HISD Bonds
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff was born on October 13, 1964.
Vice President Kamala Harris was born on October 20, 1964. A week later.
Now. You. Know.
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See this from the Chron:
Leaders of the Harris County Republican and Democratic parties don’t agree on who should be the next president, U.S. senator, county attorney or even the county tax assessor-collector.
They have, however, found common ground during this November election on one issue — their opposition to Houston ISD’s $4.4 billion school bond proposal.
Both the Harris County Democratic and Republican Party executive committees have unanimously voted in favor of resolutions opposing the largest school bond in state history, which is facing more public pushback than HISD’s previous bonds due largely to community opposition to the state takeover and state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles.
The Harris County Democratic Party county executive committee adopted a resolution against the bond during its Sunday meeting, where it cited “the harmful impacts on HISD schoolchildren,” “ethical, governance and financial risks” and “lack of transparency and accountability to taxpayers” associated with Miles’ leadership of the district.
“While the Harris County Democratic Party supports public education and acknowledges the need for full funding, including bonds, it opposes the HISD $4.4 billion bonds, Proposition A and B, due to Superintendent Mike Miles’ fiscal mismanagement, inadequate oversight and the detrimental impact on students and public education since the takeover,” the resolution said.
And this:
The Harris County Republican Party executive committee adopted a separate resolution against the bond during their Sept. 9 meeting. The resolution did not mention Miles, but instead cited HISD’s declining enrollment, “economic difficulties caused by the poor leadership of President Joe Biden” and “poor management” of previous bonds.
Here is the entire Chron read: Harris County Democratic, Republicans oppose HISD’s $4.4B school bond (houstonchronicle.com).
Meanwhile, there is also this from the Chron:
Houston ISD has quietly published a new document draft that would reduce state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles’ authority in appointing members to the committee overseeing the potential $4.4 billion school bond if approved.
According to its five-page charter, the Bond Oversight Committee will be responsible for monitoring progress of bond projects, providing regular updates to district leaders, communicating allegations of wrongdoing, potential waste or fraud to the superintendent and other oversight duties if the district’s bond measure obtains voter approval on Nov. 5.
The oversight committee’s charter — which outlines the committee’s purpose, structure, membership, duties and responsibilities and ethics policy — was first completed in July. However, the district published a new draft of the charter earlier this month to expand the committee’s size, reduce the group’s responsibilities and adjust the appointment process.
The initial document said Miles would be the sole person responsible for appointing all members to the committee after consulting with the appointed Board of Managers. Under the new version of the charter, the Board of Managers will be responsible for appointing committee members in a vote at an upcoming public board meeting.
Here is the entire read: HISD school board, not Miles, to select $4.4B bond oversight committee (houstonchronicle.com).
I posted my vote for Harris-Walz 2024 yesterday. I voted for all the Democrats including those who are running unopposed. I voted in the Congressional District 18 Special Election. I also voted for the Harris County flood control tax hike and the HISD school bonds. On the HISD bonds, nobody has made the case to me to oppose them. I have heard from a couple of folks on why I should support the HISD bonds. I have never voted against an HISD bond measure. I am not going to start voting against HISD bonds in 2024. Our school facilities need to be in good shape when we get control of schools in the next few years. I was also nudged to support the HISD bonds when the MAGA GOP local party put a bit of the blame for HISD woes on President Joe Biden.
The featured photo is my mail ballot that I will be taking to the post office today.
Early Voting in Person is three weeks from today.
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Commentary said this last week:
I forgot to mention on “What’s Your Point” Sunday, the Democrats on the Harris County Commissioners Court were blistered for raising our property taxes. I wonder if the GOP members of the Montgomery County Commissioners Court will be blistered next Sunday for raising their property taxes at about the same rate as those in Harris County. Stay tuned!
The Montgomery County Commissioners Court raising their property taxes got some run yesterday on “What’s Your Point.”
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Commentary doesn’t watch CBS News. Here is another good reason why I don’t:
CBS News, hosting vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz for the general election campaign’s third debate next week, says it will be up to the politicians — not the moderators — to check the facts of their opponents.
The 90-minute debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday in a Manhattan studio that once hosted the children’s program “Captain Kangaroo,” will be moderated by the outgoing “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan.
During ABC’s debate between presidential contenders Kamala Harris and Donald Trump earlier this month, network moderators on four occasions pointed out inaccurate statements by Trump, and none by Harris. That infuriated the former president and his supporters, who complained it was unfair.
Last spring, CNN moderators did not question any facts presented by Trump and President Biden in the debate where Biden’s poor performance eventually led to him dropping out of the race.
On Friday, CBS said the onus will be on Vance and Walz to point out misstatements by the other, and that “the moderators will facilitate those opportunities” during rebuttal time. The network said its own misinformation unit, CBS News Confirmed, will provide real-time fact-checking during the debate on its live blog and on social media, and on the air during post-debate analysis.
With its plans, CBS News is clearly indicating it wants to take a step back from the heat generated by calling attention to misleading statements by candidates. Some argue that offstage fact-checking is too little, too late and not seen by many people who watch the event.
It’s not the first time.
Angie Drodnic Holan, director of the international fact-checking network at the Poynter Institute, said she has seen examples of moderators who have successfully encouraged candidates to keep their opponents honest.
“I’ll be interested in seeing how this works in practice,” she said. “Having said that, you’re basically off-loading one of your journalistic responsibilities onto the candidates themselves, so I don’t think that it’s ideal. It takes journalistic courage to be willing to fact-check the candidates, because the candidates are absolutely going to complain about it. I don’t think the moderators’ first goal is to avoid controversy.”
Here is the entire read: CBS News draws a red line after ABC debate fact-checking drama (msn.com).
Chicken sh_t CBS News.
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Our game in Cleveland was rained out yesterday so we finished the season 88-73, a 161-game season. But the MLB regular season is not over. The Mets are at The ATL today for two with the D-Backs sitting at home watching with interest. If the Mets and The ATL split, they both advance to the playoffs. A sweep by either team will allow the D-Backs to play San Diego tomorrow. Got it?
The Wild Card Series starts tomorrow when we host the Tigers who are managed by A.J. Hinch. This season our record versus the Tigers was 4 wins and 2 losses.
2015 was the last time we were in the Wild Card round.
This will be our eighth consecutive trip to the playoffs. All our Wild Card series games are at The Yard and all, yes all have 1:30 pm starts. I stopped fretting a while back about the early starts MLB assigns us during the playoffs. I look at the bright side. I get to be at home tomorrow night and watch the vice-presidential debate on the flat screen.
I am ready.
