Tucson. Aurora. Oak Creek.
The press releases and statements of sorrow from our elected officials are simply inadequate for the tasks they have been hired to do. Continue reading
No Te Juntes con esta Chusma
Tambien no debes andar en el Twitter con esta chusma… Tweeting at the 2011 Texas Tribune Festival with a guy who was totally cool with Voter ID, despite representing a heavily Hispanic district.
This morning the Republican Party of Texas announced the appointment of George P. Bush, son of Jeb, nephew of W., and grandson of Grandpa, as their new Deputy Finance Director. Unlike his uncle, this guy is young, smart, and… Hispanic.
Last week, we witnessed the nomination of Ted Cruz for US Senate and approval of JM Lozano for State Representative. This came days after Rick Perry, Quico Canseco, and the Hispanic Leadership Network hosted the “South Texas Small Business Invitational” in San Antonio.
With three statewide Hispanic elected officials, the RPT looks like it is finally coming around to embracing a minority that its conservative base has long neglected. Continue reading
City Council Rebukes Petitioners, Takes Up Independent Plan
Austin City Council set a new precedent in public process this morning when they chose to vote on a controversial Council plan in one of their “Work Sessions.” The plan, which calls for an amendment to the City’s Charter, would create 8 council seats filled by unique districts, 2 at-large seats filled by city wide candidates, and a city-wide elected Mayor. The current City Council structure has 6 city-wide elected council members and one Mayor. By voting on the proposal, City Council members have sent the issue to the public on November’s ballot. The problem? Another proposed change to Austin City Council system is already waiting on the ballot to be voted on in November, and it does not have the Council’s support.
Austin City Council in a “Work Session” as opposed to the more traditionally attended and covered Council Meetings on August 7, 2012 at City Hall.
The discussion of ridding Austin of its outdated City Council system has been debated for decades, including recent coverage by UT’s Daily Texan Editorial Board. A multitude of plans (practically any numerical combination that added up to more than 12 and no less 6) have been floated before the public, but only one has stood out as the community’s favorite. And guess what, it wasn’t the plan voted on this morning by Austin City Council.
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The Political Climate on Campus
The numbers used in the following post are all provided by a study designed and executed by me in the Fall of 2011. The abstract for that study is as follows:
The purpose of this research was to study the link between Religion and Politics among undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Austin. Data was gathered via a self-administered questionnaire, distributed by Sociology students following a nonprobability but quota-based sampling strategy. The study found that there was indeed an inverse relationship between Level of Religiosity and Degree of Political Liberalism. Additionally, an inverse relationship between Year in School and Level of Religiosity was established. This study is a unique snapshot of students’ ideology in the very dynamic Religious and Political landscape of Austin, Texas. Continue reading
Save Our Springs: 20 Years Later, Reflections From a 22 Year Old
This week, many Austinites will be celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the Save Our Springs movement. The movement, which many affectionately reference as a major turning point in Austin’s political history, was born out of Austin’s long tenured anti-development sentiment and blossomed into a community-wide push for environmentally sensitive development. It conquered the daunting task of uniting the disinterested and motivated in to a 30,000 plus strong petition drive and eventual takeover of City Council. Continue reading