DEMOCRATIC REPORTER
A Newsletter for Bay Area New Democrats
BAND Newsletter, Volume 3 - Issue No. 10 - October 2010
Democrats Shine in Local Bar Association Poll
The Houston Bar Association’s judicial
preference poll provides one more reason to feel
comfortable voting a straight Democratic ticket.
Results of the poll usually skew toward the
incumbents. Attorneys who are members of the local
bar association are asked to state their preference
for the candidates about whose qualifications they
actually have some knowledge, so it stands to reason
that attorneys know more about sitting judges and
often rate them highly. It’s helpful to know what the
attorneys who see these folks in action have to say.
Right now, most Harris County judges are
Republicans, so their numbers are generally higher
on the 2010 preference poll. Until as recently as
2008, many Democrats did not seek judicial positions
in the county, because they assumed they did not
have a chance, but now some of the most qualified
Democrats are seeking office.
This year, there are far more contested judicial
races -- 72 -- than ever in Harris County. That makes
for a really long ballot. BAND is encouraging everyone
to vote a straight Democratic ticket, so some of these
highly qualified Democrats have a chance to serve, and
the outstanding Democratic incumbents can continue
to serve.
What’s telling in the 2010 judicial preference
poll is how many times the Republican incumbent
did not receive as many votes as the challenger. In
particular, Democratic district court candidates Katie
Kennedy, Jay Burnett, Alvin Nunnery, Sherri Cothrun,
Bill Rice, Natalie Oakes and David Longoria either
received more attorney votes than the incumbent or
judicial preference poll, continued on page 2
................................................IN THIS ISSUE
BAND opened the Clear Lake headquarters at 913
Oakgrove Dr. in Webster with a reception on Sept. 25.
Above, Morris Overstreet, candidate for First Court of
Appeals, Chief Justice, stopped by to greet volunteers.
Judicial preference poll
Straight ticket minus one
Diane Trautman
Ann Bennett
Proposition 1
1-2
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Democratic Reporter - October 2010
BAND hosted a Get Out the Vote Dinner at Dimassi’s
Restaurant on Oct. 7. Above, Ila Montalvo Roel, the newest
member of the BAND board, helped check in ticket
holders. At right, a crowd of about 80 Democrats dined
on a Mediterranean-style buffet.
judicial preference poll, continued from page 1
about the same number as the Republican already in
that office.
County criminal court candidates Bruce
Mosier and Damon Crenshaw also scored well against
Republican incumbents. Al Leal, who previously
served ably as a judge, was higher rated than his
opponent for the open County Criminal Court at Law
Number 4 position.
In the four probate courts, Kathy Stone is
the only sitting Democrat, and she blew away her
challenger with 1016 votes to 320. That tells us she
is doing a great job! Democrat Joellen Snow earned
640 votes against incumbent Probate Court Number
2 Judge Mike Wood’s 733, which is pretty good for a
challenger, and Democrat Priscilla Walters tied with
incumbent Rory Olsen in Probate Court Number 3.
In Probate Court Number 4, the incumbent is not
seeking re-election, and Democratic candidate Tammy
Manning earned 577 votes against the Republican
candidate Christine Butts, who earned 244 votes.
Another Democratic incumbent doing a
phenomenal job is Loren Jackson, Harris County
Clerk. Jackson has thoroughly modernized court
e-filing and made court records accessible online
to the public through a redesigned website. Jurors
in Harris County now have access to wi-fi while
they wait for their numbers to be called. Local bar
members gave Jackson 1270 votes to his challenger’s
200 votes, which was the largest margin of difference
in the entire poll.
In the Harris County Clerk’s office, being
vacated by Republican Beverly Kaufman, Democrat
Ann Bennett, who has experience as a court
coordinator in the Harris County District Court
system, received 540 votes, while the Republican
candidate received 248 votes. (Please see the story
about her visit to the BAND October meeting on
page 4.)
If you want to see the poll for yourself, go to:
http://www.hba.org/folder-pollresults/2010preferencepoll.pdf
............................................BAND Board of Directors
President C.J. Farley
Vice President Bob Tomlinson
Treasurer Mohammed Nasrullah
Secretary Tonita Franklin
Director Don Rhorer
Director Yasir Zulfiqar
Director Ila Montalvo Roel
Director, newsletter editor Vicki M. Cherewaty
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Democratic Reporter - October 2010
It’s Possible to Vote Straight D But Abstain on One Candidate
“Alrighty Then,” said the headline on a Houston
Chronicle article on page B3 on Sunday, Oct. 10.
The article was about the latest tirade by
Keisha Rogers, the Lyndon LaRouche follower who
mystifyingly received the Democratic nomination for
the District 22 Congressional seat, in spite of the
fact that she advocated for the impeachment of our
Democratic President!
Many Democrats agree that they should vote
for a straight Democratic Party ticket except when
it comes to the District 22 race. In the latest report,
Rogers is contending that the President is having a
psychological meltdown and that the Vice President
and Congress should come together in an emergency
session to keep Obama safe from himself. Then, in her
twisted logic, she maintains that that action should be
followed by the reinstatement of a banking bill.
What can we do? Harris County Democratic
Party chair Gerry Birnberg told BAND members
earlier in the year to vote straight Democratic anyway,
because the odds of Rogers’ winning in her heavily
gerrymandered custom-made Republican district are
slim.
For many in BAND, the idea of casting a vote
for someone like her sticks in the craw. If this is you,
DESELECT. You simply cast your straight party vote;
then scroll to the propositions page and vote on them
if you choose. When the ballot summary page comes
up, return to the page with the District 22 race on it.
The box next to Rogers’ name will be highlighted, and
you just click on it to remove your vote in that race
only.
Double check on the summary page that all
your votes reflect your preferences. If not, go back
and correct them; then press the “cast ballot” button.
Wait for the flag to wave!
Trautman Says Make Vote Count
Diane Trautman’s campaign literature says you
should make your vote count this time.
In 2008, Trautman narrowly lost her race
for Harris County Tax Assessor Collector against
Republican Paul Bettencourt, who promptly resigned
from office to take a private sector job. A Republican,
Leo Vasquez, was appointed to serve out his term, but
Vazquez is not running this time around.
Trautman spoke at the Organizing for America
Commit-to-Vote event at the Clear Lake Democratic
Headquarters on Tuesday, Oct. 12. She said your
vote basically didn’t count in the tax assessor
collector’s race last time. Those who voted in that
race, no matter who they voted for, did not see their
candidate serve out a term.
Now Trautman is seeking the office again, and
she promises to run a service organization instead of
a political organization. She wants to make the lines
shorter and more efficient at county offices.
Diane Trautman addressed voters at the Clear Lake
Democratic Headquarters.
The tax assessor collector’s office handles
voter registration, and Trautman wants to ensure that
every citizen who wants to can vote. Bettencourt
and his successor have been accused of kicking out
perfectly legitimate voter registrations from likely
Democratic voters.
Trautman has a background in business as
well as education. After spending many years as a
teacher and administrator at public schools in the
metropolitan Houston area, she is now an assistant
professor in education administration for Stephen
F. Austin University. Trautman said that in her
leadership ethics classes, she preaches about the three
A’s: accountability, accessibility and authenticity. These
are values that will guide her in her leadership of the
tax assessor collector’s office.
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Democratic Reporter - October 2010
Less Paper in the County Clerk’s Office is Bennett’s Goal
When Ann Bennett meets voters at campaign
events, she runs across many who usually consider
themselves Republican.
She says they tell her, “We’ve given our
Republicans a chance and they failed us.” Bennett, the
Democratic candidate for Harris County Clerk, was
the guest speaker at the October BAND meeting.
She hopes to replace Republican Beverly Kaufman,
who is retiring.
The county clerk conducts elections and
administers county courts at law and probate courts
in the third largest county in the nation, Bennett said.
The county clerk also maintains county records such
as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, real
estate deeds, wills, probate, assumed names and even
cattle brands, she pointed
out.
What Bennett wants
to do in the office is bring
the county into the 21st
century. “Loren Jackson
is my hero,” she said of the
incumbent district clerk,
whose office has brought
e-filing to the county’s
district courts. The county
clerk’s office, on the other
Ann Harris Bennett,
hand, is still handling records
candidate for Harris
with paper rather than
County Clerk, is far down computers, she said.
the long Harris County
Bennett has recently
ballot. Vote straight
endured debates with her
Democratic so she is not two opponents in the race,
overlooked!
a Republican and a Green
Party member, and she
likened her participation in them to sitting in a mental
ward. Her opponents accuse ACORN (Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now) of
trying to register undocumented workers. ACORN,
a collection of community organizations who have
advocated for low- and moderate-income families, has
at times come under fire, mostly from Republicans,
for some allegedly sloppy work in registering voters.
According to Bennett, her debate opponents’
accusations are “silly.” A potential registrant can’t get
very far in the registration process without proving
citizenship. Besides, Bennett said, anyone here
illegally wants to stay as far away from the “federales”
as possible -- not call attention to themselves by
attempting to register to vote!
Bennett generously applauded the lame duck
Kaufman for her attempts to keep the upcoming
election fair, although Kaufman did not yet follow
Bennett’s suggestion to extend voting hours until 7
p.m. in the first week of early voting, starting Monday,
Oct. 18. Hours during the first five weekdays are 8
a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Hours during the last five weekdays of
early voting are 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.
“The Justice Department will be watching our
elections,” Bennett said. Bennett and fellow candidate
Diane Trautman, running for tax assessor collector,
made sure of it.
Bennett said she would never have placed all
the county’s voting machines in one old building. She
was horrified when she heard that all the machines
had been destroyed in a fire. Had she been in charge,
Bennett said she also would have placed multiple
security cameras at entrances to the buildings where
machines were stored and that someone would have
been watching them off site.
Bennett and many other Democrats believe
there was something sinister in the fire. The Houston
Fire Department has yet to say whether they believe
the fire at the voting machine warehouse was arson.
However, it does seem like a terrific coincidence in a
year in which the Democratic candidate for governor,
a former popular Houston mayor, was counting on a
big turnout in Harris County.
Kaufman has ordered new electronic voting
machines and borrowed many from Texas counties
and elsewhere, but there are not likely to be as
many machines at each precinct as there usually are.
Kaufman has also ordered paper ballots to be used in
case the electronic machines can’t handle the crowds.
For this reason, Bennett emphasized getting
everyone out to vote early.
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Democratic Reporter - October 2010
Council Member Costello Promotes Proposition 1
If you go to the polls and vote a straight
Democratic Party ticket, you’re not finished yet.
At the September BAND meeting, Houston
City Council at-large member Stephen Costello spoke
in favor of the first of three propositions on the ballot
locally. “Here is the challenge we have,” said Costello.
Voters might skip over the propositions even if
they make it through the ballot of more than 100
contested races.
Proposition 1 is the proposal to amend the
city charter to set aside a dedicated fund for drainage
and street repair with an eye toward alleviating
Houston’s notorious flooding problems. Costello,
who campaigned for his office as an engineer who had
worked on drainage issues, said that in his travels he
has encountered people who know of Houston as the
city that floods often.
While drainage issues often top the list of
issues important to Houstonians, Costello said that
when money for drainage goes to the general fund, it
is usually swallowed up by other needs. The result is
an ever-increasing backlog of road upgrades and other
projects to control flooding. About 65 percent of the
city’s drainage and street infrastructure is beyond its
useful life, he said.
“Over the next 30 years, we could completely
redo the entire infrastructure,” if Proposition 1 passes,
Costello said. According to the council member,
the previous generation was one of builders; this
generation is one of users. “We can change that,” he
said.
Costello said that when he took office, he
noticed that residents did not seem to trust that
their money was being spent well, but he believes that
Proposition 1 would ensure that it is. The proposition
would derive funding from several sources, about
60 percent of which is conversion of debt, Costello
said. Houston City Council will ultimately flesh out
the proposition, but Costello said the plan, if passed,
would cost the owner of an average 2,000-squarefoot home about $5 to $5.50 a month. That would
raise about $13 billion over 30 years, the city council
member said.
Houston City Council member Stephen Costello spoke at
the September BAND meeting on Houston’s Proposition 1.
Mayor Annise Parker, who supports the
proposition along with several City Council members,
has laid out a plan that the city would continue to
fund drainage and street improvements at the current
rate, but the current funding, along with revenue from
the new fee would go into a “locked box” that would
only be used to combat flooding.
Under the mayor’s plan, the city would
conduct a needs assessment to prioritize
construction. The so-called “pay-as-you-go” plan
would mean that projects would receive authorization
only when money was available for them.
The President quietlly signed the NASA Authorization Act
of 2010 on Oct. 11. The compromise act was similar to
that proposed by a BAND resolution earlier this year. The
law will add an additional space shuttle flight before the
fleet retires and extend the life of the International Space
Station through at least 2020.
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