2015 Houston Mayor's race

[KinkaidAlum]

King's campaign annoys me because his yard signs are freaking everywhere. In medians. In parks. In strip center lots. Yet, rarely, do I see them in front of people's homes. 

 

I thought that crap was illegal?

[kylejack]

Correct.  The LGBT Community is not a protected class under US Law.  Meaning that individuals and institutions may discriminate, without penalty.  Meaning that an employer or landlord (for example) can ask you whether or not you are gay or straight in an interview and base their decision whether to hire you based on your answer. 

 

QTE

• In United States federal anti-discrimination law, a protected class is a characteristic of a person which cannot be targeted for discrimination.^[1] The following characteristics are considered "Protected Classes" by Federal law:

  • Race – Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Color – Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Religion – Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • National origin – Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Age (40 and over) – Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
  • Sex – Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Pregnancy – Pregnancy Discrimination Act
  • Citizenship – Immigration Reform and Control Act
  • Familial status – Civil Rights Act of 1968 Title VIII: Housing cannot discriminate for having children, with an exception for senior housing
  • Disability status – Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
  • Veteran status – Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 and Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
  • Genetic information – Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act

UNQTE

 

Rights do not come automatically in this country unless you are part of a majority.  You have to fight like hell to get them.   And they rarely come, to a minority, when put up to a general vote. 

All kinds of finer points, too. Sex is protected in employment law, but not in public accommodations law... businesses can discriminate on the basis of sex, if they wish. I know some hair salons charge women more, regardless of hair length, and then there's bars that charge men a cover but not women.

[astros148]

Spoke with turners campaign manager yesterday at a gathrring and was very impressed by their vision of future of commuter rail and rail in general. Turner understands this issue and his manager told me they definitely do plan on tacklimg this issue and plan to see what options they may have to expand light rail.

Very very optimistic right now

[Blue Dogs]

Spoke with turners campaign manager yesterday at a gathrring and was very impressed by their vision of future of commuter rail and rail in general. Turner understands this issue and his manager told me they definitely do plan on tacklimg this issue and plan to see what options they may have to expand light rail.

Very very optimistic right now

Mattress Mack endorsing King [R] for Houston Mayor!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2YPFDobPgA

[Blue Dogs]

Last night's runoff debate on Ch. 13 got PERSONAL:

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Turner-King-butt-heads-on-fiscal-policy-6671861.php

 

 

[kylejack]

 

[Houston19514]

August.  That is what Makes it an "Equal Right Ordinance" and not "Special Rights Ordinance".  And Yes...This absolutely should be done on a Federal Level.  But, do you see our current Congressional leaders even discussing such a thing?  

 

Don't think so. In fact anything, anywhere that extends GLBT persons any sort of protection or equality will instantly be struck down by Republican committee leadership.  

 

Unlike when the Democrats had full control of the congress and the presidency just a few short years ago.  Remember those days when the Democratic leadership put equal rights for GLBT up for a vote and of course, it passed, and the President signed it.  Remember that?  ;-)

 

[Houston19514]

Spoke with turners campaign manager yesterday at a gathrring and was very impressed by their vision of future of commuter rail and rail in general. Turner understands this issue and his manager told me they definitely do plan on tacklimg this issue and plan to see what options they may have to expand light rail.

Very very optimistic right now

 

What is their vision of commuter rail and rail in general?

 

Here is what his website says on the issue of public transportation (I don't see much in the way of vision of commuter rail or rail in general in here):

 

"Sylvester applauds METRO’s recent steps forward on its long-term bus rapid transit (BRT) proposal. He is also in favor of the commuter line between Missouri City and Houston, the 90A line, which has the strong support of the communities in that region. However, it is crucial that any citywide transportation proposal includes usable transportation for every community, not only point-to-point transportation for commuters.

Houston’s young population expects an urban, walkable, technologically up-to-date city; we should keep this population in mind as we plan improvements to our transportation infrastructure. For example, the ease of use of our bus system could be improved by making real-time bus arrival information available to the public through their phones and computers. Sylvester supports a planned approach to transit that includes buses, rail, bikes and pedestrian options, to provide effective and affordable options to all areas of the city."

Edited December 3, 2015 by Houston19514

[kylejack]

Unlike when the Democrats had full control of the congress and the presidency just a few short years ago.  Remember those days when the Democratic leadership put equal rights for GLBT up for a vote and of course, it passed, and the President signed it.  Remember that?  ;-)

 

They only had enough time for one big thing, and that thing ended up being Obamacare.

[Houston19514]

They only had enough time for one big thing, and that thing ended up being Obamacare.

 

ROFLMAO.    Excuses, excuses.

[kylejack]

ROFLMAO.    Excuses, excuses.

If they got to a second thing, it probably would have been comprehensive immigration reform, which would have been another hugely time consuming thing.

[Houston19514]

If they got to a second thing, it probably would have been comprehensive immigration reform, which would have been another hugely time consuming thing.

 

Yeah, yeah, another one of those items that is only an important issue when they are not in control.  Funny how that works.   Almost seems like they'd rather have an issue than a solution...

[KinkaidAlum]

19514- I get it. You think Democrats use (insert minority group here) for votes rather than offering solutions.... but, pray tell, are the Republicans offering up to LGBTs, African-Americans, Women, Immigrants, etc...? 

 

Actions do speak louder than words but words still matter. 

 

[Houston19514]

19514- I get it. You think Democrats use (insert minority group here) for votes rather than offering solutions.... but, pray tell, are the Republicans offering up to LGBTs, African-Americans, Women, Immigrants, etc...?

Actions do speak louder than words but words still matter.

Do words really matter when they are lies?

[west20th]

 

Great ad.

[Blue Dogs]

Great ad.

 More on Parker endorsing Turner:

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/houston/article/Parker-cites-Turner-s-budget-experience-in-6674324.php

[august948]

Great ad.

 

These ads are put out by the unions.  Would we really expect them to support a Republican in this race?

 

19514- I get it. You think Democrats use (insert minority group here) for votes rather than offering solutions.... but, pray tell, are the Republicans offering up to LGBTs, African-Americans, Women, Immigrants, etc...? 

 

Actions do speak louder than words but words still matter. 

 

Actions are the only thing that matters.  Words are wind.

 

[august948]

What is their vision of commuter rail and rail in general?

 

Here is what his website says on the issue of public transportation (I don't see much in the way of vision of commuter rail or rail in general in here):

 

"Sylvester applauds METRO’s recent steps forward on its long-term bus rapid transit (BRT) proposal. He is also in favor of the commuter line between Missouri City and Houston, the 90A line, which has the strong support of the communities in that region. However, it is crucial that any citywide transportation proposal includes usable transportation for every community, not only point-to-point transportation for commuters.

Houston’s young population expects an urban, walkable, technologically up-to-date city; we should keep this population in mind as we plan improvements to our transportation infrastructure. For example, the ease of use of our bus system could be improved by making real-time bus arrival information available to the public through their phones and computers. Sylvester supports a planned approach to transit that includes buses, rail, bikes and pedestrian options, to provide effective and affordable options to all areas of the city."

 

That sounds like his focus is more on the inner-city, not on commuter solutions.

 

Isn't real-time bus data already available?

 

[kylejack]

These ads are put out by the unions.  Would we really expect them to support a Republican in this race?

 

Nevertheless, it's true that as Mayor he fought to keep a convicted child molester as the fire chief.

[cspwal]

That sounds like his focus is more on the inner-city, not on commuter solutions.

 

Isn't real-time bus data already available?

 

 

It is, but it seems unreliable sometimes.  And the metrorail used to have real time data but it seems to have disappeared 

[KinkaidAlum]

Hey, I'd rather be lied to by Democrats who say the right thing than threatened by Republicans. But, if you can't see that there's a difference, then more power to you... until that bubble pops.

 

[august948]

Hey, I'd rather be lied to by Democrats who say the right thing than threatened by Republicans. But, if you can't see that there's a difference, then more power to you... until that bubble pops.

 

There's red Kool-Aid and there's blue Kool-Aid.  Both taste the same.

 

 

[august948]

Nevertheless, it's true that as Mayor he fought to keep a convicted child molester as the fire chief.

 

Here's a little bit more on that...

 

 

Here’s what is behind the one above: The chief of the Kemah Volunteer Fire Department, David Dockens, resigned under pressure from the local water board in 2002 after it discovered his conviction of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

It’s important to note here that King did not have the power to hire or fire the chief. That was up to an executive board within the fire department, according to current Kemah Fire Chief Brent Hahn.

http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2015/12/03/129833/houston-mayoral-runoff-campaign-becoming-more-negative/

 

This, by the way, was just a few years before Turner voted against LGBT rights several times in the Texas legislature.

 

[Blue Dogs]

Here's a little bit more on that...

 

http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2015/12/03/129833/houston-mayoral-runoff-campaign-becoming-more-negative/

 

This, by the way, was just a few years before Turner voted against LGBT rights several times in the Texas legislature.

During their debate on Ch. 13 last week, King brought up Turner's special friend faking his death in 1986 in the IRS Scam, etc.,

[Blue Dogs]

King talking about the Pensions, etc.,

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/2015/12/bill-king-if-we-dont-fix-pension-problem-its-game.html

 

[Blue Dogs]

Here's the Election Night Results from this weekend:

 

http://abc13.com/politics/elections/local/abc13.com/runoff/

 

Reaction from anyone on Saturday night's results!

[cspwal]

Super close election - I was surprised though at how low the turn out was.  I know it was an OK turn out for the type of election, but when you realize there are a million registered voters (source) and there were only 212,696 votes cast for mayor, that's amazing to me.

 

Another way:

1,000,000 registered voters

   212,696 votes cast

   108,389 for the new mayor

 

Only a tenth of this city actually stated they want our new mayor for the next four years

And only a tenth of the city said they want someone else

 

What was everyone else doing?  Why does the overwhelming majority of the city not care? This is an election where your vote definitely would have counted, seeing how close it was

 

Ugh

[mkultra25]

Super close election - I was surprised though at how low the turn out was.  I know it was an OK turn out for the type of election, but when you realize there are a million registered voters (source) and there were only 212,696 votes cast for mayor, that's amazing to me.

 

Another way:

1,000,000 registered voters

   212,696 votes cast

   108,389 for the new mayor

 

Only a tenth of this city actually stated they want our new mayor for the next four years

And only a tenth of the city said they want someone else

 

What was everyone else doing?  Why does the overwhelming majority of the city not care? This is an election where your vote definitely would have counted, seeing how close it was

 

Ugh

 

Those are exactly the numbers that I was pondering yesterday. Low voter turnout in a runoff election is nothing new, but it does give one pause to consider that only 21% of registered voters could be bothered to vote. 

 

Meanwhile, the District H council race apparently got pretty heated, at least among the respective candidates' backers (language NSFW):

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1129450550406317&set=a.382007385150641.95395.100000241473435&type=3&theater

[cspwal]

I wonder how many residents could even name which district they're in, much less who their councilman is (I have to look up his name each time)

[west20th]

Those are exactly the numbers that I was pondering yesterday. Low voter turnout in a runoff election is nothing new, but it does give one pause to consider that only 21% of registered voters could be bothered to vote. 

 

Meanwhile, the District H council race apparently got pretty heated, at least among the respective candidates' backers (language NSFW):

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1129450550406317&set=a.382007385150641.95395.100000241473435&type=3&theater

Wow. That Sandra Puente is one classy lady. 

Edited December 16, 2015 by west20th

[Blue Dogs]

Those are exactly the numbers that I was pondering yesterday. Low voter turnout in a runoff election is nothing new, but it does give one pause to consider that only 21% of registered voters could be bothered to vote.

Meanwhile, the District H council race apparently got pretty heated, at least among the respective candidates' backers (language NSFW):

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1129450550406317&set=a.382007385150641.95395.100000241473435&type=3&theater

Looked like a very racially charged election: Turner won 93% of African Americans & 52% of Latinos while King won overwhelming 71% of Anglos.

Surprised neither of the political scientists polled Asian Americans to see how they voted!

Edited December 28, 2015 by Blue Dogs

[lidaoo]

thats good..