Burnt Orange Report

Sheryl Cole for Place 6: Fundraising

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Sheryl Cole, running for the City Council seat being vacated by Mayor Pro Tem Danny Thomas (Place 6, the historically African-American seat), has filed her first financial report, showing supporter contributions of over $13,000 gathered during the first 45 days of the race. Two other candidates in the race reported contributions of $3,250 and $140 during the same period, giving Cole the early fundraising advantage.

Her campaign has also released its first list of public supporters (available here). Some notable names include 2005 Place 3 City Council candidates Gregg Knaupe, Mandy Dealey, and Margot Clarke; TARAL Executive Director Sarah Wheat; Political consultants Alfred Stanley and Mark Littlefield; Recent candidates Kelly White, Lulu Flores and Jan Soifer; and community leader Bettie Naylor. Cole’s campaign committee is being chaired by environmentalist Shudde Fath and businesswoman Bobbie Baker, with Rev. Joseph Parker, Jr., serving as the campaign’s treasurer.

Cole will have her formal campaign kick-off event on Wednesday, February 1st, at 5:30 PM at the Victory Grill, 1104 East 11th Street.

ABOUT SHERYL COLE

Attorney and account Sheryl Cole, 41, is a 23-year resident of Austin. She earned her B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Texas in 1986 and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1987. Cole subsequently returned to U.T. for law school, earning her J.D. in 1991. Cole’s legal career includes six years as staff counsel at the Texas Municipal League. Married to Austin attorney Kevin Cole for 15 years, Sheryl Cole is the mother of three boys, and currently serves as president of the Lee Elementary School PTA. The Cole family belongs to David Chapel, where Sheryl teaches 2nd grade Sunday School. Cole currently serves on the Board of Leadership Austin and the Austin Area Urban League, and is a former Board member of Communities in Schools. Cole also served as Tri-Chair of the 2004 AISD Citizen Bond Committee, and was appointed by former mayor Kirk Watson to serve on the 1998 City of Austin Citizen Bond Committee. If elected, Sheryl Cole would be the first African-American female to serve on the Austin City Council. The election is scheduled for Saturday, May 13, 2006.

Faring My Way in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I've been playing around with a site this afternoon, documenting my travels from this week. Wayfaring.com is pretty darn cool, especially since I walk and bike everywhere. So I thought I'd make up a few maps of my activites for y'all while I work on the new BOR site so I can start getting at least those logins out to the donors. (Did I forget to mention we'll have polls?)

Anways, here's my ill fated trip around Austin last Tuesday when I went to the Bob Gammage press conference and ended up with a flat tire at Glen Maxey's. Then my two attempts at cashing Andy Brown's ad check, first on foot, then on bike.

Gay Republican Write-In Running Against Doggett

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From the world of semi-bizarre comes word that Congressman Doggett in TX-25 running from Austin to Mexico, will have more than just a Libertarian challenger, he'll have a 24 year old gay Republican waging a write-in campaign.

Edward Mokrzy, 24, a former Dallas resident, said he had planned to file for a place on the ballot in the primary before the National Republican Congressional Committee cancelled a pledge to provide his $3,125 filing fee. The group pulled its support after he announced he would run as openly gay and on a government reform platform, he said.

"I think what happened was that the Texas Republican Party got scared because they saw me as actually having a chance of winning Austin and of winning the election," Mokrzy said.

Mokrzy said he suspects Republican Party leaders would prefer not to see an openly gay Republican elected to office. Austin is so liberal that a gay candidate with progressive ideas about government reform would stand a good chance of winning, he said.

"That's speculation, but I do truly believe that," Mokrzy said.

Well, Mokrzy can speculate all he wants, but on the ballot or not, he's not going to fracture Doggett's Austin base any time soon. And even the Log Cabin Republicans don't know who he is.

Carla Halbrook, a spokeswoman for Log Cabin Republicans who lives in Dallas, said she is unfamiliar with Mokrzy or any support for him from gay Republicans in Texas.

"I don't know anything about him, and I haven't heard anything about him," Halbrook said.

And for Gay Republicans, you really think they could come up with a site slightly more fabulous than this one.

Will Wynn Running for Re-Election

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Austin Mayor Will Wynn (who's website address is just too clever you'd never expect it) filed the first campaign finance report of his 2006 re-election campaign yesterday. Wynn raised $40,430 from 428 individual donors in the period between November 16th and December 31st.

The total of more than $40,000 is an unprecedented sum this early in the campaign season. Since Austin’s Fair Campaign Ordinance went into effect in 1997, limiting individual contributions to $100 and all but eliminating donations from outside the city, no candidate has raised $40,000 in the first reporting period.

Mayor Wynn will officially announce his re-election campaign with a kick-off event at the Broken Spoke on Friday, February 3rd, from 5 pm to 7 pm. Asleep at the Wheel will perform live to support the campaign.

Danny Thomas, outgoing City Councilmember (and supported of Proposition 2 last fall) is the only other announced candidate I am aware of (other than Jennifer Gale or Leslie whom I'm not doubting might end up filing).

Local Club Meetings

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

It's a new year, and many readers may have resolved to get more involved in local politics as the political winds have shifted in our favor. So to that end, here are 3 club meetings that you may wish to attend.

First off, Capitol City Young Democrats (CCYDs) is starting anew (as it has from time to time) so if you feel you are a "young urban professional", graduated from UT, or maybe attending another Austin University that is without a Democratic Club, CCYDs is perfect for you. There first meeting this semester is this Sunday and membership dues are only $10.

When: Sunday, January 22nd, 7pm
Where: Opal Devines
700 West Sixth Street
Contact: David Z. @ (512) 680-8210

Another local group in an area that has seen quite a bit of recent Democratic activity, North by Northwest Democrats (NXNW) just had their monthly meeting this past Monday at the Village Shopping Center. But if you happen to be up in that part of Travis County, contact Richard Anton at richardanton-at-alumni.utexas.net or 512 343 0112 for more information.

Lastly, University Democrats at UT will be restarting the semester next Wednesday at it's usual time of 8 pm (every Wednesday) in a NEW room, Mezes 1.304. Dues are only $5 for the semester, which gets you voting rights in our elections as well as the ability to partake in the Dining with Democrats program as well as our paid Internship program which is now expanding to 3 offices this semester.

Rider Out of March Primary

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From the Statesman, Kathy Rider will be pulling out of the March Primary in District 48. (Even if Howard wins, there would still in theory be a primary, though the three candidates have agreed that if one won the special election, the others would not contest them in the primary).

Political consultant and lobbyist Bill Miller, a close ally of some Republican leaders, described the results as an upset because the seat was drawn in 2001 to elect a Republican. He said it could signal that good times are ahead for other Texas Democrats as they try to pick up seats in a Republican-controlled Legislature this year.

"She still has to win, and you have a runoff," Miller said. "But it's a big warning to Republicans to take a look at the issues that are surfacing in this race and how they play with the electorate."

The winner will serve for the rest of 2006, including at least one special legislative session this spring to address the state's school finance system. Baxter resigned in November, citing professional and family reasons, and now lobbies for the cable industry.

Rider said she will drop out of the March Democratic primary to see who will face Bentzin in November for a new term that will start in January 2007.

"I think the Democrats are going to take the seat in the runoff, and we're pleased," Rider said.

I'll be the first to thank Kathy Rider for her previous service to the AISD and for helping to show that Democrats can solidly perform in District 48 (and for being gracious in defeat). No one could have predicted that her campaign more or less kept Donna Howard from winning outright tonight, even though after the fact, that does appear to be the case.

This now puts candidate Andy Brown in a bit of a pickle, because if Donna wins the run-off, his campaign doesn't need to restart, but no real decision can be made until a month from now when that election is over. I'm willing to bet there will be pressure, now that Rider is out, to urge Brown to fully endorse Howard in the run-off. We should hear from that camp in the next couple days. Check back with Burnt Orange Report for any updates. Also thanks to the Texas Whip for their reporting.

District 48 Election Results Thread

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Early Results are in for tonight's special election here in Travis County. I'm at the Donna Howard Victory Party at Waterloo Icehouse, where the candidate has just arrived.

Results (SOS):

(R) Ben Bentzin // 2,088 // 45.76%
(L) Ben Easton // 99 // 2.17%
(D) Donna Howard // 1,825 // 40.00%
(D) Kathy Rider // 551 // 12.08%

Overal Turnout: 4.64% (EV)

The important thing to note, Democrats have 52% of the vote total right now, and you can make your own conclusions about what that would mean if Kathy Rider was not in this race. I expect the numbers to improve from here as the night goes on, though these early numbers are already better than expected. If Howard comes in with more votes than Bentzin, she is well placed to win what seems to be a likely run-off. But anything could happen.

Update:

Travis County Results when they come in will be here, along with precinct by precinct.

The two precincts with over 10% turnout are being won by Howard with 53% and 57% of the vote. Bentzin is only at 36% and 30% in those precincts.

Update:

In the early vote, Bentzin is winning only winning 13 of 39 Precincts with over 50%. Rider's ceiling is 20% in any one given precinct. Looking at the 10 Western Travis County Precints (the 370s) which Bentzin won outright, the turnout is below average, some precincts below 1%, most below 3%.

Update: 14 of 39 Precincts Reporting

New Cumulative:

(R) Bentzin: 40.4%
(L) Easton: 2.13%
(D) Howard: 45.8%
(D) Rider: 11.7%

Election Day Only:

(R) Bentzin: 31.3%
(L) Easton: 2.1%
(D) Howard: 55.7%
(D) Rider: 11.0%

Update:

New Cumulative:

(R) Bentzin: 37.5%
(L) Easton: 2.1%
(D) Howard: 49.15%
(D) Rider: 11.3%

Final Results

(R) Bentzin: 37.8%
(L) Easton: 2.3%
(D) Howard: 49.47%
(D) Rider: 10.45%

Howard was 73 votes off of avoiding a run-off. 59.92% is the combined Democratic Vote. Needless to say, Howard is in a very good position to win a run-off as most people were expecting to Bentzin to have around 48%-49% of the vote tonight, not 38%. Now all Howard has to do is consolidate the Democratic vote columns, making sure not to lose too many voters from the 14% turnout tonight which is sure to drop in the run-off, likely to be set in mid-February.

Precincts won by 50%+ (of 39 total precincts).

Howard: 20
Bentzin: 6
Rider: 0
Easton: 0

Election Day in HD 48

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

It's the first day of school for students at UT, and it's Election Day in House District 48, which includes some Far West student precints. So students heading in and out of classes, and everyone else that lives or knows someone out in the District, be sure to vote today for Donna Howard (or Kathy Rider) in your home precinct. A list of precinct locations can be found here. If you need to check which precinct you are in, you can look that up online here.

Remember, if Ben Bentzin is kept under 50%, it will force a February run-off, and it's my bet that he's going to be within 1-2% of that mark either way. Should Bentzin win today, he becomes the State Rep through November, and gets to cast pro-voucher, Baxter-esque votes during this spring's special session(s).

And just think about where Bentzin's money is coming from...

Texans for Lawsuit Reform: $20,000
Bob [the swift boat guy] Perry: $10,000
HillCo PAC: $10,000
Mike Toomey: $1000

Update: Texan: More than 4,500 early voters have already cast their ballot to find a replacement for Todd Baxter's vacated northwest Austin state representative seat, according to Travis County voting records released Friday. (For comparison, 68,663 votes were cast in the 2004 general between White and Baxter.)

Results will be here tonight. I may try to make it to one of the victory parties to report on results as they come in this evening, sometime after 7pm.

Update 2: Is anyone going to the Donna Howard Victory Party at 7 up at Waterloo Icehouse at 6023 N Capital of Texas Hwy? Want to give me a ride? E-mail or call me.

UT Shutting Down as of 2 PM: Updated

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Texan: The University will be closed due to weather concerns from 2 p.m. Wednesday until 10 a.m. Thursday.

I'm sure the University Wide e-mail will be out shortly. Students may want to contact professors if you had tests or projects due during this time. It's going to be cold and slightly frozen out there, so stay warm, wrap the pipes, and bring your plants indoors (or put bags over them). It's already 34 degrees here in Austin, but real-feel is around 23.

So instead of going to class, you can read this piece by the Bell campaign which knocks down some Perry claims.

UPDATE

Official University E-mail now out.

Due to today’s forecast of inclement weather, the University will officially close beginning at 2 p.m. today and reopen at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Employees who must work to provide essential services and functions will receive state compensatory time.

All university buildings normally locked by night custodial staff will be locked by the day custodial staff immediately after closure.

Classes and exams scheduled for this afternoon will be made up on Monday (Dec.12) using the same class or exam schedule and location. Classes and exams scheduled for tomorrow morning before 10 a.m. will be made up on Tuesday (Dec. 13) using the same class or exam schedule and location. If this “last” class meeting is not necessary, faculty may cancel the class.

Human Resource Services will provide instructions on recording time to Department HR Contacts.

UPDATE:

Due to the university closure and potentially unsafe road conditions ALL UT Shuttle service will be suspended at 7 p.m. today (Wednesday, Dec. 7) and is scheduled to resume tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 8) at 9 a.m.

Please refer to the Capital Metro website (www.capmetro.org) for more information regarding service interruptions and schedule information.

Please note: Classes and examinations in the Division of Continuing Education are cancelled for today (Dec. 7). University Extension students should contact the University Extension office for information about rescheduling evening classes.

If you've been trying to check your UT e-mail, the system is being strained and is not logging some people on. Be patient.

The Craziest HD-48 Scenario

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

There will be a lot going on behind the scenes in the next few days. There is some talk about consolidating the field and having one person run. This is the process that will happen this spring that you all should be aware of, as I understand it.

The January Election is an open free for all election. All Republicans and Democrats run against each other. The top 2 go to run off in February. The winner of all that then is the State Rep for the Spring Special session that will likely be called for March-June because of the school finance ruling that set the June 1 deadline or else schools shut down.

BUT

There is still the regular primary in March which will decide the nominees for the November general election.

SO

Say it is Bentzin (R) Howard (D) Brown (D) & Rider (D)

They duke it out in the open special, winner wins. They all could potentially run again (and have new challengers) in their party primaries in March. So given that, the following is actually a possible scenario.

January Open Special Election: Bentzin & Brown go to run-off
February Run-off: Brown wins, serves as elected Rep for any Spring Special Session
March Primary: Bentzin wins the Republican nomination, Brown goes to run-off with Howard for an April Run-off, forcing him to campaign during the middle of the special session
April Run-off: Howard wins Democratic nomination and campaigns against Bentzin for November election, while Brown serves out the rest of the term as the elected lame-duck rep, while the session is still going on!

I'm not saying this is in the cards, but Rick Perry's election date enables this to be a possibility. And remember, Travis County officials estimate the election will cost as much as $250,000, plus another $125,000 or more if there is a runoff.

Rip Avery has some thoughts as well.

As I have mentioned before, Bentzin not only lacks Baxter's baggage (voting record and TRMPAC connections) but is in a position to finance a campaign before any single Democrat is ripe for candidacy in the general election. Also, as noted, there are at least three players on the Dem side, and in a special election all candidates run at once, with the winner being he/she who obtains the majority of votes. If there is no majority, then there is a runoff between the top two candidates. The three way split may not be as bad as one thinks, since the goal of the Democratic Party should be to make sure that Bentzin stays below 50%. Votewise, even if Howard and Rider took some votes from the left, Brown should be ok if he can suck enough votes from the center to prevent a Bentzin victory in the first round. The problem, of course, will be the expense (consolidating elections analogous to a primary and possibly general in such a short time frame).

While Bentzin lacks Baxter's "baggage," he did take money from Texans for Lawsuit Reform (and Bob "Swift Boat" Perry) in 2002. TFLR is bankrolled by Dr. James Leininger, and it contributed heavily to Baxter as well as Craddick and others in the Texas GOP leadership. Leininger was he mojor influence behind issues like school vouchers, and reportedly pulled GOP reps off the floor to lecture the Legislators on the importance of voting for them and his other pet issues. Oh yeah, Leininger contributed heavily to TRMPAC and Stars Over Texas PAC (TRMPAC's successor and a Baxter contributor). So, Bentzin (despite his reputed $37m "fortune") is still connected to the same policy "puppet masters" as Baxter. If you like Tom DeLay and Tom Craddick (and their buddy, Rick Perry, another beneficiary of Leininger largesse), then you should vote for Bentzin. If you, like me, don't care for the Right Wing's influence in Texas, then you should support Andy Brown.

HD 48 Special Election Date Set

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Election Day: January 17th (Tuesday)
Early Voting: January 2-13
Filing Deadline: December 19th

via QR

Developing...

It's hard to expect Rick Perry to get on the stick with much of anything these days, and certainly not elections, considering the residents of District 143 in Houston had to go for entire special sessions with no representation.

But faced with having to deal with his failure last year to fix school finance, and now having to do it by June 1st lest the Republicans would rather see the schools shut down (probably an absolute dream for a couple of them), we get an early election called, with all candidates running in a free for all.

As a student friend of mine said when I told them this, Perry is a bastard, because the entire election takes place over the holidays, and election day is the first day of classes. That means all those Democratic student voters out in Far West, which are hard enough to turn out anyways, will be next to impossible to get. University Democrats, which has been active in block walking for Andy Brown's campaign, might have enough time to get an endorsement out next week (while still open, would likely go to Brown at this point) and if that couples with Central Austin Democrats could provide for some of those infamous yellow doorhangers to go up out in the district. But as far as volunteers go, the student impact has been minimized.

Such an early election means money and existing on the ground infrastructure means a lot. Brown has been blockwalking since the summer, hitting thousands of houses out there. Donna Howard will have to depend upon the Kelly White network of donors and volunteers. Kathy Rider (if she's still planning on running) will have to rely on name ID because there hasn't been sign of any organized activity I can pin down. Of course, that reveals our other problem, that there will be more Democrats than Republicans running, either 2-1 or 3-1, since Ben Bentzin will be the Republican nominee.

If the Dems all run, they have to keep Bentzin below 50% on the first round and then join together in the run-off to have a chance. It would be better if we could consolidate behind one candidate, and then focus our collective efforts on turnout, instead of worrying about turnout and fighting over voters at the same time. But with from what the candidates on our side have signaled, that doesn't seem likely to happen. But this early election could change that.

Until then, we wait. You can look at the HD-48 map (pdf) in the meantime.

Austin City Charter Propositions

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Save Our Springs Alliance is collecting signatures on petitions for calling an election on two propositions. Pay is 75 cents per valid signature of a City of Austin registered voter. (Voter signs both petitions and you make $1.50). Work any hours, any place. Door to door or tabling.

For information call Glen Maxey 443-2004 (o) 656-6337 (cell) OR Nate Walker (680-8438). Petitions can be picked up and information at: Glen Maxey Consulting, 512 E Riverside Ste 203, Austin TX 78704 Call 443-2004 to make sure someone is at the office. Usually here 1 pm to 6 pm / Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Information email: Glen at RepGMaxey-AT-aol.com

The ballot propositions are listed in the extended entry. One is a Save Our Spring Charter Amendment to close loopholes being used to get around the landmark SOS ordinance when it was first passed. The other is an Open Government Online measure.

Grits has some thoughts on the Online measure, which would force open some APD police records.

UPDATE: The official charter campaign website is here.

Summary of “Save Our Springs” Charter Amendment

General Purpose: Upon approval by the voters of the City of Austin, the Amendment would make it the official policy of the City of Austin to protect the quality and quantity of water flows in the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer and to take actions in support of this policy, as summarized below:

Key Elements:

Recognizes Scientific Consensus -- In 1997 more than 35 Central Texas scientists, environmental engineers, and urban planners wrote and endorsed a policy paper entitled “Protecting the Edwards Aquifer: A Scientific Consensus.” The Charter Amendment would require the City to follow the key recommendations of this scientific consensus.

Directs Development Downstream – Requires the city to direct development to the east and downstream of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer in its development of roads, water and sewer investments, economic development efforts, etc.

Limits Development Subsidies – Prohibits the City from offering tax abatements or other economic development subsidies to companies or their close affiliates that seek to build in the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer, and requires those companies receiving economic development subsidies to refrain from future development in the watershed.

Minimizes Grandfathering -- The City’s overly lax reading of state law has allowed massive amounts of development in the Barton Springs watershed as “grandfathered” from the 1992, Austin voter-approved Save Our Springs ordinance. The charter amendment would require the City to narrowly define “grandfathered development” under state and federal law.

Summary of “Open Government Online” Charter Amendment

General Purpose: The Amendment would open Austin City Government to public scrutiny by requiring most of City business to be carried out online, in real time, and with full right of public access and public input. Current internet technology makes it possible for local governments to carry out most of their business online, including permitting, contracting, project and policy development and management, broadcast of council and board and commission meetings, disclosure of meetings and correspondence with lobbyists, etc. And just like with businesses, doing so reduces costs and increases competition in the market place of ideas, so that better decisions are made. By opening city government to public scrutiny and to the ideas, information and participation of everyone who cares about Austin, we can make a better future for Austin and establish Austin as a leader in open, online and participatory democracy.

Key Elements:

Require Open, Online Government for Efficiency –Using internet technology to manage permitting, contracting, and public information disclosure, the City can save time and money. Rather than spend staff time responding to public information requests, most City information would be automatically disclosed requiring no time at all. Most of this information is in electronic format already – its just not accessible to the public.

Require Open, Online Government for Accountability—It’s long been recognized that shining light on government is the best disinfectant against waste, abuse, and malfeasance. By forcing City Government to be accessible online and in real time, we can assure far greater accountability of both elected officials and city management.

Require Open, Online Government for Participatory Democracy – Austin is best when it invites, considers, and responds to the questions, information and opinions of everyone who cares about our city. The Open Government Online Amendment would allow interested citizens into the city decision making process by requiring that development permitting and project and policy development be done through webpages that automatically post comments of interested citizens within the same process of considering proposals and applications by developers, contract bidders, and other commercial interests. Also, by requiring full public disclosure of how and with whom elected officials and top management spend their time, the Amendment would create a powerful incentive for balancing lobbyist access with citizen access.

Require Open, Online Government for Equal Access and Fairness – Too much of city decision making is cloaked in shadows and springs forth whole, the decision already made well before interested citizens even know there’s an issue. The recent $30 million tax abatement giveaway for Samsung (a company that admitted to felony price-fixing charges and a $300 million fine) is a perfect example. By forcing disclosure of virtually all correspondence with commercial interests – and specifically requiring all corporate welfare packages be negotiated in public – the Open Government Online Amendment will make Austin city government much more fair to the average interested citizen.

Jim Stauber Announces Run Against Rep. Gattis

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Check out Eye on Williamson County's post on Democrat Jim Stauber's bid to unseat Republican Dan Gattis.

I will immediately work to:

+Prohibit local and state government from taking your homes and land for private development by others for their commercial profit.

Dan Gattis refused to support this prohibition.

+Restore 2900 Texas State jobs to Texas residents, which the legislature eliminated by outsourcing to a low paying private company and, possibly, non-Texas residents.

Dan Gattis voted to allow outsourcing Texas State jobs to non-residents.

+Restore funding to the CHIPS Program (Children’s Health Insurance Program) to provide adequate health care to Texas children and return Federal funds to Texas.

Dan Gattis voted for a lesser and lower level of care for our children and to turn back, to the Federal government, millions of our tax dollars.

+Move immediately to make the Toll Road Authority answerable to the public by making the members elected officials instead of appointed officials.

Dan Gattis opposed making the members directly answerable to the voters.

Attention Austinites

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Especially students... are you tired of those "every address" bulk junk mail pieces that you get? There are apparently ways to get off the lists. If interested, take a gander at this post by Kaan.

Baxter's Revolving Door

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Funny guy that former Representative Todd Baxter.

AAS: Todd Baxter, who resigned as state representative from Austin two weeks ago today, has become the state cable industry's top lobbyist, the group said Monday.

Baxter, a Republican, left his state House seat Nov. 1, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

I guess we know who Baxter's real family is- the Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association.

Baxter's official title will be vice president for government affairs and general counsel. He replaces Kathy Grant, who resigned to go into private practice on Oct. 20. She lobbied for the industry this session as cable providers bitterly fought to stop legislation they say gave SBC Communications Inc. and other phone companies an upper hand as they begin selling television services.

And the best part? Kathy Grant retired on the same day as Baxter. Like that wasn't planned...

"I have enjoyed working in the Legislature in a variety of capacities, but I expect this endeavor to be the highlight of my professional career," Baxter said in the statement.

Anyone who thinks being a cable lobbyist makes for an exciting highlight to one's professional career, obviously wasn't having near enough fun as a legislator. Of course, for Baxter, it's not like this will be much of a change in job description, since he was serving the same function during the actual session (and special sessions).

During the regular session, Baxter was a member of the House Regulated Industries Committee, which oversees the telecommunications and electric industries. He played an active role in Senate Bill 5, the bitter legislation that pitted cable and telephone companies against each other.

Baxter voted for the legislation, which passed during a special summer session. He unsuccessfully pushed for a provision that would have let cable providers get out of their local franchise agreements and qualify for a single statewide franchise. SBC Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., have been granted such franchises as they roll out their new television services.

Nice knowing you. I look forward to a Rep. Andy Brown or Rep. Donna Howard next year (since the Kathy Rider campaign can't even bother themselves with a website or a candidate a step above "snooze").

BMW Ad Contract Goes to GSD&M

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Kudos to GSD&M, local Austin advertising firm that was responsible for the "We're Texas" ad campaign (which you can watch here) which just won BMW's $75 million dollar ad contract for North America.

AAS: GSD&M employees were celebrating Monday night at the company's headquarters on West Sixth Street, with a German band playing in the background while BMW and agency executives made the announcement.

"They don't call Austin the live music capital of the world for nothing, if we can get an oompah band on short notice," said Roy Spence, president and co-founder of GSD&M.

Though I'm not certain if getting an oompah band on any notice is something I'd want to be able to do...heh.

Sheryl Cole for Austin City Council: Place 6

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Mayor Pro-Tem Danny Thomas, currently holding the "African-American" seat on the Austin City Council is retiring due to term limits. But fear not, a replacement has already stepped up in the form of Sheryle Cole, who if elected would be the first African-American woman to serve on the Austin City Council. She has just announced her candidacy and her website will launch later this month at www.sherylcole.com.

Local consultants David Butts and Mark Nathan will be heading up her campaign, a signal at least to me, that Cole may be less of "a" candidate for place 6 as "the" candidate, though I'm certain that others will jump into the race. I'd expect to see Austin continue to leave the "black seat black" as it is one of the ways the city keeps from being federally forced to have single member districts to ensure minority representation.

From the press release, full text of which is in the extended entry...

Cole currently serves on the Board of Leadership Austin and the Austin Area Urban League, and is a former Board member of Communities in Schools. Cole also served as Tri-Chair of the 2004 AISD Citizen Bond Committee, and was appointed by former mayor Kirk Watson to serve on the 1998 City of Austin Citizen Bond Committee.

Cole said that if elected she hoped to help the Council and Manager focus on “strategies for spreading economic success to all parts of Austin.” Cole – naming economic development, transportation, public safety, social services, and environmental protection as her top priorities – said she will be a champion for East Austin at City Hall.

Thanks to the campaign for giving BOR the scoop before the local media. You sure know how to butter my bread.

Austin, Texas – Austin attorney and accountant Sheryl Cole today filed papers with the City Clerk appointing a campaign treasurer, and announced her intent to run for the Place 6 seat on the Austin City Council. Place 6 is being vacated next year by Mayor Pro Tem Danny Thomas, who was elected in 2000 and served two three-year terms.

If elected, Cole would be the first ever African-American female to serve on the Austin City Council. The election is scheduled for Saturday, May 13, 2006.

Cole, 41, is a 23-year resident of Austin. She earned her B.A. in accounting from the University of Texas in 1986 and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1987. Cole subsequently returned to U.T. for law school, earning her J.D. in 1991. Cole’s legal career includes six years as staff counsel at the Texas Municipal League.

Married to Austin attorney Kevin Cole for 14 years, Sheryl Cole is the mother of three boys and currently serves as president of the Lee Elementary School PTA. The Cole family belongs to David Chapel, where Sheryl teaches 2nd grade Sunday School. David Chapel pastor Rev. Joseph Parker, Jr. is serving as Cole’s campaign treasurer.

Cole currently serves on the Board of Leadership Austin and the Austin Area Urban League, and is a former Board member of Communities in Schools. Cole also served as Tri-Chair of the 2004 AISD Citizen Bond Committee, and was appointed by former mayor Kirk Watson to serve on the 1998 City of Austin Citizen Bond Committee.

Cole said that if elected she hoped to help the Council and Manager focus on “strategies for spreading economic success to all parts of Austin.” Cole – naming economic development, transportation, public safety, social services, and environmental protection as her top priorities – said she will be a champion for East Austin at City Hall.

“Too often, East Austin is still missing out on the upside of economic growth happening in the larger community,” said Cole. “I believe that City Hall needs to stay focused on taking steps to help East Austin participate in our prosperity.”

Cole said she would also work to deliver honest, accountable public service to every Austinite across the spectrum of issues that come before the City Council. “Whether it’s a single zoning case or a far-reaching policy initiative, my goal will always be to get all the facts I can, and make the best judgment I know how,” she said.

Cole said her official campaign kick-off event would be held in January 2006, and that her campaign website, www.sherylcole.com, would launch later this month.

Travis County Prop 2 Map

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Sent to me by two readers already, here is a downloadable precinct by precinct map of the Travis County vote on Proposition 2 done by city
demographer Ryan Robinson. The Austin Chronicle will have an expanded precinct map in this Thursday's issue which will have results broken down by state house district.

Download file (pdf)

Anyone know if they've seen other urban counties with maps produced like this? If so, send them my way.

Travis Early Vote Final Results

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The final Travis County Turnout for the 2005 Constitutional Amendment Election. Big bump today, some numbers below.

UT: 776 today // 5,228 total (highest single day & highest overall early vote location in Travis)
Travis: 11,680 // 56,369 total (highest single day)
(UT cast 9.3% of Travis County votes)

Travis Turnout: 10.57%
Est. Turnout: 17.6% (assuming 60/40 early v. election day turnout pattern seen last fall)

Oddly, that turnout prediction is only off .4% points from the one I figured would be way off on the second day of voting. My hopes are of course that there will be closer to a 50/50 pattern which would be more in line with past elections, and would result in Travis casting and even higher overall percentage). We'll soon find out if last November was an anomoly or a new pattern.

To download the early vote spreadsheet in excel format, click here.

Dean Powers Named Finalist for UT President

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Bill Powers, dean of the School of Law, has been named the only finalist for UT president by UT System Chancellor Mark Yudof, the Texan is reporting. The regents will vote on the nominee in the next three weeks.

Powers was named dean of the UT law school in May of 2000, leaving the University of Washington School of Law. He was chair of the task force that explored curricular reform and suggested a new University College that would house all incoming freshman undergraduates before they entered a specific college of study. The regents interviewed possible candidates all day Friday before naming Powers as the sole finalist.

The Presidential Search Advisory Committee, chaired by Teresa Sullivan, System vice-chancellor for academic affairs, submitted candidates to the regents last week. Sullivan is married to law school associate Dean Douglas Laycock.

Powers was the only internal candidate submitted to the regents. Provost Sheldon Ekland-Olson and Liberal Arts Dean Richard Larivere were both often mentioned as possible finalists in the search for a new University president, but Larivere had previously denied that he was in the final running for the office. "[Powers] seems to be very good at bringing large groups together and sympathizing points of view," said Regents Chairman James Huffines.

If I remember correctly, I want to say it was due to Dean Powers that the University has included sexual orientation into its nondiscrimination clause, originally at the Law School because it was needed in order to move UT Law higher in National Rankings. I've tried to find reference to this online, does anyone remember this?

Limited Ballot

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I was just alerted to a fantastic opportunity for those of you who are not yet registered to vote in Travis County:

LIMITED BALLOT

If you were previously registered in a Texas County and have not registered to vote in Travis County, you may be eligible to vote a Limited Ballot. Limited ballots are available only during the Early Voting period, Monday, October 24 – Friday November 4, 2005, at the main Early Voting location at 5501 Airport Boulevard. For the November 8, 2005, Joint Special Elections, a person voting a limited ballot is entitled to vote only on statewide propositions.

To vote a limited ballot, a voter:

§ Has moved to Travis County from another Texas county

§ Was a registered voter in the county of former residence when the voter moved to Travis County

§ Has completed an Application for Limited Ballot and submitted the Application to the Travis County Elections Division.

Constitutional Amendments are statewide elections so you can vote AGAINST Constitutional Amendment #2 at the Travis County Elections Division Office (also the Tax Office on Airport Blvd...on the way to Highland Mall from campus) even if you are not a Travis County voter! They request that you call ahead at 512.854.4996 to let them know you are coming. Remember, you can only take advantage of this opportunity until Early Voting ends on Friday.

Please remember just how important this election is in the fight for equality.

How to Oppose the Klan

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The worst thing that those of us here in Austin could do is make a big violent mess out of the Ku Klux Klan's arrival at City Hall this Saturday. While some plan a second mooning of the Klan, if you really want to be useful, I'd suggest joining the No Nonsense in November campaign starting at 1pm this Saturday at Auditorium Shores (South 1st and Riverside Drive map) and then walk peacefully out to the middle of the 1st Street Bridge where the march will halt in silent, watchful protest, within auditory and visual contact of City Hall. Join us there between 1-3 PM.

This will be yet another turning point for the campaign, and the Klan's arrival almost guarantees state and national media interest. We gain little in rioting. We gain so much more in non-violent protest, standing strong, sending our message, and proving that the true repository of hate lies with the KKK and the supporters of this Amendment.

The campaign's official remarks are below the fold.

1. Fair-minded Texans are encouraged to gather at Auditorium shores and the southern entrance to the First Street Bridge for brief introductory remarks by rally leaders.

2. All those in attendance will be given posters, signs and other messages designed by our staff with nonviolent language consistent with our campaign message, balloons, etc. There is no need to bring anything with you. (If you bring hand made signs, please remember we are doing this for statewide TV coverage IN OPPOSITION to Amendment #2. Please DO NOT exhibit hate or anger messages toward the Klan. Let the Klan speak for themselves.)

3. When instructed by our leaders, we will walk in unity to the middle of the bridge over the river. This will be a silent walk and protest. We will not yell, call out, or otherwise respond vocally to any of the speaker's antigay comments. In keeping with the Soulforce principles taught by Gandhi & Martin Luther King, Jr., we will instead "absorb the suffering" without responding in any manner that could be perceived as violent or aggressive. Your presence, the truth of your life, and the beautiful photo images, we believe, will challenge the speaker's antigay statements in a way more powerful than any words.

Please note: If you do not feel emotionally ready to be involved in such an action without reacting in anger, we respectfully ask that you decline participating in this peaceful response. Any action that could be perceived as aggressive or violent by the media would actually work in favor of the Ku Klux Klan.

In fact, a representative for the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan wrote: ". . . we expect anti-Klan demonstrators to be there who may become violent. We certainly don't want any of our people hurt nor any city officials. We just want to come and encourage people to vote for Christian Family Values and against legalized homosexual marriage in the state of Texas."

Again, this will be a peaceful counter-protest and we will refrain from any actions, words, or signage that could be misperceived as violent or hateful. Glen Maxey and/or his designee will answer questions by the media.

Howard In, White Out

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Bumped. Welcome visitors from the Donna Howard campaign e-mail, this is the post you were probably looking for. -KT

I've been aware of the talk that Kelly White would jump into the HD 48 primary in the hope of being a "consensus candidate" according to local consultant David Butts. This has been causing tensions of course since White is candidate Donna Howard's treasurer, and would immediately change the dynamic of the race for all candidates including Andy Brown (who's website design and e-mail images are still too wide to fit in average sized browsers) and AISD school board president Kathy Rider.

But this weekend I was at a fundraiser for the No Nonsense campaign where I learned that Kelly was giving Donna 'veto power' over any run she might make. And considering I just received an e-mail press release stating that Donna was in the race no matter what from consultant Kelly Fero, a run by White has now effectively been 'vetoed'. White is instead focusing her immediate time raising five figure money for an upcoming project for the No Nonsense campaign.

I'd also like to thank White for winning a No Nonsense campaign shirt at the fundraiser as a Thanksgiving present for my father.

The press release...

Veteran public education advocate Donna Howard today said she will be a candidate in any special election to fill the soon-to-be-vacant Texas House District 48 seat, and called for a series of public debates featuring every declared candidate to make sure voters have a chance to participate in a full discussion of the critical issues facing the district.

"The voters have a right to know who the candidates are and where we stand," Howard said. "At these prices, the stakes are too high to let partisanship, cronyism, and last-minute maneuvering at the Capitol take away that right."

A special election and possible run-off to replace incumbent state representative Todd Baxter, who resigned suddenly earlier this month, could cost taxpayers as much as $1 million, according to local election officials.

Howard, already a candidate in the regular primary election scheduled for March 7, 2006, said her campaign will offer hope to voters who are frustrated by the failure of the current state leadership to address public school finance, children's health care, soaring property tax and homeowners' insurance rates, and other major challenges.

"My campaign will be a home for anyone who believes we should be putting our community and the issues that concern us first and political gamesmanship last," Howard said.

A series of vigorous public debates would help voters counter the efforts of partisan leaders at the Capitol to short circuit the normal democratic process and hand pick their preferred candidate in a special election, Howard said.

Howard, a former Eanes ISD board member and widely recognized leader on school issues, was a co-founder of Advocates for Eanes Schools, a parent organization, and helped start the Texas Education Crisis Coalition, a grassroots group of parents and community leaders. Certified as a Master School Trustee by the Texas Association of School Boards, Howard has previously run for the State Board of Education.

Howard has a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's in health education from the University of Texas. She has worked as a critical care nurse at Brackenridge and Seton hospitals, served as the first hospital-based Patient Education Coordinator in Austin history, and helped get the Seton Good Health School off the ground. She has also been president of the Texas Nurses' Association (District 5) and a Health Education instructor at UT.

Just Listen

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Who do you think said this?

"We believe that as Christians we have an obligation under god to take a stand against homosexuality. Homosexuality is a sin and an abomination to God and goes against our Lord's plans for the human race."

And the following is the above's strategy...

"There are plans to infiltrate churches, to bastardize scripture, to galvanize people against minorities by using religion...

Scary what conservatives will say sometimes. But the above wasn't in relation to right-wing Texas Republicans.

It was the KKK. Coming to a city hall near you November 5th.

Rep. Chisum Violating Election Law?

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Yesterday's post by Phillip brought to light yet another offense that seems to have been committed by Rep. Warren Chisum, making this pattern egregious enough that as of 3 pm this afternoon, I have filed an official complaint and "request to investigate" these actions with a special prosecutor in the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney's office.

You can download my official filing: page 1, page 2, page 3.

So what did he do?

The following files outline what I see as a breach of state limitations on use of public funds and offices for the purpose of the promotion of the passage of Proposition 2. Below is the text of my filed criminal complaint.

"On a letter to Texas Pastors dates Sept 16, 2005, printed on Rep. Warren Chisum's official House of Representatives letterhead and signed by Rep. Warren Chisum (HD-88), Rep. John T Smithee (HD-86), and Rep. David Swinford (HD-87), statements were made encouraging involvement in the Nov. 8th Constitutional Amendment Election. Included in the letter were documents labeled "VOTE FOR PROP 2" and promoting the www.texansformarriage.org website. Staffer for Rep. Chisum Annette Glass is listed as a contact in the letter, listing her official House e-mail and the office number for Rep. Chisum.

Additionally, Rep. Chisum's office on October 25, 2005 distributed a Press Release through the Capitol e-mail system entitled "False Campaign Meant to Destroy Prop 2" in which Annette Glass is again listed as the contact with Re. Chisum's primary office phone number."

The following are .tif image files of the September 16th Letter sent to pastors, forwarded to me by e-mail.

Sept. 16th Mailer (The Letter .tif format)
Included Letter Document (Page 1 | Page 2)

Key things to mention here. The included documents with the letter are clearly promoting the election or defeat of the amendment as they are titled with a bold VOTE FOR PROP 2 title. Included on the Chisum letterhead are key phrases such as, "To save marriage as we know it, and prevent activist judges from ruling in favor of same-sex marriages, the churches of this state must actively work to get out the vote. ... It is clear the churches can stand in the gap and make the difference in this election." The letter closes urging pastors to "contact my office at 800/692-1389 or e-mail annette.glass@house.state.tx.ud" which seems to be an addition clear violation of the use of his public office for the campaigning for this amendment.

The full text response of Rev. William D. Nix, Jr. of Canadian, TX to Rep. Chisum is included in the extended entry. He was by no means pleased, as a faith leader, receiving this letter from Rep. Chisum and Company. It is from him indirectly that I received this information.

I was shocked to receive your letter of September 16 addressed to “Senior Pastor” which I assume was sent to all churches in your district and to those of Messrs. Smithee and Swinford, who also signed the letter. Regardless of one’s views on Proposition 2 or the issues it raises, the letter and its enclosures are offensive to all mainstream Christians and Texans of other religious preference for whom freedom of religion is among our most cherished rights. For elected officials to attempt to influence elections by exerting pressure on churches is an abuse of the public trust and an infringement of the Constitutionally-guaranteed separation of church and state.

The enclosure promoting Proposition 2 is an even more blatant violation of the separation of church and state. The organizations cited as sources include Jerry Falwell’s “Liberty Council,” James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” and other extreme-right Christian lobby groups. The suggested sermon points include a mixture of half-truths, misrepresentations and demagoguery, all calculated to arouse homophobic anxiety in the public. And their very inclusion in a letter from members of the legislature should be offensive to all theologically-educated clergy.

On the face of it, Proposition 2 is a thinly-veiled attempt to write discrimination toward gay and lesbian Texans into the Constitution. The existing “Protection of Marriage” law is discriminatory enough, denying basic legal protection and spousal benefits to anyone whose sexual orientation or committed relationship differs from the norm. And the promoters of Proposition 2 are aware that it is probably doomed to be found unconstitutional by the courts - thus their rush to write it into the Constitution.

Whet a pity that the last Legislature will be known primarily for failing to fund our children’s education and for attempting to deprive many Texans of their rights! Please don’t compound the error by eroding the wall of separation of church and state.

The Rev. William D. Nix, Jr.
Canadian (Texas)

OverSeen at the OverPass

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Saw this over at Austin MetroBlogging and I was reminded that many people have seen this group before. They have shown up from time to time out on the 12th Street overpass along I-35 holding a big banner that says "Say NO to Gay Marriage".

People have asked me as well as Glen Maxey, director of the statewide No Nonsense in November campaign fighting Prop 2, if we should be worried or do something about it. Nope. Heck, let people think that they can say no by voting no on Amendment 2 (even though they should anyways since it puts Texas Marriage into legal limbo if this passes according to front page Dallas news).

This guy is actually Mark Weaver and I have a little story about him that I was just sent.

"mark weaver who stands out on the 35 bridge holding a for prop 2 sign and is that ultra conservative asshole...calls kvue to say "i am outraged! my phone is ringing off the hook. all my congregation has been calling me to say 'i thought you said we were supposed to vote FOR this, what do we do, i am confused!' and what is WORSE, is that some people who wanted to vote for 2 already voted and voted against because of the call!"

Well, that is what 2 million phone calls will do, from a preacher (who is real contrary to Republican Bloggers, retired minister here in Austin). You'd expect more organization or concern from this Pro-2 side, but they got too comfortable. Even before the revelation that this Amendment has the potential to void all marriage in Texas and any of the media and GOTV that is going on now, the other side was polling 55/45, only a 10 point margin of yes to no. It's losing in Baxter's district as well as Martha Wong's.

This will be a nail biter but one in which we have already won in one sense, we were never expected to do better than the State of Oregon. Plus we could very easily be minus a few more Republican state reps next fall.

KKK to Support Prop 2 in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From the world of "oh brother" comes this wonderful gem. Apparently someone thought it was a good idea to bring a white supremacist group, to Austin, for them to rally in support of Proposition 2. I'd seriously like to know who their scheduler is.

One, don't bring the KKK to Austin of all cities in Texas. That's just stupid. Two, having the KKK support Proposition 2 is one of the few, if not only things you could do, that might make people actually want to vote against it simply because of how negative an opinion they have of this group. Three, having your little shindig in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday during the weekend when there isn't any voting going on makes little electoral sense, reducing that as a motive for the event. Four, having it on the weekend just invites all those off work staffers and various other Austinites to show up and make a ruckus, which is quite obviously the real intent.

The city has given permission of the Ku Klux Klan to hold a rally on Saturday, November 5. The group says they want to have a pro-family values rally in front of City Hall that afternoon to get voters to vote against gay marriage.

The city has reserved the Austin City Hall’s south plaza on Lavaca and Cesar Chavez from 1-3 pm on Saturday, November 5.

In an e-mail to the city for permission, a representative for the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan wrote: “Our speech will not be inflammatory, but we all know the reputation of the name of the KKK, so we expect anti-Klan demonstrators to be there who may become violent. We certainly don’t want any of our people hurt nor any city officials. We just want to come and encourage people to vote for Christian Family Values and against legalized homosexual marriage in the state of Texas.”

I only wish I could express the degree to which I'm rolling my eyes and sighing right now.

Join Us Overnight at UT

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Our Campus Alliance Against Inequality is throwing an overnight shindig in front of the UGL (Flawn Academic Center) tonight starting at 8 pm and running until tomorrow morning when the polls open to start casting votes in the Constitutional Amendment election.

We invite you to join us on the West Mall, starting at 8 pm, we will have 3 local bands perform, a break for the media at 10 pm, then a Campus Storm to get flyers and posters up all over campus, and then free food and movies as the night wears on. Bring a sleeping bag, pajamas, a blanket, whatever you like, or go home and join us again for 7 AM early voting, where there are more media expected as well and we will be handing out free balloons to those who voted, which we made especially for this event.

I will be liveblogging the events tonight so tune into BOR for what develops as well as my endorsements on the Constitutional Amendments, since now I have to actually think about the rest of these boring lame ass amendments before I vote at 7 am.

Travis County Bond Election

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

While we are all focused on the Constitutional Amendments, there are three Travis County bonds up for a vote on Nov. 8th that deserve your support.

Here is the flyer that visually lays out where the projects are planned for purchase or construction. http://www.traviscountybonds.org also has some information on why you should vote for all three.

BOR endorses a YES vote on Travis County Bond Propositions 1, 2, and 3.

Clarification on City Council Stuff

By Andrew Dobbs

The other day on the post about Danny Thomas' position on Prop 2, I left a comment going against a couple of people who suggested that his support for this Proposition (which I, of course, oppose) should disqualify him for the City Council or Mayor in the future. Here's part of what I said:

Second, I wasn't aware of his desiring to run for Mayor, but I don't understand why this should be a litmus test for Mayor or City Council. They don't have the power to decide these things anyways, so its not like gay rights are doomed with him up there. He's good on environmental, public safety and economic development issues. He is one of the most consistently liberal voices on city council. He is also an evangelical pastor, which means that on a handful of issues he'll probably come down on a different side as everyone else. One bad issue does not a bad councilman make.

In other words, which would you rather have: a George W. Bush/Tom Craddick type with a pro-gay marriage stance or a Paul Wellstone type with an anti-gay marriage stance? Before you answer that question, remember that Wellstone voted FOR the Defense of Marriage Act and was generally more conservative on this issue than others. This is one issue, and it should not be a litmus test. Danny Thomas has been a wonderful city councilman, and this issue notwithstanding its a shame he won't be on our council any more.

Today I got an email from a dear friend of mine who works closely with Mayor Will Wynn and he thought that the "George W. Bush/Tom Craddick type" who supports gay rights referenced in my post might refer to the mayor. I want to make it clear that it DOES NOT. Mayor Wynn is a great leader, and has shown tremendous leadership. There are some things I disagree with him about, but he has my full support.

I was simply referring to a theoretical situation. If you had a hypothetical right wing jerk who just happened to have a decent position on gay rights (like maybe Barry Goldwater) versus a good liberal who happens to have a not-so-great position on the issue (like Danny Thomas or Paul Wellstone), who would you choose? Perhaps if it was for the US Senate or something in that regard you could reasonably make this one issue a litmus test. But what about for the City Council, where issues of development are much more pertinent and gay rights aren't a big issue on the docket? I was simply saying that we should not yank the plug on Danny Thomas because of one bad issue.

On that same note, I support Mayor Wynn and am proud that the mayor of my city stands against a hateful amendment like Prop 2. Don't want to confuse anybody, and sorry if I caused any bad feelings.

Todd Baxter to Resign?

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Say it ain't so. Quorum Report gives us this: Austin politicos of both parties in turmoil over possible resignation

Sources familiar with the discussions tell QR that Rep. Todd Baxter (R-Austin) is expected to resign in the near future to pursue other career opportunities.

If he did I've been told it would go to special session sometime in December, maybe January, with the primary then 3 months after that, with the full election next November. Talk about changing the local dynamics. I'll sure miss one of our local corruption poster boys. The least he could do it hang around to 2006 for us.

Odds and Ends

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

West Campus here in Austin has a lot of development going on right now, with last year's rezoning of the region. The Statesman had an interesting article about it earlier in the month.

The only reason I bring this up is because it's the best tie in I could think of to ask you to fill out a fellow blogger's survey for his stats project. You need only answer if you are actually renting the place you currently live. Answer his one question survey here.

Speaking of money, if you are a local candidate or campaign, you might think about buying a BlogAd. As you may have noticed, for the first time in months, we have a period of no advertisers. I'd take advantage of this lull as there are some more national buys coming later in the month and it's prime time for a buy. I've even noticed an uptick in people clicking on the Google Ads instead because that tower is now up at the top of the page.

Many times I use BlogAds sales to turn right around in my giving to local political action. For instance, I'll be making about $100 of recent income available to campus efforts to defeat Constitutional Amendment 2. We blog because we care, not because we're going to get rich!

Danny Thomas on 2

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Austin Councilman Danny Thomas was the one city council member who was not signed on with Mayor Wynn's press conference Monday in opposition to Amendment #2. A reader sent in this information.

“I just made it clear that I don’t have anything against anyone, but I don’t believe in same sex marriage,” said Thomas. “I'm in favor of proposition 2.” Danny Thomas was attending a church convention in Lubbock Monday.

Austin Smoking Ban Upheld

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From the Statesman:

A federal judge has upheld the voter-approved City of Austin smoking ban but ordered the city not to revoke licenses or permits of business owners who violate the ban without first allowing them to have some sort of judicial review. The judge also ordered the city to limit fines against businesses that do not comply with the ban to $500.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks also said the city fine for violators of $2,000 violated state law.

...

Sparks also ruled that there "has been no clear showing by plaintiffs that the threatened injury of loss of business income outweighs the injury to the city and the citizens of Austin who enacted the ordinance."

I find it slightly ironic that the same businesses who whined that "constant revision of local ordinances disrupts the economic atmosphere and discourages investment or economic expansion" choose to try to force the judiciary to revise the local ordinances yet again. I guess it's less about any coherent value system and more about their bottom line.

They're businesses, they should be worried about their bottom line, but at the same time, personally I can't get too worked up about businesses that depend on an activity that kills you and negatively affects those around you. Now that I'm 21, I look forward to visiting downtown bars and music venues and not coming back smelling like a Drag Rat.

Austin Mayor Opposes Prop 2 (update)

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Austin's Mayor Will Wynn publicly opposed Constitutional Amendment 2 today at a Press Conference in town. I havn't seen it hit any wires online yet, but here is the text release of this statement. He was surrounded by a plethora of local elected officials who didn't speak but stood with him in opposition.

A listing more or less of those officials are as follows. In italics are those that did not join the coalition of officials calling for a "no" vote on Amendment #2.

Mayor Will Wynn
Mayor Pro Tem Danny Thomas
Council Member Raul Alvarez
Council Member Betty Dunkerley
Council Member Jennifer Kim
Council Member Lee Leffingwell
Council Member Brewster McCracken

County Commissioners
1- Ron Davis
2- Karen Sonleitner
3- Gerald Daugherty
4- Margaret Gómez

Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos
Rep. Dawnna Dukes
Rep. Elliot Naishtat
Rep. Mark Strama
Rep. Eddie Rodriuez

Travis County Constables
4- Maria Canchola
5- Bruce Elfant

District Clerk Amalia Rodriguez-Mendoza
Tax Assessor-Collector Nelda Wells Spears
Treasurer Dolores Ortega-Carter
County Attorney David Escamilla
Sheriff Greg Hamilton

There are two primary reasons that I’m standing here today to voice my opposition to Proposition 2, which will appear on the November 8th ballot. This proposed amendment would place in our state constitution the definition of marriage as being solely the union of a man and a woman.

First, I’m a proud American who believes that the First Amendment of the American Constitution prevents us from making any laws that codify religious values. I understand full well that a lot of well-intentioned folks oppose gay marriage on the basis of their religious beliefs. And, I respect the First Amendment rights of these citizens to speak their minds about their opinions. I don’t, however, want their - or my - feelings and thoughts about religion put into law. It’s not an accident, in my opinion, that the same amendment to the American Constitution that guarantees free speech also forbids laws regarding the establishment of religion. We can talk about and practice our religious faith with wide latitude here in America, but we will not make laws about it. The founders of this great country knew all too well that the mixture of religion and law produces a fatally divided society, and they were not about to let the mistakes of past empires and nations be repeated in the new republic that they were building.

Further, the wisdom of our country’s founders regarding the separation of church and state reflects not only their observations of history, but also the Christian heritage that they shared: it was, after all, Jesus who said, "Pay Caesar what is due to Caesar, and pay God what is due to God."

Second, I’m very proud to be a sixth generation Texan with roots in the Austin area going back to 1843. And, to me, one of the great cultural characteristics of Texas is that, here, we mind our own business. In Texas, there’s more than enough room for a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions. We may not like something that someone else is doing, but unless it’s really hurting somebody, we just go our own way and let it be. I like this aspect of Texas culture a lot—a whole lot, in fact. I think it comes with being such a big and wide-open state, and I think that it, more than almost any other mindset, defines what it is to be Texan. So, let’s
just not get into the habit of taking our opinions and trying to turn them into the laws of the land, particularly constitutional amendments: every time we let this happen, we lose a big part of what it is to be of and from the Great State of Texas.

Thank you all.

Will Wynn

Anti-Earle Ads Running in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

As locals may have started noticing, the 'barking dog' anti-Earle commercials are now being broadcast here in Austin. Why? Because it's part of a Republican strategy to make the issue of corruption, not about Tom DeLay (because he's certainly not corrupt) but about a District Attorney who's prosecuted more Democrats than Republicans and was popularly elected county wide without Republican opposition last fall.

Watch the ad here.

I think my favorite part is the end of the ad, where the narrator urges people to call Earle (the phone number goes to the office of the DA, I called tonight) and "tell him it's not a crime to be a conservative."

No, it's not a crime to be conservative. But it is a crime to be corrupt or commit criminal acts.

In the meantime, Earle has subpoenaed DeLay's home phone and car records.

No Bush Library for UT

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The state's two largest higher education systems have both been passed over in the quest to find a home for the Bush II Presidential Library. Neither UT nor A&M made it to the final cut (not did the City of Arlington for what it's worth). Moving on will be Baylor University, Southern Methodist University, the University of Dallas and a group led by Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Statesman: Baylor has been working on its proposal for several years and has purchased more than 100 acres on the banks of the Brazos River as a potential site. Waco is also close to Bush's ranch in Crawford. Lubbock, meanwhile, is near where the president and first lady grew up. The president and first lady will make the final site selection.

The University of Texas proposal, put forth by the UT System, offered a 21-acre parcel along Austin's Town Lake or two sites in Dallas as possible locations for the library. In addition to the main site, a secondary conference center site at UT-San Antonio also was proposed.

Want to bet who ends up with this thing? UT's bid felt half-hearted from the beginning. I think they realized Bush wouldn't pick them anyways and people in Austin weren't interested in potentially having it at a site here. Yes, I understand about research and all, but I'd give that up to keep our city free of any complex devoted to this "miserable failure" of a presidency.

Best of Austin, Again

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I don't think I could ask for a better present on this day of my 21st birthday. The Austin Chronicle has come out with the 2005 Best of Austin awards and Burnt Orange Report has been honored with the Best Local Blogger in the readers poll!

Hat tip to PinkDome on earning a tie with us in that category and for filling our shoes as we vacated the Best Local Political Blog spot which BOR earned last year. Heck, cheers again for us being mentioned as a runner-up in that category alongside In The Pink Texas and Grits. Which brings me to give congrats to ITPT for garnering the critics poll Best "Blushing Blog" spot.

So for a second year in a row, I think our BOR crew has proven to be your best source for much of the state's happenings, keeping an eye (or a couple of dozen of eyes) on the State of Texas. Our traffic has continued to grow beyond what we thought might have been a peak with last year's election. Thanks to Byron, Jim, and Andrew who were the crack writing team that got this whole project started and for bringing me on board as a bright eyed freshman, and thanks to every writer since then, all of whose voices make BOR the reporting engine that it is. And lastly, you the readers, our biggest critics, and the reason why we do this. Thanks for making us the Best of Austin once again. With your support, we'll be sure to stay that way!

Now the clips...

Best Local Blogger

Tie: Burnt Orange Report & PinkDome

Ooh, snap! That's right, they said it! Pink Dome and Burnt Orange are often so sharp and critical, it is actually possible to hear our Guvna' cringe all the way from Lavaca. Establishing themselves as the pre-eminent Austin-based anti-red state blogs, they're helping to keep the Capitol accountable and the rest of us well-informed.

Local Political Blog

PinkDome

It's time to polish the Dome. Thanks to their staff of writers, their eponymous head, Bluebonnet, and Rawhide, PinkDome has, in short time, become one of Central Texas' most popular political blogs, taking the Republican piss with their salacious, slanderific prose. And don't get us started on their clothing line and "Adios, Mofo" gear. The Dome, and for that matter, all her stellar runners-up (Burnt Orange Report, In the Pink, Grits for Breakfast), makes us recall a quote from that lone star populist Molly Ivins "Good thing we've still got politics in Texas, finest form of free entertainment ever invented."

Blushing Blog

In the Pink

InThePinkTexas.com or "Politics on the Lege of Reason," gives an insider's view to the goings-on at the state Capitol and beyond. Eileen Smith's blog is controversial, often offensive, mostly nonpartisan, and totally thought-provoking. The photos and text are updated many times a day, and a loyal group of commentators keeps the conversation going beyond the daily installments.

There are a ton of really great standouts in this year's BOA awards, a couple are listed below, though I'm incredibly proud of my State Representative, Carter Casteel, for her critic’s poll award!

Bipartisan Kids Legislator

Rep. Cartel Casteel

Carter Casteel is a rare bird in Texas politics these days. She's a Republican who refuses to toe the party line on public education issues. If the GOP leadership had its way, the state would scrap public ed altogether and hand it off to profiteers. Republicans, the dangerous ones at the top, think corporates and/or Bible thumpers can do a better job of running schools than educators. Rubbish, Casteel says. The House member from New Braunfels is a former schoolteacher who knows a thing or two about teaching kids. Trying to educate her party bosses is a bigger challenge. Casteel's best-of-show came in May, when she delivered a fire-and-brimstone argument against private school vouchers that threatened to put public schools out of business. You got a problem with public ed? Casteel asked fellow lawmakers. "Look in the mirror! We are what we are, and we have created it!" The voucher bill died, thanks to a dozen brave Republicans like Casteel who bucked the bosses and voted their conscience.

Use of Recycled Material

Carole Keeton Strayhorn

The highly marketable "One Tough Grandma" campaign slogan worked so well for Carole Keeton Strayhorn in her 2002 bid for state comptroller, she's taking the catchphrase out for another spin, this time in her candidacy for governor.

State Legislator

Mark Strama

We knew politics could get hot, but we never knew it could be this hot. Mark Strama: HOT (wink, wink). Yes, we know there is more to consider, such as: his unseating of Republican incumbent Jack Stick; his involvements with initiatives "Rock the Vote" and KidsVoting USA; not to mention his founding the first company to register online voters. He is so much more than a pretty face. We heart you, Mark (tee hee)!

Dream Finally Realized

UT Gender & Sexuality Center

After seven years of planning, one of the largest universities in the nation finally acquiesced to student and faculty demands for a gender and sexuality center. Combining elements of an LGBT safe-space headquarters and a women's resource center, the little office in the SSB (Student Services Building, for you non-Horns) has been offering counseling, mentorships, and good ol'-fashioned advice to UT students and faculty. Director Ana Ixchel Rosal and crew aren't stopping there, either. Plans to resurrect the Safe Space program and institute faculty training sessions are just the first step. Yet, with the undeniable success GSC has had and since Michigan's version has existed since the Seventies, one question remains: What took so long?

Way With Words

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston

"I have listened to the arguments. I have listened to all of the crap. ... I want you to know that this amendment [is] blowing smoke to fuel the hellfire flames of bigotry." Rep. Senfronia Thompson, who delivered an impassioned argument against a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages and civil unions. Following her remarks, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly in favor of the ban.

Loot/Booty Free-for-All

West Campus Curbs and Dumpsters

At the end of every semester, West Campus looks like the furniture section of a Goodwill – except everything is free. Dumpster diving is never better than when students move out of their apartments. Whatever doesn't fit in daddy's SUV goes on the curb and is free for the taking – usually by other students. Most of their stuff was used when they got it, but a lot of it is still fine, functional furniture. Folks have been known to discover and salvage entirely decorated Christmas trees in their West Campus quests – just in time for the holidays!

Glen Maxey picked up a couple of BOA's, for best GLBTQ leader as well as his No Nonsense in November campaign. Kinky Friedman picked up Best Visionary in the readers poll, but then again, was listed next to Leslie Cochran, our local, wo/man about town. How appropriate.

JetBlue in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

So now Austin is connected to the JetBlue network via three non-stop flights to New York City. $79 for a one way ticket? Sounds like I might be doing some more adventuring at that price. Cool.

UT Pride Week Kicks Off

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

UT's annual PRIDE Week kicked off today and News 8 Austin actually had a really great report and video on it. You can watch it here. The full listing of this week's events can be found here.

We'll also be out continuing to register voters tomorrow on campus because it is the last day to do so for the Nov 8 election. Be sure to do so if you are not already, and if you are a student, check out the Campus Alliance Against Inequality, whose activism around Prop 2 was in the video report linked above.

Help us Register UT

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

When: Oct. 9, Sunday, 7 pm
Meet at: South Steps of the UT Tower (by the flags)
What: As part of the Campus Alliance Against Inequality's last push to register students at UT we’re doing something that has NEVER been done before:

1. We’ll be putting up fliers all over campus AND
2. We’ll be distributing over 6,000 voter registration cards in every dorm on campus!

But to do that we need your help! We need 50 good people to help us in this last-ditch effort to get as many UT students registered as possible! So if you can help, please RSVP to Marti ASAP!

Jason Earle Announces his Candidacy

By Katie Naranjo

This Tuesday, Oct. 11th, Jason Earle will announce his bid for House District 47 at Pease Elementary School in Austin, TX. The event will begin at 11a.m. outside the school and it will be lively. If you do not know where the school is, it is at 12th and Guadalupe downtown. See you there!

Important Info:
Jason Earle District 47 Announcement
10 a.m.
Pease Elementary School (12th and Guad.)

Justice on Austin Hate Crime

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The Statesman reported today that two of the four males involved in a hate crime against a gay man here in Austin last year have been sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Donald Bockman, 25, and Darren Gay, 22, faced up to life in prison on charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated sexual assault. When they pleaded guilty last month to aggravated assault, prosecutors recommended the 6-year sentences.

...

All four were accused of picking the victim up at Oilcan Harry's in the Warehouse District and going to his apartment in Southeast Austin, where police said they smashed a glass against his head, punched him, kicked him, whipped him with a vacuum cord and poked and prodded him with swords and daggers.

According to court documents, the group also used a sex toy to assault the man, who is not being identified because of the nature of the crime.

Roy Minton, the attorney for both Bockman and Darren Gay, said his clients attacked the victim because he attempted to make a sexual advance on Glen Gay. (Why is this always the lame excuse given in every one of these cases? -kt)

The men declined to say anything before state District Judge Brenda Kennedy sentenced them. Before they were put in handcuffs and taken to jail, the victim called the men cowards.

"You are not real men at all, merely self-righteous, self-serving cowards," he said.

Interestingly, Darren Gay (and why do these things always seem to involved some straight attacker with the last name of Gay) has a UT facebook profile where he is listed as having 7 friends at UT, a girlfriend at St. Eds, and an about me section saying "Went into the Texas Penitentiary System on October 6th for aggravated assault (6 years). But I bet I'll parole out in 3. See ya'll in 2008!!!"

If we could move towards a world of respect and tolerance for our GLBT citizens, and not attack them or their rights, maybe the world would be a nicer and safer place in which to live.

Watson to Kick off Campaign at DFT Meeting Tonight

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

What: Democracy for Texas (DFT) monthly meeting kicks off Watson's campaign
Where: Mother Egan's, 715 West 6th Street, Austin
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 5

Watson looks to be able to take this without a primary challenge, (and why would anyone want to), providing a very strong replacement to Sen. Barrientos. I would wager that his appeal across the board politically as well as being one of the most popular former elected officials in this county, will allow for some down ballot aid into HD 47 and 48 next fall. That combined with an active Congressional campaign by John Courage in those same areas should really make even Keel's old seat competitive. This is the type of synergy that we get by making sure we Run. Everywhere.

In addition, John Courage, candidate in Congressional District 21, will speak at the DFT meeting regarding his recent selection as Democracy for America's first Grassroots All-Star of the 2006 election cycle.

Vigil Tonight, Party Tomorrow

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Want to help defeat Proposition 2, the Texas Marriage Amendment? Then come take part in these activites here in Austin and the UT Campus over the next couple of days. Check out our UT- Campus Alliance Against Inequality website for more detail and future events or to get on our listserv.

#1 Equality Vigil
Thursday, September 29th, 5:30pm
South Steps of the Texas State Capitol

Join thousands of other Austinites in the city's first big show of public support for the No Nonsense in November campaign.

#2 Discussion with Rep. Warren Chisum
Friday, September 30th, 12:30 pm
Jeffers Moot Court Rm, Law School 3.140 (map)

Author of Amendment #2, Rep. Chisum will square off with NNN campaign representative Anne Wynne and our very own CAAI Chair, Marti Bier! Please come support our side during this sure to be lively and professional exchange.

#3 Party on the Patio
Friday, September 30th, 7pm
Texas Union Patio by Wendy's (map)

Join the Campus Alliance in kicking off the countdown to election day with live music, a conference call with Glen Maxey and a special guest, as well getting up to date on upcoming campus actions and how you can help defeat Prop 2.

#4 Neighborhood Block (Walking) Party
Meet Saturday, October 1st, 10:30am
Texas Union Presidential Lounge, 3rd Floor

You heard the word now spread it to West Campus! Join your foot soldiers for equality as we get trained and head into West Campus for some good old fashioned political footwork and spread our message. Please RSVP to Peter (peter_clark22@hotmail.com) so we can have enough food and supplies!

Donna Howard Launches Website

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Donna Howard, candidate for the Democratic nomination for HD 48 against Todd Baxter, has launched her official campaign website:

www.votedonna.com

That makes two of our three announced candidates who have their web operations up and running early in the game, which is good for our party. Give it a look over to read up on her positions.

Challenger Andy Brown's site is here for comparison.

ACL Fest Awards

By Phillip Martin

As most all of you know, last weekend was the 4'th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival. After a weekend of music, sun, and 20+ bottles of water, my girlfriend, Kaiba, and I have sat down and created an arbitrary award list for the performers that impressed us for whatever reason. All winners will receive an e-mail from me, and will be asked to send me free tickets to their future concerts (except Mates of State, for whom I am filing a restraining order to ask that they never come within 100 yards of any music show I may attend in the future).

For those who know more about the bands I mention here, or feel like I short-changed and/or didn't properly acknowledge other acts, feel free to destroy me in the comment section. I don't pretend to know everything about all bands -- I only know what I like, and I loved this past weekend.

So, for a mix of traditional and not-so traditional awards, as well as a unique reflection on the best ACL Fest yet, click on the jump and see just how much work I didn't do over the weekend.

Best Group Performer (tie): Wilco and Coldplay. Is it a copout to give the last two acts of the festival the best group nod? Not when they played the sets they did. For the first time in their years of playing the ACL Fest, Wilco seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, and they mixed together a set that showed why they are the best-known, best-sounding "indie" band there is. Coldplay, meanwhile, surpassed the joke made about them in the movie Forty Year-Old Virgin to enormous lengths. I'm not gonna lie -- I thought they would just be OK. But between their connection with the audience, a killer setlist, and managing to upstage a weekend's worth of unbelievable music, I can understand why they're the biggest band in the world right now. As the English blokes in front of me screamed, "they're f***ing brilliant, mate!"

Best Male Performer: John Prine. I'm probably the only person who would give Prine this award, but you got to understand -- I've been hearing these songs since I was in the crib. Watching him play, you would have thought he was in a 10-person bar, and not in front of thousands and thousands of people. From classics like "Samstone" and "Angel From Montgomery" to the crowd pleasers "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" and "Some People Ain't Human", Prine shined high above the rest.

Best Female Performer: Ruthie Foster. Untouchably the most soulful person I saw the entire weekend, she impressed the hell out of me. Appearing on the Gospel and Blues stage, her voice stirred even the most dispassionate of folks to hand-clapping, feet-stomping, arm-waving good fun. An amazing artist, one you have to catch sometime in the very, very near future.

Best Stage: Capitol Metro Gospel and Blues Stage. From deSol and Grupo Fantasma to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Ruthie Foster, this stage continues to be the best the ACL-Fest has to offer. Underneath a tent-structure that provides ideal shade, the stage features artists that aren't darlings of Rolling Stone or the indie-OC crowd. And that's a good thing. This stage featured artists filled with soul and spirit that perfectly embody everything that Austin City Limits is about.

Best Artist I'd Never Heard: Aqualung. Going solely on my sister Amy's recommendation, these guys rocked. For those who don't know them, think Radiohead, circa "The Bends" album -- only happier. I'm going to Waterloo when I get my next paycheck to buy their album, though I imagine I won't ever get to hear their killer cover of Queen's "Somebody to Love" again. One of those great moments you can only experience if you're there.

Speaking of covers, that leads me to my untraditional awards....

Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" Award: "Ring of Fire" by Coldplay. Given to the best cover song of the festival. While Oasis did a show-defining cover of The Who's "My Generation", Coldplay's cover of this Cash classic was funny, surprising, and enjoyable. An all acoustic rendition followed a well-done tribute to the Man in Black, it was a new take that worked perfectly and gave the tens of thousands watching a real treat.

Damn, He Brought it Award: Robert Randolph. Given to the performer who you can't help but think, "damn, he brought it." I've heard about him for years, and finally got to see him. Randolph, during one song, jumped from steel guitar to drums to bass, all the while screaming and playing as if the music would burn him alive if he didn't get it all out. Bringing the 100-degree, sweat-soaked crowd to roaring ovations throughout his hour-long performance, Robert Randolph is officially the hardest working man in the music business. Period.

Seinfeld Award: Robert Earl Keen. Given to the best ACL performer that continues to please no matter how many times you've seen them. REK always plays the classics, and this set included such staples as "Feelin' Good Again," "The Road Goes on Forever," and "Gringo Honeymoon." However, his new album, "What I Really Mean" is his best since "Picnic," and the songs he played proved it. No matter how many times you see him, Robert Earl Keen is always going to make you smile, make you sing, and make you glad you came to see him.

We Understand and Actually Care Award: Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Given to the band who made the best New Orleans tribute. The Dirty Dozen played a long medley for New Orleans that culminated in an off-the-charts version of "When the Saints Go Marching In." After a week's worth of watching politicos roll up their sleeves and try their best to seem empathetic, watching the most prolific New Orleans brass band around sing this song was a refreshing, caring tribute.

Miller Lite Award: Built to Spill. Given to the act who sounded great, but didn't fill me up and satisfy me as much as other acts (Great Taste, Less Filling). They had a nice sound, good crowd and all...but nothing to write home about.

Adios, MoFo Award: Mates of State. Given to the band that needed to be run out of town on a rail. If some of you guys like them, great, have fun. Not at all for me. Imagine having an 8-year old brother and a 7-year old sister , and for Christmas your parents gave them a drum set and keyboard, respectively. Full of pierced screaming and repetitive pounding, I felt like the whole set was about who could out-quirk the other.

Hey Jude Award: "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis. Given to the best anthem/sing-a-long song of the festival. While most of Coldplay's songs could be here (most noticeably, "Yellow" and "The Scientist"), Oasis didn't have to ask anyone to sing along. In fact, right before the song, Noel Gallagher shouted "this is the one you wanted, right?" While Oasis wasn't as crowd-friendly, this song sure was.

Tom Petty "You Don't Know How it Feels" Award: Widespread Panic. Given to the band you most want to get high to listen to. All that burnt grass wasn't just on the ground, and those smoky clouds weren't just from the dust flowing through the air. Long jams that are undeniably repetitive, Widespread Panic's music remains endlessly pleasant and enjoyable. If you wanted to chill, relax, and embrace Matthew McConaugehy's Austin spirit, they were the band to see.

That's all, folks. See you next year for the 5'th Annual ACL Fest. The most perfect closing act we could hope for? Van Morrison. Talk about a show everyone would go to see!

Pro-Prop 2 Flyers Distributed

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Do you remember Rep. Chisum claiming that Glen Maxey would be bussing in voters from other states to defeat Prop 2? Apparently there are still fliers going around claiming this to be the case. A LOT of fliers. According to Austinites, one Chuckee Cheese parking lot was covered (she removed them) and the parking lot at Barton Creek Mall was hit as well (tried to remove as many as possible, "but there were zillions.")

Here is the text... (I'm trying to get a hold of a scan).

TEXANS
VOTE YOUR VALUES ON
TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE ONLY
(ONE MAN/ONE WOMAN)
NOVEMBER 8, 2005
THE HOMOSEXUAL GROUPS WANT TO PASS,
THE SAME SEX MARRIAGE IN TEXAS
IF YOU CAN PROVE THAT YOU HAVE LIVED IN TEXAS FOR AT LEAST 30 DAYS
BEFORE
THE ELECTION, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE
THE HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS PLAN TO BUS IN HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE FROM OTHER
STATES
A MONTH EARLY, IN ORDER TO VOTE AGAINST
THE TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT
OR WORST ENEMY? IF YOU BLOW THIS OFF AND NOT BOTHER TO VOTE
THE TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE IS IN DANGER
PROTECT OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN'S FUTURE
BOTE IN FAVOR OF
THE TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT

Why is it that these crazy right wingers never can put normal flier together and have awful grammar usage? Following was my response which was not actually printed in the Statesman after they accepted it.

Rep. Warren Chisum's claim that Marriage Amendment foes are now bussing in voters from surrounding states is as illogical as it is absurd.

In an attempt to discredit the civic task of registering voters by thousands of certified deputy voter registrars such as myself, Chisum forgets that our state's neighbors aren't exactly overflowing with anti-amendment voters. Remember, last fall constitutional marriage restrictions passed with 75% in Arkansas, 76% in Oklahoma, 78% in Louisiana, and 86% in Mississippi.

Rep. Chisum should be more concerned with pre-existing Texans who have shown that they have had enough of his legislative nonsense than he is with non-existent caravans from Carson City.

Remember, join the No Nonsense in November campaign.

The Moonlight Towers

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I first learned about Austin's apparently well known and well loved Moonlight Towers this summer when I lived at the 21st St Co-op and just a block away was one of the remaining 17 towers, the most well known of which turns into the big Zilker park electric Christmas Tree each fall. The Texan had a really great article on the history and background of them, as well as how Austin residents over the past 110 years have taken care of them, passing millions of dollars in bonds to secure their existence and maintenance.

Today, only 17 of the 31 original towers remain, but they continue to be lit 365 nights a year.

In May 1890, citizens voted to issue $1.4 million in bonds for the city's first power and lighting system as city organizers began developing plans for the growing town. The lighting of the original towers on May 6, 1895 coincided with the first operation of the city power plant and the first citywide use of electricity.

...

When Austin erected the tower system, Detroit, Mich., was believed to have been the only other city in America with similar lighting. By the late 1930s, Detroit had abandoned its tower lighting system, and the San Antonio Express-News wrote in 1937 that the Moonlight Towers "attract more attention than any other single feature in Austin."

...

While advertising value kept the towers aloft in 1937, sentimental value has kept them alive since then and has earned them the affectionate title of the "Moonlight Towers." When the electric department tried to take down one of the towers in 1964 without assuring immediate relocation, hundreds of citizens signed a petition demanding that the city council immediately reestablish the tower in its original area.

Sentiments were quite different before construction of the towers, when many people predicted the 24-hour light would cause severe overgrowth of gardens and lawns. Farmers feared that giant corn and beans would be impossible to harvest and that homeowners would have to chop their grass with an axe. Optimists, on the other hand, claimed that chickens would lay eggs 24 hours a day.

People soon realized that the artificial moonlight had no effect on plants or animals.

In 1958, superintendent Tom Turner, of the electric distribution department, was asked if there were any plans to tear down the towers. Turner laughingly replied that the town would "stage a revolt" if that were attempted. The most serious threat of removal came in 1942 as World War II gripped America and the ability of a town to "blackout" all of its lights was considered a crucial defense. The city installed a central "blackout" switch for all of the towers in case of an attack.

Rumor has it the towers were arranged across the city in the shape of a star. In fact, they were just put where they were needed, and they don't form a star.

Austin Rescheduled Events

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From the Statesman...

Fitness

The Marathon Kids kickoff celebration scheduled for Saturday at the UT Mike Myers track and field stadium has been canceled. There is no rain date. Go to www.marathonkids.com for more information.

Arts

The prostate cancer awareness play "A Matter of Manhood" on Friday has been postponed. Huston-Tillotson University, King Seabrook Chapel, 900 Chicon St. 919-1877.

Schools

ACT — Testing scheduled for Saturday has been postponed at: Akins High School; Cedar Park High School; Round Rock High School. Students will be notified of the makeup date.

Bastrop school district — Elementary schools released at 11:30 a.m. Friday. Secondary schools released at 1:30 p.m. Friday. Afternoon pre-kindergarten and Head Start classes canceled Friday. All after-school activities on Friday and all weekend activities are canceled, including community-education classes and facility usage agreements.

Lake Travis ISD — All weekend extracurricular events will be rescheduled.

Baylor University — Friday classes canceled and all campus events and programs scheduled for Friday through Sunday are canceled.

Sports

HIGH SCHOOLS

* These area high school games, originally planned for Friday, have been rescheduled for tonight:

Temple at A&M Consolidated, 7 p.m.
S.A. Southwest at Seguin, 7:30 p.m.
San Marcos at S.A. East Central, 7 p.m.
Connally at Kerrville Tivy, 7 p.m.
Hendrickson at Lake Travis, 7:30 p.m.
Medina Valley at N.B. Canyon, 7:30 p.m.
New Braunfels at Del Valle, 7 p.m.
Rockdale at Hutto, 7:30 p.m.
Smithville at Giddings, 7:30 p.m.
Manor at Cameron Yoe, 7:30 p.m.
Caldwell at La Grange, 7:30 p.m.
Devine at Wimberley, 7:30 p.m.
Llano at Comfort, 7:30 p.m.
Salado at Somerville, 7:30 p.m.
Rogers at Lago Vista, 7:30 p.m.

* These games will be played Friday but at new times:

Lanier at Marble Falls, 6:30 p.m.
Jarrell at Lexington, 6 p.m.

* These games have been canceled:

Gonzales at Lockhart
Elgin at Houston Smiley

* Nike Invitational cross-country meet in The Woodlands, featuring several Austin-area teams, is canceled.

* Most Houston-area school districts canceled classes, games and other extracurricular events through Friday.

OTHER COLLEGE SPORTS

University of Texas Invitational — Friday through Sunday. The men's tennis tournament has been rescheduled for Oct. 28-30. Penick-Allison Tennis Center, UT campus. 471-3333.

* Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas Southern in Houston and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi canceled all sports events.

* Texas State's volleyball games at Lamar and McNeese State were canceled. UT-San Antonio canceled a cross-country meet of collegiate and high school runners Saturday.

PRO SPORTS

* Houston Astros are in Chicago this weekend.
* Houston Texans have an open date this week.

Grassroots

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

A grassroots supporter here in Austin has created a website in support of John Courage's bid to gain the DFA-List All Star endorsement. Courage is still #1 though a certain Californian who was at the top of the first round vote has crept up to #2 this week. So check out the grassroots website and then vote for Courage. Balloting ends this Saturday.

The Dalai Lama

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I attended the lecture series this afternoon at the Erwin Center where the Dalai Lama spoke. It was am impressive 2 hours of time and I can hardly begin to put into words. Thankfully, someone already has. I would suggest reading this detailed report to get a sense of what the reception was like. I do have to say, that he was funny at times, sitting cross-legged, wearing a visor to shade his eyes, and casually joking with the crowd which he felt more a part of, rather than apart from.

KUT also has an audio recording of the event if you'd like to hear it.

City of Austin Sued over Smoking Ban

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

One last nugget from today's Central Texas Digest. I've only been downtown once since it went into effect, but then again, that's almost more often than I regularly visit 6th Street, and I've certainly spent more on 6th after the ban than before it, though not for smoking v. non-smoking reasons as of yet.

Several businesses filed suit Friday against the City of Austin, saying the smoking ban passed in May violates state law by including penalties that are too high.

The suit also contends that the ordinance is too vague, is unconstitutional and violates state law regulating smoking in public places. The businesses that filed the suit include the Warehouse Saloon & Billiards, 219 West, Elysium, Lovejoy's Tap Room and Brewery, Beerland, the Horseshoe Lounge and Ego's. The ordinance bans smoking in public places and workplaces, with a few exclusions.

For those of you who have experienced the new nightlife, what are your thoughts on the effects of the new ordinance?

"A Place to Lay His Head and a Place to Vote"

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Robert Andrews, Field Director for the Radnofsky campaign has been working at the Austin Convention Center almost nonstop the last few weeks. I can honestly say that his dedication is a reflection of the spirit of Barbara and her entire team, not as a political campaign, but as decent, caring Texans. The following is a touching report by Robert that you must read, if it is the one Katrina Human Interest story you ever read.

Just stopped off for Ruffin to heat up some Gumbo on the way to move into his apartment. Ruffin is excited to be leaving the Austin Convention Center, and to have a place of his own in Austin for now. We located a couple of place settings of dishes and some silverware. Some salt and some Ivory Liquid. And a spare mixing bowl. Ruffin is taking his cot and bedding from the Convention Center for now. Austex54 is bringing him a mattress tonight.

Ruffin says, "Hello, and God Bless all of you. Please join me in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I appreciate everything you have done for me in Austin. It feels Good to have my own place for now, and I think I can work the bus lines, and find a job or two."

"I spent several days under the Causeway Bridge for I-10, with only the clothes on my back. It was muddy and stank like nothing I have every smelled before. It was way too crowded, but I did get to see Jesse Jackson who came to help our people. I got there by taking a boat down Delachaise Street to St. Charles, and walked from St. Charles to Napoleon to a bus to go to Houston, but was instead dropped at the causeway bridge. The water was all in my house when I began making my way to safety."

"I had nothing to eat for days, and could not eat the food here in the Convention Center, so I guess I had not eaten for six days when Mister Robert found me exhausted in the Convention Center and took me out to eat for some Crab meat bisque to get my strength back up. Now we have become friends, and I have my own place to sleep again tonight."

"I appreciate the people of Austin for their help and prayers. This is one experience I won't forget. Ever."

Veronica is moving into her place tonight, along with many of the senior citizens from New Orleans. We are getting her a plant for her balcony tomorrow.

Janet Strange is taking Liz to the Humane Shelter to pick up her dogs, while Troy and Ari move their things into their new apartment near Oltorf and I-35. Troy and I took a short trip to San Antonio last evening, and he plans to drive to Houston tomorrow to visit his two year old son for the first time since the strom - though it will be a while before he can get to Atlanta to visit his 11 year old son, Troy Junior. In New Orleans Troy lived in the same neighborhood with both sons, so he misses them a great deal, and they miss each other.

Karyn, Orlando, Edwima, Lawrence, Michelle and most of their family are locating near Northcross Mall, although Roderick, his three siblings and his mother Coretta will be a few blocks away.

Karry left today for Kentucky to join his brother. I told him goodbye for all of us, thanks for the Gumbo he cooked, and that we are proud to have known him. He promised to call me with his new contact information.

Relaxing a moment while Ruffin heats his Gumbo and makes some rice. And smoking my brand new pipe Ruffin got for me from Wal-Mart last evening as a surprise thank you. I have never had one which meant as much to me. I will treasure this gift of friendship for years.

Ruffin and I met with the apartment folk and they provided some pots and a skillet - and will provide a shower curtain. Austex54 brought by the mattress - bed frame to follow tomorrow - and a set of towels, together with a trash basket and pillow.

Ruffin and I hit the HEB and he is stocked and cooking his own supper tonight, with fresh tomoto and an apple pie.

His new prize - A Texas Democrat bumper sticker placed on the built in shelf between a collector barbie and a teddy bear - above the basketball. Home Sweet Home. A Place to Lay His Head and a Place to Vote.

There may be up to a thousand new households to equip in Austin alone, and almost all are unfurnished.

A certain Miss Congeniality actress who lives in Austin, and whom I encountered regularly actually working among the people in the shelter) has been on top of this need a bit, but she certainly cannot reach everyone. Austin Interfaith organizations are also organizing a drive and you can contact Texas Interfaith Disaster response at www.tidr.org, 512.342.8732, Rev, Amy Elder, aelder@tidr.org, and mention Robert Andrews - I have been serving as a volunteer chaplain through the combined auspices of TIDR and the Austin Police Department at the convention center. TIDR is attempting to match unmet needs with resources, and is designed to function statewide in Texas, though I only have experience with the Austin group.

Pro Bono lawyers located anywhere can help. I cannot tell how many people have no idea the status of their cases in family law, bankruptcy, social security appeals, criminal law, tort law, etc. The Austin Bar Association will be holding a pro bono seminar soon.

The Red Cross donations which so many of you have made are actually going toward the rent (Red Cross is funding one month's rent for all households in the Austin Convention Center) and making a small dent, though much of the Red Cross Debit Card (about 350 per person) money has now gone to other items - though in any event 350 does not go far.

FEMA checks are also helping, though actual delivery of the checks has been somewhat sporadic, and most people are being somewhat conservative about holding the funds for return to New Orleans or major purchases. Although the City of Austin is waiving utility deposits for electricity, and most apartments here include water in the rent, no such arrangements have been made for phone service, and electric bills will come due soon.

While Austin has good central city mass transit through buses, many are relying on cabs to get to job interviews, and most do not have access to rental cars through insurance - though some, such as Troy, have 30 days from auto insurance of a rental vehicle - assuming one can be found.

In short, every wooden spoon and roll of charmin is a blessing. When you add in many amenities we generally take for granted the needs become overwhelming. Coffee makers, televisions - can you imagine replacing your entire DVD, VHS, CD collection - and then there are the drowned computers and internet service. How would most Tribbers make it without internet access?

Remember, many of these folk were in apartments or other housing with no insurance whatsoever. Many also were small independent business men or women, and simple issues like the fact that their accounts recievable have disappeared comletely while their automatic debits form their checking accounts function like clockwork would to most of us prove insurmountable.

One thing which has galled me about our collective governmental and societal approach has been the failure to recognize how many members of our society actually lead productive lives but do so while living on the margins. I continue to be amazed at the willingness of the people of New Orleans to hold their heads highand move forward.

Any extra bicycles out there Austin? Mine is being delivered to Ruffin today.

Winter Soldier Screening

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you are on campus or in Austin tomorrow, I encourage you to check out a screening of Winter Soldier hosted by Vietnam Veterans Against War. A couple of local activists who were recently in Iraq will speak as part of a panel as well. So below is the info...

When: Sunday, Sept. 18, 1 PM
Where: University of Texas Art Auditorium Rm. 1.102 (on 23rd and San Jacinto St.)
Why: Winter Soldier will be shown as a part of the Parallax View program - a component of the texascinema film festival. The showing will be followed by a panel discussion featuring several VVAW members of long standing (including Dave Collins) as well as other activist veterans of the American War in Viet Nam. Carl Webb, who you may know, will discuss the status of his efforts to win CO status from the military. Finally, two local activists will report on their recent travels to Iraq.

About: In February 1971 over 100 members of Viet Nam Veterans Against the War met in a hotel in Detroit and conducted what we called the "Winter Soldier Investigations". For two days veterans testified about their experiences in Viet Nam. It was the testimony of those veterans that John Kerry reported to Senator Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee that summer during VVAW's "Dewey Canyon" operation in Washington. A documentary of the event was made, called simply 'Winter Soldier'. Although it opened to critical praise, it was not widely shown, being dubbed "too controversial". As a result of current conditions, the remnants of the Winter Soldier Collective that produced the film have reissued it and it is showing in many venues around the country.

Another Drunken Bush

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I think I had a Government class with him last semester. And does anyone else find it odd that his initials spell J.E.B.?

The youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was arrested in downtown Austin early today on charges of public intoxication and resisting arrest, officials said.

John Ellis Bush, 21, was taken into custody around 2:30 a.m. near the intersection of Trinity and Sixth streets near the downtown entertainment district. He was released around 10:30 a.m. today on a personal recognizance bond. Bail had been set at $2,500.

An affidavit on the public intoxication charge was not immediately available; according to an affidavit for the resisting arrest charge, Bush continually pushed against an officer for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission as the officer attempted to handcuff him.

"Subject further resisted by pushing back with his body as he was restrained at the (Austin Police Department) transport van," the document said.

Bush is the nephew of President George W. Bush.

HD 47 (Republican) Candidate

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Rich Phillips is your "Pro-Family, Pro-Small Business Leader for Texas" and he's running as a Republican in retiring Rep. Terry Keel's (R) HD 47.

In an interesting article out today, he made some economic proposals that sound a bit iffy to me (in reaction to Texas being ranked #17 in terms of 'economic freedom'). Of course, being a Republican Primary candidate in West Austin can do that to a person anyways, but here's a taste.

Said Phillips, "Frankly, I don't think Texas should be second to anybody. Let alone Oklahoma. Texas can and should do better. This is the vision we share: that Texas lead the nation in growth and prosperity. And you can't tax and spend your way to prosperity."

Phillips' Agenda for Economic Freedom includes a call to roll back the Franchise Tax on Business from 4.5 percent to 1 percent. "Rolling back the franchise tax will create jobs, increase incomes and ultimately result in billions in new revenue to the State through economic growth," said Phillips. "Reagan understood this. I understand it. Only growth brings prosperity."

In addition to a reduction in small business taxes, Phillips announced his support for a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights to limit the growth of government spending to inflation plus population growth and a moratorium on new occupational license fees.

His plan also called for the immediate expansion of the homestead exemption from $15,000 to $25,000 for all homeowners which would reduce the taxable portion of everyone's primary residence and deliver an immediate tax break to Texas homeowners. Said Phillips, "From 1998 to 2003, Travis County residents were dealt a 52 percent increase in property taxes. Good people are spending more on their taxes than they are on their mortgage. That just isn't Texas."

That last quote is right up there with TEXAS isn't spelled TAXES crowd, which I guess we could include Mark Strama's opponent, Don Zimmerman into considering he only has three issues in his campaign, and each one of them is taxes...

Which is interesting considering that shockingly, a recent statewide poll pegged approval/disapproval for a state income tax at 45/47 which is pretty amazing considering it's supposed to be the third rail of Texas Politics.

Local (Gumbo) Flavor

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

There have been some comments on Matt's earlier post about the Gumbo Zones which have prompted me to make a phone call and delete one comment.

The reason why there were a couple of comment from NOLA survivors is because one of the Barbara Radnofsky campaign staff has been working almost nonstop with the refugees since they came here to Austin. He took Troy out to Lampasas where he apparently also met my parents. The other day he had some of the people from the Convention Center, who just wanted to have something else to eat than the fare offered there, over to his house where they cooked up some home-style dishes, giving them some taste of home.

And in something that I don't think I've seen anywhere else, they gathering liveblogged their dinner experiences. It's given some of them hope, and a little bit of home. One person was able to get online and use Yahoo Messenger (something not available at the Convention Center) and was able to let about 5 people know that they were safe and alive for the first time. Their comments are something unique, connecting with our world which has tried to make sure that Austinites can help theirs.

Now, agree or disagree with the concept of Gumbo Zones or the name of economic development zones, but let's at least find out the story of who and why people are commenting. In this case, I think theirs is a story we should listen to.

"Go FEMA Yourself"

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Apparently Vice President Cheney was in Austin Saturday to tour the sucesses of local efforts here in aid of those residing in the Convention Center. Or rather, he was here for a photo op that takes advantage of local Austin efforts that were successful because of the leadership of local officals (Democratic for the most part) and the support of an abundance of central city volunteers who have made this one of the better places in the state for displaced NOLA citizens. (Only a third of the original Convention Center occupants are still there, and more are being bussed in from Houston to replace them).

"The reason I'm here today was because I was impressed by the caliber of the effort that was mounted here, and it's a good place to come learn some valuable lessons," said Cheney, who spent Thursday on the ravaged Gulf Coast.

Yeah, learn some valuable lessons. I guess Bush/Cheney's federal government could use a few of those.

Outside the convention center, dozens of protesters holding posters that carried messages including "Go FEMA Yourself" and "Incompetence Kills" stood along Cesar Chavez Street as Cheney's motorcade pulled away.

ASA's Dining for Life, Monday September 12

By Damon McCullar

Monday September 12th and to a more limited degree on the 13th, AIDS Services of Austin will be having their 13th annual Dining for Life event. Area restaurants will donate 15% of their total dinner proceeds to AIDS Services of Austin. The list of area restaurants is located here.

AIDS Services of Austin (ASA) responds to the HIV needs of the Austin area by providing services that enhance the health and well being of individuals and the community in the face of an evolving epidemic.

So roll up your sleeves and take the family out to eat. It's a win-win situation.

Austin Katrina Relief Effort

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Charities Being Charitable Benefit Concert.

WHAT: Benefit concert supporting the hurricane relief effort
WHO: Chaparral, Blues Crawler, Weary Boys, other bands TBA
WHEN: Saturday, September 10, 2005 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
WHERE: Republic Square Park, downtown Austin (4th St. and Guadalupe)
COST: Suggested donation of $15 per adult, $3 for children under 12
CONTACT: Dave Shaw, 512-632-6044, dshaw@russell-shaw.com

ADD’L INFO: In addition to the concert, the family-friendly, outdoor event will feature children’s activities along with local food and beverage vendors. Lawn chairs recommended. Free parking at nearby Classified lots. Reserved parking for news media.

One hundred percent of the money raised from attendees will be donated to the Central Texas Red Cross. During the event, the Capital Area Food Bank will be accepting donations of diapers, bottled water, peanut butter (plastic containers preferred), canned meats (ring-pull lids preferred) and granola/cereal bars.

Joining YouthLaunch are Austin Farmer’s Market (a project of the Sustainable Food Center), Austin Bar Association Foundation, Austin Children’s Museum, Austin Film Festival, Austin Public Library Foundation, Austin Sustainable Business Council, Austin Young Lawyers Association Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas, Community Action Network, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, Hispanic Bar Association of Austin Foundation, Liveable City, Meals on Wheels and More, Office of Austin Mayor Will Wynn, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, Seton Healthcare Network, Skillpoint Alliance, and Texans Standing Tall.

Austin IT Volunteers

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Want infomation on being an IT volunteer here in Austin to aid the Katrina Refugees, take a look at this site:

http://www.austinfree.net/katrinavolunteer.htm

Chip Rosenthal has some more info about a listserv for volunteers.

A Part of America Once Again

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The following is an Op-Ed written by Alexander Hunt, President of the University Democrats and TYD College Caucus Chair. -KT

One week ago, Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury on Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Initially, citizens of the vulnerable city of New Orleans breathed a sigh of relief; the storm predictably hooked right at the last minute and spared New Orleans a direct hit. However, as more time passed, the storm proved to be more powerful than the New Orleans levees could handle and the local government’s numerous flood warnings became reality. The storm left thousands stranded and pleading for help.

It is always amazing to see how Americans come together to help their fellow man in times of need. Millions around our nation donated to the Red Cross and other charities. Here in Austin volunteers were actually turned away because of the massive outpouring of those trying to help. However, for every heartwarming picture I saw of people coming together, I saw a plethora more of people suffering needlessly. I saw people who followed the instructions of their government and trusted in the system, and were left behind.

The question that I, and other frustrated citizens asked was Where was our federal government? Where was our government supposedly led by the ideals of “compassionate conservatism” and “the culture of life”? As I watched people on the ground doing the best they could and desperately pleading for more help, I saw Senate leadership leisurely coming back from break. I couldn’t help questioning the priorities of Congressional leadership who were able to vote in less than 24 hours on Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, but took 4 times the amount of time to provide nourishment to thousands in the Superdome in New Orleans, where people watched their loved ones die from starvation and dehydration in their arms. Surely nothing could have prevented Hurricane Katrina from disrupting and uprooting the lives of thousands in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but something could have been done to curtail the misery of the masses.

After much needed help arrived in the storm ravaged areas, numerous evacuees have expressed that they “once again feel they are a part of America.” Once again? How could we have let them become third-world foreigners in their own land? This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. This is not a white or black issue. This is an American issue and this is a time for all Americans to come together and demand more from their government.

Our government officials didn’t live up to their promise. However, there is still so much that we can all do NOW to make life better for the people whose lives have been affected.

First, write to your Congressperson and demand that this never happens again. Ask that they do everything in their power to make Katrina’s victims lives’ as normal as possible. Get the survivors the funding to get back on their feet, get their children school supplies, and get them day-to-day necessities.

Secondly, stop by the West Mall this Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday to see how you can help here in Austin. The University Democrats have asked the College Republicans to join us in a three-day rally to obtain donations and provide information about how students can volunteer in the Austin area. Even if you can’t donate money or supplies, your time will make a world of difference for those affected.

Let’s make sure Katrina’s victims know that they are a part of America. Let’s make sure that every person that survived the torture of the past week finds shelter and the supplies needed for daily living. Let’s make sure all children have adequate school supplies. Join us this week on the West Mall to find out how you can help.

Thank you,
Alexander Hunt
President, University Democrats

Austin's Stories

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Ray in Austin brings us the first of what are likely to be many stories of those staying with us here in Austin. An eyewitness of one of NOLA's levee breaches.

His name was Jonathan, he lived on Spencer Avenue, 600 yards from the Hammond breach. I asked him when the breach happened, because everybody is still saying on the news it broke Tuesday, but I blogged about it Monday afternoon here, and I know I was hearing rumors about it before that. He said, "Tuesday is bullshit, bra. Nine AM Monday morning, there was this huge BOOM and instantly five feet of water in my house, violent rolling water, and rising fast." He ran upstairs and was trying to save his vinyl collection, stacking it on his bed, til he passed out and woke up five hours later.

When he was rescued, he could hear neighbors all around, in their attics, knocking knocking knocking trying to get somebody's attention. The firefighters who pulled him out said three things, "Are you over 18? Are you healthy? Do you have military experience?" He said yes, yes, yes, and they handed him an axe and said "you're hereby deputized" and he spent the rest of the day chopping through people's roofs and pulling them from their attics.

It was an intense story. He likes Austin. He's thinking about staying.

But there are also stories that we may not be hearing. About those gay and lesbian partnered refugees who may get burned by the very bureaucracy which is supposed to help them, underscoring why we need to defeat Constitutional Amendment #2 on November 8 (a Bad Proposition for Texas).

The Federal Defense of Marriage Act prevents FEMA from providing any relief in the form of family benefits to same-sex couples.

The laws also will directly impact gay and lesbian families where one partner has died as a result of the hurricane.

Federal DOMA bars Social Security survivor benefits. State benefits would also be denied.

If the deceased partner were the birth or adoptive parent of the couple's children those children could be removed from the care of the other parent and placed in foster care.

Should the family home be in the name of the deceased partner the survivor would have no rights. Any insurance payouts could go to the estate of the deceased and if there is no will would go to the closest blood relative.

In cases where one partner is hospitalized the other partner would not be guaranteed visitation rights or any say in medical care.

Surviving same-sex partners even could be denied any say in funeral or burial decisions.

Even in those cases where couples had legal documents such as living wills, powers of attorney or other agreements that could be valid in the states in which they were prepared and notarized there is no guarantee they would be honored in states where survivors were relocated.

Update: Another story here, this time from an Austin volunteer who talked with some of those staying with us.

The Austin Red Cross is especially in need of the following list of items for the victims of Katrina. Please bring your donations to Freescale (Motorola), which is located at 3501 Ed Bluestein.

Shoes (all sizes)
Pillows
Magazines
Gauze bandages
Adult diapers
Large and small Baggies Tote bags, laundry baskets, knapsacks, backpacks, and boxes
Denture Cream
Body Lotion
Eye wash
Eye masks
Contact lens solution
Arthritis gel
#2 size baby diapers
Benadryl Razors
Throat lozenges
Baby powder
Baby diaper rash ointment
XL and XXL women's and men's clothes and underwear
Large size bras
Hearing aid batteries
All size batteries
Mylanta
Universal chargers for cell phones
Socks Men's pants and shorts
Women's shorts
Pajamas and sweat pants
Baby bottles
Toddler size clothing
Towels and washcloths
Linen
Crutches
Wheelchairs
Walkers

From The Austin Convention Center

By Damon McCullar

A friend of mine just finished a shift as a volunteer Chaplin at the Austin Convention Center for the New Orleans Refugees. He told me of somethings that are needed there and brought back some stories of the survivors. Everything is contained after the jump.

I have just completed my second day as a volunteer chaplain at the Austin Convention Center. I have met the most incredible people with indomitable spirits.

I can add to the items which are needed the following:

1. Reading Material, especially large print and other senior adult reading material. Even old magazines are appreciated, especially national geographic, music industry publications, Austin or Texas Magazines, and general fiction. The adults need diversion, and all that is available are large screen TV's which are tuned to news channels. Religious services and child care provide some diversion, and many are beginning to get their bearings and walk around downtown, but reading material is a plus.

2. Underwear.

3. Jobs are a critical issue for many people. Most of the men and women whom I have met are proud to be workers, and anxious over accepting government unemployment benefits. There will be a critical need for creative employment counseling soon.

4. Children's books and simple toys. There are far more children than I expected. Four huge rooms in the convention center are filled with people. There are also an extraordinary number of single men, who fill one large room. Many of these men remained behind while getting their families to safety and are anxious to hear from families.

5. Large Size Women's clothing. Many people have donated clothing but women who need larger sizes have been underserved. I am thinking of one woman in particular who still remains in the clothes on which she camped on the remnants of I-10. I am taking her some men's tshirt's in the morning, but she is only one of several.

6. Fun. We need some outdoor downtown concerts or some such thing soon.

Most of the people who are in Austin were in the Convention Center in New Orleans. Many others were sleeping on the concrete on I 10. Most came here by commercial airliner, some by military aircraft.

The Austin Police and Firefighters have been awesome.

Saw Mark Strama with Will Wynn and Lee Leffingwell as I was leaving. Mark immediately set about arranging a concert.

Here are a few stories:

A most amazing day. The situation in Austin is nothing like it is in Houston, I am sure, but the need for the people with whom I interacted simply to have their basic human dignity returned to them is intense. Everyone is missing someone close to him or her and has no idea how to find the person or if he or she can indeed be found. The loss is staggering, but the spark of human spirit is impressive. I am overwhelmed by a 19 year old pastry chef who waded through water to insure his wheelchair bound grandmother could have transport and that she could live. 7 family members are here, but his own mother, father, brother and sister are missing. His smile is still strong and his spirit unbroken as he talks of finding work, shuffling through his backpack to show me the two books he managed to save from the flood. We talked of my time as a cook during college and law school and what it means to grill a steak Pittsburgh rare for a picky customer on a busy Saturday night. He had saved the tools of his trade, but had to surrender them when transport was arranged by commercial airliner and he could not board with his grandmother and maintain his culinary knives. His grandmother spoke of her church, her pastor, and how she served food to so many in the Church. I affirmed her years of ministry and told her it was time to rest and let others return to her the ministry she had provided to so many for years. The family had survived five days living on the remnants of I-10.

Another woman who managed to hold thirteen family members together in the New Orleans Convention Center, and somehow get them all together to Austin, watching her nine year old grandson play and return to childhood.

A man who operated machinery to fill soft drink bottles, waiting on his first shower in six days and watching his wife sleep and rest at last on the adjacent cot. Wondering when he will work again, when he will again be a provider, but holding his head high.

Aid in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you are looking to help in the Houston area, Charles has the latest requests and roundups. Here in Austin, things seem to be filling up with whispers of opening up the Frank Erwin Center at some point if President Faulkner goes for it. I was going to volunteer last night down at the Convention Center but so many people had already offered that by midnight they were turning away most people for the evening. They were busy sorting loads of clothes into piles by size, water, food, diapers, cots. It looked like most of the floor and ballrooms throughout the center were being occupied already.

Remember to help here in Austin and to call 974-1110, the city hotline, before venturing out somewhere. If they can't use your help this weekend, be patient and help in upcoming days and weeks.

I just called the hotline and as of now they have enough volunteers for the afternoon, but they asked people to go to this site and find specific actions they best match up with for now.

One Action Item:

The shelters located at the Austin Convention Center and the Palmer Events Center urgently need wheelchairs. Anyone with wheelchairs to donate should bring the chairs to the Convention Cneter loading dock on Red River St. (East side of the Convention Center) or to the receiving area at the Palmer Events Center as soon as possible. No other donations are accepted at shelter sites.

Refugees Arrive in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The first wave of NOLA refugees has arrived in Austin on Capitol Metro buses headed to the Convention Center from the airport. They were sighted on Cesar Chavez just minutes ago with police escorts and an ambulance. The electronic displays say "Captal Metro/Welcome to Austin" alternating on the front of Express Route busses which don't otherwise run on weekends. The electonic highway notification signs are giving directions to incoming buses and cars. The first group sighted was a caravan of 10 buses.

Remember to look at how you can help.

Austin Katrina Aid

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Now that Austin has been added as another hub of help for aiding Katrina victims, many Austin bloggers have found resources that may be of use for those of us in the Capitol City trying to figure out how we can help.

Volunteer: 974-1110 (City-staffed hotline)
Food: 282-2111 (Austin Food Data Bank)
Clothing: 6519 Burnett Lane (Goodwill drop-off - actually also at any Goodwill store location)

First, the City of Austin's official page. Clicking on the How to Help page is important because in some cases they are asking volunteers to not just show up but call to ask how best to help. We don't want to get in the way of logistics so stay on top of the updates. If you are in search of help as a refugee, there is information there for you too.

Austin Helping New Orleans is a new site that has popped up also helping to coordinate information. They have let us know that the Austin Convention Center, NOT the Tony Burger Center, is now the headquarters for evacuee activities.

The city is requesting bedding donations for the following items: air mattresses, cots, folding lawn chairs, wash cloths, towels and anything that would make the refugees comfortable.

Donations need to be taken to the Freescale Campus at 3501 Ed Bluestein Blvd. or the Trinity Street entrance of the Austin Convention Center.

The Bicycle Sport Shop is also asking for donations of new or used bicycles, parts, helmets, bags, racks, or other cycling accessories to help refugees from Hurricane Katrina at the 517 S. Lamar location for delivery to Houston on Sunday, so if you have anything it needs to be dropped off today.

If you can help out with techie work at the centers, look here.

News 8 Austin has a good roundup story, and lets us know there are 5000 refugees on the way to our city.

There is a Benefit Concert Sunday, September 4.
Location: 6510 Berkman Drive. Time: 7:30 PM

Sheehan in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I didn't make it last night, but Casual Soapbox has a really good roundup and pictures. The Daily Texan also has a report. Looks like there was a couple thousand people there last night, and Cindy said that when she gets to Houston she's donating the 5000 lbs of supplies they had left from Camp Casey in Crawford the relief effort there.

A good point. 35% of the Louisiana National Guard and 37% of the Mississippi National Guard are in Iraq.

A Panel with Sarah Weddington

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Gearing up for the John Roberts nomination, some of the leaders of the women's movement as well as the warriors for choice will be here at UT next Tuesday for a panel discussion that "discusses options available to women before abortion was legal," which of course is important considering the upcoming nomination hearding for John Roberts.

When: Tuesday, September 6, 2005 at 12pm

Where: Eastwoods Room in the Texas Union at the University of Texas at Austin (2.102)

What: A Panel Discussion with Trailblazing Women On the Eve of U.S. Senate Confirmation Hearings for Judge John Roberts

Who: Speakers will include:
Sarah Weddington, Winning Attorney, Roe v Wade and Adjunct Professor, University of Texas
Barbara Hines, Clinical Professor of Law, University of Texas Law School
Victoria Foe, Research Professor, Dept. of Biology, University of Washington
Judy Smith, Director of HomeWord an Affordable Housing Developer in Missoula, Montana
Lin Smith, Media Specialist, Missoula, Montana

Former staffers from The Rag, a newspaper that put Austin on the counter-culture map from 1966 to 1977 will be conducting a panel discussion focusing on the state of women’s and reproductive rights before the Roe v Wade decision. The group will be in town for The Rag Reunion taking place during Labor Day Weekend. At this event, they will be talking about the history they share as part of the early women’s movement in Austin. These trailblazing women, all former UT students, organized a referral project to inform women about their bodies, about their rights, about available birth control options and about safe abortion. At a time when Texas law banned abortion “unless necessary” to save the woman’s life, the group printed public service articles about safe and unsafe abortion methods and sources. This same group eventually recruited a young Austin attorney, Sarah Weddington, to their cause. Weddington, currently an adjunct professor at UT, went on to file and later successfully argue the case of Roe v Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Join these amazing and ground-breaking women for an open question and answer session that is sure to be informative and memorable. The timing of the event is historical in itself; confirmation hearings will be taking place simultaneously in Washington, DC for President Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court, John Roberts.

Sponsored by: Voices for Choices
Ali Puente (832)-541-3262 psychotaco@gmail.com

Press Contact: Dilen Kumar, The Weddington Center,
(512)-478-7163, DilenK@aol.com

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – PANEL MEMBERS WILL HAVE PRESS AVAILABILITY BEFORE PANEL DISCUSSION BEGINNING AT 11:30AM AND AFTER

A Few Austin Events

By John Pruett

Cindy Sheehan will be speaking in Austin tomorrow. This will be the first leg of her bus tour across America that culminates with the National March for Peace in Washington, DC on September 24th.

Here is tomorrow's info:
Time: 5:30pm Wednesday 8/31/05
Place: Austin City Hall Plaza
301 W. 2nd St.
Austin, Texas 78701
(park at the City Hall garage enter off Lavaca)

Also, starting this Thursday, former members of The Rag will be hosting a reunion weekend. The Rag was a student newspaper created in 1966 at UT-Austin. The main events this week include:

Backward Through the Fog - RAGfotos
Thursday, September 1st, 6-10 pm
The Old School, 1604 East 11th
with protest and labor songs led by
The Melancholy Ramblers

RAG Art Show
Friday, September 2nd, 7:09-10 pm
South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
1516-B South Lamar

Rag Mama Rag Concert
Saturday, September 3rd, 8-12 pm
Threadgill's World Headquarters Beer Garden
304 West Riverside, $5 cover

No Nonsense Austin Kick-Off

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

No Nonsense In November
&
Austin Alliance for Social Justice

KICK-OFF FUNDRAISER
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25TH, 2005
5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
MOTHER EGAN’S PUB; 715 W 6th St.

The Texas Legislature has voted for the first time to amend the Texas Constitution and write discrimination into the Texas Bill of Rights. The Alliance for Social Justice and the No Nonsense in November campaign have mobilized in Travis County to educate the public about this proposed Constitutional Amendment.

Accepting any contribution, large or small
$15, $25, $50 or $100

Come and be a part of Texas History!

ALL FRIENDS WELCOME
FREE APPETIZERS – CASH BAR

Veteran denied in-state tuition by ACC

By Jim Dallas

This distresses me (via the Houston Chronicle):

A decorated Marine enrolling in college was surprised to learn his Texas driver's license, car registration and bank records weren't enough to qualify him for the lower-priced state resident tuition.

Carl Basham said officials at Austin Community College told him that his two tours of duty in Iraq kept him out of the state too long to qualify for Texas resident tuition.

Privacy laws prevent college officials from specifically discussing Basham's case, but Austin Community College spokesman Dwayne Cox said it's not Basham's military tours that keep him from meeting in-state residence requirements.

Under Texas law, members of the military are presumed to maintain the same residence as when they enlisted in the service. Although he grew up throughout Texas, mostly in Waco, Basham graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marine Corps in Monroe, La.

The school's response surprised Basham, 27, who was born in Beeville, is registered to vote in Travis County and does his banking in Austin.

Not having the in-state designation would mean paying about $2,600 instead of about $500 a semester in tuition.

It's unclear how many returning service members face the same problem as Basham, said Ray Grasshoff, a spokesman for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. But officials at the agency are looking into Basham's case.

This isn't a purely black-and-white situation; ACC may have just made a mistake, or maybe Basham really isn't qualified for in-state tuition. Nonetheless, I would hope that ACC aspires to offer in-state tuition as liberally as reasonably possible; and moreover, if indeed our state law is keeping veterans from qualifying for in-state tuition, that would be unacceptable.

I'm glad the state is looking into this; but I'm still planning on writing an e-mail to my state representative "to keep the heat on."

Passing Notes

By Marcus Ceniceros

The Girl's School of Austin is hosting a fundraising gala that should be a lot of fun.

"Passing Notes" will feature Ann Richards and Liz Carpenter answering notes passed to them by the students of the Girl's School. It will be an enjoyable night and a great fundraiser for the Girl's School, which needs to add an additional classroom and get new computers and school supplies.

The event is at Spazio on September 8 at 7:00 pm. Reserve your tickets early, they are $40 now and $50 at the door.

The full invitation can be found in the extended entry.

The Girls' School of Austin Invites You To A Gala Benefit

Passing Notes

Enjoy an evening of leadership, learning and levity with Ann Richards and Liz Carpenter

Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m.
at Spazio by Lytle Pressley ~ 1214 West 6th Street

Tickets are $40 in advance and $50 at the door. Cocktails, music by Barton Strings and a silent auction. All proceeds benefit The Girls' School of Austin. Reserve your tickets by calling 478-7827.

The program will feature Governor Ann Richards and Liz Carpenter responding impromptu to written questions from students at The Girls' School...passing notes from girls to women and back again. It guarantees to be an entertaining evening as no one knows what twists and turns the party will take!

The benefit will introduce The Girls' School of Austin to the community and proceeds will help fund an additional classroom, computers, supplies and scholarships for needy students at this growing school.

Sponsored by KUT-FM, KEYE-TV, The Austin Chronicle and Lithoprint. Valet parking provided.

Down at City Hall

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Council Member McCracken's office is looking for an unpaid intern who has an interest in learning more about issues affecting the City of Austin. The intern will assist the Council Member's two aides. Some responsibilities include, but are not limited to, data entry, reviewing neighborhood newsletters and updating staff on key issues, administrative duties, and constituent work.

We strive to create an educational environment for interns by encouraging them to attend events with Council Member McCracken, inviting them to participate in meetings and discussions and teaching them about current events. If you or someone you know are interested in working in a fast-paced political office at the new City Hall, email your resume to

Karen.Gross@ci.austin.tx.us.

Karen Gross
Policy Director
Office of Council Member Brewster McCracken
974-2256

No Nonsense Newsletter #2

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The next newsletter sent today. Remember, please sign up for the campaign to defeat the Marriage Amendment. There are some juicy comments about Rick Perry and some other inside details. But I wanted to highlight first a comment made by Rick Perry political consultant Dave Carney who compared "opposition to gay marriage to aversion to communism" in response to a statement by Glen Maxey that Perry would use this election to ID conservatives to turnout against Comptroller Carol in the Primary next year.

Maxey expects legislators and Republican leaders to be penalized by voters for lofting the amendment but failing to lower local school property taxes or bolster school funding.

He speculated that Perry will use the amendment to identify social conservatives he can energize against Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn in the Republican gubernatorial primary in March.

"Silly," Carney said, comparing opposition to gay marriage to aversion to communism, galvanizing voters of all stripes.

The No Nonsense group intends to remain active in the 2006 elections by tapping voters whom Maxey expects to rouse against the marriage amendment.

Maxey likened the public to a snake that's been provoked by legislators who have advanced marriage to the polls while stalling on school finance.

"This snake can bite. It's going to bite them all over this state."

Maxey, who earlier in his career coordinated Get Out the Vote efforts for former Gov. Ann Richards, said, "There are campaigns and there are campaigns, and I know how to run a campaign."

Since I last wrote you … No Nonsense in November has picked up solid financial support, generated a lot of buzz in the media and even picked up a few clues on what the opposition’s planning.

* Members of the Human Rights Campaign have committed to raise $120,000 to support the infrastructure of the campaign. This is a fantastic boost to our efforts!! Clear your calendars for the middle of September and watch our web site as we’ll soon be posting dates for major fundraising events inAustin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Next week, you’ll be able to donate towards one of those events on our web site, www.NoNonsenseInNovember.com!

* We had several great stories in the media – all in cities critical to the campaign.

Political reporter Kristen Mack wrote about the campaign in her column in today’s Houston Chronicle entitled, Marriage amendment foes have 'No Nonsense' plan, and noted the city school district elections could increase turnout.

Austin American-Statesman political columnist Gardner Selby wrote about our campaign on August 11, in a story headlined, Marriage amendment foes at work. Selby’s story has the opposition praising our quick start-up efforts with “a prominent conservative” quoted as saying, “The other side seems way ahead. The question is whether those in favor of the amendment are going to wake up before it’s too late.”

The president of the Dallas-based Texas Eagle Forum echoed that sentiment in David Webb’s article in the Dallas Voice, “No Nonsense Campaign Off to Fast Start.”

We’re glad our efforts are being noticed because we have been working hard to build a strong coalition to do what no other state has done – defeat a marriage constitutional amendment. It’s going to take all the strength we can muster and then some.

* Opposition Rears Its Ugly Head. If there was ever any doubt about where the right is going with this issue, consider what Rick Perry’s political consultant, Dave Carney, says in Selby’s article.

Carney, who is confident the amendment will pass, compares opposition to gay marriage to an aversion to communism, describing it as “something that would galvanize voters of all stripes.”

Is he suggesting that the right’s game plan will use the same hate-mongering tactics we saw during the McCarthy era?

Word on the street is that the “grand old party” will be deploying “strike teams” to churches to do Voter I.D. As usual, they’ll rally support for the amendment by portraying themselves as the party that’s “for family values.”

With your help, we’ll be ready for them.

* Volunteer to fight … we need people to host House parties, volunteer in our field offices and be part of our Speakers Bureau, which is in formation. Within days, you’ll be able to download speeches and talking points from the web.

The Speakers Bureau will keep the focus where it belongs – on the Texas Legislature’s failure to address real issues and on our zeal to Defend, not Amend, the Texas Bill of Rights.

While they may be able to afford television ads, showing people around a dinner table talking abut family values, we’ll be organizing around our own dinner tables, and talking to Texans in churches and temples, in offices and at civic group meetings, letting them know that our families have value, too.

We’ll counter their claim to be a party that supports limited government by pointing out that there is nothing more intrusive than government telling Texans who they can marry.

And we’ll show them that the real power of the people is to defend a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that protects all people.

We’ll stand up to them in the same way people stood up to McCarthy-ism.

* We’ll show them that Texas voters are like a snake that’s been provoked by legislators who have advanced marriage at the polls while stalling on school finance. We’ll show them this snake will bite and it will bite them all over the state.

We will galvanize our people to vote against this amendment. We will vote against the purveyors of this hate in 2006. And we will support those good legislators in 2006, who took the right stand and stood with us.

* Where’s Rick?

One thing “the buzz” isn’t clear on is whether Gov. Perry will actually campaign for the amendment. His smiling face and good hair are all over the opposition’s web site, www.txmarriage.com, but inquiring minds want to know whether he’ll get out in front of this, and use this wedge-issue to identify social conservatives to vote for him and not One Tough Grandma in the Republican primary?

Word has it that some GOP movers and shakers are afraid that all their GOTV efforts for the constitutional amendment election will be used to fuel – and finance - a “Re-Elect Rick Perry” campaign, and they’re not happy campers.

The election will definitely come down to who can turn out the most voters. Help us increase our numbers by sending the Pledge to Vote page to five of your friends and get them pledge to vote against the Nonsense Constitutional Amendment.

And help keep up us on “the buzz” by letting us know when your local paper or broadcast station covers the campaign. We want to post those stories on the web site, and keep all of you updated.

Thanks again for all you are doing … now go back and click on these links!

Glen Maxey
Campaign Director

Kelly White to Back Donna Howard in HD 48

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

A source close to the goings ons in HD 47 tipped me off and confirmed some big news in Western Travis County.

Andy Brown, quick to announce his bid for the Democratic nomination after Kelly White (who narrowly lost to Todd Baxter last fall) stated she would not seek a rematch, will be challenged in the primary by former State Board of Education nominee and former Eanes School Board member Donna Howard. Kelly White will be signing on as Donna's treasurer and Ann Kitchen who held the seat prior to being bumped out by Todd Baxter, will also be joining the girls club in support of Howard's candidacy.

Two big issues and reasons for this move.

Public School finance- as a former school board member of one of the "rich districts" in Texas (which used to send money to my district in Fredericksburg until we ourselves became a rich district two years ago) Donna would be able to hammer Baxter on this one relentlessly. When Donna ran for SBOE in 2002, she ran in a district that included this part of Travis County and stretched out into the Hill Country to my hometown of Fredericksburg, which was the home of the incumbent Dan Montgomery who is actually one of the few more moderate minded members of the otherwise crazy SBOE. From what I remember from her then, I was very impressed with his knowledge and skills as a candidate.

Choice- In a district where polling has shown about 60% of the voting populace to be pro-choice, the pro-choice powers that be would like to see a woman run for the seat and represent it. Now I honestly doubt that Andy Brown would be any less pro-choice than Donna Howard, but something tells me there's a feeling that it's more genuine coming from a female candidate to those that intimately care about this.

I was actually looking forward to not having a large primary battle in this district (or HD 47 assuming we even get some official candidates down there) but unless Brown decides to back out for some reason, I expect one to ensue. My only hope is that it is clean, fought on the issues, and remains positive because the enemy here is Todd Baxter and we have to remember this is a seat that in light of the failure of the lege to do much of anything, we should win in 2006.

A Victory for Player's

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The University of Texas backs down and will alter plans for their new hotel, as well as give up on eminent domain use sparing the popular Player's Restaurant near campus. The Texan has a full report of where things are headed.

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.

Chumscrubber Comes To Austin

By Damon McCullar

Chum: 1.Bait usually consisting of oily fish ground up and scattered on the water. 2.An intimate friend or companion. This remarkable film by Arie Posin focuses a microscope on the skeletons that live in the closets of suburbia's Type A personalities: Their kids. This is an amazing film that explores the toll that over-medication, violence and neglect is taking on the youngest generation of Americans that are coming of age.

In the movie, Dean Stiffle discovers the body of his best friend, Troy, hanging in his bedroom as his mother throws a party. Turns out that Troy has been the main supplier of "happy pills" to the communities kids. When the drugs dry up, Billy, a local thug, and his gang try to blackmail Dean into getting Troy's stash by kidnapping his brother. Only they foul up and kidnap the son of the local sheriff.

Chumscrubber opened to mixed reviews at The Sundance Film Festival and was featured this spring during South By Southwest here in Austin. The limited opening takes place on Friday here in Austin and in Dallas. The unlimited opening is on August 26th.

I recommend all of our readers see the film and talk about what they got from the it in the comments. And please, if you like it, recommend it to a friend, the producer is counting on word-of-mouth to make this movie a success.

Thanks to KT for suppling me with the locations both here and in Dallas:

8/5/2005
DOBIE TWIN THEATRE, AUSTIN, TX
ARBOR CINEMAS @ GREAT HILLS 8, AUSTIN, TX

AMC GRAPEVINE MILLS 30, GRAPEVINE, TX

CINEMARK 24 (THE LEGACY), PLANO, TX

MAGNOLIA 5, DALLAS, TX

Keeping Wynn Weird

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Well, the otherwise neutrally bland Austin Mayor Will Wynn scored a PR coup today as he gave Austin, and himself, some flavor.

And here's the actual strange, but true video, though maybe Mayor Jumps Off Bridge isn't the best title.

The Brown List

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

While we wait for Marcus's report this afternoon, I thought I might take a run though the Andy Brown public supporter list to see who he had lined up in this seemingly non-existant primary race (any supporters of Donna Howard or Hugh Brady and Duffy Keever, neither of whom I've heard anything about for quite a long time, please e-mail me at karltm-at-gmail-dot-com or tell them to Step Up.)

I'm sure I'll miss certain people (and there is always the chance that some of these people have the same name as those I know) but here is a short list of who's who and why they may be important.

Things to note? Strama crossover support is high, as are elected officials, and many of the people that have an interest in the neighboring HD 47 race. The info after the jump...

The Honorable Ben Barnes

Jeff Brooks
*(Kelly White's Political Director, nice!)

Cass Robert Callaway
*(Got his business card at DemFest, forgot to e-mail him back!)

Larkin Campbell
*(UDems Presidential Candidate and awesome Postermaker)

Liz Carpenter
*(LBJ's Press Secretary)

Rick Cofer
*(Puppetmaster of all things Gregg Knaupe, Gregg's rumored to run in HD 47 as well)

Mandy Dealey
*(Place 3 City Council Candidate, first round UDems endorsed)

Matthew Dempsey
*(Why does this name sound familiar to me?)

David Holmes
*(Originally rumored to run in HD 47, supposedly now supporting the rumored Speight)

Lowell Lebermann
*(Wonderful man, $$)

The Honorable Lee Leffingwell
*(Ol' Man Leffingwell as the UDems song goes, our favorite City Councilman)

The Honorable Garry Mauro
*(His son lurks these pages at times)

The Honorable Glen Maxey
*(Data Guru, Man About Town)

Ambassador Stan McLelland

The Honorable Ed Miller

Bettye Nowlin
*(High dollar donor, Friend of Strama, Beautiful House)

Catherine Robb
*(Of the LBJ legacy, also a Friend of Strama's Intern Program)

Ambassador Arthur Schechter

The Honorable John Sharp
*(BOR Banter Fame)

The Honorable Rose Spector
*(Nominee for HD-122 Special Election which Byron and I volunteered for)

Dennis & Emily Speight
*(Finance Guy for the TDP rumored to be running in HD 47)

Kate Volti
*(Leader in the Austin Progressive Coalition that I worked with once on campus)

Marc & Suzanne Winkelman
*(Calendar Magnates whose daughter I worked with on Strama's campaign?)

Seven Cheers for Lance

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

One last time, "The Star-Spangled Banner" rang out over the Champs-Elysees in honor of Lance Armstrong.

One last time, on the podium against the backdrop of the Arc de Triomphe, the cancer survivor who became the greatest cyclist in Tour de France history slipped into the leader's yellow jersey Sunday. This time, it was the winner's jersey, for an unprecedented seventh consecutive year in the world's most grueling race.

He held his yellow cap over his heart as the American anthem played, and his twin 3-year-old daughters, Grace and Isabelle, wore matching yellow dresses.

"Vive le Tour! Forever," Armstrong said.

Half a Million people in Paris heard from now seven time Tour de France winner and Austinite Lance Armstrong.

I can only imagine what Congress Avenue will be like when he comes home to us. Way to go Lance, you inspire us all.

Campaign for a National Majority

By Damon McCullar

I attended the Campaign for a National Majority kickoff here in Austin last night. I had an opportunity to sit down and speak with with Micheal Fertik, one of the founders of Campaign for a National Majority. This is what he had to say about the organization.

Campaign for a National Majority (or CNM) is around 18 months old and has a membership of roughly 3000 people. They have members in 33 states and a presence in New York City, the District of Columbia, Louisville KY, Philadelphia, New Haven, San Francisco, Los Angles. They are kicking off their efforts in Texas this week with the get together in Austin yesterday, San Antonio today and Houston on Tuesday. Their research staff consist of around 150 all volunteer researchers.

The goal of CNM is to see Democrats elected to state-wide executive offices. These include Governor, Lt. Governor, Comptroller, Secretary of State, Ag Commish, Railroad Commish, and Mayor in the larger cities. The conventional wisdom holds that Presidents come from the Governor's mansion these days. So, CNM asked the question: Where do Governors come from? Turns out from their research that Governors come from the other executive offices that I mentioned before, as well as mayors from larger cities in the state. Their goal of getting Democrats elected to these offices gives the Democratic party a "farm league" from which to choose from in national elections.

CNM does exhaustive research on candidates for the above mentioned races. They look at a candidates record in public office as well as their character. CNM will interview everyone from a candidate's grade school teachers, to their college professors, members of the their church and so on to get a complete picture of just who the candidate is. Once CNM has vetted the candidate, they will endorse and fund raise for that candidate. In addition, they will lobby other groups to endorse and fund raise for the candidate. They will share their research with the group in question to help convince them to endorse.

CNM took put their model into effect last year in a few state legislature races. First was David Leibowitz here in Texas. In that race, they were able to help get him elected to a seat in the Texas Lege held by an incumbent Republican. Also, they were able to help Jeff Daniels of Ohio get elected to a state legislature seat that was open, but had historically been a Republican seat.

In 2005, CNM is working on mayoral races. There are currently 500 races that CNM wants to be involved in. However, they need a research staff of roughly 500 to be able to handle the work load. CNM is looking for volunteer researchers to help fill that gap. They are also looking for folks to pledge to donate to candidate that they endorse.

Campaign for National Majority on Sunday

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

This Sunday, July 17, former Congressman Chris Bell will headline the Austin kickoff of Campaign for a National Majority, a pragmatic political action committee that supports Democratic candidates for state executive offices nationwide. The event will be held at the Cedar Door (201 Brazos Street) and begins at 7:00 p.m.

The event is free and not meant to be a fundraiser. I'll try to make sure that myself or someone from BOR is there to cover the happenings. Below is some more info on the CNM from their press release.

Campaign for a National Majority supports viable candidates in tough races who show promise as contenders for progressively higher offices.

“The goal is to build a ‘farm team’ of Democrats,” said Michael Fertik, one of the founders of Campaign for a National Majority. “We support Democrats who can win statewide and national elections, based on the idea that governors make the best presidential candidates and that the best governors are typically elected from other state executive offices, such as lieutenant governor or attorney general.”

Campaign for a National Majority has endorsed two candidates from Texas in the last two years, State Representative David Leibowitz and former San Antonio City Councilman Julián Castro, and is currently evaluating other potential candidates for the 2006 election year.

“CNM’s focus on winning state executive elections for Democrats reflects our belief that winning those races is one of the best ways to strengthen the party in the long run,” Fertik added.

Austin will host the first of a series of events in Texas, to be followed by similar kickoff events in San Antonio and Houston. The events are designed to introduce local Democrats to the group’s mission and activities.

I'm all for building the farm team, god knows we need it in Texas.

Chonicle Best of Austin Poll

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The Austin Chronicle is doing their yearly poll for the Citizen's Best Of's. If you want to cast a ballot, do so here in the next 24 hours.

You don't have to fill it all out, but here are some that I know I filled in under the Politics and Personalities section.

State Legislator: Mark Strama (if for anything, to help his re-electin bid)
Local Grassroots Group: Democracy for Texas (natch)
Local Political Blog: BURNT ORANGE REPORT

Of course, BOR would be defending the title of Best Local Political Blog after being selected in 2004. In any case, go vote and help determine the Best of Austin.

Summer 2005 State Democratic Executive Committee Meeting

By Damon McCullar

Here's the thread for the SDEC meeting here in Austin. You can follow along after the break.

11:00 Grassroots Committee Meeting

In today's grassroots committee meeting here are the things that were covered

We were introduced to four candidates for office. First on is Hank Gilbert from Tyler Texas. He is running for Ag Commish. Next comes Ted Ankrum, he's running in Congress in CD 10. He will be at the 1960's Democrats meeting in Harris County on Monday. The meeting starts around 7:00pm. John Courage, running for Congress in CD 21 is present. Finally, Charlie Thompson is running for Congress in CD 5 along with Patrick Wilson.

Some other interesting things coming out of the Grassroots Committee Meeting is that there is a Grassroots Handbook in the works. The handbook folks are taking input from anyone that wants to contribute.

If you have an idea you think needs to be in the handbook contact Karl Silverman at silverman@ghg.net, 129 Bayou Bend Drive, League City Texas 77573.

There will be a Rural Democratic Summit this fall. It will be August 27th and 28th at the Tyler Ramada Inn. Events will consist of a reception for attendees on Friday. There will be workshops on Saturday culminating with a keynote address by a national democratic figure. For more information, contact Sam Allen at (903)530-5157.

12:15
Chris Bell Luncheon: Chris is here meeting his guest today. Also here is Shane Sklar. He is running for Congress in CD 14.

12:30
Today I want to talk about—and please forgive me if this sounds crazy—but my vision for the Democratic Party here in Texas, a Democratic Party that doesn’t take anyone for granted, a Democratic Party that has a coherent message, and a Democratic Party that wins elections for a change, not just in blue states and college towns, but right here in the heart of Texas.

As I travel Texas, Democrats are telling me something that just a few years ago would have sounded like heresy to some in our party. Everywhere I go, Texas Democrats say they are looking for new leaders who aren’t afraid to act like Democrats.

The young people who are joining the Democratic fold in such impressive numbers are not doing so because they are looking toward the past. They are looking toward the future because they are the future and they are looking for leaders who understand the Texas of today and who are willing to work for a brighter tomorrow.

As I travel the state, I talk about what I call the New Mainstream. And some people are asking me what I mean by that.

When Republicans say they’re representing the mainstream they really mean a narrow section of special interest groups in Texas, leaving a huge majority of people on the outside. Remarkably, these new outsiders are solution-oriented people of all stripes--the moderate Republicans who Rick Perry is trying to kick out of his party, the Independents who are getting quite scared about what’s going on, and the Democrats who knew from the start that Rick Perry couldn’t lead a silent prayer. People who want our state to work, in short.

And all those folks who don’t take frequent dips in Tom Delay’s hot tub and whom Rick Perry says aren’t real Texans, well, they are part of the New Mainstream. Todos estamos en esto juntos. We are all in this together.

And if we are all in this together, it’s time that we in the Democratic Party start acting like it.

First, we can’t afford another two years in which the people in this room are treated like props while Austin insiders pick our nominees like they’re casting yet another sequel to Cannonball Run. The SDEC is the grassroots leadership of this party, but for too long you all have been stuck at the kids table when you all should be at the grown-up table where the decisions are made.

The people in this room don’t need a pollster to tell them that the Democratic Party needs to do a better job, a much better job, of articulating what I think should be the core Democratic message: that education is the best investment in individual achievement ever made, and that a truly moral government is one that demands excellence not only from our kids but from our Governor as well. It’s one that tells parents that if they do their part, then we’ll make sure that teachers have the freedom and the resources that they need to teach our kids something more than how to take yet another standardized test. And if we are going to make teaching our kids the highest purpose of government, then we need to give greater rewards for doing the teaching.

Succeeding generations teach us over and over again that to achieve the American Dream, you have to go through the front door of the schoolhouse and work hard for yourself.

Sadly, as everyone in this room knows, far too many kids in this day and age, when going through the schoolhouse door, are heading in the wrong direction. They’re going out, not in, and the dropout rate is around 40 percent in this state – the worst in the country.

It is time for the Democratic Party in Texas to stand up and say these are our children. Estos son nuestros ninos. We cannot stand idly by and watch almost half of each generation drop out of school and forgo the opportunities that Texas provides.

The Republicans want you to believe that we are on the right track to solving our education problems. Don’t be fooled. The so-called “Texas Miracle” is nothing more than a politically expedient mirage. Enron-style “accountability” has corrupted the curriculum and increased the dropout rate, and it’s left our kids needing more remedial help when they get to college.

That is what is really happening, my friends, and it is time for us to say enough is enough. We can no longer simply accept test-driven curriculums that are driving away our children in droves. We know how to improve our schools. We need to put principals and teachers back in control of schools and classrooms, give them textbooks that aren’t censored by special interest word police, the materials they need to teach, the technology needed for kids to learn – and then we might really witness a miracle.

Testing isn’t the answer; it’s just one way to ask the question. The folks running schools from Austin think they can use tests to make our kids smarter. Tests don’t make our kids any smarter than a ruler will make you taller, but Rick Perry and the lobbyists for the testing companies either don’t get it or hope you haven’t yet figured it out.

We need a governor who wants to take advantage of the knowledge that exists to make schools better and who is committed to making our public schools the best in the country. Not just better. Not as good as Arkansas. The best. No wiggle words. The best schools in the country. That’s a vision as big and exciting as Texas.

Education needs to be the main course, but there’s so much more on the table for us to chew over.

With the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, Texas Democrats need the moral courage to stand up and protect birth control and give our kids the medically accurate information they need to know so they don’t get pregnant in the first place.

With college tuition rising faster than anywhere else in the country, Texas Democrats must show people that Rick Perry’s “deregulation” scheme has failed, and we must put and end to runaway tuition increases—what amounts to a tax on education for the middle class.

And with corporate cash infecting our elections, and 9 lobbyists for every state lawmaker in Austin, Texas Democrats need to demand political reforms that make our campaigns and our government more transparent and accountable.

And with more than 500 kids dead of child abuse and 150,000 kicked off health insurance, Texas Democrats need to get up every day and tell Republicans that budgets are moral documents that should reflect our priorities and not a wish list for wealthy campaign contributors.

For too long, we have assumed that all we really need to do is wait for people to realize just how bad Republicans are before they started voting for Democrats again.

It is not enough to be right about them being wrong. We have to start defining a future not just for the Texas Democratic Party but for Texas as a whole.

We can no longer charge into battle and assume that our armies are right behind us. We need to give Democrats something to fight for.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for finding common ground, but when you have to choose between your conscience and compromise, you’ve got what I think is an easy choice. After all, Jesus didn’t need a dial-tested focus group to convince him to kick the moneychangers out of the temple. And David didn’t use third-party surrogates to attack Goliath. He picked up the five smooth stones and did the slinging himself.

With a Republican in his second term in the White House, Republican majorities in the House and Senate both in Washington and in Austin, and a Texas Republican Governor who wants to parlay six years of incompetence into yet another term in the Governor’s Mansion, maybe, just maybe it’s time to try something new. Maybe—borrowing here from the accidental wisdom of Rick Perry as he sought to avoid a traffic ticket—it is time to “get on down the road.”

We’ve tried to out-Republican the Republicans, and all we’ve gotten for it is a demoralized base, demoralized donors, demoralized activists, and demoralized leaders. Our unwillingness to challenge the other side has given us the most corrupt and incompetent Texas government in a generation. It is our duty to restore Texas pride.

Our struggle for relevancy in the 21st Century in Texas is no longer about Ralph Yarborough versus Lloyd Bentsen, the liberals versus the conservatives. It’s not about narrowing the definition of a Democrat down to its purest essence. Our charge is to reach out to the true silent majority—the New Mainstream. Our duty is to articulate a positive vision of the future that unites all Texans. And we do this by talking about Democratic values, which I believe are the true shared values of Texans, and not by abandoning them at the first report of gunfire.

This is what I am talking about when I talk about the New Mainstream. Rick Perry can put a fence around his folks and tell the rest of us “Adios, MoFo,” but Texans want a leader who has the moral courage to apply something as radical as common sense to our problems and who has the vision to lead us into a tomorrow worth fighting for.

There is a disaffected majority of Texans in the state who are waiting, just waiting to find the basic moral courage to talk about the world the way it is and not the way it polls. They are waiting for us to stop pandering to the issue of the day and to start offering visionary solutions to create a tomorrow that they can get excited about.

The New Mainstream is waiting for the Democratic Party to start getting serious about solutions.

In short, how can we call ourselves “progressive” if we fail to offer progress?

This is where I want to lead the Texas Democratic Party if I decide to run for Governor. My exploratory campaign is coming to a point this month when I’m going to have to make a decision. And I’ll tell you with all honesty that I’m not running unless the Democratic Party is ready to hear how a Democrat wants to tackle our challenges, and not how we’d do it just a little bit differently than the Republicans.

The time for that is long past.

Welcome to the New Mainstream, my friends. If we choose to stand together, no one can defeat us. If we work together, there’s not an election we can’t win. We restore Texas pride and we can build a better Texas together.

Thank you.

We are getting a lot of folks yellin' "Amen", and "Tell it, Chris Tell it". Chris finishes his speech to a standing ovation.

Q and A

When are you running?

I will make a decision this month. His wife is battling breast cancer and has finished her treatment and recovering. He's gotten a great response over the last few months. We must get past our "defeatist attitude".

Kudos from one lady for filing the ethics complaint against Tom DeLay.

Tom DeLay is a gift that keeps on giving. We have to demand a more ethical state government.

Are God, Guns and Gays are killing the party in West Texas?

We allowed the Republicans to hijack the moral agenda and it's time for us Democrats to show folks what we stand for and we need to set the moral agenda. Taking care of the poor and the oppressed (abused mothers and kids) is a moral value that we are dedicated to. Jesus had the most radical agenda ever and us Democrats are cut from the same cloth.

2:10
The GLBT caucus is being held at the bar. I swung by and enjoyed the libations with them. We will see you guys at the next meeting. I apologize if my typing becomes erratic from here on out.

3:00
Well, that's it folks! I am heading home. It's been an interesting day and I hope you guys liked the coverage.

Live Blog of State Democratic Executive Meeting

By Damon McCullar

Hey folks! I will be at the State Democratic Executive Committee meeting tomorrow live blogging the speakers. Coverage will start around 1pm.

ACL Schedule Out

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Look over here, and take a gander at the Austin City Limits schedule (which of course is the inspiration for this category, as well as the pattern used for all the major Texas cities' categories on this site).

The headliners:
Friday - Lyle Lovett/Black Crows
Saturday - Widespread/Oasis
Sunday - Coldplay

Musselmans at MeetUp

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tonight my father (and mother) will be coming up to Austin. After winning his city council seat back in Fredericksburg in May, he's become a bit of a rural Democratic star and thusly, we have been asked to be the featured speakers at tonight's July Democracy for America- Austin Meetup. The details are here and posted below. Come out and give a hollar!

Mother Egan's
715 West 6th Street (MAP)
Austin, TX 78701
512/478-7747

Mark Strama's Speech

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you attended the Democracy Fest Bloggers Caucus or heard about it, you'll know that State Rep. Mark Strama's speech on technology and campaigns was an important one as well as a crowd pleaser. Here is a full transcript of what he talked about. It's something every Texas (and beyond) Democrat should read in regards to how our party must integrate technology into our campaigns, not to replace the hard work of old, but to make it more efficient and effective.

Speaking of technology, check out the new DNC website. Click on the Democracy Bonds BlogAd to learn how to sustain your Party. It's a brilliant marketing strategy for the DNC, basically selling something as unglamorous as recurring monthly contributions into something that you can take ownership in (as well as get a snappy signed 'bond' from Howard Dean). And hat tip to the DNC for making an investment into the progressive blogosphere on this one. I'm sure that almost every site they are running on has talked about that ad (as well as some bloggers getting personal calls from Gov. Dean).

I'm sure we are too small to get noticed on that level still, but it's a major shift in approach from the last cycle. (Our phone is on though, just in case.) I look forward to their rollout of new tools and the big message plan that is coming later this fall.

Austin Moving Forward Liveblogging

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Latinos for Texas is liveblogging the Austin Moving Forward Conference with George Lakoff and others. Check it out.

DemFest Coverage

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

KUT, our radio station here, has an audio report on DemFest. There was also an Austin Chronicle and News 8 Austin report on it, located here.

Also, just to note, the Democratic nominee for CD 22 against DeLay is now 99% officially former Rep. Nick Lampson as Houston city councilman Gordon Quan has said he's not going to get in the race and is endorsing Lampson, who currently has a June fundraising "star" on his website.

Save Player's

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Sign the petition to Save Player's all you Austinites.

Read about what the University is trying to destory with its Eminent Domain powers in this Texan article.

DemFest Wrap Up

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you are looking for a good, overall in depth run down of events at this weekend's Demfest, I'll point you to this Kos diary from one of our Williamson County neighbors to the north.

Also check out this hilarious post from the KosatDemFest blog.

Here are some pictures from the weekend as well.

And if you have nothing else to do...

Dean in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you want to see DNC Chairman Howard "My Party is not as White as Yours" Dean this weekend, he will be at an Austin fundraiser downtown titled "Don't Mess with Dean". You can buy tickets here. He will also be in Houston and Dallas on Friday.

DemFest on CSPAN

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Democracy Fest, to be held this weekend in Austin with about 900 people from all over the country (and world), will have a segment aired on C-SPAN on Saturday. Tune in around 3:50 CST for the training segment called the "DeLay Factor".

Two More Dems Looking at HD 47

By Andrew Dobbs

With Keel's abdication of the increasingly competitive HD 47 has come a deluge of potential candidates. Initially three Democrats-- attorney and former Glen Maxey and Jim Dunnam staffer Hugh Brady, health care lobbyist and former City Council candidate Gregg Knaupe (pronounced "Nap" for the uninitiated), and Democratic activist and attorney Duffy Keever-- were rumored to be considering the hunt. Now two more have been rumored, and reporting rumors as fact is our business here at BOR .

The first is Texas DNC member David Holmes-- one of the youngest members in the history of the Committee and a tireless advocate for Texas' needs on the national Democratic level. He is also Hubert Vo's chief of staff and a great young Democrat. Having said that, as of right now 4 of the 5 rumored potential candidates are friendly acquaintences (or in a few cases, outright friends) of mine so I'll be keeping my cards close to my chest.

Second is Texas Democratic Party Vice Chair for Finance Dennis Speight. Speight is also a staffer for State Rep. Chuck Hopson and former president of the Texas Young Democrats. He lives in the district (I'm not sure about David, of the other three only Knaupe lives in the district), he and his wife are involved in local community organizations and he can raise money very well. He too would make an exciting candidate and great representative. He is also a friend of mine, so at the risk of sounding obsessive, I'll remind everyone of my caveat. I don't support anybody, I don't oppose anybody in this race at this point, particularly since no one is actually running.

Obviously my sources in regards to the GOP are rather paltry-- I have to read what the papers say. Gerald Daugherty (Travis County Commissioner) and 1992 HD 47 candidate Bill Welch (who, blast from the past, lost the GOP nomination to Susan Combs whose life in the Southwest Austin suburbs qualified her to be Ag Commissioner) are tinkering with running. We'll see how the race shapes up.

Keep tuned to BOR for all the news you could ever want on this and other developing 2006 races and be sure to let us know what you think about the proposed candidates.

UPDATE: I have been criminally remiss in not mentioning one of the biggest and earliest names floated, which slipped my mind until I was just reminded-- Jason Earle. Earle is the son of Travis County DA Ronnie Earle and head of community relations for Girling Health Care here in Austin.

Quorum Report is also dropping the name of former NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses) director Jeff Clark. I am assuming that he would be a Republican (though if he is not, I'll be the first to say a Mea Culpa).

Jennifer Kim elected to Council

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Election results are in for Austin City Council elections and 2nd place finished Jennifer Kim (in the first round) pulled through to become the 1st place finisher in Saturday's Run-off by a 7 point margin in a 9% turnout election. From the Elections Dept..

Jennifer Kim / 19,527 / 53.52%
Margot Clarke / 16,956 / 46.48%

I need to see tomorrow what regional patterns there are beyond the expected Margot advantage in the Central City. I'll try to make up a precinct by precint win map (if any reader can direct me to a great city of austin precint map, that will really help me with this project, link to it in the comments.)

I couldn't vote in this election as my registration was back home in Fredericksburg. I'm not particularly bound to either candidate and thought both of them would have done a fine job for the City of the Austin. Congratulations to Kim, even though Campus precincts had miserable turnout, the two oncampus did go for Kim. One of them by a 2-1 margain. As in 2 votes for Kim, one for Margot. Less than 1% turnout in an area that saw 99% turnout last November. Students are more focused on national politics over local, and were also not anywhere near polling locations in this election.

Better Late Than Never: Margot Clarke and the Toll Road Lobby

By Andrew Dobbs

So I meant to get this up before now, seeing as there are only 20 minutes are so left before the polls close. One way or the other, I think it is important that the people of Austin are aware of what's going on in this race.

Margot Clarke has been running a race that is focused largely on her refusal to take "toll lobby money." At one forum she even expressed an openness to the Austin Toll Party's attempts to recall Mayor Will Wynn, Councilman Brewster McCracken and Councilman Danny Thomas. She has flouted her endorsement by the largely Republican and right-wing Austin Toll Party and tried to make herself out to be the sole opponent to toll road expansion in Austin (though all four original candidates and both of the runoff candidates are equally opposed to toll roads).

Her proud claim to accept no toll road lobby money would be all well and good were it actually true. The Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Clarke has admitted to taking at least $1100 in toll road money and has been forced to give the money back. Furthermore Clarke has claimed that Mandy Dealey endorsed her after the first round, a complete fabrication. Her endorsement lists have contained people who did not ask to counted as her supporters, and at least some who were actually known supporters of other candidates in the race.

The fact of the matter is that Margot Clarke has run something of a dishonest campaign. I like her positions on environmental issues, but her lack of candor and her history of instability threatens the ability of the City Council to function. I didn't support her in the first round, and I'm not supporting her this time.

Its not too late to vote, find your polling place and hurry!

Austin Early Voting Starts Today

By Byron LaMasters

Today is the first day to vote in the Austin City Council Place 3 run-off between Margot Clarke and Jennifer Kim.

Early vote locations here.

I voted just about an hour ago, and I think I'll just keep yall guessing as to who I voted for. I do not intend to issue a personal endorsement in this race. I am a member of four local clubs. Of them, the Central Austin Democrats, Austin Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus and the Austin Stonewall Democrats have endorsed Margot Clarke. The University Democrats have endorsed Jennifer Kim.

Smokin'

By Jim Dallas

I've not always had the highest opinion of CounterPunch, since they're a tad on the nutty side sometimes (then again, aren't we all?).

Still, I didn't expect they'd run a fairly good article reviewing restaraunts in Lockhart, the barbecue capital of Texas.

I've always wanted to stop in Lockhart on the way from Austin to Houston, but have always been deterred by time or lack of money.

University Democrats Endorse Jennifer Kim

By Byron LaMasters

The University Democrats endorsed Jennifer Kim for Austin City Council at a specially called meeting today. While many students will have already left Austin by the time of the run-off election, the endorsement of Kim means that the APC (Austin Progressive Coalition) will not endorse in the run-off and no APC flyers will be handed out for the run-off. The Austin Progressive Coalition forms to support the candidates endorsed by both the University Democrats and the Central Austin Democrats during city elections and Democratic primaries. All APC endorsed candidates and ballot measures won in the election on Saturday (Leffingwell, Dunkerly, Smoking ban and ACC).

Austin's Real World

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Because everyone else and their dog is linking to the Austin-American Statesman article about the Real World cast leaving Austin (finally), we here at BOR would like to wish them a farewell as well. I remember once almost running over a couple of cast members on my bike on the drag, so that's about as "real" as my world gets with them.

Here's the story.

Photo Gallery

Austin Bloggers React to the Smoking Ban

By Byron LaMasters

Pandagon, Norbizness and Urban Grounds are not happy about the new Austin smoking ban. I was genuinely conflicted about the ban. I made up my mind only about 10 minutes before I cast my vote - a rarity for me.

As a progressive and as a Democrat, I was quite conflicted. Several governmental principles that I value came into conflict. On the pro-ban side, I valued the idea of protecting bar employees from second-hand smoke. I believe that all employees should be able to work in a safe environment, and second-hand smoke is definitely harmful to one's health.

On the anti-ban side I agreed that business owners should be able to decide what is best for their business. As a Democrat, I believe that as long as a business pays their fair share of taxes, pays their employees fair wages and benefits, supports the local economy and environment - then they should pretty much be unrestricted by government in the decisions that they make regarding their business. This was the best argument that the anti-ban folks made, and I had sympathy for the their position. Another good argument against the ban was that previous anti-smoking restrictions were placed on some establishments two years ago. Many of those businesses spent thousands of dollars to comply with the new restrictions by installing separate ventilation systems. It's bad for business to force them to spend lots of money every two years to meet new requirements.

However, the selling point for me was the UD/CAD/APC endorsement meeting. At that meeting the speaker for the ban, David Butts, made a very passionate speech in favor of the ban. Butts is an Austin Democratic political consultant for which I have a great deal of respect. On the opposing side, the anti-ban speaker made several of the aforementioned arguments, but also several very un-compelling ones. The idea that live music in Austin will die, or even seriously suffer because of the ban lacked substantial proof. Furthermore, some of the anti-ban spokesmen questioned the risk of second-hand smoke. That's silly. There are good arguments and bad arguments for and against the ban, but those two were bad.

Studies have shown that smoking bans may have a short-term negative effect on some businesses, but in the long term I doubt that it will make a difference. Seriously, does anyone really believe that San Marcos will replace Austin as the live music capitol? In fact, I know a good number of non-smokers that have said they would go out more to clubs and bars if there is a smoking ban. I personally will take issue with Urban Grounds on his assertion that people who voted for the ban will not go out to bars and clubs. Well - I voted for the ban, and spent a good deal of money last night at bars and clubs on 6th and 4th street. I had a few drinks, and didn't smoke (or drive for that matter). I had a good time, and was more than happy to support the Austin economy.

May 6 is No Pants Day

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Celebrated for years now, and an Austin invention, the first Friday of May (meaning tomorrow) is No Pants Day. Here is the schedule.

7-9 am. Capital Rally
Hanging out at the Capital, for the early-rising, hardcore celebrants. We're gonna promote No Pants Day to people early in the morning downtown. It'll be a blast to be out in no pants when those not in the know are milling about doing their work. Meet on 11th, in front of the gates, just south of the Capital.

9am-5pm. West Mall
The main event. No Pants Day Rally on the West Mall on the UT campus. Shirts, music, games, songs, handing out fliers, and just plain celebrating.

7pm- Miniature Golf
Mini Golf at Peter Pan Mini Golf. 1207 Barton Springs.

So, here's some things we need for The West Mall-
*musical instruments
*frisbees
*snacks
*handmade signs.

ACL Rumors

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Life Distilled, an austin blog, brings us what could be the preliminary ACL festival band list. While I don't agree with their characterization of Blue October as "less exciting" it is exciting to see Coldplay in the mix.

Someone “on the inside” saw the list and says confirmed acts are: Widespread Panic, Jimmy Cliff, Allman Bros. Black Crowes, Coldplay, Wilco, Oasis, Robert Randolph, Black Keys.

Here are some less exciting bands that will be there:

Fri 09/23/05 Blue October
Fri 09/23/05 Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men
Fri 09/23/05 DeSol
Fri 09/23/05 Robert Earl Keen
Fri 09/23/05 The Ditty Bops

Sat 09/24/05 Bettye LaVette
Sat 09/24/05 Buddy Guy
Sat 09/24/05 Dierks Bentley
Sat 09/24/05 Low

At least the bottom half of the list seems to be more or less true, as a friend of mine confirmed Blue.

Worst of Austin Poll

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I don't know where it came from, but hey, if we have the Best of Austin, why not vote on the worst.

Poll here.

It's good to see of course that Perry is leading the way in one category...

Worst Politician

1. Governor Rick Perry : 102 (76%)
2. Mike Krusee - man behind CapMetro Rail Plan : 18 (13%)
3. Leslie - our favorite transvestite mayoral candidate : 15 (11%)

Place 4: Jennifer Gale "gets no satisfaction"

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I was wandering around the web and came upon the Austin City Council video statements at the city election site. Though I'm not going to sit through a dozen videos, I was interested in 15 (17?) time candidate Jennifer Gale, transgender homeless former Marine who many of us on campus have come to know and love (well, a few of us). Last election cycle when Gale ran in an AISD election, she carried 3 of the 6 campus precincts and her chalk advertisements and round paper ads posted on electricity boxes in West Campus are common place.

But her video. You just have to watch it. The best part is when she breaks out in song at 3:44. I've cut the 4 best clips apart for you to watch if you have limited speed and bandwith.

Watch...

On the Ballot (1 Mb)
Finest Political Team (1.2 Mb)
I'm Sexy (1.3 Mb)
Gale Sings the Rolling Stones (3.8 Mb)

Full Version in WMV (28 Mb)
Full Version in MPG (37 Mb)

Transcript Highlights for the full verison-

min:sec
00:00 Hi Austin, it's springtime again!
00:17 < holds up her flyer >
00:27 Really, who votes on a Saturday so please, vote early.
01:00 Remember, the first thing you do is vote for the last name on the ballot, Jennifer Gale.
01:22 I'm also going to hire a wheelchair bound student intern to complete the finest political team ever assembled.
01:34 Or you could be my mascot. Every team needs a mascot!
02:06 Now many of you are going to elect me because you feel I'm sexy, and that should go without saying. But I want you to vote for me because we are going to be there for each other.
02:44 A newspaper owned by Austin like the Green Bay Packer owns the Packers.
03:08 As a former US Marine, I will come to you, to your high school to meet with you to promote our PTAs and share a potluck dinner and discuss issues.
03:44 < sings Rolling Stones- I Can't Get No Satisfaction >
04:12 My other opponent Wes Bennidict ran 2 years ago in Place 6, in the American of African heritage place.

Conservative Groups Support Gregg Knaupe

By Byron LaMasters

In recent days, Austin Place 3 city council candidate Gregg Knaupe has received support from two conservative organizations - The Young Conservatives of Texas and the right-wing newspaper, The Austin Review.

YCT writes the following about the Place 3 race (via email):

Austin City Council Place 3 - The four candidates are all Democrats, but there are big differences. Endorsed by the Austin Police, centrist Gregg Knaupe opposes the smoking ban, supports building roads, and denounced the affirmative action taxpayer-funded bailout of a private nightclub. Left-wingers Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey have both been lobbyists for Planned Parenthood and can be counted on to put salamanders before humans. Jennifer Kim gave money to liberal Ann Kitchen when she ran against Rep. Todd Baxter and supports quotas in city hiring.

The editorial board of The Austin Review writes the following in their endorsement of Gregg Knaupe:

It would be a travesty if some conservatives voted for a leftist like Margot Clarke simply because she opposes toll roads. Both Clarke and Mandy Dealey have had as their lifelong occupations liberal political activism for groups like Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club. Both support the smoking ban and will be guaranteed votes on the Council for higher taxes and more regulation. In contrast, Gregg Knaupe opposes the smoking ban, spoke out against the outrageous Midtown Live night club bailout, and will be a common sense voice for fiscal restraint on the Council.

Conservative Austin blog, Voice in the Wilderness has also endorsed Gregg Knaupe:

This is the most competitive race of the three. Clarke and Dealey are liberal ideologues and clearly out of the mainstream, even for Austin. Kim and Knaupe are more intriguing. Both seem less nutty than the others and have some economic development chops, at least for Democrats. I like Knaupe’s vision for the medical school and how it can help with both economic development and indigent health care. Pulling it off will be tricky, but he seems to have thought through the idea and his health care cache will help make it happen.

VitW endorses Greg Knaupe for City Council, Place 3.

Gregg Knaupe is not a Republican, but it is clear to me that many of his supporters represent the right-wing of Austin City politics.

City Council Endorsements

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you wanted to know how all the Groups in this City have endorsed for the City Council races, see below.

Austin Progressive Coalition PAC (Central Austin Democrats & University Democrats)
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley
Smoking Ordinance -- FOR
ACC Expansion -- FOR

Austin Tejano Democrats
Place 1, Runoff vote resulted in No Endorsement
Place 3, Runoff vote resulted in No Endorsement
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley
Smoking Ordinance -- AGAINST
ACC Expansion -- FOR

Austin Lesbian Gay Political Caucus
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey
Place 4, Betty Dunkeryley

Black Austin Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Jennifer Kim
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

Capital Area Progressive Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

Central Austin Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley
Smoking Ordinance -- FOR
ACC Expansion -- FOR

Huston-Tillotson Young Democrats Coalition
Place 1, Andrew Bucknall
HTYD's will not be making endorsements in either Place 3 or Place 4.

North by North West Democrats
Place 1, No Endorsement
Place 3, No Endorsement
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

North East Travis County Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

Saint Edward's University College Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Gregg Knaupe
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

South Austin Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

South Austin Tejano Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Mandy Dealey
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

South West Austin Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

Stonewall Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, No Endorsement

Texas Environmental Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, No Endorsement
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

Travis County Democratic Women
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Dual endorsement: Margot Clarke & Jennifer Kim
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley

University of Texas Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Mandy Dealey
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley
Smoking Ordinance -- FOR
ACC Expansion -- FOR

West Austin Democrats
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, Betty Dunkerley
Smoking Ordinance -- FOR
ACC Expansion -- FOR

Leffingwell Stays in Race for Place 1

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Lee Leffingwell, frontrunner for Austin City Council Place 1, is staying in the race as announced at his press conference this afternoon. His wife had passed on last week.

"My wife was a wonderful woman who cared for people and who cared about her community. Losing her is a great tragedy in my life," Leffingwell said at a Thursday morning press conference. "But it cannot and will not be the end of my life . . . I know that is not what she would have wanted.

"If I am fortunate enough to be elected by the voters, I will serve in honor of her memory," Leffingwell said.

I think that every Democratic group in town is also breathing a collective sigh of relief. Partly because if he had dropped out of the race, it would have made it wide open very late in the game, forcing people to re-endorse or actually have to look at the rest of the field again. My best wishes to Lee, and I hope to see him happy on election night when gets elected to the council.

Irony

By Byron LaMasters

It's a bit ironic that Rick Perry and Elton John both attend an event in Austin a day after John made a marriage announcement, and the same day that the Texas legislature voted to make gay marriage double secret illegal. The Austin American Statesman writes:

A day after announcing plans to marry his longtime partner, Elton John performed just blocks from the Texas Capitol, where lawmakers are working to put a gay marriage ban in the state constitution.

John performed at a fundraiser for tennis star Andy Roddick's charitable foundation, with Republican Gov. Rick Perry also in attendance.

In an interview with The Associated Press, John would not discuss personal matters, including Monday's reports that he planned to marry David Furnish, his partner of 11 years, later this year.

The same day as John's marriage announcement, the Texas House of Representatives approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage. State law already bans gay marriage from being recognized.

Also from today's irony department, check out this post from Pink Dome.

HJR 6 Update

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Ok, I had to go hunt this down on the LGRL blog to find out why today's second reading vote on HJR 6 means it was passed to the Senate without needing a third reading in the House.

Joint resolutions are used to propose amendments to the Texas Constitution, ratify proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution, or request a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Joint resolutions proposing amendments to the Texas Constitution require a vote of two-thirds of the total membership of each house for adoption. Other joint resolutions require a simple majority vote in each house for adoption. A joint resolution takes the same course through both houses as a bill and is like a bill in all respects, except that, in the house, if it receives the required number of votes at any reading after the first reading, the resolution is passed. Three readings are still required to pass a joint resolution in the senate.

And to think, any 2 Aye votes could have just voted present and not voting and this would have been that much closer to dieing. My personal gripe, shame on Rep. Patrick Rose. I gave money to your last campaign but don't be expecting any from me the next go round.

Leffingwell's Wife Found Dead

By Byron LaMasters

The Austin American Statesman reports that the wife of Austin City Council Place 1 candidate Lee Leffingwell was found dead this morning:

Mary Lou McLain, the board president for Family Eldercare and wife of City Council candidate Lee Leffingwell, was found dead this morning inside her Northeast Austin home.

Police are investigating the death as a suicide.

Police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said authorities received a call at 10:19 a.m. that a person had died inside a home on Bradwood Road. When they arrived, they found McLain's body. Police have not released the cause of death.

Mark Nathan, a spokesman for Leffingwell, said the campaign has suspended all activities and that a memorial service is being planned. He said Leffingwell likely won't decide for several days whether he will continue running for the Place 1 seat being vacated by Daryl Slusher.

There will certainly be political ramifications of this, especially if Leffingwell decides to drop out of the race, but at this point, it would be inappropriate to ponder such possibilities. For now, I know I speak for the entire BOR team in saying that our thoughts and prayers are with Lee Leffingwell and his family through this tragedy. I also hope that our readers, and the greater Austin community join all of us tonight as we pray for Lee Leffingwell and his family.

Rally to Save Texas Families

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I'm floating this up since the event is in a few hours. The following is from Jake Holbrook, director of StandOut, recognized as the "Best New Organization" on campus this year.

In light of recent attacks on the LGBT community by the Texas legislature in the form of SB 6, an anti-gay foster care bill. It would seek to further solidify the place of the LGBT community’s members as second class citizens. StandOut of the University of Texas at Austin is organizing a Rally and Protest at the Texas Capitol, this Friday April 22nd.

What: Save Texas Families Rally and Protest
Where: In front of the Capitol Gates, 11th and Congress
When: Friday, April 22nd –
12:00 pm Gather and make posters,
12:30 pm Rally begins,
2:30 pm Rally ends.

Why:
StandOut has organized this Protest and Rally in reaction to SB 6 which seeks to reform the Texas Child Protective Services Agency. Rep. Robert Talton’s amendment to this bill though would do, among other things:

• Prevent Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual people from fostering children in the state of Texas
• Take the children away from all 43,000 Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual people already forming families
• Remove these children from loving, stable families and place them back into the already overburdened Foster Care system
• Emotionally destroy these Texas families
• Allows the new CPS Agency to conduct “investigations” into suspect foster parents not already officially identified as Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual
• Will cost the state of Texas an additional $8 million dollars every year

We will not tolerate this kind of discrimination. We will stand together. We will fight. We will make ourselves heard.

Jake Holbrook
Director, StandOut
Young People For, 2005 Fellow

Byron's Austin City Council Endorsements

By Byron LaMasters

I figure that I might as well make endorsements for Austin City Council for what it's worth. I voted on Wednesday for Andrew Bucknall, Mandy Dealey and Betty Dunkerly in Austin City Council Places 1, 3 and 4. I also voted for the smoking ban and for ACC expansion. My endorsements:

Place 1: Andrew Bucknall and Lee Leffingwell

I've been impressed with Lee Leffingwell's civic service, progressive Democratic record, and environmental activism. The more I've seen of Leffingwell, the more I've liked him. It is extremely likely that Leffingwell will win this election to fill the seat of Daryl Slusher, and he would serve Austin well. However, Bucknall also has a progressive Democratic record of activism in east Austin. Bucknall has revitalized the Huston-Tillotson University Democrats, served as a precinct chair, and on citizens' committees addressing affordable housing. Either Bucknall or Leffingwell would serve Austin well. I voted for Bucknall, but both are a solid choice for progressive leadership.

Place 3: Mandy Dealey

Place 3 has four qualified candidates to replace Jackie Goodman. All four bring new ideas and energy to Austin politics, and any of the four would be an asset to the council.

Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey clearly have the longest record of Democratic and progressive activism. Clarke's work has been on the grassroots side of things, whereas Dealey's work has been more related to fundraising and serving on numerous boards. They've both contributed valuable work that certainly qualifies them for the council.

Jennifer Kim and Gregg Knaupe round out the field. Kim is an impressive first time candidate, and is very well-spoken, but she lacks the experience of Clarke or Dealey. Knaupe is running an impressive campaign, but he has received a great deal of money from developer and Republican sources, and while I trust his Democratic credentials, I worry that he may be strongly influenced by his developer and Republican friends.

As the campaign has progressed, it is clear that Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey bring the best progressive credentials to the race. Of the two, I am most impressed with Dealey. Clarke is the type of anti-growth, anti-development candidate that is less likely to be able to compromise and negotiate with others on the council. Furthermore, of all four candidates, Clarke has the least comprehensive website as to her agenda on the city council. On the other hand, Dealey's background with progressive nonprofits make her the best qualified candidate to work towards consensus on the council from a progressive perspective. She also has an extensive plan of action for Austin on her website. I was proud to vote for, and I am proud to endorse Mandy Dealey for Austin City Council.

Place 4: Betty Dunkerly

I've already indicated my support for Betty Dunkerly, but I'll do it again. Dunkerly entered politics during the economic downturn, because she believed that her background in public finance and as assistant city manager of Austin put her in position to help the city through the economic downturn. She's always been very accessible and has the best interests of Austin at heart. We need more people like her in politics. I wholeheartedly endorse Betty Dunkerly for re-election.

Smoking Ban: Yes, no, maybe so, ok, I guess, yes

I debated with myself over the smoking ban for awhile. I'm pretty much indifferent to it. In the end, I found the arguments for the ban more genuine than the arguments against the ban. People who I respect have spoken passionately on both sides of the issue. I know that Andrew feels strongly about this issue, but I was also moved by David Butts's support of the smoking ban at the UD/CAD/APC endorsement meeting. I've constantly debated the merits of the bill and weighed the rights of property owners and the rights of smokers versus the rights of non-smokers and the health risks of second-hand smoke, especially for people that work at bars.

In the end, I still couldn't decide, but I broke the deadlock with the statement by one of the anti-smoking ban guys at the UD/CAD/APC meeting. He said something to the effect that there was little evidence to prove that second-hand smoke was a health risk to which a lot of us were very much taken aback. There are good arguments against the smoking ban, but questioning the health risks associated with second hand smoke is not one of them. For me, this was a tie-breaker. I voted for the ordinance.

ACC Expansion: YES

This was an easy vote. Austin Community College (ACC) expansion allows more young people the opportunity for a higher education, and forces suburbanites to help pay for it. If this isn't a no-brainer, I don't know what is.

No Pants Day is on its Way

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

May 6th, the last day of classes, it's coming...

Come on, you know you want to share the No Pants Day love. Click on the icon and take it from there to save it and add it as your icon.

You Student Government types...be prepared is all I have to say.

Latinos for Texas Endorse

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Andrew Bucknall - Place 1
Margot Clarke - Place 3
Betty Dunkerly - Place 4

Via here

Early voting at the UGL on campus today yielded 178 voters.

The Daily Texan Endorses

By Byron LaMasters

The Daily Texan Austin City Council Endorsements:

Place 1: Lee Leffingwell
Place 3: Mandy Dealey
Place 4: Betty Dunkerly

Smoking Ban: NO (dissenting opinion here)
ACC Expansion: YES

More on the Kerry Event

By Byron LaMasters

For some rather snarky coverage of Saturday's Kerry event, check out In the Pink Texas. I sat near Eileen Smith in the press section, and we had the opportunity to chat a little bit afterwards. For some great pictures of Kerry at the event, check out these by frequent BOR commenter John W Walthall.

Update: More pictures from Jake McCook, here.

Statesman Endorses Leffingwell, Kim and Dunkerly

By Byron LaMasters

Leffingwell and Dunkerly were forgone conclusions, but Kim is a bit of a surprise. You can read the Austin American Statesman endorsements here.

Chronicle Endorsements

By Byron LaMasters

Newspaper endorsements usually don't mean much, but I always follow the Austin Chronicle endorsements in Democratic primaries and city elections with interest. I think that a lot of people, especially in South and Central Austin see the Chronicle as their local paper, and take their opinions, especially their editorial page seriously. With that, check out their endorsements:

Austin City Council Place 1: Lee Leffingwell
Austin City Council Place 3: Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey
Austin City Council Place 4: Betty Dunkerly
Smoking Ban: YES and NO
ACC Expansion: YES

No major surprises in places 1 and 4. Leffingwell and Dunkerly are pretty much foregone conclusions, although I'm glad that the Chronicle had some kind words for Andrew Bucknall. Every progressive and practically everyone who supports education will vote to expand ACC. The waffling on the smoking ban is a cop-out, but I understand their wishy-washiness. I've been back and forth on the issue myself.

Finally, their dual endorsement in Place 3 is a bit of a surprise. The Chronicle endorsed Margot Clarke in her first run for city council, so I'm surprised that they strayed from her a little bit, and forced her to share an endorsement with Mandy Dealey. Needless to say, this is great news for Dealey. Her campaign got off to a slow start, but she has gained much momentum in the past weeks.

Late Night Posting

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I'm a bit scared right now. Because every time I tilt my head to the side, I notice John Kerry looking at me as he leans up against my wall. Thank goodness he's just made of cardboard. And yes, he's so spending the night, considering I've already grinded with him on the dancefloor at this weekend's UDems party.

He's coming to campus this Saturday you know, and there is a place to signup (admission not guaranteed) here.

Oh, and I must have forgotten to link to this great picture of me looking like I'm about to punch myself in front of UDems endorsed City Council candidate Mandy Dealey.

City Council Finances

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

In the realm of not all that interesting blog posts, I bring you info from the Gregg Knaupe campaign 30 finance report! (Of course, if you are like my father back home and are self-financing a much smaller city council race then there is nothing to file but anyways...)

from the Knaupe blog which is back up again...

The campaign filed it’s 30 day out campaign finance report yesterday. The campaign raised $50,685 for this reporting period, giving us a grand total of $60,733 raised from the beginning of the campaign to the present report. The campaign spent $27,870, the smallest amount of any of the campaigns.

The total cash on hand right now is $46,963, which is more than all the other place three candidates combined.

Oh, and I noticed today that the Margot Clarke campaign has changed their quote from me on their main page sidebar, from the "Margot has the momentum back post" to some of my comments about vision, when I wrote about each of the candidates a while back. But that was on April 1, not March 28 as her site says, though it's not really an issue, just something that probably wasn't updated from the other quote.

Smoking Ban

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

A little birdie told me that polling on the Smoking Ban Proposal on the Austin Ballot May 7 shows that the group of people most in favor of the ban, are those that attend live music venues.

That's got to throw a bit of a wrench into the anti-ban crowd's arguements...

Live Webcam!

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Well, for the next hour or so I'll be out here at the UDems Shack-A-Thon. You can see me on LIVE NUDE GIRLS our temporary webcam here, an idea that we may expand to meetings and beyond! If you want to converse with my on AIM, I'm howarddean13. Or leave a comment.

Response about Chairs

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

This is for all of you freaks worried about City Council meetings turning into Springer Style Chair Throwing episodes if Margot Clarke gets elected to the city council. Thanks to Sharon for writing in.

Dear Karl -

It has been brought to my attention that a comment was made on the Burnt Orange website that "Margot Clarke had been fired from Planned Parenthood" and "threw a chair". Both statements are totally false!

I was Margot's supervisor for the majority of the time she was employed at Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region. She resigned her position as Director of Public Affairs to pursue other opportunities, and never threw a chair while an employee. In fact, Margot is one of the most loyal, dependable, hardworking people I've had ever known.

Margot is very qualified to represent Austin citizens on the City Council. She has a long history of fighting for the issues important to us as a community and will make an outstanding member of the City Council, if elected.

Thank you for posting a correction as appropriate to the false comments that were made about Margot.

Sincerely,

Sharon Bettis
12140 Tunnel Trail
Manchaca, Texas 78652
512-292-1341

UDs / CAD Endorse

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Well today's 4 hour long endorsement meeting was fun. I'll cut to the chase and let you know the results.

Both the Univerisity Democrats and Central Austin Democrats endorsed Lee Leffingwell in Place 1, Betty Dunkerly in Place 4, and YES votes on the proposed Smoking Ban and ACC District Annexation.

CAD went to a run-off in Place 3 between Margot Clarke and Gregg Knaupe and endorsed Margot Clarke, though that wasn't a big suprise. UDems went to a run-off between Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey and endorsed Mandy Dealey. A lot of people's votes shifted very late in UDems, for a variety of reasons, towards Dealey, and the runoff was not one decided by just a couple votes or anything.

Of course, I'm not allowed to release the vote totals of any of the balloting because UDems has this informal agreement of not allowing it, which is no where in the constitution and when push comes to shove, I'm sure could be a FOIA issue or something that probably is a tad illegal if anyone really cared. I might draw up some language to clarify it in the constitution to all the numbers to be public later on since it's always bugged me.

APC Endorsements

By Byron LaMasters

I liveblogged the meeting earlier today, but I shut off my computer shortly before voting took place. Here are the endorsements made today by the two organization:

University Democrats:
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Mandy Dealey
Place 4, Betty Dunkerly
Smoking Ban, YES
ACC Expansion, YES

Central Austin Democrats:
Place 1, Lee Leffingwell
Place 3, Margot Clarke
Place 4, Betty Dunkerly
Smoking Ban, YES
ACC Expansion, YES

All candidates and ballot initiatives except the Place 3 endorsees are also endorsed by the Austin Progressive Coalition, so if you live in Central Austin, you'll be getting your yellow doorhanger in the coming weeks.

The Place 3 race went into a run-off with both clubs. CAD had a run-off between Margot Clarke and Gregg Knaupe, which Clarke won easily. UD's had a run-off between Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey, which Dealey won as many Clarke supporters only voted in Place 3 and left the meeting early.

Liveblogging the APC/UD/CAD Endorsement Meeting

By Byron LaMasters

I'm liveblogging the joint city council endorsement meeting of the Austin Progressive Coalition, University Democrats and Central Austin Democrats. Andrew is sitting next to me, so he'll be adding some thoughts later as well. Also liveblogged at Alert The Inter.net.

10:55 AM: The forum started with the place 1 candidates.

Andrew Bucknall spoke first and was well received. He emphasized his work as President of the Huston-Tullitson University Democrats and with the Martin Luther King neighborhood association. Bucknall said that he was the “grassroots progressive” choice for place 1 and served in various other capacity.

Next Lee Leffingwell spoke about his background also as a lifelong Democrat, his military experience, and his passion for environmental protection. Leffingwell also spoke of the need for greater mass transit with an emphasis on light rail and bike lanes. He also noted the need to better fund city services. Finally, Leffingwell noted that every city Democratic club except for the H-T young Democrats had endorsed him.

Casey Walker spoke as a lifelong Austin resident, and spoke much on student issues. Walker noted his endorsement of toll road opponents and Independent Texans.

11:14: First question for Walker. Says that he is a registered Indepdent (ed. Note, there is no party registration in Texas). However, he noted that he voted for John Kerry

Question two for Leffingwell on his involvement with the ACLU’s project on banned books. Leffingwell worked with the ACLU to issue a report on banned books in public schools in Texas and says that it has been a great experience.

Smoking ban. Leffingwell opposes the idea, but says he is taking no public position. Bucknall and Walker oppose the ban as well.

Last question on what issues are most critical to students. Tuition and public education and mentioned as the major issues by all candidates.

11:35: Margot Clarke spoke first. Speaks of Austin background and experience with non-profit advocacy. She stresses her involvement with Planned Parenthood, League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra club. States her Democratic credentials and of her canvassing in Ohio for John Kerry in the 2004 election. Speaks of investing in the future of the city, cleaner air and water, etc. States her endorsements notably Democratic one.

Mandy Dealey starts off with a laugh that she’s the first candidate here that was not a native Austinite, but that she got here as quickly as she could. Mandy is also wearing burnt orange and said that she hoped that it would send a subliminable message – to quote our president. Dealey speaks of how welcoming Austin was for her and her son many years ago. Dealey was proud of her involvement with the local and national boards of Planned Parenthood. Dealey also spoke of work with the mental health association. She long-range planning, problem solving, consensus building and developing a budget.

Jennifer Kim spoke next. She spoke of her work on environmental protection for state sen. Judith Zafferini (D-Laredo). She stated that this work in poor minority communities around the boarder was extremely rewarding. Also mentions her work on affordable housing. She mentions her work in former East Germany in the U.S. state department as part of her diverse level of experience. She wants more affordable housing for Austin. Mentions the aquifer as an important reason for the need to have an important relationship with the legislature.

Gregg Knaupe spoke last. Said that he came to Austin in 1987 and fell in love with the city. Mentions his work for State Rep. Barry Telford and his work on the 1990 Ann Richards as evidence that he is a lifelong Democrats. Stresses the importance of dealing with Austin’s growth in order to prevent people from being left out or left behind – strategic land use planning. Mentions that he works for the Texas Hospital Association as a lawyer. Notes his emphasis on health care work. Mentions his federal, statewide and local experience on various issues in addition to health care, notably affordable housing.

Question for Gregg Knaupe for his support of Prop 12 in 2003 on tort reform. Knaupe stated that he voted against Prop 12, and has problems with it, but the Hospital District had it on their agenda. Another question for Knaupe regarding Austin Police Department allegedly funneling money through the Real Estate Council spending money in his campaign. Knaupe said that he was unaware of what activities APD would be engaged in, and told the questioner that he would have to ask APD.

Next question was on the smoking ban. Kim is voting for the smoking ban. Dealey supports smoking ban as does Clarke. Knaupe doesn’t really answer the question. Says that he’ll support the will of the people.

Andrew asked if any candidates were supported by the Austin Toll Party which is seeking to recall elected Democratic officials. Dealey, Knaupe and Kim state that they have not been supported by the Austin Toll Party. Clake says that she opposes the recall efforts, but opposes toll roads and is proud to stand up against it.

12:17 PM: I started to drift off as the q&a continued on for awhile. Place 3 is completed, Place 4 is starting now with Betty Dunkerly, Jennifer Gale and John Wickham.

Dunkerly speaks first. She is running for re-election. States her background in city governments in Beaumont and Austin. She said that her experience prepared her to make the tough decisions during the recent economic downturn by cutting the budget and keeping the tax rate the lowest of any major city in Texas.

Jennifer Gale spoke next wearing a yellow shirt with Martin Luther King on it. She attacked David Butts and the Chamber of Commerce for supporting Betty Dunkerly. She attacked Wes Benedict (who was not even present) for working for the Libertarian Party. She attacks Butts again and the light rail system. Jennifer Gale certainly adds comic relief to these type of things. Once again, today, she has not disappointed. At the end she also attacked the GLBT community for supporting candidates that do not support them. I’ll be asking a question in that regard.

John Whickham spoke next. If someone was listening, post it in comments.

It was asked if the candidates were Democrats. Dunkerly stated that she supported many Democrats and Democratic causes but is an Independent. Gale mentioned that she ran for Congress as a Democrats. Wickham said that she was a swing voter.

I told Jennifer Gale that I was a board member of the Austin Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, an organization that has endorsed Dunkerly. I asked if she was aware that candidates were required to fill out a questionnaire in order to speak before the organization. She attacked the organization as mean-spirited and urged candidates in the future not to attend their meetings.

Next question was on the smoking ban. Dunkerly will vote for the ban. Gale mentioned that smoking kills, but sought compromise. She complained that no one listened to her.

12:33 PM: Next was the debate on the smoking ban. David Butts spoke against the ban. Butts said the human costs of covering uninsured people of lung cancer was much higher than the amount of fees that could potentially be collected by fees. Next a small business owner with a punk rock club spoke against the ban. He stated that he didn’t smoke, but that the vast majority of his customers did. Next was a question regarding second hand smoke. The business owner stated that second hand smoke did not necessarily cause lung cancer – the same argument made by decades by cigarette manufacturers.

City Council Update

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

First, here is a semi-live blog post about Wednesday's Place 3 City Council Forum thanks to Tim.

As far as the forum went. It changed minds. For a race that has has 4 great candidates, it is certainly hard to set them apart. But the forum certainly rearragned my own choices, though I have some commentary about all the candidates. (btw, 25 members joined last night and voting membership is now locked thanks to our little Constitutional Amendment that was passed for this endorsement.)

Commentary below the fold!!!

Margot Clarke- If there is any candidate in this race that provides what I can call a "vision" it's Margot. It's not too hard to tell that when it comes down to it, Community and the Austin flavor are at the heart of any decision that she might make. It's comforting to know as easily as it is with Margot where her heart it, so even if I don't know how she might vote on any specific proposal, and have a sense of where she is coming from. Granted, that shouldn't be a reason to vote for a candidate by itself (see the case with Republicans and Bush), but it's nice to see in a Democrat for once. Margot has been a friend of University Democrats for a long time and certainly has support there. The big question this week is how much of the membership are naturally Margot supporters or how many Margot supporters are now suddenly part of the membership...

Mandy Dealey- If anyone was a winner of last night's forum, it was Dealey. For someone who made horrible first impressions with UDems (in her frantic, hair ruffling, my car might get towed speech) last night she connected with and audience of students (even though she's the senior candidate in the race) and came across as quite motherly. Her responses showed her depth of knowledge of the issue, as well as how she might go about solving particular problems. Her clear statement that the Smoking Ban was a public health issue, plain and simple was a total plus for me as well as her concept of a Commission of Students from area Universities to work, dialouge, and interface with the Council was awesome, and if that was an on the spot idea, even more so. All semester long I didn't think I would ever be tempted by the Dealey campaign, but that changed last night as she swayed more than one officer's vote and a number of the members.

Jennifer Kim- From the very beginning I have been a supporter of Ms. Kim. I'm not one to turn away from candidates just because they are new, young, or it's "not their time". I can tell that she's doing this for the right reasons and no matter what happens, I hope to see her name on the ballot somewhere once again. But I was a bit disappointed last night, because what I saw as youth, fresh ideas, and enthusiasm, gave way to unpreparedness and a bit of nervousness on the understanding of some issues. I would have appreciated an "I don't have enough information on that issue to give an appropriate response" to some questions than what I heard, though that goes for a couple candidates at various times. People have been challenging me all semester as to having a good reason to vote Kim over others. I have been waiting for that reason, and I do not believe I was given one last night.

Gregg Knaupe- I've been a bit hard on the Knaupe campaign here on BOR. Gregg came off well at the forum, though he has a John Kerry-esqe ability for loooong answers, running over his time limit on almost every question. It wouldn't be so bad if it also weren't for the policy wonkish density of his answers, which would be great in front of the business crowd, but not a UDems Forum. Though his (and Kim's) respecting the choice of the voters on the smoking ban is a cop-out (and likely signal that they are opposed to it) it fits with his pro-business campaign.

But it still feels like the Knaupe campaign is just another Brewster McCracken/Will Wynn white male business guy snoozefest that is attempting to attract support from Liberal organizations to balance his otherwise more moderate background. Come on, he worked for the Texas Hospital Association (compared to a more progressive groups like Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, etc. like Margot or Dealey). He didn't lose any support last night, but I don't think he gained any either.

City Council Endorsement Meeting

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

First, a new semi-old pic of me with Katie Naranjo, our newest BOR writer and possible candidate for TYD Region 6 Thingamagig (which Byron is now).

Location: GSB 2.124
Begins: Saturday 2 April 2005 10:00am
Ends: Saturday 2 April 2005 12:00pm

UDems MEMBERS: This Saturday is a very IMPORTANT meeting.

It is our endorsement meeting for City Council. We will vote on the candidates that we support for Place 1, 3, and 4 and two ballot propositions. It will determine how we are involved with city council for the rest of the year.

Please come to vote for your favorite candidate. The speakers start at 10:30 AM, but free breakfast will be provided starting at 10:00. Please don't miss this important event. It will be in our regular meeting room: GSB 2.124.

Afterwards, we will be having a party of some sort that will involve free stuff for those who attend the meeting. Please make plans to spend the day with us. See you Saturday!!!!

Please note: the constitutional ammendment to limit voting members for this Saturday's meeting to only those who became members as of this past Wednesday passed unanimously.

NO MEMBERSHIP WILL BE GIVEN ON THE DAY OF THE ENDORSEMENT.

Austin Place 3 Candidate Forum

By Byron LaMasters

It's tonight at 7:30 in the Jester Auditorium. Karl-Thomas and Katie will be busy performing their duties as UD officers, but Andrew and I will try and liveblog it if there's a decent wireless internet connection. You can read my thoughts on the Austin City Council races here.

Update: The forum went well. The wireless was down, so Andrew and I didn't have the chance to liveblog. I got bored 15 minutes into the forum and went outside where I chatted with Andrew, several of the campaign staffers and DNC member David Holmes. Holmes's boss, State Rep. Hubert Vo (D-Houston) attended the meeting. Another one of Vo's staffers is volunteering for Jennifer Kim, and wanted to attend the meeting, so Vo and Holmes ended up attending as well. After the meeting I decided to pick up dinner at Freebirds, and use my free burrito card that I won last time I ate at Freebirds. Interestingly enough, David Holmes and Hubert Vo were also in the mood for burritos, and after running into them again, I ended up sitting down and eating dinner with them.

It was nice to have the opportunity to chat with Representative Vo. I told him that I was looking forward to working with other bloggers to help his 2006 campaign, at which point he made a kind remark of Houston blogger Greg Wythe. Greg did a lot of voter registration work in and around Vo's district. Regardless, it was fun to sit down and chat with Hubert Vo and his staff.

My thoughts on the Austin City Council Races

By Byron LaMasters

I wanted to follow-up on Karl-Thomas's post the other day on the Austin city council races. In preparation for the University Democrats and Central Austin Democrats (Austin Progressive Coalition) endorsement meeting on Saturday, I wanted to post some brief thoughts on the races.

Place 1: Lee Leffingwell is the frontrunner for Daryl Slusher's open seat. He's a decent Democrat, and I'm sure will make a fine councilman. However, I'm inclined to support my friend, Andrew Bucknall. Andrew was the re-founding president of the Huston-Tullitson University Democrats, and I've worked with him to integrate his chapter into the Texas Young Democrats.

Andrew calls himself the "grassroots progressive choice for place 1", and is a Democratic precinct chair in east Austin. I think that it is important to stand up and support fellow young Democrats when they run for office, so I plan on voting for Andrew at the UD/CAD/APC endorsement meeting on Saturday. You can read more about him here.

Place 3: Only in Austin would this race be possible. Here we have four more-or-less progressive Democrats fighting for a single city council seat being vacated by Jackie Goodman. On many levels, the four candidates are indistinguishable from one another. Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey clearly have the longest record of Democratic and progressive activism. Clarke's work has been on the grassroots side of things, whereas Dealey's work has been more related to fundraising and serving on numerous boards. They've both contributed valuable work that certainly qualifies them for the council.

Jennifer Kim and Gregg Knaupe round out the field. Kim is an impressive first time candidate, and is very well-spoken, but she lacks the experience of Clarke or Dealey. Knaupe is running an impressive campaign as well with endorsements by the Central Labor Council and law enforcement organizations, but Knaupe is hindered by the fact that a victory by him would leave only one woman (assuming Betty Dunkerly is re-elected) on the seven member city council. That is an issue that weighs in the minds of many voters.

Unlike Karl-Thomas and Andrew, I have no preference order. Sometimes, I think that I should just flip a four-sided die before I cast my vote - it's that silly. Seriously, flip a coin or something. This race is hard to gauge. I agree with Karl-Thomas that Clarke is probably the frontrunner at this point. However, I could see any of the three other candidates making a runoff with her. Eventually, I'll probably make my decision of who to vote for when I enter the voting booth.

Place 4: This race is the easiest for me. Betty Dunkerly is one of these public officials committed to good government above all else - the type that are in politics for all of the right reasons. She's an Independent, and in most circumstances I would be looking for a progressive Democrat to run for the seat.

However, Dunkerly entered politics during the economic downturn, because she believed that her background in public finance and as assistant city manager of Austin put her in position to help the city through the economic downturn. She's always been very accessable and has the best interests of Austin at heart. We need more people like her in politics. I wholeheartedly endorse Betty Dunkerly for re-election.

City Council Forum

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Dear Austinites,

You are invited to attend the Place 3 City Coucil Forum sponsored by the University Democrats (and SG, and Senate of College Councils, and UT Watch) to be held this Wednesday, March 30, at 7:30 PM in the main Jester Auditorium.

As the most competitive place on the ballot, all four candidates will be attending including Margot Clarke, Mandy Dealey, Jennifer Kim, and Gregg Knaupe.

The candidates will field questions from a panel of UT students regarding issues such as housing development in the campus area, the Austin economy, and transportation, as well as take questions from audience members.

More information located here.

Also up for a vote by UDems members will be a Constituional change to extend voting rights to those having paid dues as of the end of the Wednesday Forum in an attempt to protect the endorsement meeting from being stacked by any of the campaigns.

As an aside, it feels as if Margot Clarke has regained her frontrunner status from Gregg Knaupe with her recent series of endorsements. While the UDems endorsement is far from locked down by any campaign, I sense a shift in Margot's favor among the membership at large. That and the fact she has a 139 person strong facebook group, 96 of which are in the UDems facebook group. It is filled with progressives, a number of campus leaders, former UDems officers. I'm a bit impressed.

My personal order of candidates (for the moment) is Kim, Clark, Knaupe, Dealey. This week should be interesting and I think the Forum is going to be critical for a lot of people's votes in our Saturday endorsement meeting.

Aw Hail!

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Well, it hailed some mighty fierce tonight. Golf ball sized in some places, and it didn't take long for it to pop up with on the ground reports here on the Internets. About.com's Austin section has a report with some pictures here.

I was actually driving with some friends (after having watched one of them get a tatoo on his back) over to Kerbey Lane on Kerbey Lane when we ran into the rain front. And then the hail front. We couldn't even see the hood of the car through the windshield. So after some screaming and such we drove off the side of the road, into a parking lot, and took refuge behind the side of a building. Twice.

Talk about a flash flood, I've never seen something that fierce in Austin, the Hill Country yes, but not here. I think the streets really highlight the runoff affect. I'm hoping that my father's campaign yardsigns survived the attack out in Fredericksburg. I'll try to have a report tomorrow.

Austin City Council Endorsement Update

By Byron LaMasters

I listed the endorsements made for Place 3 for Austin City Council made earlier this week by NxNW Democrats, ALGPC, and Stonewall Democrats. Here are some more endorsements in the past few days:

3/21: CAP-D (Capitol Area Progressive Democrats): Margot Clarke
3/21: TED (Texas Environmental Democrats): No Endorsement
3/23: Austin Neighborhoods Council: Margot Clarke

I must say that the Margot Clarke campaign has done a relatively good job of consolidating her base (progressive grassroots) considering the size of the field. If the Clarke campaign had planned a little bit better, they probably could have won the NxNW (word is that they lost that one by a single vote).

I also learned today that the St. Edward's University Democrats have endorsed Gregg Knaupe.

Bus Survey and Election Reform

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Do you ride the busses here in Austin as a University Student? What about the campus routes in particular? Take this short survey from Parking and Transportation services to help them out. This has been a public service post.

Also, Election Reform Forum....

Could SG Elections be BETTER for you?
Got Concerns? Bring'Em On!

- Eliminate the Ticket System?
- Make it Easier for Students to Run?
- Host Debates in your College?

Thursday, March 24
WELCH 2.246 - 8:00 PM

Protest Culture

By Jim Dallas

The Washington Monthly has a piece up about contemporary protest culture. The author concludes:

Perhaps in an age when blogs have given average people the pundit's power to bring down network anchors and Senate leaders and shape the nation's political agenda, dissenting Americans no longer need protests and marches to be heard. Yet there remains among many a need for something more—to have an adventure, to experience an historic event, to make direct connections with like-minded people. This existential desire, plus a certain nostalgia for the good old days, fuel much of contemporary march culture. Which is fine: Protesting for protesting's sake serves a market. But so do rock concerts and tractor pulls. If today's marchers want their efforts to mean a great deal more than that, they would do well to recognize the real reason why the marches of yesteryear are remembered. It wasn't just about the messengers. It was about the message.

This reminds me of an episode during my freshman year of college. I was bored one afternoon so I started walking around downtown Austin just to learn about the place. Eventually I managed to run into an anti-death penalty protest that was being organized down in Republic Park. To be honest, I've always been somewhat against the death penalty (because, frankly, there's something tacky and morally offensive about the degree to which capital punishment is employed in this state); although to be sure I've also always been more or less indifferent.

So I stopped by just to see what was going on. A couple minutes later somebody handed be a placard. It wasn't too much longer before I was more or less caught up in the moment, which I went along with mostly out of sheer Gonzo-esque curiousity. After all, we hear a lot about this great Austin protest culture, so I wanted to know what it was all about.

(At the time, I was a peon page-designer at the Texan; despite the fact I had no power over editorial copy at the time I never found it coincidental that the managing editor gave all staffers a good warning about getting involved in protests a few days later).

But my experience begs the question - how many people are involved in these things by accident, sort of like Forrest Gump?

Later on in my college career, I pushed the UDs to get active in the campus anti-war movement. There are of course somethings that are so important and likely to sway opinion (as I think a lot of people thought in the months before the war in Iraq started) that people of good conscience have to be involved. And then of course there's everything else.

Austin City Council Update

By Byron LaMasters

My apologies for light posting recently. I have a paper due at 3 PM tomorrow, so once that's finished, along with some needed sleep, I'll be back to more regular blogging. In Austin City politics, our city council races are picking up steam with Lee Leffingwell and Betty Dunkerly the frontrunners in Place 1 and 4 respectively, while the open Place 3 is pretty much wide open. The Austin Chronicle has more on the recent developments in the race. Three progressive organizations held their endorsement meetings tonight. Their Place 3 endorsements are here:

NXNW (North by Northwest) Democrats: No endorsement
ALGPC (Austin Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus): Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey
Austin Stonewall Democrats: Margot Clarke

I have not endorsed in this race, although I did make the motion for a dual endorsement at the ALGPC meeting tonight. ALGPC rules require a 60% majority for an endorsement, and no candidate had even a simple majority on the first ballot. However, the combined vote of the top two candidates, Dealey and Clarke was 70% of those voting on the first ballot, thus a dual endorsement of the two was the logical motion.

A Tale of Two Ciggies

By Jim Dallas

Houston and Austin are dealing with the problems of second-hand smoke in public places in slightly different ways.

The Houston city council passed a smoking ban in restaraunts - but not in bars or in outdoor areas - on Wednesday. The Houston Chronicle writes:

Under the ordinance, which goes into effect Sept. 9, the city will continue to allow smoking in bar areas within restaurants, in outdoor dining areas and in free-standing bars. Mayor Bill White proposed the measure as a compromise between the economic interests of restaurant and bar owners and anti-smoking advocates who pushed to ban smoking in all public indoor spaces.

The ordinance also bans smoking in covered bus shelters and in taxis that are not designated as smoking vehicles.

Under the previous ordinance, all public buildings could have designated indoor smoking areas, as long as they were clearly marked and properly ventilated.

"Today council acted decisively to make more of Houston smoke-free," White said after the 9-4 vote. "This is Texas, where we do balance freedoms."

Meanwhile, in Austin, which may or may not be part of Texas (it depends on what the meaning of "is" is), and where the freedom-balancing scales apparently are broken, the people will get to vote on the following ballot proposition on May 7:

"An ordinance repealing Austin's current ordinance relating to smoking in public places and replacing it with a new ordinance that maintains the current prohibition against smoking in most public places, including workplaces, and expands the prohibition against smoking to apply to all bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, and billiard parlors, except for restaurants with restricted permits that are renewable through September 1, 2012."

The Austin Chronicle writes:

Battle lines are now in place over the upcoming public vote on a new Austin ordinance that aims to ban smoking in nearly all public places, including bars, music venues, and bowling alleys. As anticipated, City Council voted on Thursday to place the newly proposed ordinance language on the May 7 ballot, for the voters to decide whether to strengthen the less-restrictive anti-smoking ordinance that went into effect in June of 2004. The city clerk had certified on Monday that Onward Austin, the group promoting the ordinance, had gathered enough petition signatures – more than 36,000, representing 10% of Austin's electorate – supporting a strict, new ordinance to force city action. On Tuesday, local bar and club owners, fearing a loss of business, filed a federal lawsuit against the city in hopes of heading off the ordinance, and continue to organize an opposition campaign. At the same time, anti-smoking forces say they are adding business owners and other high-profile supporters to their ranks.

Which solution to this Dreaded Cloud of Tobacco Smoke is better? Depends on who you ask.

The Daily Cougar, the student paper at UH ran a story today on student reactions to the Houston ban, which has been generally positive (although others would opt for a complete ban like in Austin). Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, however, lambasted the Houston plan as weak policy, and it looks like they'll try to push for total abolition in Houston. Will it succeed? I don't know, but considering (1) that the City Council rejected an amendment that would ban smoking in all public places by a whopping 10-3 vote, and (2) that it's not like air pollution is exactly a novel concept to Houstonians, I somehow doubt we'll see a total ban anytime soon.

Ironically, though, half-way measures create interesting incentives for some owners. The AusChron tells us the story of one local businessman:

At least one business owner has broken ranks with his colleagues. Reed Clemmons, owner of the Bitter End, Reed's Supper Club, and Mezzaluna, spoke Thursday in favor of the complete ban. He said the current ordinance puts his bar-restaurants, each ineligible for a smoking permit, at an unfair disadvantage against smoking bars, and he blames the cost-prohibitive ventilation systems required to allow smoking in bar-restaurants. "My happy hours are down 40% since the current ordinance took effect," Clemmons said. "The best-case scenario would be to let bar owners decide whether to allow smoking or not. But in reality, I know that's never going to happen in Austin again. … I have to fight for my business interests." Clemmons considers the proposed complete ban as effectively leveling the playing field among all kinds of bar venues.

Indeed, there's at least ample evidence that a laissez-faire policy works. The Daily Cougar story, for example, tells the story of Ziggy's Healthy Grill, in Houston, which banned smoking on its own initiative. And good for them.

(Keep Austin Free has some statistics of questionable veracity further backing up the claim that the free market solves; for example, they claim that over 99 percent of Austin businesses are smoke-free).

To be sure, smoking is a nasty dirty habit that I do not encourage, and as someone with family members who have impaired lung function I happen to strongly encourage those around me not to smoke, and I know for sure that we're not going to patronize businesses that have smokey, dirty atmospheres.

But Austin and Houston are hardly po-dunk places where there's only one diner, and quite frankly I am very skeptical of anyone who insists that individuals oughtn't be free to choose. On strictly pragmatic grounds, though, I see why the Houston ordinance might make sense. It is completely beyond me why such a large percentage of Austinites would vote for a complete smoking ban, though.

Then again, this is just the sort of bizarre politics that makes Austin... Austin. And as a proud owner of a "Keep Austin Weird" t-shirt, I have to heartily endorse an "aye" vote on the smoking proposition.

As an aside, Galveston and Kemah are now considering smoking bans, according to the Galveston County Daily News. The economic powers that be will probably fight any ban that's stricter than Houston's, for obvious reasons. This presents a question of agency: is it best for this to be dealt with on a municipal level? When big cities pass strict ordinances, small cities are likely to engage in "race to the bottom" behavior, with the upshot being small cities are in fact the places where there is not sufficient diversity in accomodations to allow for perfect laissez-faire competition. Perhaps this should be dealt with on a state-wide basis instead.

Austin City Council Endorsements Roll in...

By Byron LaMasters

It's endorsement season for the Austin political clubs that make the difference in Austin City Council elections. Three clubs have held endorsement meetings in recent days. Of particular interest is their choices for Place 3 - the open seat with four major candidates. Here's their endorsements:

Capitol City Young Democrats: No endorsement
South Austin Democrats: Margot Clarke
Austin Women's Political Caucus: Dual Endorsement - Margot Clarke and Mandy Dealey

Websites:
Margot Clarke
Mandy Dealey
Jennifer Kim
Gregg Knaupe

Also, don't forget to vote in the BOR Poll for Austin City Council, Place 3.

Wonkette? Here? You have to be kidding

By Nathan Nance

I've just learned that Wonkette herself will be in Austin next Monday. I was reading a Q&A in the Austin Chronicle with Ana Marie Cox, and at the very end of the column there is a note that Evan Smith, editor of Texas Monthly, will be interviewing her for SXSW Interactive at the Austin Convention Center Monday, March 14th at 2 p.m., room 17AB.

I have to see this, so I'll be driving the 100 miles to Austin next Monday. I imagine it will at least be fun to meet the Wonkette and try to represent the blogging community. I'd invite you all to attend, but it's not my festival (and I want Wonkette all to myself). But I can tell you it looks like fun and you should go.

For, more info, like registration costs, you can go to SXSW's Web site, and for a quick look at my own views of Wonkette's interview, go to my blog, Common Sense.

Burnt Orange City Council Poll

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Floating this back up to the top to get more of a sample.

Ok, so let's try a little something. Even though there is not a whole lot going on in regards to the Austin City Council Place 3 Race, it is still going on. So I'd like to find out what the initial read of Burnt Orange readership is in an Instant Run-off online poll (meaning you can rank your four choices). So below I'm going to post all 4 candidates websites (in case you havn't seen them) and the link to the poll.

(Note to campaigns: Do not try to drive your supporters to this poll to influence my read of BOR readership. I will notice and I will take it down if you do so and write bitchy comments about your campaign.)

Take the Poll.

Campaign Sites:
Margot Clarke
Mandy Dealey
Jennifer Kim
Gregg Knaupe

Andrew Bucknall Running Underdog Campaign

By Byron LaMasters

Lee Leffingwell is clearly the frontrunner for the open Austin City Council Place 1 race, but progressives have another option with Andrew Bucknall. Bucknall is untested as a candidate and underfunded, but he's a great Democrat and progressive, and voters ought to take the opportunity to learn about his campaign.

Bucknall is a unique candidate who certainly defies stereotypes. He's a single father. He's a non-traditional 30-something year old college student. He's a White person attending the historically African-American Huston-Tillotson College. Among Bucknall's impressive record of east Austin activism incudes leading the effort to revive the H-T College Democrats which had been dormant for many years. Anyway, read the Daily Texan article on Bucknall's candidacy to learn more.

In other Austin City Council news, Greg Knappe has a lead over Jennifer Kim and the other candidates in Karl-Thomas's BOR city council poll. If you have yet to vote in the poll, click here.

Cleaner Air Coming to Austin?

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

So Austin may have cleaner air coming to it, in two different forms.

First, the Daily Texan reports on the city council passing a resolution in support of hybrid vehicle incentives. Huzzah to the locals thinking like this when the folks in DC putter around debating the existance of global climate change.

Roger Duncan, general manager for Austin Energy, pointed out the economic, environmental and national security benefits of pushing for hybrid "plug-in" vehicles. Such vehicles would reduce the city's fleet costs and help protect air quality, Duncan said. Nationally, the vehicles would wean the country from its dependency on oil, he said.

These vehicles are different than hybrid vehicles currently on the market, such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic, Duncan said. The vehicles available for incentives would run on mostly electricity and alternative fuel, such as hydrogen, corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, bio-diesel fuel and electricity, according to the Gas Optional Vehicles Report prepared by Austin Energy.

"It's the electrification of the transportation sector," he said.

Secondly, the Texan also reports that the Smoking Ban Ballot Initiative will indeed be on the ballot May 7.

The current city law permits bars and restaurants with permits to allow smoking. The proposed ordinance prohibits smoking in all bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, billiard halls and live music venues.

Paul Silver, owner of the bar 219 West, is part of a group of entertainment business owners who filed a lawsuit against the city Tuesday, questioning the legality of the ordinance's language...

He said all the "funky little places" would definitely close, especially those along South Congress and Red River.

"Small bars aren't sitting around with cash," he said. "Any blip in their sales, and that would be the end of them."

The anti-smoking petition was pushed by Onward Austin, a coalition of health and community organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The next big question here will be where do the city council candidates fall on this issue since they have to deal with it now. I don't see many of them jumping on the smoking ban bandwagon except for maybe Margot Clarke (who just won the Sierra Club endorsement btw), and certainly not Gregg Knaupe for reasons I have already mentioned.

Commentary

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Just to say, Keep Austin Free is a bad choice for a name if you are group that is working against the Smoking Ban that will more than likely be on the ballot in May. Free of what? Not smoke, which is what I would think on first reaction, but Free in the terms of freedom, as in personal choice. A bit of a stretch, but whatever, it's not my website.

Can anyone verify their claim that The current ordinance has already caused The Filling Station to close down and caused Katz's to file bankruptcy. Maybe Katz's wouldn't be closed (haha, couldn't resist the pun even though bankrupt doesn't = closed) if Mr. Katz didn't charge so much or spend his time running for Mayor to get free advertising out of it.

Another Air America in Austin Update

By Byron LaMasters

From today's Austin Chronicle:

Meanwhile, Air America is more than seriously looking at Austin as its latest market. The network will launch its progressive programming on KOKE 1600AM (recently acquired along with six other local stations by Border Media Partners) on Monday, March 14, with a live show from the State Theater.

Better yet, a greater Texas presence is coming soon as well:

It doesn't happen overnight, but we've been adding stations pretty fast lately and we are going to be adding Dallas. And Austin, as we talked about. And Brownsville. We have Corpus Christi, so, we're beginning to have a Texas presence.

YCT, Hunting, and Activism

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you were wondering what all the hullabloo was about today on campus, the Aus-American Statesman is leading with an article and video on what happened today on campus.

Air America Radio Coming to Austin

By Byron LaMasters

It's about time! The Austin Chronicle reports:

After months of rumors, radio industry sources confirm that Air America, the liberal talk format starring Al Franken, is about to find a home in Austin, where the airwaves are still dominated by tough-talking Rush Limbaugh wannabes. Air America is now heard on 48 stations around the country, but on only one in Texas, KCCT-AM in Corpus Christi. An announcement on an Austin affiliate is expected within days, according to one source.

Although details are still sketchy, speculation focuses on Border Media Partners, the Houston-based company that now owns seven Spanish-language stations in Austin (see "Austin Radio Spanish," p.36). BMP president Tom Castro was national deputy finance chair of the Kerry for President campaign, and one of the company's main investors is notable Democrat Tony Sanchez, the former candidate for governor. Asked to analyze the Austin market last week, Castro immediately pointed to the lack of a format for "intelligent and interesting dialogue." Austin, he said, seems like a place where "a lot of people want an outlet for voicing their opinion."

I'm surprised it's taken this long to get liberal talk radio in Austin. Either Air America Radio or Ed Shultz would certainly do well here. After all, Travis County gave John Kerry a 50,000 vote victory (PDF file) - by far his largest margin in Texas, yet we still have all the right-wing quacks on our radio dial with no alternatives from our side.

Jennifer Kim wins Firefighters Endorsement

By Byron LaMasters

It's not as big as the Central Labor Council endorsement of Gregg Knaupe, but the endorsement of Jennifer Kim by the Austin Association of Professional Firefighters gives her some momentum in the race.

Smoking Petition / City Council Politics

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The Daily Texan Reports today that the Austin Smoking Ban Petition is on the edge of making on the ballot.

The campaign filed 36,000 signatures, though not all of them counted, missing the mark and only hitting 33,438 of the 36,764 required signatures. Much of this is being supported by the various Health and Cancer groups and societies AMA, Texas Lung Assoc., etc.

Now it is true that Austin political guru Glen Maxey has been aiding this campaign and usually gets petitions on the ballot when he tries. The problem this time was not that Glen didn't do it, but rather that Glen wasn't primarily in charge of getting the job done until late in the game. But I would not be surprised if he managed to pull another 3000 signatures out of the air this weekend (if he hasn't already collected them over the past week or so).

So assuming, that, we head off into the debate over whether or not the City of Austin needs a stronger smoking ban like El Paso or New York City (heck, I think Fredericksburg's is close to being that tough).

It's an issue that will split Liberals along personal freedom / public health lines and could very well play into the city council race. Ruminations have it that the Margot Clarke campaign could come out for it should it make it on the ballot (which wouldn't surprise me since Maxey's is one of her consultants and it would play well with her base turnout groups- Central and South Austin progressives).

I'm already fairly sure that the Gregg Knaupe campaign will be against it considering Mr. Vice President of Public Affairs for the Texas Hospital Association's consulting group seems to be heading up the Anti-Ban forces. As one of the members of the new Travis County Hospital District Steering Committee, it must make things more difficult because there is a very convincing case for either side, which may be why candidates are hoping that it just doesn't make it on the ballot to begin with.

Just as a side note, since it has been on my mind...and believe me, I'll write another City Council entry very soon about all the candidates so don't feel like I'm singling anyone out. It's just that the Knaupe campaign has been very aggressive in positioning itself and I wouldn't be surprised to see them in a runoff and they have a blog, so well, I spend some time on their site.

Though I'm sure that working for the Texas Hospital Association is a nice plus on the résumé, and that Knaupe isn't tied to their political expenditures departments... but since I did a study last semester on Proposition 12 related PAC donations to the Texas Legislature following the 2002 election through 2003...

HOSPAC (Texas Hospital Association PAC)

Total Donations (House): $47,700
-Republicans: $40,350
-Democrats: $7,350
-Avg. Republicans: $1,187
-Avg. Democrats: $735

HOSPAC was one of the heavy hitters in the Pro-Prop 12 Coalition (with 4 of the 10 Democrats they donated to voting for the enabling legislation, HJR 3) which Travis County gave a 62% NO vote to.

I mean, if it was my candidate, and most of the politically active people that vote in City Council elections are also the types that drag their butts out to vote in Constitutional Amendment elections, and maybe, just maybe associate the Texas Hospital Association with something bad rather than good.... I might stop mentioning it.

Otherwise snarky bloggers will write posts like this.

If you want the actual data I collected in reference to this, it is all available here in excel.

Austin City Council Update

By Byron LaMasters

It's too early in my opinion to declare a frontrunner for the open Place 3 Austin City Council seat, but Gregg Knaupe has received a string of key endorsements including the Austin Central Labor Council most recently. View from the Left cites this as reason enough to peg Knaupe as the frontrunner for the open Place 3 seat, but I'm still going to hedge my bets - it's still a wide open race at this point.

Austin City Council Horseracin'

By Byron LaMasters

Read the Austin Chronicle article today for the latest.

Gregg Knaupe Blog

By Byron LaMasters

I haven't decided who I'll be supporting for the open Place 3 on the Austin City Council, but I must say that I've been impressed with the work of Rick Cofer over at the Gregg Knaupe blog. Good stuff there.

Early Austin City Council Handicapping

By Byron LaMasters

Coming up this April are three Austin City Council races. While both Daryl Slusher and Jackie Goodman are term-limited, Austin has an embarrassment of riches to replace them. In the third race (Place 4), Betty Dunkerly shouldn't have too much trouble winning a second term.

One of the open seats (Place 1) will likely go to Lee Leffingwell, who has a healthy lead in money raised and name identification in one of the races. The other race (Place 3) is still rather wide open at this point. The View From the Left has this to say:

It appears the only real race (sorry, Jennifer) will be in Place 3, with Gregg Knaupe, Jennifer Kim, Mandy Dealey (who lost to Ann Kitchen in the Democratic Primary for State Rep District 48 in 2000) and the annointed front-runner Margot Clarke, who lost to current Councilman Brewster McCracken in a run-off in 2003. There's no way Clarke can pull this off without a run-off. I look for either Knaupe (who is excellently qualified for the council post having worked for the Texas Hospital Associationor and orchestrating last year's Healthcare District victory) or Kim to join her in the run-off, with Clarke probably winning in the end.

I'd say that Clarke is probably the frontrunner at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if Knaupe leads the first round of voting. Clarke led the first round of voting two years ago largely becuase she was the only female candidate in a field of eight. She had a strong central Austin base, but she failed to expand beyond that base in the run-off. I'm skeptical of Clarke's ability to change that this year. Dealey has the ability to self-finance much of her race, so it would not surprise me if she sneaks her way into the run-off as well. Kim is a good candidate that in another year might have a decent shot, but I expect her to trail in name identification this time around even though she currently leads in fundraising. All four candidates have strong Democratic credentials, and Austin would be well served by any of the four.

Websites:
Margot Clarke
Mandy Dealey
Greg Knaupe | Blog
Jennifer Kim

Have a happy not-partisan! day

By Jim Dallas

Sure, sure, the Heflin-Vo contest hearing is at 9 a.m. in the Capitol (see it here). And for the last time, this committee will not be swayed by partisanship!!!!

In other not-partisan! news, the Houston Chronicle tells us about Rep. Martha Wong's dedication to seeing that the capitol driveway be made a shrine to Ronald Reagan, instead of someone from, you know, Texas.

Crain-gate

By Jim Dallas

Newsweek updates on the somewhat-overlooked story involving Judge Crain, Alberto Gonazles, and George Bush's non-answer answer on his 1996 jury information sheet.

Arguably, this is a minor issue, but if they could call Clinton's alleged indiscretions "Troopergate," well, I guess I can call this "Craingate."

Update on the Withdraw of Jack Stick's Contest

By Byron LaMasters

KXAN has an article with more details here. Stick is still whining that too many people voted, but he's at least sort of accepting the results of the election now.

Judge Mack Kidd

By Byron LaMasters

I didn't know him, but he was the former Travis County Democratic Party Chair, and was serving as a Justice of the 3rd District, Court of Appeals in Austin. Here's the message from the current Travis County Democratic Chair Chris Elliott on Judge Mack Kidd:

Tuesday, January 4, 2005 Travis County Loses a Great Man and a Great Democrat With the sudden passing of Mack Kidd, Justice of the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Austin, Travis County has lost one of its finest jurists and a loyal Democrat. "Justice Kidd was a great judge, a staunch Democrat and, most of all, a wonderful human being," said Travis County Democratic Party chair Chris Elliott. "It was my great pleasure to know Mack on a personal as well as a professional level. It is difficult to convey how much respect I had for him." Justice Kidd was a former chair of the Travis County Democratic Party and was active in local, state, and national Democratic Party affairs. But, says Elliott, he left his politics at the courtroom door. "While Judge Kidd was a proud Democrat, he did not let politics enter into his decisions on the 3rd Court of Appeals," said Elliott. "He had a keen sense of justice and applied that to his work on the Court. He will be greatly missed."

The makeup of the 3rd Court of appeals remained three Democrats and three Republicans after the 2004 elections where Democrat Jan Patterson and Repulican Bob Pemberton retained their seats. Rick Perry will surely appoint a Republican to shift the balance of the court to 4-2 GOP.

Update: More at Grits for Breakfast. I certainly join Grits in wishing the family of Judge Kidd my condolences.

Dell Rocks- A Merry Christmas Type of Story

By Andrew Dobbs

I categorized this as "Austin City Limits" as Dell is one of the largest employers in the Austin area, bringing in thousands of jobs and lots of revenue for our fair city (and Dell's actual home- Round Rock). I just saw this story and it brightened my day a little bit. It's good news two days before the best day of the year (IMHO).

Dell bucks the outsourcing trend

Dell's dazzlingly efficient assembly plant here may be the best hope for keeping blue-collar jobs in the United States rather than exporting them.

Inside Dell, the world's largest computer maker, executives study the assembly process with great intensity. They wheel in video equipment to examine a work team's every movement, looking for any extraneous bends or wasted twists. (...)

"When everybody is outsourcing, Dell continues to manufacture in the United States because over two decades of fine-tuning, they've figured out how to do it cheaper and smarter," said Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co. who has been following Dell since 1991. (He has also been reaping the financial rewards as a longtime Dell shareholder, seeing a 33-fold return on his investment.) "They're truly in the 21st century when it comes to manufacturing."

No other major computer maker produces computers in the United States. Long ago, Dell's top rival, Hewlett-Packard, outsourced the assembly of its PCs to third parties, primarily based in Asia, as did International Business Machines, the world's third-largest PC maker. And IBM, which created the PC market in 1981, is leaving the business, announcing this month that it is selling its PC unit to Lenovo, the Chinese computer giant.

"It's been a long time since one of our competitors actually made a computer," said Michael Dell, the founder and chairman of Dell.

His company, by contrast, operates three giant assembly plants in the United States - two in Austin and the third near Nashville, Tennessee. Each is large enough to house six contiguous football fields. Last month, the company announced that it would build a fourth plant, twice as big as the others, near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Inside the company, executives talk about opening a fifth.

Dell's decision to expand its American manufacturing presence, however, has nothing to do with patriotism. Executives here say their decisions are based on the bottom line as well as on geography; it is simply more efficient to stamp out computer equipment closer to the customer.

Dell has run a factory in Xiamen, China, since 1998 - but to produce computer equipment that the company sells to its Asian customers. Similarly, Dell's factory in Limerick, Ireland, makes machines for Europe. This month, Dell announced that his company would probably build a second European plant soon.

Dell is also bucking global trends on another front. In an era when a call center is more likely to be in India than Indiana, the company has announced that it is building a customer assistance facility in Oklahoma City. This year, it opened a call center in Edmonton, Alberta. And while Dell's laptops are produced in Malaysia, they are built by Dell employees working inside a Dell-owned factory.

Ever since 1984, when Michael Dell began selling personal computers from his University of Texas dormitory room, his company has been able to sell cheaper PCs by cutting out the middleman, selling directly via the phone or, nowadays, the Internet. But the reason Dell continues to dominate as a low-cost leader - whether selling a PC, a server or, more recently, plasma televisions and portable music players - is its fanatical determination to save every penny it can. Dell may not quite be the Henry Ford of our time, but his company is certainly the Wal-Mart of the high-technology industry, for better or worse.

I forgot some elipses some places in there and the IHT's website is screwy so copying and pasting was weird, but read the whole thing. They produce every part of every computer sold in the US right here in the US. They have all of the US customer support right here in the US. They are creating jobs, and guess what? They are are raking in the dough. Good old fashioned business sense is trumping the reckless policies of their competitors and Austinites (not to mention Nashvillians and whatever you call people from Oklahoma City) are benefitting.

Pretty good for a guy who dropped out of the college we go (went) to...

Retire the Debt

By Byron LaMasters

You have until December 11th to help retire the debt of State Rep.-Elect Mark Strama (D-Austin)... and don't forget he has to defend his 550+ vote election victory in the GOP state house from Jack Stick's bullshit contest. So donate online or attend the debt retirement party tomorrow night:

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THIS UPCOMING EVENT:

Fundraiser for State Representative-elect Mark Strama

Tuesday, December 7, 2004
6:00 - 8:00 pm
2802 Stratford Drive, 78746 at the home of Deborah and Larry Peel
Call 512- 832 - 9190 to RSVP
Tickets: $150 · $250 · $500 · $1000

You're invited to a fundraiser for State Representative-elect Mark
Strama to celebrate Mark's victory and help him retire a substantial
campaign debt in advance of the legislative session.

Instant Runoff Austin?

By Byron LaMasters

I generally support the idea of instant runoff voting. It's a good way of allowing third parties (or alternative voices in the case of city elections) into the political process without being a spoiler. Also, it would avoid the need (and the cost) of runoff elections. So check out Instant Runoff Austin. Via Sarah.

Wingnut Values in Austin, TX?

By Byron LaMasters

Say it ain't so.

Apparently, airing Saving Private Ryan on Veterans Day is controversial in this Jesusland country we live in now.

E! Online reports that Austin is among the targets. Tom Coburn out to be happy. It looks like the American Family Association is behind this FCC fear-mongering. Do they hate our veterans?

Anyway, if you want to complain to Austin's ABC affiliate KVUE, go here. Anyone have their phone number?

Update: All Belo stations decided to not air Saving Private Ryan. Contact your local station here to complain. Here's the KVUE human resources guy listed:

KVUE-TV
Austin, Texas
John McThompson
512-459-6521
jmcthompson@kvue.com

And the Belo people:

Belo Corporate Headquarters
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Sheila Hartley
214-977-2080
shartley@belo.com

Belo Interactive
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Julia Wyman
214-977-4000
julia.wyman@belointeractive.com

Travis County Ballots

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The Travis County Clerk's Elections Division has completed the analysis of overseas ballots that are still eligible to be received and counted in the November 2, 2004, election contests involving the State Representative, District 48, and State Representative, District 50.

In District 48 , there are 224 Overseas Ballots that are eligible to be counted if received by Sun., November 7. In District 50, there are 189 Overseas Ballots that are eligible.

As previously announced, there are additional provisional ballots being reviewed to determine their eligibility. In District 48, there were a total of 163 provisional ballots cast in Early Voting and on Election Day. In District 50, there were a total of 256 provisional ballots cast in Early Voting and on Election Day.

Thus, in District 48, there is a maximum of 387 ballots that could possibly be eligible to be counted in this contest. In District 50, there is a maximum of 445 ballots that could possibly be eligible to be counted in this contest.

District 48 Margin of defeat for Kelly White before these ballots are counted= 171. There are enough ballots to make up the margin. White is also asking and paying for a recount. Cost=$30,000. You can still donate.

District 50 Margin of victory for Mark Strama= 556. There are not enough ballots, even if all went to Stick to make up the margin.

Patterson, Pemberton Win

By Byron LaMasters

Democrats held their ground in the 3rd Court of Appeals District. Diane Henson nearly picked off a seat, and Jan Patterson held her seat in the sprawling multicounty district. Both Patterson (D) and Pemberton (R) retained their seats by similar three-point margins.

Here's the numbers:

Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 4
Bill Green REP 361,768 48.23%
Jan Patterson (I) DEM 388,370 51.77%

Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 6 - Unexpired Term
Bob Pemberton (I) REP 385,573 51.56%
Diane Henson DEM 362,312 48.44%

Jan Patterson can thank Travis County for her victory. We gave her an 82,000 vote margin in her 27,000 vote victory.

Democrats Sweep Travis County

By Byron LaMasters

Good news out of Travis County tonight. Once again, Democrats swept all countywide races (PDF file). Two great candidates that I've had the opportunity to get to know over the past months have won countywide races tonight -- Stephen Yelenosky and Greg Hamilton:

District Judge, 345th District:
Patrick Keel (REP) 44.29% 147,391
Stephen Yelenosky (DEM) 55.71% 185,397

Travis County Sheriff:
Duane McNeill (REP) 39.26% 131,703
Greg Hamilton (DEM) 55.56% 186,376
Allan Juranek (LIB) 5.19% 17,396

I'm a bit surprised with the Libertarian numbers in the sheriff's race. Very intersting.

Another Democratic pick-up in Travis County is the Precinct 3 Constable race - a bit of a surprise in a relatively GOP precinct:

Thornton Keel (REP) 46.80% 29,819
Richard T. McCain (DEM) 53.20% 33,901

That's good news. The Keel name doesn't mean a damn thing. Both of State Rep. Terry Keel's brothers -- Patrick and Thornton Keel went down in defeat tonight.

Where do you Vote?

By Byron LaMasters

If you live in Travis County, it's easy. If you've misplaced your voter registration card, find out your precinct here.

To find out where your precinct votes click here.

It's pretty simple. I've already told three people where to vote today that have randomly called me, because they know I'm a political dork. One of my friends from Houston called in sick to work, and is driving to Austin today to vote after being turned away from his polling location in Houston (he thought that he had changed his registration, but the Harris County people didn't have a record of it). This guy isn't very politically involved, but there was no question that he would drive to Austin to cast his vote -- even though we're not a swing state, and he's not even in a swing district. All over, I'm reading stories of people who are dedicated to voting no matter what. That's a great thing for democracy.

Another friend of mine lives in Mark Strama's district, and I told him where his voting location is. I'm begining to think that I can run a pretty effective GOTV opperation with my cell phone and an Internet connection with AOL instant messenger.

Jiggety-Jog

By Jim Dallas

It's been a few months since I've last been in Austin. I just got here on the bus from Houston and am bumming around the UT campus for a few hours.

Impressions:

First of all, I would like to thank Capitol Metro for your wonderful bus service. Yes, we have buses in Houston, and indeed we have a very spiffy-but-somewhat-accident-prone light rail. But you could get married and divorced - twice! - waiting for a bus to come in Houston.

Second, I saw lots of Kerry signs and that is good. I also saw some signs put out by the TCDP saying, among other things, "Republican Redistricting tore Austin Apart", "Tell Baxter and Stick to Return the Illegal Money", and "Women make the difference!"

Except, this being Austin, I'd have had the sign say:

"Women and men-who-dress-like-women make the difference!"

But there's only so much you can hope for.

As usual, there aren't too many smiling faces on the Duval #7 bus. There never were. But in positive news, I hear that some dudes up in Hyde Park are very close to building the world's first angst-powered automobile.

They finally finished some new buildings at UT. Unfortunately, they've started new useless construction projects. I think there is a univesal principle known as the "Conservation of Construction."

Whoever decided to pick that new type-face for the Daily Texan headlines made a mistake; by this I mean that skinny, curvy, sans serif font they're using. I think it's called "Lame-O Condensed" or maybe "Weenie Extra Weak."

People vote here like it's going out of style. There is a massive line here at the UGL (where I'm dropping by to make some e-mails on the public internet terminal). I voted here at the UGL in 2000. There was NOT a line four years ago.

Burnt orange-colored everything. The number one reason I love Austin.

Redistricting Flash Mob

By Byron LaMasters

This is where I'll be headed through on my way home from class tomorrow (via email):

Protest Redistricting!!! Location: Intersection of Guadalupe and 38th Begins: Friday 22 October 2004 12:00pm Ends: Friday 22 October 2004 12:40pm

Join us and Austin For Change at noon to protest redistricting! Come with your favorite Democrat sign, make some noise, and be on the news!

We need to remind the voters of Travis County about this and GET ON
THE NEWS BEFORE THE WEEKEND to remind voters of this mess before they go
early vote this weekend.

Join us THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22 at HIGH NOON...and where you ask?

None other than the EPICENTER of the travesty that is the rape of Travis
County-the intersection of 38th and Guadalupe.

[...]

If you live in CD 10, you will meet up near the sign on the northwest
corner for CD 10.

If you live in CD 21, you will meet up near the sign on the southwest side
for CD 21.

If you live in CD 25, you will meet up near the sign on the east side for
CD 25.

JOIN OUR FLASH MOB AT NOON, WATCH YOURSELF ON THE NEWS AT 12:30.

Travis County Votes Day 2

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

It's really quite amazing. I can't wait to see the rest of the state's numbers to see if it's just us or not. From the County Clerk's Office...

Travis County Early Vote

Monday: 15,983
Tuesday: 15,857

Mail Ballots received

Monday: 715
Tuesday: 976

Total Daily Vote
Monday: 16,698
Tuesday: 16,833

Total Travis Vote to Date: 33,531

A full 6.06% of this county's voters have already cast their ballots. That didn't happen until Day 5 of early vote in 2000. In fact, the very fact that Day 2's vote total is almost exactly the same as Day 1 is shocking!

It's hard to compare numbers to the 2000 and 1996 races due to the fact that in both of those years, early voting did not start on a Monday. In 1996 is was a Wednesday and in 2000, a Saturday. So you have two patterns to account for which is near impossible- what the day of the week is (weekends affect turnout) and what day of early voting it is (1st, 2nd, 3rd...).

But in any case, numbers this high are still running twice as high as past presidential years. And just think, the total early vote for Travis County in 2002 was 16,771.

And the actual data formatted like yesteday. This is Tuesday specific though...

The break once again is to indicate which locations are pulling more or less than their 'fair and equal' share should every location have pulled the same number of votes, 689 in today's case.

In the Top Locations today, we see no movement in the Top 6 spots but those in 3, 4, 5, 6 all strenghtening their share. Randalls Lakeway (west) moves up 3 spots while Randalls Parmer (north) falls off the top. HEB Four Points (northwest) moves up into the Top list.

In all cases, votes cast at Central locations continues to lead yesterday and today with just over 20% of the total. North has been second both days with just under 20%. Both regions have weakened though along with East, the bottom region both days making up less than 4% of the daily vote. Southwest, West, and Northwest have all gained about 1% each of the total share in the past day.

A couple of things to remember in all this. Higher turnout tends to help Democrats as a general rule. Also, Democrats historically tend to vote in larger numbers on election day than in early voting. This is even more true as a general rule for minority voters, who like to bring out the whole family to vote at once. I'd be willing to bet that on the weekends, the three Eastern regions pick up as well.

All that said, these numbers feel good. You also don't want to see the arrangement of my spreadsheets where I'm crunching numbers. I'll keep posting the daily chart, and whatever else is up to how much time I have or what looks interesting.

And by the way, do ya'll actually like seeing these numbers and analysis? Let me know, because otherwise I'll just drop them.

Early Vote Totals in Travis for Monday

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From Travis County Officials come the following numbers... analysis below

The break in the table indicates: those above it cast more than their 'equal share' of the total vote per location, those below it, less than their 'equal share' of 694 votes.

I talked to the poll worker at the Campus UGL voting location who has run it for 10 years and she said that in all that time, this is the largest first day turnout she has ever seen by far. To think that a couple cycles back, they wanted to eliminate the UGL early vote location because it was had low turnout. (Campus precincts had 20% Nader votes, in 2000. Tack that on to the about 40% Gore vote plus increased turnout and you are looking at solid Blue numbers)

The malls, Northcross and Highland, have traditionaly been high vote locations so that isn't surprising. Highland is located still in the north central city so I would assume a tendancy toward Democratic voters. Northcross is close to Kelly White's district and the Democratic/student areas of that district (remember, early votes can be cast anywhere). I wouldn't say that is the reason for it, or that that location is usually Democratic. I'd be willing one of the other BOR writers knows that.

It does seem that the top of the list is coming from the more Republican regions of the county (North and West) but it's hard to tell beccause Pflugerville is north but swing, and West really depends on how far west you go. Central west is still swing. And all of this is codespeak in reference to Strama and White's House Campaigns which are probably going to push up total votes in those areas anyways.

There just aren't as many local competitve races in the solid Democratic Central and East parts of the county. (And the Fiesta mart listed as Central, is East of I 35 and serves a lot of the residents living farther east that are minority. So there are many things you have to be able to read into this to get at the trends.

Usually Republicans love to early vote. But it is my feel, that with such a huge early vote increase, it's not because Republicans are coming out to vote. I.E. University Democrats camping out all night to be first in line to vote as well as another story of a 96 year old man who was up to vote early to make sure he cast his ballot for John Kerry and against Bush in the case that he didn't make it to November 2.

If You Didn't Love State Troopers Before...

By Zach Neumann

You will now. Check out this front pager from today's Daily Texan...

UT alumnus John Corvino thought it was "just some innocent kissing." He and a male friend sat talking and kissing on a park bench near the Capitol on Sept. 16, when he said a state trooper strolled by.

"It wasn't heavy kissing," said Corvino in a statement. "Just an occasional kiss mixed with lots of conversation."

According to the complaint Corvino filed against the Texas Department of Public Safety a week later, the trooper returned 20 minutes later with two others and told the pair that homosexual conduct was against Texas law.

Though the trooper allegedly identified himself to Corvino as "Trooper Carlson," the DPS would not comment on investigative proceedings, the trooper's identity or the potential ramifications of official misconduct.

"We're conducting an investigation, and at its conclusion the investigators will write a report and send it up the chain of command to see what can be done," said DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange.

According to his statement, Corvino questioned the officer about the legitimacy of the confrontation.

"In Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court struck down antisodomy laws, and besides, we were just kissing," Corvino said he told the trooper.

He said the trooper repeated that he would not allow such conduct on Capitol grounds, so Corvino and his friend left the area.

Corvino said the officers "clearly needed some education on the issue" and worried the troopers might detain him or call some "nonuniformed buddies" to harm him. He also recalled recent "gay bashings" in the Austin area and said he had once been attacked himself.

"That he hoped to intimidate seems evident by his remaining silent the first time he observed us, only to return with two other troopers [all armed]," Corvino said in his statement.

This story disgusts me. Trooper Carlson should be fired.

The Austin Chronicle Endorsements Are in

By Byron LaMasters

They pretty much mirror my own. First, I'll vote straight ticket Democratic and FOR the Capital Metro Referendum, then I'll write-in Lorenzo Sadun for Congress, then I'll go through the list and vote Libertarian in the statewide races where there's no Democrat running. That's basically the approach that the Austin Chronicle took in their endorsements this year with a few minor exceptions (they endorse one Republican, Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo - who I'd probably vote for in this race if I weren't a yellow dog Democrat, so take that for what you will.)

The Chronicle's readership is solidly motivated by Bush hatred of the Dean/Kucinich mold (not that that's a bad thing, but that alone doesn't win elections), so I was a little disappointed with the focus of their Kerry endorsement merely being anti-Bush than pro-Kerry:

President: John Kerry

No surprise to regular readers, and not a tough call. As voters approach the booth, we can either pretend the last four years have not been a national and international disaster, teetering on the brink of much worse, or we can remove the man and the team who drove the country into an aggressive and unjust war, willfully bankrupted the treasury, and used both as excuses to undermine virtually every socially progressive U.S. institution, from schools to health care to Social Security. If George W. Bush is re-elected, he and his neo-conservative handlers, feckless retreads of the worst excesses of the Reagan administration, will have no incentive to moderate their ingrained policies of imperial adventurism abroad and reckless social retrogression at home.

It's astonishing to us that any sentient progressive voter would not see the urgency of summarily evicting these reactionaries who've so abused the public trust. There has been much spilled ink over the insufficient differences between Bush and Kerry, as if the electorate is too naive to know that over the long term, our two-party duopoly needs a major overhaul. We don't entirely buy the cynicism about Kerry on literal grounds, but even so, how can it justify granting four more years to Bush & Co.? We either fight one necessary battle at time, or we surrender.

I mostly agree, but would it be too difficult to say one good thing about Kerry? He's not that bad, guys. It's not like Joe Lieberman won the nomination, and everyone on the left would have to enter the voting booth with a clothespin on their nose. There's a very substantive case to make for John Kerry to just about any mainstream, moderate, independent or left/liberal leaning audience without even mentioning or attacking Bush once. Of course, criticism of Bush is a large part of the Democratic case, but I like to see endorsements that balance both a reason to vote for a candidate in addition to the reasons to vote against the other.

Downballot, the Chronicle reminds us why to vote for those Libertarians running for the Court of Criminal Appeals in the races without a Democrat on the ballot:

Court of Criminal Appeals

Place 2: Quanah Parker
Place 5: Tom Oxford
Place 6: J.R. Molina

Incumbent Republican judges Lawrence Meyers (Place 2) and Cheryl Johnson (Place 5) face token opposition from Libertarian candidates Quanah Parker and Tom Oxford; Michael Keasler (Place 6) is opposed by perennial Democratic candidate J.R. Molina. None of the challengers are particularly impressive. But voters should reject any incumbent on the CCA as a matter of principle; the current court, led by presiding judge Sharon "Who Needs Evidence?" Keller, has distinguished itself largely by its hostility to any and all appellants and its willingness to rubber-stamp any lower court decision that smacks of anti-crime absolutism, whatever the broader legal or constitutional consequences. Meyers thinks the court is "as fair as it can be," and Keasler says he looks to Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas for his "textualist" models. Johnson has occasionally acted as a moderating vote on the court's worst decisions, to little avail. The opponents are valiant mavericks, hoping to make a statement about the court's reactionary intransigence and its ineffectiveness at promoting equity and simple justice in the Texas judicial system.

These races don't really offer voters a choice - All three Republicans will win in landslides without breaking a sweat. But voters do have a chance to cast a protest vote in each, and I'd encourage Texans to do so.

The Chronicle has glowing endorsements (just go here and scroll down to read them) of Mark Strama, Kelly White, Jan Patterson and Diane Henson (for the 24-county 3rd Court of Appeals), Stephen Yelenosky (running against the only Republican countywide officeholder, a Perry-appointee for the 345th District Court), Greg Hamilton (in the open sheriff's race), and also for the Capital Metro Referendum. I haven't focused too much on the Capital Metro Referendum, because it's widely expected to pass, and unlike the narrowly defeated light-rail plan in 2000, it's not very controversial. Here's what the Chronicle says:

Capital Metro Referendum: For

How do we put this nicely? If you don't vote for this rail plan, Capital Metro is doomed. Yes, this plan is excessively cautious and modest. Yes, it really sucks that Cap Metro has been put in this box. But in the box it remains, and unless rail wins, that box is going in the trash, and we can give up any hope that Austin will ever have a transportation system (or land-use pattern) that isn't totally dependent on the automobile. We believe this to the depths of our souls, and we hope you do as well.

Overall, solid picks as usual for the Chronicle. They wear their partisanship on their sleave, but their readership is primarily south and central Austin, and well, that's what we like to hear.

Travis Voter Registration

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Just another update on the last day of voter registration here in Travis County. The latest figures I have heard now put the one day total at 12,571. In addition, of those voters, 47% are under the age of 25! (Partly due to the fact that around 3000 of that day's total were registered by University Democrats.

F9/11 = Porn?

By Byron LaMasters

I guess one Williamson County Blockbuster was afraid that if they put Fahrenheit 9/11 on the shelf, it would rot kids teeth, corrupt their minds and turn them to satan.

At the Blockbuster Video store on Cypress Creek Road, if you want to rent "Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore's anti-Bush blockbuster, you've got to ask for it.

That's ruffled a few feathers even in heavily Republican Williamson County. And it's prompted local Democrats to ponder a protest of Phillip Patrick's store, which does display copies for sale.

"I think it's a form of censorship," said Jessica Stempko, an officer with the Williamson County Democrats, "and I think he should have the courage to offer the choice."

Even some Bush backers question the move.

"They're treating it like porn," said former City Council Member Phil Duprey. "I guess it's political porn, anyway. Hiding it behind the counter is not good retailing."

I did a little bit of research, and called the Blockbuster in question. If they still had F9/11 behind the counter I was going to post their phone number and urge people to call and annoy them until it was on the shelves. But, alas, the lady I spoke with told me that it had been put on the shelves. So, I'll let the issue rest.

Protest DeLay in Austin

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

CALLING ALL ACTIVISTS!!

DATE: Monday, October 4, 2004
TIME: 11:00 a.m.
PLACE: The Austin Club, 110 East 9th St.

It’s almost unimaginable that Tom DeLay would have the nerve to cross
the Austin city limits, but he’s coming to town to RAISE MONEY, of all
things. He'll be meeting with fat cat donors at the Austin Club, and
we’d like to let him know just how much we appreciate all he's done for
Travis County.

Austinites are planning to show up at the Austin Club to protest DeLay
and his pest controllers at TRMPAC. Republican State Reps. Jack Stick
and Todd Baxter, who are currently running for re-election, are two of
DeLay's and TRMPAC’s beneficiaries and it's time to show them that
their corporate funded schemes will no longer be tolerated.

Let's make a bold stand against Tom DeLay and the puppet Republicans he
controls in Travis County. We must show Texas that Travis County will
never accept DeLay and the Republicans soul less politics of deceit and
help turn the tide against him and his corporate donors for good.

So let's greet Mr. DeLay as he comes out ................

Thank You, Austin!

By Byron LaMasters

This is cool. I found out this morning that we won the Austin Chronicle: Best of 2004 for Best Political Blog by the Austin Chronicle readers. So, a very special thank you to the BOR co-bloggers, my family, my friends, our readers, our commenters (especially our right-wing friends that enliven this place with their always pithy, and sometimes snarky remarks), our linkers, my sixth grade teacher, my parents rabbit, my parents rabbit that didn't make it, and well anyone else that deserves to be thanked. Here we go:

Best Local Political Blog

Burnt Orange Report

Named (natch) for the 40 Acres' famous colors, the Burnt Orange Report has quickly risen to stand toe-to-toe with some of the Blogosphere's biggest. Its exhaustive list of progressive resources is a blessed boon for those feeling a bit "bushed" from the last four year of Republican stranglehold. Founded a year and a half ago by Byron LaMasters and Jim Dallas, with Andrew Dobbs and Karl Thomas coming onboard later, these UT Dems are a much needed anathema to the Young Conservatives of Texas.

I'll have to email them a quick correction, giving them Karl-Thomas's full name, and making sure that they know that he was the delegate, whereas I only attended the DNC Convention due to the good graces of whoever decided to credential bloggers. But anyway, thanks as always for reading BOR, and let us know what else you'd like to see from us.

More on the Best of Austin in the extended entry

Other winners of note:

Best Scandal

Governor Rick Perry Is Gay

Initially cranked out by multiple and seemingly credible sources, then running on the fumes of wishful thinking (well, he is awfully cute), this rumor far
outlived its expiration date, keeping pub and watercooler conversations lively – as well as a few news outlets. What was amazing was how fast it spread – across Austin, around Texas, and throughout the country. It ended up offering more insight on those who spread it than it did on the governor, because although it had no basis in fact that anyone could determine, some wanted it to be true so badly they spread it anyway.

My only comment here is that I may have called Governor Perry many things, but cute is not one of them. Although, I must add, he does have mighty good hair.

Best Elected Official

Lloyd Doggett

After years of being part of the local landscape Doggett really needed to feel your love this year, after redistricting put him at genuine risk for the first time in his House career. And love there was; barring an act of God, Doggett's career representing Austinites will continue into its fourth decade in November.

Amen.

Best GLBT Leader

TIE: Bettie Naylor, Randall Ellis

Two of the hardest-working activists in the scope of GLBT rights, it is an incredible honor that we can call them our own. For those new to town, meet LGRL's director Randall Ellis and lobbyist Bettie Naylor, two Texas stars from two generations of Lone Star activism. Naylor's fire was lit during the early feminist movement and she's been flaming ever since. Naylor was the first lobbyist that LGRL ever hired to chat up lawmakers at the Lege, and Lord knows she can tell you some tales about those days. But right now she's too busy working on the future. Ellis joined LGRL two years ago and really hit the ground running. His mobilizing skills have been proven time and again. Of course, he was already wise to the corridors of power after serving a stint as aide to gay-friendly Houston Rep. Garnet Coleman. Though they travel in different circles, this charming, well-coiffed duo has been instrumental in the fight to retain the dignity and stature of the GLBT community in an era when Dubya is trying desperately to revoke their rights and send queer folk back into the closet as second-class citizens. With Ellis and Naylor duo in our corner, that will never happen.

Ditto to my thoughts regarding Lloyd Doggett. Randall Ellis is a tireless advocate for LGRL. I've spent time working with him up close, and he came on the job with LGRL soon before the 2003 legislative session, and managed to organize a phenomenal campaign to defeat a proposed ban on gay adoption and foster parenting. Bettie Naylor has been fighting for GLBT equality just as long as about anyone, and while I'm not sure how old she is now, she still has the energy of someone in their 20s or 30s. I absolutely have tons of respect for her.

Another winner hit close to home, as I live about 250 feet from the dividing line of three congressional districts, across the street from the Marimont Cafeteria:

Best Place to Digest Redistricting

Marimont Cafeteria

You can count on the elderly for two things: getting out the vote and getting in the dinner line before 5:30pm. The local nexus of the two lies at Austin's hallowed Marimont Cafeteria. Like a tubby kid ogling the pie cart, the newly Repub majority Lege of 2003 decided to carve up Texas' congressional districts like so much roast beef as to neuter yellow dog Lloyd Doggett, entrench Tom "Bug Man" DeLay's dominion over his district, and Perrymander themselves extra seats in the process. Therefore, Austin got Ronco'd, with Marimont Cafeteria on 38th and Guadalupe serving as the new meeting point for districts 10, 21, and 25, with none drawn in a way to truly represent the capital city. So as you enjoy their from-scratch specials, remember: The best thing about a cafeteria is the lack of DeLay.

Other bloggers recognized include:

• Beth Westbrook (Best Local Blogger - readers) - An Austin transgender activist who passed away this summer. I hadn't read her blog before, but I'll definitely give it a look.
• Prentiss Riddle (Best Austin Blogger - critics) - another blog I'll have to check out. It looks interesting from first glance.

UT Ad and Democratic Ruminations

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The University of Texas has an awesome new ad they have produced. You can see it from this page.

It was made by GSD&M, a major advertising company here in Austin. Each of those letters stands of name of the major workers/players in the company, some of which are Democratic. The S is Roy Spence, quoted in the article, whose name has been bandied about the Capitol City a number of times in reference to a possible bid of Texas Governor.

His quote about that ad is what I would love to see as part of a Texas political campaign...

The spot, produced in conjunction with the strategic planning and positioning firm GSD&M Advertising, is the first in a series of seven “image” ads that will debut this year.

The series will incorporate a new theme, “What Starts Here Changes the World,” developed by the university’s Office of Public Affairs and the Center for Brand Research in concert with GSD&M, in a year-long project led by Advertising Professors Neal Burns and Deborah Morrison.

“Austin, Texas is the ‘City of Ideas’—a city that brings the doers and dreamers together to see new things, dream new dreams and create things and experiences that make a difference,” said Roy Spence, founder and president of GSD&M Advertising.

“The heartbeat of this City of Ideas is the University of Texas, a place of learning, discovery, leadership, freedom and responsibility, where everyone is a student of both our proud heritage as well as a seeker of what is next. The University of Texas and the City of Ideas, working, living and learning together. What starts here changes the world—that is what this new campaign for the University of Texas is all about.”

Travis Co. Voter Reg. Up 64% over 4 years ago

By Byron LaMasters

More good news regarding voter registration. Democratic-leaning areas everywhere are seeing huge increases in voter registration, and Austin is no exception. The New York Times studied top Democratic and Republican precincts in Florida and Ohio a few days ago, and showed that the Democratic registration has increased considerably more than has registration in predominantly GOP districts.

I reported last week that Travis County voter registration was up significantly over 2000, and the Austin American Statesman has more this week:

With five weeks to go before the presidential election, Travis County residents are registering to vote in record numbers.

Since Sept. 1, the county tax office has received 29,865 voter registration applications, a 64 percent jump from the 18,207 received during the same period in September 2000.

The applications come from first-time voters as well as registered voters who are reporting name and address changes.

Travis County typically leans Democratic.

And from the department of *duh*:

Bystanders can only guess at reasons behind the skyrocketing numbers. The election year agenda certainly has plenty of hot-ticket items that could pique voter interest: the war, the economy and gay marriage, just to name a few. Such topics could attract voters of all ages and political persuasions.

But Dolores Lopez, director of voter registration for the Travis County tax office, suspects younger people are behind the pumped-up registration numbers.

"I suspect it's them, just from the people coming into our office," she said. "A lot of our volunteer deputy registrars who are out registering at events are young people."

Of course, it's younger voters. Younger voters move the most, and vote the least. Thus, they're most likely to not be registered, or be registered at an old address. Thus, in an election where there are clear issues that effect young people (i.e. Iraq war, tuition deregulation, jobs, etc.), young people are more likely to register to vote in larger numbers than any other group. The numbers show that 50% of new registrations are under 30, and 39% are under 25.

Texas Vets for Kerry in Austin Tomorrow

By Byron LaMasters

TEXAS VETERANS FOR KERRY CARAVAN COMING TO AUSTIN

Via Texas Democratic Party Press Release

Veterans from across the state of Texas are coming to Austin Tuesday, September 28, to express their support for fellow combat veteran John Kerry’s Presidential campaign.

The veterans caravan will arrive in Austin at 4 pm Tuesday at the Airport Hilton, where they will rendezvous with Austin area veterans who will escort them to Wooldridge Park at 900 Guadalupe for a 5 pm press conference. State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos will welcome the group to Austin, and they will take questions from the media. (In case of rain, the press conference will be held at the Texas AFL-CIO building, 1106 Lavaca.)

Following the press conference, the Travis County Democratic Party will host the veterans at a major rally at Scholz Garden, 1607 San Jacinto, from 6:30 to 10 pm. Many of our local Democratic legislators and Democratic candidates will be speaking at the rally, in addition to some great live music, food, and drinks.

“Our caravan is a caravan of hope for our great country,” said Rick
Bolanos of El Paso, one of the organizers of the caravan. “A caravan
of hope for peace in Iraq and hope for a stronger and more caring
America.”

In addition to other Texas veterans, Bolanos will be joined on the
caravan by his three brothers – Louis, Ben, and Bill – who have the
distinction of being the only family in America to have four brothers
serve in Vietnam at the same time. The Bolanos brothers were cited for
their patriotism by President Lyndon Johnson.

The caravan, which begins Friday, September 24, with a morning press
conference in San Antonio and an evening rally in Laredo, will hold
events in 15 Texas cities on its way to its final Texas rally October 2
in El Paso. From El Paso, the caravan will roll across New Mexico,
Arizona, and California before its final rally next month in San
Diego.

The other Texas cities holding events are McAllen, Harlingen,
Kingsville, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Houston, College Station,
Waco, Killeen, Dallas, Fort Worth, Abilene, and Midland. This is a
grass roots caravan supported by Veterans for America, Texas Democratic
Veterans, and Hispanics for America. For more information on the press
conference and rally, please call Todd Phelan at 512-443-2021.

“Senator John Kerry is a true patriot who passionately and fervently
loves this nation,” Bolanos said. “Hundreds of thousands of us are fed
up with the Bush administration’s treatment of veterans and the
maligning of patriots who served with valor. We are tired of this and
we must unite to stop it.”

Sweep Travis County

By Byron LaMasters

I'm confident Democrats will carry Travis County for John Kerry and sweep the countywides. Right now our state house delegation is 3-3. It can be 5-1 Democratic. Travis County is a Democratic county and a fair balance of Dem vs. GOP representation in the state house would be 4-2 Democratic (it was 4-1 Democratic before the 2001 redistricting). But instead of creating a new Republican seat (the fair thing to do), Republican redistricters destroyed one Democratic seat, and created two new marginal Republican seats. Well, they overreached, and in order to create three Republican state rep seats in Travis county, they had to overstretch their Republican voters. Thus, both Republican state reps elected in 2002 are susceptible to strong Democratic challengers. And that's what both Jack Stick and Todd Baxter got.

So, check out the profiles of both races in the Austin American Statesman today:

Stick vs. Strama.
Baxter vs. White.

Show Tom DeLay's corrupt puppets the door:

Give to Mark Strama
Give to Kelly White.

Via Off the Kuff.

Update: Here's the latest on Todd Baxter Follies from a reader following the race:

Todd Baxter has lost his mind. He's going around saying that more Texas children have health insurance now than ever before. We have no idea where he's getting this information from, particularly as every responsible authority (i.e. Children's Defense Fund, Center for Public Policy Priorities) is saying the exact opposite. From what we can see, he's just pulling it right out of thin air- it's a blatant lie.

Todd Baxter has flip-flopped on just about every issue facing Travis County. Local political observers will tell you that when he was on the Travis County Commissioners Court, he voted "present" more than anyone else. I guess when you can't flip-flop, it's best to just not take a position.

Voter Registration

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The report from this weekend's Austin City Limits fest is that we registered 876 people here in Travis County to vote.

Also, the University Democrats are now up to around 2,300 registered by organization members. (Meeting tonight at 8 pm in GAR 1 to phone bank to Arizona! Bring those phones and laptops.)

That leave 12 more days to register voters here in Texas. Now is the time, if you are not registered, register. If you can register others, do so.

www.registertexas.org

Phenomenal Voter Reg. Numbers from Travis County

By Byron LaMasters

Between March 9th and September 18th of this year 41,400 people registered to vote in Travis County.

Of those 41,400 new voters, 50% are under 30, and 39% under the age of 25.

This is nearly twice the number of voters registered in Travis during the last presidential election year. During this period in 2000, there were 25,100 voters who registered. Of those new registered voters, 59% cast a ballot.

Local Democratic organizers expect another 20,000 voter registrations in the final two weeks of registration before the October 4th deadline.

I am extremely optimistic about Democrats prospects in Travis County. In 2000, George W. Bush won Travis County 47%-43% (10% for Nader). That year, there were two key trends among voters that are absent this year. First, Ralph Nader was on the ballot, many liberals saw little difference between Bush and Gore, and thus since Texas was not a swing state, many liberal voters cast a Nader protest vote. Second, despite getting roughed up some in the 2000 campaign, many Texas Democrats still saw George W. Bush as their popular homestate governor. This year however, many longtime Austin activists will tell you that the Democratic base is more energized than they have seen in a decade or two.

It would not surprise me to see Kerry approach (or even top) 60% of the vote countywide. I'd be shocked if Democrats don't sweep the countywides as well. The real question will be the two hotly contested state representative races in the northern part of the county (Strama and White). Both are marginally Republican districts, but full of moderate suburbanites who often split their tickets.

Run Against Bush in Austin

By Byron LaMasters

Tomorrow is National Run Against Bush Day.

Details for the Austin event:

"Run Against Bush on Saturday, September 18, 8 AM at Town Lake by the Hyatt. Participants are encouraged to wear Kerry / Edwards T-shirts (there will be Run Against Bush T-shirts available for purchase). For more info, call 281.221.1987 ot email tatroe02@yahoo.com".

I don't think I'll make it up at 8 AM tomorrow, but I'm planning on block walking later in the morning for some local candidates.

More about Run Against Bush here.

Kelly White News

By Byron LaMasters

I wouldn't want the Kelly White campaign to feel left out after posting about Mark Strama, so here's the latest with her campaign:

Kelly White wrote a letter to incumbent state representative Republican Todd Baxter yesterday. I have a rough copy of the letter in the extended entry:

Dear Representative Baxter,

I am writing to you about a matter of great concern to myself and many concerned citizens in Texas, including the constituents of House District 48.

As you know, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is leading an ongoing criminal investigation into U.S. Representative Tom Delay and the Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee (TRMPAC) and their connection to donations received by you and five other Republican candidates in the 2002 election.

Part of this investigation is to determine whether the $35,000 you received on October 2, 2002, from the Republican National Committee was part of a money-laundering scheme by TRMPAC to funnel illegal corporate contributions into the campaign coffers of Republican candidates.

You have been quoted as saying that "Public service is a wonderful honor and it means a great deal to me to have your support and trust as I serve you in the Texas Legislature." If this is true, Todd, then I maintain that you owe it to the people of District 48 to demonstrate your responsibility as a public servant and do the right thing.

Many were interested to read in the Houston Chronicle that even Congressman Delay himself has told supporters that he "fully anticipate(s)" indictments to occur. In light of the continuing controversy and questions surrounding this situation, I call on you today to take the $35,000 in question and make a donation in the name of your constituents to a charity that serves our community. A health clinic such as People's Community Clinic in Austin is certainly one such worthy organization. Your $35,000 contribution will send a clear message to the voters that you intend to run a clean campaign - devoid of contributions that are in any way connected with questionable behavior and/or possible indictments.

What is more, by giving to a health clinic, your contribution will go towards filling the gap in care that was created when you voted to take 147,000 Texas children off the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In 2002, more than 1.4 million Texas children were uninsured. Your vote has made the children's health matter worse. Unfortunately, $35,000 will only begin to help, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

As you are a public official who states that he holds the trust of his constituents in highest regard, I hope you will do the honorable thing to remove any hint of impropriety from your record.

I appreciate your consideration of my request.

Sincerely,
Kelly White

Jack Stick is Getting Desperate

By Byron LaMasters

Back to Texas State Rep races for a minute here. I just made a $20 donation to Mark Strama - you should, too. He's one of the rising stars in the Democratic Party and deserves your support. Here's the latest with his race...

State Rep. Jack Stick (R-Austin) just doesn't seem to understand why local business leaders are supporting his opponent, Democrat Mark Strama. The Austin Chronicle has the latest:

In his lengthy tenure as a mover and shaker in Texas business and politics, Lowell Lebermann has been called a lot of things, but "anti-business" is not one of them. That is, not until earlier this month, when state Rep. Jack Stick referred to Lebermann and other business leaders in that vein. It happens that the group of local boosters is supporting Democrat Mark Strama's bid to unseat Stick in the District 50 legislative race. The bunch of ne'er-do-wells, in addition to Lebermann, includes former Dell CFO Tom Meredith, GSD&M advertising President Roy Spence, PR guru and former chamber Chair Kerry Tate, and ex-mayor and chamber Chair-Elect Kirk Watson. Theirs and other names of pro-business people appear on an invitation to a meet-and-greet event for Strama, to be held Sept. 21 at the Austin Club.

In response, Stick sent a letter to many of the same lobbyists and potential donors on Strama's invitation list, warning them not to fall for his challenger's dirty tricks. "That fundraising letter," Stick pointed out, was "signed by some of the most liberal anti-job growth, anti-business, anti-conservative activists in the state." He added, "You'll learn more about some of my opponent's 'John Kerry' behaviors in the days to come."

The article notes that Strama supporting business leaders fired back with a letter citing their work to create thousands of jobs in Texas - which is true.

I mean, who are these "liberal anti-job growth, anti-business, anti-conservative activists" who are supporting Mark Strama? Let's take a look:

Former Austin Mayor and Austin Chamber of Commerce Chair-Elect Kirk Watson:

During his terms of office, Forbes and Fortune named Austin the best city and best place for business in America. Texas Monthly Biz magazine named him best mayor in Texas for business. He received the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce’s highest award for his economic development efforts and vision. Governing Magazine recognized Austin as one of the top two cities in America for the way it was governed while Watson was mayor.

GSD&M co-founder Roy Spence:

Roy Spence isn't afraid of anything.

You can see this fearlessness in young Spence back in 1971. Barely out of short pants and holding a freshly minted UT bachelor's degree in history, he and four other brand new UT graduates launched an advertising agency, Gurasich, Spence, Darilek and McClure (GSD&M).

You can see it in him the time he appeared wearing shirt, tie, boots, and underwear in a lobby full of Fortune 500 executives assembled for a Wal-Mart shareholders meeting. "Has anybody seen my pants?" he asked. The desk clerk produced his sodden trousers. They had slipped off his hanger and been found rain-soaked in the parking lot. Spence borrowed a blow dryer and, right there in the lobby, dried the pants. He put them on, and went on to a very successful meeting. You can see it in the man who, with his partners, built little GSD&M, located in the unlikely town of Austin, into a $700-million- a-year, internationally recognized powerhouse.

Former Dell CFO Tom Meredith:

Meredith most recently served as the managing director of Dell Ventures and Dell senior vice president of business development and strategy. He joined Dell in 1992 as chief financial officer and was instrumental in refining and extending Dell's highly successful direct business model.

Prior to joining Dell, Meredith was vice president and treasurer for Sun Microsystems, Inc. He was also the co-founder and general manager of Amdahl Capital Corporation. He is currently a board member for Freemarkets, Inc., Tipping Point, and several other private portfolio companies. He is also an adjunct professor of business at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and serves on the advisory boards of both the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas.

I could go on, but the point is made. How in the hell can anyone reasonably argue that these guys are "liberal anti-job growth, anti-business" supporters? I guess ya just have to be drinking the GOP Kool-Aid.

Austin's Next State Representatives

By Byron LaMasters

They both spoke at the University Democrats meeting last night. Also, it was announced that Democrats have registered 1720 students to vote on campus in the past three weeks:

Mark Strama on the left. Kelly White on the right. They are two of the top pick-up opportunities for Democrats in the state house.

Donate to Mark Strama.

Donate to Kelly White.

More pictures in the extended entry...

How to Prevent Sprawl

By Byron LaMasters

Speaking of sprawl, the Austin city council enacted some good public policy this past week regarding west campus housing. The Daily Texan reports:

The Austin City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to approve a plan that would allow the construction of high-rise student housing in West Campus. The council postponed voting on the plan, called the University Neighborhood Overlay District, at last week's City Council meeting.

Debated since the summer of 2002 and postponed until today, the Overlay plan finally passed with amendments concerning affordable housing, streetscape specifications and parking requirements. The amendments met very little resistance.

[...]

The new district is bordered by Guadalupe Street on the east, Lamar Street on the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the south and 29th Street on the north. It allows developers to build as high as 175 feet, but only in the blocks west of Guadalupe.

To build that high, developers must agree to improve sidewalks and lighting and plant trees.

The council declined to include an amendment supported by the Student Government to increase the plan's minimum off-street parking requirement to 80 percent of the residential population, leaving it at 60 percent.

Jerry Harris, a lawyer representing a West Campus property owner, said the city wants to encourage pedestrian usage and reduce cars in the area.

"The cost for parking spaces is very expensive, and rent for a student would have been negatively affected," Harris said.

Having more parking would be nice, but overall, allowing high-rise housing in west campus would most likely serve to lower the cost of living, and increase the amount of housing space for most students. By increasing the supply of west campus housing, either the price of housing will go down, or the quality of housing will go up in order to attract more students to live in the area. Personally, I'm glad that the amount of parking wasn't increased, because that would only serve to increase traffic, when you really don't need a car to get around if you live in west campus - I got around just fine with my bike most of my freshman year (although having a car makes getting downtown, and going out on the weekends easier).

I think that the spirit of the proposal is what makes it very good policy. No one says that you can't have a car in west campus, it's simply not encouraged. If you need a car, and you can't afford to park a car in west campus, then live on Riverside or Far West. Requiring builders to increase the amount of parking in west campus from 60% of the residential population to 80% would drastically increase the construction costs of new units, and thus increase the rent. That's unfair to the people living in west campus that don't have cars. By keeping the parking at 60% of residency, it encourages lower rent, public transportation, walking and cycling - and from personal experience, I'll argue with anyone that cycling is the most effective way of getting around central Austin.

Finally, this proposal encourages students to live close to the university and participate more in university sporting events, activities, student organizations and other parts of college life. Without encouraging high-rise units close to campus, more students will move to areas further away with lower rent. Common sense tells us that students commuting to campus are less likely to come back for events outside their classes - thus making the university a commuter school, which for a large university like the University of Texas, would take much away from the community and culture of the institution. And having a vibrant and active central city is good policy for anywhere, especially a college town like Austin.

Vote For AISD

By Byron LaMasters

Yesterday, I voted in favor of all six of the AISD bond initiatives. I tend to categorically support almost all education funding, because one of my fundamental beliefs in government is that after defending its people, providing strong education and strong health care are the best investments that a government can make. That belief trumps most all else, including the concerns of some of the more strident environmentalists.

I'd encourage a vote for all six propositions. Early vote locations are here.

Here's what AISD is requesting from Austin voters:

Proposition 1 Tax Rate: 1.54¢ Relief for Overcrowded Schools/ Provision of Equitable Facilities District Wide • New Schools o Elementary (6) $111,547,983 NE SC SE SW Undesignated (2) o Middle (1) 35,777,119 NE • Classroom Additions 30,280,564 • Land Acquisition o Future MS sites (2) 4,962,651 SE SW o Elementary (1) 1,029,747 Undesignated Proposition 1 Total: $183,598,064

Proposition 2
Tax Rate: 1.69¢
Academic and Building Infrastructure Renovations to Safeguard Investments in District
Campuses, Facilities and Sites and Invest in Environmental Health Initiatives and Standards
• Renovations to Campuses $187,550,897
& District-Wide Facilities
• Technology 13,553,074
Proposition 2 Total: $201,103,971

Proposition 3
Tax Rate: .45¢
Safety and Security, Environmental Health and District-wide Facilities
• Safety & Security $20,954,097
• District-Wide Facilities 17,505,352
• Low-Emission Buses 13,234,166
• Asbestos 2,205,694
Proposition 3 Total: $53,899,309

Proposition 4
Tax Rate: .11¢
Athletics and Physical Education Including the Efficient Utilization of Taxpayers’ Dollars
Through Sharing Facilities Among Governmental Entities
• Interscholastic Sports Task $10,405,729
Force recommendations
• Elementary covered play slabs 2,424,781
Proposition 4 Total: $12,830,510

Proposition 5
Tax Rate: .37¢
Relief for Overcrowding and Partial Funding for a District-Wide Performing Arts Center
• Partial Funding for $7,719,706
District-Wide Performing Arts Center (PAC)
• Site for PAC 1,102,815
• New Southwest Middle School 35,777,241
Proposition 5 Total: $44,599,762

Proposition 6
Tax Rate: .49¢
Refinancing of Contractual Obligations
• Contractual Obligations $23,495,000
Proposition 6 Total: $23,495,000
Bond Proposal $519,526,616
Total Tax Rate: 4.65¢

Many Austin environmentalists oppose Prop 5. The Austin Chronicle wrote the following in opposing Prop 5:

Proposition 5: NO

Proposition 5 includes funds for a new, districtwide performing arts center and a new southwest middle school. We would support the PAC, but we have not been convinced that the district needs another southwest middle school on the edge of the aquifer's recharge zone. We believe Proposition 5 violates the spirit of SOS because it unnecessarily reinforces, by institutional inertia, developmental growth patterns that endanger the community's best values, its health, and indeed its unique character as a city. Elected officials cannot continue to throw up their hands and say, "There's nothing we can do about sprawl" – when they endorse decisions that make sprawl inevitable.

The Chronicle urges voters to reject Proposition 5.

The only problem is that if this proposition fails, and a school is not built on the aquifer recharge zone, then it is likely that an apartment complex will be built on the land. Personally, I think that soccer fields are more environmentally friendly than are parking lots that would surely accompany an apartment complex. It's a simple choice in my eyes. Not building schools won't stop sprawl. Not building schools will only lead to school overcrowding and less educational opportunities for AISD students.

Sarah says Vote No on five, as the Austin Chronicle recommends, so check out her two cents.

Some Things you Didn't Know

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I've been meaning to post this for some time but have been busy with school starting.

Back when we had the Grassroots training here in Austin and Dean came, there were a number of people of interest that came to our evening gatherings to talk politics and such. One of which was Tom Hughes, political director for DFA. There were others, the trainers, and at this point I'm not entirely sure who said what about each of these following discoveries. So I'll put it under the category of "Things Learned That Neither You Nor I Knew Before".

First off, the Infamous Iowa Dean Scream. I was there, many of you have heard me and just about everyone else bitch about it and how the media didn't bother to include the crowd sounds and just filtered out everything. I went on and on about how in the room you might now have even heard the scream (which is still true) and the callous media didn't bother to do a 'reality' check.

Come to find out, the entire fiasco, and especially the Cable TV clips that were run over and over 100s of times might have been the fault of the Dean Iowa campaign. That night, all of those stations were plugged into the general media Pool Feed (similar to the Democratic National Convention where there was a Pool Camera just to the right of the Texas Delegation that didn't pan on us, hence why you never saw us on TV floor flyovers). Well, the Iowa Dean staff had plugged into the Pool Feed box only the mic for Dean and no feeds that were there for background crowd noise as can be done for rally like events. (Nothing is worse than having a big applause line and then hearing quiet muffled nothingness.) So in short, we screwed up, and though the Media in the grander scheme certainly isn't absolved of being at times hostile to the Dean campaign, it's not all their fault.

Second big thing, and this one is more local to Texas. These rumors concern the DA's office and the Ronny Earle investigation into Tom Delay and illegal corporate money flowing here, there, and everywhere in and out of the state of Texas in relation to influencing the 2002 Texas House elections. Apparently, they are finding out more connections that they thought they would find and the analogy given was, "each stone turned over is revealing 5 new bugs that lead to other stones with more bugs under them".

So the problem? This is taking more time than expected. As in, possibly extending the time frame of the investigation beyond that of the election cycle this fall. Which means that some candidates might not get their indictment/guilty verdicts or otherwise before Nov. 2. Because if they stop too soon, the leads dry up, and the greater goal of bringing down influential Corporate Money in Texas once and for all will not be achieved.

And now, going even more local into a race where the Republican was aided by Delay Money Funneling, Jack Stick, being challenged by Mark Strama here in northern Travis County, apparently has only recently in the last 3 weeks gone in to get his first Voter File from the County offices. There has been no active field program as of yet according to the Stick staffer who picked up the file, who unwittingly talked to a Democratic operative that he apparently didn't recognize. So all summer, as Mark Strama and his Interns have been blockwalking, phoning, and raising money up in Pflugerville, Stick has been raising some money and doing nothing.

Doesn't that make you want to donate to Strama with .01 added for BOR? Let's swing this one our way.

And there is one other tidbit I have learned but am not ready to share quite yet if at all. Let's just say that it could fall into the category of ScHrOCKING.

DFA Recap of Dean Rally in Austin

By Byron LaMasters

Austin SDEC member Fran Vincent has a post (along with photo) of the Dean rally on Sunday on the Democracy for America blog, so check it out.

Dean in Austin Again

By Byron LaMasters

I've been busy moving in to my apartment and getting ready for school, so I'll be catching up on blogging over the few days here, so I wasn't able to make it to the Dean event, but here's what happened earlier today:

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean made a stop in Austin Sunday to motivate Texas Democrats to take back the White House.

Hundreds of supporters showed up at Huston-Tillotson College in East Austin to hear Dean's message. They call themselves Deaniacs for Kerry - supporters who believe Dean is making an impact on Texas Democrats.

"Howard Dean got us energized, and I think we are tired of what's going on and we're finally saying enough's enough. We're gonna' take it back," Austin Democrat Joene Grissom said.

The crux of Dean's message is that Democrats need to take back Texas by relying on grassroots organizing.

"We've been away from that too long, and I'm pretty optimistic. I don't want to give up on places like Texas," Dean said.

Dean showed his support for candidates on the Dean's Dozen list - people like Richard Morrison, who is running against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and David Van Os, who is running for Texas Supreme Court Judge.

The rest here.

Meanwhile, Dean stumped in Houston yesterday for Richard Morrison.

Passing On

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

One member of the 50,000+ students of the UT-Austin community has passed from our union.

This morning I attended the funeral of one of my fellow class of 2003 graduates, Nikki B., at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Fredericksburg. Thousands were there as the hurch was standing room only as it is during the holiday services. We had always been one of the lucky classes because we managed to make it through high school without anyone passing on in a car wreck or anything of the sorts. But last week while jogging on Main Street in town she was hit by a pulmonary embolism which stopped her heart for about a minute. She had gone into a coma with 50/50 chances of surviving, and even if so, with severe brain damage.

She was always a sweet girl, was in debate with me one year and a number of AP classes. It was true what was said about her by those who were closer than I. She had a great sense of humor and was always cheery. She saw the best in people and even when she disagreed with you, she did it with a smile.

She will be missed and will live on in those around her whom she inspired, including me. She is survived by her brother and parents, her father having been the Justice of the Peace who married my parents over 20 years ago.

Things that are Wow

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Today was really quite a day.

First, I watched the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics which I've never done before. I cannot imagine what it must be like to actually be there. I intend to watch coverage of it as I can and hope that all is safe and dignified.

Secondly, I just watched the evening news and saw the report on Austin's downtown tribute to Lance Armstrong. Est. 60,000-100,000 people came out which is stunning.

Third, John Kerry in Oregon today had a rally of between 50,000-60,000. This report with pictures further down blows me away. If I remember correctly, Gore didn't have those kinds of crowds until the last week in Florida where I think he had an Election night rally of 50,000. Folks, this election will truly be like no other. I predict national turnout between 55-60% and I a decisive win, none of this 50-50 jazz.

Strama Update

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Over the summer I was part of the Mark Strama Campaign Academy with about 40 other interns. Like Kelly White, Mark is trying to win a Republican State House seat from the Republicans in Travis County. I got an update from the campaign, parts of which I'll pass on. If someone from the White campaign has some good stuff, e-mail me, my contact info is on the side-bar.

Our summer Campaign Academy attracted over 40 high school and college students, who spent their summer block walking, phone banking, and registering hundreds of new voters. Guest speakers at the Academy included Ann Richards and John Sharp, as well as some of Texas’ top political consultants, policy advocates, and university professors. KUT radio recently profiled the Campaign Academy; you can hear the report here.

The Academy received extensive news coverage in the Pflugerville Plag when we donated blood in July. See our news release here.

· Thanks to the generosity of my friends and supporters who want to restore balance and integrity to the Texas Legislature, we have raised over $250,000 to date. Based on the June 30 reports, we enjoy nearly a 2-to-1 cash on hand advantage over my opponent, whose funds overwhelmingly came from PAC’s and special interest lobbyists. More details on our fundraising success are available here.

KVUE profiled the fundraising dynamics of this race in a recent story
available online here:

· Our weekend block walking has begun in earnest. We have already knocked on nearly 4,000 doors this summer, and we’re just getting started.

· Capitol Inside newsletter ranks my opponent as the second-most vulnerable Republican incumbent in the Texas Legislature, and says “Strama is arguably the strongest challenger in the Democrats’ arsenal…”

His website is www.markstrama.com

To Donate, go here and add .01 to let them know it's coming from the blogs.
(Total online fundraising to date is $29,620.61)

Vote Today!

By Byron LaMasters

If you're in Austin and have not yet voted, you have two more hours to vote in the ACC (Austin Community College) Board run-off before the polls close. The race is non-partisan, but Veronica Rivera is the Democratic candidate in the race. Her opponent is on the board of the far right-wing YCT (Young Conservatives of Texas) - notorious for their racist bake sales protesting Affirmative Action. I voted the first day of early voting as I'm in Houston for the Democratic convention, but if you're in Austin and haven't yet made it to the polls, go now!

You can find your polling location, here (and I think that results will be posted there as well). I doubt that I'll be able to post tonight, so if they don't post the results here, I'll post them tomorrow.

Intern

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY WITH COUNCIL MEMBER MCCRACKEN'S OFFICE

We're looking for an unpaid summer intern who has an interest in learning more about issues affecting the City of Austin. The intern will assist the Council Member's two aides. Some responsibilities include, but are not limited to, data entry, reviewing neighborhood newsletters and updating staff on key issues, administrative duties, constituent work. We strive to create an educational environment for interns by encouraging them to attend events with Council Member McCracken, inviting them to participate in meetings and discussions and teaching them about current events. If you or someone you know are interested in working with the newest council member in Austin, email your resume to

Karen.Gross@ci.austin.tx.us.
Karen Gross
Policy Director
Office of Council Member Brewster McCracken
974-2256

Vote Today in the ACC Run-off!

By Byron LaMasters

I was in Austin for the weekend, and I stayed until Monday morning so I could vote early in the run-off election for ACC (Austin Community College) Board. The choice is about as clear as it gets. The run-off is between Democrat Veronica Rivera and Republican Marc Levin. This is an election between a candidate that represents mainstream, Austin values and a candidate that has a history of supporting far right-wing candidates and organizations. Levin is an officer in the Young Conservatives of Texas - a right-wing conservative youth organization that has sponsored bake sales where people of different races are charged different amounts. Here's what the weekly Travis County Democratic Party email had to say about the race:

Austin Community College Board of Trustee Place 6 will go to a runoff election June 19th between Democrat Veronica Rivera and Republican Marc Levin. Even though these are “non-partisan” races, Marc Levin’s experience and background speak for themselves. He currently serves as vice president of the Texas Review Society, a non-profit organization that publishes far-right public policy newspapers and journals in Texas. He has served as president of the far-right Texas Federalist Society and as state vice chairman and general counsel for the Young Conservatives of Texas. The YCT website currently lists him as Director of Governmental Affairs. The Young Conservatives of Texas are known for outrageous stunts like “bake sales” on university campuses in which members charge women, African American and Hispanic customers lower prices for pastries to protest affirmative action programs.

Veronica Rivera is a strong Democrat and education is a passion for her. It is so important that we continue to elect progressive candidates in Travis County and Veronica Rivera is such a candidate.

I'd encourage all our Austin readers to check out Veronica Rivera's website to learn more about her candidacy. Here's the early voting sites:

ACC Highland Business Center- 5930 Middle Fiskville Rd.
Rio Grande Campus- 1212 Rio Grande
Northridge Campus- 11928 Stonehollow Dr.
Eastview Campus- 3401 Webberville Rd.
Riverside Campus- 1020 Grove Blvd.
Pinnacle Campus- 7748 Hwy 290 West
Cypress Creek Campus- 1555 Cypress Creek Rd., Cedar Park

I voted at the Rio Grande campus (there's no early voting at the UGL at UT, as there usually is, so be sure to head on over to the ACC campus nearest to you and vote for a good Democrat, Veronica Rivera).

As a final thought, I would like to add that while I strongly disagree with Marc Levin's politics, he's a decent guy. I recall talking to him after our gay marriage debate at UT, and he commended me for the quality of my arguements - even if he may have disagreed with them. He also called me after the candidate that the University Democrats supported in the first round lost - Rodney Ahart. Levin asked if we'd consider not endorsing in the race. I wished him the best of luck, but that the fact that he is affiliated with an organization (YCT) that is so fundamentally opposed to so many of the values and principles in which I (and the UD's) support, I told him that I could not in good conscience not support, endorse and vote for his opponent, Veronica Rivera.

Austin Smoking Ban Goes into Effect... Sorta

By Byron LaMasters

A much watered down smoking ordinance is going into effect in Austin today. I'm probably one of the few people that are relatively ambivalent about it. I don't smoke, but it doesn't bother me too much, so anyway, here's the story:

Austin's new smoking ordinance goes into effect today, and though it is not nearly as strong as anti-smoking advocates had hoped, the law will at least initially reduce the number of restaurants and bars where customers can light up.

The law requires restaurants to construct enclosed smoking sections with separate ventilation systems if they want to continue to allow smoking. As of last week, only 12 of the city's 245 restaurants had applied for or received a city smoking permit.

Bars, on the other hand, only have to pay the $300 annual permit fee to continue to allow smoking. As of last week, the city was processing 97 permit applications out of its estimated 1,000 bars. City officials expect to see more applications in coming weeks.

[...]

A year ago, the Austin City Council passed virtually a smoking ban in restaurants and bars. That ordinance never went into effect and was replaced with the current version in October by a new City Council.

The new ordinance requires establishments that get less than 70 percent of revenue from alcohol to construct smoking sections or ban smoking and all others to get permits if they want to allow smoking. Money from smoking permits will go to enforcement and tobacco education, officials said.

Precinct Chairs Needed in Travis County

By Byron LaMasters

Also via Sarah at Roman Candles is a call for precinct chairs in Travis County. They're looking especially for students and young people since most of the current folks are over 50. There's 60 vacancies in the county, and I believe that some are in the University area:

The Travis County Democratic Party is trying to find volunteers to serve as Precinct Chairs for about 60 vacant positions. Precinct chairs help organize voters in their local districts and serve on the County Executive Committee of the party. At this week's Executive Committee meeting it was noted that a large number a vacancies exist for precincts located around the University.

The average age of Executive Committee members looks to be around 50 so it would be good to have some younger faces from anywhere around town as well. The County Party is asking interested persons to email them at: info@traviscountydemocrats.org.

I would have run for precinct chair of my precinct, because it was vacant after the precinct chair was redistricted into the next precinct over. Everyone was pretty confused about it - myself, the precinct chair, the County Party, etc. - because of the whole redistricting fiasco. I live about 200 feet from where the three congressional districts meet in Austin, and the precincts had to be reconfigured after redistricting. Anyway, my current precinct is pretty small with just a few apartment complexes and the other person at my precinct caucus wanted to be the precinct chair. I just told him to go ahead an do it, since I'm in Dallas for the summer, and I don't know where I'll be living after I graduate next Spring.

The precinct chairst run the party (at least in theory). It's an important job, and regardless of where you live, check with your local party office to see if you live in a precinct where there's a vacancy. More often than not, you can get appointed at the next Executive Committee meeting.

Good News for Austin Hospitals, Firefighters

By Byron LaMasters

The Austin Firefighters have won Collective Bargaining Rights:

Austin firefighters were winning the ability to force city officials into contract negotiations concerning issues such as pay, benefits and working conditions late Saturday.

With most precincts reporting, voters were supporting by about a 60-40 margin a measure to require collective bargaining. City officials, who are responsible for launching negotiations, said they probably would begin talks with the Austin Association of Professional Firefighters by Nov. 1.

And great news for Travis County Health Care as well:

A Travis County hospital district was easily approved Saturday, despite growing distaste for property taxes and opponents' warnings that tax bills would escalate as more people come to the district for health services.

The hospital district, expected to be established later this year, would be the first broad-based taxing authority in the area since Capital Metro was born in the mid-1980s. Tax rates in the district would be capped at 25 cents per $100 of property value.

Now city and county leaders face the task of setting up the board and appointing members.

[...]

Right now, Austin residents contribute 7.3 cents per $100 of property valuation to public health: 6 cents in city taxes and 1.3 cents in county taxes. Counting exemptions, that brings the total tax bill for health care to $134 on a home valued at $191,240, the average in Travis County in 2003.

Residents outside the city pay 1.3 cents for health care, or about $20, counting exemptions, on the same value house.

If, as expected, the district sets a countywide tax rate of 7.3 cents, city residents would pay slightly less than they do now because the health care portion of their overall tax bill would enjoy the benefit of tax exemptions allowed by the county. And county residents outside the city would pay about $92 more. The average homeowner in the district would pay about $111 in total health care taxes until taxes rise.

Travis County is still growing significantly. The Health Care District will help us maintain quality health care for all Travis County residents. It's a good day for Central Texas.

Democratic Club Endorsements

By Byron LaMasters

For those of you interested, here's the Democratic Club endorsements for the elections on Saturday in Austin:

ACC Place 4 - Jeffrey Richard (Austin Progressive Coalition, Capitol City Young Democrats, Central Austin Democrats, South Austin Democrats, Travis County Democratic Women, University Democrats, UT Law Democrats, West Austin Democrats)

ACC Place 5 - Rafael Quintanilla (Capitol City Young Democrats, South Austin Democrats, Travis County Democratic Women, University Democrats, UT Law Democrats) - this race is uncontested.

ACC Place 6 - Rodney Ahart (Austin Progressive Coalition, Capitol City Young Democrats, Central Austin Democrats, University Democrats, UT Law Democrats, West Austin Democrats)

ACC Place 6 - Guadalupe Sosa (South Austin Democrats, Travis County Democratic Women)

Travis County Health Care District - FOR (Austin Progressive Coalition, Capitol Area Progressive Democrats, Capitol City Young Democrats, Central Austin Democrats, South Austin Democrats, Travis County Democratic Party, Travis County Democratic Women, University Democrats, UT Law Democrats, West Austin Democrats)

Proposition 1, City Fire Fighter Bargaining Rights - FOR (Austin Progressive Coalition, Capitol City Young Democrats, Central Austin Democrats, South Austin Democrats, Travis County Democratic Party, Travis County Democratic Women, University Democrats, UT Law Democrats, West Austin Democrats)

Austinites: Remember to Vote!

By Byron LaMasters

I just returned home this afternoon from blockwalking for the endorsed candidates and issues of the Austin Progressive Coalition (an organization that puts up doorhangers in central Austin precincts for candidates / issues endorsed by both the Central Austin Democrats and University Democrats). Every Democratic Primary / Runoff election and every local election, APC will endorse candidates and put up doorhangers on the doors of thousands of central Austin precincts. All six of the candidates endorsed by APC in contested elections in the 2004 Democratic Primary were nominated (five in the primary, one - Constable Maria Conchola in the runoff).

On May 15, Austinites will elect two Board Members to the ACC (Austin Community College) and will decide two referenda. The first is a referendum for the city of Austin to grant our firefighters collective bargaining. The second is a referendum for all Travis County residents on whether to create a Hospital District.

As for the ACC election, I made some endorsements a few weeks ago. You can check out that post here. The seat four race is a clear choice. Jeffrey Richard is a Democrat with great qualifications and ought to win easily. In distirict five, incumbent Rafael Quintanilla is uncontested. We endorsed him, and he's done a good job, so vote for him if you feel inclined. I'm expecting district six to go into a runoff. The liberal / progressive community is a little divided on this race. The Austin Chronicle endorsed Democratic precinct chair, and longtime ACC activist Guadalupe Sosa. I'm confident that she would be a good servant to the ACC Board with her background of direct involvement with ACC. Having said that, however, our endorsement went to Rodney Ahart. Like Sosa, Ahart is eminently qualified to serve ACC. Ahart has worked for great Democrats in the legislature such as Dawnna Dukes and Rodney Ellis. Not only that, but he's focused much of his work on issues of higher education. What made the difference for me was the candidates ability to articulate a vision for ACC, and connect with students and young people. Ahart came to the University Democrats meeting the week before our endorsement meeting to introduce himself and speak with us individually after the meeting when we go to hang out at a local joint for burgers and beer. At the endorsement meeting, Ahart again clearly outlined a clear agenda for ACC, while Sosa was difficult to hear from the back of the room - fifteen feet away at the Mr. Gatti's on MLK by campus. The other candidates, Veronica Rivera and Marc Levin did not attend the meeting. While, Veronica Rivera seems like a decent candidate, it's difficult to take seriously a candidate that ignores the opportunity to speak to a group of people (CAD and UD's) who are willing to spend hours of time putting up thousands of doorhangers for the candidates we endorse. As for Marc Levin, he's the Republican candidate. Some progressive leaders I've talked to are concerned that he will make the runoff and could win a very low turnout runoff. Levin is the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Young Conservatives of Texas (and current staff attorney for the right-wing State Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith - who was even too conservative for GOP primary voters, as he lost in the 2004 GOP primary). Personally, I'm predicting a runoff between Sosa and Ahart, but a divided Hispanic vote could land Ahart and Levin into a runoff. The Austin American Statesman endorsed Veronica Rivera, so this is a true four-way race. It's still up in the air.

I'm expecting the Collective Bargaining for Austin Firefighters to pass relatively easily. There seems to be some token opposition - some group called "Taxpayers for Equity" ran an ad in this week's Austin Chronicle in opposition to collective bargaining, but I seriously doubt that Austinites will say no to their firefighters.

The vote on the Travis County hospital district is a different story. There is significant opposition to this. To learn more about it, check out Healthy Travis County. According to some sources working on the campaign for the hospital district, their telephone i.d.'s and early vote totals give them cause for concern. Apparently, the hospital district is winning in the City of Austin by a small margin, but the non-city residents (about 25% of the voters in the county) are going heavily against the hospital district in a large early vote turnout. This points to a very tight race, meaning that it is critical for Austin voters to turn out for the hospital district. That makes sense and all, as non-city residents currently pay five times less in taxes to support the Travis County health care system - despite the fact that some of the wealthiest communities in Travis County, such as Westlake Hills and Lake Austin are outside of the city of Austin. Anyway, if you are a city of Austin resident, the Travis County Hospital District will NOT raise your taxes. What it will do is create tax fairness for all residents of Travis County by equalizing tax rates for city and non-city residents in Travis County. It's really a simple issue of efficiency and fairness. The current Travis County Health Care Revenue System is convoluted and confusing. Creating a hospital district would make funding our county health care more efficient by simplifying the revenue process. More importantly, this is an issue of fairness. As I said, Austin taxpayers pay five times more than (non-Austin) county residents in taxes to support Travis County health care facilities, even though all Travis County residents have equal access to the facilities. The Hospital District would equalize taxes for all Travis County residents. It would bring in needed money into the system to prevent emergency room overcrowding and to extend the hours of local clinics. That's a good thing for Travis County.

In other things to support... Only one of the AISD incumbents has a challenger. I voted for Doyle Valdez over perennial candidate Jennifer Gale. Also, as Andrew noted earlier, if you're in Del Valle vote FOR Prop 3 to allow Del Valle ISD to join the ACC system.

Early voting lasts through Tuesday, so vote early, or vote on election day next Saturday! Early vote locations here.

Early Voting Starts Today

By Byron LaMasters

I voted earlier today in the local municipal elections (ACC, AISD, Travis County Prop., and City of Austin Prop.). Early voting started today and will continue through May 11. The election date is May 15. The full list of early vote locations is here. If you're a UT student, there's no excuse not to vote. As usual, we can vote on campus in the UGL Lobby by the West Mall.

If you haven't heard of any of the candidate, or don't know who or what to vote for, I offer my recommendations (these candidates / props. have all been endorsed by the University Democrats, Central Austin Democrats, Austin Progressive Coalition and Capitol City Young Democrats):

(Partial repost from my endorsements on April 7)

ACC Place 4: - Jeffrey Richard: Jeffrey is by far the best qualified and most experienced candidate in this race. He's also a Democrat with credentials that appeal to both the business and progressive communities. He served as the vice president of education on the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, and has a tremendous amount of experience in education working for 17 years with educational institutions in Washington D.C. and Austin. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Texas State University.

ACC Place 5: - Rafael Quintanilla: He's the chair of the board and is unopposed. I don't have a particularly good reason to support him, but people that have been around Austin a lot longer than I have said that he's worthy of our support, so that worked for me.

ACC Place 6: - Rodney Ahart: Rodney Ahart has worked in the legislature for State Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) and State Reps. Helen Giddings (D-Dallas) and Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin). During his time in the legislature, he worked on higher education issues and is well prepared to work with the legislature as a member of the ACC board.

FOR Collective Bargaining for Austin Firefighters: One of the referenda we will be voting on is whether to allow collective bargaining for the Austin Firefighters. Collective bargaining would require the city of Austin to meet in good faith with Austin Firefighters to negotiate their contracts. The process would be open and subject to public disclosure. Our firefighters work hard day and night to keep us safe. This is the least that we can do for them.

FOR Travis County Hospital District: This is a simple issue of efficiency and fairness. The current Travis County Health Care Revenue System is convoluted and confusing. Creating a hospital district would make funding our county health care more efficient by simplifying the revenue process. More importantly, this is an issue of fairness. Currently, Austin taxpayers pay five times more than (non-Austin) county residents in taxes to support Travis County health care facilities, even though all Travis County residents have equal access to the facilities. The Hospital District would equalize taxes for all Travis County residents. It would bring in needed money into the system to prevent emergency room overcrowding and to extend the hours of local clinics. That's a good thing for Travis County.

Burnt Orange Report From the Floor

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I am here again on the floor of the first Student Government meeting with another additinon of Burnt Orange Report from the floor which will become a regular feature here on BOR each Tuesday evening during the spring and fall semesters.

Major points so far... and forgive my spelling mistakes as I am sure there will be some until I am finished.

Approved to fill President Brent Cheney's 2 year at large seat is Chris Kennedy, 3rd year student, who has haunted the Student Government forums and meetings for quite some time now. Kudos to him though I'm sure Andrew may have his own thoughts. Well, I know he has his own thoughts but I'm not going to be the one to say them.

Approved to fill the office of Executive Director is Amy Chiou (3rd year government, president of liberal arts council last year, Orange Jackets). During debate 3 spoke in favor, one against.

Approved to be Internal Finance Director is Jessica Rice, Junior, Plan II Government Major, involved with orange jackets and Student Government in some way

Approved to be Attorney General, Amber .... 3rd year Government major, FLO, Student Government Junkie. Wants to make office les reactive, not worry about attendance as much because she 'knows that each and every one of us will be here each Tuesday night."

Approved to be External Finance Director is Dan Pascal, 2nd year Government Major. Wants to improve communication with outside sources, plans on attending West campus zoning meetings, strengthen external fundraising, improve alumni relations to improve fundraising, date auction with SG President Brent Cheney as an outside the box fundraising idea in response to question from the floor.

Approved to be Secretary is Andrew Laddum, first year government major. Wants to make sure that minutes are continued online, mentioned something about social community. I'm listening to him right now and just hope he is more organized that he sounds simply because of the bill passed last week which will require Agency Directors and others to submit reports to the Secretary for posting online.

Approved to be Legislative Relations Agency Director is Ravad Bajaria who has worked within the agency for the past year. I'm guessing this is just an internal promotion. Fine by me.

Approved to be Freshman Leadership Organization Director is CJ Gin. He wants to start getting mentor program started sooner to improve student government's image across campus, publicise FLO at mooove in during the summer, increase membership. Of course, just as a personal note since FLO has been very powerful of late in making One Party wins in SG, I think that the assembly is going to approve anyone who increases FLO membership as it generally helps keep those more closly tied to SG in power. Does that mean me too now?

Dress Code: Business Causual quote-"no jeans, no t-shirts, no tennis shoes"
What Karl is Wearing: jeans, t-shirt, tennis shoes

Like that is going to stop me! BOR readers should know that I am not one to dress up unless I absolutly have to.

Representative Privledge (talking time) is really long tonight. Kinda like this entry is getting.

Rep. Laura Gladney-Lemon, uber SG sctivist gave an incredibly emotional speech at the end of the forum because this morning she had someone moooo at her, due to her weight. She has been working all semester she told the assembly, on putting together a proposal that relates to attempting to get UT to imput a weight-hight ratio into it's non-discrimination policy.

8:45 We finally move into new business.

AR 1: Resolution in Opposition to UT's Los Alamos big has been tabled until next week at the request of the sponsor.

AR 2: Resolution to Support Pay Equity (for women) was proposed to be amended, watering it down to a more simple resolution of recognition of April 20 as National Pay Equity Day due to the lack of knowledge of the status if pay equity at UT. There is argument of the day on which to honor the day, even though the day is dependent on how long women would have to work into 2004 in order to reach the total earnings of an average man in 2003.

The resolution was abruptly brought to a vote to table in mid discussion. The bill was tabled 29-9. A motion to reconsider was denied as it was out of order as other business was still pending. It was made known that it would be possible if the rules were voted to be suspended and then a motion to reconsider was passed.

AB 1: Altering Internal Rules to Post Attendance and Voting Records Online

All SG Representatives will likely become sponsors to this bill so it should sail through next week. Finally.

We return to a back and forth debate on how can suspend rules for bringing back AR 2. Motions flying in more directions than can be counted. And I'm not going to try. There seems to be a Parlimentary Battle going on.

That is all from your Burnt Orange Report From the Floor.

Why I Ride My Bike to School

By Byron LaMasters

It's pretty simple. Two reasons. It's faster and it's cheaper than driving or waiting for the bus. It takes me eight minutes to ride my bike from my apartment on 38th Street to 24th Street on campus. If I were to ride the bus, I'd spend about that time waiting for it most days. If I were to drive, it would take about the same time to drive, then an extra few minutes (on a good day) and $7 or so to park. It's a pretty easy choice. Now, I'm not going to junk the car (I'm from Dallas, and if you've ever tried getting around Dallas without a car - well just don't), but its nice to be able to travel via bike. It's one of the things I love about Austin.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who's realized that riding a bike is not only cheaper, but faster when commuting in central Austin. The Austin American Statesman did a test:

To the point: LeBlanc and her bicycle beat us to the finish line at 24th Street by about 5 1/2 minutes. The final insult was that when we arrived at the finish line, she was lying on the ground. It could have been more insulting if she'd been blowing on her knuckles.

They raced from from Riverside, up Lamar and to 24th Street in rush hour. The bike: 11.5 Minutes. The car: 17 Minutes. Travelling conveniently by bike is only an option available to a small minority of Americans, but for those of us with the option, it's a great alternative to traffic, parking tickets and high gas prices.

Some Endorsements for the May 15th Elections

By Byron LaMasters

Those of you outside of Austin probably wonder why we have so many elections. Every two years Austin voters have the opportunity to vote in up to four elections in four months. Of course, there's the March primary and April runoff. Then there's the City Council / ACC / AISD elections in May, and that run-off in June. This year, there are no city council seats up, but there are three ACC (Austin Community College) seats to fill along with two referendums.

Today, the Austin Progressive Coalition (University Democrats and Central Austin Democrats) screened the candidates and made endorsements in all of the races. The CCYD's (Capitol City Young Democrats) also made endorsements today as well. All of the candidates that I support (and I'm assuming the other posters here do as well) were endorsed today by all of the above organizations (APC, CAD, UD, CCYD).

ACC Place 4: - Jeffrey Richard: Jeffrey is by far the best qualified and most experienced candidate in this race. He's also a Democrat with credentials that appeal to both the business and progressive communities. He served as the vice president of education on the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, and has a tremendous amount of experience in education working for 17 years with educational institutions in Washington D.C. and Austin. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Texas State University.

ACC Place 5: - Rafael Quintanilla: He's the chair of the board and is unopposed. I don't have a particularly good reason to support him, but people that have been around Austin a lot longer than I have said that he's worthy of our support, so that worked for me.

ACC Place 6: - Rodney Ahart (this site should be up next week): Rodney Ahart has worked in the legislature for State Sen. Rodney Ellis and State Reps. Helen Giddings and Dawnna Dukes. During his time in the legislature, he worked on higher education issues and is well prepared to work with the legislature as a member of the ACC board.

YES on Collective Bargaining: One of the referenda we will be voting on is whether to allow collective bargaining for the Austin Firefighters. Collective bargaining would require the city of Austin to meet in good faith with Austin Firefighters to negotiate their contracts. The process would be open and subject to public disclosure. Our firefighters work hard day and night to keep us safe. This is the least that we can do for them.

YES on Travis County Hospital District: This is a simple issue of efficiency and fairness. The current Travis County Health Care Revenue System is convoluted and confusing. Creating a hospital district would make funding our county health care more efficient by simplifying the revenue process. More importantly, this is an issue of fairness. Currently, Austin taxpayers pay five times more than (non-Austin) county residents in taxes to support Travis County health care facilities, even though all Travis County residents have equal access to the facilities. The Hospital District would equalize taxes for all Travis County residents. It would bring in needed money into the system to prevent emergency room overcrowding and to extend the hours of local clinics. That's a good thing for Travis County.

Daily Texan Doesn't Mention Presidential Pieing

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I had a feeling it might not happen, the Daily Texan has not mentioned the fact that the Student Body President Brian Haley got hit with a pie at yesterday's meeting in their article on actions taken at the meeting.

I plan on writing a Firing Line about this exclusion, we shall see if it gets published. Anyone else who want to do so (UT students) write one less than 250 words to firingline@dailytexanonline.com. If you want to attach to it the link to the report here on Burnt Orange it's located at http://www.burntorangereport.com/archives/001346.html.

Do I have anything against Brian Haley? No, I really respect the guy and he's been supportive of GLBT efforts which I care about since I'm one of the co-directors of the GLBTA Affairs Agency (part of student government). I just think that something happening along those lines might be of interest to the general population and may at least warrent a mention in the Texan since Tuition and Fee issues have certainly been part of the student interest over the past year at UT.

Update on Press Conference

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I just wanted to post some link from some of the news being generated about the press conferece. And yes, one person did show up with a sign in opposition and she gets hald the story but that's journalism.

KXAN report

I will update this as I find more. FOX here in Austin doesn't put much up on their website and KVUE may be holding it for tomorrow's early morning show. The Statesman will be running tomorrow but it's our impression that piece won't be very flattering considering the reporter open declared that he didn't believe in social movements of any kind and just came to events like this really for the fun of it. Yeah, I can't wait, considering we didn't see him taking many notes of any kind.

UT SG President Hit with Cream Pie

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I have a report for you straight from the floor of the Student Government meeting now progressing in the basement of the Student Services Building here at UT.

We are in the midst of the congratulatory speech section on behalf of the Executive Board, but just moments ago, in the open forum section, a speaker dressed as a Mime came up to speak. He began by saying that mimes do not usually speak, but now he had to break his silence. "First it was Student Fees, and then it was Tuition Increases and Deregulation." He had written a poem about student fees and such and that he felt someone needed to be held responsible, namely Brian Haley.

After finishing his speech he stated that he had a present for SG President Brian Haley, and proceeded to take a Cream Pie out of a box with a bow and dumped it on Haley.

Throughout the mime's speech, the assembly was chuckling, as well as during the pit throwing and after the mime ran out of the room after the pie toss. In addition, post pie, Haley made the comment of "can we not have that put into the Daily Texan tomorrow" to the reporter in the back row, who replied with a non-committal "we will see."

As a side note, in the speech section, SG External Financial Director Marc Eichenbaum made the joking comment that "SG President Brian Haley has done a great job at representing his constituents- the administration." He said that they had discussed it over lunch as a joke, but delivered it while Haley was out of the room cleaning off some of the pie.

That's your Burnt Orange Report from the Floor so far. This may be a regular feature here at Burnt Orange Report going into the future since I will be at these meetings each Tuesday for the next year.

Over 1000 Attend Travis County Democratic Convention

By Byron LaMasters

I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout today at the Travis County Democratic Convention. There were just over 1000 delegates from Senate District 14 (Barrientos) and about 200 from the portion of Senate District 25 (Wentworth) in Travis County. Registration was a bit of a fiasco (not enough space, unorganized lines, etc.), but it all worked out. The main events were speeches by most of the elected officials in Travis County and the other candidates on the county ticket.

Senator Barrientos spoke relatively early into the convention. He received a warm reception, and gave a fiery speech to the convention, but there were many in the audience still upset with his endorsement of Leticia Hinojosa against Lloyd Doggett. Doggett spoke later, and he was greeted to the room by a minute-long standing ovation by the delegates. Later in the day, State Reps. Rodriguez, Naishtat and Dukes spoke as well.

We also broke up into precinct caucuses to elect delegates to the state convention. I was elected as an Alternate to the state convention. Our precinct had eleven delegates to the county convention today, and we were allotted two delegates and two alternates to the state convention. For those four spots, there were six of us running. The six of us were all given a chance to introduce ourselves, and then the five people not running had an opportunity to ask us questions. Of course, the one question worked to my disadvantage. One person asked if anyone had been a delegate to the state convention in the past, and I was the only one who had (I was a delegate to the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso in 2002). Next the eleven of us cast four votes (which we could divide however we wished). I was in a tie for the third most votes (8), so we were the alternates while the two top vote getters (who won 10 and 9 votes, respectively) won the two delegate spots. I'm happy to have the opportunity to go to convention, and there's a good chance that I'll be a delegate anyway, since there are always a good number of delegates who are unable to make the convention.

The end of the convention dragged on through dozens of resolutions. At first, it went smoothly, and most of the delegates were in agreement on things like supporting labor rights, women's rights, choice, gay rights, affirmative action, etc. There was more controversy with two resolutions that passed narrowly (which I opposed). The first was a resolution calling for a 15% cut in military spending (among other things) and the second was a resolution calling for the United States to withdraw from NAFTA and the WTO. At this point in the convention, about two-thirds of the delegates had left, and the Kucinich delegates (about 10% of the original total) were speaking out for their resolutions. I disagree with them on those two issues, but if voting on these resolutions is what some people need to be able to vote for John Kerry and the Democratic ticket this fall, then it all works out. No one pays attention to resolutions passed by a county convention anyway.

Anyway, it was good to run into a lot of friends, and meet some people who have read BOR at the convention. Anyone have any other thoughts on the Travis County convention? Anyone else attend their county (or senate district) convention today?

Update: More accounts of the convention are here and here.

Local Travis County Winners

By Byron LaMasters

Surprisingly, no run-offs...

Greg Hamilton easily won a four way race for sheriff.

All three contested primary races had decisive outcomes. All three candidates I supported won, Steven Yelenosky, Nancy Nohengarten and Gisela Triana.

Precinct One County Commissioner Ron Davis also avoided a run-off in a four way race.

Races to Watch in Austin

By Byron LaMasters

I'll first be watching the 25th congressional district race. I think that Doggett will win, but it will be close. My prediction? Doggett wins with under 55% of the vote.

The County Commissioner Precinct 1 race will be interesting. I'm betting on a run-off between Celia Israel and Ron Davis. Yeah, it's a safe bet, but this race has been one of the tougher ones to call. However, an anti-Celia Israel mail piece arrived in my mail yesterday. Perhaps that could have en effect.

The Sheriff race will be interesting as well. I'm betting on a run-off between Todd Radford and Greg Hamilton, with Hamilton leading strongly. Hamilton could win outright, as he has relatively strong establishment and grassroots support, but it'll be difficult for him to win outright in a four person race.

For County Court at-Law #5, I predict that Nancy Hohengarten will win without a run-off over Lenord Saenz and Efran de la Fuente. She has very strong grassroots and legal community support.

For District Court 200 - The nastiest race of the year will probably go into a run-off between Gisela Triana and Jan Soifer. However, Triana could win outright. Then again, enough people could be upset with the negativity between Triana and Soifer supporters that Judge John Hathaway makes it into a run-off. So, I don't have much of a guess for this one.

For District Court 345 - Steven Yelonosky will win easily over Richard Anton.

Final results for all races (except for the 25th congressional race) can be found here begining at 7 PM.

Election Night Parties in Austin

By Byron LaMasters

Here are some of them, via the Travis County Democratic Party:

The House Democratic Campaign Committee

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
7 p.m. - 10 p.m.
The Apple Bar
120 West 5th Street
Austin, TX 78701

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $20, Cash Bar

Come join the HDCC as we await the results of the Texas primary elections. Your support will benefit Democratic candidates for the Texas House of Representatives.

Join Todd Radford's E-Day party!

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Speakeasy, 412 Congress Ave

Please join Todd Radford, candidate for Sheriff, for his Election

Election Party for Gisela Triana

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
7:30 p.m.
Cuba Libre, 409 Colorado

Please join Gisela Triana for the Election Night Party at Cuba Libre.

Texans for Kerry E-Night Party

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
8 p.m.
B.D. Riley's Pub, 204 East 6th Street

Come watch the primary results on the big screen with fellow John Kerry supporters!

Greg Hamilton Election Night Party

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
7:15 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Baby Acapulco, 5610 N IH 35

Please join Greg Hamilton and his supporters for an Election Night Party.

Hohengarten E-Night Party

Tuesday, March 9, 2004
7:30 p.m.
4002 Avenue H

Please join Nancy Hohengarten for an Election Night Party.

No, I'm not Behind This

By Byron LaMasters

And no, I won't be attending. I have two exams tomorrow, but it does look as if some folks are planning a little event tomorrow morning at the governors mansion. It seems a bit silly to me, but maybe it will give the Austin Chronicle something to report.

Undercover APD Officers Attended Anti-War Planning Meetings

By Byron LaMasters

The Daily Texan reports:

Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas prove that undercover Austin police officers attended anti-war meetings in March.

The Texas ACLU obtained two memos in November discussing undercover police protest planning meetings. One of the documents details a detective's observations at a March 23 direct-action training where protesters practiced civil disobedience. On March 24, about 40 people were arrested while protesting against the war in Iraq.

"In an attempt to gather intelligence information regarding mass civil disobedience, members of the Organized Crime Division were requested to participate in training sessions and actual protests in an undercover capacity," the memo says.

Texas ACLU lawyer Ann Del Llano said police waste resources when investigating nonviolent protesters, and such police activities may be unconstitutional.

"These people intended to commit a Class C misdemeanor," said Del Llano. "Police should focus on violent crimes [instead]."

Exactly. Why are undercover police being sent to meetings of people planning peaceful demonstrations when they could be out actually doing their job, and preventing violent crime?

Soechting to Speek at Austin Dem. Party Meetup

By Byron LaMasters

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting will speak at Democratic Party Meetup tomorrow night at 7 PM:

TDP Meetup

Wednesday, February 18, 2004
7pm
B.D. Riley's Pub on 6th Street

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting will be hosting a meet up of Austin Democrats next Wednesday.

Meetup is a great new tool for organizing voters all over America. Here in Austin we are testing out a pilot run of these tools so that we can use them this fall and beyond to take back Texas! Come join us for some good food, good times and a chance to talk about the future of our party with Chairman Soechting. We’ll see you all there!

You can join Democratic Party meetup, here.

Also tomorrow night is a MoveOn.org video fundraiser for the Austin Progressive Coalition (which works to help elect the candidates endorsed by both the University Democrats and Central Austin Democrats), the University Democrats meeting and a home basketball game against Texas A&M. So many choices...

Snow In Austin

By Byron LaMasters

Well our annual snow/ice/sleet, etc. is here. It's snowing in Austin. I'll have to go throw a snowball at my neighbors. Continue for the doppler radar via Weather.com.

Update: Well all of the snow melted by the time I woke up, despite Norbizness's doomsday predictions, and there's even proof that Dallas got some snow as well.

Update: It's still snowing:

Update: And there's more!

Update: And it's finally moving out.... :-(

Planned Parenthood Construction Continues

By Byron LaMasters

On Wednesday, one day be fore the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the constuction of a Planned Parenthood clinic in southeast Austin resumes after being temporarily disrupted by anti-abortion activists. The Daily Texan reports:

As abortion rights activists celebrate the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood is moving forward with construction of a southeast Austin clinic despite organized opposition from abortion opponents.

Construction on the clinic was temporarily halted by a boycott by local builders when Browning Construction left the project under pressure from anti-abortion activists, but work on the site has since resumed.

"When we made the announcement about Browning, we were overwhelmed with calls from contractors wanting to work on the project," said Danielle Tierney, Planned Parenthood spokesperson.

At the construction site, located on East Ben White Blvd., bulldozers moved dirt Wednesday afternoon while men talked near plain, white pickups.

"We made a promise to this community to guarantee access to affordable health care," Tierney said. "Building this clinic is our top priority right now."

Despite a contractor boycott conducted by Chris Danze and his organization, Planned Parenthood is back on track here in Austin because of the enormous outpouring of support by the Austin Community. Fortunately, women in Austin are lucky. There is widespread community support for a woman's right to choice and affordable healthcare. Unfortunately, in many places that is not the case. Still, Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capitol Region serves ten counties in Central Texas, the majority of which are primarily rural. Click here to support the services they provide for women in Central Texas.

Voices For Choice Rally

By Byron LaMasters

Tomorrow at 5 PM on the UT Campus. Celebrate 31 years of a woman's right to choose:

Our rally on the West Mall at 5!

Speakers will include:
Lewis Black, Editor of the Austin Chronicle
Amy Hagstrom-Miller, CEO Whole Woman's Health
Dr. Jim Rigby, Pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
Danielle Tierney, Director of Public Relations for Planned Parenthood of
Central Texas
Sarah Wheat, Director of Public Affairs for TARAL

We expect a great turnout, and every speaker will be excellent.

Huston-Tillotson YD's Rally

By Byron LaMasters

This evening I spoke at a rally at Huston-Tillotson College in East Austin. Huston-Tillotson College is a historically African-American College (although open to all races) which recently chartered a Texas Young Democrats chapter. Being the regional director for the area, I helped them get all the resources they needed, so their president, Andrew Bucknell invited me to speak at the rally. It was quite an honor to be up there speaking with a lot of elected officials. I just spoke for a few minutes about how young people have been getting involved recently. I used the evidence of how thousands of young people descended upon Iowa to support their candidate in the Iowa caucuses and how we've established a lot of new TYD chapters in the previous months as examples. I added that young people can't afford to not get involved - when our president lies about going to war, when our leaders in the legislature tell us they didn't raise taxes, yet they taxed every college student in the state of Texas with tuition deregulation, and then with redistricting - that it is a disgrace that in my 8 minute bike ride to campus every day I now travel through three congressional districts. I went on to tell the students that they could make a difference. That there were seven presidential campaigns and a whole lot of local candidates that could use their help in the primary and that we would need their help to have our countywide slate again sweep Travis County. I also put in a plug for our two state rep. candidates against Republican incumbents here in Travis County: Kelly White and Mark Strama.

Speaking of Mark Strama, he was at the event, and I had a chance to talk to him for a little while. He's also got his webpage up and running. If you have some money to donate, he has a PayPal account set up. Strama is running against Jack Stick who was elected in 2002 for the first time. Stick represents North Austin, yet voted for the congressional redistricting map that divided Travis County into three congressional districts, of which none has a majority of its voters residing in Travis County. It is very possible, that Travis County will have no hometown representative in Congress next year, and that would be devestating for us. Anyway, Strama is looking for volunteers, so get in touch with the campaign if you're interested. His race is likely to be one of the party's targetted races in the fall and Strama probably has about the best chance of any of our challengers to knock off a Republican incumbent.

There was an interesting subtext to the event as well. Originally Lloyd Doggett was going to attend, and then Leticia Hinojosa (his primary opponent in the new 25th) was interested (although not originally invited). State Rep. Dawnna Dukes spoke at the rally as Doggett's surrogate, and said how Doggett had fought for Huston-Tillotson and for Austin and it was critical that we re-elected him. Next to speak was State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos (who has endorsed Hinojosa). He spoke of the redistricting fight and said that redistricting would have been stopped if it were not for the "traitor" John Whitmire. Harsh words, but I agree. He spoke of how Austin was split, but didn't mention Doggett or Hinojosa. I think he was scared to mention it. Doggett's been such an advocate and fighter for Austin, and Barrientos knows that he really doesn't have much of a chance convincing Austinites to vote for someone else. He blew a lot of political capitol endorsing Hinojosa and I think that he knows it.

It was good to see all of them. State Rep. Elliott Naishtat had a good speech (which I had heard before), and State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez spoke as well, as did County Commissioner Ron Davis (who is in a tough re-election fight with Celia Israel, who I met for coffee back in the fall and agreed to support).

I also got to talk to Dana DeBeauvoir, the Travis County Clerk for a little bit. She was there to show off the new E-Slate Voting Machines. I asked her who had the most difficulty with the new machines. It was interesting that she said that it was not elderly people who tended to like the larger print, not having to worry about chads or small bubble-in forms and the ability to look over their votes before they cast them. Young people also had little trouble with the new machines. Rather, it was middle-aged people in their forties or so that were technically challenged that had the most trouble with the machines. Interesting...

I also sat next to Gisela Triana, who I'm supporting in her primary for 200th District Court. She's a very talented, articulate, attractive up-and-comer in the party. Her primary opponent is Jan Soifer, and has a lot establishment support such as Ann Richard's endorsement, but did work as an attorney defending the 2001 Republican Legislative Redistricting map that helped Republicans win control of the state house. She says that she only did procedural work such as consolidating lawsuits and all, and that she basically had to do the work, or quit her job with her law firm. Fine, but I'll go with the solid Democrat who is a rising star in our party. Triana was born in Miami to Cuban-American immigrants and grew up as a Republican, but she quickly learned the error of her ways and has been a solid Democrat for her entire adult career. This race, I think, will boil down to a classic establishment versus the grassroots battle with the grassroots winning. Go Gisela Triana!

As the endorsement meetings approach, I'll post my recomendations for all of the local races here in Austin. There's still a few races where I haven't yet made up my mind, such as the Sheriff's race, where I'm not really familiar with any of the candidates in the primary to succeed Margo Fraiser who is retiring. I think that I'll try and make it to the Greg Hamilton Open House next Wednesday to check him out, as he is the candidate that Fraiser has endorsed, and someone I knew from a few other campaigns who is working for him tried selling him to me tonight. I'll see. I was a little turned off to see that Hamilton had been someone in the TABC which I'm not a big fan of. I think that a lot of our alcohol laws are rather dumb, but the legislature is probably more to blame than the TABC. I'll probably support Hamilton, who's the establishment choice and will probably win, but I'd like to know more about him first.

Anti-Choice Scare Tactics

By Byron LaMasters

The Austin American Statesman did a long story today on the scare tactics employed by anti-choice activists. It's pretty outrageous what people like Chris Danze do to try to harass women and women's health care providers.

Danze now spends Saturday mornings outside Whole Woman's Health, a new abortion clinic in North Austin owned and operated by Amy Hagstrom Miller, who worked for 15 years at abortion clinics in Austin, New York and Minneapolis.

[...]

He said he sent Hagstrom Miller's landlord a letter in late August, offering the landlord the assistance of Danze's brother, a real estate attorney in Dallas, who could help the landlord "get Amy out of your building," according to the letter.

Danze sent a second letter three days later. It included photographs of aborted fetuses.

"Amy is killing children the same age and size as these photos, ON YOUR PROPERTY. While it is legal, it is terribly immoral. We are praying for you both and hope that your faith in Christ . . . will help you grow in courage and resolve to remove her and the evildoers from your property."

The landlord said he's received several letters about the clinic but declined to comment and requested that his name not be published.

Hagstrom Miller received an anonymous letter at her home in March, shortly after she opened the clinic, warning that if she did not close her business, a second mailing would be sent to 77 neighbors identifying her as a serial killer.

Shortly after, she said, several neighbors approached her with a letter that identified her as the owner of a "child killing operation in Austin. . . . currently involved in the serial killing of approximately 40 to 50 boys and girls a week." It included her home address, the clinic's address, and an 8- by 10-inch color photo of her. It was signed "A Concerned citizen."

Later, an e-mail sent to employees at the school district where she lives referred to Hagstrom Miller as a serial killer who had "ramped up" the killing operation. The e-mail closed: "Please pray for Ms. Miller, her staff of killers, the women who are scarred for life and the children who never had a chance."

Danze, when asked if he sent the letters, responded: "I'm not going to address that. They may or may not be my letters. And if I knew who wrote those letters, I wouldn't tell you." He also declined to comment on the e-mail.

He responded in a later e-mail to the Austin American-States- man: "Just as the Department of Public Safety informs communities the whereabouts of sexual predators, it is important for people to know the whereabouts of serial killers as well."

"They're harassing and intimidating in the name of Christianity," Hagstrom Miller said. "It's crazy that they're presenting the Christian perspective . . . I just don't know what we can do, and I'll be damned if I'll let him get me evicted."

The letters "did not include anything that we felt that were of an illegal nature," said Austin police spokesman Kevin Buchman. The letters and e-mail were sent from outside of Austin, but Austin police reviewed them because the clinics are located within the city. A letter would be considered illegal if it contained a threat of bodily injury or incited someone to cause bodily injury, Buchman said.

"I want her evicted, out of there," Danze said of Hagstrom Miller. "I want every abortion chamber in Austin shut down, but I'm not going to do anything illegal or unethical."

Outrageous. Just outrageous. It's not illegal, but its just one example of the tactics that the right-wing uses effectively to intimidate women and abortion providers.

Want to help? Support Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capitol Region Today.

Central Texas Envisioned

By Jim Dallas

The Austin Chronicle has a story about the results of the Envision Central Texas survey, which asked local residents about their civic preferences vis-a-vis urban sprawl. There were over 12,000 responses.

I think I voted for option "C" (feeling that D was too radical and A and B too conservative) back when the survey was conducted, but surprisingly option "D" won in a landslide:

At the time, I reported the conventional wisdom that, while the status-quo Scenario A had no chance, neither did the most extreme alternative to it, Scenario D -- a vision built almost entirely on infill, redevelopment, and urban density. Instead, I and others thought, respondents would gravitate to Scenarios B (a "corridor plan" much like the ones we passed back in the 1970s and 1980s and then failed to follow) and C (focusing growth in new and existing towns, the way human beings used to do before they had cars).

How wrong I was. Scenario D -- the radical reversal of decades of Central Texas history -- got nearly 50% of the vote. Another 25% voted for C, which is more than A and B got combined. ("None of the above" got 10%.) Those are the results for the question asking which scenario would "provide the best overall quality of life." On other, more specific questions -- regarding transportation, land use, open space, and public investment -- Scenario D likewise reigned supreme, with two notable exceptions. Over the aquifer, ECT respondents wanted as little growth as possible, which was actually a vote for C rather than D. This was the outcome lobbied for by local greens, including the Save Our Springs Alliance, but as with most of the ECT survey findings, there's very little difference of opinion among the five counties in the metro area. So much for Austin being "out of touch" with the regional mainstream.

And as regards housing, C and D basically tied, in what ECT consultants John and Scott Fregonese call "a fairly nuanced response [that] shows a clear preference for the housing style of Scenario C with the land-use pattern of Scenario D." That means people still want single-family, owner-occupied housing, but in far more "urban" settings than they have been offered before. So much for the public voting with its wallets. (A point to consider when city leaders complain that urban neighborhoods will never accept this kind of density; what people really don't like are big, monolithic apartment complexes like, oh, the Villas on Guadalupe. Of course, any urban-core neighborhood leaders who object to density per se should likewise read the writing on the wall.)

That seems to be the rub -- everybody wants a house, but nobody wants to use the land necessary to build it on. Which is why I felt "C" was a decent compromise on that regard. Even if that means stuffing 100,000 people into Bastrop or Elgin, where presumably a lot of the new growth would occur under option "C."

(Scenario Summaries)

Travis County Sheriff to retire

By Jim Dallas

Margo Frasier is out.

Frasier's chosen successor, Greg Hamilton, will file for the Democratic Primary soon. So far, three candidates (two Democrats, one Republican) have filed for the seat, which may be one of the toughest county-wide office for Democrats to hold next year.

(Be prepared to pound the pavement).

Planned Parenthood Fights Back

By Byron LaMasters

The Austin Chronicle has a good article this week on Planned Parenthood's fight to build a clinic in South Austin. While anti-choice activists won a temporary victory a month ago in forcing subcontractors to boycott of the construction, Planned Parenthood is back on their feet. Not only have subcontracters from all over called the Planned Parenthood offices to offer their services, but Planned Parenthood has proceeded as their own contractor. Planned Parenthood has also exceeded its 2003 fundraising goals by a large margin, with more contributions pouring in daily from across the country. Anyway, read the article for more.

Hillary Coming to Austin Friday

By Byron LaMasters

Get a signed copy of her book, here.

Anti-Choice Activists to Rally in Austin Tonight

By Byron LaMasters

From a flier on campus:

"Austin City-wide Rally for Life: Uniting to oppose the building of the Planned Parenthood Abortion Facility.

Tuesday, December 2, from 7-9 PM, Doubletree Hotel, I.H. 35 & 290

Featuring Chris Danze, organizer of the Austin Contractor boycott that gained national attention by halting construction on the local $6.2 Million Planned Parenthood abortion facility, along with other dynamic pro-Life speakers, testimonials, and more.

Coalition for Life; 3300 Bee Caves Road, Suite 650; P.O. Box 183; Austin, Texas 78746 www.CoalitionForLife.com"

Will any pro-Choice activists be there? I hope so!

Buzzflash on Blumenthal on Planned Parenthood

By Jim Dallas

Sidney Blumenthal
says Austin clinic fight is
part of "culture war"

Link -- In the Battle for Pro-Choice Rights, Bush's Texas is Ground Zero

What's happening here in Austin is not isolated, not in its efforts to close down Planned Parenthood services, or in its methods of intimidation. It is another incident in a long train of abuses. Its scope may not be widely understood, but that scope is, in fact, wide. A radical, extreme war is being waged, in my view, against the American tradition, against the separation of church and state, against long-settled law, against positive social policy whose benefits are proven, against science, against the Constitution, and even against religion, in the name of religion. This radicalism involves seemingly fringe groups and the Bush White House, eccentric billionaires with bizarre agendas and the leaders of the Republican Congress.

Planned Parenthood Will Not be Deterred

By Byron LaMasters

The Daily Texan reports:

Planned Parenthood of Austin officials said Monday they would become their own general contractors for a new Austin clinic following the original contractor's abandonment of the project last week.

"We realize that this is an unusual tactic, but unconventional times call for unconventional solutions," said Austin Planned Parenthood Executive Director Glenda Parks.

San Antonio-based Browning Construction told Planned Parenthood on Wednesday the company could not find subcontractors to build the new clinic after being assailed by a phone campaign to boycott the clinic. The boycott, begun by Chris Danze, owner of Austin concrete contractor Maldonado and Danze Inc, targeted businesses working or scheduled to work on the clinic with hundreds, sometimes thousands of phone calls.

"One subcontractor received 1,200 phone calls over the course of a week," Parks said. "A small boycott became a nationwide target list."

Parks said construction will resume on the clinic, known as The Choice Project, as soon as Planned Parenthood closes out its contract with Browning, probably within a couple of weeks.

"I know that opponents of the clinic will take this as a sign to redouble their efforts," said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Danielle Tierney. "They don't know who they're dealing with."

Parks said Planned Parenthood will not need to hire any new staff to take on the added role of contractor and that the facility is still on schedule to open in fall 2004.

Very good news. It's critical that this nonsense not deter the ability of women in the Austin area to receive the health care services provided by Planned Parenthood. This clinic will be built, and if the University Democrats have to get out there with shovels and pour concrete, we'll do it. So will thousands of other Austinites. Planned Parenthood really ought to sue the subcontracters for breaking their contracts (I'm not a lawyer, so I'll let someone else go into the legal aspects involved). Meanwhile, this whole spat has helped Planned Parenthood beat their fundraising goals:

Planned Parenthood's ann-ouncement came at its eighth annual Public Affairs Luncheon, a fund-raising event commemorating Planned Parenthood's 65th year in Austin. The group raised $180,087 at the event, exceeding their goal of $175,000.

"We've seen a lift in fund-raising since the first Texas Legislative session this year," said Tierney, referring to a law passed by the Texas Legislature that cuts federal funding to organizations that perform abortions.

Planned Parenthood of Austin and five other Planned Parenthood affiliates filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Health earlier this year to keep their federal funding. That suit is now pending in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Building a Planned Parenthood Clinic

By Byron LaMasters

I know. I'm late on this one:

Construction on Planned Parenthood's South Austin clinic took a hard hit this week when the project's general contractor walked away because of intense pressure from abortion opponents.

Planned Parenthood officials said Browning Construction -- a San Antonio company that is one of the state's largest building contractors -- broke its contract to oversee construction of the 9,931-square-foot clinic.

"They were afraid their business could not survive this project," said Glenda Parks, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region.

In a written statement, company President James Browning said, "We have requested that the construction contract be terminated because we are unable to secure and retain adequate subcontractors and suppliers to complete the project in a timely manner, due to events beyond our control."

Planned Parenthood has not decided whether to take legal action and is exploring its options.

The clinic, to be located at 201 E. Ben White Blvd., would be the fourth licensed abortion provider in Austin.

It would also provide medical services such as tubal ligations, vasectomies, HIV testing and routine gynecological exams for poor or uninsured women.

Parks said two other contractors have volunteered to spearhead the construction but wouldn't give their names. Though work on the building has slowed, she said it has not stopped.

"I think in about two weeks, you'll see work as usual," she said.

On Wednesday, three former Austin mayors, a state representative and an Austin City Council member held a news conference calling on people to support Planned Parenthood.

The news conference came the same day President Bush signed a ban on a certain type of late-term abortion.

"People in Austin are tolerant," said state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin. "They are for affordable health care. We are not going to let a small group of radicals change that."

Browning's departure comes after hundreds and possibly thousands of people across the country participated in an Austin-led campaign to cripple the project.

In September, Chris Danze -- president of Maldonado and Danze Inc., a concrete construction contractor -- organized a boycott.

"Planned Parenthood is an organization with a health care wrapper, but it is a social movement at its core," he said. It's "a social movement that promotes sexual chaos, especially among our youth. Out of this sexual chaos comes the violence of abortion. That is the heart and soul of this movement."

The 48-year-old Austin man, who said he personally assists women who have troubled pregnancies, persuaded concrete suppliers to boycott the project. He kept a list of companies that worked on the facility, contacted churches and asked pro-life supporters to call the contractors.

Word got out.

News outlets across the country picked up the story, including the Christian Broadcasting Network, Parks said. Hundreds of people called companies working on the clinic.

One contractor received 1,200 calls to his business line, Parks said. Another received several hundred at his home.

Parks said the contractors felt harassed and threatened. Danze said he has told callers to be polite and respectful.

"The calls involved two elements," Danze said. "The first is that it's wrong to build an abortion chamber. The second is that it's bad for future business."

Former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd called that "economic blackmail."

"It's about tyranny," he said. "It's about harassment."

Texas Right to Life Director Elizabeth Graham called Danze a modern-day hero whose actions could inspire others to stand up against abortion. She could not recall another similar boycott in Texas.

But Kae McLaughlin of the Texas Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League called people like Danze a "tiny, vicious minority that wants its way."

Meanwhile, the battle continues. Danze says he'll continue to push the boycott. Parks says the project will move forward and that she has no plans to contact Danze.

"I don't think there's a lot of middle ground between us," she said.

Bruce Todd has it exactly right. This is "economic blackmail". A small group of radical activists have stopped constuction on a medical clinic, and it's a real shame. Off the Kuff has the story as well. I'd urge my readers to join me in following the course of action suggested by The Gunther Concept:

Okay, so all’s fair in love and war. But it seems to me that the folks behind this boycott/harassment campaign should be fair targets as well. If they think that it is their right to threaten the economic livelihood of people they don’t agree with, and call them at their home or place of business, they should be prepared to accept the same treatment. With that in mind, I’m posting below contact information for some of the individuals mentioned in the story as being behind this effort. Please use this information responsibly. Be polite but firm. Let them know that you don’t appreciate their infringement on individual rights. Call often. For businesses, let them know that you will boycott them and encourage others who do business with them to do the same.

Christopher Danze

Home Tel.: (512) 306-1326

Maldonado & Danze Inc
Business Tel.: (512) 837-9677

David Bereit

Home Tel.: (979) 690-3009

Bereit is represented by the Ambassador’s Speakers Bureaufor his role as a motivational speaker. Feel free to call them and let them know how you feel about the fact that they represent a client who has no regard for women’s rights.

Toll-Free Phone: (877) 425-4700, ext. 235
Fax: (615) 661-4344
E-mail: gloria.leyda@AmbassadorAgency.com

Mark Lynn Proeger

He lives in Austin. There is a contact number for a church he works at, but I do draw the line somewhere. However, he is in the habit of leading a series of informal meetings (“LQFA ; Lots of Questions, a Few Answers”) discussing faith type issue at a local coffee house. Call them up and let them know how you feel about the fact that they host an event run by someone who opposes women’s rights.

Spiderhouse Coffee Shop

Business Tel.: 512 480 9562

It's critical that these folks here understand that the majority of people in Austin are pro-choice and want women to be able to have access to the health care resources provided by Planned Parenthood. It's a disgrace that this had to happen in the first place. We'll build this clinic. Hand me a shovel.

What Makes a City Cool?

By Byron LaMasters

The Austin American Statesman had an interesting editorial today about what makes Austin cool:

Austin was considered one of the cooler cities in the country before cities were graded on cool. It had Willie, Hippie Hollow, Barton Springs Pool, the Broken Spoke and the Armadillo World Headquarters when no one much knew about them.

The technology boom in the 1990s gave Austin and its cool factor an international profile. Austin was gaining in reputation even as some of the institutions that made the town a center for hipness were declining and dying. But some still hang on, and other people and places have arisen as new Austin icons.

[...]

Cool cities did not become cool overnight, so creating them from scratch will be a challenge. Cool cities did not become the way they are because some person or group said they were going to make the place hip. They became that way because they had a critical mass of young people, a hot local scene and an economy to make them work.

But most of all, they were authentic. And that you can't get from a task force, think tank or formula.

The editorial was in response to the "cool cities" initiative pushed by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is pushing a "Cool Cities" initiative to make people want to live, work and shop in Michigan's cities.

"Cool cities mean hot jobs," Michigan's 43-year-old freshman governor said at the Digital Detroit conference on Wednesday.

She launched the project last month, after a Census Bureau report that listed metropolitan Detroit as first in the nation in the flight of young adults between 2000 and 2002.

The report said 33,371 people ages 25-34 -- one of every 20 in that group -- moved away in those two years.

"When young people leave Michigan, they take their talent, entrepreneurial spirit and job skills with them," Granholm said. "How is it that we can make a magnet for that kind of work force?"

The answer, Granholm said, is creating cool cities around the state.

Cool cities are places where people with talent and imagination can find work, along with rich cultural, social and recreational opportunities -- ingredients for a quality lifestyle, the governor said.

In other words, places like Austin, Texas.

The Statesman editorials says that the plan won't work, because "cool cities" are authentic, not planned:

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has launched a "Cool Cities" initiative to bring a little of Austin to the Wolverine state, according to The Associated Press. She's pushing the idea because the Detroit area leads the country in the number of young adults leaving the state.

Granholm said she wants to make Detroit a place that will attract and keep young people and their "talent, entrepreneurial spirit and job skills." And she wants to create cool cities throughout the state, where talented and imaginative young adults can work and play.

The first thing an Austinite might remind the Michigan governor is that Austin is a cool city, not a cold one. A Michigan winter is not conducive to long bicycle rides through the hills, outdoor barbecues and canoe excursions on a local river or lake.

A second reminder would be that Austin didn't set out to create a hip city; it simply allowed it. Trying too hard to be hip can easily backfire, because the first test of a cool city is its authenticity. A Six Flags-Disney-Seaworld version of Austin, San Francisco or Boston simply won't fly.

Michigan can build a Broken Spoke or a Continental Club, but they can only become local institutions after decades of showing people a good time. Michigan can court Starbucks, but it will never have the soul of a Little City or a Jo's. Michigan can create an inner-city hiking trail or a bicycle route, but walking and biking aren't the same on ice.

Well. Some of the criticism here is a little unfair. While many Texans, Floridians and others would object, it is possible to have a "cool city" where there's ice. Take New York, Boston or Chicago for example (or even Madison, Wisconsin, which is often compared to Austin), but the authenticity arguement is on the mark. "Cool cities" don't just pop up. It takes decades to make a place where people want to call home. Then again, a lot of making a place "cool" is rebuilding that authenticity. And that's what Detroit is trying to do:

"Places also are valued for authenticity and uniqueness," Florida said.

For Detroit boosters, that means fostering and publicizing its musical creativity, from the Motown sound of the 1960s to its place as the techno music capital today, officials say.

And it means encouraging entertainment magnets such as suburban Royal Oak and Ferndale and similar urban districts developing near the Wayne State University campus, they say.

In recent years, Ferndale's Nine Mile Road strip shopping district has sprouted with coffee houses, clubs and music stores.

Typical is Xhedos Cafe, with its outdoor seating and an indoor stage that features a nightly open mike for poets, singers and guitarists.

"It's nice to work here," said staffer Kevin Peyok, 30, of Detroit. After work, he frequents the area's restaurants, clubs and music stores.

"I think it's a pretty cool place," he said.

I think they're pretty much on the mark. No, Detroit will never have people biking to work in the winter, but Austin will never have people taking out their cross-country skis to get to work, so you take what you've got. I'll give Granholm credit. She's done more than just look at jobs. What good are jobs if no one wants them? What good is a job if people don't want to move to your city or state? Will Detroit ever be as cool as Austin? Hell, no, but if Granholm can make enough young people willing to stay there or come there, she's done a great service for the future of her state.

KGSR Pokes at DeLay, Redistricting

By Jim Dallas

Local radio station KGSR 107.1 FM has started airing ads for its "Give Austin to a Friend" promotion making fun of redistricting.

In the ad, which jokingly pits morning DJs Kevin & Keven against a villainous caricature of DeLay, the promotion is threatened by Republican schemes to make Austin "cease to exist."

The DeLay character says he's "carvin' up [Austin] like so much cheap brisket", magically turning West Austin into "East Midland", North Austin into "South Waco", and South Austin into "Laredo del Norte".

Kevin and Kevin: "You're Crazy!"

DeLay: "Well boys, crazy's in the majority!"

(Pardon to KGSR if I misquoted any part of their ad).

Anyhow, it sure reflects a level of political consciousness not normally seen on FM radio morning shows these days... But then again, Austin is weird.

How Stupid is TOO Stupid?

By Byron LaMasters

No, I'm not talking about our president, but rather about an Austin schoolbus driver who got a DWI:

An Austin school district bus driver has been arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated — with children in the bus — after police said they found her at the helm of the bus in Southwest Austin on Friday afternoon.

Christina Bell Lowery, 47, has been released from the Travis County Jail on a $7,500 bond.

Police said a student on the bus called her father during the ride and said she was concerned that the bus had stopped at a fast-food restaurant. The father showed up a few minutes later and called police.

Authorities said the bus then began moving again and eventually ended up on Escarpment Boulevard, where Lowery was arrested.

There ought to be harsher penalties for people who drive schoolbuses while intoxicated. That's just obscenely irresponsible... and stupid.

Austin City Council Opposes Patriot Act

By Byron LaMasters

In a resolution passed by the Austin City Council yesterday, the council noted its objection to the Patriot Act and Patriot Act II, although it did say that it would cooperate with the provisions of the act. The Austin American Statesman reports:

The Austin City Council officially put in writing its criticism of the USA Patriot Act on Thursday, joining the more than 170 cities and counties nationwide that have passed similar resolutions.

Council Members Jackie Goodman, Daryl Slusher, Danny Thomas and Raul Alvarez voted for the resolution, which also opposed the passing of the USA Patriot Act II. Mayor Will Wynn and Council Members Brewster McCracken and Betty Dunkerley abstained.

Austin's resolution expresses concern that the Patriot Act, lauded by federal lawmakers as an essential tool in fighting terrorism, might have the potential of violating fundamental liberties.

The resolution -- sponsored by Goodman, Thomas and Alvarez -- stopped short of directing police not to cooperate with federal authorities. And as Slusher requested, it does not declare any parts of the act unconstitutional.

The act was approved by Congress shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It gives the government surveillance powers that critics say could lead to the infringement of citizens' civil rights.

It changes federal officials' methods for obtaining records, search warrants and wiretaps if the investigation involves international espionage or terrorism. Agents still must convince a judge that any action is necessary.

The University Democrats endorsed this proposal at our first meeting of the semester. I supported the resolution, although in all honesty, it accomplishes little. I supported Will Wynn and Brewster McCraken in their campaigns, and I understand and respect their decision to abstain on this issue as (I think) they believe that it's not the job of a city government to pass resolutions on issues in which they have no authority.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Race Heats Up

By Byron LaMasters

The Daily Texan reports on the Precint 1 County Commissioner race between Celia Israel and Ron Davis. The University of Texas is located in Precinct 1 (as is my apartment).

I blogged on this race a few weeks ago.

Primary Time in Austin

By Byron LaMasters

It looks as if Democrats in Travis County will have a primary for the County Commissioner Precinct 1 seat. I live in the precinct, and I have not yet decided who I will support. The incumbent is Ron Davis (article is from his 1998 primary race. I could not find a current article/website extensively profiling him). The challenger is Celia Israel. The race is just developing. A friend of mine involved with the Israel campaign tells me that she's running because Ron Davis just doesn't do much, and Israel would be more of an activist for the district. While I don't follow commissioners court politics very closely, I rarely hear much about Ron Davis. He seems to have taken a low-profile. Then again, maybe I just don't pay enough attention. He could be doing all sorts of things that I don't know about. Israel has an impressive resume (in addition to having a good friend of mine helping her campaign), so I'll definitely highly consider supporting her regardless.

But having said all of that. It's hard to overlook the fact that Davis is Black and Israel is Hispanic. Democrats redistricted the county commissioners seats in 2001 (map, here pdf file) to create one heavily Republican seat (3) with most of the western half of the county, one Hispanic (Democratic) majority district (4 - southeast), one White Democratic majority district (2 - central and northeast) and one Black influence district (1 - east). The problem with that seat, however, is that while Blacks have held the district in recent years, there simply aren't enough Blacks in Travis County to have a majority-Black commissioners district. The district is only 21% Black Voting Age Population. (33% Hispanic and 39% White. Population breakdown for all county commissioner districts is here). While I doubt that Israel or Davis will resort to race-baiting, no doubt, some of their supporters will. Interestingly, White voters will decide which candidate wins. So, as a White Democratic Primary voter, here's my deal. The first candidate to resort to race-baiting tactics will automatically ensure my support of their opponent. Hopefully, we won't have any of that, and I'll be able to make a decision based on the merits of the candidates. We shall see...

Update: It's interesting to see the establishment support that Israel has already lined up in a race against an incumbent this early. The support includes Austin City Councilman Brewster McCracken, Bettie Naylor, former state reps. Lena Guerrero, Glen Maxey and Ann Kitchen and current State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez.

Austin's Future

By Byron LaMasters

Liveablecity commissioned a poll of Austin residents on their thoughts on the economy and priorities for the city now, and in the future. So, go here for results and analysis. Check out the Lasso analysis, too.

Austin is Weird

By Byron LaMasters

And we're proud of it. The Austin American Statesman reports. Link via ToT:

At first, only a few people stood in front of the Starbucks at Congress Avenue and Sixth Street with their umbrellas in hand.

The crowd grew to about a hundred, at a time when typically only a handful of people sit on benches waiting for a bus. By 7:20 p.m., it was clear something was afoot. A man in a cowboy hat passed out instructions:

"Your role: you are a member of the Austin Chapter of the International Mary Poppins Fan Club, an organization dedicated to spreading the virtue of supercalifragilistic- expialidocious," it read. "Today, you are meeting up with some other members of the club to participate in Bert's Synchronized Crosswalk."

Participants were directed to walk across the street at Sixth and Congress, singing and opening their umbrellas only while in the crosswalks. They were to cross again and again, completing two circuits, then disperse.

Some sang songs from the Julie Andrews movie while others just twirled their umbrellas and laughed.

Organizers of the stunt claim the episode, which lasted about 10 minutes, was Austin's first brush with "flash mobbing." The term has come to mean a large group of people who gather to perform some brief act, and then quickly disperse.

More info here, here, here and here. There's a reason Austin doesn't want to be represented by Republicans from Houston or San Antonio. We're too weird. They just wouldn't understand.

Austin Smoking Ordinance Delayed

By Byron LaMasters

Last week, I wrote that the Austin City Council was considering a delay of it's smoking ban bars, restaurants and music venues. The ban was passed by a 4-3 vote last month. Two days later, the final council seat was won in a run-off by an anti-ban candidate, Brewster McCracken (who I supported, against pro-ban Margot Clarke). McCracken's addition to the council, along with the departure of pro-ban mayor Gus Garcia (replaced by anti-ban mayor Will Wynn), gave the anti-ban forces a 4-3 majority on the council. Yesterday, by a vote of 5-2, the council voted to delay the ban until January 2, 2004. The Austin American Statesman reports:

Like some horror-show monster, Austin's smoking ordinance seems to come out only after dark.

It also never seems to die.

City Council members voted 5-2 late Thursday to put off a smoking ban in most restaurants, bars and music venues until Jan. 2. It was the second late-night vote on the issue in six weeks.

And it is unlikely to be the final act. A majority of the council has voiced opposition to a ban and has been eager to find a compromise that would ease requirements on bar owners, who fear it will cut into their business.

Health groups urging a total ban have warned that a compromise probably would damage the health of waiters, waitresses, bartenders and other employees in smoky rooms.

The new rules were scheduled to take effect Sept. 1. The council is supposed to vote in late September on the city's toughest budget in well over a decade.

Mayor Will Wynn, who opposes the smoking ban, has frequently noted the city is preparing for potential tax increases, layoffs and other trappings of a budgetary nightmare.

He said Austinites do not need the distraction of the spring's biggest controversy through the summer maelstrom.

Although the council has been split throughout the debate, there was more unanimity for a delay.

Just Council Members Danny Thomas and Daryl Slusher voted against Wynn's proposal.

"I still support the ordinance, but I think it does make sense to defer the implementation of it for a few months until we decide what's going to happen to it," Council Member Betty Dunkerley said.

The council has changed since the smoking ordinance passed. Mayor Gus Garcia, who championed stricter rules, left office shortly after the measure passed.

Wynn, who was elected mayor in May, replaced Garcia.

And Brewster McCracken, whose opposition to a ban became a cornerstone of his council campaign, now has a seat on the dais.

Council Members Jackie Goodman and Raul Alvarez opposed the ban from the beginning, while Dunkerley, Slusher and Thomas supported it.

Even with opposition to the ordinance, few expect members to pull back to current rules that allow burning cigarettes at times in many restaurants and in bars almost all of the time.

Instead, most members are waiting to see what comes out of a city committee made up of health advocates and bar owners that is exploring the issue.

So far, the committee has found little room for compromise. But the council has already shown its willingness to look for middle ground, even if it's unpopular.

Although a majority favored stricter smoking regulations, the council balked at a total ban last month. The final ordinance has exemptions for bingo halls, billiard parlors and meeting halls for fraternal groups.

Both sides of the debate complained about the exemptions.

Health groups said a bartender in a pool hall deserved the same protection as one in a nonspecialty bar.

Owners warned that smokers -- the majority of their patrons -- would more likely buy their drinks in a pool hall if they could light up there.

Austin Smoking Ban Status

By Byron LaMasters

Last month Austin passed a smoking ban for bars, restaurants and music venues by 4-3 margin. Two days later, the final council seat was won in a run-off by an anti-ban candidate, Brewster McCracken (who I supported, against pro-ban Margot Clarke). McCracken's addition to the council, along with the departure of pro-ban mayor Gus Garcia (replaced by anti-ban mayor Will Wynn), gave the anti-ban forces a 4-3 majority on the council. The majority is now seeking to delay the ban scheduled to go into effect on September 1:

They are not exactly addicted to it, but Austin City Council members are having a hard time putting down the citywide smoking ban.

The issue that ostensibly got its final resolution last month will come up for yet another vote next week, and even that might not be the last one. Mayor Will Wynn has proposed putting off the implementation of the ordinance until January.

Wynn, who opposed the ban as a council member, said there are too many questions about which businesses can continue catering to smokers.

The ordinance would ban smoking in bars, restaurants and music venues but allow it in billiard halls, bingo parlors and meeting halls for fraternal organizations.

Some bar owners have complained that the exemption provides an unfair advantage to competitors or will be a drain on their businesses. Health groups countered that the ordinance would protect the health of employees in bars and venues where smoking is now allowed relatively freely.

Wynn also said the implementation date -- Sept. 1 -- falls in the middle of the city's budget deliberations, and the smoking ordinance will be too distracting for council members trying to weigh spending cuts or tax increases.

The city needs to focus on the budget "and virtually nothing else," Wynn said. "It's not practical for us to clean up these loose ends prior to September 1."

A city committee also is considering the issue and is expected to report its recommendations this fall.

Some supporters of the ban immediately worried that the delay might be the first step in reversing the measure.

But Council Member Betty Dunkerley, part of the slim majority that installed the ban, said the new City Council might overturn the ordinance if a vote isn't put off.

"I would rather wait on the implementation than try to implement something that might be amended shortly thereafter, if not before," Dunkerley said. "I think the less confusion we have, the better."

On June 5, shortly before midnight, the council banned burning cigarettes in almost all of Austin's public buildings. Less than 48 hours later, Brewster McCracken, who campaigned against the ban, won the runoff for the last council seat.

McCracken joined Wynn and Council Members Jackie Goodman and Raul Alvarez -- who opposed the ordinance -- as part of a new majority that might overturn the ban. Dunkerley supported the ordinance with Council Members Daryl Slusher and Danny Thomas and former Mayor Gus Garcia.

Garcia said Thursday that Wynn's delay "basically is another way to kill it."

Julie Winckler, spokeswoman for the Tobacco-Free Austin Coalition, which has led the push for a total ban, said a delay isn't necessary because the council has heard arguments on both sides.

"I think we all can see the writing on the wall, that this is an effort to weaken the ordinance," she said.

Opponents of the ban, particularly bar owners worried about losing customers, said a delay would allow them to look for alternatives that might be less worrisome for business.

"I think it was kind of a rush to judgment," said John Wickham, owner of the Elysium nightclub and president of the Red River District Association. "I honestly believe that we'll be able to come up with something a little bit more thoughtful than what was passed."

I don't smoke, and I support smoking bans in most public buildings and resturaunts, but I think that smoking bans in bars go too far. The ban easily has many unintended consequences, such as helping bars with patios and hurting bars without, and also increasing pedestrian traffic, as people go outside the bars to smoke (which is an issue in and around 6th street). I do believe that part of the reason for McCracken's large margin of victory in the run-off was due to younger voters, upset about the smoking ban, turning out to support him. I know more than a few people that voted for McCracken in the run-off on that issue, that otherwise probably would not have voted.