Tag Archives: petitions

No repeal petition for San Antonio non-discrimination ordinance

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Opponents of San Antonio’s nondiscrimination ordinance spread the word at churches and parks about their petition drive to place the policy on a citywide ballot. A few hours before Tuesday’s deadline, they informed city officials that effort had fallen … Continue reading →

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Early To Rise referendum probably would have passed

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

For what it’s worth. It’s one of those questions we always ask ourselves in love, life and politics: What if? In this case, what if the Early to Rise campaign had gotten its one penny tax increase for early education … Continue reading →

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Early to Rise appeal denied

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

That pretty much wraps it up, for now at least. A controversial 1-cent property tax to buoy local preschools will not be on the November ballot following a Houston appeals court ruling. The 14th Court of Appeals, in an opinion … Continue reading →

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No Early To Rise on the ballot

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Place your bets on the outcome of the litigation. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said Monday he would not place a 1-cent property tax on the November ballot intended to buoy area pre-schools, prompting a lawsuit by a local nonprofit … Continue reading →

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The law and the Early To Rise petition process

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Much has been made about the obscurity of the state law that allows for the petition process that the Early To Rise folks have followed to put an item on the ballot that would raise money for pre-K education in … Continue reading →

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Finally, the Early To Rise plan

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is what we’ve got after their presentation to the HCDE Board of Trustees on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the Harris County School Readiness Corp. pitched its plan to expand early education at a five-hour gathering with wary trustees for the … Continue reading →

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Early To Rise submits its petitions

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From here it gets real. The Harris County School Readiness Corp., a new nonprofit led by business and civic leaders, is calling for a ballot intiative to levy a 1-cent-per-$100 tax through the Harris County Department of Education to generate … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Chron for Early To Rise

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Technically, this isn’t an endorsement, since there isn’t anything to endorse just yet. Nonetheless, it is clear that the Chron supports the Early To Rise campaign. It looks like Harris County will vote on the future of the Astrodome this … Continue reading →

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School superintendents for Early To Rise

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the press release: (Houston, TX) Today Harris County Superintendents participated in a press conference for the Early to Rise campaign, which is seeking to create a dedicated funding stream to improve the quality of early childhood education through a … Continue reading →

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Sheriff Garcia endorses the Early To Rise campaign

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It makes sense that he would. The group attempting to get a 1-cent tax hike on the November ballot to bolster early childhood education programs got a hearty endorsement from Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia on Wednesday, and announced it … Continue reading →

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Petitioning for Early To Rise

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This arrived in my inbox a couple of days ago: With only two weeks to go, we really need your help! We are working to get an initiative on the ballot in November 2013 to fund the Early to Rise Program. The … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit against anti-feeding ordinance dropped

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From last week: The plaintiffs suing the city of Houston over its charitable feeding ordinance have abruptly dropped a suit they filed over the issue, just hours after the judge in the case recused himself. The ordinance, which requires property … Continue reading →

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Bring the USWNT to Houston

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m in. If you love the beautiful game, you should want to help Jen Cooper. Cooper has been on a crusade for women’s soccer in Houston for almost two decades. She’s on a mission again. Cooper is one of the … Continue reading →

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The ballot propositions we won’t have

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the 78th day before the November 6 election. That makes it the statutory deadline for ordering an election, as noted by the Secretary of State. They cite Sec. 201.054 of the Elections Code for this, which seems wrong … Continue reading →

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Petitions to overturn homeless feeding ordinance submitted

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There’s plenty of signatures, but no guarantee that this will make it onto the ballot. Activists seeking to repeal a new law requiring City Hall’s permission to serve charitable meals on city-owned land turned in 34,000 petition signatures on Monday … 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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Mailing letters about the homeless ordinance

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Not really sure what to make of this. Activists against Houston’s new restrictions on feeding the homeless plan to mail around 30,000 letters Friday to urge voters to sign a petition to trigger a charter amendment election in November. Paul … Continue reading →

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Petty withdraws lawsuit against Hecht

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

A couple of weeks ago, Democratic Supreme Court candidate Michele Petty filed a lawsuit that sought to determine if her opponent, Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, had fulfilled his legal requirement to gather petition signatures from 50 registered voters in … Continue reading →

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Petition drive to overturn the homeless feeding ordinance

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s underway. The petitioners have until July 1 to gather their signatures because that’s when the ordinance goes into effect. City Attorney David Feldman just informed me that petitioners have the longer of either 30 days following an ordinance’s passage … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against Justice Hecht’s ballot access

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht’s Democratic opponent has filed suit seeking to delay the printing of ballots and other election material to allow time to investigate potential problems with Hecht’s candidacy petitions. Several unfilled blanks in petitions from … Continue reading →

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Ours aren’t the only primaries being delayed

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Americans Elect has postponed theirs, but in their case litigation had nothing to do with it. The deadline for candidate ‘support clicks’ at Americans Elect Corporation was midnight last night (May 1), according to both its official Pre-Election Convention Rules and their online … Continue reading →

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Pink slime

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know if you’ve been following the “pink slime” debate, but Bettina Siegel, who is one of the main catalysts behind it, had an op-ed in the Chron that summarized the main arguments. Last week, the online publication The … Continue reading →

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Americans Elect starts the petition process

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off. Americans Elect — an emerging, alternative third party that plans to use the Internet to field a presidential ticket this year — is starting to gather signatures of registered voters in Texas to try to gain a … Continue reading →

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Look out, here comes The Donald

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Make of this what you will. Donald Trump supporters have met an official ballot deadline in Texas, paving the way for the business mogul to become a third-party candidate there, a source close to Trump tells The Blaze. Trump himself … Continue reading →

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One can ban backer will face recall

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The can ban battle in New Braunfels is not over yet. New Braunfels city councilman Bryan Miranda, who supported a hotly debated container ban on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers, will face a recall election in May after voters signed … Continue reading →

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No recall for New Braunfels Mayor

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like the can ban battle is over for now. A petition for an election to recall New Braunfels Mayor Gale Pospisil failed when organizers submitted an insufficient number of valid signatures. City Secretary Patrick Aten said that of the … Continue reading →

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Can Ban opponents get their vote

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Impressive. [New Braunfels] City Council, confronted Wednesday by a petition challenging a controversial new law, called for a Nov. 8 election to let voters decide whether disposable containers will be banned from local rivers. The “Can the Ban” coalition gathered … Continue reading →

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Petition drive to “can the ban”

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The backlash against New Braunfels’ ban on disposable containers on the rivers has begun. The New Braunfels “Can the Ban” petition drive, up and running days after the City Council banned disposable containers on the city’s rivers, slowed to a … Continue reading →

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Closing prisons needs to be on the table

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Change.org: Texas’ prison population is shrinking. The state has made great strides in recent years to offer community alternatives to long sentences. But with a budget crisis looming, state prison officials are saying they won’t consider closing a single … Continue reading →

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Red light camera opponents turn in their petitions

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I was beginning to wonder if the anti-red light camera crowd was ever going to turn in their petition signatures, as it’s starting too get a little late in the game. They made their move on Monday, submitting 30,000 petition … Continue reading →

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ReNew Houston officially makes the ballot

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From their press release: The ReNew Houston Campaign is pleased to announce it has met state requirements for qualified signatures from registered Houston voters to call for a charter amendment to create a dedicated funding source to improve and renew … Continue reading →

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Renew Houston submits petitions

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Renew Houston has submitted signatures to get its drainage improvement proposition on the ballot this November. Renew Houston, a group of influential local engineers, has collected more than 30,000 signatures in a push to seek voter approval for an $8 … Continue reading →

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Dems drop effort to remove Greens from the ballot

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

After the initial Supreme Court ruling, it was probably a long shot. The Texas Democratic Party today cleared the way for Green Party candidates to remain on the ballot this year by dropping its state Supreme Court challenge to the … Continue reading →

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Green Party appeals to Supreme Court

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Even if allegations about an illegal petition drive are true, knocking Green Party candidates off the November general election ballot before they can be proven imposes “a death penalty,” lawyers for the party argued Monday in a written … Continue reading →

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