Leticia Ablaza
Leticia Gutierrez Ablaza was a deadline day filer for Houston City Council in District I. A resident of Glenbrook Valley, she became politically involved during the fight over the historic preservation ordinance in that neighborhood. She has a degree in finance and has worked in the financial services industry. Here’s our conversation:
You can find a list of all interviews for this cycle, plus other related information, on my 2011 Elections page.
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UT/Trib, Apr 25: Trump 49, Biden 44
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UT-Tyler/DMN, May 3: Trump 43, Biden 43
Emerson, May 13: Trump 47, Biden 41
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KTVT/Dixie, Aug 11: Trump 46, Clinton 35
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UT/TT, Nov 2013: Abbott 40, Davis 35, Glass 5
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Baselice Oct 30: Romney 54, Obama 38
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wow,I remember this lady,Leticia Gutierrez Ablaza at city council meetings fighting for the voters of district I-I KEPT SAYING SILENTLY TO MYSELF-“Man, what did council member james rodriquez do to piss this lady off”? for an incumbent its never good when a strong opponent whos active jumps in the ring to fight,canidate leticia gutierrez ablaza is certain to give former carol alvarados chief of staff cm james rod- a run for his campaign money-which by the way he isnt spending a whole lot of these days.
One interesting fact that was impressive was how she beat cm james rod-on the ballot placement-youll find leticia gutierrez ablaza first on the ballot.
leticia vs james district I
nov 8 2011
respectfully submitted joshua ben bullard
Mrs Ablaza has a habit, with her husband, of creating online Facebook groups and cartoon films bashing anyone they disagree with. Name-calling, obnoxious comments, etc. Not the quality of individual I would want serving as a council member.
The only reason she is running is because she is mad about the historic designation. This becomes pretty obvious when you listen and see about half of the interview dedicated to this issue. Her obvious inability to give a direct, intelligent answer to questions about the budget or anything else is a clue to her complete lack of knowledge or ability for this position. She has even been out campaigning in areas that were taken out of district I and put into district H, but apparently she can’t figure out what the current boundaries of the district are. Wow, just wow. How are you going to meet the needs of district I if you can’t even figure out what is, you know, district I? Her and her husband had a very radical political blog that they decided to pull down after she filed (at the last minute) to run. It had entries railing against the government wasting money on AIDS education and prevention, on social security basically softening people up so they don’t save for their own retirement, and even one titled “Tolerance and Diversity, Two Words That are Not Worth Your Freedom.” She is just another fringe candidate with thankfully no qualifications, no intelligent answers and thankfully, no real chance of winning.
Joshua, the order on the ballot is picked at random. How is that “impressive” when it was luck of the draw? @Voter, yes, I have seen some of those. If you go on her facebook page she talks about how fair she will treat those that have different viewpoints, yet the proof of how she acts is already well documented. When she goes before Hispanic organizations she acts like she is all about them, yet her now defunk blog had plenty of entries villifying undocumented immigrants, praising that Sheriff in Arizona that trots out in front of the town the immigrants he catches, just to humilate them. When she is in front of conservative Republicans she plays that role, but then doesn’t tell them she filed to run as a Democratic precinct chair, a position that would require her NOT to support any Republicans. It speaks volumes of her true character and ethics.
It’s not about what you know, its how much $$$$$$ you have that determines races.
I will have to concur with Hobby that Ms. Ablaza has not taken the time to study the boundaries of the district that she lives in. In fact, she was interviewed on Channel 13 news
recently as being a resident of the Heights, an important detail that she neglected to correct.
From what I have seen from this candidate, she is a fireball of passion. She truly cares about her community and is disgusted at the lack of action the current CM has taken to protect the people’s rights. I know she has fought for Responsible Historic Preservation, but her passion goes way beyond that as she is a true champion for making sure the best interest of the citizens are taken into consideration. She will bring honesty and integrity back to City Hall and I see her taking this seat from the incumbent.
Who cares where the boundries are she is obvioulsy concerned about the city as a whole. Wow, people will pick apart anything and lie about things to make them seem relevent. Go forth Mrs Ablaza…we hear you! We all know who the real cheaters are.
Some of the negative comments here about Leticia Ablaza are due entirely to the fact that she is not a professional politician. Ms. Ablaza is quite simply a passionate Houstonian who has experienced firsthand how the current representative of District I cares only about pleasing his masters at City Hall—regardless of what the people in his district or the city want.
The incumbent knew that 70% of the residents of Glenbrook Valley did not want to be in an historic district, but, because his overlords wanted it, he twisted arms on council to get the measure passed.
The incumbent knew that the people of Houston were opposed to the red light cameras, yet he voted to turn them back on.
The incumbent promised Houstonians that the new drainage fee (rain tax) would add about $5.00 to their water bill. Mine is $20.00. How about you? And where and to whom are those millions going, BTW?
The incumbent is embracing the Mayor’s Houston First initiative. What hypocrisy. After years of voting to award contracts to fat out-of-town vendors and contractors, he now supports Houston companies getting first crack at the remaining scraps. How loyal and generous of him.
The current representative has voted with the Mayor over 90% of the time. I guess it’s just coincidence that the needs and desires of District I aligned with Parker’s agenda so often.
District I is over 60% Hispanic, but the incumbent, surname notwithstanding, no habla Español.
No, Leticia Gutierrez Ablaza is far from a polished pro politico. Good! She’s dedicated, honest, and doesn’t answer to the entrenched political machine. Maybe it’s foolish, but she actually wants to represent her neighbors; not advance her career on their backs.
Mrs. Ablaza is a divisive and controversial figure in het own neighborhood. She tried to fight the historic district designation with lies, hyperbole and scare tactics and was unsuccessful. What she was successful at doing was creating resentments in a once unified neighborhood and pitted neighbor against neighbor. As of the chaos she created wss not bad enough, in an act of desperation she got in front of the news cameras and trashed her own neighborhood, saying it wasn’t anything special and was just a bunch of ranch houses. Her motivation was not what was in the best interests of her neighborhood but to conform to her extreme ideology. The ideology she and her husband share is so extreme and controversial that they took their blog “The Seething Republican” down to hide their extreme, unpopular views. Mrs.Ablaze is a divider, and would NOT be an effective city council member.
Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know that expecting a council candidate to know what the district boundaries are was setting the bar too high or irrelevant. Apparently it is too high for Leticia Ablaza. The only thing that is not relevant is Leticia Ablaza herself.
Fireball of passion? I suppose that’s one way to describe her behavior. Google her name. She’s left quite a trail of shrill hysterics.
If Ms Ablaza has passion, then why did she wait until the eleventh hour to file for the position? She still remains largely an unknown in other neighborhoods within District I outside of Glenbrook Valley, and we haven’t yet seen her spread her passion there. If she thinks winning the District I councilmember position is going to allow her to overturn Glenbrook Valley’s historic designation, she has another think coming.
So let me get this straight. The main reason given for voting for Mrs. Ablaza is that she is “passionate” and “cares about Houston as a whole?” If she is so passionate about her views, then why has the blog she helped build (http://seethingrepublican.blogspot.com) been taken down? Why is the self-proclaimed “Seething Republican” now attending meetings of the democratic groups and applying for leadership positions in the democratic party? Why is the woman who supported the adoption of Arizona-style anti-immigration laws now crowing about her roots as the daughter of migrant workers? Why is the woman who wrote that “tolerance” and “diversity” were not key issues now complaining that someone else “no hablo espanol?” Does this sound like someone who is being “dedicated” and “honest” to you?
If she cares so much about Houston as a whole, why is her main campaign issue, historic preservation, one that affects less than one half of one percent of households in the city? Why can’t she give educated answers on issues that affect all of Houston, like the city’s budget issues?
And can anyone name anything other than the recent historic designation fight she has participated in? I can’t remember a single time she has helped out in any community effort before the historic designation issue or since.
The problem isn’t that she is not a professional politician. The problem is that she is now trying to act like she is. Her flip-flopping makes it clear that she is only passionate about one thing now…getting Leticia Ablaza elected.
YEY!! I am so glad Leticia is running!
Let the haters hate girl! They are obviously on here…wow!!
We all know what the truth is. YEYEYEYYEEY!!
Wow! The political power structure robots seem quite rabid about the an “irrelevant” candidate, don’t they? They’re right to fear the unwashed brown masses finally getting someone to speak for them. Terrifying to think the ungrateful foreigners weren’t appeased by a futbol stadium.
Odd that the robots don’t defend the incumbent’s shameful, self-serving record. I guess it is pretty indefensible. Better to bash Ms. Ablaza’s sincerity.
MidMod… Did you just suggest that the main reason for supporting Mrs. Ablaza is because James Rodriguez is not Hispanic enough?!?! I thought Mrs. Ablaza hated the idea that “diversity” should decide public policy (or at least that is what she said before she started running for city council). She apparently didn’t think race was such a big deal when there was a picture of Barack Obama photoshopped to look like an African medicine man on her “Seething Republican” Facebook page.
By the way…I am no more a part of the “power structure” than you. Nor am I a robot (or at least I don’t think I am). The only reason you see people reacting so negatively to this candidate is that we have seen just how petty, bitter, divisive, unprofessional, and unprincipled she is. And, by the way, was anything I said untrue? The idea that she might win simply because her name comes first on a ballot, or because she is so willing to lie about her political beliefs, is just frightening.
If MidMod is Mrs. Ablaza herself, which I somewhat suspect from the well-developed talking points above, I can think of no better illustration of her politics than her decision to call an anonymous commentator, and one of her potential constituents, a racist “robot” for pointing out the candidate’s documented inconsistencies in just her first month as a political candidate.
Ah, MidMod! Now you are accusing your neighbors of racism! This is the environment Mrs. Ablaza has fostered and created, neighbor against neighbor! Robots, baseless racism accusations but no specifics! And wasnt it you who complained about Mr. Rodriguez not speaking espanol? Like that should matter! This is the environment Mrs. Ablaza has cultivated in Glenbrook valley, and her supporters are gleefully perpetuating it. Fear tactis (brown masses beware!) innuendo, no solutions! If this is what you want on city council, by all means vote for Mrs. Ablaza!
MidMod, you enjoy using that term brown masses. You have used it here and in the comments section of the Houston Press article. You may want to speak with your Latino neighbors (if they will speak with you) and find out what a foul and offensive term that is.
You’re right, of course. This is definitely not about race. It’s about Houstonians having their wishes ignored by their elected representative. That’s what you get when that representative depends upon the power elite for his future political ambitions. The people get kicked to the curb. But you’re right, the fact that most of District I is Hispanic and lower income is not the issue. It just makes them easier to ignore.
Still not seeing any defense of the incumbent’s record.
James Rodriguez has served District I well. There is a long list of involvement is projects and issues big and small. Like at the Navidad En El Barrio Gala that Leticia Ablaza crows about attending. Glad she showed up and mentioned them, but didn’t mention how they honored James at that event for all the money he had saved them and the big donations he had gotten them & other contributions. I am sure Kuff has an interview with James on here, try referring to it.
Mr. Rodriguez’s record speaks for itself and can be found on his website. There is also a link at the beginning of this page for an interview with him. This page is about Mrs. Ablaza. Another thing that will speak to Mr. Rodriguez’s record will be the endorsements he will receive. I don’t expect Mrs. Ablaza will pick up any except from the anti-preservationist group that is based outside her district.
Still no defense of the reprehensible things posted on the Ablaza’s blog, which they were so embarassed about that they decided to scrub it. Those of us who have been dealing with the Ablazas for years and have read with shock their postings won’t forget them though.
I bet James Rodriguez at least knows where District I is. Just sayin’.
Wow, looks like we found a few people that are scared of Leticia being a council member. Maybe it’s because, dare I say, will follow the will of the people.
Speaking of the Navidad event. I was in attendance and was thrilled to see Mrs. Ablaza there to show that there is an alternative. The incumbent didnt do anything extraordinary. He used is political position to get a reduced rate…wow, lets call a press conference for that. Addiditonally, the $2,500 he donated came from campaign funds, not his own money, so again where is the sincerity. Him attending one event and writing one check doesnt erase his lack of representing this district. His claim to fame of bringing Dynamo stadium to the area is overinflated, false and misleading. How about thanking Bellaire for fighting not to put the stadium there. Thats who delivered Dynamo stadium to District I, Bellaire, not James Rodriquez.
Her fight against Hist Designation is deeper than that issue, its about a local government that will pervert the political process to push individual agendas over the desireand will of the citizens.
And this big deal about her going to other districts is a desperate attempt to find a fault in her campaign. She is actually doing something more district council members should do, which is know thy neighbors so that when proposals come up for vote, she can make an informed decision based off of actually meeting and getting to know these other areas. So yes, lets continue to take away points form her for trying to know how each neighborhood affects the other.
Concerned, Mrs. Ablaza is not concerned with knowing what her neighbors think. Case in point – she and her husband held a misinformation meeting about the historic district designation at Park Place Elementary School. At that meeting a woman from a neighboring community spoke up for the historic designation. This so enraged Mrs. Ablaza that she hysterically started screaming over the women “We only want to hear from residents of Glenbrook Valley! We only want to hear from residents of Glenbrook Valley!” Her behavior was so shocking that her own husband had to give her hand signals to tone it down! What was even more surprising about this display was her two keynote speakers at this meeting were not from Glenbrook Valley, instead they were two realtors from the heights!!!! Mrs. Ablaza does not show the maturity or self control to be an effective voice for District I on city council.
No, the people that are scared of her becoming a council member are her neighbors who have been dealing with her petty, divisive, dishonest tactics for a long time and have read her and her husbands extreme right wing blog postings and know the true Leticia, not the chameleon she has tried to become to get elected. We also disapprove of her stirring up racial resentments when none of this has been about race or ethnicity.
@Concerned – she went wandering into other districts on purpose? No, she even posted the incorrect map on her facebook page. Nice try. She doesn’t know who is or isn’t in the district because she doesn’t care enough to know. All she cares about it is trying to roll back the historic designation for her own neighborhood. That is the only reason she is running. @District I Voter – I wouldn’t be too scared. Leticia Ablaza is a fringe candidate. All anyone has to do is listen to her interview, she doesn’t do well. She will get some votes because her name was first on the ballot, and some voters who want a woman in the office, and yes, some that might oppose historic districts, but at the end of the day,(on November 8th), she will lose by a wide margin.
Anyone who followed the fight over the historic designation in Glenbrook Valley and actually listened to what Mr. and Mrs. Ablaza said knows what the Ablazas are all about. For example, they told people, in writing, that if the designation were to be approved they could be fined $500.00 a day for making a simple repair to their house. Not true. Mrs. Ablaza said in public hearings that LULAC was investigating the manner in which the petitions supporting the designation were gathered. Not true. She also said publicly that the Inspector General was conducting an investigation. Not true. I could go on but I don’t have time to cover everything. Mrs. Ablaza was not “mistaken” about these things. She knew what she was saying was misleading at best. Surprisingly, so did many of her supporters. Overall, her supporters must either be unaware of these things, or they do know about them and they condone her tactics. Perhaps they want to be misled. I would hope that all of District 1 would want to be represented by someone who will not intentionally mislead them. Sadly, it appears that is not the case.
District I Voter got something right. Leticia is pretty! The rest is rubbish. I’m sure Kuff is happy to see all these postings on his blog though. Too bad they are from the same people who obviously have nothing better to do.
NPCHoustonian – there’s a typo in the second sentence of your 5:22 posting.
NPCHoustonian – If all that I said is rubbish, then why are so many of Mrs. Ablaza’s neighbors not supporting her? How unusual for a candidate to have so many people in their own neighborhood supporting the other guy! And please, tell me what happened to the blog “The Seething Republican?” Why did the Ablaza’s take that down? What did they write there that they are now running away from?
Don’t know. Don’t care. I believe she has a website. Email and ask her yourself.
I noticed on the main election page on this site James Rodriguez has picked up every major endorsement while the dividing diva Mrs. Ablaza hasn’t picked up any.
NPC probably doesn’t care because he probably doesn’t even live in District I. Bottom line Ms. Ablaza doesn’t have what it takes to be a city council person. She would be a disaster.
I beleive she has picked up a few endorsements, plus, she doesn’t have anyone in her pocket like mister man himself.
And for someone who has been fighting for her people to be heard, I’d say she has my vote. She needs to get in there and get rid of the corruption once and for all! Go ABLAZE!!!
For someone who is “not qualified” you girls sure do seem scared 😀
Actually, I live in I and I will be casting my vote for Leticia. I am voting for her because she isn’t part of the get along gang, a.k.a the East End Taliban. She also has no connections with engineering firms so I know she doesn’t have to do favors. As far as the Historical thing goes, I could care less. I’ve seen plenty of ranch homes, you can call them atomic but they are still boring.
I read some of the comments on the Houston Press article. Looks like she might have been on to something……
Ironically, all of the people who are against historic designation should probably not vote for Leticia. After all, there were two new districts that were going through last year, Glenbrook Valley and a district from the Heights. Normally, you would think the Heights district would get more support from the Council, the Houston Architectural and Historic Commission, and the planning committee. In reality, after Leticia was done yelling at everyone and alienating them (and after they found out about the documented and blatant lies she was telling to get people to oppose designation), Glenbrook Valley received a larger number of votes at every level.
This is your effective candidate for the will of the people? The one issue she cares about, and she actually made the situation worse for those who supported her.
(As a side-note, the 70% statistic above is waaaaaay off. There was something like 54% who signed in favor of designation. After Leticia’s misinformation campaign, something like 6% rescinded (actually I don’t think it was even that high). Even if we assume that everyone else was against designation, it is not 70%. Moreover, we can’t assume those who took no action didn’t support it. More likely, they either were indifferent or supported but didn’t want to answer their door for someone they didn’t recognize. The 70% statistic is like saying that the 60% of voters who don’t show up to an election really support one of the candidates. Perhaps Leticia will use the same math to say she actually won the election after she loses. Also, if basic geography is too much to ask of a candidate, is basic math too much to ask as well?)
I just checked the elections page, and I didn’t see any endorsements for Leticia. Speaks volumes.
Reading the posts by Leticia’s supporters, with statements like “unwashed brown masses,” “boring ranch houses,” and calling her detractors “girls” and the “East End Taliban” you can see what Voter meant by referring to her tactics of name calling and obnoxious comments in the second post of this comment thread. Considering Joe and Leticia’s extreme right wing politics, that does not come as a surprise to those who have been watching their antics over the past couple of years. One has to wonder if some of these posts are made by Joe and Leticia themselves.
Absolutely the Ablazas are posting on here. If they are looking to the comments section of the Houston Press for validation, that speaks volumes in and of itself. No “guy,” much as apparently Leticia wants to be scary & be able to intimidate those that don’t agree with her, she isn’t. She did, however, get an endorsement from a non-union electrician group that has maybe 50 or 60 members that supported a number of the no-name, no-chance also-ran candidates. Of their membership, who knows how many, if any, actually live in district I. But then again, council boundaries don’t matter do they?!
Oh and one more. Leticia Ablaza’s facebook page contains a post about an ugly comment that was supposedly made to her by someone she identifies as a “Dem precinct chair.” I guess the point of that was to villify Dem Precinct chairs, which is odd given she filed to run for one. Someone said something ugly to her about “going back to Mexico” or something like that. Terrible comment without question, but why repeat it on your facebook page? To what end? What was the point of that? You are running for public office, you have to expect some ugly, some bizarre, some totally inappropriate and some combination of the above type comments. The whole point of repeating it on her facebook page was just to “fire up” her base with divisive racial tactics. Why else put it there? It is a deliberatly designed to inflame racial tension. That sort of behavior should be beneath someone running for city council and she should have the poise and grace to rise above ridiculous comments instead of magnifying them to get a few cheap votes based on the race card. Apparently she lacks that poise. I suppose trying to be divisive with racially inflammatory remarks is all you can do when you lack the knowledge to discuss real issues. Leticia Ablaza’s biggest problem, whether it is fighting historic preservation or running for office, is not what other people say about her, what is & has been so damaging is what comes out of her own mouth.
@Hobby – It is too obvious that you are part of the current council member’s camp. No normal person posts so much about a no-name candidate. You should spend more time working on the campaign and leave the comments to us fed-up folks.
If by part of the camp, you mean a supporter, then yes. Maybe I should ask them to put me on the payroll? You’ve been on here just as much, so I guess you are obviously part of the Ablaza camp & should also be concentrating on working on the campaign, instead of wishing you could silence the opposition. But moving forward, just make sure when you are working on that campaign, your in district I and not H. Just sayin’.
Yes, leave the comments to the one issue supporters of the one issue candidate only! So much for the voice of the people being heard!
OMG! I saw the Ablaza’s on I-45 heading north today. Just thought I’d beat the stalkers on this page to it.
Quick! Somebody shut down the southbound lanes before they turn around!
She ran as dirty a campaign as she could, lies, exaggeration, racism and innuendo, yet she still could not get even 40% of the vote! The people have spoken, GO AWAY!
She won’t go away, she will just move on to her next epic failure.