Tag Archives: Election 2012

Endorsement watch: Better late than never

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

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, … Continue reading →

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Devine versus Medina

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

So why did onetime District Court Judge and frequent candidate John Devine decide to challenge Supreme Court Justice David Medina in this year’s GOP primary? A couple of his colleagues in Harris County offer a reason that isn’t very flattering. … Continue reading →

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Voter ID trial wraps up

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I didn’t follow the day to day reports from the voter ID preclearance trial, mostly because there wasn’t anything in the testimony that was truly unexpected. Lots of numbers, some of questionable provenance, were presented. The state continued to claim … Continue reading →

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Sullivan submits his resignation

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

As promised. Councilman Mike Sullivan submitted his resignation Wednesday, fulfilling a promise he made to leave Council if he won the Republican primary in the county tax assessor-collector race. He did win on May 29. His resignation is effective on … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Who’s your fourth choice?

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron endorses a new candidate for the CD36 Republican primary runoff. Two survivors emerged from the crowded May Republican primary race to fill the new congressional seat for U.S. District 36, one of four new congressional districts added to … Continue reading →

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How big should those high schools be?

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is a question that HISD is asking itself as the Board of Trustees considers the $1.9 billion bond proposal, much of which is to be spent on high schools. A number of HISD high schools have had large drops … Continue reading →

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The city’s bond package

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And here’s Mayor Parker’s bond proposal for November. Mayor Annise Parker is unveiling a $410 million package of proposed bond measures for the November ballot that will not require a tax increase. She proposes five bond measures. The purposes and … Continue reading →

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Paul Sadler: How would you spend $25 million?

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. For $25 million you could buy a seriously luxurious private jet – in fact, you could buy a small fleet of … Continue reading →

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No term limits referendum this fall

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Much as I dislike our silly term limits ordinance, I think this is the correct term of action. A City Council committee on Monday killed a proposal to ask voters whether to give the mayor, controller and council members up … Continue reading →

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Voter ID trial, day one

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off, with the state bringing the funny math as part of its case. A Justice Department lawyer, Elizabeth Westfall, argued that the law has the potential to prevent 1.4 million Texans from voting who are eligible but lack … Continue reading →

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Christina Gorczynski – Mission Possible: Youth Engagement

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. Ask the League of Women Voters to do a guest blog and what do you get? Brace yourself, readers, for a … Continue reading →

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Voter ID trial starts today

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Another big lawsuit in a year that’s seen plenty of them. The decades-old legal battle between states’ rights and civil rights returns to a familiar venue – a federal courtroom – on Monday as lawyers for the state of Texas … Continue reading →

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Public meetings on the General Mobility Program

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox: If you haven’t had a chance to share your opinions about METRO’s General Mobility Programand the upcoming referendum, METRO’s Board of Directors is hosting additional public meetings and invite you to attend. The next round of meetings … Continue reading →

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Jamaal Smith: Cracking Down on For-Profit Colleges in Southwest Houston

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. I come from a family of educators. Four out of five of my aunts were teachers, and my wife is currently … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How much would you pay for that high school?

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Some cost more than others, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth it. Supporters of Houston’s nationally recognized High School for the Performing and Visual Arts have lobbied for 15 years for a larger, more modern building. They could get … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker’s Metro decision

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker may be in a jam because of the upcoming Metro referendum, but if so it’s not because what Metro is likely to propose is bad for Houston. “I’m between a rock and a hard place on this,” Parker … Continue reading →

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We apparently will have a candidate in SBOE1 after all

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib reviews the bidding on the Martha Dominguez situation in SBOE 1. According to the Texas Election Code, primary candidates have until 63 days before the primary election to apply to have their name withdrawn (this year it was … Continue reading →

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Metro sets the schedule

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Metro will take some time and get some feedback before settling on the language for its November referendum. Metro Chairman Gilbert Garcia on Thursday laid out for the board what he called a “tight time frame” for a possible November … Continue reading →

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Cindy Vara-Leija: Political Activism, Great-Grandma Style

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, a mother of six would take her youngest children along as she set up … Continue reading →

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Culberson’s Univesity Line attack makes it through the House

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Great. Advocates of federally subsidized expansion of the Houston Metro light rail system lost a crucial round to Houston Congressman John Culberson on Friday, leaving dwindling opportunities to overturn spending restrictions on the Richmond Avenue project. The House adopted a … Continue reading →

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What will Texas do now?

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Now that the Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the Supreme Court, there are two big issues that Texas will have to face. (*) One is the health care exchanges, and the other is Medicaid expansion, now that there’s … Continue reading →

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Erica Lee: How to Keep a First Grader Off Death Row

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

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 … Continue reading →

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Bond concerns

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Early reactions to the HISD bond proposal that was unveiled last week. “I think in the long run any anti-tax opposition will make it a close race,” said state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, predicting that Hispanics could swing the vote. … Continue reading →

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Gene Wu: Backyard Progressivism

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. Before I became involved in politics, I learned that there are real people in our communities who need hands-on assistance, people … Continue reading →

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Another homeless feeding update

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Depending on how you look at it, time is either running out for the petition signature gatherers who hope to overturn the homeless feeding ordinance, or it isn’t. Free to Give Houston, a recently formed political action committee, needs about … Continue reading →

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For spending Metro’s sales tax revenue on transit

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

A list of contributors almost as long as the University Line will hopefully someday be wrote a Sunday op-ed in favor of giving Metro more money for transit. Unfortunately, not all of the money that we voted for back in … Continue reading →

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Making open beaches a campaign issue

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is great. The Texas Supreme Court’s decision weakening the state Open Beaches Act has become a key issue in the race for one of the two contested Supreme Court seats in the Nov. 6 election. San Antonio attorney Michele … Continue reading →

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Alan Rosen: A Call To Protect Our Children

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. Every day, the internet opens up new doors for communication, commerce, and the betterment of all our lives. But, with great … Continue reading →

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From the “If pigs had wings” department

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s never a bad time to construct a counterfactual. What if Rick Perry had never said, “Oops”? What if he could have, for Christ’s sake, just remembered that he had wanted to gut the Department of Energy? What if he … Continue reading →

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HISD will not raise the tax rate

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Instead, they will dip into their reserves to balance their $1.5 billion budget for this year. The amount is about the same as last year, when the district reduced spending by approximately 5 percent to offset unprecedented state cuts. Instead … Continue reading →

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Council defers on strip club fee

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Tagged for a week. Consideration of a $5-per-head fee on customers of strip clubs to pay for reducing the city’s backlog of untested rape kits has been delayed for a week. Council members Melissa Noriega and Al Hoang both tagged … Continue reading →

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HISD planning bond election

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The fall ballot gets a little longer. The Houston Independent School District is preparing to ask voters to fund up to $1.8 billion in bonds to replace and upgrade aging campuses. Superintendent Terry Grier has said the bond referendum – … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: The two races we’re all glad to see the end of

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For my last look at precinct data from the Harris County Democratic primary of 2012, let’s see what happened in the two most contentious races on the ballot: Elaine Palmer versus Steven Kirkland, and Keryl Douglass versus Lane Lewis. First … Continue reading →

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Your vote on the Metro referendum may not matter

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Unless of course you vote the way the developers want you to vote, in which case it’s all good. In an interview prior to Monday’s meeting, Joshua Sanders, the acting executive director of Houstonians for Responsible Growth, said the group … Continue reading →

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