Via Stace, here are the six finalists to succeed HCDE Trustee Jim Henley, who is resigning his position as of when a replacement is chosen: Davetta Daniels, who ran for HISD Trustee against Paula Harris in 2007 and 2011 Sue Deigaard, who has been active in matters relating to public education funding Louis Evans, UH-D [...]
Posts Tagged ‘HCDE’
Statement from Jim Henley
On Sunday afternoon, I received the following statement from Jim Henley, who submitted his resignation as HCDE Trustee earlier this year: I submitted my resignation as Trustee of The Harris County Department of Education in January of 2013. The Texas Constitution requires that I remain in office until the HCDE Board of Trustees appoints my [...]
HCDE Trustee Jim Henley to resign
Got this in my inbox late Friday afternoon: Trustee Jim Henley (Democrat at-large) submitted his resignation from the Board earlier this year. The Harris County Department of Education Board will have an open application process to fill the remainder of his term that goes until January 2015. The HCDE advertisement and FAQs regarding filling a [...]
Should Travis County DA Lehmberg resign?
Perspectives on that are colored by politics right now. While Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg sought to put her weekend drunken driving arrest behind her, debate over her political future reached the State Capitol on Monday, where lawmakers weighed in on whether she should resign and how a replacement might be chosen. Some officials [...]
Watch the county’s business
I wholeheartedly approve of this. Meetings of the Harris County Commissioners Court and the governing boards of the Port of Houston Authority, the Harris Health System and the Harris County Department of Education soon could be streamed live online. County Judge Ed Emmett on Tuesday [asked] the court for permission to find a vendor to [...]
HCDE hires Eversole to lobby for them
From the Things That Make Me Do A Facepalm department: The HCDE has hired Jerry Eversole as a lobbyist. Yeah, that Jerry Eversole. Eversole was taciturn in discussing his work Thursday, saying department of education officials approached him. His contract will pay $45,000, plus expenses, between Dec. 1, 2012, and Aug. 31, and calls for [...]
Riddle wants to abolish the HCDE
From Big Jolly: State Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-150) filed HB945 [last] week. If enacted, it would abolish the Harris County Department of Education, transferring control of the assets to the Harris County Commissioners Court, and giving the commissioners one year to liquidate them. The brains behind this, if you can call them that, is former [...]
January finance reports for Harris County offices
For the most part, it’s way too early to start thinking about the 2014 Harris County elections – we have a legislative session and a city election cycle to get through first – but since January 15 is a reporting deadline for county officeholders, I figure I may as well have a peek at who [...]
All the interviews for 2012
As we begin early voting for the November election, here are all the interviews I conducted for candidates who are on the ballot as well as for the referenda. These include interviews that were done for the primary as well as the ones done after the primary. I hope you found them useful. Senate: Paul [...]
Endorsement watch: HCDE and District E
The Chron endorses three Democrats for the Harris County Department of Education. At-Large Position 3: Democratic challenger Diane Trautman would bring expertise and professionalism to the job. As a professor of education at Stephen F. Austin State University, she taught courses in ethics and leadership – areas that would be useful on the county board, [...]
Overview of the HCDE races
The Chron has an overview of the races for the Harris County Department of Education, and in describing the one At Large race between incumbent Michael Wolfe and Democratic challenger Diane Trautman they do the useful service of describing what the HCDE does. The department supports the county’s 26 independent school districts. It operates a [...]
30 Day finance reports, Harris County candidates
Here’s a look at the 30 day campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates. All reports can be found by going to the Harris County Clerk campaign finance reports page. Candidate Office Raised Spent Loans Cash ========================================================== Garcia Sheriff 192,670 120,957 0 388,197 Guthrie Sheriff 158,700 48,633 171,000 98,152 Alessi Sheriff 1,019 2,007 700 1,719 [...]
HCDE election lawsuit dismissed
The lineup for the fall elections is now officially set. The disputed election results for the trustee runoff between two Democratic candidates will stand after a federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Harris County Department of Education after a flawed primary in May. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal released a 16-page [...]
After school programs
I see a lot of merit in this. After-school programs prevent crime, Councilman C.O. Bradford said, so some of them should be paid for by the police. “This sounds strange to hear a gun-packing, badge-toting, 24-year cop talking about this,” said Bradford, Houston’s former police chief, but he proposes hiring 20 fewer police officers in [...]
Fall interview season begins tomorrow
I know that we just finished the primary runoffs, but we’re also now more than halfway through August, so it’s time to start doing interviews with candidates for the fall. I’ll be up candid, I don’t know exactly how many interviews I plan to do. For the most part, I don’t anticipate re-interviewing candidates that [...]
Who wants to sue over the HCDE election?
Depends who you ask. At a court hearing July 30, the county, both political parties and an attorney for [runoff winner Erica] Lee all said they wanted the department of education’s suit dismissed (the school board wanted it to continue). First Assistant County Attorney Terry O’Rourke said a dismissal would be the most “efficient” thing [...]
Now you see those votes, now you don’t
Tuesday was not a good day for the County Clerk. Zerick Guinn went to bed late Tuesday, believing he had won the Democratic nomination for Precinct 2 constable by a comfortable margin. By morning, he had lost the race by three votes. An incorrect vote tally in that race, posted for more than two and [...]
2012 Democratic primary runoffs
All state results here. Best news of the night was Paul Sadler‘s easy win. Can we please raise some money for this guy? Congressional results: James Cargas in CD07, Pete Gallego in CD23, Rose Meza Harrison in CD27, Marc Veasey in CD33, and Filemon Vela in CD34. I’m delighted that three quality members of the [...]
Election night returns
For your convenience: Statewide Democratic results Looks good for Paul Sadler. Going to be a long night in CDs 23 and 33. Statewide Republican results Ted Cruz has a modest early lead. Wackjob John Devine is leading Supreme Court Justice David Medina. Steve Stockman is leading in CD36, and Donna Campbell is crushing Jeff Wentworth. [...]
HCDE runoff will be held
So ruled a judge yesterday in the ongoing lawsuit filed by the HCDE to void the Democratic primary in Precinct 1 Position 6. The Harris County Department of Education told a federal judge Monday it wants to proceed with the lawsuit as a growing number of parties sought to dismiss the case. Sarah Langlois, general [...]
No settlement deal for HCDE election screwup
Just as well, because this wasn’t a good deal. A proposed settlement hashed out Thursday evening would have seen the Republican race – a blowout victory – stand, and the Democratic race – for which a runoff is under way – voided. In that race, the November ballot would list all three Democrats and the [...]
Early runoff voting in perspective
Here are four numbers for your consideration: Year Total votes =================== 2006 13,726 2008 9,670 2010 15,225 2012 14,778 The first three numbers are the complete final turnout figures for the last three Democratic primary runoffs in Harris County. The fourth number is the turnout for early voting through four days for this year’s Democratic [...]
July campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates
You know the drill by now. Office Candidate Raised Spent Cash Loans ============================================================ Sheriff A Garcia 47,025 41,900 357,818 0 Sheriff L Guthrie 70,176 75,646 33,075 157,000 Sheriff C Pittman 11,309 11,566 5,217 24,000 DA M Anderson 73,888 60,980 33,371 0 DA L Oliver 0 150 0 0 County Atty V Ryan 56,571 33,047 145,606 [...]
HCDE sues for new election
From the inbox: The Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) today filed suit in federal court seeking new elections for Trustees whose district boundaries were wrong in the May 29th primary. HCDE officials learned earlier this week that outdated boundaries were used in the primary election for Trustees in Positions 4 and 6. The boundaries [...]
Boundary screwup could affect HCDE race
This is just freakin’ great. Because of a mix-up with the new district boundaries, not everyone who was qualified to vote in a school trustee race was able to and some voters who weren’t supposed to, were allowed to cast a ballot. And the implications of all this may be far reaching. There are a [...]
Endorsement watch: Better late than never
The Chron finally gets around to making an endorsement in the HCDE race for Precinct 1, Position 6. If you’ve never heard of the Harris County Board of Education, don’t feel bad. Even among people who care about school boards, this one maintains a low profile. We’re pleased, though, that the sleepy board has attracted [...]
Erica Lee: How to Keep a First Grader Off Death Row
The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. It is the beginning of the school year and excitement is in the air. Children are looking for their classmates in the hall. Parents are tucking in shoelaces and zipping backpacks. Teachers are taking one last [...]
Democratic results, Harris County
The good: – Lane Lewis won a full term as HCDP Chair by a 55-45 margin. If you heard a whizzing noise this evening, it was the bullet we all dodged in this race. – Sheriff Adrian Garcia easily won renomination with over 70% of the vote. – State Reps. Garnet Coleman and Borris Miles [...]
Endorsement watch: The list so far
The Chron printed their list of primary endorsements so far yesterday. It’s more impressive for what they haven’t done yet as early voting starts. After a couple of years of getting most of their business done before actual voters started weighing in, this year was back to bad old habits of taking their sweet time. [...]
Recap of all my interviews so far this cycle
To say the least, there was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning of the year when I was planning out my interview schedule for the primary election. There were no maps for the State House, State Senate, and Congress. We didn’t know if the primary would take place in April, May, June, or later, [...]
Non-filers in Harris County races
As of today, the following candidates for county offices in Harris County have not filed campaign finance reports with the County Clerk: Candidates for Sheriff Charles Massey El (D) Guy Clark (R, formerly D) Daniel Lemkuil (R) Candidates for HCDE Jarvis Johnson (D) Silvia Mintz (D) Timothy Rose (R) Tom Cruz (R) Candidates for County [...]
Interview with Reagan Flowers
Also running for Harris County Department of Education, Position 6, Precinct 1 is Reagan Flowers, who holds a PhD in Education Leadership from the Union Institute and University. She has been a science teacher, dean of students, and School Improvement Facilitator at different HISD campuses in her career, and today she runs an education support [...]
Interview with Erica Lee
Erica Lee is one of three candidates running for Harris County Department of Education, Position 6, Precinct 1 – yes, that would be the Roy Morales seat. She’s got a pretty impressive resume for the position, having been a classroom teacher and a budget analyst, as well as having a master’s in public policy. And [...]
Interview with Diane Trautman
Also running for Harris County Department of Education, Position 3 At Large is Diane Trautman, who was the Democratic candidate for Tax Assessor in the last two cycles. Trautman has had a long career in education, as a teacher, principal, and professor at Sam Houston State, as well as a background in finance. Here’s what [...]