competition in the race.

The City of Houston has 11 City Council Members representing specific areas of the city. There are 5 At Large Council Members and if I can find out what their specific jobs are I will update this post. Unlike the other Council Members they represent the city as a whole, but what their specific duties are I can’t tell you. I’ll look into it.

There are 6 candidates running for At-Large 1 position. Of the 6 Kendal Baker and Eriq C. Green are not running serious campaigns.

Julian Ramirez. Is a former prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office. He is supported by a number of very right wing, Trump loving, “conservatives”. I use that term lightly. Nothing is conservative about Trump or those who support him. Nevertheless he has qualifications for the office. Would he bring that divisive conservatism into City Council? This is a non partisan race but we do not need someone that will bring their partisan politics into city council.

Melanie Miles. Melanie has raised a significant amount of money, although she has donated $50,000 from her own pocket. She has a good resume for the job as a small business owner and an attorney.

Leah Wolfthal. Another great candidate for the office. Young and experienced in the non profit arena as Executive Director of the Center for Urban Transformation in Houston.

Conchita Reyes. Another young candidate with excellent experience for the job. Here is a snippet from her website: “Conchita paid her own way through college by working for the Houston City Controller and now Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia. As a result, she was given the distinct honor of 100 team members of the Advance of the White House under the Clinton – Gore administration. Prior to building her own firm, Conchita was a fiscal administrator for the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Mir Fox & Rodriguez P.C. CPA Firm.

Personally I favor Reyes, but she has good competition.