04.27.09
Posted in Georgetown, Hutto, Leander, Local Elections, Round Rock, Uncategorized, Williamson County at 11:16 am by wcnews
With the start of early voting for the local elections across Williamson county, Eye On Williamson is releases our recommendations for certain local races.
Georgetown City Council District 1:
Patty Eason
Hutto Mayor
Steven “Bear” Salfelder
Hutto City Council Place 1
Tina Slayton
Hutto City Council Place 5
Jason Wirth
Leander Mayor
Vic Villarreal
Leander City Council Place 2
Carl Wake
LISD Place 2
Nacole Thompson
Round Rock City Council Place 5
John Moman
Round Rock ISD Place 2
Chad Chadwell
Round Rock ISD Place 7
Antonio Champion
Click here for expanded commentary and recommendations, in these and other races local races throughout Williamson County.
Permalink
Posted in 2010 Primary, Around The State, Election 2010, Good Stuff at 10:20 am by wcnews
Governor or Attorney General a possibility.
EOW stated it’s preference for an Earle run at the beginning of the year, Ronnie Earle should run for Governor of Texas.
Of course, he’s got tremendous support and credibility with the Democratic base in Texas. He’d be a great counter on the ballot to either Perry or Hutchinson, and will not shrink in the face of their attacks. He’s also well positioned to take advantage of the GOP’s corruption. And he’d make the “wing-nut” heads spin in the Texas GOP
BOR has the link to this article in the AAS over the weekend, Former Travis DA says he’s been approached about a statewide run.
Kuff had this to say, Statewide race for Earle?
Earle is an appealing candidate in many ways. He’s well known around the state, which is something you can’t say for many Texas Dems. He’d have no trouble firing up the base, thanks to his pursuit of Tom DeLay. Even better, the DeLay brand is sullied enough that any resentment of this case would likely be limited for the most part to folks who wouldn’t vote for any Democrat anyway. The eventual and long-awaited prosecutions of DeLay and his cronies would keep Earle’s name in the news even with him gone from the Travis County DA’s office. If everyone gets acquitted it would be a negative for him, but I think the odds are pretty good of at least some convictions. Earle’s reputation is that of a straight-shooter, which would play very nicely with any kind of reform message. All in all, there’s a lot to like about this.
This is great news and we really hope he’ll decide to run statewide. Ronnie Earle would be a great candidate for Texas and Texas Democrats in either race.
Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:00 am by wcnews
Early voting starts today. Here is the full list of times, dates and locations, (Printable [.pdf] here). There’s also a full list of Election Day, (May 9, 2009), polling places at the Williamson County Elections web site.
FULL-TIME LOCATIONS and TIMES:
Extended Hours Location and times:
Round Rock ISD Performing Arts Center, 5800 McNeil Dr., Austin
- Mon April 27 thru Sat May 2 open 7am to 7pm
- Mon May 4 and Tues May 5 open 7am to 7pm
- No Sunday voting
PART-TIME LOCATION: open 7am to 7pm
Sun City Social Center, 2 Texas Dr., Georgetown Mon-Tues May 4-5
MOBILE TEMPORARY LOCATIONS: open 10am to 6pm
- Thrall VFD, 201 S. Main St., Thrall Mon April 27
- Granger City Hall, 214 E. Davilla, Granger Tues April 28
- Seton Medical Center Williamson,
201 Seton Parkway, Round Rock Thurs April 30
- Jarrell Memorial Park, 1651 CR 305, Jarrell Fri-Sat May 1-2
- Liberty Hill City Hall, 2801 RR 1869, Liberty Hill Mon-Tues May 4-5
Go here to view a sample ballot. Get out and vote.
Permalink
Posted in Around The State, Commentary at 7:47 am by wcnews
It is Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance’s weekly blog round up.
The Senate this past week passed a bill to reform the state’s unemployment insurance laws in a way that would allow us to accept up to $600 million in stimulus funds, despite Governor Perry’s resistance. Off the Kuff has the details.
YaGottaLoveIt of South Texas Chisme says Voter ID is needed to eliminate ghost voting in the Texas House of Representatives. Why don’t the Republicans try it out there first?
Neil at Texas Liberal offers up information on Swine Flu and provides tips on proper handwashing.
AAA-Fund Blog has audio from the recent national call with Ramey Ko and Hubert Vo about voting rights in Texas and around the nation.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson has the latest on transportation issues in the lege, This week’s transportation action in the legislature.
This week, McBlogger took some time out his busy schedule to do something unusual, criticize someone. Specifically, Karl Rove who thinks teabaggin’ is just awesome and the beginning of the Republican Party’s return to electoral relevance. McBlogger, as you can imagine, has a different opinion.
John Culberson nosed out Joe Barton for the first “Douchebag of the Week” award presented by Brains and Eggs. It was a close contest with Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, and the Texas House Republicans all competing fiercely for the coveted prize. Better luck next week, jerks.
BossKitty at TruthHugger sees big problems addressing the pandemic hysteria because workers cannot tolerate risk staying home sick. Because Health Insurance has become such an exclusive club any medical emergency, like a contagious outbreak, can become a pandemic crisis. FLU PANDEMIC – Stay Home or Go To Work Sick?
Todd Hill at Burnt Orange Report writes about how TX Senator John Cornyn admits that the KBH seat is winnable for Democrats. This revelation from Big Bad John comes after we learn that Bill White and John Sharp had the largest 1Q fundraising totals for any non-incumbent Senate candidate in the country.
Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw gathers the shameful record of Republican buffoonery into a sad and funny report he calls ” Texas Republican Jackasses Continue to Bring Shame to Texas “. You don’t want to miss this one. With videos!
Vince at Capitol Annex notes that Congressman Joe Barton (R-Ennis) got dissed by Al Gore on global warming.
YaGottaLoveIt of South Texas Chisme says Voter ID is needed to
eliminate ghost voting in the Texas House of Representatives. Why don’t the Republicans try it out there first?
Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw gathers the shameful record of Republican buffoonery into a sad and funny report he calls “Texas Republican Jackasses Continue to Bring Shame to Texas “. You don’t want to miss thisone. With videos!
Permalink
04.26.09
Posted in Leander, Local Elections, Uncategorized, Williamson County at 2:14 pm by wcnews
Via the Hill Country News, Leander city candidates promote their vision of the future.
Battle lines were drawn on Wednesday, at the Leander City Council Election Forum sponsored by the Greater Leander Chamber of Commerce and the Hill Country News. Growth, the Transit Oriented Development (TOD), bond debt and water rates were among the hot topics as incumbents touted their accomplishments and opponents offered their challenges. Candidates answered questions from a three-member panel and from the audience.
Taking part in the forum were incumbent Mayor John Cowman and his challengers Victor Villarreal and Iris Davis; Place 1 city council candidates Mark Kronkosky and Andrea Navarrette, who are competing for a seat Villarreal vacated in order to run for mayor; Place 2 incumbent Kirsten Lynch and challenger Carl Wake; Place 4 incumbent Michell Cantwell and challengers Cathy Broun and Matt Fish; Place 6 incumbent David Siebold and challengers Josh Payne and David Steele.
Challengers Rob Lederman in Place 1 and Don Oxman in Place 6, were absent.
Click the article link to read excerpts from the candidates in each race. Early voting starts tomorrow.
Permalink
04.25.09
Posted in Local Elections, Uncategorized, Williamson County at 10:50 am by wcnews
Here is the full list of times, dates and locations, (Printable [.pdf] here). There’s also a full list of Election Day, (May 9, 2009), polling places at the Williamson County Elections web site.
FULL-TIME LOCATIONS and TIMES:
Extended Hours Location and times:
Round Rock ISD Performing Arts Center, 5800 McNeil Dr., Austin
- Mon April 27 thru Sat May 2 open 7am to 7pm
- Mon May 4 and Tues May 5 open 7am to 7pm
- No Sunday voting
PART-TIME LOCATION: open 7am to 7pm
Sun City Social Center, 2 Texas Dr., Georgetown Mon-Tues May 4-5
MOBILE TEMPORARY LOCATIONS: open 10am to 6pm
- Thrall VFD, 201 S. Main St., Thrall Mon April 27
- Granger City Hall, 214 E. Davilla, Granger Tues April 28
- Seton Medical Center Williamson,
201 Seton Parkway, Round Rock Thurs April 30
- Jarrell Memorial Park, 1651 CR 305, Jarrell Fri-Sat May 1-2
- Liberty Hill City Hall, 2801 RR 1869, Liberty Hill Mon-Tues May 4-5
Permalink
04.24.09
Posted in 81st Legislature, Around The State, Commentary, Road Issues, Taxes, The Lege, Transportation, Uncategorized at 10:50 am by wcnews
This article, Rep. Truitt plans to reduce number of fees in transit-funding bill, points out the problems with this piece of legislation. EOW’s main issue with this is that it likely won’t fix much, if anything. The bill is facing a likely veto, and likely won’t have to votes or time to be overridden. If this bill did pass it would probably be watered down so much that it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Rep. Vicki Truitt is planning a substantial overhaul in a major transportation funding bill, saying she plans to reduce the number of fees and tax increases that could be presented to voters in countywide elections to fund local road and rail projects.
“We don’t want this to be known as the tax-everything-that-moves bill,” the Keller Republican said in outlining her plans at a meeting of the Tarrant County delegation in the House.
The legislation, considered a top priority among North Texas political leaders, proposes a menu of six financing sources that officials can pick from to put on the ballot, including a fuels tax increase and fees on annual vehicle registrations, driver’s licenses, emissions, public parking and vehicles previously registered in other states.
At least one fee or a combination of several would be placed on a countywide ballot to finance specific projects. The fee and tax increases have emerged as a major target of opponents to the bill, although supporters stress that they would not go into effect without voter approval.
Truitt, House sponsor of the bill, said that she will strip the proposed parking fee from the bill and is likely to trim some other fees as well. She said it’s “evident that the number of options in the bill .?.?. makes people uncomfortable.”
[...]
Asked whether it’s possible that the bill could die in his committee, [Rep. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso)] said, “I wouldn’t want to say something that drastic.” The committee’s next priority is legislation overhauling the Texas Department of Transportation, Pickett said. After that, he said, “we’ll address what’s pending.”
[...]
“I think that six [fee options] has been overwhelming, and we need to consider something less than that,” she said.
Truitt said she will also make changes in a proposed ballot selection committee to ensure representation from all parts of a county. Truitt’s bill does not include a feature added by the Senate to ease objections from Gov. Rick Perry — tying enactment of the legislation to passage of a constitutional amendment to prohibit the diversion of gas tax revenue to purposes other than transportation.
Truitt said she has not met with Perry to discuss the bill but plans to do so.
From the article here are the fees/taxes as they’re proposed now.
Proposed Fees: A new resident impact fee of up to $250 on vehicles previously registered out of state; a mobility improvement fee of up to $60 added to annual vehicle registration renewals (current fees range from $51 to $69 in Tarrant County); an increase of up to $24 on driver’s license purchases and renewals (currently $24 for typical drivers and $60 for commercial); a gasoline tax increase of 5 to 10 cents per gallon (current state tax is 20 cents); up to $15 in emissions fees (now $12.50); and a $2 per-day fee on parking at publicly owned lots.
Even if this bill was to pass it would be November 2010, almost 18 months, before any of these increases would even be on a ballot. And then what, if they don’t pass? Obviously we need money for transportation sooner, not later. The neglect has gone on too long, obviously we need a statewide solution.
It’s been the Texas GOP’s profile since taking power in Texas to rely on fee increases instead of “raising taxes”, and also attempting to push the responsibility for any tax increase onto the voters. Essentially abdicating any responsibility for a tax increase. That’s why we have to suffer these half-measures and tinkering instead of our elected representatives taking responsibility, using their power, and doing what’s needed.
Permalink
04.23.09
Posted in 81st Legislature, Around The State, Bad Government Republicans, Commentary, Elections, SD 5, Uncategorized at 3:07 pm by wcnews
New law would make close races, with a clear winner, a tie, and force another election.
As usual, when the Texas GOP gets worried about it’s future, instead of running better candidates, they want to change the rules. Case in point this post from Capitol Annex, Ogden Runoff Bill A Potential GOP Power Grab.
A bill by State Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) before the Senate State Affairs Committee today could potentially constitute the biggest Republican power-grab since the mid-decade redistricting debacle of 2003 and dwarf voter identification bills in terms of the number of voters disenfranchised.
The legislation, SB 1025, would result in any election in which the first and second place candidates are separated by one percent of the total vote or less being treated as a tie.
Under the bill, a second election would have to be held between the two top candidates to determine the winner.
In an effort to try and save their majorities GOP state Sen. Steve Ogden want’s to force more elections, and spend more money, because his parties candidates can’t win in some races with more than two candidates.
Just looking back at last year’s election results, at least three races, HD 11 (Hopson v. Bryan), HD 101 (Miklos v. Anderson), HD 52 (Maldonado v. Daniel) would have required re-do elections or were right on the cusp of requiring re-do elections.
It’s not clear why this is needed. The voters went to the polls, one candidate got the most votes, and there was a winner. Why the need for another vote where a much lower percentage of the population will show up to vote? It’s as if too much choice in our elections is a problem for Ogden. It also appears the Senate Finance Chair has set his fiscal conservatism aside on this issue – see the fiscal note. The cost is estimated to be $500,000 per election statewide, but will be much more of a burden at the local level.
The change in calculation, in and of itself, would have no fiscal impact; however, if the change in calculation were to lead to more tied contests, and therefore more recounts or more runoff elections, the local government entity would incur additional election-related costs. Election costs vary by local government entity, depending on the number of precincts and the number of registered voters
More on the cost from Capitol Annex:
A couple of multi-county district elections — specifically the Chief Justice post for the 14th and another seat on the 1st Court of Appeals were also very close to having fallen under the guidelines set forth in Ogden’s bill. Had those seats resulted in Ogden Re-Dos, ten counties would have been forced to hold countywide do-over elections. Countywide elections aren’t cheap. By the time the cost of printing ballots, poll workers, polling places, utilities, etc. are tacked on, counties could be spending just as much as they did on the original election for a do-over simply because Republicans are unhappy that they are losing more and more races by narrow margins in districts that they used to win big.
Finally, because the bill (which is very poorly written and crafted) is silent on the matter of party primaries, it could very well have significant implications not just for county treasuries, but also for the state treasury as well, because the state funds primary elections. Imagine how large a fiscal note this bill should have it it will (as we believe it does) result in Ogden Re-Dos on every GOP or Democratic primary election in which someone wins by one percent or less.
Heck, imagine what happens when every county in Texas is forced to conduct a statewide re-do because a statewide elected official wins by less than one percent.
Not only does this have to do with the GOP’s waning popularity in Texas but also the losses they’ve had in races that include Libertarians, (see here an here). This is a needles waste of taxpayer money, plain and simple.
Permalink
Posted in 81st Legislature, Commentary, HD-52, Privatization, Road Issues, The Lege, Transportation at 10:16 am by wcnews
It took 17 years to figure it out, but a statewide solution is still the best solution.
On Tuesday HB 11, a bill that would once and for all end Rick Perry’s dream of a Trans-Texas Corridor, got a hearing in the House Transportation Committee. ACRE Texas has this report, BILL to KILL the TTC gets hearing.
A landmark event occurred [Tuesday April 21st]. Rep. Leibowitz’s (D-San Antonio) HB 11 to totally kill the Trans-Texas Corridor was heard in the House Transportation Committee. HB 11 may not make it past this point this session, but after fighting the Corridor for years, it is very encouraging to me, and an important symbol of how far we have come, to witness this bill given a hearing and to hear every single witness testify in favor of this bill, with no one who cared or dared to publicly oppose the Corridor-killing bill.
[...]
Krusee creates Corridor, Maldonado tries to kill it
An ironic twist–we must observe that our previous HD 52 representative Mike Krusee was the author and prime mover behind HB 3588 that created the Corridor in the 2003 session. Our current Representative Diana Maldonado is a coauthor of HB 11 to destroy the Corridor.
Testimony in favor of HB 11
The hearing room was almost full, and Chairman Pickett announced that overflow capacity was available in another room. Many testified in favor of HB 11 and many more handed in testimony forms supporting HB 11. Staffers kept running out of witness forms and had to go out to get more.
Leading off the testimony was the president of the Texas Farm Bureau, Kenneth Dierschke, who, representing 425,000 member families, testified in favor of HB 11.
Representing other groups around the state were Terri Hall of TURF; Hank Gilbert of TURF and former Democratic nominee for Ag Commissioner; Beki Halpin, Fix 290; Margaret Green, Blackland Coalition; Bruce Burton, Texans Against Tolls; and citizens representing themselves and their families. Mary Anderson. Texans Against Tolls, did not speak publicly, but was all around the hearing room, supplying information and helping others get their witness forms. Citizens from all over the state testified to the committee and handed in witness forms.
About his HB 11 to kill the Corridor and HB 13 to prohibit the conversion of free lanes to tolled lanes, Rep. Leibowitz observed, “Nobody testified against them.” He said that HB 11 “takes TTC off the books. TTC is sucking the very life blood out of the heart and soul of Texas. We need to drive a stake through its heart—if it has a heart.”
HB 11 was left pending as was HB 13, a Bill [that] would kill [the] next wave of Austin toll roads.
First of all, House Bill 13 may never go anywhere. It had a hearing Tuesday before the House Transportation Committee and was left pending.
But just in case it moves, it’s worth knowing that the legislation would effectively kill what used to be called the Phase 2 toll road plan. The bill would allow a road to become a toll road only if it was open as a toll road in September 2005, or if it was shown as a toll road the first time it appeared on long-range transportation plan by a metropolitan planning organization.
While it’s unlikely that either of these bills will get through the lege, it’s interesting to note how much the transportation conversation has changed in the last several years. Especially these comments from House Transportation Committee chair Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) and committee member Vicki Truitt (R-Keller) when the SB 855, the local option bill, was debated on Tuesday, Tying a bow on the local-option transportation bill.
As expected, after nearly seven hours of testimony, House Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Pickett left the bill pending in his committee. In doing so, he said cryptically, “We do need a plan. We need a statewide plan.”
I’ll need to find out what that means. Does he intend to lay the Truitt bill on the table indefinitely in favor of one that covers more than just metro areas?
Truitt’s close was almost apologetic, and she choked up at one point in saying she wanted to help leave something that improves the quality of life for her grandkids. Toward the end, and after Pickett’s remarks, she said, “If you don’t mind, I’m going to keep working on this bill.”
Here’s more from Pickett regarding a statewide option, Chairman Pickett on local-option bill.
I asked him about his statements last night about needing a “statewide” approach to transportation funding, as opposed to HB 9′s method of local-option elections in only metro areas.
“That [local funding] would not be my preferred approach, I’d have to tell you,” he said.
But will he allow the bill to proceed out of committee if members are satisfied after amending it? In other words, would he bottle it up?
“If I really felt there are the votes, it wouldn’t be me holding it up,” he said. “But I would need to feel confident that is the case.”
So what’s the alternative to local-option funding? I remember last session, when Rep. Fred Hill of Richardson proposed a statewide gas tax increase. It got two votes — his and then-transportation chairman Mike Krusee of Austin.
“Two years is a long time ago,” Pickett said. Today, “I’m not sure members would say no to a gas tax.”
As for the timing of moving ahead with HB 9, Pickett said “a bill of this magnitude” has to be approached with care. Ahead of it in line is the sunset bill on TxDOT, and “then we’ll get back to that [HB 9].”
A statewide solution is what should have been proposed by our state leaders from the beginning. That transportation funding in Texas has been neglected to the point that it’s causing members of the legislature to “choke up”, is just more evidence that the neglect has gone on too long. Gov. Rick Perry has always framed the TTC, and transportation as a whole, as economic development that will be good for the entire state of Texas. That’s why it makes sense that we have a statewide solution. It took 17 years of neglect and foolishness but were finally right back to where we started.
Permalink
Posted in 81st Legislature, Around The State, Education, Public Schools, SBOE, Uncategorized at 8:13 am by wcnews
Yesterday State Board of Education (SBOE) Chairman Don McLeroy finally went before the Senate for his confirmation. McLeroy has been serving in an “interim” capacity since he was appointed after the previous legislative session, via UT’s Texas Politics – Executive Branch Appointments:
If a vacancy occurs while the Legislature is not in session (and it regularly meets for less than six months every two years), appointees can serve in the position until the Senate convenes and takes up confirmations. So a governor may make an interim appointment even knowing the nominee will later be rejected. The nominee gets to serve for a limited period of time and perhaps can even use the opportunity to convince enough senators that he or she should keep the post.
(Quick note. This is a process that should be fixed – we shouldn’t let people serve for up to up to 18 months without Senate confirmation. Not that we need another Constitutional Amendment in Texas, but this certainly needs an adjustment. It certainly seems possible that the Texas Senate could do confirmation hearings in the interim.)
I recommend checking out the liveblog of the hearing from the Texas Freedom Network. They also have a wrap up of the post that asks the question, Is McLeroy’s Confirmation in Trouble? It takes two-thirds of the Senate to confirm an appointee, and even this GOP Senate can’t change that rule, at least not yet.
It looks like Sen. Eliot Shapliegh (D-El Paso) and Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) did most of the grilling of McLeroy. Shapleigh, after the hearing, sent out a press release [.pdf] that stated:
“Right now, Texas needs strong education leadership, particularly in math and science to make us competitive in the 21st Century… Don McLeroy is not qualified to serve as chairman of such an important board as the State Board of Education (SBOE). His views on creationism do not square with science; his views on reading do not square with evidence; his views on the future of education in Texas do not square with a diverse state seeking education excellence.”
The press release includes some of McLeroy’s more striking statements on how he views the future of education curriculum in Texas. It would be best for public education in Texas if there was different leadership at the SBOE.
Permalink
« Previous Page — � Previous entries « Previous Page · Next Page » Next entries � — Next Page »