Last week, Houston City Council Member Jolanda Jones sent a letter signed with 70 names of current and retired firefighters in support of her efforts to investigate the "very serious allegations of sexual and racial harassment and retaliation within the Houston Fire Department."
Looking into these allegations is not an indictment of all of the Houston Fire Department. It is, justifiably so, an effort to identify discrimination based on gender and race and the policies presently in place that allow it to continue – and to work on solutions that will end discrimination and improve conditions for all fire fighters. Now is the time. It’s gone on long enough.
Jones had been endorsed by the Firefighters for her upcoming reelection campaign but on Monday that endorsement was rescinded in a letter from firefighters union president Jeff Cannon.
The consensus of our members is that your failed leadership and repeated mischaracterizations about Houston firefighters cannot go unchallenged. The list of our specific concerns is too long to detail here, but our decision ultimately was caused by your facilitation of misleading City Council testimony, your distribution of a false firefighter 'support' letter, and your serial mischaracterization of our union's representation of our members and our efforts to improve Houston Fire Department workplace and labor conditions.
In other Houston city election news, Mayoral candidate Gene Locke has picked up the support of State Sen. Mario Gallegos, State Rep. Carol Alvarado, Constable Victor Trevino and HISD Trustee Diana Davila. Kuff has more on the endorsement race in Houston.
As confusionabounds over who was responsible for the difficulties surrounding the deployment of PODs (Points Of Delivery) for ice, water, and food in Harris County following Hurricane Ike, State Sen. Mario Gallegos (D-Houston) says the blame rests with the state.
Gallegos, whose senate district included the hardest hit areas of Harris County and Houston, told Burnt Orange Report that the difficulties began Sunday around 3 p.m., shortly before a major press conference in Houston.
"Yesterday, just before that press conference, someone from the state called the city, the county, and FEMA and said that they were not participating in the PODs program," Gallegos said.
Until Sunday, the state had planned to participate in the deployment of the PODs. Who exactly from the state placed the call hasn't yet been confirmed. Some sources tell Burnt Orange Report the call came from State Emergency Management Coordinator Jack Colley.
In 2007 two major bills hit the floor of the House and Senate. House Bills 626 and 218 would have instituted a modern day poll tax and restricted the rights for Texas citizens to have a say in who represents them.
Leadership from the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) in the House and Mario Gallegos in the Senate defeated these Republican bills. And not surprisingly, a new study shows that legislation like this has had a dramatic impact on voting.
"It is incredibly clear how voter I.D. requirements disproportionately affect and suppress minorities," said Logan, professor of sociology. "This data shows that if voter I.D. policies had not been in place in 2004, voter turnout would have increased by more than 1.6 million...
There's not much more that needs to be said. The Republican continue to want as few people in the process as possible. They use fear tactics to sell it to the most racist of Texans and Americans, and put bad public policy ahead of positive solutions. As long as the House is lead by Tom Craddick and his cronies, racism, hate, and fear will dominate the public discourse.
[This year, in addition to recognizing its Texan of the Year, the Texas Progressive Alliance elected to recognize a number of other Texans who have contributed to Texas politics and the Progressive cause during 2007. This week, leading up to the TOY announcement, we bring you our Texas Progressive Alliance Gold Stars. Our Silver Stars may be found here.]
State Sen. Mario Gallegos
We all like to think that when our beliefs and principles are truly put to the test, that we will be able to answer the call and stand up for the things we hold dear, even if it means putting our own well-being at risk. Most of us never find ourselves in that position, and it's often just as well, for as the Apostle Peter could tell us, it's easier said than done. But when it is done, it serves as an inspiration for all of us.
State Sen. Mario Gallegos was in that position this spring. Having undergone a liver transplant shortly after the legislative session began, he spent most of the rest of the session in Houston recuperating. His absence meant that the Democratic Senate caucus had only ten members in it, which by itself was not enough to block a divisive partisan bill, such as the many that were filed to restrict voting rights by requiring photo ID. Sen. Gallegos asked Lt. Gov. Dewhurst to give him notice if a voter ID bill was going to be on the docket, so he could do his duty and prevent it from passing. Dewhurst made a one-time-only guarantee, so against the advice of his doctor, Gallegos arrived in Austin and vowed to stay there until sine die to protect all voters' rights. And it was a good and necessary thing that he did, as later events proved Dewhurst's willingness to pass such a bill by any means necessary. His health was weak, but his will was strong, and the battle was at a standstill.
Ailing state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, has a hospital bed set up in the sergeant's office -- about a 100 feet from Gallegos' Senate chamber desk, Monday so that he could help block a contentious voter ID bill from debate.
"I'm hurting. I'm hurting," Gallegos said a few minutes ago as the Senate went into session.
[...]
In the meantime, Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, is monitoring Gallegos' health. Deuell is a physician.
In the face of such resistance, Dewhurst finally capitulated, and let Sen. Gallegos return home where he could get the treatment he needed. He left the Senate chamber to a standing ovation, and the lasting gratitude of all Texans who cherish the right to vote.
For literally putting his life on the line in order to protect democratic principles, State Sen. Mario Gallegos is a deserving winner of a Gold Star from the Texas Progressive Alliance.
Had Molly Ivins been born in 1984 instead of 1944, she might have been a modern-day blogger. Instead, she was an award-winning, best selling journalist, columnist and author. A Texan, a progressive, a feminist, and a survivor, Molly Ivins passing earlier this year marked the end of an era for Texans and those who loved her fiery, populist brand. Molly Ivins gave progressives a prominent, national, voice.
In honoring someone as distinguished as the late, great Molly Ivins, sometimes it's best to do so in someone else's words. In this case, Molly's:
I used to say, having once been a card-carrying Sixties radical, that if I had to be called a liberal, I’d just as soon be the worst kind of liberal--a bleeding heart. I wound up being a liberal because I was for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam and that’s what I got called. I missed the New Deal and McCarthyism and all that good business.
I’ve got more important things to worry about--three-year-old kids getting raped and denied admission to a hospital because their mamas don’t have any money and things like that. I carry neither brief nor guilt for the many sins of liberals past and present: there’s too much to bleed over. And laugh over.
Indeed, Molly Ivins. Indeed. For this and more, we name you a Texas Progressive Alliance 2007 Gold Star.
Charles Kuffner, Hal, and McBlogger make some great points about the silliness of some people's calls for Rick Noriega, candidate for US. Senate to run for some other office, like Railroad Commissioner (huh?) or Sen. Mario Gallegos state senate seat.
Sen. Mario Gallegos, who risked his health this session to defeat the Voter ID bills, has publicly responded to these 'whispers' directly.
Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said he took great exception to comments Maldonado made to a reporter that state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, should forsake a possible bid for the U.S. Senate and instead announce for the Texas Senate when Gallegos retires.
"I think Juan Maldonado is full of the Christmas turkey," Gallegos said. "For him to tell Rick to step aside and where to run, and for him to talk about what should happen in Harris County politics, that is strange. I do not tell Maldonado what to do in South Texas."
...
Gallegos said he was backing Noriega for U.S. Senate. An announcement that Noriega is setting up an exploratory committee could come next week.
"I think you are looking at the next U.S. senator from Texas in Rick Noriega," Gallegos said. "Rick has already talked to his colleagues in the House and a lot of people have called him and encouraged him to run. I think he will beat Mikal Watts and anybody else in the Democratic primary and then we will see what goes happens further down the road."
Gallegos is right- candidates should run for the offices they want to and best match their abilities and Noriega's are certainly more applicable to US Senate than Railroad Commissioner of all things. The whispers in South Texas aren't driven out of concern for matching candidates backgrounds for electoral office (if they were, they might be urging attorney Mikal Watts to run for one of the multiple statewide judicial offices for which only Judge Susan Criss has announced).
So enough of this silly rumor-mongering based upon $$$ and posturing. We have John Cornyn to beat.
Partly from their passion about voter protection, partly because he made a couple of TCAN staffers misty-eyed when he returned to Austin Monday (against the counsel of his worried doctors) to continue to stand against voter suppression, and partly because he attracted so many votes in their recent online poll, I have it from a reliable source that the True Courage Action Network is presenting Houston's beloved senator a special award Thursday night at their awards event.
He probably won't be able to be there himself, but some of his staff are expected to accept it on his behalf. If you don't go for any other reason, this one should be worth the trip to The Westgate.
I suspect the Senator would love to hear that his award attracted cheers from a huge audience. He certainly deserves nothing less for gambling with his life to stand for what he believes in.
This story is absolutely incredible so I'm posted the entire thing from the Houston Chron Blog. As R.G. Ratliffe reported, "Gallegos says it is worth risking his life to block the bill in memory of his grandmothers."
Ailing state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, has a hospital bed set up in the sergeant's office -- about a 100 feet from Gallegos' Senate chamber desk, Monday so that he could help block a contentious voter ID bill from debate.
"I'm hurting. I'm hurting," Gallegos said a few minutes ago as the Senate went into session.
Gallegos went through a liver transplant surgery earlier this year and had a follow-up procedure on Friday.
Doctors wanted Gallegos to stay in Houston. But doing so would have given Republicans enough votes to pass a voter identification bill.
Gallegos and every Democrat oppose the legislation, contending that it's part of an orchestrated campaign to suppress voting of low-income and elderly citizens. Gallegos had a blood test taken this morning.
"They could call me back this afternoon," he said.
In the meantime, Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, is monitoring Gallegos' health. Deuell is a physician.
(Tuesday is the final deadline to pass all bills in the House and Senate. With the esteemed Houston Senator gone, voter suppression is back on the table for the sinister David Dewhurst. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
The Austin American Statesman reports this morning
AUSTIN — Sen. Mario Gallegos, who received a liver transplant earlier this year, will go to Houston for a surgical procedure and may not return to Austin for the rest of the legislative session, Gallegos' spokesman said.
Against his doctor's wishes, Gallegos has been in Austin for the last couple of weeks. The Democrat from Houston has missed most of the session.
His absence leaves an opening for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to bring up a bill to require voters to prove their identity, which brought the Senate to a standstill this week. Without all 11 Democratic senators on the floor, Republicans have the minimum votes needed to start debate.
... SB 1317, an industry-friendly bill by Sen. Mike Jackson (R-LaPorte), that would block Houston and other cities from using nuisance ordinances to regulate air pollution from outside the city. Clean air advocate Meg Healy, with GHASP!, was blunt in her criticism of Jackson’s proposal. “This bill has no other purpose than to protect the most significant polluters from the increased scrutiny of the city,” she said. ...
“Nobody has a right to chemically alter the atmosphere in a way that you know is dangerous to human health…and send [pollution] for somebody’s child or grandmother to breath,” said (Houston Mayor Bill) White. ... Sen. Jackson closed on his bill with this Rumsfeldian gem: “The more you learn, the more that you learn there’s more to learn.” Sen. Jackson has been in the Texas Legislature for 20 years.
There's a very old country song called "Twenty Years is a Mighty Long Time" and I'd have to agree. That's way too long for one dumbass to be in the Senate.
Sen. Gallegos is opposed to SB 1317, a bill that would restrict Houston's ability to clean up its air, and he is going to make sure the Senate knows.
SB 1317 is a response to Mayor Bill White's attempt to clean up Houston. The Houston Mayor wants to regulate companies outside of Houston city limits that feel the need to eliminate breathable air for Houstonians.
Seems fair. If you destroy surrounding communities, then you should be regarded as a nuisance and forced to abide by Houston regulation. As Quorum Report points out, Gallegos agrees so much, "he will continue to talk on Jackson bill... 'at least until I have to take my insulin.'"
UPDATE: After a 15 minute speech and an hour long recess, Sen. Mario Gallegos sat down. SB1317 passed 20 to 11.
