Tweeting Jailbirds

Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon received some local press with his announcement that he will be Tweeting the names of those arrested for DWI this weekend. The reasoning, I assume, is that this may serve as some sort of deterrent. Those that may consider driving drunk, may think twice about it if they know their good name will be blasted all over the internet. Your mug is already guaranteed to appear in the newspaper later in the week, but this would be more instantaneous as BlackBerries and iPhones buzzed the hips of Tweeters all over Montgomery County upon your arrest.

It's uncertain how much of a deterrent this could serve to be, considering that the DA's office Twitter account currently only has 41 followers as of tonight (one is me). After some exposure on the Houston news, you'd expect them to receive a little more interest than that! At a minimum, I'd expect some people to  be a little curious about who's getting busted, especially when you have DWI-prone local elected officials like we do. Is it that people just don't care who is getting a DWI or is it the case that Twitter just isn't very widely used at this point? A cursory review of the follower list found a local lawyer and a bail bondsman. This service will make their life a little easier, I would guess.

So the jury is still out on this Twitter service by the DA's office. Although it's having a rough debut, I think it's worth a try. If you can save a life, give it a try.

MCDAO Twitter Account: @MontgomeryTXDAO

UPDATE: 12/20/09 - So on Saturday night I kept waiting, but no tweets. From what I understood, Ligon was going to tweet the names of those arrested, as they were arrested. All we got was a daily summary. Snooze. I guess this show-bird was chicken when it came to actually following through on what he told the entire Houston metropolitan area he was going to do. All squawk and no tweet?

Woodlands Alert - FAIL

If you live around here, you might be signed up for the "Woodlands Alert," an email notification service of the Community Associations of The Woodlands. Their slogan is, "Information you can use." Well, you can't use the information if you are dead.

Over the past year, I have received numerous alerts. However, they are invariably and grossly late. Watch out! Yesterday, there was a kidnapper on the loose! Watch Out! Last week, a bank got robbed!

The latest "alert" was the worst (text below). On Friday, there was an assault and robbery in the parking lot of The Woodlands Mall. This comes on the eve of one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. So when does the Woodlands Alert go out? On TUESDAY! Really? How helpful is this to the thousands of people who shopped over the weekend without a clue that 5 assailants were on the loose? Not very helpful at all. It's pretty bad when the newspaper beats the alert system in getting the word out by FOUR DAYS. Why didn't they just send out some of those horse mounted mall cops with a bull horn and a loud bell?

These alerts could serve a useful purpose, but timing is obviously key. An urgent alert that is sent too late really has no value and is just a waste of time and money. As The Woodlands Township begins to take on many of these responsibilities, they should seriously consider either improving this service so it's actually useful, or scrapping it entirely.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "woodlandsalert@catw-tx.org"
To: austinstout
Sent: Tue, December 15, 2009 2:06:42 PM
Subject: WoodlandsAlert---Please do not reply to this message---

This Message is sent from WoodlandsAlert, a service of the Community Associations of The Woodlands.

Woodlands Mall Incident- Woodlands Watch Message

On December 11, 2009, two victims reported to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office that they were approached by a group of four black males and three black females as they left The Woodlands Mall at around 7:45 p.m. One victim was attacked and robbed of recently-purchased items by at least three of the suspects.

During a search inside the mall, two suspects were found and identified by the victims as participants in the assault and robbery. The other suspects have not been identified or arrested.


Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1.800.392.STOP (7867). Anonymous tips can also be made through the Montgomery County Crime Stoppers Web page at www.montgomerycountycrimestoppers.org .
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Detective Division can be reached at 936.760.5876.

Community Associations of The Woodlands, Neighborhood Services Department, encourages you to celebrate safely this holiday season.


While shopping:
• Stay alert and be aware of what is going on around you.
• Have your car keys out and ready before you enter the parking lot.
• Park in a well-lit space. Hide bags and gifts in the trunk.
• Avoid carrying large amounts of cash.
• Do not leave your purse unattended. Carry your purse close to your body, not dangling by the straps.

For information on The Woodlands Watch program, including information on the Vacation Watch program, contact the Community Associations’ Neighborhood Services Department at 281.210.3800. Have a safe and happy holiday!

MCDP opens its doors

The Montgomery County Democratic Party opened its headquarters on Sunday, celebrating with a potluck holiday party. The place was packed out with local Democrats, old and new.

MCDP Chair Adrienne Cadik recalled the 2008 headquarters fondly when she said, "it wasn't just a political headquarters, it was a community gathering place...I'm hoping this place will be the same and people will just stop in anytime." It was a headquarters that I remember fondly as well. I helped set up our Election Night Watch Party there and I will never forget the electric vibe that pulsed through the crowd that night as we watched results on twin projectors screens. When Wolf Blitzer announced President-Elect Barack Obama, the euphoria was palpable.

While that sort of energy isn't expected to exist in 2010, the feeling was starting to return as Democrats socialized and had a good time. The food was aplenty and the mood was upbeat. As I walked around the room, I heard conversations ranging from the upcoming Governor's race to Afghanistan. Montgomery County is in a unique position in this Governor's race. Houston Mayor Bill White is very popular here and he was the keynote speaker at the MCDP Spring Fundraiser. Local Democrats also hosted a fundraising event attended by the Mayor's wife, Andrea in August. On the other side, White's principal challenger in the race is Farouk Shami, a longtime resident of The Woodlands. When Adrienne Cadik made mention of the two candidates during her speech, each candidate received equal applause.  If Shami stays in the race, Montgomery County promises to be at the forefront of the primary race.

All in all, this event was a success. Many folks worked hard over the past few weeks to get this headquarters in working order; moving, painting, plumbing, and decorating. It's a true testament to teamwork.

If you weren't able to make it out, check this out:

BREAKING: Kinky Hints at Entering Ag Commissioner Race

Kinky Friedman's book tour made two stops in Montgomery County on Saturday where he also made some news. He has hinted that he will drop out of the Texas Governor's race and is seriously considering entering another statewide race like Lt. Governor or Agriculture Commissioner. 
 The Courier, the local newspaper in Conroe, Texas reports:

THE WOODLANDS – The deep pockets of gubernatorial candidates Bill White and Farouk Shami may force Kinky Friedman out of the 2010 Democratic primary. Instead, Friedman, who ran against Republican Gov. Rick Perry as an independent in 2006, may pursue another statewide post, such as agriculture commissioner or lieutenant governor, he announced at one of two campaign stops Saturday in The Woodlands.

Kinky cites the campaign war chests of fellow gubernatorial candidates Bill White and Farouk Shami as his reason for dropping out of that race, “The problem is this: With my trusty slingshot I can beat any millionaire in Texas. Can I run against multiple millionaires in a primary? That’s probably not going to happen," said Friedman.
As far as what other statewide race he would consider, he appears to be leaning towards Ag Commissioner, and sees former Ag Commissioner (and Kinky advisor) Jim Hightower as an inspiration:

Friedman said he has discussed running for Texas Agriculture Commissioner with former commissioner Jim Hightower, singer Willie Nelson and Bill White. “What I learned is that as agriculture commissioner there was almost nothing I couldn’t do that I couldn’t do as governor,” Friedman said. Among the items on Friedman’s agricultural agenda was bringing a halt to toll roads going through farmland, the idea of farmer’s co-operatives selling alternative fuels all over Texas, and placing animal rescue facilities in every county.

The Democratic nomination for Ag Commissioner is currently being sought by the 2006 nominee and former gubernatorial candidate Hank Gilbert.
Kinky acknowledges meeting with both Bill White and Farouk Shami on Saturday (Shami lives in The Woodlands). If he gives any hint of who he would support in the Governor's race, Kinky seems to be leaning towards Bill White:

"I like Bill White. I really think we can work together,” Friedman said. “Bill’s concept of government is very close to mine. It’s not about Bill White. It’s not about Kinky. It’s about making government work for the people.

He had harsh words for Farouk Shami:

“The Democratic primary should not be for sale. It should be priceless and reflect the voice of the people,” Friedman said. “Farouk has already put $10 million (into the campaign) and he’s ready to put up another $10 million. “It’s like a rich man buying a toy. He might have been better served to buy a sports team, or give it to a charity, or a children’s hospital or something,” he said.

In terms of the timing of an announcement, Kinky only said that it may be next week, though it has been reported the announcement will be on Monday.

Annise Parker for Mayor of Houston

You may not realize it, but the City of Houston extends into part of Montgomery County, and those citizens therefore vote in city elections.

Tomorrow, voters all across the City of Houston will have a chance to cast a vote in one of the most consequential elections in city history. Harris County is now Blue, and there's no better testament to that than the fact that all three major candiates for Mayor were Democrats. Now, Houston decides between Annise Parker or Gene Locke.

Here at the MoCo Report, we feel Annise Parker is the best choice for Houston. She's qualified for the job. She's competent at running the city bureaucracy. Her proposed policies are actually sound. She's a proven leader.

Whether or not the same can be said of her opponent, Gene Locke is debatable. But one thing is for sure; Gene Locke has stooped to a disgusting low in this campaign. His tacit anti-gay campaign is abhorrent and something that as a Democrat and a civil rights attorney, he should be ashamed of. He can formally distance himself all he wants from Stephen Hotze, but everyone knows that Gene Locke is counting on a coalition that includes anti-gay conservatives to put him into city hall.

Say No to the dying politics of the past and Say Yes to a new future for Houston. Vote for Annise Parker for Mayor.

MCDP gets a facelift

You may have noticed the soft rollout of the new Montgomery County Democratic Party website. While it hasn't officially debuted, you can see it by going to www.mcdptx.org.  MCDP Webmaster Dr. Allan Abedor did a great job over the past two + years keeping the site up to date and with fresh content. But he he was forced to work within a structure that was becoming increasingly outdated and cramped creativity.

The MCDP Executive Committee voted wisely in October to contract with Octavio's Art-e for the design of the new website. It harkens "Yes We Can" and is very Obama-esque.

From both a design and technical perspective, here's our list of improvements over the old site:

• Scrolling banner, always keeping the content fresh
• Integrated signup to Constant Contact
• Integrated Twitter feed
• An embedded calendar with scrolling events
• Embedded pages for registering to vote and finding a poll

All in all, the MCDP Technology Committee did a great job of getting this site up and running. It's a great face of the MCDP and emblematic of the fresh progress of the county party.

Not so fast, Ted Delisi

In an op-ed yesterday on the Texas Tribune, Ted Delisi paints a pretty gloomy picture for the statewide effort of Democrats in 2010. I won't pretend to be a Texas political guru, but I do think I know a little bit about Montgomery County, one of the counties that Delisi points to in making a point about GOTV efforts:

Let’s take Montgomery County, just north of Harris County, where the margin of victory for the Republican presidential nominee actually increased from 2004 to 2008 (when Bush led the ticket). The last Presidential contest produced an 83,000-vote margin for McCain in Montgomery County, almost equal to the margin of victory for Obama in Harris, Bexar, Webb and Cameron combined.

Mr. Delisi is of course, using an absolute figure, not comparing the percentage margins. In fact, the number of Republican votes decreased in Montgomery County by 2.22% from 2004 to 2008, we just had a population gain. Source: Montgomery County

Now, I won't claim that Montgomery County will be purple in the next election cycle. In fact, it is one of the most conservative counties in Texas and has been trending that way for many decades. We are home to a perfect storm of Republicanism with the burgeoning affluent community of The Woodlands, a solid retiree base in the Western part of the county and a very rural base in the Eastern part of the county. And our county is experiencing rapid population growth in the most conservative areas. But, the efforts of local Democrats have made a dent.

From 2004 to 2008, registered voters increased by almost 15% and voter turnout increased by 2.40%, yet Republican straight-ticket voting was down nearly 2.50% and Republican voting went down by 2.22%. In a county with 160,400 registered voters, these are significant numbers. In a county that should be trending more conservative, the Republicans are losing votes.
We had an active campaign in 2008 where we strategically targeted precincts that were trending in our direction. Of our 85 precincts, we increased Democratic performance in 56 of them and did so by 5% or greater in 20 of them.

2010 will be a better year as we have opened a headquarters, launched a new website, built an email list of nearly 6,000 voters (17% of Democrats), greatly strengthened our voter file, held successful fundraisers attracting serious statewide candidates, started an active YD chapter, and trained precinct chairs -- just to mention a few things.

Getting out the vote will be the major priority for 2010. So, I contend that Mr. Delisi's assumption, that a lack of state-level focus on suburban counties will somehow inhibit GOTV there, is unfounded. He fails to recognize that local activities can have an impact. Additionally, red counties in the Houston metropolitan area have an advantage due to the popularity of Bill White in this region.
We are tired of Texas ranking with third-world countries on key social metrics. It's time to elect real leaders to fill the seats of Republicans who have failed all of us so miserably. Many of our voters feel the same way.

With help or without it, we'll be fighting the good fight in this conservative stronghold, scraping up every statewide vote we can. If you want to help us, make a donation via ActBlue or visit us at www.mcdptx.org.

UPDATE: This article was promoted on Burnt Orange Report.