FBN: District Attorneys 2nd Debate (Sparks Fly)

Healey: I Am A Public Servant, I Am Not A Politician
January 18th, 2010 | by Jamie Mock, Fortbendnow

Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey spent a large portion of a recent debate responding to accusations that he has mismanaged the office he has held for the past 17 years.

The debate, featuring Republican candidates Healey, Richard Raymond and Nina Schaefer, was sponsored by the Spirit of Freedom Republican Women’s Club and held in Missouri City Jan. 15. According to information from the Fort Bend County Democratic Party, no Democrat filed to run for district attorney, and the three Republicans will face off in the March 2 primary.

While all three candidates touted “swift” justice, long sentences, no tolerance for crime in the county and the prosecution of white collar crime, Raymond and Schaefer repeatedly accused Healey of being “stagnant,” creating a backlog on the court dockets, mishandling the office’s budget and not working well with police and the courts...

Get more: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/01/18/43380

FBN: Early Voting Started Monday (Get out and vote)-

Early Voting Starts Today For City Councils, School Boards, Bond Issue
by Bob Dunn, Apr 30, 2007, 06 53 am

Early voting for the May 12 elections starts today in Fort Bend County, where a constitutional amendment, $156 million mobility bond and several city council and school board seats are at stake.

Anyone eligible to vote in the election is eligible to vote early. Locations around the county open Monday morning. Check at the Fort Bend County Elections web site for schedules and locations. Voters may check here to find their voting precinct and a sample ballot.

Citizens have the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment, Proposition 1, that would give senior citizens and disabled people the same property tax reductions that other Texas property owners received a year ago. Wording in the proposition is somewhat confusing, but voting “yes” for the measure means voting in favor of reducing the property tax rate for seniors and the disabled.

The only other county-wide issue on the ballot is a mobility bond election over the issuance of $156 million in general obligation bonds for roads and bridges throughout the county. A complete listing of the infrastructure project that would be funded through the bond issue, if passed, is available here.

Voters living within the Fort Bend Independent School District can vote on a board of trustees race that pits incumbent Lisa Rickert against Bob Broxson for Position 3, and incumbent Ken Bryant against Ann Hopkins, Noel Pinnock and David Reitz for Position 7. Daniel Mendendez’s name also appears on on the ballot, however, he withdrew from the race and is no longer a candidate. . .

. . .In Arcola, three council seats are up for grabs in a five-way race between Rosie Rojas, Lizzie Pitts, Tom Hilton, James DeVoge and Greg Abarr.

. . .Missouri City: District A City Council incumbent Eunice Reiter faces Rodney Griffin; District B incumbent Don Smith faces Louis Hunter and Cynthia Lenton-Gary; and Barbara Gibson and Kevin Tunstall are challenging for District C.


Comments--These are the races impacting our area given the airport expansion project and other development issues (including school over-crowding).

Packed District B Contested Council Race Should Be Interesting (Read this Houston Chronicle Piece)-

Incumbent faces 2 opponents
Contest exists for District B in Missouri City

By ZEN T. C. ZHENG
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

• What: Texas Parkway Alliance candidate forum
• When: 7 p.m. today

• What: Candidates running for Missouri City City Council

• Where: City Hall, 1522 Texas Parkway.

Revitalization of the Texas Parkway and Cartwright Road corridors is a central concern of three candidates vying for the Missouri City District B City Council seat.

The position, held since May 2001 by incumbent Don Smith, 64, has drawn opponents Lou Hunter, 32, a mortgage broker, and Cynthia Lenton-Gary, 48, a sociologist.

The challengers are among critics of the municipal government that they say has done little to address the issue of declining commercial presence along Texas Parkway and Cartwright Road, two corridors once filled with vibrant businesses, services and residences.

They say while neglecting the two corridors, the city focuses too much on the development of Texas 6 adjacent to affluent new subdivisions.

Lou Hunter

Hunter moved from Houston's South Park and Sunnyside area seven years ago to Missouri City's Meadowcreek subdivision.
"This is a bedroom community, quiet, quaint, and I wanted to stay here to raise my kids," said Hunter, father of three school-age children.

However, the "deterioration" on the two corridors reminded him of his old neighborhood marked by an aging population, worsening economic conditions and low education level. He said he is the youngest homeowner on his street.

"More and more businesses are closing on Texas Parkway and Cartwright. There are lots that have been vacant for years and nothing has been done about it," he said. "There's no one parking lot on Texas Parkway that's not riddled with potholes. We also have issues with poor lighting, and gentrification is going on all around the city."

He said the city should apply pressure on retail owners to bring their properties up to standards.

"I see more and more businesses on Highway 6, and here in District B there is a general decline. It was a slap in the face to see Kroger leave and rebuild on Highway 6. I don't think City Council is doing enough," Hunter said.

"It's funny that the council was interested in hearing Riverstone (subdivision) residents making comments about the choices of color of their trash cans, but here kids in District B have to walk in a ditch on streets without sidewalks."

Hunter called Smith indecisive on the issue and questioned why City Council had not wanted to create a tax increment reinvestment zone for redeveloping the corridors.

"Don has a softer approach," he said.

Smith called Hunter "misinformed."

"TIRZ is not designed for revamping shopping centers," Smith said.

Hunter, who has spoken to youth groups on character-building and has donated to youth causes, criticized the city leadership for "not reaching out to the older neighborhoods" and wants to seek "real citizen input" before council decisions.

"I'm realistic. I don't expect five-star dining on Texas Parkway, but there are businesses that can be sought after," he said. "If the streets are filled with hardworking, clean, family-owned mom-and-pop shops, I'd be happy."

Hunter vowed not to accept "out-of-district special interest campaign funding," which he said has become "the norm for many on City Council over the years." He wants to take back "local control from the special interests now operating and profiting in our community."

He also wants to review city ordinances that "negatively impact property values" and stop "fast-track privileges for corporations." He wants to create a committee to review possible term limits for council members, and create incentives to protect the environment from "irresponsible development."

Cynthia Lenton-Gary

Lenton-Gary remembered a "suburban" lifestyle in District B where businesses and services were plentiful and neighborhoods were vibrant when she moved here 25 years ago.
"Since then the face of the district has changed and been painted with a negative image. The Texas Parkway area is in true need of revitalization," she said. "It's time to get rid of this negative image. We need new leadership to create new direction for the district."

Lenton-Gary, who failed in her bid to snatch the seat of Fort Bend school district board trustee Arthur Pace in the 2005 election, said she is running for City Council to serve the community.

"In this election, Don (Smith) is not important to me. I haven't considered Don in this race at all. What's important is the people of my community that I'm concerned with," she said. "I am running because I can be a strong voice for them."

Lenton-Gary wants to improve the appearance of streets and shopping centers and push for vacant retail properties to be filled.

"Right now, businesses are leaving and moving further out to the Highway 6 area," she said.

She criticized current city leaders for "not doing enough."

"I really think if you have the right people in position, the City Council can work with county and state elected officials to change this environment — to bring it back to how it was 25 years ago."

One key ingredient to success is engaging the community, she said.

"I want to foster relationships with people of the community and members of FBISD to help ensure equal and equitable education for our children," she said.

In addition, she wants to work with different levels of government to create "a safer community"and bring a mass transit system to the city to attract businesses.

"It's important to have constable and police officers patrolling our neighborhoods more. I feel it's necessary that more officers are employed," she said.

"I've seen a problem with a lot of juveniles hanging around and doing nothing but loitering outside businesses. That is very bad for business," she said. "If law enforcement officers are more visible, that would alleviate the situation."


Click the title link above for the full HC piece. Last week special interest backed Mayor Allen Owen made a very strong endorsement for the long-term special interest backed incumbent, Smith for this seat. Is this the political kiss of death now in Missouri City? Stay informed and keep in touch!

MC Council Flip-flops On Signage Issue--

Missouri City Council Turns Thumbs Down On Requested 40-Foot Kroger Grocery Sign
by Bob Dunn, Apr 17, 2007, 09 46 am

Missouri City Council surprised Newquest Properties officials Monday night – and perhaps city staffers, too – by refusing to grant variances for 10 signs that would be much larger than allowed by the city’s sign ordinance.

Houston-based Newquest wants the signs on behalf of Kroger, which is planning to locate a grocery at Fort Bend Town Center, a new two-phase retail center at State Highway 6 and the Fort Bend Parkway.

The refusal was surprising because council members voted at their last meeting to approve an ordinance on first reading that would have allowed the sign variances – even including one 40-foot-tall, 660-square-foot sign that would have dwarfed the maximum current commercial sign size of 96 square feet. Monday night the council was expected to approve the ordinance on its second and final reading, and city staff had recommended it do so. . . (click title link above for full FBN story).

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Comment: Interesting that this council claims they did it for residents who live in Missouri City when they ignored their pleas at the first reading. Perhaps some other group influenced this decision?

OP/ED: Carter's Creative Editing (from the FBStar)-

The following letter to the editor was in response to recent endorsements and political smears from Ms. Carter (In her "Burner" column) of the Fort Bend Star. In her response she left quite a bit out so we have included additional information by her in the e-mail exchange that initiated the release (see below or click the title link above for a heavily edited version in the Star, our local gossip rag):

Sienna resident accuses
“Bev’s Burner” of unwarranted attacks
Dear Bev,

I just wanted to respond to your recent roasting of yet another candidate that has vowed not to take “special interest” monies in your weekly put-down column. The petty nature of your attacks on the character of Mr. Pinnock indicates your true motives and relationships with the network backing one of his opponents. The Sienna Plantation candidate, Mr. Reitz, who you support and is hand picked to run by the “big money” here, who also purchases many ads in your publications, has exactly what experience? You simply endorse anyone that fits into your marketing scheme. Last year during the mayoral races you went as far as to leave out the facts that Owen, backed by the same group, even had an opponent running against him, only to apologize after the race had already ended (knowing otherwise). This is not reporting, but a farse (sic) and most in this area who may still read your paper accept it for what it has become.

I thought a few months ago you had changed when you took Bob Hebert to task on his campaign finance reporting (or should I say miss reporting (sic)), but you turned right around and gave him the big pat on the back later regardless. Was this because you sell several full page ads to him at election time? Ad pressure is an amazing thing Ms. Carter, isn’t it?

Please return to the people and stop pandering to these special interest who could careless (sic) about improving local government, schools, etc. Mr. Pinnock is a genuine hard-working educator who will represent all of Missouri City, not just 1 neighborhood and its developer’s agenda.

PS- I suppose you will endorse all the candidates that fit this mold during this election cycle. It makes me PROUD to be working/voting/supporting Tunstall/Hunter/Griffin & Pinnock. Guess what, unlike last year, we won’t be buying any ads from you (we don’t want to be hypocrites and can win without you).

Chris Calvin

Sienna Plantation Resident

Missouri City, TX.

*Editor’s note: I don’t know what newspaper you are really reading, but you certainly have your facts wrong. The following copy ran on the following date under the following headline:

March 15, 2006

Fort Bend hopefuls, incumbents throw hats in the political ring

Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen will seek another term as mayor as will incumbent Councilmen at Large Jerry Wyatt and Buddy Jimerson. Unlike recent past years when Owen was the only person who filed to run for the mayor’s job, this year he will run against Greyling Byron Poats.

The challenger is an insurance agent who has lived in Missouri City one month shy of 25 years. Owen, a manager of 12 Wells Fargo Bank branches in Fort Bend County, has lived in Missouri City for almost 30 years and been mayor for 12 years.


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Comment: The above response ignored the deliberate ad placements during this contested mayoral race and the news release during the most important time of any election (early voting). The following piece was run on 5-10-06 and makes it appear that no one was running against the incumbent (whether or not this is deliberate or just poor reporting we will leave to you):

From your papers 5-10-06 election article (week of the election). It drew responses in other media around town. Mr. Poat's name isn't even mentioned and it looks like, from the way it is stated, that he isn't even running (intentional or not it supports my claim):

"Raborn said it has been three years since a city election was held in Missouri City so it’s difficult to make comparisons to the 907 people who have voted early this month in Missouri City.

The county election administrator said that in 2003 there was a contested council district race in Missouri City but no elections since. The mayor, Allen Owen, was elected in 1994 and has had only one opponent and that opponent filed to run against him but dropped out of the race. Incumbents in Missouri City’s two at-large council seats are Buddy Jimerson and Jerry Wyatt who are running unopposed for re-election."--BF reported this one

From: http://www.fortbendstar.com/Archives/2006_2q/051006/
s_FBISD%20races%20seem%20to%20get%20early%20voter%20interest.htm

and this letter correcting Ms. Carter from city secretary Fogarty on 5-17-06 with a CLASSIC bev response:

Mo City secretary questions accuracy

Dear Star News,

I must say I am flabbergasted at the information on the front page of the May 3, 2006, edition of The Fort Bend/Southwest Star, regarding the Missouri City election. It states, “Missouri City only has mayor on ballot.”

If someone had but contacted me or a staffmember in my office, we would have gladly provided accurate election information. In addition to the mayoral race in which we have two candidates -- Allen Owen and Greyling Poats, we also have two other positions on the ballot -- At Large Position 1, with candidate Jerry Wyatt, and At Large Position 2, with candidate Buddy Jimerson. Both of the At Large races are uncontested.

A simple phone call would have afforded accurate reporting on Missouri City election information.

City Secretary Patrice Fogarty

Publisher’s note: Although the headline was indeed unfortunate, we do not consider uncontested races necessary to detail. And despite repeated attempts, we were unable to get Mr. Poats to return a telephone call. I believe the story mentioned he was running. So the only people ignored were the two running uncontested races. We apologize for the inaccurate headline.

Bev Carter, publisher

From: http://www.fortbendstar.com/Archives/2006_2q/051006/letters.htm


MCC/CRD would like to encourage Ms. Carter to find a better way to endorse her candidates and act more like a newspaper!



Stay informed and keep in touch!

FB Star Covers Mo-City/District Elections!--click the title link for more--

FBISD & Missouri City have largest number of candidates filed

By Barbara Fulenwider
The candidate filing season for seats on the Fort Bend ISD board and city councils has ended with the school district and Missouri City district council races each attracting the largest number of candidates.

Seven people filed to run for two school district trustee positions, eight filed to run for four Missouri City district seats, five filed to run for four Sugar Land district seats and the only mayor who is running for re-election in an east Fort Bend County town is Leonard Scarcella and he drew one opponent while the three Stafford city councilmen up for re-election all filed and have no opponents.

The two candidates vying for FBISD Trustee Position 3 are incumbent Lisa Rickert and John Robert Broxson. Broxson lists his occupation as consultant, is 50 years old, has lived in Sugar Land for almost 11 years and in the district for nine and a half years. Rickert, 44, lists her occupation as computer consultant and has lived in Sugar Land and the school district for almost 15 years. She is seeking a second three-year term

The five candidates running for Position 7 on the school board are one-term incumbent Ken Bryant, 54, attorney; Daniel Mendez, 36, engineer; David Reitz, 42, manager; Noel Pinnock, 33, educator, and Annie Mae Hopkins, 58, FBISD administrator.

In Missouri City eight people filed to run for four council seats and only one incumbent, Brett Kolaja, who represents District D, filed for re-election and has no opponent. Eunice Reiter, an accountant and the District A incumbent, filed for re-election and will oppose Rodney Leverett Griffin, who is self employed in financial services. Reiter has lived in Missouri City for 43 years and Griffin has lived there almost 27 years.

Candidates for the District B council seat are incumbent Don Smith, a retiree, who has lived in the city for 64 years. He is opposed by Cynthia Lenton-Gary, a professor of sociology and Missouri City resident for 27 years, and Louis Henry Hunter, a mortgage broker and 18-year Missouri City resident.

It’s a two person race for the District C seat with Kevin Dale Tunstall and Barbara Jo Gibson running. Tunstall is a healthcare administrator and resident for almost six years and Gibson is retired and has lived in Missouri City for almost 27 years. Council Member Bob Burton filed for re-election to the District C seat and then withdrew. . .(click the title link above for the full story).


Comment: If you are a Sienna area resident then call/e-mail or contact the challengers in the city race to see if you can help! These council members make decisions for the entire city including the ETJ areas and we need to let them know we count. Remember the current incumbents (without our input) recently ok'd another taxing district in our community and voted in favor of a plan that will increase our MUD debt load. Support the challengers in districts A, B and C and consider being a volunteer in the Arcola races too for Hilton, Rojas or DeVoge who oppose the airport expansion project that will increase air traffic over our community impacting our quality of life.

Contact these candidates to support them: Rodney Griffin (District A), Kevin Tunstall (District C), & Lou Hunter (District B). See their info below:

Missouri City:

http://elect.kdtunstall.com/
kdtunstall@houston.rr.com -- Tunstall

griffin7918@sbcglobal.net -- Griffith

louhhunter@yahoo.com -- Hunter

FBISD Missouri City Area Candidate Noel Pinnock can be reached at -- noelpinnock@gmail.com

Arcola:

Tom Hilton at http://www.citizensforbettergovt.org/ (or call him, he is listed in the Arcola directory).

Rosie Rojas & James DeVoge (or call them, they are listed in the Arcola directory).


--We will continue to update this thread as the election season continues!

Get Local Elected Officials Finance Reports Free at KMBBB (formerly Brazosriver.com -- click this title link)

Brazosriver.com (now KMBBB.com) is run by former FB Star reporter and Richmond area resident Susan Bankston. A political site with much insider information and interesting opinion (not endorsed by MCC but certainly becoming a source for the latest breaking local political news --readers advisory suggested on the site -- some harsh language). One of the most helpful sources on the site is the free campaign finance reports of some of our more colorful local politicians in pdf format (she notes that our county, unlike many others, doesn't like to provide them via the county website, so she does it as a service with some commentary (an interesting read at which companies support which incumbents).

Stay informed and keep in touch as we enter another election season!