I predicted that the Chron would endorse CM Kubosh, so I can’t say that I’m surprised that they endorsed him. That said, their logic is always a sight to behold.
CM Michael Kubosh
At a City Hall filled with lawyers, urban planners and technocrats, Kubosh stands out as an elected official who tries to put the will of the people first. Often that means opposing referenda-driven politics, such as red-light cameras, the homeless feeding ordinance and the Houston equal rights amendment (HERO). But sometimes it just means dancing for the crowd.
Kubosh’s circus show might as well be a metaphor for his two years on City Council. He’s more jolly Santa Claus than nimble elf, but the 64-year-old bailbondsman has been able to deftly maneuver his way through Houston’s political beats like few other elected officials can. These skills were on full display during the passage of HERO. During the weeks of debate, Kubosh met with members of Houston’s LGBT community at town hall meetings, talking to them and listening to their concerns. At Council meetings, Kubosh routinely tried to assure HERO opponents that their voices were being heard. When he met with the Chronicle editorial board, he emphasized that his vote against the ordinance and his continued opposition was about procedure and unintended consequences, not hatred or fear of the LGBT community.
“This was all being done in the back rooms during the Easter holiday by the Greater Houston Partnership and with the lawyers from the city at the mayor’s bidding, and only two council members, I understand, were involved,” Kubosh said. However, this process argument hasn’t stopped him from propagating false, fear-mongering rhetoric against the non-discrimination ordinance. If HERO were the only issue on the agenda for City Council’s next term, Kubosh’s actions would be reason enough to boot him from office. Yet the days will pass, Houstonians will vote on HERO, and a new council will have to confront all the usual problems of potholes, pensions and public safety. On those important issues, none of the challengers for this seat have made a convincing case that they would do a better job than Kubosh.
[…]
In this race, Kubosh faces two serious challengers. Doug Peterson, 64, served as press agent for the astronaut corps at the Johnson Space Center and John LaRue, 30, is a local attorney who practices family law. Peterson, who lives in Clear Lake, makes a compelling argument about the need for an at-large councilman who can represent suburban issues, but that isn’t reason enough to boot an incumbent.
Whatever. I personally think that “propagating false, fear-mongering rhetoric” against a population that has every reason to feel hated and feared by it is a pretty big strike against someone, but maybe that’s just me. I said in my guess-the-endorsements post that outside of HERO Kubosh had done nothing to disqualify himself, and I’d even say that he’s done a good job otherwise. It’s a question of how much HERO – not just the vote, but the “propagating false, fear-mongering rhetoric” – means to you.
“propagating false, fear-mongering rhetoric” just more b.s. plain and simple.
That is what is being spread by the pro-hero side. Against hero then you are a bigot. Obviously we disagree.
We’ve become way too concerned with passing laws because of some ‘Minority Report’-ish PreCog analysis that says at some point in the future this crime will occur, and way too concerned with passing ordinances because of some ‘Minority Report’-ish PreCog analysis that says at some point in the future this discrimination will occur.
Paul (or maybe I should say Felix) should wear their label of bigot with pride, as that bigot label comes from people that are intolerant bullies who believe that they and only they can be right.
One cannot belief that life begins at conception, without those bullies calling them bigots. One cannot belief that marriage is between a man and a woman without those kind of bullies labeling those that believe as such as bigots.
Those bullies throw out names, but very seldom do they resort to logic or science to prove their point. I won’t even mention religion because those bullies would rather believe that there are five parallel universes where we exist but are slightly different in each universe. They can’t even think that a supreme being may be a scientist and is conducting experiments, that is how close their minds are.
Kubosh took $5,000 from Steve Hotze. That’s everything you need to know about him right there.
Noel put a time line on it. That was last election. He has taken nothing from him this election. Also that is the second time you have posted that got anything better?
Manuel, you only get called a bigot when you start trying to force your inane views on others. If you are opposed to same sex marriage, but only apply that belief to yourself, you are not a bigot. If you try to apply that belief to others in an effort to deprive them of the benefits you have, you are a bigot. Especially when you use the same language that was used to deprive blacks and other minorities of their civil rights.
As for science and logic, that’s hilarious, since those concepts never appear in your posts.
How do you know that your religion is correct? You don’t, that’s something you take on faith. It is the height of arrogance to claim that your religion is the one true way, because you cannot know that for certain. Feel free to believe what you like, but don’t try to tell others their beliefs are wrong.
Rosswith all due respect. The whole point of Christianity is that there is only one way to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ. If you do not believe that then you are not a Christian.
Paul, I understand that. However, for a Christian to tell someone of another religion that their beliefs are wrong is unacceptable in my book. Your beliefs are yours, and yours alone. You have no right, ever, to tell me that my belief in the flying spaghetti monster isn’t valid. By the same token, it would be wrong of me to tell you that the flying spaghetti monster is the only way to enlightenment and everlasting life (examples used are for illustration only, and bear no relation to reality). You might believe that Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims are wrong, but that’s a matter of faith, not truth. You might take great satisfaction in telling an Atheist that they are going to hell, but it really just makes you a rude asshole trying to force your view on someone else whose beliefs are just as valid as yours.
I thought Billy Graham said Jesus Christ was NOT the only way ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MZWug3QAvs
Kubosh, the council member, is endorsed by the Hotze mailer this year, 2015, which must count as an in-kind contribution and support this cycle.
The Chronicle endorsed him also. If he got money from Hotze he would disclose it. If he got an in-kind contribution he would show it. Mike couldn’t stop Hotze from endorsing him any more then he could stop the Chronicle.
What is my religion Ross? If you use the generic term of Christian you would be correct.
Science tells us that homosexuality is not based on genes. Science suggests that it is acquired post birth. Those are facts based on science. Logic suggests that they should be able to control their desire for sex with same sex people. If not then why incarcerate pedophiles? They can’t control that urge either.
Ross Buddhism is not really a religion.
Ross would you be surprised to learn that Hindus do not see what they practice as religion?
You forgot to mention the Jewish faith which place Jesus in the same position as the Muslims, a prophet.
When one defines the terms to suit their needs one can determine what a bigot is. Nice try Ross, but no cigars.
Bigot = a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions. If the shoe fits wear it.
On October 14 Michael Kubosh, Doug Peterson, John Larue and Myself will be debating on Houston Media Source.
What is Michael Kubosh’s stance on the following issues because I have yet to hear or see anything.
Taxpayer Bill of Rights (revenue cap)
Tax Increment Financing
Lowering the voting age to 16 for local elections
Ban the Box
City Wide Pre K
Sanctuary City
Municipal ID
Online Voter Registration
Participatory Budgeting
Term Limits
Paid Sick Leave
Pensions (Fire, Municipal and Police)
Zero Waste
Kubosh also…
1. ran as a democrat in 2006, then as a tea partier in 2013
2. Supported HERO or at least implied he would, then voted against it
3. Supported local control of pensions in 2013, now he supports keeping our promise.
These are three major city issues, and to flip flop on them is a pretty big deal.
I have found that those screaming the loudest about homosexuals could be battling an internal fight. We live in a World where it is OK to be your true authentic self.
Hey guys I have another bigot for you hear…I wonder if he got a donation from Hotze.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdqfv9aGbgM&feature=youtu.be
No one is suggesting that Lance Berkman, or Michael Kubosh, or Jack Christie, or Bill Frazer or any other politician endorsed by, allied with, or funded by Dr. Steven Hotze necessarily share his extreme views, for example that “Kids will be encouraged to practice sodomy in kindergarten” as a result of the recent Supreme Court decision on marriage equality.
My sense is that Hotze’s backing will not at the end of the day be a net benefit to any candidate in the City of Houston balloting, and in a couple of cases might harm a candidate enough to make a difference.
Manuel, you keep using the word “science” to support your bizarre fear of homosexuals, yet you provide no links, no real backup, nothing.
No one is asking you to actually support the “homosexual lifestyle”, whatever that is. All that’s being asked of you is to stay out of their lives, and not try to make them live the life you think they ought to live. However, you continue to try and deprive gays of the very same protections you enjoy. Why? How does it harm you for gays to be protected from discrimination? How does it harm you for gays to be able to enter into a secular contract? If you want to worry about sin, worry about your own. The sins of others are none of your business, it’s not up to you to stop them or tell them they are wrong.
Ross I have provided links in the past, but are you lazy you can’t look it up? Are is it that you are incapable of doing it?
Why don’t you provide the links that prove that I am wrong?
Protections I enjoy, you have not been a “Mexican” in south Texas or even Houston during the 60s and early 70s.
It does not harm me for homosexuals to be treated the same, it does not harm me for heterosexual “White” men to be treated the same. I am stating that homosexuals or lesbians have not experience discrimination to the same extent that “Black” Americans have faced. There way too many recent immigrants that have never seen what I have seen. Exception being Muslims who are getting hammered at the present, well since 9/11.
Ross let us agree that you hate “Illegals” and I don’t agree with the homosexual lifestyle. We are all sinners.
If homosexuals and lesbians think that the dignity they are seeking comes with laws, they will find out that dignity comes from us, not from anybody else.
Joseph, perhaps some of Mike’s stances were impacted by being made aware of facts? What you suggest as flip flopping could also be looked at favorably as having an open mind but not an empty head? Otherwise, what credible party suggests 16 year old residents should vote, banning businesses, or wasting money on schemes like “zero waste”? I might not always agree with Kubosh and/or his brothers but he seems capable of grasping complex topics and working towards reasonable compromises more than hardliners.
Mainstream, I think you’re right that a Hotze endorsement is a double edges sword though any candidate is free to disassociate themselves from his extremist views to clear up any doubts. I haven’t seen many willing to do that so they get the consequences.
Manuel, the bulk of peer reviewed studies for decades support the concept of sexual identity as being genetic (though I’ll be the first to admit true science, not the pseudo-science all too frequently referred to, has barely scratched the surface of answering all the questions we have). I haven’t seen any of these links you purport to have posted, perhaps the posts were tied up in limbo waiting for approval as posts I’ve made with links were and then they were overlooked. Regardless of the nature vs nurture stance, requiring someone “hide” their sexual identity to appease others doesn’t seem very supportable (for the most part) and the suggestion there is some specific level of discrimination meriting government intervention versus a complete hands off approach seems like a slippery slope.
Ross, given his argument relies on the fact that he feels more discriminated against because he is “ugly, short, and looks like a Mexican” (a direct quote from an earlier post of his or at least a very close paraphrase as I’m not going to look it up), you aren’t going to win him over with the idea that we should all be treated equally. Education tends to yield better results than laws though both in conjunction speed things up considerably.
Regarding any endorsement or funding from Hotze, that’s the “mark of the beast” as far as I’m concerned, and that candidate will receive no further consideration, or vote, from me.
F.y.I. kuffner did not post the complete endorsement. The last paragraph that he did not post sheds light on the reason the chronicle made the endorsement. I realize its not my blog and he can post whatever he wants but there can be no doubt the post misses what I think is the best stuff.
Steve Houston,
Most states allow a 17 year old to vote in primaries.
Cities in maryland alliw a 16 year old to vote.
20 countries allow a 16 year old to vote.
In the state of TX a 16 year old can work full time, pay taxes and can be tried as an adult.
The city of austin and dallas have zero waste plans.
Who knows maybe a year old is smarter than helena brown and michael kubosh.
Banning business?
Joseph, I’m not interested in what foreign countries allow in terms of voting, but my experience with teenagers over the years tells me they would be terrible. If the best example you can come up with is Maryland, it appears most of the country agrees with me. The closest I would agree on that would be if some emancipated minor were enrolled full time in college or a full time active member of the armed forces.
In my experience with “going green” initiatives, and I recycle, compost, and minimize my own waste much more than most, cost a great deal of money that benefits a handful of vendors while not truly generating zero waste, even Austin’s plan supposed to take another 25+ years to achieve. That said, when there is money to support lower waste, recycling, and such on a large scale, by all means go ahead but Houston simply does not have the funds and the sketchy payback periods for every such initiative, especially when talking about that last 15 to 20% of various “wastes”, just do not support it.
As far as Helena, who I thought was a nutjob way out of her league on Council, she might not have been a genius but she was not completely stupid. Kubosh, on the other hand, has always shown enough political savvy and intelligence running his business, that his intelligence is proven. Not agreeing with everything he stands for myself, I don’t need to vilify him or lay spurious claim to his lack of intelligence.
On the “ban the box” comment, I mistakenly took that as one of those crazy attempts to attack Walmart, the phrase similar to what was used in various locales to prevent their stores from locating in communities. That doesn’t mean I think we should subsidize them but I took it as an anti-store comment in line with your other far, far left of center stances. In the case of “banning the box” to demand employers stop asking employment candidates about criminal histories, I think it is silly at best, dangerous at worst. Those who cultivate a clean record deserve the benefit of such while those who have shown to be less trustworthy deserve the full benefit of their actions as well.
note: excuse the typos in previous post I was typing from my iphone.
Steve, that is your opinion.
Everyone I have talked to likes that I am comparing Houston to other cities, states and countries.
We are an international city, that speaks over 80 languages.
Facts you ignored:
16 year old can work full time
Pay taxes
Can be tried as adults
A 17 year old can vote in state presidential primaries.
Some say it was the reason obama won Iowa.
Furthermore, other cities are also exploring letting a 16 year old vote in municipal elections.
If the best you can come up with is “i dont want to look at what other us cities, states or countries are doing”.
Then houston has bigger problems.
We are the 4th largest, soon to be the 3rd largest city in the USA.
Let’s start acting like it.
Cities regardless of size are about 5-10 years ahead of us when it comes to voter turn out.
I’m sorry but Brown and Kubosh were petri dish tea partiers who’s only goal was furthering their own professional career and defunct tea party ideology.
What are the other “far, far left” stances?
Because these ideas are what other US cities, states and countries are doing and have been doing for years, if not decades.
We are the 3rd largest city in the USA and a top location for fortune 500 companies.
It’s time for Houston to join the 21st century.
Letting 16 year olds vote strikes me as stupid. They lack the experience and wisdom to make a rational decision.
I disagree with the Kubosh brothers on a couple of issues, HERO and red light cameras come to mind, but they are rational. Helena Brown was bat poop crazy, and I always had the suspicion she had someone’s hand in her back operating the levers.
Ross,
Some could say adults lack experience and wisdom to make rational discussions.
Everyone keeps forgetting that the Kubosh brothers…
1. cost taxpayers, easily $5 million because of the early termination fee with the red light cameras.
2. cost HPD $10 million
3. Anywhere between $25 to $50 million of indirect costs with staffing, administration and legal fees to remove red light cameras.
If people are worried that younger voters tend to vote democrat or independent, then that is a different discussion.
Still, no one has touched on the fact that….
1. more than 20 states let a 17 year old vote in presidential primaries
2. 20+ other countries let a 16 year old vote
3. A 16 year old can work full time
4. A 16 year old pays taxes
5. A 16 year old can be tried as an adult and be in solitary confinement in the state of texas
They should either be allowed to vote in city elections OR… not be allowed to work full time, pay taxes and not tried as an adult in court.
What exactly is Kubosh’s plan for the next 4 years?
Nobody knows!
What exactly is Kubosh’s platform?
Nobody knows!
All these tea partiers talk about feeding the homeless.
Anyone who knows anything about the homeless knows they need social services and housing.
Not just a mcdonalds cheeseburger.
Ross, agreed in full.
Joseph, what I post IS my opinion just as what you post is YOUR opinion. With everyone else here, I wouldn’t have to point that out. I’ll let that soak in as you read between the lines where I’m headed with that. lol
I wasn’t ignoring facts, merely pointing out that the emotional and intellectual maturity of most 16 year olds just doesn’t cut it for me. And I didn’t say it was wrong to look at what other cities or states were doing, only foreign countries. As far as other cities, the best you could come up with was some cities in Maryland, then you expanded your viewpoint to include 17 year olds, still a bad idea but one year less bad than your previous assertion. You raised no reasons why including kids in voting was a good idea, only how a handful of teens were certified to be tried as criminals, can pay taxes, or work full time.
I suggest that if you want to allow teens to vote on that basis, perhaps they should have to complete, at their expense mind you, a certification program as extensive as that of the courts to try a teen as an adult. As far as taxes are concerned, kids buying most items for sale “pay taxes” too but it doesn’t make sense to allow 5 year olds to vote either. And 14 year olds can work 40 hours a week, why discriminate? The connection between allowing more unqualified people to vote and getting registered voters to vote you made was curious at best; kids would likely prove even less likely to vote than adults, if your goal is to increase voting percentages, give people a real choice in candidates and make it easier for existing voters to vote.
But you seem to have an inferiority complex in terms of needing to compare Houston to other places. By all means, if you find those places such ideal havens of right-mindedness, maybe it would make more sense for you to move to one of them rather than impose conditions on the rest of us that don’t think younger voters make sense, or find fault with just about everything else? Those are thinly veiled liberal notions by the way, the proven fact that younger voters tend to vote more liberally studied many times. No thanks, Houston can lead the way in different directions than others to become a “leader” as you suggest, the amount in taxes or hours worked by those under 18 small enough that they’d do better focusing on their education than trying to be adults.
But as you seem fixated on Kubosh, let me address your original points as I have been led to believe:
1) “ran as a democrat in 2006, then as a tea partier in 2013”
Nobody said he was perfect but as Houston doesn’t have party designation in elections, I think you’re overstating his 2013 candidacy.
2) “Supported HERO or at least implied he would, then voted against it”
The devil is in the details and he apparently doesn’t like the ordinance as written. That doesn’t make him evil nor does it make him an idiot not as smart as “a year old” child.
3. Supported local control of pensions in 2013, now he supports keeping our promise.
Most that look at local pensions and city spending closely, truly look at them mind you, seem to eventually come to the same conclusion. I haven’t seen much evidence of Kubosh supporting a “keep our promise” stance (it should be labeled “keep our contracts” since they were and remain contractual agreements, not “promises”) but he acknowledged the city had a spending problem awhile back, joining others in not liking the locally derived HFD pension agreement. When the pension system in the best shape is the one the city has the least control over, it is reasonable to draw the conclusion that giving additional control is a bad idea (a thought shared by many conservatives from other parts of Texas I’m told). A city that makes $5.1 billion a year yet spends hundreds of millions on pet projects while streets, pensions, and other NEEDS suffer, probably needs to be reeled back in line. If you like comparing to other cities so much, by all means lets compare Houston to other cities of similar size to determine what pensions should look like since we are the nationwide leader in cutting pensions. 🙂
Joseph, you state,
“Everyone keeps forgetting that the Kubosh brothers…
1. cost taxpayers, easily $5 million because of the early termination fee with the red light cameras.”
Now, I know a little about government contracting, and even though I am not too smart, government contracts typically have a termination for convenience clause, so I wonder why there was a fee for early termination, or why the city had to pay out the full cost of the contract? Should have been a clause that said they could terminate with 30 days notice and owe the costs and obligations that the vendor couldn’t cancel.
Jason,
It was a vote. We didn’t cost the tax payers any money. They voted not to have Red Light Cameras.
That too. The taxpayers did vote for ending the red light cameras, but I still wonder why the contract had no termination for convenience clause–no matter who ended the program.
Hi Paul,
I will ask, again.
What is michael kubosh’s platform and plan for the next four years?
Hi Steve,
Who are you to judge who is or isnt qualified to vote?
How about we let voters decide?
No one is imposing anything.
It’s called a democracy.
There are no thinly veiled liberal or conservative notions of inferiority or superiority.
It’s called critical thinking and constructive analysis.
Houston has success stories and challenges just like any other story.
I’m still wondering what you think the other parts of my platform are tinfoil hat, liberal conspiracy theories.
Steve,
I do not post my opinion.
I present facts and let the viters decide for themselves.
There are no pet projects.
There is no spending problem.
It’s called inflation, cost of living raises, growing city, debt servicing.
All of these can be solved by repealing TABOR, reforming TIF’s and public banking.
Steve,
Kubosh made a “a deal is deal” comment on his league of women voters interview
Paul,
That is a cop out if i ever heard one.
“We only started, funded and led the anti red light camera campaign”
But the $5 million isnt our fault….
wow
Steve houston,
I dont think you fully understand “ban the box”
Please see my website for more information
Joseph, how is the $5 million the fault of the Kubosh brothers? They didn’t negotiate the contract, they just followed the process to repeal an ordinance, and were successful.
I think the red light cameras are a good idea, but the contracts are awful. No private entity should ever get an unlimited cut of the revenues generated by their products. They City should have bought the cameras outright.
Okay, here goes:
“Cities regardless of size are about 5-10 years ahead of us when it comes to voter turn out.”
I vote and have for many years, extolling the virtues of voting to friend and foe alike but not voting is a valid choice as well, for whatever reason. The suggestion that other cities are somehow “ahead of us” and then applying some weird time reference, suggests otherwise. When pressed, many people prove they lack the requisite understanding of issues, candidate stances, or basic knowledge to make an informed vote so infusing the existing system with more voters likely to be even worse just seems like a failure in the making. But ultimately, by what metric are you measuring other large cities being “ahead of us” as though there were some magical scale everyone agrees upon to score such things?
16 Year Olds voting: Pick a number and stick with it. You began by asking what was his stance on “Lowering the voting age to 16 for local elections”, later throwing in that some places allow for 17 year olds to vote in certain elections. Exactly how practices involving 17 year olds impacts 16 year olds voting was never addressed, you just lumped them in together as though they were the same thing. If you are really advocating that 17 year olds should be able to vote, just say it, but I doubt you’ll find much support to change state law for either, a city councilman not in a position to influence the matter in any case. I point out again that 14 and 15 year olds also “pay taxes” and can work up to 48 hours in a week (federal laws notwithstanding), also being held accountable for obeying the law (can be certified as adults) so why exclude them from your scheme when you clearly believe that lowering the age makes sense?
Ban the Box: I already admitted my initial response was based on thinking you referred to something else given the laundry list of left leaning policy matters but figured out what you meant after (it’s greatly facilitate this discussion if you read my responses). Some on the far left believe that businesses and government should not include a “box” for job applicants to indicate whether they have committed crimes, been to prison, etc. Given the way employers are going to be later held accountable for their employees in civil and criminal courts, not to mention insurance companies, customers, and such, why should they not inquire up front about a criminal history? The deeper into an application a position killing fact comes up, the more expensive the process becomes. Just because other places have started trying it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea, the same as other proposals made.
Homeless: I get it, you want to supply them with an endless stream of government largess to cure their dilemma. That’s swell until you realize not all of them want saving nor the strings attached by society. Admittedly, I have some personal knowledge of the dilemma and it served as a great motivator decades ago, others I met under a similar predicament wanting their freedom without strings.
Paid Sick Leave: All that will do is have the employer subtract five days worth of pay from a yearly salary and lower the hourly wage.
City Wide Pre-K: Best left to the school districts as us homeowners and businesses pay a great deal to ISD’s who are empowered to provide such services. Given how much we pay, they should have enough for neonatal education too but why split hairs?
TIRZs: As a long time advocate against them altogether, predicting most of the excesses we are now seeing happen with regularity, you’ll get no argument from me they need to be ended.
Participatory Budgeting: If it includes existing “slush funds”, no thanks. Participate at the ballot box and participate throughout the year in front of city council and the budget hearings.
Pensions: A contract is a contract. Currently Houston pensions are much lower on average than other big cities so if you are big on comparing where we rank to other cities, here is an issue we can agree with.
“There are no pet projects. There is no spending problem.”
This is false. That bus depot on Post Oak is a pet project. Expanding Memorial Park with between $650 million to over $1.5 billion when only a fairly small number of residents use the park regularly is a “pet project”. Building skateboard parks outside the city limits in the county that is flush with money is a pet project. Building a fancy crime lab when the scandal free county lab had significant excess capacity was a “pet project”. Adding two Council seats when census population numbers did not justify it was a “pet project”. Allowing Krogers and WalMart (and Costco, etc) to shuffle existing employees from one location to another to reap the benefits of a 380 agreement are pet projects/corporate handouts. Just about every week in front of city council, scores of agenda items are declared “an emergency” to skip the red tape and bypass laws to spend money so you have a hard sell to convince those that pay attention otherwise.
Red Light Cameras: I was in favor of them too but the voters voted to take them down. If you want to “blame” someone, by all means blame the voters for voting against them or blame the overpaid city attorney who okayed the flawed contract or blame the repeatedly elected politicians who negotiated and agreed to clauses they should not have. I might not give the Kuboshes a free ride on the matter but just like you are free to petition the government, so are they.
If half the things you advocated were imposed on the public, the county would rejoice as businesses left the city limits in droves to relocate. Singularly, they do not equate to the tinfoil hat/conspiracy status but collectively they sure seem to fit the bill.
No one here has yet addressed that the legal voting age in Texas is determined by the State Legislature, not local jurisdictions, and it is a uniform 18 years of age. From the Secretary of State’s website:
Who can vote in Texas?
To be eligible to register to vote in Texas, a person must be:
•A United States citizen;
•A resident of the Texas county in which application for registration is made;
•At least 18 years old on Election Day;
•Not finally convicted of a felony, or, if so convicted must have (1) fully discharged the sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, or supervision, or completed a period of probation ordered by any court; or (2) been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disability to vote; and
•Not determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be (1) totally mentally incapacitated; or (2) partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.
Am I wrong by inferring that any change, such as allowing local jurisdictions to lower the age to 16, would have to be approved by the Legislature?
Steve,
Thank you for your response.
I will ask again..
What OTHER ideas of mine are far, far left?
Ban the box is not a liberal idea do your research.
I am quite clear on the voting age.
Please read the information I have on homeless.
Voting at the ballot box and participatory budgeting are different.
Please see my website.
You still dont understand ban the box… You either dont care or dont know
Paid leave, empirical evidence dorsnt support your claim.
Actually quite the opposite, productivity improves.
i’ve provided enough information about what other cities of similar size are doing that we arent.
Cinservatives want TIRZ gone and so do i.
But kubosh who claims to be a conservative continues to vote in favor of them, no?
Has he ever proposed any TIRZ reform?
Where does kubosh stand on these issues?
Nobody knows!
Voter worker
Thank you for the information.
Ross,
Are you implying that the kubosh brothers throught the process didnt know what was in the contract?
Paul kubosh is a lawyer i would hope he and michael read the contract.
Voter_Worker, I mentioned it was state law and how a councilman would have little influence but thank you for the more detailed version of the actual law.
Joseph, you are welcome. As you’re a candidate for a city office, I provided a lot of detail regarding my stances on the issues and why I thought each stance was reasonable. I disagree that you “only post the facts” as your website and comments are full of opinions, even your sources full of opinions one need not agree with to understand the points made. If Mike were in favor of all or most of the things you posted about, I’d disagree with him too but his brother has posted his phone number here several times in the recent past for those wanting more information from him (Mike), his city council office number is a matter of public record, and he is pretty easy to get hold of via social media as well.
In general, if an idea makes sense for companies, you need not pass a law to force it down their throats, so sick time, minimum wages, and banning the box should be left to individual business owners. If the ideas are so productive and wonderful, they will use them of their own free will. That is the conservative stance.
But linking to mass media or newspaper accounts and articles as “proof” something is a swell idea or how it is being initially implemented in a particular place doesn’t convince people that they should follow. Other aspects of things, such as your coverage of pensions, lacks the insights one might expect such as looking at an employee’s total compensation package. With HFD (for example), a 3 year fireman in Austin makes more in base pay as well as perks than a Houston fire Captain would make with 20+ years on. That doesn’t even touch Austin’s superior amount of medical coverage that costs employees less on all levels or other aspects of employment. Dissecting individual components is great as long as you keep the big picture in mind. So an HFD employee retiring after 25 years is going to make far less than an AFD employee, the same holds true for the other employees, many of which have smaller pensions too. Just listing percentages doesn’t tell the whole truth.
Steve,
The articles i post are by conservative and liberal researchers with Phd’s and 20+ years of experience.
Just because it’s state law doesnt mean we cant advocate on behalf of city voters.
The invisible hand of the “free market” isnt the only solution.
For pensions, I’m the only city council candidate with a pension platform who even has a remote clue as to what is going on.
I am quite aware of what other texas Fire pensions pay.
But nice try.
If we left everything to the invisible hand of the “free market” we would living in caves, wearing tin foil hats and reading ayn rand by candle light.
There is ideology, and then there is basic math.
This is 2016, let’s be realistic.
So what if his number is public record.
So is mine.
I’ll ask again… Where does michael kubosh stand on TABOR and TIF?
I am unsure whether a municipality could choose a different age for voting than state law. I doubt it. I am aware of a handful of other jurisdictions in other states where non-citizen parents of schoolchildren have been allowed to vote in school board elections, so I suppose it is possible that local governments might have some leeway.
Mainstream
It is possible look at my website.
Joseph, according to your own website, almost all countries set voting age at 18 or older, the percentage of cities and states in the USA doing likewise almost 100%. I read the links but they were not convincing, I guess I was hoping you were going to offer some great argument not mentioned on your website in favor of the change, taxes, employment, and potential certification of youth as adults not stopping at age 16.
Pensions: Sadly, as someone who has engaged numerous city candidates for office on the subject, I suspect you are correct regarding how many have even a passing knowledge of the specifics. I’ve kept apprised of the issue for longer than you’ve lived in Texas so nothing you posted was news to me, a great deal more detail available for policy wonks.
Your Opponent: You’re asking the wrong person. If you want an answer from one of them on something, trying to confront them on a partisan blog is not the way to go, especially when the one in question has the election locked up courtesy of what he has stood for.
Left leaning policies: Your website and comments are full of numerous indicators suggesting as much, some of which I happen to agree with and others I know most local voters would never go along with. As a centrist on most issues, I try to keep apprised of issues and alternative solutions (or I would have ignored you) but good luck convincing most people that wholesale changes and removing the tax cap are in their best interests. At least with free market principles, education can change minds but FMLA abuse is rampant with the city, sick days and other time off causing many staffing issues.
I’ll email you if you’re interested in carrying on the discussion but going over the same information repeatedly is a waste of your time. Standing prediction: you get under 10% of the vote (I say that without malice or ill intent).
Standing prediction.
Kubosh gets forced into a runoff.
After that it’s anyones guess.