The Chron correctly endorses Sean Hammerle for County Commissioner in Precinct 4, though they fail to fully explore all the reasons why he deserves it.
Sean Hammerle
We believe Hammerle, an LSU graduate who makes his living as a consultant for nonprofit entities, is better suited than his Democratic opponent to make an effective challenge to a Republican contestant in the general election.
The Garland native, who lives in northwest Houston, is the son of two public school principals and has an impressive record of public service in the Houston community.
Hammerle says his priority would be to bring more transparency to the Commissioners Court, and through that effort, to the whole of county government.
Both Democratic primary candidates believe that a good start would be made by changing the way commissioners’ budgets are handled. Under the current system, the budgets are divvied up with the unspoken understanding that “I won’t mess with yours if you don’t mess with mine,” Hammerle and opponent Dave Wilson agree.
We fully concur. The current system is built to create personal fiefdoms, and it has succeeded – unfortunately, mostly to the detriment of Harris County taxpayers and voters.
The crusade to change this system promised by these two candidates is one that we believe should continue, regardless of their fate at the polls in November.
This is all well and good, but the Chron somehow forgot to mention that Wilson is a homophobic hatemeister who doesn’t share the values of Democratic voters and who does not deserve the vote of any true Democrat. It’s nice that he happens to believe that county government needs to be made more transparent, but this isn’t a race between equally acceptable candidates and it shouldn’t be treated as such. The reason the Chron overlooks why Sean Hammerle, whose interview is here, is better suited to make an effective challenge to the Republican nominee – almost certainly current Commissioner Jack Cagle, whom the Chron also endorsed – is because he’s the only Democrat in the race. He’s a better candidate for other reasons as well and as mentioned by the Chron, but this one is critical and cannot be ignored.