Keller Withdraws, Mahoney Elected

yay! (3.00 / 1)

congratulations to Tim and due regards to Keller for saving ACC the cost of the election as well as for donating his campaign funds.

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:02:50 AM UTC

Congratulations, Tim, and a tip of the hat to Keller (3.00 / 1)

I supported Mahoney, as did BOR and almost everybody reading this, but give Keller his due! He very much believes in ACC and its mission, he backed that with the funds at his disposal, and he deserves our thanks, not our derision.  

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by: LSadun @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:00:45 AM UTC

capitol chatter (2.00 / 1)

I hear from folks at the capitol that Keller got out of the race because he's about to get caught up in the employee-gate mess.  How does a guy who's a full time Craddick employee have time to run for office?  Word is that's one of the questions being investigated...

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by: CMistress @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:18:23 AM UTC

interesting... (3.00 / 1)

but I know several people over the last few years who kept their day jobs and ran in municipal elections.  Especially for ACC or School Board which are unpaid.  Most of the electioneering happens at night.

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by: Kedron Touvell @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 15:14:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What? (3.00 / 1)

The word is completely wrong, CMistress. Kendron is right - most city race campaigning is at night. You ask "How does a guy who's a full time Craddick employee have time to run for office?" The answer: Keller probably has so much comp time from working through the legislative session that he could have probably campaigned full time for both the general election and the runoff, which he has graciously stepped out of in order to save ACC the money, and still have a sizable chunk left.
He's a class act for what he did, something which you are not by attempting to give this rumor any validity. If you leave any more comments concerning this rumor, you better produce some solid evidence to back up your ridiculous gossip.

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by: Cornhusker No.5 @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 18:35:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This is so typical (0.00 / 0)

   A Republican does the right thing and withdraws from a runoff he would likely lose, thus saving taxpayers a good deal of money that could well be useful elsewhere.  What's the Kid Blogger reaction?  A graceless post emphasizing the move as a partisan triumph, complete with an ungrammatical kick ("done more for community college's") at Keller's generosity to local education on his way out.

  Then "CMistress" follows with a completely unsubstantiated allegation that Keller is somehow involved in the ghost employee matter.  CMistress claims she heard this scurrilous bit of news from "folks at the Capitol."  Just who are these folks, CMistress?  Do they actually exist?  Or did you just make it all up in your fertile imagination?  When "the word" turns out to be complete B.S., will you apologize to Keller and the BOR readership for spreading libelous rumors?  I'm not holding my breath.

  Thanks to LSadun and Kedron for bringing some class and maturity to the BOR.  

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by: Buck Smith @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 03:30:25 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I work at the Capitol (0.00 / 0)

Lon Burnam sent a letter to Larry Phillips, the chair of the General Investigating Committee today.  He's asked that they look into the Speaker's staff including Terry Keel and how time is kept for Speaker's staff that are running for public office.

So no, it's not an unsubstantiated rumor.

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by: Jobu @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 05:24:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

BS (0.00 / 0)

That is a totally unsubstantiated rumor and a very cheap shot. I have no doubt that Keller is a hardworking member of the House, given his responsibilities and his background - I bet he was pretty busy after Perry vetoed the community college money.

I don't know either candidate, but Keller's credentials are about as good as they get for a community college trustee - he is, quite simply, an expert in higher education policy. I think it would have been great to have him on the ACC board. Yes, he is a Republican, but he could have played an important role on a board full of Democrats.

I hope Mahoney does well and wish him the best, but I am unimpressed with his background and campaign. Screaming "my opponent is a Republican" may have gotten him on the ACC board, but it gives me little confidence in him as a trustee.

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by: el_longhorn @ Sun May 18, 2008 at 01:28:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks Buck (0.00 / 0)

First, when we get something wrong, we post a front page correction and put a note in the quick links.  You don't need to hold your breath but ask Democrats and Republicans alike and they will let you know what the reality is.  If you want names, e-mail me.

Second, me pointing out it is funny (to me) that the Republican party has financed a losing candidate and that losing candidate gave the rest of his republican money to the community college comes from working at the capitol and being forced to watch the Republicans gut education funding time and again.  You don't think its funny, fair enough, but the fact that I do, doesn't need to be a point of criticism, maybe just disagreement.

If you want to say my opinion is wrong, you have every right to do it, but don't act like that is taking the moral, classy high road.  It's not.

Lastly, I wrote the post on my phone.  Grammar aside, is anything I am saying factually incorrect?  

Thanks for your time.  I will take your comment to mean you want us to defend the republicans, not post in a timely way, and stop posting corrections.  Sorry if I misunderstand the intent, but you leave me with nothing else to assume since you leave no positive suggestions at all.  Maybe next time we do a call for writers you will apply, but I apologize if I doubt that you will.

Help build a progressive movement in Texas. Join Progress Texas.

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by: Matt Glazer @ Sat May 17, 2008 at 16:28:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Congrats Tim! (3.00 / 1)

Congrats to Tim Mahoney for his victory!

Best,
David Kobierowski

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by: David Kobierowski @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 05:07:18 AM UTC

Congratulations, Tim! (3.00 / 1)

And I must say, it's a graceful exit for Keller.  In just about any other town in Texas, he'd be a formidable opponent.  But it won't play in Austin to have such close ties to Craddick.

I'll be interested to see what (if anything) comes from the ghost employee comment from CMistress.  That could be nasty.  Talk about opening Pandora's Box at the Capitol...

Disclosure: Former Political Director for Lee Leffingwell for Mayor of Austin ('09)

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by: sccs @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 14:05:47 PM UTC

Congratulations Tim! (3.00 / 1)

I'm so happy you don't have to go through the grind of a runoff.  And for once a republican does the right and sensible thing realizing he had no chance to win in the runoff.

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by: sonia @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 16:00:08 PM UTC