Monday, November 15, 2010

In support of Commissioner Janiece Longoria

On Wednesday morning, Houston City Council will vote on Position 7 at the Houston Port Authority. This is a Council appointment but Mayor Parker and her administration are working District Council Members pretty hard to support the Mayor's preferred candidate. All of the usual political favors are on the table and promises have been made. I'd like to remind everyone that the budget is not being met, the City is discussing lay offs and furloughs, and no one should count on favors when there is no money.

With that said, I am steadfast in my support of Commissioner Janiece Longoria's re-appointment to the Port Authority. She is a great example of Hispanic success and a needed voice for diversity on the Commission. I must stand with my fellow Latina, because if we can't count on each other, who can we count on? Comadres stick together, and that's the way it is.

It is a shame that the Hispanic community allows ourselves to be divided for bogus political arguments on items of such great importance. Mayor Parker may succeed in her efforts to remove Commissioner Longoria, which would be a big political win for her, but it will come at a great loss - for the second time in as many weeks - for the Hispanic community.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to save the Hispanic presence on the Port Commission. We did the right thing and we can only hope that the leadership will stand up for our community at Council on Wednesday.

P.S. If you're looking for the Houston Chronicle article on the agenda item, you won't find it. Written by Jenalia Moreno, it is no longer available online. 

Sunday, November 14, 2010

From the No Sh*t, Sherlock Department:

After a tough Election Day on November 2nd, Democrats are re-surfacing to take a look at the damage done and to assess what remains. The obvious things are that we got out with our lives, it was just an election and not the end of the world. The losses in Harris County are deep and devastating, and if we don't learn from our many mistakes then we will not recover from 2010 for a long, long time.

It's interesting, though. There are lots of fingers pointed at the Latino community. Some blame Latinos for not voting in Texas, but the critics are silent after the numbers come out. Rick Perry picked up 48% of the Hispanic vote. Latino Republicans were elected to the Texas Legislature and to Congress. The Latino vote matters and when you ask for that vote, you get it.

Get it?

Latinos saved the United States Senate for the Democrats with our voting strength in Nevada, Colorado and California.  Why the hell can't that happen in Texas? Let's get real here. Bill White's campaign focused on moderate Anglos who made up their minds last year that they were voting a straight Republican ticket this year. There was no way that Bill White was going to change the heart and mind of that voter. And you can't grow more like-minded, moderate white voters in a lab at A&M. It doesn't work like that.

But you can register a whole bunch of eligible new voters in an exploding population. Hispanics haven't been engaged yet. But get to them fast, because unfortunately Hispanics have the same bad American habits of watching Glenn Beck and Fox News.

Until Democrats focus on the Latino vote in Texas, we will continue to sustain losses. It's that simple.