I’ve now seen four of these signs near where I live, one on I-10 westbound just before the Taylor exit, two on 20th Street between Studewood and Heights, and this one on Durham just south of Washington.
Vote who for what?
I have three questions:
1. Which Michael Williams are we talking about? The Railroad Commissioner? The HCCS Trustee, who had considered running for Council in 2007? The guy who ran for HISD Trustee last year? Some other Michael Williams? The name is not exactly a unique identifier.
2. What office is he running for? Given the odd-numbered year, a City Council seat seems most likely, and since I’m pretty sure the two locations where I’ve seen his signs are in different districts, I’d say we’re talking an At Large seat. But trustees for HISD and HCCS are on the ballot, too, and maybe there’s something else I’m not thinking of. HCCS Trustee Michael Williams appears to be up for re-election next year, but none of these signs are in his district. That strikes me as a bit of a flaw.
Maybe this isn’t about a political campaign. Maybe it’s more of a personal branding thing. Maybe we’ll see more signs with further information soon. Who knows?
3. Assuming it is in fact about a political campaign, why in the world would you be campaigning for a 2011 race when the 2010 election is still five months out? If the answer is “To generate some early buzz”, then I guess mission accomplished. If only I knew who was getting the buzz.
There are also a couple of these signs in the Third Ward near UH, but I haven’t seen any west of 288.
Did the small print on the sign indicate anything? Last week I called the City of Houston Sign Administration to report the large Michael Williams bandit sign nailed to the trees at I-10 @ Taylor. They said they are going to remove it.
I had assumed from the state flag that this was RR commissioner Micchael Williams using campaign funds to build name ID for an expected special US senate contest. But the logo is not consistent with his other printed materials. I guess we will have to read the fine print of the disclaimer and trace through his campaign treasurer.
The sign lists the campaign treasurer as Christopher Lopez. And a Christopher Lopez is the treasurer for the Houston Community College District IV Trustee. That Williams’s January 15, 2010, campaign financial report does not list an office sought.
It is this Michael Williams: http://www.hccs.edu/hccs/board-of-trustees-site/trustee-profiles/dr-michael-p-williams
If the signs are exclusively out of his district, he is using the interest in this even-year statewide election to spark interest in his 2011 campaign (almost certainly a low-interest, low-turnout election) for another office than what he holds currently. Layer some district maps over where his signs are located…
Regardless of which office thei MW is seeking he or his campaign works are jackasses for putting these signs all over the city in public right-of-ways 18 months before an election. Too bad his campaign won’t be fined for the blight.
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