Tag Archives: Harris County Tax Assessor

The elections administrator

The Chron takes a look at the elections administrator proposal that has been under study. The idea of an elections administrator percolated during the spring as a way to cloak the function in a mantle of nonpartisanship, and incidentally, to … Continue reading

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TDP sues Tax Assessor again over voter registrations

This happened late last week while I was still affected by my site outage. For the second time in as many years, the Texas Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit against the Harris County tax assessor-collector, accusing the Republican-led voter … Continue reading

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Houston Votes responds

Earlier today Houston Votes responded to the accusations lobbed at them by outgoing Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez. First, here’s their press release: On Tuesday, August 24, Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Leo Vasquez made reckless and false allegations … Continue reading

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Vasquez throws a bomb at Houston Votes

I guess outgoing Harris County Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez wasn’t quite ready to return to obscurity. Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Leo Vasquez accused a nonprofit group of submitting thousands of bogus voter registration applications in recent months in what … Continue reading

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Fundraising: Harris County

The top story for the Harris County money race is that County Judge Ed Emmett has a big lead in financial resources over challenger Gordon Quan. Gordon Quan said he knew from the start that challenging County Judge Ed Emmett … Continue reading

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Elections administrator proposal will get a study

Like it or not, Commissioners Court is going to consider the possibility of creating an appointed elections administrator position. The Court orders studies as preludes to formally adopting a public policy change. Dick Raycraft, director of management services, was charged … Continue reading

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The downside to unelected officials

I happened to come across this story and thought it would be a useful data point given the recent discussion about maybe having an appointed elections administrator for Harris County. Medina County Elections Administrator Brodie Koch was a no-show at … Continue reading

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Emmett speaks about his county elections administrator proposal

County Judge Ed Emmett has a brief op-ed in the Chron to respond to some concerns about his proposal to study the possibility of an appointed elections administrator. There have been several false statements made that an elections administrator would … Continue reading

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Casey and the Chron on an elections administrator

Rick Casey sums up the recent proposal by County Judge Ed Emmett to consider adopting a non-partisan elections administrator for Harris County: While Dallas and Tarrant counties have found it a source of electoral confidence and stability, Bexar County went … Continue reading

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Emmett calls for “elections czar”

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett thinks we could use a dedicated elections supervisor. Proponents of an elections czar say an appointee would be insulated from accusations and lawsuits alleging partisanship in carrying out the duties of the office. In late … Continue reading

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Briefly noted

Some interesting things from today that I wanted to note… There are plenty of people who want to be on the Appropriations Committee, so putting some who doesn’t want to be there, like State Rep. Joe Driver of Dallas, doesn’t … Continue reading

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Ballot position and the Republican races

Inspired by a comment JJMB left on the previous post about the effect of ballot position on the judicial races, I went and looked at the Republican results to see what I could see. Here’s what I found. – Though … Continue reading

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Vasquez and Carrillo

Newly-unelected Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez makes the same complaint about why he is headed for the unemployment line as Victor Carrillo did. Carrillo started the ethnic angst with an e-mail to supporters indicating racial bias had cost him re-election. That … Continue reading

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Voter registration deadline is Monday

I’m sure everyone reading this is already registered to vote. But if for some reason you’re not, or you’re not sure, your last chance to be registered in time for the primaries is tomorrow, Monday, February 1. Here’s a press … Continue reading

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Overview of the Tax Assessor primary

We’re a bit more than three weeks out from the start of early voting, so it’s time for some overviews of the contested primaries on the ballot. Here’s the first one, for the Republican race between County Tax Assessor Leo … Continue reading

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Voter registration deadline for the primaries is February 1

We received our new voter registration cards in the mail this week, as our previous ones expired on December 31. If you haven’t received yours, or if you’re unsure if you’re still registered, better take care of it quickly as … Continue reading

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HCAD rules for Hoang in homestead dispute

On Christmas Eve, the Chron reported that Council Member-Elect Al Hoang and his wife had claimed homestead exemptions on two separate houses, one in Houston and one in Pearland. Now the Harris County Appraisal District has verified Hoang’s explanation about … Continue reading

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White v. Vasquez

Harris County Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez says Look at me!” Mayor Bill White and Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez traded barbs Tuesday over two contracts that have led relations between the city and county to what Mayor Bill White … Continue reading

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You can still register for the runoff

I suspect that just about everyone reading this blog is a registered voter, but if you aren’t, or you know someone who isn’t, you get a second chance for the runoff. Harris County Voter Registrar Leo Vasquez reminds citizens they … Continue reading

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Both sides may claim victory, but that doesn’t mean they both achieved it

As you know, last week there was a settlement reached in the lawsuit against the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office over allegations that they improperly rejected thousands of voter registration applications last year. Shortly after that agreement was signed, the … Continue reading

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Settlement reached in Harris County voter registration lawsuit

You may recall the lawsuit that was filed back in December against Paul Bettencourt and the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office over allegations that thousands of voter registration applications were rejected for frivolous reasons. That lawsuit has now been settled. … Continue reading

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County doesn’t want to help city collect red light camera fines

Last year, City Council passed an ordinance that would put a hold on vehicle registrations for which there are outstanding red light camera fines. The city’s ability to do this is contingent on cooperation from the county, as it is … Continue reading

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Harris County voter registration issues get national coverage

Lou Dubose, onetime editor of the Texas Observer and Tom DeLay biographer has written a story for the Washington Spectator about the shenanigans in the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office with voter registration. You can read it here (PDF), thanks … Continue reading

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Lone Star Project on Bohac

Last week, the Lone Star Project took a look at how now-reassigned Associate Voter Registrar Ed Johnson got his hands on drivers license data, which he and his business partner State Rep. Dwayne Bohac then used to sell campaign data … Continue reading

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Here comes Addie

Timing is everything in this life. [Former Houston City Council Member Addie] Wiseman tells me she is going to run a full and vigorous campaign to replace State Rep. Joe Crabb. Details are still being worked out, she didn’t have … Continue reading

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Hammerlein, too

The Chron confirms the Lone Star Project report about Ed Johnson being reassigned in the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office, and adds on to it. Two Harris County officials at the center of an ongoing dispute over what the Texas … Continue reading

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LSP says Johnson reassigned from voter registration duties

Here’s their report. The Lone Star Project has learned that Republican Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez has reassigned Associate Voter Registrar Ed Johnson from voter registration duties to a communications role. Johnson was exposed by the Lone Star Project as “the … Continue reading

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Where’d that driver’s license data come from?

The Lone Star Project revisits the matter of Ed Johnson and Dwayne Bohac and their cozy relationship as business partners with a real in at the Harris County Tax Assessor’s office. Last month, the Lone Star Project revealed that Harris … Continue reading

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On the matter of turnout

This Star-Telegram story about turnout in the 2008 election versus turnout in the 2004 election has got some people talking. The presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain sent more Texans to the polls last year, but the state … Continue reading

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Bacarisse, too

Rick Casey jumps on the Ed Johnson bandwagon, and he starts off with the information that former District Clerk Charles Bacarisse was doing the same kind of moonlighting as Johnson was. Bacarisse hired out as a $4,500-a-month consultant to a … Continue reading

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TDP responds to Vasquez

From Saturday’s op-ed pages, here’s the Texas Democratic Party’s response, written by the TDP’s legal counsel Chad Dunn, to Leo Vasquez in the matter of Ed Johnson. Johnson’s conflict of interest doesn’t pass the smell test, and during the course … Continue reading

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Saturday video break: Who are you working for, Dwayne?

I know I’ve been using these for mostly silly and/or amusing music videos, but given recent developments, I figured this was a good fit for the day. Now we just need someone to do something similar for Leo Vasquez.

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Leo’s response

Here, for the record, is Harris County Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez’s response to the Ed Johnson business. Basically, he denies everything, admits to nothing, and makes counter-accusations, certainly a time-honored technique when under attack. I’ll stipulate that the charges against … Continue reading

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Chron opines on Ed Johnson

The Chron follows up its story on Ed Johnson, the local GOP’s ace in the hole in the Tax Assessor’s office, with an editorial that recaps the story and gently chides Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez. Given the recent history of … Continue reading

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