Houston, TX

Amanda Ulman and perennial candidate Outlaw Josey Wales IV are challenging Mayor Bill White in the upcoming mayoral election. Mayor White is seeking a third (and final) term.

You’ll also be asked to vote for four open Houston City Council seats, two open seats on the Houston Independent School District board of trustees, among others. For more information about candidates, see the Houston Chronicle.

What are the biggest issues you are considering for the upcoming election?

What do you think about the various candidates on the ballot?

election, mayoral election, mayor bill white, Outlaw Josey Wales IV, Amanda Ulman, Houston city council, Houston independent school district, HISD

On Thursday, August 30, Congressman Nick Lampson is hosting a lunch at the Starfire Grill on Bay Area Blvd in Clear Lake. Today he’s in Fort Bend County.

Lampson, who represents the 22nd District of Texas, regularly meets with the public in his district to hear from his constituents. For a schedule of events and to find out when he’s coming to your area, see his Web site or scroll and read below:

Legislative Update at the Sugar Land Exchange Club Meeting
Time: 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
Location: Sweetwater Country Club, 4400 Palm Royale Blvd, Sugar Land, TX
I will give a legislative update to the Sugar Land Exchange Club.
For more information please call 281-240-3700.

Speech to the Sugar Land Rotary
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Sweetwater Country Club, 4400 Palm Royale Blvd, Sugar Land, TX
I will be the featured speaker at the Sugar Land Rotary weekly luncheon.
For more information please call 281-240-3700.

Congress @ Your Corner
Time: 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Another Time Soda Fountain & Café, 800 Third Street, Rosenberg, Texas
Congress @ Your Corner takes my office into the community to hear directly from constituents on issues and concerns.  All residents are welcome and encouraged to attend.
For more information or to RSVP please call 281-240-3700.

Town Hall Meeting in Richmond to Address Skyrocketing College Tuition Rates
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Wharton County Junior College-Fort Bend Technical Center Rm. TC101, 5333 FM 1644, Richmond, TX
I will host a Town Hall meeting to discuss the rising costs of college with a panel of local administrators and students at Wharton County Junior College. We will discuss the ways Congress is working to make college more affordable.
For more information or to RSVP please call 281-240-3700.

Thursday, August 30, 2007 - Clear Lake

Congressman Lampson Hosts “Congress @ Your Corner” in Clear Lake
Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Starfire Grill, 2412 Bay Area Blvd, Houston, TX
Congress @ Your Corner takes my office into the community to hear directly from constituents on issues and concerns. 
For more information please call 281-461-6300.

Congressman Lampson Hosts a Town Hall Meeting at the University of Houston-Clear Lake
Time: 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Location: University of Houston-Clear Lake, Student Service Building Room 1.1003, 2700 Bay Area Blvd
I will host a Town Hall meeting to discuss the rising costs of college with a panel of local administrators and students at UH-CL. He will discuss ways Congress is working to make college more affordable.
For more information or to RSVP please call 281-461-6300.

Sunday, September 2, 2007 - Galveston County

“Congress @ Your Corner” in Santa Fe with Commissioner Bryan Lamb and Constable Joyce Vail
Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Big Chief Food Store, 12460 Hwy 6, Santa Fe, TX 77510
Congress @ Your Corner takes my office into our community to hear directly from constituents on the issues.
For more information please call 281-461-6300.

“Congress @ Your Corner” in La Marque with Mayor Larry Crow
Time: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Location: La Marque City Hall, Community Room 1109 B Bayou Road, La Marque, TX
For more information please call 281-461-6300.

Nick Lampson, Lampson, Congress @ your corner, Clear Lake, Starfire Grill

Found a new local blog this morning that looks interesting: Professors R Squared. They claim to be the only openly Republican political science professors in Houston, maybe even Texas. Sounds like they would get along nicely with Benjamin Shapiro, who someone suggested to James Campbell that the Chronicle hire since Cragg Hines is retiring.

Benjamin Shapiro’s columns, though, are extremely ridiculous. The Chron is looking for a local conservative, which doesn’t bug me too much but also doesn’t exactly replace Cragg Hines, but Shapiro is absurd. Can you imagine the Chron running a column titled “The Radical Evil Of The Palestinian Arab Population”? Because that’s what last week’s Ben Shapiro column was called. This week’s was slightly tamer, focusing on “The Big Lie About The Great Depression.”

The reason that this blog reminded me of Ben Shapiro was that he wrote a book challenging the liberal bias in professors at colleges and universities. He also wrote a book about “the porn generation,” but that’s another post altogether. His relevant book is called Brainwashed. In this book, Shapiro proves that colleges are really “dungeons of the mind that indoctrinate students to become socialists, atheists, race-baiters, and narcissists.” Mmhmm. I intend to read it myself and find out.

So I think we can probably count him out as far as the Chronicle goes. Maybe one of the professors would like to apply for the job?

politics, education, conservatives, blogs, benjamin shapiro, houston chronicle

Avid Chron readers might remember a story a while back about free airport parking for elected officials. There was a big debate over whether or not it’s a fair practice in the first place and whether or not some elected officials abuse the privilege. In that same vein, I learned today via TTC News that 5,500 free EZ Tags have been issued to elected officials, county and state employees, firefighters and police officers.

The tags are only supposed to be used for business, but how can that be enforced? The system has been in place for 15 years and has never gone under review to make sure the free tags are really only used for job-related trips. None of the free tag users are ever required to account for their trips or turn in any kind of paperwork to prove they only use their tags for work trips. The policy was finally placed under review last month, so I’ll be on the edge of my driver’s seat until we find out what’s going to happen.

In June of 2006, the tags cost $82,557.80. That’s only an average of about $15 per tag, which doesn’t sound too outrageous, but an average really doesn’t demonstrate any abuse of the system. How do drivers feel about this? One that was interviewed called it “unacceptable” with no explanation for his feelings. This driver isn’t quite so outraged, but I don’t like the idea of John Culberson driving to a fat sandwich shop on the Beltway on my dime - if, in fact, the taxpayers do pay for this. It’s unclear from what I’ve read where the money for this service comes from. I’ll try to investigate it and report back later on.

houston, transportation, politics

If you’re part of the vast majority of Houstonians, then shame on you for not voting in last weekend’s City Council runoff election. With less than 3% of registered voters casting ballots, we managed to elect a fine new city councilwoman. And now that one Noriega is safe in an elected position for now, many Texans have turned their attention to her husband, State Rep. Rick Noriega and 2008’s Senate race.

John Cornyn is not the most popular senator - in Texas or in Washington. It’s a rare congressman who gets the honor of having a site like Stop Cornyn show up the year before an election. But the anti-Cornyn sentiment has channeled itself into a positive outlet as well: Draft Rick Noriega. Whether or not Noriega, a fourth-generation Houstonian (impressive!), ends up running, Houston has definitely changed the face of this race already. Burnt Orange Report ran a post on this topic on Monday. Will it be Rick Noriega? What about “influential and ambitious” Bill White?

I’m a fan of both Houston politicians, but I think there’s something to be said against Mayor White opposing John Cornyn next year. Bill White is famous (or infamous) for his business-like management style and his strong executive power. He was Deputy Secretary of Energy under Clinton, Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, and now Mayor of Houston; a legislative position doesn’t exactly suit him, especially when a lot of his interactions with legislatures have been contentious. Also, a 2008 campaign would mean Bill White leaving Houston earlier than he has to, and after all he’s done here and all he has left to do, I’d hate to see that happen. If we want to talk about the 2010 governor race, that’s a whole different story and a whole different post.

PS: The answer to yesterday’s trivia question was the Astrodome.

Rick Noriega, John Cornyn, Election 2008, Bill White