Shami doesn’t recall elected officials Conroe Courier News Houston Community Newspapers Online - News Around Town

Source: www.thecourier-online.com

Updated: 01.29.10
AUSTIN (AP) – A Democrat running for Texas governor couldn’t name the state’s comptroller, attorney general or his own representatives during a newspaper editorial board meeting, the Austin American-Statesman reported Friday.

Farouk Shami, a Houston hair care magnate who resides in The Woodlands and is making his first run for office, was asked a series of questions about Texas government during the Thursday meetings.

Asked whether he could name the state comptroller, Shami said, “Not at this point.” Republican Susan Combs is the comptroller.

Asked who the attorney general is, Shami answered that he knows who is running: “Barbara” and “Ted Cruz.”

Republican Greg Abbott is attorney general and is running for re-election. Barbara Ann Radnofsky is a Democratic candidate for attorney general. Ted Cruz is a Republican who last year announced his intention to run but never filed.

Asked to name his state representative and state senator, Shami answered that his representative is Senfronia Thompson and his senator is Sylvester Turner.

Although Shami, 67, has factories and his corporate headquarters in Houston’s Harris County, he’s registered to vote in bordering Montgomery County. Neither Thompson nor Turner represents Montgomery County. Turner, who like Thompson is a Houston Democrat, is a state representative.

“I’m a good reader,” Shami said. “I follow politics nationally and internationally and locally all the time ... I’ve been watching it — not inside it.”

Republicans Tommy Williams and Rob Eissler are the respective state senator and representative in The Woodlands.

Shami campaign manager Vince Leibowitz called the meeting “a police interrogation.”

“Many Texans don’t know the answers to these questions,” he said. “The Statesman is trying to make Farouk Shami look like a rube when he really is not.”

White opens campaign office in Beaumont


BEAUMONT – Bill White for Texas opened a new campaign headquarters in Beaumont Thursday afternoon.

White is a Democratic candidate for governor and will face a primary March 2.

Ashlea Graves, White’s Southeast Texas Regional Field Director, said the new office for Southeast Texas adds momentum to the campaign with just 32 days left until the primary.

Corporate takeover of elections can be stopped with clean elections.

This from the Montgomery County Democratic Party:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2010

Rep. Kevin Brady fails to support Fair Elections Now Act

Even after the recent Supreme Court decision, Brady still doesn’t advocate a level playing field for elections.

THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS – A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has increased the urgent need to enact federal legislation to curb the corporate influence that exists in elections for public office. One such bill, the Fair Elections Now Act (H.R. 1826) was introduced in 2009 and has 128 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives, including six members of the Texas congressional delegation. Unfortunately, U.S. Representative Kevin Brady (R – The Woodlands) is not one of them.

“The recent court decision is an example of egregious judicial activism.  It opens the door for corporate takeover of our government, undermining the voices of ordinary citizens. Congress should act swiftly to restore our democracy and it is regrettable that Rep. Brady has failed to support the Fair Elections Now Act, which would do just that,” said Adrienne Cadik, chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party.  

“This bill, which is supported by the non-partisan Texas League of Women Voters, would set up a publicly financed system of elections that would lower the cost of elections, minimize the influence of special interests, allow challengers to compete with career incumbents, and overall create a level playing field,” said Cadik.

Brady, who has been in Congress since 1996, raised over $930,000 from political action committees in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles alone, according to www.opensecrets.org.

Elected officials from all parts of the political spectrum, from President Obama to Senator John McCain, have expressed their disdain for the Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In his dissenting opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote, “the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt.”

We call on Rep. Brady put the interests of the constituents of this congressional district ahead of all else and support H.R. 1826.

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Woodlands Township News

Woodlands Citizens, The Woodlands Township Government began officially January 4, 2010.

This note is to communicate several things though primarily the Town Hall Meeting for The Woodlands Township. Please see below:

1. Road Update:
a. Woodlands Parkway eastbound will be open before mid-February.
b. The cable work is finished on the Woodlands Parkway westbound portion of the road and full construction should start. Work will be completed in 4-6 months.
c. Research Forest Drive widening should be started this year but a final schedule is not available.
d. The contract to expand the Park & Ride in Sterling Ridge from 200 to 1,200 vehicles should be issued soon.
2. Energy Savings Idea:
Local electric utility companies offer a free audit and some energy savings improvements to help you reduce your consumption of electricity. Qualified customers can arrange to have it done by contacting them at www.freelightingcorp.com or 866-484-3519.
3. The Woodlands Township to hold Town Hall Meeting

THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS (January 14, 2010) – The Woodlands Township Board of Directors will hold a Town Hall Meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. The meeting is open to the public, and residents and businesses are encouraged to attend.“The Woodlands Township Town Hall Meeting will address 2010 initiatives and allow residents and businesses the opportunity to provide feedback to The Woodlands Township Board of Directors,” said Chairman of the Board Nelda Blair. Free parking for the meeting will be available at the Town Center Garage at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. The fourth floor of the garage is connected via skywalk to The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. The meeting will begin promptly at 7 pm and will conclude by 9 pm. For the latest news and information on The Woodlands Township government, please call 281-210-3800 or visit www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov.
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Celebrating an historic moment, one year later.

As the summer of 2008 drew to a close, Montgomery County residents found themselves cleaning up the aftermath of the landfall of a major hurricane.  The gale force winds treated pine trees like toothpicks, downed limbs big and small, and ensured we'd be without electricity for nearly two weeks. But as the electricity came back on and life returned back to normal, it seemed the winds had stirred up something more substantial.

The Montgomery County Democratic Party opened it's headquarters on Frazier Street when the power came back and within days, the place had taken on a life of it's own. It was an energy driven by a deluge of new volunteers, who came from a place we would soon learn to love; "the wood works." People who had never before been involved, were soon knocking on doors, manning phones, and stuffing envelopes. We didn't just phone Montgomery County, we dialed into key battleground states around the country, directed through the Obama campaign's virtual phone bank tool. One volunteer who had lived abroad described the office as "the embassy," a friendly haven surrounded by a foreign ideology. The weeks flew by as the volunteers worked away and Hurricane Ike was replaced by an economic storm that would affect everyone in the world. As election day drew near, all eyes were on the presidential election.

We put away the call lists and door hangers and turned our headquarters into a party room. Two projector screens were brought in; one to broadcast live coverage and the other to display the latest election results on races all around the country. As the polls closed, the place started to fill up. Soon, tents had to be pitched in the parking lot to house the overflow of revelers. Each time Senator Obama took a state, a roar would erupt that could be heard for blocks around. To say that the energy in the room was palpable would be an understatement. The place was on fire! As the Illinois Senator neared the crucial number of electoral votes, a man tapped me on the shoulder and asked that I pour a bottle of champagne on his head at the exact moment the announcement was made.

Although the trend of the polls had been known for weeks and the outcome of the election was generally expected, I cannot describe the feeling that raced through me as those words were spoken by CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "CNN can project that Barack Obama, 47 years old, will be the president-elect of the United States." I poured the champagne and watched as tears poured out of one woman's eyes. Another woman could only mutter, "Oh my God." A Republican official stood near the front door, a look of absolute shock on his face. The rest of the crowd was elated to say the least. County Chair Adrienne Cadik took to standing on an actual chair to address the crowd and thank them for their hard work. "This is one of the most exciting moments of my life," she said.

I reflect back on that moment today because we are nearing the anniversary of President Obama's first year in office. To me, that moment in the headquarters on election night was more than just the culmination of a lot of hard work, though I realize that our efforts locally ultimately didn't contribute to the awarding of any electoral votes to President Obama. That moment was the culmination of an election where Democrats in this county finally felt ok to come out from hiding. After decades of being a silent minority, we made our voices heard. People that were before afraid to advertise their politics in this county with an abnormal density of Republicans, now proudly slapped on a bumper sticker and mounted a yard sign. In a county that voted for George Wallace in 1968, nearly 37,000 voters cast a vote for Barack Obama. Ultimately, we experienced a mere 2% gain the democratic performance, but at least it was moving in the right direction.

Now, after a year of an Obama Presidency, we will again come together to celebrate. We'll be celebrating a great moment in American history which we helped make possible, but we'll also be celebrating a moment in our own local history; a moment when Montgomery County Democrats came together to stand tall.

I hope that you will join me at the MCDP Headquarters Friday, January 22nd at 6:30 pm  as we come together to recall our experiences and have a good time again. We'll be watching a movie, having some snacks, and offering several pieces of Obama memorabilia as door prizes. Come on out and let's see if we can get some energy flowing again!

Woodlands Township Government officially starts in Jan.

Following is a summary of the December 16, 2009 Board Meeting for The Woodlands Township. It was obtained from The Woodlands Township website with address shown at the bottom of the page. Note that Fire Station #8 (Indian Springs Village) will be located on the east side of Gosling Road.

News Flash - Selected
Township Board of Directors address 35 agenda items at December meeting
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS (December 16, 2009) – The Woodlands Township Board of Directors addressed 35 agenda items at its December meeting held on Wednesday, December 16, 2009.
During the Board of Directors meeting for The Woodlands Township, Carl Joiner of Joiner Partnership, Inc., presented the preliminary schematic designs for the Creekside (#7) and Indian Springs (#8) fire stations. Each station will be about 12,000 square feet and will be similar to Station 6 in College Park.
Construction for Station #7 is anticipated to begin July 2010 with completion in June 2011. Construction for Station #8 is set to begin January 2011 with completion in December 2011.
An Open Forum presentation on the two fire stations will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, January 13, 2010, at The Woodlands Township Service Center, previously known as the Community Associations building at 2201 Lake Robbins Drive.
The funding for the two fire stations was included as part of Bond Proposition 1, which was approved by Woodlands voters in November 2009.
Other items approved on the Regular Agenda included:

Received and adopted the Financial Report;
Received a report from the Community Associations of The Woodlands;
Discussed proposed school district boundary changes in the May Valley area;
Received a presentation from Drew Masterson, managing director of First Southwest, regarding the next steps in the bond issuance process;
Authorized the Chairman of the Board to execute a professional services agreement to retain the professional services of Schwartz, Page & Harding, L.L.P. to serve as bond counsel in connection with the issuance, sale and delivery of all bonds to be sold by The Woodlands Township;
Approved service agreements with Center for Houston’s Future, Opportunity Houston and Leadership Montgomery County;
Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Shenandoah relating to the provision of services for areas that have Woodlands Covenants and are not within the boundaries of The Woodlands Township;
Adopted a resolution removing all overlapped properties of The Woodlands Township from Harris County Emergency Services District No. 7 and Montgomery County Emergency Services Districts Nos. 4, 8, 10, & 14;
Adopted Resolution 024-09 Adopting Investment Policies and Guidelines that included the revisions recommended by the Investment Committee with an effective date of January 1, 2010, and repealed any previously adopted resolutions or policies;
Authorized Texas Municipal League, Center for Public Management at the University of North Texas and Virtual Learning Concepts to provide training for investment officers of The Woodlands Township, as required by the Public Funds Investment Act;
Adopted a list of qualified brokers authorized to engage in investment transactions with The Woodlands Township;
Approved the First Amendment to the Waterway Maintenance, Use and Operations Agreement;
Approved the conveyance of the Waterway Square easement over the kiosk tracts from The Woodlands Development Company;
Approved the Personnel Policy Manual for The Woodlands Township; effective January 1, 2010, and repealed any previous policies or procedures;
Approved service agreements between the Village Associations’ and The Woodlands Township, and authorized the President to sign the agreements in connection therewith;
Authorized the Asset Lease and Service Agreement between The Woodlands Township and The Woodlands Fire Department, Inc.;
Authorized the Real Property Lease Agreement between The Woodlands Township and The Woodlands Fire Department;
Authorized the President, the Chairman or a Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors to execute any acceptances or receipts for conveyances, assignments, or transfers of real, personal, mixed or intellectual properties, filings, name changes, notices, or other documents related to the Transition Agreement;
Authorized the President to execute a new five-year lease agreement with American Business Machines because the vendor would not allow the agreement terms with The Woodlands Community Service Corporation be assumed by The Woodlands Township;
Adopted The Woodlands Township's appointments, in accordance with the Second Amendment to the Transition Agreement, to The Woodlands Fire Department Board of Directors, The Woodlands Community Service Corporation Board of Directors, and The Woodlands Recreation Centers, Inc. Board of Directors, and postponed new appointments until June 2010;
Appointed Claude Hunter as the representative to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council for a term ending June 30, 2010;
Approved the recommendation from the Committee on Governance and Nominations to appoint Chris Florack, Ken Parker, Deborah Sargeant and Michael Sawran to the Development Standards Committee for a one-year term beginning January 1, 2010;
Approved the recommendation from the Committee on Governance and Nominations to appoint Ken Anderson, Kim Hess and Robert Heineman as designees of The Woodlands Land Development Company to the Development Standards Committee;
Reappointed Mark Golibart of Tharaldson Property for a two-year term and Sheron Jones of The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center for a one-year term on the Booking & Blocking Committee of The Woodlands Township;
Adopted the Texas Secretary of State’s Uniform Election Calendar for local political subdivisions as the official uniform election calendar for The Woodlands Township’s Board of Director elections, and authorized the President of The Woodlands Township to post the required notice of the candidate application filing period relative to the upcoming election on May 8, 2010;
Approved the payment of invoices for legal services rendered by The Woodlands Township's legal counsel, Schwartz, Page & Harding, L.L.P.;
Adopted the schedule of regular meeting dates for The Woodlands Township Board of Directors for 2010
In addition to its regular meeting, the Board of Directors held a special meeting for the Economic Development Zone in which the Board:

Adopted Resolution 001-09 Adopting Investment Policies and Guidelines with an effective date of January 1, 2010 to include proposed revisions and repealed any previously adopted resolutions or policies;
Adopted Resolution 002-09 Adopting a List of Qualified Brokers Authorized to Engage in Investment Transactions with The Woodlands Township Economic Development Zone,
Approved the source of public funds investment training for The Woodlands Township Economic Development Zone Investment Officers to include Texas Municipal League, the Center for Public Management and Virtual Learning Concepts.
Executive Summaries of the above items as well as Power Point Presentations can be found on The Woodlands Township’s Web site at www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov. Every public meeting scheduled by The Woodlands Township Board of Directors has a place for public comment at the beginning of the meeting. The guidelines for public comment can be found at the Township’s Web site.
The next public meeting of The Woodlands Township will be the Executive Committee, to be held on Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 9 a.m., at The Woodlands Township, 10001 Woodloch Forest Drive, Suite 600, The Woodlands, Texas, 77380. The January Board of Directors will meet at 9 a.m., Wednesday, January 27, 2010. A Town Hall Meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 27, 2010, at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center.
For more information on The Woodlands Township government, please call 281.363.2447 or visit www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov.

Tea Party Debate on tape

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the Tea Party debate among candidates for Congressional District 8.

The straw poll results from the event have been posted, as well as full video of the debate. According to the straw poll, Russell won the debate and Kevin Brady lost the debate, though he wasn't even there. Before the debate, 7 people intended to vote for Brady and afterward, only 1 would commit to voting for him.

There's a lot of video, so I'll just call your attention to one part that is concerning. One of the most bizarre statements made during the debate was when Tyler Russell stated that illegal immigrants were coming across the border in "armed vehicles, tanks, with light rockets, all kinds of things," and he proposed the use of armed predator drones to combat them. Frankly, those sort of egregiously false statements don't help the candidate in the credibility department and only serve to be incendiary. Not to mention that it contradicts with an earlier statement made by Russell, when he expressed his desire to have lawmakers not involved in military matters, aside from providing the overall mission. Minutes later during this exchange, he launches into his plan for eradicating illegal immigration by training Air Force pilots to fly drones and using them to go after illegal immigrants. Sounds like the words of an armchair general to me.








Congressional District 8 Straw Poll December 7th, 2009

Before this debate … I am leaning to vote for :
o 11- Scott Baker
o 7 - Kevin Brady
o 0 - Melecio Franco
o 22 - Tyler Russell
o 16 - Undecided

I believe the debate on the issues was won by :
o 18 - Scott Baker
o 1 - Kevin Brady
o 1 - Melecio Franco
o 24 - Tyler Russell
o 10 - Undecided

After this debate … I am leaning to vote for :
o 19 - Scott Baker
o 1 - Kevin Brady
o 0 - Melecio Franco
o 24 - Tyler Russell
o 12 - Undecided

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?