18,183

Don’t get mad at Commentary for calling certain older folks selfish. Commentary is talking about California U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein and Kentucky U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  Sen. Feinstein didn’t know what she was talking about at a hearing yesterday. Majority Leader McConnell froze in front of the TV cameras a couple of days ago. It is pretty clear that they need to ride off into the sunset. They are being selfish if you ask Commentary.

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It is the Mayor versus the Superintendent. See this from the Chron:

Details about the new Houston ISD administration’s plan to eliminate librarians under the New Education System model have sparked outrage from Mayor Sylvester Turner and other elected officials. 

During a City Council meeting Wednesday morning, Turner called on Superintendent Mike Miles to reverse course on his policy related to libraries. Miles plans to cut librarians at most of the 85 NES and NES-aligned schools and convert the libraries into so-called Team Centers where misbehaving students will watch their class on Zoom. 

“When you close the libraries, you have gone too far,” the mayor said, adding that Miles is “dismantling the largest educational district in the state of Texas. You cannot educate the kids and close the libraries, and then turn them into disciplinary centers. What is the message that you are telling our kids?”

Turner has been among the most vocal opponents of the Texas Education Agency’s intervention in HISD since the takeover was announced in March. 

In response to the mayor’s outcry, Miles penned a public letter to Turner on Wednesday evening, inviting the mayor to join him at some of the NES and NES-aligned campuses during the first week of school. 

“You will see first-hand the unique attributes of this model and its ability to support student achievement,” the superintendent wrote. “In most campuses, we position Team Centers in libraries because they provide the physical space to support differentiated learning experiences and are centrally located within the campus itself.” 

Here is the entire read: Mayor Turner calls out HISD’s Mike Miles over plan to cut librarians (houstonchronicle.com).

According to Charles Kuffner, the Mayor rejected the invitation. Here is from Charles:

Sometimes, people who are in political positions or who want to be in political positions claim that they themselves are “not politicians”. Being a politician, or being seen as one, is often viewed negatively by many, for reasons both valid and disingenuous.

The thing is, most successful politicians get to where they are by having a good understanding of people – what they want, what motivates them, and so on. I can tell you, from observing politics and being acquainted with many politicians and people who work with them, any halfway decent politician would not have done what Mike Miles did here. It was at best ham-handed, at worst condescending and out of touch.

Miles should have done what Mayor Turner suggested and reached out to him, by phone or email, to have a conversation, maybe set up a personal meeting, any number of things to get them together and work through differences and find common ground. That’s good politics, but it’s also good basic human interaction. If you’re in a disagreement with someone, an email or call from you to them is much more likely to result in something positive than a public post on Facebook that invites them to come to an event you’re having for other purposes so you can show them why you’re right and they’re wrong. This is not complicated.

At this point, I wonder if Miles is being deliberately antagonistic because what does he care what the Mayor thinks, the Mayor has no power over him anyway, or if he’s just clueless on a turbocharged level and also has no one around him who knows any better. Maybe he just doesn’t have anyone around him to tell him that he’s acting like a fool. I am absolutely boggled by this.

Here is all of Charles’s take: Mayor Turner criticizes HISD’s library removals – Off the Kuff.

I respect Charles. That doesn’t mean I agree. The Superintendent is going to do what he thinks he has to do. Maybe he knows the Mayor will be around for only six more months and the Superintendent for six years or something like that. Oh, well.

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This is from the Austin American-Statesman

Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed last year in the Robb Elementary School mass shooting, announced Thursday that she is running to be Uvalde’s next mayor.

Mata-Rubio, 34, is seeking to succeed Mayor Don McLaughlin, who is stepping down after nearly 10 years leading the city to pursue a seat in the Texas House.

A special election for mayor will be held Nov. 7.

Mata-Rubio made the announcement on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Addressing her daughter, who was one of 19 fourth grade students killed in the May 24, 2022, massacre, she wrote: “I will honor your life with action. This is only the beginning.”

And this:

In announcing her campaign, she told the Uvalde Leader News, “I want to represent the underserved in this community, whose voices matter but have long been unheard. I want residents to see themselves in me and feel at ease sharing their grievances.”

The Texas Democratic Party should offer major assistance to Mata-Rubio. Campaign contributions, field staff, mail, digital and social media ads, to name a few. 

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The punditry class was waiting for a Donald Trump January 6 indictment yesterday. They got a classified documents indictment instead. Hey, that’s better than nothing and A-Okay with me.

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How cool is this? Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has a mural in Midtown.  Not bad at all.  The 18,183 on the featured photo is her vote margin of victory over sore loser Alex Mealer.

Here is from the Chron:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Abby Guerrero found comfort seeing Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on television. It’s why she knew she wanted to dedicate her first large mural to her. 

Passersby of 2647 Crawford St. will see a new 16- by 23-foot mural depicting Hidalgo speaking into a microphone. A speaking bubble reads, “I know what I needed to change and I was gonna do it.”

Two other quotes on the mural read “We need different voices in the government,” and “hold her own.” Lastly, the number 18,183 is in the top left corner, referring to the number of votes Hidalgo won her race by for Harris County Judge, an election that sparked a court battle. 

Guerrero, a 15-year-old Latina born and raised in Houston, took about 40 hours to complete the mural between February and May. She named it, “Free of Judgement.” 

“(Hidalgo) always offered the comfort that I needed when I needed it,” Guerrero said. “I knew that I needed to express my gratitude for the judge and honor her in some big way, and what’s bigger than a larger-than-life mural.”

At an unveiling ceremony on Thursday, Hidalgo was shown the mural for the first time. She stared up at it and smiled. She said she was humbled.

“To hear Abby say that she’s inspired by me is so touching, but the truth is she and passionate young people like her inspire me,” Hidalgo said. “Her love of art, her creativity and fearlessness exemplify the potential within our youth, and it fills me with immense pride to see them embrace their talents so passionately.”

Guerrero said her family closely follows politics and her mom always taught her to look up to Latina women. To her, the mural sends a message about female empowerment. 

Guerrero solicited donations online and raised $1,000 for material and scaffolding. 

Here is the entire read on the mural: Mural of Judge Lina Hidalgo goes up in Midtown from 15-year-old artist (houstonchronicle.com).

Did Hunker Down ever get a mural? How many other elected officials from Harris County or the H-Town region got a mural while in office? Cool, indeed.

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The Rays are in town for a weekend three game series. 59 regular season games remain on the schedule.