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12/11/03  Dual Residencies? Oh, Please!

Domingo Garcia has just a bit of a credibility problem in this town.  No one has forgotten his bizarre claim to have been offered a bribe by Laura Miller to endorse her in the mayoral runoff against Tom Dunning.

Then there's his State Representative record:

The Best and the Worst Legislators by Paul Burka and Patricia Kilday Hart; July 2001

. . . THE WORST  . . . Domingo Garcia    Domingo Garcia is a one-man leper colony. Nobody wants to be around him. What's worse, the disease is self-inflicted. He set out to make himself the most despised member of the House, and it is about the only thing of note he has accomplished in his three terms.     To achieve absolute-zero status, you have to do something really special. Garcia was up to the challenge. In the spring of 2000 he set out to end the careers of four of his Democratic colleagues from Dallas and one from Fort Worth. He sought Hispanic opponents in the Democratic primary for Steve Wolens, Dale Tillery, Harryette Ehrhardt, and Lon Burnam, all of whom are white, and Terri Hodge, who is African American. None of Garcia's agents were successful, but it didn't matter: He had violated an ancient legislative taboo against actively seeking the defeat of one's colleagues. The taboo exists for a good reason, which is that the legislative process cannot function without underlying goodwill and civility, and nothing destroys goodwill and civility faster than trying to end someone's career.     The contempt for Garcia erupted for all to see during the debate over the ill-fated campaign-finance bill. He offered an amendment to impose a $500 fine on candidates who published or broadcast false information about an opponent. Uh-oh. Up came Wolens to the microphone with a question: "Can I make your amendment retroactive fifteen years, to the last time you ran against me?" Uh-oh again. Up came Hodge: "Are you saying that if I put on my campaign literature that you are a great guy and an outstanding representative that I could be charged a five-hundred-dollar fine?"     The irony is that Garcia, who apparently believes that Hispanics ought to represent Hispanics, cannot effectively represent his constituents. He wants a law school and a pharmacy school for South Dallas; he wants state universities to de-emphasize standardized test scores in admitting students; he wants the state's electoral votes in presidential elections to be awarded by congressional district instead of winner-take-all. But he is such a marked man that he has no hope of getting anything done; indeed, he acknowledged to the Dallas Morning News that he had to farm out several of his bills to other legislators. And he has no one to blame but himself.

Of course, you have to remember how he got to be a State Rep -- by stabbing one of his closest friends in the back, Roberto Alonzo, who turned around in 2002 and whipped Garcia to take back his seat.  It really doesn't matter which one of them is in Austin.  They both just take up space at best.  They don't care about anything but power and access and protecting their patron status.

Neither have ever done anything for anyone outside their respective gene pools.

For way too long, West Dallas and the western side of Oak Cliff have been a fiefdom divided by a couple of families, who consider themselves the ruling class, the patrons.

Gromer Jeffers catches an important issue in this potential race -- residency.

Expect hot race over Wolens' seat 08:42 PM CST on Monday, December 8, 2003 By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News

Almost before the ink dried on copies of state Rep. Steve Wolens' 30-page announcement last week that he was quitting the Legislature, candidates began positioning themselves to succeed him.    Supporters of Dallas school trustee Rafael Anchia started lining up commitments hours after Mr. Wolens made his decision. Mr. Anchia confirmed Friday that he would be a candidate.    At the same time, former state Rep. Domingo Garcia designated a treasurer and announced that he was exploring a run at the seat, even though he currently lives outside the 103rd District. And former Dallas City Council member Chris Luna said Monday that he had his eye on a run for the seat. . . .   "It will be a good one," said Joe May, a Dallas school trustee. "It will be a tough race, and the candidate with the best organization will win." . . .   The 103rd includes parts of Oak Cliff, West Dallas, most of the Love Field area and part of North Dallas. . . .   Mr. Anchia, 35, is said to be one of the area's most promising young politicians. He has been mentioned as a potential candidate for mayor and has served on the school board since 2001. . . .   In addition to his work in Austin, Mr. Garcia has served on the City Council. He lost a 1995 mayoral bid against Ron Kirk and the 2002 special election for mayor against Laura Miller.    Also in 2002, he lost a return match against state Rep. Roberto Alonzo , D-Dallas.    Years earlier, Mr. Garcia had defeated Mr. Alonzo for that seat.    Mr. Garcia, who is married to City Council member Elba Garcia, currently lives outside the 103rd. He could not be reached for comment but has circulated an e-mail about his candidacy. . . .   As with Mr. Garcia, there are questions about Mr. Luna's residency.    Mr. Luna said Monday that he declared his residency inside the 103rd District in anticipation that Mr. Wolens would step down. . . .

Name: GARCIA, DOMINGO ALBERTO Certificate Number: 01308229 Status: A Address: 500 E 5TH, DALLAS TX Your Voting Precinct is: 3501  ----------------------------------------------------------------- You are in these other voting districts:  ? Congressional District: CD-24  Martin Frost  ? Dallas Community College District: CL-06  Diana Flores  ? Commissioner Court: COMM03  John Wiley Price  ? City Council: CYDA01  Dr. Elba Garcia  ? Justice of the Peace District: JP-5  Judges: Sepulveda and Jasso  ? State of Texas House District: LD-104  Roberto Alonzo  ? State of Texas Senate District: SS-23  Royce West  ? State School Board District: SB-13  Mavis Best Knight  ? Independent School District: SHDA07  Rafael Anchia  ? Water District:

Of course, Dallas voters  know Domingo Garcia is a liar after that episode in the Miller/Dunning runoff.

This residency scam is so wrong, and it is illegal.  What does that matter to political hacks like Garcia?

There was worse on WBAP on Wednesday.  I only heard it once, but that was enough.  They had Al Lemna Lipscomb on the air claiming he and some other gangsters had recruited Domingo Garcia to run for the state representative seat from District 103.  As a resident of District 103, I wanted to crawl through the radio and throttle the reporter who let that tape run.

We have enough problems in District 103 without a confessed and convicted bribe taker playing kingmaker for us.  There is nothing a convicted heroin pusher like Al Lemna Lipscomb has to say that is significant to anyone in District 103. 

Sending a felon out to announce his campaign, shows Garcia is out of touch with reality.

Rafael Anchia is the future.  He doesn't play the patron game.  He is a respected attorney, and has done a great job on the School Board.  He will be supported by honest community leaders like Jesse Diaz and other Hispanic leaders.

One reason I ran for city council was to open up the council seat and boards and commission positions for new, young people who really care about this city.  There is so much corruption in the election process most people are unwilling to challenge the system unless they are a glutton for punishment.  With the vote harvesting system so ingrained in West Dallas, you have the Alonzo sisters working that route and winding up on the Plan Commission and Park Board even though they don't live in city council District 6.

Using the corrupt vote harvesting scam is the only way Garcia can beat Anchia.

That's assuming Domingo Garcia can get past the residency issue, which he cannot.  He lives on 5th Street with his wife and sons.  His wife, Dr. Elba Garcia, serves on the city council representing District 1 (which she took from former family friend, Steve Salazar).  If Domingo Garcia has lived in District 103 since last Summer, his wife has been illegally serving on the city council.

Is Domingo Garcia separated from Elba Garcia?  Or, does he want us to believe they not only sleep in separate bedrooms, but in separate houses?

District 103 goes up into Carrollton and includes the Bachman/Northwest Highway area. 

If Garcia thinks he is going to steal this district from the people who live here, he better have a lot of money because there will be an army of decent people who are tired of the likes of Al Lemna Lipscomb and Domingo "the worst" Garcia. 

At least now we know why Elba Garcia supported putting a convicted heroin pusher on the Police Review Board.  When several Hispanics were opposing Lemna being on the PRB, Domingo Garcia circulated an e-mail claiming Lipscomb had paid for his crimes and had done important things for the community.  Name one!

Like Domingo "the worst" Garcia, Lemna Lipscomb only cares about promoting himself.

Even Domingo "the worst" Garcia doesn't get to vote at one residence and claim you live elsewhere.  Isn't it ironic Garcia would name a treasurer to run in a district where he doesn't live but he didn't bother to change his voter registration?  Where does his drivers license list his residence?  Sounds like an assignment for Allen Gwinn.

It's a different world than when patrons Garcia and Alonzo were swapping the seat for District 104.  Younger Hispanic leaders are emerging despite the efforts of the patrons to control and discourage them.  Rafael Anchia is smart and tough and articulate.  His campaign will be well funded.  "The worst" has never run against someone like Anchia.

More importantly, the laws have changed regarding vote harvesting.  Some of the stuff Garcia and Alonzo got away with in the past will be illegal now, and "the worst" will be running against someone who will not put up with it.

The new vote harvesting rules may be why we are hearing rumors about Joe Thug May wanting to retire from his federal job, resign from the DISD School Board and go back to Laredo.  Let's help him pack.  In a few days, DallasArena.com will have an important story on that score.

With Rafael Anchia representing District 103 in Austin, Dallas Hispanics will have an elected official they can respect.  With Rafael Anchia as our representative in Austin, all residents of all ethnicities in District 103 will have someone who will not embarrass us.

District 103 is accustomed to having our state representative considered one of the best in Austin.  We do not want Steve Wolens succeeded by Domingo Garcia who Texas Monthly and a host of others considered one of the worst in Austin.

Domingo Garcia did not live in District 103 last summer and does not live in District 103 now.  We will not let him get away with another public and outrageous lie.