4/29/07  Some politician has to be who they promised to be.

Let's be honest.  Those of us who care about politics and honest government have to be the ultimate optimists or the ultimate in naiveté.  We pick candidates we hope can win, who we hope will do the things they promised as candidates.  We campaign for them.  We help them get elected.  We find out early on that we were right or terribly wrong. 

Most people who work in political campaigns also work in our communities.  People who work in political campaigns also serve on city boards and commissions.  People who work in political campaigns are usually active in their neighborhood groups.  People who work in political campaigns are frequently election judges and clerks.  People who work in political campaigns believe they can make a difference.  Sometimes, they are right.  Often, they are wrong - wrong about the people they back.

This time last week, I had just sat down to write after attending a little political social.  A couple of mayoral candidates attended the party, as well as a likely candidate for Dallas County Sheriff.  Some former county judges were there, plus a couple of current state representatives.  It was a chance to see some old friends and comrades.  It left me feeling very retrospective.  All these years of community work instead of learning to play golf or writing that novel I planned.

That was Sunday, but Monday morning I was on a plane to Austin to testify before a House committee about amendments to the massage parlor law.  Seeing as the Walnut Hill/Harry Hines area is the epicenter for whorehouses masquerading as massage parlors, I have become somewhat of an authority about their impact on neighborhoods (business or residential).  Unfortunately, Monday was also the day the House debated amendments to voter identification laws.  The committee did not get to the two massage parlor bills until 10:30 pm.  It was after 1 am Tuesday morning before I testified.  I think I was asleep in my hotel room by 2 am, on a plane to Dallas by 10:45 and back at my office by 1 pm.

Ironically, I was in Austin supporting Democrat Rep. Rafael Anchia's HB 1883 and opposing Republican Rep. Jim Jackson's HB 2957.  I say ironically because I'm a Republican sitting in Rep. Anchia's office most of the day watching the debate on the webcast.  I was on the complete opposite side of that issue to everyone in the office.  I think the current rules for voter identification are incredibly deficient.  Having worked in too many elections to count, both as a clerk and as the election judge, I have seen many questionable voters. 

The rules in Mexico for voting are so much more stringent than anything proposed in Monday's debate.  I heard things like old people who were born at home are going to be disenfranchised because they don't have birth records.  That is so lame.  Those old people are already registered voters.  But, that's politics. 

You have to keep talking to each other.  I would rather work with someone committed to the other side of an issue than some milk toast who doesn't believe in anything.  One of Rep. Anchia's aide's is a longtime friend who thinks he's a liberal, but we almost always wind up on the same side of community issues. 

Back in Dallas, I'm getting caught up in the TrinityVote movement.  Angela Hunt is just kicking ODB butt all over town.  She is having such an impact that Ron Kirk/Con Jerk now hates her more than he used to hate me or Laura Miller.  He was screaming at her after a Democrat forum Saturday night.  Kirk had already called out Sam Coats from the podium and told him he was completely wrong about the Trinity Project.  Kirk told the crowd they had better not sign Angela's petition.  Kirk was heard telling Councilwoman Hunt it was deceitful of her to wait until after the deadline for filing for a council seat before announcing her petition drive.  His pro-Trinity mafia would have bought an opponent to run against Hunt in District 14.  They would have spent a million dollars if necessary.

More irony.  Now Con Jerk and Laura Miller are a team.  That should be enough to make Mayor Miller rethink her position.  Unfortunately, she has always wanted to be pals with Con Jerk.  Now, our former woman of the people is trying to stamp out democracy just like Ron Kirk/Con Jerk did during the arena fight. 

Laura Miller and Bill Ceverha, Cutting Down a Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G Fri Apr 27, 2007 at 02:35:18 PM

Laura Miller, our tree-climbing mayor, is planning one of her mom-and-apple-pie press conferences Monday in Fretz Park under the heartwarming motto, “Sink the Petition/Save the Trinity.” It’s an effort to stamp out the petition drive for a referendum on the Trinity River Toll Road.    According to the e-mails I have seen, the organizer for this decidedly macabre version of the teddy bear’s picnic is Mayor Laura’s new best friend, Bill Ceverha, the bankrupt convicted law-breaker ....     Aren’t you just so glad you voted for Laura? --Jim Schutze

I can't say I'm sorry I voted for Laura, but I am sorry she has gone South on us.  I can't say I'm glad I voted for her either.  There are only a few politicians who I have supported who have not been huge disappointments. 

Ed Oakley has been a huge disappointment. 

John Loza was a huge disappointment. 

Laura Miller has been a very mixed bag. 

I worked my fanny off for all three candidates, and not one of them proved to be any better than the person they defeated.  They all had so much potential.  They all sold out. 

More irony.  I did not support Donna Blumer when she ran for council the first time, but I became friends with her during the campaign.  She never disappointed me. 

I ran against Steve Salazar, we have since become good friends.  I'm honestly glad he won.  Steve Salazar is a very good city councilman for District 6.  I don't agree with every position he takes, but he's been right on the money about what matters to my neighborhood. 

I supported both of Angela Hunt's opponents in her first council race because I was afraid she would be part of the Lordi Palmer/Princess Velveeta mafia.  Hunt has turned out to be anything but a puppet of Palmer or Velveeta or the artsy fartsy crowd.  She has actually turned out to the elected official I thought I would see from Laura Miller.

Putting it in perspective, you just don't know what you're getting most of the time.  I really didn't know Laura Miller before the arena campaign, and apparently still don't.  I did know Ed Oakley and had some concerns, but he was a friend and he wanted to be on the council.  I was close to John Loza before he ran for council.  When he ran the first time and lost to Chris Luna, I saw some things during his campaign that made me wonder and worry.  Still, the transition from the sweet young man I knew as John Loza to the pompous bag of wind he became on the city council was pretty amazing.

I support Betty Culbreath for District 5 because I know her.  I served with her on the Plan Commission.  I opposed her being named chair, but she did a good job.  We usually cancelled each other's vote, but we became friends anyway.  Betty has served as chair of the DFW Board and twice chaired the Plan Commission.  She has always been a friend to Our Downtown Betters, but she's learned the hard way that their loyalty is a one-way street.  She has some solid and basic ideas for improving District 5.

I support Dave Neumann in District 3 because I have watched him in action as head of the Stemmons Business Corridor Association.  He turned that organization around.  He has so much energy.

I support Darrell Jordan for Mayor because I have known him for over 30 years.  He is someone who does the right thing when no one is looking.  He has a plan.  Darrell is not a figment of some PR group's imagination.  People in his profession admire him.  He was elected as President of both the Dallas Bar and the State Bar of Texas.  He's smart, he's honest and he will not morph into someone else once he is elected.  It's time we had a grownup as mayor.  It's time for Darrell Jordan.

Watching Laura being taken over by aliens has been heartbreaking, but Angela Hunt has certainly stepped in to fill the void.  Angela has shown such courage.  No one knows better than me how hard it is to go up against the establishment.  I cannot believe the establishment now includes Laura Miller.  I cannot believe Laura Miller would try to stop a citizen-based petition drive.  But then, Laura Miller won with the help of DPD and DFD volunteers, and then turned around and campaigned against their referendum for a pay raise.

Angela Hunt has been a bright spot on a dismal council. 

It's like the spirit of the real Laura Miller has escaped the aliens and has inspired Angela Hunt to step up and step out.  The ODB doll who is posing as Laura Miller these days is not the Laura Miller we voted for.  The ODB suck-up who has paired up with Con Jerk/Ron Kirk to try to stifle citizen input is not the Laura Miller we voted for.  The aliens may release the real Laura Miller as soon as we install the new mayor.   The question is whether their standup puppet will be willing to let her have her body back.

Sometimes, it's hard to keep hoping for honest government in Dallas.  You just have to believe.

Thanks, Angela.

sb