233 replies to this topic

[safly]

Now THIS is INTERESTING STUFF!

Funny what a new year can do to a local paper.

The few last paragraphs in particular could raise some concern about Wendy Davis and her camp.

Here are those last few paragraphs:

Brender said he spoke with Davis' attorney late Monday after three firefighters issued their challenge to Davis' candidacy. The Fort Worth Firefighters Association has endorsed Brimer. Brimer's campaign representative is Bryan Eppstein, who worked for the firefighters in their recent successful bid to bargain collectively with the city.

Eppstein in December called Davis "an enemy of police officers and firefighters in Tarrant County."

Brender said he also notified the Texas Secretary of State's Office regarding challenge.

Yes, indeed, it is very interesting. I lived in Mistletoe Heights for eight years and knew Wendy Davis. An enemy of police officers and firefighters??? I don't think so. Brimer is a desperate man. Will be interesting to see what other desperate measures he resorts to.

Wrong. I was refering to the other article. Did Brimer call for this move ??? The second article does not appear to indicate that. This was a FFAssoc. backed move based on my observations. If he is in fact a desperate man, then he would be the first incumbent to be labeled that based on my recollections.

The next Q should be WHY the FFAssoc. DOES NOT ENDORSE the other candidate(s)?

Indeed, it is a very bold statement to lay out on the wire, but is there SOME MERIT?
Was the quote ORIGINATED by a member of those mentioned Assoc.'s in Tarrant County?

I would like EPPSTEIN to elaborate further on the position taken. Or at least the reporter should explain the stance for us.

[AndyN]

Davis issue in local Democrats' hands
By AMAN BATHEJA
abatheja@star-telegram.com

The secretary of state's office said today that it will not make a ruling on whether Democrat Wendy Davis is ineligible to run for state Senate, placing the issue in the hands of Tarrant County Democratic Chairman Art Brender.

"Our office has talked to Mr. Brender and let him know that since he is the filing authority for this election, that ultimately it's his decision to make," said Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the office.

Link to Story

[safly]

Political stunt? Term used a bit loosely here, don't ya think?

City charter is City charter.

Again, having not stepped down from the first election against D9 candidate BERNIE SCHEFFLER, PUT HERSELF SOLELY INTO THIS POSITION. The choice SHE MADE. And sooner or later, it was going to bite her in the tail. To the point that a locally respected public service association has to write a formal letter regarding a clear policy.

It is quite apparent HERE that the lady should be keepin shut her perty lil mouth regarding "political stunt" comments.

Your thoughts.

[ghughes]

My thoughts? Thanks for asking!

1. Wendy Davis has served District 9 and this city with fully enough distinction to be able to say anything she danged well pleases. It will take a lot of work to equal her efforts and be qualified to say anything about her keeping her mouth shut. So get to it, and call back when you're done.

2. The respect public service associations enjoy is put at risk when they stick their noses into something that is absolutely none of their business. Last time I checked we respect and love our firefighters because they protect us from, well, fires. We have other folks who worry about qualifications for candidacy.

3. Kudos to whoever cooked up swearing Joel in early. That state law about serving until you are replaced is insane... forced servitude? I thought we did away with that some time ago.

[safly]

Hughes. REALLY!

Come on, she is the last person to cast judgement about POLITICAL STUNTS.!

Everyone with half a brain knew that she was going to step down from her last D-9 victory to run for a state level position. And since then the district has had to go through 2 more elections to fill her place with another D-9 election scheduled in less than 2 years (?) And there are still about 20K other residents within the district who don't know or give a hoot about what the last candidates were running for. So if that was her objective for the last 9 years (enabling voter apathy and low turnouts) then she did a MARVELOUS JOB. Sound the drums.

It's all about ambition with this cloth of politicos, if she deserves to say whatever she wants about another candidate and alledge this or that, then she better darn well watch her back when it comes to others scrutinizing her own choices while in her old seat. She knew that the one CHANCE she has at saving her own tail for the State elections was to get Burns sworn in before the first CC meeting of the year. Otherwise, she would have allowed him to be sworn in at the meetings like many have done in past years. That's right, other city elected officials have had to do their service til the last day. What makes her special?

If the associations INTEREST are to get some other candidate in office, then they are protected by our Constitution to do so and voice that opinion, and they too can be held under scrutiny. But, it would seem as though they feel passionate enough to take that chance. So respects to them.

We have other folks who worry about qualifications for candidacy.

Well apparently many are on the extended vacation program. FOR upstairs.

It's not FORCED SERVITUDE if you KNOW what you are getting into.

Kudos to whoever cooked up swearing Joel in early.

The irony here is if the Assoc. did not formally write this letter of protest, she may have CLEARLY missed the boat.

[gdvanc]

2. The respect public service associations enjoy is put at risk when they stick their noses into something that is absolutely none of their business. Last time I checked we respect and love our firefighters because they protect us from, well, fires. We have other folks who worry about qualifications for candidacy.

It's as much their business as it is anyone's. They're still citizens. (I think they're forbidden from serving on the city council, though. Maybe that's their beef.)

3. Kudos to whoever cooked up swearing Joel in early. That state law about serving until you are replaced is insane... forced servitude? I thought we did away with that some time ago.

I don't think the law is insane. The idea is to help make sure state representatives are representing the constituents of their state office and not juggling that with their obligations to the constituents of their other office. It is also intended to help prevent conflicts of interest, although that is also covered by common law.

If it's insane, it's a fairly common insanity. 47 states prohibit state legislators from holding other state offices. 25 of these also prohibit state legislators from holding any county or municipal (elected) office. 18 of the other 22 prohibit a state legislator from holding an county or municipal office if the two offices are incompatible. I believe some countries have similar laws. In fact, it seems like Pakistan is one and that some of Musharaff's innumerable detractors pointed out that it was unconstitutional for him to serve as both Chief Executive and Army Chief. Not that the fact that such a law is in the Pakistani constitution does much to prove the sanity of the law.

It's not forced servitude; the official can resign at any time. In fact, in some cases, resignation of the local office can be automatic with the announcement of candidacy for the state office. I thought this might have applied in Ms. Davis case, but IANAL. I also wondered if it was necessary for Mr. Burns to be sworn in early if she resigned. Not sure.


Really the issue seems overblown. The law is against serving in two offices. Running for one while holding another is less clearly addressed overall (although perhaps not in some cases). I do think it wasn't entirely proper for her to run for council IF she fully intended to run for the state office - but it doesn't matter what I think.


For the adventurous: Texas Dual Office Holding Laws Made Easy

[ghughes]

My actual point about the insanity of the law is specifically about resigning (which Wendy did last year) and being required to "serve" until someone is installed after being elected. So she resigned... does her vote still count? What does "resign" mean in this case? What if she resigned and moved to Arkansas, or Arlington, or District 7? Would the state require her to come back or call in?

Yes, in many cases the firefighters are citizens of Fort Worth or at least of District 97. And they are welcome, as citizens, to jump in. Doing so as an organization is just weird since the State Senate doesn't deal with firefighters, unless they imagine Brimer would support their right to strike.

At this point, Wendy has resigned and then she filed to run. As campaign tricks go, this ain't much. Really just a smear campaign directed at those who don't know better. Kind of like asking, "when did you stop beating your wife?" Difficult to extricate oneself from the mud wrestling and still look clean. Of course the real issue is Wendy did not support meet and confer or collective bargaining. So what you are really seeing is that grand old tradition of payback. I would prefer to think of firefighters as being above revenge, but then I also suspect not all the firefighters go along with their organization. There really are a lot of decent people in the firehouses.

Overall this is shaping up to be a rather spirited race.

[safly]

Can we all just agree that she has a perty lil mouth???

[ghughes]

Not sure where you're headed with that but I suggest caution.

[safly]

Jokes?

She is a lil hot. You HAVE to ADMIT.

[ghughes]

I have to admit I don't participate in this forum to discuss someone's appearance, good or bad.

[gdvanc]

My actual point about the insanity of the law is specifically about resigning (which Wendy did last year) and being required to "serve" until someone is installed after being elected. So she resigned... does her vote still count? What does "resign" mean in this case? What if she resigned and moved to Arkansas, or Arlington, or District 7? Would the state require her to come back or call in?

I might be inclined to agree with you if I didn't think that someone who campaigns for public office has made a commitment, if only implicitly, to their constituents to actually serve their full term if at all possible.

I know it's just a city council position and perhaps you feel that's an unimportant office. Still, she serves a single-member district and if she doesn't represent it until her replacement is in office then the district is unrepresented. We'll have people dumping tea in the Clear Fork if we're not careful.

Perhaps we can compromise and append "... unless I find something better to do" to the oath of office.

I would expect that her vote would count; there'd be little point in requiring her to serve otherwise. If she resigned and moved away, she should be obliged to continue to represent her district at council. I don't know Ms. Davis, but I doubt that she would disagree with that. I don't think she minds serving, but clearly she doesn't want that to prevent her from running for the state office.

The state does not require her to continue to serve, by the way; the city does.

At this point, Wendy has resigned and then she filed to run.

I think it was wrong for her to run for council if she was seriously considering running for the state legislature. It's possible she wasn't considering it seriously (or at all). It's possible, for instance, that she was approached by the local leadership of her party to consider running after she was elected to council. Who knows? Well, someone does - but not I. Still, she was elected and I think she should serve. The state seat comes up again with some regularity.

Having said that, I don't think her candidacy for the state office is, or should be, in serious jeopardy. The state law is clear that she can not serve both offices. It does not say explicitly that she can not run for the state office while serving on the council. I believe previous court decisions have found in favor of candidates in positions similar to hers. Her ineligibility to serve in the state legislature is temporary; by the time she would take office, if elected, she would be eligible to serve - despite Mayor Moncrief's odd decision. That's my uneducated opinion anyway. FWIW. YMMV. Etc.

[Tony]

Jokes?

She is a lil hot. You HAVE to ADMIT.

Wow?!!! Don't you think that is a bit sexist? I mean, how old are you?

[bhudson]

Jokes?

She is a lil hot. You HAVE to ADMIT.

Wow?!!! Don't you think that is a bit sexist? I mean, how old are you?

C'mon man, I know you've been around here long enough to have figured out what saf's about...

[Tony]

Jokes?

She is a lil hot. You HAVE to ADMIT.

Wow?!!! Don't you think that is a bit sexist? I mean, how old are you?

C'mon man, I know you've been around here long enough to have figured out what saf's about...

Yeah ... but I was just doing a little needling of my own. Apparently he hasn't been on cause I know he would have taken the bait.

[AndyN]

Oh, that's bad. Almost as bad as the GILF jokes at the warmup act for Craig Ferguson.

We need a comedy section for all you wannabes who can't stay on topic.

(Edit)

Whoops, almost forgot the smileys.

[safly]

Jokes?

She is a lil hot. You HAVE to ADMIT.

Wow?!!! Don't you think that is a bit sexist? I mean, how old are you?

C'mon man, I know you've been around here long enough to have figured out what saf's about...

Yeah ... but I was just doing a little needling of my own. Apparently he hasn't been on cause I know he would have taken the bait.

(listening to Louis Prima's "Just a Gigolo")

I would straight go THE TODD on that SSCILF!

Yuckie CATFISH BAIT!

[Keller Pirate]

Did the state redistrict some of the state senate seats? I ask because out here in Keller, our state senator has been Jane Nelson, now I am seeing quite a few Brimer signs, including one a block from my house. I have also spotted Brimer signs in Southlake and Grapevine. They are all fairly large size signs too.

Does he just have so much money he can afford to put signs anywhere in the county, or does he have a plan? So far I haven't spotted any Davis signs out this way.

[cbellomy]

KP, Senate Districts 10 and 12 gerrymander pretty severely up your way. It's quite possible you could drive down your street and switch back and forth between the districts two or three times.

[FoUTASportscaster]

It looks like she won.

Edited by John T Roberts, 06 November 2008 - 09:13 PM.

[McHand]

Congrats Wendy!!!

Edited by John T Roberts, 06 November 2008 - 09:14 PM.

[Fort Worthology]

Anyway - go Wendy! I'm very happy for her and look forward to her term. Also a big congratulations for my friend Bernie Scheffler who put so much work into her campaign.

[mmiller2002]

Her negative TV ads turned me off. Disappointing.

[Fort Worthology]

As though Brimer was such a constant force of positive thinking - his constant BS and attempts to get her removed from the ballot turned me off. He set the tone early on. I call it a wash.

[JBB]

I think it's remarkable that she managed to win after putting out TV ads that never once mentioned her name. Nonetheless, Brimer was at the wheel when that campaign went in the ditch. Her ability to pull off the win says a lot about the grass roots support she had in her former council district.

[mmiller2002]

As though Brimer was such a constant force of positive thinking - his constant BS and attempts to get her removed from the ballot turned me off. He set the tone early on. I call it a wash.

I'll admit that I'm not really up on local politics, and probably didn't care about the outcome either way, but that made my choice easy. But wasn't he just pushing for the rules to be enforced?

Still, just because he may have done that months ago, it wasn't a negative TV ad. Totally different. Not a wash to me. But, I'm not in the camp.

[Keller Pirate]

As though Brimer was such a constant force of positive thinking - his constant BS and attempts to get her removed from the ballot turned me off. He set the tone early on. I call it a wash.

In Obama's first run for Illinois state senate he managed to get all four of his primary opponets kicked off the ballot through court challenges.

[AndyN]

I think Wendy got a ride on Obama's coattails. Everyone in my precinct but me voted straight ticket Democrat.

[bhudson]

I think Wendy got a ride on Obama's coattails. Everyone in my precinct but me voted straight ticket Democrat.

This is probably an important factor.

But I voted straight ticket libertarian with a few exceptions, Wendy Davis being one of them (Joe Barton being the other because he voted against the federal bailout both times). I have friends with similar inclinations who did the same thing, so I know that the anti-Brimer vote was also a factor. Brimer had his incumbency, money, and endorsements out the wazoo in his favor. Yet he blew it for me by being a poor sport and not debating issues.

Don't get me wrong, Wendy was down in the mud too and both campaigns were very negative (I have about 5 trees worth of negative ads from both in my recycling bin to prove it), but I voted against Kim because I thought his endless attempts (it's still not over, as I understand) to get her off the ballot were really pathetic. Debate her on the issues and win, or go crawl under a rock.

[bhudson]

As though Brimer was such a constant force of positive thinking - his constant BS and attempts to get her removed from the ballot turned me off. He set the tone early on. I call it a wash.

In Obama's first run for Illinois state senate he managed to get all four of his primary opponets kicked off the ballot through court challenges.

Brimer's no Obama.

[safly]

Correct.

OBAMA Don't GOLF!

(Charlie don't surf ref.)

Joke.

Yes, that straight ticket obviously had to help. And the TV ads without her name mentioned creates a WE v. Brimer atmosphere. Well played.

Congrats.

We have ourselves a SIL... uhhhh never mind

[McHand]

Her negative TV ads turned me off. Disappointing.

Me too. I thought it would skew the campaign.

[Phil Phillips]

Sadly, the voters didn't reflect on her politics while on the City Council but were influenced by tv ads.

[John T Roberts]

There's an article on her victory in the Star-Telegram. Here's the link: http://www.star-tele...ry/1027249.html